The Destiny Foundation

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The Destiny Foundation is the non-profit organization created by Rabbi Berel Wein to translate his accounts of Jewish history into multi-media events, including CD’s, audiotapes, books, and most recently, a series of drama and documentary film projects. Its aim is to reveal the intimate history of the Jewish people while transmitting its mores and values with a light hand. As Rabbi Wein says,

"Attempting to be a Jew in the 21st Century without understanding the layers of political, cultural, and religious events that formed the world Jewish community is like entering the theater in the middle of the movie."

[edit] Film Series: "Heralds of Destiny"

The pilot for the film series, "Heralds of Destiny: Rashi—a Light After the Dark Ages," was shown to a viewing audience of 450,000 on Israeli Television (Channel Two-Tel Ad) in the fall of 2000. The Destiny Foundation has also created Rashi study guides for both the North American day school and Israeli secular school curricula. The Israeli Ministry of Education divided the existing film into shorter segments to be used with commentary from the study guides. A Hebrew-dubbed version in a DVD/CD format includes reference and source materials, interactive programs, three 20-minute TV classes, the film, text, the study guide, and lessons on how to learn Rashi script.

The second entry in the "Heralds of Destiny" series is the biography of Maimonides, also known as the Rambam. Much like the Rashi film, it is in watercolor animation, targeted to viewers of all ages.

Plans for future films include the biography of Isaac Abrabanel, to be done in animation, and the biographies of Gracia Mendes Nasi, Sir Moses Montefiore, and Shmuel Yosef Agnon, all to be done in documentary and live action.

[edit] Television Mini Series: "Triumph of Survival"

"Triumph of Survival" is a 26-hour, 13-part documentary series that tells Jewish history. It opens with a ten-hour series called "Fate and Faith: The Story of the Jewish People in the Twentieth Century" which explores the conflicts between religion and secularism in the modern era.

[edit] Audio Products

Currently, the Destiny Foundation offers 60 series of Berel Wein's audio lectures on various topics in Jewish History. His most popular are "Travels Through Jewish History" and "Crash Course in Jewish History: 5000 Years in 5 Hours."