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THE

Jewish Encyclopedia

A DESCR.IPTIVE R-ECORD OF

THE HISTORY, RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND CUS-
TOMS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM THE
EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY

Prepared by More than Four Hundred Scholars and Specialists

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE FOLLOWING EDITORIAL BOARD

Cyrus Adler, Ph.D. (Departments of Post-
Biblical Antiquities ; the Jews of America).

WiLHELM Backer, Ph.D. {Departments of the
Talmud and Rabbinical Literature).

Gotthard Deutsch, Ph.D. {Department of
History from. 14^2 to igo^).

Richard Gottheil, Ph.D. (Departments of
History from Ezra to 14^2 ; History of Post-
Talmudic Literature).

Emil G. Hirsch, Ph.D., LL.D. (Department of
the Bible).

ISAAC K. FUNK, D.D., LL.D.
Chairtnatt qfthe Board

Joseph Jacobs, B.A. (Departments of the Jews
of England and Anthropology ; Revising Editor).

Kaufmann Kohler, Ph.D. (Departments of
Theology and Philosophy) .

Herman Rosenthal (Department of the Jews of
Russia and Poland).

Isidore Singer, Ph.D. (Department of Modern
Biography from IJS*^ ^^ ^9^5)-

Crawford H. Toy, D.D., LL.D. (Departments
of Hebrew Philology and Hellenistic Literature).

FRANK H. VIZETELLY, F.S.A.
.Secretary of the Board

William Popper, M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Revising Editor ; Chief of the Bureau of Translation

ISIDORE SINGER, Ph.D.

Projector and Managing Editor

ASSISTED BY AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BOARDS OF CONSULTING EDITORS

COMPLETE IN TWELVE VOLUMES
EMBELLISHED WITH MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND ILLUSTR.ATIONS

NEW YORK AND LONDON

FUNK

AND WAGNALLS COMPANY

MDCCCC V

THE JCWrSH XHCYCL,aPEDfA, VO

YBIf^F-r CHAHLES SEDELMEYER PARI'

RXPsanucEa by permission

THE

Jewish Encyclopedia

A DESCR-IPTIVE R.CCORD OF

THE HISTORY, RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND CUS-
TOMS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM THE
EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY

Prepared by More than Four Hundred Scholars and Specialists

UNDER THE DlRECl'ION OF THE FOLLOWING EDITORIAL BOARD

Cyrus Adler, Ph.D. (Departments of Post-
Biblical Antiquities ; ike Jews of America).

WiLHELM Backer, Ph.D. [Departments of the
Talmud and Rabbinical Literature).

Gotthard Deutsch, Ph.D. (Department of
History from 1492 to igo^).

Richard Gottheil, Ph.D. [Departments of
History from Ezra to 14^2 ; History of Post-
Talmudic Literature') .

Emil G. Hirsch, Ph.D., LL.D. (Department of
the Bible).

ISAAC K. FUNK, D.D., LL.D.
Chairfttan of the Board

Joseph Jacobs, B.A. [Departments of the Jews
of England and A nthropology ; Revising Editor).

Kaufmann Kohler, Ph.D. [Departments of
Theology and Philosophy) .

Herman Rosenthal [Department of the Jews of
Russia ^and Poland).

Isidore Singer, Ph.D. (Department of Modern
Biography from 17^0 to igoj).

Crawford H. ToyJ D.D., LL.D. (Departments
of Hebrew Philology and Hellenistic Literature).

FRANK H. VIZETELLY, F.S.A.
Secretary of the Board

William Popper, M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Revising Editor; Chief of the Bufeau of Translation

ISIDORE SINGER. Ph.D.

Projector and Managing Cditor

ASSISTED BY AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BOARDS OF CONSULTING EDITORS

VOLUME X

PHILIPSON— SAMOSCZ

NEW YORK AND LONDON

FUNK

AND WAGNALLS COMPANY

MDCCCC V

uuivi:i

isn Y

l%o.

/OJL

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY

A II rights of translation reserved

Registered at Stationers' Hall, London, England
[ Printed in the United States of A merica ]

V '1 I p. >1 M v t Ki IJ

LITERARY DIRECTORATE

EDITORIAL BOARD

CYRUS ABLER, Ph.D.

(Departments of Post-Bihlical Antiquities and the Jews of

America.)

President of the American Jewish Historical Society ; Assistaiit

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

WILHELM BACHER, Ph.D.

(Departments of the Talmud and Babhinical Literature.)

Professor in the Jewish Theological Seminary, Budapest,

Hungary.

GOTTHARD DEUTSCH, Ph.D.

(Department of History from U9S to 1905.)

Professor of Jewish History, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati,

Ohio ; Editor of " Deborah."

RICHARD GOTTHEIL, Ph.D.

(Departments of History from Ezra to U9S and History of

Post-Talmudic Literature.)

Professor of Semitic Languages, Columbia University, New York ;

Chief of the Oriental Department, New York Public Library.

EMIL G. HIRSCH, Ph.D., LL.D.

(Department of the Bible.)

Rabbi of Chicago Slnal^Congregation, Chicago, 111.; Professor of

Babblnieal Literature and Philosophy, University of

Chicago ; Editor of " The Reform Advocate."

JOSEPH JACOBS, B.A.

(Departments of the Jews of England and Anthropology ;
Revising Editor.)

Formerly President of the Jewish Historical Society of England ;
Author of " Jews of Angevin England," etc.

KATJFMANN KOHLER, Ph.D.

(Departments of Theology and Philosophy.)

President of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio ; Rabbi

Emeritus of Temple Beth-El, New York.

HERMAN ROSENTHAL.

(Department of the Jews of Russia amd Poland.)
Chief of the Slavonic Department, New York Public Library.

ISIDORE SINGER, Ph.D.

Managing Editor.
(Department of Modern Biography from 1750 to 1905.)

CRAWFORD HOWEIiL TOY, D.D., LL.D.

(Departments of Hebrew Philology and Hellenistic

Literature.)

Professor of Hebrew in Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.;

Author of " The Religion of Israel," etc.

I. K. FUNK, D.D., LL.D.

(Chairman of the Board.)

Editor-in-Chief of the Standard Dictionary of the English

Language, etc.

FRANK H. VIZETELLY, F.S.A.

(Secretary of the Board.)
Associate Editor of the Standard Dictionary, "The Colum-
bian Cyclopedia," etc.

WILLIAM POPPER, M.A., Ph.D.

(.Associate Revising Editor; Chief of the Bureau of

Translation.)

Gustav Gottheil Lecturer in Semitic Languages, Columbia

University, New York (1903-5) ; Author of " The Censorship

of Hebrew Books."

AMERICAN BOARD OF CONSULTING EDITORS

BERNARD DRACHMAN, Ph.D.,

Rabbi of the Congregation Zlchron Ephraim ; Instructor in

the Bible and in Hebrew Grammar, Jewish Theological

Seminary of America, New York.

B. FELSENTHAL, Ph.D.,

Rabbi Emeritus of Zlon Congregation, Chicago, 111. ; Author of
"A Practical Grammar of the Hebrew Language."

GUSTAV GOTTHEIL, Ph.D.

(Deceased),

Late Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanu-El, New York.

HENRY HYVERNAT, D.D.,

Head of the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Literatures,
Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C.

MARCUS JASTROW, Ph.D.

(Deceased),
Late Rabbi Emeritus of the Congregation Rodef Shalom, Phila-
delphia, Pa.; Author of "Dictionary of the Talmud."

MORRIS JASTROW, Jr., Ph.D.,

Professor of Semitic Languages and Librarian in the University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Author of " Re-
ligion of the Babylonians and Assyrians," etc.

J. FREDERIC McCURDY, Ph.D., LL.D.,

Professor of Oriental Languages, University College, Toronto,

Canada ; Author of " History, Prophecy, and

the Monuments."

H. PEREIRA MENDES, M.D.,

Rabbi of the Shearith Israel Congregation (Spanish and Portu-
guese), New York ; President of the Board of Jewish
Ministers, New York.

MOSES MIELZINER, Ph.D., D.D.

(Deceased),

Late President of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio ;

Author of " Introduction to the Talmud."

LITERARY DIRECTORATE

GEORGE r. MOORE, M.A., D.D.,

Professor of Biblical Literature and the History of Keligions

In Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Author of

" A Commentary on the Book of Judges," etc.

DAVID PHILIPSON, D.D.,

Rabbi of the Congregation B'ne Israel ; Professor of Homiletics,

Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio ; President of

Hebrew Sabbath School Union of America.

IRA MAURICE PRICE, B.D., Ph.D.,

Professor of Semitic Languages and Literatures, University of

Chicago, 111.; Author of " The Monuments and

the Old Testament," etc.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER, M.A., Litt.D.,

President of the Faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America, New York ; Author of "Studies in Judaism."

JOSEPH SILVERMAN, D.D.,

President of Central Conference of American Rabbis ; Rabbi of
Temple Emanu-El, New York.

JACOB VOORS ANGER, D.D.,

Rabbi of the Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, Cal.; Pro-
fessor of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley, Cal.

EDWARD J. WHEELER, M.A.,

Editor of " The Literary Digest," New York ; Author of " Stories
in Rhyme," etc.

FOREIGN BOARD OF CONSULTING EDITORS

ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, M.A.,

Coedltor of " The Jewish Quarterly Review "; Author of " Jew-
ish Life in the Middle Ages," etc.; Reader in Talmudlc,
Cambridge University, England.

M. BRANN, Ph.D.,

Professor in the Jewish Theological Seminary, Breslau, Ger-
many ; Editor of " Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte und
VVissenschaft des Judenthums."

H. BRODY, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Nachod, Bohemia, Austria ; Coedltor of '
Hebraische Bibliographie."

' Zeitschrif t fiir

ABRAHAM DANON,

Principal of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Constantinople,
Turkey.

HARTWIG DERENBOURG, Ph.D.,

Professor of Literal Arabic at the Special School of Oriental
Languages, Paris ; Member of the Institut de France.

S. M. DUBNOW,

Author of " Istoriya Yevreyev," Wilna, Russia.

MICHAEL FRIEDLANDER, Ph.D.,

Principal of Jews' College, London, England ; Author of "The
Jewish Religion," etc.

IGNAZ GOLDZIHER, Ph.D.,

Professor of Semitic Philology, University of Budapest,
Hungary.

M. GtJDEMANN, Ph.D.,

Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Austria.

BARON DAVID GUNZBTJRG,

St. Petersburg, Russia.

A. DE HARKAVY, Ph.D.,

Chief of the Hebrew Department of the Imperial Public Library,
St. Petersburg, Russia.

ZADOC KAHN,

Chief Rabbi of France; Honorary President of the Alliance

Israelite Universelle ; Officer of the Legion

of Honor, Paris, France.

M. KAYSERLING, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Budapest, Hungary ; Corresponding Member of the
Royal Academy of History, Madrid, Spain.

MORITZ LAZARUS, Ph.D.

(Deceased),

Late Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Berlin ;

Meran, Austria.

ANATOLE LEROY-BEAULIEU,

Member of the Institut de France ; Professor at the Free School

of Political Science, Paris, France ; Author of

" Israel Chez les Nations."

ISRAEL LEVI,

Professor in the Jewish Theological Seminary ; Editor of

"Revue des Etudes Juives," Paris, France.

EUDE LOLLI, D.D.

(Deceased),

Late Chief Rabbi of Padua; Late Professor of Hebrew at the

University, Padua, Italy.

IMMANUEL LOW, Ph.D.

Chief Rabbi of Szegedin, Hungary ; Author of " Die Aramaischen
Pflanzennamen."

S. H. MARGTJLIES, Ph.D.,

Principal of the Jewish Theological Seminary ; Chief Rabbi of
Florence, Italy.

H. OORT, D.D.,

Professor of Hebrew Language and Archeology at the State
University, Leyden, Holland.

ABBE PIETRO PERREATJ,

Formerly Librarian of the Reale BibUot'eca Palatina, Parma,
Italy.

MARTIN PHILIPPSON, Ph.D.,

Formerly Professor of History at the Universities of Bonn and

Brussels ; President of the Deutsch-Israelitischer

Gemelndebund, Berlin, Germany.

SAMUEL POZNANSKI, Ph.D.,

Rabbi in Warsaw, Russia.
E. SCHWARZFELD, LL.D.,

Secretary-General of the Jewish Colonization Association, Paris,
France.

LUDWIG STEIN, Ph.D.,

Professor of Philosophy, University of Bern, Switzerland ; Editor
of " Archlv fur Geschichte der Philosophie," etc.
HERMANN L. STRACK, Ph.D.,

Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Semitic Languages,
University of Beriin, Germany.

CHARLES TAYLOR, D.D., LL.D.,

Master of St. John's College, Cambridge, England ; Editor of
" Sayings of the Jewish Fathers," etc.

SYSTEMS OF TRAXSLITEEATION AND OF CITATION

OF PROPER i\A3IES*

A. — Rules for the Transliteration of Hebrew and Aramaic.

1. A]l important names which occm- in the Bihle ai-e cited as found in the authorized King James
version; e.g.. Moses, not Moslieh; Isaac, not Yizhak ; Saul, not Sha'ul or Shaiil; Solomon, not
Shelomoh, etc.

2. The spellings of names that hare gained currency in English books on Jewish subjects, or that

have become familiar to English readers, ai-e generally retained ; cross-references aie given when
topics are ti-eated under forms ti-ansliterated according to the system tabulated below.

3. Hebrew subject-headings are transcribed according to the scheme of transliteration ; cross-refer-

ences are made as in the case of pereonal names.

4. The following system of transliteration has been used for Hebrew and Aramaic :

X I^^ot noted at the beginning or the end of a ivord : otheripise ' or by dieresis; e.g., peer or Me'ir.

2 b T 2 i) ? B (with dagesh), p :," sh

i g n h o m Q (without dagesh), f ~ s

nd tDf 3 n V? n t

n h "I y OS p k

1 tr 3 fc y > -| r

XOTE : The presence of dagesh lene is not noted except in the case of £. Dagesh forte is indi-
cated by doubling the letter.

5. The vowels have been transcribed as follows :

-rr (]j;amez) a-^w —a -^ e \ o

-rr (kamez hatuf) o

^^ e ^r- e -^ o 1— i

-^ i ^ e -T- o ^ u

The so-called " Continental " pronunciation of the English vowels is impUed.

6. The Hebrew article is transcribed as ha, followed by a hyphen, without doubling the following
letter. [Not hak-Kohen or hak-Cohen, nor Eosh ha-sJishanah.]

B. — Rules for the Transliteration of Arabic.

1. .411 Arabic names and words, except such as have become familiar to English readers in other
forms, as Mohammed. Koran, mosque, aie transliterated according to the followmg system :

^ .'?(■■ X above ^ kh

t-JJ' li d

IZJt J dh

i^tJth J I

Zi I' u^ •-•

2. Only the tliree vowels — a, i. u — are represented:

jL a -7- i -1- «

No account has been taken of the imalah; i has not been written e, nor u written o.

, » s]i

^0''

u "

U'"

lJ/

^ 7i

u^'.'

J^-

} "■

L r

vJfc

(• 771

* In all other matters of orthography the spelliog preferred by the Staxdaed DicrioNAKr has usually been followed. T3rpo-
graphical exigencies have rendered occasional deviations from these systems necessary.

SYSTEMS OF TRANSLITERATION AND OF CITATION OF PROPER NAMES

3. The Arabic article is invariably written al, no account being taken of the assimilation of the I to

the following letter; e.g., Abu al-Salt, not Abu-l-Salt; Nafis al-Daulah, not Nafis ad-Daulah.
The article is joined by a hyphen to the following word.

4. At the end of words the feminine termination is written ah ; but when followed by a genitive,

at ; e.g., Risalah dhat al-Kiirsiyy, but Hi'at al-Aflak.

5. No account is taken of the overhanging vowels which distinguish the cases ; e.g., 'Amr, not 'Amru

or -Amrun; Ya'kub, not Ya'Tcubun; or in a title, Kitab al-Amanat wal-rtikadat.

C— Rules for the Transliteration of Russian.

All Russian names and words, except such as have become familiar to English readers in other
forms, as Czar, Alexander, deciatine, Moscow, are transliterated according to the following system :

shell

"hi.

mute

h, V, or g

halfmute

e and ye

atthe
beginning.

JKm

10 10

ila

Hh I i

Jlji

^.n

itfi

nira

Rules for the Citation of Proper Names, Personal and Other"wise.

1. Whenever possible, an author is cited under his most specific name; e.g., Moses Nigrin under

Nigrin ; Moses Zacuto under Zacuto ; Moses Eieti under Rieti; all the Kimljis (or Kamhis)
under Kimhi ; Israel ben Joseph Drohobiczer under Drohobiezer. Cross-references are freely
made from any other form to the most specific one ; e.g., to Moses Vidal from Moses Narboni ; to
Solomon Nathan Vidal from Menahem Meiri ; to Samuel Kansi from Samuel Astruc Dascola ;
to Jedaiah Penini from both Bedersi and En Bonet ; to John of Avignon from Moses de
Roquemaure.

2. When a person is not referred to as above, he is cited under his own personal name followed

by his official or other title ; or, where he has borne no such title, by "of " followed by the place
of his birth or residence ; e.g., Johanan ha-Sandlar ; Samuel ha-Nagid ; Judah he-Hasid ; Gershom
of Metz; Isaac of Corbeil.

3. Names containing the words d', de, da, di, van, von, y, of, ben, ha.-, ibn* are arranged under the

letter of the name following this word; e.g., de Pomis under Pomis, de Barrios under Barrios,
Jacob d'lUescas under Illescas. The order of topics is illustrated by the following examples :

Abraham of Augsburg Abraham de Balmes Abraham ben Benjamin Aaron

Abraham of Avila Abraham ben Baruch Abraham ben Benjamin Zeeb

Abraham ben Azriel Abraham of Beja Abraham Benveniste

• When Ibn has come to be a Bpecific part of a name, as Ibn Ezra, such name is treated in its alphabetical place under " I."

Note to the Rbadeb.
Subjects on which further information is aflorded elsewhere in this work are indicated by the
use of capitals and small capitals in the text ; as, Abba. Aeika ; Pumbedita ; Vocalization.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

[Self-evident abbreviations, particularly those used in the bibliographies, are not included here.]

Ab Abot, Pirke

Ab. R. N Abot de-R'abbi Natau

'Ab. Zarah 'Abodah Zarah

adloc at the place ; to the passage cited

A.H in the vear ol the Hegira

Allg. Zeit. des Jud..Allgemeine Zeit,ung des Judenthums
Am. Jew. Hist. Sac. Auierican Jewish Historical Society

Lang..'. . .?.™.'. . [ American Journal ot Semitic Languages
Anglo-Jew. Assoc. .Anglo-Jewish Association

Apoc Apocalypse

Apoor Apocrypha

Apost. Const Apostolical Constitutions

'Ar 'Arakin (Talmud)

Arch. Isi' Archives Israelites

Aronius Reo-esten ^ Aronius, Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden

' " ■ I in Deutschland
A. T.'. Das Alte Testament

A. V Authorized Version

b ben or bar or born

^ AraOT .■*.^". f'^^'. 1" BaPher, Agada der Babylonischen Amoraer
Bacher, Ag. Pal. l_ Bacher, Agada der Palastinensischen Amo-

Amor i raer

Bacher, Ag. Tan — Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten

B. B Itaba Batra (Talmud)

B.c before the Christian era

Bek Bekorot (Talmud)

Benzinger, Arch Benzinger, Hebraische Archaologie

Ber Berakot (Talmud)

"^schriit^!^. f.V.^'. \ Festschrift zum TOten Geburtstag Berliners
Berliner's i Berliner's Magazin fur die Wissenschatt des

Magazin ( Judenthums

Bibl. Rab Bibliotheca Rabblnica

Bik Bikkurim (Talmud)

B. K Baba Kamma (Talmud)

B. M Baba Mezi'a (Talmud)

BoletinAcad.Hist. ■j''"('j^'|°,.'?i)'* ^^"^ Academiade laHistoria
Brit. Mils British Museum

BruU's Jahrb ■! B™"'^ Jahrbiicher fiir Jiidische Geschichte

I und Litteratur

Bulletin All. Isr — Bulletin of the Alliance Israflite Universelle

c about

Cant Canticles (Song of Solomon)

Cat. Anglo-Jew. (.Catalogue of Anglo-Jewish Historical Ex-

Hist. Exh ) hibition

Caz6s, Notes Bl- 1 Cazfes, Notes Bibliographiquessurla Litt&a-

bliographiques . f ture Juiye-Tunisienne

C.K common era

ch chapter or chapters

''''Ency<?°BibU !'!'.' } Cleyne and Black, Encyclopaidia Biblica
rtiwnisnn Tiihiipp I Repueil des Trayaux R^diges en M^moire

vr.i,.mo •'"°"^®-^ duJubilSScientinquedeM. Daniel Chwol-

^'""™® ( son, 1846-1896

C. I. A Corpus Inscrlptionum Atticarum

C. I. G Corpus Inscriptionum Grsecarum

C. I. H Corpus Inscriptionum Hebraicarum

C. I. L Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum

CLP Corpus Inscriptionum Peloponnesi

C. I. S Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum

comp compare

Curinier, Diet. ( E. E. Curinier, Dictiounaire National des

Nat 1 Contemporains

d died

D Deuteronomist

De Gubernatis, I De Gubernatis, Dizionario Blograflco degli

Diz. Biog ( Scrittori Contemporanei

De Gubernatis, I De Gubernatis, Dictionnaire International
Ecrivalns du Jour f des Eciivains du Jour
Da le Rol, Juden- 1 De le Roi, Geschichte der Eyangelischen

Mission I Juden-Mission

Dem Demai (Talmud)

npTOnhmiro- Hiof i Derenbourg, Essai sur I'Histoire et la Gfo-

uerenoourg, uist. -j g^apme de la Palestine, etc.

De Rossi, Dlzlo- j De Rossi, Dizionario Storico degli Autori

uario f Ebrel e delle Loro Opere

De Rossi - Ham - De Rossi-Hamberger, Historisehes Worter-

berger. Hist. >■ buch der Jiidischen Schriftsteller und

Wbrterh ) Ihrer Werke

Driver, Introduc- IS. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Liter-

tion f ature of the Old Testament

E Elohlst

Eccl Ecclesiastes

Ecclus. (Sirach) Eccleslasticus

ed edition

'Eduy 'Eduyot (Talmud)

Pispnherir TiinD- I Ludwlg Elsenberg's Grosses Biographisches
jLisennerg, mog.j Lexlkon der Deutschen Buhne Im XIX.

^"^ / Jahrhundert

Encyc. Brit Encyclopsedia Britannica

Eng English

Epiphanius, HD3res.Eplphanlus, Adversus Haereses

'Er 'Erubin (Talmud)

Ersch and I Erscli and Gruber, Allgemeine Encyklopadie

Gruber, Encyc. I der Wissenschaften und Kiinste

Esd Esdras

et seg and following

Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica

Ewald, Gesch Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel

Frankel, Mebo Frankel, Mebo Yerushalmi

Fiirst, Bibl. Jud FUrst, Bibliotheca Judaica

'' KaraCTt^!'!".' ".'^^ f ^"'^'' Geschichte des Karaerthums

*'^evls Marks*' !" "faster, Bevis Marks Memorial Volume

I Geiger, Urschritt und Uebersetzimgen der
Geiger, Urschrift. < Bibel in Ihrer Abhangigkeit von der In-

( neren Entwicklung des Judenthums

reirror'oTiiri 7oit i Gciger's JUdJsche Zeltschrift fiir Wissen-
Geiger s jug. z,eu. ^ gp^^jj ^^^ ^^^^

Geiger's Wiss. (Geiger's Wissenschaftliche Zeitschritt fiir

Zeit. Jiid. Theol. f Judische Theologie

Gesch GescMchte

Gesenius, Gr Gesenius, Grammar

Gesenius, Th Gesenius, Thesaurus

Gibbon, Decline (. Gibbon, History ot the Decline and Fall of

and Fall I the Roman Empire

Ginshiiro-'Q Tiihio i Ginsburg's Now Massoretlco-Critlcal Text
GinsDurg s ijiDie.. -j ^, jj^^ Hebrew Bible

Git Gittin (Talmud)

Graetz, Hist Graetz, History of the Jews

Gratz, Gesch Gratz, Geschichte der Juden

Giidemanii I Giidemann, Geschichte des Erziehungs-

f.„,„lj ' ( wesens und der Cultur der Abendlandl-

( schen Juden

H Holiness Code

Hag Haggai

Hag Haglgah (Talmud)

IJal HiUlah (Talmud)

Hamburger, i Hamburger, Realencvclopadie fur Bibel

R.B. T.. f und Talmud

'^ Bi'we*' ^"'^' I" Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible

Heb Epistle to the Hebrews

Hebr Masoretic Text

Herzog-Plitt or | Herzog-Plitt or Herzog-Hauck, Real-Ency-
Herzog- Hauck, -^ klopMie fur Protestantische Theologie und
Real-Encyc / Kirche (2d and Sd editions respectively)

Hiranh Kino- T ov J HlTsch, Biographisches Lexikon der Hervor-

nirstn, ciog. uix. ^ ragenden Aerzte AUer Zeiten und Vfllker

Hor Horavot (Talmud)

Hul HuUin (Talmud)

ih same place

idem same author

Isr. Letterbode Israelitische Letterbode

J Jahvist

Jaarboeken Jaarboeken voor de Israeliten in Nederland

Jacobs, Inquiry into the Sources of Spanish-
Jewish History

'' B?bL AngloJu'd. f Jacobs and Wolf, Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica
Jahrb. Gesch. der I Jahrbuch fiir die Geschichte der Juden und

Jud f des Judenthums

Toctrnn- nivt J Jastrow, Dlctlouary of the Targumim, Tal-
J astro w. Diet -j mudim, and Midrashim

Jellinek. B. H Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash

Jew. Chron Jewish <!]hroDicle, London

Jew. Encyc The Jewish Encyclopedia

Jew. Hist. Soc. Eng. Jewish Historical Society of England

Jew. VForld Jewish World, London

Josephus, Ant Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews

Josephus, B. J Josephus, De Bello Judaico

Josephus, Contra Ap.Josephus, Contra Apionem

Josh Joshua

Jost's Annalen Jost's Israelitische Annalen

Jour. Bib. Lit Journal of Biblical Literature

J. Q. R Jewish Quarterly Review

J. R. A. S Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

"''rryph'^"''' *'"'" \ Just™' Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaso
Kaufmann Ge-I Gedenkbuch zur Erinnerung an David Kauf-

denkbuch 1 mann

Eautzsch, Apo- I Kautzsch, Die Apokryiften und Pseudepi-

kryphen I gmphen des Alten Testaments

Kayserling, Bibl. I Kayserling.Biblioteca Espafiola-Portugueza.

Esp.-Port.-Jud.. 1 Judaica

'^¥ifrtUn?&,Ti^,u I Kayserling Die Judischen Frauen in der
r Geschichte, Literatur und Kunst

Jacobs, Sources.

Jiidischen Frau-

Ker Keritot (Talmud)

Ket Ketubot (Talnuid)

„ „ „ J Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testa-

'^- "■ ^ 1 ment, ed. Marti

Kid Kiddushin (Talmud)

kil Kil'ayim (Talmud)

Kin Kinnim (Talmud)

LIST OF ABBREVIATI02vS

'^ "'"olume """"."^ !' Semitic Studies in Memory of A. Kohut
Krauss, Lelin- /. Erauss, GriechiSPhe und Lateinische Lelin-

worter \ worter Im Talmud, Midrasch, und Targum

Kuenen, Einlei- 1 Kuenen, Historisch-Kritlsche Einleitung in

tung C die Biiclier des Alien Testaments

T n,-n..c=o Tiint I LaTOusse, Grand Dictionnalre Universel du
Larousse, Diet ....-, ^ixe Sifecle

l.c in tlie place cited

Levy, Chal. I Levy, Chaldaisches Worterbuch liber die

WOrterb I Targumlm

1 PTv Koiihov,!- I Lew, Neuhebraisches und Clialdalscbes

w.Wto^h i ■Worterbuch uber die Talmudlm und Mid-

""™™ I rascbim

I.ewysohn, Z. T Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds

lit literally

Low, Lebensalter ■} ^"^^^^^ Lehensalter in der Judischen Li-

LXX Septuagiat

m married

Ma'as Ma'aserot (Talmud)

Ma'as. Sb Ma'aser Sbeni (Talmud)

Mace Maccabees

Malmonides, Moreli.Maimonides, Moreh Nebukim
Maimonides, Yad . . Malmonides, Yad ba-Hazakab

Mak Makkot (Talmud)

MaksU Makshirin (Talmud)

Mas Masorah

Massek Masseket

M„riir,tn,.v <,r,ri ) Mi'Cllntock aud Strong, CyclopEedia of Bib-

at,'in„ ni. ■ lical. Theological, and Ecclesiastical Liter-

biiong, Ljc ... ( j^^yjg

Mee Megillah (Talmud)

Me'l Me'ilah (Talmud)

Mek Mekilta

Men Meuahot (Talmud)

Mid Midddt (Talmud)

Midr Midrasb

Midr. Teh Midrasb Tehillim (Psalms)

Mik Mikwa'ot (Talmud)

M.'K Mo''ed Katan (Talmud)

ninr,n(c=„h,-(ft 1 Monatssotirift fiir die Geschichte und Wis-

Monatsscbritt -j senschaf t des Judenthums

Mortara, Indice Mortara, Indice Alfabelico

Miiller, Frag.Hist. I. MuUer, Fragmenta Uistoricorum Grseco-

GfLec ( rum

Mimk, Melanges . J M^'°|-^^M^'™Ses de Pbilosophie Juive

Murray's Eng. Dict.A. H. Murray, A New English Dictionary

Naz Nazir (Talmud)

n.d no date

Ned Nedarim (Talmud)

Neg Nega'im

Neubauer, Cat. ' Neubauer, Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS.

Bodl.Hebi'.MSS. f in the Bodleian Library

Neubauer, tx. T Neubauer, Geographic du Talmud

Neubauer, M. J. C. .Neubauer, Medlseval Jewish Chronicles

n.p no place of publication stated

N. T New Testament

Oest.Wocheuschrift.Oesterreichische Wochenschrift

Oh Ohalot (Talmud)

Onk Onkelos

Orient, Lit Literaturblatt des Orients

O. T Old Testament

P Priestly Code

T>oo-oi Ttinrr I ov ' Pagel,BiographischesLexlkon Hervorragcn-
i agei, jjiog. Lex. j- ^^^ Aerzte des Neunzehnten Jahrhunderts
Pal. Explor. Fund, .Palestine E.xploratiou Fund

Pallas Lex Pallas Nagy Lexicon

Pauly-Wissowa, i Pauly-Wissowa, Real-EncyclopadiederClas-

Keal-Encyc l" sischen Altertumswlssenschaft

Pes Pesahim (Talmud)

Pesh Peshlto, Peshitta

Pesik Pesikta de-Rab Kahana

Peslii. R Pesikta Rabbati

Pirke R. El Pirk'e Rabbi Eli'ezer

Proc Proceedings

Publ Publications

R Hah or Rabbi or Rabbah

'^ llir-Blatt "''' \ RaJi™er's Judisches Lltteratur-Blatt

Regesty Regesty i Nadpisl

B. E. J Revue des Etudes Juives

Rev. Bib Revue Biblique

Rev. Sem Revue S^mitique

E. H Rosh ba^Shanah (Talmud)

■Dino ir=t„Hi^o J Amador de los Rios, Estudios Histdricos,
Rios, Estudios. . . . , poiiticos y Literarios, etc.
Tuno Tiict i Amador de los Rios, Historia . . de los

mos, Mist j jufljog de Espana y Portugal

■nutor Prritiinrio J Eittcr. Die Erdkuudc im Verhaltnis zur
loiter, jiruKunae. ^ j^^^^^. ^^^ ^ur Geschichte des Menschen

Robinson. Later I Robinson, Later Biblical Researches in Pal-
Researches r estine and the Adjacent Regions . . . 1853

Robinson, Re-I Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine,
searches f Mt. Sinai, and Arabia Petrsea . . . 1838

Roest, Cat. I Roest, Catalog der Hebraica und Judaica

Rosenthal. Blbl. f aus der L. Rosenthal'schen Bibliothek

R. V Revised Version

Salfeld, Martyro- 1 Salfeld, Das Martyrologium des Niirnberger

logium (' Wemorbuches

Sanh Sanhedrin (Talmud)

S. B. E Sacred Books of the East

c -a r. ^ i (Sacred Books of the Old Testament) Poly-

=• J5- "• '^ ■) chrome Bible, ed. Paul Haupt

Schafl-Herzog, I Schafl-Herzog, A Religious Encyclopasdia

Encvc I

Schiller - Szinessy, I Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscript.'! Pre-

Cat. Cambridge f served in the Univereity Library, Cambridge
Schrader, I Schrader, Cuneiform Inscriptions and the

0. I. 0. T i Old Testament, Eng. transl.

schrader, K. A. T. ] ^'^^^^i Keilinschriften und das Alte Tes-

Schrader, K. B Schrader, Kellinschriftliche Bibliothek

c. ^ , t- r. ,j I Schrader, KeiUnschriften und Geschichts-
Schrader.K. G. F.-j fo^schiing

Schiirer, Gesch Schiirer, Geschichte des Jiidischen Volkes

Sem Semahot (Talmud)

Shah Shabb'at (Talmud)

Sheb Shebi'it (Talmud)

Shebu Shebu'ot (Talmud)

Shek Shekalim (Talmud)

Sibyllines Sibylline Books

Smith, Rel. of Sem. .Smith, Lectures on Religion of the Semites
T,.^, . 1. (Transactions of the Society of Biblical A r-
Soc. BibLArch...] cba30logy

D, J > t» ■i^^t.^ft I Stade's Zeitschrift fur die Alttestament-
Stade's Zeitschnft -, ^^^g wissenschaf t

Steinschneider, j Stelnschneider, Catalogue of the Hebrew-
Cat. Bodl I Books in the Bodleian Library

ot.>„,,„i,„oHrton ( Steinschneider, Catalogus Codicum Hebra?-

bieinscnneiaer, j BibliothecEe Academiae Lugduno-

Cat. Leyden....] satavEe

Btoinor-hnoi-ior \ Steinschnelder, Die Hebraisehen Hand- -
?>„♦ I^?,^r„?,' 1 schriften der K. Hof- und Staats-Bibllo-
(..at. Munich .... j jj^g^ j^ Munchen

'^'nebi^BiW^'^' !" Steinschneider, Hebraische Bibliographle
^'nebr'uebers' [ Steinschneider, Hebraische Uebersetzungen
Qfrtint noQ T!i„V JStrack, Das Blut im Glauben und Aber-
btrack, uas Blut.. j giauben der Menschheit

Suk Sukkah (Talmud)

a.v under the word

Ta'an Ta'anit (Talmud)

Tan Tanhuma

Targ Targumlm

Targ. Onk Targum Onkelos

Targ. Yef Targum Yenishalmi or Targum Jonathan

Tern Temurah (Talmud)

Ter Terumot (Talmud)

Test. Patr Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

Toh Tohorot

Tos tosafot

Tosef Tosefta

Tr Transactions

transl translation

Tristram, Nat. Hist.Tristram, Natural History of the Bible

T. y Tebul Yom (Talmud)

'Uk 'Ukzin (Talmud)

Univ. Isr Uriivers Israelite

( Virchow's Archiv fiir Pathologische Anato-
Virchow's Archive mie und Physiologie, und fur Klinische

( Medlzin

Vulg Vulgate

Weiss, Dor Weiss, Dor Dor we-Dorshaw

Wellbausen, I Wellhausen, Israelitische und Jijclische

1. J. G i Geschichte

Winer, B. R. . ., Winer, Bihlisches RealwBrterbuch

Wisdom Wisdom of Solomon

Wolf, Bibl. Hebr...WolI, Elbliotheca Hebrjea

w 7 Tr M 3 Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des

•■'■"■• ™ I Morgenlandes

Yad Yadayim (Talmud)

" y ad " Yad ha-Hazakah

Yalk Yalkut '

Yeb Yebariiot (Talmud)

Y'er Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud)

Yhwh Yahweh, Jehovah

Zab Zabim (Talmud)

z T) M G -' Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandi-

I schen Gesellschaft

Z. D. P. V Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins

Zeb Zebahim (Talmud)

Zedner, Cat. Hebr. (Zedner, Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in

Books Brit.Mus. i the British Museum

Zeit. fiir Assyr Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie

Zeit. fiir Hebr. Bibl.Zeitschrift fur Hebraische Bibliographie
Zeitlin, Blbl. Post- 1 Zeitlin, Bibliotheca Hebraica Post-Mendels-

Mendels f sohniana

Zunz, G. S Zunz, Gesammelte Schriften

Zunz, G. V Zunz, Gottesdienstllche Vortra«e

Zunz, Literatur- I Zunz, Literaturgeschichte der Synasogalen

gesch ( Poesie

Zunz Ritus \ ^""^' ^^^ '^'t'^s <^es Synagogalen Gottes-

' I dienstes

Zunz, S. P Zunz, Synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters

Zunz, Z. G Zunz. Zur Geschichte und Literatur

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME X

A Cyrus Adler, Ph.D.,

President of the Americaa Jewish Historical
Society ; President of the Board of Directors
of the Jewish Theological Seminary of Amer-
ica; Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D. C.

A. Bii Alexander Biichler, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Keszthely, Hungary.

A. Co A. Cowley, M.A.,

Oriental Sublibrarian, Bodleian Library, Ox-
ford University, Oxford, England.

A. E A. Eckstein, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.

A. F A. Freimann, Ph.D.,

Editor of the "Zeitschrift fur Hebraische
Bibliographle " ; Librarian of the Hebrew De-
partment, Stadtbibliothek, Frankfort-on-the-
Main, Germany.

A. G- Adolf Guttmaoher, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, Bal-
timore, Md.

A. Go A. Gornfeld,

Counselor at Law, St. Petershurg, Russia.

A. Ki Alexander Kisoh, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, ileysel Synagoge, Prague, Bohemia,
Austria.

A. M. E Albert M. Friedenberg, B.S., LL.B.,

Counselor at Law, New York City.

A. P A. Porter,

Formerly Associate Editor of "The Forum,"
New York; Revising Editor "Standard Cyclo-
pedia" ; New York City.

A. Pe A. Peig-insky, Ph.D.,

New York City.

A. S. I Abram S. Isaacs, Ph.D.,

Professor of German Language and Litera-
ture, University Graduate Seminary, New
York City ; Rabbi, B'nai Jeshurun Congrega-
tion, Paterson, N. J.

A. S. W A. S. Waldstein, B.A.,

New York City.
A. Ta Aaron Tanzer, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Hohenems, Tyrol, Austria.

A. W Albert Wolf,

Dresden, Saxony, Germany.

B. El Benzion Eisenstadt,

Teacher, New York City.

B. Fr Bernhard Friedberg-,

Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany.

B. Gr Bernhard Greenfelder,

St. Louis, Mo.

B. P Bernhard Pick, Ph.D., D.D.,

Pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, New-
ark, N. J.

C. A. K...
C.I.de S.

C.L

.C. A. Kubenstein,

Eabhi, Har Sinai Temple, Baltimore, Md.

Clarence I. de Sola,

President of the Federation of Canadian Zion-
ists ; Belgian Consul, Montreal, Canada.

.Caspar Iievias, M.A.,

Instructor in Exegesis and Talmudic Aramaic,
Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio.

C. S Carl Siegfried, Ph.D., DL.D. (deceased).

Late Professor of Theology at the University
of Jena, Germany.

D Gotthard Deutsch, Ph.D. ,

Professor of Jewish History, Hebrew Union
College, Cincinnati, Ohio.

D. L David Leimdorfer, Ph.D. ,

Rabbi, Hamburg, Germany.

D. M. H D. M. Hermalin,

Editor of tlie "Dally Jewish Herald" and
" Volksadvocat," New York City; Brooklyn,
N. Y.

D. P David Phllipson, D.D.,

Eabbi, B'ne Israel Congregation ; Professor of
Homlletics, Hebrew Union College, Cincin-
nati, Ohio.

D. Su David Sulzberger,

Philadelphia, Pa.

E. C Executive Committee of the Editorial

Board.

E. G. H EmilG. Hirsch, Ph.D., LL.D.,

Rabbi, Sinai Congregation ; Professor of Rab-
binical Literature and Philosophy, University
of Chicago ; Chicago, 111.

E. J Emil Jelinek,

Vienna. Austria.

E. K Eduard Konig, Ph.D., LL.D.,

Professor of Old Testament Exegesis, Univer-
sity of Bonn, Germany.

E. M. E Ezekiel Moses Ezekiel,

Bombay, India.

E. Ms Edgar Mels,

New York City.
E. X Eduard Keumann, Ph.D.,

Chief Rabbi, Nagy-Kanisza, Hungary.
E. N. S Elvira N. Soils,

New York City.
E. So Emil Sohlesinger, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
E. Schr E. Schreiber, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Emanu-EI Congregation, Chicago, 111.

E. SI E. Slijper, Ph.D.,

Leyden, Holland.

F. C Frank Cramer, B. So.,

New York City.

F. H. "V Frank H. Vizetelly, F.S.A.,

Associate Editor of the "Columbian Cyclo-
pedia " and of the Standard Dictionary ;
New York City.

F. J. B Frederick J. Bliss, Ph.D.,

New York City.

F. L. C Francis L. Cohen,

Chief Minister, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.

F. S Flaminio Servi (deceased).

Late Chief Rabbi of Casale Monf errato, Italy ;
Editor of "II Vessillo Israelitico."

F. T. H Frederick T. Haneman, M.D.,

Brooklyn, N. Y.

G Richard Gottheil, Ph.D.,

Professor of Semitic Languages, Columbia
University, New York ; Chief of the Oriental
Department, New York Pubhc Library : New
York City.

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME X

G. A. B George A. Barton, Ph.D.,

Prolessor ol Biblical Literature and Semitic
Languages, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr,
Pa.

G. D. E George D. Rosenthal,

Electrical Engineer, St. Louis, Mo.

G. F. M George F. Moore, M. A. , D. D. ,

Professor of Biblical Literature and the His-
tory of Religions, Harvard University, Cam-
bridge, Mass.

G. H. C G. Herbert Cone,

Counselor at Law, Albany, N. Y.

G. L Goodman liipkind, B. A. ,

Rabbi, New York City.

H. B H. Brody, Ph.D.,

Rabbi; Coeditor of the "Zeitscbrift fiir He-
briiisohe Bibliographie " ; Nachod, Bobemia,
Austria.

H. F Herbert Friedenwald, Ph.D.,

Formerly Superintendent ol the Department of
Manuscripts, Library of Congress, Washing-
ton, D.Cj RecordingSecretaryof the American
Jewish Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pa.

H. Fr Harry Friedenwald, M.D.,

Professor of Ophthalmology and Otology, Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore,
Md.

H. G. F H. G. Friedmann, B. A.,

New York City.

H. M Henry Malter, Ph.D.,

Professor of Talmud and Instructor in .ludgeo-
Arabic Philosophy, Hebrew Union College,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

H. M. H Henry Minor Huxley, A.M.,

Formerly Assistant Professor of Anthropology
at Harvard University ; Worcester, Mass.

H. E Herman Rosenthal,

Chief of the Slavonic Department of the New
York Public Library, New York City.

H. S Henrietta Szold,

Secretary of the Publication Committee of the
Jewish Publication Society of America, New
York City.

H. V Hermann Vog-elstein, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Konigsberg, East Prussia, Germany.

I. B Isaac Bloch,

Chief Rabbi, Nancy, France.

I. Be Immanuel Benziuger, Ph.D.,

Professor of old Testament Exegesis, Uni-
versity of Berlin, Germany; Jerusalem, Pal-
estine.

I. Ber Israel Berlin,

Chemist, New York City.

I. Br Isaac Broyde (.Offlee Editor),

Doctor of the University of Paris, France; for-
merly Librarian of the Alliance Israfllte Uni-
verselle, Paris, France ; New York City.

I. Bro I. Briick,

Teacher, Rogasen, Pusen, Germany.

I. Co Israel Cohen,

London, England.

I. D Israel Davidson, Ph.D. ,

Semitic Scholar and Author, New York City.

I. E Ismar Elbogen, Ph.D.,

Professor of History at the Lehranstalt fiir
die Wissenschaf t des Judenthums, Berlin, Ger-
many.

I. G. D I. George Dobsevage,

New York City.

I. H Isidore Harris, A.M.,

Rabbi, West London Synagogue, London,
England.

I. L. B I. L. Bril,

Associate Editor of " The American Hebrew,"
New York City.

I. Lb Immanuel Low, Ph.D.,

Chief Rabbi, SzegeUin, Hungary.

L M. C I. M. Casanowicz, Ph.D.,

United States National Museum, Washington,
D. C.

I. M. P Ira Maurice Price, Ph.D., LL.D.,

Profes-sor of Semitic Languages and Litera-
ture, University of Chic';igo, Chicago, III.

I. War Isidor Warsaw,

Rabbi, WoodvlUe, Miss.

J Joseph Jacobs, B. A. ,

Formerly President of the Jewish Historical
Society of England; Corresponding Member
of the Royal Academy of History, Madrid;
New York City.

J. Br J. Brennsohn, Ph.D.,

Mitau, Courland, Russia.

J. D. E Judah David Eisenstein,

Author, New York City.

J. F Julius Frank,

Rabbi, Oheb Shalom Reform Congregation,
Reading, Pa.

J. F. McC.J. Frederic McCurdy, Ph.D., LL.D.,

Professor of Oriental Languages, University
College, Toronto, Canada.

J. F. McL...J. F. McLaughlin, M.A., B. D.,

Professor of Oriental Languages and Liters^
ture, Victoria College, Toronto, Canada.

J. G. L J. G. Lipman, Ph.D. ,

Assistant Agriculturist, New Jersey State Ex-
periment Station, New Brunswick, N. J.

J. Go Julius Gottlieb, M.A., Ph.D.,

New York City.
J. H J. Hessen,

Counselor at Lawl St. Petersburg, Russia.
J. de H J. de Haas,

Journalist, New York City.

J. H. G Julius H. Greenstone,

Rabbi, Philadelphia, Pa.

J. H. Ho J. H. Hollander, Ph.D.,

Assistant Professor of Political Economy,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

J. Ka Jacques Kahn,

Rabbi, Paris, France.
J. Leb Joseph Lebovich,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

J. L. L J. Leonard Levy, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Rodeph Shalom Congregation, Pitts-
burgh, Pa.

J. L. La J. L. Lait,

Journalist, Chicago, 111.

J. M. M Jonas M. Myers,

Rabbi, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

J. Re J. Reach, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria.

J. So Joseph Sohu,

Contributor to " The New International En-
cyclopedia " ; formerly Musical Critic on the
New York " American and Journal " ; New
York City.

J. S. R J. S. Raisin,

Rabbi, Gemilut Chesed Congregation, Fort
Gibson, Miss.

J. Sto Joseph Stolz, D.D.,

Rabbi, Isaiah Temple, Chicago, 111.
J. Ta Jacob Tauber, Ph.D.,

Rabbi. Prerau, Moravia, Austria.

J- Z. L Jacob Zallel Lauterbaoh, Ph.D. (.Offlee

Editor),
Rabbi, New York City.
K Kaufmanu Kohler, Ph.D.,

Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth-El, New
York; President of the Hebrew Union Col-
lege, Cincinnati, Ohio.

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME X

L- A. E Ludwig- A. Rosenfcal,

Kabbi. Rogasen, Posen, Germany.
li. B Ludwigr Blau, Ph.D.,

Professor, Jewish Theological Seminary; Edi-
tor of " Magyar Zsidii Szemle " ; Budapest,
Hungary.

Ij. G Louis G-inzberg-, Ph.D.,

Professor of Talm'ud, Jewish Theological Sem-
inary of America, New York City.

L. H. G IiOuisH. Gray, Ph.D.,

Assistant Editor of the " Orientalische Bibllo-
graphie " : formerly on the editorial stall of
" The New International Encyclopedia " ;
Newark, N. J.

L. Hii L. Hiihner, A.M., LL.B.,

Counselor at Law, New Ytii k City.

li. Lew Louis Lewiu, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Pinne, Posen, Germany.

L. N. D Lewis N. Dembitz, D.H.L. ,

Counselor at Law, Louisville, Ky.

L. V Ludwigr Venetianer, Ph.D.,

• Eabbi, Ujpest, Hungary.

L.Wy L. Wygrodsky,

Journalist, St. Petersburg, Russia.

M. Bu Moses Buttenwieser, Ph.D.,

Assistant Professor of Exegesis, Hebrew Union
College, Cincinnati, Ohio.

M. Co Max Cohen,

Counselor at Law, New York City.

M. Pr M. Franco,

Principal, Alliance Israelite Universelle
School, Demotica, Rumelia, Turkey.

M. Gr M. Grunwald, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Israelitische Kultus-Gemeinde, Vienna :
Editor of the " Mitteilungen zur Judlschen
Volkskunde " ; Vienna, Austria.

M. H. H M. H. Harris, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Temple Israel of Harlem, New York
City.

M. J. K Max J. Kohler, M.A., LL.B.,

Counselor at Law ; Corresponding Secretary
of the American Jewish Historical Society,
New York City.

M. K Meyer Kayserling-, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Budapest, Hungary.

M. Lau Max Landsberg-, Ph.D.,

Eabbi, Berith Kodesh Congregation, Roches-
ter, N. Y.

M. L. B Moses Lob Bamberg'er, Ph.D.,

Rabbi ; Lecturer in Rabbinic, Jewish Semi-
nary, Wiirzburg, Bavaria, Germany.

M. Lib Morris Liber,

Rabbi, Paris, France.
M.Mr M. Margel, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Pozega, Slavonia, Austria.
M. My M. Mysh,

Counselor at Law, St. Petersburg, Russia.
M. E Max Eosenthal, M.D.,

VisitinK Physician, German Dispensary, New

York City.
M. So Max Sohloessing-er, Ph.D. ,

Librarian and Lecturer on Biblical Exegesis,

Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio.
M. Sch M. Schorr, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Lemberg, Galicia, Austria.
M. Schl Max Schlesing-er, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Beth Emetb Congregation, Albany,

N. Y.

M. Sel Max Selig'sohn (Office Editor),

Doctor of the University of Paris, France;
New York City.

M. Sz Moritz Schwarz, Ph.D.,

Chief Rabbi, Raab, Hungary.

M. W. M. . . .Mary W. Montg-omery, Ph.D.,

New York City.

P. Wi Peter Wieruik,

■ Journalist, New York City.

E. H. K Eosa H. Knorr,

New York City.

E. Ka E. Kalter, Ph.D. ,

Rabbi, Potsdam, Prussia, Germany.

E. N Eeg'ina Neisser,

Author, Breslau, Silesia, Germany.

E. P Eosalie Perles,

Author, Konigsberg, East Prussia, Germany.

S Isidore Singer, Ph.D. ,

Managing Editoe, New York City.

S. F S. Funk, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, Boskowitz, Moravia, Austria.

S. Fu Samuel Fuohs, Ph.D.,

Chief Rabbi, Luxemburg, Luxemburg.

S. G S. Gundelfinger, Ph.D.,

Darmstadt, fjernmuy.

S. H. L Sylvan H. Lauchheimer,

Counselor at Law, New York City.

S. Hu S. Hurwitz,

New York City.

S. J. L S. J. Levinson,

Brooklyn, N. Y.

S. K S. Kahn,

Rabbi, Nimes, France.

S. Kr Samuel Krauss, Ph.D.,

Professor, Normal College, Budapest, Hungary.

S. M S. Mendelsohn, Ph.D. ,

Rabbi, Temple of Israel, Wilmington, N. C.

S. Man S. Mannheimer, B.L.,

Instructor, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati,
Ohio.

S. O Schulim Ochser, Ph.D.,

Rabbi, New York City.

S. S Solomon Scheohter, M.A., Litt.D.,

President of the Faculty of the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary of America, New York City.

T Crawford Howell Toy, D.D., LL.D.,

Professor of Hebrew, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

v. C tTmberto Cassuto,

Editor of " La Rivista Israelitica," Florence,
Italy.

v. E Victor Eousseau Fmanuel,

Laurel, Md.

V. E Vasili Eosenthal,

Krementcbug, Russia.

W. B Wilhelm Baoher, Ph.D.,

Professor, Jewish Theological Seminary, Buda-
pest, Hungary.

W. M. M....W. Max Miiller, Ph.D.,

Professor of Bible Exegesis, Reformed Episco-
pal Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa.

W. N Wilhelm Nowack, Ph.D.,

Professor of Old Testament Exegesis, Uni-
versity of Strasburg, Germany.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME X

N. B.— lu the following list subjects likely to be sought for under various headings are repeated
under each heading. Cross-references in this list are to otlier items in the list, not to articles in
the Encyclopedia.

PAGE

Altneuschule, Exterior and Interior Views of the, at Prague 156-158

America: see Richmond.

Amsterdam, Interior of a Synagogue at. From an etching by Rembrandt 374

Purim Ceremonies in the Synagog\ie at, 1731 ^Mte beticeen 280-381

Arcb of Octavian, the Entrance to the Old Ghetto at Rome 449

Archeology: see Coins; Inscription; Pierleoni; Pottery; Prague; Rachel; Rome.
Architecture: see Prague; Rashi Chapel; Rome; Rothschild "Stammhaus"; Synagogues.

Ark of the Law in the Castilian Synagogue at Rome 453

■ in the Synagoga dos Templos at Rome 454

in the Synagogue at KQnigllche Weinberge, near Pi-ague 160

Arms of the Rapoport Family 320

Art: see Archeology ; ARCHrrECTURE ; Chairs; Phylacteries; Pr.\gue; Pulpit; Purim; Rings;

Typography.
Austria: see Prague.

Baer, Seligman, Page from the Siddur Edited by, ROdelheim, 1868 177

Bassevi House, Court of the, Prague 161

Betrothal Rings 438, 429

Bible, Hebrew, Page from the. Printed at Riva di Treuto, 1561 433

see also Plan.

Marriage Rings 428, 429

Midrash Tehillim, Title-Page from, Prague, 1613 249

Music: "Rahem na 'Alaw " 310

Musical Instruments : see Pipes.

Naples, Censored Page from Hebrew Psalms with Kimhi's Commentary, Printed in 1487 at 247

New York, Title-Page from Isaac Pinto's Translation of the Prayer-Book, Printed in 1766 at 55

Octavian, Arch of, the Entrance to the Old Ghetto at Rome 449

Pale of Settlement, Map of Western Russia Showing the Jewish 531

Palestine, Map Showing the Road System of 435

see also PoTTEKY ; Safed; Samaria; Samaritans.

Phillips, Henry Mayer, American Lawyer and Politician 4

Jonas, American Revolutionary Patriot 4

Phylacteries and Bags 21, 22, 25, 26

and Their Arrangement on Head and Arm 34

Picart, Bernard, Title-Page from the " Tikkun Soferim, " Designed by 29

Pierleoni, Tomb of, in the Cloisters of St. Paul, Rome 33

Pinsker, Lev, Russian Physician 52

Pinto, Isaac, Title-Page from His Translation of the Prayer-Book, Printed at New York, 1766 55

Pipes in Use in Palestine 57

Pisa, Old Tombstones from the Jewish Cemetery at gl

Pithom-Heroopolis, Map of 63

Plagues, The Ten, According to a Passover Haggadah of 1695 71

Plan of the City of Prague in 1649, Showing Position of Jewish Quarter 153

of the Ghetto at Rome, 1640 447

Platea Judsea of the Old Ghetto at Rome 448

Poltava, Russia, Synagogue at 119

Ponte, Lorenzo da, Italian- American Man of Letters 124

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME X

Portraits: see

PHILLIPS, Henry Mayer. Reggio, Isaac Samuel. Rothschild, Mayer amschel.

Phillips, Jonas. Reikman, Jacob. Rothschild, Nathan Mayer.

