Passing of the famed Torah scholar and mystic Rabbi Chayim ben Attar (1696-1743), author of the Ohr HaChayim commentary on the Torah. Born in Morocco, he also lived and taught in Algiers, Italy, Acco and Jerusalem, where he settled a year before his passing. Many stories are told of his holiness and greatness, and of the repeated unsuccessful attempts by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov to reach the Holy Land and meet with him in the belief that together they could bring the Moshiach and the final redemption.
R. Aryeh Leib was an outstanding scholar known for his diligence in study and penetrating analysis. He served as rabbi of Metz and authored Shaagas Aryeh, a collection of analytical discourses on the laws of Orach Chaim (daily life and the festivals). This classic work enjoys much fame and is indispensable for any serious student who desires to plumb the depths of Jewish law.
In addition to Shaagas Aryeh, R. Aryeh Leib authored Turei Even and Gevuras Ari, in-depth commentaries to a number of Talmudic tractates.
Link: Shaagas Aryeh
“The man Moses was more humble than any human being on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
Moses didn’t fool himself. He knew how good he was. He knew he stood on a level beyond any other human being. Yet he was humbled before them.
Because he knew that all that he had achieved was only with the capabilities given to him from Above. He figured that if someone else were given these same capabilities, that person would achieve as much as him.
And who knows, perhaps someone else would have used those capabilities to their fullest and achieved even more.