On Monday evenings, adults of all ages gather at Washington Hebrew Congregation to engage in Jewish learning. Mondays@Macomb is one of the Reform synagogue’s most attended series.
Participants choose between three clergy-led educational programs, allowing them to connect not only with their Jewish identities but also with each other.
Rabbi Aaron Miller of WHC has led 12 Jewish Questions for a decade. The 12-week series delves into “big questions,” including “Where is God in times of tragedy?” and “What happens after I die?”
“We spend each night diving deep into Jewish wisdom on the answer,” Miller said. “We have 12 questions that we focus on, and we aim for depth with each one.”
Another Monday night program is Strengthen Your Steps, a Jewish guide to ethical living based on Mussar, a Jewish spiritual practice. Taught by WHC’s Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin, this class combines small group work with chevruta study, or learning partnership.
“That’s an exciting, more practical way of moving through your life with a greater sense of Jewish ethics,” Miller said.
Senior Rabbi Sue Shankman and Senior Cantor Susan Bortnick lead Living Mindfully, a six-week journey to practicing mindfulness through a Jewish lens. For many, this peaceful time of reflection is needed more than ever.
“It’s such a chaotic time in the news cycle and spiritually for Jews that this is a way of bringing some centeredness to our lives, so people are really excited for it,” Miller said.
Due to high demand, Miller’s goal is to keep adding classes to Mondays@Macomb.
“Jewish learning is a perfect way for Jews to deepen their Jewish identity,” he said. “I think this is a time when Jews from across the country are looking to more deeply explore their roots and take a serious adult education class to discover the depth of this incredible tradition as a way to reconnect with a part of themselves, a part of their identity and a part of their story.”
This spiritual exploration happens through prayer and in the classroom, according to Miller.
But this programming goes beyond learning; participants bond over a communal dinner and open bar before they branch out into their respective programs. Miller added that witnessing these friendships blossoming is the “highlight of his rabbinate.”
“People really get to know each other, and there’s this beautiful sense of community,” Miller said.
That community consists of WHC members across the board in terms of age: young professionals, parents using Mondays as their “date night,” retired older adults and everyone in between. “I’ll look around the very full room and [see] someone who just graduated college sitting next to someone whose grandchild just graduated high school, and these two will become friends,” Miller said.
He added that there aren’t many opportunities for Jewish people of different generations to get to know one another, especially not through Jewish learning: “The intergenerational piece of these relationships is just beautiful.”
Miller and WHC’s clergy team chose the three programs partially based on community interest.
“We want to read the temperature of the Jewish community,” Miller said, adding that Mondays@Macomb began immediately after Oct. 7, 2023, so Shankman pivoted to teaching a semester-long course on Israel and current events rather than what she’d originally planned.
“We definitely want to read what’s happening in the Jewish world, but also for us as clergy, this is a great way to deepen what we’re already passionate about,” Miller said.
He said Shankman and Bortnick have increasingly participated in Jewish mindfulness.
“This is their chance to share material that they love with our congregation,” Miller said.
The first session of this semester’s 12 Jewish Questions and Living Mindfully was Oct. 13. The first session of Strengthen Your Steps is Oct. 20.
