The search found 19 results in 0.046 seconds.
Search results
-
Adonai-Elohim: The Two Faces of God
Right after Yom Kippur I received a frantic telephone call. As I arrived at the home, it was already filled with family and friends. I knew the family very well: serious Jews.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/adonai-elohim-two-faces-god
Posted on: 2016/04/26 - 11:46am
-
Shavuot: The Harvest Festival of Torah
A good case can be made for Shavuot being the most important of all the Jewish festivals. The revival of its observance is of particular concern to Reconstructionist Jews because our understanding of the nature and task of the Jewish people in the world and of what God should mean to us cannot be separated from our reinterpretation of the meaning of Torah. Shavuot is the festival of the giving and the receiving of Torah — of Torah as revelation, as law and as study. The word “Torah” means teaching, guidance, instruction, orientation.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/shavuot-harvest-festival-torah
Posted on: 2017/01/31 - 2:33pm
-
Seeing the Other
Recently I was invited to teach a group of queer Jewish undergraduates who on their own initiative, organized themselves into a group that meets weekly over dinner at the campus Hillel Foundation (Jewish Center) to discuss topics and issues of common concern. They asked me to speak on “Queering Jewish Theology,” and I led them for an hour through a study of several traditional sacred texts that suggest ways that human beings might engage with God in a way that does not depend on the approval of communal human authorities.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/seeing-other
Posted on: 2014/01/01 - 12:00am
-
How Can Reconstructionists Pray?
Reconstructionists are not atheists. The founder of Reconstructionism, Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, was falsely accused of atheism during his lifetime and has been so labeled since his death. Those accusations are made by people who think that either you believe in a God who governs the details of our lives, rewarding and punishing us, orchestrating the things that happen or you don't believe in God at all.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/how-can-reconstructionists-pray
Posted on: 2017/03/29 - 9:53am
-
God in Metaphor
For many people, attending High Holydays services is a bit like going to a play where you really don't like the main character—where, much of the time, you doubt the very existence of the main character! If the “main character” in our traditional High Holydays liturgy is God, this can be quite a problem for anyone seeking a meaningful spiritual experience.https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/god-metaphor-guide-perplexed
Posted on: 2016/11/17 - 3:25pm
-
Recon Torah January 2016
In the New York Times Sunday Styles section a few weeks ago (of all places, and yes, I read it), there was an article about the various trainings that colleges and universities are now providing to educate students about sexual consent. Many of these trainings include scenarios and analogies that are designed to get students thinking about what “real” consent is. The scenarios raise questions like: Does consent have to be verbal? Do the participants need to consent at each step of the way? What counts as coercion?
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/intricacies-consent
Posted on: 2016/01/28 - 12:00am
-
Can a Reconstructionist Sin?
Some years ago, at an informal lunch shared by a number of us who worked for the same Jewish agency, a staffer indicated she had no need to attend Yom Kippur services. Predictably provoked, we asked why. Yom Kippur was all about sin, she replied, and since she never sinned, she had nothing for which to atone.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/can-reconstructionist-sin
Posted on: 2016/05/06 - 11:06am
-
Shavuot Theology
This article is excerpted from The Guide to Jewish Practice, Volume 1. The full Guide may be ordered from the Reconstructionist Press.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/shavuot-theology
Posted on: 2016/11/15 - 4:42pm
-
Rejecting Chosenness in Favor of Distinctiveness
In what sense and to what extent do Jews still believe ourselves to be “chosen”?
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/rejecting-chosenness-favor-distinctiveness
Posted on: 2016/05/13 - 11:48am
