Blessings and Burdens

We are living in tremendously challenging times, where every day and every headline brings difficult news. At this moment of disruption and destruction, we offer a prayer for groundedness and grace.

Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D., exemplifies the Reconstructionist approach to challenging Jewish texts by investigating how enslaved people are depicted in the sources.

According to Mordecai Kaplan’s teachings, which have long resonated with me and so many others, to be Jewish in America is to live simultaneously in two rich civilizations, the Jewish and the American civilizations, both full of promise and character-shaping values. To be Jewish in America is to draw deeply from both of these civilizations in order to contribute meaningfully to both of them. As deeply as Kaplan believed this, living it out was often challenging in his day. Increasingly, it is challenging in our day as well.