P’nai Or Philadelphia Renewing Judaism as it Renews Us….
Welcome to Our Jewish Renewal Community!
Kabbalat Shabbat
Monthly Kabbalat Shabbat on Zoom
Come join P’nai Or and Tzedek v’Shalom for monthly Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat services led by the dynamic team of Rabbi Marcia Prager and Hazzan Jack Kessler.
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Next Kabbalat Shabbat:
April 19
May 17
June14
Pesach
First seder April 22
Here’s what you need, but substitutions and omissions are fine.
- Candlesticks/Candles/Matches
- Wine or Grape Juice/ Wine Glasses
- Pitcher of Water for Washing / A bowl/ A towel
- Karpas – Greens – Celery, Parsley, small salad
- Bowl of Salt Water
- 3 Matzahs & Cover ( like a dinner napklin) /other matzah for eating
- Seder Plate/ or cluster of small bowls with these items:
- Karpas – Greens – Celery, Parsley symbolizing spring
- Beitzah – Roasted Egg symbolizing renewal
- Z’roa – Roasted Bone to symbolize Paschal Lamb (If you are veg, you may want to use a sweet potato- “Paschal Yam”)
- Charoset – Chopped apples, nuts, wine, cinnamon (or other recipes) to symbolize mortar used to build pyramids. Some great charoset recipes are on our PO website.
- Maror – Bitter Herbs – Horseradish root, grated horseradish, romaine lettuce to symbolize bitterness of slavery
- Other items you may want on your seder plate have newer origins – an orange (inclusivity), a tomato (farmworkers), olives (peace)
- Elijah’s Cup – Wine
- Miriam’s Cup – Water
- Pillows for Reclining
- Flowers/Festive Tableware
We offer this array of resources that you can use to create your own wonderful seder, even if you have never done this before.
- Haggadahs to Download
- Pesach Candles and Kiddush
- Kabbalistic Arrangement of Symbolic Passover Foods
- Order of the Seder
- Kasher your Kitchen for Pesach
- The Months of Spring Purim to Pesach
- Pour Out Your Love- An alternative reading
- A note about Pesach on Friday and Saturday
- Havdalah insert for Festival Kiddush on Sat. night
- Personal Process Questions for PESACH
- Resources for Counting the Omer (begins second night)
- For Seventh Night Seder: Serach Haggadah Supplement
- Charoset Recipes from Around the Globe
- Kitniyot: Should we eat beans and rice on Pesach, or not? Why?
Musical Resources for Seder
Some songs for Pesach, sung by Hazzan Jack Kessler, available for download —
- Mi-mitsrayim g’altanu ( a good opening rousing short song)
- Kadesh urchatz (the order of the seder)
- “There is a man..” inspirational “spiritual”
- Kiddush
- Ha lachma anya
- Mah nishtana – the Four Questions
- Avadim hayinu
- Four brothers (a Naomi Shemer song)
- By the shores (by G. Rayzel Raphael)
- Halel hashamayim from Hallel
- B’tset yisrael from Hallel
- Halel from Hallel
- Min hametsar from Hallel
- Pitchu li from Hallel
- Adir hu
- Hareni M’kabeyl Alay
- Mi-mitsrayim g’altanu (a good opening rousing short song) (printable version)
- “There is a man…” inspirational “spiritual” (printable version)
- 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.
Drum and Chant
Drum and Chant Circle
A monthly gathering the last Shabbos of each month at 5 pm. Led by Hazzan Jack Kessler and spiritual drum mavinim!
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Next Drum and Chant Circles:
5:00 pm ET
TBA
(dates subject to change)
Disability & Inclusion Access
P’nai Or strives to raise awareness of and respond to the diverse needs and concerns of our members. Given the limitations of a historic building design, we work to identify how to be of maximal assistance to anyone with special needs. To discuss your questions for accessing our activities or to share about your inclusion needs and how we can welcome your involvement at P’nai Or, please email our rabbi Pnaiorrabbi@aol.com
All Are Welcome…
Join Us For…
Torah Study From Home
9:15-10:15 Reb Arthur Waskow guides our Torah study on Zoom in a unique Interactive Zoom session for discussion of this week’s parshah and how it relates to us.
To join the conversation, please refer to your member email. If you are a new participant, please read this.
Davvenen In-Person & Interactive Zoom
1. We welcome you wherever you are. Come join us at Summit Church or on Zoom.
- 10:30-12:00 ET P’nai Or Shabbbat Morning Shacharit.
- 12:00-1:00 ET Torah Service with breakout discussion and closing prayer.
- 1:00 ET Pot Luck Lunch
2. For an archive of past week Torah readings click here.
3. Yizkor
P’nai Or Philadelphia Yizkor Service
Printable Yizkor Prayers
To enhance your experience of our Pnai Or Shabbat Morning service, download Rabbi Marcia Prager’s Shabbat Morning Siddur.
For more information, please email Batya Segura.
Shabbas Shmooze on Zoom
2:30 After the davennen you can participate in a separate LIVE interactive discussion Shabbas Shmooze, on Zoom.
To join the shmooze, please refer to your member email.
Please read these Online Etiquette Guidelines.
Come as you are!
- If you are Jewish but don’t know what that means, you are welcome.
- Whether or not you believe in God, or if you struggle with your beliefs, or even if you’re not sure what to believe, you are welcome.
- If you have become disconnected from your Jewish roots, no matter how far back they may go, you are welcome.
- If you are not Jewish but something in you loves something about Judaism, you are welcome.
- If you have traversed other spiritual paths and are still seeking spiritual nourishment and community, you are welcome.
- if you love being Jewish and are searching for something deeper, you are welcome!
Just come as you are! Be comfortable, questioning, curious, and find something new for you…
For more information, please email Batya Segura.
Staying Safe – A Mitzvah
Dr Cannuscio an epidemiologist at Penn shared that in creating alternatives to in-person worship all houses of worship have it in their power to save many lives. And in Judaism this is a mitzvah.
B’emunah in faith
R. Marcia, Tobie Hoffman, and Rich Heiberger
P’nai Or in the News!
- P’nai Or Philadelphia’s davvenen/prayer style is upbeat, celebratory and participatory, blending Hebrew and English song and chant with opportunities for reflection and sharing.
- We are a welcoming and diverse Jewish Renewal Community, a member of Keshet, working for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews in Jewish life.
- P’nai Or Philadelphia is a member of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, a world-wide organization which advances vital Judaism as an ethical and spiritual path.
- We meet in the Community Wing of Summit Presbyterian Church, 6757 Greene St. #110, Philadelphia, PA 19119 in the West Mt. Airy neighborhood of NW Philadelphia. Find us.
Website designed by Rivkah Walton. No photos on this website were taken on Shabbat or Yom Tov.
