Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation
By Kevin Norris
A big thank you to the many members who contributed to help the AARC team donate over $2,000 (and still counting) to support refugees and other immigrants through Jewish Family Services’ “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” fundraiser. Not only did we overachieve our “chai” goal of $1,800, a group of us was able to come together with other supporters and new American families to celebrate our success and our ongoing commitment through a fun walk around Burns Park.
By Carol Lessure
When Clare Kinberg, former AARC Beit Sefer director and editor of the Washtenaw Jewish News (WJN), unearthed an 80-year-old family secret about her estranged Aunt Rose, she started a journey to learn as much as she could about someone that her father and his siblings had kept deeply hidden. As she explored the history of her relative, Clare initiated a series of monthly WJN articles between 2019 and 2022 that delved into how her aunt’s interracial marriage led to community ostracization and the history of both her and her husband.
Clare wrote in the WJN series: On the day in 2016 when I found Rose’s death certificate on the internet, I learned she had died at the age of 76 in a hospital in South Bend, Indiana. Her last residential address was in Vandalia, Michigan,about two hours directly west of my home in Ypsilanti where I live with my wife Patti and our two adopted African American daughters. Vandalia was founded by abolitionist Quakers and several free Black families, some of whom had been manumitted prior to the Civil War.
I found my Aunt Rose’s unmarked grave in a small church cemetery among some of the oldest Black residents of Cass County. The first time I stood near Rose’s burial plot, I resolved to write a book about her.
Indeed, Clare has written a memoir that follows the journey of Rose and her husband to their decision to settle in Michigan while exploring the Kinberg family journey from Eastern Europe and how this couple’s history and backgrounds illustrate the lasting impacts of both racism and antisemitism. You can read more about the original series of articles in an earlier blog post here.
“By the Waters of Paradise- An American Story of Racism and Rupture in a Jewish Family” is available for pre-order via Wayne State University Press. Be among the first to get the book when it is published in October 2025, and use the discount code, RKIN30, during checkout to get a 30% discount
by Rav Gavrielle
Dear Ones,
As the new year of 5786 begins, I want to pause with you and take a breath.
This past year has been a difficult one—for our world, for our country, for our community, and for many of us in our own lives. We’ve carried grief and uncertainty, anger and exhaustion. Many of us have struggled to find clarity, balance, and hope.
And yet—here we are. Gathered at the gates of a new year, hearts open to possibility.
The Jewish new year is not about forgetting what has been, but about remembering and transforming. We bring all that we’ve endured with us—our struggles, our mistakes, our resilience—and we offer all that to the Source of Life with the prayer that it may be turned into wisdom, compassion, and renewed strength.
This year, our community’s High Holy Day theme is power—but not the powers we don’t have, the ones that frustrate or elude us. Instead, we’ll be exploring the powers we do have:
My wish for each of you this year:
May 5786 be a year of healing and repair, courage, laughter, and sweetness. May we grow into ourselves and into each other with kindness.
Shanah Tovah u’Metukah—a good and sweet new year to you and yours.
With blessings and love,
Rav Gavrielle
By Kevin Norris
AARC is offering an opportunity for members to put our money (and our feet) where our values are. By sponsoring a team for Walk a Mile in My Shoes, we are raising funds and awareness for immigrant support projects provided by Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County. JFS has helped resettle refugees of all religious backgrounds from literally hundreds of countries. However, cuts in federal funding and divisive rhetoric have now left these neighbors vulnerable and isolated. Please join the many AARC members who are giving and walking for and with them on Sunday, September 28, 2025, from 2:00–5:00 p.m. at Burns Park Elementary in Ann Arbor. We’ve set a “chai” fundraising goal for AARC’s support of JFS, so please contribute what you can. Every dollar helps someone in need.
Walk a Mile in My Shoes 2025 is both a fundraiser and a show of personal support. Walking side by side, we affirm: we see you, we welcome you, and we will walk with you as you begin again. In this High Holy Day season, when we pledge ourselves anew to acts of tzedakah, participation is an opportunity to make our commitments tangible. Together, we can bridge the gap for those who need us most.
Funds raised will sustain Jewish Family Services’ essential work: arrival assistance and placement, health and behavioral health services, youth and women’s empowerment programs, nutrition support, job readiness, and entrepreneurial training. JFS continues walking with families long after the initial resettlement period, helping them establish stability and thrive in their new home. In addition to supporting recent immigrants, JFS provides comprehensive services to the aging in our community through its Wise programs, and the Nourish food pantry. Nourish combats hunger not only with conventional groceries and produce, but also culturally specific (e.g., halal, kosher) and medically customized (e.g., allergy friendly, gluten free, low sodium) options. In short, it’s a great organization that we can trust with our support.
That arc of the moral universe won’t bend itself. What better way to step into 5786 than by showing up for people in need? Join us, give what you can, and walk with us, and let’s begin the year with footsteps of solidarity.
Give and join the team to walk here. If you have questions, contact Kevin Norris.
