Rabbi Abraham Antebi (1765-1858) and the earthquake that devastated Aleppo

Rabbi Abraham Antebi ז”ל was born in Aleppo (Aram Tzoba), Syria, in 1765. He was a descent of Jews expelled from Spain who settled in the city of En-Tab, now known as Antep, located in the south of Turkey. His great-great-grandfather, Hakham Rahamim (1554-1627), emigrated from En-Tab to Aleppo, and hence the origin of his last name Antebi.

In his youth he studied mainly with his father, Hakham Itzhaq Antebi, of the great sages of Aleppo. In 1817 he was appointed Rabbi and Superior Judge of all Aleppo, a position he held for more than 40 years.

Rabbi Antebi was a prolific author. His works deal mainly with halakha (Jewish law), derushim (speeches and sermons) and musar (Jewish ethics). He also composed several poems and songs of religious character. But no less than for his works, he was noted for his passionate dedication to the welfare of his community that in those years was in a very difficult situation.

In 1824 an earthquake devastated the city of Aleppo and about a thousand Jews died (in those days, the community did not exceed 10,000 people) and those who were saved, including the Rabbi, had to camp in improvised tents outside the city and live there for 18 months. At that time Rabbi Antebi wrote his first book, which he called Yosheb Ohalim, “Seated in the Tents”. This book contains sermons on the weekly sections of the Tora in which it combines, in a very creative way, the halakhic analysis, the biblical stories and the hagadic narratives (stories and parables of the sages). In those improvised tents, without his books, Rabbi Antebi wrote his work quoting all sources from his memory.

The main problem Rabbi Antebi faced as a community leader was the general impoverishment of the community. Revenue fell, prices rose and the Ottoman Empire demanded more taxes. There are many stories about how the Rabbi dedicated all his efforts to supporting the needy. In his musar books Ohel Yesharim and Hochma Umusar he writes extensively about how each Jew is guarantor for his Yehudi brothers and should not ignore them in their times of trouble. He also wrote that one of the reasons for the bad economic situation of the Aleppo Jews was because people were only engaged in trade and had no professions. The Rabbi exhorted parents to provide their children with a profession and not be content with just training them in trade.

One of the Rabbi’s most important books is Mor Vahalot, questions and answers on innumerable cases that appeared in the community and required an authoritative rabbinical opinion.

Let’s look at one of these questions (H.M. 2).

The custom of the Jewish courts in Aleppo was that the chief Rabbi of the city, then Rabbi Antebi, judged individually the various monetary conflicts, without being accompanied by two other judges (dayanim), which was the common practice of the other rabbinical judges.

The Rabbi was questioned for this procedure. It was not a legal problem, since according to the halakha the litigants can accept to be judged by a single dayan, but still there was an “ethical” problem. The famous rabbi Rabbi Shabetai Hakohen (the Shakh, Poland, seventeenth century, in HM 3, 10), based on the Shulhan Arukh and the Talmud of Jerusalem, wrote that although technically the rabbinical judge can judge for himself, it is not right that a judge would do so, unless he is a great expert in rabbinical jurisprudence. But it does not end there. Rabbi Shakh goes on to say that no one today can be considered as a “great expert” as it was in the time of the Talmud. Since with the passing of the generations the knowledge of Tora has diminished. Therefore today no rabbi should judge individually. And many prominent rabbis adopted the Shakh’s opinion.

At this point Rabbi Abraham enlightens us with his halakhic vision. Rabbi Antebi disagreed with the vision of the Shakh. These are some of his words:

“Contrary [to what Rabbi Shakh said], it is more common to find an expert in our generations than in the generations of the Talmud, since the whole expertise [of the Talmud sages] was based on memory and oral transmission. In those times to be an expert was not very common. The same is not true in our generation, because all [the law] is already written in the books and [the Sages] did not leave any great or small matter without recording it. Therefore, if a rabbinical judge knows how to legally analyze[the case at hand] and he is familiar with the books of the posqim (halakhic lawmakers), there is no doubt that he can be considered a “great expert” in law.

Rabbi Abraham Antebi died in Aleppo in 1858 at the age of 93, and is remembered to this day as one of Aleppo’s greatest luminaries.

Written for Halakha of the Day by Abraham Sacca, son of Rabbi Isaac Sacca of Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

Rabbi Hayim Ben Attar (1696- 1743) and the power of the Grandparents

Rabbi Hayim ben Attar (or Benattar), also known as the Or HaHayim haQadosh, was born in the city of Salé on the west coast of Morocco, in 1696. His father was Moshe ben Attar, a great Tora scholar. From the age of 9 Rabbi ben Attar studied with his grandfather. The Rabbi wrote that every night he studied Gemara with him, and then his grandfather prayed and cried, begging HaShem to end our exile, to bring us back to Israel, and to see in our days the building of the Bet HaMiqdash.

The family of Rabbi ben Attar enjoyed a very good economic situation, and that allowed Rabbi Hayim to devote himself fully to the study of Tora. Over time Rabbi nen Attar grew in his knowledge of Tora and transformed his house into a Bet Midrash, a Tora academy, where anyone who wanted could come and study at any hour of the day or night. Rabbi Ben Attar also helped the needy, the poor, the widows and the orphans. Every Thursday, Rabbi ben Attar would do Shehita and would distribute the meat among the students of his Bet Midrash and the poor, so that everyone would have meat to eat during Shabbat.

