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January 16, 2004/Tevet 22 5764, Vol. 56, No.17
Or Chadash flourishes
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Congregation Or Chadash starts the new year with a new location, a new rabbi and a new board of directors.
Leaders of the Conservative congregation, established in 2002, signed a three-year lease at an office complex at 91st Street and Bell Road in North Scottsdale, said newly elected President Eddie Lange. An architecture and design committee, led by Larry Clapick, has been formed, and the new facility is expected to be ready for move-in by late spring, Lange said.
After a yearlong search, Or Chadash has hired Rabbi Beryl Padorr-Kaufmann to serve as the congregation's first spiritual leader. She'll conduct her first Shabbat service as the congregation's rabbi tonight (7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16) in the preschool wing at La Casa de Cristo, 6300 E. Bell Road, Phoenix.
She will also lead services 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at the same location.
"We can all be very proud of how far we've come," Lange said of the congregation. "It has only been 18 months since we were a small group meeting around a kitchen table."
Since its initial meeting in mid-2002, the group has grown to 58 families, and an average of 75 people attend monthly Friday-night Shabbat services, Lange said. Or Chadash has also held monthly Saturday morning services and holiday celebrations and is currently investigating options for a preschool and Sunday school, he added.
Beginning this month, Or Chadash will hold Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat services twice a month, with Padorr-Kaufman commuting from Los Angeles both weeks to lead Shabbat services and teach classes, Lange said. The congregation plans to continue meeting at La Casa de Cristo until their new facility is complete.
Padorr-Kaufman is a fourth-year student at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and will be ordained in May 2005. She received a master's degree in education from the school in 2002.
"We interviewed and auditioned many excellent rabbinical candidates in our quest," said Frank Lange, a member of the Or Chadash Search Committee. "Rabbi Beryl has that special combination of experience, education, community service and personal sensitivity that we were seeking."
Padorr-Kaufman served for three summers as a rabbinical intern at Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City, Mo., and has had teaching and administrative experience in Santa Monica, Calif. She also served as the executive director of Zink the Zebra Foundation of Kansas City, a nonprofit organization that teaches compassion for children with cancer and other serious issues.
Or Chadash elected its first board of directors on Jan. 12.
Officers include Eddie Lange, president; Kenny Fuller, administrative vice president; Allen Silberman, membership vice president; Steve Goldstein, education vice president; Hana Lange, ritual vice president; Skeeter Marcus, secretary; and Salo Herman, treasurer.
Other board members include Natalie Clapick, Irwin Feinberg, Randy Gamiel, Cheryl Hammerman, Amy Lieber, Efrem Lieber and Larry Seaman.
"The whole congregation has played a huge part in helping us to follow our road map and to accomplish what we said that we wanted to accomplish in our first year and a half," Eddie Lange said.
Or Chadash defines itself as a "Conservative, multi-generational, participatory community in the Northeast Valley."
Call 602-482-0142.
Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.
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