Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Member Profiles

Erica Ackerman, Climate Activist

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This Q&A with Erica Ackerman was written for the April 2025 Washtenaw Jewish News, as part of climate outreach coordinated by A2J Climate Circle initiative.

A member of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, Erica is a climate activist who serves on the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club Huron Valley Group.

Erica, tell us about the origins of your climate activism

I became a climate activist leading up to the 2008 election. Working with the groups “Obama for America” and then “Organizing for Action,” I developed presentations to raise climate change awareness. We coordinated climate change symposiums in Dexter, Jackson, Canton, and Ypsilanti. 

How did you become a leader with the Sierra Club?

In 2018, longtime Washtenaw County activist Dan Ezekiel asked me to run for the Sierra Club of Huron Valley executive committee, and I was honored to step up.  At the time, funding for climate initiatives in the city of Ann Arbor was in doubt. The Sierra Club mobilized our community to attend city council meetings and to make their voices heard.  These efforts were impactful, and in 2019 the Ann Arbor city council passed the A2ZERO plan.  A key goal of A2ZERO is to realize community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030.

Have Jewish values played a part in your climate activism work?

Yes, for me it all seems integral; Jewish values lead to wanting to protect our environment, and advocating for the earth leads to appreciation of Jewish values, especially around Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).

Regarding activism in the Jewish community, prompted by our rabbi, I recently participated in lobbying through Jewish Earth Alliance, where we pushed our US Senators to defend our progress on climate action. 

Advice for others who want to get involved?

The Sierra Club could definitely use more people who are active and interested in taking action.  Start by attending the monthly Sierra Club program meetings, held on the third Tuesday of the month, 6pm to 7:30pm, in-person at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. The programs offer a mix of nature talks and environmental activism.

In addition, Sierra Club Executive Committee meetings are open to the public.  They are held on Zoom, the first Thursday of every month at 7pm. If you are interested in the Sierra Club Executive Committee Zoom link, text me (Erica) at 734-330-0163.

Welcome Back, Dieve Family!

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We are excited to see Mark, Stacy, Bass & Sappho Dieve back in Ann Arbor from their three year stint in Switzerland. They left in June 2021 just after Bass’ Bar Mitzvah and just as our congregation restarted meeting together outside for services. 

Both Stacy and Mark kept up a steady stream of stories of their Swiss adventures on Facebook that included trying to find challah, chocolate gelt and matzah. They particularly missed decent Mexican food. Along the way, they made some significant friendships from local purveyors of cheese, bread, coffee and wine as well as their neighbors and French teacher. 

The Dieve’s made their way to Switzerland for Stacy’s job as a Strategic Trade Manager for Cisco while Mark continued his work remotely as a certified herbalist and consultant, check his work out at rootedhealth.com. 

They are excited to get back to their home in Ann Arbor and to return to the Jewish community in real life. When you see Bass, ask him about his job and his interest in theater. Sappho is eager to get back to art and learn to play the guitar. 

Besides filling up on library books in English and as much guacamole, salsa and tortilla chips as they could eat since returning stateside, Stacy says “we are so happy to be home and very glad to have our Jewish community again.”  

Join us in welcoming the Dieve family back to town – do provide them with suggestions of new places to try Mexican food, find decent bread and coffee shops that might provide them with a little European experience. Stacy added, “We already miss being able to walk out of our apartment to the local boulangerie and buvette – the Swiss version of lakeside cafe. But mostly it is the people who make the place – and so we are excited to reconnect with all of our friends at AARC” 

Member Spotlight: Janet Kelman and Dave Rein

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Janet Kelman, her husband Dave Rein, and their cat Fred!

Janet Kelman joined AARC in 2019.  She and her husband, Dave Rein, live 
in Ann Arbor.  Janet is an artist who has lovingly created art and 
architectural glass for over fifty years (www.janetkelman.com). Janet 
will be showing her work at Art Sale at the Valley over Thanksgiving 
weekend (www.artsaleatthevalley.com). Dave is an episodically retired 
software engineer and terrific in house tech help.

Janet, Emily E., and Leora are the AARC Publicity Committee! They 
diligently work to showcase the amazing events happening in AARC to the 
wider Washtenaw Jewish Community.

Welcome New Members Jeremy Singer and Jenn Swanson

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Jenn and Jeremy moved to Ann Arbor in August. They live in the Old West Side neighborhood with their puppy Luna. They are engaged, and getting married in August 2022. Jeremy was raised in a Reform congregation, and Jenn is in the process of converting to Judaism. They previously lived in Detroit, where both of them worked as teachers. Jenn now attends law school at the University of Michigan, and is interested in labor law. Jeremy works as a research assistant at Wayne State University and is completing his Ph.D. in educational policy.

