The Crown of Aleppo

 The Aleppo Codex 

By Matti Friedman

The Aleppo Codex has had a sweeping history going back to medieval times up to the present. The Codex was the property of the Jewish community in Aleppo. The Jews of Aleppo were there since the Assyrian conquest of northen Israel. It used to be called Aram Tzovah and the Jews were there well before the advent of both Christianity and Islam. While they had sojourned there they were in possession of one of the most accurate codices of the bible. The Crown of Aleppo as it was called used to be housed in the great synagogue inside of a grotto locked behind a safe. It remained whole and intact for centuries after Rabbi Ben Asher write it in Tiberiius.

The History of the Codex took a dramatic turn when after the UN voted in the state of Israel the Arab mobs of Aleppo rioted burned the synagogue an destroyed the safe it was housed in. These events signalled for the Jews that things were going to take a turn or the worse. After having lived there for millennia now they were being turned out by the Syriuan government. They lived under restrictions , discrimination and oppression. Unable to safely live in what was their home since Assyrian times the Jews would have to flee to Israel or somewhere else. Unable to make a living and hain their businesses shunned many made their way out through Lebanon or turkey. The route to freedom was perilous. Often times smugglers would abandon people once they got their money or they could even turn them over to the Syrian authorities. The Jews left behind money, property and valuables. The Codex was also left behind. Today it is housed in Israel at the Ben Tzvi institute, forty percent of it is missing. It was thought to have ben burned in fire but closer examination shows that it was not burned. In fact it was rescued by a certain Aleppo Jew and housed with a jewish merchant named Yakov Hakohen. He held on to it for a god long time.

A jew named Faham smuggled it out. He was told by the community to give it over to a religious or righteous person, supposedly. Once in Israel a man who was in charge of immigration. He took charge of it and had it sent to the Ben Tzvi institute.  A legal battle ensued afterwards. The Aleppo community wanted control over the codex because they felt it was theirs. The government of Israel felt it should be kept somewhere safe where it can be studies and learned from. Eventually it was stored in the Ben Tzi institute with partial ownership goin to the Aleppo Jews. This underscore the negative treatment experienced by Middle Eastern Jews upon their arrival to Israel. In many cases their holy books were taken and never returned. They were housed in less desirable areas, given menial jobs and in general loked down upon.

The big mystery is what happened to the missing 40% of the Codex.   At first it had been thought to have been burned by fire. Further analysis showed mold damage no fire damage. Whan Jacob HaCohen had it there was no mention f missing ages. No one ever reported it until after it had been housed in the Ben Tzvi institute. One possible theory is that the theft of the pages was an inside job and that somone rom the institute  stole them. The pages themselves were of value.  there have been many cases of inside theft from Israeli istitutions.

The codex started out in Tiberius then moved to jerusalem. After the crusaders sacked the city the Jews made arrangement to have it moved to Fostat Egypt. Maimonides used it for his studies while iving in Egypt.

Afte things became dangerous in Egypt it was moved to Aleppo. There are still many pages missing and there is plenty of blame to go around. Could it be that Syrian mobs destroyed tha part of the codex or that someone picked u the pages from the ground. Perhaps the smugglers took the liberty o stealing pages. Or most firghtening is that Israeli institution in charge o guarding the Jewish patrmony were the ones who took pat i the theft of the missing pages.

The Three Wise men of Tibet

 

Flight of the Bon Monks

By Harvey Rice

It was in the late 1950's that China overran Tibet. The country over run by China had it's own sovereignty, culture and distinct religious practices.  The two main religions are Buddhism and Bon. Bon was the older and indigenous religion while Buddhism was originally from India. Tibetan Buddhism has it's own flavor and is different from Chinese Buddhism. Both Bon and Tibetan Buddhism both revere many of the same deities and they revere each others holy people.  When China conquered Tibet they were communist and they were hostile to religion.

In more ancient times Tibet was a powerful kingdom and often went to war with China. Often times Tibet would conquer Chinese territory. Both Bon and Buddhism had monasteries and monks all through put Tibet. One famous monastery out of Tibet was Minri which was the seat of power for the Bon religion. Drapong was like the Harvard university of Tibetan Buddhism.  Bon monks had lands that produced farm good and it also had living quarter and temples. Most monks took vow of non violence, about a tenth of the monks were warrior monks who did not have such strictures of non violence andhad more freedom than the other monks. The main dish of Tibet is Sanpa. A nutritious staple food that is much like a superfood. 

