Jewish History Channel

Memorial Lecture for the Great Saul Lieberman in New York

2009-06-03T04:50:00.003-04:00

I would greatly appreciate if anyone attending this lecture can tape and upload it.

The Significance of Given Names in Tanach, Part 1

2009-03-24T03:06:00.004-04:00

When did the Jewish practice of naming children after someone (In the Ashkenazic tradition only after someone who is deceased and in the Sephardic tradition children are often named after living relatives) begin?

The practice seemed to have been instituted in Judea sometime between the years 500- 300 BCE (perhaps as a result of Hellenic or Persian influence?). Before that period, children were named after a significant event or occurrence in the life of the parent(e.g. Moses naming his son Gershom, ger- stranger, sham- there, to signify his sojourn in a foreign land). However we do see certain unique given names repeated in Tanach. Some examples include Gad, Eleazar, Saul etc.[1].

But the name that captured my greatest interest is Menasheh/Manasseh. In Genesis 41, Joseph’s wife Osnat, daughter of Potifera, gives birth to two sons. Joseph is said to have named the firstborn Menashe, (etymologically derived from the Hebrew word “nasha” which means to forget and it was commemorating the fact that Joseph “forgot his troubles”), and the younger one he named Ephraim (etymologically derived from the Hebrew word “poriah” which means to be fruitful).

I would venture to say that it is entirely possible- if not probable- that Menashe and Ephraim were in fact Egyptian names and not Hebrew. Joseph himself was not known to the Egyptians as Joseph but rather by his Egyptian name tzofnat paneach[2]. Firstly, why would Joseph give his sons Hebrew names? It seems unlikely he would burden his children with something that would be nothing less than a handicap for them; Egyptians were not known to be too friendly to foreigners and jealously guarded their own culture. Not to mention the fact that Joseph was the viceroy of Egypt! Why would the viceroy of Egypt give his children Hebrew names? (Imagine the taunts they would have received from their Egyptian playmates). Wouldn’t that serve to delegitimize his claim to the throne? After all, Joseph is a Hebrew foreigner. Would he really want to remind the Egyptians of his “lowly” (at least according to the Egyptians—“ki cherpa hi lanu..”) origins?

Let us take a look at a similar example of a name whose etymological root is given as Hebrew but is more likely Egyptian, namely Moses. In Exodus 10, he is said to have been named Moses by the daughter of Phaaroh, “ki min hamyaim meshitihu” literally because he was pulled from the water. The obvious problem with this explanation is how could Pharaoh's daughter have known the Hebrew language? and even if she did, why would she give him a Hebrew name? An additional problem lies in the fact that we don’t see the word masha (as in pulling), anywhere else in tanach (other than one obscure passage in Psalms 17: yamsheini mimayim rabim).

Therefore a much more logical explanation would be the one given by Ibn Ezra (and many other commentators) on the verse in Exodus, namely that Moshe was in fact an Egyptian name [3].

Egyptian meaning of the name Manasseh

Thomas Kelly Cheyne, John Sutherland Black in Encyclopædia Biblica cite the possibility that Manasseh is in fact a combination of two names of Egytpian deities deities: Men and Sa. Or perhaps Sa is used in this context to mean “son of” i.e. son of Men. Another possibility is that Manasseh is derived from Menes, a common Egyptian name (Menes is considered to be the first king of a unified Egypt).

Mannaseh King of Judah

Now let us for a minute turn to a different Manasseh, not Joseph’s son but rather the son of Hezekiah King of Judah (687 – 642 BCE). Although he reigned for a quite a long time, relatively little information is revealed about him in Tanach. What is clearly apparent from the Biblical account however is that he was wicked and an idol worshipper.

What struck me most about him is the fact that his is a pretty unique name in Tanach (see comment 1) . Why did Menashe’s righteous father Hezekiah give his son this name? Was it to commemorate forgetting something (as in Joseph’s case) or was it something more significant?

In order to attempt to answer this question let us for a moment take a look at the Talmud in Berkahot 10a. The Talmud relates that Isaiah the Prophet went to tell Hezekiah that he was going to die (the narrative of Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Chronicles 32:24, and Isaiah 38:1) because he (Hezekiah) deliberately did not have children. This was on account of the fact that Hezekiah had seen prophetically that his child would be an idolator and therefore he preferred not to have children.

Isaiah told him he was required to fulfil the biblical commandment of "be fruitful and multiply" and not outguess God about what the future would bring. Isaiah then suggested perhaps if his own daughter married Hezekiah in the merit of righteous parents their children would also be righteous. Hezekiah agreed and Isaiah's daughter bore him Manasseh who was an idolator and later murdered his grandfather Isaiah.

Forgive me if this sounds overly casuistic but a thought struck me when I read that. Perhaps, as Hezekiah shuddered to bring a child into a world awash in idol worship, he thought back to a time when another Hebrew monarch, at different time and place was faced with a similar dilemma. Joseph in Egypt, living in a land full of idol worship, surely had second thoughts about having children. Yet he did have children and not only did they not grow up to become idol worshippers but they have since become the prototype of “good children”. To this day fathers bless their sons with the blessing that the Patriarch Jacob gave to the sons of Joseph יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה, "May God make you like Efraim and Menashe" (Genesis 48). Perhaps Hezekiah seized upon the name as a sort of “segula” (lucky charm) that his son may turn out righteous after all . And in fact, we see (in 2 Chr. 33:11-13) that Manasseh did repent during the end of his life. There is even an Apocryphal book “the Prayer of Manasseh” that commemorates this event (see here).

I also came across an interesting verse in Judges 18 that seems to link Moses and Manasseh. There we find mention of a priest, closely associated with an idol worshipping cult called pesel micha. His name is given as Yehonatan ben Gershom ben Menashe. However the "נ" in Menashe is superscripted, which does not occur elsewhere in the Tanach. The correct reading is probably Moshe and Rashi and other sages suspected as much, arguing that the name was changed to Manasseh to avoid embarrasing his grandfather Moses. So here again we have illustrious ancestors and wayward idol-worshipping children ( I would also add that Moshe, like Menashe [the first] is raised in the king's palace in an atmosphere permeated with idol worship. Yet he too, like Menashe, is steadfast in his monotheism).

The Strange Cases of Menashe in the Bible

While researching the name Manasseh in the Bible, I noticed the strange themes and undercurrents surrounding the name. Francesca Stavrakopoulou in King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice points out the infrequency of the name Manasseh in the Bible and also mentions the possibility of an "anti-Manasseh polemic in the Hebrew Bible"; whenever Manasseh is mentioned there is the theme of idol worship or "gentile ways" present. The first would be the idol-worshipping priest Yehonatan ben Gershom ben Menashe (with Menashe substituting for Moshe), the second would be King Menashe and the third Menashe is mentioned in Ezra as having been chastised by Ezra for marrying foreign wives. The switching of order between the firstborn Manasseh and the younger Ephraim by Jacob is also explained by Stavrakopolou as part of “an anti-Manasseh polemic pervading the Hebrew Bible”. I would also add King Jehu of Israel who is said to be of the tribe of Menashe פסיקתא רבתי פרק ג (probably because of the peculiar name of his supposed father Nimshi, which sounds similar to Menashe). Yehu is the only Israelite King who instituted major reforms in the religion of the Northern Kingdom and made an initial effort to stamp out idol-worship (מלכים א יט:טז-יז, מלכים ב ט-י, דברי הימים ב כב ) before he himself succumbed to it.

There is also another Menashe mentioned in Antiquities by Josephus who left the Jerusalem Temple and joined the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim.

Other Opinions as to Why Hezekiah Named his Son Menashe

Some Bible scholars opine that Hezekiah's naming of his only son, Manasseh, was meant as a good will gesture toward the northern tribal kingdom (who were ruled chiefly by kings of Manasseh and Ephraim) "What could better show the desire to let all past offences and discord be forgotten than give the heir to his throne the name in which one of their tribes exulted" Hezekiah wanted to "to take advantage of the overthrow of the rival kingdom by Shalmaneser and the anarchy in which the provinces had been left, to gather round him the remnant of the population... it was at least partially succesful, divers from Asher Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover" [5].

NOTES:

[1]. However, I have noticed one case in Tanach where someone was named after a dead ancestor, albeit with a slight variation: one of Cain's descendants was apparently named after him, namely תּוּבַל קַיִן (בראשית ד:כב, thus indicating that the general practice of naming sons after dead ancestors and relatives may be much older than I previously thought.

