News and Blogs
Below, you’ll find a list of all news and blog posts on the site in reverse chronological order.
Related Resources
Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi, Ph.D., has been named the next vice president for academic affairs at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) outside Philadelphia. Mbuvi (she/her), a scholar of Hebrew Bible, brings to this role a wealth of academic, administrative and nonprofit leadership experience.
In the wake of the recent armed hostilities between Israel and Gaza, American Jews have increasingly experienced antisemitic harassment and violence. In a recent NPR story, “Antisemitism Spikes, And Many Jews Wonder: ‘Where Are Our Allies?’”, Rabbi Sandra Lawson recounts her experience being targeted on social media.
The first American bat mitzvah took place nearly a century ago, but its effects reverberate to this day. This podcast episode explores how the bat mitzvah helped pave the way for greater inclusion of women in public Jewish ritual and practice and laid the groundwork for further steps toward inclusion.
As North American Jewish denominations representing a significant majority of American Jewry, we join together to uniformly condemn rising incidences of antisemitism. We commend the many religious, civil society and political leaders of goodwill who have denounced these actions and are urging and implementing steps to strengthen efforts to combat antisemitism and antisemitic attacks.
The spiraling violence that began in Jerusalem and now includes all of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank is heartbreaking and frightening. We condemn the rocket attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad that have targeted civilians, claimed Israeli lives, and terrified children. We also mourn the scores of dead in Gaza, including dozens of children, and we call on Israel’s leaders to remember that their powerful military response can be devastating for families and children there.
The Center for Jewish Ethics, affiliated with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, has awarded the 2021 Whizin Prize — an essay contest to encourage innovative thinking on contemporary Jewish ethics — to Miriam Attia, a doctoral student in religious ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that has taken place at Mount Meron in Israel’s northern region.
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.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association applaud Tuesday’s guilty verdict in the murder of George Floyd as an important step toward basic accountability for racial violence in America. We join our allies around the world in taking a moment to breathe - a basic human right denied to George Floyd and countless others. For far too long, impunity has been the norm for actors of state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown people, a pillar of the American racial caste system that has its roots in slavery and the lynchings of the Jim Crow era.
We’d like to share this video message for Passover 2021 from Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., the president of Reconstructing Judaism.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association mourn the devastating loss of life Tuesday in Atlanta, Georgia. Our hearts are filled with sorrow as we learn of the targeting of Asian American women. We stand with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) members of our Jewish community and with the broader AAPI community in grief and solidarity for those lost
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.
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.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association welcome the recently announced landmark ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court to recognize non-Orthodox conversions carried out in Israel for the purposes of matters relating to eligibility for Israeli citizenship.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association joined with other members of the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network in condemning the military’s coup in Burma (Myanmar), its brutal crackdown on peaceful protests, and the unjust and arbitrary detention and arrest of democratic leaders, activists, and protestors.
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.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association strongly oppose the plan of Keren Kayemet L’Israel / Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) to expand Jewish settlements by purchasing private land in the West Bank. We join our friends and colleagues in the Reform movement, the Masorti (Conservative) movement, Liberal Judaism (UK), the Reform Movement in Israel, the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and many others in the global Jewish community in speaking out against this plan.
We join the call of the many Israeli organizations that are urging their leaders to act quickly and cooperatively with the Palestinian Authority to develop a vaccination plan that will meet the urgent public health needs of everyone living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Because COVID-19 knows no boundaries, the wellbeing of Palestinians is inextricably connected to that of Israelis.
Nominations are open for the Reconstructionist movement’s Tikkun Olam Commission and Joint Israel Commission.
