Hashivenu Reconstructing Judaism

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.


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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Cheryl Cook.
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Get tickets to Deborah's 10th anniversary virtual event, "When Women Lead"Stay up on the latest from Reconstructing Judaism by signing up for our weekly Virtual Shabbat Box emailAvodah: Sparking Jewish Leaders, Igniting Social ChangeLearn more about Avodah's Jewish Service CorpsFrom The Forge: "Building Resilient Organizations" by Maurice Mitchell

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."


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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Yoshi Silverstein.
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Deborah teaches box breathing techniqueLearn more about Mitsui CollectiveRitualwell resources speaking to the current momentExplore groundbreaking essays on EvolveReconstructing Judaism on the web

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.


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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Vivie Mayer.
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Listen to "Seder Ha'Avodah" by Ishay Ribo and follow along with the English translation Rabbi Deborah Waxman's High Holiday Video Teaching exploring the avodah serviceExplore Reconstructing Judaism's High Holiday ResourcesHigh Holiday Resources on Ritualwell From Evolve: "Breaking Open: A Paradigm for Jewish Prayer" by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar

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.”


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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Support Hashivenu
Links:
On Repentance And Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya RuttenbergMaimonides and Repentance"Rabbi Sandra Lawson: The Souls in My Life" for Interfaith America"Modeh Ani as a Means for Cultivating Resilience" by Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. "Opposites Attract" by Paula AbdulThe newly redesigned ReconstructingJudaism.orgThe newly redesigned Ritualwell.orgEvolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations

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.


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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Shahanna McKinney-Baldon.
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Edot Midwest Regional Jewish Diversity Collaborative — Edot Midwest Regional Jewish Diversity Collaborative (“Edot”) is a network of partnerships and activities focused on affirming Jewish racial and ethnic diversity across communities in the Midwest region. Investing in the leadership of Jewish People of Color (JOC’s) is our driver for change."I helped coin the term ‘Jews of color.’ It’s time for a history lesson" by Shahanna McKinney-Baldon Listen to Highball Holiday on BandcampFollow Highball Holiday on InstagramMilwaukee ska legends Highball Holiday preached racial unity

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.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org. Episode transcript is forthcoming.
Special Guest: Richard S. Cohen.
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Read the book: The Smooth RiverRitualwell - death and mourning — While Judaism places great emphasis on our lives in this world, death is an inevitable end for all of us. Often Jews who have been distant from traditional Jewish practice for their whole lives seek the comfort of traditional Judaism in the face of death. For mourners, whose lives are often turned upside down by death, the traditional practices of mourning can provide structure and comfort. Here you will find resources that address each aspect of the process of navigating death and mourning—from the moment of death, to the burial of the body, the tearing of clothes, the weeklong practice of shiva, and the recitation of kaddish.A Mussar Practice for GriefKaddish: A Podcast about Death and DyingReconstructing JudaismEvolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations