JRF

The Holy Days of Tishrei (Rosh hashannah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot...)

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:02:29 -0400

Start: Sep 19 2009 - 9:02pm

End: Oct 11 2009 - 9:02pm

Shannah Tovah! The JRF website contains numerous resources for Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Simply enter any of these holiday names in the search box on the left side of any page and enjoy and rich and expansive set of audio programs, articles, texts and stories on the Days of Awe and Sukkot. Wishing you all the most inspiring, healthiest, joy-filled and meaningful sweet new year. Welcome to 5770 from the staff and lay leadership of JRF!

Shabbat Shalom from Israel: The No'ar Hadash Israel Experience Writes Home

Lisa Tuttle — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:46:38 -0400

No'ar Hadash Teens in JerusalemThis summer, JRF sent 35 teens to Israel for the first month-long No'ar Hadash Israel Experience. Following is a note received from the group before their first Shabbat:

Shabbat shalom from Israel. After a very long flight, the No’ar Hadah Israel Experience teens were happy to meet their Israeli staff in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. We immediately hit the ground running, with a tour of Neot Kedumim, a biblical garden which has been reconstructed, in order to learn what it was like to live on the land in the Biblical period. Here we listened, looked, tasted, touched, and smelled the Biblical period, including crushing our own zatar, making oil lamps, and learning how olive oil and wine were made.

Thursday, we began our day with an archaeological dig in the area of Bet Guvrin, which is from the Hellenistic period. The staff at Bet Guvrin said this was one of the most eventful days of digging they had seen in a long time; Rachel K. found an austercome, a pottery shard with Aramaic script—an extremely rare find. The student who helped us through the dig is the grandson of Rabbi Jack Cohen, one of the founders of Reconstructionism. The head archaeologist, a man named Bernie, told us that as Reconstructionists we are going to save Israel.

Participating in the No'ar Hadash Israel ExperienceToday, we started off walking on top of the walls of the Old City, getting a birds-eye view of Jerusalem. Then we went down below the walls and walked through the tunnels, singing songs of Jerusalem as we walked through water that flowed from a cistern built more than two millennia ago. This afternoon we went shopping in the shuk at Mahaneh Yehudah and the prepared for Shabbat services at Kol Haneshamah synagogue. Every day since we have been here, someone has said that “this is the coolest day of my life.” We’re looking forward to many more days like this as we continue to explore the neshama—the soul—of Jerusalem and Israel.

To access the Israel Experience blog, please visit www.israelexperts.com and click on the No'ar Hadash banner under "News and Links." Learn more about No'ar Hadash--the Reconstructionist Youth Movement at http://www.noarhadash.org.

Chesapeake JRF

Jackie Land — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:40:21 -0400

Chesapeake Region of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Chesapeake Region is made up of 7 synagogues and Havurot in Baltimore, the Greater Washington area and Northern Virginia. Congregations include Adat Shalom in Bethesda, MD; Beit Tikvah in Baltimore, MD; Columbia Jewish Congregation in Columbia, MD; Kol Ami: Northern Virginia Jewish Community in Arlington, VA; Mishkan Torah in Greenbelt, MD; Oseh Shalom in Laurel, MD; and the Reconstructionist Havurah of Greater Washington.

Our current officers are President: John Riehl and Vice Presidents: George Stone and Rhoda Ratner.

Chesapeake JRF has many programs during the year including a Shabbat celebration either a local Shabbaton, Retreat in a camp or Traveling Scholar program; an Educators Day; a regional social program and an Afternoon of Honor and Celebration highlighting honorees from our region and synagogue.

We have a monthly newsletter that shares information about National JRF, Regional activities and congregational activities.

For more information, contact Jackie Land, Regional Director at jljrf@aol.com or 301-206-3332.

About JRF

Rabbi Shai Gluskin — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 11:09:24 -0500

JRF Office LocationFor more than fifty years,the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) has been a strong voice for progressive Judaism and has played an important role in meeting the needs of the Reconstructionist movement.

