Reconstructionist Rabbinical College - History: Founding To 1981

History: Founding To 1981

Reconstructionist Judaism, a liberal movement that views Judaism as the “evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people” was established by Mordecai Kaplan in the 1930s as a school of thought. He had extensive influence on American Judaism, particularly on Conservative and Reform Judaism. However, his followers, including Ira Eisenstein (Kaplan’s son-in-law and leader of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation from the 1959 onward) were frustrated by the lack of a continuing framework to promote their ideas in American Judaism. Eisenstein criticized dependence on “’Reconstructionist rabbis’ …borrowed from the ranks of Reform and Conservativism…A movement must produce its own leaders.” Kaplan himself was reluctant to establish a seminary which would mean creating a separate denomination alongside Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism. However, lay and rabbinic leaders of the small Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot (FRCH, later re-named the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation) encouraged this step, and Kaplan eventually gave his blessing. At the FRCH conference in Montreal in June, 1967, the delegates overwhelmingly called for the establishment of a school for training rabbis.

The college opened in 1968 based in two brownstone buildings at 2308 North Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near Temple University.

From its founding, RRC had two unique features in its curriculum. First, based on the Reconstructionist concept of an “evolving religious civilization” the five-year curriculum was centered on a historical period each year. These were biblical, rabbinic, medieval, modern (roughly to 1948), and contemporary periods. During each year, students would focus on the history, texts, and concepts of that period. With modifications, this developmental approach continues as a central feature of the RRC curriculum. RRC describes this goal:”…students enter into a dialogue with those in previous generations who addressed perennial human issues. In this way, RRC educates leaders who can articulate the voice of tradition as it speaks to today’s Jews.”

The second curricular innovation, based on Kaplan’s concept that American Jews live in two civilizations (Jewish and American), had all rabbinical students enroll in a secular doctoral program, initially in religion at Temple University (a nearby state-related institution), later including other potential majors and universities. The goal was that students be aware of general trends in the study of religion and of other religious traditions. This “dual program” proved difficult to complete, as most students were enrolled in two graduate programs while also working part-time. The initial doctoral requirement was eventually reduced to a secular master’s degree.

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College also recognized that future rabbis needed preparation in addition to purely academic courses and text studies. From the early years of RRC there were courses in practical rabbinics, covering such issues as pastoral counseling and life cycle events. In more recent years these have expanded to a multi-tiered program of practical rabbinics that includes coursework, supervised field internships, group supervision, and a requirement to shadow religious leaders in the field.