PINSKER, LEV. RELAND, ADRIAN. ROTHSCHILD, NATHANIEL, LORD.

PONTE, Lorenzo da. Rioardo, David. Rdbinstein, Anton.

PossART, Ernst von. rice, Abraham. Sachs, Michael.

Rabbinovicz, Raphael. Riesser, kabriel. Sachs, Senior.

Rabinovich, Osif. Rothschild, Baron Alphonse. Salant, Samuel.

Rabinowitz, Hirsch. Rothschild, Baron James. Salomon, Gotthold.

Rapoport, Solomon ldb. Rothschild, Baron Lionel Nathan. Salomons, Sir Uavid.

PAGE

Portsmouth, England, Interior of Synagogue at 135

Possart, Ernst von, German Actor and Author 146

Pottery Discovered in Palestine 148, 149

Prague, Altneuschule at. Exterior and Interior "Views of the 156-158

Court of the Basse vi House at 161

Exodus of Jews from, 1745 155

Gild-Cup of the Jevs^ish Shoemakers of, Eighteenth Century 156

■ Interior of the Synagogue at KOnigliche Weinberge, near 160

Jewish Butcher of. Eighteenth Century 156

Jewish Cemetery on Josefstrasse 163

Plan of the City of, in 1649, Showing Position of Jewish Quarter 153

Procession of Jews of, in Honor of the Birthday of Archduke Leopold, May 17, 1716 154

Purim Players at, Early Eighteenth Century 276

Rabbiner Gasse 162

Shames Gasse 163

Tombstones in the Old Jewish Cemetery at 165

Wechsler Gasse Synagogue 159

Typography : Page from the First Illustrated Printed Haggadah, 1526 167

Title-Page from Midrash Tehillim, 1613 249

Prayer-Book : Colophon Page of the Siddur Rab Amram, Written in 1506 at Traui 173

Illuminated First Page of a Siddur, Written by Abraham Farissol, Ferrara, 1528 175

Karaite Siddur, Budapest, 1903 179

Page from the Baer Siddur, RSdelheim, 1868 177

Title-Page from Isaac Pinto's Translation of the. New York, 1766 55

Presburg, Host Desecration at, 1591 188

• Visit of King Ferdinand to a Jewish School at, 1830 189

Printer's Mark of Abraham Usque, Ferrara 203

of Antonio Giustiano, Venice 202

of the Bragadini, Venice 202

of Cavalli, Venice 203

of Gad ben Isaac Foa, Venice 208

of Gersonides, Prague 303

of Isaac ben Aaron of Prossnitz, Cracow 300, 203

of .Jacob Mercui'ia, Riva di Trento 303

of Judah Lob ben Moses, Prague 203

— of Melr ben .Jacob Firenze 203

of Moses and Mordeeai Kohen 303

of Paul Fagius, Isny 203

• of Solomon Proops, Amsterdam 203

of Soncino, Rimini 203

of Tobiah Foa, Sabbionetta 303

of Zalman, Amsterdam 203

Procession of Jews of Prague in Honor of the Birthday of Archduke Leopold, May 17, 1716 154

Pioops, Solomon, of Amsterdam, Printer's Mark of . . . . 203

Psalms, Censored Page from Hebrew, with Kimhi's Commentary, Naples, 1487 347

— — Page from Polyglot, Genoa, 1516 243

Title-Page from Midrash to, Prague, 1613 349

Pulpit from a Synagogue at Modena, Early Sixteenth Century 26S

Interior of Synagogue Showing the. From a fourteenth-century manuscript 367

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME X

PAGE

Purim Ceremonies in the Synagogue at Amsterdam, 1731 P^«*« between 280-281

" Haman Klopfers " Used by Jewish Children of Russia on 376

Observance of, in a German Synagogue of the Eighteenth Century 377

Players. From Leusden, 1657 375

at Prague, Early Eighteenth Century 376

Queensland : see Bkisbane.

Babbiner Gasse, Prague '"3

Rabbinovicz, Raphael, Talmudical Scholar 398

Rabinovich, Osip, Russian Author and .lournalist °"1

Rabinowitz, Hirsch, Russian Scientist and Publicist 303

Rachel, Traditional Tomb of ■, 306

"Rahem na 'Alaw," Music of 310

Rapoport Family, Arms of 320

Solomon L5b, Austrian Rabbi and Scholar 322

Rashi, Colophon of the First Edition of the Commentary on the Pentateuch by, the First Dated Hebrew

Book, 1475 829

Chapel at Worms 324

Chair in the 327

Cross-Section of the 326

— — Interior of the 325

Ratisbon, Interior of the Old Synagogue at 380

Raziel, Sepher, Page from the, Amsterdam, 1701 336

Reggio, Colophon Page from the First Edition of Rashi on tlie Pentateuch, the First Dated Hebrew

Book, Printed in 1475 at 329

Isaac Samuel, Austro-Italian Scholar and Rabbi 360

Reifman, Jacob, Russian Hebrew Author 366

Reland, Adrian, Dutch Christian Hebraist 369

Rembrandt, Interior of a Synagogue at Amsterdam, from an Etching by 374

Jewish Beggar, from an Etching by 371

— - Portraits of Seventeenth-Century Jews, Painted by 373, 373, and Frontispiece

Ricardo, David, English Political Economist 403

Rice, Abraham, American Rabbi 405

Richmond, Va., Synagogue at " 407

Riesser, Gabriel, German Advocate of Jewish Emancipation 410

Riga, Russia, Synagogue at 417

Rings, Jewish Betrothal and Marriage 428, 429

Riva di Trento, Page from Hebrew Bible Printed in 1561 at 433

Road System of Palestine, Map of the 435

Rodenberg, Julius, German Poet and Author 439

Rome, Arch of Octavian, the Entrance to the Old Ghetto at 449

Ark of the Law in the Synagoga dos Templos at 454

Arks of the Law in the Castilian Synagogue at 453

Chair of Elijah in a Synagogue at 458

Entrance to the Ancient Catacombs at 447

Entrance to the Ghetto at, About 1850 462

• Exterior and Interior Views of the New Synagogue at 4g4_ 465

" Five Synagogues " of the Old Ghetto at 45I

Nook in the Old Ghetto at 45O

Plan of the Ghetto at, 1640 ! " . 446

Platea Judaea of the Old Ghetto at 448

Rabbis' Chairs in Synagogues at 458 457

Rua Via in, Showing Entrance to the Old Talmud Torah 4gi

Tomb of Pierleoni in the Cloisters of St. Paul at 33

Rothschild, Baron Alphonse, Present Head of the French House 498

Baron James, Founder of the French House ,501

Baron Lionel Nathan, Financier and First Jewish Member of English Parliament 501

Mayer Amschel, Founder of the Rothschild Family 49O

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME X

PAGE

Rothschild, Nathan Mayer, Founder of the English House 494

" A Pillar of the Exchange." From an old print 496

Nathaniel, Lord, Present Head of English House 503

" Stammhaus, " Frankf ort-on-the-Main 490

Rubinstein, Anton, Russian Pianist and Composer 507

Russia, Map of Western, Showing the Jewish Pale of Settlement 531

Polish Coins of the Middle Ages, with Hebrew Characters 562, 563

see also Poltava; Riga; Saint Peteksburg.

Sabbath, Device for Keeping Water and Food Warm on 594

Eve Ceremonies in a German Jewish Home of the Eighteenth Centiu-y 593

Light, Candlestick Used in Blessing the 591

Sachs, Michael, German Rabbi 613

Senior, Russian Hebraist 614

Sacrifice, Samaritan Place of 673

Safed, View of the Jewish Quarter at 634

Saint Petersburg, Russia, Synagogue at 641

Views of the Old and Modern Cemeteries at 643, 645

Salant, Samuel, Jerusalem Rabbi 647

Salomon, Qotthold, German Rabbi 658

Salomons, Sir David, English Politician and Communal Worker 656

Salonica, Group of Jews of 658

Scene in the Old Jewish Quarter at 657

Samarcand, High Street in Old, Showing the Ghetto 667

Jewess of 668

Samaria, View of, from the Southeast 669

Samaritan Characters. Ancient Inscription in 670

Place of Sacrifice 673

Samaritans at Prayer 674

Groups of 673, 678

Shames Gasse, Prague 163

Siddur: see Pkater-Book.

Solomon, So-Called Coin of 203

Soncino, Printer's Mark of 203

Synagogues: see Amsterdam; Brisbake; Poltava; Portsmoith; Prague; Richmokd; Riga;

Rome; Saikt Petersburg.
see also Pctlpit ; Purim ; Rashi Chapel.

Tefillin and Bags 21-26

Title-Page from Isaac Pinto's Translation of the Piayer-Book, New York, 1766 55

from Midrash Tehillim, Prague, 1613 349

from the "Tikkun Soferim," Designed by Bernard Picart 29

Tomb of Pierleoni in the Cloisters of St. Paul, Rome 33

of Rachel, Traditional 306

Tombstones from the Old Jewish Cemetery at Pisa 61

from the Old Jewish Cemetery at Prague 165

Types: see Salonica; Samarcand; Samaritans.

Typography: see Genoa; Naples; New York; Picart ; Praguk; Printer's iMAKK; Raziel; Reggio.

TJsque, Abraham, Printer's Mark of 303

Worms, Exterior, Interior, and C'loss-Suctional Views of the Rashi Chapel at 324-326

ZalmazL of Amsterdam, Printer's Mark of 303

THE

Jewish Encyclopedia

PHILIPS ON, DAVID : American rabbi ; born
at Wabash, Ind., Aug. 9, 1862; educated at the
public schools of Columbus, Ohio, the Hebrew
Uniou College of Cincinnati (graduated 1883; D.D.
1886), the University of Cincinnati (B.A. 1883), and
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. On Jan.
1, 1884, lie became rabbi of the Har Sinai congrega-
tion at Baltimore, Md., which position he held until
Nov. 1, 1888, when he became rabbi of the B'ne
Israel congregation of Cincinnati. He is also pro-
fessor of homiletics at the Hebrew Union College.

Philipson has held many olBces of a public nature
in Cincinnati. He has been a trustee of the Asso-
ciated Charities (since 1890) ; trustee of the Home
for Incurables (1894-1902); director of the Ohio
Humane Society (since 1889) and of the United Jewish
Charities (since 1896); corresponding secretary of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis (1889-
1892; 1894-98), and director of the same society
(since 1898) ; governor of the Hebrew Union College
(since 1893) ; director of the American Jewish His-
torical Society (since 1897) ; member of the publica-
tion committee of the Jewish Publication Society
(since 1895) ; and president of the Hebrew Sabbath
School Union of America (since 1894).

He Is the author of " Progress of the Jewish Re-
form Movement in the United States," in "J. Q.
R." X. (1897) 52-99; and "The Beginnings of the
Reform Movement in Judaism," ib. xv. (1903) 575-
621; "The Jew in English Fiction," Cincinnati, 1889
(revised and enlarged, 1902) ; " Old European Jew-
ries," Philadelphia, 1894; "The Oldest Jewish Con-
gregation in the West, " Cincinnati, 1894 ; " A Holiday
Sheaf," lb. 1899; and, jointly with Louis Grossman,
he has edited " Reminiscences of Isaac M. Wise, " ib.
1901.

A. F. T. H.

PHILISTINES : A people that occupied terri-
tory on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, south-
west of Jerusalem, previously to and contemporane-
ously with the life of the kingdoms of Israel. Their
northern boundary reached to the " borders of Ekron, "
and their southwestern limit was the Shihor, or brook
of Egypt (Wadi al-'Arish), as described in Josh. xiii.
3, 3. Their territory extended on the east to about
Beth-shemesh (I Sam. vi. 18), and on the west to the
sea. It was a wide, fertile plain stretching up to the
Judean hills, and adapted to a very productive
agriculture.

X.— 1

In Biblical times this territory was occupied by
several peoples, the most prominent of all being the
Philistines proper. There are found the giants or
Anakim in Joshua's day and even down to David's
time in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. It must be con-
cluded, too, from Joshua's conquests that the Ca-
naanites were to be met with here and there through-
out this territory. It is also to be
Territory, presumed from the records that other
peoples, such as the Amalekites and
the Geshurites, lived near this territory if they did
not actually mingle with the Philistines.

Who were the Philistines proper? The Biblical
record states that they came from Caphtor (Amos
ix. 7 ; Deut. ii. 23), that they were Caphtorim (Deut.
I.e.), and that they were "the remnant of tlie sea-
coast of Caphtor" (Jer. xlvii. 4, Hebr.). The table
of nations (Gen. x. 13, 14) names the Philistines and
the Caphtorim as descendants of Mizraim. The
gist of these references leads one to look for
Caphtor as the native land of the Philistines. There
is a variety of opinion as to the location of this place.
The Egyptian inscriptions name the southern coast
of Asia Minor as " Kef to. " The latest and with some
plausibility the best identification is the island of
Crete. The Septuagint makes the Clierethites in
David's body-guard Cretans. Others have identified
Caphtor with Cappadocia, or Cyprus, or with some
place near the Egyptian delta. The prevailing
opinion among scholars is that the Philistines were
roving pirates from some northern coast on the
Mediterranean Sea. Finding a fertile plain south of
Joppa, they landed and forced a foothold. Their
settlement was made by such a gradual process that
they adopted both the language and the religion of
the conquered peoples.

When did the Philistines migrate and seize their
territory in this maritime plain ? The inscriptions of
Rameses III., about Joshua's day, de-
Origin, scribe sea- peoples whom he met in
conflict. Among these foreigners are
found the Zakkal from Cyprus, and the Purusati
(Pulusata, Pulista, or Purosatha). Both have Greek
features; and the second are identified with the
Philistines. In the inscription of this Egyptian
king, they are said to have conquered all of north-
ern Syria west of the Euphrates. It is known, too,
that the successors of Rameses III. lost their S3'^rian
possessions. It is supposed that during this period

Philistines
Phillips

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

the Purusati, accompanied bj' their families, were
pushed or crowded out of their homes by the national
migrations from the northeast in Asia Minor, and,
coming both by land and by sea, secured a foothold in
southwestern Palestine. The time of this supposed
settlement was thatof the twentiethdynastyof Egypt.
Of course their first settlements were on a small
scale, and probably under Egyptian suzerainty.
Later, as Egypt lost her grip on Asia, the Puru-
sati became independent and multiplied in numbers
and strength until they could easily make good their
claim to the region in which they had settled.

According to the Old Testament, the Philistines
were in power in their new land at least as early as
the Exodus (Ex. xiii. 17, xxiii. 31). Josh. xiii. 2, 3
lends color to the view that they had specific bound-
aries in the time of the conquest. During the period
of the Judges they were a thorn in the side of
Israel (Judges iii. 31, v. 6, x. 11, xiii.-xvi.). They
were so well organized politically, with their five
great capitals, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and
Gaza, and a lord over each with its surrounding
district, that Israel in its earlier history was put to
a decided disadvantage (I Sam. iv. 17, vii. 2-14).
Their supremacy over Saul's realm (ib. xiii. 3 et
seg.) and their restriction of Israel's arms made the
Philistines easy rulers of their mountain neighbors.
Saul's defeat of them at Michmash {ib. xiv.) was
only temporary, as he finally fled to Gilboa before
the invincible ranks of these warriors.

Not until David's assumption of supremacy over
all Israel and after two hard battles were the Philis-
tines compelled to recognize the rule of their
former subjects. This broke their
Conquered power so effectually that they never
by entirely recovered. After the disrup-

David. tion of the kingdom of Solomon the
Philistines secured their independence,
which they possessed at intervals down to the over-
throw of the Israelitish kingdoms. During this en-
tire period they are found exercising the same hos-
tility toward the Israelites (Amos i. 6-8; Joel iii.
4-8) that characterized their earlier history. In this
same period the Assyrian conquerors mention sev-
eral Philistine cities as objects of their attacks. The
crossing and recrossing of Philistines territory by the
armies of Egypt and Asia finally destroyed the
Philistines as a separate nation and people ; so that
when Cambyses the Persian crossed their former
territory about 52.5, he described it as belonging to
an Arabian ruler.

The Philistines' language was apparently Semitic,
the language of the peoples they conquered. Their
religion, too, was most likely Semitic, as they are
found worshiping the deities met with
lianguag'e among other Semitic peoples. They
and Gov- were governed, in Israel's early his-
ernment. torj', by a confederation of five kings or
rulers of their chief cities. Their array
was well organized and brave, and consisted of in-
fantry, cavalry, and chariotry. In fine, they were a
civilized people as far back as they can be traced ; and
as such they became relatively strong and wealthy
in their fertile plains. They engaged in commerce,
and in their location became thoroughly acquainted
with the great peoples of their times. Their dis-

appearance as a nation from history occurred about
the time of the conquest of Cyrus.
BiBLiOGRAPHT : McCufdy, History, Pr<rphecv.and tlie Monu-
ments i §8 192-194 ; G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of
the Holy Land, ch. ix.; Brufisch, Egvpt Under the Pharaoh^,
cb. ix., xlv.; W. M. MUUer, Asien und Europa^cb- xxvi.-
xxix.: ScWally, Die Basse der PMisMer In Zeitsclmft
far Wissenschaftliche Theologi^, xxxiv. 103 et se(?., w. J.
Beecher, In Hastings, Diet. Bible, s.v.; G. F. Moore, in Cheyni*
and Black, Eneyc. Bibl. s.v. t M P

E. G. II. ^- ^"- •'■ •

PHILLIPS : American family, especially prom-
inent in New York and Philadelphia, and tracing its
descent back to Jonas Phillips, who emigrated from
Germany to England in 1751 and thence to America
in 1756. The genealogical tree of the family is given
on page 3.

Henry Phillips, Jr. : Archeologist and numis-
matist; born at Philadelphia Sept. 6, 1838; died
June, 1895; son of Jonas Altamont Phillips. He
was well known for his studies inf oik -lore, philology,
and numismatics, both in the United States and in
Europe. Two gold medals were conferred upon him
by Italian societies for his writings. He was treas-
urer (1863) and secretary (1868) of the Numismatic
and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, and a sec-
retary (from 1880) and the librarian (from 1885) of the
American Philosophical Society, as well as member
of many other learned societies at home and abroad.
Phillips' works on the paper currency of the
American colonies and on American Continental
money were the first on those subjects. His works
have been cited by the United States Supreme Court
in a decision on the " Legal Tender Cases." Among
his writings may be mentioned : " History of Ameri-
can Colonial Paper Currency" (1865); "History of
American Continen tal Paper Money " (1866) ; " Pleas-
ures of Numismatic Science" (1867); "Poems from
the Spanish and German" (1878); "Faust" (1881);.
and four volumes of translations from the Spanish,
Hungarian, and German (1884-87 ; see Appleton's
"Cyclopedia of American Biography," iv. ; Henry
S. Morals, "The Jews of Philadelphia," s.-d. ; Oscar
Pay Adams, "A Dictionary of American Authors,"
p. 395, New York, 1897; "Proceedings of the-
American Philological Association," 1896).
A. L. HiJ.

Henry Mayer Phillips : American lawyer,
congressman, and financier; son of Zalegman and
Arabella Phillips; born in Philadelphia June 30,
1811, where he attended a private school and the.
high school of the Franklin Institute ; died Aug. 28,
1884. Phillips was admitted to the bar Jan. 5, 1832.
Immediately after his admission he accepted the po-
sition of clerk of the Court of Common Pleas.

In Dec, 1841, he was elected solicitor of the dis-
trict of Spring Garden. In the October election of
1856 he was chosen a member of the thirty-fifth
Congress and served during 1857-59. He addressed
the House of Representatives on the admission of
Kansas into the Union under the Le Compton Con-
stitution on March 9, 1858, and on June 13 he spoke
on the expenditures and revenues of the country.

In Dec, 1858, he was elected grand master of the
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the-
State of Pennsylvania, and was reelected in 1859 and
1860. On Dec. 4, 1863, he was chosen trustee of the
JefEerson Medical College to fill a vacancy caused

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Philistines
Phillips

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David
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Phillips, Morris

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Henry M. Phillips.

by tlie death of his brother J. Altamont Phillips,
and subsequently became its treasurer.

The Court of Common Pleas appointed him a
member of the board of park commissioners May
13, 1867, and March 13, 1881, he was elected presi-
dent of the board. He was appointed a member of
the board of city trusts Sept. 3, 1869, became its
vice-president May 11,
1870, and on March 13,
1878, was chosen its presi-
dent, which office he re-
signed in Dec, 1881.

In 1870 Phillips was
appointed a member of
the commission for the
construction of a bridge
crossing the Schuylkill
River. He was one of the
original members of the
Public Buildings Com-
mission established in 1870,
but resigned the next year.
In 1870 he was chosen a
director of the Academy
of Music, became its presi-
dent in 1872, and resigned in 1884. He was elected
a member of the American Philosophical Society
in Jan., 1871, and a director of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, Northern Central Railroad, Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, and of the
Western Union Telegraph Company in March, 1874.
He became a director of the Pennsylvania Company
for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities on
Oct. 16, 1874.

On Dec. 20, 1882, he presided at the " bar dinner "
given to Chief Justice Sharswood on the retirement
of the latter; this was the last public occasion in
which he participated as a member of the Phila-
delphia bar, of which he had become a leader.

Phillips was a member of the Sephardic (Spanish
and Portuguese) Congregation Mickve Israel of
Philadelphia. In former years, more especially in
the period from 1836 to 1851, "he took considerable
interest in its affairs, taking an active part in the
controversy between Isaac Leeser and the congre-
gation ; his efforts were largely instrumental in elect-
ing Sabato Morals as minister of the congregation on
April 13, 1851.
A. D. Su.

Isaac Phillips : Lawyer ; born in New York
June 16, 1813; died there 1889; son of Naphtali
Phillips. He was appointed by President Pierce
appraiser of the port of New York, which position
he occupied for many years, and he was well known
politically. He took a deep interest in educational
matters, being a commissioner of the New York
board of education ; he was likewise the editor of va-
rious newspapers in the city of New York, grand
master of the freemasons of the state of New York,
and an active member of the New York Chamber
of Commerce. He married (1) Sophia Phillips and
(2) Miriam Trimble.

Jonas Phillips : The first of the family to settle
in America ; born 1736, the place of his birth being va-
riously given as Busick and Frankfort-on-the-Main ;
died at Philadelphia, Pa. , Jan. 39, 1803 ; son of Aaron

Jonas PbiUips.

Phillips. He emigrated to America from London in
Nov., 1756, and at first resided in Charleston, S. C,
where he was employed by Moses Lindo. He soon
removed to Albany, and thence, shortly afterward,
to New York, where he engaged in mercantile pur-
suits. As early as 1760 he was identified with a
lodge of freemasons in that city. In 1763 he mar-
ried Rebecca Mendez
Machado (see Ma-
CHADO). In 1769 he
became a freeman of
New York.

At the outbreak of
the American Revo-
lution Phillips fa-
vored the patriot
cause ; and he was an
ardent supporter of
the Non-Importation
Agreement in 1770.
In 1776 he used his
influence in the New
York congregation to
close the doors of the
synagogue and re-
move rather than
continue under the

British. The edifice was abandoned ; and, with the
majority of the congregation, Phillips removed to
Philadelphia, where he continued in business until
1778. In that year he joined the Revolutionary
army, serving in the Philadelphia Militia under Colo-
nel Bradford.

When Congregation Mickve Israel was estab-
lished in Philadelphia, Phillips was one of its active
founders, and was its president at the consecration
of its synagogue In 1783. After the Revolution he
removed to New York, but soon returned to Phila-
delphia, where he continued to reside until his death.
His remains, however, were interred at New York
in the cemetery, on New Bowery, of Congregation
Shearith Israel. His widow survived until 1831.
Of his twenty-one children, special mention should
be made of the following six :

(1) Rachel Phillips: Born 1769; died 1839;
married Michael Levy, and was the mother of Com-
modore Uriah P. Levy of the United States navy.

(3) Naphtali Phillips : Born 1773; died 1870;
married (1797) Rachel Mendez Seixas (d. 1823) of
Newport, R. I. One year after her death he married
Esther (b. 1789 ; d. 1873), the daughter of Benjamin
Mendez Seixas. Phillips was the proprietor of the
"National Advocate," a New York newspaper, and
was also president of Congregation Shearith Israel
in that city.

(3) Manuel Phillips : Assistant surgeon in the
United States navy from 1809 to 1824 ; died at Vera
Cruz in 1836.

(4) Joseph Phillips : Died 1854. He served in
the War of 1813.

(5) Aaron J. Phillips : Actor and playwright ;
born in Philadelphia; died at New York in 1836.
He made his first appearance at the Park Theater,
New York, in 1815, and was successful in Shakes-
peare's "Comedy of Errors." Later he became a
theatrical manager (see Charles P. Daly, "Settle-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phillips
Phillips, Horris

ment of the Jews in North America," pp. 102-103,
120, New York, 1893).

(6) Zalegmau Phillips : Lawyer ; born 1779 ;
died Aug. 21, 1839. He was graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1795, and became one
of the leading criminal lawyei's of Philadelphia.

Jonas Altamont Phillips: Lawyer; born at
Philadelphia 1806 ; died there 1862 ; brother of Henry
M. Phillips. He became prominent as a lawyer, and
in 1847-48 was the Democratic candidate for the
mayoralty of Philadelphia. President Buchanan is
said to have tendered him the position of judge of
the United States District Court, which he declined.
In 1837 he married Frances Cohen of Charleston,
B. C.

Jonas B. Phillips : Dramatist ; born Oct. 28,
1805, at Philadelphia ; died 1869 ; son of Benjamin J.
Phillips. He became known as a dramatist as early
as 1833. Among the plays he produced were : " Cold
Stricken" (1838), "Camillus," and "The Evil Eye."
Subsequently he studied law and became assistant
district attorney for the county of New York, hold-
ing that appointment under several successive ad-
ministrations (see Daly, I.e. p. 145).

Jonas N. Phillips : Born 1817; died 1874; son
of Naphtali Phillips. He was chief of the volunteer
fire department in the city of New York for many
years, and president of the board of councilmen and
acting mayor in 1857.

Naphtali Taylor Phillips : Lawyer ; born in
New York Dec. 5, 1868 ; son of Isaac Phillips by his
second wife. He has held various political offices, e.g. :
he was member of the New York state legislature
(1898-1901), serving on the judiciary and other com-
mittees and as a member of the Joint Statutory
Revision Commission of that body (1900) ; and dep-
uty comptroller of the city of New York (from 1902).
He is also a trustee of the American Scenic and His-
toric Preservation Society, and a member of the Sons
of the American Revolution and of the New York
Historical Society. He is treasurer of the Jew-
ish Historical Society and has contributed several
papers to its publications. For fifteen years he has
been clerk of Congregation Shearith Israel. In
1892 Phillips married Rosalie Solomons, daughter of
Adolphus S. Solomons. Mrs. Phillips is an active
member of the Daughters of the American Revo-
lution.

Bibliography : Charles P. Daly, Settlement of the Jews in
North America, New Tork, 1893 ; Isaac Markens, The He-
hrews in America, ib. 1888 ; Henry S. Morals, The Jews of
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1894: H. P. Eosenbach, The
Jews in Phtiadelphia, 1883; N. Taylor Phillips, In Piibl.
Am. Jew. Hist. Soc. 11. 51, iv. 204 et seq.; Sabato Morals, ift.
i.; M. J. Kohler, ih. iv. 89 ; Herbert Friedenwald, ib. vi. 50 et
seq. (other references are found in almost all the volumes
Issued by the society); L. HUhner, New York Jews in the
Struggle far American Independence ; Pennsylvania As-
sociatnrs and Militia in the Bevolution, i. 682; New Yorlc
Gazette and Weekly Post Boy, July 23, 1T70; New York
Hist. Soc. Col. for 1885, p. 49.

L. Htj.

PHILLIPS, BARNET :

born in Philadelphia Nov. 9,
University of Pennsylvania,
he was graduated in 1847.
set out for Europe, where he
and engaged in journalism.
United States, Phillips joined

American journalist;
1828; educated at the
Philadelphia, whence
Shortly afterward he
continued his studies

On his return to the
the staff of the " New

York Times " and published two books, " The Strug-
gle " and " Burning Their Ships." Phillips' connec-
tion with the "New York Times" extends over
thirty years.
A. F. H. V.

