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September 10, 1999/29 Elul 5759, Vol. 52, No. 1
Chabad of Scottsdale hires rabbi
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
Due to an increase in the number of children attending programs at its facility, and families inquiring about the possibility of additional programs, last month Chabad of Scottsdale created a new position - director for programs and youth.
Beginning today (Friday, Sept. 10), just in time for the start of the High Holidays, Rabbi Yackov Baron of Brooklyn, N.Y., will take on the job.
"We are very excited because we've been overburdened for the last few years," said Chabad of Scottsdale's Director Rabbi Yossi Levertov. Baron will oversee two existing Chabad programs - a weekly program for Chaparral High School students who come to Chabad to eat lunch, and a program that allows teens Valleywide to visit the synagogue after school to "schmooze" with rabbis, Levertov said. Chabad of Scottsdale, 10215 N. Scottsdale Road, also plans to open a preschool on its campus, possibly by November, which Baron's wife of five years, Tehila Baron, will direct.
Baron also will assist with High Holiday services; direct the Judaica gift shop, Mazel Tov Gifts; and "help people with spiritual needs," Baron said.
"(Students) who come into our Judaica shop always ask religious questions, and (Baron will answer those questions)," Levertov explained. "Finally we have someone young and energetic who will help us grow and help us to advance our programs."
Baron, 30, was born in Cleveland. His parents, who were originally from Israel, moved the family there when Baron was 11. He graduated from high school in Israel, and earned his bachelor's degree from the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, N.J., in 1989. The college sent Baron to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where for two years he acted as an emissary of the Lubavitcher rebbe. In 1991, he moved to Brooklyn to attend Central Chabad College. He spent summers traveling to South American countries and reaching out to unaffiliated Jews. Baron also worked as a camp counselor at Jewish camps in California and Illinois. For the past three years, Baron has worked in the business world. He learned about the Scottsdale job from Chabad's office in Brooklyn.
He said he and his wife are "very excited" about this opportunity.
Tehila Baron was raised and educated in South Africa. She graduated from Bais Rivka Seminary in Brooklyn. She then moved back to South Africa to teach preschool children for one year. She moved back to New York, where she was introduced to Baron through a mutual friend. After her marriage to Baron, she worked for a wig manufacturer who specializes in creating wigs for Orthodox women who observe the mitzvah (commandment) of keeping their own hair covered in the presence of men other than their husbands. In addition to directing Chabad's preschool, Tehila Baron will teach at Chabad's Hebrew Sunday school.
The Barons have two sons, Mendy, 3, and Sholom, 1. They will live in Scottsdale.
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