Event writeups

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:

Marcy made adorable little care packages of tea, cookies, and Jordan almonds for her Sing Along and Tea event.

Home Hosted Hanukkah at the Speyer House! Photo Credit Nancy Meadow

Otto setting the ground rules for the Hanukkah Gelt Hunt Hosted by the Nelson Family. The kids had a blast!

Etta in her fully embodied ‘Hershel’ form for her dramatic reading of *Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.*

Community Candle Lighting Menorah set up for Rabbi Ora’s Zoom Hanukkah Event

A Book Group for People of the Book

October 9, 2021 by Gillian Jackson

by Greg Saltzman, written for the November 2021 edition of the Washtenaw Jewish News

Photo of monthly book club before COVID-19 Restrictions

Jews sometimes are called “people of the Book,” referring to the Torah. Books, interpreted more broadly, are the focus of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) book group. We have met since 2014 about eight times per year, discussing a different book each time. AARC book group meetings are open to members of the local Jewish community regardless of whether they belong to AARC.

Besides the intellectual stimulation of reading and discussing books, the AARC book group helps provide a sense of community and connection among the participants. Before COVID forced us to meet via Zoom, our meetings began with tasty food. (My wife, Audrey, loves feeding people.) May the pandemic end soon and the tasty food return!

Many of the books we discussed recently won National Jewish Book Awards. For example:

Max Gross, The Lost Shtetl, a novel about a hidden Jewish village in Poland that escaped the Shoah.
Colum McCann, Apeirogon, a novel based on a true story of an Israeli and a Palestinian who each lost a daughter to violence related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict but nevertheless reached out to each other to build peace.
Yossi Klein Halevy, Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation, a nonfiction account following the lives of seven Israeli soldiers from 1967 to more recent years.
Michael David Lukas, The Last Watchman of Old Cairo, historical fiction based on Solomon Schechter’s discovery of a treasure trove of Jewish documents in the Cairo geniza.
Rachel Kadish, The Weight of Ink, a novel about a Sephardic Jewish woman in 17^th century England who chafes at restrictions on women’s education.
Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni, a novel about the immigrant experience in New York around 1900, with a twist: one of the immigrants is a golem.

I’ve also loved some Jewish-themed books we’ve discussed that did NOT win National Jewish Book Awards, such as:

Sophie Judah, Dropped from Heaven, short stories about Jews of India.
Lucette Lagnado, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family’s Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World, a family memoir of the experiences of a prosperous Jewish family forced to flee Egypt after Nasser took over.

We discussed several books that did not have specifically Jewish themes:

J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, a family memoir of the experiences of working-class Appalachian whites, which helps explains some of the political support for Trump.
Mohsin Hamid, Exit West, a novel about war refugees that was a finalist for the Booker Prize.
A special treat was a discussion led by AARC member Jonathan Cohn, a journalist, of his book The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage. It’s not often that the author himself leads a discussion in a small book group.
AARC’s Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner has led the discussion for one meeting each year of the the AARC book group. In 2021, her session focused on Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, a nonfiction account of unfair treatment by the criminal justice system of those who are impoverished or Black.

Previews of coming attractions:

On Sunday, November 7, 2021 from 11:30 AM to 1 PM, we’ll have a Zoom discussion of Aaron Lansky, Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books. This is a memoir of Lansky’s efforts (for which he later won a McArthur Award) to rescue old Yiddish books before they were discarded in dumpsters. It also provides some insight into Yiddish culture in Canada and the U.S.
On a yet-to-be-determined Sunday in December 2021, from 11:30 AM to 1 PM, we’ll have a Zoom discussion of Yehuda Avner and Matt Rees, The Ambassador. This is an alternative history novel that assumes the British government implemented the 1937 Peel Commission recommendation to partition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The novel tells the story of the Israeli ambassador to Nazi Germany who desperately tries to save as many Jews as possible from being murdered by the Nazis.

If you would like to be added to the email distribution list for AARC book group announcements and Zoom links for our meetings, please email me at gsaltzman@albion.edu.

To see this article in the November 2021 Washtenaw Jewish News, scroll to Page 10 here. https://washtenawjewishnews.org/PDFs/WJN-11-21-web.pdf

A Lovely Summer Outside: A Photo Blog

September 29, 2021 by Gillian Jackson

AARC whole heartedly made some lemonade out of lemons this summer spending lots of time outdoors together after a long time physically apart during the COVID-19 pandemic. It took a little more planning, but we were able to find ways to congregate safely together to observe Shabbat, celebrate holidays, gather for social events, and religious school. Enjoy the photo blog today, and re-live the lovely times spent outdoors!