Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983). The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered. The movement developed from the late 1920s to 1940s, and it established a rabbinical college in 1968.

There is substantial theological diversity within the movement. Halakha is not considered binding, but is treated as a valuable cultural remnant that should be upheld unless there is reason for the contrary. The movement emphasizes positive views toward modernism, and has an approach to Jewish custom which aims toward communal decision making through a process of education and distillation of values from traditional Jewish sources.

Origin

Reconstructionism was developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983) and his son-in-law, Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (1906–2001), over a period of time spanning from the late 1920s to the 1940s. It made its greatest stride in becoming the fourth movement in North American Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative and Reform being the other three) with the founding of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1968.

Reconstructionist Judaism is the first major movement of Judaism to originate in North America; the second is the Humanistic Judaism movement founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine.

Theology

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan believed that, in light of advances in philosophy, science and history, it would be impossible for modern Jews to continue to adhere to many of Judaism's traditional theological claims. In agreement with prominent medieval Jewish thinkers including Maimonides, Kaplan affirmed that God is not personal, and that all anthropomorphic descriptions of God are, at best, imperfect metaphors. Kaplan's theology went beyond this to claim that God is the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled.

To believe in God means to accept life on the assumption that it harbors conditions in the outer world and drives in the human spirit which together impel man to transcend himself. To believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society. In brief, God is the Power in the cosmos that gives human life the direction that enables the human being to reflect the image of God.

Not all of Kaplan's writings on the subject were consistent; his position evolved somewhat over the years, and two distinct theologies can be discerned with a careful reading. The view more popularly associated with Kaplan is strict naturalism, à la Dewey, which has been criticized as using religious terminology to mask a nontheistic, if not outright atheistic, position. However, a second strand of Kaplanian theology exists, which makes clear that at times Kaplan believed that God has ontological reality, a real and absolute existence independent of human beliefs. In this latter theology, Kaplan still rejects classical forms of theism and any belief in miracles, but holds to a position that in some ways is neoplatonic.

Most "classical" Reconstructionist Jews (those agreeing with Kaplan) reject traditional forms of theism, though this is by no means universal. Many are deists, a small number accept Kabbalistic views of God or the concept of a personal God.

Kaplan's theology, as he explicitly stated, does not represent the only Reconstructionist understanding of theology and theology is not the cornerstone of the Reconstructionist movement. Much more central is the idea that Judaism is a civilization, and that the Jewish people must take an active role in ensuring its future by participating in its ongoing evolution.

Consequently, a strain of Reconstructionism exists which is distinctly non-Kaplanian. In this view, Kaplan's assertions concerning belief and practice are largely rejected, while the tenets of an "evolving religious civilization" are supported. The basis for this approach is that Kaplan spoke for his generation; he also wrote that every generation would need to define itself and its civilization for itself. In the thinking of these Reconstructionists, what Kaplan said concerning belief and practice is not applicable today. This approach may include a belief in a personal God, acceptance of the concept of "chosenness", a belief in some form of resurrection or continued existence of the dead, and the existence of an obligatory form of halakha. In the latter, in particular, there has developed a broader concept of halakhah wherein concepts such as "eco-Kashrut" are incorporated.

Jewish law and tradition

Reconstructionist Judaism holds that contemporary Western secular morality has precedence over Jewish law and theology. It does not ask that its adherents hold to any particular beliefs, nor does it ask that Jewish law be accepted as normative. Unlike classical Reform Judaism, Reconstructionism holds that a person's default position should be to incorporate Jewish laws and tradition into their lives, unless they have a specific reason to do otherwise. The most important distinction between Reconstructionist Judaism and traditional Judaism is that Reconstructionism feels that all of halakha should be categorized as "folkways", and not as religious law.

Reconstructionism promotes many traditional Jewish practices. Thus, mitzvot (commandments) have been replaced with "folkways", non-binding customs that can be democratically accepted or rejected by the congregations. Folkways that are promoted include keeping Hebrew in the prayer service, studying Torah, daily prayer, wearing kipot (yarmulkas), tallitot and tefillin during prayer, and observance of the Jewish holidays.

