Boruch Dayan Hoemes: Rabbi Aaron Eliezer Ceitin, 62, OBM

With great sadness and pain we inform you of the untimely passing of Rabbi Aaron Eliezer Ceitlin, OBM, one of the Rebbe’s first personal Shluchim to Eretz Yisroel, director of the Chabad kindergarten network in Tzfas and a Mashpia who inspired tens of thousands all over the world. He was 62 years old.

Rabbi Ceitlin was born in Montreal to Rabbi Yehoshua Heshel OBM and Rivkah YBD”L Ceitlin. He is named after his grandfather, who battled the Soviets by spreading Judaism in Russia in defiance of the communist regime.

He was one of the Shluchim sent personally by the Rebbe to Eretz Yisroel in the mid-1970s. He settled in Tzfas, where he oversees a network of kindergartens dedicated to giving 15,000 of the city’s young children a proper Jewish education.

Rabbi Ceitlin’s passing comes after a year-long battle with a terrible illness.

Writing for Lubavitch.com, Rabbi Dovid Zaklikowsky wrote the following obituary of the veteran Shliach:

Rabbi Aaron Leizer Ceitlin was an unstoppable force on behalf of Jewish education in Safed, Israel. He passed away this morning in New York after battling a terminal illness.

Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1953, to Rabbi Yehoshua Heschel and Rivka, he grew up on the stories of his namesake, who served as a rabbi and spiritual mentor in the Kherson vicinity. His grandfather worked on behalf of Judaism during Soviet times. He was arrested and ultimately died in prison.

In 1973, Rabbi Ceitlin was one in a group of students sent to be mentors to the students at the Chabad Yeshivah in Melbourne, Australia. During his stay in the country, he forged deep connections with community members, which he maintained throughout his lifetime.

In 1976 he married his wife Ruti Greenwald and would later be sent by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, to Safed, Israel, where he dedicated himself to Jewish education. He became widely admired for his devotion to the city’s 1500 children whom he taught over the years.

Rabbi Ceitlin also reached out to IDF’s soldiers, raising their morale and inspiring them with passion for their Jewish identity.

“The Rebbe taught me that it is not about the past, there is no need to dwell on what happened, it is about keeping the eye on the future, on we could and should do,” Ceitlin once said.

Rabbi Ceitlin’s optimism and joy were contagious, and profoundly impacted the Judaism he shared with his students and others.

 “There is the history of our nation, there is the history of our family, then there is our history,” he wrote to the parents of the school. “It is your personal history that you create and form.”

Rabbi Ceitlin is survived by his wife Ruti and their children; Levi Yitzchok (Haifa, Israel), Mendy (Tzfat, Israel), Chani, Devorah Leah Edelkopf (Crown Heights), Sternie Edelkopf (Crown Heights), Chaya Wolosow (Tzfas, Israel) and Heshy.

He is also Survived by his siblings; Shterna Sara Kalmanson (Cincinatti, OH), Brocho Teitelbaum (Crown Heights), Zelda Yarmush (Montreal, Canada), Esti Benshimon (Montreal, Canada), Yosef Yitzchok Ceitlin (Toronto, Canada) and Devorah Leah Mishulovin (Los Angeles, CA).

The Levaya will take place today, Thursday, 3:15pm at Shomrei Hadas and passing by 770 at around 3:45pm.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes

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Rabbi Aaron Leizer posing for a group photo in February 2013. He organized yearly programs for girls and traveled in to New York for Chof Beis Shvat.
Rabbi Aaron Leizer at a family event in 2008
Rabbi Aaron Leizer at a family event in 2008

4 Comments

  • There is a boss

    A real loss for us in this world, lets take an example of his total dedication to Rebbe, his directives and institutions!

  • Ad mosai??????????

    May Hashem give his family strength and nechama-only Hashem understands their pain.
    MOSHIACH NOW