Shabbat and Holiday Services

Shabbat Service

Friday, January 20 at 6:15 pm (in-person indoors or live streamed)

Friday night services will be held indoors in the Sanctuary, where masks are optional and everyone is expected to be vaccinated and boosted (if eligible). 

We invite you to celebrate a special moment with us.

Would you like to celebrate a special occasion for your family? Consider sharing it with the congregation by sponsoring an Oneg following Friday night services at WRT.

Torah Study

Saturday, January 21 at 9:00 am (in-person in the Sifriyah or Zoom) 

Each Shabbat morning we gather informally to read and discuss the week’s Torah portion. The morning begins with a brief Shabbat service at which mourners who wish to say Kaddish are warmly welcomed. The group is led by volunteers, with clergy participation. No prior experience with Torah is necessary.  

Sharing Shabbat

Saturday, January 21 at 9:00 am (in the CJL)

Our engaging, musical Shabbat service for children in Grades K-6 and their families is open to the congregation and community. This weekly service is led by our clergy and followed by engaging learning and conversation organized by cohort – a special JLL curricular experience for the children, and time for the adults to concurrently study, share stories, and ask questions together with a member of the clergy team. All are welcome!

Programs and Special Events

Adult Learning: Introduction to Talmud

Thursday, January 19 at 10:15 am (Zoom)

Join Rabbi Blake and fellow learners for a weekly deep dive into the spiritually nourishing and intellectually challenging world of the Babylonian Talmud. For this midwinter learning series, we will explore signature Talmudic passages that shed light on Jewish philosophy, ethics, observance, and law, with a focus on the content and form of rabbinic thought and debate. No prior text/Hebrew experience is required. All are welcome.

Jewish American History Series

Thursday, January 19 at 7:30 pm (Zoom)

When and where does American Jewish history begin? In this 3-part series, Dr. Joellyn Zollman will discuss the settlement and development of American Jewish life. The topic for the first class is 1492-1654: The Origins of the American Jewish Community. This program is sponsored by the Men of Reform Judaism. You must register to receive the Zoom link.

Spousal Bereavement Group

Wednesday, January 25 at 11:30 am

(onsite in the Sifryah)

This Support Group meets to create community for those in mourning over the loss of a spouse, and to help find comfort and process feelings of loss through caring discussion and in sacred Jewish context.

Led by Jane Slevin, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Westchester Jewish Community Services), and Cantor Laura Stein, LMSW, a social worker who specializes in spiritual care. 

Avalon: The American Jewish Experience in Cinema

Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 pm

Come join Rabbi Blake and warm up the chilly days of winter with a good movie, a little wine and snacks, some laughs and interesting discussion. Together, we will watch and discuss another landmark film that comments on the American Jewish experience with wisdom and wit. This series is sponsored by the FreeBirds. Everyone is welcome. 

WRJ Tu B’shvat Celebratory Seder Program, Songs, Lunch and Planting

Led by Cantor Amanda Kleinman and Rabbi Sasha Baken

Tuesday, January 31, Noon to 2:00 pm at WRT

Tu B’shvat is an ancient Jewish holiday, celebrating the birthday or “new year” of the trees. In Safed, Jewish kabbalists (mystics) in the 16th and 17th centuries created a “Seder,” modeled after the Passover seder but focused on the environment, inspired by the “Seven Species of Israel” listed in Deuteronomy 8:8, “a land of wheat and barley, of [grape]vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey.” Our lunch will include these fruits and grains along with Israeli food to celebrate Tu B’shvat! 

The program will include a “hands-on” activity: we will plant seeds of parsley in small pots for our WRJ Women’s Seder and our own Seders. We will recall and honor the Psalmist's words, “sow in tears, reap in joy."

Celebrate the Shabbat of Song

with guest singer-songwriter Chava Mirel

Celebrate the Shabbat of Song, named for the joyous song the Israelites sang as they crossed the sea from slavery into freedom. This musical Shabbat experience will feature guest artist, singer-songwriter, Chava Mirel. With influences ranging from jazz to Brazilian music and beyond, Chava's soulful voice and melodies (a number of which have been featured at WRT) will lift our spirits, just as Miriam with her timbrel. 

Friday, February 3

6:15 pm: You won't want to miss this special, extra-musical Shabbat Shira service with Torah reading, featuring Chava Mirel alongside WRT clergy 

Saturday, February 4 

9:00 am: Join us for an intimate Shabbat morning congregational service in the round, featuring Chava Mirel 

10:00 am: Congregational Oneg

10:30 am: Workshop/Study program led by Chava Mirel

(Torah Study and Sharing Shabbat will be joining this program on Saturday.)

Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World)

To learn more about the ways that the WRT community impacts the broader world through acts of Tikkun Olam, read Repairing Our World - WRT Social Impact Update. In this blog, Sharon Stiefel, WRT's Director of Social Impact and Community Engagement, reflects on WRT's social action programming. and discusses further opportunities to engage in tzedakah, chesed and tzedek. Click here to read.

WRT is committed to pursuing tikkun olam (repairing the world) and tzedek (social justice) for impact locally, statewide, nationally, and globally through direct service, tzedakah, advocacy, and community organizing.  

Cooking for Hope – Sandwich Making with the JLL

January 22, 11 am – 11:30 am, and 12:30 pm – 1:00 pm, at WRT

If you are a JLL Sunday family and/or someone would like to make sandwiches in person, please sign up for a shift here: first shift, 11 am – 11:30 am or second shift, 12:30 pm – 1 pm. If you are unable to participate this month, but would still like to make a contribution, you can do so by donating to the Food and Housing Insecurity Fund.  

Cooking for Hope – Hot Meals

January 30, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, in the WRT Kitchen

Come to the WRT kitchen to make Monday night hot dinners and sandwich bags for the participants of HOPE Community Services in New Rochelle. Participants that attend the dinner at HOPE also receive a sandwich bag for the next day. Volunteer to be a shopper, baker, cook, sandwich bag maker, and/or driver. No previous cooking skills required. Please sign up here or email Sharon Stiefel. If you are unable to participate this month, but would still like to make a contribution, you can do so by donating to the Food and Housing Insecurity Fund. 

Thank you for your continued dedication to tikkun olam and your continued support of HOPE Community Services.

Diaper Drive

January 30 – February 10, at Westchester Reform Temple

The ECC is hosting a Diaper Drive to benefit the 914 Cares Diaper Bank! Please help by donating new and unopened box of diapers and/or wipes. All donations are appreciated, but the most needed sizes are: 3, 4, 5 and 6. Donations can be dropped off at the designated bins or donate via this amazon link. The collection will culminate at Tot Shabbat on February 10th, at which the WRT Clergy will welcome and bless the new babies born within the last year. As we offer blessings to the newest members of our WRT family, we hope you will help us extend those blessings by supporting those in need in our Westchester community.

WRT's music series for the 2022-2023 calendar year.

We know that music has immense power to connect us, lift us up, and inspire us, and what better way to be in community than to experience the beauty of music with fellow congregants and leading Jewish artists, cantors, and composers! To discover our wonderful artists in this series, please visit the website, https://bit.ly/3MSTYfV

Visit the Jewish Learning Lab (JLL)

For WRT members: If you would like to receive notifications of birth announcements and deaths within the WRT community, please email [email protected] with your full name and email address. Please specify if you would like to be added to one or both of these notification lists.  

For more information about Inclusion at WRT, click here.

For more information about Our Jewish World, click here.