Cynthia Culpeper
Cynthia Ann "Cyndie" Culpeper (June 16, 1962 – August 29, 2005) was the first pulpit rabbi to announce being diagnosed with AIDS, which she did in 1996 when she was a rabbi at Agudath Israel in Montgomery, Alabama.{{Cite web|url=https://sjlmag.com/2005/08/29/community-mourns-loss-of-rabbi-cynthia-culpeper-43/|title=Community mourns loss of Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper, 43 – Southern Jewish Life Magazine|date=August 29, 2005}} She was the first full-time female rabbi in Alabama and the first Conservative female rabbi in Alabama.
Early life
Culpeper was originally from San Francisco.{{Cite web|url=https://jweekly.com/1996/02/09/i-have-aids-rabbi-from-s-f-reveals-publicly/|title=I have AIDS, rabbi from S.F. reveals publicly|first=J.|last=Staff|date=February 9, 1996}} She converted from Roman Catholicism at age 21, and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1995.{{cite web |url=http://gen.culpepper.com/ss/p41740.htm |title=gen.culpepper.com |publisher=gen.culpepper.com |accessdate=2016-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809111855/http://gen.culpepper.com/ss/p41740.htm |archive-date=2014-08-09 |url-status=dead }}
AIDS
Culpeper was working as a nurse in San Francisco General Hospital when she accidentally contracted HIV due to a needle stick, and was diagnosed with HIV in 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2492/-i-have-aids-rabbi-from-s-f-reveals-publicly/ |title='I have AIDS,' rabbi from S.F. reveals publicly |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=1996-02-09 |accessdate=2012-10-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dsjv.com/2005/08/deep-south-file-community-mourns-loss.html |title=Community Mourns Loss of Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper, 43 |publisher=Deep South Jewish Voice |date=August 29, 2005 |accessdate=2012-10-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/9858/edition_id/189/format/html/displaystory.html|title=Alabama ousts governor, a Christian right advocate|publisher=|accessdate=29 October 2014}} She later became the first pulpit rabbi to announce being diagnosed with AIDS, which she did in 1996 when she was a rabbi at Agudath Israel in Montgomery, Alabama. After revealing her diagnosis, her congregation rallied around her, insisting she continue to work, and wearing red AIDS awareness ribbons, but in 1997 she gave up her position and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she could get "cutting edge" treatment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's AIDS research clinic.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/26837/edition_id/516/format/html/displaystory.html|title=Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper dies at 43|publisher=|accessdate=29 October 2014}} Culpeper spoke about AIDS to Jewish communities throughout America. However, she did not want to be known as "the AIDS rabbi".{{cite web|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/26977/rabbi-cynthia-culpeper-dies-at-43/|title=Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper dies at 43|date=2 September 2005 |publisher=|accessdate=29 October 2014}} She died of AIDS in 2005.{{cite web |last=Brook |first=Larry |url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2005/08/29/13186/RabbiCynthiaCulpep |title=Rabbi dies of AIDS |publisher=JTA |date=2005-08-29 |accessdate=2012-10-14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415075621/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2005/08/29/13186/RabbiCynthiaCulpep |archive-date=2013-04-15 |url-status=dead }} Block #6020 of the AIDS Memorial Quilt has a panel commemorating her.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aidsmemorial.org/interactive-aids-quilt|title=Interactive AIDS Quilt|website=www.aidsmemorial.org}}
Achievements
Culpeper was the first full-time female rabbi in Alabama. She also became the first female rabbi to lead religious services in Poland when she conducted High Holy Day services at Beit Warszawa in 2000. Culpeper also contributed a chapter to the anthology The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions (2000).Cynthia A. Culpeper. “Positive Pillars.” In The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions. Edited by Elyse Goldstein, pages 63–69. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000. {{ISBN|1-58023-076-8}}.
See also
References
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{{Women rabbis}}
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Category:American Conservative rabbis
Category:Conservative women rabbis
Category:Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism
Category:AIDS-related deaths in Alabama