Shabbat Services
We gather together most Friday nights for a Kabbalat Shabbat service beginning at 7pm, followed by a community dinner together in the same room. The location is usually near the 798 Arts District but location details are only shared with those who sign-up via the Kehillat Beijing WeChat group. Email us at info@sinogogue.org if you want to join that WeChat group.
Kehillat is proud to be a lay-led community — unlike most traditional synagogues, our Sinogogue is without a Rabbi. Instead, each week a member of the community steps to the front to lead, using prayer books from the American reconstructionist movement (in addition to anything they’d like to add: poetry, music, or meditative thoughts).
Similarly, the weekly D’var Torah is given by a community member with an emphasis on group discussion, learning, and interaction. Our prayers are gender sensitive and we include women in our minyan. We pray in unison. We are happy to accommodate guests in any way possible without disturbing the spirit of our community.
Shabbat Dinner
Our services and Friday night meal are free and open to all but for planning purposes we do need you to give us a bit of a heads up beforehand. Shoot us an email at info@sinogogue.org so we can add you to our WeChat group, and you can reserve yourself a place.
Our weekly themed dinner is served buffet style with soup, salads, main courses, side dishes, and desserts. And of course wine and other tipples for Shabbos. Please note we are “Kosher style” but not actually Kosher. The meals are mostly vegetarian or pescatarian and we try our best to accomodate dietary restrictions. Vegan and gluten free options are usually available - especially if you let us know ahead of time about your needs!
Additional Ways To Support Kehillat
We don’t charge for Friday night meals but the generous folks who do cover the cost are always happy to have help. If you are looking to support Kehillat above and beyond the call of duty, you can donate to our community. Or just bring some nice wine!
A Note For Tour Groups
We welcome groups of travelers from all over the world to join us on Friday evenings for Shabbos services and dinner. However, we REALLY need prior notice for groups of any size, so please email us ahead of time!
Holidays
The Kehillat Community comes together for vibrant celebrations of most Jewish Holidays. We invite a guest Rabbi to lead us in Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur Services, when Jews from all over Asia rendezvous for the Jewish New Year. Community members hold parties in their homes at Sukkot. We host multiple candle lighting events during Chanukah, and stage a raucous Schpiel every Purim. In addition to cozy seders around town, Kehillat traditionally hosts a large community Seder. Keep an eye on our calendar for upcoming holiday events!
For complete information on High Holidays 5786 see the High Holidays 2025 page.
Participate
The wonderful thing about Kehillat Beijing is that it’s lay-led. For most of the year we have no Rabbi, and no Cantor — just the wonderful folks who make us Kehillat. Each week, one of our community members steps up to lead us through their take on the Shabbat service. Some add poetry, some add music, and all add personality.
In order to get Services with lots of personality, however, we need to get lots of people to lead. In the past we’ve had couples, those who just completed their bar or bat Mitzvah, students, or families lead services. We know the idea of leading services might be daunting at first, but fear not! Here is a useful guide to service leading at Kehillat Beijing. Feel free to bring it with you to services and use it as a reference as you go through. We also hold regular workshops on the finer points of leading services and giving d’var Torah, so that everyone in the community is supported.
To volunteer to lead services, or speak on the weekly Torah portion, email info@sinogogue.org