HEBREW LANGUAGE: How to spell in English Hebrew letters?

Question from a reader:
Rabbi, I have a question that may be insignificant: why do you use the “Q” instead of “K” to translate the Hebrew into English, for example, when you write “Bet haMiqdash”? I have seen that you also write “Qabbala “instead of” Kabbala “, why is that?
Dear friend, the Hebrew language is very different from English or Spanish. And not all consonants in Hebrew have their perfect equivalence in English. If we review the vocabulary we would see that, for example, the letter ח HET and especially the ע AYIN, are impossible to transliterate (or translate, as you say). So when transliterating from Hebrew into English, there is no right or wrong. We rather adopt certain conventionalism. I, for example, have chosen to write the letter צ, which has no equivalent in non-Semitic languages, as “ts” instead of “tz”, because this is how the first Jews who wrote Tora books in Castilian (16th Century ) or in English (17th century) wrote this letter. Again, this does not mean that this is the only way to write this letter. 
 
Regarding the Hebrew letter ק by Q, it is much easier to explain.
If you compare the two vocabularies, Hebrew and English, you would immediately see that there is a fairly precise equivalence in the order of the two vocabularies.
Very briefly
The letter א is a silent letter, and is equivalent to the mute “H”, in modern Spanish, but the ordinal equivalent would be the letter A.
The letter ב obviously is B.
The letter ג equals C. There are some words that still preserve this equivalence ג = C. As גמל, “Gamal”, “camel”.
Then, the Hebrew letter ד, is obviously the D.
Up to here, as you can see, we have the almost perfect equivalent of ABCD.
Then it gets more complicated, but only a little.
In Hebrew, the vowels are not part of the alphabet, as they are in English. That’s why the letter ה becomes E.
The Hebrew letter ו, a “v”,  is very close to F (labio-dental).
The ז is close to a G, when it is followed by an “e” or “i” for example, “genes” or “page”.
The letter ח in Israel often is expressed with H, as in “Haifa” or “Hadera”. Some people write CH or H with a dot underneath.  
The letter ט, has no equivalent in the English alphabet. I really do not know why ….
The letter י is the “I”.
The Hebrew letter כ is the “K”.
ל letters, מ, נ, are L, M, N.
The ס has no clear equivalent in the English ABC. It is possible, but I’m not sure, that letters which repeat themselves (there are two “T” and three “S” in Hebrew) are expressed in the English alphabet only once …
The letter ע, becomes a vowel. Arbitrarily, the “O”. Same thing happened with the א , which became A and with the ה , that became E.
The letter פ is the “P”.
The צ has no equivalent …. (it is close to the “S”, and if so, the “S: will be transferred into English only once).
And finally we come to the letter you asked me about, the ק, which obviously equals Q, not K. That is why I prefer to write “Miqdash” rather than “Mikdash”, etc.
Finally, the next three letters, do not require much explanation: ר, ש, ת are obviously equivalent to R, S, T.

 



Rabbi Yehuda Hayyat (d. 1510), and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain

The city of Mantova, Italy
יום מאורי חשך בגרוש קאסטיליא….

Rabbi Yehuda ben Ya’aqob Hayyat z”l suffered all the tribulations that fell upon the Jews as a consequence of their expulsion from Spain. His dramatic life story exemplifies the adversities of hundreds of thousands of Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula for refusing to abandon their religion.

.In his book “Minhat Yehuda” Rabbi Hayyat describes the calamities he lived for about two years

When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, about 120,000 of them fled to Portugal. The Portuguese King Juan II, accepted the Jews, but demanded them to pay an exorbitant sum of money to stay there. A year after arriving into Portugal, in 1493, the king decided that Jews could not stay any longer in his kingdom unless they converted to Catholicism or pay again a huge amount of money. The Jews were poor refugees, and when they were expelled from Spain all their properties were expropriated. In addition,  it was forbidden for them to take silver, gold, or anything of value. In Portugal, they were living in extreme poverty and were not able to afford the payment that the King demanded

Along with 250 other Jewish refugees, Rabbi Hayyat left Portugal and sailed from the port of Lisbon in a precarious ship toward the coast of Morocco. Conditions on board were so unhealthy that after a few days at sea an epidemic broke out on the ship. In those conditions  they would not disembark into any other port. The ship was taken to the port of Malaga. There, several priests were awaiting for those Jews. When the desperate Jewish passengers asked the Catholic clerics to give them water and bread, the priests refused, unless they accepted baptism …. The poor Jews stayed for five days in the ship. Close to hundred of those Jews chose to convert in order to save their lives. And about fifty of those Jews, among them, Rabbi Hayyat’s wife, died of thirst and starvation

After two months, the precarious vessel reached the coast of Morocco. But upon stepping on solid ground, a moorish that recognized Rabbi Hayyat from Spain, accused him of being an infidel and the Rabbi was immediately imprisoned and sentenced to death by Muslim fanatics, who claimed that his religious beliefs and practices offend Islam. To save his life, they said, he had to convert to Islam. If he would do, they would honor him and grant hi all he wishes. For forty days Rabbi Hayyat was imprisoned in a dark underground hole living in inhuman conditions, surrounded by rodents, snakes, and scorpions

In the end, some Jewish refugees from the Moroccan village of Shorshan, who were extremely poor, managed to raise some money to bribe the jailers and save Rabbi Hayyat from a certain death. Rabbi Hayyat gave them in exchange and as a token of gratitude 200 books that he had brought with him from Spain. He escaped to the city of Fes, a little further south. Fes was the refuge of tens of thousands of exiled Jews from Spain. But there too Rabbi Hayyat found only more tribulations

He writes in his book

“Fes suffered from a terrible famine… people were forced to eat grass to survive. Every day I work grinding some grains with my bare hands in the house of a Muslim family to earn a small and this morsel of bread. … like other Jews who escaped from Spain, we have no home or shelter. And at night, in the winter, we would dig to ourselves into the dumps hole, in the outskirts of the city, to sleep. “

After being in Fes for 8 months, the rabbi narrates, “… a terrible fire broke out in the city and many people died in the flames … After the fire, and as a result of the great drought, over 20,000 (sic.) Jews perished of starvation and epidemics. And when they saw this, many Jews who came from Spain and Portugal, decided to return there, to avoid a certain death for them and their children. “

A contemporary Spanish historian Andrés Bernáldez (1450-1513) writes in his book “History of the Catholic kings” (p. 78) that the Jews who left Fes were victims of all forms of abuse… on the roads they were attacked by Moors, who kidnapped and raped their wives and daughters, and opened their bodies to see whether they had hidden silver or gold in their stomachs

Rabbi Hayyat managed to leave Morocco and embarked for Italy. First, he arrived into Naples, but at that time (1494) Naples was at war and the French King expelled the Jews from the  city. Then, Rabbi Hayyat arrived at the port of Venice alone, as he had lost his entire family, and half-naked. When the Spanish Jews living in Venice recognized him, they took care of him. From Venezia, Rabbi Hayyat reached the Italian city of Mantova, where he lived until his last days

HIS WORKS

In Mantova Rabbi Hayyat found and befriended a Sephardic Rabbi named Yosef Ya’abets, who convinced him to write a commentary to the famous mystic (and cryptic) book “ma’arakhot Eloqim”. Rabbi Hayyat, far for complaining to God for his terrible fate, called his book “Minhat Yehuda” (The offering of Judah). That is: this book was an offering that Rabbi Yehuda Hayyat, offered to HaShem for saving his life

This book is considered a seminal work because it explains the most complex principles of Kabbala, and contributed to the spread of Hokhmat haQabbala, a phenomena which reached its peak in the 16th century. Rabbi Hayyat mentions in his book some of his teachers in Spain. Among them, Rabbi Shemuel Ibn Shraga and Rabbi Yosef Alcastilia (also, “Alcastiel”), meaning, from Castille

There is another book, which was never published yet, which consist of 18 questions and answers between rabbi Yehuda Hayyat and Rabbi Yosef Alcastiel. From these 18 questions and answers, 17 are on mysticism and only one on a Talmudic subject. 

Although precise details are unknown, it is estimated that Rabbi Yehuda Hayyat died in Mantova, Italy, circa 1510



13 PRINCIPLES: Why do we Jews believe in God?

אתם עדי, נאום ה’
In his Pirush haMishnayot, Maimonides (1135-1204) formulated the 13 principles of the Jewish faith.
 
“The first principle is to believe in the existence of God.” 
 
In his book Mishne Tora Maimonides describes belief in God, first, as “knowing God” (ידיעת ה).
What is knowledge of God?
We, the Jewish people, collectively experienced the revelation of God on Mount Sinai, when we were given the Tora and celebrated the covenant (berit) with HaShem. In a technical sense, our knowledge of God, knowing of His existence, is based on this historic event. At this very basic level, our faith in God is intimately related, and dependent, on the faith we have in our ancestors. That is: I trust my parents, who believed in their parents, who believed in their parents, etc. who believed 120 generations ago in their parents when they asserted having experienced “personally” the revelation of God on Mount Sinai. That generation that left Egypt, “heard” the word of God revealing the 10 commandments (see Shemot-Exodus- cap 19, 20 and 24).
 
Some thoughts on this point: As Rabbi Yehuda Halevi says in his book “The Cuzari”, no other nation lived this collective experience of the Divine revelation. Other religions, in their own words, are based on “individual revelations.” Islam is based on the testimony of a single individual, Muhammad, who privately received the Koran from the angel Gabriel. The only person who witnessed the resurrection of Yeshu was Mary Magdalene. The subsequent Christian historiography is based on her exclusive testimony. The same happened to Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Mormon religion, who had private religious visions and revelations. The people of Israel, however, witnessed God’s revelation collectively, as a people. 600,000 men between 20 and 60 years of age, in addition to women, elderly and children. A total of no less than 3 million people. The Cuzari explains that no people could “fabricate” to have had a collective experience–and in fact no religion ever claimed so, because, although this argument would give more credibility to their belief that would be an unsustainable claim: it would be enough for one individual of that generation to openly voice his version of the events, for this “collective” testimony to lose all of its historical value. The Jews are the only people who claim to have experienced this “national revelation,” which, by the way, it is a fact accepted by all other Biblical religions: Christianity, Islam, etc.
This historic event, which we call MA’AMAD HAR SINAI, is only the basis of our faith. It is the first element of our faith, that according to Maimonides, we should convey to our children. It is the foundation upon which all other spiritual and philosophical aspects of our faith rest and relay upon. The prophet Yesha’ayahu defined the Jewish people (43:10) with the following words: atem ‘eday, “You are My witnesses”; you, the Jewish people are the only witness who ever witnessed My existence.
The knowledge of God begins with this historical foundation but obviously does not end there. The search for God is a long path, and walking that path is the existential mission of a Jewish individual. It is not an easy path, especially for those who were not raised in it. And more especially in our days, when the belief in God’s existence is challenged from the field of biology (evolution), psychology, cosmology, theodicy, biblical criticism etc, etc.
 
In the coming weeks, BH, we will address these issues in more depth.


TEHILIM 15: How do we measure integrity?

נשבע להרע ולא ימיר
This psalm of King David is very short, containing just five pesuquim (Biblical verses). But is very rich in meaning.
The text begins with a question:
PASUQ 1: “Who deserves to live in Your tent,  who deserves to dwell in Your Sanctuary?”.
The words “live in His tent”, “dwell in His sanctuary” refers to achieving a very high spiritual state. “Living in God’s vicinity means feeling very close to Him, continuously. This depends, first, on the person’s desire to get closer to Him. And also on HaShem’s will, in considering this individual deserving His special attention [hashgacha peratit]. The question then is: What are the virtues that a man or a woman should cultivate to deserve living close to God, and, as Maimonides explains, to deserve HaShem’s attention?
PASUQ 2: “He who conducts himself with integrity, acts with righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.”
This pasuq lists the virtues that one must have to become this “ideal human being” who deserves to live in His presence. It is worth noticing that all the qualities mentioned here have to do with integrity and honesty. It does not mean that other aspects of the Tora, religious rituals and ceremonies, are less important. It is only that this Psalm focuses specifically on morality. This pasuq speaks of three ethical principles that guide the deeds of a “good person”: integrity, justice and truthfulness. The next verse, as we will see now, will mention three wrongdoing that a “good person” should avoid.
PASUQ 3: “He does not slander with his tongue, nor he does evil to his fellow man, nor he offends his neighbor.”
Again, we see that this Psalm emphasizes the moral actions (ben adam lahabero) rather than the ceremonials (ben adam lamaqom). The first offense mentioned here is leshon hara: speaking ill of another person, behind his or her back, in words that, even if true, may cause harm to that person. Then, the pasuq refers to avoiding causing material damages, like stealing or assaulting someone physically. And finally, King David mentions not to offend others and avoiding causing emotional harm, i.e., damages that are caused mostly by words: insulting, offending or verbally abusing someone, etc.
PASUQ 4: ” He despises men who do evil; but would honor God fearing people. If he swears [he will fulfill his promise and] will not change, although [by keeping his word] he will loss”. 
This pasuq relates to the conduct of this good man with himself. A decent man or woman does not envy the wicked, even if they succeed and prosper. The role model for this person are God-fearing people. That is, individuals who are conducting their lives with a permanent awareness that HaShem is watching what they do.  Finally, a good man is, above all, honest. And how do you measure integrity in Judaism? When a person has already committed himself to do a business transaction, and although he did not sign anything, he gave his word. And then he realizes, or it happens that under new circumstances, to carry out that transaction will harm him economically and he would lose a lot of money by keeping his word. In these circumstances, the decent  man will no retract himself. He will not change his words and will not deny his commitment. The man who deserves to live close to God, will honor his words. Would rather loss money than breaking his promise. This, in Judaism, is the epitome of integrity .
PASUQ 5: “He would not give his money at interest, or accept bribes to incriminate the innocent. He who does this, will never stumble” and will deserve to live in the proximity of God, in this world and in the next.
א  מִזְמוֹר, לְדָוִד:    ה’, מִי יָגוּר בְּאָהֳלֶךָ; מִי יִשְׁכֹּן, בְּהַר קָדְשֶׁךָ.
ב  הוֹלֵךְ תָּמִים, וּפֹעֵל צֶדֶק;    וְדֹבֵר אֱמֶת, בִּלְבָבוֹ.
ג  לֹא-רָגַל, עַל-לְשֹׁנוֹ לֹא-עָשָׂה לְרֵעֵהוּ רָעָה;  וְחֶרְפָּה, לֹא נָשָׂא עַל-קְרֹבוֹ.
ד נִבְזֶה, בְּעֵינָיו נִמְאָס וְאֶת-יִרְאֵי ה’ יְכַבֵּד; נִשְׁבַּע לְהָרַע,    וְלֹא יָמִר.
ה כסְפּוֹ, לֹא-נָתַן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ וְשֹׁחַד עַל-נָקִי, לֹא לָקָח: עֹשֵׂה-אֵלֶּה לֹא יִמּוֹט לְעוֹלָם.