PHILLIPS, SIR BENJAMIN SAMUEL:

Lord mayor of London ; born in London in 1811 ;
died there Oct. 9, 1889. He was a son of Samuel
Phillips, tailor, and was educated at Neumegen's
school at Highgate and Kew. In 1833 he married,
and soon afterward entered into partnership with
his brother-in-law Henry Faudel, thus laying the
foundation of the firm of Faudel, Phillips & Sons.
He then became an active worker in the community,
being elected president of the Institution for the Relief
of the Jewish Indigent Blind in 1850 and president
of the Hebrew Literary Society. He rendered im-
portant services in the foundation of the United
Synagogue, of which he was elected a life-member
in June, 1880. For thirty years Phillips was a mem-
ber of the Board of Deputies as representative of
the Great and Central synagogues ; he served as a
member of the Rumanian Committee, and was a
vice-president of the Anglo-Jewish Association.

Benjamin Phillips will be chiefly remembered for
the prominent part he took in the struggle for the
removal of Jewish disabilities. In 1846 he was
elected a member of the common council as repre-
sentative of the ward of Farringdon Within. After
being returned at every subsequent election, lie was
elected alderman of the ward in 1857. In 1859 he
held the office of sheriff, and on Sept. 29, 1865, was
elected lord mayor. He performed the duties of
mayor with marked distinction, and the King of the
Belgians, whom he entertained, conferred upon him
the Order of Leopold. During his mayoralty he
rendered considerable help in personally raising
£70,000 toward the great Cholera Fund. In recog-
nition of these services he was knighted by Queen
Victoria. In 1888, owing to advancing years, he re-
tired from the court of aldermen, being succeeded
in the office by his second son, Alderman Sir George
Fatjdbl-Phillips, who was unanimously elected.

Sir Benjamin Phillips was for many years a mem-
ber of the Spectacle-Makers Company (of which he
was master) and was on the commission for the Lieu-
tenancy of the City of London.

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. and Jew. World, Oct. 18, 1889 ;
The Times and other London newspapers, Oct. 10, 1889.

J. 6- L-

PHILLIPS, GEORGE LYON : Jamaican pol-
itician ; born in 1811 ; died at Kingston, Jamaica,
Dec. 29, 1886. One of the most prominent and in-
fluential residents of Jamaica, he held the chief
magistrateship of the privy council and other im-
portant executive ofiices on the island. During the
anxious period known as the " Saturnalia of Blood "
Phillips especially conserved the interests of the col-
ony by his gentle and calm demeanor at councils of
state.

Bibliography : Falmouth Gazette (Jamaica), Dec. 31, 1885;
Jeiv. Wiirkl, Jan. 28, 1887 ; Jew. Chron. Feb. 4, 1887.
J. G. L.

PHILLIPS, MORRIS : American journalist
and writer ; born in London, England, May 9, 1834.

Phillips, Philip
Philo Judseus

TPIE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phillips received his elementary education in Cleve-
land, Ohio, and later continued his studies under
private tutors in New York. He studied for the
legal profession, first in Buffalo and later in New
York. But the opportunity being open to him of
association with Nathaniel Parker Willis as joint
editor of the "New York Home Journal," he em-
braced it at once, and from Sept., 1854, until the
death of Willis in Jan., 1867, Phillips was associate
editor of that periodical, of which he then became
chief editor and sole proprietor. Phillips was a
prolific writer and an extensive traveler; as such
he held commissions as special correspondent for
several daily newspapers, and published in many
magazines the fruits of his observations.
A. F. H. V.

PHILLIPS, PHILIP: American jurist; born
in Charleston, S. C, Dec, 17, 1807; died in Wash-
ington, D. C, Jan. 14, 1884. He was educated at
the Norwich Military Academy in Vermont and at
Middletown, Conn. . He then studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1829, settling in Cheraw,
S. C. He was a member of the Nullification Con-
vention of 1883. Elected to the state legislature
in 1834, he resigned in 1835 and moved to Mobile,
Ala., where he practised law. He was president
of the Alabama State Convention in 1837, and was
elected to the state legislature in 1844, being re-
elected in 1853. In 1853-55 he was a member of
Congress from Alabama. He then moved to Wash-
ington, where lie continued his profession until the
Civil war, when he migrated to New Orleans. After
the war he returned to Washington and resided there
until his death. In 1840 he prepared a " Digest of
Decisions of the Supreme Court of Alabama," and he
wrote " Practise of the Supreme Court of the United
States." He married Eugenia Levy of Charleston,
S. C, on Sept. 7, 1836.

Birliorrapht: Brewer, ^Jaboma, pp. 406-407; Garrett, Bem-
iniseences of Public Men in Alabama, 1872, pp. 405-407.
A. A. S. L

PHILLIPS, PHINEAS: Polish merchant;
flourished about 1775. He held the position of chief
of the Jewish community at Krotoschin, at that
time a fief of the princes of Thurn and Taxis. The
reigning prince held Phillips in considerable esteem
and entrusted him with personal commissions.

In the course of business Phillips attended the
Leipsic fairs and those held in other important Con-
tinental cities. In 1775 he extended his travels to
England. Once there, he settled for some time in
London, where he carried on an extensive business
in indigo and gum.

After his death, while on a visit to his native
town his son Samuel Phillips established himself
in London and became the father of Sir Benjamin
Phillips and grandfather of Sir George Paudel-
Phillips, Bart., both lord mayors of London.

Bibliography: Jew. Chron. Oct. 18, 1889.
J- G. L.

PHILLIPS, SAMUEL: English journalist;
born at London 1815; died at Brighton Oct., 1854.
He was the son of an English merchant, and at fif-
teen years of age made his debut as an actor at Cov-

ent Garden. Influential friends then placed him
at Cambridge, whence he passed to Gottingen Uni-
versity. Phillips then came to London, and in 1841
turned his attention to literature and journalism.
His earliest work was a romance entitled "Caleb
Stukeley," which appeared in "Blackwood's Maga-
zine " and was reijrinted in 1843. Its success led to
furtlier contributions to "Blackwood's," including
" We Are All Low People There " and other tales.

Phillips continued to write for periodicals, and he
was subsequently admitted as literary critic to the
staff of the " Times. " His articles were noted for
their vigor of expression and their wealth of ideas.
Dickens, Carlyle, Mrs. Stowe, and other popular
writers were boldly assailed by the anonymous
critic, whose articles became the talk of the town.
In 1853 and 1854 two volumes of his literary essays
were published anonymously. Phillips was also
associated with the " Morning Herald " and " John
Bull."

When the Society of the Crystal Palace was formed
Phillips became secretary and afterward literary
director. In connection with the Palace he wrote
the "Guide" and the "Portrait Gallery."

BiBi.iOGRAPnT: The Times (London), Oct. 17, 1854; Didot,
Nnuveau Biographic General ; Clianibers, Cue. of English
Literature.
J. G. L.

PHILO JTJD-ffiXJS: Alexandrian philosopher;
born about 20 B.C. at Alexandria, Egypt; died after
40 c.E. The few biographical details concerning
him that have been preserved are found in his own
works (especially in "Legatio ad Caium," §§ 23, 28;
ed. Mangey [hereafter cited in brackets], ii. 567,
573 ; " De Speciaiibus Legibus, " ii. 1 [ii. 390]) and
in Josephus ("Ant." xviii, 8, § 1; comp. ib. xix. 5,
§ 1 ; XX. 5, § 3). The only event that can be deter-
mined chronologically is his participation in the
embassy which the Alexandrian Jews sent to the
emperor Caligula at Rome for the purpose of asking
protection against the attacks of the Alexandrian
Greeks. This occurred in the year 40 c.e.

Philo included in his philosophy both Greek wisdom
and Hebrew religion, which he sought to fuse and
harmonize by means of the art of allegory that he
had learned from the Stoics. His work was not ac-
cepted by contemporary Judaism. "The sophists
of literalness, " as he calls them (" De Somniis, " i. 16-
17), " opened their eyes superciliously " when he ex-
plained to them the marvels of his exegesis. Greek
science, suppressed by the victorious Phariseeism
(Men. 99), was soon forgotten. Philo was all .the
more enthusiastically received by the early Chris-
tians, some of whom saw in him a Christian.

His Works : The Church Fathers have preserved
most of Philo's works that are now extant. These
are chiefly commentaries on the Pentateuch. As
Ewald has pointed out, three of Phflo's chief works
lie in this field (comp. Siegfried, " Abhandlung zur
Kritik der Schriften Philo's," 1874, p. 565).

(a) He explains the Pentateuch catechetically, in
the form of questions and answers {"Z?/T^ftaTa icai
Avaeic, Qufestiones et Sol utiones "). It can not now
be determined how far he carried out this method.
Only the following fragments have been preserved:
passages In Armenian in explanation of Genesis and

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phillips, Philip
Philo Judaeus

Exodus, an old Latin translation of a part of tlie
"Genesis," and fragments from the Greek text in
the "Sacra Parallela," in the "Catena," and also in
Ambrosius. The explanation is confined chiefly to
determining the literal sense, although Philo fre-
quently refers to the allegorical sense as the higher.

(b) That he cared mainly for the latter he shows
in his scientific chief work, the great allegorical
commentary, Ndfiav 'lepav 'Alltiyopiai, or "Legum

Allegorise," which deals, so far as it

His Alle- has been preserved, with selected

gorical passages from Genesis. According to

Commen- Philo's original idea, the history of

tary. primal man is here considered as a

symbol of the religious and moral de-
velopment of the human soul. This great commen-
tary included the following treatises: (1) "De AUe-
goriis Legum," books i.-iii., on Gen. ii. 1-iii. la,
8b-19 (on the original extent and contents of these
three books and the probably^more correct combina-
tion of i. and li., see Schilrer, "Gesch." iii. 503); (2)
" De Cherubim, " on Gen. iii. 34, i v. 1 ; (3) " De Sacrifi-
ciis Abelis etCaini," on Gen. iv. 2-4 (comp. Schilrer,
I.e. p. 504); (4) "De Eo Quod Deterius Potion Insi-
dlatur"; (5) "De Posteritate Caini," on Gen. iv.
16-35 (see Cohn and Wendland, "Philonis Alex-
andrini," etc., ii., pp. xviii. etseg., 1-41; "Philolo-
gus,"]vii. 348-388); (6) "De Gigantibus," on Gen.'
vi. 1-4; (7) "Quod Deus Sit Immutabilis," on Gen.
vi. 4-13 (Schiirer \l.e. p. 506] correctly combines Nos.
6 and 7 into one book ; Massebleau [" Bibliothfique de
I'Ecole des Hautes Etudes," p. 33, note 3, Paris,
1889] adds after No. 7 the lost books Hepl Aia-^^jKav) ;
(8) " De Agricultura NoS," on Gen. ix, 30 (comp. Von
Arnim, " Quellenstudien zu Philo von Alexandria,"
1899, pp. 101-140); (9) "De Ebrietate," on Gen. ix.
21 (on the lost second book see SclUirer, I.e. p. 507,
and Von Arnim, I.e. pp. 53-100); (10) "Eesipuit
Noe, seu De Sobrietate," on Gen. ix. 34-37; (11)
" De Conf usione Linguarum," on Gen. xi. 1-9; (13)
"De Migratione Abrahami," on Gen. xii. 1-6; (13)
"Quis Rerum Divinarura Heres Sit," on Gen. xv.
2-18 (on the work Ilept Mia&av cited in this treatise
see Massebieau, I.e. pp. 37 etseg., note 3); (14) "De
Congressu Quaerendae Eruditionis Gratia," on Gen.
xvi. 1-6; (15) "De Profugis," on Gen. xVi. 6-14;
(16) "De Mutatione Nominum," on Gen. xvii. 1-33
(on the fragment "De Deo," which contains a com-
mentary on Gen. xviii. 3, see Massebieau, I.e. p.
29); (17) "DeSomniis," book i., on Gen. xxviii. 13
etseg., xxxi. 11 etseg. {Jacob's dreams) ; " De Somniis,"
book ii., on Gen. xxxvii. 40 et seg. (the dreams of
Joseph, of the cupbearer, the baker, and Pharaoh).
Philo's three other books on dreams have been lost.
The first of these (on the dreams of Abimelech and
Laban) preceded the present book i., and discussed
the dreams in which God Himself spoke with the
dreamers, this fitting in very well with Gen. xx. 3.
On a doxographic source used by Philo in book i.,
§ 4 [i. 623], see Wendland in "Sitzungsbericht der
Berliner Akademie," 1897, No. xlix. 1-6.

(c) Philo wrote a systematic work on Moses and
his laws, which was prefaced by the treatise "De
Opiflcio Mundi," which in the present editions pre-
cedes "De Allegoriis Legum," book i. (comp. "De
Abrahamo," § 1 [ii. 1], with " De Prsemiis et Pcenis,"

§ 1 [ii. 408]). The Creation is, according to Philo,
the basis for the Mosaic legislation, which is in
complete harmony with nature ("De Opificio
Mundi," § 1 [i. 1]). The exposition of the Law then
follows in two sections. First come the biographies
of the men who antedated the several written laws of
the Torah, as Enos, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. These were the Patriarchs, who were
the living impersonations of the active law of virtue
before there were any written laws. Then the laws

are discussed in detail: first the chief

On the ten commandments (the Decalogue),

Patriarchs, and then the precepts in amplification

of each law. Tlie work is divided into
the following treatises: (1) "De Opificio Mundi"
(comp. Siegfried in "Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaft-
liche Theologie," 1874, pp. 563-565; L. Cohn's im-
portant separate edition of this treatise, Breslau, 1889,
preceded the edition of the same in " Philonis Alexan-
drini," etc., 1896, i.). (3) " De Abrahamo, " on Abra-
ham, the representative of the virtue acquired by
learning. The lives of Isaac and Jacob have been
lost. The three patriarchs were intended as types of
the ideal cosmopolitan condition of the world. (3)
"De Josepho," the life of Joseph, intended to show
how the wise man must act in the actually existing
state. (4) "DeVita Mosis," books i.-iii.; Schi'irer,
I.e. p. 533, combines the three books into two; but,
as Massebieau shows (I.e. pp. 42 et seg.), a passage,
though hardly an entire book, is missing at the end
of the present second book (Wendland, in "Hermes,"
xxxi. 440). Schiirer (I.e. pp. 515, 524) excludes this
work here, although he admits that from a literary
point of view it fits into this group ; but he considers
it foreign to the work in general, since Moses, un-
like the Patriarchs, can not be conceived as a uni-
versally valid type of moral action, and can not be
described as such. The latter point may be ad-
mitted; but the question still remains whether it is
necessary to regard the matter in this light. It
seems most natural to preface the discussion of
the law with the biography of the legislator, while
the transition from Joseph to the legislation, frpm
the statesman who has nothing to do with the divine
laws to the discussion of these laws themselves, is
forced and abrupt. Moses, as the perfect man,
unites in himself, in a way, all the faculties of the
patriarchal types. His is the " most pure mind "
("De Mutatione Nominum," 37 [i. 610]), he is the
" lover of virtue, " who has been purified from all pas-
sions ("De Allegoriis Legum," iii. 45, 48 [i. 113, 115]).
As the person awaiting the divine revelation, he is
also specially fitted to announce it to others, after

having received it in the form of the

On the Commandments (i'i. iii. 4 [i. 89et seg.]).

Law. (5) "De Decalogo," the introductor}'

treatise to the"^ chief ten command-
ments of the Law. (6) "De Specialibus Legibus,"
in which treatise Philo attempts to systematize the
several laws of the Torah, and to arrange them in
conformit}' with the Ten Commandments. To the
first and second commandments he adds the laws
relating to priests and sacrifices ; to the third (mis-
use of the name of God), the laws on oaths, vows,
etc. ; to the fourth (on the Sabbath), the laws on
festivals ; to the fifth (to honor father and mother).

Fhllo JudaeuB

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

the laws on respect for parents, old age, etc. ; to the
sixth, the marriage laws ; to the seventh, the civil
and criminal laws; to the eighth, the laws on theft;
to the ninth, the laws on truthful testifying ; and to
the tenth, the laws on lust (comp. Stade-Holtzmann,
"Gesch. des Volkes Israel," 1888, ii. 535-545; on
Philo as influenced by the Halakah, see B. Ritter,
"Philo und die Halacha," Leipsic, 1879, and Sieg-
fried's review of the same in the "Jenaer Litera-
turzeitung," 1879, No. 35). The first hook includes
the following treatises of the current editions: "De
Circumcisione " ; "De Monarchia," books i. and ii. ;
" De Sacerdotum Honoribus"; "De Victimis." On
the division of the book into these sections, the titles
of the latter, and newly found sections of the text,
see Schilrer, I.e. p. 517; Wendland, I.e. pp. 136 et
seq. The second book includes in the editions a sec-
tion also entitled " De Specialibus Legibus " (ii. 270-
277), to which is added the treatise "De Septenario,"
which is, however, incomplete in Mangey. The
greater part of the missing portion was supplied,
under the title " De Cophini Festo et de Colendis
Parentibus," by Mai (1818), and was printed in
Richter's edition, v. 48-50, Leipsic, 1828. The com-
plete text of the second book was published by
Tischendorf in his "Philonea" (pp. 1-88). The
third book is included under the title " De Speciali-
bus Legibus " in ed. Mangey, ii. 299-334. The fourth
book also is entitled "De Specialibus Legibus"; to
it the last sections are added under the titles " De
Judice " and "De Concupiscentia " in the usual edi-
tions; and they include, also, as appendix, the sec-
tions " De Justitia " and " De Creatione Princi-
pum." (7) The treatises "De Portitudine, " "De
Caritate," and " De Pcenitentia " are a kind of appen-
dix to "De Specialibus Legibus." Schlirer (Z.c. pp.
519 [note 82], 520-522) combines them into a special
book, which, he thinks, was composed by Philo.
(8) " De Prsemiis et Poenis " and " De Execratione. "
On the connection of both see Schilrer, I.e. pp. 522
et seq. This is the conclusion of the exposition of
the Mosaic law.

Independent Works: (1) "Quod Omnis Probus
Liber," the second half of a work on the freedom of
the just according to Stoic principles. The genu-
ineness of this work has been disputed by Prankel
(in "Monatsschrift," ii. ZOetseq., Gleisag.), by Gratz
("Gesch." iii. 464 et seq.), and more recently by Ans-
feld(1887), Hilgenfeld (in "Zeitschrift fur Wissen-
schaftliche Theologie,"1888, pp. 49-71), and others.
Now Wendland, Ohle, Schilrer, Massebieau, and
Krell consider it genuine, with the exception of the
partly interpolated passages on the Essenes. (2)
" In Flaccum " and " De Legatione ad Caium , " an ac-
count of the Alexandrian persecution of the Jews
under Caligula. This account, consisting originally
of five books, has been preserved in fragments only
(see Schilrer, I.e. pp. 525 et seq.). Philo intended to
show the fearful punishment meted out by God to
the persecutors of the Jews (on Philo's predilection
for similar discussions see Siegfried, "Philo von Al-
exandria, " p. 157). (3) " De Pro videntia, " preserved
only in Armenian, and printed from Aucher's Latin
translation in the editions of Richter and others (on
Greek fragments of the work see Schilrer, I.e. pp.
531«<«eg.). (4) " De Animalibus " (on the title see

Schilrer, I.e. p. 532; in Richter's ed. viii. 101-144).
(5) "tmdeTina ("Counsels"), a work known only
through fragments in Eusebius, " Praeparatio Evan-
gelica," viii. 6, 7. The meaning of the title is open
to discussion ; it may be identical with the follow-
ing (No. 6). (6) Tlepl 'lovdaiav, an apology for the
Jews (Schilrer, I.e. pp. 532 et seq.).

For a list of the lost works of Philo see Schilrer,
I.e. p. 534.

Other Works Ascribed to Pliilo : (1) "De Vita Con-
templativa" (on the different titles comp. Schilrer,
I.e. p. 535). This work describes the mode of life
and the religious festivals of a society of Jewish
ascetics, who, according to the author, are widely
scattered over the earth, and are found especially
in every nome in Egypt. The writer, however,
confines himself to describing a colony of hermits
settled on the Lake Mareotis in Egypt, where each
lives separately in his own dwelling. Six days
of the week they spend in pious contemplation,
chiefly in connection with Scripture. On the sev-
enth day both men and women assemble together in
a hall ; and the leader delivers a discourse consist-
ing of an allegorical interpretation of a Scriptural
passage. The feast of the fiftieth day is especially
celebrated. The ceremony begins with a frugal
meal consisting of bread, salted vegetables, and
water, during which a passage of Scripture is inter-
preted. After the meal the members of the society
in turn sing religious songs of various kinds, to which
the assembly answers with a refrain. The ceremony
ends with a choral representation of the triumphal
festival that Moses and Miriam arranged after the
passage through the Red Sea, the voices of the men
and the women uniting in a choral symphony until
the sun rises. After a common morning prayer each
goes home to resume his contemplation. Such is
the contemplative life {Bio( BsaprjTiicd;) led by these
QEpanEvrai (" servants of Yhwh ").

The ancient Church looked upon these Therapeutse
as disguised Christian monks. This view has found
advocates even in very recent times; Lucius' opin-
ion particularly, that the Christian monkdom of the
third century was here glorified in a Jewish disguise,
was widely accepted ("Die Therapeuten," 1879).
But the ritual of the society, which was entirely at
variance with Christianity, disproves this view.
The chief ceremony especially, the choral represen-
tation of the passage through the Red Sea, has no
special significance for Christianity ; nor have there
ever been in the Christian Church nocturnal festi-
vals celebrated by men and women
"DeVita together. But Massebieau ("Revue
Contempla- de I'Histoire des Religions," 1887, xvi.
tiva." 170 et seq., 284 et seq.), Conybeare
("Philo About the Contemplative
Life," Oxford, 1895), and Wendland ("Die Thera-
peuten," etc., Leipsic, 1896) ascribe the entire work
to Philo, basing their argument wholly on linguistic
reasons, which seem sufficiently conclusive. But
there are great dissimilarities between the funda-
mental conceptions of the author of the " De Vita
Contemplativa " and those of Philo. The latter
looks upon Greek culture and philosophy as allies,
the former is hostile to Greek philosophy (see Sieg-
fried in "Protestantische Kirchenzeitung," 1896, No.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fhilo Judseus

43). He repudiates a science that numbered among
its followers the sacred band of the Pythagoreans,
inspired men like Parmenides, Empedocles, Zeno,
Cleanthes, Heraclitus, and Plato, -whom Philo prized
("Quod Omnis Probus," i., ii. ; "Quis Rerum Divi-
narum Heres Sit," 43; "De Providentia," ii. 43, 48,
etc.). He considers the symposium a detestable,
common drinking-bout. This can not be explained
as a Stoic diatribe ; for in this case Philo would not
have repeated it. And Philo would have been the
last to interpret the Platonic Eros in the vulgar way
in which it is explained in the " De Vita Contempla-
tiva," 7 [ii. 480], as he repeatedly uses the myth of
double man allegorically in his interpretation of
Scripture ("De Opificio Mundi," 24; "De Allegoriis
Legum," ii. 34). It must furthermore be remem-
bered that Philo in none of his other works men-
tions these colonies of allegorizing ascetics, in which
he would have been highly interested had he known
of them. But pupils of Philo may subsequently
have founded near Alexandria similar colonies that
endeavored to realize his ideal of a pure life tri-
umphing over the senses and passions; and they
might also have been responsible for the one-sided
development of certain of the master's principles.
While Philo desired to renounce the lusts of this
world, he held fast to the scientific culture of Hel-
lenism, which the author of this book denounces.
Although Philo liked to withdraw from the world
in order to give himself up entirely to contempla-
tion, and bitterly regretted the lack of such repose
("De Specialibus Legibus," 1 [ii. 299]), he did not
abandon the work that was required of him by the
welfare of his people.

(3) "De Incorruptibilitate Mundi." Since the
publication of I. Bernays' investigations there has
been no doubt that this work is spurious. Its Peri-
patetic basic idea that the world is eternal and in-
destructible contradicts all those Jewish teachings
that were for Philo an indisputable presupposition.
Bernays has proved at the same time that the text
has been confused through wrong pagination, and
he has cleverly restored it (" Gesammelte Abhand-
lungen, " 1885, i. 383-390 ; " Abhandlung der Berliner
Akademie, " 1876, Philosophical-Historical Division,
pp. 309-378; ib. 1883, sect. iii. 83; Von Arnim, I.e.
pp. 1-52).

(3) "De Mundo,'' a collection of extracts from
Philo, especially from the preceding work (comp.
Wendland, "Philo," ii., pp. vi.-x.). (4) "De Samp-
sone" and "De Jona," in Armenian, published with
Latin translation by Aucher. (5) " Interpretatio
HebraicoTum Nominum," a collection, by an anony-
mous Jew, of the Hebrew names occurring in Philo.
Origen enlarged it by adding New Testament
names ; and Jerome revised it. On the etymology of
names occurring in Philo's exegetical works see be-
low. (6) A "Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum,"
which was printed in the sixteenth century and then
disappeared, has been discussed by Cohn in " J. Q.
R." 1898, X. 377-333. It narrates Biblical history
from Adam to Saul (see Schurer, I.e. p. 543). (7)
The pseudo-Philonic " Breviarium Temporum, " pub-
lished by Annius of Viterbo (see Schilrer, I.e. note
168).

His Exegesis. CTiltural Basis : Philo, of Jewish

descent, was by birth a Hellene, a member of one
of those colonies, organized after the conquests of
Alexander the Great, that were dominated by
Greek language and culture. The vernacular of
these colonies, Hellenistic Greek proper, was every-
where corrupted by idiotisms and solecisms, and in
specifically Jewish circles by Hebraisms and Semi-
tisms, numerous examples of which are found in the
Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and the New Testa-
ment. The educated classes, however, had created
for themselves from the classics, in the so-called
KOLvrj SiaAEKTog, a purer medium of expression. In
the same way Philo formed his language by means
of extensive reading of the classics. Scholars at an
early date pointed out resemblances to Plato (Suidas,
s.D. ; Jerome, " De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis," Cata-
logue, S.V.). But there are also expressions and
phrases taken from Aristotle, as well as from Attic
orators and historians, and poetic phrases and allu-
sions to the poets. Philo's works oSer an anthology
of Greek phraseology of the most different periods;
and his language, in consequence, lacks simplicity
and purity (see Treitel, "De Philonis Judeei Ser-
mone, " Breslau, 1870 ; Jessen, " De Elocutione Phi-
lonis Alexandrini," 1889).