While the names of the three patriarchs are not repeated anwhere in Tanach, some of the names of the 12 sons of Jacob are:

There is a Bohan son of Reuben in Joshua 15, a Shimon in Ezra 10, There are four Judahs in Nehemiah and one in Ezra, There is a Isaachar son of Oved Edom in Chronicles I, 26, A prophet named Gad mentioned in Samuel and in Chronicles, a Yigal son of Joseph mentioned in Numbers 13, a Asaf son of Joseph mentioned in Chronicles I, 25 and two more Josephs, one in Ezra and one in Nehemiah respectively It seems that the Jewish practice of naming sons after famous Biblical figures only became widespread during the second temple period. Thus we see many personages in the books of Ezra and Nehemia with very familiar Biblical names.

[2]. See an interesting discussion here on the possible meaning(s) of that name.

[3]. Heres a rundown of the different opinions as to the origin of the name Moses, the majority of whom posit an Egyptian origin of some sort: Strongs's concordance gives the name Moses as from the Egyptian mes ses.

In Egyptian the name "Moses" means mes (birth) ses (protect) so named by Pharaoh's daughter after she had pulled the infant from the banks of the river. (Shemot Rabbah 1:26, Chasidah p.345) Further, Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea, which also shows deliverance out of water. Josephus also cites this etymology.

Some medieval Jewish scholars had suggested that Moses' actual name was the Egyptian translation of "to draw out", and that it was translated into Hebrew, either by the Bible, or by Moses himself later in his lifetime.

Some modern scholars had suggested that the daughter of the pharaoh might have derived his name from the Egyptian name element mose, which means "son" or "formed of" or "has provided"; for example, "Thutmose" means "son of Thoth", and Rameses means "Ra has provided (a son)".

According to Islamic tradition, his name, Mūsā, is derived from two Egyptian words: Mū which means water and shā meaning tree (or reeds), in reference to the fact that the basket in which the infant Moses floated came to rest by trees close to Pharaoh's residence. A growing number of critical scholars believe that Moses actually had a full Egyptian name, consisting of the root word -mose and the name of a god (similar to Rameses), but the name of the god was later dropped, either when he assimilated into Hebrew culture or by later scribes who were dismayed that their greatest prophet had such an Egyptian name

[4]. The Prophet Isaiah’s martyrdom at the hands of Menasseh is referred to in both ancient Jewish and Christian texts. In addition to the account in Berkahot, it is also mentioned in a Christian apocryphal work called “Lives of the Prophets” and in “the Martyrdom of Isaiah” which has been preserved in part in the Christian work “the Ascension of Isaiah”.

[5]. Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature By John McClintock, James Strong

See also How the Bible Became a Book by William M. Schniedewind

The Difference Between Sephardim and Nusach Sefard

2009-02-05T02:23:00.016-05:00

Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760) known as the "Baal Shem Tov" founded the Chassidic movement in Eastern Europe and began spreading his teachings in circa 1734 . One of the results of this movement was the practical application of Kabalistic concepts and ideas into daily Jewish ritual. If until then most Eastern European Jews followed the (generally non-Kabbalistic) customs and traditions that they inherited from their Western European forbears (known as Minhag Ashkenaz), Chassidut now felt that Kabbalah should be dominant. One of the results of this was the complete change of Nusach (prayer liturgy) from the Ashkenazic tradition to the Sephardic one. The reason for this change was because the Chassidim felt that the Sephardic liturgy was more Kabbalistically oriented and therefore superior. This radical change was accompanied by much controversy and was one of the leading complaints against them by their opponents (known as the Mitnagdim).

To be sure, the Chassidim did not adopt the Sephardic nusach in its entirety, but rather modified the existing Ashkenazic nusach and incorporated within it many Lurianic formulae (the master Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria known as the ARI, was himself part Sephardic and part Ashkenazic, however he was raised and studied in a purely Sephardic milieu. In essence, it can be claimed that the preeminent figure in the Chassidic movement is not the Baal Shem Tov, but in fact it is Rabbi Isaac Luria).

To confuse matters even more, different versions of this new hybrid called "Nusach Sefard" abounded. Various Chassidic groups have different versions of it. The founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (pictured third from top) was the first to publish a new prayer book "according to the rite of the Arizal", known as "Nusach Ari". However, as mentioned, his version was not accepted by all Chassidim as in fact being that of the Arizal.

In some parts of Eastern Europe, Orthodox Jews sometimes used the term Sephardic to distinguish themselves from their less traditional coreligionists. In Hungary, the election of a moderate religious Zionist, Rabbi Moses Glasner to the post of Chief Rabbi of Cluj, Transylvania (better known as Klausenberg) in 1878 precipitated the establishment of a newly formed “Sephardic” community in that city. The group consisted of about one hundred Chassidic families who decided that they could no longer remain subject to the authority of a Zionist Rabbi. The term “Sephardic community” was a sort of legal fiction designed to gain the recognition of the secular authorities that would recognize only one Orthodox community within a given town or district. The only “Sephardic” aspect of the community was that they recited prayers in “nusach sefard.” [1]

There were also many Ashkenazic Jews in Eastern Europe who adopted the Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew because they felt it was the correct one, but we'll leave that for a different post.

A CHASSID OR A SEPHARDI?

The portrait (second from top) of Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Falk (1710-1782), (I mentioned this enigmatic figure before in a previous post) known as the "Baal Shem of London" is often confused with that of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov and founder of the Chassidic movement.

An indication of the confusion that the misuse of the term “Sephardic” often engenders can be seen from the following example.

Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Rabbi Dr. Herman Adler in his fascinating biographical sketch [2] of Rabbi Falk writes that Falk referred to himself in his personal book as “the son of Raphael the Sefardi”. However Adler is quick to point out that the term “Sephardi” in this case does not necessarily denote Iberian origins but rather refers to the (then) newly emerging sect of Chassidim who were often called “Sephardim” or “Anshei Sfard” because they prayed in a modified Sephardic rite. In a later republishing of the same article, Adler provides more clues as to the origins of Falk. This time no mention of his possible Chassidic connection is made. Adler merely wonders, “It is unclear why and how he (Raphael the Sephardi) received this appellation (Sephardi). Had he immigrated from Spain or Portugal?” and adds that “Falk's Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew may have been due to his parentage”. Additional evidence seems to bear this out. In the comment on that passage, Adler writes that Falk gives his name in his commonplace book as חיים שמואל יעקב דפאלק מרדיולה לנידו (Chaim Shmuel Yaakov d’falk Mardiola Laniado) and wonders whether he might possibly be related to the Laniados, a Sephardic family that settled in Italy and the Middle East. The answer seems to be in the affirmative.

Falk’s Sephardic ancestry is also briefly mentioned in the recently published Mibaal Shed L’baal Shem (translation mine) “it seems that his father Rabbi Joshua Refael the Sephardi was a descendant of Marranos who arrived in Poland in the 16th century and retuned openly to Judaism. Additional information on Falk’s family is unknown”. [3]

So it can be stated with assurance that the portrait which is purportedly that of the Baal Shem Tov is in fact not the Baal Shem Tov at all, but rather a Polish Kabbalist of Sephardic origin.

Another possible indication of how the conflation of the terms "sephardim" and "nusach sefard" can lead to assumptions and erroneous information can be seen from the case of the Bitterman family of Hrubieszow, Poland. The Bittermans had an oral tradition of Sephardic descent, however recent genetic testing has shown that the family falls within a large group of Ashkenazic families who have no tradition of Sephardic ancestry. The administrator of the Bitterman family website therefore concludes that “It is quite possible that Biterman ancestors were not Sephardim but rather part of a Nusach Sephard congregations, in the region where Hassidism developed” see here

AUTHENTIC SEPHARDIC CONGREGATIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE

(The following is a brief synopsis of a subject that is dealt with in much more detail in my upcoming paper).

However, there were authentic Sephardic congregations in Eastern Europe. Dr. Moshe Montalto, a Sephardic Physician who settled in Poland in the 17th century built a Synagogue in Lublin where the congregants prayed in the Sephardic (Spanish-Portuguese) rite. In Zamocz too, a Synagogue (pictured first from top) was established by Sephardic Jews who settled there in the 16th century and was still called the "Sephardic Synagogue" up until World War II, long after the descendants of the original Sephardic founder assimilated into the Ashkenazi community or moved out.

In Krakow, the historic capital of Poland, a community of Sephardic Jews, who arrived in Poland via Italy, maintained a separate existence until the middle of the 17th century. They kept their own traditions, including praying in the Sephardic rite and only marrying among themselves.

