My “Angel In The Womb”
– A Personal Tribute To Rav Noah Weinberg Z”tl

By Rabbi Dave Felsenthal, Director OU Alumni Connections

Among the first things learned from Rav Noah Weinberg is how there was an angel with you in your mother’s womb, who had you as a “captive audience” and taught you all the Torah, all of Hashem’s wisdom. When you were born, the angel touched you under the nose and you forgot it all, leaving you with nothing more than that little indentation. The message of this story, told from Jewish parents to their children in each generation, is that you have all wisdom within you. You don’t need to go looking at other religions all over the world. The answers are right under your nose. But for so many in our era, that chain of transmission has been broken. To how many thousands of Jewish children was Rav Noah the parent who reconnected that chain of Jewish history? For how many was Rav Noah our “angel in the womb?” Who will be The Jewish people’s angel now that he is gone? Rav Noah, your children miss you more than words can express.
For 31 years (since 5th grade) I’ve been involved with NCSY (24 years professionally in Baltimore, New York, Columbus, and New Jersey). Currently I am the Director of OU Alumni Connections. Our mission is to connect the 30,000 NCSY alumni currently on campus with great Jewish programs. My personal alumni call me “Rabbi Dave” because they feel close to me. I learned to express my love for them from their spiritual grandfather, “Rav Noah”.

I’m not your typical Aish HaTorah trained Rabbi. My desire to help the Jewish people came through NCSY while in 11th grade in Pikesville High in Baltimore, MD. I had never heard of Rav Noah and I had no idea that he would shape the course of my career.
I applied to the Rabbinical program in Aish HaTorah because of its excellent reputation and the exciting chance for practical experience. However, there was one major obstacle: they did not accept students from outside of Aish HaTorah. As I learned from Rav Noah later on, if you expect someone to take your parking spot, they will. Similarly, if you pay attention to the signs around you, Hashem will guide you. This He did. Aish started a new project with Yeshiva Ner Israel and I was the first participant.

I went to all of Rav Noah’s lectures and I was overwhelmed. I asked the Rosh Yeshiva where I should start in order to understand Aish HaTorah’s philosophy. Immediately, I found myself listening to his “Fundamentals” classes and putting them together in a form from which I could teach them myself. Then, to my utter amazement, I started a 15-minute session each day where I could ask Rav Noah my questions. Now, 18 years later, I’ve taught those very classes to thousands of teens and college students. Those sessions with the Rosh Yeshiva were the most valuable minutes of learning in my life.

We continued on and off for two years as I became focused on one of Rav Noah’s hundreds of projects – training NCSY alumni to become an army of outreach and activism on college campuses in order to save a generation of Jews and thus save all the Jewish people. When meeting, I always felt that this was the most important project in the world and he had utmost confidence that together we would win the war! In the years since, I have met countless talmidim of Rav Noah who felt the exact same way and we all still do!

Why NCSY alumni? The Rosh Yeshiva said that he had a plan to save klal Yisroel for 100 million dollars. I noticed that the plan was focused on college students and asked Rav Noah what he would do if he had a second 100 million. He said he would give it to NCSY. The Rosh Yeshiva always shared with me his utmost respect for the work of NCSY and its success with inspiring teenagers, which he said was beyond his understanding.

Within a few years, I was asked to bring the program to the OU. It eventually led to the OU Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, with very talented couples working at 15 North American colleges and my Department of Alumni Connections, which connects our 30,000 alumni per year on secular campus with substantive Jewish programs.

Recently, I shared with Rav Noah how our shared dream was finally becoming a reality. I thought he would be surprised that I had stuck to it for so long. He gave me a huge hug and, with his larger-than-life smile, said, “Of course it is.” He never doubted for a second.
Rav Noah, I miss your smile and your hugs. I miss you wanting to see pictures of your grandchildren. I miss my Rosh Yeshiva, I miss my Rebbe and I miss the rock-solid hero I knew would never give up. But if there is one thing I was taught clearly by my “angel in the womb,” it is that the Jewish people will win, and I know we will.