Ms. Weintraub was a very popular and well-respected English teacher at Yeshiva Rambam in Brooklyn, New York, in 1976-1977. She might have had more impact than any of my teachers in my firm belief that the Torah is a document of Divine origin. That is quite a tribute, considering that my teachers included eminent rabbanim such as Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, Rav Ovadia Yosef and Rav Yehuda Amital.
I was in the seventh grade that year, and Ms. Weintraub, a young, Orthodox woman, connected with all of the young women and men in the class. She rented an apartment in the neighborhood, and those of us who lived near her enjoyed an extra special relationship with her. A group of 10 of us would walk home with her every day from Rambam. The 10 of us even often visited her apartment on Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim.
Ms. Weintraub did a magnificent job of introducing Shakespeare to our class. We studied “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for quite a number of weeks and relished every line of the play. One Sunday, we even attended an off-off Broadway production of a “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It was a very memorable day. I even vividly recall entering the subway station at Avenue J and East 16th Street in Brooklyn to travel to the play.
In that same year, I very much prospered from my limudei kodesh teacher, Rav Breski. Everything he taught dripped with authenticity. He had studied in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Europe and survived World War II, traveling with the yeshiva through Siberia, Japan and China. Rav Breski connected me with a great center of Torah learning of the past. His descriptions of his youth in Eastern Europe connected me with an important part of Torah history. I particularly enjoyed learning Sefer Devarim with Rav Breski.
One day, I thought about how much I enjoyed both Sefer Devarim and (l’havdil) “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I began to think about the differences between them. Shakespeare was rich in content and depth, far superior to any other secular literature to which I had been exposed. Chumash, I thought, was in a league of its own. The depth and profundity of the Chumash were to me dramatically and incomparably greater than that of Shakespeare. Every word mattered in Chumash. Not quite so in Shakespeare.
I shared my thoughts with Ms. Weintraub during one of our group walks home one evening. She responded, “Of course, the Chumash dramatically surpasses Shakespeare. Shakespeare was written by a human being and the Chumash was written by Hashem.”
This was a life-changing moment. Ms. Weintraub also believed in the Divine origin of the Torah/Torah Min HaShamayim! It wasn’t just the rabbis who believed this. The teacher of secular studies also appreciated the difference between the Torah and Shakespeare! Ms. Weintraub’s off-hand comment made an indelible impression and changed the trajectory of my life.
The memory of this interaction that occurred 40 years ago was reawakened by a wonderful experience that occurred last week at Torah Academy of Bergen County. TABC’s AP English teacher par excellence Ms. Nancy Edelman invited me to join her class in a discussion as to when it is appropriate to interpret a story allegorically.
The class discussions and insights were riveting and poignant. What I found striking, though, was Ms. Edelman’s stated full belief in the literal interpretation of Kriyat Yam Suf as well as her deep interest in the parshat hashavua and tefillot (we briefly discussed Tefillat HaGeshem). Certainly the TABC students were very positively impacted by hearing an Orthodox teacher of a secular subject matter of factly supporting so much of what we rebbeim seek to impart—belief in the Divine origin of the Torah and serious devotion to Torah study and tefillah—just like Ms. Weintraub of my childhood.
I long ago lost contact with Ms. Weintraub and I wish to thank her publicly for the dramatic impact she made on my life. I hope that she is well and that somehow this article reaches her attention. I thank Ms. Edelman for continuing to impart these vital lessons to the next generation and for triggering such a sweet memory from long ago.
By Rabbi Haim Jachter
Rabbi Haim Jachter is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck.
