Etiquette

At East Meadow Jewish Center we pride ourselves on the family-friendly nature of our prayer services. Still, we have a few rules of etiquette we kindly ask visitors to our services to follow:

Kippot are required for men.

Jews going up to the bimah (pulpit) to participate in a ritual must wear both a kippah (head covering) and tallit (prayer shawl). We strongly encourage both Jewish men and married women to wear kippot or appropriate head coverings whenever they are in the building — our sacred space as a community.

Dress appropriately.

Shabbat is the sacred center of our week. Please show the proper respect for the sanctity of our prayer services by, as best you can, dressing yourselves and your children with this in mind. If you’re not sure what to wear, please err on the side of modesty — no sleeveless tops, plunging necklines or overly short skirts, please.

Please turn off all cellphones before entering the synagogue on Shabbat and holidays.

Nothing shatters the solemnity of a prayer service like a “Gilligan’s Island” ringtone going off in mid-prayer. If you are a physician on-call, please put your phone on the vibrate mode. Moreover, in the spirit of observing the Sabbath, unless it is an emergency, please do not place cellphone calls or use other electronic devices while you’re in the building.

Please keep your conversations to a minimum.

Chatter distracts our kavana – our focus – on prayer, so please respect those who have come to pray by limiting the distractions that conversation create. If you must converse, please do so in a whisper.

Please do not enter or leave the sanctuary during a sermon, or when the Holy Ark is open.

Walking in and out of services during a sermon can be distracting to the rabbi, bar/bat mitzvah student, or whoever is teaching the community that day. If you must leave during the service, please ask one of our ushers if the time is appropriate.

Enjoy our services with your children!

We welcome the sounds and songs of infants, toddlers, and young ones in our services. They are a delight. There are times, though, when their fidgeting and crying become a distraction, so we ask you to use your best judgment as to when it might be appropriate for you to remove your child from services. To accommodate children outside the main synagogue, the East Meadow Jewish Center on Shabbat offers babysitting, Tot Shabbat, and Junior Congregation.