Gene Wilder z”l: “What Would You Give Up for the Torah?” (6-Minute Moving Video)
Actor Gene Wilder passed away yesterday at the age of 83. Gene Wilder was a self-proclaimed atheist but a proud Jew, writing in 2005, “I have no other religion. I feel very Jewish and I feel very grateful to be Jewish. But I don’t believe in God or anything to do with the Jewish religion.”
But I think, nevertheless, that Wilder’s soul will have certain outstanding mitzvot on the meritorious side of the scale when his soul is judged in the World to Come. He will be rewarded, I think, for his dedication to an array of charitable causes, especially the battle against ovarian cancer which took the life of his wife, Gilda Radner, in 1989. And, I think also, he will be rewarded for inspiring thousands of people in this moving scene from The Frisco Kid, in which his character, a rabbi, is willing to give up his own life for the Torah. The surprisingly sincere kiddush Hashem of this scene moved me to tears.
Heimish vs. Amish
thanks for sharing two of those scenes. His neshama should have an aliya.
His wife’s first name was Gilda, with a d.
thanks for the correction…will fix now