Episodios

  • Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

    Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
    May 16 2024
    Rabbi Elyse Wechterman recently announced that she will step down from her position as CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) in June after leading the organization for the past nine years. Elyse stops by Deborah’s office to look back on her tenure and look ahead to what’s next. The two longtime colleagues commiserate over the day-to-day realities of leading an organization, including a friendly debate over the pros and cons of “zeroing out” one’s email inbox (4:54). Elyse explains how being willing to let some things go in order to focus on what’s important has helped her decision making as a leader (9:21). Elyse reflects on how the RRA has changed over the last nine years and on the accomplishments she’s most proud of, such as increased collaboration amongst rabbinical associations (15:30). Deborah and Elyse discuss the nature of change and how although it can be scary, it is often a positive (26:22). Finally, Elyse shares her favorite verse from the Talmud and why it’s resonating with her as she approaches this transition (34:00). Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Special Guest: Rabbi Elyse Wechterman.
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    39 m
  • Cheryl Cook, CEO of Avodah

    Cheryl Cook, CEO of Avodah
    Mar 28 2024
    Rabbi Deborah Waxman welcomes Cheryl Cook, CEO of Avodah, for a wide-ranging conversation. The two longtime friends and hevrutah partners recall their early conversations about Israel and Palestine (3:00). They discuss the nature of leadership in general as well as their own perspectives as women in leadership (10:10). They touch on the importance of resilience in how they have been able to navigate the turbulence of the last 10 years (12:10). Cheryl lays out the mission and work of Avodah (16:30). Later, Cheryl asks Deborah to reflect on the role of gender in leadership and Deborah shares how her feminist ideals shape her approach (18:15). Cheryl talks about stepping into the role of CEO in 2015 as a mother of young children and how she is making the effort to model a different kind leadership for other women (23:00). They close by looking ahead to future generations of leaders that they hope will include not only women, but Jews of Color and people from underrepresented groups as well (33:03). At the start of the show, Deborah catches us up on all things Hashivenu and previews her upcoming 10th anniversary celebratory event “When Women Lead" (happening Wednesday, April 3rd at 7pm EDT). You can find ticket information here. (https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/when-jewish-women-lead-activating-people-possibilities-through-turbulent-times/) Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Special Guest: Cheryl Cook.
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    39 m
  • How to become our fullest, most expressive selves? Practice, practice, practice

    How to become our fullest, most expressive selves? Practice, practice, practice
    Oct 24 2023
    Weeks ago, Rabbi Deborah Waxman and founder Yoshi Silverstein scheduled this discussion about embodied Jewish practice and antiracism. Did it make any sense to have this conversation in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians and hostage taking, the subsequent and unfolding war and its tremendous toll on Palestinian civilians? After pausing to consider, they decided that such a conversation is more important than ever, both to themselves and listeners. Silverstein, founder and director of the Mitsui Collective, explains that in difficult times like these, embodiment practices can help us understand and name the extent to which strong emotions are having an impact on us. Awareness and practice are key to being able to respond to stressful stimuli in a healthy way. He outlines several simple practices that can help, including orienting and box breathing, and quotes Viktor Frankl, the psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor whose writing deeply informs how humans understand trauma. "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Special Guest: Yoshi Silverstein.
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    1 h
  • Yom Kippur: A Celebration of Collective Release

    Yom Kippur: A Celebration of Collective Release
    Sep 12 2023
    In ancient times on Yom Kippur, the high priest of Israel presided over an elaborate, mystical service atop the Temple Mount. Today, many traditional synagogues recount this ritual with the avodah service. In this episode, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., speaks with Rabbi Vivie Mayer about what the avodah service — which they acknowledge is mainly attended by the “die-hards” — can teach us today. “What Yom Kippur is really enacting and celebrating is collective release,” Mayer says. The two discuss what it means to move from the most intense, holy day of the year to the mundane business of daily life and how to bring insights from the former to the later. They delve into the differences between individual and collective atonement and responsibility; wondering about the collective release and catharsis offered by practices of the Second Temple era. They also lift up a contemporary Israeli song, “Seder Ha'Avodah” by Ishay Ribo. Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Special Guest: Rabbi Vivie Mayer.
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    39 m
  • S4 Ep. 9: Season of Reflection and Repentance

