Bryan Schwartzman utilizes his background in journalism, media relations and development to advance Reconstructing Judaism’s messaging and storytelling. He oversees content for ReconstructingJudaism.org, writes original features, handles media relations, and hosts the podcast Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations.
An award-winning journalist, he spent a decade reporting for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent and has written for a variety of Jewish publications including the Forward and the Jerusalem Post. Prior to joining Reconstructing Judaism, he was the manager of marketing and communications for the Evans Consulting Group, which specializes in guiding nonprofit fundraising campaigns. He also writes short fiction and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Bryan earned his bachelor of arts in English and Journalism at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his master’s degree in modern Jewish studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Reconstructionist Judaism has, throughout its history, venerated American democracy, elevating representative government to a religious value — while remaining determined to rectify its shortcomings.
Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D., has been appointed RRC’s interim vice president for academic affairs.
Wasserman has taught Talmud and rabbinic literature for a decade at RRC and loves everything about the seminary, especially her students and colleagues. In the role of interim vice president, Wasserman will lead the college — effectively, she’s the academic dean — and serve as a key member of Reconstructing Judaism’s leadership team. (RRC is part of Reconstructing Judaism.) The vice-presidential oversees the curriculum and student life, as well as supports faculty members in their teaching and research. Assisting students and enabling them to become the best rabbis they can be remains a driving focus, said Wasserman.
Looking to make sense of all that’s unfolding in American democracy and absorb it through a Jewish framework? Hoping to add new meaning to Tisha B’Av?
Myra Sack, a scholar-athlete who turned her love of sport into a passion for social change, knows what it means to have her world turned upside down. After losing her child, she’s suffered the kind of loss most people cannot even fathom, yet she’s also discovered that by telling her daughter’s story, she can help others process grief.
ADVOT is a community where writers can express their artistic and spiritual selves in a Jewish context; an address they can join other Jewish writers who are composing from a liturgical, spiritual and ritual mindset.
Cyd, Weissman, Reconstructing Judaism’s vice president for engagement and innovation, was a featured panelist at a high-profile Shavuot program held at the Weitzman Musuem of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The panel “Only in America: The Evolving Place of Jewish Life and Culture in the United States” kicked off a 12-hour, in-person tikkun-leil Shavuot. The Shavuot custom of staying up all night to study Torah dates back hundreds of years, related to the receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai.
When it comes to combating systemic racism, everyone has something to learn.
That’s one reason why faculty members at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College are engaging in a year-long process — one rooted in the Jewish practice of Mussar — to confront anti-Black racism in themselves and the college environment.
When Rabbi Maurice Harris set out to write a book about Moses, he never could have imagined where that work would lead.
Now, more than a decade later, Harris is heavily featured in the new Netflix docudrama, Testament: The Story of Moses. The show, which dropped on March 27, is among the streaming platform’s first forays into religion programing. The three-part hybrid-documentary series explores Moses’ story from Jewish, Christian and Muslim perspectives. It intersperses dramatic scenes with actors and interviews with scholars, academics and theologians.
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.
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
