Life Cycle Activities

The Jewish Cultural Society gathers for baby and child naming, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Weddings and Funerals/Memorial Services. Our Madrikha works with each individual and family to craft a ceremony and experience  that meets the needs of the people involved and to reflect our Jewish heritage, while remaining respectful to other traditions.

Weddings

Weddings are written by the couple with help from the officiator, Julie Gales, who is ordained by the Leadership Conference of Secular Humanistic Jews. We celebrate the loving union of two people; intermarriages and co-officiations are performed, as are marriages between same-sex partners.

Funerals and memorial observances

The Jewish Cultural Society Memorial Garden is located at Arborcrest Cemetery. Our gravesites can accommodate cremated remains as well as conventional burial. Funerals can take place in such facilities as the nondenominational Muehlig Funeral Chapel in Ann Arbor, or the traditional Jewish Kaufman Funeral Home in Southfield. Memorial observances can also be held at the Jewish Community Center or at home.

Baby namings

The Secular Humanistic Jewish movement provides identical ceremonies for boy and girl babies. In a brief ceremony written by the parents with the help of Julie Gales, our Madrikha, the baby is named and good wishes are proffered for her or his future. The ceremony can be private or open to the community. Babies may be named at home, at the Jewish Community Center, or during a First Friday Shabbes Gathering. If a circumcision will be performed, it is generally done in the hospital before the baby comes home.

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Adults wishing to confirm their Jewish commitment, or to make a public commitment to Jewish life, may celebrate such a ceremony after appropriate study and action. The ceremony is written by the participants with the help of Julie Gales. The ceremony may be conducted on a Saturday morning or during a First Friday Shabbes Gathering.