A Guide to Jewish Practice

A Guide to Jewish Practice is the most comprehensive guide to enriching contemporary Jewish practice ever published. The guides include commentary from nearly 70 scholars and leaders of contemporary Jewish life, including Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, Ruth Messinger and Marilyn Price, and Rabbis Sandy Sasso, Sid Schwarz and Sheila Peltz Weinberg.  This highly readable work helps us to navigate important contemporary issues ranging from sexual ethics and gender identity to end-of-life decisions.

Volume 1 - Everyday Living

This volume is an invaluable resource for crafting a personal approach to the important questions that confront us in everyday life: What are my obligations to my community? How should I handle charitable giving in a world overwhelmed by human need? Contained within this work is the key to leading a life of integrity and spiritual meaning built upon values-based decision-making—a practice that is at the heart of Reconstructionist life.

Volume 2 - Shabbat and Holidays

The book opens vistas of meaning and practice that will inspire readers to shape their own approaches to living the cycle of the Jewish year. Jewish civilization is grounded in the cycle of the Jewish year. Demarcated by holy days and seasons with different themes and moods, the Jewish year is shaped by practices that carry memories and perspectives, ideas and beliefs. Connecting to the cycle of the Jewish year is essential to shaping Jewish identity and living a fully Jewish life.

Volume 3 - Life Cycle

Jewish life cycle rituals connect participants to the Jewish people and its history. They embody our ancestors’ understanding about God, the world, human relationships and the meaning of life. These rituals persist because they were successful at helping our forebears navigate their pivotal moments. At the same time, we live in a time of rapid change, when some of what we have inherited clashes with our values and our sense of aesthetics. We seek rituals that work for us. Thus, Jewish ritual continues to evolve.

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Educator’s Manual

This manual, written by Rabbi Nathan Weiner, will help you use all three volumes of A Guide to Jewish Practice to boost your adult and teen education programming in meaningful ways. It offers flexible formats that are simple to navigate and the pedagogical approach is rooted in values-based decision making.