Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Highlight

Exhibit Showcases AARC Creativity

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Art works by Leora Druckman, Dale Sass, Janet Kelman, and Mollie Meadow.


One of the pleasures of being part of the Ann Arbor Jewish community is meeting people engaged in fascinating intellectual, political, musical, and artistic endeavors. Recently, the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) showcased the artistic talents of its members in an exhibit at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor. The range and quality of the work on display were impressive.


According to Rabbi Gabrielle Pescador, “Last year, the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) launched AARC Creatives, giving members of our community an opportunity to share their creative work and talk about their artistic process. This year, we wanted to build on that idea by creating an exhibit. Since the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation—the home of AARC’s High Holy Day services—displays artwork throughout its building, we asked whether they might be open to exhibiting work by AARC members. They enthusiastically welcomed the idea and generously offered some of their exhibition space.”


Many talented and creative people in the AARC community—artists, artisans, and makers working in a wide range of media—embraced the opportunity to participate. AARC Executive Director Elizabeth Brindley served as the point person and coordinator for the exhibit.  “ It’s been wonderful to see the immense talent of our congregants, and the variety of emotions and moments captured in their pieces,” comments Elizabeth.  “The High Holidays are a time for reflection, and I think our Art Exhibit added to the depth and meaning of our High Holy Days together.“

Here are some of the featured artists and artworks:

  • Alan Haber, a carpenter, exhibited a peace table that was used at The Hague Appeal for Peace in 1999 and hosted Nobel Peace Prize winners and, since then, notables of many faiths and traditions. 
  • Margot Neuhaus, a painter, sculptor, and photographer, displayed two photographs: Galapagos and Sandwater.
  • Leora Druckman, an emerging ceramic and multimedia sculptor, exhibited several examples of her work
  • Jack Edelstein displayed designs that incorporate the ancient symbol of yin and yang—also known as the Taijitu or Cosmic Dyad—an emblem of complementary polarity.
  • Janet Kelman, a glass artist, displayed a piece titled Rushing Water.
  • Paulo Neuhaus, a digital photographer,  displayed photographs of peonies in his Ann Arbor garden and a flamenco dancer in Málaga, Spain.
  • Idelle Hammond-Sass, a sculptor, jewelry maker, and painter, displayed a necklace and two watercolor paintings.
  • Janet Greenhut displayed a painting of a Tricolor Heron.
  • Mollie Meadow, a talented high school student (and our youngest participating artist),   displayed a ceramic vase she created at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
  • Sally Goldberg, a ceramic artist who is a member of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild, displayed a raku mask.
  • Dale Sass displayed a box made of select hardwoods

Alan Haber with his peace table. At left are photos by Paulo Neuhaus. At right is a mask by Sally Goldberg.

Love Hate, by Jack Edelstein

Painting by Idelle Hammond-Sass

Tricolor Heron by Janet Greenhut

Galapagos by Margot Neuhaus

Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot Celebration

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Originally, Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot served as an agricultural and financial deadline to count and tithe newborn livestock for Temple offerings. This year, we’re reimagining it as a time to appreciate our furry beloveds! Please enjoy these photos of AARC’s animal members:

If you’d like to know more about the origins of Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot, check out Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1.

AARC to Join the 5th Annual Fair Housing Awareness Bikeathon in Detroit! – From Robin Wagner

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On Saturday, April 25, 2026, we will have the unique opportunity to grab our bikes, head to Detroit, and take a ride through some civil rights history as a sponsoring organization of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s annual Bikeathon!

Sharon and I have participated in this event several times and can assure you that it is a great event! Each year features a new route that takes the 100+ riders to various landmarks and sites important to the history of Detroit and the civil rights movement. In 2024, we started off at the Virginia Park Shopping Plaza, built in the 1960’s by the community’s residents who wanted to create positive change after the unrest of 1967. Next to the plaza is the 12th Street Memorial and Gordon Park, which commemorates the family and friends who lost their lives during the Detroit uprising of 1967 in protest of racist abuses by the city’s police department. A docent was there to share that history with us.

Other sites over the years have included the apartment where Rosa and Raymond Parks lived from 1961-1988, the New Bethel Baptist Church, Congregation Shaarey Zedek (with a tour and talk), the Ruth Ellis Community Center for formerly homeless and at-risk LGBTQ+ youth, the Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs, which fought racial zoning restrictions to build a home for 70 Black women’s clubs with over 3,000 member to focus on community development work, and an amazing Veteran’s Housing building that has become a national model for housing with supportive services.

