Shabbat Services
At Temple Emanuel, we know that there are lots of different ways to be a Jew. There are also lots of different ways to pray. So we offer a variety of services, encouraging our members to experiment and stretch.
Click here to view a calendar with our upcoming services.
Erev Shabbat
Shabbat Unplugged
The first Friday night of every month is our Shabbat Unplugged service, at 7:30 PM in the Corwin Family Sanctuary. Led by our clergy, this service-in-the-round is enhanced by the music of guitar, drums, and clarinet or flute. The energy is electric, with the liturgy sung by the whole congregation. This popular service regularly draws several hundred people of all ages, including many younger congregants in their 20’s and 30’s. There is a short d’var Torah given by one of the rabbis. It is followed by a festive Oneg Shabbat.
Simply Shabbat
On other Friday nights, our Simply Shabbat service is at 6:30 PM. This Erev Shabbat, led by Cantor Kliger and one of our rabbis, is a warm and intimate service in both Hebrew and English. The service is enhanced by the music of a keyboard and, several times a year, the Junior Cantors participate. It includes a d'var torah by the rabbi. Services end by 7:30 PM in order for people to go off to their respective Shabbat dinners.
Shabbat B’Yachad
Cantor Yonah Kliger and Temple Emanuel’s live “Bayit” house band lead this extremely popular “rock n’ roll” service on the third Friday night of each month. With its high energy full band, words on the big screen and casual atmosphere, Shabbat B’Yachad is the perfect way for families of all ages to celebrate Shabbat. This lively service features the music from our popular and highly touted CD, EMANUEL. The band is made up of some of Temple Emanuel’s finest musicians, and features a story appropriate for all ages, told by none other than the renowned story-teller Rabbi Aaron.
Tot Shabbat
Rabbi Jonathan Aaron and Cantor Yonah Kliger lead our exciting and engaging Tot Shabbat service at 6:00 PM in the Chapel on the first Friday night of every month (except July and August). Tots and their families enjoy Shabbat through an interactive service filled with song, stories, and dancing around the bima. We welcome Shabbat by lighting candles, drinking grape juice, and eating challah (after the fun of tearing it apart), as the clergy leads Shabbat in a joyful and meaningful way. The service is followed by a light dinner.
Shabbat Morning
New Emanuel Minyan
Our regular Shabbat morning service meets from 10:00 AM until about 12:15 PM in Bess P. Maltz Center. Led by our rabbis and cantor, the service is a thoughtful, contemplative adult service. The service has a traditional feel, with most of the liturgy sung in Hebrew, accompanied by meaningful English poetry and commentary. Every word is transliterated so even non-Hebrew readers can fully participate in the prayer. Torah study is interactive and engaging, and provides stimulating discussion. Congregants chant Torah and Haftarah and often people celebrate life-cycle events within the context of the Minyan community: an important birthday, a prenuptial blessing, and a wedding anniversary. Services are always followed by a Kiddush lunch. The Minyan is nurtured by a Worship Care Committee that pays attention to deepening the sense of community among those who have become part of the congregation and welcoming newcomers into the community.
Contemplative Service
Our new monthly Contemplative Service meets from 9:30-10:30 AM in the chapel. Through contemporary Hebrew and English chants, meditation, silence, and a focus on breathing, this service, facilitated by our Rabbinic Intern Sara Abrams, seeks to cultivate our awareness as a way of connecting more deeply with ourselves and the world around us. A wonderful warm-up for prayer, the service ends just in time to join the Minyan's Torah service. We also offer an optional meditation from 9:00-9:20 AM lead by Perry Oretzky. Please check the calendar for dates.
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Service
Most Shabbat mornings at 10:00 A.M. in the sanctuary we celebrate a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in the context of the Shabbat morning service. The service, accompanied by a keyboard, is led by the Bar or Bat Mitzvah and Cantor Yonah Kliger. One of the Rabbis gives a short D'var Torah, often concluding with a charge directed to the Bar or Bat Mitzvah and the passing of the Torah through the generations of the Bar or Bat Mitzvah's family. The young person delivers a sermon and often his or her parents say a few words of personal blessing. So while this is in the context of a Temple Emanuel public Shabbat morning service, it has the feeling of a personal family experience. B'nai Mitzvah are occasionally also celebrated on Shabbat afternoon within the context of a Shabbat mincha service.
School Services
All of Temple Emanuel’s schools have religious services as part of the curricular program. The ECC’s Shabbat service is every Friday from 11:20 AM-11:45 AM. The Religious School has Sunday morning services for grades K-2 starting at 11:30 AM, and on Wednesdays for grades 3-6 at 5:10 PM. Temple Emanuel Academy Day School has a Thursday morning Torah service starting at 8:00 AM, and two Kabbalat Shabbat services, one at 10:45 AM (K-3rd grades) and another at 12:30 PM (4th-6th grades). These services are open to anyone who is a part of the Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills family. Please join us at any one of these times.
For more information about school services please contact Orly Akouka at (310) 288-3737 x242.