ALPENA — Summer is a time for family and friends to reunite, and Temple Beth-El is pleased to reconnect with a friend of the synagogue who is returning after 44 years.

During the summer of 1978, a young student Rabbi led Shabbat services at TBE, and on Saturday, July 23, that former student, Rabbi Melanie Aron, will once again lead the Alpena temple’s Shabbat service. On Sunday, July 24, Rabbi Aron will also host a very interesting community outreach program, titled “Judeo-Christian Ethics: Does it Exist?”

After her summer stint at TBE and her ordination at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1981, Rabbi Aron served congregations in New Jersey and New York. She then served Congregation Shir Hadash of Los Gatos, California, beginning in July 1990 through her retirement in December 2020.

In addition to serving a variety of Jewish organizations, Rabbi Aron is a past chair of the Interfaith Council on Religion, Race, Economic, and Social Justice (South Bay) and she has also served on the Ethics Committee of Kaiser Hospital-Santa Clara. Rabbi Aron has been involved in People Acting in Community Together, chair of the Los Gatos Clergy group and involved in interfaith dialogues with the Muslim and Christian communities.

Temple Beth-El invites the public to join Rabbi Aron and her husband, a retired professor of physics at UCSC, at both the Shabbat service and community outreach program. Seating is limited so please call 989-595-3544 for reservations and important information. Temple Beth-El’s Guest Rabbi program is sponsored in part by the generosity of the Ravitz Foundation Initiative for Michigan Small Jewish Communities as well as donations by Temple Beth-El members and friends.