Rabbi Jon Haddon's Biography:
Rabbi Jon Haddon was the Spiritual Leader of Temple Shearith Israel of Ridgefield for the past 21 years, and now is Rabbi Emeritus. Currently he serves Congregation Beth David as its new rabbi. Rabbi Haddon has been involved with the Ridgefield Community since l987. He is a member of the Ridgefield Clergy Association and has served served as its President numerous times. He has been honored by Israel Bonds, Bnai Brith and Jewish Federation as its “Man of the Year," and by the Association of Religious Communities in Danbury, CT for his twenty five years of board membership and volunteering. He is also a member of the Danbury Hospital Ethics Committee, Chaplain for the Ridgefield Police, and is chairman of the Danbury Hospital Pastoral Advisory Committee. As chair of this committee, he helped design and plan the hospital's new chapel.
He is a founder of the Ethnic Diversity Committee, serves on the Bnai Brith World of Difference committee, the Association of Religious Communities, Friends of Healing Hearts, the Danbury Jewish Federation, and the Maimonides Day School He and has been honored by Israel Bonds, Bnai Brith and Jewish Federation as its “Man of the Year.” He is also a member of the Danbury Hospital Ethics Committee, Chaplain for the Ridgefield Police, and is chairman of the Danbury Hospital Pastoral Advisory Committee. As chair of
this committee, he helped design and plan the hospital's new chapel.
Rabbi/Cantor Haddon also presents programs regularly for
all of the local churches and nursing homes. As a member of the Ridgefield Clergy Association he has worked tirelessly in fostering good relations between the Jewish and Christian communities.
Jon Haddon received his early religious instruction in the
Conservative movement of Chicago. As a young man he was cantor for the United Synagogue Youth. In addition, he was a member and soloist of numerous synagogue and professional choirs, including the famed Halevy Chorus.
A graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in music education, Jon Haddon was invested as a cantor in 1972 while serving Community Synagogue in Rye, NY. for six years. He then left the cantorate to pursue full-time rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College, which included a year of Hebrew study in Jerusalem. As a student, he held pulpits in Bayonne, NJ and White Plains, NY. Upon his ordination in l980, he was appointed the first full-time Director of the School of Sacred Music, a position he held for four years. Rabbi Haddon was very much responsible for changing the charter of the school from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree, and helped incorporate a required year in Israel for all cantorial students.
From l984 to l987, Rabbi Haddon served Temple Sinai of Newington, CT. Always devoted to his community, he has spoken and taught at numerous churches in the Connecticut area and is a regular contributor to Jewish and secular publications. A few years ago, Rabbi Haddon was the keynote speaker at the Antioch Baptist Church of Bedford Hills, New York on the subject of "Building Bridges Together: Blacks and Jews. His most recent article is entitled “An Urge Toward Evil” in the November, 1998 “Reader’s Digest.”
His hobbies include music, especially guitar and violin. He is married to Jean Reynolds Haddon and is the step-father to three grown children, Dr. Ben Wellington, Dr. Abby Wellington, and Brad Wellington.
Inscription at the bottom of my Doctor of Divinity Degree:
“Devoted rabbi, who as spiritual leader of Temple Shearith Israel, Ridgefield, Connecticut for nearly two decades, serves his congregation and community with unstinting zeal, who, as a Rabbi and Cantor, adds a special dimension to this rabbinate, who is a strong voice in his community for interfaith understanding, working tirelessly to promote bridges of understanding between Jews and Christians, whose active membership in the Danbury and Ridgefield
Jewish and secular societies has earned for him positions of
prominence, and who, as the first full-time Director of the School of Sacred Music, shows his dedication to his alma mater."
He is a founder of the Ethnic Diversity Committee, serves on the Bnai Brith World of Difference committee, the Association of Religious Communities, Friends of Healing Hearts, the Danbury Jewish Federation, and the Maimonides Day School He and has been honored by Israel Bonds, Bnai Brith and Jewish Federation as its “Man of the Year.” He is also a member of the Danbury Hospital Ethics Committee, Chaplain for the Ridgefield Police, and is chairman of the Danbury Hospital Pastoral Advisory Committee. As chair of
this committee, he helped design and plan the hospital's new chapel.
Rabbi/Cantor Haddon also presents programs regularly for
all of the local churches and nursing homes. As a member of the Ridgefield Clergy Association he has worked tirelessly in fostering good relations between the Jewish and Christian communities.
Jon Haddon received his early religious instruction in the
Conservative movement of Chicago. As a young man he was cantor for the United Synagogue Youth. In addition, he was a member and soloist of numerous synagogue and professional choirs, including the famed Halevy Chorus.
A graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in music education, Jon Haddon was invested as a cantor in 1972 while serving Community Synagogue in Rye, NY. for six years. He then left the cantorate to pursue full-time rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College, which included a year of Hebrew study in Jerusalem. As a student, he held pulpits in Bayonne, NJ and White Plains, NY. Upon his ordination in l980, he was appointed the first full-time Director of the School of Sacred Music, a position he held for four years. Rabbi Haddon was very much responsible for changing the charter of the school from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree, and helped incorporate a required year in Israel for all cantorial students.
From l984 to l987, Rabbi Haddon served Temple Sinai of Newington, CT. Always devoted to his community, he has spoken and taught at numerous churches in the Connecticut area and is a regular contributor to Jewish and secular publications. A few years ago, Rabbi Haddon was the keynote speaker at the Antioch Baptist Church of Bedford Hills, New York on the subject of "Building Bridges Together: Blacks and Jews. His most recent article is entitled “An Urge Toward Evil” in the November, 1998 “Reader’s Digest.”
His hobbies include music, especially guitar and violin. He is married to Jean Reynolds Haddon and is the step-father to three grown children, Dr. Ben Wellington, Dr. Abby Wellington, and Brad Wellington.
Inscription at the bottom of my Doctor of Divinity Degree:
“Devoted rabbi, who as spiritual leader of Temple Shearith Israel, Ridgefield, Connecticut for nearly two decades, serves his congregation and community with unstinting zeal, who, as a Rabbi and Cantor, adds a special dimension to this rabbinate, who is a strong voice in his community for interfaith understanding, working tirelessly to promote bridges of understanding between Jews and Christians, whose active membership in the Danbury and Ridgefield
Jewish and secular societies has earned for him positions of
prominence, and who, as the first full-time Director of the School of Sacred Music, shows his dedication to his alma mater."