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Analia Bortz

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Analia Bortz
Personal
Born1967 (age 56–57)
Buenos Aires
ReligionJudaism
SpouseRabbi Mario Karpuj
Alma mater
OR-ZSE, Hungary
OccupationRabbi and bio-ethicist Founder co-Director Center for Ethics, The Vatican-Universidad Abarvanel- Seminario Rabinico LatinoAmericano
SynagogueCongregation Or Hadash Founder Rabbi Emerita Congregation Or Hadash

Analia Bortz (born February 1967)[1] is a medical doctor with postdoctoral studies in bioethics. She became the first female Latin American rabbi when ordained in Jerusalem at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in 1994.[2][3] In 2003, she and her husband, Rabbi Mario Karpuj, founded Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia. In 2018 Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz was chosen as 1 of the most influential women in the world by the BBC. In 2023 Rabbi Dr. Bortz became the Founding co-director at the Center for Ethics at the Vatican and the University Abarvanel- Seminario Rabinico LatinoAmericano. In February 2024 Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz launched the first Center for Ethics at the Vatican, in collaboration with Pope Francis, and Monseñor Vicenzo Paglia.

Education and Early Life

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Bortz was born in February 1967 in Buenos Aires to two doctors as parents. Her maternal grandparents emigrated to Argentina from Poland between the two World Wars, and her paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Russia in 1881 as early Jewish gauchos. She grew up in a very Zionist Jewish community and attended a Jewish day school. When Bortz was 14, she met Mario Karpuj, her future husband, when he was on a school trip to Buenos Aires. They married about eight years later.[4]

Career

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Due to her familial background, Bortz began studying medicine.[4] Early in her education, she became interested in a more holistic and spiritual approach to the human body, which was not addressed in medical school until the fourth year. Based on this interest, Bortz began sitting in on classes at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano during her time as a medical student at the University of Buenos Aires.[5] She continued her medical studies, earning her medical degree in 1990,[citation needed] and was ordained as a rabbi four years later.[5] She obtained her PhD in Ethics from the Catholic University of Valparaiso.[4][6]

In the aftermath of the AMIA bombing, Bortz and Karpuj were actively involved in identifying bodies and supporting the deceaseds' loved ones. At the time, they had one child and decided they did not want to raise their family there. They moved to Chile, where they had another child. Five years later, the immigrated to the United States, settling in Atlanta, Georgia.[4] They worked at Ahavath Achim Synagogue for three years before establishing their synagogue, Congregation Or Hadash in 2003.[7][4]

In 2004, Bortz joined the second cohort of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem's Rabbinic Leadership Initiative, graduating as a Senior Rabbinic Fellow in 2007.[8] Bortz is a 2017 graduate and facilitator of the Center for Compassionate Integrity and Secular Ethics at Life University. She also taught at the Florence Melton Adult School, a Hebrew University of Jerusalem project.

As a vocal activist against anti-Semitism, Bortz has spoken twice at the UN (2015 and 2016)[9]

In 2017, Bortz publishedThe Voice of Silence: A Rabbi's Journey into a Trappist Monastery and Other Contemplation (2017), which is about her silent retreat at the Christian monastery called Monastery of the Holy Spirit.[10] She went there after having vocal cord strain and polyps and being advised to stop speaking for a long time.[10]

In 2020, Bortz and Karpuj moved to Israel.[7]

Bioethics and Medical Activism

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As a doctor and rabbi, Bortz has worked in bioethics. She helped create the Bioethics Committees in Chile and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.[6]

Bortz founded the Jewish Fertility Foundations of Atlanta and "Hope for Seeds" for couples struggling with infertility and sterility.[6]

Bortz is an active member of JScreen advocating for research and prophylaxis of genetic disorders with greater incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. [9]

In 2017, Bortz co-founded "BaKeN (in the Nest): "בריאות-קהילה-נפש", an initiative to create positive and loving enforcement for those with mental health illness and for caregivers who support them, combating the societal stigmatization of mental illness.[11]

Honors

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  • 2011: Recipient of a YWCA Women of Achievement award for her work on infertility.
  • 2011: Nominated as Jewish Hero of the Year
  • 2013-2015: Rabbinic Advisory Board member of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and North America[12]
  • 2015: Delegate of BEINGS (BIOTECH and Ethical Imagination) at Emory University
  • 2014: Listed among Tablet Magazine's "15 American Rabbis You Haven't Heard Of, But Should".[13]
  • 2018: BBC 100 Women[14]
  • 2019: Forward 50 The Makers and the Shakers of America's Most Influential Leaders[5]
  • 2019-2020: American Jewish World Service (AJWS) Global Justice Fellow[6]
  • 2021: Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree, Jewish Theological Seminary[15]
  • 2022 Acceptance as a PhD in Or-ZSE, Hungary
  • 2024 Founding Director of the Center for Ethics, Isaac Abarbanel University Institute, launched at the Vatican.

