Our Rabbi
B’H
Shalom Y’all!
I am Rabbi Yizhak Meir Sabo and was appointed to the Tiferet Israel Rabbi Office June 2022. So allow me to tell y’all a little bit about us, the Sabos.
Sarit and I got married about seventeen years ago. We dated for a short time- four months, during which we had about fifteen dates. Our favorite activity was to Daven together in an inspirational place then dine in a nice restaurant.
After four months of dating, we decided to get married. Let me share a fun fact with you: Sarit and I were not present at our own engagement. Our parents met to “close the deal” in our absence. Sarit was volunteering at that time in the Koby Mandell Foundation working with kids affected by terror, while I was working as a tour guide in Israel as a post-military service gig to make some money on the side.
So, I sent my parents up north. I told them look, that’s the girl I love, and that’s her family. I don’t care about the details, it’s your first wedding, since I am the oldest son, and I’m sure that you have all kinds of things in mind. I don’t care where the wedding is going to be, or what’s gonna be on the menu, I just want to make sure that we are married before Rosh Hashana, and that’s what happened.
About thirteen months later our daughter Shira joined our family and made Sarit and I Mom and Dad, or really Ima and Aba. At that time, I was a Rabbi at the high school yeshiva in Giva’at Shmuel. After some time we got an offer from Dr. Jerry Friedman to teach in Shalhevet school in Los Angeles. We were a young idealistic couple, and we wanted to contribute to Jewish education outside of Israel as we felt that we were needed there. Sarit and I were very passionate about reaching out to our brothers and sisters that live out there in the world and we wanted to connect and learn about the different Jewish communities, so we decided to take on the adventure. We had a good time in L.A. Our house was open to students and their families and we felt that our work there made a difference in people’s lives. Our son Yehuda was born in the famous Cedars Sinai hospital in L.A. and I always remind him that Jeff from Jeff’s Gourmet Sausages Factory brought tons of meat platters to his Shalom Zachar. After three amazing years in L.A. we thought that it was time to go back home to Israel, but Hashem had other plans.
We were contacted by a school in Dallas again and again and again. Eventually the President of Akiba academy at that time, Mr. Andy Schultz, sent Rabbi Silver to meet us in L.A. We were charmed by Rabbi Silver’s personality and followed him on a visit to Dallas. The tricky part was, when we came to Dallas for a visit it was a bit after Pesach. The trees were green, the flowers bloomed, the weather was amazing and we told each other “wow the weather here is even better than California.” By the time we finally moved a few months later, it was the end of July and we did not say the same, funny right?
Anyhow, we moved to Dallas to join Akiba Academy and fell in love with the Dallas Jewish community. A few years later I started to work at Tiferet as a Youth Director. We were blessed and three of our kids were born here: David, Moriah, and Dvir.
We love Jews. We love Torah, Judaism, and Israel. Our Goal is to bring all that love and connection into our community. We feel part of the community. We want to grow together to learn, inspire and get inspired by you!