This February, the Reconstructionist Community of the Bay Area welcomes the Women’s Torah, the first Torah in history to be created and embellished by an international community of women and the first to be sewn together in community.

The Torah is the handwritten parchment scroll of the first five books of the bible. All over the world, Jews read and study from the Torah during religious services and other times. The Hebrew letters must be hand-written by a trained scribe on special parchment using special ink and quills. Learning to become a Torah scribe requires painstaking training that takes many years. Until the Women’s Torah Project (WTP), only men scribed Torahs.  read more »

What has more than 800 legs, lots of singing and dancing, great Reconstructionist ruach (spirit), and comes every other year?

Why, the JRF Convention of course!

This year the JRF Convention will take place November 11-14 in Newport Beach, California. Registration is open, and space is filling fast! Reserve your spot today.

Check out this year's registration packages and fees

Visit the Convention website

Renowned Constitutional Law Scholar Erwin Chemerinsky will be featured during Erev Shabbat (Friday night) services at this year’s JRF Convention. Named one of the "Top 20 Legal Thinkers" by Legal Affairs Magazine, Erwin Chemerinsky is widely held as an expert on American Constitutional law as well as a dynamic and thought-provoking speaker. Luckily for JRF, Mr. Chemerinsky is also a member of University Synagogue, the Reconstructionist congregation in Irvine, California.

Read more about Mr. Chemerinsky and watch a video of his talk on Judaism and the American Constitution

I want to learn more about the JRF Convention this November

Mark your calendar for November 11-14, 2010 for the 2010 JRF Convention; the largest gathering of Reconstructionists and likeminded friends in North America. Our convention will take place at the stylish Hyatt Regency in sunny Newport Beach, California.

Plan to join us for four informative and uplifting days as we engage with experts and emerging leaders in the Jewish world. Experience a joyful, meaningful Shabbat together with lively, inspiring services and opportunities for Torah study, networking, and a wealth of Jewish learning.

Want to learn more?  Please visit the JRF Convention Website.

JRF invites our Midwestern Region's congregants to join us for our annual celebration, this year to be held at Ravinia. The event is on Tuesday, July 20 at 6:00 pm, and will feature Peter and Paul in a tribute to Mary.

We will be honoring our Moreh Derekh (Those who show us the path) Honorees:

Steve Blonder  - Four term president of Ezra Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation, Steve led the synagogue through a significant transition and transformation.

Deborah Newberger - Deborah Newberger is a two-term past president of Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue in Northbrook, IL. A member since 1997, Deborah has served on the board of directors, youth group committee, fundraising committee, sabbatical committee, and is currently chairing  the capital campaign committee -- working to secure a permanent home for Shir Hadash.

Carole Caplan - Carole Caplan is proud to be president of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, IL, and to have helped build their new building as the "greenest" house of worship in America

Marc Hurwitz - Two-term President of Congregation Shir Hadash synagogue in Milwaukee, WI, has been a member since its founding in 1989. He chaired the Membership committee for 10 years, and has been actively involved in special programming and the development of the congregational school.

REGISTER NOW

August 17-21, 2009
Camp JRF in South Sterling, PA.
Post-B’nai Mitzvah teens and their parents are invited to share a week working together to make a difference. Space is limited! Enrollment is currently open for a group of 15 adult-teen teams. Teens must be post b’nai mitzvah age (13 or older) and be accompanied by at least one parent.  read more »

News (Click here to see EVENTS)

IMPORTANT NOTICE

August 7, 2012 - 11:34pm — admin

This website is an archive of the organization known as the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF), which operated www.jrf.org until June 3, 2012. On that date, the Jewish Reconstructionist movement was restructured and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College became its primary national organization.

For current and new Reconstructionist content, go to www.JewishRecon.org.

Reconstructionist Movement and COEJL's Jewish Environmental and Energy Imperative Declaration

April 19, 2012 - 11:52am — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

JRF, RRC and the RRA are sponsoring organizations of The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL's) 2012 Jewish Environmental and Energy Imperative Declaration. Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, the Director of the social justice rabbinic training program at RRC was there signing on our movement’s behalf as were numerous other Jewish leaders from among the 50 signing leaders. Among the signers are Bob Barkin, interim EVP of JRF and Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Exec-Dir of the RRA (see http://coejl.org/jecc/signatories/).  read more »

Jews Against Hydrofracking

April 10, 2012 - 1:43pm — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

Hydrofracking is a new form of drilling for natural gas and oil that is on the brink of a huge expansion.  Jews Against Hydrofracking is encouraging every Jewish community to learn about this issue by screening Gasland, a documentary that asks the question, is fracking safe?  Plan a screening in your living room, synagogue, JCC, or youth group as part of the 100 Jewish Communities Wake Up to Hydrofracking Campaign. More Information
 read more »

