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Temple Beth El Blog

Shabbat Task Force Update

06/09/2025 04:25:28 PM

Jun9

By Niles Berman and Jake Harris, Shabbat Task Force co-chairs

This article also appears in the June 2025 TBE Bulletin.

Temple’s diverse, 15-member Shabbat Task Force continues to explore ways to make Shabbat even more meaningful in the lives of all of our congregants. The focus of our efforts since our update in the April Bulletin has been on meeting with congregants, inviting submission of comments online, and reviewing all of that valuable input. At press time, 17 congregants had submitted written comments online and 113 different congregants had participated in one of two open listening sessions (one in person before services and one virtual on Zoom) and ten smaller focus group sessions (ranging from five to 30 participants). We plan to continue to find ways for congregants to offer their impressions and suggestions in the weeks ahead.

Unsurprisingly, we’ve heard and read very thoughtful comments, expressing diverse, not unanimous, points of view. Yet there are common, broadly held views on some points. While far from a complete list, among the points we’ve heard most frequently are:

  • Start Friday night services significantly earlier and be sensitive to their length.
  • Make every person in the sanctuary genuinely feel part of the community.
  • Have services where families with younger children truly feel welcome.
  • Recognize the key role of familiar music; utilize more instrumentalists.
  • We value a message at each service that gives us something to think about spiritually and/or intellectually.
  • Make Torah a regular part of the Friday night service experience.
  • Make food a larger part of the Friday-night-at-Temple experience.
  • Expand communications about what’s going to be in each week’s service.

The task force’s charge is to generate ideas and serve as a clearinghouse for ideas collected from other congregants and from other congregations’ successful practices. From the input we’ve received, there is clear, strong interest in trying out an earlier, uniform start time. The task force will continue to evaluate the other suggestions that have been generated and the congregation’s response to any changes that are implemented.

The experience of being in the sanctuary on Shabbat can bring peace and separation from the noise and cares of our daily lives. We hope more of our congregants can come to know that peace on a regular basis. We recognize that the presence of each of us in those Shabbat services can enrich our own lives and also the experience of those around us. So we do hope to increase attendance at Shabbat services, but the larger numbers are a means toward those ends, not an end in themselves. We truly feel the best is yet to come!

June 14, 2025 18 Sivan 5785