Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Tikkun Olam

Isaac Meadow Presents Benefit Concert for Ukraine  

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   Isaac Meadow, of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, will present a humanitarian aid benefit concert for Ukraine on Thursday, June 15, at Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor, at 6:00 p.m. The concert will feature music by multiple composers, played upon the piano and the organ in the church’s main sanctuary. Admission will be by free-will donation.

      The concert will be performed as a “mitzvah project” ― a community service associated with Isaac’s Bar Mitzvah.  Isaac was inspired to take on this particular effort by the confluence of compassion, love of music, and familial ties to Ukraine. 

      At the age of five, when Isaac first received money as a present, he wanted to give it away to a beggar he met in the streets.  In the following years, he has remained empathetic to people in distress, particularly the homeless. When Isaac started following the news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he knew he wanted to act. “I was horrified,” he said, “particularly by the violence against children ― children being killed, or forced from their homes.” A benefit concert, he thought, might be a way for him to raise money to help.

      Isaac has a long-standing love of music. He has studied the piano since the age of five under the tutelage of Renée Robbins, and recently has started to study the organ with Carol Muehlig. He is looking forward to an intensive organ study at Interlochen fine arts camp later this summer. He has played piano for the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation’s High Holidays services, and looks forward to serving the congregation musically again in the future. The concert will feature pieces that Isaac has learned especially for the occasion, as well as several pieces that he has been playing for longer. The concert will also include a brief demonstration of the types of sounds and musical techniques achievable on the piano and organ.

      Isaac’s family has a current connection to Ukraine because Isaac’s grandmother befriended Vladimir Sayenko, now a Ukrainian lawyer, when he was studying at the University of Michigan in 1993 and 1994. Sayenko later hosted Isaac’s grandmother, and mother on a visit to Goroshina (alternatively, Horoshyne), the Ukrainian village Isaac’s great-great-grandfather fled in the early 1900s to come to the United States.

      All proceeds will go to “Breathe” (Ukrainian: “Dyhai”), a charity originally founded in 2020 to provide equipment for hospitals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Sayenko is an associate of one of Breathe’s founders, Isaac looks forward to keeping a close conversation going about the charity, and to seeing the good that the benefit concert proceeds will be able to accomplish. Thus far, Breathe has provided supplies to Ukrainian hospitals, winter clothing for the elderly, and electronic chargers and other equipment to families, for lighting, communication and for continuing children’s education in the wake of wartime disruptions. Isaac said, “It’s really good to be able to help people – even from so far away!”

Recruiting service leaders for Shabbat services! 

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The AARC Board expected that we would have a student rabbi or rabbinical intern to lead bi-monthly Shabbat services for the 2022-2023 year. Unfortunately, there were no fifth year Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) students interested in field placement in Ann Arbor. (Fortunately, there were RRC rabbi graduates interested in leading High Holidays services, so look for an announcement of our High Holiday service leader next week!)

For our Fourth Friday Kabbalat Shabbat and Second Saturday Shabbat services this year we envision a mix of lay leaders and visiting rabbis. We formed a committee to consider the Jewish holiday calendar as well as our current bi-monthly shabbat services schedule. We want to create a vibrant tapestry of services and events this year, spun by a variety of leaders. To encourage variety, we will set a limit that each person will conduct no more than four services during the year.

We have a committee led by Deb Kraus, Debbie Zivan, and Rebecca Kanner, who have begun the process of organizing and scheduling service leaders. We will have a network of support for anyone that is interested in providing this deeply important service to our community. You can volunteer here.  If you have any questions, or are curious about the possibilities, please email us. We look forward to hearing from you. Please sign up to lead!

Announcing Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement (JCOR)

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Most of our family histories include stories of caring people who stepped up to help our great-grandparents, grandparents, or parents resettle in this country.  Today we are challenged to step up and help another generation of refugees.

You have seen the news:  The United States initially expected to admit 125,000 refugees this year.  Then 80,000 more arrived from Afghanistan. Now, an additional 100,000 Ukrainian refugees are expected.

