Worship

Prayers are acts of the individual, while worship is the spiritual expression of individual hearts bound together in community. When we come together to pray, we draw from one another a deepened sense of joy, of meaning, of strength, and of comfort. We may come to worship with our individual needs, yet we also find community when we are joined together in prayer, in song, and in study. That is what we seek to create at Wise Temple Shabbat and Holiday worship: a spiritual confluence of prayer, music, learning, of joy and community in a warm and inviting atmosphere.

With two different sanctuaries (Plum Street Temple and the Wohl Chapel at Wise Center in Amberley Village), and often different kinds of services taking place simultaneously in different locations, we offer Shabbat and Holiday worship that is accessible, comfortable, and engaging for people of all ages and from diverse backgrounds.

SHABBAT EVENING

Utilizing our own congregational prayer book compiled by our rabbis, Avodat HaLev-Worship of the Heart, the Reform Movement's prayer book, Mishkan T'filah, and creative worship, our services celebrate congregational participation in prayer and in song. Every service reflects our musical variety with a Cantor, organist, pianist, guitarist, and/or instrumentalists, as well as a youth choir, an adult volunteer choir (Kol Rinah), and a congregational band (Shir Chadash), reflecting a sense of joy and vitality to our music. Our rabbis lead us in Torah study, sermons or conversations so that we are challenged in our thoughts and insights from Jewish tradition as we confront the demands of modernity.

In addition, our congregation hosts a "Wise Tykes Service" for families with younger children at least once a month. In addition, several times throughout the year, we will hold a special SYNAPLEX SHABBAT evening. Synaplex is an exciting, contemporary and creative format of educational, spiritual, and social interaction - all centered on a theme. Like a Cineplex that offers many different movies, Synaplex offers a variety of concurrent experiences that will engage the diverse members of our congregation. These special and unique experiences will occur, before, during and after the Shabbat service. Synaplex is about choices, connections and community. Perhaps you will want to join us for the entire evening, or perhaps just for a portion of the program.

Watch for ways to register and for more information about each Synaplex in Wisebytes, Kesher and the webpage throughout the year.

Worship is also about community. There are opportunities to socialize both before and after our Friday Evening Shabbat services. This allows us to build on that sense of community and the important bonds of connection that we share with one another in worship, whether we are members or guests, regular worshippers or first-time visitors, older adults or young children. We also offer congregational Shabbat dinners to enjoy following services several times during the year. Ours is a congregational family with a rich fabric of spiritual expression, and plenty of joy to share. We invite you to worship with us.

SHABBAT MORNING

Almost every Saturday marks a Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony for one of our younger congregants. These services are open to the congregation. Please be sure to check our "service schedule" (link) for this week's information.

As an alternative to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Service, we offer a worship service at Wise Center. Beginning at 9:30 AM each week, we gather in an informal setting to pray, learn and celebrate Shabbat together. Services are led by Rabbi Baden, Rabbi Shulman, or one of our wonderful rabbinic interns, and include lots of singing, participation, a Torah reading, and a short D'var Torah (words of Torah). After services we enjoy bagels and coffee and, of course, schmoozing. At 10:45 AM we begin Torah Study, a creative and highly participatory investigation into the weekly Torah portion led by the rabbinic staff. Debating, questioning and discussing are common; no prior Torah experience necessary.

Be sure to check our website or call our office to verify all times and locations of our services.

8329 Ridge Road | Cincinnati, OH 45236 | 513.793.2556 | welcome@wisetemple.org