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LGBTQ+ Pride Kabbalat Shabbat — June 26, 2026 by Robin Wagner

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We are thrilled to share that Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation invites you to an evening of prayer, poetry, music, and community at our LGBTQ+ Pride Kabbalat Shabbat, on Friday, June 26, 2026 at 6:30 pm, at the JCC, 2939 Birch Hollow Dr. A parve potluck follows the service. Come as you are. Bring your whole self. Bring a friend. Bring a parve dish to share (no meat, no dairy, but eggs ok)!

A Torah Portion Made for This Moment

The week’s parsha, Chukat-Balak, is the perfect queer-positive parsha to center our thoughts around Pride and the LGBTQ+ experience. At its heart is a jenny — a female donkey — who sees what the powerful male prophet Balaam cannot: the angel of God standing directly in his path. When she speaks, she disrupts everything. She’s marginalized, overlooked, and dismissed — and she’s the one with the clearest vision of truth.

Sound familiar?

The central drama of this portion is Balaam’s repeated attempt to curse the Israelites, which God transforms, again and again, into blessing. “A people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations” — words Balaam meant as an insult that become, through a queer lens, a source of pride. To be outside the norm, to resist definition by society’s narrow metrics, to be “strange” in a world that rewards sameness — these are not curses. They are, read rightly, blessings.

Transforming Curses into Blessings, Because Pride is Protest

There’s a wonderful saying–I have it on 2 t-shirts–that “Pride is Protest.” It’s an odd phrase, but an important one: we need to always remember that LGBTQ+ Pride was born out of the Stonewall Uprising, in the early hours of June 28, 1969, when queer patrons of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, resisted a police raid. This is why we celebrate Pride in June, and why we must always keep in mind that we have turned the hideous efforts to shame and humiliate vulnerable members of the community into a reason to celebrate, march, dance in the streets, wear all sorts of rainbow decorations, and celebrate LGBTQ+ people. 

Inspired by the Chukat-Balak parsha and Pride month, we’ll engage in a special ritual to help us each release a curse, hurt, or fear bogging us down and then embrace a hope or blessing to lift us up and give us pride, just as Balaam’s curse was transformed, into something new and positive.

Poetry, Music, and the Sacred Art of Being Seen

The evening will be woven through with poetry and song that honor LGBTQ+ lives and sacred belonging. We are thrilled to welcome Detroit-based poet Stephanie Glazier, a Lambda Literary Fellow, who will read her own work at the service — including her moving poem Agent Orange, Again, a meditation on prayer, rage, love, and the wildness of God. Stephanie’s manuscript Of Fish & Country has been recognized by the National Poetry Series, the Alice James Book Prize, and many others. Her work has appeared in the Michigan Quarterly Review, The Southern Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review, and she served for years as poetry editor of Gertrude, the celebrated LGBTQ+ literary journal. Having her voice with us on this night is a true gift.

The service will also draw on the poetry of Mary Oliver (who was, in her own life, a testament to love on one’s own terms), and on the music of Debbie Friedman — including Miriam’s Song — performed by an ensemble of musicians and singers from our community who are bringing their whole hearts to this evening. 

Our Interpretive Amidah, adapted from Mishkan Ga’avah: Where Pride Dwells, will include a blessing for our LGBTQ+ ancestors — those who fought to love, who insisted on their dignity, who contributed their fierceness and art and voice to this world. We walk in their memory.

Celebrating All of Who We Are

The children’s blessing will name LGBTQ+ figures from our tradition — Joseph, David and Jonathan, Naomi and Ruth — alongside the matriarchs and patriarchs, because our stories have always been part of the story. We’ll close with Fred Small’s beloved Everything’s Possible, a lullaby for every child that holds open all the doors of a life: “You can be anybody you want to be / You can love whomever you will.”

Throughout the service, we’ll use fluid, expansive language for the Divine — because our tradition has always known that God is bigger than any single name.

Pronoun stickers will be available. All are welcome at this table.

