There’s been a tension throughout our history between understanding Reconstructionism as an approach to being Jewish, a set of questions, a set of processes, a set of conversations. Reconstructionism as an organizational structure embodies those questions, those processes, those conversations.
Our first session of Reconstructing for Tomorrow, led by RRC President Rabbi Deborah Waxman, began the difficult and exciting task of grappling with the history of the Reconstructionist movement and the questions of Jewish peoplehood today. “The question always present from a Reconstructionist perspective is: what do we want to talk about and how do we go about doing it?” began Deborah. Over the course of the discussion, participants looked at how post-modern teachings could be brought to a lay audience through Deborah Glanzberg-Krainin’s article “Judaism as a Generation,” the Americanization of Jewish immigrants and Judaization of Americans, and the way that “deep knowledge” is the key to reconstructing Judaism in the 21st century.
Resources
An overview from the Reconstructionist Movement
Judaism Through a Reconstructionist Lens
Distance-learning course by Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer
Exploring Judaism, A Reconstructionist Approach by Rebecca T. Alpert and Jacob J. Staub
