HEADLINES | 4
SPECIAL SECTION | 14
ORGAN DONATION
HOME & DESIGN
Three-year-old boy gets liver
Tips for your fall garden
OCTOBER 15, 2021 | CHESHVAN 9, 5782 | VOLUME 74, NUMBER 4
Returning to normal, Hillel at ASU welcomes students back in person DEBRA GELBART
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ow that students are back on campus at Arizona State University after months of hybrid and remote instruction and activities, Hillel Jewish Student Center has resumed much of its pre-pandemic schedule of events and services. Prior to COVID-19 vaccine availability, Hillel limited in-person events and hosted most events virtually, although some social and holiday events were held in the parking lot, according to Debbie Yunker Kail, executive director for Hillel at ASU. The outdoor in-person events included a seder last March and a celebration of Israeli culture in April. Currently, an updated COVID protocol makes in-person events safer to host, said Yunker Kail, via email. The protocol includes providing proof of a COVID vaccination at all Hillel events and mandatory face coverings indoors. Hillel has brought back larger social events in the parking lot, she added, as well as Shabbat services, plus dinner and weekly bagel brunches on the Tempe and downtown campuses. She said a majority of students now request in-person events whenever possible. The staff and students “were thrilled to be able to get together in person for High Holidays this year. Because we are so relationship-based, a highlight of being in person has been the simple joy of meeting a student for coffee and getting to know each other in person,” she said. Stresses, challenges different from 2020 Yunker Kail said she wants to increase outreach to sophomores this academic year, pointing out that “they essentially missed an on-campus experience as first-year students last year.” Resuming pre-pandemic life can be more stressful than many anticipated. “While having classes and events in person has been a welcome change, we have also heard that classes feel harder and SEE CAMPUS, PAGE 2
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Phoenix’s oldest Jewish building turns 100 NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
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entral Phoenix’s oldest Jewish building is turning 100 years old. “People often will say Phoenix doesn’t have a lot of history,” said Lawrence Bell, executive director of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. “The other thing that people like to say about Phoenix is that it’s not a very diverse city. And both of those things are completely untrue.” The Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center was built in 1921 and began as Temple Beth Israel. But it wasn’t just a synagogue, it was also a community center. “It was the absolute beginning of our community,” Bell said. After the congregation, which would eventually be called Congregation Beth Israel, outgrew the building, they sold it to the Southern Baptist Convention in 1949. Later, it became Phoenix’s first Chinese-speaking Christian church. In 1981, the First Chinese Baptist Church sold the building to a Mexican Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautistia Central. The building’s centennial is a celebration of the harmony and diversity among the three cultures, and the birthplace of the Jewish community in Phoenix. AZJHS is marking the occasion with a month-long series of events. “You had three different cultures, two different religions — and they all had the same space,” Bell said. Selling the building involved relationships. The religious leaders of the Chinese Baptist and Mexican Baptist churches knew each other, and the pastor of the former helped the minister of the latter get established, Bell said. The Mexican Baptist minister was also a friend of Rabbi Albert Plotkin, who led Beth Israel from 1955 to 1991. He let Plotkin know that his church was moving and he thought the building should
The exterior of Temple Beth Israel COURTESY OF THE ARIZONA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, PEARL AND CECIL NEWMARK MEMORIAL ARCHIVES
be back in the hands of the Jewish community. So Plotkin informed AZJHS, which had been created in 1981. For the Jewish community, the building at 122 E. Culver Street, didn’t just house a synagogue, it was also a social hall. “They had services, they had dances, they had community social events, all sorts of activities,” Bell said. “Everything is descended from there.” The building served a similar function when it was First Chinese Baptist. It was a religious space, but it also served as a community center with social events, celebrations and other gatherings. SEE BUILDING, PAGE 3 Roxanne Song Ong, who grew
Prepared to shake the lulav The East Valley JCC held a drive-through event for people to fulfill the mitzvah of shaking the lulav during Sukkot. To see more, go to p. 21. PHOTO COURTESY OF HADASSAH BALDINGER
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