Shabbat and Holiday Services

Shabbat Service

Friday, December 2 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, December 3 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, December 3 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!

Tot Shabbat

Friday, December 9 at 5:30 pm

Experience the joy of Shabbat with children, parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. Designed for families with children of preschool and early elementary school age and younger, Connections Shabbat starts with songs and stories led by our clergy, followed by a family-friendly dinner. Children must be accompanied by an adult for this service (no drop-offs). 

Programs and Special Events

A Deep Reading of Pirkei Avot, 

“The Wisdom of the Ancestors” 

Led by Rabbi Jonathan Blake

Thursday, December 1 at 10:15 am (Zoom)

Rabbi Blake will guide us in interpreting one of the most important texts in Jewish life, Pirkei Avot, which is part of the Mishna and which continues to provide invaluable wisdom for leading a life of righteousness, purpose, and Jewish joy. All are welcome. No Hebrew or Jewish text experience is required.

Cantor's Coffeehouse with special guest Elana Arian

Sunday, December 4 at 5:30 pm

Join the Cantors and Elana Arian to sing along with popular songs, have some drinks and light bites. Bring a friend, meet new friends. 

A leading voice and composer in the contemporary Jewish world, Elana’s musical gifts extend beyond the bima, from the folk world all the way to Broadway. The musical selections for the evening will reflect that range of styles, incorporating familiar classics with new melodies. This event is open to everyone and hosted by the Freebirds.

Men of Reform Judaism Meeting

Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 pm

Come join the MRJ for the monthly meeting, where we kibbitz and plan the many events and activities held throughout the year.

Bereavement Group

Wednesday, December 14 at 11:30 am (Zoom)

This Support Group meets to create community for those in mourning over the loss of a loved one, 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. 

Rabbi-in-Residence Shabbat Weekend

with guest speaker Rabbi Alona Nir Keren

Friday, December 16 at 6:15 pm

Saturday, December 17 at 9:00 am

WRT is thrilled to welcome back Rabbi Alona Nir Keren from one of our Israeli “sister congregations,” Kehilat Mevasseret Zion (kamatz.org), in the Mevasseret Zion suburb of Jerusalem. A frequent WRT guest, teacher, and speaker, this will be the first time we’ve been able to reconnect in person since before the pandemic.

Everything You Wish You Learned in Religious School: Foundations of Jewish Literacy

Led by Cantor Amanda Kleinman

Sunday, December 18 at 9:15 am

Brush up on the basics with this ongoing monthly course designed to increase your Jewish literacy and help you enrich your life with Jewish values and traditions. Open to the entire congregation, this class is especially designed to allow JLL parents an opportunity to share in their children’s journey of Jewish learning during JLL hours.  

WRT is excited to announce a 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 the rest of our wonderful artists in this series, please visit the website, https://bit.ly/3MSTYfV

Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World)

WRT Toy and Gift Drive

Now through December 9, online at Westchester Reform Temple

The holiday season is quickly approaching and WRT is hosting a toy and gift drive with many ways to give! (1) give a gift to Children’s Hope Chest through their amazon list, (2) sign up to fulfill a child’s wish list, (3) give a gift to JCCA Elf Day through their amazon list, or (4) bring a new unwrapped gift to WRT between November 28 and December 9, and leave in the been at in the designated bin front of the building. Click here for full details. Questions? Email Sharon Stiefel.

Tzedek Circle

Sunday, December 11, 8:00 pm (Zoom)

Join us for the next Tzedek Circle. Co-hosts Dena Robinson and Darin Lim Yankowitz welcome special guests Kira Simon of the Anti-Defamation League and Cantor Danielle Rodnizki as we ask: How do we approach the needs of Jewish communities in relation to other needs?  

Blood Drive

Sunday, December 11, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm

at Congregation Kol Ami, White Plains

Join WRT's Men of Reform Judaism, in partnership with Congregation Kol Ami, for a very needed Blood Drive for the community.

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.  

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 receptionist@wrtemple.org 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.