But more important than the influence of the lan-
guage was that of the literature. He quotes the
epic and dramatic poets with esjDecial frequency, or
alludes to passages in their works. He has a wide
acquaintance with the works of the Greek philos-
ophers, to which he was devoted, owing to them his
real scholarship, as he himself says ^see " De Con-
gressu Quoerendse Eruditionis Gratia," 6 [i. 550];
"De Specialibus Legibus," ii. 339; Deane, "The
Book of Wisdom," 1881, p. 13, note 1). He holds-
that the highest perception of truth is possible only
after a study of the encyclopedic sciences. Hence
his system throughout shows the influence of Greek
philosophy. The dualistic contrast between God
and the world, between the finite and the infinite,
appears also in Neo-Pythagorism. The influence
of Stoicism is unmistakable in the doc-
Influence trine of God as the only efficient cause,
of in that of divine reason immanent in

Hellenism, the world, in that of the powers ema-
nating from God and suffusing the
world. In the doctrine of the Logos various ele-
ments of Greek philosophy are united. As Heinze
shows (" Die Lehre vom Logos in der Griechischen
Philosophie, " 1873, pp. 304 et seq.), this doctrine
touches upon the Platonic doctrine of ideas as well
as the Stoic doctrine of the yeviKdrardv n and the
Neo -Pythagorean doctrine of the type that served at
the creation of the world ; and in the shaping of the
Myog TOfievg it touches upon the Heraclitean doctrine
of strife as the moving principle. Philo's doctrine
of dead, inert, non-existent matter harmonizes in its
essentials with the Platonic and Stoic doctrine. His
account of the Creation is almost identical with that
of Plato; he follows the latter's "Timseus" pretty
closely in his exposition of the world as having no
beginning and no end ; and, like Plato, he places the
creative activity as well as the act of creation out-
side of time, on the Platonic ground that time begins
only with the world. The influence of Pythago-
rism appears in the numeral-symbolism, to which

Philo Judaeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pliilo frequently recurs. The Aristotelian contrast
between dvvafuq and evtcMx<^^'^ ("Metaphysics," iii.
73) is found in Philo, "De Allegoriis Legum," i. 64
(on Aristotle see Freudenthal in " Monatsschrif t, "
1875, p. 233). In his psychology he adopts either the
Stoic division of the soul into eight faculties, or the
Platonic trichotomy of reason, courage, and desire,
or the Aristotelian triad of the vegetative, emotive,
and rational souls. The doctriae of the body as the
source of all evil corresponds entirely with the
Neo-Pythagorean doctrine: the soul he conceives as
a divine emanation, similar to Plato's vov; (see
Siegfried, "Philo," pp. IZQ et seg.). His ethics and
allegories are based on Stoic ethics and allegories.
Although as a philosopher Philo must be classed
with the eclectics, he was not therefore merely a com-
piler. He made his philosophy the means of de-
fending and justifying the Jewish religious truths.
These truths he regarded as tixed and determinate;
and philosophy was merely an aid to truth and a
means of arriving at it. With this end in view
Philo chose from the philosophical tenets of the
Greeks, refusing those that did not harmonize with
the Jewish religion, as, e.g., the Aristotelian doc-
trine of the eternity and indestructibility of the
world.

Although he devoted himself largely to the Greek
language and literature, especially Greek philoso-
phy, Philo's national Jewish education is also a fac-
tor to be taken into account. While he read the Old
Testament chiefly in the Greek trans-
His Knowl- lation, not deeming it necessary to use

edge of the Hebrew text because he was under

Hebrew, the wrong impression that the Greek
corresponded with it, he nevertheless
understood Hebrew, as his numerous etymologies of
Hebrew names indicate (see Siegfried, " Philonische
Studien," in Merx, "Archiv fur Wissensohaftliche
Erforschung des A. T." 1871, ii. 3, 143-163; tdem,
"Hebraische Worterklarungen des Philo und Ihre
Einwirkung auf die KirchenvSter," 1863). These
etymologies are not in agreement with modern He-
brew philology, but are along the lines of the etymo-
logic midrash to Genesis and of the earlier rabbinism.
His knowledge of the Halakah was not profound.
B. Ritter, however, has shown {I.e.) that he was
more at home in this than has been generally assumed
(see Siegfried's review of Eitter's book in "Jenaer
Literaturzeitung," 1879, No. 35, where the principal
points of Philo's indebtedness to the Halakah are
enumerated). In the Haggadah, however, he was
very much at home, not only in that of the Bible, but
especially in that of the earlier Palestinian and the
Hellenistic Midrash (Frankel, "Ueber den Einfluss
der Palastinensischen Exegese auf die Alexandri-
nische Hermeneutik," 1851, pp. 190-300; Schilrer,
I.e. p. 546; "Be Vita Mosis," i. 1 [ii. 81]).

His Methods of Exegesis : Philo bases his doctrines
on the Old Testament, which he considers as the
source and standard not only of religious truth but
in general of all truth. Its pronouncements are for
him divine pronouncements. They are the words
of the lepb<; Myng, ^eiog Tidyog, bp&og Myog (" De Agrioul-
turaNo{!,"§13 [i. 308]; "De Somniis," i. 681, ii. 25)
uttered sometimes directly and sometimes through
the mouth of a prophet, especially through Moses,

whom Philo considers the real medium of revelation,
while the other writers of the Old Testament appear
as friends or pupils of Moses. Although he distin-
guishes between the words uttered by God Himself,
as the Decalogue, and the edicts of Moses, as the
special laws ("De Specialibus Legibus," §§ 3 et seq.
[ii. 800 et seq. ] ; " De Pra;miis et Poenis, " § 1 [ii. 408]),
he does not carry out this distinction, since he be-
lieves in general that everything in the Torah is of
divine origin, even the letters and accents (" De Mu-
tatione Nominum," § 8 [i. 587]). The extent of his
canon can not be exactly determined (comp. Ilorue-
mann, " Observationes ad lUustrationem Dqctrinse
de Canone V. T. ex Philone," 1776; B. Pick,
"Philo's Canon of the O. T.," in "Jour, of Exeg.
Society," 1895, pp. 126-148; C. Bissel, "The Canon
of the O. T. , " in " Bibliotheca Sacra, " Jan. , 1886, pp.
83-86 ; and the more recent introductions to the Old
Testament, especially those of Buhl, "Canon and
Textof theO. T."1891, pp. 17, 43, 45; Ryle, "Philo
and Holy Script," 1895, pp. xvi.-xxxv. ; and other
references in Schurer, I.e. p. 547, note 17). He does
not quote Ezekiel, Daniel, Canticles, Buth, Lamen-
tations, Ecclesiastes, or Esther (on a quotation from
Job see E. Kautzsch, "De Locis V. T. a Paulo
Apostolo Allegatis," 1869, p. 69; on Philo's manner
of quoting see Siegfried, I.e. p. 163). Philo regards
the Bible as the source not only of religious revela-
tion, but also of philosophic truth; lor, according
to him, the Greek philosophers also have borrowed
from the Bible: Heraclitus, according to "Quis
Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit," § 43 [i. 503]; Zeno,
according to "Quod Omnis Probus Liber," § 8 [ii.
454].

Greek allegory had preceded Philo in this field.
As the Stoic allegorists sought in Homer the basis
for their philosophic teachings, so the Jewish alle-
gorists, and especially Philo, went to the Old Testa-
ment. Following the methods of Stoic allegory,

they interpreted the Bible philosoph-

Stoic ically (on Philo's predecessors in the

Influence, domain of the allegoristic Midrash

among the Palestinian and Alexan-
drian Jews, see Siegfried, I.e. pp. 16-37). Philo bases
his hermeneutlcs on the assumption of a twofold
meaning in the Bible, the literal and the allegorical
(comp. "Quod Deus Sit Immutabilis," § 11 [i. 380];
"De Somniis," i. 40 [i. 656]). He distinguishes the
priTii Kol (pavepa a-nSSoaig ("De Abrahamo," § 36 [ii. 39
et seg.]), "ad litteram"in contrast to '' allegorice "
(" QuaBsliones in Genesin," ii. 31). The two inter-
pretations, however, are not of equal importance :
the literal sense is adapted to human needs ; but the
allegorical sense is the real one, which only the ini-
tiated comprehend. Hence Philo addresses himself
to the livcrai ("initiated ") among his audience, by
whom he expects to be really comprehended (" De
Cherubim," § 14 [i. 47]; "De Somniis," i. 33 [i.
649])., A special method is requisite for determin-
ing the real meaning of the words of Scripture
("Canons of Allegory," "De VlctimasOfferentibus,"
§ 5 [ii. 355] ; "Laws of Allegory," " De Abrahamo,"
§ 15 [ii. 11]); the correct application of this method
determines the correct allegory, and is therefore
called "the wise architect" ("De Somniis," ii. 3 [i.
660]). As a result of some of these rules of inter-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Philo Judeeus

pvetation the literal sense of certain passages of
the Bible must be excluded altogether; e.g., passages
in which according to a literal inter-
Attitude pretation something unworthy is said
Toward of God ; or in which statements are
Literal made tliat are unworthy of the Bible,
Meaning, senseless, contradictory, or inadmissi-
ble; or in which allegorical expres-
sions are used for the avowed purpose of drawing
the reader's attention to the fact that the literal sense
is to be disregarded.

There are in addition special rules that not only
direct the reader to recognize the passages which
demand an allegorical interpretation, but help the
initiated to find the correct and intended meaning.
These passages are such as contain : (1) the doubling
of a phrase; (2) an apparently superfluous ex-
pression in the text ; (3) the repetition of statements
previously made; (4) a change of phraseology— all
these phenomena point to something special that the
reader must consider. (5) An entirely different
meaning may also be found by a different combination
of the words, disregarding the ordinarily accepted
division of the sentence in question into phrases
and clauses. (6) The synonyms must be carefully
studied; e.g., why Aafif is used in one passage and
yivoQ in another, etc. (7) A play upon words must be
utilized for finding a deeper meaning; e.g., sheep
{updparm) stand for progress in knowledge, since
they derive their name from the fact of their pro-
gressing (TTpol3aivsiv), etc. (8) A definite allegorical
sense may be gathered from certain particles, ad-
verbs, prepositions, etc. ; and in certain cases it
can be gathered even from (9) the parts of a word;
e.g., from Sid in (SidXevnog. (10) Every word must
be explained in all its- meanings, in order that
different interpretations may be found. (11) The
skilful interpreter may make slight changes in a
word, following the rabbinical rule, "Read not so,
but so " (Ber. 10a). Philo, therefore, changed ac-
cents, breathings, etc., in Greek words. (12) Any
peculiarity in a phrase justifies the assumption that
some special meaning is intended; e.g., where uia
(" one ") is used instead of irp^T?! (" first " ; Gen. i. 5),
etc. Details regarding the form of words are very
important : (13) the number of the word, if it show.s
any peculiarity in the singular or the plural; the
tense of the verb, etc. ; (14) the gender of the
noim ; (15) the presence or omission of the article ;
(16) tlie artificial interpretation of a single expres-
sion ; (17) the position of the verses of a passage ; (18)
peculiar verse-combinations ; (19) noteworthy omis-
sions ; (20) striking statements ; (21) numeral sym-
bolism. Philo found much material for this S3'm-
bolism in the Old Testament, and he developed it
more thoroughly according to the methods of the
Pythagoreans and Stoics. He could follow in many
points the tradition handed down by his allegorizing
predecessors ("De Vita Contemplativa," § 8 [ii.
481]).

Philo regards the singular as God's number and
the basis for all numbers (" De AUegoriis Legura,"
ii. 12 [i. 66]). Two is the number of schism, of tliat
which has been created, of death ("De Opiflcio
Mundi, § 9 [i. 7] ; " De AUegoriis Legum," i. 2 [i. 44] ;
"De Somniis," ii. 10 [i. 688]). Three is the number

of the body ("Do AUegoriis Legum," i. 2 [i. 44])
or of the Divine Being in connection with His fun-
damental powers (" De Sacriflciis Abe-
Views on lis et Caini," §15 [i. 178]). Four is
Numbers, potentially what ten is actually, the
perfect number (" De Opificio Mundi,"
§S 15, 16 [i. 10, 11], etc.); but in an evil sense
four is the number of the passions, Trddrj ("De Con-
gressu Quserendai Eruditionis Gratia," §17 [i. 532]).
Five is the number of the senses and of sensibility
("De Opificio Mundi," § 20 [i. 14], etc.). Six, the
product of the masculine and feminine numbers 3x2
and in its parts equal to 3 + 3, is the symbol of the
movement of organic beings (" De AUegoriis Legum, "
i. 2 [i. 44]). Seven has the most various and mar-
velous attributes ("De Opificio Mundi," gg 30-43 [i.
21 et seg.] ; comp. I. G. Miiller, "Philo unci die Welt-
schOpfung," 1841, p. 211). Eight, thenumberof the
cube, has many of the attributes determined by the
Pythagoreans (" Quasstiones in Genesin," iii. 49 [i.
223, Aucher]). Nine is the number of strife, ac-
cording to Gen. xiv. (" De Congressu Qu. Eruditionis
Gratia," § 17 [i. 532]). Ten is the number of per-
fection (" De Plantatione No6," § 29 [i. 347]). Philo
determines also the values of the numbers 50, 70,
and 100, 12, and 120. (22) Finally, the symbolism of
objects is very extensive. The numerous and
manifold deductions made from the comparison of
objects and the relations in which they stand come
very near to confusing the whole system, this being
prevented.only by assigning predominance to certain
forms of comparison, although others of secondary
importance are permitted to be made side by side
with them. Philo elaborates an extensive symbol-
ism of proper names,, following the example of the
Bible and the Midrash, to which he adds many new
interpretations. On the difference between the
physical and ethical allegory, the first of which
refers to natural processes and the second to the
psychic life of man, see Siegfried, I.e. p. 197.

Philo's teaching was not Jewish, but was derived
from Greek philosophy. Desiring to convert it into
a Jewish doctrine, he applied the Stoic mode of alle-
goric interpretation to the Old Testament. No one
before Philo, except his now forgotten Alexandrian
predecessors, had applied this method to the Old
Testament — a method that could produce no lasting
results. It was attacked even in Alexandria (" De
Vita Mosis," iii. 27 [ii. 168]), and disappeared after
the brief florescence of Jewish Hellenism.

His Doctrine of God : Philo obtains his theol-
ogy in two ways : by means of negation and by posi-
tive assertions as to the nature of God (comp. Zeller,
"Philosophic der Griechen," 3d ed., iii., § 2, pp.
353-360; Drummond, "Philo Judreus," ii. 1-64, Lon-
don, 1888). In his negative statement he tries to
define the nature of God in contrast to the world.
Here he can take from the Old Testament only cer-
tain views of later Jewish theology regarding God's
sublimity transcending the world (Isa. Iv. 9), and
man's inability to behold God (Ex. xxxii. 20 et seq.).
But according to the conception that predominates
in the Bible God is incessantly active in the world,
is filled with zeal, is moved by repentance, and
comes to aid His people ; He is, therefore, entii'ely
different from the God described by Philo. Philo

Philo Judaeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

does not consider God similar to heaven or the world
or man; He exists neither in time nor space; He has
no human attributes or emotions. Indeed, He has
no attributes whatever (dTrAotif), and in consequence
no name {app^ro^), and for that reason he can not be
perceived hy man (d/caraA^^n-Tof). He can not change
(arpETTTOf) ; He is always the same (dMiof). He needs
no other being (xp'JC'^" ovdmdg to ■jrapairav), and is self-
sufficient {iavT<I> UavSc). He can never perish (a<p6ap-
"of). He is the simply existent (6 av, to 6v), and as
such has no relations with any other being (to yap y

bv kcTiV OVXi TUV TTpdg Tt).

It is evident that this is not the God of the Old
Testament, but the idea of Plato designated as Bedf,
in contrast to matter. Nothing remained, therefore,
but to set aside the descriptions of God in the Old
Testament by means of allegory. Philo character-
izes as a monstrous impiety the anthropomorphism
of the Bible, which, according to the literal mean-
ing, ascribes to God hands and feet, eyes and ears,
tongue and windpipe (" De Confusione Linguarum,"
§ 37 [i. 425]). Scripture, he says, adapts itself to
human conceptions (aJ.); and for pedagogic reasons
God is occasionally represented as a man ("Quod
Deus Sit Immutabilis," § 11 [i. 381]). The same
holds good also as regards His anthropopathic at-
tributes. God as such is untouched by unreason-
able emotions, as appears, e.g., from Ex. ii. 13, where
Moses, torn by his emotions, perceives God alone to
be calm("De Allegoriis Legum," iii. 13 [i. 943]).
He is free from sorrow, pain, and all such affections.
But He is frequently represented as endowed with
human emotions ; and this serves to explain expres-
sions referring to His repentance.
Views on Similarly God can not exist or change
Anthropo- in space. He has no " where " (■rroii, ob-
mor- tained by changing the accent in Gen.

phisms. iii. 9 : " Adam, where [ttov] art thou ? "),
is not in any place. He is Himself the
place ; the dwelling-place of God means the same
as God Himself, as in the Mishnah ClpO = " God is "
(comp. Preudenthal, " Hellenistische Studien," p.
73), corresponding to the tenet of Greek philosophy
that the existence of all things is summed up in God
(comp. Schurer, "Der Begriff des Himmelreichs,"
in " Jahrbuch fur Protestantische Theologie," 1876,
i. 170). The Divine Being as such is motionless, as
the Bible indicates by the phrase " God stands "
(Deut. V. 31 ; Ex. xvii. 6). It was difficult to har-
monize the doctrine of God's namelessness with the
Bible ; and Philo was aided here by his imperfect
knowledge of Greek. Not noticing that the Sep-
tuagint translated the divine name Yhwh by Kiipiog,
he thought himself justified in^referring the two
names Oc6g and Kvpioc to ' the two supreme divine
faculties.

Philo's transcendental conception of the idea of
God precluded the Creation as well as any activity
of God in the world ; it entirely separated God from
man ; and it deprived ethics of all religious basis.
But Philo, who was a pious Jew, could not accept
the un-Jewish, pagan conception of the world and
the irreligious attitude which would have been the
logical result of his own system; and so he accepted
the Stoic doctrine of the immanence of God, which
led him to statements opposed to those he had

previously made. While he at first had placed God
entirely outside of the world, he now regarded Him
as the only actual being therein. God is the only
real citizen of the world ; all other beings are merely
sojourners therein ("De Cherubim," § 34 [i. 661]).
While God as a transcendent being could not
operate at all in tlie world, He is now considered
as doing everything and as the only cause of all
things ("De Allegoriis Legum," iii. 3 [i. 88]). He
creates not only once, but forever {ib. i. 13 [i. 44]).
He is identical with the Stoic "efficient cause." He
is impelled to activity chiefly by His goodness,
which is the basis of the Creation. God as creator
is called Qedg (from TW?!/ic; comp. "De Confusione
Linguarum," § 37 [i. 435]). This designation also
characterizes Him in conformity with His goodness,
because all good gifts are derived from God, but
not evil ones. Hence God must call upon other
powers to aid Him in the creation of man, as He
can have nothing to do with matter, which con-
stitutes the physical nature of man : with evil
He can have no connection ; He can not even pun-
ish it. God stands in a special relation to man.
The human soul is God's most characteristic work.
It is a reflex of God, a part of the divine reason,
just as in the system of the Stoics the human soul is
an emanation of the World-Soul. The life of the
soul is nourished and supported by God, Philo using
for his illustrations the figures of the light and the
fountain and the Biblical passages referring to these.
Doctrine of the Divine Attributes : Al-
though, as shown above, Philo repeatedly endeav-
ored to find the Divine Being active and acting in
the world, in agreement with Stoicism, yet his Pla-
tonic repugnance to matter predominated, and con-
sequently whenever he posited that the divine could
not have any contact with evil, he defined evil as
mattei-, with the result that he placed God outside
of the world. Hence he was obliged to separate
from the Divine Being the activity displayed in the
world and to transfer it to the divine powers, which
accordingly were sometimes inherent in God and
at other times exterior to God. This doctrine, as
worked out by Philo, was composed of very differ-
ent elements, including Greek philosophy. Biblical
conceptions, pagan and late Jewish views. The
Greek elements were borrowed partly from Platonic
philosophy, in so far as the divine powers were con-
ceived as types or patterns of actual things ("arche-
typal ideas "), and partly from Stoic philosophy, in so
far as those powers were regarded as the efficient
causes that not only represent the types of things,
but also produce and maintain them. They fill the
whole world, and in them are contained all being and
all individual things ("De Confusione Linguarum,"
§ 34 [i. 431]). Philo endeavored to harmonize this
conception with the Bible by designating these
powers as angels ("De Gigantibus," § 3 [i. 363];
"De Somniis," i. 22 [i. 641 ei seq.]), whereby he des-
troyed an essential characteristic of the Biblical view.
He further made use of the pagan conception of
demons (ib.). And finally he was influenced by the
late Jewish doctrine of the throne-chariot (r]^yo
HMnO), in connection with which he in a way de-
taches one of God's fundamental powers, a point
which will be discussed further on. In the Haggadah

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fhilo Judseus

this fundamental power divides into two contrasts,
which modify each other: D'Dmn moi pn m»-
In the same way Pliilo contrasts the two divine at-
tributes of goodness and power {ayaddrTii and apxv,
6vvafu; xapiartKr/ and avymXaaTmii). They are also ex-
pressed in the names of God ; but Philo's explanation
is confusing. " Yhwh " really designates God as the
kind and merciful one, while " Elohim " designates
him as the just one. Philo, however, interpreted
"Elohim" (LXX. 9c(if) as designating the "cosmic
power " ; and as he considered the Creation the most
important proof of divine goodness, he found the
idea of goodness especially in Be6^ (" De Migratione
Abrahami," § 33 [i. 464]). On the parallel activity
of the two powers and the symbols used therefor
in Scripture, as well as on their emanation from
God and their further development into new pow-
ers, their relation to God and the world, their
part in the Creation, their tasks toward man, etc.,
see Siegfried, "Philo," pp. 314-218. Philo's expo-
sition here is not entirely clear, as he sometimes con-
ceives the powers to be independent hypostases and
sometimes regards them as immanent attributes of
the Divine Being.

The Logos : Philo considers these divine powers
in their totality also, treating them as a single
independent being, which he designates "Logos."
This name, which he borrowed from Greek philos-
ophy, was first used by Heraclitus and then adopted
by the Stoics. Philo's conception of the Logos is
influenced by both of these schools. From Heracli-
tus he borrowed the conception of the "dividing
Logos" (Adyof ro//ei/f), which calls the various objects
into existence by the combination of contrasts (" Quis
Eerum Divinarum Heres Sit," § 43 [i. 503]), and
from Stoicism, the characterization of the Logos as
the active and vivifying power. But Philo borrowed
also Platonic elements in designating the Logos
as the "idea of ideas" and the "archetypal idea"
(" De Migratione Abrahami, " § 18 [i. 453] ; " De Spe-
cialibus Legibus," § 36 [ii. 333]). There are, in ad-
dition. Biblical elements : there are Biblical passages
in which the word of YHVt'H is regarded as a power
acting independently and existing by itself, as
Isa. Iv. 11 (comp. Matt. x. 13 ; Prov. xxx. 4) ; these
ideas were further developed by later Judaism in
the doctrines of the Divine Word creating the world,
the divine throne-chariot and its cherub, the divine
splendor and its shekinah, and the name of God as
well as the names of the angels; and Philo borrowed
from all these in elaborating his doctrine of the
Logos. He calls the Logos the " archangel of many
names," "taxiarch" (corps-commander), the "name
of God," also the "heavenly Adam" (comp. "De
Confusione Linguarum," § 11 [i. 411j), the "man,
the word of the eternal God." The Logos is also
designated as "high priest," in reference to the ex-
alted position which the high priest occupied after
the Exile as the real center of the Jewish state.
The Logos, like the high priest, is the expiator of
sins, and the mediator and advocate for men : iKirr/^
("Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit," § 43 [i. 501],
and napaKltiTOi ("De Vita Mosis," iii. 14 [ii. 155]).
Prom Alexandrian theology Philo borrowed the idea
of wisdom as the mediator ; he thereby somewhat
confused his doctrine of the Logos, regarding wis-

dom as the higher principle from which the Logos
proceeds, and again coordinating it with the latter.

Philo, in connecting his doctrine of the Logos
with Scripture, first of all bases on Gen. i. 37 the re-
lation of the Logos to God. He trans-
Relation of lates this passage as follows: "He
the Logos made man after the image of God,"

to God. concluding therefrom that an image
of God existed. This image of God
is the type for all other things (the "Archetypal
Idea " of Plato), a seal impressed upon things. The
Logos is a kind of shadow cast by God, having the
outlines but not the blinding light of the Divine
Being.

The relation of the Logos to the divine powers,
especially to the two fundamental powers, must
now be examined. And here is found a twofold
series of exegetic expositions. According to one,
the Logos stands higher than the two powers ; ac-
cording to the other, it is in a way the product of
the two powers; similarly it occasionally appears
as the chief and leader of the innumerable powers
proceeding from the primal powers, and again as
the aggregate or product of them. In its relation
to the world the Logos appears as the universal
substance on which all things depend ; and from this
point of view the manna (as yevLKaTardv rt) becomes
a syinbel for it. The Logos, however, is not only
the archetype of things, but also the power that
produces them, appearing as such especially under
the name of the Logos rojueif (" the divider"). It
separates the individual beings of nature from one
another according to their characteristics ; but, on the
other hand, it constitutes the bond connecting the
individual creatures, uniting their spiritual and
physical attributes. It may be said to have in-
vested itself with the whole world as an inde-
structible garment. It appears as the director and
shepherd of the things in the world

Pneuma- in so far as they are in motion. The
tology. Logos has a special relation to man.
It is the type ; man is the copy. The
similarity is found in the mind (vovq) of man. For
the shaping of his nous, man (earthly man) has the
Logos (the "heavenly man") for a pattern. The
latter officiates here also as "the divider" (ro^eif),
separating and uniting. The Logos as " interpreter "
announces God's designs to man, acting in this
respect as prophet and priest. As the latter, he
softens punishments by making the merciful power
stronger than the punitive. The Logos has a spe-
cial mystic influence upon the human soul, illu-
minating it and nourishing it with a higher spiritual
food, like the manna, of which the smallest piece has
the same vitality as the whole.

Cosmolog'y : Philo's conception of the matter
out of which the world was created is entirely un-
Biblical and un-Jewish ; he is here wholly at one
with Plato and the Stoics. According to him, God
does not create the world-stuff, but finds it ready
at hand. God can not create it, as in its nature it
resists all contact with the divine. Sometimes, fol-
lowing the Stoics, he designates God as "the efficient
cause," and matter as "the affected cause." He
seems to have found this conception in the Bible
(Gen. i. 2) in the image of the spirit of God hover-

Philo Judeeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

ing over the waters ("De Opificio Mundi," § 2 [i.
12]). On the connection of these doctrines with the
speculations on the n'B'Xia ^E^'yD, see Siegfried, I.e.
pp. 230 et seq.

Philo, again like Plato and the Stoics, conceives
of matter as having no attributes or form; this,
however, does not harmonize with the assumption
of four elements. Philo conceives of matter as evil,
on the ground that no praise is meted out to it in
Genesis ("Quis Rerum Divinarum Hercs Sit," § 32
[i. 495]). As a result, he can not posit an actual
Creation, but only a formation of the world, as Plato
holds. God appears as demiurge and cosmoplast.

Philo frequently compares God to an architect or
gardener, who formed the present world (the Kda/iog
aic^riToi;) according to a pattern , the ideal world (ndafioc
vo>it6c). Pliilo takes the details of his story of the
Creation entirely from Gen. 1. A specially impor-
tant position is assigned here to the Logos, which
executes the several acts of the Creation, as God
can not come into contact with matter, actually
creating only the soul of the good.

Anthropology. The Doctrine of Man as a. Nat-
ural Being : Philo regards the physical natui-e of man
as something defective and as an obstacle to his de-
velopment that can never be fully surmounted, but
still as something indispensable in view of the
nature of his being. With the body the necessity
for food arises, as Philo explains in various alle-
gories. The body, however, is also of advantage
to the spirit, since the spirit arrives at its knowledge
of the world by means of the five senses. But
higher and more important is the spiritual nature of
man. This nature has a twofold tendency : one
toward the sensual and earthly, which Philo calls
sensibility (ala-&rjaii), and one toward the spiritual,
which he calls reason {vov^). Sensibility has its seat
in the body, and lives in the senses, as Philo elabo-
rates in varying allegoric imagery. Connected with
this corporeality of the sensibility are its limitations ;
but, like the body itself, it is a necessity of nature,
the channel of all sense-perception. Sensibility,
however, is still more in need of being guided by
reason. Reason is that part of the spirit which
looks toward heavenly things. It is the highest,
the real divine gift that has been infused into man
from without ("De Opificio Mundi," i. 15; "De Eo
Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiatur," i. 206); it is the
masculine nature of the soul. The voiif is originally
at rest ; and when it begins to move it produces the
several phenomena of mind {h-dv/iy/inTo). The prin-
cipal powers of the vovc are judgment, memory,
and language.

