I don’t write often, in fact this is the second article I have ever submitted for publication. A number of years ago, an acquaintance of mine who happens to be a gifted writer and semi-regular contributor to various media forums told me that he’s only motivated to write when some type of impact is possible as a result of his writing. I guess I feel the same way.
Although the words “Facebuker Rebbe” now seems familiar in the sense that I had heard the name before, I had never met Reb Dovid Winiarz, nor had I any interaction with him of any sort prior to his tragic petirah. Perhaps the only thing more bizarre than writing about the life of someone I have never met, is the overwhelming compulsion I’ve been feeling to write about R’ Dovid since I read, on Sunday afternoon, about his petirah in a car accident on the way to an AJOP convention.
In the age of internet and social media, the sheer volume of news and its instantaneous delivery from all over the world invariably makes our exposure to tragedy far too common, resulting in a progressive numbness to our emotional responses. Typically, after reading about a tragedy of a stranger, life seems to just go on, but this time was different. There was something in the details of R’ Dovid’s life that kept me from just moving on, although I can’t quite articulate what it is. Was it his innumerable examples of outreach work, his creativity in using technology to bring back disconnected Jews, the posting of an open Shabbos invite on the web, or the fact that he had left a wife and ten children behind? I may never know but something about it just seems different.
Like so many others, after initially reading about the tragedy on Vos Iz Nies Sunday afternoon, and R’ Dovid’s many accomplishments, I ultimately ended up visiting R’ Dovid’s Facebook page, AKA that of the Facebuker Rebbe. Unfortunately, a frequent consequence of those involved in klal work is the disenfranchisement of their family to some degree or another, but apparently not R’ Dovid. In his last post, he proudly uploaded a video of his joining his son for avos u’banim just prior to departing for the AJOP convention. In browsing through R’ Dovid’s Facebook page, in addition to seeing the inordinate amount of time he spent on outreach, it’s clear that his family was his prize possession.
Perhaps the most unique thing about the Facebuker Rebbe page is its “about” statement: “Welcome to my virtual living room. Please check your politics at the door and come on in. :)”
How many sites that tell you to check your politics at the door have 10,000 likes?
Equally unique, were the eulogizing statements left throughout the web, from Agudah spokesperson Rabbi Avi Shafran to Conservative rabbis alike.
The more I read, the more interested and amazed I became. It wasn’t just the Facebook page, Twitter account, or the divrei Torah through various Youtube videos. Not sure exactly what I was looking for or expecting, I found myself constantly checking VIN, and reading incremental updates that were posted throughout the day, and finally there it was. The post was updated with a quote from the R’ Dovid’s employer, Fidelity Payment Services, where he had apparently worked for the past eight years. I was shocked. Up until this point, I had just sort of assumed that R’ Dovid’s professional occupation was somehow kiruv related. Everything I had read and seen up to this point led to that conclusion. Every article and blog post, whether in the secular media or heimish blogs, defined R’ Dovid’s life by his Torah related activities – no mention of other activities to be found.