Kerem Shalom Services

Services for adults and families are held at Kerem Shalom on Friday evenings at 7:30 pm throughout the school year and on some Saturdays. During the summer, we have lay-led services on the second and fourth Fridays of the month.

Please see the calendar for our upcoming Shabbat Services.

Led by Cantor Rosalie Gerut, Shabbat Around the Table, includes a special dinner filled with singing, Torah discussion, remembering loved ones with the kaddish prayer, and getting to know each other in a relaxed, informal way.

Please see the calendar for our upcoming Shabbat Around the Table evenings.

At various times throughout the year, Cantor Rosalie Gerut leads Mostly Music Shabbat Services. These services feature music of various styles (sometimes calming and other times enthusiastic!) presented by talented Kerem Shalom members on piano, violin, guitar, flute, bass, and dumbek drum. At times, Kerem Shalom’s talented Tiferet String Ensemble is also featured.

Please see the calendar for our upcoming Mostly Music Shabbat Services.

Led by Rabbi Sam Pollak, Tot Shabbats are held one Friday each month at 5:45 pm.  Our “Tot Shabbat” allows young ones (from babies to young elementary children) to join with their parents to celebrate Shabbat with songs, stories, and plenty of movement. Tot Shabbats are joyful, spiritual, and meaningful for adults and kids alike. Our services center around Jewish holiday themes, Jewish values, and the cycle of the Torah. Interfaith families are warmly welcome at KS and young at heart members, without children, are welcome to attend Tot Shabbat too! Please see the calendar for our upcoming Tot Shabbats, and contact  for additional information.

Kerem Shalom offers a full range of services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including the following:

Rosh Hashanah

Community Evening & Morning Services are led by Rabbi Darby Leigh and cantorial soloist Rosalie Gerut. Conducted in a mixture of English and Hebrew (all transliterated), these spiritually fulfilling services engage the multi-generational span of our community. Rabbi Leigh delivers his Rosh Hashanah sermon at the evening services.

Young Family Morning Services are led by Family Education Director, Nancy Kaplan. These are highly participatory and include lots of music and storytelling as well as some out-of-your-seat movement geared to families with toddlers to 7-year-olds. On Rosh Hashanah, the service concludes with the sounding of the shofar. 

Tashlich is held in the afternoon on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, rain or shine, at the Old North Bridge in Concord. We gather next to a moving body of water and cast away fallen leaves or twigs to symbolically release last year’s regrets and contemplate what we wish to draw from the water to nourish us as we enter the New Year.

Second Day Rosh Hashanah morning services have been led by long-time Kerem Shalom member David Orlinoff, who has gifted us with this illuminating, uplifting service for over 30 years.

Yom Kippur

Community Evening & Morning Services are led by Rabbi Darby Leigh and cantorial soloist Rosalie Gerut. Conducted in a mixture of English and Hebrew (all transliterated), these spiritually fulfilling services engage the multi-generational span of our community. Rabbi Leigh delivers his Yom Kippur sermon at the evening services.

Young Family Morning Services led by Family Engagement Specialist Nancy Kaplan. These are highly participatory and include lots of music and storytelling as well as some out-of-your-seat movement geared to families with  3- to 7-year-olds. The Young Family Yom Kippur services conclude with Mincha and Neilah (see below)

Yizkor, the Memorial Service on Yom Kippur afternoon, provides an opportunity to witness the ongoing presence of our now-deceased loved ones in our lives. The Yom Kippur Morning Service continues into Yizkor without pause. 

Yom Kippur Afternoon gives the congregation a variety of opportunities to sustain the contemplative mood of Yom Kippur with such activities as Torah Study, Mindfulness Meditation, and yoga.

The Musical Musaf Service, with the Tiferet String Ensemble (which includes several members of Kerem Shalom),  provides a restful and spiritual prelude to Mincha and Neilah.

Mincha, the afternoon service is highlighted by a lively musical presentation of the story of Jonah by Kerem Shalom students.

Neilah, “the Closing of the Gates,” the last service of Yom Kippur, which completes the arc of the High Holy Days, is a meaningful, moving, and fulfilling service for all ages. All who attend morning services on Yom Kippur are warmly encouraged to return for Mincha, Neilah, and the community Break-Fast that follows.

Break Fast All are welcome to join in a potluck Break Fast, following Neilah, in the Social Hall.