fbpx The Role of Text Study in Congregational Values-Based Decision Making | Reconstructing Judaism

The Role of Text Study in Congregational Values-Based Decision Making

Article

In order to develop values-based policies and procedures for our communities, we need to take a few steps back from the more practical concerns and examine our communal principles and Jewish ethical values and teachings. We must first clarify our terms, examine our preexisting attitudes, and understand how our experiences impact the decisions we make in community.

Each community develops its own set of values and principles that will guide its conscious, ethical and creative management. Congregations are also part of a larger network of communities within their own religious stream. Whether “affiliated,” “unaffiliated” or “independent,” no organization or congregation operates in a “values-free zone.” The religious legacies and personal histories that have given birth to our unique communal expression of our faith traditions influence us all, and we are all part of the larger society that carries its own norms and values.

The Jewish Way: Text, Tradition, and Today

Understanding Judaism as the “evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people” (Kaplan, 1934) means recognizing that all aspects of Jewish communal life exist within the realm of the sacred. From making decisions about marketing and publicity to budgeting and setting dues schedules, our choices hold the potential to reflect the individual commitments and the collective covenant of the community, informed by the ethics, values and lived experience, both past and present, of the Jewish people.

The Reconstructionist model of studying Jewish sources is based on the perspective that Judaism is an unfolding religious culture. Though text study has classically been thought of as the study of the Torah and the Talmud, Reconstructionists believe that modern texts, including policies and other documents created by congregations are sacred as well. By studying this blend of traditional and contemporary sources, we can develop a process of values-based decision making.

Whether you are using textual sources from the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, other medieval texts or modern writings, think creatively about ways that you can bring these texts back to your larger community and use them as teaching tools.

Having explored a text or idea from Jewish tradition, look at your own communal descriptions (mission statement, newsletter, brochure, programming and educational offerings) and compare them with your budgets, revenues, and expenditures, and examine them as texts that reveal your communal spiritual journey and stated values. Look at your communal documents and examine them as texts that reveal your communal spiritual journey and stated values.

You may want to consider using Jewish texts in the following ways:

  • As the subject of a “Dvar Torah” or sermon.
  • As a topic for a newsletter article.
  • As a topic for an adult education class.
  • As prayerful intention-setting (kavannah) for a board or committee meeting.
  • As a text for your mission statement, by-laws or communal guidelines.
  • As part of your youth education.
  • As an opening for a “shabbaton” or communal retreat.
  • Exploring in what ways values are suggested by different texts.
  • How are values from a different era relevant today? If they are not, how might they be reconstructed?
  • Exploring an experience in your community that you have had that relates to one of these texts.

This article was part of a resource guide developed by Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg, Rabbi Jonathan Malamy, and Sara Mosenkis.

Related Resources

News and Blogs

Rabbi Elliott Tepperman: Bringing a Community-Organizing Model to the Pulpit

Rabbi Elliott Tepperman’s vision of a synagogue: a community that sustains itself through prayer and Torah, while also “trying to be a powerful force for making change in the world.”

News

Including the Stranger

A recounting of the philosophy and practices of Jewish outreach in Denver/Boulder.

Article

Creating a Culture of Welcome

Creating a welcoming community takes a conscious commitment.

Article
News and Blogs

Philosophy, Strategic Communications and Innovative Fundraising

In an essay for eJewishphilanthropy, RRC’s Josh Peskin, vice-president for strategic advancement, outlines the values that animate fundraising and drive human connections. 

News
News and Blogs

Politics From The Pulpit: Speaking Publicly About Repairing The World Together

Reconstructionist Judaism takes seriously our obligation to act together to address injustice and suffering. To do so, Rabbi Elliot Tepperman argues, our congregations need to be places where we can safely engage in political and ethical agitation and disagreement, while avoiding mere irritation.

News

"Peoplehood" Reconsidered

Reconstructionism has long held the notion of Jewish Peoplehood as a central organizing principle. But does it mean the same thing that it used to? How can “Peoplehood” itself be reconstructed to remain relevant today? 

Article

Making Decisions on Controversial Issues

How can congregations best handle controversial issues and explore the values underlying disagreements about issues? 

Article

Eco-Judaism (Is There Any Other Kind?!):  How Torah Pushes the Sustainability Envelope

“Love of the Creator, and love of that which G!d has created, are finally one and the same,” wrote Martin Buber.  Defending this divine creation in an era of climate change is a Jewish (and social, political, and moral) imperative.

Video

What Makes a Reconstructionist Congregation Different?

In this talk, Rabbi Jacob Staub describes what makes Reconstructionist communities unique. Recorded in November 2014 at Congregation Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, California. A full transcript is included. 

Spoken Audio

“Straight-Welcoming?!” – Creating an Inclusive Community

Lesser describes the evolution of an LGBT synagogue and dissects the meaning of inclusive community.

Article
News and Blogs

No Success Without Learning To Fail

“Fail Forward” is the mantra of entrepreneurs. Take risks. You will fail, guaranteed. Learn from it. Once a little smarter, boldly launch again. Entrepreneurs believe, as Robert Kennedy did, “to achieve greatness, you have to fail greatly.”

News

How to Build Just and Holy Congregations

Tepperman encourages sustained congregational dialogue and action around social, environmental and political justice.

Article

Episode 2: Acting Sustainably (Interview with Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb)

In this interview, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb reflects on the Jewish roots of his climate change activism. He also reflects on how his role at Congregation Adat Shalom has led him to appreciate the emotional resistance that can arise when confronting injustice.

Podcast Episode

A Guide to Talking about Israel in your Congregation

Rabbi Toba Spitzer shares detailed guidelines and best practices on communal discussions around Israel.

Article

Jews and Fellow Travelers: Appreciating the Gifts of Non-Jewish Partners

Rabbi Harris’s article focuses on the benefits that non-Jews, mostly with Jewish partners, bring to the community. Harris leads us away from the “framework of cost” to open up the conversation on intermarriage.

Article