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.
My time in the military was busy and transformative. Amidst the stress of active duty life, I found myself having conversations while on watch, or in the chameleon chapel where I connected with people on a personal level. I learned over time that people craved the chance to talk and safely express themselves.
I wanted to foster the environment where my shipmates could feel safe to talk, and through those moments is where I realize
Rabbis are usually the ones stewarding congregants through life cycle events, such as births, deaths, coming of age and marriage, but what happens when a rabbi goes through those same monumental life moments?
Congregation Or Shalom Rabbi Kami Knapp Schechter, who just turned 40, is returning to her synagogue on May 22 after maternity leave, having given birth to twins three months ago.
The results of the Center for Jewish Ethics project — a trove of video lectures, curricula and lesson plans — are now freely available at Jewsandrace.com. The materials offer profound insight into the range, depth and complexity of the moral, historical and practical questions that race and racism pose to Jews and Judaism.
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 — will partner with the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project on integrating the project’s “Dismantling Racism From the Inside Out” curriculum with faculty members.
The rabbi in training at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote just felt “anxious around Torah,” she said. Like the people at synagogue who are afraid to volunteer to lift the Torah during services, she was worried she would drop it and offend God … or something like that.
On the cusp of Black History Month, and as the nation continues to mourn for Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died after a severe beating by five Black now-former police officers, one small Jewish movement is taking a stand.
Rabbi Alex Weissman remembers walking into the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote for the first time. It was November 2010, and he was a 27-year-old Tufts University graduate who had held a few jobs with community and service-minded organizations, like the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies & Training in New York City.
Legal scholar, philosopher and policy analyst Nathalie Smuha spends a lot of time thinking, writing and advising about artificial intelligence. Namely, Smuha believes that society’s increasing reliance on algorithms presents pressing legal and moral questions — and governments, corporations and citizens are not paying enough attention.
This article was originally published in the Jewish Exponent on June 8, 2022.
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
