Berel Wein


Berel Wein was an American-born Orthodox rabbi, lecturer and writer. He authored several books, in both Hebrew and English, concerning Jewish history and popularized the subject through more than 1,000 audio tapes, newspaper articles and international lectures. Throughout his career, he retained personal and ideological ties to both Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox] and Haredi Judaism.

Background

Wein was born March 25, 1934, in Chicago to a family descended from Lithuanian rabbis. His father, Rabbi Zev Wein, a disciple of Rabbi Shimon Shkop, and later of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, emigrated to the United States and served as a rabbi in Chicago until the 1970s.
In 1955 he married Yocheved Levin, who was born in Lithuania in 1934 and emigrated to Detroit with her parents at the age of 4. The couple settled in Chicago and had four children, 29 grandchildren and 70 great-grandchildren.
When Wein's wife Yocheved died in 2006, he married Mira Cohen, a descendent of multiple Chasidic dynasties and a Holocaust survivor. Mira died in 2018.

Career

In America

Wein received semicha from Hebrew Theological College, which was founded by his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Rubinstein. His main teacher was Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth and his personal mentors there included Rabbis Mordechai Rogow and Yisrael Mendel Kaplan. He was a student of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman in Chicago, whose funeral he spoke.
He received a Bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago and earned a law degree from DePaul University. After passing the Illinois Bar he practiced as an attorney in Chicago for a number of years.
In 1964, Wein accepted the pulpit of Beth [Israel Congregation (Miami Beach, Florida)|Beth Israel Congregation] in Miami Beach, Florida, where he remained until 1972. He moved to New York City when he was appointed executive vice president of the Union of Orthodox Organizations of America. Within that organization, he served as rabbinic administrator of the kashrut 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 until his move to Israel in 1997. His son, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Wein, succeeded him as Rosh Yeshiva.

In Israel

Wein and his wife moved to Israel in 1997. They settled in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, where they became Rabbi and Rebbitzen at Bet Knesset Hanasi. 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.
Wein was a senior faculty member of Ohr Somayach Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he lectured to the mostly English-speaking student body. He also lectured extensively in Israel and abroad, and wrote a regular weekly column for The Jerusalem Post since 1999.

Teaching

During his years in America, Wein produced many audio tapes on Torah teachings and Jewish history. 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:
  1. Echoes of Glory: The story of the Jews in the Classical Era, 350 BCE-750 CE
  2. Herald of Destiny: The story of the Jews in the Medieval Era, 750-1650
  3. Triumph of Survival: The story of the Jews in the Modern Era, 1650-1990
  4. Faith and Fate: The story of the Jewish people in the twentieth century
Wein was known for his witty speaking and writing style: his sayings and observations have been collected 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. Since his move to Israel, he has also penned three collections of essays, titled Second Thoughts: A collection of musings and observations, Buy Green Bananas: Observations on self, family and life, 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. Tending the Vineyard, is a personal, detailed guide for aspiring pulpit rabbis, in which he shares his philosophy of the rabbinate, and relates first-hand experiences and dispenses advice to rabbinic students. In May 2013, Rabbi Wein co-authored "The Legacy: Teachings for Life from the Great Lithuanian Rabbis", with Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa. His autobiography, "Teach Them Diligently: The Personal Story of a Community Rabbi" became available in June 2014.
For a time, Wein published a newsletter, the Wein Press, which he discusses in his 2020 In My Opinion volume, which he published via his Destiny Foundation organization.

Death

Wein died in Jerusalem on August 16, 2025, at the age of 91, after several years of ill health. He was buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

Published works

Hebrew

  • Chikrei Halacha, published by Mosad Harav Kook
  • Eyunim B'Mesechtot HaTalmud 2 volumes
  • Chukei Chaim, edited by his very close disciple Rabbi Harel Kohen
  • Bamesila Nale', edited by his very close disciple Rabbi Harel Kohen

English

Twenty of his English language books were published by Artscroll; among them are:

Co-authored books

  • Real Messiah: A Jewish Response to Missionaries by Aryeh Kaplan, Berel Wein, and Pinchas Stolper,
  • Sand and Stars by Yaffa Ganz and Berel Wein,
  • The Legacy: Teachings for Life from the Great Lithuanian Rabbis by Warren Goldstein and Berel Wein,

DVDs