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August 1, 2003/Av 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 49
Chandler rabbi stationed in Germany
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
An Army Reserve chaplain for about 25 years, Rabbi Bonnie Koppell of Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, at the headquarters of the United States Army Europe (USAREUR), the headquarters for Army military operations there.
"There are many aspects of being here which are difficult," Koppell said via e-mail. "I feel haunted by the experience of my brothers and sisters in the Holocaust and think about it constantly." She said she is encouraged that the German people are not hiding from the past.
"Museum exhibits, even on the non-Jewish themes, make reference to the losses between 1933-1945," such as a pharmacy museum, where one exhibit referred to the number of Jewish pharmacists who lost their jobs and were deported and killed.
"On the other hand, I have heard firsthand from Jews who live here that they do not feel comfortable in having their identity known."
During her stay in Germany, she has met with the president of the Jewish university and other Jewish leaders. She has also been in touch with a German couple that is involved in the German-Israelite Society, a group that works toward German-Jewish understanding in Germany and supports organized tours for German Jewish refugees who are invited back at government expense to visit their former homes.
Koppell's month-long service ends Aug. 13. Meanwhile, members of Temple Beth Sholom are "once again expressing their patriotism by supporting my work and filling in for me," she said.
Koppell, who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel, previously served from November 2001-November 2002 as the chaplain for the 112th Military Intelligence Brigade at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista. She is the Army's only female Jewish chaplain.
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