Information about religious services at United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.
We are delighted to invite you to a new ritual offering at UHC: a twice-monthly online Havdalah service — a short and meaningful way to close Shabbat together and welcome the week ahead.
Our first service will take place at at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, August 9, 2025, via Zoom.
Whether Havdalah is familiar to you or brand new, you are warmly invited to join this reflective, musical, and uplifting 30-minute gathering.
Student Rabbi Matt Derrenbacher will officiate High Holidays services in the sanctuary at United Hebrew Congregation for the New Year 5782, beginning with Erev Rosh Hashanah services at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 6.
All attendees must wear masks and practice social distancing between families or pods. One person or family may use the restroom at one time. Please stay home if ill with any respiratory or gastrointestinal issues. In-person attendance schedule subject to change, according to Vigo County COVID prevalence.
Members may also attend via Zoom conference. To request an invite, contact Betsy Frank, send a Facebook message or use our contact form.
Continuing its practice that began in March with the onset of COVID-19, UHC will conduct virtual High Holidays services to welcome the New Year 5781, with Student Rabbi Emily Dana officiating via Zoom and congregants and guests joining from their homes in Terre Haute and around the country.
“This year will be like no other because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” writes UHC president Betsy Frank. “In fact, many are calling this a year of re-imagining the High Holy Days.
“No doubt our re-imagining brings mixed feelings, including feelings of grief. We know we cannot be together in our beautiful sanctuary. Yet, we know in our hearts that pikuach nefesh, a Hebrew term for “saving a life”, is a sacred Jewish value. Saving a life means no in-person services.”
As I was thinking about a topic for this month, the title of one of my favorite novels came to mind, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Coronavirus is our modern-day cholera or plague. To say the least, we live in interesting times.
And these times call for creative ways to stay connected. We have begun to make those connections by purchasing a Zoom videoconferencing account for our Temple community.