On Simchat Torah we celebrate the Torah. We celebrate reaching the end, reciting the last words in Deuteronomy, which we follow by turning back to the beginning and reciting the first words in Genesis.
As someone who had been a Jewish community organizer prior to rabbinical school, this was the sort of Jewish ritual I was accustomed to, linking contemporary politics to ancient practices, if not quite on this large a scale.
The synagogue emerged as an offshoot of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. But in 1989, it separated itself from the college to show that the new denomination could survive.
More than 1,200 Jewish communal professionals gathered May 2-4 in Cleveland for “JPro22: Going Places Together.” One of the largest Jewish professional gatherings since the start of the pandemic, the conference represented a profound moment of reconnection and meaning making. JPro connects, educates, inspires and empowers professionals working in the
When Shahanna McKinney-Baldon came upon the life and work of early 20th-century entertainer Madame Goldye Steiner, the dramatic soprano who performed Jewish liturgical music along the East Coast and in the upper Midwest as “the only colored woman cantor in the world,” she said she felt an instant connection.
When it comes to groundbreaking research, it usually takes years for new work to appear in an academic publication and, often, it fails to reach the public in a meaningful way. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College’s Center for Jewish Ethics is trying a different approach.
One of the centerpieces of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is the “Avinu Malkeinu” prayer — Our Father, Our King. It’s a desperate and emotional appeal for forgiveness, set to powerful melodies over the centuries.
For Jackie Land, a lifelong educator, that passion is fueled by the Reconstructionist commitment to egalitarianism and democracy: how each community makes decisions for itself on how best to live Reconstructionist values.
Major Jewish organizations are coming together to launch the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a coalition of Jewish community organizations who recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and are committed to taking action.
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
