Transcript Reconstructionism and Spiritual Life

PEARL: Providing Education and Resources for Leadership
Reconstructionism and Spiritual Life
Rabbi Shawn Zevit and Rabbi Jacob Staub
April 27, 2011-8:00 p.m.-9:15 p.m.
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Transformative Judaism for the 21st Century
101 Greenwood Avenue
Beit Devora, Suite 430
Jenkintown, PA 19046
215.885.5601 / fax: 215.885.5603
www.jrf.org
Text Study
Genesis, 1:26: And God said: 'Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness… 27 And God created
man in God’s own image, in the image of God, God
created humans; male and female God created them.
..31 And God saw every thing that God had made,
and, behold, it was very good.
Leviticus 19:1: You shall be holy; for I, Adonai your
God am holy.
Text Study
“They envisioned you in an abundance of metaphors. You are
one in all of those images.” - Shir Hakavod (12th-century Germany )
“God heals the sick/healing the sick is godly.”
Rabbi Harold Schulweiss
“The rabbis taught: ‘Everywhere that God is described as majestic, God is
also described as humble, because God is both and neither.’ I believe that
God is the ground of all being, perpetually manifesting judgment and
mercy, grandeur and humility, closeness and distance. We experience
those aspects of God only when we are open and prepared to receive
them.
Rabbi Jacob Staub, Zeek Magazine
http://www.rrc.edu/Resources/Reconstructionist%20Resources/%3Ci%3EZeek%3C
/i%3E%20Special%20Issue
Text Study
“We must learn to distinguish between the belief in God and the conception of
God. The belief in God is the intuitive experience of cosmic Power upon which we
depend for our existence and self-fulfillment. It is, therefore, the basic substance
of religion and is a constant factor in it. On the other hand, the particular
conception of God is a cultural formulation of that belief. It varies with the
particular stage of man’s intellectual and social development.”
Mordecai Kaplan, Future of the American Jew, p. 182
“By the end of the eighteenth century, when Higher Criticism and the scientific
method began to captivate the human mind, the intellectual elite assumed that
religion soon would vanish. However, two hundred years later, the concept of God
and the primal stories of religion remain with us and, in many instances, appear to
be gaining in strength. The main reason God won't go away is because our brains
won't allow God to leave. Our brains are set up in such a way that God and religion
become among the most powerful tools for helping the brain do its thing—selfmaintenance and self-transcendence. “
Dr. Andrew Newberg, How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading
Neuroscientist (coauthored with Mark Robert Waldman), http://www.andrewnewberg.com/
The Evolving Religious Civilization of the Jewish People
Reconstructionists define Judaism as the evolving religious civilization of
the Jewish people.
By religious we mean that Judaism is the means by which we conduct our
search for ultimate meaning in life. God is the source of meaning. We
struggle, to be sure, with doubts and uncertainties.
Reconstructionists affirm that struggle; we believe it is the duty of all Jews
to question and to study in order to find unique paths to the divine. We
believe in a God who inhabits this world and especially the human heart.
God is the source of our generosity, sensitivity and concern for the world
around us. God is also the power within us that urges us toward selffulfillment and ethical behavior. We find God when we look for meaning in
the world, when we are motivated toward study and when we work to
realize the goals of morality and social justice.
The Evolving Religious Civilization of the Jewish People
The starting point of Reconstructionism is our quest to understand the
historical and spiritual experience of the Jewish people. We believe “the
past has a vote.” Therefore we struggle to hear the voices of our ancestors
and listen to their claim on us. What did this custom or that idea mean to
them? How did they see the presence of God in it? How can we retain or
regain its importance in our own lives? We believe “the past does not have
a veto.” Therefore we struggle to hear our own voices as distinct from
theirs. What might this custom or that idea mean to us today? What might
we borrow from this custom to create a new tradition that is more
significant for us today. When a particular Jewish value or custom is found
wanting, it is our obligation as Jews to find a means to reconstruct it - to
find new meanings in old forms or to develop more meaningful, innovative
practices.
Exploring Judaism
Staub and Alpert, Living as a Reconstructionist, p. 79
Recent studies suggest that there are different “spiritual types”…Some
people find holiness in analysis and study. Some experience God most
readily in social justice or interpersonal relationships. Others find
transcendence in observing the natural world or experiencing the creative
process. There is even a spiritual type who best connects to God and
religious life- remaining true to God by smashing the idols of religious
hypocrisy… No individual is purely one of these “types,” but each of us has
greater propensities in some directions than others. Viewing Judaism as a
religious civilization that encompasses all these paths, Reconstructionists
affirm the validity of each of them and seek to encourage one another as
we each find our own way.
