Leonard:N._ Simons — Descendant of. Famous Rabbis- -
By IRVING L KAM
TEE -apiorromput NEWS
Temple Beth
Leonard N. Sinions is well
locally, nationally and in the
the state
of Israel as. a , distinguished com-
munal leader, philanthropist and
book collector) Scores of honors
have been bestowed upon him, in-
cluding the-Fred M. Butzel lldemor-
ial Award of the Jewish Welfare
.
Federation, the highest award in
our community for outstanding com-
munal service, and honorary doc-
torates from Wayne State Univer-
sity.
sity and the Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion. A
great deal of biographical data is
available about Mr. Simons. A list-
ing
ing of his" -affiliatioris and honors
received during the past 40 years
LEONARD N. SIMONS
would fill a book of many pages.
What not generally known, glosses to the Talmud printed in
however, is - that Mr. Simons' family almost every Talmud edition; Yer-
name was originally Rashall, hav- iot Shlomo (Curtains of Solomon),
ing been born to William Rashall a commentary on Rashi (Solomon
and Minna Williams. Rashall is the Zitzhaki); Ateret Shlomo (Crown
name of a famous Lithuanian-Pol- of Solomon); Amudei Shlomo (Pil-
ish talmudic authority and Leonard lars of Solomon); several Piyutim
is a descendant of this Rashall
(liturgical hymns); and responsa.
family. Rashall is an abbreviation
•
of Rabbi Shlomo (Solomon) Luria
Rashi was born in Troyes,
(sometimes spelled 'Lurya') (1510-
1574), who traced his decent to France, in 1040. At an early age
Rashi (abbreviation for Rabbi he went to Germany to study in
Shlotno Yitzhald: 1040-1105), the the yeshivot at Mainz, Wurms and
celebrated French commentator on Speyr. At 25 he returned to Troyes
the Bible and the Talmud who and founded his own yeshiva which
traced-his ancestry to Rabbi Johan- attracted many students. The pres-
an ibesandelar (2nd Century, CE), sing need for an adequate and com-
Palestinian Tann& (an authority plete commentary on the Bible and
Talmud prompted Rashi to set
quoted in the Mishna).
about writing his famous, ,defini-
• • •
tive interpretation of those two
Rabbi Solomon Luria was born works. His commentaries excel all
in Brest-Litovsk, Lithuania, in 1510, others by the lucidity and precision
the son' of Rabbi Yehiel of Warms with which tk explain even the
(SiMons' father also was born in most intricate subject. Though his
Brest-Litovsk.) He received - his primary objective was to establish
talmudic training from his grand- the plain and exact meaning of
father, Rabbi-Isaac Klauber of the biblical text, Rashi also in-
Posen, after _Which be became cluded interpretations from the
rabbi at Brest-Litovsk and founded Midrash wherever he felt they con-
a yeshiva there. About 1550 he re- tributed to a better understanding
ceived a call to 'Ostrog, where he of Scripture. Rather than suggest
also founded a yeshiva and was forced interpretations, hoWever, he
appointed by the government as would on occasion admit that "I
district rabbi over Volhynia. In cannot explain this."
1555 .he moved to Lublin, 'where
Rashi's commentary on the Bible
he sPent-7hia list years as head of was the first dated- Hebrew book
the':
flitiOWF,Yeshiva
printed (1475) and had a great
Lim
; i*waa au-intrepid seeker of influence upon Jew and non-Jew
the truth - and of a stern, austere alike. It was translated into Latin,
nature. He declaiined passionately studied by the French monk and
againat
; injustice and hypocrisy, biblical scholar, Nicolas of Lyra
particularly_ on the part of rabbis. (13th Century). add used in the
This‘niide .him unpopular, but he preparation of the first German
won Jriends,. for a synagogue in translation of the Bible. Several
Lublin was called the Siaharshal superconnnentaries have been writ-
(Hebrew initials for "Ourleacher, ten on it.
Rabbi Solomon Luria) Shull.. after.
Rashi's commentary on the Baby-
him. His exposition of the Talmud lonian Talmud was based on a pre-
was thorough and criticaL He in- liminary study of the textual tra-
sisted on -. recourse to the bisic dition, with a view of establishing
source (Le., the , Talmud) rather correct readings. In this work, too
,
than later codes'
th
in all - halakhie
his style is characterized by lucid-
(legal) decisions. His chief service ity, logic, and terseness. His com-
to talmudic study was his endeavor mentary on the Talmud was left
to establish a correct Talmud text: incomplete, ending at tractate
the fruit of his. Yam Shel Shlomo "Makot," page 196. It was con-
(Sea of,Solomon), a series of notes tinued by his grandson, Samuel
to seven tractates of the Talmud. .Ben Meir, known as the Rashbam.
