Worship

FRIDAY NIGHT

Our regularly held Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat services begin at 7:30 pm. Once a month, a potluck Shabbat dinner starts at 6:30 pm, followed by the Shabbat service at 7:30 pm. After all services, an Oneg Shabbat is hosted by congregants on a rotating basis. Cakes, pies, cookies, cheese, fruit and vegetable platters are served while congregants socialize and catch up with each other from the past week.

SATURDAY MORNING

Shabbat Morning Services are only held when there is a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or during the High Holy Days.

Guests who would like to attend any of our services should contact the office at 843-669-9724. Security measures are in place and the entrance is locked at all times. We also have a police officer stationed in our parking lot for all services and special events.

HIGH HOLY DAYS

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a time for reflection, introspection, prayer, and re-connection.  We welcome you to join us in celebrating and observing these special Holy days.  We offer a variety of services to meet the spiritual needs of our diverse community. In addition, we offer a High Holy Day children’s service.

SUKKOT/SIMCHAT TORAH

The holiday of Sukkot commemorates the Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness. It also celebrates the end of the harvest season. Our religious school decorates our permanent “Sukkah” with items to symbolize the harvest bounty. Simchat Torah immediately follows Sukkot. After a whole year of reading a section of the Torah each week, on this holiday we celebrate because the cycle has finished and we start again.

HANUKKAH

The Festival of Lights is a joyous time at Beth Israel! The eight-day holiday celebrates the miracles in the story of the military victory of the Jews, led by Judah Maccabee. At home and at the synagogue, we cook and enjoy foods that are fried in oil such as potato latkes and soufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). We also have a community candle lighting of everyone’s hanukiyot on a Friday night during Hanukkah.

TU B’SHEVAT

This is the Jewish Arbor Day or Earth Day. Many Jews will plant a tree on this holiday, eat a new fruit or collect money to plant trees in Israel. In the Beth Israel Religious School, students are taught about the holiday and have symbolically planted parsley and potato cuttings in glass jars so they can see the roots growing.

PURIM

Religious School students are taught the story of Queen Esther, her uncle, Mordechai, and the villain, Haman. The students also make and bake hamantaschen. During the Friday night services closest to Purim, the service is a bit silly. The story is retold, sometime a Purim Shpiel is performed, and everyone has groggers to make noise with when Haman’s name is mentioned.

PASSOVER

This holiday occurs in the spring and celebrates the freedom of the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt and then set free. Religious School students have their own Seder and also participate in the full-scale Beth Israel Congregational Seder held in our Social Hall on the second night of Passover.