Principles of belief

In practice, Rabbi Kaplan's books, especially The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion and Judaism as a Civilization are de facto statements of principles. In 1986, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) and the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot (FRCH) passed the official "Platform on Reconstructionism". It is not a mandatory statement of principles, but rather a consensus of current beliefs. Major points of the platform state that:

Most Reconstructionists do not believe in revelation (the idea that God reveals his will to human beings). This is dismissed as supernaturalism. Kaplan posits that revelation "consists in disengaging from the traditional context those elements in it which answer permanent postulates of human nature, and in integrating them into our own ideology ... the rest may be relegated to archaeology."

Many writers have criticized the movement's most widely held theology, religious naturalism. David Ray Griffin and Louis Jacobs have objected to the redefinitions of the terms "revelation" and "God" as being intellectually dishonest, and as being a form of "conversion by definition"; in their critique, these redefinitions take non-theistic beliefs and attach theistic terms to them. Similar critiques have been put forth by Rabbis Neil Gillman, Milton Steinberg, and Michael Samuels.

Reconstructionist Judaism is egalitarian with respect to gender roles. All positions are open to both genders; they are open to lesbians and gay men as well.

Jewish identity

Reconstructionist Judaism allows its rabbis to determine their own policy regarding officiating at intermarriages. Some congregations accept patrilineal as well as matrilineal descent, and children of one Jewish parent, of either sex, are considered Jewish if raised as Jews. This is less restrictive than the traditional standard that only considers children with Jewish mothers to be Jewish, regardless of how they were raised.

The role of non-Jews in Reconstructionist congregations is a matter of ongoing debate. Practices vary widely between synagogues. Most congregations strive to strike a balance between inclusivity and integrity of boundaries. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) has issued a non-binding statement attempting to delineate the process by which congregations set policy on these issues, and sets forth sample recommendations. These issues are ultimately decided by local lay leadership.

Organizations

Over 100 synagogues and havurot, mostly in the United States and Canada, are affiliated with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College educates rabbis and cantors. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association is the professional organization of Reconstructionist rabbis.

Relation to other Jewish movements

Originally an offshoot of Conservative Judaism/Masorti Judaism, Reconstructionism retains warm relations with both the Conservative/Masorti movement and Reform Judaism. Orthodox Judaism, however, considers Reconstructionism to be in violation of proper observance of Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is a member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Notes

References

Platform on Reconstructionism, FRCH Newsletter, Sept. 1986, pages D, E

Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach, Rebecca T. Alpert and Jacob J. Staub, The Reconstructionist Press, 1988

David Griffin's article in Jewish Theology and Process Thought, Ed. Sandra B. Lubarsky and David Ray Griffin, State University of New York Press, 1996

Louis Jacobs God, Torah, Israel: Traditionalism Without Fundamentalism Hebrew Union College Press, Cincinnati, 1990;

Judaism As a Civilization Mordecai Kaplan, The Jewish Publications Society, 1994

Mordecai Kaplan "The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion", 1962

External links

Jewish Reconstructionist Federation JRF

Recontructionist Rabbinical College RRC

Recontructionist Rabbinical Association RRA

University Synagogue Orange County US

Category:Jewish denominations

Sherwin Theodore Wine (January 25, 1928– July 21, 2007) was a rabbi and a founding figure in Humanistic Judaism. Originally ordained a Reform rabbi, Wine founded the Birmingham Temple, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism in 1963, in Birmingham, Michigan, outside Detroit, Michigan (the temple later relocated to its current location in Farmington Hills, Michigan).

In 1969 Wine founded the Society for Humanistic Judaism. He later was a founder of several other organizations related to Humanistic Judaism, a humanist movement within Judaism that emphasizes secular Jewish culture and Jewish history rather than belief in God as sources of Jewish identity. Wine was also the founder of several humanist organizations that are not specifically Jewish, such as the Humanist Institute and the International Association of Humanist Educators, Counselors, and Leaders, as well as the cofounder of Americans for Religious Liberty, which promotes separation of church and state. Wine was the provost of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism at the time of his death.

Wine lectured on a wide array of topics after 1976 under the auspices of the Center for New Thinking, which he also founded. The American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year for 2003.

Life

Wine was born in Detroit, Michigan. His parents immigrated to the United States from part of the Russian Empire that is now in Poland. His father, whose name was originally Herschel Wengrowski, joined family members in Detroit in 1906. Wine's mother, Tieblei Israelski, emigrated to Detroit in 1914. Wine attended Detroit public schools with almost completely Jewish student bodies. His religious upbringing was in Conservative Judaism, at Shaaray Zedek synagogue. His parents kept a kosher home and observed Shabbat.

