Rabbi Asher Heber, an educator and longtime Crown Heights resident, passed away in the early hours of Thursday, 8 Nissan, 5780.
He was 81 and passed away from complications of Covid19.
He was a beloved teacher at Manhattan Day School (MDS) for over 40 years. He was a legendary Head Counselor in the early days of Gan Yisroel New York and the director of HALB Day Camp on Long Island for many years. He was beloved by the thousands of students and campers whose lives he impacted.
By age two, Rabbi Heber was living in Crown Heights on Eastern Parkway opposite 770. He grew up as one of a handful of children in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s 770. He was a talmid at Lubavitcher Yeshiva in its storefront years, and later at “Bedford and Dean”, Newark and 770. As a bachur, he served as an educator on shlichus in Quebec City, Canada.Rabbi Heber was born in 1939 to Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh “Leibish” and Perel Heber. The Rebbe and Rebbetzin were Kvaterin at his bris in Paris. His father and grandfather became Chassidim of the Rebbe RaShab as WW1 Polish refugees in the towns of Lubavitch and Rostov, Russia. By nine months old, his family emigrated to America on one of the last boats before the Nazis invaded France.
Rabbi Heber got engaged to Nechama Goldstein while he was head counselor in Gan Yisroel, and she was Singing Counselor in Camp Emunah. They were married in 1964.
He is survived by his wife Nechama and children Yaffie Begun (Brazil), Brocha Chana Metzger (Manhattan), and Rabbi Noach Heber (Crown Heights/Manhattan), grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his daughter Rivkie Barber A”H.
To share memories or for nichum aveilim, email [email protected]
Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.
2 Interviews with Rabbi Heber: