What is Reconstructionist Judaism?

There's More Than One Way to Pray...

Reconstructionist Judaism is a progressive, contemporary approach to Jewish life, which integrates a deep respect for traditional Judaism with the insights and ideas of contemporary social, intellectual and spiritual life.

While deeply connected to the historical experience of the Jewish people, we find a profound sense of belonging in our contemporary communities as well. We find meaning in rediscovering the richness of traditional ritual and creating observances which respond to our contemporary communal and personal cycles.

Jewish Reconstructionist communities are characterized by their respect for the core values of democratic process, pluralism, and accessibility. In this way, we create participatory, inclusive, egalitarian communities committed to exploring Jewish life with dedication, warmth and enthusiasm.

• Judaism as the Culture of the Jewish People
• Community as Cornerstone
• Finding Holiness
• Patterns of Practice
  
• Spiritual Seeking
• Ethics and Values
• The Place of Community
• Building the Future
• Who is a Reconstructionist Jew?
  
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  Visit the national organization: The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.

RECONSTRUCTIONIST JUDAISM IS ...
a progressive, contemporary approach to Jewish life which integrates a deep respect for traditional Judaism with the insights and ideas of contemporary social, intellectual and spiritual life.

Judaism as the Culture of the Jewish People
For Reconstructionists, Judaism is more than Jewish religion; Judaism is the entire cultural legacy of the Jewish people. Religion is central; Jewish spiritual insights and religious teachings give meaning and purpose to our lives. Yet our creativity as expressed through art, music and drama, languages and literature, and our relationship with the land of Israel itself are also integral parts of Jewish culture.

Each of these aspects provides a gateway into the Jewish experience that can enrich and inspire us.

Community as Cornerstone
While deeply connected to the historical experience of the Jewish people, we find a profound sense of belonging in our contemporary communities as well. This connection often leads to increased ritual observance and experimentation with the ritual rhythms of Jewish life. We find meaning in rediscovering the richness of traditional ritual and creating new observances which respond to our contemporary communal and personal cycles.

As we come to know ourselves as part of a community and create our own patterns of religious living, we create the context in which to join the spiritual quest that is so important in our time. In moments of prayer, song, social action and story we experience the reality of God, and we join in study and discussion where searching is as central as finding.

Reconstructionist communities are characterized by their respect for such core values as democratic process, pluralism, and accessibility. In this way, they create participatory, inclusive, egalitarian communities committed to exploring Jewish life with dedication, warmth and enthusiasm.

Finding Holiness
Every religion tells its own story as a sacred story; Jewish tradition is no different. In its classical texts, Judaism presents itself as originating in the revelation of God to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai. The contemporary historical study of religions and cultures teaches us that they are better understood as a natural part of the experiences of communities that seek to live by sacred values and practices.

Reconstructionist Jews thus understand Judaism to be the outcome of the religious experience of the Jewish people in their search for meaning and sacred living throughout history rather than revelation from a supernatural God. Put differently, Reconstructionists see Jewish tradition, culture, and religion as having grown "from the ground up" instead of from the "[mountain-]top down."

Understanding Judaism as having been created by the Jewish people does not make it less sacred to us. Knowing that Jewish tradition has undergone a long period of development, change and adaptation does not weaken its claim on our lives, but rather can strengthen our connection to our tradition. We hear in that tradition the voices of generations of Jews who sought to record their deepest values, most profound religious insights, and highest hopes. While Reconstructionists do not take the Torah literally, we do take it seriously as a record of our ancestors= search for moral principles and spiritual practices that can help us become fully human.

Patterns of Practice
"Torah" means "teaching." In Jewish tradition, talmud Torah, the study of Torah, is a life-long obligation and opportunity. Reconstructionists are committed to a serious engagement with the texts and teachings, as well as the art, literature and music of tradition. But we are not passive recipients; we are instead challenged to enter the conversation of the generations and to hear voices other than our own, but to add our own voices as well.

Reconstructionist Judaism is respectful of traditional Jewish observances but also open to new interpretations and forms of religious expression. As Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881-1983), the founder of Reconstructionism, taught, tradition has "a vote, but not a veto." Reconstructionists share a commitment to making Judaism their own by finding in it joy, meaning, and ideas they can believe. Unlike Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, Reconstructionism does not view inherited Jewish law (halahah) as binding. We continue to turn to Jewish law for guidance, if not always for governance. We recognize that in the contemporary world, individuals and communities make their own choices with regard to religious practice and ritual observance.