Rabbi ben Attar lived in Morocco for 40 years. It was not always easy. The King of Morocco became antagonistic to his family and confiscated all their fortune. This caused that rabbi ben Attar had to leave of Salé towards the city of Fes, where he lived during the year 1738. That year, a great famine struck the city, and generated an epidemic, and the Rab had to take refuge in the North in the city of Tetuan. Being there, he made a critical decision for the rest of his life: he decided to go and live in the land of Israel. His ambitious plan was to found a Yeshiba in Yerushalayim, and he already had more than ten students who would travel with him. In those times, life for the Yehudim in Yerushalayim was very difficult. There was no food or work, and epidemics often hit the city. The Yehudim also suffered from perpetual persecutions and abuses from the gentiles who ruled the city.

The only possibility to found a sustainable Yeshiba in Yerushalayim was to have the assistance of Jews living in Europe. Rabbi ben Attar then traveled to the city of Livorno, Italy, where there was a prosperous Jewish community, very generous with all that had to do with helping Yehudim to emigrate and settle in Israel, and particularly in Yerushalayim.

Rabbi ben Attar spent almost three years in Italy. He taught Tora classes and attracted crowds with his knowledge and charisma. The community of Livorno implored him to stay there and establish himself as Rab of Livorno. They offered him to establish his Yeshiba in Livorno and promised that he won’t lack anything. But Rabbi ben Attar renounced these privileges and confirmed that his destination was Erets Israel. Personally, I think that what inspired Rabbi ben Attar to want to live in Erets Israel and to give up all the comfort they offered him in Livorno were the nights he spent with his grandfather, watching him cry for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim and the Bet haMiqdash. The melodies and cries of his grandfather, must have inspire a great love and longing for Erets Israel, in the heart of the young Rabbi Hayim …

In 1741 Rabbi ben Attar left for Israel with 30 students and their families. The majority of his disciples were from Morocco, others from Algeria and some from Italy. Among the latter was Rabbi Abraham Ishmael Hay Sanguineti, who wrote the diary of the journey from Italy to Israel, and everything that happened until they reached Yerushalayim. At first the contingent arrived and settled in the city of Acco (Acre), near Haifa. Yerushalayim was going through very bad times in terms of sanitary conditions, many people died victims of plagues and epidemics.

In 1742 conditions at Yerushalayim improved , and in the month of Tammuz the rabbi Ben Attar and his disciples arrived and settled in Jerusalem. There the Rabbi ben Attar fulfilled his dream and founded his Yeshiba, which he called “Keneset Israel”, the same name of the community of Livorno that helped them economically. Rabbi ben Attar became the most important rabbinic leader in the city, and apart from teaching Tora, he was also involved in assisting those in need. In a very short time and with the help of his followers from Italy, he succeeded in making the Jewish community of Yerushalayim to grow in size and prosperity. Some sources indicate that many Chassidim who arrived from Europe to Yerushalayim, students of the Ba’al Shem Tob, were very close to Rabbi ben Attar, and it was they who called him “HaOr haHayim haQadosh” (the saint).

Rabbi Ben Attar wrote three main books:

1. Or HaHayim, a commentary on the Tora that has a particularity. This book is read and highly valued by Sefaradim and Ashkenazim alike, something that was not very common, especially in those times.

2. A book on the Talmud: Hefets HaShem

3. A book on Yore De’a, Peri To-ar. He had brilliant pupils, the most famous among his student was rabbi Hayim Yosef David Azulay, החיד”א .

Rabbi Ben Attar only lived in Yerushalayim for short time, a little more than 11 months. He died on the 15th of Tammuz (July 6) of 1743, when he was just 47 years old. His soul surely rose to the heavenly Yerushalayim, and his remains were buried in the Mount of Olives (Har haZetim), Jerusalem.

שבת שלום

Rabbi Isaac Abendana (1640-1699), professor at Cambridge University

Rabbi Abendana was born in Spain. He was the son of Yosef Abendana, a famous banker. He was sent by his parents to the city of Hamburg, Germany, where he was ordained as a rabbi and then to Leyden, Holland, where he studied medicine. His older brother Rabbi Ya’aqob Abendana also studied for the rabbinate at the famous Rabbinical Academy of the Pinto brothers in Amsterdam. In 1655 Rabbi Ya’aqob was appointed as the rabbi of the city of Rotterdam and, later on he became the Rabbi of the Sephardic community in London. Among other things, he translated Yehuda haLevi’s book Cuzarí into Spanish (see THIS).

Once in London, Rabbi Isaac Abendana taught Hebrew at the University of Cambridge. And although this data is not documented, it is said that Isaac Newton (1642-1726), who besides being a great scientist was a great Hebraist, was one of his disciples. In Cambridge Rabbi Abendana completed a project that he had begun 30 years earlier: the translation of the Mishna to the Latin. At that time the interest in Jewish subjects in the Gentile world was very great. Let’s see why.

The Jews were expelled from England by King Edward in 1290. This expulsion, as in other European countries, meant that it was prohibited by law for any Jew to live in that country. With the arrival of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) to power and the creation of the new republic, the readmission of the Jews began to be debated in the government. Cromwell was in favor, but the opposition was very strong. Even those who were in favor of readmitting the Jews, speculated that the Jews who would arrive in England would be quickly converted to Christianity (which did not happen), something that many Christians considered a signal of the Apocalypse or the Second Advent. Between 1655 and 1656, and after intense debates, it was authorized to readmit the Jews in England. On the condition that they would not worship in public and would not convert Gentiles.

