A Measure of Truth: Volume 6, Issue 35,Eikev
- Jul 30
- 1 min read
August 1, 2026; 18 Av, 5786 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara
In the 14th century of Seville, Spain, there was a famous Sephardic commentator named Rabbeinu Dovid Abudraham, who wrote a classic commentary on the Siddur and Jewish liturgy. How did he come to be called Abudraham? The name is unusual, even among Sephardic Jews, and there is a story behind it.
Rabbeinu Dovid was a merchant. Whatever he sold, customers would pay him, and he would measure out the merchandise by weight. In those days, scales were much less precise than they are today, and people did not use pounds, ounces, kilos, or grams. In his country, the unit of weight was called a dram. When a customer ordered 10 drams, Rabbeinu Dovid would not weigh all 10 at once. Instead, he weighed one dram at a time, adding a little extra with each measure to ensure that he never came close to taking what was not his. He repeated this added measure for every dram he sold...