Category Archives: Extraordinary Individuals

Unique Jews In a Category of Their Own

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: Sara Braverman and Hanna Szenes

First Ladies of the IDF

Sara “Surika” Braverman (1918-2013) was born in Romania. She joined Hashomer Hatzair, the Zionist youth movement, when she was just 9 years old. She made aliyah at 20 and co-founded Kibbutz Shamir in the Galilee. She served with the pre-IDF Haganah, and then joined its elite special forces unit, the Palmach. During World War II, she agreed to join a group of soldiers to form a “Jewish commando” unit that would parachute into Nazi-occupied Europe with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). The mission was to go undercover and assist in underground operations while rescuing Allied pilots and helping Jews escape. Out of 240 that volunteered, 110 were taken for training in Egypt, and 33 were ultimately selected, including Braverman.

Another inductee was Hanna Szenes (1921-1944), originally from Hungary. Her parents noted her bright mind early on, and put her in a prestigious private school. However, Jewish students had to pay triple the tuition, and Szenes nearly dropped out because she couldn’t afford it. (The school later reduced her tuition as she was a gifted student.) Such discrimination led her to become a passionate Zionist. Upon graduation, she made aliyah and studied at the Nahalal Girls’ Agricultural School. Szenes soon joined a kibbutz, as well as the Haganah. In 1943, she joined the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and became a paratrooper. She was then recruited by the SOE and met Sara Braverman. In March of 1944, they were air-dropped in Yugoslavia. Their mission to go into Hungary was called off, but Szenes went anyway with part of the group. They were captured and tortured. Szenes refused to give up any information, and was ultimately executed by firing squad. Her remains were returned to Israel in 1950, and her diary and inspiring poems (in both Hebrew and Hungarian) were posthumously published and became hugely popular. Meanwhile, Braverman had stayed behind and joined Josip Tito’s underground partisans. When her mission ended, she was smuggled out through Italy and returned home. At the start of Israel’s War of Independence, Braverman founded the IDF Women’s Corps at the request of Chief of Staff Yaakov Dori. She recruited 32 other women and the group trained together in Tel Aviv. She went on to promote IDF service among Israeli women for decades to come, and is today known as the “IDF’s First Lady”.

Words of the Week

The gravest sin for a Jew is to forget what he represents.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Jews of the Week: Heroes of Israel

This week we honour a small handful of the many heroes that emerged during the recent catastrophe in Israel:

Michael Shamai, a former IAF pilot, was completing his shift flying a medical rescue helicopter when he got the call about the attack. Together with his Ecuadorian copilot, he immediately headed south to rescue as many victims as possible. Shamai had to fly multiple missions “in the dark” without GPS navigation, maneuvering away from gunfire and rockets, without any protection or even a helmet, saving dozens. Guy Madar was celebrating the holiday with his family in Kiryat Gat when he heard of the attack. He grabbed his firearm, got in his car, and drove down to Re’im where he encountered terrorists. He killed six of them and rescued an injured soldier. He then joined a policeman on the scene and they continued driving further south together before being ambushed by another group of terrorists. Madar and the policeman both got shot, but managed to eliminate all the terrorists. Madar secured a tourniquet to his bleeding leg, and was nearly unconscious when discovered by a team of IDF soldiers, who at first confused him for a terrorist before seeing his tzitzit. In Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, social worker Amichai Shindler was hiding with his family in the safe room when terrorists tried to burst inside. He kept them at bay, so they set off explosives near the door. Shindler absorbed the blow to save his wife and six children, losing his right arm and suffering major injuries to his face, jaw, and left hand. He lay bleeding for another three and a half hours before medics arrived. At Kibbutz Be’eri, paramedic Amit Mann was treating victims and saving lives for hours on end without rest before terrorists appeared. She did whatever she could to protect and hide the wounded in her clinic before being murdered. Aner Elyakim Shapiro was at the music festival and packed into a nearby bomb shelter with a large group of people. Terrorists threw grenades into the shelter, and Shapiro bravely threw them back outside. He deflected seven grenades before the eighth detonated in his hand. Shapiro perished, but saved everyone else inside. Witnesses described him as a “guardian angel”. Matan Abergil was in an armoured personnel carrier with 6 other soldiers when a terrorist threw a grenade inside the vehicle. Abergil quickly jumped on top and absorbed the blow, saving all of his fellow soldiers.

Top: Michael Shamai (left) and his copilot Jorge Ordoñez. Bottom from left: Amit Mann, Matan Abergil, and Amichai Shindler

Those We Have Lost

Hamas in the Torah

An Interview with an IDF Soldier on the Front Lines

Hamas Massacre Smashes Israel’s Faulty Strategy

The Real Reason Biden Came to Israel

Hamas Chief Lives a Life of Luxury in Qatar

The Dizengoff Square Candle Memorial

Words of the Week

The less we fear God, the more we fear the non-Jew and develop in our collective psyche an inferiority complex toward him. The latent power of fear in the soul seeks an outlet, and object to fear. It is either God or others… When it becomes clear in our minds and our hearts that a Jew must fear God alone, the fear of God becomes the motivating power necessary to stand up and fight against our enemies.
– Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh