AUGUST 3 • 2023 | 15
Traverse City
Highlights
For people looking for a weekend
Up North, Traverse City has a lot to
offer — lakes, rivers, the trails through
beautiful woodlands and vibrant
agritourism. Known for the Sleeping
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore,
cherry orchards and vineyards,
Traverse City provides a perfect
backdrop to connect with family,
friends or just yourself. Each weekend
offers something special. See what’s
coming next at www.traversecity.com.
Congregation Beth Shalom.
The congregation, where
Rabbi Arnie first worked as
a student rabbi in the early
1980s, has never had a full-
time rabbi.
Housed in a modest white
building resembling a one-
room schoolhouse, little has
changed at Congregation
Beth Shalom since opening
in 1855 as Temple Beth El. In
2015, it merged with Ahavat
Shalom, a congregation
formed in 1997 by a group
of community leaders, and
is now Congregation Beth
Shalom. The building, now a
historical site, is recognized
as the oldest in Michigan to
be continuously used as a
synagogue.
Rabbi Arnie describes
services at Congregation Beth
Shalom as a combination
of Reform, Conservative
and Renewal practices to
accommodate its participants
who come from all different
Jewish backgrounds.
Traditions, he says, are
important, and the service
is mainly in Hebrew, with
some English prayers. The
congregants, he says, are
familiar with the service
and love to be participatory.
The congregation, he says, is
egalitarian and welcoming to
all, including members of the
LGBTQ+ community.
As for the Jewish
community in the area, Rabbi
Arnie says, “I don’t think that
anyone who chooses to live in
Traverse City does so with the
goal of living in an immersive
Jewish world. If you really
want to be immersively
Jewish every day, that kind
of community doesn’t exist.
Jews who move to Traverse
City have done so knowing
that’s not what they’re moving
there for. They’re moving
for the beauty of the area,
the lifestyle, opportunities
for physical pursuits and
also because there’s a lovely
Jewish community, but
not an immersive Jewish
community.”
For more information about Chabad
of Traverse City, including registration
for the free High Holiday services, visit
www.chabadtvc.org. To learn more
about Congregation Beth Shalom, visit
www.beth-shalom-tc.org.
Mike London and
Ken Newberry
at Congregation
Beth Shalom