Though debatable if Friedrich Nietzsche was anti-Semitic, no one debates that the Nazis used his writings to create the most lethal ideological brew in history - one leading to world war and the annihilation of 6 million Jews.

In the late 1800s there arose to prominence a highly influential German philosopher by the name of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900). Historians debate how much his writings represent anti-Semitism. On one hand, some of his writings express negative views about Judaism. On the other hand, he was also anti-Christian. In fact, he had worse things to say about Christianity than Judaism. As an atheist he was adamantly against all religion.

At the same time, some of his writings contain repudiations of anti-Semitism. He even went so far as to break off from his publisher for being an anti-Semite and wrote a sharp letter to his sister for marrying an anti-Semite and having anti-Semitic views.

Be that as it may, Nietzsche’s philosophy became a cornerstone of Nazi ideology, particularly his idea of the Übermensch, the Superman. As the Nazis interpreted it, certain races – the Aryan, Germanic race, specifically — were entitled to rule, dominate, lord over and enjoy the fruits of this world more than others. Combined with Darwin’s idea of the Survival of the Fittest, the Übermensch philosophy became a license to conquer, kill and enslave all the non-Germanic races, especially the lowest and most dangerous of them, the Jewish race.

Nietzsche’s writings were also used to paint Judaism as the root of all evil. Nietzsche pointed out that the despised Christian religion had its roots were in Judaism. Ideas such as “Love thy neighbor,” “turn the other cheek,” “be charitable” contradicted the idea of the Survival of the Fittest and the Übermensch. It was for the weak. Again, historians debate the depth of Nietzsche’s animosity toward Judaism; they claim it was really Christianity that he was attacking. But no one debates that the Nazis interpreted his ideas to mean that Judaism was a virus that infected the world. Christianity — and even worse for the Nazis: Communism — was nothing more than a front for Jewish ideas meant to suppress the strong, Germanic spirit.

German 19^th century anti-Semitism found echoes is some very strange places. The great German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), who had a fixation with German and Pagan mythology, was a rabid anti-Semite – and his wife was worse. Some of the otherwise greatest people in Europe subscribed to the vilest racial theories.

The anti-Semitism was not confined to France or England. Henry Adams, one of the famous and influential social commentators in the United States, said he lived only in the wish to see the end of “infernal Jewry.”

Barbara Tuchman’s book, The Proud Tower, is a portrait of the world before the First World War, 1890-1914. The chapter called, “Give Me Combat,” discusses anti-Semitism in Europe at the end of the 1800s. In about 50 pages she provides a remarkably clear idea about the ground swell of anti-Semitism that enabled civilized Europe a few decades later to exterminate six million people without much protest. The way she paints it, the anti-Semitism was so strong and virulent that it was almost a foregone conclusion that it was going to happen.

Her book is well worth reading to anyone who wants to understand the real roots of the Holocaust – roots that still need to be understood in today’s world.

One of the strange quirks in history is that Rabbi Salanter and the followers of his Mussar Movement were strongly influenced by Benjamin Franklin.

One of the strange quirks in history is that Rabbi Salanter and the followers of his Mussar Movement were strongly influenced by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s personal life leaves much to be desired. However, his ideas were extraordinary in many respects.

In the 1700s, Ben Franklin had published Poor Richard’s Almanac, which includes in it a great deal of philosophy. In it he listed 13 famous character traits, which he said are the foundation of a good person and a good society. Included on the list are such traits as thrift, honesty, silence, study, etc.

A Lithuanian Jew by the name of Menachem Mendel Lefin (also Menahem Mendel Levin — 1749–1826) had traveled west and studied in the universities of Germany and France. There he read the writings of Benjamin Franklin, and became greatly influenced by them. He wrote a book of Jewish ethics based on Franklin’s ideas, almost quoting him verbatim but never mentioning his name. It was as though it was his book.

Ohr Yisrael, “The Light of Israel,” is a biography of Rabbi Salanter and a philosophy of movement penned by his main disciple.

Rabbi Israel Salanter read his book and was very impressed by it. He subsequently published it in Kovno using his own funds. The book was republished by his followers a number of times. As late as the 1930s it was still being published by the Slobodka Yeshiva.

In our day, the book was translated into English by Feldheim publishers and one can even find posters of Franklin’s list in Jewish classrooms and on refrigerators in Jewish homes. It is ironic that one will not find these principles discussed or displaying in American school and homes; only in those of religious Jews.