Welcome New Members Paula, Bori, and Adiv!

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Paula, Bori, and Adiv have been attending services since this summer and are now excited to become official AARC members! Paula and Bori moved from Boston in July and feel lucky to have found such a welcoming community here. 
Bori is a medical student at the University of Michigan and Paula is a medical assistant currently working towards a nursing degree and staying home with Adiv, who was born in September. In their free time, they enjoy hiking and camping, playing music, and taking family walks with their dogs, Henry and Arthur. 

A warm welcome to our newest member household!

Welcome Back, Ahuvia Family!

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Hello everyone,

We’re Aura and Aaron Ahuvia, and we are happily returning to our home, Ann Arbor, after a few years of being away. We are super-excited to meet you all, and to get re-acquainted! We’ve had some excellent adventures, first in Woodstock, NY, then in the Detroit burbs where Aura was working as a congregational Rabbi. We were so happy that things finally worked for us to return home, even though we never anticipated the move taking place during a pandemic!

When we’re not painting the walls of our new house, or playing with our new dog, Nikki, Aaron is a professor of Marketing and Consumer Psychology at U-M Dearborn, and Aura is a rabbi ordained through the Jewish renewal movement, known as ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Aura plans on teaching online for the time being, while Aaron is enjoying his year of sabbatical to work on his book (working title: The Things We Love). When participating in AARC events, Aura looks forward to being a “Jew in the pew,” i.e., she will not be performing rabbinical roles under the auspices of the AARC.  You can call her “Aura.” 

Kid update: Some of you will remember our sons, Isaac and Jonah. Isaac just entered a PhD program this fall in clinical psych at SUNY Stonybrook, on Long Island. He’s really enjoying his coursework and peers, albeit mostly remotely for now. Jonah put his undergraduate work on pause when the pandemic hit and is working and living with us for the time being. 

We have a long history with AARC (or “The Hav” as we will probably never stop calling it) and are very pleased to see it thriving. We can’t wait to get back into the swing of things. 

Aura & Aaron

Welcome New Member Hannah Davis!

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Hannah writes:

I’ve lived in Ann Arbor since 2014, and before that was in Kalamazoo, where I was raised. I grew up going to Temple B’nai Israel, wandered away from religion for over a decade, and recently rediscovered joy in Judaism after a tour of Ann Arbor congregations led me to AARC!

My day job (pandemic notwithstanding) is as a barista at Sweetwaters, and I’m training to become a copyeditor as well. I’m an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction, I love learning languages (including Spanish, Hebrew, and Tamil), I play the flute, keep house plants, and clearly have too many hobbies. 

AARC has been so welcoming and safe to me from the first service I came to. I leave every event having made a new acquaintance and having had engaging conversations, and I’m so happy to be a member now!

AARC welcomes you, Hannah!

Welcome New Members Andrew and Susan Flint!

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Andrew writes:

Susan and I moved to Ann Arbor many years ago when I became affiliated with the University of Michigan School of Medicine. Susan is a retired reference librarian and a graduate of U-M.

We have two daughters, a granddaughter, and a son-in-law,
all of whom live on the East Coast. I continue to teach at the University and have become the director of the Center for Automotive Gerontology.

Teaching, books, Airedales, cooking and baking, and film photography are among our passions.

We find AARC to be a warm, welcoming, and unpretentious community. And Rabbi Ora rocks!

As a special treat, Rabbi Ora requested that we share this lovely poem written by my daughter, Sarah Flint Erdreich:

Inheritance

dark eyes contemplative
behind gold rimmed glasses
corners of mouth hidden
by graying beard

my father
Army brat in Germany after the war
bad place to be a Jew
I used to picture him,
dark haired and slender,
never saying what he was
watching the flame of Sabbath candles
in Army-issue house

my mother stayed home
packed school lunches, ironed clothes
lively and laughing
in her Southern family
the skeletons left the closet
to have dinner with the living

my father left before I rose
worked late in the hospital
where he touched Death
at breakfast I ate the same meal
he, an hour earlier, consumed
wanting to be just like him

a photo taken in Switzerland
father bundled in a snowsuit
only solemn face visible
we could have been twins
at 7 years old

“enjoy life” he tells me
doing his best to ensure that I
who have inherited so much from him
will leave the sadness and silence
to the past that created it

– Sarah Flint Erdreich