Reconstructionism: How To Successfully Integrate and Use Reconstructionism in Synagogue Processes

Mar 17 2008 - 10:00am
Session Facilitator: 
Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Session Presenters: 
Dr. David Teutsch, Dr. Carl Sheingold, Lisa Charendoff

How To Successfully Integrate and Use Reconstructionism in Synagogue Processes
 
Determining values that underlie congregational life can provide the framework for a viable approach to engaging and vibrant Judaism. Values-based decision making (VBDM) and similar processes can help to make your congregation uniquely Reconstructionist – this workshop will present models of how.

Presenter Bio(s): 

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, is the Director of Outreach & Tikkun Olam, and a congregational consultant and resource developer for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. He is a founding member of Shabbat Unplugged and the Davenning Leaders’ Training Institute, and a spiritual director for numerous clergy and communities. He has written and developed resources and delivered workshops in the areas of community building, leadership, prayer, interactive midrash, contemporary views of GOD, prayer and spiritual leadership skills, money and Jewish values, social justice issues, Jewish environmental concerns and Jewish men's issues. He is the author of "Offerings of the Heart: Money and Values in Faith Community (Alban, 2005) and a forthcoming book for Jewish Men.

Dr. Rabbi David Teutsch has been a builder of religious community since becoming a congregational rabbi over thirty years ago. He is the Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization and director of the Levin-Lieber Program in Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as president for nearly a decade. He previously served as executive director of the JRF. The editor in chief of the groundbreaking Kol Haneshamah prayer book series published by JRF’s Reconstructionist Press, he has also authored several other books including Imagining the Jewish Future and five volumes in the series A Guide to Jewish Practice published by RRC Press. A renowned consultant and trainer, he pioneered values-based decision making.

Carl A. Sheingold began serving in September 2004 as the executive vice president of JRF. Previously he was management professor in the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service and director of the Fisher Bernstein Institute for Leadership Development in Jewish Philanthropy at Brandeis University. He served as part of the senior management of the Council of Jewish Federations and as executive director of the National Havurah Committee. Carl earned his doctorate in sociology from Harvard University and before beginning his work in the Jewish community held faculty positions at Cornell and Brown universities. His career has spanned many settings — academic and organizational, mainstream and cutting edge, community organization, religious/cultural, and in community relations.