I got to reminisce a little bit this week. When Rabbi Ephraim Epstein shared with me some photos of Rabbi Berel Wein during his recent visit to Cherry Hill, it turned back the clock for me and I was instantly transported back to my high school years.
Rabbi Wein was the Dean and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Suffern, New York, which is the high school I attended decades ago. An extraordinary personality whose breadth of knowledge seems endless, Rabbi Wein is someone who commands respect not because he craves it, but because his standing as a Talmid Chacham and scholar warrants it.
His status as a Jewish history maven is well-known. People around the world are familiar with his Jewish history tapes, CDs and MP3s, which captured over 1,000 of his lectures during the past quarter-century, and his numerous literary works on the subject are renowned. I used to marvel at how Rabbi Wein would walk into our Jewish History class without a sheet of paper or a single note, ask us where he left off at the end of the last class, and then pick up from that very point in history without skipping a beat.
In addition to his status as a preeminent historian and Torah sage, what always struck me about Rabbi Wein was the path he took to get to the rabbinate and the secular knowledge he acquired along his journey. He was a practicing attorney before taking a pulpit in Miami Beach and subsequently in Suffern. The vast experience he garnered during his various professional careers manifested itself in both his public and private interactions. As a high school student, Rabbi Wein always impressed me. As I grew a bit older, Rabbi Wein also inspired me. He epitomizes what it means to successfully meld the secular and religious spheres, without compromising his Judaism one iota.
Thinking of Rabbi Wein in this way reminded me of the story of Chanukah, which we’ll be celebrating shortly. The Jews became far too comfortable with Greek culture, and the Seleucids tried to compel the Jews to forsake their Judaism and adopt the Greeks’ beliefs. A large swath of Jews who became known as Hellenists embraced the Greek way of life and took tangible steps to renounce their Judaism. It wasn’t until Matisyahu and the Chashmonaim stood up to the Greeks and rejected their bold attempts to destroy the Jews through assimilation that the tide was turned, and the Jewish people ultimately persevered.
Now, over 2,000 years later, Jews face the same danger yet again. Assimilation threatens to destroy our people, and the willingness of far too many Jews to abandon their religion for the allure of modern culture is alarming. However, people like Rabbi Wein remind us that Judaism and modernity are not mutually exclusive. We can be Talmidei Chachamim and worldly all at the same time. We can be proficient in Gemara and Halacha, while also being knowledgeable about literature and philosophy. We can be committed Jews while also living in the real world. Yes, we must establish boundaries and ensure we are duly insulated from external forces that seek to weaken our resolve and undermine our faith. We have to focus on not getting too complacent, lest we become vulnerable. However, we don’t need to live in a bubble and shut everyone and everything out. We just have to stay true to the tenets of our faith and have the good sense to always remember where our real priorities lie.
If more of us could strive to be like Rabbi Wein, it wouldn’t take an army like the Chashmonaim to defeat those who wish to dilute our Judaism. We’d be armed with the confidence and conviction necessary to rebuff those who attempt to poke holes in our beliefs and ensure that the lights of the Chanukah menorah illuminate our hearts and souls for generations to come.
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