Shabbat & Festivals
At Etz Chayim, all services are available both in-person and online. Please click the relevant button below to join us on Zoom.
Shabbat
Kabbalat Shabbat
Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat at 6pm on the last Friday of every month. The service will be followed by a communal non-meat meal. Please bring a main dish or dessert to share (dairy or fish only).
If you would like to stay for the communal meal please click here to let us know. It will assist our volunteers with correctly setting-up the hall.
Shacharit Shabbat
Services are every Saturday at 10am
Shabbat is the centrepiece of Jewish life when most Jews, whether traditional or not, tend to enjoy the day as a time to slow down, to eat well, to sing, and to engage with family and friends. Shabbat, for most, is a day of peace, reflection and hospitality.
At Etz Chayim, we make Shabbat a unique and meaningful experience as we join together in prayer, reflection and song. Our services, conducted in both English and Hebrew, create an experience accessible for those both familiar with the liturgy and those starting their explorative journey.
At Etz Chayim, we use Mishkan Tefilah as our siddur [prayer book] and Rabbi Gunther Plaut’s The Torah: A Modern Commentary as our Tanakh, Torah Commentary. Both are available for loan during the service as you enter our sanctuary.
High Holy Days
Every year, we observe the High Holy Days as a community with services held in-person and also accessible online.
Members will automatically be sent High Holy Day tickets; non-members are welcome to contact the Office for special inclusion. Members from our sister communities are more than welcome but will be required to show their High Holy Day ticket from their own congregation or evidence of being in good financial standing with their Progressive congregation.
The prayerbooks we use are the Mishkan T’Shuvah for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These books may be purchased by contacting the Office. Alternatively, machzorim will be available to borrow.
Chagim
With their roots firmly entrenched in the Torah, the key Jewish Holidays and Festivals are not random days scattered throughout the year but are focussed moments of time, each drawing their power from multiple sources including nature, seasons, historical events, communal memory and religious traditions.
As such, Jewish Holidays and Festivals reflect both seasonal and historical cycles and focus our attention to the big questions of life: birth, death, food, shelter, freedom, and responsibility.
Each Holiday and Festival can mean different things to different people at different stages of their lives.
At Etz Chayim we welcome you to explore with us the perspectives and possibilities Judaism offers in celebrating or commemorating the richness of our tradition, and its relevance to us today.
| Tu b'Shvat / New Year for Trees | Evening of Wed 12 Feb – Thu 13 Feb 2025 |
|---|---|
| Purim / Festival of 'Lots' | Evening of Thu 13 Mar – Fri 14 Mar 2025 |
| Pesach / Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread | Evening of Sat 12 Apr – Sun 20 Apr 2025 |
| Yom haShoah / Holocaust Memorial Day | Evening of Wed 23 Apr – Thu 24 Apr 2025 |
| Yom haZikaron / Israel's Memorial Day | Evening of Tue 29 Apr – Wed 30 Apr 2025 |
| Yom haAtzmaut / Israel's Independence Day | Evening of Wed 30 Apr – Thu 1 May 2025 |
| Lag b'Omer / 33rd Day of Counting the Omer | Evening of Thu 15 May – Fr, 16 May 2025 |
| Yom Yerushalayim / Jerusalem's Independence Day | Evening of Sun 25 May – Mon 26 May 2025 |
| Shavuot / Festival of Weeks | Evening of Sun 1 June – Tue 3 June 2025 |
| Tisha b'Av / 9th Day of Av | Evening of Sat 2 Aug – Sun 3 Aug 2025 |
| Tu b'Av / Jewish Holiday of Love | Evening of Fri 8 Aug – Sat 9 Aug 2025 |
| Rosh Hashanah / Jewish New Year | Evening of Mon 22 Sept – Wed 24 Sept 2025 |
| Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement | Evening of Wed 1 Oct – Thu 2 Oct 2025 |
| Sukkot / Feast of Tabernacles | Evening of Mon 6 Oct – Mon 13 Oct 2025 |
| Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah, Day of Celebrating the Torah | Evening of Mon 13 Oct – Wed 15 Oct 2025 |
| Chanukah / Festival of Lights | Evening of Sun 14 Dec – Mon 22 Dec 2025 |