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The
congregation gathers as an extended family to celebrate shabbat and
major Jewish holidays. Members develop services, take part in readings,
sing and perform Jewish music, and children in the Jewish Cultural
School create presentations for Hanukkah, High Holiday and Passover
Seder celebrations and services.
Under the leadership of
Harold Londer, Or Emet’s Madrikh and
co-founder, and with the help of adult mentors and congregational
leaders, humanistic Jewish life cycle ceremonies are celebrated
including baby namings, Bar and Bat Mitzvah, weddings, and memorial
services.
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 "It was so nice having all our family and friends
come and celebrate our Bat Mitzvot, and take part in the service.
Guitarist Amy Stubenhaus led us in the singing of traditional shabbat
songs. I talked about my Torah portion from the Book of Exodus, and
gave my interpretation of the story of Passover from a humanistic point
of view. I played a song from "Ghetto Sketches" by George Perlman, a
Ukranian Jew, on my violin. All in all, it was a great night."
- Julia Wolfe
"My torah portion was from Deuteronomy. I explained
the rules which the ancient rabbis said traditional Jews were expected
to follow, and then I questioned the relevance of these rules for
today's world. I played traditional Hebrew melodies on the saxophone.
These traditional songs are part of who we are as Jews, and are
especially important to our congregation because our focus is not on
god but on the traditions and culture of Judaism."
- Elana Dahlager
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