Social Clubs | Temple Ner Ami

About the Club

“Take a Hike!” meets monthly, usually on a Sunday, taking gentle short walks some days and more strenuous hikes at other times, depending on who shows up, what they did the previous night, the weather, and other portents of randomness. There is always laughter, discussion, learning experiences, and of course noshes. Lots of noshes. Like Indiana Jones, we make this up as we go along, but with better food.

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Join Us

If you are interested in joining one of our hikes, call the Temple Office and leave a message for the leader, Brian, with your name, phone number, and email address. He will provide you information about the next hike.

About the Club

The Merrin-Mandel Book Club is named to honor our late founders, Verna Merrin and Phyllis Mandel. Our current Chair is Dorene Desenberg.

We read a variety of genres, mainly contemporary fiction and historical fiction; memoirs, biography, and other nonfiction; books by Jewish authors and/or topics of interest to Jews; and occasionally a classic or mystery. We participate in reading local One City and One County annual book selections and related events to support our neighboring libraries.

Our reading schedule is determined by books proposed by members throughout the year, which we vote on twice a year.

Besides ongoing learning and pleasure derived from the books we read, we aim to nurture relationships among members through a welcoming, comfortable environment, lively exploration of book themes and opinions offered in a respectful manner, and meals shared before or after our meeting, and sometimes during!

Meetings are held at the Temple from November through June and at shaded picnic tables at a local park from July through October. Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month at 10:30 AM. Meeting location can change due to weather. The meeting date can occasionally be on the 4th Wednesday of the month if need be. Always, a brief but fascinating business meeting precedes our book discussion.

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Reading Schedule

Wednesday, September 23rd

Daughters of the Sun and Moon

Lisa See, 2026, Historical Fiction

Wednesday, October 21st

The Round House

Louise Erdrich, 2012, Fiction

Wednesday, November 18th

The Wedding People

Alison Espach, 2024, Fiction

Wednesday, December 16th

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan, 2021, Historical Fiction

Join Us

If you have questions or want to attend a book club meeting, call the Temple Office and leave a message for Dorene with your name, phone number, and email address. Thank you for your interest.

About the Club

The Chair of our Social Club, Debra Block, arranges for game nights about two or three times each year. Some members and guests bring games they might want to play. Others choose a table to sit where they would like to learn or play a particular game. Although it sometimes gets boisterous, our only complaint has been that we would like to play longer! Desserts are served and the evening is always a lot of fun.

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Join Us

Any questions? Call the Temple Office and leave a message for Debra Block with your name, phone number, and email address. She will call you back with more information.

About the Club

Havurah means friends. We have one very active Havurah at TNA that has been together since March 2025, and we are more like family than just friends. This is how we in our community really get to know each other. Our TNA Havurah is made up of 18 adult Temple members - singles and couples. We meet monthly and hosting is rotated alphabetically throughout the year.

We’ve had the pleasure of enjoying Camp Day in the Park, hosted by Brian and Debra, which featured activities such as a nature walk, beading bracelets, telling ghost stories, and singing camp songs. Members were asked to bring homemade sandwiches to share with a dozen people and Debbie and Brian provided chips, sodas, and smores. Recapturing our childhood was a blast.

Paul and Janet hosted a Ha Ha Havurah at their home. As we sat around in a circle, each member regaled us with a couple of jokes or funny stories. We couldn’t stop laughing as we enjoyed potluck appetizers.

In honor of Father’s Day, Adam and Randee asked us to send to them photos of us members with our Pop. They presented these on a slideshow and we had to guess who was who. Then, we each shared a short story about our Dad. It was a very touching afternoon and the potluck lunch was a delightful repast.

These are just a few of the creative events that we have had!

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Join Us

Sadly, we can’t take any more members in this Havurah, so it is time for Havurah II. Are you interested? Havurah I has been so successful, they will help you get started with ideas. Call the Temple Office and leave a message for Debra Block with your name, phone number, and email address. She will get back to you with more information. We can’t wait to have two Havurot!

About the Club

American Mah Jongg was started by a group of Jewish women in the late 1930’s. They developed a card with patterns that would be needed to win a game of Mah Jongg. They planned to sell these cards to raise money for charitable purposes, founding the National Mah Jongg League.

Each year, they come out with a new card, test it thoroughly, and issue it just before April 1st. They still donate a percentage of their card income to charities. In the process, they have also made the original game of Mah Jong a more challenging, standard, and fun experience. It is great for the mind to learn and play, as well as a wonderfully fun way to socially interact with other Temple members and other Mah Jongg players in our community.

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Do you know how to play?

Join us at Temple Ner Ami every Thursday afternoon at 1 pm. Mah Jongg is free for Temple members, but there is a $5.00 charge for non-members to help cover facilities costs.

Do you want to learn?

Call the Temple Office and leave a message for Bonnie Shubb with your name, phone number, and email address. She will call you back to discuss availability for new learners.

About the Club

Our Temple member Rich, a former English professor who taught classes in Film Critique, occasionally screens movies for a small group of us. We bring typical theater snacks for fun. After the movie, Rich leads a brief discussion about the movie.

Join Us

You can find these events on the calendar or by calling the Temple Office and leaving a message for Debra Block with your name, phone number, and email address. Debra will call you back regarding availability if you are interested in attending. For questions about movie content, please direct your message to Rich.