Donate Today to Help Reconstructing Judaism Stay Strong
Virtual Shabbat Box
Your Virtual Shabbat Box holds many ways to celebrate the day. Choose what nurtures you: listen, watch or read.Looking for Shabbat services? Check out Recon Connect for virtual Shabbat services and other live, online programs throughout the week.
September 18-19
This week, we bring you a Virtual Rosh Hashanah box.
September 11-12
Watch: Seated Spinal Twist
Turning from the base of your spine like wringing out a cloth, gently lengthen your body with this supported twist. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here.
Read: Elul
The letters of Elul — alef, lamed, vav, lamed — are said to represent the phrase from the Song of Songs: Ani ledodi vedodi li, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” In her poem, Suzanne Sabransky introduces this theme that underlies the season of teshuvah. Sourced from Ritualwell
Read: Writing and Reflection Prompts for Elul
Writing can be a profound spiritual practice. Rabbi Katie Mizrachi offers these questions to use each day during the month of Elul, leading up to the High Holy Days, as a way to practice the soul accounting essential to teshuvah. Sourced from Ritualwell
Watch: Blessed You’ll Be: Mizrachi Rituals and Recipes for 5781
For this challenging New Year of 5781, Adva Chattler pairs original kavvanot with traditional blessings for symbolic Rosh Hashanah foods from the Mizrachi-Sephardi tradition. Sourced from Ritualwell
Watch: Recent Theories on the Origins of the Israelites
Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski explores some recent theories on the origins of the Israelites as a people distinct from others who lived in the region of ancient Canaan. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
September 4-5
Read: Prayer for Change
Poet Cathy Cohen offers this prayer-poem for change. Sourced from Ritualwell
Watch: Cat and Cow
A dynamic flow of your spinal movement that aligns with your own breath. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here.
Read: Marie Kondo and Mussar — Cleansing Home and Soul
Combining the Marie Kondo approach with an understanding of Mussar, Rabbi Elyssa Cherney suggests a process of soul work via home tidying. Sourced from Ritualwell
Listen: The Song of Community
Rabbi Deborah Waxman speaks with Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, rabbi of SAJ, and explores the importance of placing joy and connection at the center of vibrant Jewish community, Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience
Watch: The Personal Is Political — Using Elul as a Social Justice Opportunity
Working from the popular saying that “the personal is political,” Rabbi Sonya Starr looks at the book of Jonah as a source for Jewish practices that connect teshuvah with tikkun olam. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
These resources were drawn from:
- Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
- Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience
- Recon Connect Beit Midrash
- Reset: Resilience Practices for Jewish Social Justice Organizations
- Reset: Providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings
- Ritualwell
- The Center for Jewish Ethics
Previous Virtual Shabbat Boxes by month:
