Your First Synagogue Visit Checklist

Going to synagogue for the first time can feel intimidating – especially when it seems like everyone else already knows what they’re doing.

What should you wear? Do you need to contact the synagogue first? Where do you sit? What books do you pick up? When are you supposed to stand? What happens if you can’t follow the Hebrew? And what on earth are you supposed to do after services when everyone seems to know everyone else?

You don’t need to figure it out on your own.

This isn’t about making your first synagogue visit perfect. In fact, this 16-page checklist defines success much more simply: show up, experience the service, learn something, and decide whether you’d like to come back.

Stop wondering what’s going to happen when you walk through those doors. Go in knowing what to expect.