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Beit Sefer B’Aviv B’Yachad באביב ביחד Sunday Relay

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This Sunday, Beit Sefer students participated in a social distancing relay, B’Aviv B’Yachad (Spring Together!), that symbolized our ancestors’ journey through the desert. Education scholar and Beit Sefer teacher Shlomit Cohen created the relay journey with the goals of involving every family, celebrating Spring, and challenging the students (and their families) – all while observing social distancing requirements!

The race began with one family traveling by foot, bicycle, car or wing (?!?) to another family’s home. In front of that home, the traveling family took a photo of themselves and sent it to the group of Beit Sefer students. The arrival of the photo acted as the “baton,” prompting the family whose home was pictured in the photo to set out for the next household. Beit Sefer families are located in a long string between Ypsilanti Township and Chelsea, but the distance from one home to the next was easily manageable. School Director Clare Kinberg separately carried a replica tablet of the Ten Commandments to each household.

Please enjoy photos from each stop below. It was a joy to watch the photos come in over the morning and see the smiling faces in our beloved community.

Does this post inspire you to join Beit Sefer for next year? If so, please check out our religious school’s website!

First stop at the Pritchards’!
Zander and Eleanor thought it was a great day for a bike ride to stop number three.
Stop number three was a surprise!
Cara made scones and then got the sillies.
The Feinbergs were prepared for us!
Lovely to see Ava and Noah, Aaron and Erika on this spring day.
Thanks to Shlomit for planning the whole thing!
After Shlomit, we got to see Marcy’s Spring flowers.
Next stop, Aaron’s house.
Miles got his picture taken and hopped on his bike.
Next stop, Sappho and Bass.
Onward to Jack and Brenna.
Time for a socially distanced group pic.
Next stop Meadows!
We made it to the edge of town – hey, Sam and Joey!
Last stop, Wes and Wade!

Community Learning Opportunities Within the AARC Tribe of Wisdom!

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One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the discovery of new and intimate ways to engage with each other, be it through our Mishpacha Groups, Wednesday Check Ins, Shabbat Services, or independently within the congregation.

Beginning next week, AARC will offer even more programming: free online classes taught by members generously volunteering their time and knowledge to share their skills, wisdom, and knowledge. Zoom links for classes will be sent out via email for security reasons. Look for links in the Thursday and Tuesday mailers the week before the class.

Our First Class Starts Next Week!

THURSDAY, MAY 7TH, 7-9PM. How to make Finger Fritz with Ella August. In this baking lesson, I will show you how to make a delicious cookie called Finger Fritz. The recipe comes from my husband’s grandmother who was a Viennese pastry chef. You can just watch or follow along in your own kitchen (I will provide a written recipe). If you want to follow along, be sure you have the following ingredients ready: 3 C flour, 1 package dry yeast, 1 C (two sticks) salted butter, 3 egg yolks, 1 C sour cream, 1 C almonds, pecans or hazelnuts (or a blend), 1 ¾ C powdered sugar, 2 – 2 ½  t cinnamon, 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips. 
Note that this recipe takes two days to make, since the dough needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight. We will make the first part together and then you’ll put your dough in your refrigerator to chill overnight. I’ll have an additional chilled dough on hand and will show you the second part of the recipe.

Zoom link will be sent out to membership in our Thursday and Tuesday Mailers. If you are not subscribed but would like to attend, please email Gillian at aarcgillian@gmail.com

Beginning the week of May 11th:

Tertulia—Spanish coffee conversation with Cara Spindler. Cara will lead us in a Spanish conversation hour. Cara says all are welcome and mistakes are okay!

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Singing Class with Etta Heisler. Join Etta to learn some great songs for group singing from a variety of activist and religious traditions. Etta will teach the songs and provide some background on them; then the group will sing together. A singing class on mute is the perfect time to learn songs if you are self-conscious about your voice! No singing experience is necessary. A playlist will be provided so you can keep singing after the class.

Later this Spring:

In the pipeline for June is The Joy of Public Speaking Via Storytelling and Improv Games with Patti Smith. Patti says, “People consistently list public speaking as their biggest fear. Getting comfortable in front of others is a great skill. Learn to do this by telling stories. I will tell a story and then deconstruct and tell you how I put it together. Then we will all work on a story intro together. {For Improv Games:} You do NOT have to be funny to do improv! Play some simple improv games and improve your confidence!”

In additional, Laurie White and Carol Lessure are hard at work preparing engaging material to share with us in the months to come!

Does this article inspire you to teach a class? Email Gillian at aarcgillian@gmail.com so that we can get you on the schedule!

