Leaders and Their Research of Our Religion

 Nadene Goldfoot                   

            Abraham (1945 BCE) and wife Sarah started the ball rolling with their different outlook on religion.  They begat Isaac together, but Abe also begat Ishmael with Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian handmaid in order to produce more than one child.  Isaac then begat through 4 women, 12 sons and a daughter, eventually producing the religion coming from them, Judaism.  Ishmael produced  the religion-Islam through Mohammad (born in 570-died in 632).  

The Catholics have had a Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.  Born Jewish. First pope. Apostle of Jesus. . The Catholic Church recognizes him as the first Bishop of Rome appointed by Christ. Also revered as saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 29 June. St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is named after him.  Catholics went on a rampage against Jews in 1492 (Spanish Inquisition) that chased Jews into the 1800s into Mexico. It was a matter of competition between the religions for the Catholics.   

Today's Pope is is Jorge Mario Bergoglio . 

 Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina),  is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been sovereign of the Vatican City State since 2013. Theirs first began with Peter of Jewish birth according to their religion.  He in turn supposedly was schooled by a Bethlehemite, Jesus, also a Jew that is believed to have been the son of G-d; half man half god like the Greeks and Romans of their day.  (I note that many Jews of the Holocaust escaped to Argentina, where many Nazis also had escaped to here). Catholics came out of Roman meetings held by Constantine starting in the 4th century.     

What do we Jews have?  

In Israel, there is a Chief  Rabbi; usually two of them, one of Ashkenazi customs and one of Sephardic customs.  Mizrachi Jews fall under the category of the Sephardim  and comes from the Hebrew for Egypt, meaning all Jews born in Middle East.                                      

Yitzhak Yosef (Hebrew: יצחק יוסף, born January 16, 1952) is the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel (known as the Rishon LeZion), the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, and the author of a set of books on halakha (Jewish law) called Yalkut Yosef. Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef Yitzhak Yosef Yosef is the son of Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and bases his halakhic rulings on his father's methodology. His books are considered foundational among large sectors of Sephardic Jews in Israel and the world. For these books, he has won the Rabbi Toledano Prize from the Tel Aviv Religious Council, as well as the Rav Kook Prize.

David Baruch Lau (Hebrew: דוד לאו; born 13 January 1966) is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. He was appointed after achieving a majority of the vote on 24 July 2013. He previously served as the Chief Rabbi of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Israel, and as the Chief Rabbi of Shoham. Lau is the son of former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

Abraham Isaac Kook (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק הַכֹּהֵן קוּק; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (הראי״ה‎), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of the fathers of religious Zionism, and is known for founding the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva. Upon returning from Europe in 1919, he was appointed the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and soon after, as first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine in 1921.

Rabbi Borstein came after Kook.  Tragically, Rabbi Borstein died suddenly at age 58, nine months after taking up his duties. Kook died in 1935, and his student, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, succeeded him as rosh yeshiva.

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (Hebrew: יצחק אייזיק הלוי הרצוג; 3 December 1888 – 25 July 1959) in Lomza in Russian Poland;  also known as Isaac Herzog or Hertzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936. From 1936 until his death in 1959, he was Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and of Israel after its independence in 1948. He was the father of Chaim Herzog and grandfather of Isaac Herzog, both presidents of Israel

    Moses, as played by Charlston Heston, a handsome, intelligent man born in 1391 BCE in Egypt...dodged the bullet of sleeping with the needy wife of his boss as he grew up in the Pharaoh's school as the son of his daughter....and knew the pitfalls....Our religion of Judaism came from the teachings of Moses while on the 40 year Exodus.  He wrote the Torah---1st 5 Books of Moses  -Genesis (Bereishis) Exodus (Shemos) Leviticus (Vayikra) Numbers (Bamidbar) and Deuteronomy (Devarim), also called the Pentateuch.  

