Event writeups

Annual Membership Meeting 5785

December 11, 2024 by Emily Ohl

This past Sunday morning, AARC members gathered at the JCC to meet and discuss the state of our congregation and what it means to them.

The first half of the meeting was spent discussing business matters, such as departing (Erica Ackerman, Deborah Fisch, Debbie Gombert, Rebecca Kanner, Keith Kurz) and incoming members of the board (Dave Nelson, Josh Samuel, Robin Wagner), the budget, and other highlights from the past year.

The final half of the meeting was spent on an activity planned by Lisa Wexler, Julie Norris, and Debbie Gombert. Members made pairs, and eventually foursomes and octets, where they discussed what AARC means to them, and notice the themes that came up. Finally, the groups were tasked with making a short poem, song, or human sculpture, that conveyed these themes and ideas.

Near the end of the meeting, each group shared what they had worked on. The results were all unique, and yet each was filled with joy, heart, as well as themes of togetherness, justice, and diversity.

Thank you to all of those who were able to attend and participate!

Heart and Healing at Rena Branson and Molly Bajgot’s Song Circle

July 18, 2024 by Emily Ohl

On Tuesday evening, community members gathered in close around Massachusetts based artists Rena Branson and Molly Bajgot. The pair had arrived in Ann Arbor the day before, the first stop on their Midwest tour.

Over the hour and a half of their performance, Molly and Rena created a sacred and healing space, in which all voices were celebrated and uplifted. The two went back and forth playing their original songs, Molly on guitar playing from her album Revelry and Rena strumming ukulele to tunes from their album Love is the Ground.

Before playing each song, the artists shared their kavanot. They then taught the audience the melody and niggun, allowing us to participate as the song and its harmonies unraveled. As each song came to a close, we were given space to sit and breathe in what we had just experienced.

By the end of the evening, I felt bonded with everyone in the room. The power of not only singing together, but facing one another and singing songs of hope, love, and peace, created a resounding closeness.

Many thanks to Rena and Molly for sharing their music and to Etta for bringing them to our community!

Savoring memories from the 2024 AARC Retreat

June 4, 2024 by Emily Eisbruch

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.

Celebrating LGBTQ Love This Valentines Day with AARC <3

February 15, 2024 by Gillian Jackson

For this month’s Zoom Pop-In Study with Rav Gabrielle, AARC members participated in a torah study about LGBTQ love. AARC has made a commitment to be a welcoming and inviting Jewish congregation for all people. As part of this commitment, AARC tries to bring everyone into the big tent of our community and celebrate them. We celebrate our LGBTQ members this Valentines Day and every day! To get a little snapshot of this week’s teaching, you can read Rav Gabrielle’s summary below.

Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador writes:

According to ultra-orthodox Rabbi Mike Moskowitz (Scholar-in-Residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBT synagogue), when we study Torah, we don’t respond to the text but to people. No person is hypothetical. Torah is for everyone.

Some highlights from our pop in study session:

We studied the Deuteronomy 22:5 about the prohibition against a man dressing like a woman and woman dressing like a man: “A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is a to’eva to God.” (To’eva is commonly translated as abhorrent or an abomination, although there is dispute amongst the rabbis of the mishnaic period on the true meaning of the word).

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz has a fresh perspective on this verse. He understands it as “the very source that not only permits transgender Jews to wear clothing that supports their gender identity, but also arguably obligates them in doing so.” He asserts that with identity comes responsibility. In other words, we are obliged to be ourselves and to not pretend or hide our true nature and because of that we are also obliged to provide sanctuary and be allies of LGBTQ folks in our communities.

(Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, “I’m a Boy and These Are My Clothes”, https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/im-a-boy-and-these-are-my-clothes/ )

Rabbi Alyson Solomon of Temple Beth Israel Eugene says that Rabbi Moskowitz’s framing of Torah is aligned with the message of Deuteronomy 22:8, of our obligation to create safe spaces and prevent harm: “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.”

Our tradition teaches us that we are all created in b’tzelem Elohim, in the mysterious multi-faceted image of God. If we hide our uniqueness or force others to do the same, then we are causing pain and suffering to ourselves and others. We read the 2 verses mentioned above before the High Holy Days in parshat Ki Teitzei, a parsha that includes many other mitzvot that are designed to prevent us from causing harm and to help us become more empathetic and compassionate human beings.

We hope that you enjoy this tidbit from this month’s Pop In teaching with Rav Gabrielle and can join us next month, details will be sent out in the weekly mailer!

An Action Packed Weekend at AARC

January 28, 2024 by Gillian Jackson

It was an action packed weekend filled with fun, food and music! It was so wonderful to be surrounded by joy amongst the darkness of winter and to be reminded of the change that is inevitable and always in process. Please enjoy these photos from this wonderful weekend!

Folk dancing for Shabbat Shira led by Drake!

A Wonderful Season of Chanukah

December 21, 2023 by Gillian Jackson

Despite the challenges this year, our community was able to share in the joy of the holiday. Enjoy this photo montage from some of our events!

A Joyous Mimouna!

April 28, 2022 by Gillian Jackson

The conclusion of Passover this year was marked with a joyous Mimouna celebration at the house of Jeff and Rena Basch. The Mimouna bonfire echoed a tradition that originates in Morocco as a cultural holiday and is celebrated in Israel with picnics and barbecues in the park. The weather was warm and everyone was so glad to be spending time together, releasing the constriction of the passover holiday by eating carbs and sweets! (pictures below!) The event was such a success we are hard at work planning more outdoor social gatherings for the summer, if you are interested in hosting something- let Gillian know!

The origins of the holiday vary depending on who you’re talking to. For some, Mimouna celebrates the yarzheit of Maimonides. For others, it began as an interfaith celebration of community and liberation in Morocco. The nation of Morocco is home to many Sephardic jews and Muslims; on the final night of Passover, these two communities would come together and share a meal filled with sweets and carbs. It was a time that Muslim neighbors could expect to be invited into the homes of their Jewish friends to celebrate the conclusion of the holiday. Many communities around the world have used this tradition to reconstruct opportunities to celebrate community and interfaith friendships.

At our Mimouna bonfire, Clare Kinberg shared a beautiful Mimouna family tradition. Clare blessed people with mint leaves dipped in buttermilk and dates and shared a blessing of fertility. This blessing was shared from her Moroccan relatives. The fertility blessing was not limited to childbirth, Clare encouraged everyone to think about what aspects of their life they would like to ‘fertilize’ or nourish. This could be something like a garden, a career, a relationship etc. It is a beautiful tradition that we were lucky to share on this beautiful evening. To learn more about the tradition, check out this article written by her niece, Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg.

photo credit: Emily Eisbruch

Purim 2022 Recap!

March 17, 2022 by Gillian Jackson

What a joyous occasion to spend the evening together celebrating Purim! It was exactly two years ago that we last celebrated purim together in person. Enjoy these photos from Jen Swanson of the evening!

Photo Beit Sefer in their theatrical reading of Chapter 7! Photo Credit: Jen Swanson

Mollie reading Chapter 7 and a good view of our sound table! Photo Credit: Jen Swanson

Rabbi Ora performing her annual upside down Megillah Reading in Hebrew!

Josh and Aziza planning their Charades performance!

Members of the Reconstructionist Movement Grapple With Tough Israel/Palestine Topics

January 19, 2022 by Gillian Jackson

Last week, a handful of AARC members attended a lecture by Rabbi Rebecca Alpert titled ‘Reconstructionism without Zionism.’ The event was the beginning of a series of lectures hosted by a coalition of Rabbis and members of the Reconstructionist community that are concerned about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The series was not hosted by the Reconstructing Judaism official body or the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. The lectures will occur bi-weekly and cover a range of topics including Decolonizing Jewish Liturgy, Rethinking Israel Education: Teaching Jewish Kids to Think Critically about Israel/Palestine, Becoming an Abolitionist: Antiracism and Antizionism and more. To learn more about the upcoming lectures, check out the coalition’s website here.

The lecture was opened with an appeal for all participants to sit with their uncomfortable feelings about Israel, be curious about what feels challenging, and remain open to hearing divergent viewpoints. Rabbi Brian Walt invited everyone to take part in a prayer to open the lecture:

Barukh atah Adonai Elo heinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu lirdof tzedek v’shalom l’chol yoshvei tevel.

Blessed is the Source of Life that makes us holy through mitzvot, calling us to pursue justice and peace for all.

If you want to read Rabbi Alpert’s lecture, you can find the source info here from an article she published on Rabbi Brant Rosen’s blog. In her lecture, Rabbi Alpert argued that we need to redefine what it means to be Jews in diaspora. She maintained that how Mordechai Kaplan related to Israel in the post-WWII era needs to be subject to ‘transvaluation’ in the same way that we have transvalued (or redefined) other concepts within Judaism such as the assertion of Jews as the ‘chosen people.’ Rabbi Alpert concluded by urging the Jewish community to consider the ethical implications of war and occupation.

Upon the conclusion of her lecture, the floor was opened up for 45 minutes questions. It was clear during the Q & A that participants had a lot to say about the subject of Zionism, and Rabbi Alpert’s opinion on the subject. The level of emotion and the fact that over 280 people attended the lecture demonstrates our communities’ need to grapple with this issue. The coalition hosting the lecture provided this space for discussion in the form of a Google group after the lecture.

If last week’s lecture is an example of the level of passion on the topic, we are in for an engaging series of lectures and discussions!

To attend next week’s lecture, sign up here.

Home Hosted Hanukkah 2021 Recap

December 8, 2021 by Gillian Jackson

We had big plans this year for indoor in-person events at the JCC and in people’s homes, but unfortunately the tides of the pandemic shifted and we needed to make new plans! Thankfully most of our events were able to be moved outdoors or onto Zoom, and only a few had to be cancelled. I am truly grateful for our community’s willingness to be flexible and make the best of the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in. There were many moments of joy and community to be found in this year’s celebration of lights and miracles — L’Chaim! Enjoy some photos from the week’s events below:

Event writeups

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