Community Magazine August 2016

TAMUZ - AV 5776 AUGUST 2016 43 broken my arm,” Rabbi Abisror recalls,” and I couldn’t do netilyat yadayim. Rabbi Kalmonowitz personally escorted me to the dining room. He didn’t ask a student to do it; he himself washed my hands for me – and I saw the greatness in his personality.” Reflecting on his Mir Yeshivah experience, the rabbi says: “It’s the way a Jewish person is supposed to grow up. Especially someone like me who didn’t have his parents with him.” The Abisrors carry themselves with dignity and routinely choose the bold and true route over the safe one. Perhaps that explains the actions that led Rabbi Abisror to further his involvement with our community. This was years ago, when the Chevra Kadisha – Burial Society – was first being established by Jacob Arama, zt”l, Sonny Laniado, shlit”a , and Mickey Kairey, zt”l. Although the three of them took care of all the arrangements for the deceased, they still needed a shomer – someone to watch the body. Rabbi Abisror was just a young yeshivah student when they came recruiting and he recalls how those around him balked at the chance. “They didn’t know how to relate to the situation,” he says. Somehow all eyes turned towards him, the only person who hadn’t vocally said “no” yet. “They asked me, ‘would you like to be a shomer?’ And I said, ‘why not?’ I offered my services. After that, whenever they needed a shomer , they called me,” the Rabbi shares. On March 28 th , 1974, Rabbi Abisror married Ella Esther Wiener. They had the honor of having Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, one of the Mir Yeshivah Roshei Yeshivah, be the mesader kedushin at their wedding. Just after marriage, the Rabbi and his wife settled in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, Mrs. Abisror’s hometown. In 1978, the Rabbi, his wife and two oldest children, Yossi and Michel, moved to Deal. At the time there was only one Syrian minyan in Long Branch, which was hosted in the Brothers of Israel Synagogue. Rabbi Abisror served as a shamash – caretaker - for that minyan which later became Ohel Simha, or Park Avenue Synagogue. Under the tutelage of Rabbi Moshe Dweck, zt”l , he learned the makamim of our community and went on to become a hazzan. “I’m Moroccan, so I wasn’t familiar with Syrian hazannut says the Rabbi. “But I happened to have a good voice,” so the tradition was worth learning. From then on, he was a staple, leading the services as hazan on Shabbat and the High Holidays. The Rabbi was also influential in establishing the Elberon Torah Center, Nagar Synagogue. Approximately 17 years ago, the Rabbi’s life took another turn, when he was asked to be Assistant Hazan in Aventura Florida’s Safra Synagogue for the High Holidays. “At the time, my nephew, Rabbi Aharon Lankry, shlit”a, was the rabbi there and he recommended me for the position,” the Rabbi explains. Seeing the beauty of the synagogue and its surrounding community, he felt that it would one day be the perfect place to raise his younger children. After his third consecutive year as Assistant Hazan for the High Holidays, Rabbi and Mrs. Abisror decided to make a permanent move there. During the Rabbi’s first Simhat Torah at the Safra Synagogue in Florida, there were barely ten people dancing around the Torah. Due to the tremendous effort of both Rabbi Abisror and the synagogue’s head Rabbi, Yosef Galimidi, shlit”a, today scores of people attend the synagogue on a daily basis. The Rabbi’s netz minyan and classes are a big draw. “Now we have so many people of all different age groups and backgrounds,” the Rabbi says. “Israelis, Argentinians, French, Mexicans, Columbians, Brazilians.... It’s truly an international synagogue.” Rabbi Abisror’s words have had a life changing impact on those who have listened to them. Men and children alike sit in rapt attention during his classes. One father was so impressed by the way his young sons were heeding the words that he snapped a picture and sent it to Rabbi Abisror with the caption: “You are fulfilling your mission and purpose in this world!” Indeed, in at least one case, the Rabbi’s counsel actually brought life into the world. He shares the story of a brit milah he went to recently; one of his congregants had just had a baby boy. “Rabbi, this baby is here because of you,” the man said to him when he got there. “Me? What do you mean?” the Rabbi said puzzled. “After your class on shalom bayit,” the man answered, “I went home and made peace with my wife.” The Rabbi is a firm believer in the power of human kindness. Once, just by sensitively giving of his time and attention, he saved a life. The life in question was that of a neighbor who was not particularly religious but still had a lot of respect for Rabbis. Rabbi Abisror could tell he was troubled immediately upon seeing him and asked what was wrong. When the man