We also have his Oral Law, from oral information handed down from generation to generation  by the tradition that it was given to Moses on Sinai together with the Written Law.  During the 2nd Temple Period, it was upheld by the Pharisees and supported by the majority of the people.  Sadducees and Essenes did not validate it because they had their own traditions regarding the interpretation of the Written Law.  So what you read in the Torah is not the complete references Jews use.  The book, The Mishnah, holds the Oral Law and is the legal codification compiled by Rabbi Judah has-Nasi and arranged logically.  Copied and recorded later, it was referred to as the Talmud (Gemara).   We have 2 Talmuds;  The Babylonian one and the Palestinian one.  They are the collected records of academic discussion and judicial administration of JEWISH LAW by generations of scholars and jurists in many academies and in more than one country during several centuries after 200 CE when the Mishnah was completed.                                

The Karaites of the 8th century CE of Persia rejected the Oral Law and denied the validity of the Talmud, so they broke off from the main body of Jews.  They simply did not go along with these Babylonian gaonates (intellectual leaders).  

Hillel, "The Elder" born in 1st century BCE (100 BCE) scholar of Judaism, founder of school "House of Hillel (Bet Hillel) and ancesator of a dynasty of patriarchs which held office until the 5th century.  He was born in Babylonia and settled in Palestine as a manual laborer.  He studied with the greats, Shemaiah and Avtalyon.  Later he became President of the Sanhedrin.  His friend Shammai  was his debate partner (Zugot). Hillel was noted for his humility and tendency to leniency. We need to remind our religious parties of Hillel. 

Our Jewish belief was stated by Rabbi Hillel as the Golden Rule, and all else was just commentary.  It goes like this:  "Do not do unto others that which you would not have them do unto you."  Our religion is all about the here and now and how we behave, not about what happens when we die.  That's where trusting in G-d comes in.  We try to do the right things (Mitzvot)  and figure it couldn't hurt.  

Outside of Israel, we have only our preferred rabbi to speak to about our Jewish Law.  We have many avenues of Judaism from Reformed, Conservative to several forms of Orthodoxy.  It's like finding the right shoe that fits your foot;  what fits your outlook about Judaism.  We have no people policing us.  We practice according to our Synagogue or Temple expectations or just ourselves as we do what we want or can. 

         Some people found to be Jewish from varied cultures;  an ingathering is happening right now in Israel...

Most of us are very individualistic, anyway, people that were born to be leaders, not followers.  We're debaters, thinking and speaking about all sides of an issue. Many of our 14 million world-wide have become lawyers for this reason.  We're a small group of people, 0.02% of the world population, but seem to float to the top of the milk as cream, garnering a lot of attention. Maybe defying the world's population's beliefs and remaining with Moses' teachings do define us as such, people who took an oath and will not defy it.       

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis#:~:text=Pope%20Francis%20(Latin%3A%20Franciscus%3B,Vatican%20City%20State%20since%202013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_rabbis_of_Israel_and_Mandatory_Palestine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_HaLevi_Herzog

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercaz_HaRav#:~:text=Tragically%2C%20Rabbi%20Borstein%20died%20suddenly,succeeded%20him%20as%20rosh%20yeshiva.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lau#:~:text=David%20Baruch%20Lau%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93,Ashkenazi%20Chief%20Rabbi%20of%20Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Isaac_Kook

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Yosef#:~:text=Yitzhak%20Yosef%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%97%D7%A7%20%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A3,Jewish%20law)%20called%20Yalkut%20Yosef.

Rashi's Genealogy Back To King David

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Rashi is a name in most all Jewish prayer books. He was a major commentator of the Torah (Pentateuch) and the Tanakh (Old Testament).  His name is an abbreviation for Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki which means "ben Isaac" who lived from 1040 and died in 1105.  He was a French rabbinical scholar who studied in the Rhineland (Germany).  Rashi returned to his native city of Troyes where he had established his own school.  His livelihood was from  his vineyard.  

People wrote to him from all over with questions and his decisions have been preserved in the works of his pupils. Rashi's commentaries served as the basis for later scholars such as Nahmanides and Ibn Ezra in their interpretation of the  Torah .   

