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Updated August 2nd, 2007
Carole Meyers
 Rabbi Carole Meyers, a La
Cañada Flintridge resident who
became the first female rabbi to lead
a Southland congregation when she
took over Temple Sinai of Glendale
in 1986, died of metastatic bone
cancer last Thursday. She was 50.
Meyers passed away just 10
weeks after being diagnosed with
the disease.
Meyers was a leader in the
Jewish Reform movement, serving
on the board of the Central
Conference of American Rabbis.
She also developed leadership curriculum
for Hebrew Union College
in Los Angeles and presiding at
marriages and bar and bat mitzvahs.
Meyers was born June 12, 1957,
in Washington, D.C., to Irving and Hortense Meyers. She considered
studying to be a rabbi after her
father died when she was 13.
She received a bachelor’s degree
in philosophy and Jewish studies
from the University of Maryland in
1978, then enrolled at Hebrew
Union College seminary. Meyers,
ordained in 1983 after graduating
from Hebrew Union College in New
York, was an assistant rabbi in
Houston before moving to Temple
Sinai.
“People would often say how
much she changed their lives,” said
her husband, U.S. Magistrate Judge
Ralph Zarefsky. “She caused them
to reconnect with Judaism.
“She was a great storyteller and
had a way of having children see the
goodness and the awe that the Bible
can inspire. She was a superb
preacher, a very comforting pastoral
counselor.
“One of her greatest strengths
was welcoming interfaith couples
and working in the interfaith community.”
Rep.
Adam B. Schiff (DBurbank),
who joined Temple Sinai
when it was under Meyers’ direction, invited her to speak to opening
prayer to House of Representatives
shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,
tragedy. “She was honored to
receive that invitation and sought to
place the tragedy in context and
offer some words of comfort and
support to the lawmakers,”
Zarefsky said.
Meyers is survived by her husband,
Ralph Zarefsky, and two
sons, Joe and Gus. Also brothers
Lawrence Meyers of Boynton
Beach, Fla., and Eric and Philip
Meyers, both of Potomac, Md.; sister
Marian Fox of Columbia, Md.;
and her stepfather, Daniel Zwick of
Washington.
Services were held Tuesday at
Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Los
Angeles.
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