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“To everything there is a season, a time for every experience beneath the heavens…
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what has been planted…”  (Ecclesiastes 3)

More than two decades ago, in order to provide a worship opportunity for congregants which was distinct from the service at which students celebrate becoming B’nei Mitzvah, Temple Sinai added a second Shabbat morning service to our worship calendar.  Held at 10:00 am, immediately following weekly Torah study, this Shabbat morning service fulfilled the expressed desire of Sinai members who were seeking a more casual and shorter (@ one hour) prayer experience on Saturday mornings.

Throughout this past year, however, the dramatically diminished and waning attendance has made it clear that our 10:00 am service is no longer serving the spiritual and prayerful needs of our congregation as it did in its genesis.  Consequently, after thoughtful reflection - and noting that our standing 10:30 am service endures as an opportunity for prayer on Shabbat morning -- we have made the decision to sunset the 10:00 am service.  Thus, please note:  

• Saturday morning, December 17, will be the final 10:00 am service held both virtually and in person in the Freeman Family Chapel
• The 10:00 am services on December 24 and 31 will be held virtually only
• Beginning January 7, our singular Shabbat morning service will be at 10:30 am 

Looking at prayer life at Sinai more holistically, the upcoming conversations associated with our Culture of Belonging initiative provide us with a meaningful opportunity to consider worship at Sinai from a place of genuine curiosity and openness to the as-of-yet-to-be-imagined.  Watch for a listening forum devoted to spiritual life at which we hope countless members of our community will share personal thoughts and wishes concerning Shabbat and other prayer experiences in our congregation. We look forward to enriching conversations and to exploring together what a deeper and richer spiritual life, punctuated by meaningful and varied worship experiences, could look like for our community.

While change of this nature is undoubtedly accompanied by disappointment for some, we believe the culmination of our 10:00 am service provides important space in which we can now collectively imagine, recreate and continue to grow as a praying congregation.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions regarding our new Saturday Shabbat schedule.

Warmly,
Michelle Young, VP of Spiritual Life
Rabbis Segal, Levenberg, and Trief
Beth Schafer