![]() Michael has been a proud member of Temple Chai, joining with his husband, Dr. Ronald Paler in 2015 after moving from California to Arizona. Over the last several years he has been a student of the Mussar program embracing our Jewish traditions on a path leading to spiritual development. He has continued his Jewish learning as a student in the Adult B’nai Mitzvah program. Michael currently serves as the Temple Chai Marketing Chair, bringing over 7 years of synagogue marketing experience from a leading Jewish reform temple in Los Angeles. He has over 25 years of marketing experience, creating advertising campaigns and managing multi-million-dollar budgets for leading companies in United States and Canada. Michael is also a board President, serving 1,500 homes for the Retreat Village Association in Scottsdale and is the Communication Chair for the Grayhawk Community Association. He continues to use his marketing expertise and talents to help support Temple Chai.
0 Comments
![]() Betsy Zangara is a Partner at Connor Group, an accounting advisory firm that specializes in helping companies work through complex business issues including technical accounting, mergers & acquisitions, audit readiness, IPO/SPAC, internal controls, SEC reporting, and monthly close. Prior to Connor Group, Betsy was an audit partner at BDO and spent nine years in the audit practice at Deloitte. In addition to her accounting degree, Betsy has a master’s degree in social work, focusing on non-profit organizations. Betsy has also spent time in Jewish education, starting as a madricha at Temple Chai in middle school, serving as a Hebrew school teacher during college in St. Louis, and then becoming the Hebrew School Principal, NFTY Advisor, and then the Director of Education at Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis. Locally, Betsy was in the 5th Cohort of the JFCS Professional Leadership Group, has co-chaired the Jewish National Fund Breakfast in Phoenix, and has served on the Associate Board of Teach for America. Betsy has a long history at Temple Chai – she attended religious school as a child, became a Bat Mitzvah, was involved in NFTY-SW and TCTY, and her three daughters (Talia, Leora, and Eliana with husband Jeremy) all went through the early childhood center and are now in the religious school. Betsy is looking forward to helping Temple Chai through the process of finding a new home and excited about the future of Temple Chai with Rabbi Segal as the new Senior Rabbi. ![]() I am honored to join the Temple Chai Board of Directors to give back to a community that has given my family so much over the last five years. I have worked in a variety of nonprofits for the last ten years, with the last seven spent in fundraising roles. As a grants manager for a local women's nonprofit, I secured more than $1.4 million in grant funding for programs, general operating, and capital expenses. I made the move to higher education fundraising communications four years ago, writing omnichannel annual giving communications for NAU. Michael Moramarco (of Temple Chai Purimspiel acclaim 😉) and I just celebrated ten years of marriage, and have two sweet boys who LOVE the ECC. We love Temple Chai for the myriad ways this incredible, inclusive community has supported us and enriched our lives. ![]() Zac Abrams, known fondly at Temple Chai as "Coach Zac", is incredibly excited to take on his new role as Youth Experience Specialist at Temple Chai. From a young age, Coach Zac has been involved in Temple Youth and active Jewish life. As a high schooler, he served on the board of Har Zion Congregation's chapter of United Synagogue Youth (USY) as the VP of Religion/Education. He also spent all four years of high school as a madrich for 5th and 6th Graders and gained his first coaching experience running a Sports chug for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. In college, Coach Zac became involved in Chabad on Campus at NAU, where he served as a board member and later President for three of his four years of college. In addition, he served as a member of the Sports Department at URJ Camp Kalsman for four summers. Professionally, Coach Zac has taught in the Deer Valley Unified School District for nine years where he also coached JV and Varsity Softball from 2015-2018 and ran the AVID Program from 2018-2021. He has been on the staff at Temple Chai since 2015 where he has taught in the Chai School program, helped run five successful Religious School retreats and 3rd/4th Grade Shabbatons, served as the TCTY Jr. advisor, taught 5th and 6th Grade, and has happily coached the Maccabiah Sports Program. He has been Temple Chai's Madrichim Program Coordinator since 2020. While known as "Coach Zac" at our Temple, at home he is known as "Husband" to his wife Heather and "Dad" to his daughter Aurora and fur-child Archie. In his free time, he loves watching and playing sports, binge-watching new shows on his favorite streaming services, and spending time with his family. He is honored and privileged to be working with the youth at Temple Chai and is looking forward to reviving TCTY while continuing to contribute to the success of our religious school programming ![]() I met my wife Anita at Northwestern University in Evanston in 1960. We were married a year later. Since she was a Phoenix native we moved to Phoenix in 1965 after I graduated from Northwestern Law School. I practiced law for approximately 14 years in Phoenix with an emphasis on family law. During that time, I served as chairman of the Arizona State Bar Family Law Committee and was appointed a Judge Pro-temp for the Maricopa County Superior Court, having previously served as a domestic court commissioner and a Juvenile referee. During the last 40 plus years I have been a Real Estate Developer and Investor. In the last 20 years 2 of my sons, Allan and Benjamin have joined me. I have served on numerous previous boards such as the Phoenix Jewish Federation, The Jewish National Fund, The Jewish family and Children's Service and various corporate boards. I was first vice president an acting president for Har Zion Temple. I am currently a board member of my HOA, the Northwestern Pritzker Law School and Temple Chai. My wife and I have 4 sons and 6 grandchildren. Since