Tag Archives: Arabic

The Last Jew of the Week: Samuel the Prince

Dear Friends,

After nearly 14 years of Jew of the Week, I’ve decided to hang up the skates and focus on other projects. It’s been a wonderful journey, and I thank all of you for the kind support, feedback, and suggestions – whether you’ve been subscribed from the very beginning or just joined recently. I will continue posting on my other blog, and YouTube channel. In the coming months, I hope to put together an anthology of some of the best and most inspiring Jew of the Week posts in book form. The website www.JewOfTheWeek.com will remain online as a valuable database of some 800 short biographies of great Jewish figures in history. Best wishes and please keep in touch!

Sincerely,
Efraim Palvanov

The “Prince” of Spanish Jewry

Shmuel haLevi ben Yosef, aka Ismail ibn Naghrillah (993-1056) was born in Merida, Spain which was then under Muslim Arab rule. He studied to become a rabbi and was fluent in multiple languages including Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin. To make a living he became a spice merchant, and eventually moved to Granada and set up shop near the palace of the king. One of his customers there was the king’s chief secretary, Abu al-Kasim ibn al-Arif. Eventually, he hired Shmuel as an advisor, and later promoted him to tax collector. Shmuel showed his genius quickly and became very influential in the royal court. When the king passed away, Shmuel helped Badis ibn Habus ascend to the throne. In turn, Badis appointed Shmuel grand vizier and commander of the military. This made Shmuel the highest-ranking Jew in all of Spain. (He was a rare exception to the Pact of Umar which forbid a non-Muslim from holding office.) Shmuel served as grand vizier and prime minister for the rest of his life, holding the office for some three decades. He was the military commander for seventeen years, and his greatest moment came when he commanded the victory against the combined armies of Seville, Malaga, and the Berbers in 1047. He became known as Shmuel haNagid, “the Prince” or “the Ruler”. At the same time, he was the chief rabbi and leading authority on Jewish law for all of Spain. He established a prestigious yeshiva which would train many great Sephardic rabbis, including the father of the Rambam. He was a prolific writer and poet, uniquely combing Arabic poetic styles with Biblical Hebrew. Among his many works are a textbook on Hebrew grammar, and a primer on Talmud study called Mevo haTalmud. When he passed away, his son Joseph took over his position. (Tragically, jealous rivals assassinated him, then launched a pogrom slaughtering many Jews in what became known as the Granada Massacre of 1066.) Shmuel haNagid is regarded as a key figure in the “Golden Age” of Spanish Jewry, the most influential Jew in Spanish history, as well as a model for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Muslims. Kfar haNagid in Israel is named after him.

The Very First Jew of the Week: Haym Solomon

Some Final Inspiring Jewish Words of the Week

In any situation, I ask myself what can be done. Whatever can be done, I do. What cannot be done, I do not worry about.
– Rabbi Simcha Wasserman (1898-1992)

Even in the smallest of insects, God’s unfathomable wisdom is apparent.
– Rabbi Yehuda haLevi (1075-1141), Kuzari 

Humour is the Jewish way of defeating hate. What you can laugh at, you cannot be held captive by.
– Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020)

To be a miracle worker is no big deal—anybody of standing can overturn heaven and earth. But to be a Jew—now that’s difficult!
– Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Peshischa (“The Holy Yid”, 1766-1813)

In faith, we firmly believe that what seems impossible is indeed possible.
– Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh (b. 1944) 

Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

Sometimes things happen about which the leaders of the generation remain silent. This does not mean that nothing is to be done… On the contrary: when aware that you are able to do something about it, you are obligated to do so.
– Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (“The Lubavitcher Rebbe”, 1902-1994)

