Downtown Outreach

Jewish life in our community is rooted both in our beloved synagogue building and in the vibrant life of downtown Iowa City and Coralville. We are committed to bringing Jewish life into the heart of these cities through learning, gathering, Jewish spirituality, and acts of justice. Our “Public Space Judaism” initiative has a name: Iowa City Jews. Rooted in our synagogue and open to all, it creates welcoming ways for people to connect—whether they are longtime members, new to the area, unaffiliated, or simply curious about Jewish life.

At its heart, Iowa City Jews is about meeting people where they are—creating shared experiences that make Jewish life visible, accessible, and meaningful beyond synagogue walls. Current ongoing projects of Iowa City Jews include:

• The Big Ideas in Jewish Books club at Iowa City Public Library (see below)
• The Peace and Justice Seder, an interfaith event held downtown annually
• Our Urban Shavu’ot retreat, a night-long event held at a downtown location
• The Rabbi’s weekly coffee hours by appointment at Bread Garden Market
• Occasional “pop up” events like a downtown Havdalah  (ceremony to conclude Shabbat) and the ‘Torah for Our Times‘ series (see below).

You can follow all of Iowa City Jews’ offerings on the Iowa City Jews Instagram page @iowacityjews  

Big Ideas in Jewish Books Club

Meeting regularly at the Iowa City Public Library, this public book group explores Jewish thought and culture through the work of rabbis, scholars, journalists, and historians. The series is open to all and is usually led by Rabbi Hugenholtz. Upcoming books in 2026 include:

• January 28 — Mark Mazower, Antisemitism: A Word in History
• February 25 — Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging
• March 25 — Alicia Jo Rabins, When We’re Born We Forget Everything: A Memoir
• April 22 — David Kraemer, Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora
• May 20 – Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg (editors), Judaism Unbound (Bound): Provocative Conversations About the Jewish Future with Visionary Thinkers and Practitioners

Past selections have included books by historians Michael Brenner and Joshua Leifer and works by rabbis Adina Allen, Julia Watts Belser, Sharon Brous, Tirzah Firestone, Shai Held, Shaul Magid, Danya Ruttenberg, Rami Shapiro, and Milton Steinberg. One session paired contrasting perspectives, reading Peter Beinart’s Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning alongside Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today. 

Previous Iowa City Jews Events

Iowa City Pride: We have an annual booth at Iowa City Pride, and our congregation marches in the annual downtown parade.

Torah for Our Times: A previous signature project, this Urban Beit Midrash/Study Hall was offered by Rabbi Hugenholtz downtown at Public Space One.