On Giving Tuesday 2020, Reconstructing Judaism shared a live day of online learning. Here are videos of those sessions.
Movement Activities
Related Resources
The Recon Connect Beit Midrash invites you to learn Torah from our notable rabbis at Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
Photo gallery from May 2017 Pacific Northwest gathering
As part of our recent convention, B’yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together, we shared this video of a new setting for Hinei Mah Tov by RRC student Solomon Hoffman. It features over 150 Reconstructionists representing 40 of our communities from across North America and beyond. The participants reflect the spectrum of our movement—lay leaders, Rabbis, Cantors, students, teachers, children, elders, musicians, singers, dancers, artists—all sharing in this collective project.
Reconstructionists gather for a movement convention, B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together.
Reconstructing Judaism's Auerbach grants supports rabbinical students and rabbis in reconstructing the Jewish landscape to be more inclusive and engaging. This year's winners point the way to a dynamic Jewish future.
The Center for Jewish Ethics, affiliated with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, has awarded the 2021 Whizin Prize — an essay contest to encourage innovative thinking on contemporary Jewish ethics — to Miriam Attia, a doctoral student in religious ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
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.
From its very beginnings, the Jewish story is full of journeys. When it comes to racial justice work, the Reconstructionist movement is in the midst of a profound journey.
Nominations are open for the Reconstructionist movement's Tikkun Olam Commission and Joint Israel Commission.
Rabbi Sandra Lawson (she/her), a trailblazing leader, will join Reconstructing Judaism as its inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Working with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students and Reconstructionist communities, Lawson will help Reconstructing Judaism realize its deeply held aspiration of becoming an anti-racist organization and movement. Lawson is a 2018 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduate.
Hesped (Eulogy) for Howard Blitman, delivered on January 4, 2021 by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D.
2020 has been a year defined by pandemic, economic collapse, protests for racial justice, political disarray and, in the case of much of the West Coast, catastrophic fires. Yet Jewish life went on, proving to be both adaptable and vital. Reconstructionist congregations have adapted, based on millennia of precedents and an unceasing commitment to community.
The Tikkun Olam Commission is a structure of the Reconstructionist movement comprised of rabbis and lay people who work on social justice issues on behalf of the movement. It is the primary body vested with responsibility for formulating and vetting positions for the Reconstructionist movement, for consideration by the board of governors and the plenum, and for coordination of tikkun olam work with the RRA and other bodies.
Mandate establishing Jews of Color and Allies Advisory Group
Howard N. Blitman, a long-serving member of Reconstructing Judaism’s Board of Governors, was presented with the organization’s Presidential Recognition Award.
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.
Reconstructing Judaism's Auerbach grants supports rabbinical students and rabbis in reconstructing the Jewish landscape to be more inclusive and engaging. This year's winners point the way to a dynamic Jewish future.
In unprecedented times, Reconstructing Judaism stepped up to provide Jewish connections to meaning and community that so many people found they needed.
The Center for Jewish Ethics, affiliated with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, sponsors an annual essay contest to encourage innovative thinking on contemporary Jewish ethics. This year's Whizin Prize has been awarded to an essay by Daniel Mackler, titled “Phenomenology of Hiyuv Out of the Sources of Ethics: Joseph Soloveitchik and Mara Benjamin." The essay is a scholarly exploration of the religious experience of obligation, bringing together a traditional and a feminist perspective.
Reconstructing Judaism's 2020 New York Day of Learning: Jewish Response to Homelessness, combined deep learning and practical action to help those among us who are homeless.
Judaism teaches that seven years is a full cycle, and the current status of Reconstructing Judaism bears this out. Over the last seven years since the merger, and in the six years of my presidency, we have been transformed and are acting more and more every day as an integrated organization whose staff members work collaboratively towards shared goals.
The Reconstructionist movement has helped define the vanguard of social justice in the Jewish community, advancing causes from equality for women and the LGBT community, to interfaith dialogue. Given our limited resources, our strategy is to concentrate on a single area of social justice for a few years at a time.
We’re beyond excited to share with you that our new home for Havaya Arts is Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.!
If we are serious about building Jewish community, what could be more important than educating, nurturing and supporting Jewish leaders — rabbis — who will partner with us, teach us, learn with us, and both ground us in our tradition and inspire us to reach for new meaning?
Sarah Brammer-Shlay and Donna Cephas, both recipients of the 2019 Auerbach Entrepreneurial Grant program, offer new visions for understanding community and difficult conversations through their innovative projects.
Shalom Bayit of Bend Oregon is a new affiliate of Reconstructing Judaism. Their story is one of an eclectic, big-tent congregation with a spiritual and informal approach. Members have built a meaningful Jewish community in a city with virtually no history of Jewish life and where nearly everyone is a transplant.
Reconstructionist Jews are creating beautiful music. In this video, watch and listen to some of the musical highlights from our 2018 Convention and learn about Kolot Zimrah, a new online community where Reconstructionist musicians share their latest creations with the world.
Reconstructing Judaism's support of entrepreneurship gives rabbinical students and recent graduates the funding, supervision and mentorship to turn ideas into reality. “For me, the big story is that Jews remain seekers of meaning and community. What our Auerbach grants do is create new portals for Jewish community and meaning,” said Cyd Weissman, Reconstructing Judaism’s vice president for Innovation and Impact.
Rooted in the Jewish textual tradition and lived experience, Reconstructionist communities are aiding immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through direct service, education and advocacy.
In its annual content, the Center for Jewish Ethics has recognized two essays that together demonstrate the vitality and breadth of the field of Jewish ethics: one on sexual ethics, the other on Kant's influence on modern Jewish ethical thought.
Rabbi Deborah Waxman reflects on the ways in which Reconstructing Judaism is strengthening the ways in which we support and connect Jewish communities traumatized by the recent surge in antisemitic attacks.
In a brief video, Seth Rosen talks about the role Reconstructing Judaism plays in supporting and connecting Reconstructionist communities, and amplifying our collective Reconstructionist voice. Seth Rosen is chair of the board of governors of Reconstructing Judaism.
On the opening night of the Reconstructing Judaism Convention in November of 2018, an extraordinary panel of rabbis reflected on a crucial question: how do we reconstruct Jewish communities in this time and place, to meet tomorrow's challenges? We've divided up the conversation into five sessions, and supplied material for reflection and discussion. We hope you'll find this conversation as thought-provoking as we did.
Audience questions and answers at Reconstructing Jewish Communities panel
Rabbi Shira Stutman on Reconstructing Jewish Communities panel
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld on Reconstructing Jewish Communities panel
