Our Shabbat services feature addresses by Rabbi Oler on topics of interest, followed by lively discussions. We also have frequent guest speakers and occasional presentations by congregants.

Shabbat and Wholeness

The impulse is present within us as human beings to aspire toward wholeness, to transform ourselves into compassionate and sensitive people who can transcend our mundane self-serving drives.

Judaism teaches about the inner struggle in each person between the inclination toward goodness and the inclination toward evil, and encourages us to enable our better selves to prevail.

Religious humanism involves the search for such personal transformation utilizing the resources of spiritual traditions: ethical teachings and observances that reinforce them.

We celebrate Shabbat to learn about holy living. We sanctify or set aside time, which we invest with qualities and an atmosphere distinct from the remainder of the week. It serves as a metaphor teaching us to distinguish ourselves with qualities that uplift us to transcend who we might otherwise remain.

Keddushat Shabbat, the holiness of the Sabbath, teaches us to regard with awe the reality of existence within time and to appreciate the opportunity for freedom.

The greeting of others with the words "Shabbat Shalom" conveys our yearning that others find serenity and peace on this day that will continue to abide in their hearts.

As members of a community we care that others be able to partake in the opportunities for spiritual growth and satisfaction that the tradition we share provides.

The Role of Religion in Our Lives

We are a religious people. We are committed to continuity within Jewish life - continuity consistent with our knowledge and experience.

Religion for us is progressive, developing and evolving as a source of inspiration, expressive of the understanding of each generation.

Our ancestors called in prayer upon Avinu Malkeinu, "Our Father, Our King" - their image of the divine as both nurturing parent and sovereign ruler of all the world they knew.

We strive to transcend such imaging, yet to model ourselves after the twin ideals of nurturance and responsible exercise of authority.

Our ancestors took from the Torah six words that became central to Jewish life as an expression of absolute faith: Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad, "Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One."

We hear these words, not as descriptive of physical reality, but as our forebears' way of sounding the call to universal ethical values that can continue to inspire our actions today.

The Torah teaches: Kedoshim Tiheyu, "You shall be holy." We understand religion as calling all human beings to a life of holiness - wholeness in thought and in deed, purity in motive, sincerity in action.

To seek to be holy as human beings means to strive for truth and justice, to pursue righteousness, and to bring love and compassion into all that we do.