Rabbi Noah Weinberg was the founder and dean of Aish HaTorah International.

Rabbi Weinberg was born in the lower east side of New York in 1930. He was a great-grandchild of the first Slonimer Rebbe, Rabbi Avrom Weinberg, on his father's side, and a descendant of Rabbi Yaakov Lissa, the author of "Nesivos Hamishpat," on his mother's side.

Rabbi Weinberg studied in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn under Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner, and in Yeshivas Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, where he received rabbinic ordination. Rabbi Weinberg completed his undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and post-graduate studies at Loyola Graduate School.

Rabbi Weinberg always regarded his brother, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, as his rabbi.

For 50 years, Rabbi Weinberg dedicated his life to helping countless Jews around the world connect to the beauty and wisdom of their heritage.

Building Aish HaTorah

In 1953, Rabbi Weinberg traveled by boat to Israel to discuss with the leading rabbinic sages how to respond to the threat of assimilation in the Jewish world.

Learning from the methods of other social revolutionaries, Rabbi Weinberg realized that to fight assimilation he had to create an organization that would foster a renaissance within the Jewish people through effective, dynamic, educational programs and educators.

In 1966 in Jerusalem, he started one of the first baal teshuva yeshivas for assimilated young men. Aish HaTorah was started in 1974 in one small apartment in the old Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.

Over the course of 35 years, bit by bit, Rabbi Weinberg built an organization that now dots the map on 5 continents, with 35 branches and reaches 100,000 people each year.

He was the driving force behind Aish.com, the leading Judaism website, which became a platform for Rabbi Weinberg's inspirational teachings: the Foundation series (including classes like Five Level of Pleasure), Six Constant Mitzvot, and his signature series, the 48 Ways to Wisdom.

In 1979, Rabbi Weinberg spearheaded the Aish HaTorah branch in St. Louis, the first outreach center of its kind in North America, and a prototype for the outreach programs that today grace every major Jewish community.

One of Rabbi Weinberg's crowning achievements was when the government of Israel, in recognition of his pioneering efforts on behalf of the Jewish people, gave Aish HaTorah the last two building sites -- 40% of the frontage -- directly facing the Western Wall.

In 1996, Rabbi Weinberg dedicated the Yeshivas Aish HaTorah Dan Family of Canada building, housing Aish HaTorah's manpower and leadership training programs.

And in his final months, Rabbi Weinberg was devoted to the Aish HaTorah at the Western Wall Building, which will house Aish HaTorah's extensive outreach programs. The first phase is scheduled to open in June 2009, and the second phase, with a hi-tech Exploratorium and the Kirk Douglas theater, is slated to open in 2011.

In 1985, Rabbi Weinberg launched the Discovery Seminar Program, which became one of the most popular programs in the Jewish world, servicing over 100,000 participants in the last 10 years alone.

For many years, Rabbi Weinberg pushed the idea of harnessing members of the Jewish community who have been blessed with a significant Jewish background -- to reach out and share with fellow Jews. In the past few years this idea caught on, giving rise to Project Inspire, and bringing this issue to forefront of communal discussion and efforts.

Israel Activism

The Land of Israel was very close to Rabbi Weinberg's heart. He believed that an Israel experience was the ideal setting to impart Jewish wisdom and beauty.

In 1985, Rabbi Weinberg launched the Jerusalem Fellowships, a 3-week tour-and-study program that has brought 10,000 college aged students to Israel. Seventeen years later, Birthright adopted this model and took the concept to a new level.

Rabbi Weinberg believed passionately in the idea of Israel activism. He took a lead role in the founding and growth of Honest Reporting, today the largest organization in the world countering media bias against Israel.

Rabbi Weinberg taught us that when the Jewish people are in danger, we must not remain silent. In 2001, as Israel was losing an important PR battle on college campuses, Rabbi Weinberg founded the Hasbara Fellowships, to bring university students to Israel for two weeks of Israel Activism training.

Beyond the Jewish world, Rabbi Weinberg was a defender of all humanity, and worked tirelessly in his later years to awaken people to the dangers of radical Islam.

In 2006, Rabbi Weinberg took a group of Aish HaTorah rabbis to Poland, to visit the concentration camps. Rabbi Weinberg believed that the threat of spiritual assimilation was no less a threat than the physical holocaust of decades ago. While standing in front of the crematoria at Auschwitz, he declared that just as the Nazis were motivated to destroy the Jewish people, we have to be motivated to build the Jewish people.

In 2005, Rabbi Weinberg was honored with the prestigious "Treasured of Jerusalem" Award.

Today, thousands of Jewish families are committed and active, thanks to Rabbi Weinberg's teaching and inspiration.

Rabbi Weinberg passed away on February 5, 2009 (11 Shevat 5769) following a year-long battle with cancer. He leaves behind over 100 descendents, and many thousands of bereaved students.

Now it is up to us to put into practice what Rabbi Weinberg taught, and to fill the void by taking responsibility for the future of our people.

Teachings

Through his inspiring lectures and personal contact, Rabbi Weinberg emphasized these Torah ideals:

• The Almighty created a beautiful world, bursting with pleasure. We must focus on the gifts G-d has given us, and live life to the fullest.

• G-d loves each and every one of us, more than a parent even loves his child.

• We must get total clarity on life's purpose, and to ask every day: What are my goals in life? What are my strategies to accomplish them?

• Every human being has limitless potential, as God Himself testified to the inherent greatness in every human being.

• The Jewish people are meant to be a light unto nations, and we must inspire the Jewish people to live up to that mission.

• If masses of Jews are assimilating, it is a responsibility to bring each and every one back. If there is a threat to the Jewish nation, or to the Western world, it cannot be ignored. We must meet the challenges facing us head on and do whatever we can to remedy the situation.

Many of these topics are explored in Rabbi Weinberg's book, "What the Angel Taught You" (ArtScroll). His tape series, "48 Ways to Wisdom," is popular throughout the Jewish world.

Rabbi Weinberg declared: "Our vision is to instill in every Jew pride in our heritage, confidence in our future, and an appreciation of how precious one's involvement with the Jewish people can be for himself and all humanity. By working together, we can achieve the miracle of a Jewish renaissance."