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עמוד:63
Background Information The Jewish Obligation to Ransom Prisoners * Throughout history , whenever Jews have been unjustly imprisoned , other Jews have paid large ransoms to secure their release . The obligation to redeem prisoners is seen as one of the most important mitzvot ( commandments ) . The great medieval Jewish scholar , Maimonides said : “ There is no commandment greater than the ransom of prisoners . ” ( Babylonian Talmud , Gifts to the Poor Tractate , Chap . 8 , Law 10 ) There have been many testimonies over the years about the collection of money by Jewish communities around the world in order to ransom Jews in captivity . 1 Following the invasion of Morocco by the Portuguese army in 1470 , Jews in the city of Arzila were captured and sold into slavery . What did Abarbanel and the other leaders of the community do to ransom the prisoners ? 2 What problems do you think could result from paying such high prices to ransom prisoners ? 3 Look at the map on page 138 . Find the country where the Jews who needed help in this particular case lived . Find the country where Abarbanel , who initiated the help , lived . Draw an arrow between the countries to show the origin and the destination of the help provided by the Jewish community . The Hebrew expression for the ransom of prisoners is pidyon shvuyim –
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