Rabbi
Moshe Jablon grew up in Queens, New York. He was imbued with the
pride in being Jewish and he and his late brother David were raised
in a home that was built on the foundation of a strong and loving
environment of modern orthodoxy. His parents, Ann and Herbert Jablon,
were very involved in the family hand knitting yarn business. From
the age of 10 and for many years thereafter, Moshe Jablon often spent
Sundays helping out in the family business.
Rabbi Jablon grew up in a home that fostered respect for and appreciation of the value of a well rounded education. In addition to his Yeshiva Dov Revel schooling, he was given piano lessons and he studied both classical and modern music until he left for university.
"Unless you play baseball, you will never get to be a Rabbi" is a quote attributed to an American Jewish scholar. Without yet having any inclination towards the Rabbinical profession, Rabbi Jablon, like any healthy American boy more than fulfilled those particular requirements. Not only did he play baseball; he participated in many other sports. He especially enjoyed going to the New York Rangers hockey games with his father, who had season tickets.
He continued his secondary and post secondary studies at Yeshiva University. He also attended a two-year study program at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavne in Israel during his post secondary term. He graduated from Yeshiva University with a bachelor's degree in economics, but loved teaching and always wanted to be a teacher.
Education or the study of Torah is not an addition to human life; it is part of its very essence. For Moshe Jablon, whose love of Jewish studies was nurtured during his formative years, the study of Torah was an essential part of his being. It was because of his great love for learning and teaching that he turned to the Rabbinate for his life's work.
He pursued his Smicha (Rabbinic ordination) while continuing his post graduate studies towards obtaining his Masters degree in American Jewish History. He had wonderful role models in his congregational Rabbi and his teachers at Yeshiva University, whose encouragement and inspiration influenced the direction of the path he chose to follow.
It was during his post graduate studies that Moshe Jablon met his partner in life, Chessey Lebinger. Although the Jablon and Lebinger families knew each other, it wasn't until a chance meeting that their friendship began to take hold and blossom. They were married a few months later in the summer of 1973. They lived in Washington Heights for four years. During this time Moshe was able to complete his Smicha. Chessey taught public school while pursuing her Masters in Education. Moshe Jablon also got his first teaching job at Yeshiva High School in Queens for one year.
When the opportunity arose in 1977 wherein he had the flexibility to learn, teach and serve the community, he took on the position of spiritual leader of Beth Haknesses Hachodosh in Rochester, New York, a congregation of 100 families. Since it was such a small congregation, he had less pastoral duties and more involvement with the youth. He also taught at the Jewish High School. After 10 years however, it came to the point where he felt he had to move on.
Fate has a way of intervening. While vacationing in the Catskills in the summer of 1986, he met Rabbi Jacob Zlotnick who informed him of a position that was available at Beth Ora in Montreal. Rabbi Jablon credits Rabbi Zlotnick's enthusiastic encouragement to apply that persuaded him to submit his C.V. to Beth Ora.
It was two weeks before Rosh Hashanna when Victor Gottlieb, chair of the search committee, phoned Rabbi Jablon and invited him and Chessey to come for the Shabbat weekend. Difficult as it was to leave their five children and it being so close to the holidays, they never the less made the necessary arrangements and came to Beth Ora for the committee interview and to meet the congregation. Rabbi Jablon delivered a sermon on Shabbat, taught Pirkei Avot in the afternoon and met the congregants on Sunday morning.
Still fresh in Victor Gottlieb's memory is his recollection of how Moshe Jablon was selected as our Rabbi over thirteen other candidates. "Just speaking with him the first time over the telephone inviting him to come before Rosh Hashanna, I thought, now here is someone that sounds like he's the man that we are looking for. When he came and sat with our committee, his relaxed and soft spoken manner in the way he asked or responded to questions, his sense of humour and candor, his Mentchlechkeit , were all very reassuring. After the round table discussion, the committee unanimously agreed - this is the Rabbi! "
Since he did not want to break the contract with Rochester, which still had one year to go, he agreed to come to Montreal intermittently during his transitional year. Rabbi Jablon assumed his rabbinical responsibilities in August 1987. He, Chessey and their five children, Mordechai, Avrohom, Ephraim, Chana and Akiva settled into their new home. Chessey was expecting their 6th child, Batsheva, followed by Shira three years later.
Rabbi Jablon eagerly immersed himself into the heart of the community and quickly endeared himself to the congregation. "The lay leadership has always been supportive. They understood that the Religious direction comes from the Rabbi". The involvement with and dedication to the Shul that many members possessed impressed him. "The members identify with their congregation. As a Rabbi there was the opportunity to reach out to families who were members, but not very educated in Jewish tradition. We introduced many family educational programs and developed a Sukkah campaign whereby families purchased Sukkahs for the first time. The challenge to a rabbi is to explain and to define religious parameters to someone who is more at ease with the norms of society"
Rabbi Jablon also finds satisfaction in living within the larger context of the Montreal Jewish community, where people feel they're the sum total of the whole and where all the various religious groups can sit around the table and discuss issues. As time went by he became more involved in the community at large and from 1997-1999 served as President of the Rabbinical Council of Canada.
The difference between his first congregation and Beth Ora is TIME. Being a large congregation with a wide range of members' age group requires more pastoral attention. There are times when there are not enough hours to accomplish and administer the various duties and responsibilities that come up on ally given day. A few of the Rabbi's duties in his extensive schedule are preparation and teaching of Talmud, lectures, counselling, various groups meetings, visitations and answering phone calls on advisory and Halachic questions.
His inspirations for his weekly Sabbath sermons are drawn from the Torah portions. "There's always a message. I try to the best of my ability to relate it to current issues. I try to take the timeless truth of the Torah and make it timely."
When asked what was the most rewarding aspect of being a Rabbi, Rabbi Jablon replied: "It is a source of satisfaction to know that you can be a great comfort in helping people in their time of emotional need. You hope, also, to give people a greater appreciation of what Judaism stands for. I love Judaism. There is so much wisdom in it. I see it as my role to try to show people that it's there if they want it. They can draw a lot of guidance from our sources."
As to the future of our community, Rabbi Jablon's feeling always is that you make your future in the present. To strengthen the involvement of and Jewish awareness in the people. To increase our membership by showing the new residents in our community the benefits of joining Beth Ora. "The Shul promotes the values of our traditions and of our faith, but it is up to the families to encourage their children to participate in all the activities, the services and everything that the Shul offers."
Rabbi Moshe and Chessey Jablon have been exceptional role models in our community. By their example of living Yiddishkeit in the fullest sense, they hope that their influence and guidance will have equipped their children with all the necessary tools to face the future as they choose their paths in life.
Sons Mordechai and Avrohom, now studying in Israel, are married. They have each given their parents a lovely granddaughter. The Rabbi and Chessey indeed are blessed and have much to look forward to.
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