Cleveland Baker Passes Away

By COLlive reporter

Barak Ben-Tor, who owned the now-defunct Lax & Mandel Bakery, a fixture in the Cleveland Jewish community for nearly 60 years, passed away on Monday, 13 Adar I 5776.

He was 43 and led a long and brave fight against a terrible disease.

Ben-Tor was raised in Los Angeles and Israel. He lived in University Heights, Ohio, and was a member of Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood. his children attended Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood.

In August 2010, Ben-Tor purchased Lax & Mandel in South Euclid, a food institution established in 1956 and one of two kosher bakeries serving the Jewish community in the area.

Ben-Tor was diagnosed with a rare form of adrenal cancer 4 years ago, the Cleveland Jewish News reported. He has been unable to work because of his illness, and the bakery has been plagued by declining revenue.

In May 2015, he announced that the bakery will be closing. “It’s very sad to have to close,” he told the Jewish News. “I put a lot of myself into that. It was very hard to close it, but I have to take care of my health and focus on my family.”

Unger’s Kosher Market, at 1831 S. Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights, is now the only operating kosher bakery in Greater Cleveland.

Throughout his battle with illness, Ben-Tor said he was deeply moved by the show of care and the support of the community.

“People I don’t even know bring us food, and it’s a beautiful thing to see the community come together to help out,” he commented. “It’s made me cry. Here, nobody’s overlooked, and that’s one of the things I love about Cleveland.”

He is survived by his wife Elana, his children Dovid and Devorah, his mother Edit – all of Cleveland – and his sister, Lelach Winterfeld of Montreal.

He was pre-deceased by his father, Yaakov Ben-Tor.

The levaya will be in Cleveland on Monday at 3:30 pm. Burial will take place tomorrow in Beit Shemesh.

The Ben-Tor family will be sitting shiva at their home: 4481 Baintree Rd. in Cleveland. Lelach Winterfeld will be sitting shiva at her home in Montreal: 4905 Kent Ave.

Baruch dayan haemes.