Rabbi Albert Plotkin, 89, passed away Wednesday, February 3, 2010. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1942. In 1948 he was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Rabbi Plotkin served as a rabbi in Seattle, where he met his wife Sylvia, and in Spokane. In 1955, he came to Phoenix to become the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel. He served the Valley and his congregation for 34 years. His name is synonymous with the Jewish Studies Program at ASU and his persistent efforts have been instrumental in making the interdisciplinary program a reality. Through the support of the Jewish Chautauqua Society, Rabbi Plotkin taught the initial Jewish Studies course in the Center for the Humanities at ASU and he continued to lecture in the Department of Religious Studies until last spring. He was the chaplain at the Phoenix Veterans Hospital and only retired last year at age 88. He continued to pursue his interest in music and sang professionally in his first opera in 1994 at the Arizona Opera Company's production of Turandot. He earned the Doctor of Hebrew Letters from the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles in 1967, and in 1973 accepted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from that institution. Following his "retirement" from Congregation Beth Israel, he and his wife Sylvia were invited to start a new congregation in Sedona. Rabbi served the Jewish Community of Sedona from 1993 until they hired a full-time rabbi in 2005. He is survived by a daughter and was preceded in death by his wife, Sylvia, a daughter and a loving brother. He is survived by many nieces and nephews and the Plotkin Cousins Club.