East Africa Relief Efforts

April 9, 2012 - 5:01pm — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

JRF joins East Africa Relief

https://www.jdc.org/jcdr_main.html
Countries in the Horn of Africa including, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti are experiencing the worst drought in 60 years. As a result, millions of people are in desperate need of food and water. Livestock and crops are deteriorating due to the lack of access to water and malnutrition is on the rise. A famine has been declared in a number of regions of Somalia and elsewhere, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to neighboring countries.  read more »

Passover, Fair Trade Practices and Child labor Practices

March 18, 2012 - 10:30am — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

 

A number of us in the Jewish and larger social justice streams have been tracking the issue of child slave labor and the chocolate industry (Hershey is not the only or worst culprit here) for some time. My cousin’s son gave a dvar challenging his congregation to audit their chocolate choices in 2009 at his bar mitzvah. He came to this issue by identifying with Joseph being tossed down the pit and crying out with no one to hear him, abandoned by those he loved (his dvar Torah is attached on this page).  read more »

You will also see a Fair Trade Chocolate Seder, an Adat Shalom supplement supplied to me by Rabbi Erin Hirsh, some information from Fair Trade Judaica who are organizing their own Jewish community campaign, links supplied by Cantor Eric Schulmiller of Reconstructionist congregation RSNS, NY.   For thousands of children on this planet, slavery is not a historical event, but a current reality. We can make a difference.

Groundbreaking Women’s Torah coming to San Francisco Bay Area

January 31, 2012 - 3:48pm — Victoria Cangelosi

This February, the Reconstructionist Community of the Bay Area welcomes the Women’s Torah, the first Torah in history to be created and embellished by an international community of women and the first to be sewn together in community.

The Torah is the handwritten parchment scroll of the first five books of the bible. All over the world, Jews read and study from the Torah during religious services and other times. The Hebrew letters must be hand-written by a trained scribe on special parchment using special ink and quills. Learning to become a Torah scribe requires painstaking training that takes many years. Until the Women’s Torah Project (WTP), only men scribed Torahs.  read more »

JRF and Greenfaith Partner for Sustainable Reconstructionist Communities 2012 Fellowships and Certifications

November 17, 2011 - 4:00pm — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

The JRF-GreenFaith Partnership

GreenFaith and the JRF through the Department of Congregational Services and Tikkun Olam are pleased to announce a three-year partnership to promote a deepening of JRF’s existing environmental initiatives. GreenFaith is a leading national interfaith environmental coalition whose mission is to help diverse religious communities become environmental leaders.  GreenFaith is a leading interfaith environmental coalition whose mission is to educate, equip and empower diverse religious communities for environmental leadership.  Founded in 1992, GreenFaith offers a range of programs that help faith-based groups nationwide put their beliefs into action for the earth.  The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation has had a long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and the role of the Jewish people in building sustainable communities (http://jrf.org/Sustainable_Synagogue_Resources).  read more »

Tikkun Olam Calendar 2012-13

August 15, 2011 - 10:46am — Rabbi Shawn Zevit

Reconstructionist Movement and Global Jewish Community tikkun olam/social justice efforts for 5773- 2012/13  read more »

A Unified Reconstructionist Movement

April 13, 2011 - 8:33am — Victoria Cangelosi

JRF's affiliated congregations and havurot voted overwhelmingly at a special Plenum on April 10, 2011 in Philadelphia in favor of the proposal to unite the congregational arm of the Reconstructionist movement with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

For the most up to date information on the transition to unification see http://www.rrc.edu//node/1193

Click here to read the statement from Michael Mitchell about the results of the Plenum.
Click here to read the RRC's press release.
You can also read the 'At a Glance' document here.

Attached please find the downloadable packet containing:

• the notice of the JRF Plenum April 10, 2011;
• the resolution that was voted on;
• a copy of the agreement between the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; and
• a Questions & Answers document.

 

JRF Events

Please click on the title of this section to see the list of documents available for viewing. (Click on "JRF Board Critical Docs)

Today, increasing numbers of synagogues are engaging in interfaith campaigns on vital issues of local concern, from expanding health coverage for low income workers to building affordable housing.

Since 2006, The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation has been partnering with the Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) helping to develop a network and resources for Reconstructionist communities in Congregation-Based Community Organizing (CBCO) work. As well, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College began offering training in the model of CBCO activism in the winter of 2007.

More information on community organizing can be found in the summer 2007 edition of Reconstructionism Today and in the January 2007 issue of Shma, and from the Jewish Funds for Justice.  read more »

The Mid-Atlantic Region includes 21 Reconstructionist congregations in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. The Mid-Atlantic Region is served by staff at the national JRF office in Elkins Park, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. Please contact us by by phone (215-782-8500) or email (info@jrf.org).