MAY 6/IYAR 19
5053 [1293]:
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (MaHaRaM), outstanding Talmudic authority, author of thousands of Halachic responsa and liturgical poet. He was considered the spiritual leader of his generation and his disciples were among its most renowned scholars. Arrested on false charges and held for ransom in the fortress of Eisenheim, he refused to be redeemed, saying it would put every rabbi in Europe in danger of being kidnapped. He died 10 years later in his cell and his body was held there until it was ransomed 14 years later and buried in the old Jewish cemetery of Worms. Next to him was buried R. Alexander Susskind who gave away his entire fortune to ransom the body. Both graves miraculously escaped Nazi ravaging of the cemetery.
1856:
Birthday of Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression, and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis. His theories were opposed at first, but in time profoundly changed the way in which people see themselves.
