Pardes Levavot Service Schedule

Welcome to Pardes Levavot. We welcome all to attend and participate in our shabbat services. We make no assumptions about the members of our community. Some are intimate with the Hebrew language, some remember bits from Hebrew school as a child, some have never encountered Hebrew. Our members come from varied denominations: Reform, Orthodox, Conservative; some were raised secular; some are not Jewish, with some on a path to converting to Judaism.

The best way to see if Pardes Levavot is the community for you is to join us for a few Shabbat services, meet our members and experience what we are all about. Our new Shabbat schedule includes an emphasis on learning for the whole family.

We celebrate Shabbat every week. Below is a very general guide to what you will experience each Shabbat of the month. Please note that this is only an outline. The actual schedule is informed by Jewish holidays, Jewish community events and special Pardes Levavot events. Please see our calendar for the current schedule.

First Shabbat of the Month

We celebrate the first Shabbat of the month on Saturday morning beginning at 9:00 AM. The first 45 minutes offers a gateway to understanding prayer for all ages. From 9:45 to 11:45 the adults have a deep guided experience through the service itself and interactive Torah study, while the children learn Torah and prayer in their class session. We all come together for the final 30 minutes of the morning for the Torah reading. We end our shabbat celebration with Kiddush. This is a particularly family-friendly Shabbat, with something for everyone and special attention to small children.

Second and Fourth Shabbat of the Month

We welcome the Sabbath Bride into our midst the second and fourth Shabbat of the month with our Kabbalat Shabbat service beginning at 7:00 PM. Candle lighting, prayer, chant, song, dance, Torah learning, and meditation are all parts of this service. This is a beautiful and powerful way to mark the end of a week of work and play, and the beginning of your day of rest. We end our celebration with Oneg Shabbat.

Third Shabbat of the Month

We celebrate the third Shabbat of the month beginning at 9:30 AM. We begin with a deeper, more extensive Torah study involving everyone. From 10:15 to noon we engage in wonderful renewal prayer and Torah reading. We end our shabbat celebration with Kiddush. While there is not a special class for the young ones on this Shabbat, children are always welcome in our services.

Fifth Shabbat of the Month

A few months each year are blessed with five Shabbatot. In these months, we celebrate Shabbat with the afternoon service beginning at 4:00 PM. This is an informal gathering where we all come together around a table to share Seudah Shlishit (the third meal), noshing on finger foods brought by everyone. We focus on discussion and learning of the first part of next week's Torah portion, followed by the Mincha service (afternoon prayers). We end with Havdalah, ceremonially marking the end of Shabbat and ushering in a new week.