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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
| Jun 08, 2008 |
7:00 pm |
Erev Shavuot |
Eitz Chayim Community Room |
Recent Holiday Celebrations
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