HEADLINES | 9
SPECIAL SECTION | 17
CHABAD HIGH SCHOOLS
ROSH HASHANAH
Two Chabad high schools open this month
Enjoy pulling apart these apple rolls
AUGUST 27, 2021 | ELUL 19, 5781 | VOLUME 73, NUMBER 24
Locals reflect on personal growth in 5781 as they approach High Holidays NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
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llison Summer spent the past year coming to terms with the “overwhelming lack of control” she felt personally, and despair she’s witnessed in her patients during the COVID19 pandemic. “It’s been hard to watch everybody struggle,” said Summer, a therapist. “We have consistently been inundated with new consults, which is great for me, but also concerning because of what that says about what’s going on in the world right now.” In her personal life, absorbing the global realities of the pandemic and the deep domestic political divisions that were laid bare by it “consumed” her. It’s been emotional realizing that half of the country doesn’t share her value system or morals, she said. On top of that, she’s felt deeply troubled and hurt by the uptick in antisemitism and the flood of anti-Israel sentiment on social media following the spate of violence between Israel and Hamas in May. But heading into the New Year, she feels like she’s found a way to grow from all of the turmoil. Summer, along with many others in Greater Phoenix, is more introspective heading into 5782 than she has been in past years. For some, the pandemic forced a reckoning with new realities. For others, it sparked growth in ways never imagined. “I’ve learned to understand that people have different viewpoints than me,” Summer said. She’s also learned to focus on the ways she can create the world she wants to have for her 8-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.. “A lot of it is just with my kids and having them exposed to different cultures and having them know about different religions and that they’re not good or bad,
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Greater Phoenix’s Orthodox community reflects on ‘explosive growth’ NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
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hen Rabbi Ariel Shoshan and his wife, Ayala, moved to Phoenix from Baltimore in July 2002, he can only recall a handful of kosher restaurants, four daily minyanim and one K-8 school. “It is not really possible to put words to the explosive growth of Torah Judaism in the Phoenix area (since),” he said. In 2002, there were roughly 44,000 Jews living in the area, with 3%, or about 1,320 identifying as Orthodox, according to Arizona State University’s 2002 Greater Phoenix Jewish Community Study. In 2019, there were roughly 98,750 Jews, with 3%, or about 2,962 identifying as Orthodox, according to ASU’s 2019 Jewish Community Survey. This growth has meant that there are now at least 15 daily morning minyanim, many kosher food options and several Jewish schools. “I think the number of children receiving a Torah education is at least seven times the size it was in 2002,” Shoshan said. “The most amazing element of the growth is the hundreds of families and individuals who have bravely accepted upon themselves the joy and responsibility of an observant life.” Jeremy Rovinsky and his family PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY ROVINSKY According to the Pew Research Center, 17% of Jews ages 18 to 29 nationally self-identify as Orthodox, while 11% identify as haredi Orthodox, compared with 3%, and 1%, of Jews 65 and older, respectively. Robin Meyerson, Jeremy Rovinsky and Yisroel Loeb are among thousands of others who have contributed to the growth of the local Orthodox community over the past decade or so by becoming observant, by relocating or both. Meyerson grew up knowing she was Jewish, but nothing more. “My mom and dad wanted to show me and my brother the world,” she said. “We traveled to Australia, Malaysia and England and I learned about other cultures, like Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.” But not Judaism. She didn’t know what it was, but she was always searching for something. Looking back, she believes it was the pintele yid: a spark of Jewishness within every Jew, observant or not. SEE GROWTH, PAGE 3
Check out High Holiday services around town. To see listings of local High Holiday services, go to p. 14. PHOTO OF “THE HOLIDAY SERIES, ROSH HASHANAH” BY ARTHUR SZYK (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SEE REFLECT, PAGE 2
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