26 Tevet 5780.
The weather is going to be 44 and mostly cloudy.
Have a good day bye
Kaliyah:)

25 Tevet 5780.
The weather is going to be 37 partly cloudy.
Have a good day bye.
Kaliyah:)

Dear Dona Gracia: As we celebrate your 500th birthday (1510-2010) and your incredible accomplishments you rank among the most noble of women determined to succeed. Dona Gracia Nasi, born in Lisbon, Portugal (1510-1569) was one of the wealthiest Jewish women of the Renaissance who used her personal fortune and powerful contacts to help converts (forcibly converted Jews) prime victims of the Inquisition to flee to safety in the Ottoman Empire. Dona Gracia Nasi's negotiating skills, leadership and fierce commitment to her Jewish faith serves as a role model for women of all religious persuasions.

Her unwavering courage and leadership is a story worth the telling and inspires women today.

MODERN WOMAN

Dona Garcia lived at a time in which her actions, setbacks and strategies were surprisingly modern, and that is only one of the reasons I include her in this series on amazing women of the ages. Consider her name, for example, she never known by her husband's name Mendes and like other women of the l6th century, she retained her birth name, Beatrice de Luna, until she took her original Hebrew name in the Ottoman Empire, where she could live openly as a Jew. Never underestimate the powerful convictions of a woman such as Dona Garcia. She took control of her personal life and never relied on one doctor's opinion concerning a medical concern but immediately sought another doctor's opinion.

MARRIES INTO THE NASI DYNASTY

Beatrice de Luna was born into an ancient, venerable family of “Marranos,” (New Christians), that fled Portugal when Spain expelled its Jews in 1492. She married into the eminent international banking and finance dynasty of Mendes, and in 1528 when she was 18 years old, she married Francisco Mendes in a public Catholic wedding and then a Crypto-Judaic ceremony with the signing of a ketubah (a formal contract in a Jewish religious marriage). Francisco, along with his brother Diogo, ran a powerful trading company and bank of world repute with agents across Europe and around the Mediterranean. Following the opening of a sea route to India, they became important spice trader. After her marriage she was known as Dona Beatrice Mendes and in private life, called by her Jewish name, Gracia Nasi. (Dona is a formal title meaning “Mrs.

MANAGING THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Dona Beatrice Mendes was widowed in 1538 leaving her with an infant daughter, Brianda. Following her husband's death she went to Antwerp, where her brother-in-law Diogo Mendes had moved the family business years earlier. At his death in 1542 she took up the reigns of management and not only ran the family's banking business but the trading and shipping empire as well. She became a celebrated banker and as Diogo had done before, she continued using the family's contacts and international resources to help Jews escape the Inquisition, and by doing this act of bravery, her family was also constantly in danger.

A POWERFUL WOMAN

You may rightly wonder what prevented Dona Garcia from re-marrying? Remember she was a woman of her time but she knew the compulsory rules of the day. In the Renaissance Dona Garcia could not remarry and bear more children without making grave sacrifices. The laws of those days would have immediately handed control of her money and business to her new spouse. Instead she became a powerful woman managing the Mendes commercial empire and becoming a successful businesswoman. Legend has it that she was a fierce negotiator, tough and determined when it came to collecting debts, whether from fellow Jews or the royal courts of the day. Her enormous wealth put her into a position to influence kings and popes dealing involved commercial activities, loans and bribes. Payments to the Pope, for example, delayed the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal.

PURSUED BY THE INQUISITION

During her travels through France, Italy, and Turkey the Inquisition pursued her and greedy local rulers attempted to confiscate the family fortune. With amazing determination, business acumen, shrewdness and diplomacy, she managed to escape each assault and continue to build the family business. Dona Beatrice and her family finally reached Turkey in 1553, where they settled near Constantinople, finally free to live as a Jew. She de-Christianized her maiden and married names and was called Garcia Nasi. She built synagogues, yeshivas and hospitals. Grace Nasi a noble and sainted woman of the ages died near Istanbul in 1569.

