Could a book really capture Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis's essence?

Photos: Menachem Adelman, Family archives
Illustration: Dov Ber Cohen

From her first speech to a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden to four decades traversing the globe fanning the Jewish spark, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, who passed away in 2016, was larger than life. But for those who never knew the Rebbetzin, how to capture her essence? Her children turned to master storyteller Rabbi Nachman Seltzer with a mission: to paint a picture of their multi-dimensional mother in two-dimensional print

In the summer of 2009, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, in her 70s but still as vibrant and energetic as ever, was leading an Israel tour sponsored by her Hineni organization, and took the group to get brachos from Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky. After Rebbetzin Jungreis introduced the Hineni group, Rebbetzin Kanievsky motioned to her to sit in the seat of her father-in-law, the Steipler Gaon. When the Rebbetzin demurred, saying that it was not her place to sit in the seat of the holy Steipler, Rebbetzin Kanievsky told her, “It’s fine. I may be the rebbetzin of Bnei Brak, but you, Rebbetzin Jungreis, are the rebbetzin of the world.”

And just like the tens of thousands whose lives she touched and often transformed — through four decades of dynamic oration, newspaper columns, and tireless outreach efforts through her Hineni international organization and beyond — Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis was herself a spiritual seeker. Torah and faith were a gift, a mesorah from her illustrious ancestors; what she was busy searching for throughout her life, all over the world, was the pintele Yid, the spark of a Jewish neshamah that she knew was hidden in every single Jew. And so often, she discovered that spark and ignited it into a glowing flame.

The Rebbetzin, who passed away at age 80 in August 2016, was a complex personality — her trademark elegance and sophistication on one hand, her unpretentiousness and hominess on the other. She was a world-renowned VIP, but nothing made her happier than preparing freshly cooked meals in her own kitchen while comforting someone in distress. She could give advice to prime ministers and presidents, yet travel across the continent to speak with an angry teenager who’d been captured by a cult. 

“To this day I don’t know how my mother did it,” says her daughter Slovie Jungreis-Wolff, a relationships and parenting instructor and the leader of Hineni Couples. “To make a beautiful Shabbos for us, her family, one day, and then stand in Madison Square Garden the next, proclaiming to thousands, ‘You are a Jew! Come home!’ I was just a little girl when she made that famous speech back in 1973, but the memory is still vivid. I remember walking into the Garden and seeing thousands of Jews, all ages, from all walks of life. Could it be that they were here for my mother? About being a Jew? I was excited and nervous at the same time. What would my mother say? Would the audience listen? 

“There was a hush when my mother began to speak. As the evening went on, you felt the electricity. I will never forget seeing the enormous crowd jump to their feet at the end of the night, applauding, crying, and giving her a standing ovation. There was an energy in the room that exploded — it was the beginning of a revolution.”