Man as a Moral Being : More important in Philo's
system is the doctrine of the moral development of
man. Of this he distinguishes two conditions: (1)
that before time was, and (2) that since the begin-
ning of time. In the pretemporal condition the
soul was without body, free from earthly matter,
without sex, in the condition of the generic {yevino^)
man, morally perfect, i.e., without flaws, but still
striving after a higher purity. On entering upon
time the soul loses its purity and is confined in a
body. The nous becomes earthly, but it retains a
tendency toward something higher. Philo is not
entirely certain whether the body in itself or merely

in its preponderance over the spirit is evil. But
the body in any case is a source of danger, as it
easily drags the spirit into the bonds of sensibility.
Here, also, Philo is undecided whether sensibility is
in itself evil, or whether it may merely lead into
temptation, and must itself be regarded as a mean
(litaov). Sensibility in any case is the source of the
passions and desires. Tlie passions attack the sensi-
bility in order to destroy the whole soul. On their
number and their symbols in Scripture see Siegfried,
I.e. pp. 245 et seq. The " desire " is either the lustful
enjoyment of .sensual tilings, dwelling as such in the
abdominal cavity {mMa), or it is the craving for this
enjoyment, dwelling in the breast. It connects the
nous and the sensibility, this being a psychologic
necessity, but an evil from an ethical point of view.

According to Philo, man passes through several
steps in his ethical development. At first the sev-
eral elements of the Imman being are in a state of
latency, presenting a kind of moral neutrality which
Philo designates by the terms " naked " or " medial."
The nous is nude, or stands midway so long as it
has not decided either for sin or for virtue. In this
period of moral indecision God endeavors to prepare
the earthly nous for virtue, presenting to him in the
"earthly wisdom and virtue" an image of heavenly
wisdom. But man (nous) quickly leaves this state
of neutrality. As soon as he meets the woman
(sensibility) he is filled with desire, and passion en-
snares him^in the bonds of sensibility. Here the
moral duties of man arise ; and according to his at-
titude there are two opposite tendencies in hu-
manity.

Ethics. Sensual life : The soul is first aroused
by the stimuli of sensual pleasures ; it begins to turn
toward them, and then becomes more and more in-
volved. It becomes devoted to the body, and begins
to lead an intolerable life (/3iof hpiuTog). It is infiamed
and excited by irrational impulses. Its condition is
restless and painful. The sensibility endures, ac-
cording to Gen. iii. 16, great pain. A continual
inner void produces a lasting desire which is never
satisfied. All the higher aspirations after God
and virtue are stifled. The end is complete moral
turpitude, the annihilation of all sense of duty, the
corruption of the entire soul: not a particle of the
soul that might heal the rest remains whole. The
worst consequence of this moral death is, according
to Philo, absolute ignorance and the loss of the
power of judgment. Sensual things are placed
above spiritual; and wealth is regarded as the high-
est good. Too great a value especially is placed
upon the human nous; and things are wrongly
judged. Man in his folly even opposes God, and
thinks to scale heaven and subjugate the entire
earth. In the field of politics, for example, he at-
tempts to rise from the position of leader of the
people to that of ruler (Philo cites Joseph as a type
of this kind). Sensual man generally employs his
intellectual powers for sophistry, perverting words
and destroying truth.

Ascent to Reason: Abraham, the "immigrant," is
the symbol of man leaving sensuality to turn to
reason ("De Migratione Abrahami," § 4 [i. 439]).
There are three methods whereby one can rise toward
the divine ; through teaching, through practise -

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Philo Judaeus

(a(7/o/(j(f), and through natural goodness {daidrtj^).
On Philo's predecessors on this point see Siegfried,
I.e. p. 357.

The method through teaching begins with a pre-
liminary presentiment and hope of higher knowl-
edge, which is especially exempliiied iu Enos. The
real " teaching " is represented in the case of Abra-
ham, the " lover of learning. " The pupil has to pass
through three stages of instruction. The first is that
of "physiology," during which physical nature is
studied. Abraham was in this stage until he went to
Haran ; at this time he was the " physiologer " of na-
ture, the " meteorologer. " Recognizing his short-
comings, he went to Haran, and turned to the study
of the spirit, devoting himself at first to the prepara-
tory learning that is furnished by general education
{eyKVKXioc T^aideia) ; this is most completely analyzed
by Philo in " De Congressu QuserendiE Eruditionis
Gratia," § 3 [i. 530]. The pupil must study gram-
mar, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric, music, and
logic ; but he can never attain to more than a partial
mastery of these sciences, and this only with the
utmost labor. He reaches only the boundaries of
knowledge {kiriarri/iTj) proper, for the "soul's irra-
tional opinions " still follow him. He sees only the
reflection of real science. The knowledge of the
medial arts (liiaai rexvaC) often proves erroneous.
Hence the " lover of learning " will endeavor to be-
come a "wise man." Teaching will have for its
highest stage philosophy, which begins to divide
the mortal from the immortal, finite knowledge from
Infinite knowledge. The tendency toward the sen-
suous is given up, and the insufiiciency of mere
knowledge is recognized. He perceives that wisdom
(ao(liia) is something higher than sophistry (aoi^iaTeia.)
and that the only subject of contemplation for the
wise is ethics. He attains to possession (kt^chq) and
use (xPV'^'-i)'' and at the highest stage he beholds
heavenly things, even the Eternal God Himself.

By the method of practise man strives to attain to
the highest good by means of moral action. The
preliminary here is change of mind (jierdvoia), the
turning away from the sensual life. This turning
away is symbolized in Enoch, who, according to
Gen" V. 34, " was not. " Rather than undertake to en-
gage in the struggle with evil it is better for man to
escape therefrom by running away. He can also
meet the passions as an ascetic combatant. Moral
endeavor Is added to the struggle. Many dangers
arise here. The body (Egypt), sensuality (Laian
and others), and lust (the snake) tempt the ascetic
warrior. The sophists (Cain, etc.) try to lead him
astray. Discouraged by his labors, the ascetic
flags in his endeavors ; but God comes to his aid, as
exemplified in Eliezer, and fills him with love of
labor instead of hatred thereof. Thus the warrior
attains to victory. He slays lust as Phinehas slays
the snake; and in this way Jacob ("he who trips
up"), the wrestling ascetic, is transformed into
Israel, who beholds God.

Good moral endowment, however, takes prece-
dence of teaching and practise. Virtue here is not
the result of hard labor, but is the excellent fruit
maturing of itself. Noah represents the prelimi-
nary stage. He is praised , while no really good deeds
are reported of him, whence it may be concluded

that the Bible refers to his good disposition. But
as Noah is praised only in comparison with his
contemporaries, it follows that he is not yet a per-
fect man. There are several types in the Bible rep-
resenting the perfect stage. It appears in its purest
form in Isaac. He is perfect from the beginning:
perfection is a part of his nature (ipvaig) ; and he can
never lose it {avTijKooQ ml avro^d&iji). With such per-
sons, therefore, the soul is in a state of
Views on rest and joy. Philo's doctrine of vir-

Virtue. tue is Stoic, although he is undecided
whether complete dispassionateness
(a-K-dd-em; " De Allegoriis Legum," iii. 45 [i. 513]) or
moderation (fieTpiona-Qelv ; " De Abrahamo, " § 44 [ii.
137]) designates the really virtuous condition. Philo
identifies virtue in itself and in general with divine
wisdom. Hence he uses the symbols interchange-
ably for both; and as he also frequently identifies
the Logos with divine wisdom, the allegoric desig-
nations here too are easily interchanged. The Gar-
den of Eden is " the wisdom of God " and also " the
Logos of God " and " virtue. " The fundamental vir-
tue is goodness ; and from it proceed four cardinal
virtues — prudence, courage, self-control, and justice
{<Pp6v>icng, dvSpia, coi^poavvri, dmaioavvji) — as the four
rivers proceed from the river of Eden. An essential
difference between Philo and the Stoics is found in
the fact that Philo seeks in religion the basis for all
ethics. Religion helps man to attain to virtue,
which he can not reach of himself, as the Stoics
hold. God must implant virtue in man ("De Alle-
goriis Legum," i. 53 [i. 73]). Plence the goal of the
ethical endeavor is a religious one: the ecstatic con-
templation of God and the disembodiment of souls
after death.

Hellenistic Judaism culminated in Philo, and
through him exerted a deep and lasting influence on
Christianity also. For the Jews themselves it soon
succumbed to Palestinian Judaism. The develop-
ment that ended in the Talmud offered a surer guar-
anty for the continuance of Judaism, as opposed to
paganism and rising Christianity, than Jewish Hel-
lenism could promise, which, with all its loyalty to
the laws of the Fathers, could not help it to an inde-
pendent position. The cosmopolitanism of Chris-
tianity soon swept away Hellenistic Judaism, which
could never go so far as to declare the Law super-
fluous, notwithstanding its philosophic liberality.
(For the extent and magnitude of Philo's influence
on Judaism and Christianity see Siegfried, I.e. pp.
275-399.)

Bibliography : Schurer, Gesch.; Siegfried, PMJn vnn Alex-
andria, etc., 1875. On the Greek MSS. o( Philo's extant
worlts: Schflrer, I.e. Iii. 493, note 26; Cohn-Wendland, PTii-
Zonifi Alexandrini Opera Quw Supergunt, vol. i., pp. 1.-
cxiv.; vol. ii., pp. i.-xxxiv.; vol. Hi., pp. i.-xxii. On the indi-
rect sources that may he used lor reconstructing the text :
Schilrer, I.e. pp. 49ietseq.,notes38,29. On translations of Phi-
lo's works : Schiirer, I.e. p. 496, note 30 ; Cohn-Wendland, I.e.
vol. i., pp. Ixxx. et seq. Other German translations : M. J [ost],
PhUos Oesammette Schrif ten Ueftersetist, Leipsic, 1856-73 ;
M. Friedlander, Ueher die PManthropie clea Mosaisehen
Oesetzes, Vienna, 1880.
T, 0. b.

His Relation to tlie Halakah. : Philo's rela-
tion to Palestinian exegesis and exposition of the
Law is twofold : that of receiver and that of giver.
While his method of interpretation was influenced
by the Palestinian Midrash, he in his turn influenced

Thilo Judeeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

this Midrash ; for many of his ideas were adopted
by Palestinian scholars, and are still found scattered
throughout the Talmud and the Midrashim. The
Palestinian Halakah was probably known in Alexan-
dria even before the time of Philo, and was appar-
ently introduced by Judah b. Tabbai, or Joshua b.
Perahj'ah, who fled from the persecutions of Hyr-
canus to Alexandria, where he remained for some
time. Philo had, moreover, the opportunity of
studying Palestinian exegesis in its home ; for he
visited Jerusalem once or twice, and at these times
could communicate his views and his method of
exegesis to the Palestinian scholars. Furthermore,
later teachers of the Law occasionally visited Alex-
andria, among them Joshua b. Hananiah (comp.
Niddah 69b); and these carried various Philonic
ideas back to Palestine. The same expositions of
the Law and the same Biblical exegesis are very
frequently found, therefore, in Philo and in the
Talmud and Midrashim. The only means of as-
certaining Philo's exact relation to Palestinian
exegesis lies in the determination of the priority of
•one of two parallel passages found in both authori-
ties. In the solution of such a problem a distinction
must first be drawn between the Halakah and the
Haggadah.

With regard to the Halakah, which originated in

Palestine, it may be assumed with certainty that the

interpretations and expositions found in Philo which

coincide with those of the Halakah

His Debt have been borrowed by him from the
to the latter ; and his relation to it is, there-

Halakah.. fore, only that of the recipient. Any
influence which he may have exercised
upon it can have been only a negative one, inasmuch
.as he aroused the opposition of Palestinian scholars
by many of his interpretations, and inspired them
to controvert him. The following examples may
:serve to elucidate his relation to the Halakah : Philo
says (" De Specialibus Legibus," ed. Leipsic, § 13, ed.
Mangey [cited hereafter as M.], 312), in interpreting
Deut, xxii. 33-37, that the distinction made in the
Law as to whether the violence was offered in the
•city or in the field must not be taken literally, the
point being whether the girl cried for help and could
have found it, without reference to the place where
she was assaulted. The same view is found in the
Halakah : " One might think that if the deed occurred
in the city, the girl was guilty under all circum-
stances, and that if it took place in the field, she
was invariably innocent. According to Deut. xxii.
27, however, ' the betrothed damsel cried, and there
was none to save her.' This shows that wherever
help may be expected the girl is guilty, whether
the assault is made in the city or in the field ; but
where no help is to be expected, she is innocent,
whether the assault occurs in the city or in the field "
<Sifre, Deut. 243 [ed. Friedmann, p. 118b]). Philo
explains {I.e. § 21 [M. 319-330]) the words "God
delivers him into his hand" (Ex. xxi. 18, Hebr.) as
follows: "A man has secretly committed a premed-
itated murder and has escaped human justice; but
his act has not been hidden from divine vengeance,
and he shall be punished for it by death. Another
man who has committed a venial offense, for which
he deserves exile, also has escaped human justice.

This latter man God uses as a tool, to act as the
executioner of the murderer, whom He causes him
to meet and to slay unintentionally. The murderer
has now been punished by death, while his execu-
tioner is exiled for manslaughter; the latter thus
sufllering the punishment which he has merited be-
cause of his original minor offense." This same in-
terpretation is found in the Halakah as well (Mak.
10b; comp. also Mek., Mishpatim, iv. [ed. Weiss,
p. 86a]). In explaining the law given in Deut. xxi.
10-14, Philo says, furthermore ("De Caritate," § 14
[M. 394]), that a captive woman taken in war shall
not be treated as a slave if her captor will not take
her to wife. The same interpretation is found in
the Halakah (Sifre, Deut. 214 [ed. Friedmann, p.
113a]), which explains the words "lo tit'amer bah"
(= " thou shalt not do her wrong ") to mean, " thou
shalt not keep her as a slave."

Numerous instances are also found in which,
though Philo departs in the main point from the
Halakah, he agrees with it in certain details. Thus,
in interpreting the law set forth in Ex. xxi. 23
("De Specialibus Legibus, "§ 19 [M. 317]) he differs
entirely from the Halakah, except that he says that
the man in question is liable to punishment only in
case he has beaten the woman on the belly. The
Halakah (Mek. I.e. v. [ed. Weiss, p. 90a]) deduces
this law from the word " harah " (= " pregnant ").

Philo agrees with the Halakah also in his justifi-
cation of various laws. The law given in Ex. xxii.
1, according to which the owner has the right to
kill a thief, is based by Philo on the assumption that
the thief breaks in with murderous intent, in which
case he would certainly be ready to kill the owner
should the latter try to prevent him from stealing
("De Specialibus Legibus," § 3 [M. 337]). The
Mishnah (Sanh. viii. 6 and Talmud 73a) gives the
same explanation.

It is especially interesting to note that Philo bor-
rowed certain halakot that have no foundation in
Scripture, regarding them as authoritative iaterpre-
tations of the law in question. He says, for instance
{I.e. § 5 [M. 304]), that the marriage of a Jew with
a non-Jewish woman is forbidden, no matter of
what nation she be, although the Talmud says ('Ab.
Zarah 36b) that, according to the Pentateuchal law
(Deut. vii. 3), only a marriage with a member of any
of the seven Canaanitish peoples was forbidden, the
extension of this prohibition to all other nations
being merely a rabbinic decree.

The most important feature of Philo's relation to
the Halakah is his frequent agreement with an
earlier halakah where It differs from a later one.
This fact has thus far remained unnoticed, although
it is most important, since it thus frequently be-
comes possible to determine which portions of the
accepted halakah are earlier and which are later in
date. A few examples may serve to make this
clear. Philo says (" De Caritate, " § 14
Agreement [M. 393]), in explaining the law given
with the in Deut. xxi. 10-14, regarding a

Earlier woman taken captive in war, that she
Halakah. must cut her nails. This interpreta-
tion of verse 13 of the .same chapter
agrees with the earlier halakah, represented by R.
Eliezer (Sifre, Deut. 312 [ed. Friedmann, p. 112b]);

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fhilo Judseus

but the later halakah (Sifre, I.e.), represented
by R. Akiba, explains the words "we-'asetah
et-ziparneha " as meaning " slie shall let her nails
grow. " Again, Philo says (" De Specialibus Legibus, "
§ 19 [M. 317J), in interpreting the law of Ex. xxi.
18-19: "If the person in question has so far recov-
ered from his hurt that he is able to go out again,
although it may be necessary for him to be assisted
by another or to use crutches, his assailant is no
longer liable to punishment, even in case his victim
subsequently dies; for it is not absolutely certain
that his death is a result of the blow, since he has
recovered in the meantime. " Hence Philo takes the
phrase "upon his staff" (ib. verse 19) literally. In
like manner he interprets (I.e. § 2 [M. 336-337]) the
passage " If the sun be risen upon him " (ib. xxii. 8)
as follows : " If the owner catches the thief before
sunrise he may kill him ; but after the sun has risen,
he no longer has this right." Both these explana-
tions by Philo contradict the accepted halakah,
which interprets the passages Ex. xxi. 19, xxii. 3,
as well as Deut. xxii. 17, figuratively, taking the
phrase " upon his staff " to mean " supported by his
own strength," and interpreting the passage "If the
sun be risen upon him " to mean " when it is clear as
daylight that the thief would not have killed the
owner, even had the latter prevented him from the
robbery" (comp. Mek., Mishpatim, vi. [ed. Weiss,
p. 88b]). Philo here follows the earlier halakah,
whose representative, R. Eliezer (Sifre, Deut. 237
[ed. Friedmann, p. l'18a]), says "debarim ki-keta-
bam " (= " the phrases must be taken literally ").
Although only Deut. xxii. 17 is mentioned in Ket.
46a and Yer. Ket. 28c in connection with R. Eliezer's
statement, it is not expressly said that such state-
ment must not be applied to the other two phrases ;
and it may be inferred from Philo that these three
phrases, which were explained figuratively by R.
Ishmael, were taken literally by the old halakah.

The same agreement between Philo and the earlier
halakah is found in the following examples: Philo
takes the phrases Ex. xxi. 23-25 and Deut. xix. 21,
"eye for eye," "tooth for tooth," etc., literally, say-
ing (I.e. § 33 [M. 329]) that, according to the Mo-
saic law, the " lex talionis " must hold.

Supports This explanation differs from that of
the "Lex the accepted halakah, which interprets
Talionis." the phrases in question as meaning
merely a money indemnity (Mek. I.e.
viii. [ed. Weiss, p. 90b] ; B. K. 93b-94a), whereas
the earlier halakah (as represented by R. Eliezer, B.
K. 94a) says "'ayin tahat 'ayin mammash" (= "an
eye for an eye " is meant in the literal sense). This
view of the earlier halakah was still known as such
to the later teachers; otherwise the Talmud (B. If.
I.e.) would not have taken special pains to refute this
view, and to prove its incorrectness.

It frequently happens that when Philo differs
from the Halakah in expounding a law, and gives
an interpretation at variance with it, such divergent
explanation is mentioned as a possible one and is dis-
proved in the Talmud or the halakic midrashim. This
fact is especially noteworthy, since in many cases it
renders possible the reconstruction of the earlier hala-
kah by a comparison with Philo's interpretations,
as is shown by the following example : Philo says
X.— 2

(I.e. § 27 [M. 323]), in discussing the law of Ex. xxi.
28-29, that if an ox known to be vicious kills a per-
son, then the ox as well as its owner shall be sen-
tenced to death. Philo interprets the words "his
owner also shall be put to death " (ib. verse 29) to re-
fer to "death by legal sentence, "although in certain
circumstances the Law may exempt the owner from
this penalty and impose a fine instead. The ac-
cepted Halakah, however, explains the phrase in
question to mean that the owner will suffer death
at the hand of God, while human justice can punish
him only by a fine, in no case having the right to
put him to death because his ox has killed a man
(Mek. I.e. x. [ed. Weiss, p. 93a]; Sanh. 15a, b).
This interpretation of the Halakah was not, on the
other hand, universally accepted; for in Mek. I.e.
and especially in the Talmud, I.e. it is attacked
in the remark: "Perhaps the passage really means
that the owner shall be sentenced to death by a
human court." It appears from this statement as.
well as from Sanh. i. 4 (comp. Geiger, "Urschrift,"
pp. 448 et seq.) that the earlier halakah held that the
owner should be sentenced to death. This view
was vigorously opposed by the later halakah, and
was not entirely set aside until a very late date, as
appears from Sanh. I.e.

It is impossible, however, to ascribe to the earlier
Halakah all the interpretations of Philo that are
mentioned and refuted in the Talmud and the hala-
kic midrashim; and extreme caution must be ob-
served in determining which of Philo's interpreta-
tions that differ from the accepted Halakah are to be
assigned to the earlier one. Many of Philo's ex-
planations are quoted according to the
Influence rulings of the court of Alexandria and
of the to its interpretation of the Law, and
Court of Al- were never recognized in the Pales-
ezandria. tinian Halakah. They are, neverthe-
less, cited as possible interpretations,
and are refuted in the Talmud and in the Midrashim,
Alexandrian judicial procedure in general being
frequently made an object of criticism.

Philo's relation to the Palestinian haggadic exe-
gesis is different, for it can not be said that wherever
Palestinian ideas coincide with his own it must in-
variably have formed the basis of his statements
(comp. Ereudenthal, " Hellenistische Studien," pp.
57-77). While this dependence may have existed
in numerous instances, it may confidently be affirmed
that in many other cases the Palestinian sources bor-
rowed ideas which Philo had drawn from Hellenistic
authorities. The following examples may serve to
show that the Palestinian Haggadah is indebted to
Philo : Gen. R. viii. 1 explains the passage Gen. i. 37
to mean that God originally created man as an An-
DEOQTNOS, this idea being first expressed by Philo
in explanation of the same passage ("De Opificio
Mundi," § 34 [M. 17] and more clearly in "De Alle-
goriis Legum," ii. 4 [M. 49]). In like manner the
idea expressed in Gen. R. xiv. 3 of a twofold creation
of man, in part divine and in part earthly, has been
taken from Philo, who was the first to enunciate this
doctrine (" De Opificio Mundi, " § 12 [M. 49-50]), while
the interpretation given in Ex. R. xxvi. 1, that Moses
was called by the same name as the water, is certainly
taken from Philo, who says ("Vita Mosis," i. 4 [M.

Fhinehas

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

83]) that Moses received bis name because he was
found in the water, the Egyptian word for which is
"mos."

In the case of many of the ideas and principles
found both in Philo and in the Talmudic and
Midrashic literature it is impossible to
Relation to assert that there has been borrowing
Palestinian on either side; and it is much more
Haggadic justifiable to assume that such ideas
Exegesis, originated independently of each
other in Palestine and in Alexandria.
This may have been the case also with the rules of
hermeneutlcs. The principles which Philo framed
for the allegoric interpretation of Scripture corre-
spond in part to the exegetic system of the Pales-
tinian Halakah. It is highly probable, however,
that neither borrowed these rules from the other,
but that both, feeling the need of interpreting Scrip-
ture, though for dilfercnt purposes; independently
invented and formulated these methods while fol-
lowing the same trend of thought. Some examples
of similarity in the rules may be given here. Philo
formulates the principle that a deeper meaning is
implied in the repetition of well-known facts ("De
Congressu Eruditionis Gratia," § 14 [M. 529]); and
this same rule was formulated by Akiba also (Sifre,
Num. 3, according to the reading of Elijah Wilna).
Philo states as another rule that there is no superflu-
ous word in the Bible, and wherever there is a word
which seems to be such, it must be interpreted.
Hence he explains (" De Profugis," § 10 [M. 554]) the
apparently superfluous word in Ex. xxi. 12. This
principle is formulated by Akiba al8o(Yer. Shab. xix.
17a; comp. also Sanh. 64b, where Akiba deduces the
same meaning from the apparently redundant word
in Num. xv. 31, as Philo does from Ex. xxi. 12).

Bibliography : Z. Frankel, Ueber den Einflum der PalOsti-
nenaisehen Exenese auf die Alexandrinische Hermeneutik,
pp. 190-192, Leipsic, 1851 ; Idem, Ueber PalOstinen^ische und
Alexandrinteche Schriftforschung, in The Programme of
the Breslau Seminary, 1854; Bemhara Ritter, Philn und
die Halacha, lb. 1879 ; GrMz, Das Korbfest der ErstUnge bei
Philo, In Monatsschrift, 1877, pp. 433-443 ; Carl Siegfried,
Philo von Alexandria als AusUger des Alten Testaments,
Jena, 1875 ; N. J. Weinstein, Zur Genesisder Agada: partil.,
Die Alexandrinisehe Agada, GSttingen, 1901.
T. J. Z. L.

PHINEHAS: 1.— Biblical Data : SonofElea-
zar and grandson of Aaron (Ex. vi. 25; I Chron. v.
30, vi. 35 [A. V. vi. 4, 50]). His mother is said to
have been one of Putiel's daughters; and it seems
that he was the only child of his parents (Ex. I.e.).
Phinehas came into prominence through his execu-
tion of Zimri, son of Salu, and Cozbi, daughter of
Zur, a Midianite prince, at Shittim, where the Israel-
ites worshiped Baal-peor. Through his zeal he also
stayed the plague which had broken out among the
Israelites as a punishment for their sin ; and for this
act he was approved by God and was rewarded
with the divine promise that the priesthood should
remain in his family forever (Num. xxv. 7-15).
After this event Phinehas accompanied, as priest,
■ the expedition sent against the Midianites, the result
of which was the destruction of the latter (ib. xxxi.
6 et seq.). When the Israelites had settled in the
land of Canaan, Phinehas headed the party which
was sent to remonstrate with the tribes of Reuben
■and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh because

of the altar that had been built by them east of the
Jordan (Josh. xxii. 13).

At the time of the distribution of the land, Phine-
has received a hill in Mount Ephraim, where his
father, Eleazar, was buried (ib. xxiv. 33). He is
further mentioned as delivering the oracle to the
Israelites in their war with the Benjamites (Judges
XX. 28). In I Chron. ix. 20 he is said to have been
the chief of the Korahites who guarded the entrance
to the sacred tent.

The act of Phinehas in executing judgment and
his reward are sung by the Psalmist (Ps. cvi. 30,
31). Phinehas is extolled in the Apocrypha also:
" And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, is the third in
glory " (Ecclus. [Sirach] xlv. 23) ; " And he was
zealous for the law, even as Phinehas did unto
Zimri, the son of Salu " (I Mace. ii. 26).

E. G. II. M. Sel.

In Rabbinical Literature : Phinehas is

highly extolled by the Rabbis for his promptness
and energy in executing the prince of the tribe of
Simeon and the Midianitish woman. While even
Moses himself knew not what to do, and all the
Israelites were weeping at the door of the Taber-
nacle (Num. xxv. 6), Phinehas alone was self-pos-
sessed and decided. He first appealed to the brave
men of Israel, asking who would be willing to kill
the criminals at the risk of his own life ; and, receiving
no answer, he then undertook to accomplish the ex-
ecution himself (Sifre, Num. 131 ; Targ. pseudo-
Jonathan to Num. xxv. 7). According to Midr.
Agada to Num. Z.c, however, Phinehas thought that
the punishment of Zimri was incumbent on him, say-
ing: "Reuben himself having committed adultery
[Gen. XXXV. 22], none of his descendants is qualified
to punish the adulterers; nor can the punishment be
inflicted by a descendant of Simeon, because the
criminal is a Simeonite prince; but I, a descend-
ant of Levi, who with Simeon destroyed the inhab-
itants of Shechem for having committed adultery,
will kill the descendant of Simeon for not having
followed his ancestor's example." Phinehas, having
removed the iron point from his sjiear (according to
Pirke R. El. xlvii., it was Moses' spear that Phine-
has had snatched), leaned on the shaft as on a
rod ; otherwise the Simeonites would not have al-
lowed him to enter the tent. Indeed, the people in-
quired his object in entering the tent, whereupon
he answered that he was about to follow the ex-
ample of Zimri, and was admitted unopposed.
After having stabbed the man and the woman,
Phinehas carried both of them on his spear out of
the tent so that all the Israelites might see that they
had been justly punished.

