Jewish Post-Biblical History Through Great Personalities From Jochanan Ben Zakkai Through Moses Mendelssohn

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The publisher of this book utilises modern printing technologies as well as photocopying processes for reprinting and preserving rare works of literature that are out-of-print or on the verge of becoming lost. This book is one such reprint. General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1918 Original Publisher: The Union of American Hebrew congregations Subjects: Jews Judaism Rabbis History / Jewish History / Holocaust Religion / Judaism / General Religion / Judaism / History Social Science / Jewish Studies Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: 18 III. RABBI MEIR. The favorite pupil of the great Akiba was Rabbi Meir, and his name, which means "One who Enlightens," is a true Early Life- indication of his life and work. He was born some- Scribe and where in Asia Minor, at some time in the first half Scholar. of tne second century of the present era, possibly about 140. It is probable that he was the child of poor parents, for he was early obliged to seek his own livelihood. He was a studious lad who loved his books, and so he chose a calling that did not take him away from them. He became a scribe, and with skilled and loving hand copied the sacred books over and over. His faithful copying fixed them in his mind so firmly that in after years, when he found himself on the eve of the Feast of Purim in a little Jewish community where there was no copy of the Book of Esther, he was able to write out the entire book from memory without one mistake. But his repeated copying did not satisfy his keen desire for knowledge, his yearning for the wider culture that must be his if he were to realize his ambition of becoming a teacher in Israel. Accordingly he sought teachers, especially the great Akiba. And he soon became the favorite pupil of his master, who, on account of the youth's untiring industry, quick understanding, and clear, penetrating intellect, ordained him as rabbi before other and older disciples. Into his work as ...

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