Rabbi Rebecca T. Alpert

Rebecca T. Alpert, professor emerita of religion at Temple University, was among the first women in America ordained as a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1976. Her primary field of study is American Judaism in the 20th century, focusing on sports, race and sexuality. Her best-known works include Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition; Whose Torah? A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism; Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball; and with Jacob Staub, Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach. She is a recipient of Temple University’s highest honor, The Great Teacher Award; a member of the Rabbinic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace; and a commissioner on the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.

Essays

Group holding signs advocating for Palestinian rights, standing in front of a building with various posters.

The Case for Divestment

There is nothing sacred about the current structure of Israel’s fundamentally unequal treatment of Palestinians, or the way the U.S. government enables it.

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Reconstructionism Without Zionism

If concerns about Zionism could be examined anywhere in the organized Jewish community, Reconstructionist Judaism — with its history of taking courageous stances on difficult issues — should be the place.

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The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

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The Reconstructionist Network