This week, thousands of Jews came to pay their final respects to Rav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss, the Av Beit Din of the Badatz of the Eidah HaChareidis in Jerusalem, who passed away last Shabbat at the age of 95. Rav Weiss was born in Pezinok, Slovakia in 1926, the son of a wealthy timber merchant. He received general education at a local non-Jewish school, and religious instruction from a private teacher, a melamed.
Before WWII, he escaped Slovakia through the Kindertransport, arranged by Sir Nicholas Winton. Upon the latter’s passing, he sent the Winton family a condolence note thanking them for the heroic actions of the patriarch of their family, and attributing the existence of his many descendants to Winton’s heroic actions.
Rav Weiss studied in the Yeshiva Toras Emes in London led by Rav Moshe Yehuda Schneider and then at the renowned Yeshiva of Gateshead, where he ultimately served as the Rosh Kollel. In the 1960s, he moved to Belgium, where he taught at the Yeshiva in Wilrijk, and was named as a Dayan in the Mechzikei Hadass community of Antwerp in 1967. After several decades in the Rabbinate in Antwerp, he was called to the leadership of the Badatz in 2003, at which time he adopted the tradition Yerushalmi mode of dress. In more recent years, Rav Weiss was known for reversing his initial skeptical position about COVID restrictions during the early stages of the pandemic. While he issued strict halachic rulings and held deeply conservative positions on social issues- his efforts to enforce Shabbat restrictions and prevent the conscription of yeshiva students into the military were uncompromising- He was also supportive of bereaved families who lost loved ones in the military and prevented Chareidi protests against the state during Yom HaZikaron. He was also known for his great personal warmth and kindness, showing particular affection and care for American and British yeshiva students who often joined him for Shabbat meals.
Rav Weiss on Tish’a B’Av
Rabbi’s Recommendations
Please be sure to view the classes in my series A Lost World- Aleppo and Warsaw (the first part of the latter class is somewhat cut off).
Shul Of The Week Trivia!
Thank you all for your feedback last week! I hope you enjoy this new series as much as I do. Congratulations to Steve Natinsky for the winning answer. The shul depicted last week was the GR”A Shul in Tel Aviv, the only shul in Tel Aviv that follows the liturgy and customs of the Vilna Gaon. It is located on Rechov Hayarkon, a block from the beach. The gabbai and sometime baal keriah is the Israeli actor and singer Danny Steg, who will be appearing in season 4 of Fauda. An honorable mention goes to Ori Raphael, who identified the location of the shul because he had just walked past it last week!
Shul of the Week (Week 2)
This shul was founded by refugees who all escaped a particular country in Europe during WWII. Name the shul, the city it is in and the country where its founding members came from.
Extra credit if you can identify the connection between the name of the shul and the country of origin, and if you can explain why an Orthodox synagogue has organ pipes.
Rabbi’s Resources will be going on a two week hiatus, resuming August 25, 2022.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a meaningful Tisha B’Av,
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
Congregation Shaare Tefilla 6131 Churchill Way Dallas, TX 75230