Wine attended the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and later a Master of Arts degree, both in philosophy. As an undergraduate student he was most sympathetic to empiricism, particularly its then-current manifestation logical positivism. At the same time, he was attracted to the humanistic outlook of some faculty members.

Despite his movement away from theism, Wine decided to join the clergy rather than academia and in 1951 enrolled in the rabbinic program at Reform Judaism's Hebrew Union College. Wine volunteered for service as a chaplain in the U.S. Army after his ordination as a rabbi and served as associate rabbi at the Reform Temple Beth El in Detroit for six months while awaiting induction. Wine began his service as an Army chaplain in January 1957 and was stationed in Korea. In November 1958, he returned to Temple Beth El in Detroit. In the fall of 1959, he joined a group in Windsor, Ontario just across the Detroit River in Canada to organize a new Reform congregation, also called Beth El.

In 1963, a disaffected group from Temple Beth El in Detroit contacted Wine and asked him to meet with them about forming a new Reform congregation in the northwestern suburbs of Detroit, where the members now lived. He began leading services for the new group, initially eight families, in September 1963 in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Working with members of this small group to develop language which reflected their true beliefs, Wine eventually made the decision to eliminate the word "God" from the services and instead to use new liturgy that extolled Jewish history, culture, and ethical values. This decision was to lay the foundation for the development of Humanistic Judaism as separate from Reform Judaism or any other existing Jewish stream.

A storm of controversy arose when it became known that Wine, who had by then left Temple Beth El in Windsor, was leading a congregation that did not recognize God. The Detroit Free Press ran an article in December 1964 with the headline "Suburban Rabbi: 'I Am an Atheist.'" This was followed by stories in Time magazine and the New York Times. Wine explained that his views were not precisely atheistic. Rather, reflecting his acceptance of the basic outlook of the logical positivists, he declared that it was not possible empirically to prove or disprove the existence of God and, therefore, the concept was meaningless. He referred to this stance as "ignosticism" rather than atheism.

The Masonic temple in Birmingham in which the congregation was meeting at the time, expelled the group early in 1965 because it had rejected God. The congregation, now known as the Birmingham Temple, purchased land in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and moved into a newly-constructed building in 1971. The Torah scroll was placed in the library rather than at the usual place in the sanctuary. Instead, the sanctuary was adorned with a large sculpture spelling out in Hebrew the word Adam, meaning "man" or "people."

Wine served as the rabbi of the Birmingham Temple until his retirement in 2003, at which time he began devoting most of his efforts to his work as Dean for North America and Provost of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism as well as to lecturing on a wide range of topics under the auspices of the Center for New Thinking, which he had founded in 1976.

Organizational leadership

As the outlook and practices of the Birmingham Temple attracted people in other locations, Wine assumed the responsibility for founding several organizations designed to link these adherents together.

First, in 1969, the Society for Humanistic Judaism was formed by Wine’s Birmingham Temple, a previously Reform congregation in Illinois headed by Rabbi Daniel Friedman (who had led the congregation from Reform to Humanistic Judaism after learning about Wine’s work in Michigan), and a congregation in Westport, Connecticut which had been organized by a member of the Birmingham Temple who had moved to Connecticut. The Society for Humanistic Judaism now has over 30 constituent congregations in the United States and Canada as well as individual members unaffiliated with any of these congregations.

To fulfill the need of the Humanistic Judaism movement for trained leaders, Wine founded the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in 1985. This educational institution was sponsored jointly by the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations. The rabbinic program of this Institute has educated and ordained seven rabbis in North America in addition to over 50 leaders (called madrikhim or madrikhot in Hebrew or vegvayzer in Yiddish) who have less training than rabbis but are certified by the Institute to officiate at weddings and other life cycle events. The Institute also has an active rabbinical program in Israel from which eight rabbis have graduated and been ordained.

Wine also founded several organizations that are not specifically Jewish. In 1981, he and others created the Voice of Reason for the purpose of responding to the upsurge of right-wing political activism by religious leaders such as Rev. Jerry Falwell. In 1982, The Voice of Reason merged with the Center for Moral Democracy, which had been started by Ethical Culture leader Edward L. Ericson and others, to form a new organization, Americans for Religious Liberty, which continues as an advocacy group for the separation of church and state.

