On Saturday, April 27, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., Or Emet, the Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, will host a Passover Seder at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, 900 Mount Curve Ave., Minneapolis. Or Emet members and visitors are welcome to attend.

 Or Emet’s Seder celebrates Passover with a Humanistic Jewish service led by rabbinic candidate and ritual leader Eva Cohen. The service emphasizes themes of human freedom and dignity, the capacity to change our destiny and the power of hope. The Seder also includes traditional Passover elements and songs.

The event will be in a hybrid format with a Zoom option. Register for the Zoom option here.

The dinner will be a Mediterranean-style, catered meal from Ansari’s, with chicken kabobs, rice, falafel, Greek salad, vegetarian stir-fry and hummus. The meal will include vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices.

For the catered meal, the cost is:

• Adults (age 14 and over): $15 for adult members; $25 for non-members.
• Kids (age 0-13): $5 for members; $10 for non-members.

To RSVP, please complete this form. You can select how many meals you will need and sign up for volunteer opportunities, including reading during the service, bringing drinks/desserts or helping with setup or cleanup. The RSVP form will link to online payment options. Cash or checks also will be accepted at the door.

Please register by Friday, April 12. Reservations are limited, with members receiving priority. We look forward to celebrating Passover with you!

Or Emet is a secular congregation celebrating and honoring Jewish culture, history and values from a humanistic, inclusive perspective. For more information, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.

On Friday, March 22, from 7:30-9 p.m., Or Emet will host a Shabbat service followed by a program and social time. The events will take place at the Minnesota JCC Sabes Center Minneapolis, 4330 S. Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis. 

The service will be led by Eva Cohen, Or Emet’s ritual leader and a Humanistic rabbi in training. 

After the service, Or Emet vice president Jeff Pipes will discuss the Jews for a Secular Democracy (JFASD) organization. 

JFASD is focused on issues of religion-state separation from a Jewish perspective. Why? Because throughout American history, Jews, as a minority religion, have benefited from a pluralistic society and government. JFASD advocates for religious freedom for all religions and all people.

Pipes, the Minnesota director for JFASD, is a retired lawyer and winery owner.

Those who cannot attend the program in person may join over Zoom. Please register in advance here. 

Or Emet is a secular congregation celebrating and honoring Jewish culture, history and values from a humanistic, inclusive perspective. For more information, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.

On Sunday, March 17, Dr. David Gardiner, director of Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas and editor of the New Hibernia Review, will explore the history of Irish-Jewish connections with Or Emet member Dr. Michal Moskow, professor emerita at Metropolitan State University.

This program, on St. Patrick’s Day, will run from 10 a.m.-noon at the Talmud Torah of St. Paul, 768 Hamline Ave. South in St. Paul. A social time will follow.

Gardiner will focus on James Joyce’s hero, Leopold Bloom, and what Bloom’s perceived Jewish identity in “Ulysses” (1922) demonstrates about his role in Ireland and Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

Moskow will speak about the Jewish community in Ireland with a focus on a brief historical overview. She will highlight the role of Ireland in saving Jewish children during the Holocaust and will provide brief comments on loyalties to Israel or Palestine during the Second Intifada and Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee.

Those who cannot attend in person may join over Zoom. Please register in advance here.

The Sunday adult programs are free and open to the public and meet concurrently with the Jewish Cultural Sunday School.

Or Emet is a secular congregation celebrating and honoring Jewish culture, history and values from a humanistic, inclusive perspective.

For information about Or Emet’s Jewish Cultural Sunday School, contact JCSS director Molly Phipps at school-1@oremet.org. 

For information about Or Emet, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.

The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees that the government will not establish an official church and that freedom of religion is available to all citizens.

America today is grappling with many issues — women’s rights, abortion, education, LGBTQ rights, access to health care — which have religious implications.

A growing number of Christian Nationalists, including many elected officials, want to make this a Christian nation, regardless of the diversity of religious beliefs and non-belief among its citizens. The wall separating church and state is being battered.

Learn what is at stake and why it matters during a community presentation and discussion led by Marcia Avner and Jeff Pipes, members of Or Emet, the Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at the Golden Valley Public Library, 830 Winnetka Ave. N. in Golden Valley.

Avner and Pipes will tackle questions relating to the proper role of religion in our democracy and will describe some of the current concerns being raised.

Avner is a politically active St. Paulite who has served as deputy mayor of the city and in various public and nonprofit roles. She has been a policy specialist for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and a press secretary for Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Pipes is a retired lawyer and winery owner who is currently vice president of Or Emet. He also is the Minnesota director of Jews for a Secular Democracy.

For more information about Or Emet, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, from 10-11:30 a.m., Or Emet will host a Shabbat service and program in solidarity with the HIAS Refugee Shabbat initiative. The events will take place at the Minnesota JCC Sabes Center Minneapolis, 4330 S. Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis. 

The service will be led by Eva Cohen, Or Emet’s ritual leader and a Humanistic rabbi in training. 

Casa Alitas

After the service, Dana Mach, strategic partnerships officer for the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), will speak about her work with Proyecto Mariposa (Project Butterfly) in Tucson, Arizona. The organization works in close partnership with Casa Alitas, a welcome center that provides temporary shelter for people who are making their way to resettlement locations. 

CVT supports individuals and families who are seeking asylum in the U.S. after fleeing torture and persecution in their home countries. Mach helps to build and maintain partnerships with funders, government agencies and programmatic partners. 

A Minnesota native, Mach holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She enjoys traveling in her work with CVT to programs around the world.

Those who cannot attend the program in person may join over Zoom. Please register in advance here. 

Or Emet is a secular congregation celebrating and honoring Jewish culture, history and values from a humanistic, inclusive perspective. For more information, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.