New JBBL Head
By Phil Jacobs
Baltimore Jewish Times - May 19, 2006
"I'm there for everybody." — Dr. Aviva Weisbord
Dr. Aviva Weisbord has been there for everybody for almost 25 years, working with her patients in her psychology practice.
The truth is, Dr. Weisbord, the wife of Ner Israel Rabbinical College's Rabbi Beryl Weisbord and daughter of the late rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yaakov S. Weinberg, and community pillar Rebbetzin Hannah Weinberg, has never not been there for this community.
But now that status is going to take a huge, perhaps more public, change.
As of June 1, Dr. Weisbord, who is known for her warm, friendly smile, will start as the new head of the Jewish Big Brother and Big Sister League (JBBL) and its Jewish Addiction Services program. JBBL is a constituent agency of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.
Dr. Weisbord succeeds Lou Jacobs, who left the agency last March after 18 years of leading the JBBL to start a private practice in psychotherapy for adolescents, adults and couples.
A Pikesville resident, Dr. Weisbord has for seven years served on the JBBL board, and for four years served as an officer. She was actually on the search committee to find a replacement for Mr. Jacobs. She becomes the first Orthodox woman in recent memory to head an Associated constituent agency.
Dr. Weisbord first became connected to the league when Mr. Jacobs asked her some 10 years ago to help the agency with staff development.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," she said with a smile. "I didn't know I'd fall in love with this agency."
Dr. Weisbord said that the mission of the league is an exact mirror of how Jews are supposed to take care of and look out for one another.
"This is how we're supposed to live," she said. "This is the ultimate chesed organization.
"My immediate goal," Dr. Weisbord said, "is to get the community more familiar with what we do. A lot of people will ask me what the league does. I think we have to get the word out more specifically. The Associated is right there with us and for us to help get that message out there."
It's a cool, rainy spring May day. Dr. Weisbord is interviewed at an outdoor table at the Festival at Woodholme. Pedestrians run from their cars to avoid the rain. Some know her and smile, others wave.
Dr. Weisbord will be transitioning out of psychology practice, keeping on a small number of clients while moving into her new position. That job will still involve the management of the well-received JBBL programs.
"For every mentor we get started, we need two more," she said of the community need for the league. "And there are still many who don't know to call on us."
Dr. Weisbord will manage a 15-person staff that she says is doing a marvelous job. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," she said of the personnel. "Lou put together a top-notch agency."
She also said that volunteering for the league has been an eye-opening experience as far as the work done by the Associated.
"Before I joined the board, I just saw the Associated as some sort of monolithic organization raising money," she said. "But I've learned it's more than I ever thought. The volunteers and professionals are really there to take care of us and our community."
JBBL board member Larry Seegul said Dr. Weisbord brings to the league "tremendous passion and commitment. Give credit to Lou. He was a top-notch professional. When you go to the dictionary and look up professional, he's your guy. But she brings different skill sets. She will bring an excitement and a vitality that is always needed. She'll make a great director."
ALSO SEE:
- Case of Rabbi Eliezer Eisgrau
- Weinberg Family History
- Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg
- Case of Rabbi Simcha Weinberg
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