Twelve miracles were wrought for Phinehas at
this time, among others the following: he was
aided by divine providence in carrying the two
bodies on his spear (comp. Josephus, "Ant." iv. 6,
§ 12) ; the wooden shaft of the spear supported the
weight of two corpses ; the lintel of
The the tent was raised by an angel so

Twelve that Phinehas was not required to
Miracles, lower his spear; the blood of the
victims was coagulated so that it
might not drop on Phinehas and render him un-
clean. Still, when he came out the people of the

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fhinehas

tribe of Simeon gathered around biin with the in-
tention of killing him, upon which the angel of
death began to mow down the Israelites with greater
fury than before. Phiuehas dashed the two corpses
to the ground, saying : " Lord of the world, is it
worth while that so many Israelites perish through
these two? " and thereupon the plague was stayed.
An allusion to this incident is made by the Psalm-
ist: "Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judg-
ment " (Ps. cvi. 30), the Rabbis explaining the word
"wa-yefallel" as meaning "he disputed with God."
The archangels were about to eject Phinehas from
his place, but God said to them : " Leave him ; he
is a zealot, the son of a zealot [that is, Levi], one
who, like his father [Aaron], appeases My anger"
(Sanh. 83b; Sifre, I.e.; Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to
Nimi. XXV. 7; Tan., Bala^, 30; Num. E. xx. 26).
In Ber. 6b, however, the above-quoted passage from
the Psalms is interpreted to mean that Phinehas
prayed to God to check the plague. The people of
all the other tribes, out of envy, mocked Phinehas,
saying : " Have ye seen how a descendant of one who
fattened [" pittem "] calves for sacrifices to the idol
[referring to his grandfather Putiel ; comp. Jethro
IN Rabbikical Literature] killed the prince of a
tribe?" God then pointed out that Phinehas was
in reality the son of Eleazar and the grandson of
Aaron (Sanh. I.e. ; B. B. 109b; Sifre, I.e.).

Although the priesthood had been previously
given to Aaron and his offspring, Phinehas became
a priest only after he had executed Zimri, or, ac-
cording to R. Ashi, after he had reconciled the tribes
in the affair of the altar (Zeb. 101b ; comp. Phine-
has, Biblical Data). The priestly portions of
every slaughtered animal — the shoulder, the two
cheeks, and the maw (Deut. xviii. 3) — were assigned
by God to the priests solely because of the merit of
Phinehas in killing Zimri and Cozbi: the shoulder
as a reward for carrying on his shoulder the two
corpses; the two cheeks, for having pleaded with
his mouth in favor of the Israelites ; and the maw,
for having stabbed the two adulterers in that part
(Sifre, Deut. 165; Hul. 134b; Midr. Agada to Num.
XXV. 13). Owing to the sad consequences attending
the Israelites' lapse into idolatry, Phinehas pro-
nounced an anathema, under the authority of the
Unutterable Name and of the writing of the tables,
and in the name of the celestial and terrestrial courts
of justice, against any Israelite who should drink
the wine of a heathen (Pirke R. El. xlvii.).

Phinehas accompanied, in the capacity of a priest
specially anointed (" meshuah milhamah ") for such

purposes (comp. Deut. xx. 2), the ex-
Other pedition sent by Moses against Mdian.
Exploits. The question why Phinehas was sent

instead of his father is answered by
the Rabbis in two different ways: (1) Phinehas went
to avenge his maternal grandfather, Joseph (with
whom certain rabbis identify Putiel), upon the Mid-
ianites who had sold him into Egypt (comp. Gen.
xxxvii. 28-36). (2) He went simply because Moses
said that he who began a good deed ought to finish
it; and as Phinehas had been the first to avenge
the Israelites upon the Midianites, it was proper that
he should take part in the war against the latter
(Sifre, Num. 157; Sotah 43a; Num. R. xxii. 4).

Phinehas was one of the two spies sent by Joshua
to explore Jericho, as mentioned in Josh. ii. 1 etseg.,
Caleb being the other. This idea is based on the
Masoretic text of verse 4 of the same chapter, which
reads " wa-tizpeno " = "and she hid him," that is tO'
say, one spy only ; for Phinehas, being a priest, was.
invisible like an angel (Num. R. xvi. 1). This is.
apparently the origin of the Rabbis' identification
of Phinehas with the angel of God sent to Bochim
(Judges ii. 1; Seder '01am, xx. ; Num. R. ?.<;.;
comp. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Num. xxv. 12).
On the identification of Phinehas with Elijah see
Elijah ix Rabbinical Literature.

According to B. B. 15a, the last verse of the Book
of Joshua was written by Phinehas. The Rabbis,
however, hold that the hill where Eleazar was
buried (see Phinehas, Biblical Data) was not ap-
portioned to Phinehas as a special lot, but was in-
herited by him from his wife, and was therefore
called by his name (B. B. 111b). Apart from his
identification with Elijah, Phinehas is considered by
the Rabbis to have attained a very great age, since
according to them he was still living in the time of
Jephthah, 340 years after the Exodus (comp. Judges
xi. 26). In the matter of Jephthah's vow, Phinehas
is represented in a rather unfavorable light (see
Jephthah in Rabbinical Literature). For him
who sees Phinehas in a dream a miracle will be
wrought (Ber. 56b).

E. c. M. Sel.

2. Son of Eli, the high priest and judge of Israel ;
younger brother of Hophni. According to I Sam.
ii. 12-17, the two brothers broke the law given in
Lev. vii. 34 (whence they were termed "sons of
Belial ") by striking the flesh-hook in the pot and
taking for themselves whatever meat it brought up,
even against the wish of the sacrificer. As judges
they sinned through licentious conduct with the
women who went to Shiloh (I Sam. ii. 23). In
punishment for these sins it was announced to Eli
that his sons should perish on the same day {ib. ii. 34) ;
and in the ensuing battle between Israel and the
Philistines both fell beside the Ark {ib. iv. 11).

A posthumous son was born to the wife of Phine-
has, whom she called Ichabod (I Sam. iv. 19) ; and
in continuation of the priestly genealogy a grand-
nephew of Phinehas, named Ahijah, is mentioned in
connection with the battle of Jonathan against the
Philistines {ib. xiv. 3).

3. Father of Eleazar, a priest who returned from
captivity with Ezra (Ezra viii. 33).

e. g. h. S. O.

PHINEHAS : Guardian of the treasury at Jeru- «
salem. In the last days of Jerusalem, in the year
70 C.B., he followed the example of his priestly col-
league Jesus b. Thebouthi, and betrayed his trust;
collecting many of the linen coats of the priests, their
girdles, much purple and silk which had been pre-
pared for the sacred curtain, and the costly spices
for the holy incense, to save his life he went over
to the Romans (Josephus, "B. J." vi. 8, § 3). He
appears to be identical with the Phinehas mentioned
in the Mishnah Shekalim v. 1, who was guardian of
the sacred wardrobe. See Phinehas b. Samuel.

a S. Kk.

Fhinehas ben Clusoth
Phylacteries

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

PHINEHAS BEN CLUSOTH : Leader of the
Idumeans. Simon b. Giora undertook several ex-
peditions into the territory of the Idumeans to req-
uisition provisions for his people. The Idumeans,
after their complaints in Jerusalem had not brought
assistance, formed a band of volunteers numbering
20,000 men, who from that time acted as wildly
and mercilessly as did the Sicarians. Their lead-
ers were Johannes and Jacob b. Sosa, Simon b.
Kathla, and Phinehas ben Clusoth (Josephus, " B. J. "
iv. 4, § 2).

G. 8. Kk.

PHINEHAS B. HAMA (generally called B.
Phinehas, and occasionally Phinehas ha-Ko-
hen) : Palestinian amora of the fourth century ;
born probably in the town of Siknin, where he was
living when his brother Samuel died (Midr. Shemuel
ix.). He was a pupil of R. Jeremiah, of whose
ritual practises he gives various details {e.g., in Yer.
Kil. 29b; Yer. Hag. 80b; Yer. Ket. 41a), and of R.
Hilkiah. He seems also to have lived for a time in
Babylonia, since a R. Phinehas wlio once went from
that country to Palestine is mentioned in Yer. 'Er.
22d as conversing with R. Judah b. Shalom. This
passage apparently refers to Phinehas b. Hama, as
a conversation between him and Judah b. Shalom is
also related elsewhere {e.g., Ex. R. xii.) ; and it like-
wise explains the fact that R. Phinehas transmitted
a lialakah by Hisda (Yer. Sanh. 25c). His haggadic
aphorisms, mentioned in B. B. 116a, were, therefore,
probably propounded by him during his residence
in Babylonia, and were not derived from Pales-
tine, as Bacher assumes (" Ag. Pal. Amor." p. 311,
note 5).

Wlieu the purity of the descent of the Jewish
families in Babylonia was doubted in Palestine,
Phinehas publicly proclaimed in the academy that
in this respect Palestine outranked all countries ex-
cepting Babylonia (Kid. 71a). Many halakic sen-
tences by Phinehas have been preserved, most of
which occur in citations by Hananiah {e.g., Yer.
Demai 23b ; Yer. Ma'as. 50c ; Bik. 65d ; Yer. Pes.
30d ; and elsewhere). Phinehas himself occasionally
transmitted earlier halakic maxims {e.g., Yer. Pes.
29c), and is frequently the authority for haggadic
aphorisms by such scholars as R. Hoshaiah (Lam.
R. proem xxii. ; Cant. R. v. 8, end), Reuben (Tan.,
Kedoshim, beginning), Abbahu (Gen. R. Ixviii.
1), and many others (comp. Bacher, I.e. p. 314,
note 4).

Phinehas' own haggadah is very extensive, and
includes many maxims and aphorisms, as well as
homiletic and exegetic interpretations. The follow-
ing citations may serve as examples of his style:
" Poverty in the house of man is more bitter than
fifty plagues" (B. B. 116a). "A chaste woman in
the house protecteth and reconcileth like an altar "
(Tan., Wayishlah, on Gen. xxxiv. 1). "While other
laws decree that one must renounce his parents on
pledging his allegiance as a follower and soldier of
the king [the reference may be to Matt. x. 35-37],
the Decalogue saith: 'Honor thy father and thy
mother'" (Num. R. viii. 4). "Ps. xxvi. 10 refers
to dice-players, who reckon with the left hand and
sum up with the right, and thus rob one another "

(Jlidr. Teh. ad loc). "The name that a man wins
for himself is worth more than that which is given
him by his father and mother " (Eccl. R. vii. 4).

Bibliography : Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. ill. 310-314.
E. c. J. Z. L.

PHINEHAS BEN JAIR : Tannaof the fourth
generation; lived, probably at Lydda, in the second
half of the second century; son-in-law of Simeon
ben Yohai and a fellow disciple of Judah I. He
was more celebrated for piety than for learning, al-
though his discussions with his father-in-law (Shab.
33b) evince great sagacity and a profound knowl-
edge of tradition. A haggadah gives the follow-
ing illustration of Phinehas' scrupulous honesty:
Once two men deposited with him two seahs of
wheat. After a prolonged absence of the depositors
Phinehas sowed the wheat and preserved the har-
vest. This he did for seven consecutive years, and
when at last the men came to claim their deposit
he returned them all the accumulated grain (Deut.
R. iii.).

Phinehas is said never to have accepted an invita-
tion to a meal and, after he had attained his major-
ity, to have refused to eat at the table of his father.
The reason given by him for this course of conduct
was that there are two kinds of people : (1) those
who are willing to be hospitable, but can not af-
ford to be so, and (2) those who have the means but
are not willing to extend hospitality to others (Hul.
7b). Judah I. once invited him to a meal, and ex-
ceptionally he decided to accept the invitation; but
on arriving at the house of the patriarch he noticed
in the yard mules of a certain kind the use of which
was forbidden by local custom on account of the
danger in handling them. Thereupon he retraced
his steps and did not return (H"'- ^-c).

Special weight was laid by Phinehas upon the
prescriptions relating to the tithe. This feature of
Phinehas' piety is described hyperbolically in the
Haggadah. The latter relates a story of a mule be-
longing to Phinehas which, having been stolen, was
released after a couple of days on account of its re-
fusal to eat food from which the 'tithe had not been
taken (Gen. R. xlvi. ; comp. Ab. R. N. viii., end).
To Phinehas is attributed the abandonment by Judah
I. of his pro.iect to abolish the year of release (Yer.
Demai i. 3; "Ta'an. iii. 1).

Phinehas draws a gloomy picture of his time.

"Since the destruction of the Temple," he says,

" the members and freemen are put to

Account of shame, those who conform to the Law

His Own are held in contempt, the violent and

Times. the informer have the upper hand, and
no one cares for the people or asks
pity for them. We have no hope but in God"
(Sotah49a). Elsewhere he says: "Why is it that
in our time the prayers of the Jews are not heard?
Because they do not know the holy name of God"
(Pesik. R. xxii., end; Midr. Teh. to Ps. xci. 15).
Phinehas, however, believes in man's perfectibihty,
and enumerates the virtues which render man
worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. The Law, he
says, leads to carefulness; carefulness, to diligence;
diligence, to cleanliness; cleanliness, to retirement;
retirement, to purity; purity, to piety; piety, to

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phinehas ben Clusoth
Phylacteries

humility; humility, to fear of sin; fear of sin, to
holiness; holiness, to the reception of the Holy
Spirit; and the Holy Spirit, to resurrection ('Ab.
Zarah 30b ; with some slight variants, Sotah ix. 15).

The Haggadah records many miracles performed

by Phinehas. Among these is that of having passed

on dry ground through the River Ginai, ■which he

had to cross on his way to ransom

ISIiracles prisoners (Yer. Demai i. 3). Accord-
Attributed ing to another version, Phinehas

to Him. performed this miracle while he was
going to the school to deliver a lec-
ture. His pupils, who had followed him, asked if
they might without danger cross the river hy the
same way, whereupon Phinehas answered : " Only
those who have never offended any one maj"^ do so "
(Hul. 7a). To Phinehas is attributed the authorship
of a later midrash entitled " Tadshe " or " Baraita
de-Rabbi Pinehas ben Ya'ir. '' The only reasons for
this ascription are the facts (1) that the midrash be-
gins with Phinehas' explanation of Gen. i. 11, from
which the work derives its name, and (2) that its
seventh chapter commences with a saying of his on
the tree of knowledge (see Jew. Encyc. viii. 578,
s.v. Midrash Tadshe). Phinehas was buried in Ke-
far Birani.

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder lia-Dnrot, il.: Jellinek, B. H.
Hi. 164 et seg., vi. 39 ; Ben Chananja, Iv. 374 ; Bacher, Ag.
Tan. 11. 495 et seq.; Isaac Halevy, horot ha-Rishonim, 11. 48 ;
Braunschwelger, IHe Lehrer derlMischna, p. 241, Frank-
lort-on-the-Maln. 1903; Epstein, Beit/rdge zur JUdischen
Alterthumskunde., i., p. x.
w. B. I. Br.

FHIIfEHAS B. SAMTTEIj: The last high
priest; according to the reckoning of Josephus, the
eighty-third since Aaron. He was a wholly un-
worthy person who was not of high-priestly lineage
and who did not even know what the high priest's
office was, but was chosen by lot, and in 67-68 was
dragged by the revolutionary party against his will
from his village Aphthia, where he was a farmer, to
Jerusalem, to take the place of the deposed Matthias
ben Theophilus. He was clothed in the high-priestly
garments and instructed as to what he had to do on
every occasion. He was an object of ridicule for
the evil-minded, but this godlessness drew tears
from the eyes of the worthy priests. He met his
death probably in the general catastrophe. His name
is written in various ways by Josephus ("B. J." iv.
3, § 8, ed. Niese). It is supposed that he was iden-
tical with the DnJS mentioned in the Mishnah as a
functionary of the Temple ; in this case his correct
name would be Phineas. But Josephus writes this
Biblical name differently. In regard to the Phinehas
mentioned by the Rabbis see Phinehas, guardian of
the treasury.

BiELiOKRAPHY : Derenbourg, Essai sur VHistoire de la Pales-
tine, p. 269; Gratz, Oesch. 111. 4, 751 ; Schilrer, Gesch. i. 3,
618 ; 11. 3, 230.
6. S. Kr.

PHOCYLIDES. See Pseudo-Phocylides.

PHBYGIA: Province in Asia Minor. Anti-
ochus the Great transferred 2,000 Jewish families
from Mesopotamia and Babylonia to Phrygia and
Lydia (Josephus, "Ant." xii.'s, § 4). They settled
principally in Laodicea and Apamea. The Christian
Apostles also were familiar with Jews from Phrygia

(Acts ii. 10). Christian teachings easily gained en-
try there on account of the numerous Jews in the
country. It is noteworthy that in the Phrygian city
Mantalos there is an inscription written from right
to left (Ramsay, " The Historical Geography of Asia
Minor," p. 150, London, 1890). In the Byzantine
period Amorion was a Phrygian city, in which Jews
held the supremacy (see Jew. Encyc. iii. 453, s.v.
Byzantine Empire). Ibn Khurdadhbah also men-
tions a Hisn al-Yahud (= "Jews' Castle " ; Ramsay,
ib. p. 445) in this region.

Bibliography : Schurer, Gesch. HI. 3, 5, 10, 13 ; W. M. Bam-
say, The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, I., part 11., B67-
(376, London, 1897.

G. S. Kr.

PHYLACTERIES ("tefiUin").— Legal View :
The laws governing the wearing of phylacteries
were derived by the Rabbis from four Biblical pas-
sages (Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18; Ex. xiii. 9, 16). While
these passages were interpreted literally by most
commentators (comp., however, Ibn Ezra and
RaShbaM on Ex. xiii. 9), the Rabbis held that the
general law only was expressed in the Bible, the
application and elaboration of it being entirely mat-
ters of tradition and inference (Sanh. 88b). The

Phylaclery-Bat;.

(In the British Museum.)

earlier tannaim had to resort to fanciful interpreta-
tions of the texts in order to find Biblical support
for the custom of inscribing the four selections io
the phylacteries (Men. 34b; Zeb. 37b; Sanh. 4b;
Rashi and Tos. ad loc). There are more laws —
ascribed to oral delivery by God to Moses— clus-
tering about the institution of tefiUin than about any

Phylacteries

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

other institution of Judaism (Men. 35a ; Yer. Meg.
i. 9; Maimonides, in " Yad," Tefillin, i. 3, mentions
ten; Rodldnssolin, in "Teflllali le-Moslieii," p. 20,
■ed. Presburg, 1883, mentions eigliteeu; comp. Weiss,
"Dor," i. 74-75). Tlius, even if most Jewisli com-
mentators are followed in tlieir literal interpretations
•of the Biblical passages mentioned above, rabbinic
interpretation and traditional usage must still be
relied upon for tlie determination of the nature of
the tefillin and the laws concerning them (see Phy-
lacteries— Historical and Critical Views).
Phylacteries, as universally used at the present

(xmaVD ; Men. 35a) at the ends, through which are
passed leathern straps (niVIVI) made of the skins of
clean animals (Shab. 28b) and blackened on the out-
side (Men. 35a ;< comp. "Safer Hasidim," ed. Wisti-
netski, § 1669). The strap that is passed through
the head-phylactery ends at the back of the head in
a knot representing the letter 1; the one that is
passed through the hand-phylactery is formed into
a noose near the box and fastened in a knot in the
shape of the letter i (comp. Heilprin, " Seder ha-
Dorot," i. 208, ed. Maskileison, Warsaw, 1897, where
a wonderful story in relation to the laws governing

Phylacteries and Bag.

(In the United States National Museum, Waaliington, D. C.)

time, consist of two leathern boxes — one worn on
the arm and known as " shel yad " (Men. iv. 1) or

'• shel zeroa' " (Mik. x. 3), and the other

JDetails of worn on the head and known as " shel

Manu- rosh "—made of the skins of clean ani-

' facture. mals (Men. 42b; Sanh. 48b; "Yad,"

I.e. iii. 15). The boxes must be square
'(Men. 35a) ; their height may be more or less than
the length or the width ("Yad," I.e. iii. 2); and it
is desirable that they be black (Shulhan ' Aruk, Orah
Hayyim, 32, 40). The boxes are fastened on the
under side with square pieces of thick leather
<Nlin'n; Men. 35a) by means of twelve stitches
made with threads prepared from the veins of clean
animals (Shab. 28b), and are provided with loops

the making of these knots is told). The box con-
taining the head-phylactery has on the outside the
letter {}», both to the right (with three strokes:
C) and to the left (with four strokes: E^; Men. 35a;
comp. Tos., s.v. " Shin " ; probably as a reminder to
insure the correct insertion of the four Biblical pas-
sages) ; and this, together with the letters formed by
the knots of the two straps, make up the letters of
the Hebrew word "Shaddai" (nK'^ "Almighty,"
one of the names of God; Men. 35b; Rashi, s.«.
" 5esher "). The measurements of the boxes are not
given ; but it is recommended that they should not
be smaller than the width of two fingers ('Er. 95b;
Tos.,«.». "Makom"; Men. 35a; Tos., «.». "Shin").
The width of the straps should be equal to the

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pkylacteries

length of a grain of oats. The strap that is passed
through the head-pliylactery should be long enough
to encircle the head and to allow for the knot ; and
the two ends, falling in front over either shoulder,
should reach the navel, or somewhat above it. The
strap that is passed through the hand-phylactery
should be long enough to allow for the knot, to en-
circle the whole length of the arm, and then to be
wound three times around the middle finger (" Yad, "
I.e. iii. 12; Orali Hayyim, 27, 8, 11).

Each box contains the four Scriptural passages

Ex. xiii. 1-10, 11-16; Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21 (comp.

Zohar, ed. Amsterdam, 1789, to Bo, p.

Contents. 43a, b), written with black ink (Yer.
Meg. i. 9) in Hebrew square charac-
ters (n'llB'S: Meg. 8b; Soferim xv. 1) on parch-
ment (Shab. 79b ; Men. 32a) specially prepared for
the purpose (Orah Hayyim, 32, 8; comp. "Be'er
Heteb" and "Sha'are Teshubah," ad loc.) from
the skin of a clean animal (Shab. 108a). The hand-
phylactery has only one compartment, which con-
tains the four Biblical selections written upon a
single strip of parchment in four parallel columns
and in the order given in the Bible (Men. 34b). The
head-phylactery has four compartments, formed
from one piece of leather, in each of which one selec-
tion written on a separate piece of parchment is de-
posited perpendicularly. The pieces of parchment
on which the Biblical selections are written are in
either case tied round with narrow strips of parch-
ment and fastened with the thorouglily washed hair
of a clean animal (Shab. 28b, 108a), preferably of
a calf ("Yad," I.e. iii. 8; Orah Hayyim, 32, 44).
There was considerable discussion among the com-
mentators of the Talmud (Men. 34b) as to the order
in which the Biblical selections should be inserted
into the head-phylactery. The chief disputants in
this case were E. Solomon Yizhaki

Arrange- (Eashi) and R. Jacob b. Me'ir Tam
ment of (Rabbenu Tam), although different

Passages, possible arrangements have been sug-
gested by other writers (" Shimmusha
Rabba" and RABaD). The following diagram
shows the arrangements of the Bible verses as ad-
vocated respectively by Rabbenu Tam and Rashi
{comp. Rodkinssohn, "Tefillah le-Mosheh," p. 25):

R.Tam -j

Ex. xiU. 1-10,

ll'^p

Ex. xlil. 11-16,

Deut. xi. 13-21,
yiDB- DM mm

Deut. vl. 4-9,

ycif

Raahl 1

Ex. xlli. 1-10,

Ex. xill. 11-16,
1N>2' 13 mm

Deut. vi. 4-9,
yDf

Deut. xi. 13-21,

yiDtt" DN H'm

The prevailing custom is to follow the opinion of
Rashi ("Yad," I.e. iii. 5; comp. RABaD and "Kesef
Mishneh " ad loc. ; Orah Hayyim, 34, 1), although
some are accustomed, in order to be certain of per-
forming their duty properly, to lay two pairs of
teflllin (comp. 'Er. 95b), one prepared in accordance
with the view of Rashi, and the other in accordance
with that of Rabbenu Tam. If, however, one is
uncertain as to the exact position for two pairs of
tefiUin at the same time, one should first "lay " the
tefiUin prepared in accordance with Rashi's opinion,
and then, removing these during the latter part of

the service, without pronouncing a blessing lay
those prepared in accordance with Rabbenu Tarn's
opinion. Only the specially pious wear both kinds
(Orah Hayyim, 34, 2, 3).

The parchment on which the Biblical passages are
written need not be ruled ("Yad," I.e. i. 12), al-
though the custom is to rule it. A pointed instru-
ment that leaves no blot should be used in ruling ;
the use of a pencil is forbidden (Orah Hayyim, 32,
6, Isserles' gloss). The scribe should be very care-
ful in writing the selections. Before
Mode of beginning to write he should pro-
Writing, nounce the words, " I am writing this
for the sake of the holiness of tefiUin " ;
and before he begins to write any of the names of
God occurring in the texts, he should say, "I am
writing this for the sake of the holiness of the
Name. " Throughout the writing his attention must
not be diverted ; " even if the King of Israel should
then greet him, he is forbidden to reply" ("Yad,"
I.e. i. 15; Orah Hayyim, 32, 19). If he omits even
one letter, the whole inscription becomes unfit. If
he inserts a superfluous letter at the beginning
or at the end of a word, he may erase it, but if
in the middle of a word, the whole becomes unfit
("Yad," I.e. ii. ; Orah Hayyim, 32, 23, and "Be'er
Heteb," ad loc.). The letters must be distinct and
not touch each other; space must be left between
them, between the words, and between the lines, as
also between the verses (Orah Hayyim, 32, 32, Is-
serles' gloss; comp. "Magen Abraham " and "Be'er
Heteb " ad loc.). The letters yi TJliyB* where they
occur in the selections are adorned with some
fanciful ornamentation (Men. 29b; see Tos., «.«.,
"Sha'atnez "); some scribes adorn other letters also
(Orah Hayyim, 36, 3, and "Be'er Heteb," ad loc.).
In writing the selections it is customary to devote
seven lines to each paragraph in the hand-phylac-
tery, and four lines to each paragraph in the head-
phylactery (Orah Hayyim, 35).

In putting on the tefiUin, the hand-phylac^ery is
laid first (Meu. 36a). Its place is on the inner side
of the left arm {ib. 36b, 37a), just above the elbow
(comp. " SeferHasidim," §§434, 638, where the exact
place is given as two fist- widths from the shoulder-
blade; similarly the head-phylactery is worn two
fist-widths from the tip of the
nose) ; and it is held in position
by the noose of the strap so that
when the arm is bent the phy-
lactery may rest near the heart
(Men. 37a, based on Deut. xi. 8 ;
comp. "Sefer Hasidim," §§ 435,
1742). If one is left-handed, he
lays the hand-phylactery on the same place on his
right hand (Men. 37a; Orah Hayyim, 27b). After
the phylactery is thus fastened on the
How bare arm, the strap is wound seven
Put on. times round the arm. The head-phy-
lactery is placed so as to overhang the
middle of the forehead, with the knot of the strap at
the back of the head and overhanging the middle of
the neck, whUe the two ends of the strap, with the
blackened side outward, hang over the shoulders in
front (Orah Hayyim, 27, 8-11). On laying the hand-
phylactery, before the knot is fastened, the following

Phylacteries

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

benediction is pronounced : "Blessed art Thou . . .
who sanctifleth us with His commandments and
hast commanded us to lay tefillin. " Before the head-
phylactery is fastened the blessing is repeated with
the substitution of the phrase " concerning the com-
mandment of tefillin" for "to lay tefillin." Some

glorious kingdom for ever and ever, " lest the second
benediction be pronounced unnecessarily. If he who
lays the tefillin has talked between the laying of the
hand-phylactery and that of the head-phylactery,
he should repeat both blessings at the laying of the
latter (Men. 36a; "Yad," I.e. iv. 4, 5; Orati IJayyim,

Phylacteries and Theik Arkangemekt.
A. For the arm. B. As ad.iusteil on the arm. C. For the head. D. Jew wearing phylacteries.

