Rabbi A: "In this week's Torah portion Abraham and Sarah serve meat and milk foods to their (angelic) visitors."
Rabbi B: "But mixing meat and milk is prohibited by the Torah?"
Rabbi A: "But the Torah wasn't given until the time of Moses, so Abraham and Sarah are off the hook."
Rabbi C: "Actually, they served the dairy first, waited the appropriate interval, and then had the meat, just as the laws of kashrut mandate."
Rabbi A: "But how could they know about kashrut if the Torah had not been given?"
Rabbi C: "Our sainted ancestors in Genesis had prophetic foresight and spiritual insight and were able to discern the laws of the Torah even /before/it was given!"

How did the teachers of the rabbinic period of Jewish life reconcile the actions of the patriarchs and matriarchs with the laws of the Torah? In this study session we'll look at several Torah texts where "violations" occur, and then look at rabbinic stories that try to explain why those only "appear to be violations."

Participants will wrestle with Ari Elon’s progressive, humanist, Zionist/Israeli approach to Torah and will have the opportunity to consider the challenges this approach raises for our Judaism and our lives.

What does our tradition teach us about being embodied? How can this ancient practice of breath and movement resonate with us as 21st Century Reconstructionist Jews? What might it look like to be sustainable on a very personal level--physically, emotionally and spiritually? Join us as we explore a Divine connection between body, mind and breath through a multi-level yoga practice. No flexibility necessary-- just an open heart, comfortable dress, and a yoga mat or large towel.

Focusing on one Biblical story, we will examine as a group what questions the text leaves unanswered. Participants will engage with the text using acting and improvisational techniques to create new midrash, with applications for writing divrei Torah and other occasions for interacting with Biblical text.

Masekhet Ha'Atzmaut, an exciting new teen and adult education resource developed by Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, brings together traditional Jewish texts, modern poetry, philosophy, and political theory as a commentary on Israel's Declaration of Independence. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to explore this rich anthology of Jewish sources and engage in thoughtful dialogue about our relationship to Israel and challenges facing the Jewish State.

This fun and uplifting session introduces the music of Camp JRF through singing. Come discover ways to share the wonderful spirit of our own summer camp's music to energize your congregation.

The Bible contains many names for God. In this shiur, we will engage in text study around the term HaShem in the Holiness Code of the Book of Leviticus. The authors of this work used the term HaShem to convey highly sophisticated theological premises. We will explore these premises, noting the ways in which these writers modified and radicalized some of the dominant theologies of their time.

This session is for rabbis only.

A number of relatively recent articles in Reconstructionist movement publications have stimulated much discussion about the past, present, and future of Reconstructionist approaches to Jewish liturgy. That discussion has tended to focus on the content of liturgy rather than on its fundamental purposes, the “what” of how we pray, or daven, rather than the “why”. In this session we will grapple with the foundational question of why we gather as praying communities, looking in particular at the issue of whether much of the controversy in this area is rooted in our having multiple objectives that, to some extent, are in conflict with each other. Our discussion will include consideration both of some traditional liturgical texts, as well as Reconstructionist variants, and of some first-rate poetry that may (or may not) function well as liturgy.

Participants in the workshop will learn about Judaism’s vision of the Jewish father throughout the various civilizational periods. We will study together and also share our own vision for creating values-based decisions in the role of father. We will also discuss the lack of contemporary material on this topic and how fathers can support one another. Finally, participants of the workshop will take home specific strategies (through brainstorming and presentations) for using Jewish texts and rituals, both ancient and innovative, in their own lives.

Together college students and other convention participants will help frame a vision of the relationship of college students and college campuses to the Reconstructionist movement. We will discuss what about Reconstructionism resonates with college students and explore our ideas about how Reconstructionist students can stay connected to and become involved with the movement while in college.

Presenters to be determined.

Gender diversity is becoming more visible in our communities, and there is an explosion of Jewish scholarship and study about gender categories beyond the male-female binary in ancient Jewish texts. In this interactive workshop, we will explore our own experiences of gender identity, and use that as jumping off point for diving into texts from the Mishna, Talmud and Hebrew Bible that examine the complexity and variety of human genders. There will also be resources available to help make our communities and congregations more welcoming and affirming to people who identify as transgender, genderqueer or gender variant. This workshop was developed in collaboration with Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla.

This workshop will provide an understanding of the traditional process of shechitah (kosher ritual slaughter), and will explore some contemporary concerns with the kosher meat industry to help envision a method that balances the old and the new for a sustainable and values-driven approach for Reconstructionist communities.