Festivals and Holidays
Holidays and Festivals are times for tradition, joyful connection, prayer, music, and learning. While our offerings around each holiday may vary from year to year, Temple B'nai Israel provides programs, services, and community for our sacred times on the Jewish calendar.
Festival Worship
Prayer experiences on holidays take many forms at Temple B'nai Israel. Festival minyanim often take place on the first and/or last morning of a festival. Special services also take place in the evening on various occasions. On Passover, Shavuot, Yom Kippur, and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, a yizkor prayer of remembrance is either added to regularly scheduled services or said as its own service. When holidays coincide with Shabbat, our special Friday night services bring together the best of the holiday and of Shabbat. Upcoming festival services can be seen on the calendar.
Programs
From dwelling in the Sukkah and taking up the lulav to hearing the reading of Megillat Esther, our programs offer an opportunity to fulfill the mitzvot of a holiday while learning and being in community. These programs change from year to year; up-to-date upcoming programs can be found on the calendar.
Some recent holiday programs include:
Hanukkah Fest and the Maccabee Maccabiah Games
Sukkot Happy Hour and Evening Service
Passover Shabbat Afternoon Oneg Seder Experience
Shavuot Camp-Out with Late Night Study Sessions
Purim Old Fashioned Radio Broadcast Megillah Reading
Simchat Torah Tour Through Torah
Purim Carnival
And so much more...
Holidays at Home
Temple B'nai Israel is here to help members with Holiday traditions and rituals done in the home. Light Hanukkah candles over zoom each night with Rabbi or Zemer, prepare for Passover with our member-curated Seder resource guide and cookbook, or fulfill the Purim mitzvot of sending gifts and giving to charity with our social action committee's mishloach manot deliveries. The fun and meaning of a holiday isn't limited to the Temple, it continues at home!