Guidelines for Ritual and Lifecycle Event Inclusion

 In our Services, everyone is invited to:  

• Join the congregation as they stand and sit during services, as they are able. 

• Sing together with the congregation during communal prayers or songs. 

• Wear a kippah or other head covering. 

• Join the congregation in reciting responsive prayers that are read aloud. 

• Participate in respecting the Torah during the Torah procession. 

• Have a loved one’s name, of any faith and background, read among the names of the departed who are being remembered. Such names from non-members must be communicated to the synagogue office in advance. 

• Join in the congregational recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish. 

• Participate in dancing and singing, including during ritual settings where the Torah is present (e.g. Simchat Torah). 

• Dedicate a memorial plaque to a loved one. 

• Participate in all adult learning and family education programs/classes. 

• Participate in ritual at home that may be celebrated with a member of the clergy, such as affixing a mezuzah during a Hanukat HaBayit or kashering a home. 

• Be visited when ill by a member of the clergy or congregation. 

• Lead congregational readings that are universal in nature, such as the Prayer for our Country, Prayer for Israel, Prayer for Open Doors and Open Hearts. 

• Accompany a Jewish person in opening and closing of the Ark. 

• Accompany a Jewish spouse, partner, or child who is having an Aliya to the bimah.  Both individuals may be called up for the honor in English: only the Jewish person is called up in Hebrew and may recite the Torah blessings. 

• Join with family members or other honorees on the bimah leading prayers such as Ein Keloheinu and Adon Olam. 

• Receive a blessing for an occasion or milestone, as appropriate. 

In our Services, Jewish people are invited to: 

• Wear a tallis or tefillin. 

• Recite the blessings and perform the rituals for an aliya to the Torah. 

• Read from the Torah or chant the haftarah. 

• Lead a prayer service. 

• Open and close the Ark. 

• Carry, lift, and dress the Torah. 

• Carry and hold the Torah during processionals and/or dancing. 

• Count in the minyan.