Chatan Bereishit: Alden Leifer 
Why was Alden Leifer selected as our Chatan Bereishit this year? As our President, Isaac Hagler, explained: “Alden will do anything and everything needed of him, and this has had a tremendous impact on the shul. He believes in hakarat ha-tov and embodies chesed activities.”

Soon after the Leifers moved to Teaneck in 1987, they became involved in Beth Aaron. Alden has served on the shul Board and as Chair of the Fund Raising Committee, and, after only six years at our shul, he became President of Beth Aaron and served for two terms. Alden also chaired the Rabbinic Search Committee that selected Rabbi and Chaviva Rothwachs, and he served for many years as our Auctioneer on Simchat Torah. He has suggested many innovative ways for the shul to raise funds.

Alden’s dedication to learning led him to inaugurate our Morning Mishna Chabura (15 minutes of mishna study prior to the 7:10/7:15 a.m. daily minyan), which has now nearly completed the study of the entire Shisha Sidrei Mishna. He organizes the annual shul learning of Mishnayot, manages the shul’s Mishnayot lending library, and arranges for our annual Siyum Mishnayot. Alden originated our annual Project Thanks (to offer thanks each Thanksgiving to the dedicated firefighters who serve our community), and he continues to run this successful project each year.

Together with his wife Evie, the Leifers regularly host families for Shabbat meals, including those new to the community or to our shul, as well as families looking to find out more about Beth Aaron.

Alden is a highly regarded ophthalmologist, with a practice in Paterson. After receiving a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he served in the United States Army for five years. During his service in the Army, in which he received advanced training in ophthalmology, he was stationed at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and at Fort Dix in New Jersey. 

Alden and his wife Evie have three married children – Ari and Adina, Kobi and Jessica, and Mira and Daniel -– along with a bunch of grandchildren. Alden enjoys learning, travel, photography, and spending time with his family.

Chatan Kol ha-Ne’arim: George Friedman
There are many reasons that George Friedman was selected as this year’s Chatan Kol ha-Ne’arim, and among them are two particular explanations that link to this very appropriate honor.  For many years, George served on the Simchat Torah Kiddush Committee, and George also is very closely related to the designer and the mind behind our brand new Kol ha-Ne’arim tallit – his wife Ellen, of whom he often says “I’m hitching a ride to shamayim on her coattails.”

A member of Congregation Beth Aaron for about 40 years, George (and Ellen) joined in what he terms “Aliyah Bet,” affiliating with the new shul shortly after its founding. He and Ellen felt that the shul was the best fit for them, due to the size and friendliness, as well as the fact that their presence made a difference to the shul.

Over the many years of his membership, he has served on the shul Board, Seudah Shlishit Committee for 25 years, and the Bikkur Cholim Committee, as well as the above-mentioned Simchat Torah Kiddush Committee. Using his professional expertise, he also chaired a Constitution Revision Task Force. 

George is gregarious, and he also uses the term “friendliest shul in town” to describe Beth Aaron.  While he may not now know all the members in a shul that continues to grow, he knows that the uniqueness of Beth Aaron in 1976 or 2016 is that the people are really concerned about each other and are willing to do whatever it takes to celebrate the good times and help each get through the bad times.

A lawyer and arbitration and mediation expert and consultant, George chairs the Board of Directors of Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. (“ARS”). He “retired” – for about a month – in 2013 as FINRA’s Executive Vice President and Director of Arbitration. He previously held a variety of positions of responsibility at the American Arbitration Association, and he is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where he has taught arbitration for 20 years.  George says his name in Native American is “He Wearing Many Hats,” and that Teaneck means “Place with Many Kosher Establishments.”