Carole Meyers, a former rabbi at Temple Sinai of Glendale known by friends as a devoted religious teacher who fought to break down cultural barriers, died Thursday. She was 50.
Meyers was suddenly besieged by bone cancer 10 weeks ago and died peacefully in her La Cañada Flintridge home, said Meyers' husband, Ralph Zarefsky.
"She was unaware how many lives she affected at such a deep level, and that everyone who came in contact with her emerged a better person as a result," Zarefsky said.
Meyers, who became rabbi of Temple Sinai in 1986, was the first woman in Los Angeles County to take to the pulpit full time, Zarefsky said.
By the time she retired from the post in 2001, her reputation as a gifted orator and compelling teacher helped the synagogue to nearly double its congregation, former temple president Paul Dietz said.
"Carole really led [the temple] through an unprecedented period of growth and influence in the Jewish community," Dietz said.
Dietz joined the temple after attending a Friday night children's service that congregants have described as "legendary."
"We went just one Friday night and my kids fell in love with her, her service and the way children were included in the service," Dietz said. "The next Friday night, the kids were asking, 'Can we go back to temple?'"
Meyers' reputation extended well beyond her congregation, former Glendale City Councilman Sheldon Baker said.
"She was more than the rabbi," Baker said. "She was a rabbi to the entire community no matter what one's faith, ethnic origin or anything else. She was there to help."
As a founding member of the Mayor's Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Human Relations, Meyers was an outspoken advocate against hate crimes, said Susan Hunt, a co-founder of the group.
She served as the volunteer chaplain for the Glendale Police Department, was a board member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and she helped to develop a curriculum for aspiring reform rabbis at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, Zarefsky said.
Meyers also gave her time and, more importantly, her words to various community organizations like the Glendale Kiwanis Club, said Richard Jouroyan, a longtime Kiwanis member.
During a Kiwanis event on multiculturalism and religion, Meyers held the club rapt, Jouroyan said.
