Tribute to Rav Adin Steinsaltz

Saddened to hear about the passing of Rav Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz today.

The many tributes to his career will understandably focus on his works as a translator and author, but it is important that we not lose sight of the central place in his life as an educator in the institutional context.

Early in his career, he was Israel's youngest principal, at the age of 24, and he later set up educational institutions in the former Soviet Union, spreading Torah all over the world as an emissary of the Rebbe in keeping with the Chabad tradition he affiliated with.

More recently, he founded the Makor Chaim high school and the Tekoa Hesder Yeshiva. Each of these built upon existing Dati Leumi models - the dormitory high school for boys and the Yeshivat Hesder - but injected into them an increased focus on spirituality, Hasidut, and an emphasis on the emotional to accompany the intellectual.

That someone as a relative "outsider," not hailing himself from Mercaz Harav or other classical Dati Leumi institutions, but someone who took his own path - from a secular upbringing to religious schooling and a Chabad education - succeeded in establishing important Dati Leumi institutions is impressive. That he succeeded in adding a new religious dimension essential for so many in that world is a testament to his insight and leadership as an educator.

And of course, his prolific writing and translation projects were fundamentally educational achievements, as well. Rav Steinsaltz's great successes have been in making Torah - Talmud, Chasidus, general Jewish concepts, and more - accessible to the general public. And not just making them accessible, but making them come alive to the reader. Only a gretat educator could have both the vision to undertake these projects and the acuity to produce so much so successfully, to shape the spiritual lives of so many.

Yehu Zichro Baruch.