Tikkun Olam Resources from JRF Resources Library
- Advocacy Help: Resource Kit for Darfur Activism
By West End Synagogue Yad Mordecai Social Action Committee
Packet that both makes the case for the importance of advocacy on stopping genocide in Darfur and also helps groups and individuals to get that work done. Beautiful and moving photos are included and literally put a face to the conflict. Many clickable web links are included in the pdf. The production of this packet serves as a model of what lay committees in congregations can do that serves others.
- Article: A Brief History of Voting
By Rabbi Jacob Chinitz
Article discussing Jewish views and exeriences with voting. From the Reconstructionist, October/November 1988.
- Article: Defining the Open Door
By The Reconstructionist Editorial Staff
Editorial about Immigration. From the Reconstructionist, April/May 1985.
- Article: Food Glorious Food
By Danny Siegel
Article on hunger, emergency food resources, and the ways in which the Jewish community can respond. From the Reconstructionist, January/February 1990.
- Article: Jews and the Homeless
By The Reconstructionist Editorial Staff
Editorial about Homelessness. From the Reconstructionist, July/August 1988.
- Article: Judaism and Justice
By Rabbi Sid Schwarz
This is a reprint from a Fall, 2003 article published in The Reconstructionist. The article emphasizes the important connection between Judaism and justice and argues that making those connections for our communities will draw Jews to Judaism.
- Article: Making Decisions on Controversial Issues
By Rabbi Rebecca Alpert
This article contains talking points on dissent and community, as well as a guide to a three step method for ethical decision making in your community.
- Article: Making Our Synagogues Vessels of Tikkun Olam
By Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling is the Torah of Money director at the Shefa Fund. This article is adapted from a talk at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Tikkun Olam Kallah March, 2003.
- Article: Mississippi Winter
By Judea B. Miller
The author's reflections on participating in voter registration activities in Mississippi in the early 1960s. From the Reconstructionist, Winter 1991/1992.
- Article: RRC Divests from Sudan
By Jewish Telegraphic Agency
In the wake of the Darfur demonstrations on April 30, 2006, The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College's Board of Governors divested its endowment holdings from Sudan. This is the JTA article that reported that event.
- Article: Take Your Judaism for a Walk: A Reconstructionist Approach
By Marilyn Price
The author's reflections on walking as a Jewish, spiritual, ecological and community-building practice. From the Reconstructionist, January/February 1990.
- Article: The World as Sacred Space: Judaic Teachings and Ecological Consciousness
By Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
Rabbi Fred Dobb lays out the Jewish case for environmental awareness and action. Providing sources and viewpoints from classic Jewish sources classical and modern, Dobb wants us to see contemporary concerns in the context of Jewish concerns over time. He also raises questions about views within Judaism which may be counter to his case.
- Article: Who Is A Reconstructionist Jew?
By JRF
A detailed description of the ideology, philosophy and practice of Reconstructionist Jews and their relation to the larger Jewish community, past, present and future.
- Audio Interview: A Torah Of Money
By Lawrence Bush, Sue Hoffman, Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Sue Hoffman and Larry Bush engage in a lively discussion about the way money has historically been and can be a spiritual tool for communal and societal transformation. Special focus is given to the meaning ascribed to money, issues of class and social justice in Jewish life. An episode of Heart, Mind and Spirit, the first regularly scheduled Reconstructionist radio show in the history of the movement. (The Torah of Money is a service mark of the Shefa Fund.)
- Audio Interview: Social Action (Tikkun Olam)
By Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Social justice and the sense of a mission to aid in the Godly renewal and repair of the world has always been a part of the Jewish people's response to the world around us. Rabbi Brian Walt discusses what Tikkun Olam is from a Jewish perspective and how Reconstructionist philosophy and communal life reflects these values. An episode of Heart, Mind and Spirit, the first regularly scheduled Reconstructionist radio show in the history of the movement.
- Bibliography: Greening Sustainable Synagogues
By Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Nathan Martin
Annotated weblinks and listings of resources to support congregations in their efforts to function in more ecologically sustainable ways, and to support those efforts in the world.
- Bibliography: References for a Values-Based Decision Making Approach to Greening Synagogues
By Roni Handler, Derek Rosenbaum
A collection of resources that help groups engaging in a values-based decision making approach to greening congregational spaces. The list is divided into print and online materials.
- Bibliography: Tikkun Olam Links For Educators
By Rabbi Shai Gluskin
An annotated list of websites that are useful to educators teaching about and engaging in Tikkun Olam.
- Bibliography: Tikkun Olam Resources In Israel
By Rabbi Amy Klein
A list of web links to Israeli groups working in these fields: Civil and Human Rights Organizations; Peace Movements and Organizations; Dialogue Groups; Coexistence Projects
- Class Activity: Flag And Graffiti: A Photo Lesson About Israel
By Rabbi Shai Gluskin
Students study a photo taken in Jerusalem of a street sign whose Arabic letters have been crossed out by graffiti. Tough questions help students to consider difficult questions about living in a Jewish state.
