Steven Weil grew up a country boy, milking cows on his family’s farm in upstate New York. But it's the newcomer in him that makes Rabbi Weil such an effective ambassador for the Orthodox Union: Jewish life is continuously vibrant and always exciting.
From the window of his corner office the view of the Statue of Liberty is splendid. It’s ironic that Rabbi Steven Weil looks down on the Lady with the Torch she who beckoned immigrants to a new world prodding them to shed the trappings of an old one. In her shadow histories were severed promises forgotten.
The story of the occupant of this 14th-floor office contrasts with that typical story line. His climb has taken him in the opposite direction from the liberalism of an American childhood back toward the order of tradition; from the farms of upstateNew Yorkback to a world of books and synagogues.
To be honest he hasn’t completely left the farm behind. Visit his home community ofTeaneckon a Sunday and you might see the executive vice president of the OU driving a jacked-up four-wheel drive Ford F150 pick-up truck comfortable in his well-worn cowboy boots perhaps a cigar in his mouth. (“The Weil Weil West ” reads the caption to a photo hanging in his office.) A childhood spent doing farm chores has given him a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and a strong sense of responsibility.
But here at Orthodox Union headquarters he’s all rabbi. And as with good rabbis everywhere the narrative he weaves is mesmerizing.
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