Multitudes are bereft at the passing of Chippa Bayla (Carol)
Weinberger, surrogate mother to hundreds and tireless worker
for the Klall. Rebbetzin Weinberger passed away on
Shabbos Parshas Behaaloscho with most of her children
present. It was her father's yahrzeit and her
brother's shloshim. Her funeral was attended by
hundreds of mourners, each of whom felt that s/he had lost
their own mother.
Rebbetzin Weinberger was born on the Chofetz Chaim's
yahrzeit in 1941. After giving birth on the Chofetz
Chaim's yahrzeit in 1984 to a son who is hearing
impaired, she decided that she had a tikun to make in
Shemiras Haloshon and she began attending lectures on
the subject, as well as an evening rally held in the Kiryat
Mattersdorf shul. She inquired as to expanding it and
was thus instrumental in the development of the citywide
annual Yom Iyun for Shemiras Haloshon.
She then turned to taping the lectures and making these
tapes available the same evening -- a colossal task
requiring superhuman energy and nerves of steel.
Rebbetzin Weinberger worked tirelessly to disseminate Torah
and menshlichkeit. The Weinberger home became a
taping studio where thousands of Torah tapes were produced
and distributed. She established and stocked nearly 150 tape
libraries in the United States, Europe and South Africa. For
the past 15 years, she singlehandedly managed the complex,
time consuming operation of taping, duplicating and selling
hundreds of copies of the many lectures presented on
Jerusalem's citywide Shemiras Haloshon day in Av. She
somehow managed to tape between 30 to 40 lectures from the
Shemiras Haloshon day -- and have thousands of tapes clearly
labeled and available for sale the same evening for the
Hebrew rally, and for the English rally two days later. A
month prior to the Yom Iyun, she began to plan the taping
and spent the major part of her time preparing for the big
day. As the Yom Iyun drew nearer, she dropped everything and
dedicated herself entirely to this event, some nights not
sleeping at all. Despite her dedication to the cause, she
never neglected the needs of her family.
"I'm basically dedicating my life to promoting
menschlickkeit (human decency) towards others. When
we first opened the gemach, we (her partner and
friend, Adina Goldman) named it `Lashon Marpeh' (the Healing
Tongue). If I have been able to contribute towards improving
in any way the way people treat each other, making them
kinder to one another, I have done everything." Her desire
to help people to be more considerate with one another was
emphasized by her dedicated work in marriage counseling.
Rebbetzin Weinberger suffered the loss of her mother at a
very young age and was deeply affected by it. She also
suffered the tragic loss of other close relatives. She
resolved to dedicate herself to ensuring that others would
not suffer silently in their homes, and thus, even as a
young married woman, she began her work in counseling. She
displayed devotion and self sacrifice for this goal in a way
that is beyond compare, by opening her heart and home
completely. For many years, Rebbetzin Weinberger used to
travel daily to the Kosel, leaving the house at 5:00 a.m. to
pray for heavenly assistance for `her couples' and her
family. She often had `her couples' or `her ladies' over for
Shabbos, even if they had very large families. She didn't
hesitate to invite a certain couple with a sick member to
stay with her for the entire Pesach. There was often at
least one person who needed her warmth and attention living
in her home. A hot delicious meal was almost always cooking
in her kitchen and there seemed to be no end to the people
she fed -- from guests, to couples, to children and
grandchildren. She always seemed to have enough food for the
many people who would drop in on her and everyone felt
welcome. She once said that providing a meal is a real form
of nurturing. She wanted to nurture everyone she could.
She worked tirelessly from early morning until late at
night. If one of her couples experienced a crisis, she would
often speak to them for three or four hours straight.
`Housecalls' were part of her weekly routine and in a
crisis, she could be found making a housecall in the middle
of the night. She continued to counsel people throughout her
long illness without revealing how much pain she was in. She
once said she was in love with sholom bayis. It made
her so happy to see people happy that she would do anything
to make it possible. She saw people until several days
before her passing. All this she did, despite having a very
large family of her own with many grandchildren, constantly
seeking her love and guidance. Despite her hectic schedule,
she maintained a separate phone line exclusively for her
children and would always answer the phone for them, no
matter what else she was involved with. When she was already
a very sought after and successful marriage counselor, she
said, "I don't see myself as a counselor. I just see myself
as a mother and wife. That's all I want to be." This is
exactly what she was. Mother to hundreds, despite having
lost her own mother so early in life. Many people wondered
where she got the strength and intuitiveness to be such a
warm and loving mother to so many, despite her own early
sufferings. She surely possessed a soul from earlier
generations, one noted person remarked.
She had an elderly aunt living in Petach Tikva to whom she
would bring a basketful of homemade food to fill up her
freezer each week. She did this for seven years. When she
returned from her long weekly trip, she would be so tired
that she'd collapse on a chair and slept thus in the living
room for most of the night. She could often be found falling
asleep on her chair, especially after candlelighting on
Friday night, after a week of tireless service for the
Klall. She rarely took the standard afternoon nap so
as to be available to those who needed her.
Rebbetzin Weinberger was privileged to pass away on Friday
evening. The last words she heard were Shema Yisroel.
She was surrounded by a full minyon, just as she had
arranged for her aunt. Her last words indicated her
relationship to her Father: "Hashem, help me! Hashem, help
me!"
May she be a righteous interceder for her family and for all
those who considered her their `mother,' and those whom she
influenced, directly and indirectly.
