Shabbat
The core of our communal experience revolves around Shabbat and the holidays.
Our Kabbalat Shabbat, or Friday evening services, begin at 6 pm. We light candles as a community; pray and meditate; sing and dance; and follow services with an oneg.
Here is a downloadable version of our Friday night siddur
On Shabbat mornings, we study the weekly Torah portion, or parashat ha’shavua, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. Shabbat morning services begin at 10:00 and last until 12:15 PM. Following services, all are again welcome to a kiddush.
At TBZ, we have come to love the way our community marks the weekly passage into Shabbat. During our soulful Kabbalat Shabbat, or Friday evening services, which begin at 6:00 PM, we encounter the Shekhina as she returns to our realm. We experience the expansion of soul that is the essence of Shabbat. We come together as a community. We open our hearts to all of G!d’s creation, we bless ourselves, our loved ones and benefactors. We even open ourselves to find room in our hearts for those we see as adversaries and obstacles to our happiness.
The safety of our Sanctuary provides a refuge for many of us from the hustle-and-bustle of our work-a-day lives. We bring to Shabbat the enthusiasm of a lover yearning to reunite with his or her beloved. We bring to Shabbat the excitement of a child yearning for the embrace of a parent, of a long lost child returning home to the legacy of his or her ancestors. We here, at TBZ, are proud of our attempt to renew our ancient traditions so they continue to speak to us as if we were there at the beginning of our wondrous journey through history.
Our celebration and observance (Zachor veShamor) of Shabbat continues on Saturday morning: we study the weekly Torah portion, or parashat ha’shavua, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM; and Shabbat morning services begin at 10:00 and last until 12:15 PM.
Shabbat observance at TBZ testifies to the unquenchable thirst we have to re-connect with the Source of Life, to desist from paths of exploitation and destruction of the planet, socially, ecologically, and politically. Our Shabbat services are a weekly affirmation of the Power of the Spirit and the capacity of humanity to act as if we are redeemed.
It is said that the ultimate Redemption will be on Shabbat. Bimhayrah beyameynoo, let it come speedily in our days.