What I Learned and Didn’t Learn at the RRC

Authors

  • Alan Mittleman The Jewish Theological Seminary Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rst.29757

Keywords:

historicism and rabbinic education , Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Abstract

There is an old joke about Reconstructionist Jews. It goes: What do Reconstructionists do on Simchat Torah? Answer: They listen to a lecture on joy. I heard this joke when I was a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) between 1976 and 1981. At the time, Reconstructionists told this joke about themselves. They enjoyed, it seems, having a bit of fun at their own expense. Whether Reconstructionists have such a sense of humor today, I am unable to say.

References

Batnitzky, Leora. 2006. “Mordecai Kaplan as Hermeneut: History, Memory, and his God-Idea,” Jewish Social Studies 12(2): 88–98. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4467736

Dewey, John. 1920. Reconstruction in Philosophy. New York: Henry Holt.

Iggers, Georg G. 1968. The German Conception of History. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

Kaplan, Mordecai. 1957. Judaism as a Civilization. New York: Henry Holt.

Strauss, Leo. 1950. Natural Right and History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Published

2025-05-01

Issue

Section

Reflections from the Field

How to Cite

Mittleman, A. (2025). What I Learned and Didn’t Learn at the RRC. Religious Studies and Theology. https://doi.org/10.1558/rst.29757