Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Emily Eisbruch

Time to think about Camp Tavor

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Thanks to Shani Samuel for sharing her thoughts on Camp Tavor.

My name is Shani Samuel and I help out at the AARC Beit Sefer on Sundays as a teachers assistant and tutor for the 3rd and 4rth graders of the AARC. Although my role is as a teacher, I am still in the process of learning. It might sound a bit strange, but a lot of that learning comes from my summer camp, Camp Tavor.

Tavor-Shani2Tavor provides a framework for informal education where kids between 3rd grade and college age can discuss and learn about Judaism, and topics related to it, in a way which engages and encourages each child to think about and develop their own Jewish identity.

Tavor is my home away from home, and the friends I made there are some of my best. It is an open and accepting environment, where people can really be themselves, and can connect to each other without all the cliquishness and pretension that they face at home.

For more info on Camp Tavor, please visit the Camp Tavor website.

All are welcome at either of two upcoming Ann Arbor info sessions on Camp Tavor

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015,  4:30pm-6:00pm
at the Home of Dana Horowitz and Avram Kluger
2510 Kimberley Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
or
Monday, Feb. 9, 2015,  3:00-4:00
Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor
2937 Birch Hollow Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Questions?  Call Brittany, 224-619-5969

Also feel free to ask the Lessure/Engelbert family,  Zivan family,  Lowenstein family,  Samuel family,  Deb Kraus, Eisbruch family or  Salzman/Newell family about their kids’ Tavor experience.

Friendly folks, snacks and more at Sunday Morning Community Learning

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Playing the part of roving blogger, I dropped in on the AARC Community Learning group at the JCC on Sunday morning, Jan. 18, 2015.

Community Learning at the JCC on Sunday, Jan. 18. 2015
Community Learning at the JCC on Sunday, January 18. 2015

What I found was a lovely, welcoming group (they had even brought three different kinds of delicious snacks) and a lively, thoughtful, enjoyable discussion. The topic of the day was mitzvot (commandments), a topic chosen to parallel the Beit Sefer students in their learning about mitzvot. Led by Rabbi Michal, the group explored a range of interesting angles, from the abstract to the concrete. These included the concept of holiness as a Jewish thing and a universal thing, ways of attempting to build Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and Tzedakah (giving) into our lives and our family patterns, and how we feel about lighting Shabbat candles if we need to blow them out to leave the house before they burn out.

The discussion was based on a few chapters of reading from the book Living Judaism, by Rabbi Wayne Dosick. CommunityLearningBook-Wayne-Dosick Due to busy schedules, not everyone had completed the reading, yet everyone was able to jump in and share their thoughts.

The next Sunday morning Community Learning is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015 at the JCC.  Please Contact Rabbi Michal for more info. All are welcome.