05/06/2026
Remembering Rabbi Rosette Barron Haim
We are saddened to share the loss of Rabbi Rosette Barron Haim z"l, a former Jewish Federation of Cleveland Chaplain and past Board Trustee.
With compassion and unwavering dedication, Rabbi Haim brought comfort to countless individuals across our community as a chaplain — visiting those in hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons, and reminding each person that they were seen, valued, and never alone. Her presence uplifted spirits, strengthened connections, and embodied the very heart of our community.
Our thoughts are with the entire Haim and Barron family during this difficult time. May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and may Rabbi Haim's memory be for a blessing.
Please read the Cleveland Jewish News obituary, reprinted with permission. Text provided below:
Rabbi Rosette Barron Haim dies at age 64
Longtime Cleveland area rabbi, Rabbi Rosette Barron Haim, who was affectionately known as “Rabbi Rosie,” died on May 6 in Cleveland. She was 64.
Haim, a Beachwood resident who was born on Oct. 19, 1964, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024.
On May 1, Haim updated her Celebrating Jewish Life family in an email.
“I am writing to share something deeply personal with all of you. Since early 2024 I have been fighting breast cancer and more recently, it has progressed to the point that I must accept the gravity of the situation and know my time is limited. I know this comes as shock to most of you, I want you to hear it from me with love and honesty. The cancer has advanced very quickly…so quickly that I find myself writing this message to you from hospice.
“In this sacred role as your rabbi, I have been blessed beyond words. To walk beside you in moments of joy and sorrow, to celebrate simchas, offer comfort in times of loss, and to study and grow together in Judaism has been my greatest honor. Each of you has touched my life in ways I cannot fully express. I carry your kindness, your laughter, your prayers and your friendship, and your unwavering support of me and Celebrating Jewish Life throughout the years. My deepest thanks to each of you. You have not only been a congregation to me – you have been my teachers, my companions, my friends and my extended family. Our tradition teaches us the importance of gratitude, and I feel it deeply now.
“In light of this most unfortunate situation, we are canceling the May 15, Shavuot Shabbat holiday experience. It’s been one of the greatest joys of my rabbinate to create and share Celebrating Jewish Life with you.
“Always know my love for this community, the larger Jewish community and Israel is enduring. I carry each of you with me, and I take comfort in knowing that the bonds we have formed are part of something eternal for you too.
“May you continue to be a source of light to one another and may you go from strength to strength, from blessing to blessing.”
Haim was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1988. She was a fixture at the former The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood from 1988 to 2018. She became associate rabbi in 1991 and resigned when Rabbi Jonathan Cohen was named senior rabbi, replacing Rabbi Richard A. Block, who led the temple since 2001. Haim left on June 30, 2018.
Haim, who was one of the longest-serving congregational rabbis in Greater Cleveland, was asked by The Temple-Tifereth Israel Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver to join the clergy.
Block, who worked with Haim for 17 years, praised her work, saying she took the lead in assembling clergy when major programs were approaching.
“She’s sort of been the person who in some ways manages the program of the congregation, by which I mean she’ll be the one who will say to the other clergy it’s time for us to plan the Consecration service, it’s time for us to organize confirmation, it’s time for us to do this and that,” Block told the CJN in 2018. “Rosie is warm and personal and has been a wonderful colleague and teammate. I’m grateful to her for the role she’s played in helping maintain the sense of community at the temple.”
It was her initiative that kept the clergy on task and occasionally kept him from straying when on the bimah, according to Block.
Haim saw her role as a connector throughout the temple, a role in which she felt she thrived. While the job called for her to be heavily involved in life cycle events, a task to which she said she was always drawn, she was known to continue the connection through multiple generations of a family.
“She really cares about being involved in the most important moments of people’s lives and then building generational relationships through these life cycles,” The Temple-Tifereth Israel former Executive Director Christie Yonkers told the CJN in 2018. “She has students and then they graduate – and then she’s doing their baby naming and their weddings. She really connects with families in a generational way. She’s just the heart of this place.”
