#Reconstructionist Judaism

[seldarinesorcerer]

I have never felt more alone as a Jewish person than I have in the past year. I don't know where to turn because there is screaming everywhere I look.

I haven't had a blessed Shabbos in a year because all I can think about are the thousands of lives that have been lost. And every time I mention this feeling of isolation, I am isolated further.

I just want to belong to my community for once in my life.

[askjumblr]

Hello. Does anyone have resources for going the reconstructionist or humanistic routes for conversion? I don't know what I want to do yet but those are sticking out to me. Side note I live in the UK and though I'm interested in exploring reconstructionist I'm not sure there is a physical place I can visit about it, humanistic is less of an issue for that although it is an expensive train ride away (either way I feel like I will just be a total hermit online lol). I'm extremely shy and skittish about the idea yet it has been bugging me for years to at least try and reach out, and I've never talked to anyone about it either, so sorry if this is a bit awkward. Thanks for hearing me out

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[sysboxes]

[Text: This system is a Reconstructionist Jew!]

Like/Reblog if you save or use!

[stary-night]

A question for primarily Reform/Reconstructionist Jews of Tumblr, though I'd love input from Jews of any denomination:

I'm a patrilineal Jew. I was raised/went to Hebrew school (from ages 6 to 12) at a Reconstructionist/Jewish Renewal synagogue, which is where I had my Bat Mitzvah. My mother converted to Reform Judaism when I was young (around 4). I know that for many Conservative synagogues I would not be considered fully Jewish without converting.

If I were to have a kid someday, could I raise them Reform or Reconstructionist Jewish and would they be able to have a Bnai Mitzvah at a synagogue of one of those denominations?

I don't really know if I want to have kids but I'd like to carry on my Jewish heritage if I do and I kinda want to know what my options would be if I don't end up having the time to commit to officially convert.

Also for reference, I do not currently attend my synagogue, however I celebrate most of the Jewish holidays with my family.

[ahavas]

went to a Reconstructionist synagogue for the first time yesterday and wowwwwwwwww I really felt it resonate with something deep in my soul. I don’t even fully have words to describe it other than I really felt Shekhinah there. a lot of the songs sung were tunes I hadn’t heard before at non-reconstructionist shuls, but I had a crazy moment of realizing I just knew the tunes before the next note would come. Baruch HaShem it was a beautiful experience!!!

[divinum-pacis]

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduated and ordained 11 new rabbis on May 19, 2024, at the Old York Road Temple – Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jordan Cassqay)

[haorev]

@ Jumblr (Jewish tumblr): if one was to look into reading some of the works of Mordecai Kaplan, having very little knowledge of anything he wrote (a book I’m reading has some quotes by him and I’m like huh that’s interesting tell me more), where would you suggest to start? Like what works of his?

[jewsreconstructingjudaism]

“The interpretation of Pesach in the Mishnah, offered by the early rabbis following the destruction of the Temple, was not only an effort to establish a practice of Judaism that was not based on animal sacrifice at a centralized shrine. It was at the same time an effort to assert a Jewish interpretation of the Pesach symbols in the face of emerging Christianity, which had its own understandings of the holiday, its symbols, and, indeed, the significance of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. The Haggadah asserts a new, limited and polemical meaning for the paschal lamb.”

- Rabbi Deborah Waxman, A Guide to Jewish Practice Volume 2, pg 532

[toa-greatmind-nothingislittle]

the most Jewish of phone backgrounds:

[daggadol]

Rabbinic Who's Who #5: Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos

In this lesson we take a look at the life of Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos, a first-generation Tanna perhaps best known for his excommunication over the oven of Achnai affair. Respected by all his fellow rabbis, he exemplified a conservative approach to halachah that emphasized a reliance upon received tradition as opposed to teachings based on logical inference and interpretation.

[seldarinesorcerer]

Showing up to shul by myself as a young 20 something is always intimidating because I feel like I stand out. Everyone else who usually comes are families of all sizes, and I'm so envious of Jewish families and friends who get to worship and sing and study together.

Then there's me, the one in the corner of the congregation, singing under my breath with my magen tucked under my shirt. Shy to make friends, feeling like I don't belong or it would have been better if I attended over Zoom or something.

I observe shabbos by myself, doing my best to avoid the antisemitism that plagues my social media feed, and yet the anxiety follows me away from the screen. Do I deserve to light these candles? Do I deserve to be blessed with rest? Of course I do, but I don't feel worthy in my little studio apartment.

I wish I could throw myself headfirst into my community without fear, but I feel it everywhere—from my shul to the online communities that I so desperately wish I fit in at.

Maybe I am a fake jew after all, but I so desperately want to feel real. I want to feel confident in my love for my G-d.

[jewpolls]

do you fast on tisha b’av?

yes (orthodox)

no (orthodox)

yes (conservative)

no (conservative)

yes (reconstructionist)

no (reconstructionist)

yes (reform)

no (reform)

other?

