Our holiday celebrations at Eitz Chayim are in keeping with our commitment to our intergenerational community and to engaging, participatory events. Our community's traditions are a blend of old and new, as traditonal liturgy and text are interspaced with personal and contemporary sounds, insights and experiences. All of our celebrations are enhanced with wonderful food, produced colaboratively by our congregants.

For example, on the High Holy Days, congregants are responsible for many aspects of the service, including Torah and Haftara readings, personal prayers, and interpretive readings. In addition to the traditional liturgy, group discussions enhance our understanding of the holidays. Throughout the services, our congregants and our guests are given many structured opportunities to interact with one another and with the messages of the High Holy Days. Due to the number of participants, we move to a larger space for the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and for Yom Kippur. On the second day of Rosh Hashana we return to Eitz Chayim on Magazine St., for our dramatic reenactment of the text.

On Purim, adults and children alike dress in outrageous costumes and join in an energized, riotous reenactment of the story of Esther, Mordecai, and Haman; in additon, the Megillat Esther is chanted with the cantillation unique to the holiday. On Purim, we squeeze into our familiar space, decorated for the event.

Every year on the second night of Passover, we have a gala Seder at a light filled hall. It is open to all Eitz Chayim members and to the community at large. Our wonderful rabbi, Liza Stern, guides us through the Hagaddah and the re-telling of the flight of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt to a world of greater freedom and more choices. We enjoy a meal of specially catered kosher foods, including a vegetarian option. Children of all ages are welcome! Prizes are given out to children for finding the hidden matzoh, the afikommen.

Upcoming Holiday Celebrations

Check back soon for our schedule of holiday celebrations in the upcoming year.

Recent Holiday Celebrations

Date	Time	Title	Location
Oct 02, 2009	6:00 pm	Community Sukkot Potluck Celebration	Congregation Eitz Chayim Sukkah
Sep 30, 2009	10:00 am	Sukkah Building and Decorating	Congregation Eitz Chayim
Sep 28, 2009	6:30 pm	Community Break Fast Potluck	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Sep 28, 2009	9:30 am	Yom Kippur Morning Service	Morse School
Sep 27, 2009	7:00 pm	Yom Kippur Kol Nidre Service	Morse School
Sep 20, 2009	1:30 pm	Tashlich (walk to river)	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Sep 20, 2009	10:00 am	Second day of Rosh Hashanah	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Sep 19, 2009	9:30 am	Rosh Hashanah Morning Service	Morse School
Sep 18, 2009	6:30 pm	Erev Rosh Hashanah Service	Eitz Chayim & Morse School
Dec 18, 2005	10:00 am	Chanukah Madness	Congregation Eitz Chayim

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Oct 02, 2009
Title:	Community Sukkot Potluck Celebration
Leader(s):	Laura Anne Lowery
Start:	6:00 pm
End:	10:00 pm
Location:	Congregation Eitz Chayim Sukkah
Description:	Join us for our annual Community Sukkot celebration and potluck! Come sing songs, listen to stories, and enjoy good food in the Eitz Chayim Sukkah!

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 30, 2009
Title:	Sukkah Building and Decorating
Start:	10:00 am
End:	1:00 pm
Location:	Congregation Eitz Chayim
Description:	Please join us to build the community Sukkah. The children will make beautiful decorations for the Sukkah while we build on Sunday, September 26th from 10:00-1:00.

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 28, 2009
Title:	Community Break Fast Potluck
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	6:30 pm
End:	8:00 pm
Location:	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Description:	Community Break Fast Potluck @ Eitz Chayim

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 28, 2009
Title:	Yom Kippur Morning Service
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	9:30 am
End:	6:30 pm
Location:	Morse School

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 27, 2009
Title:	Yom Kippur Kol Nidre Service
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	7:00 pm
End:	10:00 pm
Location:	Morse School

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 20, 2009
Title:	Tashlich (walk to river)
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	1:30 pm
End:	3:00 pm
Location:	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Description:	Tashlich (walk to river) after Potluck Luncheon

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 20, 2009
Title:	Second day of Rosh Hashanah
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	10:00 am
End:	1:30 pm
Location:	Eitz Chayim Community Room
Description:	On the second day of Rosh HaShanah we will be meeting in the Eitz Chayim Community Room for prayer and study led by our Rabbi Liza Stern. We are planning for a potluck and ask that everyone bring a vegetarian/kosher dish of their choosing for our lunch

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 19, 2009
Title:	Rosh Hashanah Morning Service
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	9:30 am
End:	2:30 pm
Location:	Morse School
Description:	9:30 am Services and Child Care @ Morse School 1:15 pm Kiddush @ Eitz Chayxtim 1:30 pm Luncheon @ Eitz Chayim

Event Type:	Holiday
Date:	Sep 18, 2009
Title:	Erev Rosh Hashanah Service
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	6:30 pm
End:	10:00 pm
Location:	Eitz Chayim & Morse School
Description:	6:30 pm Kiddush @ Eitz Chayim 7:00 Torah procession from Eitz Chayim to Morse School 7:30 pm Services @ Morse School As summer winds down and our thoughts turn to all manner of reckonings and new beginnings, we are reminded of the season of Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Repentance it ushers in, beginning, this year - 5769 according to the Jewish calendar. Cantorial Leader Debby Gelber will join Rabbi Stern in leading our Community's devotions on these holiest of days of the Jewish calend...

Event Type:	School, Holiday
Date:	Dec 18, 2005
Title:	Chanukah Madness
Leader(s):	Rabbi Liza Stern
Start:	10:00 am
End:	1:00 pm
Location:	Congregation Eitz Chayim
Description:	3rd Annual Menorah Contest – We’ve had some wonderful creative Menorahs in the past – let’s continue the tradition! Prizes will be awarded. School celebration will be held in the Community Room Hanukkah Fair – Sunday, December 18, 10:00-1:00 Your chance to buy gifts, decorations, candles, wrapping paper, gelt, games and more.