Communal Tragedy

As individuals, we all know pain and loss. It is the rare person who escapes sorrow. But when one of us hurts, others are there to offer comfort. Communal tragedy is different. When something bad happens to us as a community—whether that is a school, a town, a people, or a country—we struggle to figure out how to tend to our own wounds while taking care of each other. Drawing on compassion, empathy, justice, and love, we can bring out the best in each other, and perhaps, find a theology of hope in the midst of despair.

Latest Rituals

“Prayer, the sacred blessing where all our limbs can be rewoven / returning us into our whole…”
a person in silhoutte against the sunset
“There is a time to make war, / there is a time to make peace. / In each soul both sing.” Listen to the tune hardest to hear.
a peace sign painted on a stone
This powerful new song calls for the release of the hostages.
the desert in Israel
“It’s exhausting. / Like, literally, exhausting, / being a Gen-Z Jew these days…”
a screen showing various social media icons
May the bright weekly Shabbos lights, / dispel darkness of the Jewish global crisis…”
Shabbat candles and challah
“May the windows of our prayers / move us into the world of vision…”
a giant sunflower looms against the blue sky
“And I wish I had special wipers / that could wipe away the tears, the pain, the anger…”
a car driving at dusk
“Keep faith / with the brightness / of all things good…”
a person stands looking into the light
“The community I loved, / in the Diaspora, / my home…” is being torn apart by this war.
the desert in Israel

The Reconstructionist Network

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