Communal Tragedy

As individuals, we all know pain and loss. It is the rare person who escapes sorrow. But when one of us hurts, others are there to offer comfort. Communal tragedy is different. When something bad happens to us as a community—whether that is a school, a town, a people, or a country—we struggle to figure out how to tend to our own wounds while taking care of each other. Drawing on compassion, empathy, justice, and love, we can bring out the best in each other, and perhaps, find a theology of hope in the midst of despair.

Latest Rituals

“The ones who say Zionism is a dirty word, / The ones who choose death on your account, / They only see the ‘ism.'”
View of the negev desert with a small tree
“Hashem yereicham, Source of Mercy and comfort, be with us now…”
a prayer book on a lectern with a Star of David
“May each life be treated as a sacred treasure, as You have intended.”
three hands--one with brown skin, one with white skin, one with black skin touch each other over the image of a world map
“May the One who blessed our common ancestor Abraham bless and heal his children…”
a stream running over rocks
“I want to be carried into a deep, deep salty sea of sound, rhythm, in tune with oceanic harmonies…”
a collage of multicultual faces
“Peace for my Muslim cousins / Is peace for my Jewish siblings…”
the desert in Israel
A new Shabbat practice created to share light with all of whom are suffering unjustly.
two shabbat candles are lit as someone's hands wave in the light of Shabbat
“Prayer, the sacred blessing where all our limbs can be rewoven / returning us into our whole…”
a person in silhoutte against the sunset
“There is a time to make war, / there is a time to make peace. / In each soul both sing.” Listen to the tune hardest to hear.
a peace sign painted on a stone

The Reconstructionist Network

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

Presence and Absence: Images of the Divine in Kabbalah

In this study of the Zohar, Rabbi Margie Jacobs will guide you in exploring the Shekhinah, the feminine, immanent, indwelling Sacred Presence, through the use of art materials and reflective writing. Four sessions starting May 7, 2024. 

Get the latest from Ritualwell

Subscribe for the latest rituals, online learning opportunities, and unique Judaica finds from our store.

The Reconstructionist Network