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Temple Beth-El warmly welcomes to our synagogue all who wish to attend our services and study groups.
Throughout the year, we hold Shabbos services weekly on Friday evenings beginning at 7:00 p.m.; services are followed by Kiddush, motzi and dinner. We also conduct adult religious study groups weekly on Sunday mornings, commencing at 9:30 a.m., accompanied by cake and coffee. This being Wyoming, the distances being great and the weather unpredictable, prior to visiting, we recommend that you email us at utopialtd1@aol.com, or call us at 307-267-2534, to confirm that there will be a service or class that day.
We are people from all walks of life, from in and around Casper. A visitor can expect friendly welcomes from our regulars. There is no “dress code”. 
Casual, respectful dress is the order of the day. Those who wish will not be out of place wearing a yarmulke (skull cap) during services; loaners are in a basket next to the prayer books.
At services, those in attendance are seated in front of the bimah from which the rabbi conducts the service. At the center of the bimah is an ark containing the congregation's two Torah scrolls.
Services are conducted in the normative and traditional Jewish mode, in a combination of English and Hebrew, typically with readings of the same passages in both languages. When indicated from the pulpit, congregants read many passages responsively with the rabbi. Regular Shabbos services run about thirty minutes. The services are in Classical, i.e., early 20th century, Reform style. Anyone of any level of observance or religious persuasion may attend our services, never forgetting that profession of current Messianism has no place in Jewish thought or practice.
At the end of Shabbos services, participants adjourn to rear of the temple for the traditional Kiddush and motzi, the blessings over wine (or grape juice)and bread (braided challah). We at Temple Beth-El end our Friday services with a full, delicious dinner prepared by our spiritual leader Sam Wiseman and his wife Denise.
Services begin at 10:30 am in the synagogue—a special service devoted to the holiday with the reading of the Megillah (and related portions of the Apocrypha). The congregation will participate with the twirling of graggers and stamping of the feet to drown out and obliterate Haman's name, followed by a festive luncheon in the synagogue with wine (considered especially appropriate to celebrate the triumph over tyranny and evil) and concluding with hamantaschen and other sweets.
In the synagogue for the first Seder, the entire congregation will work with the Rabbi in the reading of the Haggadah and recall the deliverance by God of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom and the beginning of the Israelites' journey into nationhood and social responsibility under the commandments of God. The Seder meal will be a glorious celebratory feast—steeped in tradition with kosher foods, lovingly prepared—a classic seder like your grandma made and over which your grandpa presided.
Services in the synagogue begin at sundown, followed by a dinner, prepared on site, with blintzes and cheesecake—generally, a dairy romp.
Year 5772 begins with services in the synagogue. The next morning, Thursday, September 29th, morning services will commence in the synagogue at 10:00 a.m. At the conclusion of the morning service there will be a light lunch for everyone in the synagogue. In keeping with tradition, the congregation will celebrate the Big Sabbath (Shabbos Gadol) beginning at 7:00 p.m., Friday evening, September 30th
Shabbos Shuvah (brief service, followed by refreshments)
Torah study class and discussion. Haazinu, the Cantor, will participate, donuts and coffee.
Kol Nidrei, preceded by Shabbos candle lighting (promptly) at 6:45 p.m., service starts at 7:15 p.m. Yom Kippur fast commences. No eating. We assume all who are able, consistently with their health and general condition will begin to fast that evening.
Yom Kippur morning services (runs to about 12:30 or 1:00 p.m.)
1:00 p.m. break for study, walkies, etc.
4:00 p.m., afternoon services begin.
5:30 p.m. Yizkor services begin.*
6:30 p.m. Concluding service begins followed by our community Break-Fast (reservations are much appreciated - $25.00 per adult)
*Please check Yikzor lists to make any additions or corrections. If you wish to add a name to our Yizkor list, please email the name to us at: utopialtd1@aol.com.
Beginning first night, candle lighting will be in the synagogue, and the congregation will light their individual family menorahs. The story of the Macabees will be recounted from the Apocryphal literature—elephants included. The children play with their dreidels and latkes are consumed by one and all.
Holiday and festival Services are conducted by the Rabbi, Sam Wiseman, who, as in the past, will be assisted by a prominent professional cantor or second rabbi. We welcome the participation of members of the congregation and ask that you contact the rabbi or Mike Smith if there is a particular reading or portion of a service in which you would like to participate. Also, please discuss with Sam or Mike if you are interested in any aliyah or would honor the congregation by reading from the bimah one of the portions from the Torah.
During High Holy Day services, the cantor and congregation will be accompanied by an accomplished organist and the Kol Nidrei services will call upon the services of virtuoso musicians to assist the cantor in the chanting of the prayer.
We recognize that the High Holy Days are a time of return to the synagogue. We are a part of a people that has been a coherent whole for longer than four millennia. From time to time, some of us may have drifted away; but our center holds. God understands our nature; chastised and admonished us. Torah is the focal point of the existence of our people and the fountainhead from which our Jewish spirit rises. It belongs to each of us and we are participants in the reality of the transcendent moment when the law was first revealed to Moses and the children of Israel in that desert before Mount Sinai. As it is said in Deuteronomy xxix as Moses addresses to the people: “Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; but with him that stands here with us this day before the Lord our God and also with him that is not here with us this day.”
Your directors are looking forward to seeing you at services and wish you a healthy, prosperous and happy New Year.
Mike Smith, Treasurer