An Aliyah for the son of a non-Jewish father

December 27, 2017 by Rabbi Raymond Apple
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What name is used for calling up the son of of a non-Jewish father to the Torah?   Ask the rabbi…

Rabbi Raymond Apple

THE ARIZAL

Q. Some Jews say they follow the customs of the Arizal. Who was this?

A. Arizal is the name popularly given to Rabbi Isaac ben Shlomo Luria, 1534-1572.

Because his ancestry was German, Ashkenazi is often added to his name. Hence “Ari” is the initials of “Ashkenazi Rabbi Yitzchak”, though it could also be “Eloki Rabbi Yitzchak”, the “divine Rabbi Yitzchak” or, as a nickname, Ari meaning “lion” (of the kabbalists).

“Zal” is the abbreviation for “zichrono livrachah”, “his memory be a blessing”.

One side of the Luria family settled in Poland, the other in Israel. Isaac Luria’s father was told by Elijah the prophet that his son would bring kabbalah to the world and save the Jewish people from suffering.

Shlomo, the father, died when Isaac was a child and the family moved to Cairo where they had rich relatives. There Isaac was already writing rabbinic works as a young age; at 15 he married his patron’s daughter. Acquiring a copy of the Zohar, the handbook of the mystics, he spent long periods studying kabbalah in seclusion.

Some years later he moved to Tz’fat (Safed) and took over kabbalistic leadership from Rabbi Moses Cordovero.

His disciples included Rabbi Chayyim Vital, who like Luria taught that to come close to the Divine Presence one has to love all human brings. Luria insisted on strict compliance with Torah ethics, including the prompt payment of workmen. There are several Sabbath z’mirot composed by him.

Luria died in 1572. He left little written work; his ideas flowed forth so freely that it was hard to systematise and record them. His disciples collected and embroidered the facts of his life and gathered and disseminated his kabbalistic teachings.

In liturgy, Luria preferred the Sephardi tradition and enriched it with his mystical interpretations. His liturgical and other practices were adopted by the Chassidim and the Ashkenazi kabbalists.

ALIYAH FOR A CHILD OF A NON-JEWISH FATHER

Q. If a man has a non-Jewish father but a Jewish mother, what name do we use when calling him to the Torah?

A. There are several options.

The R’ma (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) prefers to call him as the son of his mother’s father (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayyim 139:3).

The responsa of Rabbi Simcha Bamberger of Stuttgart say “Ben Avraham” (She’erit Simcha 2).

12 LOAVES FOR SHABBAT

Q. Why do some people have 12 loaves on the Shabbat table?

A. The 12 challot symbolise the 12 loaves placed in the Temple on Erev Shabbat. Others say that they represent the 12 tribes of Israel.

Not many people carry out this practice but some use loaves baked in 12 sections.

Rabbi Raymond Apple served for 32 years as the chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Australia’s oldest and most prestigious congregation. He was Australia’s highest profile rabbi and held many public roles. He is now retired and lives in Jerusalem.

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