There have also been a number of interesting books, theses and articles written about the relationship between the followers of the Mussar Movement and Benjamin Franklin. “Accept the truth from whoever says it,” is a principle in Jewish life. Indeed, that was what Maimonides responded when he was criticized for quoting Aristotle and the Greek philosophers. The bottom line is that if a person will live by those 13 principles he will be a better person and the world will be a better place.

The Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin: While yet a teenager in his father-in-law’s house, the Netziv wrote a commentary that showed the Jewish scholarly world who and how great he was.

Reb Chaim Volozhiner headed the illustrious yeshiva in Volozhin until 1825. In fact, it was the prototype of all yeshivas today.

He had a son, Rabbi Yitzchak, who was called “Reb Itzele.” When Reb Chaim died, Reb Itzele became head of the yeshiva. When Reb Itzele died, around 1854-55, his son-in-law, Rabbi Eliezar Fried, became the head of the yeshiva, together with Rabbi Yoshe Ber (Yosef Dov) Soloveitchik (also known as the Beis HaLevi), a direct grandson of Reb Chaim Volozhiner.

Reb Itzele had a son-in-law, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, who would become famous and called by the acronym, “the Netziv” (which in Hebrew means “the Prince”). While yet a teenager in his father-in-law’s house, the Netziv wrote a commentary to the eight century classic Sheiltos d’Rabbi Chai Gaon, which was authored by Rabbi Hai Gaon, one of the greatest Jewish scholars in the post-Talmudic era, but very hard to understand, and, therefore never very popular. However, the commentary of the Netziv opened up the book, at the same time it showed the Jewish scholarly world who and how great the Netziv was.

Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik. Rabbi Yoshe Ber was not only a true, rare genius, but also had great charisma (even though he lived a tragic personal life).

Rabbi Eliezar Fried died less than two years after his father-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner, which left open the question of who would lead the rabbinate and become the head of the yeshiva: the Netziv or Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik. Rabbi Yoshe Ber was not only a true, rare genius, but also had great charisma (even though he lived a tragic personal life).

They decided that they would submit the matter to a Jewish court. There was no personal animosity between them, but for the sake of the yeshiva and its direction they realized that they had to submit the decision to an objective third party.

Four of the great Lithuanian rabbis came to adjudicate. One was a young rabbi who was just then becoming very well-known and later would become the Chief Rabbi in Lithuania, the great Rabbi Yitzchak Elchonon Spektor. He was then the rabbi in Novaradok. Also on the court were Rabbi Dovid Tevele Minsker and the Vilna Maggid.

Legend has it that one of the judges opened the proceedings with the following explanation. He had no difficulty delivering a sermon for any of the early chapters in Genesis, because in each there were clear heroes and villains: For example, Cain and Abel, Noah vs. his generation, Abraham vs. his generation, Isaac vs. his generation, Jacob and Laban. In each it was clear who the hero and who was the villain. However, he continued, when one came to the story of Joseph and his brothers it was very hard to speak, because both sides were heroic; both sides were correct.

In this court case, he said, both sides are right. That was his opening remark.

The final decision defied expectations: the Netziv would be the head of the yeshiva. Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik accepted the verdict, and soon afterward he left Volozhin to become the rabbi in Slutsk and later in Brisk.

Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik had a son, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik¸ a child prodigy, who later became one of the great men of Israel. Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik married the granddaughter of the Netziv. Therefore, the families became one, and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik became the next Rosh Yeshiva in Volozhin together with his grandfather.

It was the high point of this period, when Volozhin reached its peak in terms of quality of students, and when Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik developed his signature analytical approach to explanations regarding the Talmud and Maimonides, often referred to today as the Brisk approach. Offshoots of Brisk yeshivas exist all over the world to this day in the United States and Israel.

To traditional Jewry, Germany had become a spiritual wasteland. It needed a prophet to take it out of the chaos and restore order. That savior came in the form of a very original, strong individual: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

By the mid-1800s, the Reform Movement had in essence taken over Jewish life in Germany; there were very few Orthodox Jews and very little Orthodox power left. To traditional Jewry, Germany had become a spiritual wasteland. It needed a prophet to take it out of the chaos and restore order. That savior came in the form of a very original, strong individual: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

He was born in 1808 in Hungary and became rabbi in Moravia before coming to Frankfort, Germany. When he arrived in Frankfort, he was hired by a very small congregation of only 11 families. Nevertheless, he quickly built into a very great and strong group that became the bulwark of German Jewry.

