A Lifetime of Learning: Book of the Month, Iyar 5786

We usually nominate our Book of the Month at the new month's inception -- but the chance to honor Rabbi Berel Wein zt'l on the occasion of his book launch was too good to miss. A Lifetime of Learning, Great Mentors Who Shaped My Mind and Heart was completed shortly before our beloved Mara d'Atra passed away. 

This handsome and eminently readable tome reviews the impact upon one of the leading Jewish personalities of our era of some 15 remarkable individuals split between Rabbi Wein's family, his teachers and his mentors. There are of course some familiar names to be found; these include Rabbis Yaakov Kamenetzky, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Yoel Teitelbaum and Yosef Shlomo HaKohen Kahaneman. Copies of the new book were selling well at the launch, possibly because there were many purchasers in shul who felt that it was not merely a book they were buying but a tangible chelek in its author himself and a memento of his immense contribution to Jewish history, mussar and community building across two continents.

Today's book launch saw a packed Beit Knesset Hanassi, sitting to rapt attention while the two speakers talked of Rabbi Wein, his life and the book that so eloquently sums it up. Rabbi Kenigsberg opened the proceedings by reminiscing over the impact Rabbi Wein had made upon him. He employed the analogy of a bridge to explain Rabbi Wein's unique quality of linking the glorious era of the pre-Second World War Torah scholars to us in our own generation in order to enable us the better to address the challenges of the future. He also observed that the qualities that Rabbi Wein identified in those who influenced him quite aptly described Rabbi Wein himself: he was the epitome of a real "influencer".

Rabbi Kenigsberg then referred to this week's Torah reading for parashat Bemidbar, where we learn how Israel's tribes were arranged by flag and allowed to cultivate their separate identities. One of Rabbi Wein's major inspirations, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, asks a question that should have been obvious: why only now, in the fourth book of the Chumash, do these instructions come, rather than in the book of Shemot when we took our first steps into the unknown paths of the desert? The answer is that separation into different tribes, each with its own identity and ethos, can be ruinously divisive. But once there is a Mishkan in place, a focal point for all the tribes, they can develop their own character while sharing a unifying common goal. Rabbi Wein too displayed uniquely unifying qualities; he was like a backbone, the beriach htichon of the Mishkan that underpinned our common interests and held them together.

Next to speak was Rabbi Wein's youngest child, his daughter Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum. She opened with some highly pertinent comments on the problems of performing as a public speaker, and then demonstrated how good she was at doing it when she proceeded to the main part of her address. 

With Shavuot looming large on our horizons, she led us through a memorable set of Aseret HaDibrot of her own. These were ten maxims for a good and meaningful Jewish life that Rabbi Wein either articulated or exemplified in his own life. These maxims were drawn partly from Pirkei Avot, partly other from the realms of practical psychology, self-control and the importance of personal growth and self-esteem. Each maxim was accompanied by an anecdote or vignette depicting a moment in the Wein household, and the importance of not criticizing others was elegantly emphasized by a recitation of the poem, "A Little Walk Around Yourself". The Rebbetzin also took great care to acknowledge a personality who, though not accorded a chapter of her own in A Lifetime of Learning, was plainly a major figure in Rabbi Wein's spiritual growth -- her own mother and Rabbi Wein's first wife Jackie. 

In summary, this afternoon was more than a book launch. It was an education in Rabbi Wein's approach to life, offering a rare and precious glimpse of the Rabbi as a father and a friend. It was a remarkable occasion that those of us who were privileged to attend will never forget.

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You can access Rabbi Kenigsberg's speech here
You can access Rebbetzin Teitelbaum's speech here
Copies of the book may be purchased from Pomeranz Books, Jerusalem