## Join Us

**LGBTQ+ Pride Kabbalat Shabbat — Parshat Chukat-Balak**  

Friday, June 26, 2026 · 6:30 pm  

JCC · 2939 Birch Hollow Dr, Ann Arbor  

Parve potluck to follow

Shabbat Shalom — and Happy Pride. 🌈

WHY MIRC NEEDS OUR HELP NOW

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Support our MIRC Fundraiser!

By Steve Merritt

I’ve recently been in touch with Christine Sauve, communication officer for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), to better understand and be able to share with you about their work in the current political climate. MIRC is the leading provider of free legal services for immigrants in the state.

Increasing Demand for Services

Since the Trump administration took office in January of 2025, according to Suave, MIRC has received an extraordinarily high volume of inquiries. Last year, they took over 5,000 calls for legal assistance and handled 1,521 cases. They are currently receiving as many as 40 calls a week from newly detained immigrants and recently expanded their intake team to better manage the volume.

“The number of people being detained in Michigan is five times higher than previous years,” she said. Many detentions result from the increased involvement of local law enforcement, she explained, especially traffic stops that inappropriately escalate when local officers call ICE or CBP.

MIRC has historically worked in three main areas: direct legal services, advocacy, and community education, such as Know Your Rights training. With the increase in detentions, however, they have had to shift resources toward their detention work. A key part of that work is quick support in filing habeas petitions, because policy changes have made it harder for detainees to be released on bond.

A Constantly Changing Environment

The legal environment is turbulent, with about 700 immigration policy changes enacted under the new administration. According to Suave, “this blistering pace of change–changes that have real and consequential impacts for Michigan families–leaves everyone reeling.”

MIRC’s Unique Role

MIRC is the only nonprofit legal service provider designated to answer calls from people in immigration detention in Michigan. It is also the only Michigan organization listed on the pro bono list given to people in removal proceedings in immigration court.

The federal funding for several key MIRC programs–its Helpdesk in immigration court, its representation of over 1,000 unaccompanied minors, and its support for individuals deemed mentally incompetent to represent themselves, have all been terminated. While some services have been temporarily restored through litigation, the programs remain on shaky ground. “The starts and stops have made it more stressful to maintain service and staffing,” she said. Some staff have even received hate mail.

“As you can imagine, it is painful to bear witness to the suffering our clients and community members are experiencing,” said Suave. “We see families separated, struggling with the loss of a breadwinner, people not receiving the care they need in detention, and untold worry and anxiety.”

At the same time, “we have been buoyed by the incredible show of support from communities across the state, communities who know and love their immigrant neighbors,” she said. “We have been inspired by the notes of appreciation and creative fundraisers to support our critical work, so that we can help more people have access to free legal services when they need it most.”

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You–yes, you!–can help MIRC help these immigrants. Please buy a ticket or donate to our fundraiser on behalf of MIRC. Every dollar we raise for them will help pay for critically needed legal services.

Latin Music & Dance CELEBRATION!

Saturday, June 13, 6:00-9:00 pm

First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor

4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103

This event is both a celebration of Latin culture and a call to support our immigrant neighbors. It will feature Paul Vornhagen’s Afro-Cuban jazz band Tumbao Bravo playing music for listening and dancing. The doors open at 6:00. There will be dinner by Pilar’s Tamales and a cash bar. An optional salsa lesson with Mambo Marci from YA Salsa starts at 6:30. The band will take the stage at 7:15. Tickets are $50 per person. The registration deadline to attend is June 6. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to donate. Buy your tickets or donate here!

For more information contact LatinMusicAndDanceCelebration@gmail.com.

Time to stand up for our immigrant neighbors! by Steve Merritt

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Back in January, Jeff Basch posted on Reconchat about an interfaith coalition on immigration coming together in Ann Arbor. When he asked if any of us were interested, it called out to me.

I had worked for eight years as a Spanish interpreter in courts, hospitals, schools and community mental health. I was often there in people’s most difficult, intimate moments—during jail visits, medical procedures, school meetings with parents, and in the privacy of therapists’ offices.