In Lithuania too, authentic Sephardic congregations existed. Shlomo Katzav in his booklet "Hasefardim be'eretz Lita" lists Sephardic congregations in places like Otian, Biraz, Dolhinov, Heidozishok, Vilkomir and Kopishok. Katzav lists several congregations with the name "Alsheikh" (in Horodna and Shavel, which probably indicate eastern origins). There are also two "Alfas" (indicating origins in Fez, Morocco) congregations, one in Tabarig and one in Lida.

Arthur Menton in The Book of Destiny: Toledot Charlap mentions one Lithuanian town whose Jewish community seems to have been founded by Sephardic emigres, namely Vilkaviskis (Vilkovishk). The community kept accurate records and as recently as 1920, a massive tome containing information about 400 years of Jewish life in Vilkaviskis was cited by several researchers. The book was unofrtunately lost or destroyed in the decades after World War I.

The book indicated that a Jewish settlement existed here at the beginning of the 16th century...Princess Bora Sforges made a gift of lumber to the community to build prayer houses and the copper domed synagogue known to its last days as "the old shul". Its ark... housed the profusely embellished Sefer Torahs which originated in Spain.

In Budapest, Hungary there once existed both a Sephardic and Mizrachi synagogue (the former composed of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish refugees and the latter composed of Syrian Jews who settled in the city). As their numbers decreased, gradually their seperate minyan folded up everywhere and those who remained joined the Ashkenazi minyan (a process that was repeated all across Eastern Europe). [4]

NOTES:

[1]. For the background and more information about the reasons behind the secession see http://www.dorrevii.org/. I am indebted to David Glasner (a descendant of Rabbi Moses Glasner) for this inormation.

[2]. The article is available in its entirety online here

[3]. See Oron, Michal. Mibaal Shed l’baal Shem (Hebrew). Mossad Bialik, (Tel Aviv, 2002). p. 29.

I was surprised to find descendants of Rabbi Falk in present day England, searching for their roots on this website. Unfortunately, up until the present moment, I was unsuccessful in intiating contact with them.

[4]. See Jewish Budapest; Monument, Rites History

Other parts of Hungary and Transylvania (not to mention Romania) also had Sephardi and Mizrachi populations. In Bekeczaba, Hungary, many Jews had a tradition they were descended from Mizrachi Jews who came from the region of Armenia. Recent genetic testing has vindicated this claim. More about this in a future post.

Calahora, a remarkable Sephardic family in Poland

2009-01-15T00:01:00.033-05:00

What is the connection between a city in Spain, two Jewish martyrs, a moralist Rabbi, and a Socialist activist?

My upcoming paper (now over 30 pages and counting) explores the history and genealogy of Sephardic Jews who settled in Eastern Europe. It is a subject that I find fascinating and I believe is woefully unexplored.

In the course of my research I stumbled across a remarkable family -about whom I will cite here only several tidbits- namely the Kalahora/Calahora family of Poland.

Dr. Solomon Kalahora, Personal Physician to the Polish Monarch Sygmund August(1520-1572) and his successor King Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), was a Sephardic Jew (in some sources a converso/anus) who settled in Cracow, Poland in the 16th century[1]. Though the Kalahoras (The name would later undergo many variations and changes including: Kolhari, Kolchor, Kolchory, Kalifari, Calaforra, Kalvari, Landsberg Posner, Zweigenbaul, Rabowsky, Olschwitz and Misky) had come to Poland from Italy, the family name was based on the name of the Spanish town of Calahorra from where the family originated.

Of the Patriarch Solomon’s six children, Moses continued the family branch in Cracow, and Israel Samuel (1560-1640), the Rabbi of Lenchista founded the Poznan branch. One of Israel Samuel’s sons was Matityahu Calahora(pictured, third from top), who according to the contemporary Polish historian, Kochowski was a “well-known physician with an extensive practice in Christian and even clerical circles”. Matityahu’s life came to a violent end when he became embroiled in a religious dispute with a Dominican friar named Havlin. The Russian- Jewish historian Simon Dubnow describes the event, disturbing in its sheer brutality:

The priest invited Calahora to a disputation in the cloister, but the Jew declined, promising to expound his views in writing. A few days later the priest found on his chair in the church a statement written in German and containing a violent arraignment of the cult of the Immaculate Virgin. It is not impossible that the statement was composed and placed in the church by an adherent of the "Reformation or the Arian heresy" both of which were then the object of persecution in Poland. However, the Dominican decided that Calahora was the author, and brought the charge of blasphemy against him. The Court of the Royal Castle cross-examined the defendant under torture, without being able to obtain a confession. Wit- nesses testified that Calahora was not even able to write German. Being a native of Italy, he used the Italian language in his conversations with the Dominican. In spite of all this evidence, the unfortunate Calahora was sentenced to be burned at the stake. The alarmed Jewish community raised a protest, and the case was accordingly transferred to the highest court in Piotrkov. The accused was sent in chains to Piotrkov, together with the plaintiff and the witnesses. But the arch-Catholic tribunal confirmed the verdict of the lower court, ordering that the sentence be executed in the following barbarous sequence: first the lips of the " blasphemer " to be cut off ; next his hand that had held the fateful statement to be burned; then the tongue, which had spoken against the Christian religion, to be excised ; finally the body to be burned at the stake, and the ashes of the victim to be loaded into a cannon and discharged into the air. This cannibal ceremonial was faithfully carried out on December 13, 1663, on the market place of Piotrkov. For two centuries the Jews of Cracow followed the custom of reciting, on the fourteenth of Kislev, in the old synagogue of that city, a memorial prayer for the soul of the martyr Calahora. [2]

Matityahu’s son Michael and his two grandsons were also notable physicians in Poland. Matityahu's brother, Solomon Calahora married the daughter of the Posen physician, Judah de Lima (another Sephardic family that settled in Poland, of whom we shall talk more later).

One of Solomon's sons was Joseph (1601-1696), also known as Joseph Darshan (literally, preacher) of Poznan who authored a popular work on ethical and moral obligations, Yesod Yosef , published in Frankfurt, in 1679 (pictured first from top). Joseph's son, Arye Leib Kalifari, a preacher in Posen was the founder of the Landsberg and Posner families. Arye Leib became the second member of this family to be martyred when he was arrested and tortured by the Catholic authorities in 1735 in the course of a blood libel. Heinrich Graetz describes the event in his History of the Jews:

Adalbert Yablonowitz, a son of a prominent citzizen disappeared from his home and his mutilated body was found in a village near Posen. The Christian population of Posen....at once charged the Jews with the crime. The majority of the Jews of Posen-fearing violence- fled for their lives. The preacher, Aryeh Leib; the communal representative Jacob ben Pinhas and 2 parnasim Isaac and Hertz were seized and thrown in prison. The preacher and the representative were tortured and died in prison (Arye Leib rebuffed an offer to spare his life if he converted--J.D.) . The trial of the parnasim and 5 other prominent Jews dragged on for nearly 4 years when a foreign community, Vienna, it seems, procured an able advocate who succeeded in proving the innocence of the acccused and the latter were released in 1740. [3]

Aryeh Leib's great-grandson, Solomon Posner (1780-1863) was the author of a family chronicle, Toar Penei Shlomo.

Stanislaw Posner(pictured, fourth from top), pseudonym: Henryk Bezmaski(1868-1930) was a grandson of the aforementioned Solomon Posner and a Polish socialist activist, senator, lawyer and publicist. He also authored Poland as an Independent Economic Unit. See more about him here.

Notes:

[1]. Calahora was only one of a number of Jewish physicians who settled in Poland at that time. Other notable personages include: Samuel de Lima, Samuel bar Meshulam, Shlomo Ashkenazy, the brothers Levi-Lieberman Fortis Ostila, and Moses Montalto.

[2]. History of the Jews in Russia and Poland by Semen Markovich Dubnow

[3]. Popular History of the Jews by Heinrich Graetz. p. 284

I'm back (and better?) after a long hiatus

2008-11-30T05:22:00.004-05:00

I apologize for being away for so long. Alot has changed for me over the past couple of months. I am currently residing on the west coast and teaching history at a local High School. Thank God, things are great here.

I am currently hard at work on an article of mine that explores the history of Sephardic Jews who settled in Eastern Europe. I have decided to devote more time writing comprehensive papers rather than continuing to do what i used to do, posting little snippets and teasers. Wishing all my loyal readers and fans a Shavua tov u'mvurechet.

English translation of Tzvi Zohar's review of the Artscroll Aleppo book

2008-02-18T18:00:00.002-05:00

"And Artscroll Created Aleppo in its Own Image": The Positioning of Aleppo as a Holy Ultra-Orthodox Community in Aleppo, City of Scholars

By: Zvi Zohar

Translated from the Hebrew by Inbal Karo

Read it here in word format.

