Jay Rubin Returns After 25 Years to Lead Jewish Community Association, Timed to Rosh Hashanah

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After 25 years, Jewish leader's back By Eileen E. Flynn | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Jay Rubin's been here before. A quarter of a century ago, when people called Carole Keeton Strayhorn (then McClellan) mayor, and grandma. When residents of San Marcos came to Austin to shop, not the other way around. When Michael Dell wasn't a household name. Returning to take the reins of the Jewish Community Association of Austin, Rubin, 54, who replaces former CEO Mark Lit, is finding a lot that's new about Austin. He's also discovering a familiar comfort in the city that was home to him for three years. The aspects loved about Austin — the cultural and intellectual stimulation, the diversity, the great outdoors — remain, he says. Rubin sees a magic to the place, a potential to become a great 21st century city and one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in the country. This is the vision that Rubin is appropriately trumpeting as he, along with Jews worldwide, See RETURN, B2 [Photo caption, B1] Tonight's Jewish New Year marks a fresh start for new community association CEO Jay Rubin. (Mark Matson, American-Statesman) — continued from B1 — RETURN: Jewish community reflects Austin's diversity, growth, leader says begins the celebration tonight of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In some ways, the holiday symbolizes both the newness and the cyclical nature of Rubin's life. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the high holy days, a time of reflection, repentance and anticipation for a new chapter. "The high holidays symbolize creation, introspection and renewal," he said. "Creation deals with the world. Introspection and renewal focuses principally on individuals. "In a community context, I can see some parallels," Rubin said. "Austin is a community in a seemingly permanent state of growth, creation and change. The Jewish community clearly mirrors this dynamic." Since he and his family left Austin in 1981 — he'd completed a three-year teaching appointment at what is now Texas State University-San Marcos — Rubin has made a Jewish professional odyssey that's taken the New York native from Augusta, Ga., to Canton, Ohio. He spent the past 10 years in Washington with Hillel International, a job that allowed him to travel the world and discover a global Jewish community. Hillel organizations are centers for Jewish life on college campuses. Now, when people ask how long he's lived in Austin, Rubin likes to say he's starting his fourth year after a 25-year break. In his office, he has a photo showing himself as a slim 28-year-old man with a dark beard. He's holding his 2-year-old son and the kiddush cup used for the sabbath dinner at a house bought for $39,000 in Southwest Austin. Things change. Today's three children are grown and pursuing careers and education. Today's housing market bears no resemblance to the one he and his wife found in the late 1970s. The road to San Marcos, once a quiet, rural stretch, is now hopping with development. The Jewish community, too, has grown with new synagogues and the sprawling Dell Jewish Community Campus where Rubin now works. He didn't expect his odyssey to lead him back here, but Rubin said, this is a great spot to land. "I've never seen a community that people are so happy to be in," he said. Though some of the older, more established Jewish communities in the United States are facing decline, Rubin said, the Austin area is experiencing tremendous growth. He wants the Dell campus to continue to be the nerve center for the Jewish community as the association reaches out with programs and services to Jews living in other parts of the region. Though a high percentage of Jews live near the campus in Northwest Austin, he said, many are settling in South Austin and suburbs such as Cedar Park. The association can try to help those people connect with other Jews. The challenge is not having real statistics about the local Jewish community. Rubin has heard population estimates from 15,000 to 25,000. But he would like to conduct a demographic study in order to understand better the makeup and needs of Central Texas Jews. Rubin also hopes to encourage young people to develop a global consciousness and to connect in a meaningful way with Israel, ideally by visiting there and seeing firsthand the importance it holds for Jews. His goal, he added, isn't to ensure that young Jewish adults support every policy of the Israeli government but to "make you understand you're part of a family." Family is a constant theme for Rubin. He talks animatedly about his own and the extended clan he has found, again, in Austin. "On one level, being here for the high holy days is difficult because my family is not here," he said. His wife is still in Washington trying to sell their home. "At the same time, you're part of a larger family when you're part of a Jewish community." eflynn@statesman.com; 445-3812 [Photo caption, B2] In 1980, new Jewish Community Association CEO Jay Rubin lived in Southwest Austin with his son Joshua, then 2. (RUBIN FAMILY PHOTO)