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April 21, 2000/16 Nisan 5760, Vol. 52, No.33
Freedman honored for selfless dedication
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
Marlyne Freedman stands outside of Temple Chai on the first day of Sunday school. The temple is honoring her on April 29 for her years of dedication to congregants and the community. The photo was taken in the fall of 1999. |
Marlyne Freedman finds it difficult to accept praise, especially when she's being lauded for her work as executive director of Temple Chai. After all, she says, her job is nothing more than her passion and "reason for being here."
But Freedman's colleagues and fellow community members, who are quick to point out her modesty, say the contributions she has made in the Jewish community over the past 20 years deserve prominent recognition.
On April 29, Freedman, executive director of the temple for the past 11 years, will be honored for her dedication to congregants and the community at the Temple Chai Extravaganza Tribute Dinner and Auction 2000 at 4645 E. Marilyn Road in Phoenix in the new Mollen Social Hall.
A tribute book at the event will be filled with personal messages to Freedman.
"It's a very wonderful honor," Freedman says. "But more importantly, it's really an honor to be at Temple Chai and to work with an incredible group of professionals."
Those who work with her say that the honor is theirs.
"She is so amazing," says Rabbi Bill Berk of Chai. "She does phenomenal things like finding out about people who are homeless or cannot celebrate Hanukkah, and she finds a way to make sure they are taken care of. She is constantly thinking of (others)."
Freedman is "the backbone of the congregation," says Chai's Rabbi Lisa Tzur, pointing out that she handles everything from temple business-related duties to making sure the sound system is working in time for Shabbat and Kabbalat services.
"Being executive director means you have to do everything," Freedman says. "You have to know your whole campus. And if there is a problem, you have to deal with that problem.
"But it's not just about running the synagogue. It's also about being there for people and making it a (welcoming) place."
Freedman continuously reaches out to congregants in an effort to include them in temple and community functions - and to just share her warmth, say Tzur and Berk.
"When congregants talk about the reasons they joined this congregation, the majority of them mention Marlyne as one of those reasons," Tzur says. "She has an incredible way with people."
Freedman also has been instrumental in organizing communitywide events such as the Jewish Film Festival and Operation Elijah, which encourages Valley Jewish families to welcome into their homes for Passover seders those who would otherwise be alone.
Strengthening the bonds of community is even more important to Freedman than the day-to-day work she performs at Chai, she explains.
"Community is an important teaching tool for children," she says. "I believe that's why I am here. I am not here for Temple Chai. I am here for Judaism."
Freedman's innate sense of Jewish community stems from childhood, she says. Born and raised in Omaha, Neb., she lived with her religiously observant parents, Irving (now deceased) and Ruth Freedman (now a resident of Scottsdale), and her two brothers. The family's home was nestled in a small Jewish community where residents had a strong connection with one another.
Freedman attended the University of Missouri, where she was active in her Jewish sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. She moved to Phoenix in 1969, her first time ever in Arizona. Almost immediately, she involved herself in Jewish organizations. She was elected president of the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix; joined Hadassah; helped establish the now-defunct Valley Jewish Day School, where she also worked as bookkeeper; and later became a member of the National Association of Temple Administrators.
Freedman says she is "thrilled" about plans for the new Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale. Her sons, Josh Protas, 28, and Brandon Protas, 27, who live in Tucson, frequented the old Jewish Community Center and were members of its swim team for 13 years.
"The new JCC will help to bring Jews together," she says. "We need to work together as a community, share in programming and be there for each other.
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