 



Was Christopher Columbus Jewish?

The last name Colón, or Columbus, was typically a Jewish last name, originating from the Hebrew name Yona (“colomba,” which is Italian for “dove”). There was a famous Spanish Rabbi named “Rabbenu Yona” (d. 1264), as well as one of the most celebrated rabbis of that time and the most essential Italian jurist Rabbi (poseq) of all times, Rabbi Yosef Colón (Mahariq, 1420-1480). In Spain, in one of the earliest “autos de fe” (1461), Thomas Colón, along with his wife and son, were burned alive for committing the crime of “Judaizing” (performing Jewish practices, such as lighting candles or changing clothes on Friday afternoon, or standing silently while facing a wall [reciting the ‘Amida], etc.).

Of course, if Columbus was Jewish, he would have been expected to hide his identity, especially if his intention was to obtain the political support of the crown of Spain or Portugal for his expedition. At the time of the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel (י”ש), being Jewish was not a title that granted many privileges in the Spanish court. Many Jews, probably more than 200,000, lived a double life. They, or their parents, had been forcibly converted since the start of the “pogroms” and riots in 1391. They lived outwardly as Catholics, but at home, among relatives and family (often risking their lives), they tried to live as Jews. These secret Jews were called by many different names: “marranos,” in the vernacular, converts, new Christians, or “chuetas” in southern Spain.

There is much evidence indicating the Jewishness of Columbus, such as his signature, etc. Less known facts are:

  1. In his will, Colón left 10% of his profits to the poor and the maidens who needed to be married. These gestures are two important precepts in Judaism, ma’aser kesafim, donating 10% of your income to charity, and within the Mitsva of Tsedaqa, as the Shulchan Aruch says, the most meritorious act and the noblest charity is to support young girls who need to get married and do not have sufficient means to do so (hakhnasat kala, Yore De’a 249: 15).
  2. Columbus had to leave the Port of Palos on August 2nd, 1492. That year, August 2nd was the day of Tisha BeAv, the day of national mourning for the Jewish people. Columbus, for reasons that could not be explained otherwise (in climatic terms, etc.), had his 90 men embark on August 2nd, but he left the port the next day, Friday, August 3rd, half an hour before the start of Shabbat. “Coincidentally,” August 3rd was also the last day the infamous Edict of Expulsion established for Jews to choose between converting or leaving Spain.
  3. All supporters of Columbus were Jewish or Jewish converts. Funding for the expedition of Columbus did not come, as the legend says, from the “money obtained by Queen Isabel” when she sold her personal jewelry. Columbus needed the political and legal support of the Queen to legally conquer new lands, and for this, he convinced the Queen that in the new lands (presumably, India), Spain could further spread Christianity. Among the Jews who supported Columbus were, for example, the famous Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel, one of the wealthiest men in Spain, and Rabbi Abraham Zacuto, Spain’s most famous astronomer at the time, who gave Columbus his astrolabe and its Perpetual Calendar, both new and essential tools for navigation. Columbus’s major donors were Jewish converts, among others, Luis de Santangel and Gabriel Sanchez. When Columbus returned from his first expedition, he wrote two letters thanking for the support he received: one letter to Sanchez and the other one to Santangel. He did not write to the Kings. But why would Spanish Jews and converts support Columbus’s enterprise enthusiastically? If Columbus’s intention was to promote the Christian faith, why would these persecuted Jews, who were forcibly converted to Christianity, and their relatives and friends were tortured and murdered in “autos de fe” for “resisting” practicing the Christian faith, support Columbus’s project?
  4. In his “Diary of the First Trip” of 1492, Columbus revealed his incredible master plan. There, Columbus writes that with the profits from the conquest of new lands, he wants to “free Jerusalem and build la casa sancta (the ‘holy house’).” Columbus says this repeatedly in his diaries. What moved Columbus to acquire gold and riches, in his own words, was his desire to finance a large army of over 100,000 soldiers, to liberate Jerusalem from the hands of the Moors and “build the holy house there.” For Christians, the conquest of Jerusalem was justified in order to liberate the “holy sepulcher,” the most sacred place in the world for Christians. In Christian terms, the expression “building a holy house in Jerusalem” has no sense. Obviously, as we Jews know, the building of the “Holy House in Jerusalem” can be nothing else but the Bet haMiqdash. The intention of Columbus, and the Jews who so enthusiastically supported him was that with the proceeds from a new world, Jerusalem could be conquered, and the Jews, including the 500,000-800,000 Jews who left Spain on the same day Columbus sailed from Palos, could finally return to their home, Israel, and see their “Casa Sancta” rebuilt (בבי”א), which was and still is, the highest aspiration of the Jewish people.
    All this information, as far as I know, is not very well known and, I believe, is not usually taught even at Jewish schools. 
     For what is probably the best article on this matter, where you can find all the information you need to prove the Jewish identity of Columbus, see here, Rabbi Yosef Faur: “Columbus and the discovery of America, a Jewish Perspective” .  
    In recent years (2013) a non-Jewish Hispanic businessman from Miami,  Charles Patrick Garcia, speaking to CNN, made Columbus Jewish identity better known.  Read this.  For those who want to practice their Spanish, there is also an interview to Garcia on this subject by “CNN en Español”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgjthCU7v



