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Type: Poem

Latest Rituals

Blessing for Hunger

Don’t fret about terms, / she croons. / Just watch the squirrels
  • by Cathleen Cohen
blessing, food, hunger, mindfulness, nature
watercolor by author of a squirrel sitting on the branch of a tree

The Word is Wood

Hear, O Israel / the prayer was dance / Adonai Eloheinu / there were no pews
  • by Tzivia Gover
call and response, memory, nature, prayer, shema
a split image, on the left are trees and grass, on the right are buildings and a road

21 Alternative Challah Recipes: Notes from a Google Search History

what does ethereal mean / when is the pool open for lap swimming / what’s happening in the middle east
  • by Tzivia Gover
challah, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, questioning
a person's finger is touching a search bar's magnifying glass icon against a gray background

“Got Bentsh Amerike”

As I bend / hanging laundry on the drying rack / my back twinges    but just a little
  • by Janice Steinberg
America, labor, poverty, prayer, Yiddish
a construction scene in which a person wearing baggy jeans covered in paint and dust is hunched over a bowl, which is next to a bucket, a barrel, and a sack.

Hitbodedut

You glimmer in my rearview mirror Quick look, there’s no one in the / back of the car. Yet, / you
  • by Janice Steinberg
God, hitbodedut, life, moments
from inside the car we see a person's hands on a steering wheel and a rearview window, out of the window is pictured a road surrounded by grass and trees on a cloudy day

The Flesh and the Body

To love an idea can be quite quite / satisfying but only the body, beloved, / is holy, holy, holy.
  • by Elliott batTzedek
body, embodied, God, holiness
a black and white photo of a dancer with short hair wearing a long skirt with bent knees, face angled upward, and arm extending to the side

Story of Our Lives

“Every step along the way is it’s own journey…”
  • by Marc Jacobs
growth, journey
tall trees along either side of a wooden bridge

To Endure

“We do not want to choose whose child will live and whose will die.”
  • by Martha Hurwitz
exodus, God, Israel, Pharoah, war
two children playing in a pond

Teraphim

Those they call vile things / are an homage / to Her beauty
  • by Alex Carter
Goddess, home, pluralism, teraphim
an assortment of Astarte figurines representing the goddess Asherah

Baking Cakes for the Queen of Heaven

My husband stokes the fire / with wood the children gathered / I knead the dough – / an offering for the Source of all
  • by Alex Carter
ancestors, baking, family, Goddess, offerings, oneness, transformation
green olives on an olive tree

The Reconstructionist Network

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Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

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Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

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Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

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Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Read & Rite

One-stop shop for progressive Jewish books and ritual objects

Havaya Summer Programs

Overnight summer camp and teen Israel experience

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis

Placement Office

Placement resources for rabbis and congregations

Reconstructionist Educators of North America

Professional group for people leading schools in Reconstructionist congregations

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The Reconstructionist Network

Reconstructing Judaism logo
A plain white background.
A blank white image with no visible elements or details.

Read & Rite

One-stop shop for progressive Jewish books and ritual objects

Placement Office

Placement resources for rabbis and congregations

Havaya Summer Programs

Overnight summer camp and teen Israel experience

Reconstructionist Educators of North America

Professional group for people leading schools in Reconstructionist congregations

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis