On the northeast corner of Dodge Avenue and Mulford Street in southwest Evanston, a three-story building with a white reflective roof, reclaimed maple entry doors, and a photo-voltaic-lit parking lot serves as the spiritual home of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation. More than four hundred households gather here to pray, learn, protest, celebrate, eat, and laugh together. JRC, as members call it, identifies itself with a single mission statement: "JRC is a diverse, participatory, and sacred community dedicated to a daring, deeply-rooted Judaism." That combination of boldness and tradition, of intellectual seriousness and warmth, has defined the congregation since a small chavurah first took shape in 1959 and elected its first president in 1964.
The Reconstructionist Difference
JRC has been affiliated with the Reconstructionist movement and its preceding organizations since its inception, and the movement's defining instinct - "The past has a vote, but not a veto" - shapes daily life here. Reconstructionist Judaism, in JRC's own framing, is "both deeply rooted in Jewish traditions and boldly relevant to the complexity and plurality of the times in which we live." Judaism, the congregation teaches, is best understood as the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people: a civilization that contains ritual, music, text, art, history, sociology, food, literature, politics, and, above all, Jewish community.
JRC points to the founder of the movement, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, as the source of many innovations the wider Jewish world now takes for granted, including the first Bat Mitzvah in 1922. At JRC, services often feel like a mosaic - sung and chanted Hebrew, English readings and poetry, new melodies from young composers, familiar tunes, and the integration of social and political issues into the liturgy. Discussion is often offered in place of a sermon, and participation is built into the rhythm of every service. "Come as you are" is not a slogan but a working assumption: everyone is invited to bring their full selves, Jewish or not, in search of meaning, comfort, motivation, and connection.
Clergy and Staff Who Shape the Community
Rabbi Rachel Weiss has served JRC since August 2016, and 2026 marks her tenth anniversary at the congregation. A JRC and Evanston native, she returned to her home congregation after serving as associate rabbi at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York and a rabbinic fellowship at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. A graduate of Grinnell College and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where she was an Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman scholar and the recipient of the Berger Prize in Practical Rabbinics, Rabbi Rachel is a fluent Spanish speaker, a proficient communicator in sign language, a Hebrew and English calligrapher, and a skilled chef. She is the proud parent, with her wife Julia Tauber, of Hannah and Norah. She is known for her warmth, her innovative teaching of Torah, and her commitment to Jewish life that is creative, connective, and deep.
Cantor Howard Friedland has been JRC's cantor since 2001, making him the longest-serving member of the senior clergy team. Before entering hazzanut, he worked for twenty years as an actor in theater, film, and television after studying at Indiana University and the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University. He studied hazzanut with Cantor Cory Winter, serves as treasurer and a past president of the Cantors' Hub in the Chicago/Milwaukee area, and has now celebrated and mourned with most of the congregation in one way or another. Cantor Howard is also the tutor who patiently and lovingly guides B'nai Mitzvah students through their Torah and Haftarah preparation, and he regularly refreshes the musical repertoire of services. He is married and the father of two adult children, Hannah Mira and Ben.
The clergy team is rounded out by Rabbinic Intern Marques Hollie, a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, an ordained Maggid, and an operatically trained vocalist. Marques has served Jewish communities across North America and the United Kingdom and is a past recipient of the Philadelphia Board of Rabbis' Rabbi Moses Eckstein Prize for Jewish Education.
Micky Baer has served as Executive Director since May 2020, bringing more than twenty-five years of not-for-profit leadership, a master's in social work from Loyola University, and a contagious collaborative energy to the operations of the congregation. Director of Education Soreh Rosenblum oversees Kehillah and the congregation's learning for all ages; she holds a bachelor's in Community Studies and Politics from UC Santa Cruz, a master's in education with a special education credential, and several certificates in Jewish education. Director of Engagement and Programming Julie Rubin creates meaningful programs across the life of the congregation and serves as the primary contact for events, facility usage, rentals, life cycle events, and member involvement. Director of Operations Leslie Brown manages accounts, yahrzeits, building access, and the Refuah Sheleymah healing list.
North America's First Platinum LEED Synagogue
The building itself is a defining part of JRC's story. When members decided in the early 2000s that they needed a new home, the choice to build green was a values-based decision grounded in the Jewish principle of Bal Tashchit - "do not destroy or waste" - and the Midrash teaching that humans must not spoil or destroy the world, for if they do, no one will repair it after them. The result, opened in 2008, was the first platinum LEED-certified synagogue in North America, and the first house of worship in the world to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's highest sustainability rating.
The synagogue's environmental story is in its details. The front ceremonial entrance door is made from reclaimed maple trees harvested from the original building site; exterior and interior siding was reclaimed from barns in upstate New York; cabinets and shelving are made from sunflower-husk panels; the parking lot is lit by solar-powered lights and includes a designated spot for fuel-efficient vehicles; and a solar-powered Ner Tamid glows in the sanctuary and chapel. Heating and cooling are controlled by an energy-efficient zoning system, with only the lower portion of the high-ceilinged sanctuary and social hall heated and cooled. The white reflective roof reduces the building's heat-island effect on the neighborhood.
JRC's commitment extends beyond the building itself. Ninety-six percent of the old structure on 303 Dodge Avenue was recycled; trees that could not be preserved were milled for use inside the building. Office operations use recycled post-consumer paper, mostly digital communications, washable tablecloths, compostable flatware and plates, and full composting of food waste. The green spaces around the building are filled with native prairie plants in place of turf grass. The project received the 2009 AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Project, a 2009 Chicago Building Congress Merit Award, and a 2009 World Architecture Festival High Commendation in Community Buildings.
Two elevators reach the second-floor religious school and the third-floor sanctuary and social hall. The sanctuary and social hall are fully accessible to people using mobility devices, including a ramp to the bima; the building uses accessible door handles throughout; all bathrooms include accessible stalls; and the parking lot offers designated accessible parking near curb cuts. A large-print prayer book, assistive listening streamed to hearing aids or headphones, and CART captioning are available for those who need them.
The Weekly Rhythm: Shabbat and Weekday Minyan
Shabbat morning is the heartbeat of JRC. From 10:00 a.m. to noon, the Lay-Led Multi-Access Minyan gathers in the sanctuary and on Zoom for Shabbat Shaharit, including a Torah reading, an interactive d'var, and the public recitation of the Mourner's Kaddish. Once a month, the entire family and congregation join together for Chodesh Shabbat, an all-school family day of learning and community that ends with an Oneg - and of course, food. Kabbalat Shabbat services led by Rabbi Rachel Weiss and Cantor Howard Friedland often feature JRC's in-house klezmer band, Heavy Shtetl, and fill the sanctuary with song and dancing, especially on holidays like Simchat Torah.
On Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m., a brief Weekday Ma'ariv minyan meets on Zoom, running about twenty minutes and providing a chance to say Kaddish with community. Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. bring the Weekly Torah Study via Zoom, led by clergy or members, with all translations welcome and no experience required. Monday evenings at 5:00 p.m. host the lay-led Reading the Prophets Study Group, currently working through the Book of Jeremiah - a continuation of an earlier cycle that read the New Testament through a Jewish lens.
Visitors are welcomed at services of all kinds. Anyone may attend Shabbat and holiday services; High Holiday services require tickets, which are included with membership and available for purchase by non-members. Family services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur do not require tickets. There is no dress code, though High Holiday services tend to be dressier than Shabbat services. People of any gender are welcome to wear a kippah; people who have had a b'nai mitzvah wear a tallit during morning services and any holiday when the Torah is read; kippot and tallitot are available for those who do not have their own. Prayer books, handouts, and other service materials include transliteration and English translation, so those who do not read Hebrew can follow along comfortably.
Children are always welcome at services. The FAQ advises that bringing children is a wonderful way to "teach by doing," and a toy rug with quiet books and puzzles is provided in the main sanctuary. If children need a non-quiet space to move or play, the Early Childhood Center on the first floor is open during services.
High Holidays, Festivals, and Lakefront Shabbat
The High Holidays arrive each fall as the congregation's most intensive spiritual gathering. Erev Rosh Hashanah begins with a Shofar Walk at Arrington Lagoon on the Evanston lakefront. Rosh Hashanah Day 1 services move indoors to First United Church of Evanston and are livestreamed; a Rosh Hashanah Family Service is held outdoors at Centennial Park on the lakefront and on Facebook Live, immediately followed by Tashlich - the ritual of casting away sins at the water - led by Rabbi Rachel and Cantor Howard on the Centennial Park pier. Rosh Hashanah Day 2 services return to the JRC sanctuary for a more relaxed, heimische service led by the clergy team.
Kol Nidre opens Yom Kippur indoors at First United Church of Evanston with a livestream, followed the next day by Yom Kippur Morning Services with Yizkor, a longstanding Open Mic tradition, member-led Contemplation and Connection programming, a Family Service led by Rabbi Rachel and Songleader Megan Gendelman, an afternoon Mincha Torah Service led by Cantor Howard with readings from Leviticus and Jonah chanted in Hebrew and English, and a closing Ne'ilah service.
Throughout the year, the festival calendar unfolds with Sukkot services in JRC's sukkah on the patio, a Simchat Torah celebration with Heavy Shtetl, Selichot Under the Stars, a spiritual preparation series before the High Holidays, a monthly Coffee with Rabbi Rachel in the sukkah, Chanukah learning with the rabbi, and the annual Oy Vey Cafe Purim production. In summer, Lakefront Shabbat services take the community to the Evanston lakefront for Friday night services, with members and clergy gathering as the sun goes down over Lake Michigan.
Kehillah: A Shabbat-Based Learning Community
Kehillah, JRC's reimagined religious school, gathers learners from tots through high school on Saturday mornings, weaving observance, learning, and community into a single joyful experience. The name itself means "community," and the program is built around the conviction that learners of all ages and abilities flourish when they experience Shabbat together as a multi-generational community.
Pre-K through 6th graders have regularly scheduled learning while 7th graders attend the B'nai Mitzvah services of their peers. From 4th through 6th grade, learners receive one-on-one, thirty-minute Hebrew sessions each week, a model that allows teachers to tailor instruction to each child's pace, learning style, and family schedule; sessions are offered both in person and on Zoom, drawing teachers from across the country. The Hebrew curriculum follows the "Onward Hebrew" approach, beginning formal decoding in 4th grade after years of songs, blessings, and Hebrew letter exposure in a Hebrew-rich environment.
7th grade gathers on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings to explore Jewish identity through Torah reading, D'var writing, social justice activities, and Hebrew. 8th through 12th graders participate in the Madrichim Program, working alongside adult mentors in classrooms and other settings, training through the Moving Traditions curriculum, and often reporting that they feel more connected to Kehillah and the broader community because of the relationships they build. Each year, teens travel on a social justice journey led by Rabbi Rachel - past trips have gone to Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. for advocacy on immigration, climate, antisemitism, and gun violence prevention, and to New York City to explore Jewish cultures, immigration histories, and identity with sibling congregation CBST.
Early childhood programming includes weekly Adult-Tot groups, a drop-off Kehillah class for 3-to-5-year-olds, Tot Shabbat, jBaby Music for Menschkins, jBaby Adult-Tot Kehillah Jr., and intergenerational family programs. Kehillah students also participate in Junior Choir from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Families new to JRC can try the school for six weeks through the Taste of JRC program for $54 per learner, with the fee deducted from tuition if they enroll.
Adult Learning, Adult B'nai Mitzvah, and Lifelong Study
Adult education at JRC is built on the wisdom already present in the congregation. Programming covers literature and film, history and current events, philosophy, Torah study, social justice, and spiritual practice, with both lay-led and clergy-led offerings. The Book Group has been meeting continuously on the second Sunday of each month since 1984, shifting to Zoom during the pandemic and sometimes meeting hybrid at the building. A member-led New Testament from a Jewish Perspective study group meets weekly on Mondays, and Where to Age, a discussion group facilitated by Marie Davidson, meets once a month to share experiences and decisions about aging.
JRC periodically offers an 11-month Adult Brit Mitzvah cohort, combining group study, hevruta (partner) learning, Torah trope, and a spiritual autobiography. Faculty include Rabbi Rachel and Cantor Howard, and the cohort culminates in a special Brit Mitzvah ritual on Shabbat. Hebrew is gendered, and JRC lets each seventh grader (and each adult learner) choose how to name the ceremony: Bar Mitzvah for he/him, Bat Mitzvah for she/her, B'nai Mitzvah for they/them, and B'rit Mitzvah, "entering the covenant of the mitzvot," for those for whom gender is not an essential part of the ritual. Beginning Hebrew classes are also offered from time to time.
Music, Song, and Heavy Shtetl
Music is woven through the life of the congregation. JRC offers three choirs under the direction of Danny Wallenberg: an Adult Choir that rehearses most Thursday evenings from 7:15 to 9:00 p.m. and performs four to six times a year for the High Holidays, Zemer Am, and the Shabbat Jazz Service; a Junior Choir for 2nd through 6th graders that rehearses during Kehillah on Saturday mornings; and a Family Choir that adds parents' voices on monthly Chodesh Shabbat mornings. The Adult Choir's repertoire leans toward modern and traditional liturgical music, with frequent Robert Applebaum compositions and occasional South African pieces chosen for their call for peace.
Heavy Shtetl, JRC's own klezmer band, performs at services and programs throughout the year under the direction of Lori Lippitz Chinitz, founder of Chicago's Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. The Alte Rockers - JRC's in-house rock band - rehearse year-round and present a program of original satirical material every Purim at the Oy Vey Cafe. Past special performances have included Billy Jonas, and the building's third-floor sanctuary hosts both the Adult Choir and guest performers.
Life Cycle Events and Pastoral Care
JRC's clergy officiate at weddings for both Jewish-Jewish and Jewish-non-Jewish couples and for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Weddings for members and their children are included in membership. Brit Milah, baby namings, and welcome rituals can take place at home, in the synagogue, or in the context of a Shabbat service. Choosing Judaism is openly welcomed: those considering conversion are invited to services, programs, and one-on-one clergy conversations.
At the other end of life, Rabbi Rachel and Cantor Howard officiate at funerals, shiva, and memorial services for members and their first-degree relatives. The congregation is one of six member organizations of the Progressive Chevra Kadisha, sending volunteers to serve anonymously on tahara teams. JRC also works with Chicago Jewish Funerals and encourages pre-planning. For after-hours pastoral emergencies, a recorded line at 847-497-5201 routes to a member of the clergy team at any hour. Pastoral counseling, hospital visits, and a Chesed Community that organizes shiva help and meals are all part of the congregation's ongoing support for members.
Living the Values: Social Justice, Tikkun Olam, and Advocacy
JRC organizes its work around a set of explicit values - Kehillah (community), B'tzelem Elohim (made in God's image), Tikkun Olam (repair of the world), Chesed (loving kindness), living in two civilizations, K'vod Sicha (respectful conversation), and Bal Tashchit (do not waste or destroy) - and translates each into member-led task forces and coalitions.
JRC's Racial Equity Task Force plans programming on redlining, reparations, and interrupting racism, partners with the Shorefront Legacy Center, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, the Evanston YWCA, and Second Baptist Church, and has joined with Second Baptist Church to form Solidarity Circles where mixed-race groups from both congregations have shared conversations about race. The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force approaches its work through an equity-oriented, anti-racism lens and asks, "What is Jewish about GVP work?"
The Immigrant Justice Task Force educates the congregation on immigrant issues, provides direct support to two Afghan families who escaped Taliban rule, and advocates through the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and the Chicago Jewish Coalition of Refugees. Two Soup Kitchens in Evanston are run by JRC volunteers, who cook community meals for approximately ninety people in need; members also prep meals at the building to send to Second Baptist Church's Soup Kitchen. The Soup Kitchens Committee, the Climate Action Team, and the Garden Committee complement this work. Members participate annually in the National Council for Jewish Women's Repro Shabbat and in Walk for Warmth, a two-mile fundraiser for Interfaith Action of Evanston's homeless shelter; Kehillah kids and families collect toiletry kits for the same shelter.
JRC is proud of being Evanston's first synagogue with a lesbian rabbi, and the congregation celebrates LGBTQIA+ members and families with Pride Shabbat services each June, participation in the Chicago Pride Parade (including the recitation of Al HaNisim for Pride), gender-inclusive B'nai Mitzvah language, and a post-b'nai-mitzvah Tzelem group for teens exploring Jewish LGBTQIA+ identity. JRC's clergy officiate weddings for all couples, and Reconstructionist liturgy at JRC often uses both masculine and feminine language for God.
