R.

Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180)

Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

r. com. car. a.

The paper-money in circulation is inconvertible, but has a forced currency. The notes represent 100 rubles; 50 rs., 25 rs., 10 rs., 5 rs., 3 rs., and 1 ruble, and are plainly stamped with their value.

R. Meir ben Simeon of Narbonne sharply criticized both the polytheistic implications of the Kabbalistic doctrine of prayers to varied divine manifestations and specific books containing Kabbalistic ideas.

The quotation is from what seems to be an interfaith discussion between the second-century C.E. Palestinian sage, Rabbi Akiba, and a man identified by his Greek name, Zenon.²⁸ Zenon asks R. Akiba how he explains the fact that individuals seeking the healing power of idols (probably referring to pagan shrines like the aforementioned Aesculapios) are actually healed. R. Akiba answers with a parable, which is quoted in thirteenth-century Jewish polemical literature.²⁹

Next, R. Moskowitz brings us to the Slonimer Rebbe, a late 20th century Hasidic rabbi, who taught that the evil of Esav was that very sense of completion, the self-perception that he had no need for growth or further transformation.