The story which is non fiction centers around three of the monks who escaped when China took over. The Chinese take over consisted of razing monasteries, harming females, putting Tibetan in concentration camps and total cultural destruction. The chaos and destruction caused many to flee from Tibet into neighboring countries. Most went and settled in the country of India. It was there that they would rebuild their society in exile.

The three monks were Tenzen, Senten and Songyae. The book gives a thorough biography of each of these monks as well as describing conditions in Tibet during the Chinese take over. There was no Tibetan military so to speak during that war. Defense came down to warrior monks and guerrillas. The book also details the challenges the Tibetan faced as they settled in India and other nearby countries. Dr. Snellgrove managed to get a few Tibetan to Britain so as to teach them modernity and also to learn their Bon religion

THE Chinese take over of Tibet was one of the bloodiest chapters in world history. Tibet recieved virtually no help from the outside world. The CIA tried to use Tibet against China but only managed to exploit the Tibetan issue. Towards the twentieth century they eased up and allowed Tibet to rebuild some of their structures and culture. They became more tolerant oward Bonn and religion but the Dalia Lama cannot come inot Tibet due to his political influence. Even holding his picture and can get you put in jail. Free Tibet

Political Activism for Oppressed Witches

 

Bujas:  The Magic and Power of Witches of Color

By Lorrraine Migneult 

What followes is not a book about technique but rather a social commentary about oppression. Most of the stories deal with witches of color dealing with oppression. Oppression comes in many forms. In the world of witchcraft everything is politically correct. The stories are filled with how women were suppressed or put down by. People of color have been enslaved and oppressed. Indigineous people have been subjugated in their land and colonized. Cathlalocism opresses the old pagan religions. The hetero normative society has oppress tansgendered individuals and homosexuals. The authoress's object here is to reclaim those traditions for people of color etc

The book rails against capitalism as it pits people against each other instead of having them work together. Her chapter on Abuelito magic focuses on gardening and growing your own crops and herbs. These in turn can be bartered of for other goods that other people may have. The book is in favor of creating mutual aid societies whe people can form groups and rely on eachother. This is in itself an act of resistance against capitalism. Mutual aid instead of supporting big corporations. Support each other. Capitalism has had a very negative efect on the environment. Magical items like herbs, crystal are being mined out of the land and now we are facing shortages of sage, and certtain crystals.  Thanks to the big corporation like Ulta whoare making a profit off of mass market witch craft.

The authoress is very much into decolonizing the mind and magic.  She advocates witches of color practicing and accessing their own ancestral religions. For the latinx community that could be studying Santeria, Mayo Columbe. For those o African descent it coul be studying, Yoruba, Voodoo or Voudou. One thing the authoress talks about is sticking to your own lane. While she loves her traditions she cautions that the ancestors who were oppressed by European settlers might not be to open to the idea of white Europeans learning their traditions, The author also cautions against appropriating practices from other culure and using it as their own. Wiccan circle which are Eurocentric have not often met the needs of people of color and in fact many people of colo felt excluded or nto properly represented.

When African's were brought over as slaves they were discouraged from practicing their ancestral religion. So different Loa from the Voodoo pantheon were given the names of saints and thei worship wnet under cover. The book discusses the how Hoodoo came about and the differences between Haitian Voudou and New Orleans Voodoo. The chapters by and large  consist of narratives then conclude with suggestions for an altar, affirmations, meditations journaling prompts and finally resources for further learning. The book does cover a lot issues like racism, capitalism, LGBTQ issues and colonization.

The Tale of Unlikely Jewish Heroes

 Gangsters vs Nazis

By Michael Benson

The Jewish gangster was a hero to the young Jewish boys growing up in America around the beginning of World War II. Jewish people over the years had been persecuted and massacred and many were afraid to fight back Not so the Jewish gangster. In those days non Jews felt they could get away with
Harassing Jews. The Jewish gangster fought back. Nazi Germany had made serious inroads into America. The Bundt party was promoting Nazi ideology and antisemitism. They also harassed Jews. So Judge Perlman contacted Meyer Lanskey and that got the ball rolling. Anytime a Nazi group wanted to host a gathering the Jewish gangsters would be there to mess it up. This often times involved brawls, heckling and destroying Nazi property. It worked. Put a damper on Nazi activity. The book details the exploits the heroics of unlikely Jewish saviors , the gangster. Of parented by hard working folk these guys took to bootlegging, gambling, being musclemen you name it. We could sure use heroes like these right now.