Shabbat

Friday Evening

Shabbat services at Congregation Etz Chaim are a beautiful time for our community to come together and pray as one community. Our Shabbat services are as unique from one week to the next as our congregants. We have services that highlight various themes such as Social Action Shabbat, Leadership Shabbat, Camp Shabbat, etc. Our services are filled with beautiful music with a range of styles and composers performed groups such as our Choir, Congregational Band (Tree Life Ramblers), Junior Choir or individuals like our Song Leader, Music Director, or our musically talented Rabbis. You can read more about our music program on our music page.

We have a wonderful oneg (joyful food) treat after each service occasionally sponsored by one of our members. Onegs can be sponsored in honor of a loved-one or a special occasion.

We have several Shabbatot where a community meal is offered to help make our Shabbat and community experience more joyous. Some examples include our Winter Soup Shabbatot, Chinese Food Dinner, Chanukah Dinner, Mishpachat Shabbat, Bring your own dinner Shabbat, and smaller interest or social group dinners.

Babysitting 

At Congregation Etz Chaim we always encourage families to bring their children to services. We hope that kids will sit with their parents and participate. We hope that you will take advantage of the activities at the Quiet | Create Station, located at the back of the sanctuary, where kids and adults alike are welcome to use our Mindful Coloring Kits, Hebrew Sudoku, fidgets from the Sensory Bin, or picture books, and bring them back to their seats. 

We understand that for some families, having children in the sanctuary for services is not a possibility. We offer babysitting services in our PreK Room (Room 3) for children 4th grade and younger. Kids 5th grade and above, who are not able to participate in services, will be supervised in the library where books, coloring, and quiet games are available. We request registration for Shabbat services so we can have appropriate staffing for your needs. 

Worship services at Etz Chaim are a time to be in community, sing, pray, learn, and breathe. Stay and Pray at Congregation Etz Chaim!

Inclusion

Let us know if we can put something in place to make sure that you can fully participate and enjoy this event, either by filling out this form or contacting inclusion@mycec.org.

ASL/Closed Captioning/Children's Corner/Adaptive Material and how to request.

Our services are also streamed live via YouTube for enjoyment at home. You can see past recordings of our Shabbat Services on our YouTube channel. 

Saturday Morning

Torah Study is held every Saturday morning, typically both via Zoom and in person.

B'nai Mitzvah services are held some Saturday mornings. Everyone is welcome to celebrate with us. 

You can check out our calendar to confirm dates, times, and register to participate.

Mi Sheberach
One of the central Jewish prayers for those who are ill or recovering from illness or accidents is the Mi Sheberach. Names provided in this Mi Sheberach Form will be added to the list read at services when the Torah is read. Please only add names if you are a direct family member or have permission from the family to submit their name.

Kaddish

Torah Reading

Shabbatify
You can listen to your favorite tunes throughout Shabbat on Spotify!
Sign up for a free account to listen to our curated playlist.