Menachem Mendel Bluming is a Maryland rabbi who serves as executive director of Chabad of Potomac, where he strives to foster a Jewish community that is inclusive, educational and inspiring. Mendel Bluming has many classes which explore the celebrations and traditions that inform the Judaic experience. One recent article on the Chabad website brought focus to the question of who Rabbi Meir Baal Haness is and why, when charity is given, his name is traditionally repeated. In addition, charities that focus on assisting Israel’s poor customarily have the name “Rabbi Meir Baal Haness,” and the rabbi’s name is also uttered as a safeguard in times of danger. The roots of this tradition have to do with an incident that is coted in the Talmud which transpired during Roman times. When Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion was executed for instructing the Torah in public, his daughter was condemned to live and work in a house of ill repute. Rabbi Meir disguised himself as a Roman and arranged a bribe with a Roman guard to get her out. His advice to the guard was to utter “God of Meir, answer me!” if he got into trouble for this act. When the guard was sentenced to hang he uttered this phrase and went free, and the story of the miracle associated with the utterance spread among the people. In addition, the Talmud has Rabbi Meir counsel that all, regardless of being deserving or having lived virtuously, are considered God’s children. This is seen as a parable for providing to all who are poor and downtrodden, and why his name is associated with charity.
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AuthorRabbi Mendel Bluming also dedicated six years to serving on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where he received the Matthew H. Simon Rabbinical Award for exceptional communal leadership. Archives
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