Cynthia Ann "Cyndie" Culpeper (June 16, 1962 – August 29, 2005) was the first pulpit rabbi to announce being diagnosed with
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
, which she did in 1996 when she was rabbi of
Agudath Israel in
Montgomery, Alabama.
She was the first full-time female rabbi in Alabama and the first
Conservative female rabbi in Alabama.
Early life
Culpeper converted from
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
at age 21, and was ordained by the
Jewish Theological Seminary in 1995.
AIDS
Culpeper was working as a nurse in San Francisco General Hospital when she accidentally contracted
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...
due to a needle stick, and was diagnosed with HIV in 1995.
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. Culpeper spoke about AIDS to Jewish communities throughout America.
However, she did not want to be known as "the AIDS rabbi". She died of AIDS in 2005.
Achievements
Culpeper was the first full-time female rabbi in Alabama and the first Conservative 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. .]
See also
*
Timeline of women rabbis
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culpeper, Cynthia
American Conservative rabbis
Conservative women rabbis
Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism
2005 deaths
1962 births
AIDS-related deaths in Alabama
20th-century American rabbis
21st-century American Jews