Starting a Family

In contemporary homes, starting a family is often a deliberate choice. The experience of pregnancy, the drama of giving birth, and the miracle of adoption are occasions for joy and wonder. These are also experiences that can be fraught with pain and struggle, reflecting the full spectrum of life and death. We offer prayers for those who are trying to conceive, prayers for pregnancy and childbirth, rituals for parents preparing to adopt, mourning ceremonies for miscarriages, blessings for those struggling with infertility, rituals to prepare for or acknowledge an abortion, and much more. 

Latest Rituals

“Let today be the day we learn our power”
Prayer for Our Power, Prayer for Our Choice
“And we will see to it that justice, the kind you fought for and died protecting, ever reigns”
An Intention for Reproductive Justice to Reign Supreme
This is a script for an imagined infertility support group for Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hannah
Infertility Speaks: An Imagined Support Group for Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hannah

“We pray that those yearning to conceive, carry, foster or adopt will lead to a joyful outcome”

Prayer for Those Yearning for a Child

Poems to be read by friends surrounding the person who has miscarried before she immerses in the mikveh

Miscarriage Ritual with Friends: Reading Poems at the Mikveh

Ritual for moving into new phase of life post-childbearing

Fill Your Plate: An Earth-based Ritual of Transition to Post-childbearing Stage

Poem on parenting new baby struggling to feed 

Olam Hazeh

“There is nothing mere about water”

Water: A Prayer/Mikveh Ritual for an IVF Miscarriage

“Help me love you in faith, not grief”

From Miscarriage to Mikvah

“becoming a parent is a significant lifecycle event and merits its own ritual”

Brit Horim: A New Parent Ketubah

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

Count On Telling Your Story: A Ritualwell In-Person Immersion

Join us for Count On Telling Your Story: A Ritualwell In-Person Immersion on Sunday, June 9th. Mix and mingle with old and new friends, enjoy delicious kosher-vegetarian food and engage in a variety of creative, thought-provoking sessions exploring rituals, writing, and art.

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The Reconstructionist Network