Life Cycle

Birth
We welcome children into our congregation from birth, with a brit milah (bris, or circumcision) and naming for a boy, and a covenant naming for a girl. Our rabbi will co-officiate in home or synagogue with a mohel for the former, and officiate during Shabbat services or in a home (as available) for the latter. Please contact the Rabbi for more information.

Consecration
We celebrate each Simchat Torah as we welcome our newest students (usually those in Kindergarten) into our congregation of learners with blessing, certificates, and appropriate gifts.

B’nai Mitzvah (Bar or Bat Mitzvah)
We celebrate B’nai Mitzvah with our Religious School students as they help lead a service, read from our sacred Torah scroll, and deliver a D’var Torah (Torah-based lesson) from our pulpit. Students must in good standing within our Religious School and meet a series of prerequisites to be eligible to celebrate B’nai Mitzvah in our synagogue.

Kiddushin—Marriage
“Ani l’dodi v’dodi li—I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” How wonderful it is when our congregation has the opportunity to celebrate the union of two people! Our Rabbi officiates at the weddings of synagogue members and, as available, those in our greater community. Please contact the Rabbi directly to discuss scheduling a wedding.

Illness
Please notify our Rabbi and/or Extended family committee, through our main office, if you or a loved one is ill. We will do our best to be of support during this time. Medical confidentiality rules prohibit hospitals from informing clergy of illness, so we rely upon family or community to provide us with such information.

Funerals
“A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven.” While none of us asks to walk in the valley of the shadows, there comes a time when we must bury a loved one, and the synagogue community is available to you at that time. Please contact our rabbi immediately upon learning of the death of a loved one.