Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

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Savoring memories from the 2024 AARC Retreat

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What a fantastic 2024 AARC retreat! On the weekend of May 31 to June 2, over 50 congregants and guests participated in the AARC retreat at Camp Tamarack, featuring worship, dance, music, games, hiking, boating, art workshops, yoga, kosher wine tasting, schmoozing, and more.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this retreat a reality. Here are a few photos.

Waterfront


Boating


Games and hanging out


Friday Evening Services and Saturday Evening Havdalah


Rope Swing



Hiking


Trail Maintenance


Music and Dancing


Kosher wine tasting and early morning yoga


Visiting a Dairy Farm and Beit Sefer Plays Soccer


Fun at the Main Camp Tamarack Dining Hall



Amazing kitchen work at our lodge for breakfast and snacks


Cabins at Specialty Village






We look forward to seeing you at next year’s AARC retreat.

See also photos from the May 2025 AARC retreat.

AARC To Participate in a Community Wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot

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Join AARC and the Wider Jewish Community For A Night of Learning at Temple Beth Emeth

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 • 5 Sivan 5784, 8:30 PM – 4:00AM

AARC is very excited to announce that our congregation will be participating in a community wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot gathering. Rabbis from the Ann Arbor and surrounding area will be sharing teachings including our own Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador. There will also be teachings from community members, if you would like to offer a teaching you can sign up by following the QR code on the flier below. The night will be split up into one-hour sessions on a variety of Jewish topics. Kosher refreshments will be served. You can stay as long or as little as you like.

Rav Gavrielle will be offering a teaching during Session 1: Spiritual Mapping in Tanakh. In this session we will explore parallels between the spiritual mapping of Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine Chariot (Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12) and the mapping of the encampment of the tribes of Israel in the desert (Numbers 2:1-34). Participants will be invited to imagine and reflect on how such parallels can inspire and deepen spiritual practice.

Registration is requested below.

Lecture Happening This Sunday with Rabbi Julia Watts Belser!

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Moses:  Provocations from a Disabled Prophet”

May 5, 2024 – Join us on Zoom for a Presentation and Torah Study which will be led by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser –  “Moses:  Provocations from a Disabled Prophet”

Register Here

When God sends Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery, the prophet famously says no.  Why?  Moses describes himself as “slow of speech and slow of tongue”—in other words, as a man with a speech disability.  While some commentators treat Moses’ disability as a spiritual impediment, this talk and text study brings Moses’ story into conversation with the life experiences and activism of contemporary disability communities.  We’ll grapple with spiritual and political questions about access and equity, invisibility and silence, as well as practices for transforming social inequality and shame to illuminate the provocative power of spiritual leadership that centers disability wisdom.

Rabbi Julia Watts Belser (she/her) is a scholar, spiritual teacher, and longtime activist for disability, LGBTQ, and gender justice. She is a professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University and core faculty in Georgetown’s Disability Studies Program. She’s also an avid wheelchair hiker, a devoted gardener, and a lover of wild places.  Her latest book is Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole.

Chag Pesach Sameach

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Each and every Passover we are taught to see ourselves as being liberated from slavery in Miztrayim (Egypt), which in our tradition is understood as the “narrow place,” derived from the word meitzar.  Mitzrayim is not about a specific location, but rather a narrow state of mind or set of circumstances that obstructs our ability to live healthy, fulfilling, and peaceful lives. 

On the seder nights, we are invited to draw inspiration from the Passover story and dream a journey of freedom that applies to our own lives and the societies in which we live.   Redemption is not a one-time occurrence that happened to our ancestors thousands of years ago; it is an ongoing experience that requires our utmost attention.    

Unfortunately, at this time, many of us are experiencing Mitzrayim on many fronts: the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, fear of further escalation of tension between Israel and Iran, worries regarding the outcome of the presidential election in November, the climate crisis, etc.  Some of us have health issues, some of us have lost loved ones recently and some of us are dealing with painful situations in our personal lives.   

These are very stressful times.  Because of that it is my wish that we all remember to take care of ourselves – physically, emotionally, and mentally.   Let us hold fast to our most loving and supportive relationships.  Let us choose to love whenever possible.   Let us choose to be grateful for the life that we have.  Let us reach out to friends, family and to those in need.  Let us enjoy what we can — the purring of a cat, the tweeting of a bird, the sprouting of seedlings, the flowering of trees, a good book, a beautiful piece of music, a prayer, a seder, the smile of a beloved, a gathering with like-minded people.     I promise that I will try to do the same.

Chag Pesach Sameach.

B’ahavah,

Rav Gavrielle

Big News! AARC Will Now Offer A Children’s Service During Fourth Friday Shabbat!

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We are so excited to announce that AARC will now be offering an interactive children’s Shabbat Service during our normal Fourth Friday Shabbat Service. Families are invited to arrive at 6:30 and join the congregation for candle lighting and MaTovu. After the opening prayers, children will join Shani Samuels and Josephine Speyer in the childcare area to attend a special abbreviated children’s Shabbat service. Following the service, children can enjoy free play until it is time to re-join the congregation for the priestly blessing and potluck.

During the children’s service Shani and Josephine will lead the children in traditional shabbat prayers such as Shalom Aleichem, Lecha Dodi, Maariv Aravim, Ahavat Olam, Shema, V’ahavta, MiChamocha, V’shamru, Oseh Shalom. This new addition to the AARC service offerings is the outcome of Josephine’s B’nei Mitzvah project. We are very proud of Josephine and can not wait to welcome her to the bima in June!

If you have any questions about this month’s Shabbat service, please email Gillian at aarcgillian@gmail.com, we can’t wait to see you there!

Celebration of Rabbi Gabrielle’s Ordination and Installation

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The community is invited to join the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) in welcoming, installing and celebrating Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador at our Second Saturday Shabbat Morning services on Saturday, April 13 at 10 am. The morning torah service and Installation will be followed by a catered Mediterranean kiddush meal at 12 noon.  Please RSVP here to attend.

Rabbi Gabrielle trained at the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal as both a rabbi and cantor, completing the double track last year. She was ordained in January 2024. Rabbi Gabrielle started as AARC’s rabbi in July 2023, seamlessly integrating into leading the congregation. Her spirituality, musicality and commitment to helping people find meaning in Jewish life are a perfect fit for AARC. 

Music has always been an integral part of our community, and Rabbi Gabrielle brings something new to that tradition – her harp!  Around the time she began her rabbinic training she also started playing the harp and gradually included the instrument while leading services. She considers the harp an instrument of healing because of its soothing sound quality and biblical resonance, and uses it as a tool for heart opening and easing the pathway to religious experience. Learn more about Gabrielle and her path to becoming a rabbi and cantor here. 

Please be sure to RSVP to join AARC as we celebrate the ordination and installation of our musical Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador on Saturday, April 13th at 10 am.  Donations in honor of Rabbi Gabrielle are welcome.