Parsha Behar, two stories, hard times with news and miracles

Parsha Behar

 

 

This week our Parsha returns from the holiness of the nation and the Cohanim. We have just learned about Yomim Tovim. Now it is time to learn about Shmita (Sabbatical Year) the holiness and rest of the land. Yovel or Jubilee is part of this after 49 full years.

 

25:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying: 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 

 

This section is talking about the Shmita Year for the land not the weekly Shabbos.

 

3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof. 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 

 

No spraying for bugs, fertilizing, removing rocks and stones, no pruning or doing anything.

 

5 That which grows of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather; it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath-produce of the land shall be for food for you: for thee, and for thy servant and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant and for the settler by thy side that sojourn with thee; 7 and for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be for food. 

 

At the time of Moshe no country or farmer left the land lie fallow and if so not the whole land for one whole year.

 

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years. 9 Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. 

 

On Yom Kippur.

 

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 

 

One shall proclaim liberty for temporary Jewish Slaves and the ones who were permanent with their ears bored.

 

11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you; ye shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13 In this year of jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. 

 

The original family farm from the time of Yehoshua. (Something lost to us in the year 3338 or 2,444 years ago.) So either the land has to be parceled again, the dead must rise or Moshiach will know what our boundaries really are.

 

14 And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not wrong one another. 15 According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the crops he shall sell unto thee. 16 According to the multitude of the years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of the years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for the number of crops doth he sell unto thee. 17 And ye shall not wrong one another; but thou shalt fear thy God; for I am the LORD your God. 

 

If I sold my plot of land, the neighbor would be a cousin is someway. See the story of the 5 daughters of Zelaphad in Bamidbar 27:1-11 as they had to marry within their tribe.

 

18 Wherefore ye shall do My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat until ye have enough, and dwell therein in safety. 

 

Just as the observance of Shabbos aka guarding the Mitzvah of Shabbos guards the lives of you and yours, so the observance of Shmita and Yovel protects the land and makes the status tranquil.

 

20 And if ye shall say: 'What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our increase'; 21 then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the produce, the old store; until the ninth year, until her produce come in, ye shall eat the old store. 

 

50years ago was a great bumper crop in the sixth year and the produce lasted for two extra years until after the Shmita 49 years ago and the year after. Since then I have not followed crops and yields in Israel as I began working as a engineer with a lot of overtime and followed by 20 years of army and reserve duty.

 

23 And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and settlers with Me. 24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 

 

If you sold your ancestral land and your wealth returns to you, you should try to redeem it prior to the return in the 50^th year.

 

25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman that is next unto him come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold. 26 And if a man have no one to redeem it, and he be waxen rich and find sufficient means to redeem it; 27 then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return unto his possession. 28 But if he have not sufficient means to get it back for himself, then that which he hath sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. 

 

When the Yovel comes, either he or his inheritors shall repossess the land that he sold.

 

29 And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. 30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him that bought it, throughout his generations; it shall not go out in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. 

 

In a walled city, he must be sure that he wants to sell as after a year, he can never return to the same property without having to buy it back completely.

 

32 But as for the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites shall have a perpetual right of redemption. 33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the fields of the open land about their cities may not be sold; for that is their perpetual possession. 

 

These cities have the equivalency of regular land as the Leviim were not give land but cities in its saw.

 

35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his means fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a settler shall he live with thee. 36 Take thou no interest of him or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God. 

 

The emphasis is on a brother or one from the other and not a complete stranger meaning a Ger Toshav or other non-Jew but a Ger Tzedek is a brother or sister from our standpoint. Therefor a fellow ben Yisrael gets free loans and other help.

 

39 And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant. 40 As a hired servant, and as a settler, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee. 41 Then shall he go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 

 

There is a Mitzvah for his family to try to redeem him but if it occurs too often then we let him wallow in his debit and become a slave as this is the best for his repair in this world and he has room, board and a steady income and worker compensation.

 

42 For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor; but shalt fear thy God. 44 And as for thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, whom thou mayest have: of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them may ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land; and they may be your possession. 46 And ye may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession: of them may ye take your bondmen forever; but over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigor. 

 

And if you have only one pillow and blanket, your Hebrew slave has right to it before you as you must supply his welfare before you take care of yourself.

 

47 And if a stranger who is a settler with thee be waxen rich, and thy brother be waxen poor beside him, and sell himself unto the stranger who is a settler with thee, or to the offshoot of a stranger's family, 48 after that he is sold he may be redeemed; one of his brethren may redeem him; 

 

This is the Mitzvah but if it happens time and again the person being redeemed because too impossible for words and we let him remain so for up to seven years of the Yovel.

 

49 or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be waxen rich, he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he sold himself to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him. 51 If there be yet many years, according unto them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his years shall he give back the price of his redemption. 53 As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him; he shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. 54 And if he be not redeemed by any of these means, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he, and his children with him. 55 For unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

 

It all comes from your forefather’s inheritance.

 

26:1 Ye shall make you no idols, neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or a pillar, neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down unto it; for I am the LORD your God. 

 

The Pillar is a spot for prayer on the way. Usually a pile of stones. Gal-Ed from Yacov and Lavan was a border marker but a Pillar was usually a pile of stones for the travel god aka Hermes or Mercury to the ancients and just as the non-Jews throw coins into fountains for luck or love so people threw stones to the pile so the god or gods would protect their travels. This has nothing to do with the Pillar or foundation stone that Yacov set up for his Temple in Beis-El aka Bethel in Parsha Vayishlach and upon his return Beresheis 28:18 and 35:14.

 

2 Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD. 

 

Time and again, the Torah emphasizes the keeping of Shabbos.

 

Respecting the Shabbos is the core of Judaism. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/06/respecting-shabbat-is-at-the-core-of-judaism/

 

 

Abortion in Jewish Law by Daniel Eisenberg M.D.

https://aish.com/48954946/

 

 

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (Orthodox Union) recently issued the following statement regarding the US Supreme Court’s potential overturning of Roe v Wade:

 

The Orthodox Union is unable to either mourn or celebrate the news reports of the U.S. Supreme Court’s likely overturning of Roe v Wade. We cannot support absolute bans on abortion—at any time point in a pregnancy—that would not allow access to abortion in lifesaving situations. Similarly, we cannot support legislation that permits “abortion on demand”—at any time point in a pregnancy—and does not confine abortion to situations in which medical (including mental health) professionals affirm that carrying the pregnancy to term poses real risk to the life of the mother.

 

As people of faith, we see life as a precious gift granted to us and maintained within us by God. Jewish law places paramount value on choosing life and mandates – not as a right but as a responsibility – safeguarding our own lives and the lives of others by behaving in a healthy and secure manner, doing everything in our power to save lives, and refraining from endangering others. This concern for even potential life extends to the unborn fetus and to the terminally ill.

 

Abortion on demand – the “right to choose” (as well as the “right to die”) – are thus completely at odds with our religious and halachic values. Legislation and court rulings that enshrine such rights concern us deeply on a societal level.

 

Yet that same mandate to preserve life requires us to be concerned for the life of the mother. Jewish law prioritizes the life of the pregnant mother over the life of the fetus such that where the pregnancy critically endangers the physical health or mental health of the mother, an abortion may be authorized, if not mandated, by Halacha (Jewish law) and should be available to all women irrespective of their economic status. Legislation and court rulings-federally or in any state-that absolutely ban abortion without regard for the health of the mother would literally limit our ability to live our lives in accordance with our responsibility to preserve life.

 

The extreme polarization around and politicization of the abortion issue does not bode well for a much-needed nuanced result. Human life-the value of everyone created in the Divine Image-is far too important to be treated as a political football.

 

The traditional Jewish view of abortion does not fit conveniently into either “pro-life” of “pro-choice” camps in the abortion debate. Judaism neither bans abortion completely, nor does it sanction indiscriminate abortion "on demand."

 

A woman may feel that until the fetus is born, it is a part of her body, and therefore she retains the right to abort an unwanted pregnancy. Does Judaism recognize a right to "choose" abortion? In what situations does Jewish law sanction abortion?

 

To gain a clear understanding of when abortion is permitted (or even required) and when it is forbidden requires an appreciation of certain nuances of halacha (Jewish law) which govern the status of the fetus.¹

 

The easiest way to conceptualize a fetus in Jewish law is to imagine it as a full-fledged human being – but not quite.² In most circumstances, the fetus is treated like any other "person." Generally, one may not deliberately harm a fetus. But while it would seem obvious that Judaism holds accountable one who purposefully causes a woman to miscarry, sanctions are even placed upon one who strikes a pregnant woman causing an unintentional miscarriage.³

 

That is not to say that all rabbinical authorities consider abortion to be murder. The fact that the Torah requires a monetary payment for causing a miscarriage is interpreted by some rabbinical scholars to indicate that abortion is not a capital crime⁴ and by others as merely indicating that one is not executed for performing an abortion, even though it is a type of murder.⁵ There is even disagreement regarding whether the prohibition of abortion is Biblical or Rabbinic. Nevertheless, it is universally agreed that the fetus will become a full-fledged human being and there must be a very compelling reason to allow for abortion.