Jewish Family Services (JFS) is working tirelessly to do its share here in Washtenaw County and is requesting OUR help.  

To this end, representatives from Beth Israel Congregation, Temple Beth Emeth, the Jewish Cultural Society, the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, Pardes Hannah, and the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan have come together to form Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement (JCOR), whose purpose is to support resettlement of a refugee family.  Also, the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor will provide fiduciary oversight for all funds donated and disbursed in support of this purpose.  And now we need YOU!

Volunteers are needed for committees that will work in partnership with JFS staff to help refugee family members reestablish their independent lives here and orient to American culture.  With training from JFS staff, we will do this by helping refugees with:  housing, transportation, and employment; healthcare and financial planning; and childcare, schooling, and adult ESL classes as necessary.  We also need a cadre of on-call volunteers to help with short-notice critical needs, like last-minute transportation or child care coverage. 

Altogether, we are seeking 30 to 50 volunteers, who can be available up to three hours per week during the first two months after the family’s arrival. The time commitments will decrease gradually as the family members become more independent during their first year in the United States.

Of course, we need help with fundraising.  JFS recommends collecting $7,000 to $20,000 over the course of the family’s first year.  Of this, $4,000 should be available upon the family’s arrival to help cover initial costs. 

No one congregation will be singularly responsible or individually committed to provide a specific number of volunteers or a specific amount of funding.  But we believe that collectively our Jewish Community can make a difference for our new arrivals and help JFS meet its decades-long dedication to resettlement.

Click here to access JCOR’s on-line volunteer sign-up form, where you will find more information about the volunteer committees and choose the one in which your expertise, your experience, and your passion for Tikkun Olam will have the greatest impact.  

Additionally, all JCOR volunteers will complete the JFS volunteer form which will facilitate the required background check for all JCOR volunteers. Please complete the JFS form now. 

Click here to access the secure Federation/JCOR donation website.

Thank you!  The family members we help resettle today will be the grandparents of tomorrow.  As a volunteer in this effort, YOU will make a difference to their future generations!

For more information, please contact our AARC lead on JCOR: Alice Mishkin at alice.mishkin@gmail.com

AARC Mitzvah Corps – an Essential Ingredient of a Caring Community

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By Anita Rubin-Meiller written for the Washtenaw Jewish News

“Mitzvah comes from the root word tzavta, which means connection. There are 613 mitzvot, and therefore, 613 ways to connect to G-d.”
– Rabbi Zushe Greenberg

I appreciate this definition of mitzvah, which goes beyond doing a good deed or following a commandment, and adds connection as an essential ingredient. When I became chair of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (AARC) Mitzvah Corps several years ago, I knew that what we could offer to the larger community would best be generated by what we offered each other to build connection, support, and a sense of being known. Towards that end, we began having quarterly meetings, which moved to Zoom during shutdown and have been in person since the availability of the vaccine. The meetings begin with a personal sharing of a blessing and a challenge since we last met. In this way we have supported each other through health challenges, losses, changes in career or living situations, family stresses.  Through that feeling of being connected it is easy to feel moved to connect to others when they are in need. Connection is the heart and soul of our mission – “to mobilize support when needed” and our vision – “to create a non-judgmental community in which it is natural to ask for and receive help.”

Connection is the heart and soul of our mission – “to mobilize support when needed” and our vision – “to create a non-judgmental community in which it is natural to ask for and receive help.”

Early on the Pandemic showed us that support might have to arrive in ways that we were unaccustomed to. We were placed in lockdown in March, 2020 and a month later, a former beloved member of our congregation notified me that she had just lost her mother and was seeking support for one night of Shiva. She and her family had other resources for Shiva as well, but it was especially important to her during this time of “virtual only” contact to be with people who knew her, her family and may even have known her mother. She had been an active member of the congregation for many years and had celebrated the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of her children with us. It was a certain joy to be able to connect her with Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner and know that her needs in the midst of grief would be well tended to. The Mitzvah Corps notified  the congregation of the chance to offer support, and our first Zoom Shiva was manifested. While a Zoom Shiva could never substitute for the in-person hugs, warm personal exchanges, and provision of food that happen in person, for this woman, seeing familiar faces, in a religious context that meant a lot to her, “felt like home”.

