Our shabbat services are as diverse as everything else at Temple Israel.

Friday Night

Shabbat Dinner
We have a catered dinner almost every Friday night. The dinner begins at about 6:00 p.m. From time to time we also have special theme dinners, where the food honors a particular Jewish community like medieval Spain, China, Argentina, or Italy. Reservations are essential for all dinners, and need to be made by contacting Phyllis at the temple by noon the day before. Email plittman@templeisrael.net or call 305-573-5900.

Early Shabbat Service.
First up is our seven o’clock service. It’s not like anything else in town. For starters, it’s prayerbookless (although we do say Kaddish and other traditional prayers) ... an experiment in imagining how Jews might replace the shabbat offering of formal words of prayers, just as our ancestors used prayer to replace animal sacrifice. The service is intimate, very informal, with lots of singing ... and it’s short (30 minutes). It’s a natural not only for seekers of new spiritual practice, but for people with kids and those who want an early worship service on the way home from downtown.

Late Shabbat Service.
Then is our traditional 7:30 PM service. Our prayerbook is Gates of Prayer, the most common siddur used in Reform temples, written by our late rabbi, Chaim Stern. There’s always a sermon by our own rabbi or occasionally by a guest speaker. This is the service that’s broadcast on the radio for our virtual congregation members all over South Florida. And after the service, there’s an oneg where you can nosh and shmooze.

Saturday Morning

On Saturday mornings, we offer a rich mixture of learning and prayer.

Torah Tykes Shabbat

Torah Tykes continues to draw together a warm and bustling group of Temple Israel’s littlest Shabbat observers and their families in spirited bite-sized Shabbat worship. Join us any Shabbat morning at 9:00 AM as we mark the day with blessings, song, merry-making, and Torah.

Shabbat Study and Service
We begin at 9:45 with the morning blessings, to awaken ourselves. We then devote an hour of study to a Jewish spiritual work. This year we are studying The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet, an amazing work by an Hassidic master. At 11:00 we continue prayer with the heart of the Saturday morning service. This includes the Torah reading, with a discussion of the Torah from a different perspective. If you are looking for an intimate, thoughtful Jewish spiritual discipline, come visit us on a Saturday morning.

Sundays at 9:30 AM
A morning service, family style, whenever Religious School is in session.


Whichever service you might choose to attend, make sure to introduce yourself to us.