A blog worth checking out

2008-02-15T15:07:00.001-05:00

The Orthodox Freelancers Guild blog discusses Jewish history and politics with a particular focus on American Orthodox Jewish history. See his latest post on the late Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Agudath Israel of America.

Leaving to Israel tomorrow

2008-01-09T02:38:00.000-05:00

If you would like to contact me, please don't hesitate to email me at hahistorion@gmail.com

Who is the Sephardi and who is the Ashkenazi?

2007-12-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

Inspired by the very enthusiastic response to this post, I decided to try this again.
This is not just a simple trivia question but rather an interesting story (I should say two very interesting stories) lies therein.

I originally thought that Rabbi Kaplan- scion of an old Sephardic family (see excerpt later) completely assmilated into the Ashkenazic (chiefly Lithuanian Yeshiva) mileu in which he was raised most of his life. Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar -on the other hand (bottom photo) was of Ashkenazic parentage; his mother remarried a Sephardic Rabbi -after his father died- who had a major influence on the young Yaakov Shaul (then all of 7). He was raised among the Sephardim eventually being appointed Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic community (Rishon Leziyyon). However, it appears that the Elyashars are of Sephardic ancestry, the only apparent Ashkenazic connection is the latter's grandmother (father's mother) who was the daughter of Rabbi Vilna (see more on this in the comments section of this post). So in conclusion, both Rabbis Elyashar and Kaplan are of mixed Sephardi-Ashkenazi parentage (Ashkefardi?).

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan mentions his Sephardic ancestry in the introduction to his Passover Haggadah:

He writes:

A number of people have inquired about the parenthesized "Carmona" after my name. This was the original family name of my paternal grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Kaplan (Carmona). The name denotes the place from which out family originated, a city in southern Spain, not far from Seville. Upon arriving in the United States around the turn of the century my grandfather changed his name to the more Ashkenazic sounding Kaplan for business reasons. (Incidentally, "kaplan" means tiger in Turkish.) Although I was educated in Ashkenazic yeshivoth such as Torah Vodaath and Mir, I have maintained a strong link with my Sephardic background. The MaAm Lo'ez project merely brings it full cycle.

A lament on Jewish passivity: a Kibbutznik take on a Hebrew Chronicle of the Chmielnicki massacres

2007-12-20T04:09:00.003-05:00

The Sefer Yeven Metzulah was written by Rabbi Natan Nata Hanover, a survivor of the Chmielnicki-led massacres of Jews in Poland and Ukraine in 1648-1649 [1]which came to be known as גזירות ת"ח ות"ט.

This edition (pictured) was published in Tel Aviv in 1966 by the Socialist Zionist ha-kibbutz ha-meuchad publishing house. In the introduction to this edition, the poet Yaakov Fichman expounds upon the nature of this work and the rich literary style employed by its author . The last paragraph of the introduction- in particular- caught my eye as it sheds light on the thinking of the Kibbutzniks 'of old' and the frustration and anger that reverberated even to that day over the passivity and meekness displayed by Jews in 'exile' (culminating in the Holocaust). It also helps explain the resentment many Eastern European Jews developed toward a leadership (particularly a religious leadership) they felt had acted cowardly and betrayed them [2].

Bear in mind that this was written one year before the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967.

(Translation is mine):

When reading this book one can not help but draw a parallel between the events of that time and our current situation. Bearing in mind that the Jewish concentrations were at quite a distance of each other and transportation was difficult- how encouraging is the fact that all the Jewish communities, both near and far spared no effort in sending assistance to the stricken Jews and redeeming their captives. The Jewish heart feels the pain of his distant brothers and is filled with kindness and mercy towards them. At the same time, the epic tragedy of all this lies in the fact that the Jews (in the affected lands) hesitated to fight back and wreak vengeance upon their enemies -even when they had the chance to do so. Typical of this was the behavior of the Jews of Tulcyn. When the Jews of that town realized that they had been double crossed by the Poles (who were ostensibly their "allies") they sought to avenge themselves (first) on the Polish noblemen for betraying them. At that point, the Rosh Yeshiva stood up and loudly proclaimed ''o hearken to me brothers and sisters, we are in exile among the nations, if you will strike the noblemen, all the kings of edom will hear and they will then seek revenge by attacking our brothers in their lands, g-d forbid. Therefore, if it is decreed from heaven (that we die), we shall accept it gladly, with joy''.

Fichman continues:

This was the galut mentality (הפסכילוגיה הגלותית) that reigned at the time and -which for 300 years -we are trying to uproot but -to our great shame and regret- we have not met with success. To this day, this mentality is still among us, this "tradition'"of stretching out our collective throats to the knife- which serves to inflame the blood lust of our enemies. Even in our day, when we have the opportunity to assert ourselves and we need not hesitate and be unsure, or to ask for whom to live and whom to die, we still have not matured as a nation with self respect. We have only produced a small number of people who were willing to stand up while the rest of the nation sat back. They are still waiting for others to rescue them. They have not yet come to realization that the future of Israel and their very lives depend on the readiness and willingness to sacrifice, both in body and in spirit [3].

Notes:

[1]. For more background on the Chmielnicki massacres see Graetz

[2]. For more on this, see Steg's comment to my post here and my response. See also what inspired Chaim Potok's fictional 'Am Kedoshim society'. Conversely, see Hungarian Rabbi Michael Weissmandel's scathing criticism of the Zionist leadership of his time for abandoning the Jews of Europe to their fate ('Ten questions to the Zionists') where he states: We must depose the atheist-Zionist "statesmen" from their role as Jewish leaders, and return to the faithful leadership of our sages.

[3]. ספר יון מצולה להרב נתן נטע הנובר. הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד תשכ"ו. 13-14

Rabbis teaching Kabbalah to non-Jews: not a new phenomenon

2007-12-14T09:05:00.001-05:00

Madonna embraces Kabbalah, Hollywood celebrities flock to the Kabbalah center, etc. etc. etc.

Think this is something completely new? think again.

In Transaction By Jewish Historical Society of England, Rabbi Dr. Herman Adler, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire has a very interesting article about the enigmatic figure of Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Falk, known as the 'Baal Shem of London'[1]. The paper seeks to dispel the hagiography which seems to have surrounded Falk -at least in England where he was apparently held in high esteem. R' Adler writes:

R' David Azulai (Chida) in his small book Maagal Tov (p.13) mentions that when in Paris in 1778, he met the Marquis de Toma and the Marchesa de Croua (in in his previously published unedited article Adler gives the name as de Crona-H), who had saved many Jews from falling into the clutches of the Inquisition. This high-born dame intimated to Rabbi Azulai that the Baal Shem of London had taught her practical Kabballah-a circumstance which greatly roused the ire of the worthy Rabbi[2].

Later R' Adler excerpts the relevant passage from Chida's travelogue מעגל טוב:

On Thursday, the Marquis de Toma came with the Marchesa de Croua. She sat with me and asked that I might pray for her. She afterwards said that she studied the scriptures, and that she had visions of angels and demons who spoke to her. She gave a louis as a charitable gift for Hebron, and mentioned the Baal Shem of London. She said that the Jew gave her a book on Kabbalah, and she told some other remarkable things. I answered her accordingly. Afterwards she said that she was a very highly placed princess, that she had saved many Jews from the Inquisition, that she was the daughter of a Marquis and other exaggerations. How much mischief did this so called Baal Shem work, who in his conceit and arrogance revealed practical kabbalah and conjuration to many prices and princesses to aggrandize himself! Many asked me about him.

Intrigued, I did a google search (what else..) on the aforementioned Madame de Crona (or Croua), which sadly turned up no results. But it's safe to assume that she was the equivalent of a modern day celebrity, a Parisian socialite, probably of royal blood.

Some wonder why it is that so many celebrities (Madonna being the most notorious among them) 'get into' Kabbalah.

To me it seems quite simple. 'Eastern mysticism' has always held an allure to westerners. It used to be Hinduism, Buddhism etc. now its Kabbalah.

It's interesting to note that in ancient Rome many of the aristocrats were likewise drawn to exotic eastern religions (with Judaism considered to be one of the most prominent) and many of the Roman nobility and upper class; the celebrities of Rome, practiced these faiths and followed its ritual either overtly or covertly. This later made it easier for Paul (or Shaul of Tarshish who some claim was a disciple of Rabban Gamaliel) to peddle his creed to the Greeks and the Romans, as they were already accustomed to many Judeo ideas and beliefs.

