Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Emily Eisbruch

It’s about the people, the place & the experience

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Join for the AARC Retreat, May 9-11, 2025

When
Friday evening, May 9, 2025
through
Sunday afternoon, May 11, 2025
(this is Mother’s Day Weekend)

Where
 The Butzel Retreat Center at Camp Tamarack (about a one hour drive Northeast of Ann Arbor in Ortonville, Michigan)

How Much
To be determined depending on number of participants, number of meals, etc.
* We will do our very best to ensure that everyone can attend regardless of financial situation.*

IMPORTANT: Please fill out the Retreat Survey by April 15, 2025 so we have an idea of how many people are attending, calculate the total costs and create a reasonable set of fees.

AARC Retreat Survey

More information about the Butzel Retreat Center can be found HERE
Great photos from last year’s retreat are HERE

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS YEAR
Like last year, the retreat will offer an opportunity to reconnect with our community, the Earth and yourself in beautiful, natural surroundings. It’s about the people, the place, and the experience. We hope you will join!

The retreat will also offer

  • A chance to celebrate Shabbat as a community
  • Meaningful, musical services
  • Various workshops, discussion groups and other activities led by our talented community members
  • Fun activities offered by Tamarack Adventure Center, including swimming, kayaking and canoeing
  • Hikes exploring around the beautiful lakes on the 1,100 wooded acres of Tamarack/Camp Maas
  • A Saturday night party with music and dancing
  • Campfires with S’mores and singing* Childcare and Children’s Programming
  • …and other surprises as well!

A motel-like room at the Butzel Retreat Center (instead of shared cabins with bunks at the Specialty Camper Village like last year).
This means we will have…

  • Private rooms with their own bathrooms, instead of cabins (Rooms at Butzel can sleep up to four people with one queen size bed, one twin size bed and upon request, two fold out cots. )
  • Convenient parking next to our accommodations, instead of a parking lot that is a long walk away
  • ADA conforming facilities, instead of potentially difficult to traverse stairs and grounds
  • Meals cooked by Butzel staff and served in our own dining room, instead of eating children’s camp food at the main dining hall
  • A wide variety of activities offered by Tamarack, in addition to the waterfront activities (Swimming, canoeing, kayaking etc.) that we had last year
  • For more information about the activities offered, see the survey.

The cost of the retreat will vary based on how many nights you (and your family) will stay at Butzel, what activities we decide to offer, and other costs that we are currently reviewing. There is a charge for each meal and each activity that is provided by Tamarack.

Also, we will be budgeting for childcare, s’mores and snacks, and any incidentals (such as costs associated with member led activities).

It is important that one member of your household fill out fill out the Retreat Survey by April 15, 2025 so we can plan accordingly and determine and provide rates for attending the retreat. We will do our very best to accommodate everyone that wishes to attend regardless of financial situation.

***IMPORTANT – RETREAT SURVEY***
Please have one person from your household/family fill out the following survey by April 15. survey link

Erica Ackerman, Climate Activist

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This Q&A with Erica Ackerman was written for the April 2025 Washtenaw Jewish News, as part of climate outreach coordinated by A2J Climate Circle initiative.

A member of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, Erica is a climate activist who serves on the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club Huron Valley Group.

Erica, tell us about the origins of your climate activism

I became a climate activist leading up to the 2008 election. Working with the groups “Obama for America” and then “Organizing for Action,” I developed presentations to raise climate change awareness. We coordinated climate change symposiums in Dexter, Jackson, Canton, and Ypsilanti. 

How did you become a leader with the Sierra Club?

In 2018, longtime Washtenaw County activist Dan Ezekiel asked me to run for the Sierra Club of Huron Valley executive committee, and I was honored to step up.  At the time, funding for climate initiatives in the city of Ann Arbor was in doubt. The Sierra Club mobilized our community to attend city council meetings and to make their voices heard.  These efforts were impactful, and in 2019 the Ann Arbor city council passed the A2ZERO plan.  A key goal of A2ZERO is to realize community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030.

Have Jewish values played a part in your climate activism work?

Yes, for me it all seems integral; Jewish values lead to wanting to protect our environment, and advocating for the earth leads to appreciation of Jewish values, especially around Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).

Regarding activism in the Jewish community, prompted by our rabbi, I recently participated in lobbying through Jewish Earth Alliance, where we pushed our US Senators to defend our progress on climate action. 

Advice for others who want to get involved?

The Sierra Club could definitely use more people who are active and interested in taking action.  Start by attending the monthly Sierra Club program meetings, held on the third Tuesday of the month, 6pm to 7:30pm, in-person at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. The programs offer a mix of nature talks and environmental activism.

In addition, Sierra Club Executive Committee meetings are open to the public.  They are held on Zoom, the first Thursday of every month at 7pm. If you are interested in the Sierra Club Executive Committee Zoom link, text me (Erica) at 734-330-0163.

Join as Rav Gavrielle Leads AARC Book Group, January 26, 2025

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Once a year, our Rabbi selects a book for interested members of the congregation to read and discuss. “It’s become a tradition we all look forward to, and it helps draw new members to the AARC book group.” comments Greg Saltzman, AARC book group coordinator.

All are welcome on Sunday, January 26, 2025 as Rav Gavrielle leads the AARC book group, and any interested friends, in discussing
Loving our Own Bones, Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole,
by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser.


Lunch and More!

Rav Gavrielle will join us for lunch from 12:20-1 PM at
Emily and Avi Eisbruch’s house
2561 Bunker Hill Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Please email Emily Eisbruch at eisbruchs@gmail.com if you plan to attend the in-person lunch and indicate any dietary restrictions you have.

From 1:00 – 2:00 PM, Rav Gavrielle will lead a hybrid in-person/Zoom discussion of the book: Loving Our Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spir­i­tu­al Sub­ver­sive­ness of Know­ing Our­selves Whole
by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser.
(2023, nonfiction, 237 pages).  

I recommended 
Loving Our Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spir­i­tu­al Sub­ver­sive­ness of Know­ing Our­selves Whole 
because I am fascinated and moved by how Rabbi Julia Watts Belser – a person living with disability, rabbi and scholar of disability studies – artfully weaves together multiple perspectives “to re-imagine our world as more welcoming, pushing against the violence of normativity, and challenging broader systems of marginalization and broader political messages that constrict us in the way we live.”   

– Rav Gavrielle

For AARC history buffs, below are two photos from the archives.

December 2023, Rav Gavrielle led the book group in discussing Judaism Disrupted.

May 2022, Rabbi Ora led the book group in discussing Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, January 26th