RITUAL PRACTICE

For many years, our liturgy was primarily Conservative. In recent years, our increasingly diverse community has chosen to be unaffiliated and egalitarian, yet our liturgy remains respectful of the community’s traditions. Our services are conducted in Hebrew and English, and there is usually transliteration for the Hebrew. We sing both modern and traditional Jewish melodies. Our prayer books (siddurim) vary, sometimes “the blue book,” Siddur Hadash but more often Siddur Eit Ratzon.

SERVICES

Our Friday evening Shabbat service is informal and lasts about one hour, followed by a kiddush and sometimes a shared meal. Saturday morning is usually a two-hour long service, followed by kiddush and often an oneg sponsored by a member of the congregation.

HOLIDAYS

Adas Yoshuron offers a full schedule of services for the High Holy Days. We celebrate Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat, Pesach (Second Seder), and Shavuot,  among other Jewish holidays and memorial days; see the Calendar and the Newsletter and, below, “Memorial Days.”

MEMORIAL DAYS

Each year in April, Adas Yoshuron observes Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) at the synagogue in Rockland. This service is open to the midcoast community, and all are invited to join in remembrance of the millions of people who suffered and perished in the Holocaust.

More than 12 million people, of whom 6 million were Jewish men, women and children, were lost during the Holocaust. The Adas Yoshuron community gathers to commemorate their lives and to honor their memory. The service is conducted by members of the synagogue, who share a variety of readings and prayers. Following the service, all are invited to a dessert reception. For more information, please call 207-594-4523 or email info@adasyoshuron.org.

Adas Yoshuron also commemorates Tisha B’Av (the Fast of the 9th of Av) each year in July or August. This day of mourning commemorates tragedies that have occurred on the ninth of Av, primarily the destruction of the first and second Temples. Many Jews remember other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people on this date.

LIFE-CYCLE EVENTS

For information about baby namings, brit milot, bat and bar mitzvahs, weddings and funerals you wish to hold at Adas Yoshuron, see Life-Cycle Events. The synagogue has two Jewish cemeteries in the Rockland area as well as a fully trained Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society), which is independent from the synagogue.