A Guide to What Happens in Our Spiritual Home on Shabbat Mornings
The information on this page also appears in a booklet you can find in the synagogue.
Welcome! We hope that you will feel comfortable and welcome here.
Beth Israel, which means House of Israel, is a traditional and egalitarian congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement. As our name implies, we strive to be a thriving center for Jewish living in many different ways throughout each week, integrating our ancient tradition with modernity.
We feel blessed to come together in this place. We completed transformative renovations to our building in 2015. Our sanctuaries, learning spaces, gathering areas, mikvah suite, kosher kitchen, and offices reflect our aspiration to be a vibrant, caring spiritual home where we explore and nurture our unique Jewish identities. Together, we create a kehillah (community) that is traditional, egalitarian and alive with celebration, learning, prayer and tikkun olam (repairing the world). At Beth Israel Center, Conservative Judaism resonates with our contemporary lives, while our tradition grounds us meaningfully in the present moment. It brings us joy to share our spiritual home with you today.
Our beautiful building sits on ground also known as TeJope, which has been hallowed by Native people for generations. We are committed to being part of a process of restoring relationships, seeking unity and giving honor where appropriate.
What You See in the Sanctuary
The heart of our synagogue is also the most important architectural feature in the main sanctuary. It is the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark). Located on the eastern wall in the direction of Jerusalem, it houses our Torah scrolls, which contain our most sacred text, the Five Books of Moses. Our Aron Kodesh frame is built of Jerusalem stone, and the doors are cut from one, continuous piece of the trunk of a beautiful walnut tree in the Pacific Northwest.
The raised platform on which the Aron Kodesh rests is called the bimah. The shulchan (reader’s table) in the center of the bimah is where the Torah scroll is placed when we read from it. Some sections of our service are led from the shulchan; others may be led from a portable shtender (stand) closer to the congregation. The Rabbi typically speaks from a separate shtender. There may be times when additional shtenders are placed on or near the bimah, when it is prudent to provide some distance between participants.
Above the Aron Kodesh is the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light), a symbol of the constant presence of God in our lives and our ongoing commitment to gather together in sanctity. Never extinguished, it also symbolizes the perpetual fire on the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient times.
The text above the Aron Kodesh is Eilecha Adonai Ekra, which means “To You, Adonai (My Lord), I call.” It comes from Psalm 30, which we recite at the beginning of every morning service as we awaken our spiritual connection to God and God's world.
This particular phrase poignantly captures a central component of prayer: calling out. Reaching beyond ourselves is one of the most important purposes for which we gather in prayer. Whereas secular culture offers many paths to personal happiness and celebrating our own achievements, we come here to remember that living a life of meaning and purpose beyond ourselves is a powerful and generative framework for personal growth and success.
Special Attire, Books and Decorum
Attire
We ask that all people wear a head covering in our building, as a sign of humility and respect. This centuries-old practice comes from the Talmud, which is our major, all-encompassing rabbinic work on Jewish legal, ethical and ritual thought, compiled around the seventh century. The most common head covering you’ll see is a skullcap, also known as a kippah in Hebrew or yarmulke in Yiddish. We offer a selection of these headcoverings, as well as headbands, for you to borrow. They can be found in wooden receptacles just inside the doors to the sanctuary. We do not pressure any person to cover their head while joining in our congregational worship; however, we do require every person who ascends the bimah to cover their head.
In Conservative synagogues like ours, most Jewish adults wear a fringed prayer shawl, called a tallit, during morning worship. The fringes on the four corners of the tallit fulfill the commandment in the Torah that the garments worn by the people of Israel should have such fringes to remind them to observe the mitzvot (commandments). We encourage all Jewish adults who ascend the bimah to put on a tallit even if not wearing one while seated in the congregation.
Books
Our prayer book, called a siddur, contains prayers derived from the Bible and its commentaries, as well as from rabbinic writings of the past 2500 years. Siddur means order, signifying that the prayers are arranged in a set order. The siddur is paginated from right to left, just as Hebrew is read right to left.
At Beth Israel Center, we use Siddur Lev Shalem. You can find it under the seat in front of you (or on your chair if you select a front-row seat). Feel free to follow along or to peruse the siddur as you like. Portions sung communally are typically transliterated in red, on the English side. In the right margin of each double-page spread, you will find explanations of key words and prayers on the page. In the left margin, you will find supplementary passages from a variety of sources, from ancient to contemporary, that draw on themes expressed in the liturgy.
The book under your seat is called a chumash, derived from the Hebrew word for the number five. The chumash contains the Torah text, otherwise known as the Five Books of Moses, divided into weekly Torah readings. Each weekly Torah portion is followed by a short selection from one of the Hebrew prophets that is thematically connected to the Torah portion. That reading is called the Haftarah.
