On Shabbat Sukkot, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism, spoke at Philadelphia’s Mishkan Shalom. The talk focused on how Jewish practices and rituals cultivate resilience within individuals and communities — sustaining the Jewish people through the centuries and millennia. S
About a year ago, West Philadelphia resident and Reconstructing Judaism Assistant Director of Thriving Communities/Tikkun Olam Specialist Rabbi Micah Weiss planted about 75 etrog seeds. Over the year, nearly all germinated, producing little etrog saplings.
As someone who had been a Jewish community organizer prior to rabbinical school, this was the sort of Jewish ritual I was accustomed to, linking contemporary politics to ancient practices, if not quite on this large a scale.