In those years, I got to know the Latino community. What I saw were people working multiple jobs to feed and clothe their kids, paying social security taxes they’d never collect on, and trying their best to live under the radar. They took jobs no one else wanted. They prioritized family and friends. They went to church. They are not so different from any of us. And they are here for the same reasons most of our ancestors came: To escape danger and/or seek a better life for themselves and their kids.

They do not merit the harsh, dehumanizing treatment they are receiving. The Torah calls on us 36 times to care for the stranger in our midst, often cited as the most frequently mentioned commandment. If there ever were a time to heed the call to defend our immigrant neighbors, it is now.

In what became the Interfaith Funds for Immigrant Justice coalition, 23 congregations committed to raising $100,000 so that the Michigan Immigration Rights Center (MIRC) could hire more legal staff. At the AARC, David Speyer quickly organized an immigration-themed Purim party to raise money. In mid-March, Kira Berman put on a benefit cocktail party. You can read about our next fundraiser below.

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The Latin Music & Dance CELEBRATION! on Saturday, June 13, 6:00-9:00 pm, is our next benefit for MIRC. Paul Vornhagen’s Afro-Cuban jazz band Tumbao Bravo will headline an evening of music for listening and dancing. We’ll be at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Abor, which is co-sponsoring the event with us and providing the venue.

The doors for the event will open at 6:00 with dinner from Pilar’s Tamales and a cash bar. A salsa lesson with Mambo Marci from YA Salsa will start at 6:30. The band will take the stage at 7:15.

During the intermission, we’ll hear from Molli, a member of the UU congregation who answers the MIRC hotline. She’ll share some of the stories she hears from callers and help put a face on the people we are supporting.

It should be a fun, high-energy evening. And a chance to take a break from the depressing daily news cycle, find a little joy, and show support for our neighbors. Please plan to attend!

Tickets are $50 per person. The deadline for registering is June 6. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to donate. Buy your tickets or donate here!

Wine & Vegan Cheese Tasting to Draw Attention to Link Between Food and Climate by Steve Merritt

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The Wine & Vegan Cheese Tasting to be held at the Washtenaw Food Hub on Saturday, May 30, at 3:00 is a fun and tasty way to get us talking about the connection between our food choices and climate change. The AARC is organizing this event. The Ann Arbor Jewish Climate Circle is partnering with us to promote it to the broader community. And you are invited!

The Shavuot-inspired tasting will feature artisanal vegan cheeses, Michigan wines, and locally sourced dairy cheeses and accompaniments in a beautiful farm setting. The wines were paired by our own Joel Goldberg, who has been a wine columnist and wine competition judge. As much as possible, the foods we’ll sample are made in Michigan. 

Fortified by delicious food and drink, we’ll explore the consequential topic of food and climate!

First, a statistic: Food systems– production, transportation, and consumption–are estimated to generate about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. We’ll look at the roles of animal agriculture, food sourcing and waste, among other factors. And we’ll hear about how our individual actions, when scaled, can shift an unsustainable food system. To guide this exploration, we’ll have a guest speaker from the UM Food Sustainability Initiative.

Rabbi Gabrielle will provide a Jewish context for the event using the concept of “eco-kosher,” which reconstructs traditional notions of what is “fit to eat,” a key aspect of which is care for the earth.

Given the enormous challenges posed by climate change, we’ll also talk about some things that we personally can do to lower our carbon footprint. 

And finally, we’ll learn about the Washtenaw Food Hub, the venue for the event, which supports many of those solutions.  Their farm market, which looks like a country general store, carries many of the products we’ll sample. Their related business, Tantre Farm, is currently enrolling people in its CSA to receive fresh produce throughout the summer.

We thank the Ethyl Hyman & Rose Kaplan Foundation, whose generous support makes this program possible.

Tickets to attend the Wine & Vegan Cheese Tasting are $18 per person. Space is limited and the registration deadline is May 20. We hope you’ll come. Register here! 

