Mizpah Congregation's William Tepper was named Monday as one of America's most inspiring rabbis by the Jewish Daily Forward, but Chattanooga is fortunate to have three fine rabbis who head three different traditions of Judaism in the community.
He is joined among area Jewish leaders by Rabbi Susan Tendler at B'nai Zion Congregation, who has been in her post at the Conservative synagogue since 2012, and Rabbi Shaul Perlstein at the Chabad Jewish Center of Chattanooga, who has been at his post at the organization with a local Orthodox tradition since 2009.
Tepper, 57, rabbi at the Reform congregation since 2008, is a second-career clergyperson. He decided to study for the rabbinate after 15 years as a high school dramatic arts and English teacher and community theater director in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He did that not only as a husband and father of a son not yet in college but as someone who had developed a significant hearing deficit as an adult.
His progressive sensorineural hearing loss allows him to hear only the lowest frequency tones with a hearing aid, but that does not keep him from fulfilling all the responsibilities of a rabbi and from being active in the wider community. He also reads lips and employs a voice-to-text operator for additional comprehension and understanding.
Chattanooga has had a long tradition of Jewish presence and leadership in the community, and the recognition of Tepper -- as one of only 33 so honored in the country -- only adds to that proud tradition.