He also opened what today we would call a “day school,” which innovative for its time. It was called the Realschule. It offered studies of Torah for half a day, and secular studies taught in German the other half of the day. When they taught the secular studies in the Realschule the young men would take off their hats, because that was the way they did it in Germany.

On the other hand, among Rabbi Hirsch’s congregants were many men with beards. Many of them wore toupees or other false headpieces so that their heads would never be uncovered. Their extreme loyalty to the Torah and meticulous observance of mitzvos became legendary.

Rabbi Hirsch himself went to university. He was very well read in all the classical studies. First and foremost, however, he was a great Torah scholar. His seminal work is a commentary on Bible which he wrote in German. Whereas in Eastern Europe the traditional rabbis only spoke in Yiddish – which was the language of the people – Rabbi Hirsch spoke perfect German and delivered his sermons in German, in addition to his voluminous writings that were in German.

Where Rabbi Hirsch differed from Reform is that he did not compromise one iota on observance. He said that Judaism was a religion with a mission. God had bequeathed the Jewish people a mission to civilize the world. The role of each Jew was to observe the Torah and through that he fulfilled his highest ideal.

Rabbi Hirsch disagreed completely with the idea of Reform that said that Judaism was a religion that evolved and changed with the times. He saw it as a metaphysical religion, given by Go­d to a certain people, and that people would carry it throughout history, wherever they existed. The purpose of every Jew was to be part of that group of people, to find his place as an individual in the whole.

Rabbi Hirsch was uncompromising in his stance against Reform. In Germany, the government had awarded administration of the congregations – including the distribution of monies – to the Reform Jews. Only certain religious facets of life were left in the hands of the Orthodox: they took care of the kosher dietary laws, upkeep of the cemeteries and other these things that the establishment of Reform did not feel threatened their hegemony. One of Rabbi Hirsch’s greatest and most controversial accomplishments was his fight to obtain government permission to be a separate congregation from Reform. That meant that they could collect their own taxes, make their budget and establish their own rights; they controlled their own religious lives.

Throughout Germany, there was a heated debate between Orthodox Jews whether or not this was the right course of action. As a very small, minority should be become independent, as did Rabbi Hirsch’s congregation in Frankfort-am-Main, or should they remain as part of the overall general structure controlled by Reform. Some rabbis chose to stay, but the hallmark of Rabbi Hirsch’s was that he opted out.

In the end, Rabbi Hirsch was triumphant. He restored traditional Judaism to Germany. In our time, the Hirschian congregation was transplanted just before the Second World War to Washington Heights, New York, where it has undergone a series of metamorphoses. Rabbi Hirsch’s direct descendant, the late Rabbi Breuer, is an example again of that type of philosophy and weltanschauung. He was an expert in Schiller and Goethe, yet he would study the very obscure Jerusalem Talmud every day (in addition to the normative Babylonian Talmud). He was the perfect example of the person of iron will who was able to hold his community within the realms of Orthodoxy at a time when it would have been very easy to fall away completely.

The main job of the rabbi was to learn most of the time and then teach others. The young men in the town who wanted to study would learn with him. If he found a young man with promise he would send him to a larger town to study with a greater rabbi. That was the educational system

Beginning in the 1400s, the center of Jewish life shifted from Western Europe, Spain and the Mediterranean to Eastern Europe — especially Poland, Lithuania, White Russia and the Ukraine.

For the next 500 years, most of the creativity in Jewish life will take place in Eastern Europe, despite the fact that it will be a very inhospitable environment.

Most of the Jews lived in small towns in rural Europe. Living in a small town in US more often than not meant a loss of Judaism. Judaism is its strongest and has survived mainly in the urban centers. However, in Europe it was almost the reverse.

In the towns that had 20-40 families there was a strong, self-contained Jewish unit. There were even towns that did not have 10 adult males. The people from the town would travel to a larger town a number times a year to participate in communal prayers. All year they were without a quorum – yet remained intensely Jewish among the sea of non-Jews. That is a testament to the depth of their attachment to Judaism which they had.

To be a rabbi in one of these small towns was an honor. And each town had a rabbi. It also typically had a ritual slaughterer and others necessary for a Jewish-religious infrastructure. No one was paid much. There was a lot of hunger. A rabbi’s salary might be a few kopeks a week plus a goat. In many communities, the rabbi’s salary was that his wife was given the salt monopoly or the candle monopoly.

Rabbis would compete for these jobs even though the town barely had a Jewish population of any significance! Nevertheless, the vibrancy with which every Jew’s life revolved around Torah enabled that type of situation to exist in Eastern Europe.

In Poland, the study and knowledge of Torah developed as it had not developed in centuries. Learning and scholarship were always part of Jewish life, but perhaps never more than in Eastern Europe, which is even more remarkable given the rampant illiteracy and ignorance of the non-Jewish culture.

Eastern European Jews had a concept of the yeshiva — a school or academy where Torah was taught — but it was not like we know it today. The main job of the rabbi was to learn most of the time and then teach others. The young men in the town who wanted to study would learn with him. If he found a young man with promise he would send him to a larger town to study with a greater rabbi. That was the educational system.

The more formal elementary school educational system in Poland was called the cheder (“room”). Jewish children went there from the age of three until bar mitzvah. There were no secular studies, and they stayed cheder all day. Consequently, in 10 years a child could gain a great deal of Torah knowledge.

Only the elite stayed after the age of bar mitzvah, because economically no one could afford it. During the average Jew’s life he would regularly come nightly to the synagogue, where classes were always held, and join different study groups.

Their life revolved around the synagogue. There were also great Torah scholars who established advanced yeshivas throughout Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The famous rabbis of Poland were revered. Torah knowledge was how a Jew’s greatness was measured. There was no other form of study. If someone had a good mind, it was the only outlet for him. He could not go to Rutgers or Harvard. Because of that, the study of Torah reached a pinnacle. It was developed in Eastern Europe to a degree it had never been since the days of the sealing of the Babylonian Talmud.

Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol, a Spanish Jew (born 1021 CE), was a person of enormous intellect fluent in Latin, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew, as well as different dialects of what now is Spanish. He is considered one of the primary philosopher-poets in Jewish history.

Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol was a Spanish Jew (he lived in the city ofSaragosa) born in approximately 1021 CE. He was orphaned at a very early age and died at an early age, perhaps 27 or 35.

He was a person of enormous intellect who combined within himself many different facets, including fluency in many languages: Latin, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew, as well as different dialects of what now is Spanish. He is considered one of the primary poets in Jewish history, and wrote them both in Arabic and Hebrew. His hundreds of poems cover all sorts of topics: weddings, nature, life, relationships, marriage, etc.

As reflected in his poetry, he had a very strong interest in philosophy, in particular Plato. This set him apart from the other Jewish philosophers of the times. In the medieval world philosophy held a very central role in the thought processes of civilization and religion – and Aristotle was not only held in the highest esteem, but his ideas were viewed as infallible. Although the non-Jews made Aristotle their measuring rod, among the Jews he was not quite as popular. Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, for instance, ignored Aristotelian philosophy. Rabbi Judah Halevi’s Kuzari was also non-Aristotelian. Likewise, Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol was non-Aristotelian.

He wrote a famous book in Hebrew called, “The Source of Life” (Mekor Chaim), which was translated into Latin (Fons Vitae) and Arabic. It was tremendously popular among the non-Jews, whereas the Jews largely ignored it.

The Crown of Sovereignty

What he is remembered for among the Jews is his religious poetry. There is one particular poem that stands out above the others, “The Crown of Sovereignty” (Keter Malchut). It is recited till today on Yom Kippurnight by Sephardic Jews.

The Crown of Sovereignty” (Keter Malchut), recited today on Yom Kippur night by Sephardic Jews, the masterpiece of Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol, is the poem of Jewish literature. It expresses as no other poem the essence of the soul of the Jewish people and humanity.

The poem, a few hundred stanzas long, is a magnificent description of God, man, the people of Israeland the Torah. Besides the imagery, rhyme and meter it is also a restatement of his philosophic viewpoint of the world and the Jewish people. It is the poem of Jewish literature. It expresses as no other poem the essence of the soul of the Jewish people and humanity.

In “The Crown of Sovereignty” ibn Gabirol describes how he prepares to appear before God for judgment. Metaphorically, he describes how he sets up his army, his defense: “I have established my battlefront and arranged my soldiers.” Then he describes how when he comes closer to the Day of Judgment he realizes that he cannot rely on his soldiers and his strategy may not work. In other words, he realizes the weaknesses of man.

The end is that he comes before God without anything. His army is dispersed. His weapons have fallen. His courage is gone. The true essence of a man is that as long as things go well we are very confident, but when they do not and we have to view the raw person of who we are it is not always a pretty picture. Psychologically, it is not easy to take a hard look at oneself in the mirror. One who is stripped of all defenses and illusions sees a different picture of himself.

“The Crown of Sovereignty” is a masterpiece of poetry without comparison. His remarkable breadth of knowledge, from the Talmud and philosophy is, is on display. How he describes the things that happen to us in life; the frustration and futility of death; the questions of Job, etc. It is a towering accomplishment. Unfortunately, it does not have the wide popularity that it should have.

Nevertheless, all later Jewish poets borrowed from ibn Gabirol – both his style and ideas.

In the Jewish cemetery in Worms, there is the burial place of the Maharam of Rothenburg with a large headstone dated back to the 14th century. Next to him is another headstone that says this is the man who gave the ransom to get his body out from the castle and bring it to a Jewish burial. They are among the oldest tombstones in all of Europe. It is miraculous that they survived the Nazi occupation in WWII.

Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, the Maharam of Rothenburg (1225-1293) became the leader of Ashkenazic Jewry and one of the greatest rabbis of all time. We have close to 3,500 legal responses of his. It is just enormous.

In his time, Christian Europe discovered the advantages of extorting money from Jews. The Talmud already mentions the problem of non-Jews kidnapping Jews and holding them for ransom; it’s not a new problem. Even though the primary rule in Jewish law is that we do everything to save a Jewish captive – including selling a Torah scroll; a human being is worth more than anything else in the world – nevertheless, if, in the judgment of the Jewish court and the community, giving the ransom will mean further ransom and greater extortion, then we do not redeem captive for extortion. Therefore, a number of authorities wrote decisions setting the limit as to how much could be paid for certain Jews.

In 1285, the Maharam of Rothenburg left Europe to go to the Land of Israel, which was then under Turkish rule. The leader of the Turks openly solicited Jewish immigration expecting the Jews would build up the country, etc.

Simultaneously, the situation in Europe turned even worse for the Jews. They had been kicked out of France and England, and now they had to leave Germany, Austria and Bohemia. The question was where to go. Most opted to go east, and that is the beginning of the large Jewish emigration to Poland, Lithuania and parts of Russia. Some went south. There was a sizable emigration to Spain. Others headed for the Holy Land. The Maharam of Rothenburg was among them.

He set out incognito, because it was illegal to leave one’s town, especially Jews. He came to Lombardy in northern Italy, but there he was recognized by a Jew that had converted to Christianity, a bitter apostate, who turned him over to a local baron. The baron sold him to the Emperor of Austria for a fee. The emperor held him for ransom in one of his castles.

However, the Maharam of Rothenburg refused to allow the Jews to ransom him. The emperor started out with a very high ransom 30,000 marks, but at the end he was willing to take almost anything.

While incarcerated, Divine intervention allowed the Maharam of Rothenburg to have visitors and even run his academy. He stayed in prison for the last seven years of his life, but never allowed the Jews to ransom him, even though there were numerous offers to do so. He died in 1293 in prison. The emperor then held the body for ransom. But the Maharam had left a will forbidding it.

Here Jewish legend takes over, although there is no reason to doubt it. For seven years his body lay in the dungeon and didn’t decompose. When the emperor died, his son, the next emperor, took a small token amount of money and the Maharam’s body was removed.

In the Jewish cemetery in Worms, there is the burial place of the Maharam of Rothenburg with a large headstone dated back to the 14^th century. Next to him is another headstone that says this is the man who gave the ransom to get his body out from the castle and bring it to a Jewish burial. The only reward he wanted was to be buried next to the Maharam of Rothenburg. The two lie side by side. It’s one of the oldest tombstones in all of Europe. It is amazing that it survived the Nazi occupation in WWII.

Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, Nachmanides (1194-1270 CE), was the leader of Spanish Jewry. Perhaps the most dramatic event in his life was the Great Debate, in which he was given permission by the king to speak freely in defense of Judaism against an apostate Jew converted to Christianity.

Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, Nachmanides, was born in Gerona, Spain. He would become the leader of Spanish Jewry. Perhaps the most dramatic event in his life was the Great Debate. It is a watershed in Jewish history.