our son Steven was the Bureau chief of the Associated Press in Israel for 7 years, we traveled there extensively. We have always been involved in the Phoenix Jewish Community. My wife Anita, served as President of the Women's Federation of Greater Phoenix and is a past President of Hadassah. My wife's father Jerome started a synagogue in Phoenix having come here in 1935. ![]() Professional Experience – Physician, Board Certified in Lower Extremity Surgery; Chief Investigator AZ State Board of Podiatry Examiners; Board Member American Board of Lower Extremity Surgeons, Head of Recertification Committee; Board Member American College of Lower Extremity Surgeons, Chair Education Committee; National Medical Lecturer; Associate Professor Midwestern College of Podiatric Medicine. Quality Control Consultant HSAG, BC/BS, Aetna, Humana. Volunteer Experience – Doctors Without Borders, 3 tours; Board Member Arizona Botanical Garden, Scientific Committee; HOA President; Experience Matters Volunteer; Call for Action Mediator Volunteer. Family – Married to the love of my life, Matthew Cohen who has taken me to over 150 countries around the world. Temple Chai – has welcomed my family with love, friendship and comradery, and we want to pass on this feeling of a Temple Family to all. ![]() Lori Bruggeman is a CPA. She started the first 10 years of her career working in public accounting and has spent the last 20 years working as a Controller/CFO for a Fire and Life Safety and currently a Roofing subcontractor in the construction industry. She brings everyday, hands on accounting experience to her role as VP of Finance. She has also maintained her public accounting experience with her own small accounting practice helping small businesses and individuals with financial and tax assistance. She has served as the Treasurer of Release the Fear, a health and human service organization, serving the community by providing youth empowerment curriculum; utilizing principles of social emotional learning and inquiry-based programming. After being part of the adult bnai mitzvah program, Lori felt much more connected to Judaism and chose to become more involved in the Temple. She is a regular at Friday night services and enjoys ending her week enjoying the meaningful music and prayers that Kabbalat Shabbat offers. ![]() I am so excited to be a part of the Temple Chai community and humbled to have been asked to step into the role as VP of Education during this pivotal time in our history. I have a Masters in Education with an emphasis in Character Education from the University of San Diego. I also have a BA in Judaic Studies from University of Arizona. I met my husband Ari while I was teaching in San Diego 14 years ago and married for 12. ( Ask my sometime about how we met!) Ari likes to joke that I have 2 full time jobs, but not neither of them paid! 1 is all my volunteer work at Temple Chai and at Pardes and the other is a mom to our 2 beautiful girls! Sophie is almost 11 and Julia is 7. We have been at Temple Chai since 2015. We started off as an ECC family and transitioned a couple of years ago to full members. The ECC and Temple Chai immediately felt like my home away from home. The amazing warmth of our community, the family oriented atmosphere and most of all the open arms I feel at all times is what keeps me at Temple Chai. I enjoy giving back knowing that my efforts will help make others feel the same way I do. I have been volunteering since I was a teenager and my experience ranges from being a Madrich at my Synagogue in San Diego, helping start one of the biggest chapters of Far West USY, being a camp counselor, being a PTO president, co-chairing the Tikkun Olam committee at Pardes for 2 years, Co Chairing Staff Appreciation and Literacy at Pardes, Chairing the ECC Gala a few times and now my current position as VP of Education. I am always willing to help where I can, especially if that means that one day someone else may say that Temple Chai has become their Home Away from Home! ![]() Ingrid Has been a member of Temple Chai for 30 years. She has been involved in many facets of Temple life, some of which include: teaching for 16 years off and on in the religious school, staff at religious school retreats, participating actively in a number of committees including caring committee, shiva minyan committee, visioning committee, co-chairing with Sarah Paikowsky the TC Civic Engagement Committee for Marginalized Communities, Family Promise Volunteer, TC Vegan Challenge, Advisory committee for Rabbi Search last year, co-chair with Nona Siegel of Eco Chai, High Holiday Usher. She has been an active member of Bat Chai, participating in meetings, events and retreats, including reading Torah. She was part of an active Chavurah at TC which met monthly for over 15 years, and many of the Chavurah members continue to be her closest friends. She was in a structured 3 year longTorah study group with Rabbi Bill Berk and continued in the Sunday Torah study group. She’s been blessed to have children who have had baby namings at TC, attended pre-school at TC, religious school, had B’nai Mitzvahs at TC, confirmations at TC, been madrachim, and been married by TC Rabbis. She has been an active volunteer in the community outside of TC as well, Including: City of Phoenix Park Steward 2021-present HOA Board 2016-present Precinct Committee Chairperson for LD24 2016-2019 Vice Chair- American College of Nurse Midwives Phoenix Chapter 1998-2002 Board Member-Chandler Library Board 1990-1992 President -Arizona Assoc of Midwives 1985-1992 President DoDiLi BBG 1974-1975 Ingrid has worked in Women’s Healthcare for over 40 years; although she has delivered thousands of babies, she no longer delivers babies and currently works as a Nurse Practitioner. In addition to Nursing and Nurse Midwifery degrees, she has a Bachelor’s in Business, and Master’s in Health Services Administration from the WP Carey School at ASU, and worked as Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona. |
Archives
September 2023
Categories
All
|
Temple ChaiDeepening Jewish lives
and Infusing our Days with Meaning. |
Echai Newsletter |
ContactTemple Chai
4645 E Marilyn Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85032 P: (602) 971-1234 |