Reconstructionist Voices—Recent Posts
Six Years Removed from Policy Shift, Rabbis with Non-Jewish Partners Continue to Embody Reconstructionist Values, Even as Challenges Persist
Rabbis Donna Cephas, Sandra Lawson and Michael Hess Webber each took very different paths to becoming Reconstructionist rabbis. Despite disparate journeys, the three religious leaders have continuously demonstrated dedication, creativity and an ability to inspire others. Their stories share an additional element: their paths to the rabbinate were once blocked because their partners are not Jewish.
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’: How Torah is helping me process Derek Chauvin’s conviction
Many people have asked how I feel about the Chavin verdict. Whenever I struggle to find words, I’m grateful for the teachings in the Torah, and this week is no exception.
Ensuring the Liberation of All People: A Passover Message
We’d like to share this video message for Passover 2021 from Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., the president of Reconstructing Judaism.
American Values, Religious Voices: A Letter to America's Leadership
As part of the American Values, Religious Voices project, Elsie Stern writes to America’s executive and legislative leadership on the 50th day of President Biden’s administration to reflect on what it means to be “in the thick of” sacred work.
Rooted and Relevant: 21st Century Jewish Life
In her presentiation, Rooted and Relevant: 21st Century Jewish Life, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., explores how Reconstructionist Judaism can lead the way in the post-COVID world toward a religious revival that meets this century’s new realities.
'A Beat to Which We All Can Move’: A Call to Jews to Embrace the Pursuit of Racial Justice
From its very beginnings, the Jewish story is full of journeys. When it comes to racial justice work, the Reconstructionist movement is in the midst of a profound journey.
Counting Every Vote
Many American Jews considering voting to be a mitzvah, a commandment. It is essential that every vote is counted so that every voice is heard and so that our full-throated democracy can flourish.
Mourning, Recovering and Rebuilding
The Summer We Didn’t Get to Look Away … and Beyond
This summer we encountered a growing movement that forces us to stare into the face of racial injustice. For those of us who are accepted as white, it demands that we stop looking away. It requires us to try to imagine what it means to raise a child of color in America and examine how we, despite all of our best intentions, fail in our efforts to include and empower people of color in our civil and religious communities.
Principles for a Full Year of Love and Caring
The calendar says the school year should end. However, many Jewish educators, witnessing the effects of the pandemic on their students, and now civic unrest, are challenging the calendar’s norms. Instead of closing down the year, they are asking, “How might we continue to engage our students through the summer?”
Ways Into Torah: Multiple Spiritual Intelligences
On the brink of Shavuot, Rabbi Vivie Mayer shares insights into the concept of multiple intelligences as it applies to receiving Torah.
Guarding and Growing Trust in the Time of Corona
Crystal clear to me, now, is that all the coffees, the story sharing and listening, and the showing up, has resulted in the cultivation of a most rare commodity in our society. Trust.
Daf Yomi While Sheltering in Place
https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.54a.3?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=enRabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Ph.D., reflects on the insights gained from daily Talmud study during the coronavirus pandemic.
May We All Be Liberated Soon
Usually, on Passover, we ask “How is this night different from all other nights?”. This year, many of us are asking, “How does this Passover resemble any we’ve ever experienced?” While social distancing has seemingly changed everything, Passover is still about telling the story of going from oppression to freedom.
When The Threat Is Random, The Jewish Response Is Compassion
As a rabbi, my prescription for most every challenge, drawn out of millennia of Jewish wisdom and practice, is community. But what is the Jewish response when the best way to slow down contagion is by “social distancing”?
