Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Click here to jump down to a listing of PEARL classes for 2010

PEARL, the distance-learning classes offered by JRF, provides meaningful information and strategies beneficial to congregational leaders, members, clergy, educators and staff. Expert speakers partner with JRF professional staff and lay leaders to support the strengthening of congregations and havurot, grow leadership, deepen Jewish spiritual life and continue critical Tikkun Olam work. Based on results from a survey of JRF congregational leadership, a variety of PEARL topics are selected each year.

Each PEARL class meets for 1-1¼ hour by telephone conference call. Classes are often supported by downloadable resources and select audio files. Some classes, labeled "2.0 Intermediate" are a follow up to previously presented topics. These "2.0 Intermediate" class listings include a recommended pre-requisite that participants review the audio and packet from the previously held, foundation-level, class. Participants are invited to send questions/comments in advance of the "2.0 Intermediate" class.

This year, when a section of the PEARL schedule falls during the Omer period (the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot) classes will also focus on "tikkun hanefesh v'olam", the well-being and active repair of self, community and the world, and will be merged with JRF's annual Omer Initiative. JRF's first Omer Initiative was begun in 2005. For more information about JRF's Omer Initiatives, please see http://jrf.org/omer/home for the list of resources.

See sessions and resources from PEARL sessions since 2008. Also available are PEARL Programs available on audio.

2010 Upcoming Class Descriptions and Online Registration Information

Click on each session title to access session descriptions and any materials that may be available from that session.

Resources from these sessions are provided free-of-charge to all JRF affiliates.

For more information, please contact Lori Rubin at lrubin@jrf.org.

Well over 100 guests came together on Sunday, May 20 to honor Ruth Brin and the literary contributions she has made to our Mayim Rabim and far-reaching Reconstructionist communities over several decades.  read more »

Among those who spoke about Ruth and her work were Leah Kamionkowski representing the Reconstructionist Midwest Region, and Mordecai Specktor of the American Jewish World. Robin King Cooper acknowledged Ruth’s enthusiastic support of Mayim Rabim, and read greetings from Rabbi Renee Bauer.

For the second year in a row, communities in the New York-New Jersey region welcome newcomers to our High Holiday services. Called “Open Seats,” this effort is part of a two-year regional outreach initiative funded by the UJA-Federation of New York.  Last year, over 300 newcomers attended High Holiday services in our regional congregations.

Open Seats 2009 includes a centralized website: www.highholidayopenseats.com, where each community describes their services and outreach efforts. We are proud that these efforts include holding services in public venues so all can attend, providing captioning for the hearing impaired, and asking for a voluntary donation, rather than selling tickets at a set price.  The updated website will be ready by the end of August.

 read more »

Following an unanimous vote of approval by the JRF Board, we welcome The Little Minyan of Columbus, Ohio and Kol Haneshamah of Sarasota, Florida, to the JRF community of communities.

Just a year and a half old, Congregation Kol HaNeshama, founded by a small group of year-round and seasonal residents, has already established itself as a creative force in Sarasota, and has now joined JRF as the 106th affiliate. Since its inception it has grown to 38 households, and is operating on a 12-month calendar, including all major holidays.  read more »

Rabbis Epstein, Zevit, Eisenstat and DobbOn May 11 and 12, 2009, JRF’s Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Rabbi Nancy Epstein, Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat, JRF affiliate Adat Shalom’s Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb represented the JRF at a meeting of more than 40 leaders from across the broad spectrum of the organized American Jewish community for the first national Jewish Sustainability Conference. We gathered at the incredible Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center outside Baltimore for two days of learning, workshops, and discussion on Judaism and sustainability.

One of the initial questions we grappled with was defining “sustainability”. Rachel Cohen, the intern for environmental issues for the Religious Action Center, with whom we partner on many social justice initiatives, stated in her post-conference blog entry that “sustainability means creating communities that meet the basic human needs of all of their members, (and the world we are part of), by rethinking and often limiting both what we take from the natural world and the by-products that we put into the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the public spaces we enjoy together. We came to understand how the American Jewish community can unite around the goal of building safer, healthier communities for ourselves and our children based on these fundamental principles.” We also shared an understanding from Jewish tradition and contemporary thought, that sustainability means living in a social, economic, political, environmental, culutral and spiritual balance and integrative manner. In this way the impact of our actions to meet our own needs and the needs of the planet today, are also measured against the impact on future generations (l'dor v'dor).

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), a program of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, along with 17 Jewish religious movements and national organizations, organized and sponsored this historic gathering. JRF was involved from the beginning of this effort as part of our movement wide commitment to the issue, dating back to our 1990 Resolution on the Environment, and the recent "Omer Learning and Sustainable Synagogue Initiatives.  read more »

“The Dynamics of Congregational Growth"
Sunday, March 29, 2009, 1 pm to 6 pm, at Beth Israel Congregation, Media, PA -- Register Online Now!

Come learn how to use a congregational systems approach to understand the dynamics of congregational growth connected to your mission and Jewish values. Gain important skills and ideas about how to effectively reach out to attract new members, reach in to strengthen already-existing members and volunteers, and how to creatively grow the congregation's financial resources.  read more »

Reconstructionist Placement Office
www.reconplacement.org

Rabbi Joel Alpert
Director of Placement
215.576.5210 x304
jalpert@reconplacement.org  read more »

Your congregation is interested in community organizing ... now what?

In congregation-based community organizing (CBCO), existing institutions, mostly religious congregations, are recruited to join a citywide or regional organization. CBCO affiliates organize existing groups, as opposed to individuals, since existing groups already have leaders, interpersonal relationships, resources, a shared culture that facilitates group action, and community connections and commitments.

The local affiliate and the national networks train leaders in creating winnable campaigns on local issues that affect the day-to-day lives of their members. In focusing on the "winnable," CBCO blends idealistic values with pragmatic self-interest.

While CBCO avoids direct participation in electoral politics, organizations position themselves to become power players by thoroughly researching issues, building alliances, developing strong relationships with leaders in the public and private sectors, and staging large, dramatic public meetings to demonstrate grassroots support to targeted decision-makers.

Step #1 - Investigate what's happening locally  read more »