fbpx Session 4: The Need to Wrestle with Difficult Issues | Reconstructing Judaism

Session 4: The Need to Wrestle with Difficult Issues

Article

PRESENTER: Rabbi Shira Stutman (RRC ’07)

Rabbi Shira Stutman

YouTube segment: Rabbi Shira Stutman (click here to watch)

 

Key ideas for discussion:

One of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s great insights was to observe that Judaism was a civilization – not just the religion of the Jews. Rabbi Stutman makes the case for revisiting the idea of Judaism as a religion in this era. At Sixth & I, there’s a strong focus on teaching people “hard skills” – the skills involved in participating and leading Jewish ritual, so they can actually practice the religion. “If people don’t know how to have a Shabbat dinner, they will not have a Shabbat dinner.”

“Fee for service” makes some people uncomfortable, but in American culture it is an essential way that people express what they value. There’s no membership at Sixth & I – it has gone against the grain of conventional wisdom and designed itself as a place that is almost entirely fee-for-service.

“Our competition is not the synagogue down the street. Our competition is Soul Cycle. Our competition is going for a walk. Our competition is yoga. …We are a proselytizing congregation.” Our young people want meaning and personal human flourishing.

Some of the most interesting work happening Jewishly today is happening outside the denominational structure. 100 years from now we won’t have denominationalism that looks how it looks now.

“The world is not living in denominations. Our young people do not care. They want meaning. They want to feel of value. They want to feel welcomed in, no matter who their partners are, no matter how they identify about Israel, no matter how they identify about Judaism. They don’t care what the denomination is.”

 

Connected Resources

Sixth & I

Example of program series on Israel issues: “The Hardest Conversation”

Podcast: New Jewish Spaces

 

Printable PDF of this page: 

Director of Jewish Programming, Sixth and I

Related Resources

Reconstructing Judaism Over the Next Five Years

by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., and Seth Rosen

Article
News and Blogs

'A Beat to Which We All Can Move’: A Call to Jews to Embrace the Pursuit of Racial Justice

From its very beginnings, the Jewish story is full of journeys. When it comes to racial justice work, the Reconstructionist movement is in the midst of a profound journey.

News

Hesped for Howard Blitman

Hesped (Eulogy) for Howard Blitman, delivered on January 4, 2021 by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. 

Article
News and Blogs

In 2020, Reconstructionist Communities Prove More Vital (and Adaptive) Than Ever

2020 has been a year defined by pandemic, economic collapse, protests for racial justice, political disarray and, in the case of much of the West Coast, catastrophic fires. Yet Jewish life went on, proving to be both adaptable and vital. Reconstructionist congregations have adapted, based on millennia of precedents and an unceasing commitment to community.

News
News and Blogs

Mourning, Recovering and Rebuilding

News

Tribute to Howard Blitman

Howard N. Blitman, a long-serving member of Reconstructing Judaism’s Board of Governors, was presented with the organization’s Presidential Recognition Award.

Article
News and Blogs

2020 Annual Report

In unprecedented times, Reconstructing Judaism stepped up to provide Jewish connections to meaning and community that so many people found they needed. 

News
News and Blogs

Whizin Prize Essay Explores the Place of Obligation in Modern Jewish Thought

The Center for Jewish Ethics, affiliated with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, sponsors an annual essay contest to encourage innovative thinking on contemporary Jewish ethics. This year’s Whizin Prize has been awarded to an essay by Daniel Mackler, titled “Phenomenology of Hiyuv Out of the Sources of Ethics: Joseph Soloveitchik and Mara Benjamin.” The essay is a scholarly exploration of the religious experience of obligation, bringing together a traditional and a feminist perspective.  

News
News and Blogs

Day of Learning on Homelessness Combined Learning With Action

Reconstructing Judaism’s 2020 New York Day of Learning: Jewish Response to Homelessness, combined deep learning and practical action to help those among us who are homeless.

News
News and Blogs

President's Report 2020

Judaism teaches that seven years is a full cycle, and the current status of Reconstructing Judaism bears this out. Over the last seven years since the merger, and in the six years of my presidency, we have been transformed and are acting more and more every day as an integrated organization whose staff members work collaboratively towards shared goals.

News
News and Blogs

Collaboration Across Difference: An Innovation Power Tool

This article was originally published in eJewish Philanthropy on Nov. 25, 2019.

News
News and Blogs

Provide for Yourself a Rabbi

If we are serious about building Jewish community, what could be more important than educating, nurturing and supporting Jewish leaders — rabbis — who will partner with us, teach us, learn with us, and both ground us in our tradition and inspire us to reach for new meaning?

News
News and Blogs

Finding a Home Within a Home in Central Oregon: Shalom Bayit Opens Doors to Reconstructing Judaism

Shalom Bayit of Bend Oregon is a new affiliate of Reconstructing Judaism. Their story is one of an eclectic, big-tent congregation with a spiritual and informal approach. Members have built a meaningful Jewish community in a city with virtually no history of Jewish life and where nearly everyone is a transplant.

News
News and Blogs

With Training and Funding From RRC, Reconstructionist Rabbis and Rabbinical Students Engage Those Seeking Connection and Meaning

Reconstructing Judaism’s support of entrepreneurship gives rabbinical students and recent graduates the funding, supervision and mentorship to turn ideas into reality. “For me, the big story is that Jews remain seekers of meaning and community. What our Auerbach grants do is create new portals for Jewish community and meaning,” said Cyd Weissman, Reconstructing Judaism’s vice president for Innovation and Impact.

News
News and Blogs

Reconstructionist Affiliates, Rabbis Push for More Just Immigration System

Rooted in the Jewish textual tradition and lived experience, Reconstructionist communities are aiding immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through direct service, education and advocacy.

News