Throughout Jewish history, Shabbat has been at the heart of Jewish life: a distinctive and special time, different from the working week.  At Alyth, we believe in making Shabbat holy, with learning and multiple services to meet the needs of a diverse community. We invite you to join us.

Erev Shabbat
Community Kabbalat Shabbat Service:   Fridays, 18:30
All generations of the Alyth community come together every Friday night for our Kabbalat Shabbat (Shabbat Evening) service.  The service begins at 18:30 and is no more than one hour in length.  With participative music, a thoughtful Dvar Torah, time to think and a powerful sense of community, this is one of the best-attended and most rewarding Shabbat services in the whole of London.

Other Services on Erev Shabbat: 

Baby Den:  Fridays, 10:30-11:30
Wake up with Shoshi on a Friday morning to sing songs, be with friends and bop to a Shabbat beat. Our musical Baby Den, with our Youth and Education Hub team is designed to help your little one develop creativity, co-ordination and concentration.  And above all else it’s FUN!

Shabbat Morning

Our regular Shabbat morning service is a contemporary Reform service led by one of our Rabbis, often accompanied by the volunteer choir, with a combination of reading, chanting, song and reflection. On most Shabbatot, there is also a parallel service that responds to the diverse prayer needs of our community.  From time to time these parallel services take place in the Beit Tefillah.

Classical Service: Shabbat Morning, 10:30
Normally held in our beautiful Beit Tefillah, and hosting a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, our Shabbat Shacharit is a service in the best Reform tradition, with a combination of participative and choral music led by our members’ choir; reading in Hebrew and English; a thought-provoking sermon; reading of Torah and Haftarah; and our communal celebration of life cycle events.  Men and women sit together, and we use the magnificent siddur of the Reform Movement, Seder Ha-Tefillot.  This service typically ends by 12.30pm, when our minyanim come together for Kiddush.

Kollot: usually 2nd Shabbat of the month, 10:30
Kollot is a more informal service in which the liturgy is sung and chanted in Hebrew.  Kollot encourages diverse voices, with accessible melodies, spontaneous harmony, and opportunities for lay involvement.  Children are more than welcome and there is a kids’ corner for those who need. The Kollot run on the 4th Shabbat of the month is often with a guitar and includes a “Breakout” immersive Torah experience during the Torah Service for the younger members of the community.

Gesher: 3rd Shabbat of the month, 11:00-12:00
If your child is too big for Sensory Shabbat, and not yet ready for more grown-up services, Gesher is a great bridge service – full of music, joy, and learning. In place of a Torah reading, our Youth and Education Hub educators organise activities that help our primary school age children to engage with the ideas of the weekly reading.

T’fillah Laboratory: 1st Shabbat of the month, see calendar for details
On the first Shabbat of the month is our unique Tefillah Laboratory, a space for experimental, innovative prayer services which push the boundaries of Jewish spirituality for adults d families.

Sensory Shabbat : 1st Shabbat of the month, 11:00-12:00
Our Shabbat experience designed to stimulate your babies’ senses in the first years of their life. Join Rabbi Hannah and Chloe in this service where you and your baby can touch, see, smell, hear and taste your way through the service. Suitable for babies from birth to 2 years. Be mindful that this is a quiet experience.

Please click here to see Around Alyth, which has which services are occurring this month