| Today is: Thursday, Tammuz 15, 5772 · July 5, 2012
• Passing of R. Chayim ben Attar (Ohr HaChayim) (1743)
Passing of the famed Torah scholar and mystic Rabbi Chayim ben Attar (1696-1743), author of the Ohr HaChayim commentary on the Torah. Born in Morocco, he also lived and taught in Algiers, Italy, Acco and Jerusalem, where he settled a year before his passing. Many stories are told of his holiness and greatness, and of the repeated unsuccessful attempts by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov to reach the Holy Land and meet with him in the belief that together they could bring the Moshiach and the final redemption.
I learned the meaning of love from a drunk. I once passed two drunks drinking in a gutter and overheard the following conversation between them:
Drunk #1: "I love you!"
Drunk #2: "No you don't."
Drunk #1: "Yes, yes, I do. I love you with all my heart."
Drunk #2: "No you don't. If you love me, why don't you know what hurts me?" - Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Barditchov
Chitas and Rambam for today: | 
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