But where Reform Judaism emphasizes individual autonomy, Reconstructionism emphasizes the importance of religious community in shaping individual patterns of observance. Belonging to a community leads us to take the patterns of observance within that community seriously; our choices do not exist independently, but are made in response to our community as part of our participating in it. Reconstructionism thus retains a warmly traditional (and fully egalitarian) approach to Jewish religious practice.

We encourage individual Jews through study and exploration of Jewish tradition to find their own place along the spectrum of observance. This approach is woven through the Guide to Mourning earlier in this volume. Explanations, options and recommendations are presented so that the resources of Jewish tradition can provide support and meaning to mourners, even as it is acknowledged that differing individual and family circumstances will shape different patterns of observance.

Spiritual Seeking
We live in an age of spiritual seeking, a time in which the search for transcendent values and deeper meanings invites many of us back to our own religious traditions, to rediscover the rich insights of those who came before us on the spiritual journey. Reconstructionist Judaism has always been open to new approaches to thinking about God, to alternative ways of experiencing the Divine in our lives, and to honest wrestling with the inherited insights of our ancestors.

Reconstructionists hold diverse ideas about God, but we share an emphasis on Godliness --those hopes, beliefs, and values within us that impel us to work for a better world, that give us strength and solace in times of need, that challenge us to grow, and that deepen our joy in moments of celebration.

Reconstructionist prayerbooks such as this one speak of God beyond the gender concepts of male/female, and beyond the traditional metaphor of "king of the universe." For example, in our prayerbooks God is addressed as, among other things, "The Healer," "The Teacher," "The Comforter," and "The Presence." We are engaged in the spiritual adventure of discovering the many attributes of the one God.  

Ethics and Values
In a time of wide debate about values, morals and ethics, religion is often assumed to have answers for any and every situation. But as we come to know the variety of cultures and religions that exist on our small planet, we come to know that the discovery of eternal teachings arises from the respectful exchange of perspectives and ideas among people -- not from authoritarian assertions of the truth or the primacy of one religion or one religious community over another. It is in this context that we see ourselves as having an obligation to social justice and doing the work of tikkun olam, improving our world. Reconstructionist communities emphasize such acts of social justice alongside prayer and study as an essential part of their spiritual practice.

Reconstructionist Judaism affirms that religion can and must be a powerful force for promoting communal discussion about ethics and values. The Torah tradition itself is a deep and wide resource for this project. Yet we know that generations of Jews have sharpened and distilled the ethical insights of Judaism as a result of their encounter with other cultures and traditions, and so it is in our time.

The Place of Community
The centrality of contemporary religious community cannot be overestimated. In an age of rapid communication, personal and professional mobility, intellectual excitement and cross-cultural exchange, there is a need for connection, conviction and commitment. For Jews, the congregation or havurah provides a primary community through which we can connect to other Jews, to the inherited richness of Jewish culture, and to the religious resources of Jewish religion. To engage us as fully as possible, Reconstructionist communities emphasize participation and inclusivity.

Especially in moments of the lifecycle, such as times of death and mourning, we want to be able to count on our communities to provide connection and comfort. Reconstructionists take seriously the imperative of the Talmud, "Do not separate yourself from the community." We strive to create covenantal communities, in which individuals faithfully support one another and respond to individual needs.

Building the Future
Reconstructionist Jews have strong commitments both to tradition and to the search for contemporary meaning. We are engaged in the ongoing task of building a relationship to our Judaism that is faithful to the past and relevant to the present. We want to create a Judaism for our day that is richly traditional, spiritually alive, and intellectually honest. We encourage contemporary Jews to enhance their own Jewish lives by reclaiming our shared heritage and becoming active participants in the building of the Jewish future.

Who is a Reconstructionist Jew?
A Reconstructionist Jew has strong commitments both to tradition and to the search for contemporary meaning. Reconstructionists encourage all Jews to enhance their own lives by reclaiming our shared heritage and becoming active participants in the building of the Jewish future.