Temple Emanuel Grand Rapids

04/22/2026

Wishing the State of Israel a happy 78th birthday!

04/10/2026

Shabbat Shalom!

Please join us in person or online for our Erev Shabbat Service this evening!

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation:...

03/12/2026

Here is a message from our friends at Camp Ben Frankel in Belleville, IL!

With camp starting in three months, spots are filling up and we have opened waitlists in several cabins, but there is still time to register before the summer starts. If there are any families in your community who have not made summer plans yet, I would love to connect with them and for you to shar...

03/06/2026

Shabbat Shalom!

Tonight's Erev Shabbat servcie will include Torah Service. Thanks and Mazel Tov to Betsy and Dick Frank for hosting our Oneg Shabbat this evening in celebration of their 57th anniversary. You crazy kids done good!

Tomorrow morning Rabbi Cattapan embarks on a new topic for Shabbat Morning Study at 10:00 AM. Before the Exile: The Inner World of Medieval Jewish Civilization.

What was Jewish life like before the great expulsions of Europe? Through original historical documents—imperial laws, royal charters, confessions, and chronicles—we will explore how Jewish communities lived, adapted, and endured under Christian and Muslim rule. Each session examines a single primary source that reveals the fragile but resilient structures of Jewish life in the medieval world.

Looking ahead to next week we have a Bat Mitzvah to celebrate (more on that soon!), The Jewish Federation is hosting lunch on Wednesday along with a video meeting with Dr. Delphine Gamburg, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest--program starts at 12 noon RSVP to [email protected]. Our monthly board of trustees meeting is Thursday in case anyone wants a closer look at the busniess side of our congregation.

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation ...

02/27/2026

Friday, February 27, 2026
Social Hour
5:00 p.m.
Join us in the (new) north lobby for refreshments and time to connect with each other and relax between the working week and Shabbat!

Shabbat Services
6:00 p.m.
Join us in person or via Livestream for our Erev Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Javier Cattapan and Cantor Rick Lawrence with special guest Cantor Charles Osborne. Service will be followed by a Purim Shpeil featuring our cantors!

Shimshon and Garfunkelkatzensteinyvitz present: "The Sounds of Haman." Hear the Purim story you know and love retold as you have never heard before! Featuring songs like '"The Sounds of Haman" and "You Can Call Me Mensch," you'll be sure to come away with a fresh understanding of this tale as old as time. This world premiere performance will be following services on Friday, February 27th. You definitely don't want to miss this!

We thank the Tom & Mickie Fox Family Fund for underwriting
the hamantaschen for tonight’s Oneg Shabbat.

Saturday, February 28, 2026
10:00 a.m.
Lifelong Learning Torah Study: Shabbat Zachor & Purim
Taught by Cantor Osborn, Cantor Laureate & Composer-in-Residence of Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto
On the Shabbat before Purim, we hear the command: “Zachor—Remember what Amalek did to you.” How does this ancient charge connect to the story of Esther, Mordechai, and Haman? Why does Jewish tradition link Shabbat Zachor so closely to Purim? Cantor Osborn will explore the biblical and liturgical threads that bind memory, resilience, and moral courage—helping us deepen our understanding of this powerful Shabbat and its enduring relevance.

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation ...

02/20/2026

Shabbat Shalom! Cantor Lawrence will fly solo for services tonight as Rabbi Cattapan recovers from...la grippe. No Torah Study Tomorrow.

But tonight we have us CAKE! Birthday and Anniversaries for February will be celebrated. It will be a family-friendly service using the Mishkan T'Filah for Youth prayer books. Thanks to Jean Silbar and Dan Voorhees for supplying gluten-free challah for tonight!

Tomorrrow morning at 9:00 is Tot Shabbat in the Lewis Social Hall followed by Family Hamantaschen baking in the Marilyn Leven Kitchen. Families with young ones from infants to age 5 are encouraged to join us for a Shabbat morning together!

Get ready for Purim fun next week! Special Shpeil Shabbat, the JFGR Purim Carnival, and our Purim Pub Crawl (sold out!) are all on tap. Our complete calendar is, as always, at www.grtemple.org/calendar .

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation ...

01/27/2026

Good morning, everyone! FYI your Temple office staff have arrived. We left our dog sleds at the door... Woof!

12/19/2025

Shabbat Shalom! After a brief break we are back to full-on winter weather, but roads should be in pretty decent shape for travel to services tonight. And you want to come because we are celebrating December birthdays and anniversaries AND welcoming all the new folks who have joined Temple Emanuel over the past year! The heat is on, we will be lighting the Chanukah menorah as well as the Shabbat candles, and we want to share the light and warmth with you. Also, there is cake!

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation ...

12/04/2025

Come on over and shop whenever the Temple is open (OK, maybe not during Shabbat...) Hanukkah starts at sundown on Sunday, December 14th!

11/21/2025

Shabbat Shalom!

It is Artist in Residence Weekend at TE and we are over the moon to welcome Composer/Singer Michael Hunter Ochs back for a weekend of music and learning!

He will be part of our service tonight along with Cantor Rick Lawrence and Rabbi Javier Cattapan. November Birthday and Anniversary blessings (and cake!) will also be included. Join us at 5 PM in the lobby for social hour, 6 PM in the sanctuary for serivce, and then continue into the social hall for our Simcha Cake Oneg Shabbat!

Tomorrow at 10:00 AM Michael Hunter Ochs will lead a shabbat morning music and study in our sanctuary, followed by a a light lunch in our social hall.

We are grateful to the Tom and Mickie Fox Family Fund for underwriting this weekend's events!

🎥 Welcome to Shabbat Services at Temple Emanuel! If you value this livestream and want to help support its ongoing costs, please consider making a donation ...