P’nai Or Philadelphia Renewing Judaism as it Renews Us….
Welcome to Our Jewish Renewal Community!
All Are Welcome…
Thursday, May 21
All times EDT
At Germantown Jewish Center
400 West Ellet Street
Philadelphia, PA 19119
The holiday of Shavuot connects us to each other and to our ancestors as we commemorate and relive revelation of Torah. This year, GJC is gathering together with P’nai Or Philadelphia, RRC, and Mishkan Shalom for our annual Tikkun Leyl Shavuot (traditionally an all-night Torah study). See below for details about this year’s Tikkun!
“Be a Rodeph Shalom – A Pursuer of Peace” Plenary talk with R. Mordechai Liebling
We are living in a period of increasing divisions, animosity, and uncertainty. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it, Psalm 34:15. In this time, what does it mean to pursue peace– and in which arena? We can see peace within ourselves, our families (shalom bayit), our own communities, our nation, the larger world.
We will study and reflect on what this commandment is calling upon us to be and to do.
Schedule:* Please note that streaming is not available in the Temin Canteen Room.
- 7:00-7:30 PM: Mingling & Refreshments
- Location: GJC Playground & Temin Canteen Room
- 7:30-7:45 PM: Welcome from GJC, Mishkan Shalom, P’nai Or Philadelphia, & RRC
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- 7:45-8:15 PM: Ma’ariv, led by R. Shawn Zevit
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- 8:15-9:15 PM: Opening Plenary Session with R. Mordechai Liebling and Hevruta
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- 9:15-9:30 PM: Break for Nosh, Coffee, & Drinks
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- 9:30-10:30 PM: Class Session 1
- Awe As A Way into Experiencing Peace with Claudia Apfelbaum
- Location: Magil Chapel
- Livestream Link: HERE || See emails for passcode
- Session for Parents of Young Children with Christy Schwartz
- Location: Maslow Auditorium
- Livestream Link: HERE || See emails for passcode
- Resisting the Weaponization of Antisemitism with Lila Corwin Berman & Jennifer Paget
- Location: ECP Room 207-209
- Description: In recent years, think tanks, federal government actors, and some Jewish communal organizations have used antisemitism as a smoke screen to undermine democratic rights to free speech and due process. In this session, we will examine texts to understand how this was carried out and to hear other approaches to Jewish safety.
- Taking Risks to Pursue Peace 1.0 (7th-9th graders) with Bridget Siegel-Fultz
- Location: Quitman Library
- Description: What risks must we be ok with taking to pursue peace? We will study Pirkei Avot and do activity-based learning to understand how risks can help us create the world we want to live in. Designed for 7th-9th grade attendees.
- Eichah Rabah! Inherited War Trauma in Judaism & Across Cultures with Merissa Nathan Gerson
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- Awe As A Way into Experiencing Peace with Claudia Apfelbaum
- 10:45-11:45 PM: Class Session 2
- The Presents and Presence of Torah and Queerness with Sai Koros
- Location: Magil Chapel
- Livestream Link: HERE || See emails for passcode
- Description: Join us for an interactive text study on temple gifts for Shavuot, using a queer lens. In pursuing a world of peace, what are our responsibilities to give and receive blessings as and for LGBTQIA+ people?
- Slaying the Dragon of Terror: A Rabbinic Challenge to the Necessity of War with Raphael Morris
- Location: Maslow Auditorium
- Livestream Link: HERE || See emails for passcode
- Taking Risks to Pursue Peace 2.0 (10th-12th graders) with Bridget Siegel-Fultz
- Location: Quitman Library
- Description: What risks must we be ok with taking to pursue peace? We will study Pirkei Avot and do activity-based learning to understand how risks can help us create the world we want to live in. Designed for 10th grade through college aged attendees.
- Receiving the Luminous with Elissa Yaffe & R. Malkah Binah Klein
- Location: Temin Canteen Room
- Description: What is ours to do in this moment in history? A creative, mystical exploration of this vital questions through listening for the wisdom of our ancestors.
- The Presents and Presence of Torah and Queerness with Sai Koros
Please note that classes from 12 AM on will not be livestreamed.
- 12:00-12:30 AM: Singing Torah at Midnight – Verses on Peace from Torah in Song with R. Adam Zeff
- Location: Magil Chapel
- Description: Come sing!
- 12:45-1:45 AM: “All of her Paths are Peace”: Is Torah a Path to Peace? with R. Alex Weissman
- Location: Magil Chapel
- 2:00-3:00 AM: Al Tifrosh Min Hatzibur – Don’t separate yourself from the community with R. Maria Pulzetti
- Location: Magil Chapel
- 3:15-4:15 AM: Hitzoni V’Pnimi – Internal and External Peace with R. Adam Zeff
- Location: Magil Chapel
Please join us from 4:30-6:00 AM for a Shacharit Service & Sunrise Reading of the Ten Commandments, led by R. Adam Zeff, R. Maria Pulzetti, and others!
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
Join Us For…
Torah Study From Home
9:15-10:15 Rabbi Doris Dyen 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, in the manner taught by Reb Arthur Waskow z”l.
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, email Rachel at rachelpnaiorphilly@gmail.com.
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.