Counting the Omer During Quarantine

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Written by: Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner

There’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty in our lives right now. Many of the norms and systems we felt we could count on have shifted, changed, or been upended. To add to the stress of this unraveling, time itself has become elastic; we don’t have a clear sense of how long this new normal will last. And that’s hard.

During our most recent Community Check-In, I spoke about how the Omer–that is, the 49 days between Day 2 of Passover and Shavuot–was the precise length of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Mt. Sinai.

This physical journey didn’t need to take 49 days; Egypt and Mt. Sinai aren’t that far apart. But the Israelites needed those full 7 weeks to enact an internal psychological shift, moving from a free-wheeling, newly-embraced freedom and all the frantic energy that that entailed to an understanding of the importance of mutual care and commitment to an ethical, rule-bound life.

Nowadays, we count the Omer to remember this internal shift that our ancestors experienced. Implicit in counting the Omer is a reminder that growth periods are often slow and filled with a tremendous amount of uncertainty.

We know that counting the Omer takes 49 days because we know how the story of the Exodus ends. But imagine how the Israelites must have felt just after leaving Egypt– with everything in flux, thrust into a new world, and with no sense of how or when that part of their journey would end.

As we move through our own time of profound uncertainty, we have the same tools as our ancestors to keep us rooted and open: We can notice where we started. We can look around and realize who is with us on this journey. We can understand that the path is uncertain, both in journey and duration. We can notice that we keep moving forward, one step at a time. And we can remember that we will get through this, together.

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Several of our members are taking on the spiritual practice of counting the Omer this year, and are reporting that it feels especially relevant and helpful right now. If you didn’t start counting with Day 1, not a problem – you can jump in whenever you like!

Here are some resources to help you get started:

May we be blessed with health, safety, and growth on this journey, and blessed to notice what can truly be counted on during this time.

Rabbi Ora

Also see: Jewish Time: Counting the Omer and the 19 Year Cycle

AARC Resilience Apparent in Virtual Seders!

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Jews have a long history of taking rough stones and polishing them into jewels. At one of our recent virtual check-ins, Rabbi Ora mentioned our collective tendency to manifest reliance, selected for by generations of adversity. This trait is much in evidence this Passover!

Leora Druckman’s virtual seder table

The weeks leading up to Passover were marked with not-so-subtle correlations: the scarcity of wheat, the presence of plague, etc. … But in true Reconstructionist style, we used what we had and produced seders that were gems of both levity and gratitude – and virtual ingenuity! Please enjoy these AARC members’ reflections on their seders:

“For what it’s worth, I actually quite liked it a lot. It should’ve felt cold, I suppose, but for some reason it felt extra special to see everyone do extra work to still make it happen, but also by making sure to connect with each other online against the quarantining in these times. That meant a lot for so many and was not taken for granted. It felt like it reaffirmed relationships, values, our holiday … It felt like that extra special desire to still connect and meet anyway we could, was also in our kids. This Pesach really held extra special meaning none of us could’ve ever appreciated on such a level before.”

– Mark Dieve

“It was nice to talk with family we don’t normally get to see this time of year. I took a pic of our table from the angle of the camera before we sat down.”

– Amie Ritchie

“I shared flowers (via Carole Caplan) and food with several people who usually attend our seder. Two of the three chose to attend other seders – so it was just my brother’s family and my mother sharing ours. That’s good because it took us 20 minutes to connect via Google Meet – chosen because it gave my 85 year old mother closed captions.

“Food deliveries included flowers, matzah ball soup, salads, charoset, chicken dinner ready for the oven, and all the fixings for my mother’s seder plate. She made us brisket. We did a physical distanced food exchange and visited in the sunshine with her for a bit. She was very grateful to have a seder with us.

“The computer was placed at the far end of the Seder Table.”

– Carol Lessure
Carol Lessure’s seder plate delivery package!
Carol Lessure’s seder table
Carol Lessure’s flower delivery via Carole Caplan

“The Eisbruch family enjoyed being able to join with family members and friends in time zones from Israel to California. That was a very special treat.”

– Emily Eisbruch
Deb Kraus’s cat drinking from Miriam’s cup (on cue)

So many members were able to make the most of the day and find ways to share in the depth and joy of the seder in unique and meaningful ways. How was your virtual Passover? Please share in the comments!

Online Jewish Resources for Shelter-in-Place

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I cannot be the only person who spends way too much time online reading headline after headline about COVID-19. It is exhausting and mentally taxing to contemplate at length something as overwhelming as a global pandemic. In an effort to steer you away from the headlines and closer to an intellectually stimulating diversion, we have compiled a list of interesting Jewish programming available online in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

For Adults:

For Families with Children:

I hope you enjoy this list of resources! A big thanks to Rabbi Ora for her tireless work to gather these resources and be a source of both peace and levity for our community.

