Commitments to social justice permeate RRC’s curriculum and culture. At RRC, we believe Torah — understood most expansively — contains liberatory potential. Judaism can illuminate the path toward a more just, sustainable world. We support students in developing the vision, knowledge and acumen to pursue transformative change within and beyond the Jewish community. Through focused coursework and supervised internships, students develop the practical skills, ethical discernment and theological background to work effectively toward a more socially just, environmentally sustainable and spiritually fulfilling society.
Approaching Judaism from a social justice perspective enables contemporary rabbis to connect Jewish teachings and traditions to the concerns of the people and communities they serve. According to a Pew Survey, 59% of American Jews say that working for justice and equality in society is essential to their Jewish identity.
An increasing number of rabbis are pursuing work in social justice and advocacy organizations. Many organizations now recognize the role that clergy can play in helping activists maintain spiritual and emotional health.
Center for Jewish Ethics
RRC is home to The Center for Jewish Ethics, where study and action meet. Under the leadership of Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi, Ph.D., the Ethics Center helps people and communities address the ethical challenges of contemporary life. The Ethics Center is an invaluable resource for RRC students, helping them to become moral and ethical leaders in the world.
Sample Courses
Rabbis in Social Movements
This class explores the myriad roles that rabbis can play in movements for social change. It unpacks distinct but overlapping roles of pastor (tending to spiritual needs), priest (ritual and elevating holiness) and prophet (moral voice and persuasion). With a focus on the practical skills students might employ in these roles, we will encounter readings, podcasts, videos and conversations with rabbis and movement leaders to increase students’ capacity to effectively engage in movements for peace and justice. Read More
1299 Reckoning
This week-long seminar engaged RRC rabbinical students and Reconstructing Judaism leaders in an investigation of racial injustice, Jewish ethical teaching and reparations through a study of the history of RRC and of the racial and social inequities that shaped its history. The course consisted of lectures; text study; a walking tour of North Philadelphia; and skills-building workshops in archival research and oral history. The final group project was the creation of research and reflection questions to advance the process of organizational reckoning.
Rabbinic Leadership for Public Life Fellowship Course (Offered through Join for Justice)
We are living in turbulent times as a Jewish community. The rise in antisemitism and racism, the growing political divide and the divisions in our community over Oct. 7 the ensuing war in Gaza and have left many of us feeling despondent and powerless to make change. Especially in this time, this course equips seminary students in rabbinic, cantorial, Maharat and Jewish education schools from across the country with the skills to reach across divides and build unified, strong communities and to make strategic change around our interests and values. Students from the following seminaries are invited to participate: Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), Yeshiva Maharat, Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion New York, Yeshiva University, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and the Academy of Jewish Religion. The course is offered in partnership with the Religious Action Center.
Food Justice
Judaism has been deeply intertwined with the food production, consumption and distribution since its origins. Food is connected to nourishing our physical, emotional and spiritual lives. This course covers traditional Jewish teachings about food — from the Bible to eco-kashrut — and current issues regarding food justice and sustainability. It gives attention to how Jewish teachings inform our responses to these contemporary issues and how food can be a tool for organizing in the Jewish community.
Money in Our Lives and in Society
The Talmud teaches: “One who wishes to acquire wisdom should study the way money works, for there is no greater area of Torah study than this. It is like an ever-flowing stream … .” Participants in this course examine various aspects of how money works in their own lives, in institutions that they may serve, in Jewish history and in the larger society. Materials include traditional Jewish sources and current economic and financial teachings for practical and theoretical lessons. There is an experiential component to the class.
Developing a Jewish Liberation Theology
In the style of a graduate-school seminar, we explore creating a Jewish Theology of Liberation. Among other questions are whose freedom/liberation are we concerned with? What would this theology hold us accountable for/to? What can we learn from other liberation theologies (e.g., Latin American, Black, Womanist, Queer, Eco-Feminist, etc.)? How does it fit into the continuum of Jewish theologies and, in particular, how does Reconstructionism relate to the questions we raise? How does this theology need to address our particular time? What would inspire us to do?
Rabbi as Environmental Activist
The course addresses Jewish teachings about our relationship to the environment and our place in the ecology of the earth. We examine Jewish texts and tradition, as well as other spiritual approaches and scientific thinking. We give attention to the different types of activism needed to achieve a sustainable environment.
Internships
Social justice internships engage a wide array of issues, settings and activities. Some interns work on community organizing initiatives within congregations. Others provide Jewish grounding for issues-oriented community groups and advocacy organizations. Still others initiate new projects. These are some of the places RRC students have recently been at work:
- Initiating and leading the Disability Torah Project
- Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
- Never Again Action
- Interfaith Philadelphia
- The Shalom Center
- The Pennsylvania Poor Peoples Campaign Faith Leaders Team
Here’s a description of two internship opportunities.
Poor Peoples Campaign
RRC students can serve as a bridge between grassroots faith communities and the national Poor People’s Campaign, connecting local Pennsylvania religious leaders with a movement for social and economic justice. Interns gain hands-on experience in community organizing, leadership development and interfaith coalition-building while addressing poverty and inequality in Pennsylvania.
Never Again Action Network
Never Again Action is a Jewish-led mobilization against the persecution, detention and deportation of immigrants in the United States. Collaborate on writing and reviewing values-aligned content, including public statements, organizational emails, chapter materials and internal culture documents. Ensure our communications reflect Jewish traditions, disability justice and the pursuit of liberation. Engage in shaping the larger meta-narrative that grounds Never Again Action’s work, connecting it to Jewish history, justice and solidarity with marginalized communities.
