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Welcoming Newcomers

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– by Carol Lessure


Many years ago, Deborah Dash Moore shared a story that had a lasting impact on me. A
renowned Jewish scholar, I have learned much from Dr. Moore over the years. This time, she shared a personal story.

Dr. Moore arrived from NYC to lead the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies over the summer of 2005. Of all the many Jewish colleagues that she met at the University of Michigan, only one invited her to attend High Holiday services at their congregation. This invitation was most welcome and it led her to build a lasting connection with that congregation. It was not the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation which was a fairly small Havurah at the time. As a third generation Reconstructionist with a long history with the West End Synagogue in New York City, Dr. Moore found us. She has been an active AARC member for twenty years sharing her expertise with Yom Kippur workshops, rabbinic leadership, and reading Torah.

Her story demonstrates the power of personal invitations and connections. As we enter a time when new people arrive to Ann Arbor to learn, teach and/or work, I encourage each of us to welcome newcomers with kindness and, if possible, an invitation to do something together. You will likely have new work colleagues, new neighbors, or new families at your children’s schools.

If they happen to be Jewish, please invite them to an AARC event, share what you like about our congregation, and perhaps offer to host them for Shabbat dinner. By the end of July, let them know that AARC has ticketless high holiday services that are open to all. If they have young children, share information about our small family-like Beit Sefer.

By late August or early September, you can share the schedule of our High Holiday services and programs. These will be a featured part of our website front page. Perhaps you can offer to meet them for services, a children’s program, or invite them to join you for the end of Yom Kippur when AARC provides afternoon workshops, a unique Memorial Service, a short lovely Nielah service with a Shofar blast, and a communal Break the Fast (be sure to pay & pre-register for the meal, please).

AARC Welcomes Tiara Hawkins as Program Manager

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The AARC is delighted to welcome Tiara Hawkins as our new program manager. Tiara has a history degree from the University of Michigan Flint and a background in human resources, office management, and legal assistant work.  “I’m excited to bring my skills into this role with the AARC, and I’m truly looking forward to doing the best job I can while learning from each of you in this incredible congregation.” Tiara comments.


Tiara says, “My husband Scott and I have three amazing kids—Ryan, who’s 5 and turning 6 in July, Aurora, who will be 3 in just a few days, and our youngest, Harlee, who just turned 1. All three of them attend the Early Childhood Center at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, and it’s been such a wonderful experience for our family. I converted to Judaism in 2019, right before Scott and I got married, and it’s been such a meaningful part of my life ever since. My hobbies are reading, swimming, and spending time with my family.” 

Tiara will be in charge of AARC communications, event coordination and more.  Tiara’s first time coordinating AARC Fourth Friday services was May 23, 2025 and she did an outstanding job, alongside Emily Ohl.   The congregation extends warm appreciation to our previous program manager, Emily Ohl. We are so glad that Emily will remain in the AARC community.

When you see Tiara at an event, be sure to introduce yourself and don’t be shy to ask if you can lend a hand!

2025 AARC Retreat – Gratitude

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We had gorgeous weather, and participants expressed joy and gratitude for the opportunity to deepen bonds and make new connections.

Thanks to Leora Druckman, our amazing coordinator for the 2024 and 2025 AARC retreats. Kudos to everyone who contributed to a fantastic AARC retreat at Camp Tamarack’s Butzel Center the weekend of May 9-11, 2025.

Outdoors



Friday and Saturday Services and Havdalah


Saturday Evening Music and Dancing


Programs


More Fun Times


Delightful Dining


We look forward to seeing you at the next AARC retreat, either in 2026 or 2027.

It’s Shabbat – come meditate

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Words by Anita Rubin-Meiller

In my first week of the Flourish course, a meditation teacher’s training offered by
the Institute of Jewish Spirituality, we were given a text by R. Shalom Noach
Berezovsky. R. Berezovsky identified Shabbat as an ark that enables us to find
refuge from the flood of chaos and overwhelm in the weekday world. He
states…”the deficiency of the generation of the Flood was in its scattered da’at
(awareness, mindfulness) which is the root of all harm…” He suggests we repair
such scattering of da’at through Yishuv hada’at (a settling, calming, centering of
mind). Without this, we are lost, unable to be truly connected to ourselves, or to
the Creator, who “renews our very being from moment to moment.”

Calming, Centering, Connecting through meditation has deep roots in Jewish
practice and is written about by many sages past and present. It is a practice that
is at once simple but difficult, in that it requires compassionate patience with
oneself and the ramblings of our minds that seem determined on scattering our
attention. It is a practice that has increasing benefits over time.

I was first exposed to meditation in a Jewish context in 2019 when I was blessed
to attend a 6-day silent retreat with Rabbi Jeff Roth, Rabbi Sheila Pelz-Weinberg,
Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein, and Zen priest Norman Fischer. Since then, I
have been meditating multiple times a week with Rabbi Roth’s Awakened Heart
Community. While meditation doesn’t necessarily change who you are, it does
impact how much you accept and love yourself as your critical mind calms, as
compassion heightens, as your attention to each moment deepens.

There are many approaches to meditation- from sitting with attention on the
breath; to mentally reciting a word or phrase; to following a guided script that
offers an intention and imagery. Each approach offers the opportunity to bring
your attention inward, to notice what arises in mind, body and heart moment to
moment without getting caught up in it, to perhaps find that precious still point
and rest there for a moment.

I am pleased to be able to offer an opportunity for our community to gather
together to practice for 20 minutes of meditation on the second Saturday of the
month before services. Check the Tuesday mailer for exact times and location.
I hope to see you there.

