- Mendel Weinbach
-
Rabbi Mendel Weinbach Rosh Yeshiva 
Rabbi Mendel Weinbach in 2010Began 1970 Personal details Born Poland Spouse Sylvie (Shaindel) Lamm Children 12 Mendel Weinbach (Hebrew: מנדל וינבך) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement in his capacity as co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based educational network for young, non-Hasidic Jewish men. Since the yeshiva's founding in 1970, Rabbi Weinbach has taught, mentored and advised generations of students,[1] helping beginners develop their textual learning skills[2] and embrace an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. He is a father figure to thousands, and actively participates in his students' weddings and the brissim and bar mitzvahs of their children.
Rabbi Weinbach is an erudite Torah scholar[2] and a sought-after lecturer for both men's and women's groups in Israel and abroad. He has written several books and many newspaper, magazine and online articles on Jewish thought and practice.
Contents
Early life
Weinbach was born in Poland[3] and raised in Pittsburgh.[4] He received semicha at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas.[1]
He married Sylvie (Sheindel) Lamm (b. 1941), a Belgian war orphan who came to New York at the age of 5. She and her parents, Abraham Israel and Rachel Lamm, had been interned in the Mechelen transit camp in 1942. She had been liberated on 13 January 1944 and sent to a Jewish orphanage; her parents were deported to Auschwitz two days later. She was raised by her aunt and uncle in New York City.[5] The couple settled in Kiryat Mattersdorf in northern Jerusalem, where they raised their 12 children.
Rosh yeshiva
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of searching for meaning by Western-educated, college-age men and women. In 1970, Rabbis Noah Weinberg, Mendel Weinbach, Nota Schiller, and Yaakov Rosenberg founded Shema Yisrael Yeshiva to attract young Jewish men with little or no background in Jewish studies.[6][7] After a few years, Weinberg left the yeshiva over a difference in philosophy and founded Aish HaTorah in 1974.[7] Shema Yisrael subsequently changed its name to Ohr Somayach, after the commentary on the Mishneh Torah written by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, the Ohr Somayach, in response to critics who contended that the name belonged to the entire Jewish people, not just one institution.[8]
Books
- The Essential Malbim: Flashes of insight on Bereishis/Genesis (2009). Ed. by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach. Jerusalem:Artscroll Publications, ISBN 9781422609279.
- Give Us Life: Mesholim and masterwords of the Chofetz Chaim, Vol. 1 (1969). Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers.
- Give Us Life: Mesholim and masterwords of the Chofetz Chaim, Vol. 2 (1973). Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers.
- 127 Insights Into Megillas Esther (1990). Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press Inc., ISBN 0-944070-50-7
- Lifeline Series (3 volumes).
- Love of the Land (2006). Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press Inc., ISBN 978-1568713854
- On Wings of Prayer: Mesholim and illuminations on the daily prayers by the Chofetz Chaim and other Torah greats (1973). Shma Yisroel Program Publications.
- TalmuDigest (2007). Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press Inc., ISBN 978-1568714097
- Turnabout: The Malbim on Megillas Esther. First published 1971, Nachat Publications. Second revised edition: 1990, Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press Inc., ISBN 0-944070-24-8.
- Who Wants to Live: 101 mesholim of the Chofetz Chaim (1973). Shma Yisroel Program Publications.
References
- ^ a b "Meet the Staff: Rabbi Mendel Weinbach". Jewish Learning Exchange. http://www.jle.org.uk/showperson.php?id=77. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ a b "Hertz Family Foundation Announces $1.5 Million In Grants Made to Yeshiva Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem". PR Web. 5 November 2009. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3163674.htm. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Kahn, Zev (Spring 2007). "Sacred Books Rescued from Poland". Chicago Jewish Spirit. http://www.ajspirit.com/PDFs/ILSpring07.pdf. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Hoffman, Rabbi Yair (3 December 2009). "The ArtScroll Revolution: 5TJT Interviews Rabbi Nosson Scherman". Five Towns Jewish Times. http://matzav.com/the-artscroll-revolution-5tjt-interviews-rabbi-nosson-scherman. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Weinbach, Sheindel. "I was Number 43." Hamodia Features, 8 January 2009, p. C2.
- ^ Donn, Rabbi Yochanan. "Conscience of the Lost Jews: Harav Yisroel Noah Weinberg, zt"l". Hamodia. http://www.hamodia.com/inthepaper.cfm?ArticleID=142. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ a b "Today's Yahrtzeits and History – 11 Shevat". matzav.com. 26 January 2010. http://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-11-shevat. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ^ "Did You Know That #16". Ohr Somayach International. 1 March 2003. http://ohr.edu/ohr_somayach/did_you_know_that/713. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
External links
Categories:- 20th-century rabbis
- 21st-century rabbis
- Haredi rabbis in Israel
- Rosh yeshivas
- Rabbis of Ohr Somayach
- Orthodox Jewish outreach
- Polish Orthodox Jews
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Israeli people of American origin
- Israeli people of Polish origin
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
