Resources for Respectful Dialogue on Israel

Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) are deeply alarmed by yesterday’s large-scale attack launched by Iran on Israel involving a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones.

Reconstructing Judaism joins multiple organizations affiliated with the Progressive Israel Network in signing on to a public letter to President Biden at this critical moment in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Members of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. — one of the movement’s oldest congregations, and one where the conversation about Israel had long proved polarizing — have shown that such respectful engagement is possible, maybe even necessary.

Over the past two months, the congregation has leaned into Reconstructionist values by emphasizing the community’s voice over the rabbi’s and embracing complexity and nuance. Following a process that lasted for about three weeks, entailing thousands of emails, two board meetings and feedback from more than 200 members, the congregation adopted a statement steeped in Jewish values, that declared “All parties must stop the killing to create the conditions for lasting peace.”