Another request prompted by the societal circumstances we found ourselves in was from a long time AARC member with chronic health issues that impacted her mobility and sense of safety. At the start of the pandemic, she was experiencing greater physical difficulty, and had had a couple of falls. It was also just barely a year since she had lost her beloved husband, and her loneliness and isolation was acutely felt. At the suggestion of a good friend, she contacted the Mitzvah Corps and explored what support could be offered. We created a chain of daily phone calls with a combination of AARC members and personal friends, that continues to this day. She says she is “so thankful” and that through these calls she has come to trust that “someone cares about me”.

Some needs met by the Mitzvah Corps, such as helping families host services for B’nei Mitzvah have been unnecessary during these past 2 years. Other needs have remained the same. We have organized meal chains for families bringing home a newborn and for individuals moving through significant illness or injury. We have provided rides to medical appointments and assisted with grocery shopping. We have been grateful that when a need is made known, many members of our congregation rise to the occasion to pitch in.

As it is designed now, the five Mitzvah Corps members carry the responsibility to mobilize support when and where it is called for. All requests come through the chair person and are either met by her, or assigned accordingly. We have been glad to be available during these difficult times, but at times have also felt the strain of higher demand, as when two of our members were significantly injured and another’s family was ill with Covid. 

The pandemic also thwarted initial efforts from some Corps members to start new offerings, a support group for families caring for their elders and a support group for parents of teens. Hopefully these will happen in the future.

“You don’t always think of yourself as someone who will need something, but we are all vulnerable and there are times we will need help.”

At our most recent quarterly meeting we began to address the issues of increasing membership in the Mitzvah Corps and being better able to know, and meet, what the needs of the congregation’s members truly are. As we puzzled over what we’d want others to know about our efforts, one member, Caroline Richardson, observed: “You don’t always think of yourself as someone who will need something, but we are all vulnerable and there are times we will need help.” Our board liason, Debra Gombert, observed:” the act of bringing a meal to congregation members in need was about connection, not cooking; about being in community and creating community.”

It seems that the Covid pandemic and other factors in the past few years have highlighted great need in many areas for many people. It can be overwhelming to know where you can have an impact that matters, if that is your desire. But, as it says in the Mishnah, “Anyone who saves a life, it is as if they saved an entire world.” The AARC Mitzvah Corps offers an opportunity to lighten the burden of one individual, or family, and by doing so increase your own sense of well -being and joy. 

If you would like to learn more about the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation please visit aarecon.org, or contact Gillian Jackson at aarcgillian@gmail.com or Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner at rabbi@aarecon.org.

To see this article in the December 2021 Washtenaw Jewish News, scroll to Page 19 here. https://washtenawjewishnews.org/PDFs/WJN-12-21-web.pdf

Gratitude For Our High Holidays Volunteers: A Heartfelt Labor of Love

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One of the qualities that makes our congregation a warm and welcoming organization is the sense of family and responsibility that we hold for one another. When someone gets involved in the workings of AARC, it becomes apparent to them that each and every member brings something valuable to the table, be it music, writing, community-building, law, activism, education, technological expertise, etc. We could not be who we are without every single one of us. It is a rare honor to be a part of such an organization, one that everyone believes in and values.

Thank you to all of our volunteers that worked so hard to make the High Holidays happen for everyone both virtually and in person!

