Re: Is the new poster/new observer still here?


"Dan Kimmel" <daniel.kimmel@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:oM-dnWwFspLIwaDeRVn-qg@xxxxxxxxxx
>
> "cindys" <cstein1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:_9a%e.4455$K91.1887@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > "Dan Kimmel" <daniel.kimmel@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > news:xNGdnawsx81Zl6DeRVn-iw@xxxxxxxxxx
> > >
> > > "Omega" <Omega.d21@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > news:1128034142.148287.280890@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > We have among the Ashkenazi: Orthodox,
Conservative-Reconstructionist
> > > > and Reform plus the ultra Orthodox (Chabad-Lubavitch).
> > >
> > > Correction. The founder of Reconstructionist Judaism may have come
out
> of
> > > JTS, but the groups are otherwise unrelated.
> > --------
> > Are you sure? Many years ago, I went to a Friday night service at a
large
> > Reconstructionist congregation in Chicago. At every seat was an
> > informational pamphlet about the Reconstructionist movement. The
pamphlet
> > stated that although the services may seem more similar to Reform, the
> > Reconstructionist movement had in fact originated as an offshoot of the
> > Conservative. I am only relating what the pamphlet stated. To me, the
> actual
> > service was something more akin to secular humanism. The same pamphlet
> > explained that within Reconstructionism, people are free to categorize
God
> > however they want, i.e., if a person believes God = creator, great!, if
a
> > person believes God = nature, that's okay too, if a person doesn't
believe
> > in God at all, that's also okay. Lecha dodi was led by a female cantor
> > wearing blue jeans and a tallis and a playing a guitar. Then, they lit
the
> > shabbos candles (this was well after dark). I agree that I cannot see
> where
> > any of this bore even a remote resemblance to any C synagogue I've ever
> > seen, but nevertheless the Reconstructionists do claim to be offshoots
of
> > the C movement. (This was definitely *Reconstructionist* and not
*secular
> > humanist*)
> >
> > At another point, however, someone I knew was invited to a bar mitzvah
in
> a
> > Reconstructionist synagogue somewhere in New York. When I described our
> > Chicago experience, she was very surprised and said her experience at
the
> > bar mitzvah was nothing like that at all. She said the service at the
> > synagogue (where the bar mitzvah was held) was nearly identical to the
> > services at her mainstream C synagogue.
> >
> > Apparently, in the world of Reconstructionism, there is a great
> variability
> > from place to place.
>
> As noted, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, taught
> at JTS. In that sense it is an "offshoot" of Conservatism. But that's
it.
> It's a very different attitude towards God, towards halacha, toward what
the
> point of being Jewish is.
-----
Based on what I personally witnessed (as noted above), I certainly won't
argue with you.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Is the new poster/new observer still here?
    ... >>> informational pamphlet about the Reconstructionist movement. ... >>> explained that within Reconstructionism, ... >>> in God at all, ... >>> any of this bore even a remote resemblance to any C synagogue I've ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Is the new poster/new observer still here?
    ... > informational pamphlet about the Reconstructionist movement. ... > explained that within Reconstructionism, people are free to categorize God ... > Reconstructionist synagogue somewhere in New York. ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Is the new poster/new observer still here?
    ... informational pamphlet about the Reconstructionist movement. ... people are free to categorize God ... Reconstructionist synagogue somewhere in New York. ... Apparently, in the world of Reconstructionism, there is a great variability ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)