upcoming events

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.

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.”

There is SO much going on this month! It is heartening that our Jewish community – both local and national – is coming together for mutual support during this season. Please see the events listed below to learn more!

Sunday, November 1st. Limmud Michigan eFestival. Limmud MI will host a day of workshops with something for everyone. Some examples: “How to Be A Spiritual Badass through the Power of the Feminine Divine,” with Rabbi Tamara Kolton, “When Bigots Cite Scripture,” with Saeed Kahn and David Polsky, and “Beauty and Brutality: Art of the Holocaust,” with Jacob Kraus – and MANY more. Sign up here.

Songs for the Revolution! Tuesday, November 3rd, 8pm until we’re done! We could spend all evening on November 3rd anxiously watching the news … and/or we could sing together! Join Rabbi Ora and members as we keep one another company, schmooze, and sing our favorite (secular and Jewish) songs of hope, resistance, and revolution. If you have a song you’d like to sing or lead, please email the lyrics to Rabbi Ora by November 1, or download the lyrics in advance and be prepared to screen share.

Friday, November 6th, 5-5:30pm. Post Election/Pre-Shabbat Pause with Bend the Arc Ann Arbor (Rabbi Ora will be a speaker at this event). Regardless of the outcome (if we have one), this is a chance to gather with others to breathe, to gain strength for the work ahead, and to sing, yell, cry, and laugh. RSVP to Bend the Arc for a Zoom Link.

Sunday, November 8th, Global Day of Jewish Learning with Reconstructing Judaism. The Global Day of Jewish Learning is a project to unite Jewish communities through study of our shared texts, with a 24-hour period of live-streamed events around the world. This year’s theme is about Judaism’s vision of human dignity, the ethics of inclusivity, and the imperative to decrease marginalization. It will take place on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. More information can be found here.

Second Saturday Shabbat Morning Service. November 14th. Ta’Shma: Come and Learn begins at 10am; Shabbat service begins at 10:30. Meditation, prayer, discussion, community. Everyone is welcome! Zoom link will be sent out the week before the event. 

Annual Membership Meeting. Sunday, November 15th, 1-2:30pm. We’ll discuss what kind of COVID-safe programming we’d like to see in Fall-Winter 2020/2021. If you have ideas for new programs or ways to innovate old ones, and how you can help, please come prepared to present your idea at the Annual Meeting.

AARC Book Club. Sunday, November 22nd, 1-2:30pm. We will discuss Michal Lemberger’s book of short stories, After Abel, and Other Stories. This book updates the midrash tradition by telling the stories of Eve and eight other women mentioned briefly in the Hebrew Bible. If you would like to join this online discussion, please email Greg Saltzman.

Friday, November 27th, 6:30pm. Fourth Friday Kabbalat Shabbat. Come connect with community, rest, recharge, rejuvenate. Everyone welcome. 

Second Saturday Shabbat Morning Service. October 10th, 10-11:30am. We will celebrate a special ‘Simchat Shabbat’ (Simchat Torah/Shabbat mashup) with Congregation Agudas Achim from Attleboro, MA. We’ll begin with a Ta Shma on the value of simcha (joy) taught by Agudas Achim’s Rabbi Alex Weissman, then sing and pray together, and listen to members from both communities share their personal Torah on simcha. I hope you’ll join us for this special opportunity to expand our sense of community and open our metaphorical sukkah to these special ushpizin (guests). Email us for the Zoom link.

Siddur/Machzor Book Exchange! Sunday October 18th, 2-4pm at the JCC of Ann Arbor. We received lots of feedback that holding the High Holidays Machzorim in your hands was an important part of attending services together this year. In this spirit we have set up a time to bring back your Machzor and exchange it for a Shabbat Siddur. We will also use the occasion to collect canned goods to donate to Food Gatherers. Volunteers will be stationed in the parking lot of the JCC to receive your Machzor and sign you out a Siddur. Masks and social distancing will be in place. We look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces again! If you have any questions or will be unable to make it, please email us.

Tuesday October 27, 7-8:15 pm: Transforming Fear into Courage (Ometz Lev) with Rabbi Marc Margolius. In a time of widespread fear and anxiety for ourselves and our world, how can we cultivate an inner life which enables us to respond courageously and wisely to the needs of this moment, instead of reacting out of fear? Rabbi Marc Margolius of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality will lead a session on Jewish mindfulness practice as a practical tool to help us identify, develop, and strengthen our innate abilities to bear difficult thoughts and feelings, cultivate and access inner calm, and speak and act courageously. Zoom link will be sent out the week before the event.