My father, David Baron, whose Iraqi name was Jiji (changed later in Israel and then in America to Baron), was born in Basra, Iraq. In 1948, when war broke out in Israel, my father was one of those Jews who fled to Iran through the underground because the Shah was good to the Jews at that time. After living in Iran for three years, he made Aliyah to Israel and joined his parents and the rest of his family. Life in Israel was hard for them because they lived in tents. They were accustomed to being non-observant, so they just settled with their way of life as it was.
In Israel, my father dreamed of joining the army and becoming a pilot, but his eyes were weak, so he became a Hebrew teacher instead. He taught many Israelis, Arabs, and Druze throughout the country. However, he desperately wanted to come to America. The problem was no one was willing to sponsor him. He had a sister living in Rego Park who was working as a seamstress for Sarah Lander, Dr. Bernard Lander’s wife. She discussed her brother’s problem with the Landers and they decided to help sponsor my father by giving him a job in America. Immediately, my father left Israel with his family and came to America. The moment Dr. Lander set eyes on my father he adored him, and became not only his mentor but also his chavrusah. The first synagogue that Dr. Lander advised him to go for a job at was the Queens Jewish Center. However, they did not accept him because he was not Shomer Shabbos or Orthodox.
Soon after, Dr. Lander introduced my father to Dr. Hyam Campeus, Religious School Principal of the Forest Hills Jewish Center. They clicked, and he had his first job as a Hebrew teacher. Dr. Lander invited my dad and others of both Orthodox and Conservative movements, such as rabbis, Jewish educators, etc., to spend many Shabboshim and learn Torah with him at his house. Because my father lacked funding for higher learning, Dr. Lander was able to help him with financial aid and scholarships to get into the best schools like David Azrieli School of Jewish Education at Yeshiva University and then NYU and Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where both Orthodox as well as Conservative rabbis got their degrees and s’michas.
Family life was also important to my father, and after he met and married my mother, he got a new job at South Baldwin Jewish Center, led by Rabbi A. David Arzt. He then wanted children, and in 1969 and 1970, my sister and I were born, respectively.
Things were great and looking up for my father until the day came when enrollment in my father’s Talmud Torah was declining. When I was in fifth grade, he lost his 12-year job at South Baldwin Jewish Center. At that time, my mom became mentally ill and there was sadness in the house for quite a while.
My father took odd jobs in accounting for a while, but he missed his life in Jewish education, until one day he saw an ad in the Jewish Week for a shul in Fair Lawn, NJ, which needed an Executive and Educational Director. They interviewed him and offered him both positions. We moved from Baldwin to Fair Lawn, and bought a house and stayed there for three years.
Once I got accepted to Queens College and my father’s contract ended, we moved to Forest Hills. He decided to retire but continued to teach Hebrew on a part-time basis. He would stick to his Judaic principles and often offered chesed work and advice to anyone who wanted it. When majority of the conservative movement became egalitarian, my father tolerated it and stayed, but Susan and I could not. Susan drifted towards Sephardic Orthodoxy and I went towards Ashkenazi Orthodoxy.
In 2002, my mother passed away. My father was heartbroken, and a year later he left the Conservative Movement. Without his wife by his side, he no longer felt comfortable davening alone, so he joined the Young Israel of Forest Hills. Rabbi Fievel Wagner had welcomed him with open arms.
My father lived a good life full of adventure and love for his Judaic principles and beliefs, as well as for Israel. On June 27, 2011, 25 Sivan, my father passed away. To this day, his love of Judaism flourishes in my heart.
By Linda Naomi Baron-Katz
