They call it “Joyful Jewish Living.”

That’s what the synagogue’s founders-Dr Marc Slutsky, Stephen Silberman and Rabbi Irwin Kula-had in mind 23 years ago when they created Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living, an innovative kind of Jewish community. Together with Cantor David Landau, they believed in engaging tradition to create experiences that speak to modern Jewish life. Aitz Hayim has represented a safe space to exchange sometimes controversial dialogue, a place that encourages the community to “own their own Judaism.”

“We realized that there were so many opportunities for interesting, engaging fresh Jewish life that we wanted to start our own synagogue to live that out,” said Slutsky, Aitz Hayim President. “We found others who shared our interest in struggling with different perspectives in the community.”

In June, Aitz Hayim, which is housed at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, celebrated its congregation-past, present, and future-and honored Slutsky and his wife, Barbara, for their decades of leadership, service, and devotion to the synagogue and the greater Jewish community.

There are innovative practices at Aitz Hayim that you can’t find at just any synagogue. The congregation looks at lifecycle events in terms of what human needs they meet. Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are really now the midpoint of growing to adulthood when a person begins to take charge of directing their course. Each person and family has a chance to bring their own talents and ideas to the community service. When someone in the community dies, shiva is more than a memorial service; it is an opportunity to tell stories and share experiences to comfort the mourners and internalize the lost loved one.

The synagogue also developed educational “pods,” where instead of going to organized religious classes, groups of families worked with professional educators to design curricula the parents and educators could teach together. Susan Olken’s children, Josh and Ilana, grew up going to the “pod,” and have gained a strong connection to Jewish culture and knowledge through the program. Since the parents were excited about Judaism, their children became excited too.

While Aitz Hayim was founded as a lay driven community, it regularly studies with renowned scholars such as Rabbi Donniel Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California, and Professor Steven Katz of Boston University. It has been an incubator for young rabbis who have gone on to different activities in the community. The weekend of celebration, June 12-13, kicked off with a Kabbalat Shabbat led by Kula, who discussed the role of Aitz Hayim in the transformation of Jewish life in the past two decades. The Shabbat ended with a Havdalah service featuring a concert by Howard Levy, a harmonica and keyboard virtuoso who paralleled the improvisation in jazz to the adaptive shifts in Jewish life. The Slutskys’ grown children, Shana and Max, reflected on their Jewish journeys as well.

Marc Slutsky, a psychiatrist by day, dreamed of a Jewish community that would draw on the meaning and psychology of tradition to meet human needs and facilitate creative Jewish living. Barbara Slutsky, who was formerly a Vice President at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, leads the chesed and simcha programs. At JUF, she served as JUF Women’s Division Campaign Chair and President and is currently a Vice Chair of the JUF Board.

“Aitz Hayim is a warm, inviting community that challenges us with profound ideas and challenging questions,” Barbara said. “The congregation helps people find meaning at both joyous and challenging times in their lives. It stimulates thoughtful Jewish perspectives in every aspect of life.”

The Slutskys are excited for the congregation to keep evolving with the changing times. “Since we started Aitz Hayim, so many changes have occurred in the Jewish community that to be responsive to Jewish needs and to be integrated means we have to change ourselves,” Marc said. “That’s really what the Jewish tradition is all about.”

Neesa Sweet is a longtime member of Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living and also a writer.