Life Cycle

For more information about individual Life Cycle needs, including Pastoral Counseling, please contact Rabbi Alysa Mendelson Graf.

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.  In the Reform movement, we follow equilineal descent, affirming as Jewish a child born to at least one Jewish parent and raised in a Jewish home.  Please contact the Rabbi for more information on rituals around birth and naming.

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, including those of same-gender couples.  She also officiates at ceremonies for interfaith couples who seek a wedding within the framework of Jewish traditions.

Gerut—Conversion
“Your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God.”  Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, chose to become a part of the Jewish people and we celebrate the strength that she and others have brought to our community.  Port Jewish Center and its membership feel blessed and honored when someone chooses to formally join our religious tradition.  If you are interested in knowing more about the conversion process, please contact the Rabbi.

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.   

Pastoral Counseling
Pastoral counseling may include all or parts of psychological, theological, and spiritual support and enrichment and is appropriate for individuals, couples,and  families.  Our Rabbi is available for Pastoral Counseling to members and, as her schedule permits, to those in our greater community.