››Shabbat and Holiday Celebrations
Shabbat
At P'nai Or, on Friday nights, we start by singing and then
gathering at the front of the sanctuary where we light candles
together. After that we sing, pray, and dance our way through
the liturgy. Rabbi Aryeh usually gives a talk/teaching, and
services conclude with a circle of all present singing. The service
is followed by an oneg, that includes kiddush and hamotzee.
On Saturday mornings, when religious school is in session, the
service begins with all the children and adults together for the
first twenty minutes, sharing songs, stories, and teachings that
usually relate to either a holiday or the week's Torah portion.
Every Shabbat, we sing our way through the morning service,
Shacharit. A wide-ranging discussion of the weekly Torah
portion, usually led by Rabbi Aryeh, is followed by reading from
the Torah. As on Friday nights, we conclude with a circle of all
present singing.
Tu B'shvat
The New Year of the Tree, Tu B'shvat, is a holiday celebrated each year some time during the latter part of January or the first half of February. In ancient times, when the Jewish Temple stood in Jerusalem people would bring a percentage of fruit they had grown during the year to priests who served in the Temple. Tu B'shvat (the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shvat) was the new fiscal year for bringing fruit to the Temple.
The day has continued to be celebrated in the centuries that followed the destruction of the Temple, mainly through eating fruits that grow in the Land of Israel/Palestine - dates, figs, pomegranates, olives and grapes. In the late 19th century and through the 20th, Tu b'Shvat became something of an arbor day.
In recent years some of us have expanded the meaning of Tu B'shvat further still. From the mystical point of view, the inner meaning of the day is about a return to the Garden of Eden. This immediately makes Tu B'shvat a thoroughly inclusive practice because in the Garden there was only one family, one couple, to be exact, and certainly no separate nations and no Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus. At P'nai Or, we take the Tu B'shvat seder beyond the boundaries of our own Jewish congregation and have a seder with friends and clergy of other faiths, environmentalists from Jewish and non-Jewish organizations. We gather together affirming our love for and connection to the earth, based on the oneness of all being and the Mystery out of which it all emerges.
Other Holidays
This page is still under construction. Please stay tuned for more updates!