The first Jews to resettle there were Sepharadic Jews from Amsterdam. In 1657 Antonio Fernandez Carvajal and Simon de Cáceres bought a piece of land for a Jewish cemetery. Carvajal finally received some Royal documents for himself and his son, and was the first Jew to be guaranteed certain rights of citizenship after the Expulsion. Solomon Dormido, a nephew of Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel, the chief responsible for the return of the Jews to England, was admitted to the Royal Exchange as a stock-broker duly licensed by the City of London, and he was not required to take the usual oath involving a declaration of faith in Christianity.

The interest for Jewish religion surged after the readmission of the Jews into this country. This curiosity came mainly from intellectual and academic circles. The study of Hebrew language and rabbinic literature became very popular.

In this context, Rabbi Isaac Abendana translated the Mishna into Latin, which was the language frequently used in universities. And Rabbi Abendana also wrote a very important book. This book was the first book on Judaism written in the English language. It is called “Discourses of the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews” and is a work that introduces Judaism to a non Jewish audience.

It seems to me that this book is not only for non-Jews. I believe it contains educational and historical material that represents an extraordinary introduction to Judaism for many Jews as well. In my opinion, it should be re-published, since it is not a superfluous book.

I will present in the following lines the titles of the main sections of this work:

Rabbi Abendana begins his work with a presentation of the Jewish legal system. Explaining what the Oral Law and Sanhedrin are, and how the Jewish courts determined the laws.

He then explains the Mitsva of Teruma and Ma’aser, which includes some aspects of tsedaqa (social assistance).

Thirdly, he speaks of the institution of the Kehuna (the Priests of the people of Israel).

Then, on the Hebrew liturgy, that is, the Tefilla, prayers.

He then describes the Jewish academies, especially the Yeshibot of the time of the Mishna and the Gemara.

In the end he writes about Jewish festivities, fasts, the Hebrew calendar and ends his work with an appendix on the contemporary equivalences of the coins and the measures of biblical time.

Until 5 or 10 years ago it was impossible to get this book outside of specialized libraries. Today, it can be downloaded for free from Google books (see HERE).

Rabbi Hayim Benveniste (1603-1674) and the false Messiah Shabbetai Zevi

In the picture above you can see Balat, the old Jewish quarter

Rabbi Hayim Benveniste was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1603. At the time the city was called Constantinople and had a very large and thriving Jewish population, formed primarily by Jewish refugees who were expelled from Spain in 1492. While the poor Sephardic Jews were rejected from everywhere else in the world, or forced to convert to Christianity or Islam in order to be accepted, the Turkish Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512 ) formally invited the expelled Jews from Spain to come to Turkey. And he issued a law forbidding persecution or discrimination against Jews throughout the Ottoman Empire. Jews settled in two major cities: Constantinople and Salonika (=Thessaloniki, which became the only city in the world in the 16th century with a majority Jewish population). Over time more and more Yehudim arrived in Turkey, not only in Spain Portugal and Spain but also from Poland, Germany, and France.

Rabbi Hayim Benveniste came from a prestigious family of Rabbis who came from Spain. In his youth, he studied with the great luminaries of Turkey, including Rabbi Yosef Miterani. At the age of 21, Rabbi Benveniste was chosen as one of the two chief rabbis of Smyrna, together with the famous Rabbi Aharon Lapapa.

In 1665 the false Messiah Shabetay Zevi came to Turkey. He enjoyed enormous popularity in virtually every Jewish community in the world, Sephardic and Ashkenazi. The suffering of the Yehudim was so intense that people blindly clung to what they perceived as a ray of hope. Shabetay Zevi was very charismatic, and he was also supported by many Rabbis. Rabbi Hayim Benveniste and his colleague Rabbi Aharon Lapapa were the main opponents to Shabetay Zevi in Turkey. In Shabbat, December 12, 1665, Shabetay Zevi burst into the main Synagogue of Smyrna, confronted Rabbi Benveniste and caused a huge uproar in the community. Many Rabbis, and most people were captivated by his charisma (and surely pressured by their great despair) and Shabetay Zevi became virtually the highest authority of the Jewish community in Turkey. Rabbi Benveniste was overwhelmed by this situation. Rabbi Aharon Lapapa, which continued vigorously opposing Shabetay Zevi, was expelled from the community (sic.).

Most other Rabbanim supported Shabetay Zevi. This weird situation lasted for nine months. Shabetay Zevi went to meet the Vizier and was threatened by him to convert to Islam or be executed. (It is believed that the Sultan Mehmed IV told him: “If you are so powerful and can do miracles as you say, I will ask my soldiers to shoot 10 arrows at you. If you’re still alive, I myself will become one of your followers”. Shabetay Zevi did not accept the challenge and chose conversion to Islam). When he converted, though some of his followers said it was only a temporary strategy of the Mashiah, Rabbi Benveniste and others realized the great deception. This whole story was very painful and very harmful, not only for the Turkish Jewish community, which was the epicenter of this movement but also for almost all Jewish communities around the world for years.

BOOKS: Rabbi Benveniste wrote many very famous books. Among them: “Keneset Hagedola“, a book of four volumes about the Tur Bet Yosef and Shulhan Arukh. This book is so important that the famous rabbi HIDA (Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulay, 1724-1806) said that a rabbi can not issue a verdict (pesaq) without consulting the Keneset Hagedolah. “הרב הנזכר מאיר עיני גולה הוא בספרי כנסת הגדולה אשר נדפסו בשמונה חלקים, ובלעדו לא ירים איש מורה הוראה הבקי בדרכי הוראה והוא מיראי הוראה את ידו בשום הוראה עד שילך מהרה לבית הכנסת ויראה מה בפיו ומה ירמזון עיני חכמתו, ואחר צאתו מבית הכנסת בנחת רוח יערה יורה יורה “.

