12 Facts About Reconstructionist Judaism

1.

Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than a religion, based on concepts developed by Mordecai Kaplan .

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2.

The movement originated as a semi-organized stream within Conservative Reconstructionist Judaism and developed from the late 1920s to 1940s, before it seceded in 1955 and established a rabbinical college in 1967.

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3.

Reconstructionist Judaism is recognized by some scholars as one of the five streams of Judaism alongside Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Humanistic.

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4.

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.

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5.

Many Reconstructionist Judaism Jews are deists, but the movement includes Jews who hold Kabbalistic, pantheistic views of God, and some Jews who believe in the concept of a personal God.

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6.

Much more central is the idea that Reconstructionist Judaism is a civilization, and that the Jewish people must take an active role in ensuring its future by participating in its ongoing evolution.

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7.

Reconstructionist Judaism holds that the traditional halakhic system is incapable of producing a code of conduct that is meaningful for, and acceptable to, the vast majority of contemporary Jews, and thus must be reinterpreted in each new time period.

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8.

Unlike classical Reform Reconstructionist 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.

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9.

Reconstructionist Judaism allows its rabbis to determine their own policy regarding officiating at intermarriages.

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10.

Role of non-Jews in Reconstructionist Judaism congregations is a matter of ongoing debate.

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11.

The Jewish Reconstructionist Judaism Federation has issued a non-binding statement attempting to delineate the process by which congregations set policy on these issues, and sets forth sample recommendations.

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12.

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is a member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, in which it gained an observer status in 1990.

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