The Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) book group got off to a great start in 2026, reading and discussing The World We Knew, by Alice Hoffman, in January, and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, in February.
The AARC book group’s Sunday, March 15th meeting is eagerly anticipated as Rabbi Gavrielle Pescador will lead the discussion. The book chosen for March 15th is God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine, by Toba Spitzer. “This book was recommended by our AARC executive director Elizabeth Brindley,” explains Rav Gavrielle.
In a 2025 blog for the AARC, Elizabeth wrote:
“Mah nora hamakom hazeh! – “How awesome is this place!, Jacob exclaims this after realizing he has had a divine encounter while sleeping on the side of the road, using a rock for a pillow. He didn’t realize he was roughing it in the house of G-d, but lo! The phrase from the Torah portion, Vayetzei, first popped out at me a few years ago in Toba Spitzer’s God is Here: Reimagining the Divine. At the time I was new to working in the prison system, struggling to adjust to the environment, and trying to fill the ample amount of downtime I had as a government employee with some Jewish thought. The context Spitzer used it in, at the time, didn’t particularly speak to me, as reading the phrase a dozen times in the Torah portion apparently hadn’t, but this time the phrase stuck. What did it mean to really be here, in this place? Is any place holy if you’re present with it, or are there other conditions to this awesomeness?”
“As I’ve been reading God is Here, I find myself both personally and professionally intrigued,“ says Rav Gavrielle. “The “God-word” can be challenging for so many of us (myself included)—whether because of theology, upbringing, philosophical leanings, or simply the limits of language—and I appreciate the way Spitzer opens things up through metaphor, imagination, and lived experience. I’m excited to see where this will take our conversations.”
If you would like to read the book God is Here: Reimagining the Divine and participate in the AARC book group’s March 15th lunch and discussion, please contact Greg Saltzman at gsaltzman@albion.edu.
photo of Rav Gavrielle leading the AARC book group in January 2025
