For over 25 years the master mechanech and visionary Rav Mendel Weinbach, zt’l, founder and rosh yeshivah of Ohr Somayach, delivered scintillating, thought-provoking, and most of all, practical shiurim to the Ohr Somayach rabbinic, leadership, and teacher-training program — Ohr Lagolah. As Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz reflected, Rav Weinbach acted upon the extraordinary need to establish a yeshiva for the thousands of Jews who were disconnected from Judaism in this generation. Rabbi Breitowitz compares Rabbi Weinbach to Rabbi Chiya who the Gemara attests that the Torah would have been forgotten from Klal Yisroel if not for him.
Rabbi Avraham Edelstein, founder and director of Ner Le’Elef, provides further insight into Rabbi Weinbach: “He was a brilliant talmid chacham, a multi-talented iliuy, a holy and simultaneously delicious man who had the whole world before him. He was a source of wisdom and chizuk to people all around the world. Rav Mendel understood us all – he could talk to the heart of a secular college kid as much as he could a Yid from Meah Shearim He advised heads of mosdos, helped people to live to their dreams, gave encouragement to all who walked passed his doors. He was a brilliant writer and an even more brilliant darshen. He churned out mekoros on all sorts of things. Over time, he gave shiurim on virtually every subject to every level of the yeshiva.”
In the words of Rav Chaim Yisroel Halevi Belsky, zt”l, former Rosh HaYeshivah, Yeshiva Torah Vadaas, Rabbi Weinbach’s sefer, As Heard From Rav Weinbach: A Resource Book for Rabbis and Educators, “contains a synopsis of Rav Mendel Weinbach’s unique approach for presenting kiruv essentials to those eager to teach them. His gift for making Torah sweet and attractive created a movement, and provided a weapon for the dissemination of wisdom.”
Rav Nota Schiller, Rosh HaYeshivah, Yeshivas Ohr Somayach relates that “Reb Mendel exemplified and personified the seamless flow from learning to teaching to doing. How fitting then that this sefer, based on his shiurim at Ohr Lagolah, is all about teaching, learning to teach, doing, and learning to do.”
The sefer contains:
- Fifty shiur outlines and source materials for preparing your own shiurim
- A CD containing MP3 recordings of more than 40 of Rav Weinbach’s Ohr Lagolah Shiurim
- A video of Rav Weinbach’s final Kiruv Seminar Talk at Ohr Somayach’s annual 17th Tammuz Kiruv Seminar for Bnei Torah (2012)
- A selection of penetrating insights and comments on current events and the Jewish year
- Rav Weinbach’s recommended reading on the parsha
- A foreword from Rabbi Zev Leff
The sefer also discusses building a Torah society, public speaking, Kiruv, the power of the written word, and the rabbi’s role as a counselor.
Limited copies of the sefer remain and may be purchased online for only $18.