 

 

As a general rule, abortion in Judaism is permitted only if there is a direct threat to the life of the mother by carrying the fetus to term or through the act of childbirth. In such a circumstance, the baby is considered tantamount to a rodef, a pursuer⁶ after the mother with the intent to kill her. Despite the classification of the fetus as a pursuer, once the baby's head or most of its body has been delivered, the baby's life is considered equal to the mother's, and we may not choose one life over another, because it is considered as though they are both pursuing each other.

 

It is important to point out that the reason that the life of the fetus is subordinate to the mother is because the fetus is the cause of the mother's life-threatening condition, whether directly (e.g. due to toxemia, placenta previa, or breach position) or indirectly (e.g. exacerbation of underlying diabetes, kidney disease, or hypertension).⁸ A fetus may not be aborted to save the life of any other person whose life is not directly threatened by the fetus, such as use of fetal organs for transplant.

 

Judaism recognizes psychiatric as well as physical factors in evaluating the potential threat that the fetus poses to the mother. The degree of mental illness that must be present to justify termination of a pregnancy has been widely debated by rabbinic scholars,¹⁰ without a clear consensus of opinion regarding the exact criteria for permitting abortion in such instances.¹¹ Nevertheless, all agree that were a pregnancy to cause a woman to become suicidal, there would be grounds for abortion.¹²

 

As a rule, Jewish law does not assign relative values to different lives. Therefore, almost most major Poskim (Rabbis qualified to decide matters of Jewish law) forbid abortion in cases of abnormalities or deformities found in a fetus. Rabbi Eliezar Yehuda Waldenberg is a notable exception. Rabbi Waldenberg allows first trimester abortion of a fetus that would be born with a deformity that would cause it to suffer, and termination of a fetus with a lethal fetal defect such as Tay Sachs up to the seventh month of gestation.¹⁴ The rabbinic experts also discuss the permissibility of abortion for mothers with German measles and babies with prenatal confirmed Down syndrome.

 

There is a difference of opinion regarding abortion for adultery or in other cases of impregnation from a relationship with someone Biblically forbidden. In cases of rape and incest, a key issue would be the emotional toll exacted from the mother in carrying the fetus to term. In cases of rape, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach allows the woman to use methods which prevent pregnancy after intercourse.¹⁵ The same analysis used in other cases of emotional harm might be applied here. Cases of adultery interject additional considerations into the debate, with rulings ranging from prohibition to it being a mitzvah to abort.¹⁶

 

I have attempted to distill the essence of the traditional Jewish approach to abortion. Nevertheless, every woman's case is and special, and the parameters determining the permissibility of abortion within Jewish law are nuanced, subtle and complex. It is crucial to remember that when faced with an actual patient, a competent halachic authority must be consulted in every case.

 

1. While there is debate among the Rabbis whether abortion is a Biblical or Rabbinical prohibition, all agree on the fundamental concept that fundamentally, abortion is only permitted to protect the life of the mother or in other extraordinary situations. Jewish law does not sanction abortion on demand without a pressing reason.
2. Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat II: 69B.
3. Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, 423:1
4. Ashkenazi, Rabbi Yehuda, Be'er Hetiv, Choshen Mishpat 425:2
5. Igros Moshe, ibid
6. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Murder 1:9; Talmud Sanhedrin 72B
7. Oholos 7:6
8. See Steinberg, Dr. Abraham; Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics, "Abortion and Miscarriage," for an extensive discussion of the maternal indications for abortion.
9. Igros Moshe, ibid
10. See Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics. P. 10, for references.
11. See Spero, Moshe, Judaism and Psychology, pp. 168-180.
12. Zilberstein, Rabbi Yitzchak, Emek Halacha, Assia, Vol. 1, 1986, pp. 205-209.
13. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach and Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth cited in English Nishmat Avraham, Choshen Mishpat, 425:11, p. 288.
14. Tzitz Eliezer, Volume 13:102.
15. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth cited in English Nishmat Avraham, Choshen Mishpat, 425:23, p. 294.
16. See excellent chapter in English Nishmat Avraham, Choshen Mishpat, 425 by Dr. Abraham Abraham, particularly p. 293.

