Story 03. THE GENTILE BULGARIANS WHO SAVED US by RABBI HAIM ASA. 16:11 min. 2013.5.9.Thu.
Channel: David Livianu Family
Date: 2013-05-26

A  New York minute Presents:

REAL LIFE STORIES with Rabbi Haim ASA from Southern California.
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Story 03. THE GENTILE BULGARIANS WHO SAVED US by RABBI HAIM ASA. 16:11 min. 2013.5.9.Thu.
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Fullerton, California, May 2013. 
Produced by David Livianu, MMA, The Juilliard School
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Rabbi Haim ASA is available for speaking engagements about:

1. The Holocaust -- The Shoah.
2. Human Rights (How Good People Can Become Monsters, Know Thy Past or Else, Help A Person -- Help The World, What Is A Righteous Person, etc).

QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS?  INVITATION?   david@livianu.com  
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CURRICULUM VITAE OF HAIM A. ASA

Rabbi Asa, the senior rabbi of Orange County, has been the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Tikvah of North Orange County since the mid 1960's.  In 1971 the congregation of Temple Beth Tikvah overwhelmingly granted Rabbi Asa life tenure.  In 1996 the rabbi became the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Tikvah. Rabbi Asa is currently a senior chaplain with the State of California Department of Mental Health serving Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk and Fairview Hospital in Costa Mesa, California.  

In 1970 the congregation moved to its permanent location, 1600 N. Acacia, Fullerton, California, and in December of 1980 dedicated its new sanctuary and other facilities.  Rabbi Asa was instrumental in helping the congregation realize both of these congregational landmarks.  During the Rabbi's tenure in Orange County, he saw the congregation grow from a small group of families to approximately 400 families.  The Asas have also seen the Orange County Jewish Community grow from 3-4 congregations to approximately 26 congregations today and from 10- 15,000 Jews to approximately 100,000 Jews living here. In June of 2009 the groundbreaking for the Asa Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning took place which honors The Asa's commitment to Jewish Education and the survival of the Jewish People and their many years of dedication to their temple, Temple Beth Tikvah. This will be the new temple school and administrative offices. The new building in the Asa's honor will be dedicated on October 24, 2010.

Rabbi Asa was born in Bulgaria to a family of Sephardic origins; his ancestors escaped the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal in the 15'h and 16'h centuries and found refuge in the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

The Asa family was in Bulgaria during outbreak of the Second World War, and Rabbi Asa's father was one of the leaders of the community responsible for the saving of the Bulgarian Jews during the Nazi Holocaust period.

In 1944, still during the Nazi domination of Bulgaria, Rabbi Asa and his family left Bulgaria and made Aliyah.  In Palestine, Rabbi Asa was educated in Aliyat Hanoar Schools and the famous Mikve Israel Agricultural School.

In 1954 Rabbi Asa came to the United States to pursue university studies in New York and California, and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1958.  During his studies he worked and taught in a number of synagogues and Jewish camps.

In 1958 Rabbi Asa enrolled in the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.  Upon graduation and before his transfer to Cincinnati to pursue the last three years of studies, Rabbi Asa wed Elaine Barbara Carl of Los Angeles.  The Asas spent three years in Cincinnati, and Rabbi Asa was ordained with highest honors in 1963.

From 1963-1966 Rabbi Asa was the Latin American Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism with headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  During the three years in South America, Rabbi Asa was responsible for all of the liberal congregations south of the United States.  Rabbi and Elaine Asa were founders of Congregation Emanu-El de Buenos Aires, a congregation that the Asas still visit every few years in order to renew their social and spiritual ties.  Recently they participated in the 40th year celebration of the congregation they founded.

Currently he lives with his wife Elaine in Fullerton, California.
______________________________________
Rabbi Haim ASA is available for speaking engagements about:

1. The Holocaust -- The Shoah.
2. Human Rights (How Good People Can Become Monsters, Know Thy Past or Else, Help A Person -- Help The World, What Is A Righteous Person, etc).

QUESTIONS?  COMMENTS?  INVITATION?   david@livianu.com  
______________________________________