His genealogy was very important to him and to his descendants for he kept it, and it led to King David.  Back in 1040 when he was born, the world Jewish population numbered  1 million people and remained that number till 1700.   By 1939, there were 16.7 million Jews in the world.  With the Holocaust taking 6 million, by 1946, there were 10.8 million Jews in the world.  Many of us can claim Rashi as a descendant including myself.  

Keeping a genealogy tree was an important exercise for many Jews because one could not partake in the Sanhedrin without proof of one's genealogy.  That was a pre-requisite.  The Sanhedrin was made up of 71 members.  The head person was called the Nasi, who in later history was to be a descendant of Hillel. This ended before the end of the 4th century CE when Romans had taken over everything.  

The book, Finding Our Fathers-a guidebook to Jewish genealogy by Dan Rottenberg, has in it a chart F of  The Dynasty of David on pages 56 and 57.  It lists Jesse as the father of David.

His chart B is Rashi's Traditional Ancestors.  Rashi's tree connected first to the very famous Hillel the Great (70 BCE to 10 CE).  He was a scholar and founder of the school known as the "House of Hillel" and the ancestor of a dynasty of patriarchs which held office until the 5th century.  Hillel was born in Babylonia but was able to settle in Palestine and earned a slender living by manual labor while studying with the great teachers, Shemaiah and Avtalyon.  He was appointed president of the Sanedrin and together with Shammai, constituted the last of the pairs (Zugot) of scholars.  He was noted for his humility and tendency to leniency.  Most all cases were decided by the House of Hillel.  It's like they were debators.  

Hillel the Elder (הלל הזקן) 110 BCE-10 CE. was a famous 

Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in 

Jewish history. Hillel was born in Babylon. Josephus ("Vita," § 

38) speaks of Hillel's great-grandson, Rabban Shimon ben 

Gamliel I, as belonging to a very celebrated family.

• Hillel descended from the Tribe of Benjamin on his father's side, and
• from the family of David on his mother's side. He's known for his Golden Rule comment:  "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn." - Babylonian Talmud, Sabbath 31:1 -

• 
  Hillel and Shimon, Gamliel and Shimon ruled their 

  presidency, one hundred years "before" the Temple.
  

  Meaning that Hillel [the Elder] and 3 generations of his 

• descendants presided over the Sanhedrin, for 100 years 

• while the Temple still stood. They were the LAST ones 

• before it was destroyed in 70 CE.

The tree starts with King David and wife Abital (1043-973 BCE)  to Shephatiah, who was David's 5th son and was born in Hebron (2 Samuel 3,4) ;  then down 900  years to Hillel The Great (70 BCE-10CE) and then to Simeon Ha-Nasi.  

This led to Rabbi Gamaliel The Elder(early 1st century) President of the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, grandson of Hillel.  He's even mentioned in the New Testament as the teacher of Paul (Act 22:23.  In 3 generations, we come to Johanan Ha Sandalar of Egypt (2nd century CE).  His descendants were  Joshua, then Jochanan, than Nachman, then Jose (author of "Luleiot Hashor." That led to Yanai that led to Rabbi Maniana Gaon and that led to Rabbi Jose of Constantinople, and that led to Ha-Gaon Rabbi Abraham and that led to Rabbi Aaron (renowned doctor) and that led to Ha-Gaon Rabbi Eliakim.  

20 generations pass by and we come to Solomon and then Isaac and then Solomon who is Rashi= Rabbi Solomon {Yitzhaki} (ben Isaac)of Troyes, France (1040-1105).  

Chart C is of Rashi and His Descendants.  Chart D is of the Luria Family---An Unbroken Line almost back to Rashi.  Chart E is a simplified chart showing how the Families of Rashi, Treves,  Luria, Minz, Katzenellenbogen, Wahl,  Drucker, Horowitz,  Isserles and even Karl Marx are all related to each other.  

Rashi family tree  from (https://www.loebtree.com/rashi.html)

Each item on this list represents a generation.

