Adath Israel Women’s League invites you to celebrate with us on Sunday March 20th as we honor Peggy Shapiro as our the Torah Fund Honoree for 2022.
Peggy was born in Alaska as part of an Airforce family and lived in six states before moving to Spokane, Washington where she lived from first grade through high school. She graduated from Cornell University with a Degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering and from NYU where she earned her MBA. Peggy moved to the Princeton area in 1996 and began her conversion to Judaism with the “Intro to Judaism” class. During the class, Peggy and then boyfriend Ken, met with clergy, visited synagogues and made a strong connection with Rabbi Grossman and Hazzan Katlin. Peggy converted under the guidance of Rabbi Grossman in 1997. Her and Ken became engaged and celebrated their wedding ceremony and reception at Adath in 1998. They were offered a complimentary membership for one year and have been members ever since.
Adath has been central to her family’s Jewish Lifecycle events throughout the years. Rabbi and Hazzan both facilitated their daughter Abigail’s baby naming in their home in as well as the Bris’s of Matthew and Aidan at their current home in Lawrenceville. In addition, they celebrated all three B’nai Mitzvahs at Adath with Hazzan leading each child through preparation and officiated by both Rabbi Grossman and Rabbi Adler. The Adath community was also supportive through the loss of Peggy’s father in 2003.
Peggy became involved in the synagogue when she left the corporate world in 2001. She worked on the Adath Israelite newsletter for many years and was a member of the Ring Nursery School PTO and the JCC Board of Directors prior to its closure. Peggy also served on the religious school PTO when her children were younger and held the presidency of PTO for a few years as well. In 2007, Jan Berger convinced Peggy to join the Women’s League board and she has served on the board ever since. While on the Women’s League Board, Peggy served as the Treasurer, the Financial Secretary, and eventually the President. Peggy has enjoyed serving on the board and working with all of the board members and committees. Besides working on the Women’s League board, Peggy sits on both the Adath Board of Trustees and the Executive Board.
Peggy enjoys her book clubs, going to the beach, reading, watching too much TV, hanging out with friends and helping out whenever needed. Peggy loves her family and friends and wants to thank everyone for supporting her and Torah Fund.
The theme for the Torah Fund Campaign is B’Yachad, “Together”. The benefactor pin, (donation of $180 or higher) represents gold nuggets. Each of us is a small nugget of gold, but together our small gifts reflect and refract the light inside us and help each other shine.
She has been honored as the Woman of the Year at Adath and we are proud to have her as our honoree this year in support of the Jewish Theological Seminary.