Notes:

[1]. It is interesting to note that the once widely circulated image of the Baal Shem Tov-the founder of the Chassidic movement-in in fact a portrait of Falk.

[2]. On the issue of the prohibition against teaching gentiles Torah (אין מוסרין דברי תורה לעכו"ם see tractate Chagiga 13a), there were of course many cases of Rabbis who did teach gentiles (Eliyahu Bachur, Da Modena to name a few). However that was often defended by asserting that the issur only applies if it is done out of religious conviction but not if the motivation is purely 'love of knowledge'. Interestingly, Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg writes that the term מוסרין (transmitting) used by the Talmud (ibid) indicates that the prohibition is only against transmitting סתרי תורה literally 'the mysteries of the Torah' (see שרידי אש ח"ב נה-נו) which would make this whole phenomenon doubly problematic.

Ashkenazic families of Sephardic descent and a word about bigotry

2007-12-07T00:22:00.000-05:00

Not long ago, I came across this story:

Talmud Torah school rejects four-year-old due to Sephardi grandfather. Principal says child has ‘stain’ in genealogy

Leaving aside the obvious chillul hashem such stories generate (just do a google search and see for yourself how many anti-Semitic websites picked up this story and relished it with gusto), it also struck me how ridiculous the terminology (the princpal is using) is. I am willing to bet that a cursory glance at that individual's family tree would uncover more than a few such stains.

At the risk of causing hardship to many Ashkenazi children, I am about to release a bombshell (tongue in cheek). As someone who has long had an interest in Jewish genealogy I have discovered that many of the most prominent Ashkenazi Haredi families in have numerous such 'stains' in their genealogy. The following is a very partial list:

* The Skulen Hassidic dynasty founded by Bessarabian Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal, and later transplanted to Brooklyn, NY. This family is descended of Jews expelled from Portugal in the 15th century who relocated to Roumania, hence the surname. In fact R' Eliezer was known to often sign his name with the appellation מיוצאי פורטוגל ( literally 'of the exodus from the kingdom of Portugal')

*The Vizhnitz Chassidic dynasty (The Hager family also of Roumania) also has a tradition of Sephardic descent. According to family lore the name derives from the fact the family fled Spain to Holland (the Hague).

*The Epstein-Halevi family of Lithuania is descended from the Sephardic Benvensite family members of which settled in Ebstein, Germany before moving further east into Lithuania [1]. The Horowitz-Halevi family (members of which include the Bostoner Rebbe of Boston and Jerusalem)also claims descent from this family. See here and here

* Rebbe Chai Yitzchok Twersky, Grand Rabbi of the Chassidic Rachmastrivka sect based in Brooklyn, NY and Israel is descended from the Colorful Sephardic Rabbi and scholar Chayyim Yosef David Azulai (known as the Chida) on his maternal side.

It is interesting to note that R' Azulai himself was Ashkenazic on his maternal side (his mother was the daughter of Yosef Ben Pinchas Biala who came to the holy land with the mystic Rabbi Yehuda Chasid in 1700 -not to be confused with the medieval Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ha-chasid) and even understood Yiddish.

Several other prominent Haredi Rabbis are also descended from R' Azulai including Rabbi Baruch Mendelbaum Admor of Turav-Stolin, Rabbi Eliezer Brizel, and the brothers Rabbi Avraham and Mendel Atik (See the family tree below). Interestingly, there was plenty of intermarriage between Sephardim and Ashkenazim in the old Yishuv. This is no longer the case.

*The first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi was descended from a Portugese Jew named R' Baruch Portugeli. Among the Chabad Chassidim in Russia were also many Sephardic Jews who settled in the region including the Chen family, the Don-Yichye (also Charlap, Sahr) family (more on this prestigious family some other time). It is noteworthy that anti-Sephardic racism is almost unheard of in Chabad.

This should all be superfluous since almost all Ashkenazim have some Sephardic ancestry[2] (after all Avraham Avinu was an Iraqi..) . The Kabbalists -that the Chassidim admire and follow-are almost all Sephardim. The Arizal himself was an Ashkefardi (a term I coined to denote someone who is half-Sephardic and half-Ashkenazic). There is plenty more to say on this subject but I'll leave it for now.

Notes:

[1]. See מקור ברוך חלק א by Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein where he mentions this tradition. There are numerous other Lithuanian families who were once Sephardim including the Wein family, Carmel family (Eliashiv(?) and many others. See Shlomo Katzav hasfardim asher belita for a listing of all the Sephardic families who settled in Lithuania.

[2]. One personage who shows up in many Ashkenazic family trees is Rabbi Akiva Katz of Uban (old Budapest) who had 12 sons and 12 daughters and who was descended from Rabbi Akiva Kohen Tzedek of Salonika, A Sephardic Jew.

For my previous posts mentioning some prominent Ashkenazim of Sephardic descent and conversely, that of Sephardim of Ashkenazic descent see here here here and here.

Are Sephardim 'black' and Ashkenazim 'white'?

2007-11-29T13:45:00.000-05:00

Marc Shapiro writes here:

I read about the outrage taking place in Emanuel, where in the local Beit Yaakov Sephardi students are being segregated from Ashkenazim to the extent that the two are not even permitted to play together. The Shas party has referred to this as nothing less than Apartheid, which it surely is.What’s next? Mehadrin buses where the Sephardim sit in the back? Of course, when this happens the justification given will once again be that Ashkenazim are on a higher spiritual level and that’s why they can’t sit with Sephardim, not that they are racist, chas ve-shalom.I mention this because R. Mazuz has made a comment that is relevant in this regard. Speaking to Ashkenazim who like to imagine the tannaim as “white”, he has called attention to Negaim 2:1, where R. Yishmael states that Jews are neither black nor white, but in between. In other words, the tannaim looked like Sephardim.

One of the commenters then noted:

Is that necessarily so ? Ashkenazic Jews are not generally white either like certain European non-Jews are and there are some Sepharadim that are quite light - so to say that Sepharadim are dark and Ashkenazim are light is not totally correct.

I was reminded about something the late Menachem Begin wrote in his memoir The Revolt.

(Context: Begin is discussing a unique group within the Etzel Jewish undeground -which he commanded -called the 'shock troops'. The unit's mission was to spy on the Arab population and thus was composed mostly of Jews from Arab countries who-because of their dark features and familiarity with the language- could easily blend in).

Begin writes:

but it is not only the people from Arab countries that are dark skinned. There are many Ashkenazi Jews from Europe who are no less dark- and are sometimes darker- than the purest Sephardi (Here Begin commits the common error of conflating Sephardi and Mizrachi JW). The only two members of the unit I knew personally came from Lodz in Poland [1].

The difference in appearance between Sephardim and Ashkenazim however is already noted by 14th century Spanish Rabbi, Menachem Ben Aaron Ibn Zerach:

It is well known that the appearance of people in Germany is different from that of the people of Spain and that of the Ethiopian is different again by reason of the climate, the varying strength of the sun which affects the air, and consequently the plants and fruits vary. Those partaking of them change accordingly. Hence the difference in Language and appearance. This is known to every wise man [2].

It is also interesting to note that one of the questions posed to the Ramban by Pablo Christiani at Barcelona was why Jews are dark skinned and not 'fair and attractive' like gentile Spaniards (who were presumably white(?). Ramban replied that this is because Jewish women refrain from marital relations during their menstruation cycle(!) (I don't have a copy of the disputation at hand and am citing from memory).

See also here how 17th century Sephardim in the new world dealt with contentions that they were anything less than white.

And who doesn't appreciate some good old fasioned trivia.

Guess who is the Sephardi and who is the Ashkenazi in these photos. The aforementioned commenter's point is well taken indeed.

Notes:

[1]. Begin, Menachem. The Revolt. Nash Publishing Company, 1977. Page 77-78

[2]. ספר צידה לדרך ,ל"ו and cited in Zimmel H.Z. Sephardim and Ashkenazim . Oxford, 1958. page 2.

On Artscroll revisionism: Professor Zvi Zohar reviews "Aleppo City of Scholars"

2007-11-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

In this review, Zohar shows how Artscroll recreated the Syrian-Jewish Aleppo community in its own (Charedi) image. He cites numerous examples of how the book (pictured) glosses over those Rabbis whose outlook did not conform to current Charedi standards and conveniently omits and outright distorts facts to suit its agenda.

Professor Zvi Zohar, is scholar of modern Middle Eastern Rabbinic Halacha. He has written two seminal books on the subject - masoret u-tmura and he-iru penei mizrah. He is currently teaching at Bar-Ilan University and is a musmach of the Hartman Institute.

link in PDF format
(note: this review is in Hebrew, an english translation and synopsis is forthcoming).

