Since graduating from the Shehebar Sephardic Center in 2009, Rabbi Moshe Arbiv and his wife Leah have been busy serving the Israeli Jewish community in northern Philadelphia. While they have worked with Israelis in the area for several years, they began at Beit Harambam about 18 months ago.
The congregation recently dedicated its new building, and the celebration was joined by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, and many dignitaries.
Both Leah and the rabbi were born in Israel, but they have Sephardic roots; his family is from Libya and hers is Moroccan. Rabbi Arbiv grew up in Jerusalem under the influence of his father Rabbi Meir Arbiv, who was rabbi of the Ramot neighborhood. Growing up, he was instilled with the values of giving, doing hesed, all with the mission of serving the Jewish people. This shaped his personality.
After marrying Leah, Rabbi Arbiv taught for a few years, and then began his rabbinical studies at the Shehebar Sephardic Center Yeshiva Midrash Sephardi with Rabbi Sam Kassin. When he completed his studies, he received his rabbinical ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in 2006.
Rabbi Arbiv and his wife Leah shared the dream of contributing to the Jewish people and sharing with them the spiritual treasures they had acquired over the years. The couple works side by side to pursue this sacred mission knowing the value of their work is important anywhere.
Rabbi Arbiv was offered a position at Congregation Beth Harambam in Philadelphia. Community members felt they needed an active rabbi who could influence the character of community by upgrading community institutions with activities and classes. Many Sephardic Israelis live in Philadelphia and most of them were not affiliated with a synagogue and had very loose ties to Judaism. The community includes many young families, singles and the elderly.
The community consisted of mostly Hebrew-speaking adults, many of them young. Rabbi Arbiv and Leah worked to slowly organize creative activities and a structure whereby religious activities and a social framework could help the community thrive. They emphasized connecting young couples and families and children to community life and Jewish culture.
Today the synagogue is vibrant with activity. Each holiday comes with preparation. For example, there are classes on kashrut before Passover. Many community members come and he helps them kosher their kitchens. The rabbi gives classes at 5:30 am before morning prayers and in the evening after evening prayers. There are prayers three times a day and classes offered on a variety of subjects all week.
Rabbi Arbiv gives regular classes in the synagogue for children in Judaism and Hebrew. He and his wife also produced a wide variety of social events both in the synagogue and in area parks. These activities sparked interest and created an atmosphere that welcomed many Jews looking for a place to connect and provide them with a welcoming and loving religious and social atmosphere.
Leah also works with the women of the community. She established a regular meeting where classes and lectures are given and Tehilim are said together. The meetings began with just a few women in the Arbiv home and grew rapidly. Today the meetings are held in the synagogue. Dozens of women participate, as it gives them spiritual fuel for the week.
A number of efforts have resulted in a more communal feeling among the members of the synagogue. Rabbi Arbiv is proud of his success in creating an eruv for the community. The eruv enables people to carry on Shabbat and bring their babies to synagogue. A group of women was organized to cook for the sick and also to help new mothers with their babies. A gamach was organized to help with community needs. The eruv, the gamach and cooking for the sick or needy have created an atmosphere whereby people feel connected with each other.
Other communities in the area also wanted to enjoy the great spiritual influence. An Israeli community in Cherry Hills, New Jersey asked Rabbi Arbiv to give lessons and work to strengthen Judaism there. He worked with the community in Cherry Hill weekly to give them lessons and have a positive influence.
Here is an example of how Rabbi Arbiv helped a family. One Jewish couple in his community had married in a civil ceremony. “We did not see much need to marry according to Jewish law,” said the man, who is a member of the community.
“On Purim we were not yet connected to the community and I was distant from Judaism. However, I wanted my little boy to see some costumes and enjoy Purim, so we came to the synagogue for a special event that Rabbi Arbiv had for Purim.”
“Rabbi Arbiv’s dedication was amazing to us. We saw something very real and authentic. It impressed us with warmth and joy. Since then we come every holiday, and very slowly, due to the family atmosphere, we began to attend on the Sabbath. Then my wife began to participate regularly in tehilim class. Soon we understood the gravity of the fact that we were not married according to Jewish law and decided to open our hearts to the rabbi and tell him we wanted to marry again, this time according to Jewish law.”
“I started studying tahart hamishpacha while my wife began studying privately with the rabbi’s wife. We were married and started to keep family purity. There has been a huge change in our lives. We really love and respect each other. We found the vast gift that Hashem gave us. Since we continue to move forward and learn, we keep the Sabbath and kosher. We are very privileged and happy to introduce this special rabbi among the members of our community.”
Rabbi Arbiv recognizes the importance of exposing children to Jewish traditions and a love of Judaism. Through Torah study, prayer melodies, and increasing their knowledge of our customs, he hopes to connect them to the synagogue. Rabbi Arbiv reserves many prayers during services for the children to read, thereby including them as full partners in prayer.
Rabbi Moshe and Leah Arbiv work to create a culture full community life, including activities such as baking matza on Erev Pesach, the construction of sukkah for each family on Succot, a Hanukah party, activities for Lag B’Omer and every holiday and occasion. Rabbi Arbiv sends a monthly newsletter to the community with special articles on various subjects, as well as special events, and blessings and so on. The newsletter is sent to many Jews living in the area and constitutes a way to deepen Jewish knowledge.