JRF is a leader in participatory Judaism and has helped the movement progress from its modest beginnings of four affiliated congregations in 1955 to more than 100 congregations today, representing over 16,000 member households.

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation serves its affiliates by working with them to build Jewish communities that are democratic,egalitarian, spiritually and intellectually vibrant, and committed to Jewish learning, ethics, and social justice.

Dr. Carl Sheingold, Executive Vice PresidentJRF contributes to the Jewish people by promoting innovation rooted in Jewish tradition and supporting meaningful Jewish life in community.

The JRF was founded in 1955 to represent the Reconstructionist movement nationally and internationally and serves over 100 congregations and havurot across North America.

JRF strengthens its affiliated congregations by providing publications, consulting services, and resources in the areas of education, tikkun olam, governance, fund raising, strategic planning, spiritual community building, and much more. JRF also promotes

Reconstructionist Jewish values to our youth through educational curricula, No’ar Hadash—the Reconstructionist youth movement, and Camp JRF: The Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus.

The JRF's central office is:
Beit Devora
101 Greenwood Ave.
Jenkintown, PA 19046
215-885-5601
FAX: 215-885-5603
info@jrf.org

What Does JRF Offer?

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:31:04 -0500

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation represents a democratic, pluralistic, inclusive, and growing movement, with over 100 member communities in North America and around the world. JRF offers both central and regional services and facilitates networks and lateral relationships among member communities. JRF services fall under a number of categories including Congregational Services, Publications, Movement-wide and Regional Community Building, Education, Youth and Camping, Tikkun Olam, Liturgy and Music, Israel Programming, Web support.

Representation in the Larger World

Members of JRF are represented in the larger Jewish world through work with the United Jewish Communities, the Conference of Presidents, the World Union of Progressive Judaism, ARZA, local JCRC councils, Jewish Federations, Synagogue and Rabbinic councils and numerous progressive and pluralistic organizations

Congregational Resources

Regional programs, workshops, and Shabbatonim throughout North America;
Individually designed, on-site consultations, workshops, training sessions for boards, rabbis, and communities in key areas of congregational life, including fundraising, budgeting, leadership development, long-range planning, membership recruitment, board dynamics, and communications;
Leadership workshops such as "Kehillah Builders: Developing Sacred Community," "A Torah of Money: A Values-Based Approach to Dealing with Community Resources, and "A Sacred Trust: Synagogue Governance and Leadership";
Resources for congregations ranging from Leadership and Governance, Money and Congregational Life, Community Building, Reconstructionism: Thought, Process and Jewish Values-based decision making.
The JRF Music and Liturgy Project;
The JRF Tikkun Olam Initiative;
JRF Department of Communications, e.g. website support and public relations;
Leadership curricula and resource books to accompany the leadership workshops;
Israel Programs (in Israel) and the Israel Task Force (in North America).

Publications (discounts 10-25% for JRF affiliates.)

The newly updated and expanded Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach;
Regular publications such as Reconstructionism Today, our movement magazine sent to all members, and The Reconstructionist, a biannual journal;
Our liturgical series, Kol Haneshamah, which includes daily, Shabbat and Festival, and High Holy Day prayer books, and most recently, Tefilot Leveyt Ha'avel: Prayers for a House of Mourning (2001);
A Night of Questions (2000), our new Haggadah with accompanying CD;
Liturgy learning tapes for service leaders, accompanying the Reconstructionist prayer books;
Select recordings from the Reconstructionist radio show Heart, Mind, and Spirit;
For educators, a number of various publications and study guides (see Education below);
A variety of books by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and other scholars, poets and others whose ideas have shaped Reconstructionist thought.

