Today is: Sunday, Adar 17, 5772 · March 11, 2012
• Torah Sages Escape (c. 75 BCE)
In the year 91 BCE, Alexander Yannai of the Hasmonean family succeeded his brother Yehuda Aristoblus to the throne of Judea. Alexander Yannai was a Sadducee who virulently persecuted the Pharisees. At one point during his bloody reign, following a victory he scored on a battlefield, he invited all the Torah scholars for a celebratory feast. During this feast he was slighted by one of the guests, which led him to execute all the Torah scholars in attendance. A few of the sages managed to escape to the town of Sulukus in Syria. There, too, they encountered anti-Semitic enemies who murdered many of the exiled sages. The handful of surviving Torah scholars went in to hiding, finding refuge in the home of an individual named Zevadai. On the night of the 17th of Adar they escaped the hostile city of Sulukus. Eventually these surviving scholars revived Torah Judaism. The date they escaped the clutches of death was established as a day of celebration. • Completion of Code of Jewish Law (1563)
Rabbi Yosef Caro completed the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law. This concise codification of all Jewish law which is germane today was an extension of his Beit Yosef commentary (see entry for the 11th of Elul). The Shulchan Aruch is divided in to four sections: Orach Chaim -- details the laws pertaining to daily life, lifecycle events, and holidays. Yoreh De'ah -- laws which a practicing rabbi must be proficient in, such as complex nuances of the kosher laws, laws of mikvah, and laws of slaughtering. Even Ha'ezer -- laws of marriage, divorce, reproduction, and the like. Choshen Mishpat -- monetary and judicial laws; required study for a member of a rabbinical court. To this very day, the Shulchan Aruch serves as the primary halachic guide for Jewish life. Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah: The righteous are inscribed in the book of life; the wicked are inscribed in the book of death, and [the judgment of] the intermediates hangs in balance until Yom Kippur...
- Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b
Chitas and Rambam for today: |