Editing Reconstructionist Judaism (section)

==Jewish law and tradition==
Reconstructionist Judaism holds that the traditional halakhic system is incapable of producing a code of conduct that is meaningful for, and acceptable to, the vast majority of contemporary Jews, and thus must be reinterpreted in each new time period.<ref name="Cedarbaum"/> Unlike classical [[Reform Judaism]], Reconstructionism holds that a person's default position should be to incorporate Jewish laws and tradition into their lives, unless they have a specific reason to do otherwise. However some Reconstructionists believe that halakha is neither normative, nor binding, but are general guidelines.

Reconstructionism promotes many traditional Jewish practices. Thus, the [[613 commandments|commandments]] have been replaced with "folkways", non-binding customs that can be democratically accepted or rejected by the congregations. Folkways that are promoted include keeping [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] in the [[Jewish prayer|prayer service]], studying [[Torah]], daily prayer, wearing [[kippah|''kippot'']] (''yarmulkes''), ''[[tallit]]ot'' and ''[[tefillin]]'' during prayer, and observance of the [[Jewish holidays]].

Reconstructionists may use distinct prayer books, such as the ''Kol haneshamah'' Hebrew/English Reconstructionist prayer book. [[Marc B. Shapiro|Marc Shapiro]] called attention to the Reconstructionist ''Kol haneshamah'' taking liberties with the text, sometimes with an English translation "so blatantly inaccurate that we have no choice but to regard it as a conscious alteration."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shapiro |first1=Marc B. |title=Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites its History |publisher=Littman Library Of Jewish Civilization |isbn=9781904113607 |page=53|year=2015}} In ft. 225 Shapiro provides an example from ''Kol haneshamah'' p. 54 which renders Psalms 147:20 as universalist statements as opposed to featuring God's unique connection specifically with the Jews.</ref>