A Time to Rest, Learn and Enjoy!

Our services include melodies, texts and symbols which will be familiar from other synagogues, yet integrated with innovations that are unique to the Messianic Jewish experience.

Music, love for sacred texts and prayers, contemplation, declarations of faith, hope and grandeur all combine to draw us into worship of God.

We hope that your visit to our Synagogue will bring you joy and look forward to seeing you soon!

Visiting services in a new environment can be a bit intimidating. But no need to worry! Here is a sketch of what you can expect.

What to wear?

First, a word about appropriate dress. Like many congregations nowadays, a range of appropriate attire would include business casual to coats and ties for guys and modest dresses, blouses, and slacks for women.

The flow

We begin with a beautiful song, Ma Tovu followed by the prayer Baruch Sh’amar. Then, more singing and even dance.

After we complete our songs of praise (p’sukei d’zimra), we transition into the blessings of the shema through praying the half-kaddish and Barekhu (the traditional call to prayer).

This leads naturally to the “Shema” section of the liturgy which reaches its high point with the familiar “Hear O Israel, The Lord is our God, The Lord alone!”

For us Messianic Jews, Yeshua the Messiah’s role as God’s agent of creation, revelation, and redemption is the climactic focus of this section. We offer a prayer which exalts him called Ha Elohim Asher.

Once we have declared our intention to commit ourselves to God’s purposes for His people Israel through Messiah, we move into deeper, more intimate space – the Amidah.

Seven blessings, including an opportunity for spontaneous prayer offered by members of the congregation, make this a moment of deep connection with the Holy One.

We have poured our hearts out to God and next, we listen to what he has to say to us through the readings of the Torah, Haftarah and Besorah (New Testament Scriptures), which are all read in both Hebrew and English. It is during this part of the service that we invite all the children to gather around the Torah. We raise a tallit (prayer shawl) over their heads and pray the traditional blessings over our little ones before sending them off to Shabbat School.

A sermon follows, delivered by Ruach Israel’s rabbis and qualified community members, who bring teaching and inspiration to us all.

The two-hour service ends in a traditional way with the Aleinu, Mourner’s Kaddish, the song Adon Olam and blessings over wine – the Kiddush – and challah.

Now it’s time to do what we Jews love to do – eat! The whole congregation is encouraged to bring non-meat items – veggies, herring, tuna, cheeses, veggie soups, yummy desserts, etc. for our afternoon feast.

After services,we offer healing prayer opportunities for any who desire personal attention from our Tefillah (prayer) Team. These are members trained to pray for others in the spirit of love, confidentiality and expectant faith. Community Healing Prayer times – quiet, reflective and spiritually powerful – are also part of our Shabbat afternoon experience for those who need a touch from God. See our event page to see when the next Healing service will be.

Visit our Tefillah Team page.

We also offer classes for adults. Or, you might just want to hang out and relax with others after your busy work week.

The Kids at Ruach Israel

And at Ruach Israel we love children, so bring the kids. Many of our parents sit with their children in the service until they go to nursery or Shabbat school during the Torah service. However, we also offer childcare beginning at 10:30 for the little ones who need to play.

And no worries about the kids getting bored after services! We also offer childcare and nursery from 1:00-2:30 p.m.,so you can stay for classes, healing prayer or just hang out with new friends.

Join us for Friday morning Shacharit Service

There’s no better way to start the day than by praying together. Please bring your Siddur if you have one. Coffee at a local restaurant follows davening.

For more information call our office at 781.449.6264.

Learn about Holy Days at Ruach Israel on the next page…