Archive-name: judaism/reading-lists/reconstructionist
Soc-culture-jewish-archive-name: reading.reconstructionist
Posting-Frequency: Monthly

              Selected Sources for Additional Reading on Judaism
                      Part VI: Reconstructionist Judaism
         [Last Change: $Date: 1995/10/19 15:21:35 $ $Revision: 1.3 $]
                    [Last Post: Sat May 13 11:07:09 1995]

   This message is intended to provide readers of soc.culture.jewish with
   a list of references to allow them to learn more about the current
   practices, past practices, beliefs, and history of the
   Reconstructionist Judaism Movement.
   
   Reconstructionist Judaism is the small "fourth movement" of American
   Judaism. It was founded by the Conservative Rabbi and philosopher
   Mordecai Kaplan. It emphasizes "Judaism as a civilization" (i.e., the
   integration of selected Jewish beliefs with the Jewish people's
   culture and folkways).
   
   Reconstructionist Jews are willing to question conventional answers
   and keep open minds. They believe that a Jew need not and ought not
   sacrifice intellectual integrity for the sake of his/her Jewish
   identity. Reconstructionists are Jews who take the Jewish traditions
   seriously and live Jewish lives even through they don't believe in the
   divine supernatural origin of the Torah. Reconstructionists believe
   that, just a Jewish civilization has adapted to new circumstances
   throughout Jewish history, so must it adapt to late twentieth-century
   North American society. Reconstructionists tend to conduct more
   intimate worship services in which everyone is involved and the
   rabbi--if there is one--does not dominate.
   
   The membership body of the Reconstructionist Movement is the Jewish
   Reconstructionist Foundation. The congregations and havurot
   (Reconstructionist Judaism originated the Havurot concept) are
   organized into the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregation and
   Havurot. The association of the reconstructionist Rabbis is the
   Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. The Reconstructionist
   Rabbinical College, located at Church Road and Greenwood Avenue in
   Wyncote PA 19095 publishes Raayonot as its rabbinical journal.
   
   Publications of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, the
   Reconstructionist Press, etc. may be obtained from:
   
                     Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
                         Church Road & Greenwood Ave.
                           Wyncote, PA  19095-1898
                                (215) 887-1988

   There is also an archive of JRF information available on shamash.org.
   The archive has general articles on reconstructionism, a list of JRF
   affiliates (including a mechanism for finding them by state), tables
   of contents of two issues of The Reconstructionist (a quarterly
   journal published by the reconstructionist movement), and four
   articles that have appeared in the journal.

   Reproduction of this posting for commercial use is subject to
   restriction. See Part 1 (general) for more details.

------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: ORGANIZATION

   This reading list is organized as follows:
     * Introduction to this Reading List 
     * Philosophy Of Movement 
     * Reconstructionist Education 
     * Reconstructionist Liturgy 
       

------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Philosophy of Movement

   [Alp85]
          Alpert, Rebecca T. and Staub, Jacob J. Exploring Judaism: A
          Reconstructionist Approach Reconstructionist Press, New York.
          1985. ISBN 0-935457-00-3.
          
   [Eis52]
          Eisenstein, Ira and Kohn, Eugene. Mordecai M. Kaplan: An
          Evaluation Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, New York. 1952.
          
   [Kap34]
          Kaplan, Mordecai M. Judaism as a Civilization.
          Reconstructionist Press, New York. 1934. Also available from
          Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia PA. ISBN
          0-8276-0194-8.
          
   [Kap36]
          Kaplan, Mordecai M., Ed. The Jewish Reconstructionist Papers.
          Behrman's Jewish Book House, New York. 1936.
          
   [Kap48]
          Kaplan, Mordecai M. The Future of the American Jew.
          Reconstructionist Press, New York. 1948.
          
   [Kap56]
          Kaplan, Moredecai M. Questions Jews Ask: Reconstructionist
          Answers. Reconstructionist Press, New York. 1956.
          
   [Kap60]
          Kaplan, Mordecai M. The Greater Judaism in the Making
          Reconstructionist Press, New York. 1960.
          
   [Coh58]
          Cohen, Jack J. The Case for Religious Naturalism.
          Reconstructionist Press, New York. 1958.
          
   [Scu85]
          Scult, Mel and Goldsmith, Emanual. Dynamic Judaism: The
          Essential Writings of Mordecai M. Kaplan. Reconstructionist
          Press & Schocken Books, New York. 1985.
          

