Rebbetzin Yocheved "Jackie" Wein (1934-2006).
Born in Vaskai, Lithuania, the youngest child of Rav Lazer and
Rebbetzin Sarah Menucha Levin. (Reb Lazer was a talmid of Kelm and
learned with the Cofetz Chaim for five years.) The family moved to
Detroit in 1938, to escape the growing terror in Europe. By the time
of his petirah, fourteen years ago, he was respected as the Chief Rav
of Detroit. In the mid 1950s, Jackie, a young woman trained as a
qualified teacher (at the urging of the legendary Rav Simcha
Wasserman,) married Rabbi Berel Wein, son of Rav Zev and Esther Wein,
who was the daughter of Rav Chaim Tzvi Rubenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of
Bais Medrash L'Torah. The young couple set up their new home in
Chicago. In the early sixties, after several productive years in
Chicago, Rabbi Wein's rebbi, Rav Chaim Kreiswirth advised the
brilliant young scholar to go into rabbonus, where he could contribute
so much to Klal Yisrael. When a position became available in Miami,
the Weins packed up and moved South. But before they left, Rav Wein
was instrumental in founding the Telshe Yeshiva in Chicago. The family
remained in Miami for about a decade, until the early seventies, when
Rabbi Wein became the Rabbinic Administrator of the OU, and then
founded the kehilla of Bais Torah in Monsey, New York. In addition to
raising her young family, Jackie, a trained teacher, accepted a fourth
grade teaching job at Yeshiva Spring Valley, a position she held until
they moved to Eretz Yisrael. In 1994, when the Weins moved to Eretz
Yisrael she once again accepted the role of Rebbetzin with grace,
reaching out from their new home in Rechavia, near the Shaarei Chesed
neighborhood, where Rav Berel serves as a Rov.
Rabbi Hofenberg of Vashki was the grandfather of Rebbetzin Yocheved "Jackie" Wein. Jackie' mother was his daughter. her father; Rabbi Eliezer Levin .
Berel Wein
Rabbi Wein was born March 25, 1934[1] in Chicago to a family descended from Lithuanian rabbis. His father, Zev, emigrated to the United States and served as a Rabbi in Chicago until the 1970s.
Wein received semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Hebrew Theological College, which was founded by his maternal grandfather,[2] Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Rubinstein. His main teacher was Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth and his personal mentors there included Rabbis Mordechai Rogow and Yisrael Mendel Kaplan.[3] He was a student of the late Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman in Chicago, and spoke at the latter's funeral [1].
He received a Bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago and earned a law degree from De Paul University. After passing the Illinois Bar he practiced as an attorney in Chicago for a number of years.
, Wein accepted the pulpit of Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach, Florida, where he remained until 1972. He moved to New York when he was appointed as executive vice-president of the Union of Orthodox Organizations of America (known as the Orthodox Union). Within that organization, he served as rabbinic administrator of the kashrut (kosher foods) supervision division until 1977.
At the same time, he founded Congregation Bais Torah in Suffern, New York, and served as its rabbi for the next 24 years. Wein also founded Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland with a large high school and a smaller post-high school division in 1977. The yeshiva subsequently moved onto the grounds of his synagogue and he served as Rosh yeshiva (dean) until his move to Israel in 1997. His son, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Wein, succeeded him as Rosh yeshiva (along with Mordechai Wolmark, author of Mishnas Mordechai).
During these years, Wein produced many audio tapes on both Torah teachings and Jewish history. These helped to popularize the latter subject, which had often been perceived as boring. After detailed research, he went on to publish a four-volume series of coffee table books spanning 2,300 years of Jewish history, for which he is widely known in English-speaking Orthodox communities:
Echoes of Glory: The story of the Jews in the Classical Era, 350 BCE-750 CE
Herald of Destiny: The story of the Jews in the Medieval Era, 750-1650
Triumph of Survival: The story of the Jews in the Modern Era, 1650-1995
Faith and Fate: The story of the Jewish people in the twentieth century
Wein is known for his witty speaking and writing style: his sayings and observations have been collected together, by James Weiss, into a 283-page book entitled Vintage Wein: The collected wit and wisdom, the choicest anecdotes and vignettes of Rabbi Berel Wein (Shaar Press, 1992). Since his move to Israel, he has also penned three collections of essays, titled Second Thoughts: A collection of musings and observations (1997), Buy Green Bananas: Observations on self, family and life (1999), and Living Jewish: Values, Practices and Traditions. He has also authored commentaries on Ethics of Our Fathers, Pirkei Avos : Teachings for Our Times, and on the Passover Haggadah, The Pesach Haggadah: Through the Prism of Experience and History. His latest work is also his most personal, a detailed guide for aspiring pulpit rabbis entitled, Tending the Vineyard, in which he shares his philosophy of the rabbinate, and relates first-hand experiences and dispenses advice to rabbinic students.
