Rama mi-Pano

Rama mi-Pano - Rabbi Menachem Azaryah ben Yitzchok Brechya - also known as Immanuel de Pano (1548-1620), an Italian rabbi, Talmudist and Kabbalist, was born in Mantua. Yahrzeit - 4 Av Resting place - Mantua, Italy Rama mi-Pano was a student of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero – the Ramak, whose widow he offered 1,000 zecchini for her husband's manuscripts. Even in his youth, Rama mi-Pano had a reputation as a diligent scholar, as evidenced by the fact that Moshe Cordovero sent him a copy of his book "Pardes Rimonim." Another teacher of Rama mi-Pano was Rabbi Yishmael Chanina ben Mordechai Valmontone. When Rabbi Yosef Karo, shortly before his death (1575), sent "Kesef Mishneh," his commentary on Maimonides' "Yad HaChazakah," to be published in Mantua, Rama mi-Pano, at the suggestion of De Rossi, took on part of the expenses and responsibility for the publication. According to Immanuel Aboab, Rama mi-Pano lived for a time in Reggio Emilia. Numerous students flocked to him from Italy and Germany, and he was respected for his scholarship and character. One of Rama mi-Pano's sons was Rabbi Isaac Berechiah; and the same name was also given to Rama mi-Pano's son-in-law and student (mentioned in a letter from Israel Sforno to his son Ovadia ben Israel Sforno). Works Rama mi-Pano's authority as a Talmudist is evident in his collection of responsa ("She'elot u-Teshuvot me-Rabbi Menachem Azaryah," Dyhernfurth, 1788), containing 130 chapters on various subjects related to religious law and ritual matters. He even sometimes disagreed with Rabbi Yosef Karo (for example, in chapter 32) and spoke of changes in ritual that could be justified in certain cases. In his love of precision and brevity, Rama mi-Pano compiled a book of excerpts from the work of Alfasi, which is itself only a compendium of the Talmud. This book has survived in manuscript. Rabbi Azulai lists 24 kabbalistic treatises by Rama mi-Pano, some of which exist only in manuscript. Ten of them are included in the work "Asarah Maamarot"; five of them, under the title "Amarot Tehorot," were printed together with "Kol Yehudah," a philosophical commentary by Yehudah ben Shimon (Frankfurt am Main, 1698; Mogilev, 1810). These treatises arose in part from discourses given by the author on festival days, especially on Rosh Hashanah. In 1581, Rabbi Yedidiah Recanati dedicated to Rama mi-Pano his Italian translation ("Erudizione dei Confusi") of Maimonides' "Moreh Nevuchim." The Shelah HaKadosh especially mentions Rama mi-Pano's treatise "Yonat Elem," as a theological work whose teaching is very close to the truth. Rama mi-Pano's student, Samuel Portaleone, wrote an elegy on the occasion of his death (Oxford 988c). "Sefer Gilgulei Neshamot" - Rama mi-Pano's most popular book. Meir Ein (Rabbi Yerucham Meir Leiner), son of the holy Rav of Izhbitza, published and disseminated it widely. "Sefer Gilgulei Neshamot" is arranged in alphabetical order by the figures of the Torah, together with all their reincarnations. Sefer in Hebrew: http://www.hebrew.grimoar.cz/azarja_de_fano/gilgulej_nesamot.htm Excerpts in Russian:   https://silatehilim.com/гильгулей-нешамот-цадиким/   The Ring of Shlomo HaMelech In the Talmud, tractate Gittin (68b), it is said that on the ring of King Shlomo was engraved a special Name of Ha-Shem, with which he could control Ashmedai, the king of the spirits. Ashmedai obeyed him for all seven years while Shlomo was building the Temple. But when Shlomo released his prisoner, Ashmedai flung the king to a distant land. The ring was thrown into the sea. Here the account in the Talmud ends. But Rabbi Rama mi-Pano, in his book "Em Kol Chai," continues the story, saying that the ring was swallowed by a fish. It took Shlomo three years to return. These three years were a punishment for violating three prohibitions that a king must observe: not to multiply wives, horses, and gold (Devarim 17:16-17). On his way back, Shlomo had to find some way to earn a living. The road home passed through the land of Ammon, where Shlomo was offered work among the servants of the king of the Ammonites. He was noticed by Naamah, the daughter of the local king, and after some time she wished to marry him. But the king did not like this idea, and, not wishing to shed his daughter's blood himself, he ordered that Naamah and Shlomo be taken into the desert to die of hunger. While searching for food, they came upon fishermen and bought fish from them. When Naamah cut open the fish, she found the very same ring, which meant that they would soon return to the Land of Israel and Shlomo would once again sit upon the throne.  

Tzedakah

Rama mi-Pano explains that the word "tzedakah" - (tzadi, dalet, kuf, hei) - according to the Atbash system, forms a word from the same letters, only in reverse order — (hei, kuf, dalet, tzadi). This may mean that any charity and donation a person gives will surely return to him in the opposite direction, as "charity" from G-d! Give charity, and G-d will preserve your wealth.

  2 Types of Souls

"If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved..." (Devarim 21:15)

Rama mi-Pano says in his book "Meah Kshita," page 93, regarding the verse: "If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved," that there are two types of souls. The "beloved" one is a soul without evil inclinations, born a tzadik, without a yetzer hara (evil inclination). The "unloved" one is he who is born with an evil inclination — he must fight battles, and he passes through many struggles. Then "the firstborn will be the son of the unloved wife." It is precisely the son of the "unloved" wife who is the firstborn, deserving a double portion. For one who is born with an evil inclination and struggles against it is preferable to one who is born without an evil inclination.

 

Rama and the 72 Names

Rama mi-Pano, already 470 years ago, established a connection between Tehillim and the 72 Names of the Almighty. Through his knowledge of Kabbalah, he was able to determine which Holy Name of the Almighty emerges from each psalm.

  Gaon Rabbi Yeshaya Pinto says that one who reads the maamarim, the manuscripts, anything from the teachings of Rama mi-Pano - brings the Geula into this world.     May the merit of the tzadik Rabbi Menachem Azaryah mi-Pano protect Am Israel. (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/55-Rabbi-Menachem-Azarya-of-Pano; Rav Nachum Shatkhin)