RRC Faculty Member Teaching in Global Day of Jewish Learning
November 7, 2024
Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi, Ph.D., will teach on “Reading Torah as Family Stories” as part of the Global Day of Jewish Learning.
Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi, Ph.D., will teach on “Reading Torah as Family Stories” as part of the Global Day of Jewish Learning.
How did we get here? Our nation is so divided, and a majority appears to have chosen the politics of grievance and of anger, anchored in “othering” millions – including many of us, and many of our neighbors. A tremendous number of Americans fear the loss of our democratic norms; the abrogation of our own rights as well as the rights of others; a rejection of our determination to dismantle systemic racism and to combat antisemitism; and an abandonment of rational, fact-based decision-making, let alone basic civility. We are anxious about the fates of people and nations around the world.
Reconstructing Judaism and The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association have signed on to this letter with 30+ other Jewish organizations urging Congress to pass comprehensive recovery package for those in need. Read the full letter here.
On hearing the news of Iran’s attack on Israel as we approach Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Maurice Harris wrote the following prayer.
Amanda Mbuvi, Ph.D. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College created a new fellowship in race, culture and Jewish ethics as part of its ongoing efforts to cultivate dynamic scholarship, train the next generation of rabbis and dismantle systemic racism in Jewish communities. Amanda Mbuvi, Ph.D., a groundbreaking scholar of Hebrew Bible and
Like many Reconstructionists, Wendy Elliott-Vandivier, an artist and disability activist, has long imagined what a more inclusive Jewish world could be — and has worked to bring it about, particularly in her own community, Or Hadash in Pennsylvania.
Originally from Kansas, Rabbi Burnstein has lived in Israel since 1996, except for the years he spent in Philadelphia studying at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He’s a member of Kibbutz Gezer — halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem — and since 2018 has been the spiritual leader of Kehilat Birkat Shalom. Affiliated with the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, Birkat Shalom is based on the kibbutz but serves families throughout central Israel.
Reconstructionist Judaism has, throughout its history, venerated American democracy, elevating representative government to a religious value — while remaining determined to rectify its shortcomings.
The month of Elul began earlier this week, accompanied by the dreadful news of the murders of six Israeli hostages, along with another stalemate blocking a meaningful path toward ceasefire and whatever rebuilding must follow. We are shattered. We are hardened.
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