 

 

Dona Gracia Nasi the Inquisition Underground Railroad by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

https://aish.com/dona-gracia-nasi-the-spanish-inquisitions-underground-railroad/

 

 

Dona Gracia Nasi was a great Jewish hero. For decades she ran an underground railroad for Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition and single-handedly supported Jewish communities in Italy, Turkey and Israel. Praised during her lifetime as “the heart of her people”, Dona Gracia Nasi’s story is hardly remembered today. That should change; her remarkable story deserves to be known.

 

She was born into a secret Jewish family in Portugal in 1510 and given the royal-sounding name of Beatrice de Luna as her legal name – and Gracia Nasi as her secret Jewish name.

 

Gracia’s family were merchants who likely had fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. When Jews were expelled from Portugal three years later, many decided to stay, becoming “Conversos” or supposed converts to Christianity in public, but maintaining Jewish lives in private. The Portuguese authorities were more lenient to these secret Jews than their counterparts in Spain, and Gracia’s family were pillars of the secret Jewish community there. In fact, their hidden last name Nasi, meaning “Prince”, indicates they were long-standing community leaders. While maintaining an outward appearance of being Christian, the family observed Shabbat, avoided non-kosher foods, and studied Jewish texts in secret.

 

At the age of 18, Gracia married Francisco Mendes, another secret Jew, and together they built up a large trading company. They had one daughter whom they gave two names: Brianda as a non-Jewish name, and Reyna as a secret name. Reyna means queen in Spanish and might recall the common Jewish name Malka, which means queen in Hebrew. Francisco died in 1536, after eight years of marriage. That same year, the Portuguese authorities began to crack down on secret Jews. They set up a Holy Office of the Inquisition, modeled after Spain’s fearsome religious police. Many of Portugal’s secret Jews fled, Gracia and her young daughter included.

 

The pair settled in Antwerp which was more tolerant of Jewish practice and where Gracia had many relatives. She went into business with a brother-in-law, but she longed to move somewhere where she could live completely openly as a Jew. As an upper class businesswoman in Flanders, Gracia knew it would be impossible to run a large business if she openly professed her Jewish faith. Gracia and her brother-in-law discussed moving to the German lands to the south where communities of Jews lived freely. They set a goal of moving within a year. Sadly, Gracia’s brother-in-law died suddenly, making her the sole surviving partner in a large trading company, putting Gracia’s plans to move on hold.

 

Though she couldn’t live openly as a Jew herself, Gracia used her extensive business contacts to help other Jews escape to cities where they could live Jewish lives. She helped secret Jews escape from Portugal and Spain, and to make the difficulty journey over the Alps into Italy or into the Balkans. It was more difficult to help these Jews escape with some of their property and wealth to help them start their new lives.

 

Gracia’s extensive business contacts hid a network of escape routes throughout Europe. While she traded spices and gems, her business agents also ferried secret Jews across borders along with this merchandise. One popular route was for Jews to board Gracia’s ships in Spain and Portugal, bound for England. When the ships docked in Southampton or Plymouth, one of Gracia’s London agents, a man named Christopher Fernandes, was instructed to board the ships and let the hidden Jews know whether it was safe to stay on board for the next leg of the journey, to the Netherlands. Because Jews were banned from England at the time, the journey was a hazardous one.

 

Another of Gracia’s London agents was Antonio de la Ronha, a learned Jew who was related to her. He was tasked with helping Jewish refugees recover property they’d been forced to leave behind.

 

Once in the Netherlands, many secret Jews found employment in Gracia’s warehouses and businesses until they could be dispatched to safety further south to Italy or Turkey. Gracia’s agents instructed the fleeing Jews on which roads to use and in which inns it was safe to stay. They relied on a network of sympathetic allies. In Venice, a non-Jewish printer named Daniel Bomberg, who specialized in printing Hebrew books, received the property of fleeing Jews and returned it to their owners once they’d made it to the relative safety of Italy.

 

Writing in 1946, the British historian Cecil Roth noted that Gracia was the “brains behind the whole of this elaborate organization” and that “There is nothing similar in Jewish history, or perhaps in any history, until our own day and the organization of the ‘underground railway’ for saving Jews from the hell of Nazi and post-Nazi Europe and securing their entry…to the Land of Israel.”

 

In Antwerp, Gracia’s vast wealth attracted unwanted attention from kings and princes. Emperor Charles V wanted Gracia’s daughter to marry one of his courtiers and seize the family’s wealth. Gracia said she wished to visit a spa in France and fled with her daughter and as much property as she could carry. From France, she travelled on to Italy, settling in Venice where she re-established her trading business.