Praying for a rainy day?

As we have previously explained, our rabbis introduced two prayers for the rain in the ‘amida. One is barekh ‘alenu (the ninth berakha of the ‘amida), which is the blessing for our livelihood (parnasa). We ask God for “rain” and not for “customers” for our business or for “money” because in ancient times, when Israel was an agricultural society, everyone’s economy depended entirely on rain.  We ask HaShem to bless us with dew and rain, which should come in a way of blessing (librakha). We request HaShem to give us rain in its time and in its proper measure. As it is written in the Shema’ Israel be’ito yore umalqosh, give us “in its proper time the yore, the strong rainfall which the early precipitation and helps to soften the land we need to plow) and then the soft rain, malqosh which is needed once the vegetation starts to grow (if we would get the mild rain at the beginning of the season, it will not be enough to soften the land.  And if we get the strong rainfall when the vegetation is growing, the rain will destroy the plants).The first time rain is mentioned in the ‘amida, is during the second berakha. In that blessing, we don’t ask or request rain or anything else from God. We praise Him. We state that God is Omnipotent (=infinitely powerful) and that He uses His powers to sustain, maintain, support, cure, deliver, nurture, and revive His creatures.  This is the context in which we say “the prayer of praise for the rain “mashib haruah, umorid haGeshem, “[HaShem, You are the One] who makes the wind to blow, and the rain to fall”. In this context we are not asking for rain, we are expressing our appreciation for the fact that HaShem created rain.  We perceive rain as part of tehiyat hametim, “God’s power to revive and restore life” , because thanks to the rain the dry-land revives, the plants grow again and the living creatures of the world stay alive.

Rain is critically important for our survival.  And praising God for “rain” should be nothing short of natural and spontaneous.  In our days, however, we do not really appreciate rain. In urban areas we have lost our appreciation for it… When it rains in New York city, for example, you don’t see people excited and thankful to HaShem about it.  On the contrary, 99% of people are actually annoyed by rain.

What kind of praise then, would one say for something that feels an annoyance more than a blessing?

In the coming days, B’H we will explore some of the wonders of the mechanism of precipitation, which should help us gaining a more profound and positive outlook at the miracle of rain, and hopefully help us to better praise HaShem for one of His main blessings to mankind.



MASHIB HARUAH: Why do we pray for rain in plural?

From the first day of shemini ‘atseret (Oct. 5th 2015) we began reciting the prayer mashib haruah umorid hageshem, i.e., HaShem “makes the wind blow, and He makes the rain descend [on the earth]”.  With these words we acknowledge that God is the One Who controls the weather system which, among other things, produces rain.

In this prayer we are not “asking” God for rain. We are rather expressing our appreciation for His power to make rain.

The prayer in which we request rain barekh ‘alenu is going to be said later on.   But why aren’t we asking for rain now, at the beginning of the autumn season, when rain is expected and most needed in Israel?

