Yaron was born in Zagreb and was the only child of Rabbi Miroslav Šalom and Irena (née Steiner) Freiberger.

During World War II, at the end of 1942, Yaron's father had escorted the last group of rescued Jews from Zagreb to Budapest and Istanbul, from where they were transferred to Mandatory Palestine.

The group had received travel documents only after Archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Stepinac and Vatican officials had intervened with the Independent State of Croatia authorities.

His music talent soon became evident, inherited from his mother, who played piano, and uncle, who was a singer at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

In March 1956, the "Rinat Choir," which he conducted, won first prize at an international festival in Paris, a competition in which 16 countries participated.