HEADLINES | 8
SPECIAL SECTION | 19
KOSHER PODCAST
SENIOR LIFESTYLE
Podcast centers on rebbetzin
Celebrating 102 with Chinese food and family
JANUARY 7, 2022 | SHEVAT 5, 5782 | VOLUME 74, NUMBER 9
Arizona’s women rabbis reflect on 50th anniversary of women in the rabbinate SHANNON LEVITT | MANAGING EDITOR
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hen Temple Chai Rabbi Bonnie Koppell arrived in Arizona in 1987, people were shocked that she was a rabbi. She was the first woman rabbi in the state. Many times, she heard the words, “I didn’t know that women could be rabbis,” she told Jewish News. “I grew up in an era when there were no women rabbis,” Koppell said. “I was ordained in 1981. Women rabbis were a novelty at that time. I wondered when the time would come that women would simply be rabbis, and not ‘women rabbis.’ I wonder if we are there yet?” This year, Rabbi Sally Priesand will celebrate her 50th anniversary as the first publicly ordained woman rabbi in the United States. The year Priesand entered rabbinical school, Koppell was 11 years old and knew she wanted to be a rabbi, too. Now, Koppell is one of several women rabbis in and around Greater Phoenix. “When the women rabbis in Phoenix meet, there might be a dozen of us at the table,” she said. And in honor of the 50th anniversary, a dozen of them offered a few reflections, personal anecdotes and thoughts on the challenges that remain. Rabbi Nina Perlmutter told Jewish News that “it seems important to note the history and significance” of Priesand’s anniversary because “today, so many communities take it as a ‘given’ that women can be rabbis.” Perlmutter, the emerita rabbi of Congregation Lev Shalom in Flagstaff, suggested that highlighting the anniversary, “helps inspire older folks — especially women — about how things have SEE ANNIVERSARY, PAGE 2
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Capturing survivors’ memories, one photograph at a time NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
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ohn Pregulman was in Phoenix the weekend of Dec. 11 to see some old friends from BBYO. While in town, he sought out Holocaust survivors living in the area. That wasn’t unusual for him. Wherever Pregulman travels, he sets aside time to meet with and take photographs of Holocaust survivors. “It’s really important to them to be remembered, and this is a way to honor them and to give them the dignity and respect that they deserve,” he said. “There’s not that much time left.” Pregulman, who lives in Denver, is passionate about helping Holocaust survivors and ensuring they and their stories aren’t forgotten. He began taking photographs of survivors in 2012, and in 2015, he and his wife, Amy Israel Pregulman, founded KAVOD, a nonprofit providing survivors emergency financial assistance. Pregulman is Jewish but never had much exposure or interaction with Holocaust survivors until a friend asked him to take photos as a favor. His friend had become the executive director of the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois, and there wasn’t a budget in place for pictures. “I expected to take five or 10 pictures maybe, and I ended up going to the Skokie Museum and taking 65 pictures of survivors,” he said. He spent three days in the museum and fell in love with his subjects. “I went up there expecting to see unhappy, sad people who didn’t have a very good outlook on SEE KAVOD, PAGE 3 life. And I found them to be positive,
Marge Rich’s portrait
PHOTO BY JOHN PREGULMAN
Casa Grande’s first menorah Casa Grande had its first public menorah in December 2021. To see more community photos, go to p. 22. COURTESY OF DANA XEDOS
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