Spiritual Practice in community: celebrating the sacred with a blend of the
traditional and the contemporary
Communal prayer (inc. meditation, chant, body-centered practices, etc., as
well as liturgy) is a central activity of Reconstructionist congregations.
Through prayer Reconstructionists forge a connection with the past and
with other Jews. They become aware of the spiritual dimension in their
lives, and discover that the perspectives of our ancestors can enhance the
quality of contemporary life. Our spiritual practices and liturgies draw
deeply from tradition, enriching it with contemporary poetry, music, art
and personally written prayers.
In some Reconstructionist communities, members are encouraged to
write and deliver their own commentaries on the Torah, or lead worship.
They also create and lead ceremonies for special occasions like retirement,
baby-namings, or the dedication of a new home.
Belonging to a Democratic Jewish Community in a Post-Halakhic Age
http://jrf.org/showres&rid=140
If halakha is defined as the Jewish process of celebrating, creating and transmitting tradition,
Reconstructionist Jewish communities would certainly fit within the framework of halakha.
But if halakha has the meaning of a rigid body of law, changeable only under very rarefied circumstances,
most Jewish people, including Reconstructionists, no longer accept its binding authority. While
Reconstructionists are lovers of tradition and support community celebration of the Jewish sacred year
and life-cycle events, we also believe that the face of the Jewish community is changing and that
individuals have the right to adapt Jewish tradition to new circumstances.
Reconstructionist communities challenge Jews to participate fully in our shared Jewish civilization. From
building a sukkah to appreciating Jewish music, from caring for the Jewish young and old to leading Torah
study - community members should experience Jewish civilization in our day as fully as they experience
secular civilization.
Judaism will continue to be a dynamic civilization only if we choose to participate, create and transmit
vitality to future generations. Reconstructionist rabbis work in partnership with committed lay people to
formulate guidelines that serve as Jewish touchstones for our times. These guidelines are presented and
democratically considered in Reconstructionist communities as standards for enhancing the Jewish life of
the individual and the community rather than as binding laws.
Values of Spiritual Peoplehood
http://jrf.org/files/PEARL_packet_innovative_experiential_education.doc
• ‫ חכמה‬H oh mah (Wisdom)
• ‫ הדור מצוה‬Hiddur Mitzvah (Creativity)
• ‫ קדושה‬Kedushah (Spirituality
• ‫ ציונות‬Ziyonut (Peoplehood),
• ‫(תקון עולם‬Repairing the World)
• ‫ דרך ארץ‬Dereh Eretz (Character)
• ‫ שמירת הגוף‬Sh’mirat Haguf
• ‫קהילה‬Kehillah (Community)
Belonging, Behaving, Believing, Becoming
Further Resources
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Reconstructionism: http://jrf.org/reconstructionism
Reconstructionism Today Articles:
http://jrf.org/resources-library&tid=5:12&show=#Religious Values
Who Is A Reconstructionist Jew?: http://jrf.org/showres&rid=140
Reconstructionism and Prayer: http://www2.jrf.org/rt/article.php?id=159
Audio Programs: http://jrf.org/heart-mind-spirit
FAQ's on Reconstructionist Approaches to Jewish ideas and Practices
http://jrf.org/showres&rid=487
How To Successfully Integrate and Use Reconstructionism in Synagogue Processes
http://jrf.org/pearl/2008/how-to-successfully-integrate-and-usereconstructionism-in-synagogue-processes
”What Is Reconstructionism, Anyway?”
http://jrf.org/resources/files/What%20is%20Reconstructionism.pdf
Further Resources
http://jrf.org/resources-library&tid=3:5&show=#Spirituality
http://www.rrc.edu/ethics-center/publications/publications
http://stores.jrfbookstore.org/-strse-Prayer-Books/Categories.bok
(Omer Series available at http://jrf.org/pearl)
http://jrf.org/pearl/2009/growing-the-soul-of-your-community
Omer Project: "A House of Prayer for All Peoples": Diversity in Growing Sacred Community
Omer Project: Spiritual direction : "Growing God-ward"
Omer Project: Varieties of Spiritual practice
Omer Project: Liturgy and Prayer
Omer Project: Growing Self and Community through Creativity and the Arts
Omer Project: Tikkun L'eyl Shavuot: The Many Paths to Revelation of Torah
Omer Project: Growing Spirituality in Education: Learning Across the Lifecycle
Spirituality and Social Justice http://jrf.org/showrt&rid=673
Re-inventing Synagogue Life and Prayer http://jrf.org/showrt&rid=508