News and Blogs
Below, you’ll find a list of all news and blog posts on the site in reverse chronological order.
Related Resources
Hunger is not a political tool to be played with. Food security is a human right. Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association join our friends at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger in denouncing the Trump Administration’s final rule to strip nutritional benefits for nearly 700,000 food-insecure Americans.
We’re beyond excited to share with you that our new home for Havaya Arts is Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.!
Jewish communal leaders are becoming champions of reinvention, now regularly using Design Thinking and Lean Startup methods to re-imagine the Jewish landscape. In my own quest not to suffer a failure of imagination when creating anew I’ve gone as far as learning from Israelis, a Russian engineer’s approach to innovation called Systemic Inventive Thinking. If you haven’t tried that one, it’s worth a look. The stakes are high. Let’s try them all. And when using new innovation tools, couple them with a power tool: collaboration across difference.
As entities who represent a broad diversity of American Jewish life, we share a deep concern about White House advisor Stephen Miller’s support for white supremacist ideology and the disturbing ways in which his dangerous views have influenced U.S. immigration policy. Such views have no place in the White House or as a basis of American policy.
If we are serious about building Jewish community, what could be more important than educating, nurturing and supporting Jewish leaders — rabbis — who will partner with us, teach us, learn with us, and both ground us in our tradition and inspire us to reach for new meaning?
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association are disappointed by and strongly oppose the recent policy statement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring that the U.S. no longer views Israeli West Bank settlements as inconsistent with international law.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association condemn the 300 rockets indiscriminately launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip over the past few days.
Video of Chautauqua Institution talk on Jewish views of Divine Justice (July 19, 2019)
As heads of American Jewish organizations who care deeply about the State of Israel and are committed to safeguarding its future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people, we implore you to consider the costs of any unilateral annexations in the West Bank, and ask that you refuse to support annexation as a policy guideline for any government that your party may join.
Shalom Bayit of Bend Oregon is a new affiliate of Reconstructing Judaism. Their story is one of an eclectic, big-tent congregation with a spiritual and informal approach. Members have built a meaningful Jewish community in a city with virtually no history of Jewish life and where nearly everyone is a transplant.
Reconstructionist Congregation Dor Hadash has responded to the antisemitic, anti-immigrant attack last year by doubling down on its commitment to help refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. “We who are still alive have an obligation to honor the memory of those who are no longer with us by doing acts of loving kindness, doing socially conscious things to make the world a better place. That’s how Dor Hadash operates,” said Dan Leger, the Dor Hadash member injured in the shooting. “We pray with our feet, we pray with our votes,” he continued. “We might open a prayer book once in a while — some of us might do it more often than others — but we are an acutely socially responsible group of people who feels that the way we honor being Jewish and being connected with the Divine is by actively trying to make the world a safer, better, more wholesome place to live in.”
Reconstructing Judaism was among fifteen organizations co-sponsoring the following statement, which was organized by Bend the Arc.
This 13-minute piece from 60 Minutes is among the most moving and informative pieces of journalism on the horrific Pittsburgh shooting. It captures the scope of the human tragedy, as well as the inspirational manner in which the greater Pittsburgh community and people of other faiths have rallied behind the city’s Jewish community. It also explores the nuanced debate over how best to respond to the attack, and heavily features members of the Reconstructionist affiliate, Congregation Dor Hadash.
Reconstructing Judaism is horrified and saddened by the antisemitic terrorist attack carried out upon a synagogue in Halle, Germany by a German white nationalist on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Reconstructionist Jews are creating beautiful music. In this video, watch and listen to some of the musical highlights from our 2018 Convention and learn about Kolot Zimrah, a new online community where Reconstructionist musicians share their latest creations with the world.
As leaders of the Reconstructionist movement, we hold Dor Hadash up as a powerful example of an active and engaged lay-led Jewish community. We urge communal leaders and opinion makers to recognize Dor Hadash itself — in all dealings around the attack, as an exemplar of vibrant Jewish life.
“We accept the responsibility for changing and for changing this world. That is what people need to stay in hope. And without hope, there is no energy for no creative new solutions,” says Rabbi Amy Bernstein in this moving video, Tashlikh Reconstructed.
The Talmud tells us that God created repentance (teshuvah) before creating the physical world. As Billy Joel once sang, “we’re only human, we’re supposed to make mistakes.” It’s how we respond to mistakes, how we grow, that matters. This video explores the twin themes of teshuvah and gratitude (hakarat hatov.) Our tradition offers us practices that cultivate self-reflection and humility, relationship and repair. We hope these words offer some comfort and guidance as you undergo your own process of teshuvah and, in meaningful relationships with others, make Godliness present in the world.
Both Israelis and Palestinians want and deserve to live in peace, with justice and dignity. Israelis deserve to live in a healthy and vibrant democracy. Palestinians deserve to live free from occupation.
More and faster describes my usual work habit. I’ve operated this way for decades. But daily, I’m learning to take a breath so my work is not solely about tasks; it is infused with soul.
