Outside of the High Holidays, the Congregation Etz Chaim community gathers to communally celebrate four Jewish holidays per year. We also come together regularly to enjoy a communal Friday night potluck supper.
Tu B’Shvat Seder
The Jewish New Year for the Trees brings the community together for a traditional Tu B’Shvat seder. We sample fruits from the various customary categories, including fruits with edible interiors and inedible exteriors (such as almonds), fruits with edible exteriors and inedible interiors (such as dates and apricots) and fruits that can be eaten whole (such as figs and carob). We also drink the symbolic four cups of wine that progress in color from white to light pink to light red, to dark red, correlating with each passing season of a year. Songs celebrating nature and environmental stewardship, particularly some great 1960s folk numbers, are featured with a sing-a-long.
Passover Model Seder
Our Community Model Seder, using Congregation Etz Chaim’s own Haggadah, offers opportunities to all who are interested in reading/leading and provides a great warm-up to your own family’s Passover seder. Enjoy all the traditional aspects of the holiday but with the added bonus of spending it with the entire Congregation Etz Chaim community!
From the matzo ball soup, charoses, and hardboiled eggs to the mouth-watering entrée of smoked brisket and tzimmes (not to mention the array of desserts), the experience is guaranteed to give you the culinary experience you’ve come to expect at this food-centric holiday. And bring your sense of humor and singing voice along with your appetite. Cantor Strassler leads all your favorite Pesach songs as well as some fun tunes that will have you chuckling.
Purim Party
The congregation holds an annual Purim Party, a celebratory gathering where costumes are encouraged and the homemade hamantashen are in abundance. Party-goers are regaled with the annual “Purim Shpiel” (a play depicting the Purim story) as well as Congregation Etz Chaim’s very own, unique version of the Megillah, a light-hearted, rhyming English version of the Book of Esther written by one of our congregants.
Chanukah Party
Regarded by some as the cultural highlight of the year, Congregation Etz Chaim’s annual community Chanukah party has been a staple of congregation entertainment for more than three decades. Featuring a vegetarian potluck dinner, which includes hot-out-of-the-pan latkes, as well as the live klezmer music of the Casco Bay Tummlers and lots of Jewish folk dancing, this is a not-to-be-missed event on everyone’s winter calendar.
Friday Night Shabbat Suppers
The congregation gathers monthly to share a meal and to usher in Shabbat as a community. Beginning with candle lighting and prayers, we move on to a enjoy a potluck-style vegetarian/dairy meal that everyone has pitched in to prepare. Challah, drinks, and desserts are provided, and there is always plenty of time to schmooze and catch up.