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| R’ Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss, ZL (VIN) |
It is no secret that I have had many serious issues with the Eida. But never did I say that - much as I disagreed with them – that they had no right to their views. They most certainly do. Just as I have the right to mine. My issues were more about the attempts by some Eida activists and/or sympathizers to force those views upon others. Which often took the form of extremist – and in some cases - deadly violence. And the Eida’ s inability or unwillingness to curtail it. It was NEVER about their Hashkafos. Which as I said they have every right to have.
One memorable event that shows R’ Weiss to have been a man of great character was recalled in a short bio by VIN:
In 1939, 12-year-old Yitzchak was sent on a kindertransport organized by Nicholas Winton, a British Jew who succeeded singlehandedly in rescuing 669 children just weeks before World War II broke out. Most of Rabbi Weiss’s family remained behind and perished in the Holocaust. Rabbi Weiss tried to meet with Winton after the story of his rescue became known in the last few years but Winton passed away before he could meet him. In a letter he wrote to Winton’s family, he said that “he had succeeded in saving my life as well as a large number of other people. His noble memory, courage and devotion will be with us forever and can serve as a consolation to you.”
I believe that in his role as head of the Eida, R’ Weiss was 100% L’Shma. And that his entire adult life was dedicated to fulfilling the word of God as he received and understood it from his forebears and teachers.. Baruch Dayan HaEmes.