News

Rabbi Deborah Waxman on Israel, Kaplan & Diaspora Jews

June 1, 2023

There’s much food for thought in this vital web conversation about how non-Orthodox Jews relate to Israel, featuring Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism. The program was organized by SAPIR, the influential journal of ideas for the Jewish future which recently launched an in-house institute to bring ideas to fruition. Waxman was in conversation with Channan Weissman director of the New SAPIR Institute, a former State Department official and White House liaison to the Jewish community.

Reconstructing Judaism joins Progressive Israel Network in welcoming U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism

May 30, 2023

The Progressive Israel Network (PIN) welcomes the Biden administration’s national-level plan to fight antisemitism, a plan that demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to confronting this serious threat.

Holding a mic, Rabbi Barbara Penzner addresses a crowd outdoors

Rabbi Barbara Penzner steps down after 28 years at Temple Hillel B’nai Torah

May 23, 2023

As Rabbi Barbara Penzner reviews her 28 years as senior solo rabbi of Temple Hillel B’nai Torah, a small, urban Reconstructionist congregation in West Roxbury, she told JewishBoston that she feels much gratitude for the community she and her congregation have built over the decades.

Benches in a cleared outdoor area, in front of trees.

Congregation Kol Emet Introducing New Outdoor Contemplative Space

May 19, 2023

Congregation Kol Emet’s new outdoor contemplative space is not a big sanctuary with seating for hundreds. It’s a small patch of land with benches and enough seating for perhaps 100 people.

But leaders at this Reconstructionist synagogue in Yardley want to use the space for the biggest events in Jewish life, from High Holiday services to bar and bat mitzvahs. They also want to use it for regular activities on the Jewish calendar, like Shabbat services.

Staff membe display a Reconstructing Judaism banner standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Completes Project on Jews and Race

May 3, 2023

The Center for Jewish Ethics, part of the Wyncote-based Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, completed its Race, Religion and American Jews project last month. The project was designed to increase scholarship on the relationship between Jewish peoples, race and racism and disseminate curricula to Jewish educators and adults

An Israeli flag in the foreground, Haifa and the Bahai Temple in the background.

Israel is in Danger of Losing American Jewry

May 2, 2023

If ethno-nationalism is bad for Jews as a minority in the Diaspora, then ethno-nationalism practiced by Jews as the majority, holding state power, is also bad.

Illustration of six women on the back of a turtle with the words: unity, peace, sovereignty, accountability, restoration, equity

New Grants Keep Reconstructing Judaism ‘Boldly Relevant’

May 1, 2023

Two recent grants will help Reconstructing Judaism advance its strategic priorities of pursuing racial justice, investing in rabbinic education and strengthening Jewish communities.

The Wabash Center, which funds higher education in religion and theological studies, awarded $30,000 in new funding to Reconstructing Judaism. With this fiscal support, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College — part of Reconstructing Judaism — wi

Demonstrators at a Black Lives Matter march

‘Race, Religion and American Jews’: A Wide-Ranging Project Reaches Beyond the Academy, Inviting Conversation

April 18, 2023

As a Black Jewish woman and mother of two biracial sons, Buffie Longmire-Avital has felt compelled to apply some of those same research methods to Jewish households. Yet she lacked the time, funding and support.

Reconstructing Judaism and the RRA sign on with 92 other Jewish Organizations to oppose H.R. 734

April 17, 2023

Reconstructing Judaism and The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association joins together with the Union for Reform Judaism, Keshet and 92 other Jewish organizations to oppose H.R. 734. Read the full letter here.

Rabbi Deborah Waxman on Israel, Kaplan & Diaspora Jews

Reconstructing Judaism joins Progressive Israel Network in welcoming U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism

Rabbi Barbara Penzner steps down after 28 years at Temple Hillel B’nai Torah

Congregation Kol Emet Introducing New Outdoor Contemplative Space

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Completes Project on Jews and Race

Israel is in Danger of Losing American Jewry

New Grants Keep Reconstructing Judaism ‘Boldly Relevant’

‘Race, Religion and American Jews’: A Wide-Ranging Project Reaches Beyond the Academy, Inviting Conversation

Reconstructing Judaism and the RRA sign on with 92 other Jewish Organizations to oppose H.R. 734

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