While at The Temple, Haim created services, organized the adult b’nai mitzvah biennially and supervised groups like The Temple Family Connections, The Temple Women’s Association and The Temple’s Next Generation.
Helping congregants bring Jewish traditions into their lives drove Haim in her clergy role at The Temple-Tifereth Israel. That same drive led her to her next role as founding rabbi of Celebrating Jewish Life, an event-based subscription series she created consisting of six holiday experiences to engage adults who are not members of a synagogue.
“I knew I wanted to do something that would address the population that is really not connected to synagogue life anymore, or ever, and do something that would engage them and reconnect them to their Jewish identity in a meaningful way,” Haim told the Cleveland Jewish News in 2018.
Haim also served as auxiliary rabbi of Park Synagogue as a resource for congregants along with providing assistance for its affiliate groups.
Park Synagogue Senior Rabbi Joshua Skoff sent an email to congregants on May 4.
“It is with great difficulty, and with a profound and personal sense of sadness, that I share with you the decline in health of Rabbi Rosie Barron Haim. Rabbi Haim is a rabbi of our Cleveland community since 1988 and has served as Auxiliary Rabbi for Park Synagogue since 2020. Rabbi Rosie is in hospice, which is a very, very painful sentence for me to write.
“Rabbi Rosie has taught many of you for 38 years, from the pulpit and in the classroom, at weddings and at funerals, through synagogue programming and in advocating for Israel. She has taught me for 36 years, ever since I arrived here in 1990. She has been a friend of our congregation, a member of our congregation, and more recently, a Rabbi of the congregation. A true team player, she has enhanced synagogue life by encouraging and connecting others, never seeking the limelight for herself.
In 2025, Haim was appointed to a two-year term as chair of the Israel Bonds Cleveland Campaign advisory council.
Haim was a longtime investor and supporter of Israel Bonds, and was the immediate past chairperson of the Israel Bonds National rabbinic advisory council, and a member of the Israel Bonds national campaign advisory council.
“I’ve always believed that the words ‘Israel Bonds’ tell us as much about our ancient heritage as it does about the present-day mandate, we have to keep Israel central in our lives,” Haim said in a news release previously. “I’m honored to be part of the mission to draw people closer to Israel through Israel Bonds. Investing in Israel bonds is more than a financial tool, it’s a reflection of our spiritual connection to the land and the people of Israel.
A founding member of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition and national board member of AIPAC, Haim advocated for greater engagement with Israel – the people and the land – to strengthen the Jewish community, Israel and the US-Israel relationship.
Haim was a chaplain for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, a program supported by its annual Campaign for Jewish Needs, that comforts members of the Jewish community in hospitals, nursing homes, the military and prisons through correspondence and visits.
Congregation Mishkan Or in Beachwood, which was formed when Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple and The Temple-Tifereth Israel merged in 2024, sent an email on May 1 to its congregants about Haim’s condition.
“This is a difficult email to send at any time, and we apologize for sending it on Shabbat. We have just learned that one of our former rabbis, Rabbi Rosie Haim, has entered hospice following rapidly progressing breast cancer. We have included her message to her community below. Please know that our clergy are available as you process your own reactions to this news. Do not hesitate to reach out to any of them-this care for you, as well as for our members, is central to what we do. Rabbi Berlin has sent a similar note to our staff. In the meantime, we hold Rabbi Rosie in our thoughts, along with her family and friends …,” the email said.
In 2017, Haim received the Tikkun Olam Award (repairing of the world) from NA’AMAT USA.
Haim was a member of multiple boards, including the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.
Most recently, she held the position of vice chair of the governance committee at the CJPC, which is responsible for recruiting and nominating new board directors and officers of the Company. She has also served as director, secretary and vice chair of the CJPC.
Rabbi Rosette Barron Haim is survived by her husband, Marshall Barron, and their daughter, Shira (Adam) Seltzer, two grandchildren and her mother-in-law, Norma Barron. She was preceded in death by her parents, Fani and David Haim, and her father-in-law, Irv Barron.
Funeral arrangements and shiva will be announced.
