This year we proudly honor our Head of School, Rabbi Jeffrey Beer.  He is the epitome of someone who leads by example, both personally and professionally. Perhaps this is why anyone who has attended Westchester Hebrew High School during his tenure knows “what a great school” WHHS is.

 

Rabbi Beer was raised in Queens and Long Island.  After attending Yeshiva University High School for Boys-MTA, he studied at Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim in Israel. He earned his B.A. at Yeshiva University, and received his Smicha from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received his M.A. in Education and Administration from the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration.  A little unknown fact is that Rabbi Beer took his first rabbinic job in South America, where he served as interim Rabbi at the Union Israelita del Peru in Lima.

 

Upon his return to the US, Rabbi Beer joined the clergy of the Hebrew Institute of White Plains, first as a rabbinic intern and then as rabbinic assistant.  He taught Judaic Studies at the MTA P’Tach program, before joining the staff of WHHS, where he was guided and mentored by Head of School, Rabbi Boruch Majerowicz.  Rabbi Beer wore many hats at WHHS – teacher, grade level dean, athletic director, and dean of students, before taking the helm in 2006 when Rabbi Majerowicz retired.

 

Ever the educator, despite his responsibilities as Head of School, Rabbi Beer continues to teach Judaic Studies classes and senior seminars yearly. He also enjoys learning one-on-one with students interested in advanced Gemara study, and cherishes the times when WHHS alumni do that with him by phone or when they return to visit their alma mater. Every student who has attended WHHS knows about Rabbi Beer’s warmth and fondness for incorporating humor in all that he does.  As he is prone to say about life and learning at WHHS, it is all “very interesting!”

 

Rabbi Beer also devotes his time to the community, through his weekly shiurim following Tefilah at the White Plains Hashkama Minyan. He has also served as shliach tzibur for the Yamim Noraim for nearly twenty years.

 

Rabbi Beer leads by example.  He strives to ignite the spiritual sparks within our students, fostering their religious growth and Middot through the study of Torah, and commitment to Mitzvot and acts of Chessed. As the leader of our school, Rabbi takes these responsibilities to heart, and he and consequently our faculty, follow the same path. He encourages teachers to work with one another, with him, and to continue their own Jewish growth and learning.

 

We thank Rabbi Beer for his tireless efforts, dedication, and inspiration.   It is poignant and significant that this is his thirteenth year as our Head of School, a meaningful number in Judaism.  We also thank his wonderful family, Gila, a practicing periodontist, and his five children, Aliza, Elie, Avi, Meira, and Dahlia, for allowing us to share so much of his time with us.