------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Reconstructionist Education

   [Sta85]
          Staug, Jacob and Schein, Jeffrey eds. Creative Jewish
          Education: A Reconstructionist Perspective. Rossel Books and
          Reconstructionist Rabbinic Council Press, New York. 1985.
          

------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: RECONSTRUCTIONIST LITURGY

   [FRC96]
          Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. Kol
          Haneshamah: Limot Hol. The Reconstructionist Press, Wyncote,
          Pennsylvania, 1996. ISBN 0-9354547-47-9, Library of Congress
          Number 95-78994. [Contains readings for use in a house of
          mourning and throughout the year]
          
   [FRC94]
          Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. Kol
          Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim. The Reconstructionist Press,
          Wyncote PA, 1994. [Sabbath and Holidays Prayerbook; includes a
          revised version of the Erev Shabbat book]
          
   [FRC93]
          Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. Kol
          Haneshamah: Nashir Uneverah. Enlarged Second Edition. The
          Reconstructionist Press, Wyncote PA, 1993. [Songs and Grace
          After Meals -- words, but not music]
          
   [FRC91]
          Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. Kol
          Haneshamah: Shirim Uvrahot. The Reconstructionist Press,
          Wyncote PA, 1991. [Songs, Blessing and Rituals For the Home --
          includes music; also available is an audio tape to accompany
          the book.]
          
   [JRF41]
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation. The New Haggadah. Jewish
          Reconstructionist Foundation, New York. 1941. [Passover
          Liturgy]
          
   [JRF45]
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation. The Sabbath Prayer Book.
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, New York. 1945. [This is
          been superceded, but gives an idea of the early approach]
          
   [JRF48]
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation. High Holiday Prayer Book.
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, New York. 1948.
          
   [JRF58]
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation. Festival Prayer Book.
          Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, New York. 1958 [Festival
          Liturgy]
          

------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Archival and Credits

  Anonymous FTP:
  
   All portions of the FAQ and of the reading lists are archived on
   shamash.org [192.77.173.13] and on rtfm.mit.edu, and are available
   for anonymous FTP. On shamash.org, the parts of the FAQ are stored in
   the israel/lists/scj-faq/FAQ directory. On rtfm.mit.edu, these FAQs
   are stored in the pub/usenet/news.answers/judaism/FAQ directory. Note
   that the archived versions of the FAQ are the posted versions; that
   is, they are each one large ASCII file.
   
   The following is the mapping of reading lists to files:
   
   general
          Introduction and General. Includes book sources, starting
          points for beginners, starting points for non-Jewish readers,
          General Judaism, General Jewish Thought, General Jewish
          History, Noachide Laws, Torah and Talmud, Mishnah and Talmud,
          Torah and Talmudic Commentary, Midrash, Halachic Codes,
          Becoming An Observant Jew, Women and Judaism, and Science and
          Judaism.
          
   traditional
          Traditional Liturgy, Practice, Lifestyle, Holidays. Includes
          Traditional Liturgy; Traditional Philosophy and Ethics; Prayer;
          Traditional Practice; The Household; Life, Death, and
          In-Between; and The Cycle Of Holidays.
          
   mysticism
          Kabbalah, Mysticism, and Messianism. Includes Academic and
          Religious treatments of Kabbalah, Sprituality, and the Jewish
          notion of the Messiah.
          
   reform
          Reform/Progressive Judaism
          
   conservative
          Conservative Judaism
          
   reconstructionist
          Reconstructionist Judaism
          
   humanistic
          Humanistic Judaism (Society for Humanistic Judaism)
          
   chasidism
          Chassidism. Includes general information on historical
          chassidism, as well as specific information on Lubavitch
          (Chabad), Satmar, Breslaw (Breslov), and other approaches.
          
   zionism
          Zionism. Includes Zionism and The Development Of Israel, The
          Founders, Zionistic Movements, and Judaism in Israel.
          
   antisemitism
          Antisemitism. Includes sections on Antisemitism, What Led to
          The Holocaust, Medieval Oppression, Antisemitism Today
          (Including Dealing with Hate Groups), Judaism and Christianity,
          and Judaism, Freemasonry and other rumors.
          
   intermarriage
          Intermarriage. Includes sections on "So You're Considering
          Intermarriage?", The Traditional Viewpoint, Conversion, and
          Coping With Life As An Intermarried.
          
   periodicals
          Periodicals. Includes Topical General Interest Periodicals,
          General Interest Periodicals focused on Tradition and Home,
          General Interest Periodicals focused on Jewish Scholarship,
          Other General Interest Periodicals, Publications Targeted For
          Specific Movements, Rabbinic Journals, and Local Publications.
          
   childrens
          Books for Jewish Children. Includes.
          
   The following is the mapping of sections of the Frequently Asked
   Questions to files:
   
   01-FAQ-intro
          Section 1: Network and Soc.Culture.Jewish Information
          
   02-Who-We-Are 
          Section 2: Who We Are
          
   03-Torah-Halacha 
          Section 3: Torah
          Section 4: Halachic Authority
          
   04-Observance 
          Section 5: Jewish Holidays
          Section 6: Jewish Dietary Law and Kashrut
          Section 7: Sabbath and Holiday Observance
          Section 8: Woman and Marriage
          
   05-Worship 
          Section 9: Jewish Worship
          Section 10: Conversion, Intermarriage, and "Who is a Jew?
          Section 11: Miscellaneous Practice Questions
          
   06-Jewish-Thought 
          Section 12: Jewish Thought
          
   07-Jews-As-Nation 
          Section 13: Jews as a Nation
          
   08-Israel 
          Section 14: Jews and Israel
          
   09-Antisemitism 
          Section 15: Churban Europa (The Holocaust)
          Section 16: Antisemitism and Rumors about Jews
          Section 17: Countering Missionaries
          
   10-Reform 
          Section 18: Reform/Progressive Judaism
          
   11-Miscellaneous 
          Section 19: Miscellaneous
          Section 20: References and Getting Connected
          
   12-Kids
          Section 21: Jewish Childrearing Related Questions
          
   mail-order
          Mail Order Judaica
          
   On shamash.org, the parts of the reading lists are stored in the
   israel/lists/scj-faq/reading-lists directory. On rtfm.mit.edu, the
   reading lists are stored in the
   pub/usenet/news.answers/judaism/reading-lists directory. Note that the
   archived versions of the reading lists are the posted versions; that
   is, they are each one large ASCII file.
   
  Mail:
  
   The files may also be obtained via Email by sending a message to
   faigin@shamash.org with any number of the following commands in the
   body of the mail message:
   
   send faq _portionnames_
   send rl _portionnames_
   
   The "send faq" version is used to obtain portions of the FAQ; the
   "send rl" version is used to obtain portions of the reading list.
   "_portionnames_" should be replaced by the names of the files to be
   retrieved, separated by spaces. The special file name "list" will
   retrieve a list of all files that make up the FAQ or reading list; the
   special file name "all" will retrieve all files on the appropriate
   list.
   
   Examples:
   send faq all
   send faq list
   send faq 01-FAQ-intro
   send rl all
   send rl general
   
   Alternatively, you may send a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with
   the following line in the body of the message:
   
   send usenet/news.answers/judaism/(portionname)
   
   Where (portionname) is replaced by the appropriate subdirectory and
   filenames; for example, to get the first part of the reading list, one
   would say:

        send usenet/news.answers/judaism/reading-lists/general

  WWW:
  
   The FAQ and reading lists are available as a full hypertext tree on
   shamash.org. The URL is:
   
   http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/index.html

------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Credits

   This list is based on research done at the University of Judaism in
   January 1993 by faigin@pacificnet.net. Contributions were also made by
   Sharon Morrison (sharon@cs.uiuc.edu) and Aaron Seidman
   (seidman@pioneer.ci.net). Suggestions for additions or deletions are
   welcome, as are _brief_ annotations for the entries.

------------------------------------------------------------
--
Please mail additions or corrections to me at faigin@pacificnet.net.

End of Judaism Reading List Part VI (Reconstructionist) Digest
**************************
-------
-- 
faigin@pacificnet.net   Moderator, Mail.Liberal-Judaism (mlj@shamash.org)
   |  @shamash.org      Maintainer, S.C.J FAQ/Reading List * Advisor S.C.J.P
   |  @aero.org         Daddy, Erin Shoshana  misc.kids Albums 95pg48 96pg27
   v  @acm.org          Home Page: http://www.pacificnet.net/~faigin/
