Call for Nominations to the Reconstructionist Movement’s Two Commissions
February 3, 2021
Nominations are open for the Reconstructionist movement’s Tikkun Olam Commission and Joint Israel Commission.
Nominations are open for the Reconstructionist movement’s Tikkun Olam Commission and Joint Israel Commission.
Rabbi Sandra Lawson (she/her), a trailblazing leader, will join Reconstructing Judaism as its inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Working with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students and Reconstructionist communities, Lawson will help Reconstructing Judaism realize its deeply held aspiration of becoming an anti-racist organization and movement. Lawson is a 2018 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduate.
As organizations that care deeply about the State of Israel and about the wellbeing of the Jewish people, we are deeply committed to the struggle against antisemitism. We are thus obligated to share our concerns about ways in which the effort to combat antisemitism is being misused and exploited to instead suppress legitimate free speech, criticism of Israeli government actions, and advocacy for Palestinian rights. In particular, the effort to enshrine in domestic law and institutional policy the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, with its accompanying “contemporary examples,” risks wrongly equating what may be legitimate activities with antisemitism.
We must act now in defense of democracy and in support of a vibrant, principled America that values all voices and that protects all minorities. We must insist that perpetrators of this insurrection — from those who instigated to those who acted — be held accountable. We must work to ensure that the Biden administration works with Congress to enact meaningful reforms in support of racial justice and voting rights, and to combat the white nationalist movement. American democracy is a great, unfolding experiment that requires attention and effort. Let us renew our commitment to the work of furthering it.
Jewish experience offers a valuable entryway into the study of race. Jewish identities and experience complicate conceptions that are overly simplistic or that lack nuance. Jewish history illuminates both the difficulty and the imperative of grappling with race and racism. To deepen our understanding of race, we have organized a series of online talks that will bring leading scholars of race, religion and Jewish life to a broad public.
Reconstructing Judaism was among 51 organizations urging the Equal Opportunity Commission to withdraw or suspend its proposed changes to its Religious Discrimination Compliance Manual, due to lack of stakeholder consultation and public hearings with testimony from relevant stakeholders on religious discrimination.
Rabbi Yael Ridberg writes: It is no secret that much of the world can’t wait for 2020 to end. The compounded losses brought to us by the COVID-19 pandemic have penetrated every layer of our existence, and hope and joy have been elusive and fleeting. As we approach the darkest days of the year, we also anticipate holidays of light that we need so badly. We have been searching for miracles all year: an end to the suffering, to be able to embrace one another again, and to gather without concern. This week Jews all over the world will light the eight-branch Hanukkah candelabra to remember and celebrate the unexpected miracles found in the depths of despair.
We are alarmed by the recent set of moves by the government of Israel to initiate settlement projects and take other provocative and harmful actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including home demolitions and forced evictions, which further damage the possibility of a negotiated future two-state solution.
The existential nature of the Coronavirus pandemic is laying the groundwork for a religious revival, and the Reconstructionist movement is poised to contribute a compelling vision of 21st-century Jewish life as part of this revival.
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