107. Shlomo ?
     
108. Itzhak TZARFARTI (d. Abt 1060 Worms, Germany) married ?? KALONYMOS sister of R. Simeon the Great of Mainz, and daughter of Itzhak KALONYMOS (d. 960 Mainz) son of Rabbi Abun KALONYMOS son of Meshulam KALONYMOS son of Klonimus KALONYMOS son of Moshe KALONYMOS (d. 870 Lucca, Italy, d. 940 Mainz, Germany) son of Kalonymos son of Meshulam KALONYMOS son of Kalonymos BEN YEHUDA.
     Itzhak TZARFARTI rRefused to sell a jewel he owned as a decoration for the Madonna. Although the local Christians were willing to pay a great price for it, he preferred to throw it away rather than see it become a part of idolaterous worship. As a reward, he was granted a son of the calibre of Rashi, who became a living spirtual jewel. One day when Rashi's mother was pregnant with him, she was almost run down by a crusader, but a niche opened up miraculously in a nearby wall and she was able to shelter there. This wall later become a well-known landmark.
     
109. [1] Rashi: Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (b. 1040 Troyes/Champagne, France, d. 1105 Troyes/Champagne, France) married Batisaak daughter of Isaak BENABUN. They lived in France. Rashi wrote well known concise commentary on the bible. Three daughters:
     • [4] Jochaved (below)
     • [3] Miriam Miriam married R. Yehuda ben Natan (RIBAN) (b. 1065).
       • [6] R. Tosafist Yom Tov of Falais (b. 1090 Falais, d. 1140)
         • [14] Dolce (d. 1196 Erfurt, Germany) m. Eliezer. Contact Andi Zeigelman zieg_exp@netvision.net.il
         • [15] Rabbi Yehuda (b. 1115) father of [28] Yitzhak (b. 114x?) father of [34] Yehuda Shir Leon of Paris (1166-1224) father of the [38] wife of [39] Ashkenazi Matityahu, II TREIVISH (TREVES).
     • [2] Rachel married Eliezer Belle Asses JOCELIN. Son: Rabbi Shemaya JOCELIN
     The three daughters were scholars in their own right, helped their father with his writings, and at least one of which wore tefilin.
     Schlock Rock wrote a song about Rashi.

     Who was born in France and sent to Yeshiva
     studied in Worms and on his return
     he founded a school and wrote commentaries?
     Everyone knows it's Rashi.
     Whose words are written under the Chumash,
     the inside of every page of Talmud?
     Whose three daughters married great scholars?
     Everyone knows it's Rashi.
     And Rashi was so concise, and in his own script did write.
     And if you want to know why just look inside.

     
     
110. [4] Jochaved BAT SALOMON (b. 1065 Troyes, France) married Rabbi Hayashish Meir ben Samuel (b. 1065 Mainz, Germany, d. 1135).
     • [7] Ribam (Rabbi Isaac II ben Meir) (b. Ramerupt, d. Regensburg, Germany)
     • [8] Hanah or Hanale(b. 1080) married Shmuel ben Simcha.
     • [9] Yaakov (Rabbenu Tam) (b. 1096 Ramerupt, France, d. 9 Jun. 1171 Troyes, France) m. Miriam bat Yosef. Yaakov remarried. Thanks to their descendant [688] Benjamin ANGEL Benjamin.Angel at cec.eu.int for information on the descendants of RASHI. (The bracketed numbers are references to his list of 1,612 descendants of RASHI.)
     • [10] Shlomo  [Samuel ben Meir] 1069-after 1135, a French tosaphist; son-in-law of Rashi, originally from lorraine, he settled in Worms and later removed to Ramerup5t where he established his own school.  His son, Rabbi Tam, quotes his tosaphot. 
     • [11] Miriam m. ??? son of Simcha ben Samuel.
     • Rashbam (Shmuel)(b. 1080 Ramerupt, France, d. 1158)
     Jochaved remarried ???.
     
111. [7] Isaac BEN MEIR (RIBAM) (b. Ramerupt, d. Regensburg, Germany). After his death, his wife remarried [15] Yehudah.
     
