Jewish History
Jews of Prague Saved (1620)
In May 1618, the Bohemian Revolt broke out in Prague, triggering the Thirty Years’ War. In November 1620, King Ferdinand II suppressed the rebels in Prague in the Battle of White Mountain. Notwithstanding the widespread looting, the king gave orders that no Jew be harmed. To commemorate the miraculous turn of events, R. Yomtov Lipman Heller, rabbi of Prague, instituted penitential prayers to be said every year on the 14th of MarCheshvan, which he published in Prague later that year. (The above account was recorded by R. Yomtov in his introduction to the publication.)
Daily Study
Chumash Parshat Vayeira, 3rd Portion (Genesis 19:1-19:20)
Psalms Chapters 72-76
Tanya Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 27
Rambam 3 Chapters, 1 Chapter, Sefer Hamitzvot
Daily Thought
Wall Street Idols
The ancients looked up at the heavens and gazed at the stars in their constellations. They honored them as stewards of divine energy and life, as the embodiment of all forces of nature and the origin of human passions.
They were wise, but they were fools—they abandoned the Master for the servant. For in truth there is only One and all else is but a tool in His hand.
Modern man looks up to the headlines of the finance page and sees there all the forces that will make or break his career, his retirement plans, his success as a human being.
He too is a fool, for in truth there is only One and all else is but a tool in His hand.
