Rabbi Beth Jacowitz Chottiner
Rabbi, Temple Shalom
2024
Rabbi Beth Jacowitz Chottiner is the spiritual leader of Temple Shalom, Louisville, KY, and previously served as the rabbi of Temple Shalom, Wheeling, WV. In addition to serving her congregation, she builds bridges between faith communities, works for the betterment of the residents in her city, and is committed to social justice. She was appointed by Governor Andy Beshear to the Kentucky Antisemitism Task Force and has received the Governor of West Virginia’s Civil Rights Day Award. She also chaired the City of Wheeling Human Rights Commission.
Rabbi Jacowitz Chottiner partners with other faith and cultural organizations for worship services and events. She started an interfaith clergy group upon her arrival to Louisville and was a founding member of the LGBTQ+ support group in Wheeling. She volunteers with Habitat for Humanity on interfaith builds and has partnered with Kentucky Refugee Ministries for the resettlement of families in Louisville.
An active participant in Holocaust education, Rabbi Jacowitz Chottiner has delivered the opening address at West Virginia University’s Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) program. She also speaks at schools about the Holocaust and served as the spiritual advisor for the overseas Holocaust-related “Poland Personally” study seminar, which is run by Pittsburgh-based Classrooms Without Borders.
The rise of antisemitism has hit Rabbi Jacowitz Chottiner close to home. When she lived here in Pittsburgh, she sometimes read Torah during Shabbat services at Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 worshippers were murdered on October 27, 2018. (Her husband’s great-uncle had been the rabbi there for over 40 years.) Additionally, the rabbi held hostage by a gunman at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan 15, 2022, and who eventually escaped with his congregants, was her friend and classmate at seminary. Rabbi Jacowitz Chottiner also has found it necessary to speak with school administrators when her congregants’ children have been bullied, verbally accosted, and even physically attacked during class hours, just for being Jews.
At the Summit
The Summit offers a unique opportunity to confront the corrosive influence of bigotry and hatred in our society. In order for us to address these challenges, we first must acknowledge their painful and destructive impact in our communities and in our country. I am grateful to serve as a Global Advisor to this timely and powerful initiative.