He also wrote BA’E HAYE, a book of rabbinic Responsa, that is, questions and answers about many cases that occurred in the community and required a rabbinical expert opinion. This book also serves as a great historical document to study the details of the Jewish life in 17th century Turkey.

Rabbi Shelomo Oliveyra (1635-1708) and the importance of learning Hebrew

Amsterdam Synagogue

Rabbi Shlomo ben David de Oliveyra haLevy, came from Lisbon, Portugal, from a family of anusim, converts in Spain, whose original name was Benveniste. The Oliveyra surname was adopted by the family after the Inquisition, and it was chosen because according to their family tradition they were descendants of Yitshar, the son of Qehat, (Shemot 6:16) of the Tribe of Levi. Yitshar means, “fine olive oil.”

Rabbi Oliveyra served as teacher in Yeshibat Keter Tora in Amsterdam. In 1698, after the death of rab Ya’aqob Sasportas, he was appointed in his place as Ab Bet Din, Senior Rabbi of the Rabbinical Court of Amsterdam, which later on included all the Sephardic communities in Europe.

The signature and haskamot (rabbinic authorizations and introductions to Jewish books) of Rabbi Oliveyra are found in dozens of books published at that time.

Rabbi Oliveyra was a prolific author. And while he wrote several books that are no longer in our hands, such as a commentary on Maimonides’ Mishne Torah, we now have access, thanks to the magic of the Internet, to most of his writings.

Here are some of them.

DARKHE NOAM (Hebrew): A student’s guide of the Talmud. It analyzes many Aramaic terms and especially Talmudic technical expressions. This book is an indispensable tool for beginners who want to study Gemara. And it is based on two previous books, which record the way Gemara was studied in Spain: mebo haTalmud, by Rabbi Shemuel haNagid, and Darkhe haTalmud, by the famous Rab Isaac Canpanton.

DARKHE HASHEM (Hebrew) is a compendium of the 613 mitzvot, biblical commandments, arranged in alphabetical order.

Before describing the next books, I would like to explain that Sephardic communities had a very specific order in terms of Tora studying, which today many communities have lost. Along with the intensive study of Tanakh (the 24 book of the Hebrew Bible) one of the first disciplines to which the student was exposed, during elementary school, was the study of diqduq, or Hebrew Biblical grammar.

This includes, first, learning to pronounce correctly the Hebrew constants and also know how and when to pronounce the Hebrew vowels (as sheva, qamets qatan), which is not always evident from the visible text.

This knowledge must also include a total mastering of the te’amim, what is known as musical notes, but which really are firstly tonic accents and punctuation marks. If a student did not have a complete mastery of Biblical pronunciation, he was not considered to be yet “literate”.

Only then, once he had learned the precise pronunciation of the words, he would proceed to study Hebrew semantics, that is, theunderstanding of words.

The same happened with the Aramaic language: for a beginner student, to understand all the books of the Tanakh (including Daniel Ezra and Nehemiah) it was necessary to know Biblical Aramaic. Which was also a prerequisite to move into the next level of Aramaic: Talmudic and Rabbinical Aramaic.

Without these basic intellectual tools, Tora study would be deficient. And the student would always be depending on a teacher to translate the basic texts.

A deep and solid knowledge of the Hebrew language was considered a prerequisite for the serious learning of any other Tora discipline, such as Mishna, Gemara, Halakha, etc.

Now, we can proceed to present the literary production of Rabbi Oliveyra, who was literally “a master of the Hebrew language”.

Among his many books we can mention:

ZAYIT RA’ANAN: An alphabetical Glossary and explanations in Portuguese of many difficult words of the Mishna, Gemara and medieval philosophical books.

TE’AME HATE’AMIM (Hebrew): Explanation of the te’amim, the biblical accents and punctuation marks, especially the te’ame emet, that is, Yiob, Mishle and Tehilim, which are different from the rest of Tanakh. This book is mentioned by the Hida in his book Shem haGuedolim.

YAD LASHON: A treaty of Hebrew grammar, explained in Portuguese.

ETS HAYIM: A book of Hebrew semantics, which includes a glossary presented in alphabetical order, with words in Hebrew and Aramaic (translated into Portuguese).

DAL SEFATAYIM: A book that explains the principles Aramaic grammar in Portuguese.

SHARSHOT GABLUT: Another book of Hebrew and Aramaic semantics, presenting the roots of the words in alphabetical order. This was an essential tool for writing poetry in Hebrew (learning rhyme and metrics), an area in which Rabbi Oliveyra excelled.

AYELET AHABIM: A long poetic and philosophical composition on Aqedat Ytshaq, that is, the sacrifice of Isaac.

Rabbi Oliveyra also translated parts of the book Shene Luhot haBerit by Rabbi Yesha’ayahu Rabbi Horowitz (the Shela”h haQadosh, 1565-1630).

He also translated from Arabic to Portuguese the famous Canon of Medicine by the Persian physician Avicenna.

Min HaShamayim (=providentially) I found a link in Googlebooks with almost all the books of Rab Oliveyra in a very clear and readable digital edition. The book is called in the original Portuguese: “Livro da gramatica Hebrayca and Chaldayca”. (Amsterdam 5449.1682) and HERE is the link. The reader will note that after the first book, the others were scanned backward. Therefore, I recommend to start from the end, with the book Darkhe No’am, the guide for studying Gemara.

