You Can Come Home Again
by Lynn Dictor
His memories of growing up in Orlando will ring true to most of us. Rabbi Orrin Krublit, new rabbi of the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation (SOJC), remembers two things vividly: the heat and being stuck in traffic on I-4. The more things change, the more things stay the same, but Rabbi Krublit, now 32, is thrilled to be back in his hometown.
Rabbi Krublit was born in Orlando and attended The Roth Family JCC preschool and the Hebrew Day School (now the Jewish Academy of Orlando) through eighth grade. Curly-haired and chubby-cheeked, young Orrin parlayed his dimpled smile into a beauty pageant win as a little boy (there may or may not have been an adorable sailor outfit involved).
For most of his elementary- and middle-school years, Orrin was fascinated by magic and was mentored by a slightly older boy who also loved sleight-of-hand. Orrin’s friend was Kostya Kimlat, another current Orlando resident, who has gone on to become a world-renowned magician.
Orrin lived with his grandparents in Pine Hills for much of his childhood. His grandfather, Alvin Krublit – known to everybody as Big Al – was Orlando’s only kosher butcher in the late 1960s. Big Al served up a great piece of advice that would lead Orrin to his career as a rabbi and an educator. His grandfather said, “Work with your brain, not with your body.”
Orrin had his bar mitzvah at Congregation Ohev Shalom before leaving Central Florida to attend high school at the American Hebrew Academy (AHA) in Greensboro, North Carolina. Orrin says AHA was a magical, transformational stop on his Jewish journey. As a senior, Orrin remembers one particular moment during a class in Chasidism. The teacher asked all the students to do a brief meditation. Closing his eyes, Orrin at first thought the assignment was a great excuse for a quick nap, but then he had a revelation – while meditation could take someone’s mind off their problems, Judaism could actually solve their problems. His track to the rabbinate had begun.
Orrin graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Jewish studies and returned to AHA in 2009 for a two-year fellowship. Living in the dorms with his students, Orrin says this was another magical time for him because he could impact the lives of the next generation. He eventually applied for and was accepted to the Jewish Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, California, where he spent the next six years. There he met his wife, Meira Cohen, on J-Swipe. They were married in December 2017.
Orrin was a rabbinic intern for three years at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, Missouri. Once he was ordained, he took his first full-time job as that same synagogue’s assistant rabbi. Life was good, but all roads pointed Orrin back home to Central Florida.
And it didn’t take long for Rabbi Krublit to feel at home again. Shortly after his return, while grabbing a bite at a bagel shop in Maitland, he was recognized by a couple of former parents from the Hebrew Day School who wrapped him in a big hug, welcomed him back to town, and invited him to Shabbat dinner.
Orlando and SOJC appealed to Rabbi Krublit and Meira for some of the same reasons he remembered as a little kid: the warm weather, the engagement of the Jewish community, and the welcoming nature of his new congregation.
When asked about his new position, the rabbi flashes his patented smile and says, “I’m looking forward to being with my people on their Jewish journey. It’s lovely to be back!”