Monthly Archives: January 2011

Jew of the Week: Aryeh Kaplan

Rabbi from the Bronx

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (1934-1983) Born in the Bronx to a Sephardic-Greek family, Rabbi Kaplan produced over 60 books in his short life and wrote 47 original works in a writing career that lasted only 12 years! He translated the entire Torah, as well as the 45-volume Me’am Loez. Remarkably, he also held a Master’s degree in Physics and once said, “I use my physics background to analyze and systematize data, very much as a physicist would deal with physical reality.” He is credited with playing a dramatic role in the modern Baal-Teshuva movement. It is said that “his mind contained libraries of books waiting to be put into writing. It was the will of God that only so much be revealed and no more.” Tomorrow is his yahrzeit.

Words of the Week

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.

– Sir Winston Churchill

Jew of the Week: Melvin Calvin

Happy Tu B’Shvat!

Melvin Calvin – A Plant’s Best Friend

Melvin Calvin (1911 – 1997) One of the greatest biochemists of the last century, this man mapped the entire chemical process of photosynthesis. He won the Nobel Prize for this in 1961. Of course, the mechanism bears his name: the Calvin Cycle. Since today is the holiday of Tu B’Shvat (the “New Year of Trees”), it is appropriate to feature Melvin Calvin. After all, he is known as the one who revealed their age-old secret: photosynthesis. (Also, we had Hans Krebs a few weeks ago, and it would be unfair to feature the Krebs Cycle and not the Calvin Cycle).

 

 

Words of the Week

Because each life form, even fruit, is entrusted to a specific angel. By saying a blessing over a fruit, we empower that angel to reproduce more of that fruit. One who refrains from partaking of a fruit deprives the world of the spiritual influence that the blessing would have provided.
– Chemdat Yamim (from the Tu B’Shvat Seder)

Jew of the Week: Don Joseph Nasi

Prince of Europe

NasiDon Joseph Nasi (1524-1579) I’m not sure why they haven’t made a movie about this man yet, but they should. His story is quite fascinating. In a nutshell, he was the head of a banking empire, the Duke of Naxos, the Count of Andros, and the Lord of Tiberias. He actively sought a national homeland for the Jews, initially hoping for Cyprus, later receiving a grant from the Ottomans to start settling Israel. He single-handedly triggered a war between Turkey and Venice, sparked the Dutch uprising against Spain and brokered a peace treaty with Poland. At one point, he went by the secret name Juan Miguel to escape the inquisition. He monopolized the wine industry in Moldavia and the beeswax industry in Poland, financed the Yeshiva of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), established a printing press for Jewish texts and maintained a vast library in his house to be used freely by Torah scholars. For his foundational work in seeking to establish an independent Jewish state in the Holy Land all the way back in the 16th century, he has been called the first real “proto-Zionist”.

Constantinople (Modern Instanbul) – where Don Nasi financed the Yeshiva

Words of the Week

The entire people of Israel comprise a single soul; only the bodies are separate
– Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe (Tanya, ch. 32)