Rabbi Ya’aqob Yehuda León (1602-1675) builds a Bet haMiqdash

Yesterday we explained that Rabbi Yahacob Yehuda Leon was born in Portugal and lived in Amsterdam. We mentioned that among his many works are: the vocalization, Spanish translation and illustration of the Mishna (the latter two texts are lost) and the translation into Spanish, with commentary of the book of Tehillim.

We also mentioned that his name has many variations. He called himself “Leon Hebreo” but most authors of his day called him “Leon or Yehuda Templo”. Why “Templo”? Rabbi Leon was also a great artist and designer, specialized in heraldry, the designing of coats of arms.

Rabbi Leon used his artistic talents to build a miniature model of the Bet haMiqdash, the great Temple of Jerusalem.

To build his Temple Rabbi Leon used all available Jewish sources: biblical sources, the Talmudic treaty of Middot, the writings of Josephus Flavius and the detailed description of Maimonides in his Mishne Tora.

In 1641 Rabbi Leon finished his elaborate model of the Temple on a scale of 1: 300. The model measured in meters 1,30 x 1,20 x 0,60.

Together with this miniature Bet haMiqdash Rabbi Leon also wrote an explanatory book that guides the reader, and those who visited his exhibition, inside the Bet haMiqdash, describing each of its enclosures, vessels, utensils, etc. This book was called “Portrait of the Temple of Solomon”.

The book was originally published in Spanish, but aroused much interest among the Yehudim of the world and even among Gentiles. It was soon translated into Hebrew, Dutch, French, English, German and Latin.

Rabbi Leon exhibited the model of the Bet haMiqdash in his own house. And the exhibition got a lot of attention.

In 1642 the Jewish community in Amsterdam had an illustrious visitor. Henrietta Maria of France (1609-1666), Queen consort of England, wife of Charles I, who accompanied by Prince William of Orange and his fiancee Mary Stuart, came to the house of Rabbi Leon to visit his miniature Bet haMiqdash.

According to some historians in 1671 Rabbi Leon took the model of Bet haMiqdash to London. We have a beautiful letter of recommendation written by Constantijn Huygens addressed to King Charles II, See here . (Some historians say that while in London Rabbi Leon designed the first coat of arms used by the British Freemasons). The model of the Bet haMiqdash remained in London for nearly 100 years, and was exhibited by the descendants of Rabbi Leon, including Isaac de Leon and Moshe Isaac de Castro.

One such exhibition was held in London in 1729. In the journal of the court he put a sign that read: “You can see every day in the Royal Exchange, the model of the Temple of Solomon in all halls, walls, Gates , Chambers and holy vessels, the great Altar of Sacrifice, the bronze sea, the laundry and the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant, the chair of Mercy and the golden cherubs, the altar of incense, the candlesticks, the tables, and the two famous columns Yakin and Boaz. “

Rabbi Leon also published the book “Treaty of the Ark of Testament” written in Dutch in 1647. This book describes in detail and draws the Aron haBerit, the ark of the covenant.

He also wrote in Latin “Treaty of cherubim”, where eh explains, describes and illustrates the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant.

And finally he wrote the book “Portrait of the Tabernacle of Moseh”, in Spanish, published in Amsterdam in 1654.

Here is this beautiful book, which describes what we are reading in the parashiyot of these weeks. I recommended to see in the first pages the original artwork of Rabbi León, in full color, of the Mishkan and all its details. Click here

Rabbi Yahacob Yehuda Leon Hebreo “Templo” died in 1675.

Rabbi Ya’aqob Yehuda León (1602-1675) and his translation of Tehilim

Today we will learn about Rabbi Ya’aqob Yehuda Leon. Born in 1602. Some say he was born in Hamburg, which at the time belonged to the Netherlands, and some say he was born in Coimbra, Portugal. We will follow this second opinion. His grandfather and great-grandfather came from the city of Leon, in Spain, where they practiced Judaism in secret. His father, Simaõ de Leão was born in Portugal. He was a trader in Tavarede and Buarcos, near Coimbra. His mother was Felipa de Fonseca. In 1605 his entire family fled Portugal and openly embraced Judaism once they came to the Netherlands. There Ya’aqob studied with a great Tora scholar Rabbi Isaac Uziel (died in 1622), which besides being a distinguished Talmudist, was a physician and an expert in diqduq, Hebrew grammar.

In 1628 he moved to Hamburg, to the Sephardic synagogue “Cardozo” to replace Rabbi Isaac Attias, who was the first rabbi of Hamburg, and who also a student of Rabbi Uziel. In 1635 he returned to Amsterdam as Hakham of one of the three Portuguese Jewish communities.

Nothing about this Rabbi is simple. His life and works are fascinating. Let’s start with his name. His original name was Ya’aqob (he wrote it “Yahacob”) Yehuda Leon, but he called himself and signed, “Yahacob Yehuda, Leon Hebreo” ( “Hebreo”, Hebrew, means “Jew”). In many circles, he was known simply as “Leon Hebreo”. But in most encyclopedias his name is Ya’aqob Yehuda Leon “Templo”. Tomorrow we will explain why he was given this second surname.

One of the most important things he did was the vocalization of the Mishna, with Rabbi Menashe ben Israel . This was a monumental project, because as anyone familiar with Rabbinic literature knows, the Mishna was never vocalized. The vocalization of the text was received by tradition. In this case, these two Rabbis were students of the same eminent teacher Rabbi Isaac Uziel, who belonged to the uninterrupted chain of Sephardic Rabbis, whose tradition dates back to the times of the Geonim.

We can see above an image of one page of that Mishna (If you zoom you can read some marginal notes in Spanish to explain some difficult words).