[anonymousdandelion]

If you are not Jewish, please refrain from responding, and check back in a week if you're curious about the results! There unfortunately wasn't room in the poll to include a throwaway "show results" option this time.

(Do feel free to reblog, though, whether or not you're Jewish, in case you have Jewish followers! Larger sample size, etc. etc.)

If you're Jewish and affiliated with multiple movements (e.g., "I sometimes go to Reform services and sometimes to Reconstructionist"), or if you identify as an in-between place on the spectrum (e.g., "Conservadox"), try to pick one you feel most connected to in some way — whether that be based on your halachic observance, the services you most often attend, the services you would want to attend if you could, or something else.

[todaysjewishholiday]

Elul Practices

Unlike with the high holy days, the shalosh regalim, or even the period of the Omer, there are no specific ritual mitzvot for the month of Elul. Instead, the entire month is oriented around the most fundamental biblical mitzvah: teshuvah, ie return. Return to our best selves, return to HaShem and the covenant, return to the care for each other that can heal the world.

But Judaism doesn’t leave us without resources to promote mindfulness of this work during Elul.

I. Shofar

Many Jewish communities begin weekday shacharit prayers with a shofar blast. This serves as a spiritual wake-up call, a reminder of the upcoming encounter of the Yamim Noraim. In the Torah the sound of a shofar blast proceeded from the cloud atop Mount Sinai at the making of the covenant between the newly liberated multitude and HaShem. Even before Rosh HaShana became the Jewish new year during the exile in Babylon, the first of Tishri was known as Yom T’ruah (Day of the Shofar Blast) or Zikhron T’ruah (the Memorial Shofar Blast). Because the watchman’s sounding of the shofar would also be used to call the community together in times of calamity or attack, the sounding of the shofar served to shake our forebears out of their routines and focus them in preparation for the Day of Atonement ten days later. The sounding of the shofar on each weekday in Elul brings this wake up call even earlier and invites us to set our lives in order.

II. Tehillim

Psalm 27 is also added to the morning and evening prayers during Elul. This change also reminds us of the spiritual focus of the month, with the poet’s appeal, “Hear, HaShem, when I cry aloud; show mercy to me and answer me. My heart tells me to seek your face. HaShem, I seek you.”

III. Selichot

Selichot (from the Hebrew word selichah meaning forgiveness) are special piyyutim written throughout the generations of Jewish history to aid in the spiritual work of teshuvah. In Sephardi communities, the custom is to hold a Selichot service every day beginning on the second of Elul, while in Ashkenazi communities Selichot services generally begin roughly a week before Rosh HaShana, with only four services. Whatever your minhag or personal practice, the selichot prayers can help direct the soul towards the repair that Elul invites us to seek.

IV. Other Practices

In the past half century, the Reform, Reconstructionist and Renewal movements have seen a flowering of new practices to guide teshuvah during Elul. Search the web and you’ll find Elul workbooks and meditations galore. Many Jewish communities across the spectrum also see Elul as a time for interpersonal reconciliation as well as soul-work and emphasize reaching out who we have harmed or offended in the past year to attempt to mend what we can. The work of tzedekah— our obligation to provide assistance to those in poverty from what resources we have— is also a crucial aspect of teshuvah that is explored in many Elul traditions.

Teshuvah is deeply personal, and it’s good to remember that no specific practice is obligatory. These are not mitzvot, they are tools we can draw on as we seek to fulfill the ultimate mitzvah of return to ourselves, our righteous vows, and our G-d.

While this work is deeply personal, I encourage you to counteract the overly individualist and isolating spirit of our times and remember that the heart of teshuvah is in relationship, and in recognizing the webs of reciprocity and community and obligation we’re woven into. Recognizing our collective connectedness is at the heart of the healing that we’re offered through the path of teshuvah, and we cannot repair ourselves in isolation. May your labors this month prove fruitful, whatever type of teshuvah you may choose to seek.

[jewsreconstructingjudaism]

“In The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan applied the term "revaluation" to this method of interpreting rituals. We consciously look at the traditional poetic formulations of a ritual or payer, determine the values underlying it, and then express those values in a contemporary idiom. To those of us who believe, with Kaplan, that Judaism is the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people, it is clear that every generation of Jews has engaged in this process of reinterpretation. The difference is that prior generations did this largely unconsciously, believing that their new interpretations were what was originally intended. One potential benefit, then, of revaluation (conscious reinterpretation) is that we remain connected to the sacred milieu of our ancestors, thereby allowing ourselves to be acculturated into and influenced by their values and perspectives--that is, we acknowledge that we do not know everything and that we have much to learn from the treasures of our traditions. In this way, we avoid distancing ourselves unnecessarily from the sacred experiences of prior generations.” - Rabbi Jacob J. Staub, A Guide to Jewish Practice Volume 2, pg 6-8

[toa-greatmind-nothingislittle]

always thinking about the time I got cross faded with my best friend and hallucinated talking to my sister (a religious studies minor) and said absolutely scathingly, “you’re so self assured.” and my friend asked what about and, still thinking she was my sibling, I said, “I dunno, G-d??”