Many of the corrections and var-
Bashi often translated difficult
iant readings assembled by Luria words into French. His comment-
were incorporated into the first aries contain about 10,000 French
Amsterdam edition of the Talmud words, and, incidentally, constitute
(17 th Century) and from there into a valuable source for the study of
later editions.-
old French.
• * •
Luria denOuncecl blind adherence
It was said of Bashi that but
to authority and did not shrink for his commentary, the Talmud
froni attacking Maimonides and would_ have been forgotten. Unlike
other codifiers when he believed
Tosaphists (French talmudic
that they were _wrong. In general scholars of the 12th and 13th cen-
he Was opposed- to the' systematic turies), he did not enter into di-
Presentation of the laws . in code$,' alectical discussions, but would
holding that they, did more harm obviate
and difficulties
than good. fie was severely con- by a judicious word or phrase.
`
demnatory-of kabala, attacking ;it
RashPs Interpretations - .of tal-
in.his Menorat Zahab Tabor ((Can mudic. passages often have deter-
delabra Of:Pnre-GOld); and he dia- mined balakhic decisions. In his
liked. phabao
—phic speculations. Ols responsa.beemerges- as one of the
sole intereilt 2wits the study, of the great authorities of Jewish law. It
Talmud, "Afth be endeavored to was due to the influence 'of Rashi
rendee-si- infect' science by care-
his school that Fiance soon
fuldetermination ofthe text, strew became the classical hind of Bible
upon a knowledge of grammar, and —and. Talmud-study, while Spain
painstaking and !`exhaustive- re- remained the -center of Jewish
poetry and philosophy.-
in essence, study of Bashi • s Corn- Rashi (Solomon Ynchalci) an in-
The appointments of Mrs.
mentartes. ins work 'formed an es- tense. interest in our religion, Juda-
sential -part of Jewish basic edu- ism, and its history. So, maybe EDWIN WEINER of Cleveland as
cation, and has to this day con- some of their genes are still float- chairman of the National Commit-
tee on Women's Communal Service
tinued to retain its freshness and ing around inside of me."
value.
- Bashi had three daughters but
no sons. His work was continued
by three of his grandsons, all
famous talmudists: Samuel Ben
Meir, known as Rashbam; Isaac
Ben Meir, known as Ribam; and
Jacob Ben Meir, known as Rabenu
Tam.
s * *
Johanan Ha'Sandelar (Johanan
the Sandalmaker, or Johanan the
Alexandrian, or Johanan the Pier-
cer of Gems), was a Palestinian
tana of the fourth generation who
lived during the first half of the
2nd century, CE. He came orig-
inally from Alexandria, Egypt.
He was a student of Rabbi Akiba.
in Pirke Avot (Sayings of the Fa-
thers) we find his sublime maxim:
"Every assembly which is for the
sake of Heaven will in the end
thereof become of permanent value;
and every assembly which is not
for the sake of Heaven will in the
end thereof not become of perma-
nent value" (Avot 4:11). Only a
small number of the halakhot
(laws) taught by Johanan lia'San-
delar have been preserved, and
none of his- hagadic (legendary)
teachings.
*
When Simons was asked why
he had not made this little inter-
esting item public knowledge some
years before this, he expressed
his opinion of the subject in these
words:
"It has always seemed ridicul-
ous to me for a person to take- a
vicarious claim to fame because
of what some ancestor had done
in the past. A man should always
try to make his own histo by
standing on his own two feet and
rising or falling in public estima-
tion based on his own personal
efforts or•merit. I had nothing to
do with choosing my ancestors.
On the contrary, it's.the other way
around. I will admit that it is a
proud thought to know that some
members of our family tree were
important figures in Jewish his-
tory, but if the complete story
could be told—chances are that
the Rashall family had its full
share of progeny about whom they
were not so proud. That's the story
of life. However, it is a coincid-
ence that since the earliest days
of my youth I believe I have
shared. to some extent, with•
Rashall (Solomon Luria) and
of the Council of Jewish Federa-
tions and Negate Funds and Mrs.
ROBERT GREEN of Worcester,
Mass., as associate chairman, were
announced by CJF President Max
M. Fisher.
.
Senior Adults
Offered Activities
Six Days a Week
The. Jewish Center program for
senior adults at the 10 Mile branch
now includes activities six days
a week.
All seniors are invited to a daily
coffee klatch at the branch from
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday. The klatch has
been arranged with the assistance
of the senior adult committee of
the Center, under . the chairman-
ship of Mrs. Victor Shiffman.
Available classes include ceram-
ics, painting and drawing, rug-
hooking, folk dancing, knitting and
crocheting. A movie series has
been added every Sunday after-
noon.
Programs at the main building
continue as usual, with, regular
shuttle bus transportation avail-
able.
For information about activities
or about transportation, call the
senior adult department, DI 1-4200.
New C•Pfirsealiem
4,
HATTIB
BY
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other viaelciAncludet4fokh.,, ----ATer;tualj
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