It appears that Rabbi Leon also translated the Mishna into the Spanish, along with Rabbi Menashe ben Israel, but I think that that Mishna is lost…. Something else that is lost are the illustrations made by Rabbi León to the Mishna. Let me explain: aside from being a great Talmudic scholar and an expert in grammar, Rabbi Leon was also an artist. His specialty was “heraldry”, namely the design and manufacture of “coats of arms”, something very fashionable in those days for noble families. Rabbi Leon then illustrated some texts of the Mishna, which obviously allowed a better understanding of the issues at hand. B’H tomorrow we will continue explaining how Rabbi Leon used his artistic talents for ‘abodat haQodesh.

Perhaps the most significant contribution made by Rabbi Leon for Spanish-speaking Jews was his translation of the Book of Tehilim. We live in privileged times. One of the privileges we have today as Yehudim is that we can now access from our computers, virtually all Tora books that have ever been published. Most of these books can be found in the website “www.hebrewbooks.org”and many others in “google books”. In the latter server is where I found the book of Tehillim by Rabbi Leon. To my knowledge, this is the first Jewish translation of the Tehillim to Spanish (there were probably other translations to Ladino). He called this book KODESH HILULIM (Praises of Holiness). In this book Rabbi Leon does three things: 1. He translates literally the text of Tehilim from Hebrew into Castilian. 2. He paraphrases it, i.e., extends the translation to facilitate its understanding. 3. Writes a brief commentary on some words and ideas.

I will transcribe a few paragraphs for the reader who wants to practice reading old Spanish. (Please note that the ancient script of “s” looks very much like an “f”).

On the cover, it says:

“Las Alabanzas de la Santidad, traducción de los Psalmos de DAVID por la misma phrasis y palabras del hebraico, ilustrada con su paraphrasis que facilita la inteligencia del texto y anotaciones de mucha doctrina , sacadas de los mas graves autores, dirigida al ilustrísimo señor Ishak Senior Teixeyra residente de su majestad, la reina de Suedia, por el Haham Yaacob Yehuda, León Hebreo, autor de las obras del retrato del tabernáculo de Moseh, y del templo de Selomoh y de todas sus circunstancias, en Amsterdam, año 5431. “

“, Translation of the Psalms of David for the same syntax and words of Hebrew, illustrated with paraphrases to facilitate its understanding, with text and annotations of doctrines, drawn from the most serious authors, dedicated to the illustrious Mr. Ishak Senior Teixeyra [son of Abraham senior Teixeyra, a nobleman and a famous Jewish philanthropist. Isaak was the ambassador of the Queen of Sweden, Christine, in Hamburg] residents of her majesty, the queen of Suedia [Sweden], by Haham Yahacob Yehuda, Leon Hebreo, author of the Portrait of the tabernacle of Moseh and the temple of Selomoh, and all its circumstances, in Amsterdam, the year 5431 [1670]. “

To download Rabbi Leon’s Tehilim click here

The last words of Isaac de Castro Tartas (1623-1647)

Dear reader, 5 years ago I started writing Halakha of the day, and usually, once a week, I write about unknown Sephardic rabbis. This is the first time I write about the life of a Sephardic Jew who was not a rabbi (it is also the first time I write about someone so young, who died when he was only 24 years old). After reading, I hope you will understand why I was moved to pay tribute to this, unfortunately unknown, hero of Am Israel.

Isaac de Castro was born in the city of Tartas, in southwestern France, in 1623. His parents were from Portugal and belonged to one of the thousands of Jewish families that in 1497 were converted to Christianity “by decree”, and since then practiced Judaism secretly for 3, 4 or more generations (it is estimated that in 1497 no less than 120,000 Jews lived in Portugal).

In Tartas, Isaac’s name was Thomas Luis. In 1640 his family moved to Amsterdam where they finally were able to practice their religion openly. There, Thomas and his father were circumcised and changed their names to Hebrew names. Thomas was called from now, “Isaac de Castro”. Castro (or Castro), surely the original surname of his family, was a typical Sephardic las name (see here the most famous Sefaradim named Castro). As an illustration we can mention rabbi Ya’aqob de Castro (1525-1610) of Portuguese origin, one of the most important rabbis of the Jewish community in Egypt.

Isaac began studying Judaism and medicine in the Netherlands. In 1642 or 1643 we find Isaac in Brazil. As explained last week, his uncle, Rabbi Moshe Refael Aguilar, came to Brazil to found a community in the city of Recife. At that time, Brazil was divided into two zones: one belonged to the Dutch and the other to the Portuguese. Recife was in the Dutch side. There, Isaac lived a completely Jewish life. Not only that but he was also dedicated to inspire hundreds (or thousands) of converts residing in Brazil to practice more openly their Judaism. While there were no courts of the Inquisition in Brazil, such as those that existed in Peru or Mexico, on the Portuguese side there were many officer who watched that the “New Christians” -that is, Jews who were converted to Christianity more than a century ago- would no return to their religion.

No one knows exactly why, but the young Isaac left Recife and traveled south to the city of Salvador, capital of Bahia de los Santos, in Portuguese territory. There, Isaac was recognized by the local authorities. He tried to hide his Jewish practice but something gave him away: his tefillin.

Isaac was taken prisoner, accused not only of “Judaizing” but also of Jewish proselytism among the “new Christians”. He was extradited on a ship to Lisbon.

The Portuguese Inquisition first tried to persuade him to give up his Jewish faith and embrace Christianity. Isaac refused with very solid arguments, showing that Judaism is the true faith. Seeing that despite his short age he was a very knowledgeable man, the Inquisition sent its experts philosophers and theologians. But nothing and no one could persuade Isaac to renounce his faith.

