JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi’s first day of teaching a biblical Hebrew intensive to Sudanese seminary students went great. The second, fairly well. But by the third day it was clear that her pupils were falling behind. “Nobody was studying,” Mbuvi said. “Because when it got dark they didn’t have electricity.” That 2005 trip helped form Mbuvi’s…
Across denominations and across the United States, Jewish families under financial pressure from the coronavirus pandemic are deciding that synagogue dues are an expense they can cut. “More congregations are seeing declines in members than are seeing growth,” said Amy Asin, vice-president of Strengthening Congregations, the synagogue advising arm at the Union of Reform Judaism….
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Over 60 Reconstructionist rabbis and rabbinical students said they were disappointed in the movement for backing a congressional resolution that would condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel. Reconstructing Judaism, an umbrella body for Reconstructionist groups, on April 3 joined another four progressive groups in backing a bipartisan anti-BDS resolution…
When the Reconstructionist movement voted two years ago to admit rabbinical students with non-Jewish partners or spouses to their seminary, the move triggered a wave of intense reaction, but little surprise at its provenance. After all, Reconstructionism — American Judaism’s smallest and youngest movement — has been over the course of its history the source…
For Kathy Jacobs, the decision to join Agudas Achim Congregation wasn’t really much of a decision. The Coralville, Iowa synagogue was the only one within miles of Iowa City when Jacobs and her late husband moved to the area in 1998. This also meant that it wasn’t necessarily her decision to join a synagogue that…
(JTA) — The rabbinical school and umbrella organization for Reconstructionist Judaism has a new name: Reconstructing Judaism. The name, announced Monday, comes along with a new logo of a sprouting tree as well as a new slogan, “Deeply rooted. Boldly relevant.” The rabbinical school in suburban Philadelphia, which serves 39 students, will be called the College…
A traditional greeting call before the High Holidays has become a point of contention for the Jewish community and a window into the Trump administration’s relations with the American Jewish establishment. The call, scheduled for Friday morning, was described by the White House in invitations sent out Wednesday to rabbis and Jewish leaders as a…
Citing President’s Trump “moral failure” in response to Charlottesville, Virginia, the rabbinical arms of three American Jewish denominations have decided to pull out of the annual conference call held by the president before the High Holidays. The rabbinical groups of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements said in a joint statement that Trump’s recent remarks…
Virtual
Dec 7, 2022
7 pm ET ·
A conversation with Julia Haart and her son Shlomo, stars of Netflix's 'My Unorthodox Life,' about the new season and much more.