In 1982, Wine founded the North American Committee for Humanism, a confederation of the six major humanist organizations in North America, and The Humanist Institute, a graduate school in New York for training humanist leaders. Wine served as President of both of these organizations from 1982 until 1993.

In the Detroit area, Wine founded the Conference on Liberal Religion, an association of liberal religious professionals, in 1985 and an advocacy group called Clergy and Citizens United in 1995. He was also a member of Triangle Foundation's Board of Advisors.

Views

While secular Jewish culture thrived in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, its principal manifestations, Yiddish-based schools and Zionism, were in decline by the beginning of the 1960s. Many nonreligious Jews were becoming unaffiliated with either religious or secular Jewish organizations. Recognizing that most Americans are members of thriving religious congregations, Wine concluded that a congregational format, emphasizing Jewish culture and history rather than a theistic outlook, could attract nonreligious Jews who were not served by other Jewish organizations. The goal was to provide members with a sense of community and all of the services that are provided by congregational life, but in a manner consistent with the nontheistic outlook of Wine and the others in his movement.

Wine emphasized intellectual integrity – keeping words consistent with beliefs. For him and his congregants, this meant that references to a deity had to be excluded from the liturgy. As a result, Wine discarded virtually all previous Jewish liturgical writings. A typical passage developed by Wine for the Sabbath (Shabbat) is, in transliterated Hebrew and in English:

Na-eh ha-or ba-olam. Na-eh ha-or ba-shalom. Na-eh ha-or ba-shabbat.

How wonderful is the light of the world. How radiant are the candles of peace. How beautiful are the lights of Shabbat.

Wine composed a poem that is considered to be the central expression of the outlook of Humanistic Judaism:

איפה אורי? אורי בי. איפה תקותי? תקותי בי. איפה כחי? כחי בי וגם בך.

Ayfo oree? Oree bee. Ayfo tikvatee? Tikvatee bee. Ayfo kokhee? Kokhee bee - v'gam bakh.

Where is my light? My light is in me. Where is my hope? My hope is in me. Where is my strength? My strength is in me – and in you.

Many of the Jewish holidays have been maintained within Wine’s Humanistic Judaism, but the interpretations of the meanings of these holidays has been amended for consistency with the outlook of this movement. For example, Rosh Hashanah is said, within Humanistic Judaism, to be a time for renewal and reflection, focusing on the affirmation of human power and human dignity. Yom Kippur is, according to Wine and his movement, a celebration of inner strength and a time of self-forgiveness. Prayers and references to God are excluded from the services even for these holidays.

The Torah and other traditional Jewish religious texts are, for Wine, important historical documents that need to be evaluated scientifically to determine their origins and degree of factuality. For him, writings of the Jews of the past 250 years have more philosophical and ethical validity than ancient writings because they are more likely to be infused with the values of the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment, and the more general Western Enlightenment.

Unlike other streams of Judaism, Humanistic Judaism does not condemn or discourage intermarriage, and its clergy are happy to officiate at weddings between Jews and non-Jews. Wine’s view has been that criticizing people for marrying whomever they choose is not only unethical but also counterproductive to efforts to ensure Jewish continuity. For Wine and Humanistic Judaism, Jewish identity is largely a matter of self-identification.

Wine has been closely affiliated with the non-Jewish Humanist movement. In responding to questions as to why a specifically Jewish organization should exist within Humanism, he has said that the history of the Jews is a clear demonstration that only people can solve human problems of survival and that there is no supernatural force that will come to our aid.

Wine has written numerous books and articles. His Judaism Beyond God is a description of the history and outlook of the Humanistic Judaism movement. Celebrations: A Ceremonial and Philosophic Guide for Humanists and Humanistic Jews is, as its name indicates, a compendium of Wine’s liturgical writings and “meditations,” intended for use at various holiday and life cycle ceremonies. Staying Sane in a Crazy World is a general self-help book, with advice on how reliance on reason can help us live meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Rabbi Wine coined the word ignosticism. It is the view that a coherent definition of God must be presented before the question of the existence of God can be meaningfully discussed.

Death

On July 21, 2007, Wine and his longtime life partner Richard McMains were in a taxicab headed to a hotel from dinner in Essaouira, Morocco, when their cab was hit by another vehicle. Both Wine and the taxi driver were killed instantly in the car crash. McMains survived the collision although he was seriously injured in the crash.