TO NEW BIOGRAPHY

The remarkable life of Dona Garcia Nasi deserves full disclosure as only a scholar can produce. Andree Aelion Brooks, award-winning author of a new biography of Dona Garcia Nasi called, “The Woman Who Defied Kings,” published by Paragon House (2002), presents the incredible story of Donna Garcia Nasi, the 16th century Jewish woman banker who developed an escape network that saved thousands of her fellow converses from the terrors of the Inquisition. Ms. Brooks is an associate fellow at Yale University and a former contributing columnist to the New York Times. She can be reached at andreebrooks@hotmail.com. A Journey into the Life and Times of «La Senora,» the first commemoration in honor of the 500th birthday of Dona Gracia Nasi was presented by
Ms. Brooks at The brotherhood Synagogue on June 6, 2010.

This is the Purpose Man Was Created for
You should know and remember this well, my son, that a person didn't come into this world, only in order to believe in Hashem, and this is the sole purpose man was created for, and the entire universe, and all its content which are dependent on this, as it says: "And all His work of creation [was created] with Emunah" (Psalms 33). And a person needs to renew himself with yearning of Emunah each day, and at all times, for even though Emunah is our inheritance from our ancestors, and that's the main Emunah to rely on our holy ancestors and just follow in their path, nevertheless one needs to draw upon himself the holy Emunah each and every day anew, and to invest his entire heart and soul into it, and grow his mind anew each day with this.
(Alim L'Trufah - Letters of Rebbe Nosson, Letter 43)

A Short Tribute
Hacham Hai Moise di Picciotto was the son of Hacham Hillel Haim di Picciotto, who immigrated to Aleppo, Syria from Livorno, Italy in 1732.

The di Picciotto family was a very respected and wealthy family that dealt in commerce and supported charitable institutions. Several members of the Picciotto family served as consuls to various European countries - including Italy, Austria and France - because they were European subjects, had excellent reputations and were known for their outstanding characters.

Hacham Hai Moise di Picciotto learned Torah from his father and from other sages. Writing about himself, he testifies that "Until the age of seventeen I was raised among sages and Talmud teachers" and that he studied with private tutors hired by his father "who went to such great lengths to raise me on Torah and worship, and to find me a master and teacher".

By the age of eighteen he had already begun to deal in commerce which, as he mentions in his book, he regretted.

Hacham Hai Moshe di Picciotto married the daughter of Hacham Mordecai Galante, Chief Rabbi of Aleppo. They were renowned as exceptionally warm and generous hosts.

Hacham Hai Moise di Picciotto passed away on 26 Tevet 5576 (1816) in Syria. Some two years before he died, he managed to have his book of ethics and sermons on Genesis and Exodus, VaYachel Moshe, publishe

LOL grand baby mad because it's nap time and the puppy is mad because she is getting her nails trimmed and a bath.....my name is currently mud with both of them....:)

24 Tevet 5780.
The weather is going 28 and snowing today.
Have a good day!
Kaliyah:)

http://www.jewish-american-society-for-historic-preservation.org/images/Midstream_-_Haym_Salomon.pdf

A Short Tribute
Hacham Shlomo Mazouz, son of Hacham Menachem Mazouz, was born in 1908 on the island of Djerba. He officiated as a rabbi and dayan in Djerba. Between 1935 and 1936 he published the Mekatziel journal on original commentary on Halakha and Talmud. He immigrated to Israel in 1956 and settled in Netivot. Once in Israel, he refused to work as a rabbi and made a living running a sewing supplies shop, thus earning the respect of Netivot's residents.

Hacham Shlomo Mazouz had nine children, among whom were Rabbi Yehezkel Mazouz - a rabbi in Netivot, Manny Mazouz – a Supreme Court judge, Yemima Mazouz – legal counsel to the Ministry of Finance and Shula Ben-Zvi – Director of the Israel Land Authority.

His son, Manny Mazouz, testifies that his father was a cultured person with a liberal and tolerant attitude, who held that people are each responsible for their actions and that all people, including his own children, have the right to choose their own direction and shape their own worldview in keeping with their understanding.

Hacham Shlomo Mazouz passed away on 25 Tevet, 5742 (1982).

Hacham Shlomo Mazouz authored many books, including Kerem Shalom – Halakhot governing interest, Hesheq Shlomo, in two parts – original commentary on the Talmud, Sho'el U'Meshiv – Responsa in four parts corresponding to the four parts of the Shulchan Aruch, and Kiseh Shlomo – a book of Responsa and original commentary on the Shulchan Aruch.

The weather is going to be 28 and cloudy.
Have a good day bye Kaliyah