Building a Fence Around the Sacred

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An early blog post from Rav Gav regarding the 3rd day of the Omer – Tiferet Sheb’chesed, “beauty/harmony within loving kindness” – which starts this evening.

The Counting of the Omer is more than a calendar exercise—it is a forty-nine-day journey of inner refinement. Each day aligns with one of the seven sefirot (divine attributes), cycling through Chesed (lovingkindness), Gevurah (strength), Tiferet (harmony), Netzach (endurance), Hod (humility), Yesod (connection), and Malchut (receptivity). As we count, we engage body, heart, and mind, using the rhythm of that daily ritual to transform impulse into intention and reaction into reflection.


To deepen this psycho-spiritual practice, many communities add the study of Pirkei Avot—Ethics of the Fathers—during the Omer. Beginning on the Shabbat after Pesach, the custom is to read one chapter each week, aligning timeless ethical teachings with our evolving inner work.  

In the first chapter of Pirkei Avot we are instructed to emulate the wisdom of Moses and his disciples, to be deliberate and measured in our pursuit of justice, to be lovers of peace, to share and teach Jewish wisdom generously, and to make a fence around the Torah.   

This evening, as we focus on Tiferet sheb’Chesed, harmony within loving kindness, we are called to balance our generosity with discernment, to be open-hearted yet rooted in truth.  In Lurianic Kabbalah that state of balance is conceived as an expression of beauty. On the 3rd day of counting the Omer, the instruction to establish boundaries and create a fence around what we hold sacred is particularly potent as we aim to approach love, peace-making and the pursuit of justice in a balanced way.  

Unbalanced Chesed can become enabling. Over-giving without boundaries can drain us or disempower those we’re trying to help. But when love is paired with Tiferet—with truth, clarity, and inner alignment—it becomes transformative and healing.

In Jewish tradition, a fence is not a burden but an act of Hiddur Mitzvah, beautifying the mitzvah by surrounding it with care.   During this week of Chesed:

  • May we all work to establish sacred fences that protect our own hearts and the hearts of others.  
  • May we learn to saying “no” when we are feeling overwhelmed, may we pause to breathe before reacting, and may we reflect on what we want to say yes to and what we want to let go of.
  • May we ensure our generosity is sustainable and transformative, not enabling, and not draining of our energy.
  • May we establish relationships that are grounded in emotional safety and respectful honesty.
  • May we know when to step in with support and when to step back to foster growth.
  • May the richness of Jewish Calendar cycle nurture us with its times for prayer, ritual activity and celebration within community.
  • May we be guided by the wisdom of Leviticus 19:18, where we are instructed to love our neighbors as ourselves, as we face the truth of the work that needs to be done to repair the world and do tikkun olam. 

It’s about the people, the place & the experience

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Join for the AARC Retreat, May 9-11, 2025

When
Friday evening, May 9, 2025
through
Sunday afternoon, May 11, 2025
(this is Mother’s Day Weekend)

Where
 The Butzel Retreat Center at Camp Tamarack (about a one hour drive Northeast of Ann Arbor in Ortonville, Michigan)

Registration

Registration must be completed by midnight, Friday, May 2, 2025.  Pricing is flexible to make sure everyone can attend regardless of financial situation.

To register click on the button below:   

Register Here

More information about the Butzel Retreat Center can be found HERE
Great photos from last year’s retreat are HERE

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS YEAR
Like last year, the retreat will offer an opportunity to reconnect with our community, the Earth and yourself in beautiful, natural surroundings. It’s about the people, the place, and the experience. We hope you will join!

The retreat will also offer

  • A chance to celebrate Shabbat as a community
  • Meaningful, musical services
  • Various workshops, discussion groups and other activities led by our talented community members
  • Fun activities offered by Tamarack Adventure Center, including swimming, kayaking and canoeing
  • Hikes exploring around the beautiful lakes on the 1,100 wooded acres of Tamarack/Camp Maas
  • A Saturday night party with music and dancing
  • Campfires with S’mores and singing* Childcare and Children’s Programming
  • …and other surprises as well!

A motel-like room at the Butzel Retreat Center (instead of shared cabins with bunks at the Specialty Camper Village like last year).
This means we will have…

  • Private rooms with their own bathrooms, instead of cabins (Rooms at Butzel can sleep up to four people with one queen size bed, one twin size bed and upon request, two fold out cots. )
  • Convenient parking next to our accommodations, instead of a parking lot that is a long walk away
  • ADA conforming facilities, instead of potentially difficult to traverse stairs and grounds
  • Meals cooked by Butzel staff and served in our own dining room, instead of eating children’s camp food at the main dining hall

We look forward to seeing you at the retreat!



Calling All AARC Artists and Creatives!

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Join us as we launch an Artist Collective within our spiritual community—a space to share our creative work, explore what moves and inspires us, and connect with like-minded people. Whether you paint, write poetry, sculpt, play music, or engage in any form of artistic expression, this is an opportunity to build community through art.

We’ll begin with a teaching on Jewish amulets, exploring their history and spiritual significance. From there, we’ll embrace the creative process—perhaps making art together, sharing our artistic interests, cheering each other on, and finding joy in the holiness and healing potential of creative expression during this tumultuous time.

This is about connection, inspiration, and the joy of creating together—a playful space to uplift and encourage each other through art.

Come join the fun, spark ideas, and search for meaning through artmaking!

Date:  Monday April 28, 2025 

Time:   7 pm

Place:  Idelle Hammond-Sass’ art studio

RSVP:  Email Idelle at hammond_sass@msn.com and she will send you her address.