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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.
In lieu of this week’s Virtual Shabbat Box, we offer you a Virtual Tisha B’av Box.
From their Sourcebook for Leaders, Rabbi Rachel Gartner and Barbara Berley Melits present a collection of “fast facts” that comprise the essence of the occasions and observances of the month of Av. Sourced from Ritualwell
Practice some simple, gentle stretching of your neck as a way of caring for yourself. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here.
The month of Av, which began this week (Tuesday night and Wednesday), starts the nine-day countdown to Tisha B’Av. In this poem, Suzanna Sabransky describes the uniqueness of this month in the Jewish calendar. Sourced from Ritualwell
This mash-up, sung by Koach Baruch Frazier, explores freedom and revelation through a range of music and prayer traditions. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more here.
Rabbi Marc Margolius affirms three core teachings in the Torah: that each human being is created in the image of the Divine, that human beings must “serve and guard” the earth, and that together, we must pursue justice and peace. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
Rabbi Shelly Barnathan introduces breath and body movement in connection with the Sh’ma, one of Judaism’s foundational prayers. Sourced from Reset, providing Jewish activists with accessible spiritual practice and teachings. Learn more about Reset.
”The Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of more than 50 women, originated in summer 2017 … aims to raise awareness for major women’s rights movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp, and encourage fans to donate and rise up against oppression.” Sourced from Ritualwell
Casper ter Kuile, Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the co-founder of the Sacred Design Lab, joins Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. to explore the ways that ritual, even when nominally secular, can help us build community, find meaning and connect our past with our future. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience
Jewish ethical tradition assigns ultimate value to each human life. Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D. and rabbinical student Armin Langer explore how we can intervene when policy decisions and social practices conspire to treat some people as more disposable than others. Sourced from Reconstructing Judaism Center for Jewish Ethics
Try this poem/prayer by Rabbi James Stone Goodman as a way to quietly, thoughtfully, intentionally seal your prayers. Sourced from Ritualwell
How can Jewish tradition guide us in navigating ethical decisions in response to the pandemic? Jewish Values and the Coronavirus is a resource from the Center for Jewish Ethics to help frame values-based decision making. Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D. and rabbinical student Armin Langer introduce this new web-based resource and demonstrate how to use it to address some ethical questions we now face. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
Rabbi Shelia Peltz Weinberg guides us in imagining a star in the sky that is there just for you. Warm, soothing light just for you. Sourced from Reset: Resilience Practices for Jewish Social Justice Organizations
In her conversation with Jay Ruderman, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. discusses his family foundation’s work to advocate for and advance the inclusion of people with disabilities, both within the Jewish community and society at large. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience
The central practices of Jewish life require community. Communal institutions organize people together for the pursuit of sacred purpose and mutual support. In the midst of a pandemic, we are discovering new ways and structures for cultivating community even as our buildings are closed and we practice social distancing. Sourced from The Center for Jewish Ethics, an initiative of Reconstructing Judaism
The haftarah of Pinchas tells the story of Elijah’s encounter with an angel and a subsequent journey in which he encountered the Holy Presence. Ariel Neshama Lee, using Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s prayer, guides us into that still, small voice. Sourced from Ritualwell
We are in a time of recovering lost or suppressed histories. In this session Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski looks at a few biblical passages that hint at uniquely women’s religious practices. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
For a moment of calm reflection, listen to Elana Bell singing “Eli, Eli,” by Hannah Senesh. Sourced from Ritualwell
This mashup of “Peace Like a River” and “Sim Shalom” is sung by Koach Baruch Frazier. Sourced from Reset: Resilience Practices for Jewish Social Justice Organizations
In the midst of the greatest flowering of Jewish action for social justice in America since the immigrant generation of the early 20th century, progressive Jewish organizations and Jewishly-identified activists are addressing the whole range of justice issues. Rabbi Mordechai Liebling speaks to the burgeoning interest in how Jewish teachings and practice can support and grow the movement. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
On this American Independence Day, Rabbi Victor H. Reinstein offers a prayer for our country, that the day may soon rise “when in rainbow chorus we shall sing, ‘We have overcome.’ ” Sourced from Ritualwell
These resources were drawn from:
Previous Virtual Shabbat Boxes by month:
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
