שבת
Shabbat

Shabbos at Nehar Shalom is warm and connected.

We gather to sing, pray, learn, catch up, grieve, celebrate, and mark time together.

All are welcome at our services and gatherings.

[“Shabbos” is a way of writing the Ashkenazi pronunciation of “Shabbat”, which is a Sefardi pronunciation. They mean the same thing and we use them interchangeably!]

 

When do we meet?

We gather for one Shabbat service per weekend, alternating Fridays and Saturdays. Generally, we meet on the second and fourth Friday and first and third Saturday. Given that we share space with other organizations and occasionally change our calendar to accommodate them, it’s always a good idea to check our website calendar.

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Tot Shabbat, geared toward ages 0-6, is held during Nehar Shalom shabbat morning services twice a month. It will always be noted on our calendar and in our weekly newsletter.

 

Who can attend?

We welcome members and non-members, regulars and guests, people who are very familiar with the service and those who are new to Shabbat services. If you would like to know what to expect before coming, Rabbi Leora would love to talk you through it. Our community strives to be radically inclusive and if there is anything we can do to make our gatherings more accessible to you, please be in touch.

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If you are attending for the first time please let Rabbi Leora or our administrator, Cynthia Bell know so we can be sure and welcome you.

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What about COVID and health and safety?

You can read more about our COVID-related practices here. The most important things to know are:

• If you have symptoms of any infectious respiratory or gastrointestinal illness, COVID or not, please stay home.

• We require vetted, high-filtration (KN95, N95, or KF94) masks. Everyone age 2 and over is required to wear a high-filtration mask over their nose and mouth for the whole time they are inside.  

• We require everyone who is eligible to be fully vaccinated, including all booster shots for which they are eligible.

• If anyone in your household has COVID, please stay home until they have been fully recovered for 5 days.  For more information on COVID exposures, including non-household exposures, please read more here.

• In the case of COVID illness, though the CDC says you can return after 5 days, please wait a full 10 days before returning to Nehar Shalom in person.​

• When serving food (e.g. kiddush), we have designated eating areas where people may unmask.  Please remain masked outside those areas.

• Our services are live-streamed in order to make them accessible to people who are not able to attend in person.

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What about other kinds of accessibility?

• Our indoor space is fully wheelchair accessible. 

• The bathrooms are all-gender, single-stall, and wheelchair accessible.

• Because masks are required, we know this makes lip-reading impossible,. we don’t regularly have ASL interpretation available, but if you would like to attend and that would make it accessible to you, please be in touch with Rabbi Leora.

• Our prayer books are mostly in Hebrew and translated into English, with some transliteration (the Hebrew words written in English letters). We have books available in which all of the Hebrew text is transliterated - if you would like one, please be sure to ask the greeter or host.

• In honor of Shabbat, if you have a phone or other electronic device with you, please make sure it is on silent (not vibrate) and refrain from using it inside the building. 

• If you have any other accessibility needs, please do not hesitate to let us know. You are welcome to reach out to Rabbi Leora or to our administrator Cynthia Bell.