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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

“Blessed are You, Creator of the Universe, who frees the bound.”
trees on the hillside
“She’s 19 years old, / younger than my children, / older than my grandchildren: Noa Marciano…”
a photo of many candles
“we remind ourselves / of eternal light at the core / of the universe”
view of earth from space
“Can we fill ourselves with breath / of kindness, breath of calm?”
birds fly towards each other against a blue sky
This poem is dedicated to dedicated to Vivian Silver, z”l, and her vision for peace
a protest for peace
A poem marking the 40th day of fighting after the attacks on October 7th.
a thunderstorm in a dark sky
a family heirloom photo
“We are with each other. We are not alone. / We will do what we have always done.”
An Israeli flag over Jerusalem
“I am left with only my own thinking heart / in this nightmare humanity has dreamt / for itself.”
dark clouds hover over the hills
“Seeking an impossible calm, we bed / down our gardens for the winter, / wishing we too could sleep soundly.”
the sun shines through the sky on an autumn path

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

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The Reconstructionist Network