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BARUCH DAYAN HAEMET
RABBI JACOB & DEVORAH RUBENSTEIN -
YI OF SCARSDALE, NY - KILLED IN FIRE
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Rabbi of Young Israel of Scarsdale Along With Wife R”L Killed In Fire
www.theyeshivaworld.com
April 12, 2008
A fast-moving house fire killed a prominent Westchester rabbi and his wife early Shabbos morning, spinning a tightly knit Orthodox community into grief.
For the past two decades, Rabbi Yackov S. Rubenstein has been the leader of the Young Israel of Scarsdale, home to 400 Orthodox families.
Fire officials told WNBC that Rabbi Rubenstein and his wife Devorah were R”L found inside the burning home on Barud Road in New Rochelle at around 3:30 a.m., nearly 90 minutes after the fire started. It’s possible the couple was asleep when the blaze sparked. Firefighters say it was an accident - and was possibly caused by lightening.
It took between nearly 40 firefighters to get the blaze under control, fire official said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. The Rubensteins had four adult children.
Rabbi Rubenstein, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Scarsdale had long been active in outreach, social activism, legislative advocacy, international affairs and philanthropic endeavors. His writings, which span the academic to the popular, have appeared in a number of newspapers, books and journals.
He was born in Rosenheim, Germany and as a displaced person immigrated to America at an early age, residing in Memphis, Tennessee. Rabbi Rubenstein received his Jewish and secular education in Memphis, Chicago, Israel, and Boston. He attended the Yeshiva at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, Yeshivat Radin in Netanya, Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, and is one of the founders of the Diaspora Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He received his Rabbinic ordination from the Chief Justices of both the Rabbinic Court of the Ashkenazic, as well as the Sephardic community of Jerusalem, and Chacham Ovadiah Yosef Shlita.
He was the immediate Past President of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and currently served as its Honorary President. He has served the RCA as chairman of its Social Action Committee and organized the first Rabbinic Missions to Washington. He has served as both President and National Chairman of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the United Jewish Appeal. For a number of years, Rabbi Rubenstein chaired the Rabbinic Advisory Council of the U.J.A- Federation of New York. He is a past President of the Westchester Board of Rabbis, an executive officer of the Westchester Rabbinical Council and has served on the board of the Westchester Jewish Conference. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values and a member of the Orthodox Jewish Caucus.
Rabbi Rubenstein’s awards include: the Orthodox Union National Rabbinical Leadership Centennial Award, 1999, the Keser Torah Award, Ariel Institutes of Israel, 1994; the Samuel W. and Rose Hurowitz Award, UJA Federation of New York, 1993; Rabbinic Award, General Assembly of the Combined Jewish Federations, 1991; Rabbinic Service Award, UJA-Federation, Westchester Division, 1987; City of Peace Award by Israel Bonds, 1978; NCSY New England Region Meritorious Leadership Award; Dr. and Mrs. Abraham Stern Service Award, Yeshiva University; and is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in Religion, 1991,1998. and Marquis Who's Who in America, 2000.
Rabbi Rubenstein has served in pulpits in Milford, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, before coming to Scarsdale.
The levaya will take place Sunday, April 13th, at 1:30 PM at the Young Israel of Scarsdale, 1313 Weaver Street, Scarsdale, NY. Kevurah will follow at Sharon Gardens Cemetery in Kensico in Westchester, NY. Shiva will be observed at the home of their son, Daniel Rubenstein, 255 Warwick Avenue, Teaneck, NJ.
She’Nishma Besorot Tovot.
Rabbi Aaron S. Tirschwell
Chief Program and Development Officer |
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CYIR: Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel
Rabbi Simcha Krauss - President
Rabbi Chaim Wasserman, Rabbi Meyer Fendel - Vice Presidents; Rabbi Yisrael Fass - Treasurer
Rabbi Michael K. Strick - Executive Director;
Rabbi Aaron S. Tirschwell - Chief Program & Development Officer; Director, The Eye Squad;
Daniel "MUSH" Meyer - Director of Programming;
Rabbi Chanoch Yeres - Director, Judaic Heritage Program for Israel's Deaf and Hearing Impaired;
Dr. Lorell Blass - Director, CYIR Counseling Center;
Rachel Levmore - Coordinator, Prenuptial & Get-Refusal Prevention Projects;
Adina Bloomberg - Program Coordinator, The Eye Squad;
Iris Royi - Program Coordinator, Judaic Heritage Program for Israel's Deaf & Hearing Impaired;
Assya Sandler - Counselor, Russian Immigrants, CYIR Counseling Center;
Susan Taragin - Executive Secretary
Israel: Heichal Shlomo, 58 King George Street, Suite 109, Jerusalem 94262 ISRAEL
Tel: 02-625-4983 Fax: 02-623-0275 Email: info@youngisraelrabbis.org.il Web: www.youngisraelrabbis.org.il
USA: Young Israel Programs - CYIR, 111 John Street, Suite 450, New York, New York 10038
Tel: 212-929-1525 Fax: 212-727-9526
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