By Steve Merritt
A handful of AARC members, responding to a post I put on ReconChat, stepped up to help the small, struggling Jewish community in Nicaragua rebuild. They gave me cash to purchase items as well as some Jewish objects, including family heirlooms. Their donations made up about a third of the almost 100 pounds of Jewish books and ritual objects that I was able to deliver to two fledgling Jewish groups when I went to Nicaragua in July.
Beth Israel and the Jewish Federation also provided support for this project. I have been going to Nicaragua since 2011, when I founded a literacy organization called CREA (creanicaragua.org) with expat friends. I have always been curious about the signs of Jewish presence I see wherever I go in Latin America. In fact, some historians trace that presence as far back as Columbus’s voyage in 1492, which coincided with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
I found the Jewish community in Nicaragua through Kulanu (kulanu.org), an organization whose mission is to “support isolated, emerging, and returning Jewish communities around the globe.”
A little history… At its peak in 1972, Nicaragua’s Jewish community was estimated at 250. The Jews were mostly farmers, manufacturers and retailers, and even owned the two largest department stores in the capital of Managua. They were prosperous. But when an earthquake decimated Managua in 1972, followed by the Sandinista’s socialist revolution in 1979, most of the Jews fled the country.
A small number stayed. They were later joined by about 140 converts, including many who claimed Jewish ancestry. Eventually, a contingent of Jewish American retirees joined the mix, attracted by the lower cost of living and fleeing the northern winter. Though the Jewish community had been slowly rebuilding, early in planning my visit I learned that they had recently suffered a major setback. The Congregacion Israelita de Nicaragua used to meet in the hotel owned by its president, Kurt Preiss. But when Preiss died in 2022, unbeknownst to the congregation, his widow sold all the Jewish items, including their Torah, to pay off his medical bills. The community was left with almost nothing.
It was into this context that I was able to deliver two suitcases of Jewish supplies on July 31. They were packed with siddurim, a two-volume Shulchan Aruch, Chumashim, Psalms, Pirkei Avot, tallitot, seder plates, kippot, and an assortment of candle sticks, kiddush cups, seder plates, and Shabbat and Hanukah candles. And even a shofar! (More on that below.)
One of the Nicaraguan Jewish groups that I met with is led by an earnest couple in their forties, Keren Yojebed, a medical doctor, and her husband Meir, COO of a business. Sensitive to the political situation, they requested that only their Hebrew first names be used to identify them.
Keren Yojebed, pictured with her husband Meir. They are holding items donated by Idelle Hammond-Sass.
“We are a small community affected by so many limitations and economic problems,” Keren said in a thank-you letter to donors. “This makes it hard for us to count on having things like these that are so dear.”
She continues, “For our community, these resources are much more than objects: they are symbols of connection, identity, hope and continuity.” Because there are so few Jews in Nicaragua, Keren says their goal is to “unite all Jews regardless of their denomination, whether Orthodox, Conservative or Reform.” Their group of about 30 members, which they’ve recently named “Beit Shalom,” dreams of having its own building and Torah.
The shofar provided a special moment. Somewhat incongruously, surrounded by lush jungle, Meir blew the shofar… and he was immediately answered by a chorus of dogs! He had learned to play the instrument from YouTube. Listen here.
Meir blows the shofar, a call to the Jews of Nicaragua.
The second Jewish group is led by Alfonso “Chaim” Fried, a retired lawyer. He is the son of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor. Clearly proud of his Jewish heritage, he did not hesitate to have his full name appear in print or online. Chaim’s group of about 90 members is Orthodox with Hasidic elements. His face shone as he examined the donated items.
Alfonso “Chaim” Fried. Also pictured are his wife Jeaneth and Steve Merritt (right).
The two couples estimated that there are at most 300 Jews in the whole country of Nicaragua. Life in Nicaragua is not easy. It is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti, and its political situation presents difficulties. After spending time with them, I was struck that they would choose the additional challenge of being Jewish. And I was struck by the sincerity and intensity of their desire to maintain their Jewish identities and communities.
A special thank you to the AARC members who contributed to this project: Nancy Meadow, Janet Kelman, Neal Persky, Debra Gombert, Idelle Hammond-Sass, and Claudia Kraus-Piper. Former Ann Arborite Ed Kass, who has been visiting for the summer, also contributed.
I want to also acknowledge Martha Kransdorf, who played an important role in this project. She made the connection that resulted in the involvement of Beth Israel. Another contact of hers led me to the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, which hopefully can be involved in supporting these two small congregations in the future.
What’s next? One possibility I floated with Keren and Meir would be a visit by a group of American Jews for a Passover seder in Nicaragua next year. Stay tuned!
Note: Jacob Schneyer, who grew up in the AARC and is the son of Debbie Field and Mark Schneyer, contacted me to see if I would be interested in 50 used Sim Shalom prayer books his havurah in Chicago was replacing. Because I was looking for Hebrew-Spanish prayer books, I put Jacob in touch with the folks at Kulanu to find out if one of the communities they support could use Hebrew-English books. It turns out the prayer books will be going to a Jewish community in Uganda!