An Israel-Palestine Working Group maintains a regularly updated set of resources on the history of the region and the current unfolding conflict, hosts speakers from J Street, AIPAC, Jewish Voice for Peace, Standing Together, the Jewish Dialogue Group, and Americans for Peace Now, and provides space for community members to share their feelings in comfort sessions led by the clergy. An Israel-Palestine statement was developed in November 2024 using guiding principles set by the working group.
Disability inclusion is integrated throughout the building and program. JRC was recognized in 1998 by the National Organization on Disability for its work in becoming an Accessible Congregation. Kehillah's 2nd-floor learning space includes a Makom Shalom quiet room for learners with different sensory needs, and a professional inclusion coordinator works closely with families of learners with different learning needs. ASL interpretation, captioning, and other accommodations can be requested through the executive director at least a week in advance. Rabbi Rachel is proficient in sign language. Past programs have featured Emily Ladau, author of Demystifying Disability, and a film discussion on Crip Camp.
Interfaith families are welcomed wholeheartedly. Rabbi Rachel offers ongoing learning opportunities around being "Jew-ish," and JRC takes part in the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service led by Evanston's congregational leaders. Members are encouraged to ask questions, hold differing perspectives, and bring their full identity into community life.
The Covenant of Speech and How JRC Talks
In a community that holds such a wide range of opinions on political, religious, and social questions, JRC adopted a Covenant of Speech in 2015. Members aspire to Listen (for fact and feeling with an open heart and an open mind), Inquire (to gain understanding), Speak (sharing ideas while respecting others), Pause (knowing when to be quiet), Disagree (recognizing that wisdom and good policy is built on respectful disagreement), and Apologize. The covenant proposes aspirational behaviors rather than governing rules, framing the kind of conversation the community wants to have with one another and with the wider world.
Committees, Task Forces, and the Adult Life of the Congregation
Member engagement is the daily texture of JRC. Committees meet to plan and run the congregation's work: Accessibility and Inclusion, Chesed, Chibur (the 20s and 30s group), Communications, Development, Early Childhood, Garden, Leadership Development, Library, Membership, Ritual Practices, Religious School, and Strategic Planning. Task forces address social justice and advocacy: the Blood Drive, Climate Action, Immigrant Justice, JRC Press, Racial Equity, Gun Violence Prevention, and Soup Kitchens. Chibur, the young adult group, plans Chanukah learning with Rabbi Rachel, bowling with Cantor Howard, cocktails in the sukkah, and other gatherings for members and non-members in their twenties and thirties. The annual Community Kallah, a retreat in Wisconsin, brings members of all ages together for learning, schmoozing, and renewal.
Becoming a Member
Membership at JRC is open to all, regardless of ability to pay. The congregation uses a membership commitment range rather than a fixed amount, with published ranges for households, single parent households, senior households, single adults, senior singles, and young adult singles and couples. Members receive clergy connection for life cycle events and pastoral support, access to the online member portal and members-only Facebook group, High Holiday tickets for adults in the household, eligibility for committees and task forces, voting rights in board elections, and the ability to rent JRC's space for private events at a discounted rate. Young adult single memberships are available for $432 per year (or $36 per month).
Visitors are encouraged to sign up for the weekly e-news, schedule a building tour by emailing info@jrctogether.org, or stop by during office hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The synagogue sits steps from the CTA 97-Skokie bus route and encourages walking, biking, public transit, and carpooling. Micky Baer, the executive director, is glad to set up a time to talk with prospective members and connect them with current members who can share their own experience.
Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation gathers, in its own words, around the conviction that "showing up for each other" is what makes a community sacred. From the LEED Platinum building at 303 Dodge Avenue to the Zoom minyan on Tuesday evenings, from the bima where Torah is chanted to the kitchen where soup is packed for a sister congregation's hungry guests, JRC offers a Jewish home that is at once deeply traditional and energetically contemporary - daring, inclusive, and unmistakably Reconstructionist.