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Mourning & Bereavement

people embrace in tears

Traditional Jewish mourning and bereavement practices are designed to help us bear our grief. But sometimes we need something more: a poem that captures our imagination, a creative ritual that addresses the particularity of our grief, a song that speaks to our heart. May you find a measure of comfort in your time of need.

Latest Rituals

“May his/her dreams / be fulfilled / in every one of our breaths…”
two people sit on a dock looking out over a lake
“The death of a sibling too is unique. It ignites our own vivid / sense of mortality.”
two brothers, one a child and one a toddler, hold hands and walk by a pond
“In the ruins of the towers / we walked through daily / you would have found letters…” and added them up to find meaning
Hebrew letters in a book, covered by a menorah with a star of david shining down
This ritual is an opportunity for someone to meaningfully mark a threshold when they reach or pass the age at which someone who was important in their life died.
a black and white photo
The Reconstructionist version of the Mourner’s Kaddish.
A hand holding a siddur opened to the Kaddish
“Count instead the growing number of cared-fors you have lost…”
a black and white photo
“Now, your breath is within me. / And Kaddish is like a love letter.” 
a collage with the words of the Kaddish and pastel watercolors
“May the Shekhinah drive you home in her taxi…”
a heart shape created from pages of an open book
Elliott batTzedek shares an original interpretation of the Kaddish.
two hands reaching to the heavens
Rabbi Marina Yergin shares a new ritual for mourning.
Rabbi Yergin leans against her father.

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