Rabbi Noach's son, Rabbi Hillel Weinberg, shlita, describes how it all started with three young men in a small room in Kiryat Sanz. No one imagined that these first steps would culminate in the form of Aish HaTorah and its offshoots. No one imagined, except Rabbi Noah Weinberg himself. Those close to him testify that he genuinely believed that he would bring the Messiah by his own power – through his efforts. His impressive achievements were small in his eyes because he knew and was convinced that Hashem wanted more. Rabbi Hillel, He said at his funeral that if Rabbi Weinberg were to stand in front of us right now, he would say that we can reach more than he did. We can reach the level of Moshe Rabbeinu! The words of Chazal on this subject were not for him just another vague statement that had nothing to do with life, these words were for him a truth that we must take very seriously.
An amazing story I heard about Rabbi Weinberg shows how high his level of faith was, and how much it influenced his practical life. His daughter told us during the shiva that once a chess champion came to the Aish HaTorah yeshiva, studied there for a few days, and decided to leave. Rabbi Noach invited him to play chess with him, but stipulated that if that champion wins, he can leave the yeshiva. But if Rabbi Noach wins, he must stay. Rabbi Noach won. When asked where he had the courage to offer such a deal, he replied that he knew that Hashem wanted that young man to remain in the yeshiva, so he wholeheartedly believed that he would give him the ability to win.
It is most appropriate to end with one of the stories that Rav Noach often told. Many years ago, Rav Shach zt"l visited the Aish HaTorah Yeshiva on the occasion of a brit mila. He was amazed to see such a large number of repentant people – people who came from a completely Western life and entered a life of Torah. The young Shach stood up and said something that he had never said before: he quoted the verse from Hoshea: "Return Israel to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your transgressions" (Hosea 14:2), and he asked, "From the verse it sounds like the fact that we have sinned and failed in so many sins is actually the reason why we must return to the Lord our God." How is that possible? Why? In order to answer his question, he explained that as much as evil is capable of spoiling, good can repair at least to the same extent, if not more. According to this, if a person is able to distance himself so far from the Holy One, then there is no doubt that he is also capable of returning to Him, and even reaching a higher level! To the extent that a person's evil inclination is strong and powerful, the greater is the good inclination. Similarly, Rabbi Shach continued, if history has proven that one human being can destroy the lives of six million people, then a human being can also save the lives of six million people! Rabbi Shach was awakened to this idea because of the deep impression left on him by the sight of Rabbi Weinberg's amazing achievements.
Rav Hillel, the son of Rav Noach, went on to say that the man who caused such terrible destruction – Hitler – was not a particularly talented or intelligent man, and yet he was capable of causing such great damage to humanity. Therefore, each of us, no matter how stupid and incompetent he may be, has the potential and ability to do even better than Hitler's evils and crimes. How can we reach such a level? We must learn from Rav Noach, To develop our faith and trust in Hashem, we will have the strength to believe that we can achieve unbelievable successes and achievements, if Hashem really wants to.
Such a level of faith and trust in God, such as that reached by Rav Noach, seems very high and difficult to achieve. However, his greatness in this and all other areas did not come as a result of his natural talents – but rather as a result of years of hard work in which he worked and invested in his relationship with God. We will strengthen ourselves and our connection with God by studying and studying the six permanent mitzvot – the first of which is faith. This is the key to reaching the level of confidence that the Jews reached at the parting of the Red Sea, and which was represented all the days of his life by Rabbi Noah Weinberg zt"l. May God grant us all the privilege of learning from Rabbi Noach, continuing in his path and efforts and fulfilling his dream – that every Jew will return to his Father in heaven.
