Magen avraham biography sample

On the Topic of Usury and Interest, Which a Jew Is Permitted to Take from Them; and That These Christians Are Not from Edom

When a borrower is asked to pay usury or interest, they frequently use this as a public opportunity to strike the Jew verbally, and to present us as lacking in morals and as stingy with our money: he who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver (Ecclesiastes 5:9) and the soul will not be filled by such a lowly, despicable occupation [see Ecclesiastes 6:7; 1 Samuel 15:9], which is against law and nature. [ . . . ] When Christian rulers argue that taking usury and interest is a lowly, despicable occupation, which is forbidden to Jews, they cite two reasons for this claim:

It is against nature and proper law, and against civilized society and the political order, as it leads to genuine evils—the destruction of families and the loss of money, in a manner that is not required by nature and wisdom, as determined by the basic political structure which

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[In alphabetical order according to First Name] A-C, D-L, M-R, S-U, V-Z, and secondarily by Year of Passing

At the end of each entry, thanks to Chaya M Mishelovin, the numbers indicate which stories in the archives the person appears in.

 

Rabbi Yisrael-Abba (HaKohen?) Pliskin [of blessed memory: 5665 (or 5667) - 27 Sivan 5756 (1905 - June 1996] spent nearly twenty years in hiding from the NKVD (forerunner of the KGB), a consequence of his absolute dedication to helping Torah-true Jewish education survive in Communist Russia. He managed to emigrate in 1947, and after a brief period in Paris went on to be one of the founding fathers of the highly successful Chabad community it Melbourne, Australia, before eventually moving to New York and becoming a gabbai (manager) of the "770" shul and a teacher in the English-language yeshiva for young men without strong Torah backgrounds. (For more details) Story #1019 --

Rabbi Abraham -- see Rabbi Avraham

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Abraham the Noble Warrior

Lekh Lekha By :  Ismar Schorsch Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish History and Chancellor Emeritus Posted On Nov 4, 1995 / 5756 | Torah Commentary

The Torah does not give us a complete biography of Abraham, only a series of striking vignettes. The question fryst vatten whether they add up to a coherent view of the man, or are they just fragments of memory preserved bygd different traditions and assembled by the Torah out of filial piety, irrespective of coherence? I raise the question because of the portrait of Abraham sketched for us bygd chapter 14 in this week’s parasha.

More than a decade ago, Yochanan Muffs, professor of Bible at the Seminary, wrote a brilliant study of the chapter entitled “Abraham the Noble Warrior.” The piquant title meant to stress the picture of an unconventional Abraham, a tribal chieftain of commanding power.