Pop-eye was Jewish

The Real Sailor Behind Popeye

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Frank “Rocky” Fiegel (photo), the sailor linked to Popeye’s inspiration.

Most people know Popeye the Sailor Man as a rowdy, pipe-smoking cartoon hero. But one popular historical account links Popeye’s inspiration to a real person with Jewish roots.

Frank “Rocky” Fiegel: From Poland to the Merchant Marines

Frank “Rocky” Fiegel was born in 1868 in Poland. As a child, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, who eventually settled in a small town in Illinois.

As a young man, Rocky went to sea. After about 20 years as a sailor in the Merchant Marines, he retired from the ocean life and later worked as a “Bouncer” at Wiebusch’s Tavern in Chester, Illinois, helping maintain order in the rowdy bar.

The “Pop-Eye” Reputation

Rocky developed a reputation for getting involved in fights—and, as the story goes, usually winning. Over time he became known for a deformed eye, which earned him the nickname “Pop-eye”.

He also “always” smoked his pipe, so the account says he often spoke out of one side of his mouth—one more detail that made his presence memorable.

In his spare time, Rocky entertained customers with dramatic stories about adventures he claimed to have had while crossing the Seven Seas.

How Chester Connected to Popeye

The creator of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, reportedly grew up in Chester. According to the account, Segar met Rocky at the tavern and would sit for hours listening to his sea stories.

Years later, Segar became a cartoonist and created Thimble Theater. The story says he developed Popeye the Sailor Man and asked whether he could model the character after Rocky.

Rocky was reportedly flattered and agreed.

 Was Olive Oyl Inspired by a Real Person?

 The account also claims that Segar said Olive Oyl (along with other characters) was loosely based on real people. In this version, Olive Oyl was linked to Dora Paskel, the owner of a small grocery store in Chester—said to have looked similar to Olive Oyl and to have dressed in a comparable way.

A Long Relationship After the Comics Began According to the story

Segar kept in touch with Rocky over the years and helped him financially, including by sharing a small percentage of what he earned from Popeye illustrations.

Beyond Nature, Within Nature

The Era of Moshiach

“The glory of G-d will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of G-d has spoken”
— Yeshayah 40:5

In the time of Moshiach, G-dliness will be clearly revealed in the physical world. The verse says that “all flesh will see”, meaning that this truth will not remain hidden or only understood by the soul. It will be openly experienced in a real and physical way.

This means that people will not only believe in G-dliness, but will actually sense it with complete clarity. Even animals and all created beings will recognize that their life and existence come from G-d.

This revelation will not be something unnatural forced onto the world. Rather, the world itself will become the kind of place where G-dliness is naturally visible. Just as the eye naturally sees what is in front of it, it will naturally perceive the glory of G-d.

This is connected with the number eight. Seven represents the normal order of creation, like the seven days of the week. Eight represents something higher than nature. Yet in the era of Moshiach, even this higher level will become part of the natural reality of the world.

In other words, the world will rise to a state where holiness is no longer hidden. It will be open, clear, and felt by all.

The Rebbe

Purim, Pesach, 720

 

Bnei Yissaschar on Amalek, Purim, and Erev Pesach

A teaching attributed to Rav Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov

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“… in the future, speedily in our days, the war with Amalek and his destruction will take place on the ערב חג הפסח = ערב פסח (eve of Passover). Therefore, its beginning is on יום הפורים = Purim, and its completion is already by ערב פסח.

And likewise, the duration is תש״ך שעות = 720 hours, corresponding to three times ‘Amalek’, in order to nullify the full kelipah (impurity) completely, in מחשבה דיבור ומעשה = thought, speech, and action.”

This passage is cited from the sefer Bnei Yissaschar.

About the Author

Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov (1783–1841), known as the Bnei Yissaschar, was a major Chassidic Rebbe and kabbalist.

Why He Is Called “Bnei Yissaschar”

• His famous sefer is Bnei Yissaschar.
• The name comes from the tribe of Yissaschar, known for deep understanding of time, Torah, and the calendar.
• The sefer focuses heavily on:
• Jewish months and holidays
• The inner (kabbalistic) meaning of time
• Spiritual cycles and redemption themes

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Prepared for study and reflection

The Future Shift

 

In the future era, the Divine Presence will no longer be limited to the Ark alone, but instead revealed throughout  Jerusalem. As the prophets describe, G-d’s voice will emanate from Jerusalem, and the focus will shift away from the Ark as the central point of holiness. Instead, Jerusalem itself will be recognized as the Throne of G-d.

At that time, the verse “Make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them” will reach its fullest realization. The Shechinah will not be confined to a single place, but will dwell openly throughout the entire Land of Israel. As it is written, “His glory will fill the entire land.”

—Megaleh Amukos

The Six Sons

Book of Genesis  (Sefer Breishis)— Chapter 25, Verse 2

The six sons of Avraham with Keturah

It states:

וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת־זִמְרָן וְאֶת־יָקְשָׁן וְאֶת־מְדָן וְאֶת־מִדְיָן וְאֶת־יִשְׁבָּק וְאֶת־שׁוּחַ

She bore him:

• Zimran(זִמְרָן)
• Yokshan(יָקְשָׁן)
• Medan(מְדָן)
• Midian(מִדְיָן)
• Ishbak(יִשְׁבָּק)
• Shuach(שׁוּחַ)

Genesis 25:6

Avraham gave them  gifts (matanot)  and sent them eastward.

Chassidus explains:

• “Gifts” = spiritual knowledge
• Knowledge of spiritual forces / Sheimos
• Root of certain Eastern wisdom traditions
• Sent eastward meaning:

👉 Outside the covenant of Yitzchak (Isaac)

👉 Outside the direct line of Torah revelation

Why Six — Not Seven?

Seven

Represents completion (Shabbos).

Six

• Movement
• Structure
• Emotional expression
• World before refinement

These sons symbolize divine energy expressed without full integration into holiness.

🔥 Deeper Chabad Angle

Avraham represents infinite Divine kindness — Chesed of Atzilus.

Yitzchak channels that energy inward.

The six sons represent overflow energy — Chesed without Gevurah refinement.

In mystical language: they stem from chitzoniyus (outer expression), not pnimius (inner essence).

Noah

 

Noah — Birth, Name, Tools, and the Flood

Quick Facts

Lineage

Son of Lamech • 10th generation from Adam

Born

Year 1056 from Creation (2704 BCE)

Died

Year 2006 from Creation • Lived 950 years

Sons

Shem • Ham • Japheth (born when Noah was 500)

A Combined Narrative

In the year 1042 from Creation (2718 BCE), in the 55th year of Methuselah’s rule, Seth, Adam’s son, passed away and was buried in Arbel. At that time Methuselah’s son Lamech was 168 years old, and there was a famine in the land.

Thirteen years later (2705 BCE), Lamech married Ashmaa. Methuselah told him that Lamech would have a son whose descendants would populate the world. Methuselah — described as a great sage — warned him not to reveal the child’s true name, because a sorcerer needed a person’s real name to perform witchcraft against him.

Name & Meaning

“This one will comfort us from our work and from the toil of our hands, from the ground which the Lord has cursed.”

A year later, in the year 1056 from Creation (2704 BCE), a son was born to Lamech — the first child born after Adam’s passing. Since Adam’s sin, the earth was cursed and creatures rebelled against mankind. Adam had asked how long the curse would endure; he was told it would be lifted when a child would be born circumcised. This child was indeed born circumcised. Lamech called him Menachem (“comforter”), while his grandfather Methuselah gave him the hidden name Noach (Noah) to shield him from sorcerers.

Tradition adds that Noah was the first born with separated fingers — earlier human hands were not divided into fingers.  Noach  was an albino with white hair. After Noah’s birth, the famine ended and the curse was eased: the earth began to yield produce and animals ceased resisting human beings.

