Teaching God

Where is God in This?

Rabbi Jacob Staub reframes the question of how to bring God into one's life, and instead posits that God is already present; we just may not realize it.

Topics: Spirituality, Teaching God

Type: Essay

Is God To Blame When Bad Things Happen?

Rabbi Jacob Staub explores God's role in our individual lives. Is God the cause of everything that happens? Is God the righteous judge?

Topics: Spirituality, Teaching God

Each week, Rabbi Sheryl Lewart, z”l, would send out blessings to congregants and friends, offering a modern twist on each week’s Torah portion. Blessings for Life's Journey is a posthumously published collection of her writings.

Topics: Education, Jewish Life, Divrei Torah, Teaching God, Text Study, Torah

Type: Book

Asking for Help

Rabbi Jacob Staub confronts the personal difficulties he encountered when his belief in his own autonomy clashed with the realization that he needed help.

Topics: Teaching God, Jewish Practice, Spirituality, Religious Values

Type: Essay

How Reconstructionist Students Conceptualize and Experience God

Between 1995 and 1997, Dr. Shoshana Silberman surveyed 889 Jewish students about God. In the winter of 2006, Dr. Silberman repeated the survey with Reconstructionist students. This report compares the results of the two surveys.

Topics: Education, Teaching God

Type: Article

What’s God Have To Do With It?

Rabbi Sid Schwarz's High Holiday sermon, delivered at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD on Yom Kippur 2007.

Topics: Rosh Hashanah, Teaching God, Yom Kippur

Parashat Noah">"Where Was God?"—Learning About Natural Disasters From Parashat Noah

During disasters and their aftermaths, many people wonder about God’s role in their suffering. This lesson seeks to explore God’s role in tragedy from a Jewish Reconstructionist perspective. This lesson is intended for children ages 8-12.

Topics: Education, Jewish Life, Teaching God, Teaching Text, Jewish Thought

Type: Lesson Plan

Reading List for Educators

This suggested reading list includes books about holidays and God.

Topics: Education, Holiday Resources, Teaching God, Holidays

Type: Bibliography

God—Through A Reconstructionist Lens

In this episode of the radio show Heart, Mind and Spirit, Rabbi Richard Hirsh, RRC '81, offers an-depth look at Reconstructionist theology, Kaplan's views of God and current views of how the Divine "Power that makes for Salvation" is expressed in our lives and communities.

Topics: Education, Teaching God, Teaching Reconstructionism, Jewish Thought

Type: Audio Interview

Nurturing a Belief in God

This guide explores how to discuss God with children; it relates theological concepts to the natural world, human relationships and other parts of a child's world. It was first published in Creative Jewish Education (editors Rabbis Jeffrey Schein, '77, and Jacob Staub, '77); it was later reprinted in The Reconstructionist (1986).