The Rabbis Bogard
Here at Anshai Emeth, we are lucky enough to now have TWO full-time rabbis serving our community! Rabbi Karen Kriger Bogard served our community for three years as a 2x/month student-rabbi while she was in Rabbinical School. When we went looking for a new full-time rabbi we never imagined that we would be fortunate enough to not just have Rabbi Karen, but also get her husband, Rabbi Daniel Bogard!
Rabbi Karen Kriger Bogard was born in Memphis, TN to Sidney and Debbie Kriger. Growing up in the large Reform congregation there, she was been involved in Jewish life since she was a kid. After majoring in both Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at Tulane University, Karen headed off to Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem (and then Cincinnati) for four years of Rabbinical School. While completing her rabbinic work, Karen wrote her thesis on reclaiming the mikveh (ritual immersion bath) in liberal-Judaism. As a student at HUC, Karen served for one year as a student-rabbi in New Iberia, LA, before heading to Anshai Emeth here in Peoria, where she has been ever since. Rabbi Karen–as she is affectionately called–directs our B’nai Mitzvah program as well as leads our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services, and has an active role teaching Adult Education. She is married to Rabbi Daniel Bogard, whom she met in the first year of Rabbinical School in Jerusalem, and she is the mother of Gavriel (Gavi) Bogard, who arrived just two days after the Bogards moved to Peoria! Rabbi Karen is the first female Rabbi in the 153 year history of Anshai Emeth, and the first female Rabbi in the history of central Illinois.
Rabbi Daniel Bogard, originally from St. Louis, MO is the son of Robert and Denise Bogard. Growing up in St. Louis, he was an active member of Central Reform Congregation, the first congregation in St. Louis to be headed by a female rabbi. After majoring in Religious Studies at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, Daniel worked as a middle school teacher at Lift for Life Academy in St. Louis, MO, and then lived and worked on Kibbutz Yagur in Israel. While attending Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Daniel served as the student-rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in Ishpeming, MI for two years, and then served as the Rabbinic Intern of K.K. Adath Israel, a Conservative congregation in Cincinnati, OH. For his thesis, Rabbi Daniel wrote on the evolving nature of Shabbat observance in the Reform movement. In addition to taking an active role in our Adult Education offerings here at Anshai Emeth, and leading our Shabbat Morning Learner’s Minyan, Rabbi Daniel teaches in the Religious Studies department of Bradley University, and is the Director of Bradley Hillel.