Most services are available in person and on Zoom.
Please check our calendar to confirm each week's offerings
****PLEASE NOTE FRIDAY NOV. 29 AND SATURDAY NOV. 30 SERVICES WILL BE ZOOM ONLY****
Friday evening services at 6:00pm
Saturday mornings at 10:00am
****PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO SERVICE ON SATURDAY, DEC. 28th****
Rosh Chodesh and Fifth Fridays (if any) are Online Only
The monthly Rosh Chodesh service and the HaMinyan Kabbalat Shabbat are online only.
In Person Only
Tot Shabbat services are in person only.
Please admin [at] westendsynagogue.org (subject: Interest%20in%20WES) (contact the office) or sign up for our weekly e-newsletter, to receive the Zoom link.
The Zoom link and any changes or exceptions to the schedule will always be in the e-newsletter and the website calendar.
Led by Rabbi Emily and/or Cantor Melissa, our services offer a grounding, uplifting, and prayerful way to celebrate Shabbat. Our services always invite active participation from our congregation, and include both traditional as well as “reconstructed” interpretations of prayer, song, and Torah. Our services for Shabbat often feature original liturgical and exegetical compositions by WES members. Please take a look at our Interpretive Liturgy for Shabbat. (All in person Saturday services are followed by an in person Kiddush lunch)
Friday Evening Kabbalat Shabbat Services, every Friday evening at 6:00pm
First Friday Intergenerational Shabbat - First Friday of the Month
****(EXCEPTION: in December 2024, our intergenerational pot luck will take place on
Friday, December 20th, in combination with a Hanukkah Celebration, and not on the First Friday.
First Friday Dec. 20th will offer a warm, musical Kabbalat Shabbat service.)****
5:30PM Tot Shabbat (In person only, ages 0-6 with grownups)
6:00PM Intergenerational Service, Potluck to follow
Song-filled, joyful service open to all, featuring our in-house band and religious school students, and particularly welcoming to children and their families.
A dairy/parve potluck dinner follows (Oct-June; no potluck over the summer).Kabbalat Shabbat - Second and Fourth Fridays of the Month, and Friday, Dec. 6th
6:00PM-7:00PM Service - A warm, musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service.Shabbat Shir in the Round - Third Friday of the Month
6:00PM Service - Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service in the round, sometimes preceded by nosh and ShabTalk events! See calendar for details.Fifth Friday HaMinyan - (ZOOM ONLY) Fifth Friday in months that have one (November 29, 2024; January 31, 2025)
6:00PM Service - Themed Shabbat conducted by lay leaders within the WES community.
Saturday Morning Shabbat Services, every Saturday at 10:00am
****EXCEPTION: PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO SERVICE HELD ON SATURDAY, DEC. 28th****
First Saturday - First Saturday of the Month
10AM-12PM Service
Saturday morning service with Torah service, d’var Torah or Torah discussion, and a mixture of contemporary and traditional prayer.Second Saturday Traditional Shabbat - Second Saturday of the Month
10AM-12:30PM Service
Shabbat morning service with extended psukei dezimra, five aliyot, haftarah reading, Torah discussion or d’var Torah and more!Third Saturday Intergenerational Shabbat - Third Saturday of the Month
10AM-12PM Service
11:30AM- Tot Shabbat/Kef Kids - In Person only (ages 0-8 with grownups)
Saturday Shabbat with Torah service, d’var Torah or Torah discussion, and special invitations for participation from our JFLL students and their families.Fourth and Fifth Saturday Shabbat - Fourth and Fifth Saturdays of the Month
10AM-12PM Service (In Person and online Hybrid* )
Saturday morning service with Torah service, d’var Torah or Torah discussion, and a mixture of contemporary and traditional prayer.
Every Saturday morning - Shabbat Morning Torah Study (at 9:00am, preceding services)
From 9:00 to 9:45am, our Rabbi or a lay leader leads a group exploration of the weekly Torah portion. We seek to discover points of resonance between our lives and the Torah narrative, and lessons that might guide us in our daily lives and inform our efforts to repair the world. All are welcome, and no prior knowledge is required. Torah study is always both in-person and on Zoom on the same link as services.
*Nov. 8, 2024-March 7, 2025 services will start at 6:00pm; when Daylight Savings Time returns (Sun. March 8, 2025) we will return to 6:30pm start time for Kabbalat Shabbat, beginning Friday, March 14, 2025.
In Person - Simply come by during one of our regularly scheduled services. The far-left section of the sanctuary is reserved for those wearing masks.
Elevator access: Elevator access is available to all levels of our building.
Online Services via Zoom are either "Hybrid" or "Livestream" style - The Zoom link for services is available in our weekly e-newsletter (sign up here), or you may admin [at] westendsynagogue.org (subject: Interest%20in%20WES) (email the office) for the Zoom link, if you are not currently a member. "Hybrid" and "Livestream" differ as follows:
*Hybrid Services are more interactive, with in-person participants in the synagogue able to see and hear Zoom participants. During hybrid services, Zoom participants can offer readings, have an aliyah, and share comments in the chat that are then shared from the bima, including names for mi sheberach or before Mourner's Kaddish. There is a Zoom usher sharing siddur pages onscreen during hybrid services.
**Livestream Services allow Zoom participants to see and hear the service in the sanctuary but do not allow the clergy or in-person participants to interact with Zoom. Zoom participants will be able to see one another, as well as the sanctuary, and write in the chat to each other. Zoom ushers will admit guests, but will not share siddur pages during these services. For those who want to follow along with the prayers at home, a downloadable siddur is available here. If you will be joining a livestream service via Zoom and would like a name read during mi sheberach or before the Mourner's Kaddish, please email the clergy by noon on Friday with the name(s) you would like read.