AARC Has a New Member Area

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Good news, everyone! The Member Area of the AARC website is now integrated with our congregational Google Workspace. This makes it easier to maintain, easier to access for the members, more secure, and easier to share more information with you. The link to “Member Area” (accessible from the top navigation bar at http://www.aarecon.org, under the “Membership” tab) now links directly to our shared Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0ANC_yIQy8QqSUk9PVA 

Log in using your email address listed in the directory (which is probably the same email address through which you received this email message). You can immediately download the most recent member directory, financial reports shared at the latest Annual Meeting, the congregation bylaws and articles of incorporation, and almost 20 years of meeting minutes. 

This will work even if you have a Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, or other email service. You just need a free Google account linked to that email. Google will prompt you to create one if you don’t have one already. It’s free, and only takes about two minutes. 

Still having trouble? Email info@aarecon.org for help.

RSVP to “Lesson of the Homeland” and the Stories We Tell: A Conversation with Anat Zeltser

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Anat Zeltser is the Ken Burns of Israel. Over the past 25 years, she has made deeply researched and thought- provoking films about Israel’s  identity,  history, culture and politics. 

On Sunday, April 26, the AARC and wider Jewish community will have the opportunity for a conversation with her about her work. Gilad Halpern, a journalist and media historian will lead a conversation with Anat, and there will be time for questions from the audience. 

Both Anat and Gilad have been Fellows at the University of Michigan’s Frankel Center this year and will soon be leaving town. This event is a rare opportunity to meet and learn from “the best documentary creator in Israel,” (according to one of her reviews); another Israeli critic describes her work as  “mesmerizing, informative, and profound.” 

We ask that participants come having watched the first part of her series “Lesson of the Homeland.” A link is here. It’s about 30 minutes and has subtitles.

Please RSVP below for the conversation.

Event Address: Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.

Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm, bagels, fruit and coffee/tea available.

Gilad Halpern, Moderator
Anat Zeltser, Documentarian

Reimagining Torah Study: Moving from Zoom to In Person by Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador

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2nd Saturday April 11th, after services, 12:00-1:00 pm, JCC and on Zoom. With bagels and coffee!!

For the past couple of years, we’ve held a monthly “pop-in” Torah study session on Zoom.  The intention was simple: to create an accessible space for Jewish learning, reflection, and conversation.

Although participation has been modest, we are hearing from individual members and from our Annual Members Meeting about a strong desire for deeper intellectual engagement and for a place to wrestle with big questions: textual, spiritual, philosophical, moral and ethical. 

Perhaps the issue is simply one of timing – 3rd Wednesday evenings at 7 pm may not be ideal or convenient.  Or perhaps people are longing to gather in person rather than on Zoom. 

So, we are pleased to announce that, beginning in April, we will be moving our study session from 3rd Wednesday on Zoom to the 2nd Saturday of the month, following Shabbat morning services.  The study session will take place at the JCC and will begin at 12 pm.  This will be a hybrid offering – in person and on Zoom.  [Please note that we will not have a Torah study in May or June due to B-mitzvah events.]  To sweeten the deal there will be BAGELS and coffee!!

This change is also responding to another clear yearning: many of us want to engage more directly with what is happening in the world—socially, politically, ethically – through a Jewish lens.  The 2nd Saturday Torah study will invite that kind of discussion, as our tradition does not shy away from diving into complexity and asking difficult questions. It invites argument, nuance, and wrestling—machloket l’shem shamayim, disagreement for the sake of heaven. It asks us to think, to question, to challenge, and to be challenged. 

This shift is not meant to replace broader opportunities for political conversation or engagement in our community. A healthy community needs a variety of gathering opportunities.  We are complex people who need different things at different times.  And many of you have stepped up to facilitate and organize gatherings that address those needs.  I hope that continues. 

At the same time, I think it is important to emphasize that our Shabbat services are, and will remain, a space for healing. They are not designed to be arenas for debate or for the release of political frustration. In a world that is already loud, reactive, and polarized, the sanctuary allows us to hold something different.  A place for prayer, music, quietude, and re-centering. 

