Rabbi Berel Wein, synagogue rabbi, yeshiva dean, Jewish historian, and Arutz Sheva - Israel National News columnist, passed away Saturday morning at the age of 91.
The funeral will begin at Beit Knesset Hanassi at 9:30a.m. Sunday morning, and he will be buried on the Mount of Olives.
Rabbi Wein was born in Chicago to a family descended from Lithuanian rabbis and received rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Theological College. He graduated from Roosevelt College in Chicago with a bachelor's degree followed by a law degree from De Paul University Law School and a Doctorate from Hebrew Theological College.
According to the Beit Knesset Hanassi's website, Rabbi Wein 'became rabbi of Congregation Bais Torah in Monsey (Suffern), New York, in 1973, remaining in that position for 24 years. He was then appointed Executive Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Organizations of America (OU) and was Rabbinic Administrator of the Kashrus Division for five years after that."
"At the same time, he founded Congregation Bais Torah in Monsey (Suffern), New York, and served as its rabbi for the next 24 years. In 1977 he founded Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Suffern with a large high school and a smaller post-high school division and remained its dean until 1997," when he and his wife moved to Jerusalem.
He joined the Beit Knesset Hanassi in 2002 was invited to become its rabbi, the synagogue added.
Rabbi Wein authored several Jewish history books, as well as "Patterns in Jewish History," a thematic exploration of the history of the Jewish people. He also authored and edited a monthly newsletter, The Wein Press, and appeared on PBS television in Israel as part of a program called, "Ask the Rabbi."
Rabbi Wein received the Educator of the Year Award from The Covenant Foundation in 1993, and the Torah Prize Award from the the Rabbi Frank Institute in Jerusalem.