Wherever he went, Eli Baitelman took tefillin, eager to help a fellow Jew perform a mitzvah.
Obituary: Rabbi Eli Baitelman, 40, Father of Seven and ‘Best Friend’ to Hundreds
One could say that Rabbi Eli Baitelman was a walking fountain of joy, kindness and Jewish inspiration. He served for more than a decade as a beloved Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi in Pacific Palisades, Calif., an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles, and then continued to share the joy of Judaism with everyone he met in a subsequent career in construction. Baitelman passed away on Shabbat, May 6 (15 Iyar) after suffering a heart attack, just two days before the bar mitzvah celebration of his son, Sholom, was set to take place on the joyous day of Lag BaOmer.
