Our Service Structure
The outline for our regular Shabbat services comes from the general Scriptural outline going back to antiquity, based on the structure of the Temple in Jerusalem: progression from “the outer courts” toward the inner recesses, moving from what is common to what is holy. As a group-guideline for the basic outline we use the official Siddur (Prayer Book) of Conservative Judaism: The Sim Shalom Siddur.
For millennia, Jewish worship on the Sabbath
has included certain key elements like the public recitation of The Shema, public reading and study of Scripture from the Torah and Haftarah, a teaching from the rabbi, and musical worship. The blessings involved in the stages of worship are almost entirely taken directly from the texts of Scripture — and the map of the service takes us in progressing stages from the what is hol (commonplace) to what is kadosh (holy). At the heart of the service is hope of fulfilling the Shema, by receiving something from God into our hearts in a way that transforms our lives into greater alignment with truth.
