When Chana Mangel received a phone call informing her that she had been selected as one of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s top 10 Women of the Year for 2025, her first instinct was to dismiss it.
“I actually thought it was a hoax,” she recalls. “One of those things where you get a phone call like, ‘You won a trip to Hawaii for four days.’ I was going to politely cut it short and say thanks but no thanks.”
The Chabad rebbetzin soon realized that it was genuine. Still, accepting the award didn’t come naturally to someone who prefers to work behind the scenes.
It was her husband, Rabbi Yisroel Mangel—with whom she co-founded Chabad-Lubavitch of Blue Ash, in northern Cincinnati, 35 years ago—who convinced her that accepting the honor would serve a greater purpose. “It could inspire others,” admits Rebbetzin Mangel, “and that’s what my job is really, to try to inspire others, even if it’s just small little lights of inspiration.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s annual Women of the Year honors recognize women who have made significant contributions to their communities. According to Rachel Frankel, who nominated Mangel for the honor, she is “a lifeline for many and is the backbone of the center, greeting everyone who enters with a smile and a kind word.”
Three-and-a-Half Decades of Service
The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, sent the Mangels to Cincinnati in 1990, where they established Chabad of Blue Ash, serving the northern part of Cincinnati and surrounding areas. Their firstborn son, Mendel, was just 10 days old when they arrived, and his pidyon haben ceremony at 30 days marked their first community event.
“Those were exciting times,” Mangel reflects. “Even though I grew up as a Chabad emissary, this was going to be different. This was coming with my own husband and opening our own Chabad center, and being able to run it and be part of the Rebbe’s army in our own way.”
From the beginning, the couple worked as a team, dividing responsibilities while maintaining a unified vision. Their approach mirrored the model of what she calls the first Chabad House.
“This week and next week’s Torah portions show how Avraham and Sarah, our first patriarch and matriarch, welcomed people into their home,” she says. “The men were influenced and taught by Avraham, and Sarah taught the women—that’s kind of how we set up our Chabad center.”
While Rabbi Mangel serves as the spiritual leader and guide for the community, Chana has focused on what she calls “the nurturing side of their mission,” inviting people to their home, preparing meal packages and providing special care for women in the community.
“I would say that my role would complement my husband’s role because naturally we’re each good at different things,” she explains. “While he excelled in one area, I was able to give the feminine touch.”
She emphasizes the importance of engaging women specifically: “When there is a woman’s connection to Judaism, then we have the whole home that comes along for the ride because she is the akeret habayit, ‘the foundation of the home.’ ”
Under her leadership, the Feminine Connection has become an umbrella organization offering multiple programs: weekly Zoom coffee talks that began during the pandemic, monthly Rosh Chodesh Society classes with elegant dinners, mikvah education and coaching, Shabbat meals and their annual Mega Challah Bake that draws approximately 500 women.
“Women come out of the woodwork to connect and to participate,” she says of the challah bake. “Some of them have even said that they’ve never done anything Jewish in their life, but they show up for this. There’s magic in the air.”
One family’s transformation particularly stands out. Beginning with their children attending Hebrew school with little Jewish knowledge, the parents gradually became more involved. Eventually, they remarried in a kosher wedding in the Mangels’ backyard and celebrated a three-generation bar mitzvah at the Chabad center.
“They have really become partners in our work,” Mangel says proudly. “They are now fully Shabbat observant, keep kosher, and are very involved in the day-to-day Jewish life in our community.”
A Balancing Act
Raising nine children (six married, one recently engaged, and numerous grandchildren) while leading a community has required careful prioritization.
“I try to balance by making sure that ultimately, my family always comes first,” she says. “When we show the community that family is a priority, and we’re there for each and every single one of our children and grandchildren in a very present way, it sets an example.”
One of the greatest challenges has been sending children away for Jewish education, sometimes as young as 12 or 13. “From a mother’s perspective, from a parent’s perspective, it’s definitely the most difficult thing,” she acknowledges.
For her, the Woman of the Year award “is not about my personal self, but it is that even others, the world, the community, acknowledges the importance of the role of a shlucha [women emissary], who is simply doing what she does because that is her life calling and her life mission,” she reflects. “What is so beautiful about the award is that others are acknowledging the importance and seeing how every act truly does make the world a better place.”
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