Regional and Movement-wide Community Building

Regular regional gatherings, including a roster of speakers from JRF and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College on selected topics;
Regional community building workshops. (see Congregational Resources, above)
Regional Councils that focus on sharing information and best practices, as well as programming.
Our website, which features regular news and updates on publications, programs, educational initiatives, and what's happening across the movement. It also features contact information for every JRF community;
Several specialized e-mail discussion groups designed to connect members with similar roles from many congregations and to provide a forum for asking questions and offering support and information;
Our biennial Convention, which draws hundreds of participants from across North America who gather for prayer, study, celebration, and community building activities.
Movement-wide commissions and JRF board committees that respond to various issues of concern which emerge over time (The Role of the Non-Jew, Gay and Lesbian inclusion, Disabilities, Rabbi-Congregational Relations, etc.)

Education: Adult Education; Support for Religious Schools and for Youth

JRF Joins "A Light Among the Nations" Climate Change Campaign

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:10:01 -0400

JRF, in keeping with the movement's resolution on the environment, our commitment as a Jewish People and as stewards of the health and welfare of the planet, has joined the Climate Change Campaign to address the global warming crisis. The campaign is sponsored by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), with support from the Religious Action Center (RAC). This is one of those calls to action that can change how North American Jewry responds to the daunting environmental problems confronting us and future generations.

A significant part of the campaign will include helping Jewish congregations, institutions, and individuals purchase and install energy-efficient, cost-effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs during the week of Hanukkah 2006, as part of moving the Jewish community and the country forward in its understanding and support of energy conservation. Our message is as easy as changing a light bulb: If you could conserve energy and help stop global warming in one simple step, wouldn't you? CFLs use 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. This means less production of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and toxic waste.

If every U.S. household replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would have the same impact as removing one million cars from the road. The campaign, "A Light Among the Nations" (AKA "How Many Jews Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?"), will engage the Jewish community in education, advocacy, and concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This modern day commemoration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, will most importantly bring the issue of global climate change front and center in Jewish public life. Here’s how your JRF community can take immediate action:

Participate in the campaign – contact climatechange@coejl.org to let COEJL know the name and location of your congregation or Jewish institution.
Designate a point person who will stay committed throughout the campaign and let COEJL and JRF know this person's name and contact information so that s/he can stay in touch with the larger coalition and keep your organization informed.
Outreach - Share with COEJL the names of other congregations and Jewish institutions in your community who can participate in the campaign.
If you are a rabbi (or if you are representing a rabbi), commit to speaking about and inspiring your congregation about the goals of this campaign during the High Holidays. Email COEJL at climatechange@coejl.org if you would like sermonic materials. You can also check the Tikkun Olam resources in the JRF Resource Library.
If you are a teacher, lay leader, or activist, educate yourself about the Jewish response to global warming on COEJL's resource pages.

The campaign has received enthusiastic support from all of the major denominations and numerous Jewish institutions. Over one hundred influential leaders from the Jewish community, synagogues, organizations, and activist groups representing hundreds of thousands more, participated in the initial campaign launch meeting/conference call on July 31st, 2006. For more information visit: www.coejl.org/climatechange or contact climatechange@coejl.org. For more information on JRF's involvement in this initiative please contact Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Director of Outreach, External Affairs and Tikkun Olam at SZevit@jrf.org.

SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:58:59 -0400

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, with the support of the RRA and RRC, is participating in a major effort to bring pressure on the U.S. government to take immediate action to stop the atrocities and impoverishment in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The Save Darfur Coalition is planning a week of prayer and action in September, leading up to an international day of action for Darfur. These events coincide with the opening of the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. There will be a rally in New York on Sunday, September 17, 2006 from 2-5PM featuring international leaders and top musical performers united in the effort to stop the genocide in Darfur.

JRF is a member of the coalition (supported by AJWS and JCPA), along with the RRA and is encouraging our member congregations to show strong participation in this effort, as we did last April. JRF will be organizing nationally and regionally again to aid in this effort.

Though activities will occur worldwide, the Save Darfur Coalition will host the centerpiece event in New York City on that day, as thousands of people will take part in "SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide" to urge the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping force to Darfur and to raise international awareness of the ongoing atrocities in Darfur.

