News

Rabbis Nicole Fix and Bronwen Mullion on stage, holding microphones, standing in front of a keyboard

The Auerbach Launch Grant: An Invitation to Experiment and Create

April 3, 2024

Rabbi Nicole Fix (RRC ’23) is using avant-garde musical theater to bring the Talmud to the stage — and sound a warning on the dangers of present-day extremism. Chloe Zelkha, a fourth-year RRC student, is building community for young adults grieving the loss of a parent, partner, sibling or close friend.

While the two projects might at first glance sound dissimilar, they share much in common. Both engage with young Jewish adults who may lack meaningful connections or are underserved by Jewish institutions. And both projects represent a conscious effort to Reconstruct an aspect of Jewish life so that it meets the needs of the moment.

A collage of seven people with a text overlay: Im a Reconstructionist Rabbi...

Want to know what makes Reconstructionist rabbis unique?

March 13, 2024

For starters, check out “I’m a Reconstructionist Rabbi…..” a short video that combines offhand humor with wisdom and has drawn chuckles as well as heartfelt comments and, so far, has been played more than 18,000 times on Instagram.

Reconstructing Judaism joins Progressive Israel Network organizations in Letter to Biden

March 5, 2024

Reconstructing Judaism joins multiple organizations affiliated with the Progressive Israel Network in signing on to a public letter to President Biden at this critical moment in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Power to Which People? American Jewish Philanthropy & Democracy

March 4, 2024

Philanthropy and private giving are a vital part of American democracy and deeply ingrained in Jewish communal life. Historian Lila Corwin Berman, Ph.D., has, through her scholarship, shed light on the history of Jewish philanthropy while raising questions about how it is practiced. Who benefits from philanthropy? Who gets to decide how dollars are spent? Do good intentions lead to good results? Does philanthropy advance democracy?

Rabbi Asher Sofman, wearing glasses, a collared shirt and patterned sweater, poses outside.

Reconstructionist Community Sustained Rabbi Asher Sofman; In New DEI Position, Seeks for Others to Have the Same Gift

February 8, 2024

From his childhood congregation to Camp Havaya and rabbinical school, Rabbi Asher Sofman found his spiritual home in the Reconstructionist movement. Now the 2023 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) graduate has joined the Reconstructing Judaism team to help even more people find the same kind of life-affirming, spiritually nourishing community.

People singing and playing instruments with the text Rising Tides, Rising Voices at the bottom.

Songs for the Jewish Climate Movement

January 17, 2024

Several Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduates and others affiliated with the movement are featured in “Rising Tides, Riding Voices: Songs for the Jewish Climate Movement.”

Two women with a child who is blowing out a birthday candle.

Growing Today’s Jewish Families: New Spiritual and Ethical Perspectives

December 21, 2023

Considering adopting a child? Pursuing parenthood through artificial insemination or surrogacy? Interested in using a Jewish framework to think through the myriad ethical questions each path presents?

Then be sure to register for the upcoming online learning series, “Growing Today’s Jewish Families: New Spiritual and Ethical Perspectives.” The five live sessions, which will be shared on Zoom, begin on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 4:30 p.m. EST, concluding Sunday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. EST. (See schedule and register here.) The series also includes an array of pre-recorded sessions.

Overhead view of an Or Zarua Purim party, with most people wearing costumes.

Or Zarua Takes a Collective Approach to Synagogue Life

December 18, 2023

Back in 2017, Rabbi Shelley Barnathan met with 100 prospective members individually over coffee to ask some central questions about what they wanted in a new Reconstructionist synagogue in Philadelphia’s western suburbs.

She had just completed rabbinical school after leaving a 32-year career as a language arts teacher. A child of Holocaust survivors, she wanted to realize a childhood dream that wasn’t accessible in her Modern Orthodox community.

The front door of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill.

Talking About Israel During Wartime? Here’s One Reconstructionist Model

December 7, 2023

Members of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. — one of the movement’s oldest congregations, and one where the conversation about Israel had long proved polarizing — have shown that such respectful engagement is possible, maybe even necessary.

Over the past two months, the congregation has leaned into Reconstructionist values by emphasizing the community’s voice over the rabbi’s and embracing complexity and nuance. Following a process that lasted for about three weeks, entailing thousands of emails, two board meetings and feedback from more than 200 members, the congregation adopted a statement steeped in Jewish values, that declared “All parties must stop the killing to create the conditions for lasting peace.”

The Auerbach Launch Grant: An Invitation to Experiment and Create

Want to know what makes Reconstructionist rabbis unique?

Reconstructing Judaism joins Progressive Israel Network organizations in Letter to Biden

Power to Which People? American Jewish Philanthropy & Democracy

Reconstructionist Community Sustained Rabbi Asher Sofman; In New DEI Position, Seeks for Others to Have the Same Gift

Songs for the Jewish Climate Movement

Growing Today’s Jewish Families: New Spiritual and Ethical Perspectives

Or Zarua Takes a Collective Approach to Synagogue Life

Talking About Israel During Wartime? Here’s One Reconstructionist Model

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