The first time Shirley Gould walked into Evanston’s Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation was also the last time she had to find a new synagogue.
“We had left the congregation we belonged to for 31 years because it no longer suited us,” Gould said. “So we went shopping.”
She and her husband had four other synagogues on their list to visit that morning, but after visiting JRC, 303 Dodge Ave., Gould said they “tore up the list.”
That was 19 years ago.
But Gould, now 86, said the same qualities that brought her to JRC still are bringing members to this day.
“This is not a congregation that people belong to for status,” she said. “We usually do not know the professional designations of members and we certainly do not know who’s got more money. We’re as egalitarian as it is possible to be.”
The Reconstructionist Movement grew out of the ideas of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan in the 1930s as a new approach to Jewish culture and tradition. Although many congregations formed following Kaplan’s ideas, the sect did not formally separate from Conservative Judaism until 1968.
JRC’s current rabbi, Brant Rosen, said Reconstructionism is “really not a movement but an approach to the philosophy and attitudes about Judaism.”
This encourages more active members, Rosen said, but also a greater community feel than more mainstream sects like Reform, Orthodox or Conservative Judaism.
“We attract a lot of people who are looking for an alternative to the mainstream synagogue experience,” he said. “They feel they have a safe place to really connect with other people, to not join an institution but to join a community.”
Rosen said less than 10 percent of Jews in the United States are Reconstructionist, but the smaller sizes of these congregations often contribute to their spirit.
“It’s a very grassroots, very democratic approach to synagogue life,” he said.
JRC, established in 1964, is one of the largest Reconstructionist synagogues in the area, and is the main option for Reconstructionism on the North Side and in the northern suburbs.
Despite the large draw, Gould said the congregation always has maintained its community orientation.
“Without saying anything there is that atmosphere that we’re all connected, and we take responsibility for one another,” Gould said. “We don’t see God as some marionette master. Reconstructionism clearly places responsibility on the individual to be God-like.”
Gould said throughout her 19 years at JRC, she has experienced firsthand those individual contributions. In the late ’90s, when her husband died, Gould said Rosen — who had recently arrived at JRC — spent extra time getting to know her and the rest of her family.
“Just the way he conducted himself, you had to give him an A-plus,” she said. “He was in a difficult position, just getting to know people.”
Like many synagogues JRC puts emphasis on education, with religious classes at preschool, youth and adult levels. Along with these traditional activities, JRC also has a book club, a poetry circle and discussions about social action.
“There’s a lot of spontaneous stuff that happens,” Gould said. “If someone gets an idea, it’s not hard to get approval. The only thing that’s hard is to get space in the building.”
JRC members also participate in community venues, such as soup kitchens and volunteer organizations — something JRC member Larry Goldberg said is unique to the congregation.
Goldberg said one of the tenets of Reconstructionism is that Jews are not necessarily the only community chosen by God.
“We’re not chosen, we’re just one among a number of people, and everybody’s got needs,” he said.
Reconstructionists do not believe the Torah was given directly by God. But Goldberg said the stories remain a significant part of the congregation’s life.
“We will learn from those stories what we need to do as human beings,” he said. “It becomes fable, but it becomes very important fable.”
Goldberg’s explanation voices another fundamental Reconstructionist belief: The past “has a vote, not a veto.” And tradition doesn’t prevent the congregation from considering new ideas.
As for cantorial soloist Howard Friedland, who came to the synagogue in 1989, the mix was exactly what he needed.
Growing up in a Reform Jewish synagogue, Friedland was a freelance actor for 20 years before he decided to study the chazzanut, or traditional Jewish cantorial study. Along with leading the traditional prayer melodies during services, Friedland is also responsible for teaching the prayers to youths before their coming-of-age ceremony, known as a Bar Mitzvah for boys and a Bat Mitzvah for girls.
“Leading the chanting is only a small part of the job, actually,” he said.
Although a member for 14 years, Friedland only became the cantor three years ago. He said though he came to JRC initially for the community, he now appreciates it for a different reason.
“We didn’t join for ideological reasons, but I came to really embrace Reconstructionism,” he said. “What brought me here was the feel of the place, but what kept me here was Reconstructionism.”