I also hope we continue to make room to simply be together, to enjoy one another’s company, to laugh and to connect.  That matters too.

I am grateful for all the lay leadership, for the generous feedback and the multiple voices that shape this community. 

Let us continue to build this community together, and lean into the multifaceted spirit of our evolving Jewish tradition. 

Chag Pesach Sameach,

Rav Gav

Creative Spirit at the AARC Beit Sefer

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Thank you to Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador for this article, which appeared in the April 2026 Washtenaw Jewish News. See page 7 HERE


 


 For the past several years, the children and madrichim (teen leaders) of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation Beit Sefer have taken on an unusual and joyful responsibility: they write their own Purim spiel.
 
Yes — the entire thing.
Not just acting it. Not just rehearsing lines written by adults. But imagining, scripting, adapting, and producing their own interpretations of the Book of Esther.
 
At first glance, it might look like a fun educational exercise. And it is. But it is also something deeper.
 
In Reconstructionist Jewish education, we don’t simply hand children inherited forms and ask them to replicate them. We invite them into the creative process of Judaism itself. We encourage them to see that Jewish tradition has always been a living, evolving conversation.
 
The Purim spiel — historically irreverent, satirical, and playful — is the perfect vehicle for this.
 
Over the past few years, our students have:

  • Set the Purim story in modern times
  • Played with contemporary political satire
  • Reimagined characters with surprising nuance
  • Written jokes only their generation could write

In doing so, they’ve learned something essential: Jewish ritual isn’t static. It is something we participate in shaping. For example, the setting for this year’s spiel started out underwater and ended up on the beach. It incorporated a running tongue-twister gag about a Shushan shoe store. It reimagined Haman’s defeat not as a hanging but as a demotion from palace advisor to shoe shiner.
 
Our madrichim, too, become co-creators. They guide, encourage, and sometimes gently redirect, and resist the urge to control. The result is not always polished, but it is authentic. It belongs to them.
 
In a time when so much of Jewish identity can feel inherited rather than chosen, giving our children authorship matters.
 
Purim itself is a holiday of reversals — hidden identities revealed, power structures flipped, laughter used as resistance. When our students write the spiel, they are not only retelling the story. They are enacting it. They experience what it feels like to speak boldly, creatively, even subversively within Jewish tradition.
 
Perhaps most importantly, they experience joy – and not as passive entertainment, but as active participation. When they stand on stage delivering lines they wrote themselves, they are not just performing Judaism. They are practicing it.

Beit Sefer director Shlomit Cohen notes:

“I’d like to pay homage to Marcy Epstein, a teacher in the U-M Comprehensive Studies Program and a past director of the AARC religious school. As director, Marcy led the families in a workshop on writing the Purim Spiel. This is a tradition that continues to be going strong and is passed on from student to student. As the current director, I wanted to honor this successful tradition, so I allowed the space for the students to write and run the show with a highly dedicated parent, David Speyer.”


In both the Friday night service and the children’s Purim Carnival, the children, dressed up and with noise makers in their hands, sang a quote from Pirkei Avot:
 “Mi Shenichnas Adar Marbin Be’Simchah” 
”משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה”
Translation: “When the month of Adar enters, we are joyous.” – We had a very happy Purim indeed!
 
“Learning about our traditions, interpreting them in meaningful ways, and emphasizing joy and creativity are key to the AARC Beit Sefer experience,” says Shlomit.

About the AARC

The AARC is a caring, inclusive and music- and art-loving community of people who want to practice and study Judaism, or simply be around people who share a commitment to Judaism’s values. The AARC’s spiritual leader, Rav Gavrielle Pescador, is known for her warmth, her collaborative spirit, and her incredible voice and harp playing. You are invited to visit https://aarecon.org/ or email info@aarecon.org to learn more about the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation.

To learn more about the AARC Beit Sefer, where K-7th graders enjoy interactive, creative group activities as well as individual attention, please visit https://aarecon.org/what-we-do/learning/religious-school/