Why a Center for Ethics?

Across America today, individuals and families are searching for guidance in making significant life decisions. Unsupported by clearly articulated values and norms, American Jews are often unprepared for those inevitable and sometimes critical ethical dilemmas occasioned by business or health, childrearing or human sexuality.

The Jewish tradition has a longstanding commitment to moral behavior and social ethics. However, the contemporary Jewish community has not helped Jews to interact with traditional Jewish values while taking seriously their moral dilemmas and personal moral outlooks.

This absence of guidance weakens the claim of contemporary Jewish leaders that Judaism can continue to address the ultimate concerns of Jews' lives.

The Center for Jewish Ethics of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was established in 1994 to address Jews' struggle for ethical learning and their need for guidance as they encounter the ethical demands of contemporary life.