King James I of Aragon was a very devoted Roman Catholic. In his court was a Jew by the name of Pablo Christiani – whom the Church called Friar Paul – who had converted to Roman Catholicism. He told the king that he was a Hebrew scholar (the king was barely literate) and that he would be able to prove from the Hebrew Bible and Talmud the truth of Christianity and the falsehood of Judaism. Furthermore, he could prove it to the greatest rabbi of the time, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman

The king thought that if he could convince the greatest rabbi of the veracity of Christianity the rest of the Jews would follow and he would have his ticket to heaven, indeed a front row seat.

Not only did he authorize a debate, but in history this debate marked the beginning of a series of debates –lasting some three centuries — in medieval Europe.

Nachmanides, known by his acronym “Ramban,” is most famous today for his classic commentary on the Five Books of Moses, which weaves together deep textual analysis, Jewish tradition and Kabbalah into a unified whole.

This is the only debate that the Jews won…because it was the only debate that was fair. Nachmanides agreed to the debate on the condition that the king grant him permission to speak freely. In those days, no one was allowed to say anything contrary to Christian doctrine. The cardinals and other Church officials said it would be blasphemy. However, the king concluded that it would only be fair if he was able to say what he wanted to say and guaranteed Nachmanides protection no matter what he said. That is why this is the only debate in medieval times that was fair.

The debate took place in Barcelona in 1267 CE the week before Shavout, the Jewish holiday commemorating the day that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai. We have an exact record of the debate kept by Nachmanides himself. Every night after each day’s debate, he wrote down what he said and what Pablo Christiani said.

Nachmanides said some very strong things. He said, for instance, that the Christian founder came into the world as the “Prince of Peace,” but more blood had been spilled by Christians that anybody else in the history of humanity. Their founder came on behalf of the poor, but no one had exploited the poor more than the Church.

There has never been such a combination of intellectual and emotional dismemberment of a person, Pablo Christiani. At its end, the king awarded the victory to Nachmanides and even gave him a donation of 300 gold coins for his academy.

However, the Church could not suffer such a defeat without taking vengeance. Indeed, after this debacle for the Church debates were never again fair. That is why such debates were always disastrous for the Jews and Jews avoided such debates where they could. They learned that being invited to a debate was like being invited to a pogrom.

On that very Shavuos just after the debate, Nachmanides held a sermon in the great synagogue in Barcelona. In it he restated to the Jewish audience the positive side of the debate, i.e. not what is wrong with Christianity but what it meant to be the people of the Torah. The Church claimed that although he had been granted permission to speak freely at the debate, he had no permission to do so at his synagogue. Therefore, his sermon was deemed heresy. From that time on the Church hounded until he was forced to leave Spain.

He was 72 when he left Spain and headed for the Land of Israel. He eventually arrived in the city of Jerusalem, but could not find a quorum of 10 Jews due to the ravages of the Crusades and the Muslims.

He gathered a few Jews from the city of Nablus (biblical Shechem) and Hebron, and brought them back. He then purchased a building in Jerusalem from his personal funds and made it a synagogue, thereby reestablishing the Jewish community in Jerusalem.

That synagogue stood until 1948 when the Arabs blew it up. Today, however, the synagogue of Nachmanides has been rebuilt in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem.

We have letters that he wrote home to his family. He writes about his homesickness for his family: his children and grandchildren. Nevertheless, he thanks God for allowing him to come to the Land of Israel and there to rebuild the community in Jerusalem.

Caligula, emperor of Rome, was a raving madman, but his madness was somewhat mitigated toward the Jews because of fortuitous boyhood friendship with a man who became the last great king of the Jews.

On 22 Shevat, 41 CE, Emperor Caius Caligua was assassinated.

Agrippas was the grandson of Herod. (He is sometimes referred to as Herod Agrippas or Agrippas I.) He claimed to be the grandson of Herod, however there were those that said he was really descended from Herod. (Incest was one of Herod’s habits.)

He was a person of nobility who became famed for his righteousness. He would be the last great king to rule over the Jewish people, someone mentioned almost universally with favor in the Talmud. Indeed, there will be a period of almost 45 years when it will look like Jewish life in Judea will turn the corner for the good. It will be a time when both government and religion work in harmony and for the good of the people.

As per the Roman custom with the children of foreign leaders of lands they controlled, Agrippas was sent to Rome and raised there. By holding the children of the king hostage, the Romans hoped to thereby deter him from rebelling. When in Rome, Agrippas was raised in the household of Augustus Caesar, and later the Emperor Tiberius. He became friends with the emperor’s nephews, including the future emperors Caligula and Claudius. He was educated with them, played with them and was considered part of their circle.

