Services
A variety of services
Shabbat services
Shabbat services are offered on both Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. On the first Friday of the month our Family Friendly Kabbalat Shabbat service caters for all ages. At ELS we warmly welcome and include children in all services.
Every service is followed by a Kiddish to encourage the whole community to come together and socialise.
Festival services
At ELS, we celebrate all of the Jewish festivals with flair and creativity. In addition to our annual communal Seder at Pesach, we also observe a Tu Bishvat Seder earlier in the year to celebrate the first signs of Spring. At Purim, most of the community enter into the spirit of things by donning costumes and participating in Purim spiels.
In the autumn, we spend time out in our synagogue sukkah, which we decorate together before the festival, hanging fruit and sharing food together. Our Israeli Dance Group leads the hakafot (dancing with the Torah scrolls) at Simchat Torah. We light candles together at Chanukkah and often add music or drama activities for all ages.
Every holiday is marked with 'family friendly' services at which our children and young adults participate. We ask people to bring vegetarian dishes or kosher fish to share for a great kiddush afterwards. The atmosphere is warm and inclusive - we hope you will join us for a celebration soon!
High Holy Day services
During the days of Awe we offer separate creative services for young people of all ages in a separate building. Here they can explore the themes of the High Holy Days creatively with their friends and allow their parents to focus on the main services.
Music at services
Some of our services glory in the music of a professional choir and organist. Others take a less formal approach and we are accompanied by a wonderful guitarist, whilst at others we encourage the congregation to sing acapella.
Click here for a calendar of services.