How We Worship
To pray as part of a congregation is to engage in the ritual of binding closer together into a community. Within the traditional framework, the congregation participates actively in religious services. We believe that the congregation should not be a passive, listening audience, but a creative, participating community.
- Sam Blumenthal z”l, founding member
Our congregants use tradition and ritual as a passage to the creation of new rituals to enhance worship. Participation by the members of the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore in our services enables those services to be more believable for us, more meaningful and connected to our daily lives.
The democratic process is central to the functioning of a Reconstructionist synagogue. The Rabbis and Cantor are the resource persons, the guides and facilitators. With this guidance and the cooperation of the Ritual Committee, the congregation participates actively, offering readings, songs and performing rituals such as candle lighting and kiddish. Congregational singing plays a large role in our services, as the Rabbis, Cantor and congregation come together for meaningful, responsive worship experiences.