    S4 Ep. 9: Season of Reflection and Repentance
    Sep 19 2022
    In this special episode, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D and Rabbi Sandra Lawson discuss their respective processes of preparing for the High Holidays. This isn’t about leading services, but about how, as human beings, they undertake an accounting of the soul, leading to repentance for their own actions and forgiveness toward others. The two friends and colleagues delve into Maimonides as interpreted by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg in her new book On Repentance and Repair. (Among his many contributions, Maimonides, a medieval Torah scholar, philosopher and physician, outlined five steps needed to make true repentance.) Rabbi Sandra describes her difficult relationship with her late mother, and the forgiveness needed to truly care for her mother during illness. The two widen the lens and examine repentance from a societal point of view: how can society account and repent for harms caused to so many groups: Blacks, indigenous Americans, Asian Americans and so on. The two agree that an American reckoning with its troubled legacy is needed. “I think about teshuvah and when it comes to racial justice work, my focus first of all, is primarily within our Jewish spaces,” Lawson says. “I have found that many Jews who benefit from white privilege tend to continue to look outward on racial justice in the larger world, which is fine. But that also needs to be with our own internal work.” Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org).
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    38 m
  • S4 Ep. 8: Songs of Joy and Mourning

    S4 Ep. 8: Songs of Joy and Mourning
    May 5 2022
    Reconstructing Judaism board member and Tikkun Olam Commission co-chair Shahanna McKinney-Baldon opens up with Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. and Rabbi Sandra Lawson about her time singing for the ska and reggae band Highball Holiday. The educator, activist and artist, who comes an African American and Ashkenazi family, talks about rediscovering her singing voice in middle age, and shedding certain inhibitions and self-consciousness. (Co-host Rabbi Sandra Lawson also recounts embracing public singing in her 40s, partly to connect with Jewish liturgy.) McKinney-Baldon frankly discusses the grieving process following the 2021 loss of her father, as well as her wrestling with the Jewish prohibition on listening to music — let alone performing — during the traditional morning period. The trio discusses a Reconstructionist, values-based approach to engaging with, but not necessarily being dictated by, Jewish tradition. She also discusses her work on the Tikkun Olam Commission and describes the ongoing process of gaining support for a movement-wide resolution supporting reparations for slavery. Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Special Guest: Shahanna McKinney-Baldon.
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    40 m
  • S4 Ep. 7: The Smooth River

    S4 Ep. 7: The Smooth River
    Apr 8 2022
    On Sept. 3, 2019, Richard Cohen’s wife, Marcia Horowitz, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Horowitz lived 160 more days. In his acclaimed 2021 book, The Smooth River: Finding Inspiration and Exquisite Beauty during Terminal Illness, Cohen, a lawyer and Reconstructionist leader, recounts those days and what the couple learned about life as Horowitz's death approached. In this special episode, Richard Cohen discusses with Rabbi Deborah Waxman how the couple eschewed the common framing of terminal illness as a battle with the disease – something that is either one or lost. “We wanted to regain some sense of normalcy of who we were, and by doing good for other people, we felt good about ourselves. We were getting our heads above the cancer. It was not going to subsume us.” Rabbi Waxman and Cohen also discuss how the couple’s approach mirrors resilience practices contained in many Jewish teachings. Quoting from the book of Psalms, Waxman says, “Out of a narrow place, I called to God. God responded and got me out into an expansive place. That tension between narrow and expansive, for me it has been such an incredible guiding metaphor." Rabbi Sandra Lawson will be back as co-host in the next episode. __ Subscribe by Email This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org). Episode transcript is forthcoming. Special Guest: Richard S. Cohen.
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    46 m
  • S4 Ep. 6: Being an Ally with Empathy, Humility and Courage

    S4 Ep. 6: Being an Ally with Empathy, Humility and Courage
    Dec 28 2021
    There’s an increasing focus in popular discourse on allyship, particularly when it comes to people of color and other marginalized groups. What does it mean to be an ally, both to individuals and to groups? How can one begin to do that work in a way that is meaningful and is about helping others and not about assisting one’s ego or placing oneself at the center of the story? In this episode, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. and Rabbi Sandra Lawson – longtime friends and now colleagues – discuss these questions using examples from their own lives. Noting the importance of relationships and context, they delve into the difficulty of saying and doing the right thing at the right time, citing examples of which they were proud and where they might have done better. In the discussion, Rabbi Sandra stresses that white people who aim to be allies to people of color should, “be humble and be curious, and be open to learning, instead of thinking that [you] can't learn anything.” Subscribe by Email Read these show notes on the web at https://hashivenu.fireside.fm/47 This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org (https://ReconstructingJudaism.org).
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    40 m