How We Pray

Prayer at Or Hadash has an energy about it, like a stream we are all wading in together, like a song that causes all our heartbeats to align. It is real.

Music is one of our greatest spiritual tools. Our Friday night services are a collage of human voices and instruments inviting every person to join their voice with ours.  

Our Shabbat morning services have a quieter energy about them. We move gently and intentionally through the Conservative liturgy, guided by the siddur (prayerbook) Lev Shalem, as our rabbi draws out small points of new connection along the way. 

But we don’t mistake the siddur or the liturgy for “prayer” itself. It is one tool among many that help us to connect, but it’s imperfect. You’ll often hear us invite you to put down the book and close your eyes or take a moment to go schmooze with a long-lost friend by the coffee station, or join our kids the “prayground” in the back of the sanctuary. We welcome the voices, cries, and laughter of kids in our sanctuary. This, too, is prayer.

Our reading of Torah each week is framed by discussion of the Parsha: rather than offering a d’var, the service leader frames the Torah reading with a question about the Parsha, which we consider while we hear Torah chanted, and then enter into conversation with each other.

For many people, this discussion -- this personal engagement with Torah and with each other -- is the highlight of the service. 

How We Pray on Weekdays

Our community gathers for weekday morning minyan on Zoom and in person twice a week, on Sundays at 9am and Tuesdays at 7am. We use the Sim Shalom prayerbook and follow a traditional Conservative matbeah (order of service), and we also try to create a musical, spiritual experience - all in 45 minutes to start out your day! 

If you are looking for a minyan to say kaddish, the memorial prayer, on the remainder of the days of the week or in the evenings, we recommend joining one of our fellow Conservative shuls in Atlanta: Ahavath Achim, B'nai Torah, Etz Chaim, and Shearith Israel (click any of the links for more information about how to join on Zoom or in person).