Life Cycle Events

We serve as an extended family, which values friendship and chavurah (communal friendship) to respond to the spiritual and social needs of our members.

Our Jewish tradition heightens the meaning we find in times of joy, helps find clarity in times of confusion and strives to ease the pain in times of loss. The congregation and its Rabbis are always ready to help shape and share in simchas such as brit milah, bat/bar mitzvah, conversion and marriage. During difficult times, when facing illness, dealing with divorce or faced with the loss of a loved one, congregants will find NSTE a supportive community. Members are invited to celebrate milestone anniversaries at the synagogue during Friday night or Shabbat morning services when our Rabbis offer their special blessings, sanctifying this important life cycle passage.

Services Available:

Brit Milah (Circumcision),

Baby naming

Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Weddings both on-site and off-site, with a chuppah available for hire for off-site weddings.

Special birthdays/anniversaries are recognized before the open ark or while the Torah is being read. Celebrating one’s simcha (joyous occasion) is made more special when shared with the congregation. 

Funerals With compassion, our Rabbis meet with families that have suffered a bereavement, the first step in a journey from loss to healing and prepare a service that is meaningful, serving both the needs of the family and the demands of tradition. 

Shiva platters are prepared by congregational volunteers and supplied to member families to partake of at the meal of consolation following the funeral.

Typically, a minyan (prayers) follows on the evening of the memorial service and, on the following Shabbat, the family gathers again at the synagogue to recite Kaddish and to accept the condolences of the community.

Yahrtzeit (Anniversary of the day of death) Members receive notification of the forthcoming Yahrtzeits of family members and friends if they wish. The names are read out at the Shabbat services following the actual Yahrtzeit which corresponds with the Hebrew date (or English date on request).