Birth | Covenant of Circumcision

As you await the arrival of a beautiful baby into your life and home, be sure to contact The Temple to have a clergy help you in planning the b’ris  or baby naming and timing according to Jewish custom. You may also want to involve our clergy as you plan the venue for the ceremony and choose a mohel (circumciser) for this very special occasion. A b’ris is traditionally held on the eighth day of a baby boy’s life. A baby naming for a daughter is often held on the eighth day, as well, but may be scheduled any time, as may a baby naming for a boy. A baby naming may also be scheduled to take place during a Friday evening Shabbat service or Shabbat morning service, with the approval of a clergy.

So Eat All-Ready

If you are soon to bring home a new bundle of joy?  Enjoy your time with that precious baby, and let the WRJ/Sisterhood bring meals to you.  Contact Jessica Springer at jrgladstone@hotmail.com before or after your new addition comes home, and we will get a Meal Train set up for you.  It’s easy, it’s personalized, and it’s so much fun – don’t hesitate to contact us.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a title a child earns at the age of 13, indicating a new status in the Jewish community with accompanying privileges and responsibilities. The Bat/Bar Mitzvah at The Temple leads part of the Shabbat morning service and reads or chants the Torah and Haftarah portion and blessings for that particular Shabbat. Some families opt to have a Saturday evening Havdalah service. Reading the Torah and Haftarah is an honor and a privilege, but it is also a challenge. It requires knowledge of the Hebrew language and an understanding of sections of our sacred texts. It also affords the students an opportunity to take an adult role in the synagogue and the Jewish community. Learning to lead our congregation in prayer is study which is integrated into our Religious School curriculum and private lessons with our clergy.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a beautiful and inspiring ceremony held in conjunction with the holiday of Shavuot, when young men and women in the tenth grade of high school, having completed a course of study through the High School of Jewish Studies and with Rabbi David Ariel-Joel, confirm their faith in Judaism.

Knowing that a certain amount of maturity is required for the proper understanding of our faith, the leaders of Reform Judaism introduced the ceremony of Confirmation. It was regarded as a ritual marking a period of study beyond the Bar/Bat Mitzvah age. In almost all Reform congregations, including ours, Confirmation takes place at the end of the 10th grade in religious school.

Confirmation was widely adopted in our country because the ceremony captured the spirit of American Democracy as it provided for the religious equality of young men and women. The ceremony takes place in conjunction with Shavuot, the festival that traditionally celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.  When the Confirmands affirm their faith in Judaism, they symbolically re-enact the acceptance of the Torah by our people.

Marriage

Our clergy delight in officiating at wedding ceremonies for members, their children, or couples wishing to join The Temple.

The wedding process includes meetings with the officiating clergy prior to the ceremony. Those meetings include discussions including the ceremony and the couple’s future life together.

Weddings can be scheduled at The Temple, or other appropriate local venues on days other than Shabbat (Friday night and Saturday day time) or during High Holy Days or major festivals.

In America, interfaith marriages are common.  We believe that we serve our members’ needs best by supporting their decisions and helping them to have the opportunity for a meaningful religious ceremony during important times in their lives.  Rabbi David Ariel-Joel will perform interfaith weddings. If you are planning an interfaith wedding, please call The Temple at 502.423.1818 to arrange for an appointment him.

Pastoral Care for the Ill

Our clergy visit area hospitals several times each week in order to provide comfort, and to offer prayers for Temple members who are hospitalized.

Because of medical privacy laws, however, our clergy are not informed by hospitals when someone is a patient there. We therefore encourage family members and friends, or even patients themselves, to contact our clergy to inform us if a Temple member is ill, so that our clergy may visit that person.

For more information, please fill out this confidential form or email caringrabbi@gmail.com:

End of Life/Burial

Temple families receive support that recognizes the sanctity and dignity of human life in all its stages. When a life nears its end, our clergy console and guide the ill, the aged, and their loved ones.

If you have a loved one who is ill, please contact us so that our clergy can visit and offer warmth and support in the face of difficult life challenges. To those nearing death and their loved ones, our clergy provide comfort and can offer spiritual guidance for difficult end-of-life decisions.

Our clergy are also honored to officiate at funerals or memorial services, as well as perform unveiling ceremonies when a monument/marker is established.

In addition, we read aloud the names of all yahrzeits (anniversary of the death) of our member’s loved ones each year. If you have not provided that information to The Temple, please do so, so that we might help you to honor a loved one’s memory in this meaningful traditional manner.

​The Temple also recommends Shiva Connect: