Related Research Articles
The subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a to'eivah that can be subject to capital punishment by the current Sanhedrin under halakha.
Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983) that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than just a religion. The movement originated as a semi-organized stream within Conservative Judaism, developed between the late 1920s and the 1940s before seceding in 1955, and established a rabbinical college in 1967. Reconstructionist Judaism is recognized by many scholars as one of the four major streams of Judaism in America alongside Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. RRC has an enrollment of approximately 80 students in rabbinic and other graduate programs.
The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries with 1,275 affiliated synagogues, of which 1,170 are Reform, Progressive, or Liberal and 105 Reconstructionist. It claims to represent a total of some 1.8 million people, both registered constituents and non-member identifiers. The WUPJ states that it aims to create common ground between its constituents and to promote Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic, yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. It seeks to preserve Jewish integrity wherever Jews live, to encourage integration without assimilation, to deal with modernity while preserving the Jewish experience, and to strive for equal rights and social justice.
Rabbi Toba Spitzer became the first openly lesbian or gay person chosen to head a rabbinical association in the United States in 2007, when she was elected president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association at the group's annual convention, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Rabbi Rebecca Trachtenberg Alpert is Professor of Religion Emerita at Temple University, and was one of the first women rabbis. Her chief academic interests are religions and sports and sexuality in Judaism, and she says that her beliefs were transformed by a Sabbath prayer book that refers to God as 'She'.
Michael Strassfeld is an American rabbi. Strassfeld was rabbi of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, a Manhattan synagogue. Before that he was the rabbi of Congregation Ansche Chesed.
Dan Ehrenkrantz is an American Reconstructionist rabbi, currently serving as the outgoing president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.
The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably, as can views between different faiths.
Jacob J. Staub is a rabbi, author and poet. In 1977 he was ordained as a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He was Academic Dean of the College from 1989 to 2004, and the editor of the Reconstructionist magazine from 1983 to 1989. In 2009 he was Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality and Chair of the Department of Medieval Jewish Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinic College. In 1998, he founded at RRC the first program in Jewish Spiritual Direction at a rabbinical seminary, and he continues to direct it. He has written two books on Gersonides' philosophy of creation and Reconstructionist Judaism. He has written essays on Mordecai Kaplan's thought.
The first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clergy in Judaism were ordained as rabbis and/or cantors in the second half of the 20th century.
The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF), founded in 1955, was the synagogue arm of Reconstructionist Judaism, serving more than 100 congregations and havurot spread across North America. In June 2012, the Reconstructionist movement underwent a restructuring that merged JRF with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College to form a new national organization initially named RRC and Jewish Reconstructionist Communities. The merged organization was initially headed by Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, a 1989 graduate of the College, and currently by Rabbi Deborah Waxman who took over in 2014. In January 2018, the merged organization changed its name to Reconstructing Judaism.
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is the first woman to have been ordained a rabbi in Reconstructionist Judaism. She was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, on May 19, 1974. She is also the author of many children's books on religious topics.
Joy Levitt is an American rabbi and from 1987 to 1989 was the first female president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. Levitt is also the founder of the Jewish Journey Project, an initiative that attempts to replace individual synagogue schools with an elective-driven communal coalition. She and her husband Rabbi Michael Strassfeld are coeditors of the A Night of Questions Passover Haggadah, published by the Reconstructionist Press. She was until December 2021 the CEO of the Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center. In addition to the Jewish Journey Project, Levitt has presided over some of the JCC's biggest accomplishments, including the founding of the Adaptations program, the Literacy and Math Tutoring Program, Saturday Morning Community Partners, the Other Israel and ReelAbilities Film Festivals, and oversaw the creation of the JCC's ten Centers of Excellence, including the groundbreaking Wechsler Center for Modern Aging, founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 16 Over 61 Honors in 2021. She also spearheaded advocacy efforts such as the New York response to the ''Save Darfur'' Coalition rally in 2006; the 2021 Save the Climate march to Battery Park; the Upper West Side's response to the 2018 Tree of Life massacre and the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection; the UWS response and starting point for the March for Our Lives ; and organized advocacy for immigration with HIAS following the closing of the US borders to predominantly Muslim countries in early 2017.
Linda Joy Holtzman is an American rabbi and author. In 1979, she became one of the first women in the United States to serve as the presiding rabbi of a synagogue, when she was hired by Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County, which was then located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
Rabbi Jason Klein became the first openly gay man chosen to head a national rabbinical association of one of the major Jewish denominations in the United States in 2013, when he was chosen as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. He was also the first Hillel director to hold the presidency, the chief volunteer position of the organization. As of his election as president, Klein was the executive director of Hillel at UMBC, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a post he held from 2006 until 2013. He served as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association for two years—until 2015. As of July 2013 he became the Director of the Center for Jewish Life at JCP Downtown, the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan, where he served until 2018.
This is a timeline of women rabbis:
Deborah Waxman is an American rabbi and the president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism. Waxman was inaugurated as the president of both on October 26, 2014. The ceremony took place at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. Waxman is believed to be the first woman rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is both a congregational union and a seminary. She previously served as the vice-president for governance for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2015 she was named as one of The Forward 50.
This is a timeline of LGBT Jewish history, which consists of events at the intersection of Judaism and queer people.
References
- ↑ Reconstructionist Judaism Archived 2007-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
- ↑ Academic Dean and Professor of Church History Emeritae Rosemary Skinner Keller; Rosemary Radford Ruether; Marie Cantlon (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America: Native American creation stories. Indiana University Press. pp. 553–. ISBN 0-253-34687-8.
- ↑ Radin, Charles A. (2007-03-13). "First openly gay rabbi elected leader". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ "Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association - Board Members". Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
