Holidays at Temple Emeth

The many festivals and holy days from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the fall through Shavuot in the spring, fill the seasons of our individual and communal lives with meaning. You will find the evening and morning services for all holidays including services on the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah and our Second Night Passover Seder noted on our calendar.

Pesach (Passover)

Pesach, known as Passover in English, is a major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The ritual observance of this holiday centers around a special home service called the seder (meaning "order") and a festive meal; the prohibition of chametz (leaven); and the eating of matzah (an unleavened bread). On the eve of the fifteenth day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, we read from a book called the hagaddah, meaning "telling," which contains the order of prayers, rituals, readings and songs for the Pesach seder. The Pesach seder is the only ritual meal in the Jewish calendar year for which such an order is prescribed, hence its name.

The seder has a number of scriptural bases. Exodus 12:3-11 describes the meal of lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs which the Israelites ate just prior to the Exodus. In addition, three separate passages in Exodus (12:26-7, 13:8, 13:14) and one in Deuteronomy (6:20-21) enunciate the duty of the parents to tell the story of the Exodus to their children. The seder plate contains various symbolic foods referred to in the seder itself.

The URJ has Passover Materials and Resources, check for information, such as Glossary of Words and Terms for Jewish Living, V'Shinantam -The UAHC Teacher's Newsletter, The Jewish Parent Page, URJ Press, Transcontinental Music Publications, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Haggadah Exhibit.

Shavuot

Temple Emeth holds an Erev Shavuot service with participation by member children who have completed their Confirmation requirements.