Rabbi Abraham Maimuni HaNagid (also called "Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam") was the only son of Maimonides (the famed Talmudist, codifier of Jewish Law, philosopher, physician and statesmen, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 1135-1204). Born in 1185, Rabbi Abraham succeeded his father as the leader of the Jewish community in Fostat (old Cairo), Egypt, at the tender age of 19. He wrote many responsa and commentaries explaining and defending his father's writings and Halachic rulings. Rabbi Abraham passed away on the 18th of Kislev of the year 4998 from creation (1237).
Rabbi Baruch was the son of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov's daughter, Adel, and her husband, Rabbi Yechiel Ashkenazi. He was born in 1753 in Mezhibuz, the town from which his illustrious grandfather led the Chassidic Movement. He was one of the pre-eminent Rebbes (Chassidic masters) in the 3rd generation of Chassidism, and had thousands of disciples and followers.
On Simchat Torah we dance with our feet, not with our heads.
We are celebrating the Torah, and the Torah is something we study with our heads. But we dance with our feet, not with our heads.
If we would dance with our heads, each one would dance a different dance, each in a different space, some with friends but not with others, some as lonesome souls.
One head is higher, one is lower, one is here on earth, the other in the clouds or beyond, and some minds know only their own space that no one else can know.
But we dance with our feet, and all our feet are here on the same earth—none higher and none lower. So now we can all dance as one, with one heart, as a single being.
Now there is no loneliness, only joy.