Obituaries
Rabbi Berel Wein: historian and educator dies aged 91
Historian and educator who resurrected “the dying narrative of Jewish history”
September 1, 2025 08:14
Historian and educator who resurrected “the dying narrative of Jewish history”
September 1, 2025 08:14He was a man of many talents, but Rabbi Berel Wein will be particularly remembered for his extraordinary oratory skills and scholarship – which inspired thousands through his lectures on Jewish history and Torah – recorded on CDs, in articles and delivered via online platforms.
The Illinois-born Jewish historian and educator, who has died in Jerusalem aged 91 after several years of ill health, captivated audiences worldwide with his blend of charisma, eloquence and wit. He spent decades bringing the pantheon of Jewish history alive. Rabbi Berel Wein wrote and co-authored several books in both Hebrew and English, which popularised Jewish history and made it accessible to audiences. His four-volume series of coffee-table books spanning 2,300 years of Jewish history were widely admired, particularly within English-speaking Orthodox circles. These are Echoes of Glory: The Story of the Jews in the Classical Era: 35 BC-750 CE: Herald of Destiny: The story of the Jews in the Medieval Era, 750-1650: Triumph of Survival: The story of the Jews in the Modern Era, 1650-1990, and Faith and Fate: The story of the Jewish people in the Twentieth century. The last of these was also the title of a powerful 13-part documentary series of films on the events of the 20th century, from the Holocaust to the birth of the State of Israel, directed by the award-winning filmmaker, Ashley Lazarus.
Rabbi Wein was born in Chicago into a dynastic Lithuanian rabbinic family, the son of Rabbi Zev Wein, who was a disciple of both Rabbi Shimon Shkop and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. He served as a rabbi in Chicago until the 1970s.
In 1955 Berel Wein married Lithuanian-born Yocheved (Jackie) Levin, who emigrated to Detroit with her parents at the age of four. The couple lived in Chicago and had four children, Sori Wein, Chaim Tzvi Wein, Miriam Wein and Dinah Wein.
Wein was ordained as a rabbi at the Hebrew Theological College, founded by his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Rubinstein. Armed with a BA from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a law degree from the Illinois Bar, he became an attorney in Chicago until, at the age of 30, in 1964 he received a rabbinic call from Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach in Florida.
Aged 38, he was appointed executive vice president of the Union of Orthodox Organisations of America (OU) in New York City, but after the sudden death of one of his mentors, Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg, he took over as executive vice president responsible for kashrut supervision. He was also gradually moving into other spheres, founding Congregation Bais Torah in Suffern, New York, where he served as its rabbi for the next 24 years. He also founded Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland, establishing a high school and a further education division in 1977.
This was a key year for him – he and Yocheved made aliyah, settling in Rehavia in Jerusalem, where they became rabbi and rebbetzin at Bet Knesset Hanassi. It was then that Rabbi Wein established the Destiny Foundation, described as his mission to “resurrect the dying narrative of Jewish history”. It became the launchpad for his online work, his CDs, his publishing and documentary film projects, augmenting his many recordings on Torah teachings and Jewish history begun during his time in America.
Wein became a senior faculty member of Ohr Somayach Yeshivah in Jerusalem, lecturing to the largely English-speaking student body.
With his reputation well established, he began writing a weekly column for the Jerusalem Post in 1999, which became a regular feature in the newspaper. For a time, Wein produced the Wein Press, a newsletter published via his Destiny Foundation, and he made regular appearances on Israel television, as part of his Ask the Rabbi programme.
A collection of his speeches, observations and anecdotes was compiled by James Weiss into a 283-page book, Vintage Wein: The Collected Wit and Wisdom, the Choicest Anecdotes and Vignettes of Rabbi Berel Wein (Shaar Press, 1992). Wein also published three essay collections, Second Thoughts: A Collection of Musings and Observations (1997); Buy Green Bananas: Observations on Self, Family and Life (1999); and Living Jewish: Values, Practices and Traditions (2002).
Appearing before a young audience in America towards the end of October. 2023, Wein analysed the October 7 attacks through the prism of the Tanach. “You are all privileged to live in a biblical moment,” he said.
“It’s a choice moment, something that should affect you for the rest of your lives, so we should be able to see it in perspective, because the Torah is perspective.”
He added: “Hamas is not new. Part of the thing to realise now is that this is a rewind; this is a replay. It’s not new. It may be new for you because it never happened before and it may disturb your plans to go to Harvard. But it’s not new. We’re an old people. We’ve seen everybody. We’ve seen everything. And everybody is gone and we’re still here.”
The OU paid tribute to Rabbi Wein on his death. “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.” It added: “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.”
Wein received the Educator of the Year Award from the Covenant Foundation and the Torah Prize Award from the Rabbi Frank Institute in Jerusalem. He was also a member of the selection committee of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Sylvan Adams Bonei Zion Prize, awarded annually to English-speaking immigrants who have made a remarkable impact on Israel.
Wein’s first wife, Yocheved, died in 2006. He is survived by their four children, 29 grandchildren and 70 great-grandchildren. He was also deeply involved with the four children of his second marriage to Mira Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, who predeceased him in 2018.
Rabbi Berel Wein: born: March 25, 1934. Died: August 16, 2025
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