Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association join Jewish organizations condemning violent settler attacks on Palestinian communities
There’s much food for thought in this vital web conversation about how non-Orthodox Jews relate to Israel, featuring Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism. The program was organized by SAPIR, the influential journal of ideas for the Jewish future which recently launched an in-house institute to bring ideas to fruition. Waxman was in conversation with Channan Weissman director of the New SAPIR Institute, a former State Department official and White House liaison to the Jewish community.
The Progressive Israel Network (PIN) welcomes the Biden administration’s national-level plan to fight antisemitism, a plan that demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to confronting this serious threat.
If ethno-nationalism is bad for Jews as a minority in the Diaspora, then ethno-nationalism practiced by Jews as the majority, holding state power, is also bad.
As Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism, I have many conversations with people across the movement about Israel. Given how fast events have been developing in Israel, a lot of people are asking “what’s happening” and “what can we do?” I’d like to offer some thoughts. What follows is solely
We, the undersigned, who care deeply about the security and well-being of the State of Israel, are signing this letter to protest the racism and incitement of long-time settlement movement leader and Netanyahu-appointed Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich who is reportedly planning a trip to the United States.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and Reconstructing Judaism condemn the killings of Hallel and Yagel Yamiv, and Elan Ganeles by terrorists in the West Bank. We also condemn those who used these tragedies as an excuse to rampage through the Palestinian town of Huwara, burning homes and cars and killing at least one Palestinian man, Samah Hamdallah Aktas, in what can only be described as a pogrom.
This letter, along with the growing number of statements of protest from many quarters of the Jewish community, is a clarion call. These statements communicate that this government and what it espouses are not normal and should not be normalized. They seize the opportunity to reassert the kind of Zionism championed by Justice Louis Brandeis, who equated Zionism with American democracy, and who believed in a Zionism dedicated to giving social justice and democratic values expanded expression.
My needles moved rhythmically, creating orderly rows of delicate knots as we rolled into the center of Hebron that Thursday afternoon. When I got off the bus and looked around, I could hardly recognize the place I’d visited as an adolescent.
