Reconstructionism "On One Foot"

"Reconstructionist Judaism is a progressive, contemporary approach to Jewish life which integrates a deep respect for traditional Judaism with the insights and ideas of contemporary social, intellectual and spiritual life."

What is Reconstructionist Judaism?

The Movement was inspired by the writings of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who proposed that we should think of Judaism as a Civilization, a culture with a history, a land, a religion, a literature and arts. Over the centuries it has been highly adaptable, reconstructing itself to meet changing needs. In ancient times it adapted to the needs of a settled agricultural society, found a way of understanding the Jewish people's relationship to God that saw it through exile and return, developed rabbinic Judaism as a way of carrying on after the destruction of the Temple. Today, Judaism faces another challange: after centuries of living in restricted, hierarchical societies, how do we make Judaism meaningful in an open, democratic environment?

As Reconstructionists, we understand the Torah to be a history of the Jewish people's search for the divine, rather than a document dictated by a supernatural being. It contains much wisdom that we acquired over close to a millenium, but it also represents a variety of views, developed at different stages in our history, not all of which we accept today. We try to understand the contexts in which different parts of it were written, and wherever possible preserve and use our ancient traditions. When, on occasion, we find something that is simply not compatible with our current environment, we modify it appropriately. When we alter tradition, we want to do it out of knowledge, not out of ignorance.

Prayer and ritual, in the words of Rabbi Lester Bronstein, are the Jewish people's way of heightening our awareness of the sacredness of life, of clarifying and reiterating our moral values and of marking time and space in a sacred way. They bring us together and foster a sense of community.

We regard mitzvot -- literally "commandments" -- as social contructs that we have created that, together with our ceremonies and our liturgy, help us to bring a sense of holiness into our lives. They provide a Jewish way to respond to the world and to live a good life.