- Class Activity: Hebrew Slaves And Israeli Foreign Workers
By Rabbi Amy Klein
Torah text and newspaper articles draw connections between contemporary Israeli foreign workers and ancient Hebrew slaves. Includes discussion questions and links to Israeli human rights organizations' websites.
- Class Activity: Israeli Women's Social Change Organizations
By Rabbi Amy Klein
After reading through a selection of Israeli social change organizations that demonstrate how diverse Israeli women are advancing the status of their peers, students are invited to learn about what's happening close to home by interviewing representatives of local organizations.
- Class Activity: Laws Protecting Women's Rights In Israel And In Your Country
By Rabbi Amy Klein
This activity gives a couple examples of progressive legislation that protects women's rights in Israel and asks students to research laws that were recently passed in their own countries, as well as proposing some of their own.
- Community Discussion Guide: Brit Adamah Checklist for Home-based Environmental Action
By West End Synagogue Student Eco-Activism Team
In advance of Tu Bishvat 5767 (2007) students at West End Synaogue organized to try to make a difference in their community. They created a "Brit Adamah", covenant with the earth which asked/challenged members of the community to take on a variety personal practices that make a difference in bettering the environment. The document is a Word download so congregations can easily adapt if for themselves.
- Dvar Torah: Filling the Earth With God's Presence
By Ellen Dannin
Dannin looks at some of the laws written in the Mishpatim and challenges the reader to see their relevance, even if they may seem distant at first. Attending to the needs of our neighbors as well as the stranger are injunctions from the Torah which we must not avoid.
- Dvar Torah: The Tension Between Law and Redemption on Passover
By Rabbi Shai Gluskin
Rabbi Gluskin argues that the tension between law and rebellion, between status quo and the desire to bring redemption now, is played out richly and artfully in the liturgy of the Passover Seder. Specific references to the text are explained in this light.
- Dvar Torah: Thinking, Speaking, and Acting: the Braid of Social Responsibility
By Gregory Millas
(This dvar Torah was presented on May 15, 2004 at the Havurah's first adult B'nai Mitzvah ceremony.)Start by imagining a rock and some water. To make a pattern of concentric circles, drop the stone ...
- Dvar Torah: Walking the Walk: The Sacred Art of Energy Conservation
By Rabbi Brant Rosen
Rabbi Brant Rosen makes a passionate plea, textually based, for building environmentally sustainable synagogue. His own congregation, The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC) of Evanston, IL is an example.
- How to: How JRF Synagogues Can Pursue TZEDEC
By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
A guide for congregations to realize their tikkun olam vision of increasing economic justice in America’s low-income communities as part of the Shefa Fund's TZEDEC campaign.
- How to: Suggested Ingredients to Synagogue Social Justice Initiatives
By Boston JCRC
A guide to healthy, effective synagogue social justice initiatives from the ground up.
- Music: Hassal Siddur Pesach
By JRF
Melody for the penultimate prayer in the Passover Haggadah, Hebrew text, transliteration, translation, and mp3 are provided.
- Other: Unmasking Contemporary Israeli Heroines
By Rabbi Amy Klein
From Esther and Vashti to Knesset Member Shulamit Aloni, Israel has a long history of strong Jewish women. Here are biographies of seven contemporary female Israeli heroes.
- Policy: Reconstructionist Response to Conservative Movement Decision on Gay Ordination and Commitment Ceremonies
By Reconstructionist Movement Leadership
On December 6, 2006 the Law and Standards Committee of the Conservative movement passed a teshuva, an opinion on Jewish law, which permits same-sex commitment ceremonies and the ordination of gay/lesbian rabbis. This statement is the Reconstructionist movement's immediate response to Conservative Announcement.
- Program Description: Communal Mishlo'ach Manot
By Rabbi Shai Gluskin, Betsy Teutsch
Minyan Dorshei Derekh in Philadelphia has taken a innovative approach to this Purim tradition by making communal mishlo'ach manot packages for each megillah reading attendee. Community members donate time, money and stuff to create the gift baskets and most of the money goes to tzedakah.
- Program Description: Proposal For A Reconstructionist Day School
By Shira Stutman
Shira Stutman imagined this model of a Reconstructionist high school that she named Lab Yeshiva. She proposes block scheduling, integrated secular and Judaic studies and service learning to Jewishly educate students who are not being served by traditional college-prep academies.
- Program Description: Tzedakah And The Jewish Holidays: Giving For Social Change
By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Ideas for giving opportunities throughout the Jewish year. Connects each Jewish holiday to the concept of tzedakah and recommends a relevant type of benficiary to support.
- Ritual: A Prayer for AIDS Awareness Shabbat
By Rabbi Joshua Lesser
Two readings that connect the theme of AIDS awareness to Friday night candlelighting and the Ufros Aleynu prayer.