The Chassidic son of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Revel?

2007-11-22T23:13:00.000-05:00

Some time ago my uncle showed me a small קונטרס (booklet) he came across in a shemot pile. The booklet entitled שמחה ע"פ דרך החסידות 'Joy according to the Chassidic Method' was written by none other than the son of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Revel (pictured top) the renowned President of Yeshiva College from 1915 to 1940 . The author's name is listed as Eliezer Tzvi Revel author of

(pictured bottom) אוצר הסוטה והמסורת בדברי הרמב"ם

and the booklet was first published in 1953 (תשי"ג) and reprinted in Tel Aviv in תשמ"ג) 1983).

It is worth reproducing here part of the introduction to the booklet, to get a bit of a clearer understanding of the younger Rabbi Revel.

יש הרבה והרבה המשתוקקים למצוא ספר אחד שיסביר באופן מקיף את עיקרי החסידות של הבעש"ט ותלמידיו. הגם שיש כמה ספרים על תולדות החסידות אבל לדאבונינו אין ספר אחד המסביר כל עיקרי החסידות. פרק זה הוא חלק מן החומר שאספתי עד עתה מיותר מג' מאות ספרים קונטרסים ומאמרים של הצדיקים היותר מפורסמים והסיפורים עליהם. ואי"ה כשירחיב הקב"ה את גבולי אקווה בעז"ה להוציא ספרי 'עיקרי החסידות' .פרק זה סדרתי במהירות ומצמצום הזמן והוצאת הדפוס סמנתי רק שמות בעלי המאמרים...

Apparently, this work was only a precursor to a much larger and exhaustive study on the Chassidic movement. However in basic internet searches, I have not come across any work by that name (עיקרי החסידות) by this particular individual. if anyone has any more information about this intriguing figure, i'd appreciate it[2].

Notes:

1.) It is interesting how he refers to his father with almost Chassidic reverence. In אוצר הסוטה he calls him רכשבה"ג literally 'Rabbi of all the exiles' (see photo of titlepage above).

2). I do know (and I am indebted to S. from onthemainline for this tidbit) that according to Aaron Rakeffet's PhD thesis/ book on the elder Rav Revel-which I have not yet had a chance to read- he (R' Bernard) married into a Chassidic Chabad family, the Travises of Oklahoma who incidentally were wealthy oilmen(!). Perhaps this may explain the younger Revel's (he lists his name as 'Hershel' and his birth year 1915) enrapture with Chassidut?
See Rakeffet, Aron. Bernard Revel; builder of American Jewish orthodoxy. Feldheim (1981)

Greek Romaniote Jews in NY ; a visit to a rare Jewish community

2007-11-04T21:34:00.001-05:00

read about it on my other blog

Sephardic Jews and Communism

2007-10-09T19:55:00.003-04:00

Though most of the leading Jewish communists in Europe were Jews of Ashkenazic origin, there were a substantial number of Sephardim too who were active in Socialist and Communist movements, particularly in Yugoslavia whose Jewish population had been majority Sephardic for some time [1].

One of the senior Communist leaders in that country was a Sephardic Jew [2] by the name of Moshe (Mosa) Pijade (1890-1957), a close confidante of Yugoslavian leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito. Pijade (self portrait) was born to a prominent Sephardic Jewish family of Bulgarian origin in Belgrade, Serbia. He first went to study art in Munich and Paris but soon took up Journalism and developed a penchant for radicalism. He was imprisoned along with many others after the first world war for his pro-Communist sympathies. In prison he met and befriended many of the people who were later to become the leaders of Yugoslavia, including Tito. He fought in the Anti-Nazi resistance among the Partisans (who unlike the ones in other parts of Eastern Europe were not anti-Semitic and openly welcomed Jews into its ranks). He quickly rose through the ranks and was appointed by Tito (who was an ethnic Croat) to suppress all 'counter revolutionary activities'. Pijade became so feared and hated by the Serbs (especially in places like Montenegro) because of his policies, that mothers would warn their children that if they misbehaved 'Mosa' would come and get them.

What I find fascinating about Pijade is his ambivalence and the absence of outright hostility toward religion in general and Judaism in particular. This hostility towards Judaism as a religion was the hallmark of most of his Ashkenazic communist counterparts in Russia (though it should be pointed out that Pijade was certainly an assimilated Jew who didn't hesitate to marry out of the faith). This sentiment is clearly illustrated by what happened at the end of world War II. With Belgrade the capital of Serbia lying in ruins, the last remaining remnant (1,115 or 6% survived) of the city's once glorious Sephardic community gathered for services at the only Synagogue still standing - which was the large Ashkenazic one and had previously been used by the Nazi forces as a brothel (the Sephardic one had been completely destroyed). Among the participants was none other than Moshe Pijade, dressed in his army uniform laden with medals and weeping uncontrollably during the Yizkor prayer (!). One wonders if Lazar Kaganovich could have gotten away with something like this in Russia under Stalin...

Some have suggested that the outright hatred for Judaism as exemplified by people like Leon Trotsky and Lazar Kaganovich was a decidedly missing factor in the Sephardic 'version'. This is something that can still be observed in contemporary society (though much has changed). It is not uncommon to see staunchly secular Sephardic Jews (who identify themselves as Communist, Socialist etc.) taking part in Jewish ritual and expressing reverence and respect for its cult [3].

Another interesting figure is Avraham Benaroya, leader of the workers movement in Greece. Benaroya eventually emigrated to Israel where he died in 1979.

I was also going to bring up the Israeli black Panther movement which was founded and led by

disaffected Sephardim [4] and had a decidedly socialist bent (some members later joined Israel's Communist party) and (perhaps disturbingly) openly sympathized with the American Black Panther movement . Though that is a post worthy in and of itself, I think the overwhelming purpose (and impetus) behind that movement was not soviet-style revolution but rather social justice and equality, it also definitely lacked the anti-religious component (many of its members were observant Jews, others were staunchly nationalist and anti-Palestinian) [5].

Notes:

[1]. In other parts of the Balkans, Communism was making inroads among the Sephardic youth as well. A friend recalls her great-grandmother telling her about the Jewish communists in her native Salonika "Some of them published newspapers, and one of the articles said that now that we have planes and have been in the sky, we can see that G-d doesn't exist,It really horrified my great grandmother. It's such a childish reasoning though".

[2]. One can't help but chuckle when reading what American Nazi party 'leader', George Lincoln Rockwell had to say about him "Tito, was the protege of Moses Pijade,Jew Khazar, who does the "suggesting" for the strutting Mr. Tito" what can one expect from a paranoid old Bachelor like Rockwell who spent his nights in his mothers room .... Parenthetically the myth that Ashkenazic Jews are descended of Khazar Turkic tribesmen (popularized by Hungarian Jewish author, Arthur Koestler, himself an interesting and complicated figure) has been disproved by recent genetic research

Academic Publishers

[3]. See Stillman, Norman A. Sephardi Responses to Modernity. Luxemborg: Harwood,(1995)

[4]. The Israeli Black Panther movement was modeled after its American counterpart though it differed sharply in many ways (It is important to point out that the American group often expressed virulent anti-Semitism). It was a movement founded and led by disaffected Mizrachi Jews (a disproportionate number of whom, were of North African origin). The Black Panthers were Israel's own version of counterculture figures and fighters for social justice, people like Charlie Bitton (former Knesset member of the Hadash, Jewish/Arab Communist party and now a graying man expressing Likud-like tendencies), Saadya Marciano (formerly Knesset member of the Sheli party and now a poverty-stricken man , and Avi Berdugo (who later made a good life for himself as an Attorney).

[5]. In this context it is also worth noting the notorious terrorists and (ostensibly) Christian Arab Communist George Habash's (founder of the PFLP) frequent invoking of Allah's name, most famously after the PLO and the IDF faced off in 1982 in Beirut. Thomas Friedman in his From Beirut to Jerusalem has him (Habash) excitedly exclaiming:

I thank God that I lived to see the day that a Palestinian army fought an Israeli army. Now I can die. I dont need to see anymore.

Friedman points out the irony of all this saying Habash was "oblivious to the irony of the great Arab Marxist invoking the almighty". See Friedman, Thomas L. From Beirut to Jerusalem. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1989. pp. 150-151

Apparently, in the middle east, the line between communism and religion isn't as clearly delineated as it is in the west.

