November 12, 2004/Cheshvan 28 5765, Vol. 57, No. 11
Brooklyn yeshiva honors Rebibo
LEISAH NAMM
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| Nearly two centuries of Torah learning |
Rebibo took on the job and worked closely with the rosh yeshiva (head of yeshiva) as he met with Jewish leaders there.
Before Kalmanowitz returned to New York, he told Rebibo, "There is no future for you in France. ... I want you to come to America."
A few weeks later, Rebibo received a package containing documents necessary to obtain a visa.
He soon moved to New York and although he studied at the Mirrer Yeshiva for only one year, he maintained an enduring relationship with his mentor.
This year, on Nov. 21, the yeshiva is honoring Rebibo with the Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz Memorial Award at its 55th annual dinner at the Brooklyn Marriott in New York. The award pays tribute to the legacy of the yeshiva and Kalmanowitz, its leader from 1926-1964. The award also recognizes Rebibo's work in Phoenix's Jewish community.
After Rebibo left the yeshiva, Kalmanowitz helped him obtain a teaching position at Yeshiva Magen David in Brooklyn, N.Y. After that, Rebibo moved to Memphis, Tenn., to teach and lead a small congregation.
In 1965, he and his family moved to Phoenix, where the Jewish population numbered about 10,000 and there was no Jewish day school.
Rebibo quickly got to work as the founding director of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy and he also founded the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth, a kosher-supervision agency. The next year, he founded Beth Joseph Congregation and, a few years later, a mikvah, which closed in 2002. In 2000, he helped establish what is now the Greater Phoenix Israel Kollel, a think tank of rabbis and educators who study Torah and teach in the community.
This year, the Phoenix Hebrew Academy celebrates its 40th anniversary and has an enrollment of 130 students, kindergarten through eighth grade.
Rebibo and his wife Odette have five children, 16 grand-children and six great-grand-children.
When the present rosh yeshiva - Kalmanowitz's grandson - approached Rebibo about being this year's honoree, Rebibo said yes because he wanted to share his gratitude and have a chance to express "how much I owe to the man, to the institution."
The award Rebibo is receiving "is being given in recognition of his lifelong dedication to guaranteeing that Judaism will continue to flourish," said Irwin Shein-bein, president of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy. "He has always been focused on making every Jew feel that they are an integral link in the chain that connects one generation to the next."
For more information on the Mirrer Yeshiva dinner, call (718) 645-0536.
Free-lance writer Malky Lowinger of Brooklyn, N.Y., contributed to this article.