This year’s ride will begin with a tour of the Ossian Sweet home. Dr. Ossian Sweet, https://ohsweetfoundation.org/, earned his medical degree at Howard University and then moved to Detroit to practice medicine in the Black Bottom neighborhood. In the early 1920s,he and his wife Gladys bought a home on the east side of the city. They were met bys ome 500 white men, women and children who surrounded the home and hurled stones at the house, smashing windows. The Sweets, with their family and friends, feared the escalating violence by the mob and fired warning shots into the crowd. When the dust had cleared, one man was dead and another injured. All eleven people inside the Sweet home were charged with murder. In 1925, Clarence Darrow defended the Sweets in a landmark trial followed by the entire country. The not-guilty verdict is seen as a turning point in our justice system.

Our ride this year—a leisurely 14 miles over several hours—will also take us through interesting stops in Grosse Pointe. The entire ride is escorted by the wonderful members of the 313 Cylones, a Detroit bicycle club that is part of a national association of bike clubs named for Marshall “Major” Taylor, who was the first Black track cycling champion in 1899.

AARC to Join the 5th Annual Fair Housing Awareness Bikeathon in Detroit.docxKey Details:

Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10 am to 1:30 pm, kick off at the Fair Housing Center’s office in Detroit:

5555 Conner Street, Detroit 48213.

(allow an hour+to get thereand unload yourbike.)

RAIN OR SHINE–so dress for the weather!

HELMETS ARE MANDATORY!

How do I sign up?

So glad you asked!

It’s a great family event, so consider bringing the whole mishpocha!

(I will be bringing my little dog Casper, who sits in a basked on the front of my bike.)

A member of the congregation has already provided the rider fees to cover 20 AARC riders.But times are tough for civil rights organizations like the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit. Their federal funding has been severely curtailed, with significant limits placed on their core activity of systemic enforcement of housing rights. So, we ask that each AARC member also make a donation to the Fair Housing Center to participate in the ride.

To Sign Up:

1.Head to this web page to sign up as a rider. You do not need to follow the link to pay the rider fee, since your fee has already been paid.

2. Instead, go to this web page to make an additional donation to the Fair Housing Center. We suggest a donation of at least double-chai ($36) for each adult rider and chai($18) for each child. In the notes section indicate that you are part of the AARC group.

3.Email me at robin.b.wagner@gmail.com to let me know how many you signed up so that we can keep track of our group size and help coordinate carpooling to Detroit for the bike ride.

Let’s help the Fair Housing Center build back up their resources to investigate complaints of housing discrimination and help victims get justice and equal opportunities for housing.

Refusing to Be Enemies Film Event and Panel

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April 23rd, 2:00-4:00pm at the JCC of Ann Arbor and online via Zoom

AARC will be hosting a film showing and speaker panel featuring the groundbreaking documentary, Refusing To Be Enemies: The Zeitouna Story directed by AARC member, Laurie White! The film showing will be followed by Q & A from members of Zeitouna featured in the film. The women will talk about their experience and answer questions about the evolution of the conversation over the past 20 years.

The film showing will be held at the JCC of Ann Arbor on April 23rd at 2pm. The event will be hybrid so that those unable to attend in person can join us via Zoom. Attendees at home and online can participate in the Q & A. Light snacks will be provided. Attendance is free and open to the public. Please sign up to attend below.

Sign Up To Attend

Refusing To Be Enemies: The Zeitouna Story Trailer

“REFUSING TO BE ENEMIES: The Zeitouna Story is a 58-minute long 2007
documentary film that profiles … a self-formed group of twelve ordinary women
calling themselves “Zeitouna,” the Arab word for “olive tree.” These six Arabs and
six Jews living in southeast Michigan weave an unusual and intimate tapestry of
sisterhood. Some of the women are American-born, others are immigrants; one is a
Holocaust survivor, another is a survivor of the Nakbah’s terror; their ages span 40
years. Filmmaker Laurie White is a founding member of Zeitouna. Her camera
became an invisible member of this sisterhood, capturing the interior of this sacred
space without ever upsetting and altering the fragile process of the group’s
awakening. The film does not attempt to answer questions of right and wrong, or
how to break the deadlock of the Middle East relationship. Instead, it offers living
proof of how the journey of personal transformation may pave the way to socio-
political transformation and peace.”

Sign Up To Attend