It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah on Shabbos morning of Rav Berel Wein zt”l, the noted rov, author, historian, and educator. He was 91.
Rabbi Wein, a veteran figure in the rabbinate and a beloved teacher to thousands, devoted his life to harbatzas haTorah and preserving the legacy of Klal Yisroel through his prolific work in Jewish history and education.
Born in Chicago into a family of Litvishe rabbonim on March 25, 1934, his father, Rabbi Zev Wein (1906-2004), was a talmid of Rav Shimon Shkop. Rabbi Zev Wein later emigrated to the United States and served as a rov in Chicago until the 1970s.
In 1955, he married Yocheved (Jackie) Levin, who had been born in Lita, in 1934 and had emigrated to Detroit with her parents, Rav and Rebbetzin Leizer Levin, at the age of 4.
Rabbi Wein received semicha from Hebrew Theological College, where he learned under some of the foremost rabbonim of the time, including Rav Chaim Kreiswirth, Rav Mordechai Rogow and Rav Mendel Kaplan.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt College in Chicago, followed by a law degree from DePaul University Law School, and later received a Doctorate from Hebrew Theological College.
After a successful career in law, Rabbi Wein entered the rabbanus in 1964, accepting the pulpit of Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach, Florida. He served there until 1972, before assuming the position of mara d’asra of Congregation Bais Torah in Monsey, New York, a position he held with distinction for 24 years. During this time, he also served as Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union (OU), and later as Rabbinic Administrator of its Kashrus Division.
In 1977, he founded Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Suffern, New York, establishing both a high school and a beis medrash division, and served as rosh yeshiva until 1997. That year, Rabbi Wein and his wife, Rebbetzin Yocheved Wein—daughter of Rav and Rebbetzin Leizer Levin, rov of Detroit—moved to Yerushalayim. There, Rabbi Wein joined Beit Knesset Hanasi and, in 2002, was appointed its mara d’asra.
Widely regarded as one of the premier Jewish historians of our time, Rabbi Wein authored numerous seminal works on Jewish history and has delivered thousands of shiurim across the globe. His voice and vision shaped generations of Jews seeking a deeper understanding of their past and a more meaningful connection to their heritage.
In recognition of his lifelong contributions, Rabbi Wein received the prestigious Torah Prize Award from Machon Harav Frank in Yerushalayim for his impact on Torah education and the spread of Judaism throughout the world.
Rabbi Wein’s wife Mrs. Jackie Wein passed away in 2006. He remarried to Mrs. Mira Cohen, who passed away in 2018.
The levayah will be held Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. at Beit Knesset Hanasi, located at 24 Rechov Menachem Usishkin in Yerushalayim, followed by kevurah on Har Hazeisim.
WATCH THE LEVAYAH LIVE HERE.
Rabbi Wein is survived by his son, Rabbi Chaim Wein, and three daughters, Mrs. Sori Teitelbaum, Mrs. Miriam Gettinger, and Mrs. Dina Gewirtz, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
BDE. We lost a treasure
BDE. You said it.
A tremendous loss for the Jewish people! He was an amazing asset to the frum world on every level. A great Talmid Chochom, lamdan, posek, amazing orator (hundreds of lectures in his history series), phenomenal historian who made a kiddush shem shamayim wherever he went. He authored about thirty beautifully written books on history and other topics, as well as five seforim in Hebrew. He began as a lawyer, than became a rav in Chicago, and then Miami, where the Ponovezher Rav would often meet him, and even the old Satmarer Rav zatzal visited him in his house and used the mikveh he built there. He then moved to Monsey, as New York area offered better schools for his daughters and worked as head of the OU for a number of years, traveling throughout the world. He opened an immensely popular shul there, as well as heading a Yeshiva for many years there, wherer he became close with R’ Yaakov Kaminetzky zatzal. Finally, he moved to Eretz Yisrael about 30 years ago and was a popular Rav in Rechavyah. An irreplaceable Jewish treasure who always viewed the world with an optimistic lens has gone to a better world and leaves us in tears. A grateful adherent from Lakewood NJ who read most of your books and listened to countless beautifully crafted lectures, but never had the opportunity to meet you. yehi zichro baruch
Did he really live in Chicago??
I remember a Wein family in east Roger park in 1954. Ang relationships?
One of my great uncles pulled his father, R. Zev Wein, zl, into their shul that was 1600 south on lawndale. He soon became the Rav of the shul [still the father. ] I didn’t track the history after that but he definately resided a while in chicago. I know my mother was best friends with Jackie Wein, ah, in their Academy days. Late teens. After a lecture i approached Rabbi Wein to ask him if the story was true about my great uncle and his father. He said yes. I told him that’s gotta be worth a chinese dinner, at least. He said, “My father made $3 a week.” oh well, i tried.
My brother just sent me a yearbook picture from Roosevelt College (Chicago). My dad’s yearbook but not the same class. The young Rabbi’s hobbies were “reading, studying Talmud.”
Oy, who will now let us know how things really were in the past, beyond all the propaganda and agendas.
And the great movies Destiny put out. Rashi, Light After the Dark Ages. Rambam. And more.
https://www.torahanytime.com/live-events/41e8c998-91dc-4645-ad8f-3a0f1ebfe94d