Uncover Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach (Expanded And Updated) Documented By Rebecca T. Alpert Categorized In Printable Format

book is a simple introduction to Reconstructionist Judaism, A few key points:

Unlike Conservative and Orthodox Judaism, Reconstructionism does not accept halakhah traditional Jewish law as binding, But unlike Classical Reform, it accepts halakhah as relevant, The ideal Reconstructionist Jew or congregation researches halakhah and then decides how and whether to apply it, The authors write: "If God is not the commander of these ritual acts, God nonetheless is reflected through them, " What I didn't understand, however, is how Reconstructionism differs from modern, more traditional versions of Reform Judaism,

The authors struggle to describe the Reconstructionist concept of God not as a intervening, punishing entity, but as a force or power working through us to create goodness.


The authors tend to emphasize liberal in the latethcentury sense, rather than in the "thcentury liberal" sense values, For example, they write "Most Reconstructionists take their stand, . . with the signers of the Oslo accords and proponents of peace, " I think it would be harder to be a Republican in most Reconstructionist congregations than in most Reform congregations,

This book gave me a pretty good sense of how Reconstructionism differs from Orthodox and Conservative Judaism but less of a sense on how it differs from Reform.
It seems like

Reconstructionism suffers from the same problems as centrist third parties in the political arena just as thes Reform Party failed in part because the major parties adopted some of its ideas, Reconstructionism seems squeezed between a Reform movement that is becoming more traditional and a leftwardmoving Conservative movement.
I am converting reconstructionist so I wanted to learn more about the movement and this was the perfect introduction! It is mostly an overview so it doesnt teach you everything, but it is certainly a good start if you want to know more about the movement.
Perhaps nothing made me feel more Jewish at my BCI retreat than choosing, on my own, to order this book, have it shipped to me, and read it while my contemporaries practiced their Torah portions for Shabbat or what have you.
I don't read Hebrew, but this was something, :p

I was born into Reconstructionist Judaism and still have a deep affinity for it, though I remember this book feeling a little alien at BCI.
Maybe because the experience was so overly spiritual, and Alpert and Staub spoke to a Judaism that is more utilitarian, They talked about Kaplan seeing Judaism as a "civilization" that transcended mere religion, and I remember pondering whether Jewish Comminity Centers were kind of his utopia.
The type of place where a Jew would more likely go to work out than to lay teffilin, Also bears reference, perhaps, that Jews were less assimilated in Kaplan's time, and we stuck together more for secular life, too, Kaplan believed in belonging to a People, and that's a big part of my connection to Judaism, I now belong to a Conservative synagogue but the rabbis have started referencing Kaplan, Back at BCI, I'm pretty sure a couple of Conservative compatriots gave me the sideeye when I said I was Reconstructionist, :p. Times change. So do many facets of Jewish living and understanding, This book describes and illustrates comprehensively yet pithily the major facets of Reconstructionist Judaism, It is written by Rebecca Alpert, a Rabbi who was formerly Dean of Students and current member of the faculty at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and currently also Director of the Women's Studies Program at Temple University.
And its coauthor is Jacob Staub, Dean and Director of Medieval Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College,
This book is shortpages and simply written, but contains a wealth of information about this crucial Jewish voice in our global community.

I've only browsed it myself, but am aware of its contents through membership in a reconstructionist shul, attendance at services etc, . plus within my 'Introduction to Judaism'/conversion class inand my participation in a program for new converts which was a contrastandcompare involving all the local synagogue options.
Highly recommended for anyone interested, including anyone who thinks that the Jewish community is monolithic, It's not, any more than any other community, This introduction to Reconstructionist Judaism is easy to read and makes it clear the differences between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism as well as the differences with classical Reform Judaism.
However, the incorporation of halakhah as option and tradition into Reform has made some of the differences between Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform less separated than in thes when this book was written.
Alpert and Staub do an excellent job of distilling the basic project of Mordecai Kaplan and explain some of the key and unique elements to the Reconstructionist approach.
I wanted to know more about Reconstructionist Judaism,
Now I do. I feel the need to justify my negative review of this book, as someone who was raised at a Reconstructionist synagogue and who still considers myself a Reconstructionist.
I think that this is a clear, relatively concise introduction to Kaplanderived ideology, albeit a little out of date in the twenty years since its come out.


My negative review is due to the flippant zionism of this book, It is almost painful how wide the social justice minded, Tikkun Olamloving authors miss their own mark, They give a weak, factually dubious defense of the Israeli occupation, before reinforcing a hegemonic and ultimately antiReconstructionist stance of continued expanded, even! settler colonialism in the service of the “defense” of the Jewish state.


A stance so jarrinngly antithetical to my Reconstructionism presented as the big makeorbreak issue of Judaism makes it hard to forgive this book, but because it is mostly factual outside of that, Ill grudge two.
This substantially revised and updated edition of theclassic is ideal for everyone who wants to know more about Judaism, Whether you are a longtime participant in the Jewish community, a newcomer or someone who has struggled to find a home in Jewish life, this introduction to Jewish thought and practice from a Reconstructionist perspective will offer inspiration and guidance.
From Kaplan's belief through contemporary innovations, this engaging text explores Reconstructionist views on God, ethics, Zionism, spirituality, text study, Tikkun Olam, life cycle ritual, intermarriage, gay and lesbian issues.
. . and more! A mustread. .