Optimism

On Shabbat Sukkot, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism, spoke at Philadelphia’s Mishkan Shalom. The talk focused on how Jewish practices and rituals cultivate resilience within individuals and communities — sustaining the Jewish people through the centuries and millennia. S

When Shahanna McKinney-Baldon came upon the life and work of early 20th-century entertainer Madame Goldye Steiner, the dramatic soprano who performed Jewish liturgical music along the East Coast and in the upper Midwest as “the only colored woman cantor in the world,” she said she felt an instant connection.

As part of our recent convention, B’yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together, we shared this video of a new setting for Hinei Mah Tov by RRC student Solomon Hoffman. It features over 150 Reconstructionists representing 40 of our communities from across North America and beyond. The participants reflect the spectrum of our movement—lay leaders, Rabbis, Cantors, students, teachers, children, elders, musicians, singers, dancers, artists—all sharing in this collective project.