See also

Humanistic Judaism

International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism

Society for Humanistic Judaism

References

Cohn-Sherbok, Dan, Harry T. Cook, and Marilyn Rowens, Eds., 2003. A Life of Courage: Sherwin Wine and Humanistic Judaism, The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, Farmington Hills, MI.

Cooley, John, September 5, 1965, “Religion: Must a Rabbi Believe in God?” New York Times.

Detroit Free Press, December 5, 1964, “Atheist Rabbi Denounced: Orthodox Group ‘Aghast.’”

New York Times, February 5, 1965, “Masons Reject Congregation Whose Rabbi Rejects God.”

Spiegel, Irving, June 20, 1965, “Jewish ‘Ignostic’ Stirs Convention: Dropping of ‘God’ in Service Deplored and Condoned,” New York Times.

Time, January 29, 1965, “The Atheist Rabbi.”

Ward, Hiley, December 3, 1964, “Suburban Rabbi: ‘I Am an Atheist,” Detroit Free Press.

Ward, Hiley H., December 7, 1964, “‘Godless’ Rabbi Raps Revered Jewish Hero,” Detroit Free Press.

Wine, Sherwin T., 1978. Humanistic Judaism, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY.

Wine, Sherwin T., 1988. Celebration: A Ceremonial and Philosophic Guide for Humanists and Humanistic Jews, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY.

Wine, Sherwin T., 1995. Staying Sane in a Crazy World, The Center for New Thinking, Birmingham, MI.

Wine, Sherwin T., 1996. Judaism Beyond God: A Radical New Way to Be Jewish, KTAV Publishing House, Society for Humanistic Judaism, and Milan Press.

External links

New York Times obituary, July 25, 2007

Los Angeles Times obituary, July 26, 2007

The Birmingham Temple

Center for New Thinking

International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews

Category:1928 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Humanistic rabbis Category:American Jews Category:Jewish agnostics Category:American Reform rabbis Category:LGBT Jews Category:Jewish skeptics Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:American humanists Category:Road accident deaths in Morocco Category:LGBT clergy Category:Gay writers

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Name	Ruth Messinger
Office	24th Borough President of Manhattan
Term start	1990
Term end	1997
Predecessor	David N. Dinkins
Successor	C. Virginia Fields
Birth place	New York
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Andrew Lachman
Children	three
Alma mater	Radcliffe CollegeUniversity of Oklahoma
Occupation	President/CEO, American Jewish World Service

Ruth Wyler Messinger (born November 6, 1940) is a former political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party as well as the Democratic Socialists of America. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giuliani. She is married to Andrew Lachman, her second husband, and has three children. She is currently the President and CEO of American Jewish World Service, an international development agency.

Born and raised in New York, Messinger attended the Brearley School. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1962 and received a Master of Social Work from the University of Oklahoma in 1964. Messinger was a delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention and served on the New York City Council from 1978 to 1989, representing the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In the City Council, she proposed extending rent control from individuals to businesses. From 1990 to 1998, she served as Manhattan borough president, an office she gave up to unsuccessfully run for mayor in the 1997 election.

A political liberal, Messinger was known for her advocacy on behalf of public schools, efforts to achieve compromise between developers and neighborhood activists, and her aggressive media work. She is pro-choice and opposes the death penalty. During her 1997 campaign, she was nearly forced into a Democratic primary runoff with Reverend Al Sharpton, but avoided it by receiving 40% of the vote during a recount.

In 2005, Messinger endorsed Fernando Ferrer for mayor in the 2005 mayoral election. Ferrer had briefly run against her for mayor in 1997, before dropping out to endorse her and then run for reelection as Bronx borough president.

Since 1998 she has been CEO of American Jewish World Service. In late 2005, following a high-profile year that included the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, The Forward, a Jewish newspaper based in New York City, named her to the top of its annual "Forward Fifty" list of the most influential American Jews. Messinger is also a board member of Hazon.

See also

New York City mayoral election, 1997

References

American Jewish World Service website

Ruth Messinger biography

Article on Ruth Messinger in Slate Magazine

Ruth97.org from archive.org

Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution from the Jewish Women's Archive

Hazon website

Category:Manhattan borough presidents Category:New York City Council members Category:New York Democrats Category:Jewish American politicians Category:Radcliffe College alumni Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Category:New York City politicians Category:University of Oklahoma alumni Category:Women in New York politics Category:American Jews