112. [16] Isaac's daughter (b. Treves) married Rabbi Jechiel TREVES, the posek (d. 1189 Paris) son of Rabbi Matityahu Hagadol TREVES (d. 1150).
     
113. [29] Mosche TREVES, II (b. Treves, d. 1230 Paris)
     
114. [35] Rabbi Porat Joseph TREVES (b. Treves)
     
115. [39] Rabbi Matityahu TREVES (ASHKENAZI), II (b. Treves) married [38] the daughter of Rabbi Yehuda of Paris (b. 1115) [son of Yom Tov (b. 1090, d. ca. 1140 Paris) the son of Miriam and Judah (b. 1065 Mainz, d. ca. 1105) ben Nathan] and the daughter (or maybe just descendant...) of Rabbi Isaac BEN MEIR (RIBAM).
     • Vergentlin TREVES married R. Shmuel SPIRA
     • [41] Abraham TREVES (below).
     • [42] Yechiel TREVES, II (b. 1206, d. 1268 Acre, Palestine). Son: Porat Yosef, V (b. Treves).
     
     
116. [41] Rabbi Abraham (Avrahami) TREVES
     
117. [44] Rabbi (TREVESIAN) Jochanan (Yahanan I) Ashkenazi TREVES (b. Abt 1265 Treves, d. Worms, Germany). Left France between 1285 and 1314 during the expulsion of Jews by Philippe IV and settled in Germany where he acquired the surname Ashkenazi.
     
118. [52] Rabbi Joseph (Yosef V) Hagadol TZORFATI-TREVES (b. 1305, d. 1350 or 1370). President of Rabbinical Tribunal of Marseilles. His wife was very educated and explained many passages of the talmud. Their family was not required to wear the distinctive signs of Jews.
     
119. [64] Chief Rabbi Matityahu TREVES V (b. 1325, d. 1387 Paris). Chief Rabbi in France. President of Rabbinical Court in Paris and France. He married the daughter of Rabbi Samuel SPIRA =?= Menassier DE VESOUL.
     • Khana (Vergentin) married Shmuel SHAPIRA . Their son Shlomo SHAPIRA was the father of Peretz SHAPIRA (from whom the SHAPIRA family descends) and Miriam who married Aharon LURIA (from whom the LURIA family descends). Contact Jeffrey Mark PAULL saxkat@msn.com for details.
     • Yohanan TREIVISH (d. 1429) (father of Yosef TREIVISH (d. 1435), father of Shmuel TREIVISH, father of Eliezer TREIVISH)
     • daughter TREVES married Rabbi Raphael BALLIN. See below.
     
     
120. Their daughter TREVES married Rabbi Raphael BALLIN. They had a son Shimshon. (Contact: Dr. Jeffrey R. WOOLF woolfj@mail.biu.ac.il who is a descendant of Rashi via the HEILPRIN's and the HELLER's.)
     
121. unknown BALLIN
     
122. unknown BALLIN
     
123. Elias BALLIN
     
124. Moses Elias BALLIN
     
125. Elias Moses BALLIN (b. Worms, d. 27 March 1587 Worms)
     
126. Eliezer Sussmann BALLIN (d. 1601 Worms)
     
127. Samuel Abraham BALLIN (d. 4 April 1622 Worm), married Gutrad WORMS daughter of Eliezar WORMS.
     
128. Frummet BALLIN (b. Worms, d. 26 Jan 1649 Frankfurt) married Josef (Juda) Loeb OPPENHEIMER (d. 1655)

Note that Rabbi Jechiel LURIA also was a descendant of Rashi. See the official Noda b'Yehuda website for more information.

Information from David SOLOMON, Sol2516171 at aol.com.

Resource;

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Book: "Finding Our Fathers" by Dan Rottenberg-Jewish population, charts

Rashi family tree  from (https://www.loebtree.com/rashi.html)

https://www.geni.com/people/Hillel-Hazaken-The-Elder-President-The-Sanhedrin/6000000001288370396