For the first time in history, according to Miriam Bodian, a Jew used the following argument: “I have the right to practice Judaism in light of a universal human law: freedom of conscience … an act performed in accordance with one’s conscience can not be judged guilty, and the act I do and I will continue to do – the act of professing the Jewish religion – is carried out according to the dictates of my own conscience. “ When the Inquisition saw that every effort was useless, it resorted to a last resource: public execution. The accused were sentenced to be burned alive in those cynically named “autos de fe” (acts of faith).

In December 15, 1647, when Isaac was only 24, he was taken to the public square, along with five other conversos, convicted of the same crime: Judaizing (judaizar).

The archives of the Portuguese Inquisition report that Isaac was left standing for several hours, near the fire, close enough to repent from his “great sin” (being a Jew) for fear of the fire. But Isaac resisted. And while being embraced by the flames, with his last breath, Isaac recited with a very loud voice “Shema Israel HaShem Elokenu HaShem Ehad”.

They say that the cry of Isaac caused an enormous impression on all those who had come to witness the public execution. Even the cruel executioners felt remorse for having taken the life of such a young brave man. The Gentiles who witnessed the execution, for weeks did not talk about anything else. What’s more, the words of Isaac, the Shema Israel, had now become the symbol of freedom of conscience in Lisbon. And it inspired many converts to re-embrace their Jewish faith. Moreover, for several years the Gentiles repeated the words of the Shema … the Inquisition had to impose a severe punishment for anyone heard saying the Shema Israel, the last words of Isaac de Castro Tartas זצוק”ל .

Rabbi Isaac Arama (1420-1494) and the Spanish inquisition

Rabbi Isaac Arama was born in the city of Zamora, in Castile, Spain, in 1420. for a while he was the head of the Yeshiba in Zamora until he was called to lead the Jewish community of Tarragona, and later the city of Fraga, in Aragon. In order to counteract the effects of the Christian preachers sermons to which the Jews of Aragon were compelled to listen, Rabbi Arama delivered his lectures focusing on the principles of Judaism. These lectures became the basis of his later works and contain interesting data on the history of the Jews in Spain, prior to their expulsion. Rabbi Arama engaged in several public disputations with Christian scholars. Finally he settled in the city Catalayud until 1492, the year of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. That year he escaped to Naples, Italy, together with his son Meir. He was contemporary and friend with the famous Rabbi Don Itshaq Abarabanel, who use to come very often to the house of Rabbi Arama.

Rabbi Arama was a great Talmudist and a brilliant philosopher, he particularly admired and defended the philosophical ideas of Maimonides. Following Maimonides, Rabbi Arama sought to demonstrate the superiority of human reasoning over imagination, and the superiority of divine revelation (or nebu-a) over human reasoning. Reason, ultimately, should be subordinated to Scripture whenever the two are in conflict. Rabbi Arama explains than in the time of Abraham Abinu, besides idol worshipers there were also philosophers, i.e., people who were guided solely by reason and denied revelation. In their opinion reason and logic was the highest possible intelectual level a human being can access. Moreover, since reason and logic were given by God, all a person needs to follow the will of God is to follow the calls of his own logic and reasoning. “Revelation”, therefore, was unnecessary. Rabbi Arama explains that the binding of Ytshaq is the farthest one can go from logic. Killing one’s own son defies human basic reasoning. This is the reason God tested Abraham, to see if Abraham would be willing to follow God’s call, his private revelation, instead of his own logic. Abraham by following God instead of human logic, became yere Eloqim, “A God fearing individual” which is a level above that of the philosopher. Thus, when the test is over and God commands Abraham not to kill his son, God tells Abraham: ‘ata yadtati ki yere Eloqim ata… Now, I know, that you are a God fearing [individual]. It is possible that in this analysis of the binding of Ytshaq, comparing logic with revelation, rabbi Arama is also criticizing the Christian doctrine of natural law. According to Thomas Aquinas, the natural law is nothing else than the rational creature’s participation in the eternal law. For Aquinas God’s eternal law human wisdom, inasmuch as it is the directive norm of all movement and action.

The philosophical ideas of rabbi Arama had a double purpose. One the one hand, to explain Judaism in light of the new radical rationalism, represented by Aristotelian philosophers, who believed in the superiority of reason over revelation. And on the other hand, Rabbi Arama like his predecessors, had to articulate very clearly the cardinal Jewish principles. His writings against the Christian dogmas aimed to equip the Jews with the right arguments to withstand the missionary sermons of the Church, to which, under the laws then prevalent, the Jews were compelled to listen. These writings are often the summary of oral disputations between Rabbi Arama and Christian scholars.

HIS WORKS AND IDEAS

The most famous book of Rabbi Isaac Arama, which trascended his own age and time, is undoubtedly “Aqedat Yitshaq” (The Binding of Isaac). Rabbi Arama is frequently spoken of as the “Ba’al haAqeda” (author of the Aqeda).

The book is written as a commentary to the Pentateuch. It consists of chapters or portals (she’arim). Each sermon is divided into two parts: 1. “derisha” (“analysis”), and 2. “perisha” (“exposition”). In the “derisha” part, the author examines a philosophical idea in light of biblical or rabbinic sources. In the “perisha”, he exposes the difficulties which seem to appear in the text and solves them with the aid of a central idea. Thus, the gap between the two parts of the sermon is skillfully closed, and they merge into one harmonious whole.