Board – Erica Ackerman, Rena Basch, Avi Eisbruch, Debra Gombert, Deborah Fisch, Rebecca Kanner, Seth Kopald

Tech – Seth Kopald, Erica Ackerman, Mark Schneyer,​​ Aaron Jackson, and Tony Brown

Zoom Gabbais – Stephanie Rowden and Jeff Basch

Torah Service and Haftorah Coordinator – Deb Kraus 

Torah Service Gabbais – Deb Kraus and Claudia Kraus Piper, Rebecca Kanner

Torah Readers – Deborah Fisch, Evelyn Neuhaus, Tara Cohen, Deb Kraus, Amie Ritchie, Rena Seltzer, Tommy Cohn, Cantor Gabrielle Pescador, Hannah Davis, Jonathan Weinberg, Avi Eisbruch, Janet Kelman, Lori Lichtman

Rosh HaShanah Maftir Aliyah – Miles Hall

Scheduled Yom Kippur Haftorah Readers – Ari Basch, Miriam Berman Stidd, Zander McLane, Otto Nelson, Sam Ball

Haftorah Video – Stephanie Rowden, Andy Kirshner, and Deb Kraus

Children’s Services – Clare Kinberg, Lori Lichtman

Childcare – Shani Samuel, Meleny Malcolm, and Melissa Meiller

Poetry Readers – Anita Rubin-Meiller, Janet Greenhut, Jeff Basch, Sally Fink, Kira Berman, Laurie White

Divrei Torah – Cantor Gabrielle Pescador, Deb Kraus

Hagbah and Gelilah – Etta Heisler and Brenna Reichman, Eric and Elliot Bramson

Yizkor Leader –  Claudia Kraus-Piper

Shofar – Debbie Zivan, Zander McLane

Music – Cantor Gabrielle Pescador

Instrumentals – Cantor Gabrielle Pescador and Margo Schlanger

High Holidays Volunteer Army – Logistics, moving things, packing up books, unpacking books welcome table, ushering, flowers, etc etc” Anita Rubin-Meiller, Rebecca Kanner, Rena Basch, Mike Ehman, Dale Sass and Idelle Hammond-Sass, Amy Tracy Wells, Ella August, Becky, Sam and Joey Ball, Debbie Field, Deborah Fisch, Jeremy Singer, Sally Fink, Hannah Davis, Deborah Schwartz, Claudia Piper, Brenna Reichman, Lisa Wexler, Janet Greenhut, Sharon Haar and Robin Wagner, Pam Shore and Rena Selzer, Harry Fried.

Covid Re-Opening Task Force: Caroline Richardson,  Janet Greenhut, Joe Eisenberg, Leora Druckman, Jon Cohn, Gillian Jackson, Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, Rebecca Kanner and Rena Basch

Thanks to our staff: Clare Kinberg, Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, Gillian Jackson, and Cantor Gabrielle Pescador

AARC Celebrates Pride Month

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Written by: Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner

June is Pride Month in this country: a month when LGBTQ+ voices are amplified, LGBTQ lives are celebrated, LGTBQ losses are mourned, and when we renew our commitment to creating a world of justice and equality for all.

Naomi Goldberg, an Ann Arbor Jewish activist and co-parent with her wife Libby of 7-year-old Nathan, wrote on Sunday May 30th:

“I always look forward to Pride Month, but it feels heavier this year – because of the killings of black people and the painful and important wrestling with how far we still have to go as a country (and as white people); because of the pandemic with hundreds of thousands dying and sick and millions losing jobs and millions struggling with social distancing; and while we’re anticipating rulings from SCOTUS that could jeopardize workplace protections for LGBTQ people.”

We don’t celebrate Pride this year in spite of overwhelming loss and revealed injustice:

We celebrate because the first Pride Parade was the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a protest against police violence led by queer and trans people of color.

We celebrate because LGBTQ equality is a branch of the same tree that roots the Black Lives Matter movement, the #MeToo movement, disability activism, and the ongoing struggle to teach our political leaders that human lives must be valued over financial profit.

We celebrate knowing that joy is important; that learning our LGBTQ Jewish history is important; that highlighting LGBTQ heroes in our community and beyond is important; and that hearing and witnessing our LGBTQ members, particularly during this time, is important.

We celebrate because celebrating is an act of joyful defiance against those who would have us believe that we are not all created b’tzelem Elohim.

How will AARC celebrate Pride Month this year?

On Friday June 26th, join us online for Pride Shabbat, beginning at 6:30 pm. If there are readings, poems, or personal reflections you’d like included in the service, email Rabbi Ora (rabbi@aarecon.org) by Friday, June 19.

