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Dear OZ family,

Today is the 751st yahrzeit of one of the most illustrious rabbinic figures of the Middle Ages. On the 11^th of Nissan, 5030, corresponding to 1270 C.E. Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, also known as Ramban (Nacnmanides), died in Israel, just a few years after making Aliya. Ramban mastered the art of writing novella to the Talmud and after him, a plethora of his students and others followed suit. These Talmudic interpretations built on the Halachic works that preceded him, as well as the interpretations of Rashi and Tosafos.

Ramban also wrote direct commentaries to the Talmud, he wrote a critique of Rambam’s list of the commandments, as well as a large corpus of additional writings, published by Charles Chavelle in 1963. This included a commentary to Iyov, and Shir Hashirim, exposisitions on the holidays, weddings and other commemorative events, writings on faith, redemption, the nature of man, Kabbalistic interpretations, and his famous treatises, Iggeret Hakodesh, about human love and Iggeret Ramban, a daily missive for his son, that has become so popular that many siddurim print the letter on the back cover. He is perhaps most famous for his Torah commentary, which balances every exegetical approach to the Torah, even as it pursues a P’shat, straightforward agenda.

He is also famous for his participation in a Disputation with an apostate Jew, Pablo Christiani, that took place before the Spanish king, James of Aragon. James held considerable power for he had just kept Europe in Christian hands by defeating the Moslem forces at Toors, and he was somewhat kindly disposed towards Jews. At the time, Jewish suffering in France and Germany was intolerable, and England was about to expel their Jewish population. Ramban led a Jewish community in Spain that had relative comfort. He was forced into the Disputation against his will, for Jews never fared well in these spectacles. They were burdened with unfair rules that prevented them from freely arguing their case, and in any event, it could be just as dangerous to win the argument as to lose it. Ramban agreed to take part if he was given free rein to argue his case. When this was granted, Raban proceeded to rip Christiani’s arguments to shreds. James himself said he never heard anyone he was taught to think was so wrong, sound so right. The humiliated Christiani wrote his version of the Disputation in which he appeared as the unequivocal victor. Ramban felt the need to correct this awful misconception by writing his version of the Disputation.

This is what has come down to us, and it has been depicted in numerous books, plays, and even movies. It also got Ramban in big trouble. He was granted freedom of speech, but not freedom to write. The Vatican put a price on his head, and it was only through the intercession of James that Ramban was able to escape to Israel, where he led a small community of Jews in Jerusalem. The newly renovated Ramban shul is a testament to the tenacious will of our people to never relinquish the hope of returning to our “Days of Old”. Ramban’s passing, so close to Pesach is a reminder of how our traditions are passed from generation to generation. Ramban played a major role in assuring that the cherished legacies of our Torah would be enhanced even in the most harrowing of times. I wish everyone a safe, and healthy , and joyful chag, in which we can all play a part in the passing of our Torah heritage from one to another at the Seder table.

Be safe.  Be healthy.  Be excellent.

Rabbi Allen Schwartz   

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Congregation Ohab Zedek

118 West 95^th Street | New York, NY  10025-6604

Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200 | Fax 212.663-3635

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org