[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S4502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RETIREMENT OF RABBI SOIFER

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to recognize Rabbi Myra 
Soifer, who will retire on June 30, 2009, after 25 years of service to 
the congregation of Temple Sinai in Reno, NV. Rabbi Soifer was one of 
the first ten women ordained as a rabbi after the Reform Jewish 
movement accepted them in 1972. A well accomplished scholar, she 
received her undergraduate degree from Lawrence University, her Masters 
in Hebrew Letters and ordination from Hebrew Union College in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduate work at the Pacific School of Religion 
in Berkeley, CA, and the Leo Baeck College Rabbinical School in London, 
England.
  Rabbi Soifer has enriched her community with her grasp of the Torah 
and its teachings. Under her guidance, Temple Sinai has grown into a 
vibrant religious community with an expanded religious school and an 
enlarged campus that can accommodate both the congregation's largest 
gatherings as well as community meetings.
  Besides being a dedicated spiritual leader for her congregants, she 
has been a powerful voice for good in the community at large. Rabbi 
Soifer has been a fearless, driving force in bringing the greater faith 
community together around prayer, and to address moral and political 
issues. She led Temple Sinai to help organize the Northern Nevada 
interfaith response to the tragic events of 9/11. She has organized 
women in the faith community as the founder of the Reno Clergywomen's 
Association, and she created an interfaith clergy study group known as 
the ``Study Buddies'', which has been going strong for over 20 years. 
The community recognizes her as a passionate advocate for social 
justice, celebrating cultural and religious diversity, and caring for 
the underserved locally and globally.
  Her accomplishments have been recognized in many ways over the years, 
as she has been the recipient of the Metropolitan Community Church's 
Human Rights Award; University of Nevada, Reno's Psychological Services 
Award; ACLU's Civil Libertarian of the Year; and Reno Magazine's ``88 
people to watch in '88'' Award. Her reach in the community goes beyond 
the Temple's walls, having worked with the Washoe County School 
District, Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Witness For 
Peace, Reno/Sparks Metro Ministry, Community Coalition to End Hate and 
Violence, Northern Nevada AIDS Foundation, Planned Parenthood of 
Northern Nevada, Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society, and 
the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
  I join with Nevadans throughout the Silver State to honor Rabbi Myra 
Soifer for her lifetime dedication to her faith, her community, and the 
social justice of all people. She has indisputably made a tremendous 
impact which will endure in the institutions she has enriched.

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