Simchas Torah Chasanim 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 • 23 Tishrei 5776
All DayMazal Tov to our Chatanim, Daniel Chazin and Rabbi Benjamin Yablok, who are receiving the prestigious honors of Chatan Breishit and Kol Ha-Ne'arim, respectively, during this year's Simchat Torah festivities. We continue to appreciate all that you do on behalf of Beth Aaron.
Daniel Chazin's institutional memory at Beth Aaron goes back nearly to the very beginnings of the shul. He first became involved in 1972, soon after the shul was formed, when it was meeting in the basement of Carol Faber's home on Merrison Street. Over the last 43 years, he has served the shul in a number of different capacities, including as a Board member and as Board Secretary. For more than 20 years, he served as the gabbai for the Main Minyan on Shabbat. Though he stepped down from that position a few years ago, he still coordinates the laining in the Main Minyan on Shabbat and Yomim Tovim, serves as the gabbai for the Zman Mincha minyan on Shabbat afternoon, and is the gabbai for the Social Hallminyan on the Yamim Noraim. He also is active "behind the scenes," setting the Torah scrolls for reading and updating aliyah cards with the names of new children, grandchildren, and those who have married into congregational families. And for the past ten years, he has been assisting the synagogue administrator to ensure the smooth functioning of Beth Aaron's communications with its members. His expertise is particularly helpful when time is of the essence, for example, whenlevaya and shiva information needs to be sent out to members in the evenings and on weekends when the office is closed. A lawyer who once worked at a large firm in New York City, Daniel now focuses on a variety of pro bono work with non-profit organizations. For nearly 40 years, he has served as the Scoutmaster of Troop 226, a Shomer Shabbat Boy Scout troop chartered to the Jewish Center of Teaneck. Another of Daniel's interests is hiking. He has served on the Board of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference for over 30 years and has written and edited several books on hiking. A number of Beth Aaron members regularly follow Daniel's hikes, which are published in The Record and on the Trail Conference's website, www.nynjtc.org. Shearit ha-Plate of Bergen County is another organization to which Daniel devotes his time. Dedicated to minimizing the waste of kosher food within our community and distributing that food to those in need, the organization (whose president is Beth Aaron member Josh Klavan) collects, repackages, and distributes surplus food to individuals and families within Teaneck and surrounding communities.
Rabbi Benjamin Yablok has davened from the amud at Congregation Beth Aaron many times, particularly on Yom Tov, and regularly reads Shir ha-Shirim from the klaf on Pesach. What he is probably better known for is the unusual tune that he uses for the third chapter of Eicha. Rabbi Yablok learned the mournful and plaintive melody that mirrors the theme of the day from his father, who, in turn, learned it in a small shteibel in the shtetl in which he grew up, where his father was a professional chazan. For 21 of the 23 years that he has been a member of Congregation Beth Aaron, Rabbi Yablok also has given a visual presentation on Tisha B'Avafternoon, based on his collection of artifacts and related to the spirit of the day. On some occasions when Rabbi Rothwachs is away, Rabbi Yablok has given the Shabbat morning Tefillah shiur, as well as the shiur between Mincha and Maariv.Rabbi Yablok's long and illustrious career in education began in 1969, working at Camp Moshava, where he eventually became "Rosh Moshava." In 1971, he began teaching in supplemental Hebrew schools, and, in 1974, he transitioned to day schools, first working in what now is known as Westchester Hebrew High School. After teaching at the Seattle Hebrew Academy and serving as Principal of the Scranton Hebrew Day School, Rabbi Yablok assumed the position of Associate Principal at Manhattan Day School, from which he recently retired. Over the years, he has taught a number of subjects, including the history of Eretz Yisrael, Navi, and Gemara. More unusual for the day school setting is the unit on Christianity and Islam that he often presented. And even more unusual, and interesting for his students, were the special classes using items from his artifact and dreidle collections. Though he is not working in a formal classroom setting right now, he is still an active pedagogue, building a website to display various items in his collection, along with explanations, that will service as a learning tool for students of various ages. IY"H, he also will be speaking to classes in various schools on Jewish historical topics based on artifacts in his collection.
The shul also will bestow upon Rabbi Rothwachs the kibbud of Chatan Torah for all the many things he continues to do on behalf of our shul to allow us, as a kehilla, to grow in Torah, Avodah, and Gemilat Chasadim.
We invite you to join the Main Minyan as we celebrate the chag with simcha and ruchniyut and honor our
chatanim.
We hope that with fewer kibbudim auctioned off, we will be able to reduce the overall time of the auction while maximizing our celebration.
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