Yashar of Candia and his equally colorful descendants

2007-09-21T04:04:00.001-04:00

Yashar (pictured, right) (Yosef Shlomo Rofe) Delmedigo of Candia, Crete (1591-1655) was a colorful Jewish personality of the 17th century, what some might call a true 'Renaissance Rabbi'. A wandering Jew, he toured most of the major European capitals, temporarily settling in some of them and even accepting Rabbinical posts in others. He finally settled in Prague and died there in 1655.

Continuing in his tradition are his descendants: the Nachmani family [1]. At the end of the 19th century, the patriarch of the family, then 18 year old Mordechai Gorodinsky (pictured, left) (later changed to Nachmani in honor of a biblical figure who ascended to the land during the time of Nechemia), a passionate Zionist, left the Volozhin Yeshiva-where he had just received his Rabbinical ordination- and his hometown Gorodin in white Russia, to work in the swamps of the burgeoning yishuv. He did not belong to any particular organization or group but was motivated solely by religious Zionism. In fact the family maintained close ties with the Ashkenazic chief Rabbi, and seminal religious Zionist figure Rabbi Abraham Kook. Mordechai married there and went on to become one of the founders of the city of Rechovot.

Two of Mordechai's six children later left Israel to study in the United States where they settled permanently . One of them, Amihud studied engineering in New York and is remembered fondly by the writer Reuven Alpert who remembers him as one of the jolly old timers in the Synagogue he attended as a child. Alpert, in his Caught in the Crack: Encounters with the Jewish Muslims of Turkey [2] describes Amihud as a bit of an eccentric. His (Amihud) testimonies and visions (one describes a ship of Hebrew sailors-what Alpert calls the Jewish version of the 'flying Dutchmen'- another talks of the Yiddish poet Yehoash coming to him and his wife in a dream appealing to be reburied in Israel) appear in Aaron Zeitlin's [3] book on parapsychology[4] המציאות האחרת .

Notes:

[1]. See the family tree (Hebrew) here

[2]. Alpert Reuven, Caught In The Crack. Wandering Soul Press, 2002. pp.151

[3]. See my brief biographical sketch of Zeiltin here

[4]. Zeiltin, Aaron, Ha-meziut ha-aheret (The other Dimension). Tel Aviv: Yavneh, 1967.

More on Rabbi Da Modena and gilgul - follow up on previous post

2007-08-13T16:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I came across a book in Hebrew entitled Or Hachayim, which is a listing of Rabbinical biographies organized in alphabetical order and written by one R’ Chaim (ben Yosef) Michel (1792-1846) . R’ Michel was a Habmburg-born wealthy merchant who spent his leisurely time -and beyond- authoring works of Jewish and scholarly interest. He was friendly -and often corresponded- with the Wissenschaft scholars of his day such as Zunz, Shir and Shadal.

In the bibliography for the entry 'Yehuda Aryeh Mimodena' [1] he lists the latter's seforim, among which is a work entitled Ben David against the popular belief in gilgul (the book is also mentioned in his seminal anti-kabbalistic work Ari Nohem). Under the entry Chayei Yehuda -the book in question- he writes, (translation mine):

And know that in the manuscript that I have before me, there is absolutely no mention of the story brought down by the Chida (pictured) in Shem Hagedolim about the sick infant who said 'Shema Yisrael'. It is also not found in the manuscript version of Rabbi Uri Chai Sarval. Therefore Yashar is certainly correct in his assertion that that particular manuscript which Chida saw, was undoubtedly written by on of his (Da Modena’s) disciples who was partial to belief in Kabballah and he added it to the manuscript to show that in his later days Da Modena recanted. [2]

Notes:

[1]. in the margins, he points out that the proper way to write the name is ‘mimodena’ and not 'da modena', as the Rabbi himself wrote “I sign my name Leone Modena Da Venezia and not Da Modena”, See Graetz, B.X.S. 141 (p. 439 (אור החיים, הוצאת מוסד הרב קוק, תשכ"ה

[2]. Ibid, p. 443

Did Rabbi Da Modena believe in gilgul?

2007-08-09T23:51:00.000-04:00

The Jewish belief in gilgul (literally, reincarnation of the soul) is one fraught with controversy. While it has since become accepted as a basic tenet of Orthodox Judaism, such was not always the case. Among the more famous opponents of this belief is the famed Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, [1] Rabbi Hasdai Crescas and Rabbi Shalom Strashun (Rashash) [2]. R' Saadiah assailed it strongly and claimed it originated from eastern paganism. A lesser famous but equally fierce opponent of gilgul was -one of my favorite Jewish historical figures- Rabbi Leone Da Modena (see my previous posts on him here and here ). However, there is an interesting twist to this. In the book Shem Hagedolim of Rabbi Chayyim Yosef David Azulai (known as the CHIDA) under the entry of Rabbi Yehuda Arye Mimodena, he relates an strange and interesting story. The Chida (pictured) writes (translation mine):

I have seen the latter’s autobiography, 'Chayei Yehuda' (The Life of Judah) in manuscript where he writes that everything he endured in his life was for the best. The Rabbi writes that in his early days he did not believe in Gilgul, then something occurred which made him change his beliefs. His (Da Modena's) neighbor gave birth to a son and within a month the infant took violently ill. When the child reached six months, it was clearly apparent that he at death's door, so the neighbor called him (Da-Modena) to the infant’s bedside to recite Psalms and read from the Torah -as was the custom in Italy at the time. As he was reciting some verses, the child opened his eyes wide and shouted “Shema Yisrael” and his soul left his body. Henceforth, the Rabbi changed his view on gilgul, for his own eyes saw a six month old sickly infant recite the words of the shema like an adult! [3].

This story seems quite strange, not to mention very uncharachteristic of R' Da Modena for obvious reasons. I have read the English translation of Da Modena's fascinating autobiography and I do not recall coming across this story anywhere (though I still have not had the opportunity to read the original Hebrew version). Furthermore, I find it interesting that R' Azulai -the great Kabbalist and proponent of Hassidim- lists him in his Gedolim compendium and refers to him with honorific terms, considering R' Da Modena's radical views regarding Kabballah and Zohar which -as far as we know- he never deviated from.

Notes:

[1]. See his Ha-Emunot V'Deyot 6:3

[2]. See here page 11 for interesting biographical informantion.

[3].שם הגדולים, עג

The ten lost tribes are still lost (Part 3) ; the Jewish cannibals of Polynesia

2007-08-07T15:35:00.000-04:00

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

The noted British researcher Tudor Parfitt in his The lost tribes of Israel; History of a myth, writes about the Maori tribes of New Zealand who fought against the British. One of their leaders Te Ua Horoparera Haumene founded the Pai Marire movement. Pai Marire religion was a strange hybrid of Maori and Judeo/Christian culture. Undoubetedly influenced by their encounter with Christianity and often encouraged by British Missionaries, many of the Aborigines believed themselves to be desendants of the lost tribes of Israel. The aforementioned Haumene began to see himself as a Prophet and saviour akin to the Prophet Moses sent by God to liberate his people; the Jews, he subsequently went under the name Te Ua Jew Ua.

Richard Taylor in Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its inhabitants (1855) wrote:

The many points of resemblance in feature, general customs and manners may enable us to discover in the widely spread Polynesian race, a remnant of the long-lost tribes of Israel.

The fascinating segment in Parfitt's book that really caught my attention is a hair raising tale involving a Jewish sea captain from NJ, Christian clerics and a group of Maori Cannibals:

The Hau Hau's sense of Jewish solidarity led them to spare any Jews they came across in the settler towns they captured. In March 1781, Eclipse berthed in Opitiki, on the north-east coast of the North Island. Some of the passengers including the Reverends, Carl Volkner and T. S. Grace were captured by the Hau Hau under the command of their arch-priest Kereopa. The owner and captain of the Eclipse was a Jersey-born Jew, Captain M. Levy (1821-1901). Both he and his brother, as Jews and thus 'akin to the Hau-Hau' were freed. On 2,March 1864, however, Volkner was taken into the local Church of St. Stephens, stripped of his clothes and allowed to pray in front of the altar before being hanged. An hour later he was decapitated and the Hau Hau allegedly crowded around the altar to drink his blood from the communion cup while Kereopa recited the prayer 'Hear O' Israel , this is the word of God, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are the Jews who were lost and have been persecuted!' Kereopa then gouged out Volkner's eyes and gave orders that his head be smoke cured. [1] [2]

Notes:

[1] Parfitt, Tudor. The lost tribes of Israel; History of a myth. Phoenix Press, 2003 pp. 151-152.