At Beth Israel Center, we use the Etz Chayim chumash. It is known for its modern translation and two kinds of commentary. As you follow along during the Torah reading, you can find the Torah text at the top of each page, in Hebrew and English. The commentaries are found below the Torah text. The commentary above the gray line offers contextual understandings of particular words. The commentary below the gray line is more associative, based in broader Jewish tradition.
Please ask our greeter or any congregant if you need help locating a siddur or chumash, or finding the right page. We are happy to help our guests.
Decorum
Shabbat is a time of reflection, celebration, worship, Torah study, and rest. Underlying our practices is an intention to bask in the natural, created world, without changing it. We attune ourselves to the “here and now” and refrain from using technology beyond what may be needed for our safety. We do not use cameras, cell phones, or any non-medical electronic devices anywhere in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Similarly, there is no lighting of flames or writing of any kind. It is also customary not to applaud during the service. Additionally, we do not bring items to leave with others, and we do not take items, such as treats or gifts, home with us. Please accord with our practices during your visit here.
The entire Shabbat service lasts about three hours. You may go in and out of the sanctuary during services. We do ask that you try not to do so when the Aron Kodesh is open, while someone is reading from the Torah, or during the Amidah (standing prayer).
Traditional Jewish prayer is both an individual and a communal encounter. There are times when we are on our own path, praying quietly as the leader begins and ends parts of the liturgy. There are also moments when we quite actively and intentionally join together, for example during the Kedusha (sanctification prayer), where the congregation stands in unison and faces the same direction. When the congregation is standing in this way, please wait to move among the seats.
Typically, our prayer leaders face east, as does the congregation, to show our unity with the Jewish people around the world who all face towards the former site of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem when praying. When seated, which is most of the time, we face whichever direction our chair is facing. When standing for particular parts of the service, there are times when we face whichever direction our chair is facing, and times when we turn our bodies, if necessary, to face east.
Whenever the Aron Kodesh is open, we rise, out of respect for the sacred and honored contents of the Torah scrolls within. When the Torah is read from the shulchan or taught by the Rabbi, the presenter faces the congregation so that we understand that we are being addressed and called to listen.
Feel free to take your cue from others around you.
Special Life Cycle Events
Shabbat is the most important day in the Jewish calendar and the high point of every week. This day offers a spiritually elevated setting for us to mark joyous life-cycle events (s’machot) in the lives of our members -- such as the birth and naming of an infant, an Aufruf (the occasion of being called up to the Torah prior to one’s wedding), a milestone anniversary or birthday, or when one of our members celebrates becoming a Bar/Bat/B’nei Mitzvah.
Bar/Bat/B’nei Mitzvah refers to a Jewish person who is responsible for their conduct and obligated to keep the Mitzvot, the religiously binding commandments, both ethical and ritual. (Bar means “son of” in Hebrew, bat means “daughter of,” and b’nei is a non-gendered plural formulation.) All Jewish people become Bar/Bat/B’nei mitzvah when they reach early adolescence. It brings us great joy to celebrate these milestones by welcoming a new Bar/Bat/Bnei Mitzvah onto the bimah to chant from the Torah, lead us in prayer, and teach us Torah.
The Shabbat Morning Service
“The Sabbath,” writes Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “is the day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world… The seventh day is like a palace in time…, not a date but an atmosphere.” Shabbat services are intended to help us enter into that atmosphere.
Our Shabbat morning service takes prominence in a broader context of Jewish worship. Jews pray each morning, afternoon, and evening, seven days a week. On Shabbat, we add liturgies specific to the holiness of the day as well as a great deal more communal singing, more extensive scriptural readings, and a d’var Torah (sermon/homily).
Our service is conducted largely in Hebrew. By praying in Hebrew, we reinforce our connection with our sacred language and with Jewish people across time and geography. At Beth Israel Center, our services are member-led and resemble traditional synagogue worship all over the world, with prayers that Jews have recited for centuries. The organization of the service dates from as early as the second century and was fixed in the early Middle Ages. Our liturgies derive from various places in the Hebrew Bible and the writings of our sages, from antiquity to the present.
The Shabbat morning service is divided into four major parts:
Birchot HaShachar and Psukei D’zimra (morning blessings and passages of song) is a preliminary service that begins on page 103. These introductory prayers and psalms help worshippers awaken spiritually and enter into a prayerful consciousness. We take a “less is more” approach to most of this section, taking the time to apply spiritually engaging melodies to selected passages.
The Shacharit service (from the Hebrew shachar, meaning dawn) service begins on page 149, and contains two core elements: the Shema (Listen!) with its surrounding blessings, and the Amidah (standing prayer). The Shema expresses our belief in the unity of God as one Divine being. The Amidah is the central prayer of Jewish worship. It is each person’s individual prayer encounter with the Divine and includes prayers of praise, petition, and thanks. We stand, as able, when reciting the Amidah. Typically, individuals pray the Amidah privately and then the prayer leader repeats it, adding in parts that are not recited individually. Sometimes, we begin the Amidah together, followed by an opportunity for each of us to pray individually.