Tools, Farming, and “Rest”

The Sages connect the name Noach with menuchah (rest). Before Noah, people had no proper plows. Noah is credited with inventing the plow, sickle, and hoe to cultivate the land — replacing bare-hand labor. People rejoiced at the improvement and sang; later custom associates especially strong singing with plowing.

Righteousness, the Flood, and the Ark

Noah found favor in God’s eyes and was commanded to build an ark to be saved from the Flood: “For you I have seen as righteous before Me in this generation.” When Noah was 500, he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32). The Flood came when he was 600. At the end of the year the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. Noah and his household left the ark, and God blessed them: “Be fruitful and multiply… swarm upon the earth and multiply in it” (Genesis 9:7), promising never again to destroy all flesh with a flood.

Sacrifices, Meat, and Blood

Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices from the pure animals and birds he had brought into the ark. God permitted humanity to eat meat, but warned against consuming blood.

Vineyard and Vulnerability

Noah was the first to plant a vineyard, but he became intoxicated and his disgrace was exposed (Genesis 9:20). Midrash adds: on that very day he planted, on that very day he drank, and on that very day his shame was revealed.

How the Sages Read “Righteous in His Generations”

Critical Reading

Rabbi Yehudah: “In his generations” implies he was righteous relative to his time — but not compared to the generation of Moses or Samuel.

Praising Reading

Rabbi Nechemiah: If he was righteous in a corrupt generation, all the more so he would have been righteous in a greater one.

Noah and Abraham's lifetimes overlapped by 58 years, in fact נח (Noah) in Hebrew has the numerical value of 58! Noah  is also described as “of little faith” — believing and not fully believing the Flood would come — and only entering the ark when the waters pressed him in. The prophet later mentions Noah together with Job and Daniel as figures whose righteousness rescued their generation (Ezekiel 14:14, 20). Tradition has it that Noah spent the last years of his life in what later became known as Italy.

A Dollar Delivered

A Rebbe Dollar : 20 Years in the Making 💵

A blessing given once… delivered exactly when it was needed.

An American Jew, just before moving to Israel, went to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for a blessing. The Rebbe blessed him and handed him two dollar bills.

"One is for you… and the second is for the taxi driver."

The man was puzzled and took the dollars.

Twenty Years… in a Wallet

When he landed in Israel, he considered giving the dollar to the driver who took his family from the airport to the absorption center. But the driver was frantic and impatient, and the man felt intuitively that this wasn’t the “one.”

Years turned into decades and for twenty years, that dollar remained in his wallet.

The Taxi Ride That Changed Everything

Recently, this same man—now a long-time Israeli resident—took a taxi in the center of the country. He noticed the driver wasn’t wearing a kippah, but there was a Book of Psalms on the dashboard and a picture of the Rebbe tucked near the gearshift.

They began to talk. The driver shared that over the last few months, he had been exploring his roots and returning to Torah through a local Chabad center. Suddenly, the passenger remembered the dollar. He realized this was the moment.

"Take this… This is a dollar the Rebbe gave me to give to the taxi driver.”

“Let’s See Him Send You a Dollar Today!”

The driver slammed on the brakes. The taxi screeched to a halt. He turned to the stunned passenger, his voice trembling with emotion:

“Do you have any idea what you just did?” Ever since I started this journey back to my faith, it’s been very hard for my wife. She doesn’t understand it at all.

This morning, she was so upset she yelled at me:

“What is all this nonsense? What are these strange beliefs? The Rebbe has been gone for years! Do you really think it’s logical that he would send you a dollar for a blessing? Let’s see him send you a dollar today!”

The passenger sat in silence, finally understanding exactly which “taxi driver” the Rebbe had in mind… twenty years before.

The Takeaway

The Rebbe’s vision transcends time and space. A small act of kindness or a blessing given today might be the miracle someone else is praying for decades from now.

You can still receive the Rebbe’s blessing today—just keep your heart open.