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Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON RE’EH FROM RABBI WILKINSON
Last Shabbat the Jewish people lost a beloved rabbi, educator and overall distinguished Jewish leader, Rabbi Berel Wein zt”l. Rabbi Wein was a scholar and teacher, he wrote dozens of books and created hundreds of tapes on Jewish history that predated social media, iphones and You Tube. He was a realist, an historian who documented the story of the Jewish people. His mission was to spread a love of Torah and pride in being Jewish.
Rabbi Wein was a uniquely impactful Rav whose work, perspective, and voice profoundly influenced generations of Orthodox Jewry. Rabbi Wein would often note that when he received semicha to become a rabbi, Orthodoxy was in such a state of decline that a professional career in the Orthodox rabbinate was considered a pipe dream. Nevertheless, after a brief stint as a lawyer, Rabbi Wein embarked on a multi-faceted career as a rabbi and educator in America and Israel that spanned six decades and contributed significantly to Orthodoxy’s rebirth.
In 1964, at the age of 30, Rabbi Wein became the Rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach, and at 38 he became the Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union. Shortly thereafter, following the sudden passing of Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg, zt”l, one of Rabbi Wein’s mentors, he replaced him at the helm of OU Kosher, a position he occupied for five years. He founded Congregation Bais Torah and Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Monsey, serving as Rav and Dean. He literally revived the popular study of Jewish history through a pioneering series of hundreds of lectures on the topic, one of the first sets of widely distributed Torah recordings. He “retired” to Israel in 1997, becoming Rav of the Beit Knesset Hanassi in Jerusalem, (a Shul that Ruth and I often visited when we were in Yerushalayim on Shabbat or Chagim to enjoy his Divrei Torah and his presence). He was a Rebbe in Yeshivat Ohr Somayach, and launched the Destiny Foundation, producing high quality films on Jewish history for a wide audience. Until the end, he continued to be a prolific writer and teacher of Torah whose books and columns were read by thousands and whose insight and wisdom were sought out and treasured.
Wherever he was, Rabbi Wein always engaged in talking Torah. He had a wry sense of humour but most of all he had a love for the Jewish people. He spoke honestly about the many challenges Jews face, wanting always to instil Jewish pride.
I would like to share a short Dvar Torah from Rabbi Wein on this weeks’ parasha:
“In this week’s parsha the Torah continues with the theme that runs through the previous parshiot of Dvarim, that we are always faced with stark choices in life – either blessings or curses, good or evil. The words of the Torah seemingly offer little option for middle ground on these basic issues of belief and behaviour. Yet, we are all aware that the events in life are rarely, if ever, all or nothing, one hundred percent blessing or curse. In fact, Jewish tradition and teachings instruct us that hidden in tragedy there is always a glimmer of hope and goodness, and that all joy and happiness contain within it the taste of the bittersweet.
Jewish philosophy and theology have taught us that evil somehow has a place in G-d’s good and benign world. We are faced with the problem of why the Torah addresses these matters without nuance, in such a harsh way which seemingly brooks no compromise, without a hint of a middle ground. After all, the Torah is not a debating society where one is forced to take an extreme uncompromising stand in order to focus the issue being discussed more sharply and definitively.
Many rabbinic scholars of previous generations have maintained that it is only in our imperfect, post Temple period that we are to search for good in evil and temper our joy with feelings of seriousness and even sadness. But in an idyllic world, where the Divine Spirit is a palpable entity, the choices are really stark, and the divisions are 100 percent to zero. Far be it from me to not accept the opinion of these great scholars of Israel. However, I wish to interject a somewhat different thought into this matter. This parsha begins with the word re’eih – see. As all of us are well aware, there are stages in life that we can see well only with the aid of corrective lenses. Without that correction, we can easily make grave mistakes trying to read and see what appears before us. If we have to read small print, such as looking up a number in the Jerusalem telephone directory – it is almost impossible without the aid of corrective lenses. Well, this situation is not limited to the physical world, to just our actual eyesight, but it applies equally to our spiritual world of Torah observance and personal morality.
Many times, we think we are behaving righteously when we are in fact behaving badly because we are not seeing the matter correctly. We are not wearing our corrective lenses, with the benefit of halacha, history, good common sense and a Jewish value system that should govern our lives. Without this advantage, we see blessings and curses, good and evil, blurry, and undefined before our eyes. The Torah wishes us to see clearly – to instinctively be able to recognize what is the blessing in our life and what is not. The Torah itself has been kind enough to provide us with the necessary corrective lenses to see clearly and accurately. These lenses consist of observance of Torah and its commandments and loyalty to Jewish values and traditions.”
Rabbi Wein often used the phrase “history is our rearview mirror” to emphasize the importance of learning from the past to understand the present and navigate the future. He believed that studying history, particularly Jewish history, provided valuable insights into current challenges and help shape a more informed future.
As Rabbi Wein wrote several years ago:
“History has a way of forcing Jews to come together. But the means employed by history are not usually pleasant. The rabbinic and lay leaders of the Orthodox community, in all of its factions and divisions, should take a good hard look at the current societal situation and speak out about it. Of course they will be criticized, and perhaps even terrorized, by some within their own groups for doing so. Nevertheless, the responsibility of leadership is theirs. The Orthodox public generally should demand a more civil discussion, a tolerance of others and a rejection of extremism and misguided fanaticism. All of this may be wishful thinking on my part. But there is nothing wrong about wishing for better times and a more harmonious Torah world. Wishing is still much better than weeping.”
Rabbi Wein will be missed.
Shabbat shalom and chodesh tov.
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