“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Bamidbar
28 Iyar 5786 – Yom Yerushalayim/ May 15, 2026
Avos perek 6 – Kinyan Torah
Mevorchim Chodesh Sivan
TRUE TRANSFORMATION
It’s not often that an obituary appears in the religious newsfeeds and magazines, as well as in the secular newsfeeds and newspapers. Normally obituaries printed on YeshivaWorld or Mishpacha Magazine are not also printed in Maariv or Yediot Achronot. The latter newspapers certainly don’t usually note the passing of the Rebbetzin of a great Torah leader. Yet, a few days ago that’s exactly what happened.
Last week, Rebbetzin Meira Edelstein, wife of the late Gaon, Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein, passed away at the age of 89. Her marriage to Rav Yaakov was both of their third marriages. Their shidduch was arranged by the renown Torah authority, Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein. Rebbetzin Edelstein was beloved as a righteous woman, worthy to be the wife of a great Torah leader.
But here’s the unbelievable part of the story. Until young adulthood Rebbetzin Edelstein was known as Nira Adi, a well-known Israeli actress, singer, pantomime performer, and television host. She was married to actor Dudik Smadar, and they had a child together. After a few years they divorced.
In 1982, at the height of her professional career, she began learning Torah and connecting with religion. With time she decided to completely walk away from her successful acting career, to become shomer Torah umitzvos.
A few years later she changed her name to Meira and married Rabbi Avraham Lewis, a close talmid of the Chazon Ish and a student of the Kaminetz Yeshiva. After he passed away in 2012, she married Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein.
In the community in Ramat Hasharon, where she spent her last years, they paid tribute to her: “The Rebbetzin left all worldly pleasures to follow the path of Torah and mitzvot. As her name suggests, she brightened everyone’s face and saw the good in every person and in everything. She cared for her husband faithfully. She provided a listening ear to the residents of Ramat Hasharon, and her home was open, as was her heart. Everything about her was simple and modest.”
Her son, Guy, posted about her: “Yesterday we said goodbye to my mother. She began her journey as an outsider on a kibbutz and ended it as a respected Rebbetzin in Bnei Brak. At one of the stops on the journey, she became my mother and I am grateful for the experiences and the lessons, especially the ability to recognize gratitude and the joy of life to the end – and of course love.”
Last week when Rebbetzin Edelstein passed away, a rabbinic colleague wondered aloud how her life story went under the radar until now.
Shavuos isn’t merely a celebration of a historical event. It’s a celebration of our connection to eternity. Torah isn’t merely a book of laws; it’s a guide for transformation and transcendence.
The story of Rus, read on Shavuos, is an example of such a transformation. After the untimely deaths of their husbands and father-in-law, Rus and her sister Orpah began the trek back to Eretz Yisroel with their (former) mother-in-law. Along the way, Naomi tried to dissuade them from coming with her. Naomi understood the arduous challenges that awaited her when she returned to Eretz Yisroel. Naomi knew she wasn’t going to receive a warm reception, and she had no means of income. The fact that Rus and Orpah were born as Moabite princesses and were accustomed to a life of wealth and opulence was further reason why it was illogical for them to remain with her.
Orpah adhered to Naomi’s logic and kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Rus obdurately refused to forsake Naomi. She accepted upon herself whatever degradation and challenges she would have to endure. Rus becomes a matriarch of the Davidic monarchy that includes King Moshiach.
Many of our greatest leaders were not born into greatness. That was initiated by Avrohom Avinu who stood against his entire generation and created a spiritual revolution.
The oral Torah we learn is all from Rabbi Akiva and his students. Rabbi Akiva was 40 years old and couldn’t read the aleph beis. Yet eventually became one of the greatest Torah sages of all time.
Reish Lakish, the Talmudic opponent of the great Rabbi Yochanan, was the head of the mob before Rabbi Yochanan persuaded him to dedicate his strength to Torah study.
In our time we have numerous personalities who embraced religion later in line. Rabbi Uri Zohar was a darling of Israeli TV. He gave it all up and became a talmid chochom and outspoken advocate for Torah Judaism.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who wrote numerous inspiring and poignant books on Torah outlook, was not born into a religious family.
Stephen Hill was well-known as an actor in the TV series, Law and Order. He continued acting after he became religious, albeit with certain conditions that he established with the advice of his rebbe.
Sivan Rahav-Meir, a well-known journalist in Eretz Yisroel proudly touts that she is ba’alas teshuva. She uses her voice to espouse Torah values.
There are also well-known converts to Judaism who have made an impact on the Torah world, including popular singer Nissim Black, former Knicks player Yehoshafat (Amar) Stoudemire, and the nanny Adina Shoshana (Adrianna) Fernandez.
The Piacenza Rebbe wrote a personal reflection upon his fortieth birthday (Tzav v’zeruz 19). In it he expresses the fear he feels at turning 40, not because he’s getting older, but because he feels he hasn’t done enough with the time that passed. He writes that he wants to strengthen himself with renewed resolve, but he is unsure what commitment to make. He doesn’t think he can commit to learning more because he already spends all his time learning. He doesn’t feel that he is under the influence of his evil inclination so he can’t commit to working on that either.
He concludes that he feels he is only lacking one thing – soul. “Master of the universe, who sees all things that are hidden, I confess and plead before You, I am cast away and distant from You and from Your sanctuaries. I simply want to convert now and to be a Jew from this point onward. Master of the World, save me, so that I don’t waste the rest of my years… Draw me close to You and enter me into Your sanctuary, bind me to You forever and ever in expansive (consciousness)”.
Rabbi Asher Weiss relates that when he read these words from the Piacenza Rebbe tears flowed down his cheeks. The thing the Rebbe truly desired was to convert so that he could completely dedicate his life to Hashem. But he was unable to do so because he was born a Jew.
(Rabbi Weiss suggests that when a Jew accepts upon himself and recommits himself to fulfill all the mitzvos that is a quasi conversion.)
Embracing Torah values is not a matter of accepting more rigid regulations, obligations and restrictions. It is also about accepting the responsibility of being a card-carrying member of the Chosen Nation. We are proportionately such a small nation, and yet we are so disproportionately represented in all areas and on all levels of society. That’s the price we pay and the privilege we have to be the Eternal People.
No matter where a Jew has been or what a Jew has done, the Torah can transform and elevate him. An actress can become the wife of one the most respected Torah personalities of that generation, and a former mobster can become one of the most distinguished personalities in the Talmud. That’s what we celebrate on Shavuos.
As this writing is being sent out on 28 Iyar, Yom Yerushalayim, it should be added that Yerushalayim is a city of transformation. In the touching words of the song on the album Journeys III, “Where else in this world can you find a wall, that whenever you touch it, it touches you?!” This deserves an essay of its own, but I mention it as food for thought, as we thank Hashem for the miracles He did in 1967 and continues to perform for us every single day.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum
STRIVINGHIGHER.COM