Our congregation was founded as the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Havurah in 1993. For many years we met in members’ homes for services, discussions and celebrations. At that time, services were lay led, and leadership rotated throughout the membership. Decisions were made by consensus of the entire membership –which started with about 20 people.
We have grown a lot since then; settled down in the Jewish Community Center; started a school for our kids; celebrated weddings, births, adoptions, and bar and bat mitzvahs; expanded from once a month services to a wide range of activities; appointed Aura Ahuvia as student rabbinic intern; became the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation and formalized our organizational structure and service leadership. Michal Woll served as our rabbi from 2013-2015. From 2015-2017, Alana Alpert of our sister congregation T’Chiyah was our visiting rabbi. From 2017-2022, Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner served as our congregation’s rabbi. In 2023, Rav Gavrielle Pescador became our rabbi.
Even as we grow, AARC still nurtures the feel of the Havurah that we were for nearly two decades—informal, dynamic, and highly participatory.
