Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, will be the featured speaker at the OU’s Israel Center in Jerusalem this coming Shabbat weekend, on July 11, Parshas Pinchas. Rabbi Weinreb will speak at 5:00 p.m. on “Reflections on the First Shabbat of the Three Weeks.” The OU’s Israel Center is located at 22 Keren Hayesod.
Rabbi Weinreb noted that this will be the first time he has been in Israel for the beginning of the Three Weeks. He said, “This coming Shabbat is the first Shabbat that my wife and I will be spending in our new apartment in Jerusalem. I am excited to be invited to speak at the OU Israel Center this Shabbat afternoon, and plan to speak about my personal feelings on the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem so long ago, at this very poignant time.”
Rabbi Weinreb will relate his presentation to those in the audience who may have similar feelings, including tourists and those who have only recently made aliyah. He will also speak on what we all still must do, in Israel and in the Diaspora, to hasten the redemption. Finally, he will preview some thoughts from his upcoming annual Tisha b’Av webcast on Thursday, July 30, on www.ou.org or www.ouradio.org, pertaining to his recent visit to Shem Olam, a museum in K’far HaRoeh, which focuses on the religious response to the Holocaust.
Rabbi Weinreb continued, “The experience of being in Israel at this time of year, rather than in the Diaspora, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we are encouraged by the many signs of an end to galut (exile), especially the vibrant spiritual life we see here at every turn. But we are simultaneously more pained when we see the holy places close up, observe the many problems Israel still faces, and see how far we still are from a true and completion redemption.”