In 1715, the Crown Colony of Maryland enacted a law requiring any citizen who wished to hold public office to take an oath of abjuration, which contained the words, "upon the true faith of a Christian." In 1776, the new constitution of the State of Maryland reaffirmed this law, requiring any oath of office to contain a declaration of belief in the Christian religion.
In the decades that followed, the struggle to repeal this law attracted national attention.
On February 26, 1825 an act "for the relief of the Jews in Maryland," was passed by Maryland's House of Delegates. The bill allowed every Jewish citizen to take an oath which professes his belief in a "future State of Rewards and Punishments, in the stead of the declaration now required by the Constitution and form of Government of this State."
R. Eliyahu HaKohen was a preacher and author who lived in Izmir, Turkey. He was known for his weekly sermons which inspired many people to repentance, and for his efforts in collecting and distributing charity to the poor. His ethical work Shevet Mussar—only one of the thirty-plus works he authored—is widely studied and has been translated into multiple languages. He passed away on 8 Adar II.
Link: In Appreciation
The Baal Shem Tov described life as a spiral staircase, constantly deflecting away from your target in order to attain it.
In Yiddish it’s called a “swindling staircase.” Some wise chassidim have pointed out a connection: Life swindles you into believing you are going in circles when really you are traveling higher each day.
This is the way of every true and lasting ascent: Just as you’re making some progress upward, you see yourself falling away and stumbling in the dark.
If you could see the whole picture, how all things resolve in the end, you would see how those periods of darkness and failure are truly steps higher and yet higher.
They must be. Because we did not create life.
G‑d did. And for Him, there are no failures—