We are excited to offer two optional free field trips on Wednesday, March 11 with a suggested donation of $18. You may sign up for one or both trips. Please keep in mind travel time between East Falls and Center City, which is about 20-30 minutes by car.
Note: You can attend these field trips whether or not you’re registered for the convention, but these outings require a separate registration. The deadline to register for these trips is Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Join Reconstructing Judaism and Repair the World for an afternoon of learning and hands-on service with local nonprofit Cradles to Crayons. Volunteers will work in the Giving Factory, sorting and inspecting donated items and packaging them for distribution to children experiencing poverty. Participants will also learn about the impacts of childhood poverty and explore Jewish values that invite us into the tension between meeting urgent needs and transforming systemic conditions.
Participation is free, with a suggested donation of $18, all of which supports Cradles to Crayons.
Join a guided tour of the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Plaza, home to the nation’s oldest Holocaust memorial, dedicated in 1964. Learn about the work of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, founded in 2004 to preserve the monument and deepen public understanding through educational programming for teachers, students, and visitors. In partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Foundation inaugurated a new mural at the site in fall 2025. For more information, visit philaholocaustmemorial.org.
Participation is free, with a suggested donation of $18, all of which supports the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
Convention 2026 Plenary sessions
Each day, the entire convention community will come together for a shared session. All plenaries will open and close with a short meditation, song, or prayer setting a tone for rekindling light and joy. Read more about our plenary speakers here.
We are living through a period of massive social, political and technological disruptions. We turn to Jewish wisdom and our leaders in the field for guidance: to choose life and build resilience, together. Learn practical tools to sustain ourselves and our democracies, where we live and around the world. Be inspired by leaders who are cultivating the collective strength needed to protect and renew democratic life in diverse contexts.
How can we be joyfully and robustly Jewish and also be responsible and engaged citizens of the planet? How can we embrace Jewish particularism and universalism at the same time? How we can be part of the Jewish “tribe” without descending into tribalism? These questions were as pressing for Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and the circle gathered around him as they are for us today. In this plenary, we will explore the origins of classical Reconstructionist commitments to democracy, peoplehood and chosenness, with an emphasis on their relevance to us today and our ongoing efforts to reconstruct them to help us to live engaged and ethical lives.
Judaism’s call for us to lay down our labors on Shabbat invites us to make space in our weeks and in our communities for light and joy. This Shabbat, we celebrate leaders who are cultivating the spiritual strength we need to do the work in front of us. We turn to our Jewish creatives to learn what ritual, spiritual, and communal practices keep the embers of their creative spark burning. Each artist will share what has emerged from their creative process in this challenging time.
We turn to community to gather the strength and inspiration to rekindle light and joy. Despite how valuable community can be, many synagogues and Jewish organizations are struggling to sustain themselves, and many seekers find themselves without support. Come and learn about communities that are actively working to understand and adapt to the evolving religious and spiritual needs of Jews and their loved ones, particularly across generations. The stories, principles and practices can provide a vision for how we can strengthen and enliven our own communities.
POSTER SESSIONS
B’Yachad 2026 will offer a time for communities to share their stories about how they are living out one of the four core values we’ll be discussing at Convention.
Directions to create a poster in Canva can be found here using this template. Poster submissions should be sent, along with the name and contact information of the presenter, to Rabbi Maurice Harris at MHarris@reconstructingjudaism.org by January 30, 2026.
Convention PROGRAM TRACKS
To help navigate the schedule below, each convention workshop is part of one of four programming tracks. Think of these as themes rather than limits. You’re welcome to mix and match from any track to create your own learning journey.
These workshops explore Judaism as the evolving civilization of the Jewish people, including Reconstructionist thought, theology, and practice.
Workshops include:
- “Spending Time with Mordecai Kaplan: An In-Depth Conversation about the American Jewish Community’s Most Influential Thinker” with Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of a new biography of Mordechai Kaplan, and Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D.
- “Living Our Values, Sustaining Our Souls: Three Journeys” with Rabbis Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, David Teutsch & Mordechai Liebling on their political engagements and spiritual lives
- “Talmudic Teachings on Connecting Across Difference” – A taste of text study at RRC with Rabbi Mira Wasserman
These workshops focus on co-creating a Judaism that responds to our lived experiences and works to bring about a more just and sustainable world.
Workshops include:
- “Harm Happens: Responding to Racial Harm Within Your Jewish Community” – Rabbi Nathan Martin presents the Harm Happens guide to community teshuvah for racial harm
- “Reparations, Reconstructionism and the 1299 Reckoning Project” – Learn how RRC is bringing a racial justice lens to its 60-year history
- “Fighting Antisemitism with Solidarity” – Strategies for maintaining safety while continuing to build bridges
These workshops focus on engaging, cultivating, and strengthening diverse communities that align with Reconstructionist values.
Workshops include:
Sample topics include:
- “Teaching and Leading in the Field: Lessons from RRC’s Field Education Program” with Rabbi Rayna Grossman and a panel of current and recent RRC field supervisors and students
- “Fueling the Mission: Three Fundraising Initiatives You Can Launch with Moderate Effort” – Talk all things fundraising with Rabbi Maurice Harris, author of Guide to Fundraising for Reconstructionist Congregations.
- “Sustaining Reconstructionist Community through Documentary: A Screening and Discussion of Reconstructing Mishkan” – Watch the documentary and discuss with Rabbi Shawn Zevit, featured in the film, and Dr. Barry Dornfeld, who collaborated on the production of the documentary.
These workshops focus on empowering individuals at this challenging time to lead lives enriched with joy, creativity, deeper meaning, and purpose.
- “Doing the Divine Thing: Creating and Sustaining a Personal Jewish Prayer Practice” – Meditation, reflection, and hands-on engagement with Rabbi Josh Jacobs-Velde
- “Memoir and Comix: Excavating the Self in Sequence” – Making graphic memoirs with JT Waldman
- “Safrut: The Art of Torah” – Explore the spiritual and practical art of sacred scribal practice with soferet Rabbi Bec Richman
Convention Schedule
Wednesday, March 11
Registration/Check-in Opens
Optional Field Trips
Thursday, March 12
Registration/Check-in Open All Day
9 a.m. Breakfast
10 a.m. Session Block #1
11:30 a.m. Opening Plenary: Protecting Democracy and Strengthening Activism
1 p.m. Lunch/Vendor area open
2:15 p.m. Session Block #2
3:45 p.m. Snack Break & Affinity Group Spaces
4:30 p.m. Session Block #3
6 p.m. Mincha/Ma’ariv
6:30 p.m. Dinner (on your own)
8:30 p.m. Late Night Programming
Friday, March 13
Registration/Check-in Open All Day
8 a.m. Yoga/Meditation/Davening
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m. Plenary #2: Reconstructing Peoplehood without Chauvinism: Revisiting Classical Reconstructionist Commitments in Our Fractured 21st Century
11:00 a.m. Session Block #4
12:30 p.m. Lunch & Plenum (closed session)
2:00 p.m. Session Block #5
3:30 p.m. Snack Break & Affinity Group Spaces
4:15 p.m. Session Block #6
5:45 p.m. Mincha
6:30 p.m. Shabbat Dinner
8 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat
Saturday, March 14
Registration/Check-in Open All Day
8 a.m. Yoga/Meditation/Torah Study
9 a.m. Shabbat Service (multiple options)
10:15 a.m. Torah Service
11:30 a.m. Brunch
12:30 p.m. Plenary #3: Cultivating Jewish Creativity
2 p.m. Session Block #7
3:30 p.m. Snack Break & Affinity Group Spaces
4:15 p.m. Session Block #8
6 p.m. Mincha
6:30 p.m. Dinner
7:45 p.m. Havdalah Musical Program
Sunday, March 15
Registration/Check-in Open All Day
8 a.m. Yoga/Meditation/Davening
9 a.m. Brunch
10 a.m. Affinity Group Spaces
10:30 a.m. Closing Plenary: Building Thriving Jewish Communities
12 p.m. Closing Ritual 130