The April 30th rallies in Washington, DC and across the country demonstrated the impact that Americans could make on our congressional and political leaders. September 17 will redouble Save Darfur Coalition domestic efforts while engaging the international community in a more coordinated manner.

Reconstructionists will be gathering at 12:00 noon on Sunday, September 17th at West End Synagogue (Amsterdam Avenue at 69th Street). Bring your brown bag veggie/dairy lunch (seltzer and sweets provided), we will make placards and make our way to the UN, to stand together at the Rally.

In the weeks ahead the Save Darfur Coalition will announce speakers, performers and the exact location in New York City. We'll have frequent updates and announcements about featured speakers, performers, logistics and other developments on this page, so please check back often. In the meantime, please save the date!
Contact: Chuck Thies, Event Director, (202) 478-6146, action@savedarfur.org, www.savedarfur.org/now

We hope your congregation will announce the week of prayer and action to your members and encourage them to join us when we gather near the United Nations in New York City. If your organization is planning an event for September 17, please let us know by emailing Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF Director of External Affiliations, at SZevit@jrf.org.

For JRF NY/NJ Pre-Rally Info: 212-870-2483 or jrfny@aol.com

41st JRF Convention In Philadelphia November 9-12, 2006

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:40:58 -0400

Our Evolving Jewish Journey: Peoplehood and the Quest for Spiritual Community

The JRF Convention is the place to connect with fellow Reconstructionists from congregations and havurot from all over the U.S. and Canada. Learn from educators, rabbis, and leaders from across the spectrum of Reconstructionism. For more information visit the Convention 2006 website at www.jrfconvention.org.

RRC To Offer Distance Learning Opportunities

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:11:49 -0400

In the fall of 2006, RRC will introduce a distance-learning program.

The first offering will be Our Ancestors’ Search for God:The Many Faces of God in the Bible, taught by Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D, RRC’s dean and chair of the Department of Biblical Civilization.

The course will begin October 8 and will contain six sessions. Most of the course will be taught asynchronously, allowing people to participate at times convenient for them. To allow for direct contact with the instructor, there will be some synchronous (real-time) content as well. The cost for the course will be $75 for members of JRF congregations and $150 for others.

A second course, The Call to Leadership: Ancient Models, also taught by Kamionkowski, will be offered in the spring of 2007.

To enroll in either or both courses, apply for course registration online or e-mail Janis Smith at jsmith@rrc.edu.

Course descriptions
Our Ancestors’ Search for God: The Many Faces of God in the Bible
We live in communities in which many ideas of God reside side by side. We often assume that our ancestors must have had more stable and consistent experiences of God, yet a close examination of biblical texts teaches us that our ancestors grappled with many of the same issues that confront us today regarding the nature of God. In this six-session course, we will study a range of biblical texts that testify to the diversity of opinions that our ancestors held. The course will begin October 8, 2006.

The Call to Leadership: Ancient Models
The writings of the biblical prophets are among the most inspiring, troubling and complex text of the Bible. In this six-session course, we will delve into the self-reflections of a number of prophets to better understand what compelled them to take on the challenging role of a prophet in Israel. We will pay particular attention to the call narratives of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The course will begin February 11, 2007.

Siddur Kol Hano'ar is in print and available for purchase through the JRF office!

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 14:00:43 -0400

The 96-page book is designed for use by 5- to 9-year-olds and their families. "Siddur Kol Hano'ar: Voice of Children" includes folklore, stories from Jewish sources and questions posed for young readers in an effort to "capture their innate prayerfulness" and "encourage dialogue" about the meaning of prayer, according to Rabbi Sandy Sasso of Congregation Beth-El Zedek in Indianapolis. Sasso, the first Reconstructionist woman rabbi, co-wrote the book with education consultant Rabbi Jeffrey Schein.

It is a beautiful Siddur and a must for all homes with kids or grandkids. It is available with and without transliteration for use in many different settings.

Published by the Reconstructionist Press, this Siddur is now available through the JRF office and the regional offices. Find out more about Siddur Kol Hano'ar in the JRF Press Catalog.