BDE: Reb Avrohom Aharon Rubashkin z"l

Boro Park - We are saddened to inform of the passing of Reb Avrohom Aharon Rubashkin z"l, who served as an inspiring model during the trial and ordeal of his son Sholom Mordechai. He was in his late 90s.

Reb Avrohom Aharon was born in a small Russian village to Reb Getzel and Rosa Rubashkin. His family escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to Samarkant, where he married his wife Rivka, who comes from the storied Chein family of Lubavitch. Together, they built a family renowned worldwide for their love of chessed and Torah.

The Rubashkins moved to Boro Park after the war, and owned a butcher shop on 14th Avenue in 1953. He eventually expanded, opening the first fully kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa.

When his son Sholom  Mordechai was arrested on 2008 on dubious charges related to the meat company, the Jewish world rallied around him. He was seen as the target of radical animal rights groups who wanted to shut down all shechita.

During this period, Reb Avrohom Aharon was an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of people and served as a model of simple emunah and bitachon.

When Sholom Mordechai was released two years ago when President Trump granted him clemency, thousands of people gathered in Reb Avrohom Aharon's store, and later at his home.

Reb Avrohom Aharon took ill with the coronavirus earlier this week, and was niftar Thursday night. He is survived by his wife Rivka, and children.

Yehi zichro boruch.