Reconstructionists gather for a movement convention, B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together.
Inclusion
Related Resources
Before Ritualwell was a website containing more than 2,200 liturgy and rituals crowdsourced by Jews, it was an idea of where to put dozens of scraps of paper in the drawers of offices in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Kolot: Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies in Wyncote.
In 2001, RRC and Kolot, in partnership with Ma’yan, a Jewish feminist organization, uploaded the prayers scrawled on those papers to the newfangled Internet, creating an archive of Jewish writing that filled in the gaps of liturgies and practices that historically excluded women and LGBTQ+ Jews. Community members were invited to write and submit their own liturgies and rituals.
Almost two decades later, Ritualwell has not only become a library of prayers and poetry, but an online community center for Jews looking to hone their skills through writing workshops and classes.
In this workshop, Rabbi Lawson addresses the question, "What do our Jewish texts and values say about welcoming others into our communities?"
The first American bat mitzvah took place nearly a century ago, but its effects reverberate to this day. This podcast episode explores how the bat mitzvah helped pave the way for greater inclusion of women in public Jewish ritual and practice and laid the groundwork for further steps toward inclusion.
On November 8, 2020, we participated in the Global Day of Jewish Learning sponsored by Limmud-NA. The day's theme was "Human Dignity". Rabbis Sarra Lev and Micah Weiss presented lectures -- videos are includedhere.
Reconstructing Judaism explores and funds innovative ideas for connecting with and serving unengaged and under-engaged populations — in new ways and spaces. Congregation Bet Haverim created "Your Jewish Bridge" in Atlanta, and its founder shares lessons learned after the first year and a half of the project.
Now that Joe Biden has telegraphed his pick for vice president, Kamala Harris, let’s give credit to the woman who stepped out first: Victoria Claflin Woodhull. In 1872, before women had the right to vote, Woodhull ran for president against Ulysses S. Grant. Since then, according to Rutgers University, at least 31 women have made serious bids to be president or vice president of the United States. Six of those women ran twice. You know how many have won. Now, at this historic moment, I’m thinking a lot about women and power.
The Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) this month expanded its online exhibit “Women Rabbis,” which highlights nearly a dozen Reconstructionist clergy as well as the history of the movement.
The RRA recently became a partner of the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC). In the last two weeks the PPC has coordinated rallies and acts of civil disobedience in over 30 state capitals, including the participation of over 15 RRA members.
Belonging connects us to something larger than our own individual experience. I belong to the Jewish people because claiming this connection enters me into a millennia-old conversation and joins me into community both vertical—all those who came before me and all those who follow—and horizontal—the Jews of today, in all our diversity.
With a welcoming ethos and a drive to break down barriers, Reconstructionist congregations and havurot have been part of a revolution that’s taken place in the public awareness of the importance of disability inclusion and related services.
Why belong to the Jewish people? Why belong to a synagogue? Why belong to the Reconstructionist movement? These are some of the most important questions that I am asked and that I, along with all of us at Reconstructing Judaism, strive to answer powerfully and convincingly.
Serving Jewish prisoners in state prison, rabbinic students find new perspectives on freedom and responsibility.
In our final conversation with Rabbi Deborah Waxman, we looked at new Reconstructionist approaches to God and the language of the divine.
Reflections on the recent Jewish Social Justice roundtable meeting on racial justice and equity.
In our second Network for Network Builders session, we discussed the values that drive our work and identified strategies for weaving our values into building networks.
In our third session with author Abigail Pogrebin, we talked about taking an "Elijah moment" at our Passover celebrations: enacting change in the world in an effective and fulfilling way.
In our followup to the 2016-17 Innovators Incubator, our new Rev Your Engines session focused on the development of a close-knit, supportive network of participants facing similar challenges in their start-up endeavors. From teen focused programming to a havurot for baby boomers, we looked into the support and development resources available to these community leaders.
Our Network for Network Builders discussion, led by Cyd Weissman, welcomed us into a world of thinkers and leaders guided by a "culture of generosity." By taking time to share success stories, open up challenging discussions, and provide mentorship, we learned about building a network of trust among colleagues near and far.
In our second session with author Abigail Pogrebin, we talked about "embracing the other" in our holiday celebrations and reinterpreting the Hannukah story to embrace this idea.
Our first session of Reconstructing for Tomorrow, led by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, began the difficult and exciting task of grappling with the history of the Reconstructionist movement and the questions of Jewish peoplehood in the future.
Rabbi Shelly Barnathan, the 2017 Launch Grant recipient, is busy creating a co-constructed network of baby boomers and empty nesters, a commonly-overlooked generation within the Jewish community. Her project, Or Zarua, features "holy conversations" over coffee and musical Shabbat dinners.
Six Reconstructionist rabbis were asked to write on the subject "Welcoming the Stranger" for their colleagues, in the RRA Connections newsletters. We've collected their contributions below.
Embracing the stranger is an endeavor that requires not just outward action, but internal effort on many levels. Both as individuals and communities, real inclusion involves rethinking of boundaries.
Further resources on embracing the stranger within.
Embracing the stranger is not just an individual journey—it's a communal calling. We are commanded as Jews to "Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:19) In the face of fear, hostility, or simple disregard toward those who are different, our challenge is to lift up our common humanity, and our inherent dignity and worth as beings b'tzelem Elohim, reflecting the divine image.
The lines of "inside" and "outside" are not always clear, as a second-generation American and Jewish convert attests.
Further resources on embracing the stranger face-to-face
At times, we have the opportunity and challenge of embracing strangers when we meet them face-to-face. These encounters can be deeply unsettling at first. But as barriers of difference fall, they can be deeply meaningful, even transformational.
D'VAR TORAH
Genesis 21:1 – 22:24
To love the stranger represents an outrageous leap out of the typical moral economy, in which we do kindnesses and expect to be repaid in kind. In loving the stranger, we transcend self-interest.
To truly live justly, we need to move out of our comfort zones and embrace unfamiliar ideas and habits of mind.
In an essay that appeared in Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., makes the case that Reconstructionist Judaism matters now more than ever.
Jennifer Janes may live in the same city she had as a teen, but she’s traveled a long road to find her spiritual home in Reconstructionist Judaism and Congregation Beth Am in San Antonio, Texas.
All branches of the Reconstructionist movement have adapted resolutions affirming the full equality of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.
We have created a poster that congregations can use to send a clear message of inclusion and welcome.
Large version of welcoming poster for synagogues
Small version of welcoming poster for synagogues
In a piece for eJewishphilanthropy.com, Rabbi Isaac Saposnik and Rabbi Jacob Lieberman liken the maintaining of an inclusive and safe camp environment to a balance beam routine: Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you get back on the beam and move forward.
Lesser describes the evolution of an LGBT synagogue and dissects the meaning of inclusive community.
