Rabbi Aharon Eliezer Ceitlin, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Israel who dedicated his life to Jewish education, passed away today at the age of 62.
A large man with a flowing beard and a booming voice, he was equally at home in Yiddish, English and Hebrew, and would speak passionately about Torah and Judaism to audiences across the globe.
Aharon Leizer, as he was known, was born in Montreal two days before Yom Kippur in the fall of 1953 (8 Tishrei 5714), to Rabbi Heshel and Rivkah Ceitlin, who had escaped the oppressive Soviet Union and found refuge in Canada. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Rabbi Aharon Eliezer Ceitlin, who perished in a Soviet labor camp, where he had been sentenced to eight years of hard labor as punishment for his efforts to keep Judaism alive in the face of Communist oppression.
Raised in the warm, Chassidic community of Montreal, young Aharon Leizer absorbed the vibrant teachings and inspiration of his teachers and mentors.
In the spring of 1973, when the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—selected a group of six students to travel to far-off Melbourne, Australia, for two years, Aharon Eliezer was among them.
Then, in early 1976, he was in the first of three cohorts of young emissaries the Rebbe sent to Israel. He was assigned to settle in the ancient but neglected Holy City of Safed (others went to Jerusalem). Shortly thereafter, he married Ita Ruth Greenwald, a native of Kfar Chabad, Israel.
Over time, he founded and directed a network of Chabad kindergartens in Safed that now boasts 34 branches serving some 1,500 children.
He Guided, Inspired and Taught
A passionate and inspired personality, he was often invited to address Chassidic gatherings around the world. He would often weave together anecdotes from the Russian yesteryear with fresh experiences and teachings of the Rebbe, helping spellbound listeners appreciate the seamless bond of service and self-sacrifice that he personified.
Dedicated to the Rebbe’s work, he was among a group of young Chassidim who carried out the Rebbe’s instructions to print the Tanya—the seminal work of Chabad philosophy—in a number of locations in Lebanon during the 1982 Lebanon War. Despite the danger involved, he and his companions went directly to the front lines in order to print the sacred book, specifically in Beirut.
He would periodically travel to visit the Rebbe with large groups of curious visitors, many of whom became stalwart Chassidim. Notably, in recent years, he led large groups of young Israeli women there, whom he guided, inspired and taught throughout their duration in New York.
“His warm and roaring voice would fill the room,” recalls a relative, Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin of Tucson, Ariz. “Both a great conversationalist and listener, he always had something interesting to share and never departed without making you feel bigger than you felt before.”
Earlier this year, he was about to set off to Russia—the same land that had imprisoned his grandfather—to speak before large audiences around the country. Feeling unwell, he decided to consult his doctor and learned the bitter news that he had a malignant tumor.
Even as he lay confined to a hospital bed, robbed of his vigor and salt-and-pepper beard, he found comfort in his faith, Torah study and Chassidic melodies.
In addition to his wife and mother, he leaves behind his parents-in-law, Rabbi Mordechai Tzvi and Rivkah Miriam Greenwald; his children, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Ceitlin (Krayot, Israel); Rabbi Menachem Mendel Ceitlin (Safed); Chana Ceitlin (Safed); Devorah Leah Edelkopf (United States); Shterna Edelkopf (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Chayah Mushkah Wolosow (Safed); and Yehoshua Heshel Ceitlin; and his siblings, Shterna Kalmanson, Bracha Teitelbaum, Zelda Yarmush, Esti Benshimon, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Ceitlin and Devorah Leah Mishulovin.
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