Temple Hillel B'nai Torah has been a member of the Jewish Reconstructionist Communities since 2004. Rabbi Penzner received the degree of rabbi and a Master of Hebrew Letters from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia in 1987. She is active in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the national association of Reconstructionist rabbis, and served as its President.

Reconstructionist Judaism is the only one of the four major branches of American Judaism that was founded here in the United States. We are a small movement that has had an outsized impact on all forms of progressive Judaism, from the introduction of the bat mitzvah to a rejection of the supernatural origin of Torah.

In the Reconstructionist movement we are committed to our roots in tradition, to egalitarianism and inclusion. Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, the intellectual founder of Reconstructionism, viewed Judaism as the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people. Each generation is responsible for guiding that evolution in order to meet the needs of contemporary Jews. Kaplan promoted democracy in the synagogue community and respect for the religious opinions of individuals.

Interested in learning more about Reconstructionist Judaism? Here are some great resources: