During the past few months, the Religious Committee has had several discussions concerning Friday night services. We hope that we can attract more people to the service by providing different types of experiences within our regular structure and investigating other kinds of experiences which we could have. This is a goal that you will be hearing more about in the near future. For now, let me inform you of our schedule of Friday night services for March.

During four of the Friday evenings in March, each of our services will have a slightly different twist and we invite you to join with us for any or all of these evenings. All services, except for March 16. will begin at 6 p.m.

On the second Friday, March 9, we invite you to join us a bit earlier than usual. We will begin our evening at 5:45 with some study and song in anticipation of Shabbat. We will meet in the board room over some pre-Shabbat refreshments and sing and study in welcome of the Shabbat queen

On the third and fifth Fridays, March 16 and March 30 our service will include a session of: ?Ask the Rabbi?. Are there any questions you have always wanted to ask but never quite had the opportunity to ask? Come to the service and we?ll take 20 minutes in between kabbalat Shabbat and ma?ariv for discussion of any questions you might have.

And finally, on Friday, March 23 our service will feature new and different melodies in a bit of a different setting upstairs at 2010 Washtenaw. If you have a tune for licha dodee or for shalom aleichem that you haven?t heard us sing, come join us and we will have a Shabbat service with some additional singing and some new melodies.

As I have often written in HaShaliach, the Friday night service is one of my favorite moments of the week. I enjoy the quieter, contemplative mood of the service and the calm that it brings for me and for a community which more than likely has raced through the week.

At the same time, I, and all of us at Beth Israel, recognize that Friday evening is an opportunity for new experiences and new opportunities for finding meaning in our tradition and in prayer. So, join with us both during March and by helping us plan for the future as we seek to expand the possibilities of prayer on erev Shabbat.

This message is replaced every month with Rabbi Dobrusin's monthly message as it appears in Beth Israel Synagogue's printed newsletter, HaShaliach. It carries the same copyright protection as all of Rabbi Dobrusin's messages on this website. Unlike his other messages, the monthly bulletin message is not archived online.

Please send comments or suggestions to Rabbi Robert Dobrusin.