Dear Members and Friends,
We are excited to announce that the NHBZ Shul membership has overwhelmingly voted in favor of Rabbi Aron Rubin to assume the position of Senior Rabbi. The Executive Committee will now proceed with contract discussions. We will announce more details once we have an agreement, which we are optimistic that we will have soon.
Rabbi Aron Rubin grew up in Melbourne, Australia, the land of koalas and reverse gravity. He studied for two years at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shevut, and attended college in Melbourne, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in food science and chemical engineering. While at college, Rabbi Rubin was active in the Melbourne Jewish community, giving Torah classes, and as a counselor in Bnei Akiva. Upon graduating, he decided to follow his passions to become a Rabbi.
After completing college, Rabbi Rubin relocated to New York, where he earned his Semicha (Rabbinic Ordination) from Yeshiva University (and where he met his wife, Leia). He also participated in the combined RIETS/Ferkauf program, designed to further train Rabbis in the area of mental health and counseling. While studying for Semicha, Rabbi Rubin served as a Rabbinic Intern at the Roslyn Synagogue, and at the Great Neck Synagogue, in the New York Area. He also earned a masters degree in Jewish education from Yeshiva University’s Azrieli School.
In 2019, Rabbi Rubin and his family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he is the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation BIAV, and serves a number of roles in the Kansas Jewish community. He was the Rabbi of the Kansas City Kollel, and taught across a number of ages at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. He is currently the Rabbinic Representative at the Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City, and performs a number of roles for the Vaad.
When not learning or teaching, Rabbi Rubin can be found baking a cake, reading, nurturing one of his indoor plants, or taking care of household responsibilities.
Leia Rubin (Wachsstock) hails all the way from a place called “St. Louis, Missouri”. She attended Block Yeshiva High School, and spent one and a half years at Michlalah Seminary in Jerusalem. Leia has a B.A. in Judaic studies from Touro College, and a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Touro University. She currently works as an occupational therapist with hospital patients in acute care, and essentially doubles up as a professional weight-lifter (lifting patients for treatment).
Leia is very passionate about teaching Torah and communal involvement. In addition to her work and family responsibilities, Leia is very active in the Overland Park Jewish community. She is involved in youth and women’s programming, studies with girls for their Bat Mitzvah, and teaches Torah classes to groups of women.
Rabbi Aron and Leia Rubin have three children: Eitan (6 years old), Yedidya (2 years old), and Atara (2 months old).
All the best,
Dan Winograd
Alan Zarkowsky
Co-Chairs Search Committee