The answer is simple and inspiring. In ancient Israel the Jews came walking to celebrate Sukkot in Jerusalem, from very distant places.  After shemini ‘atseret every one would come back home. The Rabbis observed that the farthest cities from where the pilgrims came from, were close to the Euphrates river . And they calculated that it would take up to two weeks to walk back to those towns.  The Rabbis did not see with good eyes that a Jew in Jerusalem would be asking God for rain, knowing that some of his brothers are still walking back home, and for them rain will not be a blessing at this time. The Rabbis established then that the prayer for rain should be said two weeks after Sukkot. To give everyone the opportunity to be back home safe and sound.

This is why in Erets Israel, even in our days,  the blessing barekh alenu is not said until the 7th of Heshvan, exactly two weeks after shemini ‘atseret.

This halakhic rule teaches us a lesson which goes beyond the specific prayer for rain. Sometimes we might be praying to God for something that would be good for us but bad for somebody else. This is one the main reason that we always pray in plural. For example: in the prayer where we ask God for our  livelihood (parnasa) we do not say: “bless me”. We always say: “bless us”.  I ask God to bless me and my next door competitor, the one that sells the same merchandise, to the same customers I sell to. Our belief is that HaShem’s blessing in infinite, and He does not need to take from someone else to give me. Praying in plural reinforces our kindness and sensitivity for others.

This idea, by the way, is very similar to the win/win mentality in modern marketing, as opposed to the old win/lose mentality.

 



Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib and the rabbinical ordination debate

Rabbi Levi ben Habib was born in Zamora, Spain, approximately in 1480. At the age of five he managed to escape to Portugal, with his father, the famous rabbi Ya’aqob ibn Habib, and his immediate family. In Portugal, when he was about seventeen years old, he was compelled to submit to a forced conversion. At the first opportunity he and his father fled to Salonica, where he could live as a Jew in safety.

In Salonica, he studied Tora from his father and from many other teachers.  In those days, Salonica was one of the most important centers of Tora, if not the most important, in the new Sephardic world. In Salonica Rabbi Levi met rabbi Yosef Caro and many other giants of Tora.  In a short time Rabbi Levi became very famous and respected, and numberless of Halakhic questions were addressed to him from many communities around the world.  Rabbi Levi was known as an exiguous Talmudist who showed preference for the use of meticulous textual reading, as opposed to casuistry (pilpul).  He admitted that he was not well versed in Qabbala, but he was proud of his knowledge of science.  Rabbi Levi was an expert in astronomy and a great mathematician. This knowledge allowed rabbi Levi to have a deep understanding of the intricacies of the Jewish calendar, as it is clear from the superb commentary he wrote on Maimonides’ Hilkhot Qiddush haHodesh. Like many other Sephardic rabbis at the time, he was also a physician.

After the passing of this father, Rabbi Levi decided to leave Salonica and settle in Erets Israel.  He was then more than 50 years old. From Salonica he arrived to Aram Tsoba (Aleppo) in Syria. He writes with admiration about the rabbis of the city: “I found there [in Aleppo] very wise men, with whom I had the opportunity to study Tora. Every day they learn Halakhot and I studied with them with fraternity and love”.  From Aleppo, rabbi Levi traveled to Israel. First he settled in Tsefat (Safed) and finally, he settled in Jerusalem, where his fame and knowledge won him the position of chief rabbi of the city.

Many Megorashim, refugees from Spain and Portugal, were still coming to Jerusalem in the 1530’s.  Many among these Megorashim were forcefully baptized and forced to practice Christianity for a while.    They believed that the ultimate atonement (kapara or tiqqun) for their forced conversion was to settle in the land of Israel, mainly in Jerusalem.

As we have mentioned before, the rabbis of Safed wanted to renew the semikha, the original rabbinical ordination to apply the punishments (malqut) that would atone for these sins, and allow the tormented souls of the former conversos to start over their Jewish life. Rabbi Levi ben Habib was a strong opponent , the strongest, to the renewal of the Semikha project initiated by rabbi Ya’aqob Berab. Rabbi ben Habib refused to accept the authority of Rabbi Berab and accused the latter of disgracing the honor of Jerusalem.

Rabbi ben Habib together with rabbi David ben Zimra, Chief rabbi of Egypt at the time, who also opposed the new Semikha, wrote a small booklet qunteres hasemikha, in which they explained the reasons for their opposition to the new semikha.   

The main objections were

1. We do not have in our days Rabbis that are ordained with the original Semikha of Moshe Rabbenu, but they are still called “rabbis” and act as rabbis of every practical purpose. The renewal of the Semikha will create an elite of rabbis, with the privilege to sentence laws which would be mandatory for all the Jewish people, and that will diminish the honor and capabilities of most rabbis in the world who are holding a rabbinical position in their communities. 

