P’nai Or Philadelphia celebrates the Shalosh Regalim/Three Pilgrimage Holy Days with great joy!
Pesach
Our community often celebrates together for a Second Seder, a mystical journey through the Haggadah led by our dynamic Rabbi Marcia and Hazzan Jack.

When we do not have a communal Second Seder, we do our very best to make sure that our members and friends invite each other to our seders. We use our email list and a volunteer co-ordinator to do this. If you are a member, or on our community email list, look for ways to connect. Offer a space at  your table, or let us know you need one.


We offer this array of resources that you can use to create your own wonderful seder, even if you have never done this before.


Musical Resources for Seder

Meanwhile, you may wish to brush up on your Seder Melodies, as sung by Hazzan Jack Kessler. Enjoy!….

Some songs for Pesach available for download —

  1. Mi-mitsrayim g’altanu ( a good opening rousing short song)
  2. Kadesh urchatz (the order of the seder)
  3. “There is a man..” inspirational “spiritual
  4. Kiddush
  5. Ha lachma anya
  6. Mah nishtana – the Four Questions
  7. Avadim hayinu (printable version)
  8. Four brothers (a Naomi Shemer song)
  9. By the shores (by G. Rayzel Raphael)
  10. HaShamayim from Hallel
  11. B’tset yisrael from Hallel
  12. Hodu from Hallel
  13. Min hametsar from Hallel
  14. Pitchu li from Hallel
  15. Adir hu
  16. Hareni M’kabeyl Alay
  17. Mi-mitsrayim g’altanu (a good opening rousing short song) (printable version)
  18. “There is a man…” inspirational “spiritual” (printable version)
  19. By the shores (by R’ G. Rayzel Raphael) (printable version)

Tefilat Tal – the prayers for dew

During Pesach, typically on the morning after the first seder, we begin our prayer for Tal and cease our prayers for Geshem, for rain, for throughout the unfolding summer season dew will be the only moisture the plants and the earth can anticipate… until the cycle of the seasons moves into Sukkot and, with Fall and winter coming, we will once again begin our prayers for Geshem, for rain.

At P’nai Or we have typically used the classical festival chant and a Sephardi text which can be found in the Reconstructionist siddur Kol Haneshamah, here for you as a pdf and the chant as an mp3 and video link.

Shavuot

Pesach is 49 days behind us. Now we are ‘standing at Sinai’ to await the receiving of Torah. For the past few years, P’nai Or has joined with our sister congregations in Northwest Philadelphia for an awesome gathering of workshops, study, and prayer.

Watch for more information after Passover.

Sukkot
V’samachta, v’chagecha, v’hayita ach sameach!

Join in the building of the P’nai Or Sukkah, which we use (weather permitting) for our davvenen, and is open for the community to use for meals throughout this (original) Fall Thanksgiving Holiday.

Sukkah building extends our newly honed spiritual soul searching tools into physical tools and creative problem solving needed to build a temporary frame of wood, and schach/greenery’. Then we decorate with fruits, wall hangings readying the table for us to gather around.

As the holiday progresses, the door is open for the many joyous meals and discussions of Torah that inspire us for the whole year.

Watch the P’nai Or Sukkah manifest above, in photos by Karin Helstrom and other members!