Publications

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Books

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  • The Voice of Silence, A Rabbi's Journey into a Trappist Monastery and Other Contemplations, Westbow-Nelson Publishing 2017. ISBN 978-1512793949

Chapters and Articles

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  • Chapter in The Women's Torah Commentary[16]
  • Chapter in The Women's Haftarah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Haftarah Portions, the 5 Megillot & Special Shabbatot [17]
  • "Theologia: Jutzpa?" Maj-Shavot.[18]
  • "En la búsqueda Permanente de la Respuesta Divina." Majshavot. 2013.[19] ("Permanent seekers of God's Answers: Struggles with Bioethical quests"
  • Beware of the Tent Peg: Jael and the Hermeneutics of Subversion[20]
  • A Female Interpretation on Emmanuel Levinas' "Other"[21]
  • Deborah and Jael in Judges 4 & 5: And the Women Prevail[22]
  • Contextualizing the Book of Judges: History webHistoriography through Male and Female lenses[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Parashat D'varim (Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22)". jcca.org. 26 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Rabinos Graduados". Seminario Rabínico. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  3. ^ Zadoff, Efraim. "Argentina: Jewish Education". Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Karpuj, Rabbi Mario and Bortz, Rabbi Analia". thebreman.aviaryplatform.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz: Scholar Of The Human". The Forward. 20 December 2019. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "GLOBAL JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP 2019–2020 FELLOWS AND STAFF BIOS" (PDF). AJWS. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Our History". Or Hadash. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  8. ^ "RABBINIC LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE II". Shalom Hartman. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b lgurevitch (21 September 2019). "Dr. Analia Bortz". IAC | Israeli American Council. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b Ruch, John (18 December 2017). "Rabbi's book recalls her silent retreat at a Christian monastery". Reporter Newspapers. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. ^ Moosazedeh, Sarah (30 August 2017). "Baken Makes Room for Mental Health in Nest". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Hartman Institute Names Rabbinic Advisory Board". Shalom Hartman Institute. 22 May 2013.
  13. ^ Rosenberg, Yair (15 September 2014). "15 American Rabbis You Haven't Heard Of, But Should". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  14. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. ^ "JTS Honors 36 Rabbis for Their Dedication and Commitment at June 2021 Convocation - Jewish Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  16. ^ Goldstein, Elyse (2000). The women's Torah commentary: new insights from women rabbis on the 54 weekly Torah portions. Woodstock, Vt: Jewish Lights Publ. ISBN 978-1-58023-076-6.
  17. ^ Bortz, Analia; Brous, Rabbi Sharon; Fendrick, Susan P.; Fox, Karen L.; Gelfand, Rabbi Shoshana Boyd; Geller, Rabbi Laura; Halachmi, Rachel Sabath-Beit; PhD, Rabbi Jill Hammer; Kedar, Rabbi Karyn D. (1 September 2008). Goldstein, Rabbi Elyse (ed.). The Women's Haftarah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Haftarah Portions, the 5 Megillot & Special Shabbatot (1st ed.). Jewish Lights. ISBN 978-1-58023-371-2.
  18. ^ "Theologia: Jutzpa?" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  19. ^ Brotz, Analia. "En la búsqueda Permanente de la Respuesta Divina". Maj-Shavot. 53.
  20. ^ Bortz, Analia (1 January 2019). "Beware of the Tent Peg; Yael and the Hermeneutics of Subversion". Academia.edu. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  21. ^ Bortz, Rabbi Dr Analia. "A Female Interpretation on Emmanuel Levinas' " Other "".
  22. ^ Bortz, Rabbi Dr Analia (1 January 2019). "Deborah and Jael in Judges 4-5: And the Women Prevailed".
  23. ^ Bortz, Rabbi Dr Analia (2018). "Contextualizing the Book of Judges. History and Historiography through male and female lenses".


10. https://forward.com/opinion/437008/forward-50-2019-meet-the-machers-and-shakers-who-moved-inspired-and-awed/

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