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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 world is a narrow bridge, we sing in response /  But we are not afraid.” 
Rabbi Haviva dressed in white sits with protestors
“may we atone our sins / and learn to embrace life, and each other, once again…”
a river with rocks in it flows towards a mountain
“When I open my mouth no sound comes out..”
a person in shadow bent in grief
“May the souls so callously severed from their bodies find shelter, refuge, in the hidden space beneath Your wings.”
three autumn leaves
This poem is dedicated to Eden Yerushalmi & Carmel Gat.
a breeze goes through blades of grass against a blue sky
This version of the ‘Unetaneh Tokef’ prayer refers to the atrocities that took place on Oct. 7.
a dusty road
​Rabbi Maurice Harris, Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist, shares a powerful message for this moment.
a brown shofar set on an open prayerbook
“What is the path home? / Out from our buried place? / To Peace?”
a person's hands are clasped together sitting on an open book
A prayer from Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President and CEO, Reconstructing Judaism, to mark the first anniversary of the atrocities that took place on October 7.
a white dove flies with wings spread wide, behind the dove are tall trees
“I am the Jew / I am a shofar  Calling to the world.”
a person with a tallit over their head holds a shofar to their mouth

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The Reconstructionist Network