The New York Review of Books recently devoted a lot of space to a review of “The Sword and the.
It was Moses Shem Tov de Leon of Guadalajara (1240-1305) the author of a mystical book Sefer HaRimon, who claimed to have discovered and who disseminated the Zohar. There is no trace nor record of it before then, despite the claim that it dates back to the second century. The sophisticated Aramaic of the text places it much later than the second century. Did Moses de Leon write it, discover it, or simply compile a series of different documents into one?
Vilnius to build monument for people who saved Jews during war – photos
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LRT.lt2020.12.18 12:14
VIlnius to build monument for people who saved Jews during war / Vilnius City Municipality/LRT.lt photocollage
Vilnius has received 14 proposals in an open tender to build a monument for people who saved Jews in Lithuania during the Second World War, according to a press release by the municipality.
The monument will be built in a public space near Onos Šimaitės Street, where a memorial stone was previously placed by the Lithuanian Jewish Community (LŽB).
Lithuania has dedicated the year 2020 to the Vilna Gaon and the History of Lithuania’s Jews, which coincides with the commissioning of the monument.
Ask the Rabbi
Jewish Mission
I read on Aish.com that Every Jew is equally important to our mission. Pardon my question, but exactly what is our mission?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:
No need to apologize. The only bad question is one that remains unasked.
Rabbi Noah Weinberg zt”l wrote an article for Israel s 50th anniversary, which was published in Azure magazine (www.azure.org.il). There he writes: Tikkun Olam is the basis of what drives the Jewish people to greatness. It all started back with Abraham. His business was to go out and teach what it means to be created in the image of God. He demonstrated how a human being has to take responsibility for the world. Abraham s undertaking was the first progressive, liberal movement the world had ever seen. And look how it succeeded!
Davidic Line Today
I’m wondering what happened to the House of David. After the end of the Kingdom of Judah was there any memory what happened to King David’s descendants? Is there any family today which can trace its lineage to David – and whom the Messiah might descend from?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:
Thank you for your good question. There is no question that King David’s descendants are alive today. God promised David through Nathan the Prophet that the monarchy would never depart from his family (II Samuel 7:16). The prophets likewise foretell the ultimate coming of the Messiah, descendant of David, the “branch which will extend from the trunk of Jesse,” who will restore the Davidic dynasty and Israel’s sovereignty (Isaiah 11:1, see also Jeremiah 33:15, Ezekiel 37:25).
It’s not easy, it’s not convenient, and it’s not always understood by the outside world, but it’s how we roll
Dear Yechiel and Eliyahu,
Some of the greatest men of all time wrote personal letters that were essentially messages to the public too, people like the Ramban, the Vilna Gaon, the Baal HaTanya, and Rav Yisrael Salanter. (For a great contemporary example, see “A Pesach Letter to My Son” by Rav Ahron Lopiansky.)
If you’re a gadol, it works, but if you’re not, it comes across as somewhere between presumptuousness and cheap literary gimmickry.