What else will happen? We have some ideas, but we need YOU to make them happen!

  • A virtual Pride ‘Parade,’ kicked off by a kid-centered virtual sign-making party. After creating the signs, take a photo of your family holding these signs in your front yard, or stick them in your windows and take a photo of that! We’ll share them all together as a virtual Parade. Are you willing to coordinate this (with help)? Email Gillian at aarcgillian@gmail.com
  • Host an online discussion based on a podcast episode. Keshet has a new podcast video series called Joy and Resilience: Jewish LGBTQ Leaders on What Sustains Us All, while the podcast Making Gay History has a number of episodes that focus on past and present Jewish LGBTQ activists. Invite folks to watch or listen at their leisure, then plan a Zoom call to talk about it. Want to facilitate this (with guidance)? Email Rabbi Ora at rabbi@aarecon.org
  • Are you an LGBTQ member of our community? Consider writing a paragraph on what Jewish community means to you, and we’ll feature your words in a special blog post this month. Have something to share? Please email Judith Jacobs (judithjacobs@mac.com) with your reflection by June 11
  • Do you have pictures of yourself and your family or friends attending Pride parades in past years? Email Gillian your photos

Other ideas for how we can celebrate and learn together? Please email Rabbi Ora, Gillian, or Judith so we can support you in making your vision a reality.

Finally, I want to remind you that starting this year, AARC celebrates Pride Month in the context of a larger commitment from our leadership to increase LGBTQ inclusion in our congregation through leadership training, programming, policy, and shifts in culture. If you have ideas on how to contribute in any of these areas, please be in touch.

I look forward to celebrating with you.

Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner 

Tu B’ishvat 2020: Let’s Take Stock of Our Environment

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The function of Tu B’ishvat in the ancient world was to mark the season of taxation and accounting: farmers would count their olive trees in order to measure their wealth and then tithe accordingly. In modern times, Tu B’ishvat has been reimagined as an environmental holiday during which we celebrate nature and all that it provides.

This weekend, the sun emerged to remind us that the short days of winter are limited and spring is on the horizon. Eager gardeners are readying their seed trays and surveying their gardens. Hikers and runners are reacquainting themselves with favorite trails. Nature appreciators of all kinds are looking forward to reveling in the joys of spring. So often we partake of nature’s gifts without taking time to give thanks for the fragile ecosystem that grants us life.

Now, in 2020, the connection between our collective actions and the state of our environment is at a critical point. Tu B’ishvat’s origins as a reminder to account for our use of nature are strikingly relevant. How can we now make use of our natural resources while still maintaining accountability? Can we find ways in our lives and communities to counteract the measures of our policymakers that are hostile to our environment?

In this year’s celebration of Tu B’ishvat, let us reflect on the current state of our environment and find ways to make positive change for our communities. Do you have any ideas for environmental work? Please share them below!

What Does it Mean To Be Welcoming: Gender Inclusivity

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This blog post is the first in a three-part series exploring what it means for a congregation to be truly welcoming. Each week we will explore a different topic: gender inclusivity, welcoming people of all (dis)abilities, and appropriate touch.

Walking into a place of worship, it’s possible to take our welcome for granted, but that has not always been the case (and continues not to be, in some communities) for LGBTQIA and genderqueer/non-binary Jews. For those of us who are not cisgender, entering new spaces can cause us to feel uncertain how we will be treated. While a community might fervently believe that it is accepting of others, newcomers might not perceive this spirit of acceptance without gestures of explicit welcome.

Since biblical times, Jews have carried on a tradition of engaging with various expressions of gender. In fact, Jewish texts contain references to six different genders.

  • Androgenos – one who has both male and female characteristics
  • Tumtum – one of uncertain or undecided gender
  • Aylonit – one who is born female and transitions to male
  • Saris – one who is born male and transitions to female
  • Male – male biology and identifying
  • Female – female biology and identifying

Because Modern English typically insists upon gendered personal pronouns, we can find ourselves searching for workarounds to accommodate cultural understandings of genders beyond “he” and “she.” Modern English usage often leads us to pause mid-sentence or mid-thought to reconsider the assumptions about gender we are about to make. Just as our Jewish ancestors developed a lexicon to include various expressions of gender, we must do the same in our language.

