• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Overview
    • Our History
    • Our Values and Vision
    • LGBTQ Inclusive
    • Our Board
    • Our Sacred Objects
    • About Reconstructionist Judaism
    • Jewish Ann Arbor
  • What We Do
    • Shabbat and Holidays
    • Learning
    • B’nei Mitzvah
    • Tikkun Olam
    • Join our Mailing List
    • In the (Washtenaw Jewish) News
  • Religious School
    • Beit Sefer (Religious School) Overview
    • Beit Sefer Staff
    • Enroll your child in Beit Sefer
  • Blog
  • Membership
    • Overview
    • Renew your membership
    • Thinking about joining?
    • Member Area
      • Overview
      • Get involved!
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Articles/Ads / Can we think of AARC as an “ecosystem”?  

Can we think of AARC as an “ecosystem”?  

November 27, 2022 by Rena Basch

“Metaphors make the mind.”

By: Rena Basch

After having Rosh Hashana lunch at Zingerman’s Deli, the title of an article in the Zingerman’s newspaper caught my eye: “Replacing the Great Resignation with the Great Regeneration. New metaphors can change our minds and lives.”  

The concept of “regeneration” is what got me to pick up the paper, as it feels like our congregation is in a period of regeneration. Upon reading the article, however, I was truly moved by founder/author Ari Weinzweig’s proposal: when you change the metaphor in your mind, you change the world or at least change the culture of your organization. He proposes to change the metaphor of an organization to an “ecosystem,” and he calls the metaphor of Zingerman’s a “poetic organizational ecosystem.” 

When you change metaphors you literally change your mind and your ways of thinking.  Research shows that metaphors you use shape how you think, creating the frames in which you see things.  If you think of an organization as an ecosystem, it creates a holistic and generative mindset, more aligned with nature and natural processes.

With business, people inside and out of that world describe, think and speak about business organizations in metaphors of competition, sports, machines, and even war. These metaphors lead people to think primarily in terms of winners and losers, of efficiencies, of control, and creates a culture around these things.   Even non-profits and congregations tend to use similar metaphors, thinking of the organization as a business, team or family.  Even these metaphors of team or family still contain elements of control, competition and hierarchical thinking that influence culture and decision-making.

While it is true that both businesses and nonprofit organizations have to make some decisions based on the bank account or profit and loss statements, they could also consider other components and elements of the organization. What if factors that create and support the health of every aspect of the system could be equally weighted?  What if organizations could make measures of “success” more than just the finances, and more like the overall holistic nurturing and growth of the whole poetic organizational ecosystem? 

AARC is not producing Reubens or selling high quality foods, but we are growing people and cultivating community. We are growing the values of nurturing, support, care, spirituality, tikkun olam, kindness and love. Let’s try to embed the ecosystem model in our minds as we think about AARC, as we participate in AARC, as we make decisions about AARC. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Annual Membership meeting on Sunday, December 4 at 10 am!

-Rena Basch, AARC Board Co-Chair

Share this post

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Articles/Ads, Upcoming Activities

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Mailing List

Sign up for our twice a week newsletter to get details on upcoming events and catch up on our latest news.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Follow AARC

  • facebook
  • youtube

Upcoming Events

  • 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, February 11, 2023 – Second Saturday Shabbat Morning Service
  • 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, February 24, 2023 – Fourth Friday Kabbalat Shabbat Service
  • 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, March 11, 2023 – Second Saturday Shabbat Morning Service
  • 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, March 24, 2023 – Fourth Friday Kabbalat Shabbat Service
  • 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, April 8, 2023 – Second Saturday Shabbat Morning Service

Latest News

  • AARC as Ecosystem in Feb. 2023 WJN February 1, 2023
  • The Golem January 30, 2023
  • Mollie Meadow’s Dvar Torah: Shmot January 18, 2023
  • Isaac Meadow’s Dvar Torah: Shmot January 18, 2023
  • Reconstructing Judaism Movement Votes to Support Reparations to BIPOC Communities That Suffered Due To American Colonization January 12, 2023

Search

Tags

Adult Learning Bar mitzvah bat mitzvah Beit Sefer book club Challah community community learning covid-19 Elul food/land/justice Hanukkah high-holidays-2020 High Holidays High Holidays 2021 High Holidays 2022 Human rights immigrants interfaith jewish learning Michael Strassfeld Mimouna mitzvah new members Omer Passover Psalm 27 Psalms Purim Rabbi Alana Rabbi Debra Rappaport Rabbi Ora recipes Reconstructionism refugees Rosh Hashanah Shavuot Shmita Sukkot Sukkot Retreat Tikkun Olam Torah tu b'shevat Washtenaw Jewish News Yom Kippur

Categories

  • Articles/Ads
  • Beit Sefer (Religious School)
  • Books
  • Community Learning
  • Divrei Torah
  • Event writeups
  • Food
  • Mail Bag
  • Member Profiles
  • Poems and Blessings
  • Posts by Members
  • Rabbi's Posts
  • Reconstructionist Movement
  • Sacred Objects
  • Simchas
  • Tikkun Olam
  • Uncategorized
  • Upcoming Activities

Footer

Affiliated with

Register/Login

  • Log in
  • Register (for members only)

Copyright © 2023 Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation