Chosen to Aspire to Do God’s Will, Not Because We Are Inherently Better
November 23, 2025
It is important to reconstruct even the most problematic concepts that we have inherited rather than to try to excise them.
Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein is a pulpit rabbi and composer of Jewish music. She has served as rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, Ore., since her ordination from RRC in 2015. An advocate and activist on climate, immigration and LGBTQ+ issues, she has written for T’ruah and the Poor People’s Campaign, as well as for her local newspaper. She is married to Rabbi Jacob Siegel, a Modern Orthodox rabbi. Together, they live and model robust pluralistic Jewish practice and Jewish discourse every day. They have two children and a third imminently on the way.
It is important to reconstruct even the most problematic concepts that we have inherited rather than to try to excise them.
I have come to value this holiday, precisely because of all the assimilationist pressures we face at this time of year.
The rabbis model how to transmit, transform, and ultimately, sweeten troubling texts.
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
