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Desperate Immigrants: An Ancient Jewish Story

In the Book of Genesis, we read about Abraham and Sarah’s journey to the Promised Land. Shortly after they arrive, they encounter famine and head to Egypt in search of food. Foreigners without family or clan to protect them, they are afraid. Abraham asks Sarah to pretend to be his sister in the hope that this will help them avoid trouble – an act of deceit that potentially offered them some protection from harm in the context of their times.

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/desperate-immigrants-ancient-jewish-story

Posted on: 2017/08/16 - 3:27pm

Responding to Disability - GKM Elul Project

In my work as Director of Jewish Learning Venture’s Whole Community Inclusion, I have the wonderful opportunity of leading disability awareness trainings for educators, clergy, and community members across the Greater Philadelphia area.

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/responding-disability

Posted on: 2017/08/16 - 1:46pm

Brant Rosen psalm 79

can you pour out your love
upon the ones you do not know,
the ones who mutter their strange
and fearful prayers, who
refuse to call upon god
by your comfortable, familiar names?

can you tear open your robe and
let your compassion bleed out,
swaddling and comforting
those you have been taught to fear
with an indignation that burns
like a devouring fire?

are you ready to mourn
the dead of another family
whose blood is your blood,
the one who looks like a stranger
but is, in truth,
your own flesh and kin?

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/psalm-79-pour-out-your-love

Posted on: 2017/08/15 - 5:12pm

Amidah for Peace, Justice, and Immigration

This alternative Amidah was used during mincha prayers by members of the Reconstructionist Rabbinic Association outside of an Immigration Processing Center in order to call attention to the plight of immigrants and underscore the importance of the Jewish obligation to welcome the stranger. It is meant to be done as a call and response.

Avot

God of our ancestors. God of immigrants. God of refugees. We are border crossers.
We tie our fate with You who cannot be contained by customs offices. You who requires no passport

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/amidah-peace-justice-and-immigration

Posted on: 2017/08/15 - 5:16pm

AirBNB as a Spiritual Practice

When our son officially moved out, Simcha, my husband, and I listed our house on AirBnB. Of course, we could use the extra income, but also we knew the house felt empty with both kids gone. We were already paying the utilities for the whole house AND were feeling somewhat guilty about the unused rooms…. Why not share our space? After all, hospitality is a Jewish value.

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/welcoming-strangers-through-airbnb-spiritual-practice

Posted on: 2017/08/15 - 3:51pm

Books on Jewish Parenting

Note: This resource dates from 2003, but contains many resources that remain helpful. Please feel free to suggest changes and additions!

Annotated by Deborah Eisenbach-Budner, Havurah Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Education Director.

** indicates books that I found to be especially helpful as a parent and as a Jewish educator

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/sampling-books-jewish-parenting

Posted on: 2003/10/01 - 12:00am

Seder Blessing for Diverse Backgrounds

The following blessing was originally written by Rabbi Maurice Harris for Interfaithfamily.com

In the Book of Exodus, we read that when the Hebrew slaves were finally able to break free from Pharaoh’s grasp, a mixed multitude of people fled Egypt with them. From our first moments as a nation, we discovered among us a mixed multitude of slaves and refugees, people of different languages and beliefs, journeying with us into the unknown wilderness.

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/passover-blessing-people-many-backgrounds-who-journey-us

Posted on: 2016/11/29 - 2:06pm

Reconstructing Yiddishkeit

Among recent attempts to define “Jewish authenticity,” I find one characterization of its absence most intriguing. In an essay titled “The Imaginary Jew” that appeared in The Nation three years ago, literary critic William Deresiewicz analyzed the failure of contemporary Jewish fiction to produce hard-nosed explorations of the present, and noted its tendency to rely instead on whimsical exoticism. This, he claimed, could be contextualized as part of a larger social trend.

https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/reconstructing-yiddishkeit

Posted on: 2016/05/13 - 1:05pm