 

Even though Jews lived openly in Venice – confined to a dreary island called the Ghetto – Gracia was not able to reveal her Jewishness publicly. To do so would have meant an end to her business dealings. In fact, it appears Gracia was arrested and held in prison briefly in Venice after she was accused of being a secret Jew. She began a clandestine plan to transfer her wealth to Turkey, with an eye to eventually living there. Turkey at the time was welcoming the Jews who’d been forced out of Europe. Sultan Bajazet II famously declared that he couldn’t understand the motives of King Ferdinand of Spain, who’d decreed that all Jews leave Spain in 1492. “How can you call this Ferdinand ‘wise’ – he who has impoverished his dominions in order to enrich mine?” the Sultan asked as industrious, educated Jews left Europe for Ottoman lands.

 

Gracia’s life in Venice was precarious. In 1550 Venetian authorities started prosecuting secret Jews and Gracia, along with her sister-in-law, daughter and niece, fled to the Italian town of Ferrara. There, for the first time in her life, she publicly declared her Jewishness, using her name Gracia. She changed her last name to her family’s previous Hebrew surname of Nasi. When her nephew Joao visited Gracia, he adopted the name Nasi too and changed his first name to Samuel. In Ferrara, Gracia supported local Jewish scholars and paid for the first translation of the Torah into Spanish.

 

This peace and happiness was short-lived. In 1551, plague broke out in Ferrara. City officials blamed Jews and forced Jews to leave the town. Gracia decided the time had come. She set sail for Constantinople, in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. There, she set up a fine household, again living openly and proudly as a Jew. She continued to run her trading empire with their secret routes ferrying Jews to freedom, but for the first time Gracia was able to publicly support Jews and Jewish organizations as well.

 

Each day, 80 poor people entered her grand palace to receive free meals. Gracia paid to redeem Jewish slaves who were seized by pirates. When Turkey experienced a bitterly cold winter in 1567, she paid to help the empire’s poor Jews afford heat and clothes. She supported hospitals, charities, schools and synagogues throughout the Ottoman lands.

 

One of Gracia’s favorite projects was a synagogue and yeshiva she established in the heart of Constantinople, which was known as “the Synagogue of the Senora”. Previously, local tradition dictated that Constantinople’s Jews always prayed in the one synagogue to which their families belonged. Gracia’s synagogue was different: it was open to all Jews, welcoming everyone whether member or not.

 

In 1559, Gracia established a synagogue in Salonika, in Greece, a city in which many secret Jews from Spain were finding refuge. Known as the “Gracia” synagogue, this too was specifically open to all Jews, whether members or not. She also established a kollel, or rabbinic academy, in Salonika, where the city’s rabbis and scholars could take turns studying Jewish texts full time.

 

Perhaps Gracia’s most ambitious project was supporting the Jewish community in Israel. She petitioned the Sultan for permission to resettle Spanish Jews in Tiberias, an ancient city in the north of Israel, and he agreed. Gracia backed the venture and built a thriving Jewish settlement there, as well as supporting Jews elsewhere in the region. She had a grand house built for herself in Tiberias and petitioned the Sultan for permission to go to the Holy Land.

 

First, Gracia had a promise to keep. Years before, she’d promised her husband Francisco that she’d do everything in her power to see he was buried in Israel. Now, with great difficulty, she had his body removed from the church graveyard in Lisbon where it was interred and brought to Israel, where he was reburied in Tiberias.

 

Sadly, Gracia never had the chance to follow him there. She grew sick and withdrew from public life, living in Constantinople in old age in precarious health. She died in about the year 1569, one of the most beloved figures in the entire Jewish world.

 

Tributes were delivered to Gracia the Nasi throughout Europe and the Middle East. One of the most famous was a poem written by the great Jewish poet Sa’adiah Longo, who had fled the Spanish Inquisition as a child and moved to Salonika with his family, where he witnessed Gracia’s generosity and help for her fellow Jews firsthand. In his ode “Dona Gracia of the House of Nasi” he compares Gracia’s passing to some of the major calamities in Jewish history. She “straightened the path in the wilderness...the passage to an awesome God,” he recalled. That passageway that Gracia Nasi prepared allowed unknown thousands of Jews to escape persecution and death at the hands of the Inquisition and build new lives in safety. Her heroism deserves to be better known today.

 

Books for further reading:

• The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Dona Gracia Nasi by Andree Aelion Brooks (2002).
• Dona Gracia of the House of Nasi by Cecil Roth (1946).
• Power of the Weak: Studies on Medieval Women edited by Jennifer Carpenter and Sally-Beth MacLean (1995).
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracia_Mendes_Nasi

 

 

Jewish Women: https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/video_cdo/aid/5472539/jewish/The-Jewish-Woman-What-Makes-You-Special.htm

 

Latest Public Opinion Poll Channel 13. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327246

 

From Steven H. Inflated Arab Population Numbers. https://associationofgeostrategicanalysis.com/does-israel-face-a-palestinian-demographic-time-bomb/

 

 

Inyanay Diyoma

 

 

Manhunt for murderers still on-going in Israel and with intel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327111

 

The first victim, Oren Ben Yiftah, a 35-year-old driver from Lod, actually drove the two axe-killers from the Green Line barrier, allowing them to sneak across into the ultra-religious town. https://www.debka.com/challenged-by-savage-palestinian-terror-israel-mulls-reviving-targeted-assassinations/

 

Drone strike targets S. Syria. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryiknaxuq

 

Israel’s top Apple Exec. If you are looking for talent, Israel is the place. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/s19x4ydbq

 

STD plague mostly the non-Orthodox Community. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/syxgvlnsc

 

Twitter still banning people. Now MD Zelenko. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327019 

 

If leaders of Hamas targeted, unprecedented suicide bombings. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-vows-suicide-bombings-unprecedented-response-if-israel-targets-its-leaders/

 

Another JCC Albany bomb threat. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327087

 

CAPTURED! https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327156 Story: https://www.debka.com/challenged-by-savage-palestinian-terror-israel-mulls-reviving-targeted-assassinations/

 

Expect the home of the terrorists to be demolished. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israeli-troops-seen-operating-in-west-bank-hometown-of-elad-terrorists/

 

11 Egyptian Soldiers killed by ISIS in Sinai. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327145

 

Looking for the sewer rats. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327155

 

Deranged son kills mother. https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-62-stabbed-to-death-in-kiryat-ata-son-arrested-on-suspicion-of-murder/

 

Victim’s family refuses to meet extreme left Min. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327160

 

6year old ran to a security guard to say that his father was murdered. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327144

 

Sinn Fein for a united Ireland. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327150

 

Ed-Op Yemeni – The media should stop covering Ben Gvir. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s11ki3os9

 

Russia pulling forces from Syria to the Ukraine. https://www.debka.com/mivzak/russian-forces-abandon-syrian-bases-ready-to-fly-to-ukraine/

 

Iran may be targeting Israelis in New Delhi. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-embassy-in-new-delhi-said-on-high-alert-amid-serious-fear-of-iran-attack/

 

Russia hits school suspected 60 dead. https://www.timesofisrael.com/60-feared-dead-in-russian-strike-on-school-in-eastern-ukraine/

 

Riyadh to invest millions in Israel via Kushner. https://www.timesofisrael.com/riyadh-to-invest-millions-in-israeli-tech-via-jared-kushners-new-fund-report/

 

Who banned DeSantis from Holocaust Museum? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327109

 

Hit and Run kills Jewish Cyclist. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327110

 

Fire breaks out in the Tomb of Benyamin. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327102

 

Labour wins Jewish Borough in London. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327097

 

Pope cancels visit to Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327107

 

N. Korea may make Nuke Test. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327108

 

8 Dead in Cuban Hotel Explosion. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327100

 

B’nai Brith call on Canada to ban PFLP. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327088

 

Miracle in Tekoa: Uri reports with my filling in from Israel TV: This is Yair M, father of 7 kids, an armed civilian who killed the terrorist tonight in Tekoa. He said "I saw a guy climbing a pole in a fence next to my house. I immediately understood that I was about to be in a terrorist attack. I went into my house and pulled out my gun. I had my wife call the emergency prepared unit. I immediately went outside and he had come for me from behind my car. His footsteps made a noise and I turned around and saw him in front of my eyes with the knife in hand. I ordered him to halt for he came from behind my car and behind my back. He lunged. I immediately shot a number of bullets until he was dead. A great disaster was avoided here, a really visible miracle happened to us. This is an event that could have ended completely differently." This was the attack: https://www.facebook.com/ugobey/posts/10166544709630441                                                                     https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-shot-dead-after-infiltrating-west-bank-settlement-with-knife-idf/                                After the original article was written, the Nes was even bigger. There were no three other attackers as mentioned originally on the news as one sees the 17year old terrorist climb the fence like a monkey and jump over the barbed wire. Next door to where Yair lived (no apparent Yarmulke) there is a religious neighbor. That neighbor’s daughter and girl friends were playing outside. Just imagine a fast young terrorist with a knife sneaking up on young girls.

 

Attack in Yerushalayim: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkdg4ysiq

 

Ed-Op Yoshua. IDF against assassination of high level Hamas Officials. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/by1a24489

 

IDF considering response to terror. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-considering-military-op-in-jenin-or-gaza-in-response-to-terror-wave-reports/

 

A “quick” response from the UK after 800years. https://www.timesofisrael.com/church-of-england-apologizes-to-jews-800-years-after-laws-that-led-to-expulsion/

 

Another Bomb threat to JCC Albany, NY. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327087

 

Time to stop PLO Salary Payment to terrorists. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327177

 

Reward leading to the arrest of antisemitic attacks in Brooklyn, NY. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327183

 

Bureaucrats – why May 20^th? Why not weeks ago? https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-to-scrap-mandatory-airport-covid-testing-on-may-20/

 

Abbas furious at Bennett. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327176

 

Bennett delaying town approved by Netanyahu. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327187

 

Jill Biden visits Kyiv with U2. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327178

 

Saudi King hospitalized. https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-king-salman-hospitalized-for-colonoscopy-instructed-to-rest-for-some-time/

 

30year old Arab was harassing Jewish Boys. https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-man-suspected-of-impersonating-cop-to-sexually-harass-teenage-boys/

 

Pollard: Israel is heading for a disaster. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327191

 

Guess which country is hacking American Firms. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-israeli-cyber-firm-uncovers-massive-chinese-backed-industrial-espionage-ring/

 

People like Trump but not Dr. Oz. https://www.c-span.org/video/?520003-1/president-trump-holds-pennsylvania-rally-dr-oz

 

Putin blames NATO expansion for the Ukraine War. https://www.debka.com/putin-ukraine-operation-was-prompted-by-natos-pursuit-of-our-territory/

 

Biden plans to visit East Jerusalem. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327250

 

Antisemite loses safe seat in MI.  “RJ” Regan with antisemitic memes blaming Jews for the Sept. 11 attacks, calling Jews the “real virus” instead of COVID-19, or calling feminism “a Jewish program to degrade white men.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327257

 

United Arabs to vote to dissolve the Knesset. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327253

 

IDF stops weapons smuggling from Lebanon. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327241

 

Lufthansa bans 100 ultra-Orthodox who refused to wear masks. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327231

El Al told me of a mask mandate that does not exist on US Airlines and is ridiculous due to filters in the air of planes.

Turkish Airline Flt returns to Ben Gurion because of pictures appearing on I-Phones. https://www.timesofisrael.com/flight-grounded-at-ben-gurion-after-plane-crash-photos-sent-to-passengers-phones/

 

IDF does not think Hamas is driving the terror but takes credit. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-believes-hamas-not-driving-terror-spate-but-just-riding-their-wave/

 

Nazi Flags at the ‘happiest place in the world’. https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-groups-call-for-florida-officials-to-condemn-nazi-flags-outside-disney-world/

 

Nvidia to expand operations in Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nvidia-to-further-expand-rd-operations-in-israel-hire-1000-engineers/

 

65year old woman behind letters with bullets to Bennett. https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-arrested-over-menacing-letters-bullet-sent-to-bennett-and-his-family/

 

Police dismantle underworld bomb. https://www.timesofisrael.com/blocking-underworld-hit-police-defuse-large-bomb-say-huge-disaster-averted/

 

Reform Male ‘Rabbi’ resigns after his husband accused of harassing boys. https://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-german-rabbinical-school-takes-leave-after-husband-accused-of-harassment/

 

Marijuana Nursery found in an abandoned Synagogue. https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-find-marijuana-nursery-in-disused-tiberias-synagogue/

 

Israel fires pinpoint missiles at place near the border. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327315

 

Russia shelled Jewish Cemetery with Pogrom Victims. https://www.timesofisrael.com/russian-shelling-damages-jewish-cemetery-in-ukraine-where-pogrom-victims-are-buried/

 

Verdict on Gaza Aid Worker with Hamas ties. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryjlnvulc

 

French Connection pure cocaine retarded mule. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ry0o00gouq

 

Scandal at Conservative Jewish Camp. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327266

 

BKLYN antisemitism awareness sign defaced with swastikas. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327305

 

Hezballah slams US Jewish Envoy to Lebanon. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327319

 

The Port of Odessa attacked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327308

 

1,100 entry permits of relatives of terrorists evoked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327287

 

FL Senator calls on Biden to resign because of mental status. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327307

 

Battle for Jenin as troops hunt down terrorist, Journalist killed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327366

 

PLO prevents death probe of Journalists.  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327357

 

Technician dies when struck by elevator. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327369

 

Men allowed two weeks paternity leave if mother returns to work. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327362

 

Yehuda and Shomron not prepared for intruders. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327304

 

Bedouin brawl in S. Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327304

 

Arms smuggling via sea foiled. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-says-it-foiled-hamas-attempt-to-smuggle-arms-production-parts-via-sea/

 

Israel wants forensic investigation but they want the narrative. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/11/israel-asks-palestinian-authorities-to-hand-over-bullet-that-killed-al-jazeera-journalist-for-forensic-investigation/

 

Rabbi urges Jews to leave Russia. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/11/the-rhetoric-is-very-dangerous-ukrainian-chief-rabbi-urges-jewish-community-in-russia-to-leave/

 

Swiss to address Nazi Looted Art. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/11/swiss-parliament-calls-for-government-panel-to-address-nazi-looted-art-claims/

 

2 Connected to terrorism jailed. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-arrests-2-more-palestinians-for-allegedly-aiding-suspects-in-elad-terror-attack/

 

Israel must out-smart Hamas on Propaganda – Yemeni. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1vo00splq

 

3^rd antisemitic attack in Brooklyn in 5 days. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/11/free-palestine-yeshiva-student-assaulted-in-third-antisemitic-attack-in-brooklyn-in-five-days/

 

Politicians are corrupt on all sides of the fence. https://www.aol.com/news/house-committee-refers-former-trump-192909579.html

 

Retired R.N. sent the death threats to Bennett. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327419

 

Biden pressured less housing units approved. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327435

 

Analysis of the shooting of the journalist from R. Pauli. What we have on film and on the ground evidence of a false narrative. For if Israel had killed the journalist, it was easy enough for the PLO to supply the bullet and not tamper with clear evidence. The opposite is true.

 

When an elite unit is sent in to capture a terrorist preferably alive bullets are not wasted shots if taken are clear and precise. The films taken of the terrorists indiscriminate shooting from the hip shows an untrained individual with a desire to kill. You may ask when would I shoot from the hip indiscriminately firing in a radius? When I about to enter the terrorist den or being attacked by a terrorist mob about to lynch me – in a ‘let my soul die with the Plishtim’ – Shimshon at Beis Dagon Shoftim 16:30.

 

A trained soldier tries to identify his target and shoots as precise as possible from cover. There is a video of the Journalist facing forward being shot and falling on her face. This indicates being shot from the rear or the side and not from the direction she was facing aka towards Israel.

 

In the end, the PLO may try to falsify data for the narrative. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/12/palestinians-may-try-to-destroy-evidence-related-to-reporters-death-israeli-sources-warn/

 

Breaking now for the past three hours, the IDF is fighting an armed terrorist or more and shooting is taking place near Jenin from close by areas. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327482

 

Earlier an armed terrorist was shot attempting to attack a civilian vehicle with a block through the windshield knife and acid and then trying to kill soldiers. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327477

 

New Hebrew U. genetic discovery with Zurich and Singapore find a genetic catalyst the stabilizes egg embryo development. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327471

 

I try my best not to give Shas Chairman Deri a political Chillul HASHEM but he brought this upon himself after attacking UTJ Chairman. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327452

 

Attempted lynching in Acco (Acre). https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byobgi9l5#autoplay

 

I don’t understand why we want to help the PLO financially as they continue to try to put us on trial and they continue to subsidize and support terror. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/bjra9vq89

 

US Israeli Military cooperation deepens. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327448

 

Israeli Arab Party takes advantage of its position in the coalition to attack soldiers. https://www.debka.com/arab-raam-party-seizes-on-reporters-death-to-commandeer-israels-war-on-terror/

 

After the US, UK and EU; finally, Israel gives up on masks on planes. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-set-to-scrap-in-flight-mask-mandate/

 

Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy Found. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327440

 

Just released F-15 caught on fire in Dec. and pilots escaped. https://www.timesofisrael.com/f-15i-pilots-escaped-from-burning-plane-in-december-accident-report/

 

N. Korea gets Covid after 2 years. https://www.timesofisrael.com/north-korea-raises-alarm-imposes-lockdown-after-confirming-1st-covid-case/

 

Chicago Antisemite. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/12/f-ing-jew-chicago-councilwoman-reports-former-city-official-for-antisemitic-invective/

 

Titanic antisemitism. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/05/12/kate-winslet-explains-involvement-in-controversial-documentary-about-israel-hamas-conflict-by-hamas-linked-director/

 

Good Shabbos all, stay healthy and pray for the security or all Am Yisrael.

Rachamim Pauli