The Torah service, which begins on page 168, has at its heart the reading of sacred scriptures. It is a symbolic re-enactment each week of God’s giving the Torah to the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai. A great deal of ceremony surrounds the Ark openings before and after the Torah reading. It is a great honor to go up to the bimah and participate in the Torah service.
Torah Processions: The congregation rises and sings as the Torah – the scroll containing the Five Books of Moses – is carefully removed from the Ark and carried in a procession through the Sanctuary. It is customary for everyone to face the Torah as it is paraded around. Congregants show reverence by touching their prayer books or the fringes of their prayer shawls (tallitot) to the scroll as it passes, and then bringing their book or tallit to their lips. The Torah is returned to the bimah, placed on the reader’s table and rolled open to the passages to be read. After the reading is complete and the remainder of the Torah service concluded, a recessional occurs as the scroll is returned to the Ark.
Torah Reading: Torah readers face the congregation, representing the sharing of revelation. Before and after each reading, individuals are called up to offer a special blessing; this is called an aliyah, which means “ascension.” Any Jew who has reached the age of majority may be called up for this honor. The first aliyah is reserved for a Kohen/Bat Kohen (a descendent of the priestly class) and the second for a Levi/Bat Levi (a descendent of the Levi tribe). These distinctions remind us of the priestly roles of those members of the House of Israel in antiquity.
During the Torah reading, two Gabbaim (assistants) stand on either side of the shulchan (readers table) to ensure that the scroll is read correctly. One Gabbai (assistant) introduces each reading by calling up the individual to be honored with the aliyah for that reading. At the conclusion of final reading, the Gabbai chants a blessing for all honorees.
After all the readings, we stand as the person honored with Hagbahah (lifting) raises the scroll aloft and enables the congregation to view the Torah script. The congregation sings in Hebrew, “This is the instruction which Moses set before the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:44) by the hand of Moses, according to the command of God (Numbers 9:23).” The person honored with Gelilah (rolling) rolls the scroll closed and places its mantle and other adornments over the parchment and spindles.
Here is some additional information about the Torah:
The Torah, or Five Books of Moses, is divided into 54 sections, each called a parashah. Jews around the world read through the entire Torah each year, one parashah each week. Each parashah is divided into seven individual readings.
Taken together, the Five Books of Moses offer origin stories and formative myths, chronologies, and many laws, from the narratives of Creation to the Exodus from Egypt and the formation of a distinct nation united around a particular, sacred way of living in the world, all the way up to the moment when the Israelites are poised to enter the Promised Land.
The Torah is meticulously hand-written with a quill on a parchment scroll, by a specially trained scribe. It takes about a year to write one Torah scroll. The scroll does not contain vowel markings, punctuation, or the prescribed musical notation (trope). The Talmud specifies that the Torah be read in “musical and sweet tones,” so the Torah is not just read but chanted. Reading from the Torah requires much preparation.
We believe that the Torah illuminates the human condition and that studying Torah with diligence and care and following its instructions imbues our lives with meaning and purpose; thus, we call the Torah our “Tree of Life.”
The Haftarah: After the Torah reading, the special Haftarah for that Shabbat is chanted. This prescribed selection from Prophets usually contains a thematic link to the Torah reading. The Haftarah is chanted according to a special set of cantillations different from those used for chanting from the Torah. When a Bar/Bat/B’nei Mitzvah finishes chanting the final blessing after the Haftarah, the congregation gently tosses candy toward the bimah, sharing joy and expressing hope that the celebrant will remember this day lovingly and go on to enjoy a sweet future.
D’var Torah (sermon/homily): Following our scriptural readings from the Torah and Prophets, the Rabbi usually addresses the congregation, often offering thoughts, insights and questions that have emerged out of study of those texts. A Bar/Bat/B’nei Mitzvah celebrant may have the honor of teaching Torah on that day.
4. The Musaf (additional) service concludes our worship and begins on page 185. It centers on an Amidah, recalling the additional Sabbath rituals practiced in the ancient Temple. The Musaf service is accompanied by joyous singing of some of the prayers. Children are invited to help lead the concluding hymns.
At the conclusion of services, we sing Adon Olam (Lord of the World), immediately followed by the three blessings said before our Shabbat lunch. The first is Kiddush, which sanctifies the day using a cup of wine. The second, N’tilat Yadayim, sanctifies the act of lifting up just-rinsed hands. The third blesses the One Who brings forth bread from the earth.
After the three pre-meal blessings, it is customary to exchange greetings of “Shabbat shalom” (a peaceful Sabbath), or in Yiddish, “Gut Shabbos” (good Sabbath). All are invited to stay for lunch, which may be eaten in the social hall or outside.
This describes the usual Shabbat service. There are several Shabbatot (Sabbaths) on which additions or modifications are introduced. For example, on the Shabbat prior to each new Jewish month, we recite a special prayer of anticipation and hope. On a Shabbat coinciding with a holiday or other festive day, there are notable changes, indicated at appropriate points in Siddur Lev Shalem.