Welcome to the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Rabbi Ora’s installation, 2018

AARC is conducting services and programming online and creating new ways to keep our community connected.

Download our siddur to use during online services.
Visit our Congregation in a time of Covid-19 page for more links and resources.

We are a warm, inclusive community of people who want to practice and study Judaism—or simply be around people who share a commitment to Judaism’s values.

Hanukkah 2020, via Zoom — Hanukkah 2020, conducted via Zoom

We started more than 20 years ago as a Havurah (a fellowship), meeting in members’ homes for services, talks, and celebrations. Today we have grown into a (still small) congregation. Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner began her tenure as our congregation’s rabbi in September, 2017. We offer a religious school, and an array of programs serving people of all ages. But we remain informal, dynamic, and highly participatory.

We believe in the values of Reconstructionism and its commitment to an evolving Judaism, theological flexibility and tikkun olam, repairing the world. We also have a deep, passionate commitment to diversity. Come to our events or services, and you’ll meet all kinds of members—families and individuals, LGBT and straight, Jews by birth and Jews by choice, as well as families with non-Jewish members. Our services are egalitarian and pluralistic, our events accessible to people with disabilities. The Toledo Jewish News captured us beautifully in a May 2020 article about our congregation.

We like to think of ourselves as lifelong learners—constantly exploring and debating the meaning of our traditions. We also like to have fun, whether it’s during our annual Hanukkah celebration, our festive Fourth Fridays, or at our innovative bar and bat mitzvah services.

Be sure to check out our blog to see what we’re thinking about and up to lately!