Hesped (Eulogy) for Howard Blitman, delivered on January 4, 2021 by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D.
General Public
Related Resources
We ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to re-hear and reverse a ruling that found that staff at an Illinois prison did not violate the Constitution when they forced female inmates to engage in a deeply humiliating and dehumanizing strip search as part of a training exercise. The ruling "opens the door to other violation of prisoners' First Amendement religious freedom rights and protections."
What are the key ethical questions facing Jews and Jewish communities today? How can scholars, rabbis and communal leaders discuss ethics in a way that impacts how people behave in the real world? “Jewish Values & the Ethical Now: A Conference in Celebration of Rabbi David A. Teutsch, Ph.D” will explore these questions on March 10-11, 2019 in Philadelphia.
Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association mourn the devastating losses that a white nationalist domestic terrorist inflicted upon the Jewish community this past Shabbat morning at Tree of Life - Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. Included among the dead and wounded are members of our affiliate, Congregation Dor Hadash, which meets there.
All of us at Reconstructing Judaism are still processing the shock, grief and heartbreak of the shooting that took place in Pittsburgh at Tree of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation, which is also the home of our Reconstructionist affiliate, Congregation Dor Hadash.
We are shocked and horrified by the shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. Our hearts, support and condolences go out to the community members of the Tree Of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation, to the community members of our affiliated congregation, Congregation Dor Hadash, who were meeting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, and to the people of Pittsburgh.
Archives of email newsletters (Reconstructionism Today, Journeys, and Leadership Brief)
For Passover 2017, a seder supplement and accompanying video about refugees, welcome, and pineapples.
[Our religious traditions] all believe in the importance of these values: speaking the truth, the sanctity of human life, and the obligation to treat every person with dignity.
How will you sustain your spirit through your next four years, your lifetime? Do you wonder how you can show up for challenging times with compassion, courage, equanimity and joy? Spirit in Practice, a podcast miniseries, answers these and other questions through lively discussion among emerging leaders and religious teachers of many faiths who are exploring social activism and spiritual practices.
What is tikkun olam? In this extended article, Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz digs deep into the sources, underpinnings, and implications of "world repair."
In this hour-long conference call, Rabbi Jane Litman presents an overview of the revolutionary ideas that underlie the first century of Reconstructionist Judaism.
This printable resource pairs selected quotes from Solomon Northup's autobiographical memoir, "12 Years a Slave," with quotes from the Exodus and other Jewish texts.
"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.
In this video, Rabbi Deborah Waxman offers a High Holiday message of hope in spite of the problems confronting the world and the personal travails we all face.
Promotional Video for Camp JRF (2016)
RRC President Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., was among the 18,000 people in the audience for Donald Trump's March 21 speech to the AIPAC Policy Conference. Her response was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer under the title "Voters Must Act Against Demagoguery."
A statement from Reconstructionist movement leaders regarding Trump's invitation to speak at AIPAC.
