Israeli-Palestinian History from a Progressive Zionist Perspective
This 3-part online class offers a comprehensive but accessible overview of how Jews came into being as a nation in the ancient Land of Israel, how their many centuries of exile affected their relationship to that land, and how modern Zionism developed into a successful state building movement culminating in the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948. The series also unpacks the major components of the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts, taking care to honor both Palestinian narratives and Israeli narratives of what happened and continues to happen. Side by side, the course attempts to describe and humanize the narrative of dispossession and resistance of the Palestinians alongside the narrative of survival, return, and state-building of Jewish Israelis.
Posted on July 13, 2021 by
Rabbi
Maurice Harris
The Impossible Dream? Reconstructionist Rabbi Works to Make Israeli-Palestinian Peace a Reality
Rabbi Donna Kirshbaum has never been one to shy away from a challenge. She has operated a dairy farm in the Missouri Ozarks, eked out a living as a classical cellist, enrolled in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in her 50s and started a new life in Israel in her 60s. Now a member of Israel’s largest grassroots movement, she is pursuing a goal that’s eluded the world for a century: a negotiated political settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Posted on February 21, 2020 by
Bryan Schwartzman
Joint Israel Commission Meets at Convention
The Joint Israel Commission gathered in person at the Reconstructing Judaism convention. Rabbi Maurice Harris reports on their activities and next steps.
Posted on December 17, 2018 by
Rabbi
Maurice Harris
Israel Mission Trip, March 2018: A Travelogue
When we began our Israel journey together in Tel Aviv on March 7th, we were 25 people representing 11 Reconstructionist communities who travelled there on the promise to go places and meet people that even veteran Israel travelers hadn’t visited or met. And on that promise, the Reconstructing Judaism Israel Mission Trip delivered.
Posted on April 23, 2018 by
Rabbi
Maurice Harris
Pregnant in Israel
During her first pregnancy, Rabbi Amy Klein shared this reflection on the experience of pregnancy in Israel.
Posted on January 31, 2017 by
Amy Klein
Lekh Lekha and the Promised Land: Text Study
This text study, prepared by Rabbi Nina Mandel, contains pairs of passages examining biblical and contemporary notions of what “Promised Land” means, and how it has been interpreted by Jewish thinkers over the millennia.
Posted on November 30, 2016 by
Rabbi
Nina Mandel
A Zionism Worth Reconstructing
Klein examines how experiencing the contradictions of Israeli life can help young North American Jews feel connected to Israel.
Posted on May 13, 2016 by
Amy Klein
Where Next?
This 2004 report of the movement’s Israel Policies Task Force emerged from a movement-wide process that solicited thoughtful input from Reconstructionists across the country. While much has changed over the past decade-plus, most of this earlier report’s framework and recommendations are still compelling and sound.
Posted on May 4, 2016 by
Israel Task Force
Finding a New Narrative
Rabbi Toba Spitzer describes two competing narrative frames about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the need for new thinking to transcend them.
Posted on May 4, 2016 by
Rabbi
Toba Spitzer
On Occupied Ground
Rabbi Rebecca Lillian reflects on the moral hazard posed by Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
Posted on May 4, 2016 by
Rabbi
Rebecca Lillian