By Megan Siegel – Junior Accounting Major, University of Texas at San Antonio / Contributor

Reuben Bar Yadin has a strong connection to his Jewish identity and promoting the continuity of the Jewish people. This was not by accident, rather, his cultural beliefs were established many years ago by the Bar Yadin family.

Reuben’s family holds a geographically and culturally diverse Jewish background, giving him a unique connection to Judaism. Reuben’s grandparents immigrated to Cuba from Eastern Europe in the 1920s, where both of his parents, Natan and Tzipi, were raised. When Fidel Castro came to power his parents moved to Israel to raise their family. Reuben and two of his three brothers were born in Israel. In the early 1960’s Israel was not the Westernized, technologically advanced country it is today. Starting with nothing, his parents built a small clothing business and supported their family of 4 boys. Following the Yom Kippur war in 1973, Natan and Tzipi sought a more stable economy and family life in the United States. They emigrated to McAllen, TX and opened their first retail clothing store in 1976, the predecessor to Melrose Fashions. They struggled through multiple peso devaluations, which greatly impacted business along the border, but they persevered, and they prospered.

Reuben began working at Melrose as a teenager, eventually becoming President of the Company. In 1998 he acquired his first shopping center and, what started as a side business (i.e., real estate) has now become a major commercial real estate investment business in Central and South Texas.

The family transitioned through four languages over four generations and four countries. His grandparents spoke Yiddish, his parents spoke Spanish, Reuben was raised speaking Hebrew and his children were raised speaking English. But through all the transitions the family remained dedicated to the many Jewish communities they have been a part of in both Israel and the United States.

Now living in San Antonio, he is a generous donor to a variety of organizations including Texas Hillel, Hillel San Antonio, Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy, and Camp Young Judaea.

Reuben first became involved with Hillel after meeting Rabbi Kessel, Executive Director of Texas Hillel at the time, at an AIPAC convention. Later on, he met Ronit Sherwin, former Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, and together they reinvigorated and strengthened San Antonio Hillel. Reuben believes that children and young adults are the future of our community. He hopes to give them a chance to form connections with their Jewish peers and create a lasting, strong Jewish identity.

When asked where he sees Hillel San Antonio in five years, he stated that more students will be involved and Hillel’s impact on the community will grow. He hopes Hillel San Antonio will eventually have a physical space to host Shabbat dinners and other events, creating a comfortable environment for Jewish students to learn and to hang out with their peers. His vision is to involve more community members and parents, whether that be as volunteers, hosting events, as donors, or as ambassadors for Jewish college students. Going forward he wants students to take advantage of all that Hillel has to offer. He is passionate about seeing the Jewish students of the community become Jewish leaders and he believes this can be accomplished through garnering a sense of pride and security in students’ Jewish identities while being active members of Hillel.

Reuben is convinced that Hillel needs support now, more than ever, and notes that, although daily life has certainly changed during the pandemic, Texas Hillel is still functioning and operating daily. Mr. Bar Yadin is strongly connected to Hillel’s mission to enrich the lives of Jewish students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and, ultimately, the world. He hopes and expects Texas Hillel continues fulfilling this mission, even in these times of uncertainty.

Texas Hillel is grateful to Mr. Bar Yadin for his continued support through the years.

August 28, 2020