At the death of Tiberius, Caligula became emperor of Rome. In the power struggle to become emperor, Caligula killed the nephews who stood in his path. This was common practice in the brutal world of Roman politics. Poison was often the favored method of assassination. Indeed, there was a whole industry of professional poisoners.

Caligula was a certified madman, the epitome of lunacy seated on a throne, although it was by no means the first time that a raving lunatic became the emperor. Among his many acts, Caligula appointed a horse to the Roman senate — although if one knew the Roman senate perhaps that was not so insane.

Rome was subjected to a reign of terror. Caligula had thousands killed. He reverted back to primitive Roman paganism. Even through the Romans were officially pagan, the leaders had become less zealous about it. They did not believe in a lot of the nonsense any longer. Nevertheless, Caligula not only believed in it but had himself elected as a god. Among the advantages in his mind was that no matter what he did he would not suffer the consequences in the Roman afterlife. He had statues of himself erected wherever he could, and people had to worship his image like that of the classic gods. He had dreams of becoming a permanent god on the order of Apollo, Zeus, etc.

He decreed that his statue be erected in the Temple in Jerusalem and that the Jews worship it. This is what had touched off the revolt of the Hasmoneans two centuries earlier. It was an act that guaranteed to ignite a rebellion in Judea against Rome.

However, Agrippas interceded. He knew him from his days growing up in Rome. As mad a Caligula was, he heard Agrippas’s arguments and withdrew the order. The only place in the Roman world where the statue of Caligula did not appear was in Jerusalem.

Eventually, the Romans had enough of Caligula, and his own soldiers, the Praetorian Guard, assassinated him.

Burial place of Simon ben Yaakov. Simon was a “man of war,” but his father’s wisdom turned into a selfless servant of his people.

Simon, Jacob’s the second son, was born and died on the 21^st day of the Hebrew month, Tevet. He is seen as the “man of war.” There is no question that the Jewish people need a strong army. If not for Simon, and his brother Levi, the brothers probably would not have rescued their sister, Dinah, from Shechem (Genesis 34). On the other hand, Jacob criticizes them very strongly for their act on his deathbed (Genesis 49:5-7).

Indeed, Jacob acted to mitigate their power. If they lived as one concentrated unit, they would be impossible to contend with. They would be a militaristic, Sparta-like state. Jacob, therefore, scattered them throughout the Jewish people (ibid. v. 7).

Simon was absorbed by the tribe of Judah, which was situated in the south near Hebron. They also had some property in the north near the Sea of Galilee. Their territory was split up and they has difficultly conquering the enemies in their land. Simon was also the smallest of the tribes (Numbers 26). Instead of the most feared warrior in Israel, he becomes the weakest.

Furthermore, Jacob made Simon teachers. Teaching was never the most well-paying profession in the history of the world. The rabbis in the Talmud quote Ezra saying that the scribes, i.e. teachers, would always barely eke out a living. In biblical times the teachers traveled to the students (unlike today when students come to the school). It was spiritually rewarding work, but humbling and not monetarily rewarding. As such, it was a profession that helped curb the tribe’s aggressive tendencies.

If Simon stood for education, then Levi was the public servant. He was not given land of his own, but lived off public funds. If you are dependent upon public good will you tend to develop a pleasant personality. You learn to take a lot of criticism without responding in kind. That was Levi.

Depending upon the support of the public is not pleasant. Everyone wishes he was independently wealthy, including rabbis. It would give the position a different stature. Nevertheless, that is not the reality. The community is dependent upon its rabbis and the rabbis are dependent upon the generosity of the community.

Levi was the public servant, dependent upon the good will of people; dependent upon the donations of others.

Jacob’s strategy worked. He broke up these two extremely strong-minded, strong-willed sons. Simon became the teachers and Levi became the priests. Aaron, the High Priest, descended from Levi. He embodies the idea of peace, tranquility, compromise and serving God. This represented a complete turnaround from Levi’s original personality.

Besides Aaron, Levi of course also produced Moses, as well as Miriam. Levi is the civil servant of the Jewish people, if we can use that term. They are singularly devoted to the welfare of the people. They were set aside, different and apart. That is why they did not take part in the episode of the Golden Calf, or any form of idol worship — whether in Egypt of the Desert — according to Jewish Tradition.

In short, Jacob’s blessing transformed both Simon and Levi’s strong personalities into strong, selfless servants of the people.