Jews of the Week: Sarah of Yemen and Qasmuna bint Ismail

Great Arabic Poets

The single surviving poem of Sarah of Yemen

Sarah (fl. 6th-7th century) was born to the Jewish Banu Qurayza clan of the Arabian Peninsula, in the pre-Islamic era when much of the peninsula was inhabited by Jews. Her family originally hailed from what is today Yemen. They lived in Yathrib, the flourishing oasis of the Banu Qurayza Jews. In 622, Muhammad entered the city, and in 627 he annihilated the Banu Qurayza tribe (and renamed the city “Medina”, making it the first capital of the Islamic empire). Sarah was a poet, and one of her poems describing the devastation of Yathrib has survived. It was first printed in a 10th-century anthology of Arabic poems called Kitab al-Aghani. She wrote: “By my life, there is a people not long in Du Hurud; obliterated by the wind. Men of Qurayza destroyed by Khazraji swords and lances; We have lost, and our loss is so grave…” According to legend, she fought in the battle against Muhammad and was killed. (In a little-known quirk of history, Muhammad actually took two of the Jewish captives for himself as wives, and one of them is even considered a “mother of Islam”!) Incredibly, Sarah of Yemen may be history’s oldest and first known Arabic poet.

Another famous Jewish-Arab poet was Qasmuna bint Ismail (fl. 11th-12th century), who lived in Andalusia (today’s Spain). She was the child of a wealthy and well-educated Jew, who made sure his daughter was literate and taught her the art of poetry. Qasmuna is the only Sephardic Jewish female poet whose work has survived. Three of her poems were published in a 15th century anthology. In one of her poems she wrote: “Always grazing, here in this garden; I’m dark-eyed just like you, and lonely; We both live far from friends, forsaken; patiently bearing our fate’s decree.” In another she describes reaching the age of marriage and the struggle of finding the right partner: “I see an orchard, Where the time has come; For harvesting, But I do not see; A gardener reaching out a hand, Towards its fruits; Youth goes, vanishing; I wait alone, For somebody I do not wish to name.” She has also been referred to as “Qasmuna the Jewess” and “Xemone”.

The Guardian Angels of Israel

Back When Palestinians Insisted There’s No Such Thing as Palestine

Words of the Week

In Judaism the word for “education” (chinukh) is the same as for “consecration”. Is your child being consecrated for a life of beneficence for Israel and humanity?
– Rabbi Dr. J.H. Hertz, former Chief Rabbi of Britain

Jew of the Week: Harold Grinspoon

The Philanthropist Behind PJ Library

Harold Grinspoon (Credit: Robert Charles Photography)

Harold Grinspoon (b. 1929) was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts to a family of Jewish-Russian immigrants. He had a difficult childhood, struggling with dyslexia and rampant anti-Semitism, poverty, and losing his father at 19. While a student at Marlboro College, he had his first business idea: Putting together some meagre savings, he bought an old laundry machine and put it in the college dorm, charging 25 cents per load. Meanwhile, he worked on an ice cream truck and soon left school to manage a whole fleet of them. After serving in the Navy, Grinspoon bought his first property in 1959. He renovated it and rented out one of the units, and from there steadily built his real estate development business. He founded Aspen Square Management, now one of America’s top-50 private developers, with 15,000 apartments across 16 states. When diagnosed with cancer at age 59, Grinspoon realized he wanted to do something more meaningful with his life. He was particularly troubled by Jewish assimilation and intermarriage. Together with his wife, he founded the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to fund a variety of Jewish causes, and has since donated over $200 million. At one Passover seder, Grinspoon saw how excited his grandkids were to read Jewish books, and came up with the idea of sending a free Jewish book once a month to every Jewish home. Thus, in 2005 he launched PJ Library. Today, PJ Library operates around the world, delivering nearly 1 million free books each month to kids in some 30 countries. PJ Library also delivers popular Arabic-language books to Arab Israeli children. (It’s the largest Arabic book program in the world!) Meanwhile, PJ Library runs weekend and after-school programs, along with over 3000 events a year. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation funds other Jewish programs, too, including Jewish camps and day schools. In 2015, Grinspoon signed The Giving Pledge to donate more than half of his wealth. Grinspoon and his PJ Library have won a number of prestigious awards, including one from the Library of Congress. Grinspoon has been called “the most important Jewish philanthropist you’ve never heard of”. He is also an avid artist and sculptor, and is still very active at 92 years old. Sign up to PJ Library here!

Words of the Week

We are indignant when we are fooled by others but live comfortably with our unconscious desire for self-deceit.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel