Rabbi Sholom Ber Lipskar, 78

Rabbi Sholom Ber Lipskar, founder of the Aleph Institute and The Shul of Bal Harbour, passed away on Shabbat. He was 78. 

Rabbi Lipskar leaves behind a grieving community numbering in the many thousands in Bal Harbour and Surfside, where he was simply known as “The Rabbi” for more than 45 years. His legacy will continue to serve countless Jewish U.S. service members. As well, his impact will continue to resonate among Jewish prison inmates and their families who benefited from the Aleph Institute, established in 1981 with the guidance of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. 

When Rabbi Lipskar and his wife Chani founded The Shul of Bal Harbour in 1981, some homes in the neighborhood still had language in their deeds prohibiting sale to “anyone not a member of the Caucasian race, nor to anyone having more than one-fourth Hebrew … blood.” The Bal Harbour Club wouldn’t allow Jews onto its premises until the following year.

But buoyed by the Rebbe’s blessing that they would find good fortune in this new place, the Lipskars put down roots in South Florida. From humble beginnings in their tiny apartment and then a small storefront, The Shul now occupies a large property on Collins Avenue and 95th Street — at the border of the Bal Harbour and Surfside communities.

In his decades of leadership at The Shul, Lipskar taught, counseled and guided thousands. 

David Wolf was one of them. Some thirty years ago, Wolf joined one of Lipskar’s Torah classes. He says that from the start, he could see that Lipskar truly cared. “I saw his eyes staring at me; he could see that I was a Jewish soul, unconnected at the time. I was enthralled by the teachings in his class, and that began a long and incredibly positive impactful relationship with me.”

Lipskar officiated at the wedding of David and his wife Natalie, as well as at the brit milahs of their sons. Two-and-a-half years ago, Wolf — who is a Bal Harbor Village Councilman — became the President of The Shul. “As I became President, I became more in awe of his extraordinary wisdom, knowledge, empathy, and passion,” Wolf said. “I’ve never met another person whose entire being and energy — for five decades — was so completely dedicated to his mission.”

That mission also extended far beyond South Florida, as he founded and led the Aleph Institute.

From hosting conferences for Jewish members of the military to rescuing Afghans from the Taliban to sending Seder provisions to aircraft carriers, Aleph serves the needs of Jews typically isolated from society. For members of the military, celebrating Jewish traditions becomes “a means of connecting with something outside of war, pain, and loss, something redeeming and very uplifting,” Lipskar told Lubavitch.com. 

For the incarcerated, Aleph is a light behind bars — and Rabbi Lipskar remained active in prison chaplaincy all his life, visiting Jewish inmates as recently as this past Chanukah.

As vast as the organizations Lipskar headed became, he never lost sight of the individual. When a beachfront condominium collapsed in Surfside on June 24, 2021, Lipskar was at the forefront reaching out to families whose loved ones lay under the rubble. 

“I have seen my community come together like never before,” Lipskar told Lubavitch.com in an interview at the time. “There is no way to deal with an event of this magnitude intellectually. There are no answers. Logic and even emotions fail us. The only way to process it is by tapping into the spiritual realm.”

Lipskar is remembered as someone who always demanded more. Staff at Aleph recall that upon receiving a report of the number of correctional institutions visited over Chanukah, or military bases where Seders were held, his first question would be: “How can we reach more Jewish people.”

“He charged everybody not to just do things, but to go ‘over the top,’” Wolf recalled. “I believe that the Rabbi’s legacy and his charge of ‘over the top,’ — which was his motto — will echo forward through the thousands of lives he touched, the tons of souls he elevated, and the acts of kindness he did.”