Aqedat Ytshaq exercised a great influence upon Jewish thought, it is still much read and it is considered by many the classical work of Jewish homiletics, i.e., the art of building a religious sermon, which, modeled after the old petihtaot of the Rabbis of the midrash, begins with the exposition of a Biblical text, and evolves into philosophic disquisitions and interpretations.

In this book he deals with the most relevant philosophical issues of Judaism.

One example: Rabbi Arama examines in which circumstances we could or should understand a Biblical story as a prophetic vision rather than as an historical event. At one point he declares that even when we are allowed to interpret a passage as allegorical, this interpretation of Scripture should not deny its literal meaning. The commandants, however, can never be interrupted allegorically. This matter was very relevant in light of the Christian vision of the Old Testament commandments as allegorical, and what is popularly known as replacement theology, by which, for example, circumcision is replaced by baptism.

Rabbi Arama also deals with subjects such as Divine Providence and the dynamics between God’s omnisciency (that everything is known to Him) vs. man’s free will (If God knows what I’m going to do, was I free to chose what I did?).

Rabbi Arama also analyzes the lists of articles of faith drawn up by Maimonides (13), and he presents his own list which include only six principles. This summary might have been done in order to facilitate his contemporaries to comprehend what are the beliefs that stand in complete opposition to Christianity.

This is why, for example, the principle of the Messiah was left out, because although Jews reject Jesus, Judaism does not reject the idea of a Messiah.

They are:

1. The belief that God is the Creator of the world.

2. The belief that God possesses the power to suspend the laws of nature and perform miracles at will.

3. The belief that God revealed Himself to our patriarchs in Mt Sinai and to our prophets.

4. The belief in providence, i.e., the God knows our actions and rewards or punishes.

5. The belief in freedom of choice and repentance (teshuba).

6. The belief in the immortality of the soul.

Rabbi Arama also wrote a commentary on the five Megilot ; a commentary on Mishle, the Proverbs, called Yad Abshalom (“The Hand of Absalom” or “A Memorial for Abshalom) in memory of his son-in-law, Abshalom, who died shortly after his marriage.

Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605-1693), first rabbi of the Americas

Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was born in 1605 in the town of Castro Daire, Portugal. His birth name was Simão da Fonseca. His parents were “marranos”, Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. When Isaac was seven, the family moved to Amsterdam. Many Portuguese Jews who for a century lived as Jews in secret to escape the Inquisition, emigrated to Amsterdam, where freedom of worship was declared in 1596, something inconceivable until then in Christian Europe. There, they created a community that became very prosperous in every way. Arriving at Amsterdam, the Aboab family was finally able to practice their religion openly. Simão renamed Isaac, with its ancient Jewish last name: Aboab (also spelled Abohab). In Amsterdam, Rabbi Aboab studied with one of the few rabbis who at the time were in the city: Rabbi Isaac Uziel, a native of the city of Fez in Morocco. At eighteen Rab Aboab was ordained as a Rabbi (hakham) of the Beth Israel community, one of three Sephardic communities that existed at that time in Amsterdam. In 1638 he was named as one of the four Rabbis in the main community of Amsterdam: “Talmud Tora”.

In those years the Dutch colonized several parts of Brazil. And many Jews from Amsterdam, who were prominent in international trade, moved to the city of Recife, in Pernambuco, Brazil. In 1641, Rabbi Isaac Aboab was sent to Recife as the rabbi of “Kehal Zur”, the new congregation in Recife, the first Jewish community in the Americas. Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was therefore the first official rabbi in the Americas. Most European citizens of this city were Jews from Amsterdam. In Recife Rabbi Aboab developed a beautiful congregation, modeled after the Jewish community in Amsterdam. “Kehal Zur” had a synagogue, a Mikve and a Yeshiva, where Rabbi Aboab taught Torah, particularly Talmud.

Rabbi Aboab da Fonseca enjoyed a few years of prosperity in Recife. In 1645 the Portuguese began to attack the Dutch colonies in Brazil. The long history of these battles is too extensive to be discussed in these few lines. What we can say is that the Portuguese, when achieved victory, allowed an honorable surrender to all Dutch, but not to the Jews, who were ordered to convert. Several Jews escaped, among them the 24 Jews who in 1654 would reach the city of New Amsterdam, now “New York”.

On 26 January 1654 the Portuguese occupied the city of Recife in 1654. Rabbi Aboab escaped to Amsterdam. Back in Amsterdam, he was appointed as the chief rabbi of the Sephardic community in that city. In 1656, he was one of the rabbis who excommunicated Spinoza.

During the years 1664-1666 began a messianic movement around Shabbetai Zevi. Back then, most rabbis of the world, Sepharadim and Ashkenazim, believed that Shabbetai Zevi was the Messiah. And although he was not militant, Rabbi Aboab was no exception. In 1666 when the Turkish Sultan gave Shabbetai Zevi the choice between death and conversion to Islam, he decided to convert. Jews understood then that they had been victims of a huge hoax, with devastating consequences for the global Jewish community.

Despite all these difficulties, the Jewish community in Amsterdam flourished under the Rabbinate of rabbi Aboab and it produced, among other things, hundreds of Talmide Hakhamim who served the community and wrote thousands of books in Spanish and Portuguese.

In 1647 rabbi Aboab wrote a Hebrew grammar book that has not yet been published “melekhet ha-Diqduq. He also translated from Spanish to Hebrew (sic) a Qabbala book written by Abraham Cohen Herrera, called ” Las puertas del Cielo” in Hebrew “Shaar HaShamayim”.

Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca died in Amsterdam on April 4, 1693, at the age of 88 years.