All of Wein's English books have been published by Shaar Press, a division of ArtScroll/Mesorah, which many believe was established specifically for Wein and other rabbis with a broader worldview. The name Shaar Press is seen as eponymous to that of Wein's yeshiva, Shaarei Torah.
] Israel
Rabbi Wein and his wife moved to Israel in 1997. They settled in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, where they became Rav and Rebbetzin at Bet Knesset Hanasi (at 24 Usshishkin). In Israel, Wein also established The Destiny Foundation, a marketing forum for his CDs, audio tapes and books as well as drama and documentary film projects.
He is presently a senior faculty member of Ohr Somayach Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he lectures to the mostly English-speaking student body. He also lectures extensively in Israel and abroad, and writes a regular weekly column for the Jerusalem Post since 1999. Rabanit Yocheved 'Jackie' Wein z"l died on May 25, 2006, and was buried on the Mount of Olives.
Rabbi Wein has subsequently remarried and continues to live in Rehavia.
[] Bibliography
[] Books by Berel Wein
] Hebrew
Chikrei Halacha (1976), published by Mosad Harav Kook
Eyunim B'Mesechtot HaTalmud (1989) 2 volumes
Chukei Chaim (1991), edited by his very close disciple Rabbi Harel Kohen
[] English
Four-volume series:
Echoes of Glory: The Story of the Jews in the Classical Era, 350 BCE-750 CE (1995) ISBN 978-0-89906-340-9
Herald of Destiny: The Story of the Jews in the Medieval Era, 750-1650 (1993) ISBN 978-0-89906-237-2
Triumph of Survival: The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era, 1650-1995 (1990) ISBN 978-0-89906-498-7
Faith and Fate: The Story of the Jews in the Twentieth Century (2001) ISBN 978-1-57819-593-0
Living Jewish: Values, Practices and Traditions (2002) ISBN 978-1-57819-753-8
Pirkei Avos: Teachings for Our Times (2003) ISBN 978-1-57819-739-2
The Pesach Haggadah: Through the Prism of Experience and History (2004) ISBN 978-1-57819-319-6
Vision & Valor: An Illustrated History of the Talmud, (forthcoming, 2010) ISBN 978-1-59264-286-1
] Co-authored books
Real Messiah: A Jewish Response to Missionaries by Aryeh Kaplan, Berel Wein, and Pinchas Stolper (1976), ISBN 978-1-879016-11-8
Sand and Stars (2 vol.) by Yaffa Ganz and Berel Wein (1996), ISBN 978-0-89906-392-8
] DVDs
Rashi – A Light After the Dark Ages (with Leonard Nimoy) (1999)
Berel Wein's Israel Journey – Jerusalem (co-authored with Wayne Kopping) (2003)
Rambam – The Story of Maimonides by Leonard Nimoy, Armand Assante, Ashley Lazarus, and Berel Wein (2005)
Faith & Fate – The Story of the Jewish People in the Twentieth Century Episode II (1911–1920) narrated by Debra Winger and Dick Rodstein (Directed by Ashley Lazarus) (2005)
] References
General: "Rebbetzin Yocheved (Jackie) Wein, a"h", by T. Silber, Hamodia, May 31, 2006, p. A15.
^ Greenwald, Yisroel (1995). Reb Mendel and his Wisdom. xvii. ISBN 978-0-89906-117-7.
^ Wein, Berel (1990). Triumph of Survival. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-57819-593-0.
^ Wein, Berel (1990). Triumph of Survival. p. 432. ISBN 978-1-57819-593-0.