Monthly Archives: February 2011

Jews of the Week: Khazars

The Medieval World’s Greatest Kingdom

Map of Khazaria – The Medieval Jewish Kingdom

The Khazars (c. 650-1016 CE) A perplexing people with unknown origins who rose to European and Asian dominance, the Khazars are most famous for their national conversion to Judaism. Speculated to have begun as a Turkic break-away kingdom, the Khazars spread quickly to encompass the entire Caucasus region, southern Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. In the 700s, the Khazars waged a series of wars against the superpower Arab Caliphate, which historians agree prevented Europe from becoming an Islamic continent. Around 740 CE, King Bulan, feeling a lack of spirituality in his warrior life, invited representatives of the major religions. He found truth in Judaism and converted. Keeping with the Jewish way, he did not impose his new lifestyle on anyone. Nonetheless, the nobility slowly followed suit and by 860 CE, so had most of the kingdom. The Khazars dominated world trade, controlling much of the Silk Road. The silver coins that they minted (called Yarmaqs) are commonly found in places like China and England, and in 1999 a large reserve of these coins was found in Sweden, bearing the inscription “Moses is the Prophet of God”. Sadly, the kingdom declined after a series of revolts, was then overrun by the Rus, and destroyed by the Mongols.

Words of the Week

Stay away – to the ultimate degree – from “holy wars.” Not because we lack the means of prevailing or because of timorousness, but because we must consecrate all our strength exclusively to strengthening our own structure, the edifice of Torah and mitzvot performed in holiness and purity
– Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch

Jew of the Week: Rabbi Abraham ben David

The Ravad

Tree of Life, depicting the Kabbalistic Sefirot

Avraham ben David (1125-1198) also known as the “RaAVaD” (a title derived from the initials of his name, as is common with many Jewish sages) was one of the greatest scholars in history. Born in Provence, France to a Sephardic family, the Raavad was the chief rabbi of Montpellier and Nimes (where Denim fabric, “De Nimes” was invented). During his tenure as the head of the yeshiva, Nimes gained a reputation as one of the greatest places of Jewish learning in the world. Rabbi Avraham spent most of his life in Posquieres. He was incredibly wealthy, financing the construction of schools with his own funds, and supporting the poor. Because of this, he was once imprisoned by the lord of Posquieres, before a count who knew of the Raavad’s greatness freed him and banished the lord. The Raavad wrote hundreds of different works, including a penetrating commentary on the entire Talmud. More importantly, he is often regarded as the “father of Kabbalah”, revealing ancient Jewish mystical teachings and clearly elucidating them. The famous diagram of the mystical Sefirot arranged in a “Tree of Life” is attributed to him. The Raavad was also a noted astronomer, philologist, and philosopher. Spanish government records reveal that his descendants were important advisers to the Spanish monarchy. Meticulous in his analysis, highly critical, and opposed to dogma, he was a man that cared only for Truth. His impact on the depository of Jewish wisdom, and on the Jewish people, is unparalleled.

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

Jew of the Week: Francisco Maldonado

Doctor with a Mission

A Scene from the Inquistion

Francisco Maldonado de Silva (1592-1639) Raised as a devout Catholic, de Silva is one of the most famous Marranos in history [Marranos were the Spanish Jews forcibly converted to Christianity by the Inquisition]. His family migrated to Chile where de Silva became a doctor. He learned of his Judaism from his father, took an interest in it and started to learn more. He returned to Judaism wholeheartedly, circumsizing himself with a pair of scissors (relax, he was a doctor). Unfortunately, being Jewish was a crime and de Silva was arrested and thrown in jail for 12 years. He refused to eat their un-kosher food and would fast for 40 days at a time. De Silva was endlessly interrogated by no less than 13 inquisitors. Amazingly, he escaped from his cell after weaving a rope of corn stalks. Instead of running away, he climbed into the adjacent cell and converted two Catholics to Judaism. Tragically, he was burned at the stake with 11 other Jews in Lima, Peru on January 23, 1639.

Words of the Week

“The [Torah] has been a Magna Carta of the poor and of the oppressed; down to the modern times no State has a constitution which the interests of the people are so largely taken into account, in which the duties so much more than the privileges of the rulers are insisted upon, as that drawn up for Israel in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.”

– T.H. Huxley, famous biologist and paleontologist, father of the Huxley dynasty which includes Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley, Francis Huxley and Andrew Huxley.