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Reconstructionist Judaism

Jewish thinkers, giants in their fields. From left to right: Moshe Davis, Mordecai Kaplan (center) and Hillel Bavli (Inset from an image courtesy of the Mordecai Kaplan Center)
April 6, 2026, 8:53 am
How an upstart rabbi was excommunicated over his prayer book for a ‘new US Judaism’
Mordecai Kaplan’s vision of a unified, reconstructed religion for American Jews was plagued by backlash but launched a new denomination. Now he’s the subject of a new biography
By Rich Tenorio
Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation in Pacific Palisades, California, as it appeared in May 2024. (Google Maps via JTA)
July 24, 2025, 5:23 am
US’s largest Reconstructionist synagogue quits movement for allowing anti-Israel hostility
A letter to congregants by California’s Kehillat Israel cites concerns over ordination of anti-Zionist clergy and ‘hostile’ atmosphere toward Zionism on rabbinical school campus
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Rabbi Deborah Waxman speaks at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduation in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, May 19, 2024. (Courtesy Reconstructing Judaism via JTA)
May 4, 2025, 3:57 am
Why Reconstructionist Judaism head Rabbi Deborah Waxman is stepping down after 13 years
After leading the progressive denomination for ‘almost a generation’ as it grappled with issues like interfaith relationships and anti-Zionism, she’s inviting in younger leadership
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Rabbi Deborah Waxman is the president of Reconstructing Judaism. (Courtesy of Reconstructing Judaism via JTA)
July 3, 2024, 4:34 am
Reconstructionist Judaism affirms support for progressive Zionism amid recent divides
Movement says it backs Jewish state’s right to exist, Palestinian statehood and ending ‘military occupation of West Bank and Gaza,’ in statement clarifying its stance post-Oct. 7
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Illustrative -- Morris Griffin holds up a sign during a meeting by the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans in Oakland, California, December 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
December 22, 2022, 10:54 am
Reconstructionist Judaism issues ‘moral position’ on African American reparations
Resolution doesn’t mention financial compensation for those harmed by slavery and the lasting effects of racial injustice
By Dave Schechter
Rabbi Barbara Aiello reads prayers in her 'Ner Tamid del Sud' (The Eternal Light of the South) synagogue in Serrastretta, southern Italy, July 8, 2022 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
July 20, 2022, 12:11 pm
US rabbi revives Italian hamlet by restoring Jewish roots, bringing Ukraine refugees
Rabbi Barbara Aiello reconnects ancestral community with Jewish history, links that were nearly severed 5 centuries ago when the Inquisition forced Jews to convert to Christianity
By Frances D'Emilio
SAJ's Hebrew school graduating class of 1945, with Judith Kaplan Eisenstein — the daughter of SAJ's founder, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, who also had the first bat mitzvah in the US — and her husband, Rabbi Ira Eistenstein. (Courtesy/ via JTA)
March 19, 2022, 1:58 pm
100 years ago, the first bat mitzvah set into motion an ongoing Jewish revolution
March 18 marks the centennial anniversary of Judith Kaplan’s coming of age ceremony — a turning point not just in her life, but that of US Jewry as a whole
By Lisa Fishbayn Joffe
The Instagram account @judithkaplan1922 aims to commemorate the 100th anniversary Judith Kaplan's bat mitzvah, the first for an American girl. (Ironbound Films, Inc./via JTA)
March 3, 2022, 4:47 am
Instagram account tells the story of Judith Kaplan, America’s first-ever bat mitzvah
Series of movies and posts are part of 100-year anniversary of NY Reconstructionist congregation; aim is to expose middle schoolers to history in a format that they can relate to
By julia GERGELY
Clergy, members and guests celebrate the 100th anniversary of SAJ-Judaism that Stands for All, the flagship Reconstructionist synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, January 29, 2022. (Courtesy Comptroller Brad Lander/ via JTA)
February 9, 2022, 3:26 am
Manhattan synagogue marks its 100th year as Reconstructionist Judaism’s flagship
SAJ will host events throughout 2022 that examine the influence of founder Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and his movement on contemporary American Jewish life
By Stewart Ain
Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi had been a faculty member at High Point University in North Carolina. (Reconstructing Judaism)
June 19, 2021, 5:06 am
Black Jewish Bible scholar to lead Reconstructionist rabbinical school
In a first for American Jewish movements, Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi will head institution outside Philadelphia
By Gabe Friedman
Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center in Philadelphia leaves the podium as Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom, is seen at rear at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Aug. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
November 16, 2020, 4:06 am
87-year-old activist rabbi: Shifting world is perfect place to practice balance
Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow offers new words to old prayers to mirror a turbulent reality in ‘Dancing in God’s Earthquake,’ his 28th book
By Melanie Lidman
Illustrative: A Palestinian man walks past graffiti calling for a boycott of Israel on a street in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on February 11, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
April 16, 2019, 12:11 pm
Reconstructionists face internal backlash for supporting anti-BDS resolution
Rabbis and rabbinical students say backing congressional efforts against Israel boycotters ‘undermine[s] a legitimate non-violent Palestinian-led movement’
By Ron Kampeas
An attendee wears a 'Make America Great Again' kippah before US President Donald Trump speaks at an annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on April 6, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP/John Locher)
April 16, 2019, 2:58 am
White House Jewish community briefing blackballs most major Jewish groups
Administration invites Orthodox leaders, AIPAC and Republican group, but leaves out Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, ADL and other organizations
By Ron Kampeas
Reconstructionist congregation Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, Washington, United States. (Screenshot: Google Street View)
August 30, 2018, 4:42 pm
Washington state synagogue becomes haven for refugees
Reconstructionist congregation Temple Beth Hatfiloh pledges to ‘participate in actions up to and including physical sanctuary’ for immigrants
By JTA
Rabbi Georgette Kennebrae grew up in a military family that moved between Japan and Oklahoma. (Josefin Dolsten)
July 23, 2018, 3:15 am
Gay, African-American rabbi wants to burst stereotypes of what a Jew looks like
Head of congregation Georgette Kennebrae is sometimes mistaken for a custodian, so she’s made it a mission to gain acceptance for the 11% of US Jews who do not identify as white
By Josefin Dolsten
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