[2] The account may have been exaggerated for effect. It is possible that anti-semitism played a not minor role in the description of the Maori and their identification with Jews. The Anglican clergyman Samuel Mardsen did a comparative study of ancient Israelite and Maori culture and arrived at the conclusion that the latter originates from the former. Parfitt writes: even cannibalism was evoked -on the grounds that Jesus had told the Jews 'he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him' (See Ibid, p. 148).

Berbers, Jews, Europeans; connection?

2007-07-28T22:48:00.000-04:00

My French-Morrocan friend Yoel Ohayon mentioned to me recently the origins of his surname. Ohayon is a combination of Berber and Hebrew language; Berber (O=son) + Hebrew (Hayon=life)hence son of Life (O-Hayon). The thought struck me that this is an interesting paralel to the Gaelic language. In Gaelic the prefix 'O' (as in O'brien, O'malley etc.) refers to a descendant of a particular person (though Mac or Mc literally means son of). This got me thinking; I recalled that there were North African Berber tribes who have a tradition that they originate from Northern Europe (while that may in fact be true it is geographically improbable that these Northern Europeans make up the bulk of the indigenous North African genepool).

The North Arican Jewish historian, Andre Chouraqui in his Between East and West: A History of the Jews of North Africa writes that the Berbers had a tradition that they originate from ancient Canaan/Israel. An interesting parallel is found in the Jerusalem Talmud: “Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: three decrees were sent out into the land of Israel before they went into the land. Whoever wishes to leave - should leave. To make peace - should make peace. To make war - should do so. The Girgashi left and believed in the Holy One, Blessed be He, and went to Afriki … [1]

By the way, Chiriqui's other theory regarding the Berber origin of most of Morrocan Jewry [2] has been disproven by modern Genetic research which showed an almost 100 percent genetic affinity with Iraqi Jews.

Notes:

[1]. See Tractate Shevi’it 6:1

[2]. There are several recorded waves of conversion to Judaism among the native Berber tribes of the Maghreb, though its influence on the Jewish genepool appears to be negligble, possibly because many of them later converted to Islam with the Arab invasion, one example includes the 2 sons of the North African Jewish queen Qahina (pictured in drawing), of which I will write about more in a future post.

Origin of the Yiddish term 'Chunyuk'

2007-07-27T03:04:00.000-04:00

Many of you may be familiar with the Yiddish word 'Chunyuk' literally a super religious fanatic but are unaware of the origin of the term.

Some time ago I came across a small booklet entitled Yiddish; the holy language by Rabbi David Cohen, Rabbi of Congregation Gvul Yaabetz in Brooklyn, NY. The book contains a listing of Yiddish terms and expressions and highlights their origins. According to the Sefer the origins of the term Chunyuk are as follows (translation mine):

During the early years of the Second temple period, Shimon Hatzadik (Simon the Just) officiated as the High Priest (which was at the time the most senior political and religious Jewish leader). Shortly before his death he bequeathed his position to his younger son Chonyo instead of his older son Shimi. Shimi was overcome with jealousy and decided to play a cruel trick on his younger brother. On the day that he was to enter the Temple to perform the sacrifices, Shimi called to his brother and told him that he wanted to assist him in doing the rituals properly. He then proceeded to dress him up in women's clothing and when Chonyo ascended the altar, those present became enraged at this perceived sacrilege and sought to kill him. Chonyo eventually fled to Egypt where he built the famed "Mikdash Chonyo" [1] [2].

Notes:

[1]. Yiddish; the holy language by Rabbi David Cohen. pg. 96

[2]. See Tractate Menachot 109B.

More on Rosh's descendants and different approaches to Jewish martyrdom

2007-07-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

In a previous post I mentioned Rabbenu Asher (Rosh) and his descendants in Toledo, Spain. I have finally gotten a hold of H.Z. Zimmel's Ashkenazim and Sephardim which sheds some more light on the subject at hand.

R' Asher imported many characteristics from his native country. He introduced the Ashkenazic approach to Talmudic methodology which differed considerably from the Sephardic one. In many ways, Toledan Jewry was as much influenced by him as he and his descendants were influenced by them. The book also mentions his (Rosh's) 2 daughters marrying Sephardim [1].

Zimmel writes: After Rabbi Asher's death in 1327 his son Judah succeeded him in office. According to Zimmel, the 'asherites' -as he calls them- set a striking example of piety modesty and self sacrifice and made a deep impression on both Jews and gentiles.

He mentions that during the anti Jewish persecutions in 1391 as the Christian mobs swept over the Jewish communities with the cry 'baptism or death', it was Judah ben Asher II a great-grandson of the Rosh who followed the example of his forefathers in Germany by killing his family and himself, a deed which was highly praised by Sephardi authors [2]. [3].

We see here an interesting difference in approach to the unfortunate age old Jewish dilemma of baptism or death. Franco-German Jewry on the one hand -since the period of the Crusades- almost always chose the latter option, whereas Iberian Jewry-with few exceptions either chose to emigrate or live as secret Jews (Anusim).

If I remember correctly, it was Rabbi Yeshaya Halevi Horowitz 1565-1630 ,(known as the Shelah) who attributed this ‘weakening of faith’ among the Sephardim to the widespread study (or at least tolerance) of Philosophy (if anyone can direct me to the exact source, I'd appreciate it).

Notes:

[1]. Zimmel. H.Z. Sephardim and Ashkenazim . Oxford, 1958. Pg. 22

[2]. Ibid, 32-33 (see original source in Sefer Yuchasin p. 51a).

[3]. Apparently there was also some controversy surrounding this incident.

Shadal and R' Leone Da Modena

2007-05-03T17:35:00.000-04:00

Shemuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865), known by his Hebrew acronym, 'Shadal' was an Orthodox Rabbi in Italy and a prolific writer, poet and scholar. While he supported the Wissenschaft des Judentums (science of Judaism) movement, he was a strict traditionalist who did not hesitate to attack Reform Judaism and its leaders with the harshest of terms (see later). I guess one can speculate that had he been alive today, he would have felt most comfortable in (a certain segment of) the Modern-Orthodox community.

Considering all of that, he should have naturally admired Rabbi Leone Da Modena of Venice (see previous post) and held him up as an early example of a "perfect maskil" , one possessing vast Torah knowledge as well as secular wisdom. Also, taking into consideration their similar views and backgrounds[1], the fact that they were both considered controversial by ultra-traditionalists and that they both held highly critical views of Kabballah and Zohar (in fact Shadal is credited for introducing a new rational anti-mystical approach to Judaism which had an indelible influence on Italian Jewry in the decades afterwards), an admiration for the man should have been a given, but instead Shadal held him in complete contempt.

The reason for this is that Shadal believed him (Da Modena) to be a hypocrite and a secret heretic(!).

To understand why, we need to discuss the curious case of the Sefer קול סכל Kol Sakhal. The book is an early anti-Rabbinic work whose author remains a mystery. There are differences of opinion among scholars about who the author could have been [2].

Shadal believed the author to be none other than Da Modena. What convinced him-beyond any doubt- that Da Modena was in fact the author of this book remains a mystery to me.

Shadal writes of him:

Have you seen שאגת אריה and קול סכל? Great novelty! It is clear beyond all doubt that קול סכל is also the work of Yehudah Aryeh Modena, and that this rabbi hated the sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud even more than the Karaites did, and that he was a bigger Reformer than Geiger! And this was 220 years ago! And in Italy!!

Should you copy it and bring it to the [Reform] Rabbinical Conference that will be held in Breslau, they will give you good money for it and will print it לְאוֹת לִבְנֵי־מֶרִי[from פרשת קרח: "a sign for the children of rebelliousness"] [3]

Notes:

[1] It is interesting to note that both Shadal and Da Modena were descendants of Ashkenazic emigrants. The latter a descendant of Jews who were expelled from France and the former from Germany.
From the Jewish Encyclopedia:
According to a tradition communicated by S. D. Luzzatto (Shadal) the family descends from a German who immigrated into Italy from the province of Lausitz, and who was named after his native place ("Lausatia," "Lausiatus" = "Luzzatto"). The name "Luzzatti," which one branch of this family bears, can similarly be traced back to the plural form "Lausiati." The German rite is credibly reported to have been observed in the family synagogue (Scuola Luzzatto) in Venice.

[2] See Rivkin, Ellis. Leon da Modena and the Kol Sakhal (Hebrew Union College, 1952)

[3] Translated from the Hebrew in Talya Fishman, Shaking the Pillars of Exile: 'Voice of a Fool,' an Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture (Stanford, 1997). See the original in 401 אגרות שד״ל, מס׳