Kings & Prophets: The Book of Melochim -
3 Lectures
Item #: S309
More Info
Pillars of the Past - 5 Lectures
Item #: S331D
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Hidden Heroes - 4 Lectures
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
Revolutionary Spirituality - 4 Lectures
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
Kings & Prophets: The Book of Melochim -
3 Lectures
Set of 3 MP3 Downloads
3 Lectures
Set of 3 MP3 Downloads
Holy Cities of Israel - 4 Lectures
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
Set of 4 MP3 Downloads
RABBI BEREL WEIN
Rabbi Berel Wein,the founder and director of The Destiny Foundation since 1996, has, for over 25 years, been identified with the popularization of Jewish history through world-wide lectures, his more than 1,000 audiotapes, books, seminars, educational tours and, most recently, dramatic and documentary films.
Rabbi Wein is a graduate of the Hebrew Theological College and Roosevelt College in Chicago. He received his Juris Doctor Degree from De Paul University Law School and a Doctor of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Theological College.
Rabbi Wein was a practicing lawyer for a number of years and in 1964 assumed the pulpit of the Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach, Florida, where he remained until 1972. In 1973 he became the Rabbi of Congregation Bais Torah in Suffern, New York and remained in that position for 24 years. He was then appointed Executive Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Organizations of America and was Rabbinic Administrator of the Kashrus Division for five years after that.
In 1977 he founded Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Suffern, New York and remained its Rosh Hayeshiva until 1997. Rabbi Wein’s book of halachic essays, Chikrei Halacha was published by Mosad Harav Kook in 1976 and Eyunim B’m’sechtoth Hatalmud was published in 1989.
Rabbi Wein has authored four Jewish history books – Triumph of Survival, The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era; Herald of Destiny, the Medieval Era; Echoes of Glory, the Classical Era and Faith and Fate, the story of the Jews in the Twentieth Century – all of which have received popular and critical acclaim.
Rabbi Wein also authors and edits a monthly newsletter – The Wein Press – a source of information and inspiration on topics of Jewish interest. He also pens a weekly column for The Jerusalem Post.
Currently, The Destiny Foundation is in the process of translating Rabbi Wein’s riveting accounts of Jewish history into a series of films on Jewish personalities – the first, entitled Rashi-A Light After The Dark Ages, was released in 2000, and Rambam/The Story of Maimonides had its premiere in New York, in November 2004. Currently in production, The Destiny Foundation is preparing a 10-part documentary series, based on Rabbi Wein’s history of the Jews in the twentieth century, Faith & Fate.
Rabbi Wein, a member of the Illinois Bar Association, is the recipient of the Educator of the Year Award from The Covenant Foundation in 1993. Most recently, Rabbi Wein received the Torah Prize Award from Machon Harav Frank in Jerusalem for his achievements in teaching Torah and spreading Judaism throughout the world. Rabbi Wein makes his home in Jerusalem.
ABOUT THE DESTINY FOUNDATION
Rabbi Berel Wein may not have invented Jewish history, but with his particular blend of insight, charisma, and vision, he is uniquely positioned to eternalize a 4,000-year-old legacy for Jews all over the world.
This legacy is crucial to the Jewish people. Attempting to be a Jew in the 21st Century without understanding the layers of political, cultural, and religious events that formed the world Jewish community is, as Rabbi Wein says, like entering the theater in the middle of the movie. The present is never so rich when the past is a question mark.
That’s why Rabbi Wein created The Destiny Foundation in 1996: to translate his riveting accounts of Jewish history into multi-media events, including CD’s, audiotapes, books, and now a series of drama and documentary film projects. Destiny products not only reveal the intimate history of the Jewish people; they also transmit its mores and values with a light hand.
FILM SERIES: HERALDS OF DESTINY
The pilot for the film series Heralds of Destiny, Rashi—a Light After the Dark Ages received critical acclaim and was further developed as a multi-media project. This animated, one-hour film, shown to a viewing audience of 450,000 on Israeli Television (Channel Two-Tel Ad) in the fall of 2000, has been featured in venues across the globe. Future airings and select showing in communities the world over expose a diverse Jewish audience to the life and work of our history’s greatest explicator of Jewish law and literature.
Destiny has also created Rashi study guides for both the North American day school and Israeli secular school curriculums. The Israeli Ministry of Education divided the existing film into shorter segments to be used with commentary from the study guides. A Hebrew-dubbed version in a DVD/CD format includes reference and source materials, interactive programs, three 20-minute TV classes, the film, text, the study guide, and lessons on how to learn Rashi script.
One of the goals of the Heralds of Destiny series is to highlight Judaism’s most compelling heroes. The second entry in the series, a one-hour animated film in a watercolor style similar to Rashi, is the biography of Maimonides, the Rambam. This towering figure made his mark at a turbulent moment in history: with the Almohad revolution in Spain, the Third Crusade, and Saladin’s victory over Richard the Lionhearted. Maimonides’ enduring scholarship, his contributions to general medicine and medieval philosophy, and his struggles with his personal and philosophical opponents are the stuff of true Jewish heroism.
But not all heroes are so well known. Dona Gracia Beatrice Mendes, the subject of another of the Heralds of Destiny series, is our Queen Esther of the Middle Ages. Originally baptized as a Catholic, Mendes escaped the Inquisition in Portugal and rose to become the first international banker and confidant of royalty—all the while retaining her Jewish identity and observance. She purchased the city of Tiberias from the Ottoman Sultan and in the sixteenth century encouraged a wave Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel. Long before Montefiore and Rothschild, Mendes is the prototype of the loyal Jew who played a sweeping role on the world stage. This will be done in a documentary and live action format.
The three other features proposed for this film series are Don Isaac Abarbanel and the Spanish Expulsion, to be similarly animated, Sir Moses Montefiore and the rise of the Western Jewish world (documentary and live action), and S.Y. Agnon, the Israeli Nobel Laureate for Literature and the rise of Israel after the Holocaust (documentary and live action).
TELEVISION MINI SERIES: TRIUMPH OF SURVIVAL
Based on the research and writings of Berel Wein, Triumph of Survival is a 26-hour, 13-part documentary series that tells the story of the Jews.
Triumph of Survival opens with a ten-hour series called Fate and Faith/The Story of the Jewish People in the Twentieth Century, which documents the story of survival in the modern era. As it explores the heady conflicts between religion and secularism, Fate and Faith takes viewers through the momentous and almost unbelievable events that swept the Jewish people into the present day. In the often moving and frightening series of events, the history of the Jewish people serves to both inspire and challenge – and offers viewers a vivid portrait of their glorious heritage.
Berel Wein and The Destiny Foundation are about to harness the telecommunications revolution to create products that educate and inspire. Our goal is to reach Jews who may be so unaware of their past that they’re quite unprepared to face the spiritual challenges of modern life. We’re using high-quality media products to speak to modern Jews in a modern language—and to exert a compelling influence on future generations.