2. At the end of the famous paragraph in which Maimonides explains the ways to renew the Semikha there are three problematic words, which Maimonides does not use very frequently : והדבר צריך הכרע , which means that “this matter still needs to be settled”. From these words rabbi Levi ben Habib inferred that the matter of the renewal of the semikha necessitates more than a majority of rabbis in favor of the project. It is worth to remember that at the time, Safed had more rabbis than Yerushalayim, “most” rabbis of Israel lived in Safed.  But Rabbi ibn Habib was saying that according to Maimonides words a majority of rabbis was not enough. The renewal of the Semikha, Rabbi Levi said, requires a “consensus” of all rabbis, particularly of the rabbis of Erets Israel, the only place where the Semikha could be renewed. And that consensus did not exist.

3. The new proposed semikha will create new challenges for which there is no easy solution. For example: are we going to come back to the system of declaring the beginning of the months (qiddush hahodesh) via testimonies (‘edut) and establishing the leap years, as they did in the times of the Mishna? In light of the precision of our present calendar, it seems that the renewal of the Semikha will bring more challenges than solutions.

4. One of the reason explicitly mentioned by rabbi Berab and his students in support of renewing the Semikha related to an urgent problem which needed to be solved: there were thousands of marranos or anusim, Jewish or conversos refugees, who were forced or pressured to convert and to accept baptism in Spain and Portugal. Now, this type of apostasy is a very sever sin, and the punishment reserved for those Jews who willingly converted is  “karet” a “divine cut-off of the sinner from the people of Israel”. However, a Jewish High Court or Sanhedrin had the authority to apply a more lenient punishment (malqut) which will dispense the more sever punishment for the converso Jews. However, for rabbi Ibn Habib this was unnecessary because there was no hatra-a (legal warning) and not valid witnessing at the times these Jews were forced to convert to Christianity. Thus, the severe punishment was not technically applicable.

5. The original Semikha was discontinued in the times of Rab Ashe, 1108 years ago (counting from the time of rabbi Ibn Habib). Rabbi Levi asks: how come no other rabbi ever thought about the possibility of renewing the Semikha? For Rabbi Levi the Semikha should be renewed only in the times of the Messiah. And perhaps the Messiah himself or Eliyahu the Prophet will be the ones that will grant a new ordination to the disciples they will see fit. 

In any case, the opposition of rabbi ben Habib, together with other factors,  prevented the renewal of the Semikha from becoming a long term project. It ended after four generations.

In his youth Rabbi Habib edited his father’s book En Yaaqob (Constantinople, 1516). He also wrote: She’elot u-Teshubot, a collection of 147 responsa; Pirush Qiddush HaHodesh, a brilliant commentary on the rules governing the method of the Hebrew calendar in Maimonides code of law.   All these works were published together in Venice (1565).



What is a Prozbul and why you should sign one?

This year that is coming to an end, 5775, has been a Shemita year.  In addition to the restrictions of working the land in Israel and transacting with produce from the land of Israel,  the Tora also prescribes that each Jew shall renounce his or her right to recover a debt from any other Jew.  This means that, as soon as Rosh HaShana commences next week, if I have lent money to another Jew, I now will have the obligation to never charge this person this money.  It is a beautiful precept, and one that allowed Jews to start fresh.  It is a sort of biblical bankruptcy protection that allowed people to push the reset button at least once every seven years.
But, wait, so does this mean that cousin Jim will never need to pay back the $500 I lent him?
During the first century of the common era, before the Second Temple was destroyed, Hillel the Elder, the foremost sage of his generation and head of the Jewish Supreme Court at that time, realized that Jews were refraining from making any loans during the Shemita year.  After all, why lend money that becomes unrecoverable if not paid back before Rosh HaShana?  Actually, the Tora already foresaw this possibility, and warned us not to refrain from making loans during this year; but Hillel saw that people were still not lending.  Paradoxically, poor people were harmed by this precept because now there were no loans available.  Hillel came up with a legal device that permits lenders to recover on their loans even after the Rosh HaShana following Shemita.  The device is called “Perozbol,” (also “prozbol”, “prozbul”, or most people call it “pruzbul”) and we employ it to date.
In essence, the Biblical precept says that one needs to “let go” of the borrower (“Shamot Kol Ba’al Mashe Yado”) and refrain from demanding the repayment of the debt.  However, if a debt is recognized by a court (say, if the lender sued the borrower and the court agreed that the debt needs to be repaid), this “debt” is now in a way an obligation to the court, not to the lender.  It is a matter of justice more than a personal debt.
Hillel’s device then is to declare before a Jewish court the debt in question so that it is recognized officially by a court even before it is due.  If Jim owes me $500, I should then – after the loan but before Rosh HaShana – write a document to a Jewish court declaring before them that this money is due and that the lender intends to recover it whenever.  This declaration is called Perozbol.  By doing this, the debt survives the Shemita, and the lender is not transgressing the precept; after all, the lender will not demand the repayment of the debt – the court will – and so there will be nothing to be “let go” (“Shamot”).
A few notes:
· The Shemita debt forgiveness applies to actual loans, but not to debts that are owed due to services received, goods purchased or legal damages owed
· The Perozbol device is only permissible while the laws of Shemita are rabbinical (these laws will regain their biblical status once the majority of Jews live in Israel); otherwise, loans really need to be forgiven
· The borrower needs to have some real estate; this is so that the debt may be assigned to a court (the court can only assume a debt that can be attached to a real estate lien)
· The court to whom one delivers the Perozbol should be a court with authority to make liens and to seize property
· It is proper and appropriate to repay one’s debts next year even if the lender did not do a Perozbol; in such case, the borrower should be clear that this is not a repayment but rather a gift
· It is also proper and appropriate to forgive one’s loans, especially if the borrower could use the relief of not having to repay what is owed
by Rabbi Jacob Bittón
PRINTABLE FORMS
 
The first two forms we present here require the signature of two suitable witnesses, the lender should also do a qinyan (one form requires the ender to sign). The lender can keep the form with him. 
 
FORM FROM RABBI ELIYAHU BEN HAYIM, BADATZ QUEENS

 

PROZBOL FROM BET DIN ARAM SOBA

 

The RCA requests that the form be signed in the presence of three observant men acting as a Bet Din, or in front of two suitable witnesses and then, the form needs to be sent to the RCA Bet Din. 
 
See here: FORM FROM RCA, RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA. 

 

Please, ask your local rabbi which form is the most appropriate for your community.    

IN OHEL DAVID USHLOMO WE WILL PROVIDE THIS SERVICE B”H THIS COMING SUNDAY MORNING, SEPT 13th AFTER TEFILAT SHAHARIT. 



The SHOFAR and Jiminy Cricket

I remember the first time heard the word “conscience” was when I was a kid and I discovered one of my favorite characters, “Jiminy Cricket”, Pinocchio’s conscience. Jiminy tried to keep Pinocchio out of trouble, and especially protected him from falling into the wrong influences. While listening to Jiminy, everything was fine for Pinocchio. The problems began for the wooden boy when he chose to ignore the desperate calls of warning from his cricket ….
The conscience is an integral part of our neshama (human soul). Its mission is to warn us when we are doing something wrong. It is the mental and spiritual mechanism that God gave us to protect ourselves from ourselves.
Our conscience (= yetser hatob) is the inner voice, that when, for example, we are about to say something negative about someone (lashon hara) shouts from inside: “Do not do it, it is bad to speak critically of another person. Would you like people to say that about you? “
But what happens when we ignore the first call of our conscience? How many times our conscience warns us about bad things we are about to do?
Our conscience shouts loud and clear the first time we are about to do something wrong. The Tsadiqim (=  completely righteous people) hear and obey the first call of their conscience. Therefore, they maintain a permanently “active” and alert conscience that speaks with a strong and loud voice.
But what if, like Pinocchio, we decided to ignore the warning of our conscience?
When we ignore the first call of our conscience, that inner voice becomes increasingly lower and weaker … The conscience becomes virtually “mute”. And if we persist in our wrongdoing, and conscience are anesthetized, or in the words of Maimonides, “asleep”.
According to Maimonides the shofar is like an alarm clock. Consciences that have not been heard for the first time, have fallen asleep. The Shofar helps us to recover the original voice of our sleeping consciences.
In this sense, when we hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are starting the deepest step of the Teshuba process. We awaken our moral lethargy and reexamine our conduct in the light of a renewed conscience, awake and alert, which will call our attention like the first time.
The Shofar is the Divine alarm clock that calls us to reflect, reassess our behavior and ask ourselves: Is it possible that we are doing things wrong, and we did not even realize it? We speak critically of others, we proceed with dishonesty, we hurt people, we do not appreciate how much Hashem gives us, we lose our time in material vanities, etc, etc, etc …. and we have become so used to this routine, that our consciences no longer shout at us….
In the words of Maimonides (MT, Teshuba 3: 4) the shofar of Rosh Hashanah sends a powerful message:
“Awaken from your slumber, all those asleep! Those who are sleeping, stand up to review your deeds. Repent of what you have done wrong and remember your Creator … Examine your souls. Improve your behavior. Abandon your evil ways and your evil thoughts “