Making Shabbat a Practice

“I met him at High Holy Day services at Washington Hebrew 20 years ago,” Garen Cuttler says of her husband Noah. His version of their “meet cute” is a little different. “I met you at a party before then, and the only reason I went to those services was because I knew you were going.”

Since that fateful day, the Cuttlers tried a number of different congregations in the area, but during Covid, they moved closer to WHC and came to realize this was going to be their spiritual home.

“I wanted my kids to have more of an experience and identity, so that they knew what it meant to be Jewish and to grow up Jewish,” Noah said. “There’s this long history, but you have to put in the work if you want to maintain it.”

Even as they focused on their children’s education, getting them ready for their b’nei mitzvah, the couple also took some time to look inward at their own relationship to Judaism by taking the 12 Jewish Questions class. A simple request to come to Shabbat particularly resonated.

“Rabbi Miller said ‘You just have to make it a part of your practice. You have to go consistently. And if you go consistently, it’ll be different.’” Noah continued, “Then you guys make it really easy because you have the food, it’s very welcoming, and everybody does such a nice job of making people feel a sense of belonging no matter who you are, or where you come from.”

As the family began attending Shabbat@WHC week after week, they found themselves part of a community, something Garen feels is critical for her kids amid growing antisemitism in the world. “As they age, to me it is increasingly becoming more important to have that grounding in a community and people who care and are good and look out for them.”

That grounding also comes from inside the chapel or sanctuary from the weekly sermons according to Garen. “They’re accessible to us, they’re accessible to our kids, and they come away with a good lesson.” Noah added, “We talk about what the rabbis have to say and why it’s important. It gives them a sense of who they are and how to orient their lives, conduct themselves as they get older, and start to make decisions on their own. I’m hopeful this makes them better people.”

Recently, the Cuttlers decided to sponsor the Shabbat@WHC food and bar before and after the service in honor of Noah’s birthday, something they encourage everyone to do. “We always joke that this is such a good set-up,” Noah said. “You get the food, it’s a way to draw you in, but you get so much more out of it from being there, and I just felt like it’s given us so much, I wanted to give back.”

For Noah and Garen, WHC is not just where their past lives. It’s where their family is thriving today — and where they are helping shape a future that reflects the best of Jewish community.

As Garen says, “Once you make that effort to go, which is not huge, you get so much out of it. If teenage boys like it, anyone’s going to love it.”

If you would like to sponsor an upcoming Shabbat@WHC, please contact Director of Development Alexis Channin at achannin@whctemple.org.

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