Over the years we’ve created many different special services, always in response to what’s happening in our community or in the world. Needing to pray together in order to grieve or celebrate is yet another reason we don’t use the standard, unchanging liturgy of the siddur. Jewish services did not start out with unchanging liturgy – communities that had poets had new work created each week in order to respond to the world around them.
Some people find that using the exact same words every week helps them ride out a changing world.
We are not those people.
You’ll find a few of our special services below:
October, 2007: the first service we did about Time
February, 2010: Shabbat Zachor – the shabbat of remembrance
August 2010: Grieving the Gulf
September, 2011: 10th Anniversary of 9/11
February, 2014: Celebrating Pete Seeger
December, 2014: Black Lives Matter
October, 2015: Sh’mini Atzeret/water
December, 2015: Praying in a world of gun violence and terrorism
January, 2016: Chasing Divinity
July, 2016: Special Yizkor service for Orlando and other victims of terror and state violence
December, 2017: Shared Service with Tikkun Olam Chavurah – Jerusalem
October, 2018: This is my body, This is my home
November, 2018: Tree of Life – Say Their Names
February, 2019: Honoring Mary Oliver
February, 2020: Praying While the World Burns
May, 2022: Make safe her choice
October, 2022: Facing Climate Disaster