Please share any additional resources in the comments section!

Your Virtual Seder Resource!

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Passover is quickly approaching; the first night falls on Wednesday, April 8th. And this year, the holiday comes during an extraordinary time.

The central commandment of Passover—retelling the story of the Exodus–asks that we consider ourselves as if we, too, had journeyed from narrowness to openness and from oppression to liberation.

This year, more than any in recent memory, that narrative rings true. We are currently in a narrow place; and, for that very reason, we must take the opportunity to make this year’s holiday one of engagement, connection, and celebration.

In accordance with recent guidelines from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, we urge our community to restrict in-person seders to household members AND open up our seders to connect virtually with loved ones near and far.

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Below, you’ll find articles, classes, videos, and links to help you prepare for Passover 2020:

I want to host a seder. How do I plan for that?

Wonderful! If you’d like to try online hosting a seder this year, there are resources available to help you plan (see below).

While you’re planning your seder, please consider the holy mitzvah of welcoming others to your virtual table: Sign up here if you’re able to open your seder to members of our community.

I want to be hosted. How do I find a virtual seder to attend?

  1. Be on the lookout for an email later this week that will allow you to sign up to attend AARC members’ online seders.
  2. Sign up in advance to join Jewish Women International’s Virtual Seder on Thursday, April 9 at 8 pm EDT.
  3. Havaya (Reconstructing Judaism’s summer camp) is hosting a one-hour Virtual Family Seder on Thursday, April 9 at 7 pm EDT; sign up here to register.
  4. Join the Haggadot.com team, journalist Esther Kustanowitz, and other special guests for an everyone-welcome, fifth ‘night’ Virtual Seder on Sunday, April 12 at 2 pm EDT (join via Zoom or Facebook livestream).

How do I plan my own virtual seder?

  • Alma.com has a fantastically comprehensive guide for putting together a collaborative, meaningful seder — even when the guests are physically far away.
  • Watch the video ‘The Art of Virtually Gathering: Passover 2020.’
  • Attend a free online class this Thursday April 2 on ‘Practical Pesach Seder Ideas and Suggestions in Response to Corona’ (you’ll need to register in advance).
  • From OneTable, myriad resources for Passover 2020, including a Solo Seder Guide, Passover Recipe Guide, Passover Playlist, and links to a curated selection of haggadot.

Which haggadot should I use?

….And consider these of-the-moment additions:

How do I plan a kid-friendly seder?

  • AARC member Carol Levin has generously made her delightful Haggadah Regatta into a PDF for anyone to use.
  • Check out Reform Judaism’s many family-friendly Passover resources, including crafts, coloring pages, fun quizzes, 8 great haggadot for young people, a chocolate seder (!), and model seders for kids of all ages.

How do I prepare my home for Passover?

How do I spiritually prepare for Passover?

  • Attend a free online class next Monday April 6, ‘Soulful Passover Preparation’ (you’ll need to register in advance).
  • Explore some of the articles in this Passover 2020 reader from Uri Le’Tzedek.

Blessings for healthy, joyful, and connected zman cheruteinu (season of our liberation),

Rabbi Ora

New COVID-19 page on website with updates and resources

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By Mark Schneyer

AARC’s website now features a page on pandemic-related issues for the benefit of our community. It includes:

  • The latest updates on how we are shifting services and programming online and how you can participate;
  • Links to resources to get or give help in our community; and
  • A cumulative and continually updated list of Rabbi Ora’s links to music, meditation, chanting, and rituals, as shared in her emails.

The page can be reached from the menu throughout the site and directly at https://aarecon.org/covid-19-information-resources/. I hope you’ll check it out soon and continue to seek it out whenever you need it during this challenging time.

Purim Fun 2020

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AARC experienced a long weekend of Purim fun!

Beit Sefer students began their celebration with a collaborative Purim party with the Jewish Cultural Society. The children enjoyed Purim-themed games and crafts, savored delicious snacks, and created Mishloach Manot for those in need in our community. It was a joy to celebrate with new friends from JCS; we look forward to further collaborations!

Alan Haber displays his Megillah housing.

The fun continued Monday evening with the rest of the congregation, beginning with a Megillah reading and ending with a dessert potluck. This year’s theme was “Make Some Noise!” After a parade to display the many creative costumes, members shared stories of when they had “spoken truth to power,” during a Moth-style improv storytelling exercise.

Many thanks to the Festival Committee for their hard work in putting together this evening’s events.

Ringmaster Rabbi!
Drake reads the Megillah.