Moshe Weinberger

Rabbi Moshe Weinberger (born June 1, 1957) is an American Chasidic rabbi, outreach educator, author, translator, and speaker. He is the founding ''rav'' of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, New York, and former ''Mashpia''/''mashgiach ruchani'' at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). To date, he has recorded more than 5000 lectures on chasidic thought and philosophy as well as ''halacha'' and a variety of other topics in Judaism.

Early life and education

Parents and Childhood

Moshe Weinberger grew up in a Modern Orthodox home in Queens, New York. His father, Mordechai Aryeh Yosef Weinberger (March 24, 1923 - February 10, 2020), and his mother, were both Holocaust survivors from Munkacs and Ungvar who went through the Nazi concentration camps, and his grandparents were Belzer Hasidim. He began studying Chasidic works after his Bar Mitzvah.

Semicha and Degrees

Although he originally planned a career in law, he discontinued his law studies to train for the rabbinate, receiving ''semicha'' from RIETS, where he was a student of Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz and Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik. He also studied for some time at Yeshivas Sh'or Yoshuv. He earned master's degrees in Jewish philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, and in educational administration from Columbia University Teachers College.

Rabbinical Positions

Early career

Rabbi Weinberger began his career in the rabbinate as a ''rebbi'' at a ''yeshiva'' in Far Rockaway. He taught for two decades as a ''rebbi'' at Ezra Academy, a Jewish day school in Queens, in years that he describes as "the most enjoyable years of his life" and also served as a ''mashgiach ruchani'' for N'vei Tzion of Queens. For one year he also taught as a high school ''rebbi'' at Yeshivas Shaar Hatorah in Queens, New York.

Congregation Aish Kodesh

In December 1992 Rabbi Weinberger became the first rabbi of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, New York. He named the shul after Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczna Rav and author of the chasidic work arranged based on the ''parsha, Aish Kodesh'', who was a leading Polish Chasidic rabbi in prewar Europe.

Along with delivering a weekly '' derasha'' in the congregation, Rabbi Weinberger also delivers many ''shiurim'' in all topics to members of the congregation, as well as many people from outside the congregation including topics such as ''mussar'', '' chassidus'', ''machshava'' and ''halacha''.

The congregation, headed by Rabbi Weinberger leads an annual ''hillula'' celebration on the ''yahrtzeit'' of the Piaseczna Rav and on Lag BaOmer, the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, each which draw more than 2,000 attendees. He also leads congregants on visits to '' kivrei tzaddikim'' in different locations around the world including Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Italy, Rome and Israel. The ''shul'' building doors themselves are modeled after a famous Polish ''shtiebel'' known as the Rema Shul, named for the eminent halachic authority for Ashkenazic Jews Rabbi Moshe Isserlish Congregation Aish Kodesh has been called a "phenomenon" and a "revolution" in the Orthodox community of Long Island, as well as in other places around the globe,Besser, Yisroel. "Breslov Revisited". ''Mishpacha'', May 12, 2010, pp. 30-40. even leading to other congregations to imitate their style of '' avodas hashem''.

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS)

In 2013 Rabbi Weinberger was appointed ''mashgiach ruchani'' at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), where he presented weekly classes in Chasidic thought and philosophy, conducted a monthly ''farbrengen'' (joyful gathering), and used to spend ''Shabbos'' on campus several times a year.

In around 2019, Rabbi Weinberger slowly started shifting out of his role at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) to focus on opening up a ''kollel'' ("Emek Hamelech") for training people interested in rabbinical positions which focused on a combination of intense study of ''halacha'' as well as a serious focus on '' penimius hatorah'' and '' chassidus'', which, due to a variety of factors never came to fruition.

Path in Judaism

Noting that religious Jews may follow the letter of the law without feeling its inner joy or a personal connection with God, Rabbi Weinberger preaches the basic tenets of Chassidus to rekindle excitement and joy in Jewish observance. He places a strong emphasis on the path of ''ahava'' and not '' yirah'' in a person's personal relationship with God. He strongly encourages the learning of '' penimius hatorah'' and '' chassidus'' for people of all ages, and believes that it is an extremely important component of one developing his relationship with God. He also encourages the path of '' hisbodedus'' in which a person speaks to God in their own words with strong feelings outside of the context of the three time daily traditional jewish prayer services.

Rabbi Weinberger has been noted as "one of this generation's leading teachers of Chassidus". His teachings derive from a wide range of sources across the hashkafic board of Judaism, including the Baal Shem Tov, Ramchal, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Chabad, and Izbica, Peshischa as well as from the Vilna Gaon, Rav Tzadok HaKohen, and Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok HaKohen Kook, among others. He also teaches works that were previously unavailable to the English-speaking public, such as the works of the ''Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh,'' and others To date, he has recorded over 5,000 lectures on Chasidic thought and philosophy.

Positions on Controversial Matters

Rabbi Weinberger has been involved in some controversies over his years of service as a ''Rabbinical'' leader, at times disagreeing with some ''Rabbanim'' in the ''litvish'' and ''sephardic'' jewish orthodox community who disagree with his '' hashkafic'' views on certain matters.

Pittsburgh Massacre

Background

On October 27, 2018 as religious prayer services were underway in the conservative Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a lone gunman entered the synagogue and began indiscriminately shooting a semi-automatic rifle killing 11 worshippers and injuring 7. The attack was clearly recognized as of anti-semitic nature as shown from his social media posts before the attack and statements to the police after his arrest. In the aftermath, many leaders of the free world issued statements condemning the attacks, with the former United States President Donald J. Trump describing it as "pure evil". Many communities, cities, and sports events held vigils, memorial ceremonies and moments of silence in respect to the victims who were killed.

Statement from Rabbi Mordechai Aderet

On the day following the attack, Rabbi Mordechai Aderet (of Great Neck, New York) released a video titled "State of the Union Address" in which he stated that the reason for the terror attack was due to the ''bris milah'' of a child adopted by two gay parents which was reportedly taking place in the synagogue at that time (reported by The Advocate, later stated by the rabbi of the congregation to be false). In his speech he stated that this is the punishment of those who do the sins of the '' Dor HaMabul'' and that such is the reason why the Tree of Life synagogue, who's congregation identifies as conservative and egalitarian was specifically attacked. Additionally, in his speech he stated that he has ''Ruach HaKodesh'', and that many great rabbis including Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky walked him to the door when he visited them as a proof that he is a great rabbi.

Counterstatement from Rabbi Weinberger

Following the release of Rabbi Aderet's video, Rabbi Weinberger recorded a shiur in which he strongly condemned Rabbi Aderet's views on the matter calling him "a messenger of the sitra achra". In the released recording, he emphasised that regardless of what they were doing at the time of the attack or their affiliation to the conservative movement of judaism, they were raised as such ("''tinokos shenishba"'' lit. "captured babies hat_were_raised_non-affiliated_with_hat_were_raised_non-affiliated_with_Orthodox_Judaism">Orthodox_Judaism.html"_;"title="hat_were_raised_non-affiliated_with_Orthodox_Judaism">hat_were_raised_non-affiliated_with_Orthodox_Judaism)_and_did_not_know_any_better._He_stressed_that_in_the_Holocaust_

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