- Ritual: A Prayer for Darfur
By Rabbi Jerry Seidler
This prayer was written in advance of the April 30, 2006 day of rallies for the people for Darfur that took place across the U.S.
- Ritual: Israeli Independence Day Ceremony
By Rabbi Rebecca Lillian
A service for Yom Ha'atzma'ut with celebratory and memorial components through readings, poetry and song.
- Ritual: The Spiritual Dimension of Justice
By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Prayers, songs, and text study meant to be used to focus and inspire those set out to do social justice work.
- Ritual: Three Alternative Versions Of The Prayer For The State Of Israel
By Rabbi Amy Klein
The traditional Prayer for the State of Israel troubles many people with its messianic references. Here are three alternatives from JRF, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the Shtibl Minyan of Los Angeles.
- RT Article: A Reconstructionist Educator in China
By Rabbi Jeffrey Schein
Cross-cultural discoveries
- RT Article: Environmental Activism and Jewish Spirituality
By JRF
A roundtable discussion with rabbis and lay-leaders from the Reconstructionist movement. From the Winter 2001/2002 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 9 Number 2.
- RT Article: Integrating Spirituality and Social Action
By Melanie L. Schneider
Surveying the Reconstructionist landscape. From the Spring 1996 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 3 Number 3.
- RT Article: Israel's Arava Institute Endures and Grows
By Joysa Winter
Joysa Winter's article reports on Israel's Arava Institute and the people who study there. All share the passion that makes environmental values cross political ones.
- RT Article: Living in Three Civilizations: A Jewish Delegation to Uganda
By Terri Bernsohn, Robert Israelite
An article on connections forged while in Uganda. The authors write: "We went to Uganda to learn about HIV/AIDS, Africa and to reinvigorate our community. Along the way, we learned about Judaism, social action and ourselves."
- RT Article: Moshav Noam Co-operative Housing
By Valerie Elliott Hyman
This article discusses how congregation Darchei Noam provides affordable and supportive housing, through a non-profit co-operative, in which many members of the congregation live. From the Winter 1995/1996 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 3 Number 2.
- RT Article: Political Activism as a Form of Prayer
By Christie Balka
Reflecting on the rituals and higher purpose of protest. From Reconstuctionist Today, Spring, 2002.
- RT Article: Projecting Our Values into the Political World
By Jane Susswein
Article describes various ways in which Reconstructionist synagogues can actualize their values in the wider world. It also discusses JRF's sponsorship of Tikkun magazine's "Summit on Ethics and Meaning" in April 1996. From the Spring 1996 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 3 Number 3
- RT Article: Rabbis and the God of Transformation
By Rabbi Brian Walt
Rabbi Walt discusses a vision of a transformative Judaism, expressed in both the realms of the spiritual (tikkun ha-nefesh) and the social (tikkun ha-olam), applied to the problems of our day. Excerpted from a sermon at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduation. From the Winter 1997/1998 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 5 Number 2.
- RT Article: Reconstructing a Baptist Church
By Jane Susswein
Members of Bnai Keshet travel to Georgia to help rebuild a burned house of worship. From the Spring 1997 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 4 Number 3.
- RT Article: Rosh Hashanah and "Social Regeneration"
By Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
The Information Age vs. the Ages of Innocence
- RT Article: Tzedakah and Social Action
By Jeffrey Dekro, Betsy Tessler
This article discusses the concept and practice of tzedakah, and its potential interplay with other Jewish values. From the Winter 1993 Reconstructionism Today magazine. Volume 1 Number 2.
- RT Article: Wealth and Covenant: Judaism's Economic Wisdom
By Lawrence Bush
Judaism's economic wisdom and the social responsibility movement. From the Summer 1997 Reconstructionism Today magazine, Volume 4 Number 4.
- Speech: Darfur: A Religious Imperative
By Rabbi Steve Gutow
A passionate plea for action in Darfur, Sudan in response to genocide. Speech was given on April 29, 2006 to a JRF gathering at the I Street Synagogue in Washington, D.C. in advance of the April 30th Save Darfur rallies held in Washington, D.C. and around the country.
- Speech: Ecological Sustainability and Jewish Civilization
By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Rabbi Shawn Zevit passionately promotes the idea of the importance of both Tikkun Hanefesh, healing of the soul, and Tikkun Olam, healing of the world. In this talk he launches the JRF's 2007 Omer study period. The theme is on environmental sustainability.
- Speech: The FAQs of Genocide: Four Questions Frequently Asked of a Jewish Darfur Activist
By Rabbi Brant Rosen
Speech delivered on April 29, 2006 at a JRF gathering the night before the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. The speech answers common questions asked by Jews in assessing the importance of this issue. It is a forceful argument for full engagement by the Jewish community in efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
- Speech: Why Reconstructionism Needs Theology
By Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer
Speech from the 2006 Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association Convention held in Deerfield Beech, Florida.
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