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Jama Purser isnât just a rabbi. Sheâs an epidemiologist, too.
So, Purser, rabbi of Roanokeâs Beth Israel Synagogue, had an early idea that coronavirus could be devastating to people gathering together for worship. The synagogue closed its building to all in-person gatherings on March 12, one of the earliest full-scale closings of a house of worship in the city.
âI became really worried sometime in February and our board of directors began implementing new mitigation policies in late February, early March,â Purser said.
Before graduating from Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City in 2018, Purser spent nearly two decades as an assistant professor and epidemiologist at Duke University Medical Center. A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Purser holds a doctorate in epidemiology, which has come in handy during the pandemic of 2020.