If we wish to be more welcoming, being mindful of pronoun preferences is a good place to start. When we introduce ourselves, we might add our own chosen pronoun; for example, “Hi, my name is Gillian, you can use she/her pronouns when referring to me.” When we introduce someone new, we might say, “Sally this is Newbie; Newbie – what pronouns do you prefer?” This signals that we are not taking our gender expressions for granted and welcome others to do the same.

AARC will be offering pronoun stickers to add to our member name tags. These little stickers will help all of us avoid any assumptions and assure a special welcome to those whose pronouns are often misused. The new stickers will be on the welcome table beginning at this Friday’s Kabbalat Shabbat service.

Jewish history is overrun with accounts of our people rendered powerless, discriminated against, and treated as second class citizens. As Jews, we have an obligation to ensure that other marginalized communities never have to face these obstacles when engaging with us. It is in this spirit that I welcome you to practice this new way of interacting with gender and incorporate it into our community when welcoming guests and visitors to our congregation.

Beit Sefer Picnic and Native Tree Planting

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Photos and Article Credit: Fred Feinberg

On Sunday, May 5, Beit Sefer students, teachers, and parents congregated (as congregations do!) at Country Farm Park for not only our annual picnic, but to help plant indigenous fruit trees at County Farm Park’s Pollinator Garden. We all first learned about indigenous vs. non-native species, then donned protective gloves and took up hoes, handsaws, and strangely powerful branch clippers. 

Implements in hand, we helped take several non-native honeysuckle trees down to stumps, clear away debris, and prepare the ground for planting trees and shrubs native to our area — paw paw, American plum, persimmon, and chestnut — learning about each from a park representative. While Gdolim and Yeladim cut away and hauled large branches, Ktanim cleared a patch of ground shrubs and aerated the soil, under the watchful eye and aching backs of parents and teachers.

Afterward, Stacy Weinberg Dieve presented our hardworking teachers and helpers — Clare, Shlomit, Aaron; Zander, Avi, Rose — with tokens our our collective appreciation. We all then gathered at the Pavilion to sing a Hebrew prayer and learn a two-part round from Rabbi Ora, after which we feasted on a variety of seasonal, vegetarian dishes prepared by Beit Sefer families: vegetable casserole, brioche, fruits, challah. The weather was literally perfect, and the children spent the time afterward running and frolicking in the playground. All in all, a wonderfully successful day!

AARC Shavuot 2018: Belonging, Behaving, Believing

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“In 1934 Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, wrote his classic text Judaism As Civilization. Kaplan taught that there are three ways of identifying with a religious community: by believing, by behaving, and by belonging…And it’s true that no matter what Jews believe, and no matter how Jews behave, there is an underlying, fundamental and intrinsic interconnection that ties us together in a common history and present reality.”

–Rabbi Joe Klein

Celebrate Shavuot with a Night of Learning

Saturday May 19, 7-10 pm at the JCC

Choose from 4 study sessions taught by AARC community members

Eat cheesecake and other dairy sweets

Bring a box of grain to donate to Food Gatherers

Close the evening with Havdallah

7:00 PM:  Gather

7:15-8:15:  Jonas Higbee: “Building a Community Response to Fascism: Lessons from Richard Spencer’s Visit to MSU” (‘Behaving’)

7:15-8:15:  Clare Kinberg: “Shavuot4BlackLives: Jewish Views on Reparations” (‘Behaving’)

8:15-8:30:  Cheesecake Break

8:30-9:30:  Etta King Heisler: “Belonging in America:  What is Belonging and How Does it Broaden, Limit, Deepen, or Otherwise Define Our Community?” (‘Belonging’)

8:30-9:30:  Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner:  “A Long and ‘Twisted’ Relationship: Us, God, and…Challah?” (‘Believing’)

9:30-10:00:  Havdallah