Most of us have heard of Elie Wiesel, but not many know there is a female version. Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis is a holocaust survivor from Bergen Belson who spends her days reinvigorating faith unto others. This tiny woman has a soul the size of the universe, and who looks as stunning as ever in her age, walks dozens of flights of stairs on Shabbat if need be (can’t use elevators on Shabbat) and travels the world to teach Torah.
If you never heard Rebbetzin Jungreis, you can see her live in NYC as she teaches classes almost every night of the week at Hineni. Her videos about Judaism, spirituality and life can be found at SinaiLive.com. And her books are humbling, to say the least.
I had the priviledge of meeting with Rebbetzin Jungreis (and even helping out with her Facebook presense). Although her devotion to Torah is too hardcore for me to understand, her passion and energy are just contagious. That’s what keeps her going all these years, even after all but one family member passed in the holocaust.
When most of us lose faith after something goes wrong in our life, I’d recommend hanging out with Rebbetzin to get it back. Read The Committed Life or her son’s book Torah for the Table to get some inspiration through a Jewish lens.