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Rabbi Shire leads the procession carrying the Torah scrolls to the new Ark on Rosh Hashanah followed by Michael Scanlon and Jill Silverstein. Photos by Jesse Kiefer
The word rabbi means "teacher" and our rabbi embodies that title in a very special way. Reading his sermons is a wonderful way to reach a deeper understanding of the ethics that support our faith tradition. 

Wherever you are on your spiritual journey,
the focus of Central Reform Temple of Boston is to provide everyone
with a home for growth and new horizons.
We are a house of prayer for all people.

Multicast Shabbat Service 

Friday, March 28, 6:30pm
Services in Lindsey Chapel and on Zoom. The service will be led by Rabbi Shire who will also share some reflections with us, and music by our music director Andrew Mattfeld, joined by our talented cantorial soloists. 
Keep up with everything going on at CRT, including Zoom links to multicast services,  by reading our weekly newsletter "The Week Ahead." If you would like to be on the newsletter list at CRT, email
 info@centralreformtemple.org
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Second Night Seder 

Sunday, April 13, 6pm
IN PERSON ONLY
Sharing concepts of liberty and the Exodus from slavery, as well as delicious traditional Passover foods, together we reenact one of the Jewish People’s central religious experiences. Our congregational Seder is open to members, non-members, friends, and family. If you know someone who would be interested in attending, don’t hesitate, and please invite them. The suggested donation is $70 per person (free to children under 13). If you wish to attend our in-person Seder, you must RSVP and pay no later than April 4th by clicking below. This is very important since we must let our caterer know by that date. No money will be accepted at the door. All payments must be made at the time of your reservation. To help support those who cannot cover the suggested amount, consider a donation earmarked “Elijah’s Table”.
​CHAG SAMEACH! A Sweet Passover!

CRT Book
​Group

Sunday, March 30, 7pm
Our next book for the CRT Book Group is The Human Stain by Philip Roth (2000). The discussion will be Sunday, March 30th at 7:00pm.
​SUMMARY: It is 1998, the year that America is whipped into a frenzy by the impeachment of a president. In a small New England town, an aging classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The charge is a lie, but the real truth about Silk would have astonished even his most virulent accuser. Coleman Silk has a secret, one which has been kept for fifty years from his wife, his four children, his colleagues, and his friends, including the writer Nathan Zuckerman. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk's secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life came unraveled.

Multicast Shabbat Service  

Friday, April 25, 6:30pm
Services in Lindsey Chapel and on Zoom. The service will be led by Rabbi Shire who will also share some reflections with us, and music by our music director Andrew Mattfeld, joined by our talented cantorial soloists. 
Keep up with everything going on at CRT, including Zoom links to multicast services,  by reading our weekly newsletter "The Week Ahead." If you would like to be on the newsletter list at CRT, email
 info@centralreformtemple.org

Multicast Shabbat Service  ​

Friday, May 9, 6:30pm
Services in Lindsey Chapel and on Zoom. The service will be led by Rabbi Shire who will also share some reflections with us, and music by our music director Andrew Mattfeld, joined by our talented cantorial soloists. 
Keep up with everything going on at CRT, including Zoom links to multicast services,  by reading our weekly newsletter "The Week Ahead." If you would like to be on the newsletter list at CRT, email
 info@centralreformtemple.org
​

In Person & Online

Saturday, May 10, 10:00am
Rabbi Shire will lead Torah Study on shabbat morning. Spending shabbat morning in study and conversation is a wonderful way to learn more and relax in the true spirit of shabbat.

No prior reading or previous attendance is require. ALL are welcome to attend.
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Keep up with everything going on at CRT, including Zoom links to multicast services,  by reading our weekly newsletter "The Week Ahead." If you would like to be on the newsletter list at CRT, email
 info@centralreformtemple.org
Central Reform Temple of Boston is a uniquely welcoming community that embraces the richness of the Jewish tradition. Our worship, conducted primarily in English, is inclusive and accessible. We offer a warm, unconditional welcome to all who seek to join us in worship, study, and service, without regard to religious background or beliefs. One need not be born Jewish, be able to read Hebrew, or convert to Judaism to be a full, participating member of Central Reform Temple. Interfaith families and people of all faiths, including the unaffiliated, are fully embraced. Members of the LGBTQ community are a vibrant part of our Temple family.
With a focus on adult programming and social justice, we strive to be engaged with each other both within and outside our Shabbat, Festival, and High Holy Day Services. Our one-of-a-kind covenant relationship with Emmanuel Episcopal Church with whom we share our spiritual home, integrates us both physically and ideologically within the Back Bay interfaith community.

Our Rabbi

Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire joined Central Reform Temple of Boston as part-time rabbinic leader on July 1, 2022. Rabbi Shire also holds the title Rabbi in Residence at Emmanuel Church in the city of Boston. He is Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew College.

From the Rabbi's Study

Perhaps the single most practical thing Judaism has offered to the world, is the distinction between the working week and a day of rest. This concept of Shabbat first conceptualized in the Hebrew Bible and then spun into a myriad forms has been applied by every Civilization through the ages to provide a cessation in the unceasing drive to have, to own and to obtain more! 
For as Abraham Joshua Heschel stated in his Classic work, ‘The Sabbath’, Shabbat is rather a time to be, to become, to be open to wonder...
Shabbat Service at Central Reform Temple of Boston on February 21, 2025. Rabbi Michael Shire leads the service with music by Cantorial Soloist Amy Lieberman and Music Director and Accompanist Andrew Mattfeld. Service RRJ can be found on the CRT website under Worship https://www.crtboston.org/service-pdf-links. Use A Time to Reflect Shabbat Evening Service and CRT Songbook. 
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Shabbat Service at Central Reform Temple of Boston on February 7, 2025. Rabbi Michael Shire leads the service with music by Cantorial Soloists Angelynne Hinson and Jason Edelstein and Music Director and Accompanist Andrew Mattfeld with a wonderful look back at Adon Olam from Rabbi Shire's ordination service. Service 3 can be found on the CRT website under Worship https://www.crtboston.org/service-pdf-links. Use UPB Service 3 Shabbat Evening Service and CRT Songbook.

Subscribe to Central Reform Temple YouTube Channel

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Enjoy CRT Shabbat Services “on demand” on the temple YouTube channel. When you subscribe you will be notified by email each time a new video is uploaded. Experience CRT services for the first time, review a service you missed, or relax into prayer and meditation in the middle of the week. Enjoy!

​Central Reform Temple of Boston meets at our home in Lindsey Chapel at Emmanuel Church,
​15 Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts.  We welcome you to join us!

Guests who would like to receive our weekly email with information on service dates, activities, and more please email us at [email protected].
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CRT members lighting shabbat candles on Simchat Torah at The Ark - Pinner and Northwood Liberal Synagogue in UK
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CRT members study ancient Jewish manuscripts at The Bodleian Library in Oxford, UK
Many photos courtesy of Jesse Kiefer.