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Communal Tragedy

Memorial wall with photos and plaques honoring Yitzhak Rabin at Tel Aviv assassination site.

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

“Bring to our turn-table faith that we can turn the tide, / where children’s laughter sparkles in the clear blue air…”
a sky of blue clouds
“In this grove that awakens in me forgotten tears of grief…”
a grove of trees overlooks the water
“for Shalom is wholeness / for Salaam is whispered promise…”
people in the wilderness pointing to the sunrise
“Master of Compassion, help us hold the humanity and the heartache of the Jewish people while also holding the humanity and the dignity of the Palestinian people.”
a skyline in Israel, overlooking the Sea
“a world in which the children of Sarah, / and the children of Hagar will finally live in peace.”
green mountains above a green valley
“What stories will we tell this infant / war, what songs sing to it?”
person hiking in the desert
“May love flow from our broken hearts, and may their yearning return us to our humanity.”
woman deep in thought
“We reach to touch souls as luminous as mirrors / so we might reflect light back to each other.”
An Eagle reflected in water
“I do not live in Israel but I have / tasted all her fruits…”
The Jerusalem skyline

The Reconstructionist Network

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Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

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The Reconstructionist Network