(From Picatt, 1725.)

authorities are of the opinion that the blessing on
laying the head-phylactery should be pronounced
only when an interruption has occurred through
conversation on the part of the one engaged in per-
forming the commandment; otherwise the one bless-
ing pronounced on laying the hand-phylactery is
sufficient. The prevailing custom, however, is to
pronounce two blessings, and, after the second bless-
ing, to say the words, "BlesSed be the name of His

25, 5; Isserles' gloss, 9, 10; comp. ib. 206, 6). Then
the strap of the hand-phylactery is wound three-
times around the middle finger so as to form a
ti* and the passages Hos. ii. 21 and
The 32 are recited. The seven twistings-

Blessings, of the strap on the arm are then
counted while the seven words of Deut.
iv. 4 are recited. A lengthy prayer in which the sig-
nificance of the tefillin is explained and which con-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phylacteries

tains traces of cabalistic influence is recited by some
before putting on tbe tefillin. After the tefiUin are
laid Ex. xiii. 1-16 is recited. In removing tbe tefil-
lin the three twistings on tbe middle finger are
loosened first ; then tbe head-phylactery is removed ;
and finally the band -phylactery (Men. 36a). It is
customary to lay and to remove the tefillin while
standing; also to kiss them when tliey are taken
from and returned to the pbylactery-bag (Oralj
Hayyim, 28, 2, 3).

Originally tefillin were worn all day, but not
during the night (Men. 36b). Now the prevailing
custom is to wear them during the daily morning
service only (comp. Ber. 14b). They are not worn
on Sabbaths and holy days ; for these, being in them-
selves " signs, " render the tefillin, which are to serve

is engaged in the study of the Law (R. Jonah to
Alfasi on Ber. ii. 5, «.». "Le-Memra"), and scribes
of and dealers in tefillin and mezuzot while engaged
in their work if it can not be postponed, are also
free from this obligation (Suk. 26a ; Orah Hayyim,
38, 8-10). It is riot permitted to enter a cemetery
(Ber. 18a) or any unseemly place (ib. 23a; Shab.
10a), or to eat a regular meal or to sleep (Ber. 23b ;
Suk. 26a), while wearing tefillin. The bag used for
tefillin should not be used for any other purpose, un-
less a condition was expressly made that it might
be used for any purpose (Ber. 23b ; Sanh. 48a).

Maimonides (" Yad," I.e. iv. 25, 26) concludes the
laws of tefillin with the following exhortation (the
references are not in Maimonides) :

"The sanctity of teflllin Is very great (comp. Sbab. 49a;

PHYLACTERY FOR ARM.

(From the Cairo Genizah.)

as signs themselves (Ex. xiii. 9, 16), unnecessary
(Men. 36b ; 'Er. 96a). In those places where tefillin
are worn on the week-days of the festivals (see
Holt Days), and on New Moons, they are rev
moved before the " Musaf " prayer (Orah Hayyim,
25, 13).

The duty of laying tefillin rests upon males
after the age of thirteen years and one day. Women
are exempt from the obligation, as are also slaves
and minors (Ber. 20a). Women who wish to lay
tefillin are precluded from doing so (Orah Hayyim,
38, 3, Isserles' gloss) ; in ancient times this was not
the case ('Er. 96a, b). A mourner during tbe first
day of bis mourning period (M. K. 15a ; Suk. 25b),
a bridegroom on bis wedding-day (Suk. I.e.), an
excommunicate, and a leper (M. K. 15a) are also
exempt. A suflierer from stomach-trouble (Hul.
110a), one who is otherwise in pain and can not
concentrate his mind ("Yad," I.e. iv. 13), one who

Masseket Teflllin, toward the end: Zohar, section " Wa'etha-
nan," p. 269b). As long as the teflllin are on the head and on
the arm of a man, he is modest and God-fearing and will
not be attracted by hilarity or idle talk, and will have no evil
thoughts, but win devote all his thoughts to trutli and right-
eousness (comp. Men. 43b ; "SeferHasidim,"8554). Therefore,
every man ought to try to bave the teflllin upon bim the whole
day (Masseket Teflllin, I.e.; comp. Sifre to Deut. v. 9); for only
in this way can he fulfll the commandment. It is related that
Rab (Abba Arika), the pupU of our holy teacher (R. Judah ha-
Nasi) , was never seen to walk four cubits without a Torah, with-
out fringes on his garments (" zizit ") , and without teflllin (Suk.
29a, where R. Johanan b. Zakkai and R. Eliezer are mentioned ;
comp. Meg. 24a, where R. Zerais mentioned) . Although the Law
enjoins the wearing of teflllin the whole day, it is especially com-
mendable to wear them during prayer. The sages say that one
who reads the Shema' without teflllin is as if he testified falsely
against himself (Ber. 14b, 15a). He who does not lay teflllin
transgresses eight commandments (Men. 44a; comp. R. H. 17a) ;
for in each of the four Biblical passages there is a commandment
to wear teflllin on the head and on the arm. But he who is ac-
customed to wear teflllin will live long, as it is written, ' When
the Lord is upon them they wiU live ' " (Isa. xxxvili. 16, Hebr.;
comp. A. v.; Men. 44a).

Phylacteries

THE JEWISH EXCYOLOPEDIA

Bibliography : Masseket TefilUn, published by Kirchhetm In
Ms edition of tbe seven smaller treatises of the Talmud, Frank-
lorton-the-Maln, 1851; Rosh, Hilkut TefllUn, In Balakat
Keiannot, and. Shimmu>^ha Hahba, published with Mennhot
in most editions of the Talmud ; Kiil Bo, 8 21, FUrth, 1783 ;
Hambtirser, B.B.T. ii., s.v. Tephillin ; Hastings, DM. Bible ;
Frledlilnder, IVie Jewish Religion, pp. 331-334. London, 1900;
Rodkinson, TeMlah le-Mosheh, Presburg, 1883 ; Zunz, O. S.
U. 173-176, Berlin, 1876.
E. C. J. H. G.

Historical View : The only instance of the

name " phylacteries" in Biblical. times occurs in the
New Testament (Matt, xxiii. 5), whence it has passed
into tlie lan-

of wearing some object, with or without inscription,
around tlie neclt or near the heart; the actual cus-
tom appears in the figure of speech. In view of
these facts it may be assumed that Ex. xiii. 9, 16,
and Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18 must be interpreted not fig-
uratively but literally ; therefore it must be assumed
that the custom of wearing strips inscribed with
Biblical passages is commanded in the Torah.
"Bind them as signs on thy hand, and they shall be
as totafot between thy eyes " assumes that totafot

were at the time

guages of Eu-
rope. In rab-
binicalliterature
it is not found
even as a foreign
word. The Sep-
tuagint renders
"totafot" (A.
V. and R. V.
" frontlets";
Ex. xiii. 16 and
Deut. vi. 8) by
a(7 a?ievr 6v ( =
"something im-
movable ") ; nor
do Aquila and
Symmachus use
the word " phy-
lacteries." The
Targumim (Jon-
athan, Onkelos)
and the Peshitta
use "tefilliu"
<Ex. xiii. 9, 16;
xxviii. 37;Deut.
vi. 8, xxviii. 10;
Ezek. xxiv. 33;
Cant. viii. 1) or
"totafot" (II
Sam. i. 10 ; Ezek.
xxiv. 17 et seq.).
The terms "te-
fillah,""tefillin"
only are found
in Talmudic lit-
erature, al-
though the word
" totafah " was
still current, be-
ing used with
the meaning of " frontlet " (Shab. vi. 1). The con-
clusions in regard to the tefillin which are based
on its current name "phylacteries,"
Name and therefore, lack historical basis, since
Orig'in. this name was not used in truly Jew-
ish circles.
In regard to their origin, however, the custom of
wearing protecting coverings on the liead and hands
must be borne in mind. Saul's way of appearing in
battle, with a crown on his head and wearing brace-
lets, is connected with this idea. The Proverbs re-
flect popular conceptions, for they originated in
great part with the people, or were addressed to
them. Prov. 1. 9, iii. 3, vi. 21, and vii. 8 (comp.
Jer. xvii. 1, xxxi. 32-33) clearly indicate tlie custom

Phylactery-Bag.

(In the poBSeesinn of M.iurfce Herrmann, New York.)

Epoch, of
In-
troduction.

known and in
use, but that
thehceforth the
words of the
Torah were to
serve as totafot
(on signs see also
I Kings XX. 41 ;
Ezek. ix. 4, 6;
Psalms of Solo-
mon, XV. 9; see

BkEAST - PLATE

OP THE High
Pkiest; Cain).
It is not known
whether this
command was
carried out in
the earliest time,
and if so, in
what manner.
But from the
relatively large
number of regu-
lations referring
to the phylac-
teries— some
of them con-
nected with the
names of the
first tannaim —
and also from
the fact that
among the fifty-
five "Sinaitic
commands "
("halakah Ic-
M o s h e h m i -
Sinai ") eight re-
fer to the teflllin
alone and seven to the tefillin and the Torah to-
gether, it follows thai they were used as early as
the time of the Soferim— the fourth,
or at least the third, century B.C.
The earliest explicit reference to them
that has been preserved — namely, in
the Letter of Aristeas (verse 159 ; see
Kautzsch, "Apokryphen," ii. 18)— speaks of them
as an old institution.

Josephus ("Ant." iv. 8, § 13) also regards them
as an ancient institution, and he curiously enough
places the tefillin of the head first, as the Talmud
generally does (comp. Justin, "Dial, cum Tryph."
ed. Otto, ii. 154). The tefillin are mentioned in con-
nection with Simeon b. Shetali, brother-in-law of

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Phylacteries

Alexander Jannseus (Yer. Hag. 77d) ; and Sliammai
produces the tefiUin of his mother's father (Mek., Bo,
§ 17 [ed. Friedmann, 31b] ; the parallel passage Yer.
'Er. 26a reads " Hlllel "). The date here given is the
seventh decade of the first century B.C. Schorr (in
"He-Haluz," vol. Iv.) assumes that they were intro-
duced in the Maccabean period, and A. Krochmal re-
gards the reference to Elisha's " wings " (Shab. 44a ;
Yer. Bar. 4c) as indicating that he was one of the first
of the high priests to wear the tefillah (" 'lyyun Te-
fillah," pp. 27 et seq.). Johanan b. Zakkai never
went four ells without tefillin ; neither did his pupil
Eliezer (Yer. Ber. 4c). Gamaliel II. (c. 100 c.e.)
gives directiohs as to what shall be done with te-
fillin found on the Sabbath, making a distinction
between old and new tefillin ('Er. x. 1), a fact that
clearly indicates the extent to which they were used.
Even the slaves of this patriarch wore tefillin (Yer.
'Er. 26a). Judah b. Bathyra refers, about 150 c.e.,
to the tefillin which he inherited from his grand-
father; these were Inscribed to the dead awakened
by Ezekiel (xxxvii. ; Sanh. 92b). In the following
centuries they were used to an increasing extent, as
appears from the numerous sentences and rules re-
ferring to them by the authorities of the Babylonian
and Palestinian Talmuds,

Tefillin resembled amulets in their earliest foi'm,

strips of parchment in a leather case, which is called

either " bag " or " little house. " Tefil-

Sarliest lin and " keme'ot " are, in fact, often
Form. mentioned side by side (Shab. vi. 2;
Mik. vi. 4; Kelim xxiii. 9; et al.), and
were liable to be mistaken one for the other ("Er. x.
1 et al.). As in the case of the Torah roll, the only
permissible material was parchment, while the " me-
zuzah " was made of a different kind of parchment
(Shab. viii. Set al.); for this reason a discarded
tefillah could be made into a mezuzah, but not vice
versa (Men. 32a). It was made square, not round
(Meg. iv. 8). The head-tefiUah consisted of four
strips in four compartments, while the hand-tefillah
consisted of one strip. The former could be made
out of the latter, but not vice versa ; and they were
independent of each other (Kelim xviii. 8; Men. iii.
7, Iv. 1, 34b; Yer. Hag. 77d et passim). The here-
tics had a way of covering the tefillah with gold,
wearing it on the sleeve and on the forehead (Meg.
iv. 8). The straps (Yad. iii. 8) were made of the
same material as the boxes, but could be of any color
except blood-red ; they were sometimes blue or of a
reddish purple (Men. 85a).

The most important tefillah was the head-teflllah
(Kelim xviii. 8 et passim). It was put on according
to rule (Sheb. iii. 8, 11 ; Men". 36a) and was worn
from morning until night, with the exception of
Sabbath and feast-days (Targ. to Ezek. xiii. 10;
Men. 36b) ; some wore tefillin also in the evening, as
did Aklba ('Er. 96a), Abbahu (Yer. 'Er. 26a), Eabba
and Huna (Men. 86b) during the evening prayer,
and Ashi (beginning of 5th cent.).

The head-tefillah was the principal one, because
the tefillah worn on the arm was not visible (Men.
37b). A Jew was recognized by the former, which
he wore proudly, because, according to Dent, xxviii.
10, all peoples knew thereby that the Name of the
Eternal had been pronounced over him (Men. 35b ;

Targ. Esth. viii. 15; comp. Cant. viii. 1; Ezek.
xxiv. 17, 23). Jerome says (on Galatians iv. 32)
that the Jews feared to appear in the cities, because
they attracted attention ; probably they were recogr
nized by the tefillah. It was not worn in times of
danger ('Er. x. 1). The law in regard to tefillin,
therefore, which did not demand obedience at the
peril of life, had not taken such a deep hold upon
the people as other laws (Shab. 130a; R. H. 17a;
Yer. Ber. 4c; Pesik. E., ed. Friedmann, p. 111b).
However, it must not be Inferred from this state-
ment that the tefillah was not worn to any great
extent (Rodkinson, "Ursprung und Entwickelung
des Phylacterien-Ritus bei den Juden," p. 5), but
merely that it was not generally worn.

The tefillin have been connected with magic, as
the name " phylacteries " primarily indicates. Fried-
lander takes the tefillah to be a substitute for the
" signum serpentinum " of the antino-
TefiUin mistic Gnostics. The tefillin, how-
and Magic, ever, originated at a time prior to that
of the Gnostics, as has been sliown
above. Although the institution of the tefillin is re-
lated in form to the custom of wearing amulets, in-
dicating the ancient views regarding that means of
protection, yet there is not a single passage in the
old literature to show that they were identified with
magic. Their power of protecting is similar to that
of the Torah and the Commandments, of which it is
said, "They protect Israel " (Blau, " Altjiidisches
Zauberwesen," p. 152). One of the earliest tannaim,
Eliezer b. Hyrcanus (b. 70 c.e.), who laid great
stress upon the tefillin, actively advocating their
general use, derives the duty of wearing them from
Josh. i. 8, " Thou shalt meditate therein day and
night" (treatise Tefillim, near end). In conform-
ity with this view they contain chieflj'' the Shema',
the daily reading of which takes the place of the
daily study of the Bible.

The tannaitic Midrash, indeed, takes pains to prove
that the Decalogue has no place in the tefillin (Sifre,
Deut. 34, 35 ; Ber. lib). Jerome, therefore (to Matt.
XXV. 8), is not correct in saying that the tefillin con-
tain also the Ten Commandments; although this
may have been the case among the "minim," or
heretics. The newly discovered Hebrew papyrus
with Shema' and Decalogue belonged, perhaps, to
the tefillah of a " min. " The Samaritans did not ob-
serve the command to wear the tefillah (Men. 43b,
above). They are ranked with the pagans, there-
fore, as persons not fit to write them (ib.).

Although the tefillin were worn throughout the

day, not only in Palestine but also in Babylon, the

custom of wearing them did not be-

In the come entirel}' popular; and during

Diaspora the Diaspora they were worn no-

and Post- where during the day. But it ap-

Talmudic pears from the Letter of Aristeas and

Times. from Josephus that the tefillin were

known to the Jews of the Diaspora.

At this time it may have become customary to wear

them only during prayer, traces of this custom

being found in Babylon (Men. 36b). In Prance

in the thirteenth century they were not generally

worn even during prayer (Rodkinson, I.e., quoting

Tos. Shab. 49a; comp. "Semag," Commandment

Phylacteries
Plcart

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

No. 3; Gratz, "Gescli." vil. 71). The difference of
opinion between Isaac (Rashi ; d. 1105) and his grand-
son Jacob Tam (d. 1171) in regard to the arrangement
of the four sections indicates tliat no fixed custom in
wearing them liad arisen. Rashi and Tarn's tefillin
are referred to; scrupulously pious persons put on
the tefillin of R. Tam after prayer (Men. 34b ; Shulhan
'Aruk, Orah Hayyim, 34). There were differences
of opinion between the Spanish and the German Jews
in regard to the knot in the strap (see illustrations in
Surenhusius, cited below). At the time of the Re-
form movement, in the first half of the nineteenth
century, especially in Germany, the custom of wear-
ing the tefillin, like otlier ritual and ceremonial ordi-
nances, was attacked, calling forth the protests of
Zunz.

Bibliography : The chief works are : Klein, Bie Totaphot
nach Blbel und Tradition In Jahrb. flXr Prntestantische
ThenlGfiie, 1881, pp. 666-689, and M. L. Eodklnson, Ur-
sprung und Entwickelung ties Phylcuiterien-EUus hei den
juden, Presburg, 1883 (reviewed in B. IB. J. vi. 288) ; Idem,
History of A rmilets. Charms and Talismans, New York, 1893.
Fordescrlption and illustrations seeSurenhusius.JIfisftnafi, vol.
1., Amsterdam, 1698 {before p. 9), and Bodenschatz, Kirchliche
Verfassung der Heutioen Juden, iv. 14-19; see also Winer,
B. K. 3d ed., i. 58, il. 260; Hamburger, B. B. T.il. 1065,1203-
1206; Hastings, Diet. BiWe, ill. 869-874 ; Z. Frankel, TJeher
den Einfiuxs der PaUlstinischen Exegese auf die Alexan-
drinisehe UermeneuHk, pp. 90 et seq., Leipsic, 1851 ; M.
Friedlander, Der Antichrist in den VorchristUchen JU-
dischen Qucllen, pp. 155-165, Gottlngen, 1901 ; M. Griinbaum,
Qesammelte Aufsdtze, pp. 208 et seq., Berlin, 1901 ; Herzfeld,
Gesch. des Volkes Israel, lii. 223-225, Nordhausen, 1857 ; A.
Krochmal, 'lyyun Tefillah, pp. 24 et seq., Lemberg, 1885 ; S.
Munk, Palestine, p. 268; O. H. Schorr, in He-Haluz, vol. iv.;
Scbiirer, Gesch. 3d ed., ii. 484 etseq.; Zunz, G. S. ii. 172-176
{Tefillin, eine Betrachtung). See earlier Christian bibliog-
raphy in Scbiirer, Gesch.
J. L. B.

Critical View : The etymology of the term—

from the Greek (pv/MKT^piov, itself derived from (pvMa-
aeiv{= " to guard against evil," " to protect ") — indi-
cates the meaning, in the Hellenistic period, to have
been "amulet" (an object worn as a protection
against evil). The language of the four passages in
which a reference occurs to " sign upon the hand "
and " frontlets," or " memorials," " between the eyes "
(Ex. xiii. 9, 16; Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18, Hebr.) proves
that among the Hebrews the practise of wearing ob-
jects of this kind around the forehead and on the hand
must have prevailed. Later rabbinical exegesis re-
garded the figurative reference and simile in Beut.
vi. 8 and xi. 18 as a command to be carried out liter-
all3^ Comparison with Ex. xiii. 9, 16, where the same
terminology is employed, suffices to demonstrate that
in Deut. vi. 8, xi. 18 the writer expressed himself fig-
uratively, with allusion, of course, to a popular and
wide-spread custom. It is plain that a sound con-
struction of the Deuteronomic passages must reject
the interpretation which restricts the
Figurative bearing of the phrase " ha-debarim ha-
Ex- elleh " (Deut. vi. 6) to the immediately

pressions. preceding Shema', or of "debarai el-
leh " of Deut. xi. 18 to the preceding
verse. In the phraseology of Deuteronomy, "these
my words " embrace the whole book, the Torah, and
it would have been as impossible to write the whole
book on one's hand as it was to carry the sacrifice of
the first-born (Ex. xiii.) as "a sign on one's hand."
Prov. i. 9, iii. 3, vi. 31, vii. 3, and Jer. xvii. 1, xxxi.
33 illustrate in what sense the expressions " write "
or " bind " in this connection are to be taken. As a
matter of fact, phylacteries as described by the Rabbis

did not come into use before the last pre-Christian
century ; the Samaritans knew nothing of them.

That amulets and signs were in use among the an-
cient Hebrews is evident from Gen. iv. 15 (Cain's,
sign), I Kings xx. 41, and Ezek. ix. 4-6 (comp. Rev.
vii. 3; xiii. 16; xiv. 1, 9; Psalms of Solomon, xv. 10).
Originally, the " sign " was tattooed on the skin, the
forehead ("between the eyes") and the hand natu-
rally being chosen for the display. Later, some
visible object worn between the eyes or bound on
the hand was substituted for the writing on the skin.

But the original practise is still discernible in the
use of the word " yad " (hand) to connote a " token "
(Ex. xvii. 16) with an inscription, the "zikkaron,"
which latter is the technical term, appearing in Ex.
xiii. and Deut. xi. 18. This fact explains also the
original value of the word " yad " in the combina-
tion " yad wa-shem " (hand and name ; Isa. Ivi. 5).
The passage from Isaiah just quoted plainly shows,
that such a yad wa-shem was effective against that
the Semite dreaded most — oblivion after death.
The words "ot," "shem," and "zeker" are often
used Interchangeably (e.g., Isa. Iv. 18 and Ex. iii.
15), and it is probable that originally they desig-
nated visible tokens cut into the flesh for purposes
of marking one's connection with a deity or a clan
(see Circumcision; Covenant; Totemism). The
common meanings of these words, "sign," "name,"
and " memorial , " are secondary. The phrase " to lift
up the name " in the Decalogue Indicates fully that
" shem " must have been originally a totemistic sign,
affixed to a person or an object.

The etymology of "totafot," which, probably,
should be considered singular and be pointed "tote-
fet," is not plain. The consensus of modern opin-
ion is that it designates a round jewel, like the
" netifot " (Judges viii. 26 ; Isa. lii. 19), therefore a
charm, though others believe Its original meaning to
have been " a mark " tattooed into the flesh (Siegfried-
Stade, "Lexicon"). It is to the habit of wearing
amulets or making incisions that the law of Deute-
ronomy refers, as does Ex. xiii., advising that only
God's Torah, as it were, shall constitute the pro-
tecting " charm " of the faithful.

Bibliography : Das Kainzeichen, in Stade's Zeitschrift, 1894 ;
G. Klein, Totaphot nach Bibel und Tradition, In Jahrbuch
far Protestantische Theologie, 1881 ; Hastings, Diet. Bible.

E. G. H.
PHYSICIAN. See Medicine.
PIATELLI. See Anaw.

PICART, BERNARD : French designer and
engraver ; born at Paris June 11, 1673 ; died at Am-
sterdam May 8, 1733. He was descended from a
Protestant family and received his earliest instruc-
tion from his father, Etlenne Picart, and from Le
Brun and Jouvenet. At an early age Picart showed
a marked facility in the imitation of the great mas-
ters. In 1710 he settled at Amsterdam, where he
supplied plates and engravings to printers and book-
sellers. Picart designed and executed a vast num-
ber of plates, about 1,300 of which are, still extant.
These represent a variety of subjects, a number of
them depicting Biblical topics. That part of his
work which Is of Jewish Interest is contained in the
"Ceremonies des Juifs," the first volume of the
" Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses de Tous les

/?. /'/.!,/,- ./.;■

Title-Page eeom the "Tikktx Soferim," Designed by Bernard Picart.

(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theoloo;iea] Seminary of America, New York.)

Picciotto
Pick

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Peuples du Monde" (11 vols., Amsterdam, 1723-
1743). These plates, all of which are faithfully and
carefully prepared, are among the earliest engra-
vings on Jewish ecclesiastical and ceremonial sub-
jects. The following is a list of them, given in the
order in which they appear in the original edition :
(1) Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue at Amster-
dam ; (2) Jew with Phylacteries and Praying-Scarf ;
(3) Arba' Kanfot, Sabbath Lamp, Mazzot, Lulab,
Etrog, Mezuzah, and Shofar; (4) Benediction of the
Priests in a Portuguese Synagogue at The Hague ;
(5) Elevation of the Law; (6) Sounding the Shofar
on New- Year's Day ; (7) The Day of Atonement (in
the Synagogue); (8) Search for Leaven; (9) Pass-
over Meal ; (10) Feast of Tabernacles (in the Syna-
gogue); (11) Feast of Tabernacles (at Home) ; (12)
Rejoicing of the Law (in the Synagogue); (18) Es-
corting Home the Bridegroom of the Law ; (14) Im-
plements of Circumcision ; Scroll of the Law, with
Mantle, Crowns, etc. ; (15) Circumcision ; (16) Re-
demption of the Pirst-Born ; (17) Marriage Among the
Portuguese Jews ; (18) Marriage Among the German
Jews; (19) Circuit Round the Coffin ; (20) Interment.
An English translation of the work cited was
printed by William Jackson (London, 1733). It
contains, in addition to Picart's drawings, which in
this translation are engraved by Du Bosc, several
good engravings of similar Jewish subjects by F.
Morellon la Cave.

Bibliography: Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and En-
qravers, iv. 112, London, 1904 ; Jacobs and Wolt, Bxbl. Aiv-
glo-Jud. p. 76, London, 1888; Tbomas, Diet, of Biography
and Muthnloay, Pblladelphia, 1901.
J. I. G. D.

PICCIOTTO, HAIM MOSES: Communal
worker; born at Aleppo 1806; died at London, Eng-
land, Oct. 19, 1879. He was a member of an ancient
Eastern family; his immediate ancestors were en-
gaged in the Russian consular service. He went to
England about 1843, and soon after his arrival there
became active in communal affairs. He advocated
the founding of Jews' College, and was a member
of its council until his death. He was one of the
founders of the Society for the Diffusion of Relig-
ious Knowledge, and wrote many of its tracts. A
good Hebrew scholar, he wrote several odes for reci-
tation on public and festive occasions.

Picciotto was for a considerable period a member
of the Board of Deputies, and was conspicuous in
the deliberations of that body for his indefatigable
zeal and his experience in Eastern affairs. He acted
as commissioner for the board at the time of the war
between Morocco and Spain in 1859-60. He visited
Gibraltar and Morocco to distribute relief and wrote
a report, as a result of which the Jewish schools at
Tetuan, Tangier, and Mogador were founded.

His son James Picciotto (born in 1830; died in
London Nov. 13, 1897) was for many years secretary
to the council of administration of the Morocco Re-
lief Fund. He retired in 1896, failing health com-
pelling his resignation. He is known as the author
of "Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History," London,
1877, a reprint of articles which originally appeared
in the " Jewish Chronicle. "

Bibliographt: Jew. World, Oct. 24, 1879; Jew. Chron. Oct.
24, 1879, and Nov. 19, 1897.
J. G. L.

PICHLER, ADOLF ^ Austrian painter; born
in 1834 at CzifEer, in the nounty of Presburg, Hun-
gary. At the age of thirteen he went to Budapest,
where he supported himself by tutoring while pre-
paring himself to teach. After receiving his teach-
er's diploma he entered the Academy of Fine Arts,
where he soon won the first prize for a study of a
head. Before long he was one of the most popular
drawing-teachers in Budapest. Ho then went to
Munich to study under Wilhelm von Kaulbach and
Yolz. One of his works dating from that time is
the "Jew at Prayer." His best-known picture is
his first work, " Moses, on His Descent from Sinai,
Finds the People Worshiping the Golden Calf. " His
other works include: "The Death of Jacob," "The
Maiden of Judah, " " Spinoza as Glass-Polisher, " " Ju-
dah ha-Levi," and many historical paintings and
portraits.

s. R. P.

PICHON (PICHO), JOSEPH: "Almoxarife"
and "contador mayor" (i.e.^ tax-collector-in-chief)
of the city and the archbishopric of Seville; ap-
pointed in 1369 by Henry II. of Castile, who es-
teemed him highly on accountof his honesty and clev-
erness. But on charges brought by some rich core-
ligionists who also had been admitted at cotirt,
Pichon was imprisoned by command of the king and
sentenced to pay 40,000 doubloons. On paying this
large sum within twenty days lie was released and
restored to office ; in turn, he brought a serious ac-
cusation against his enemies, either in revenge or in
self -justification.

Henry had died in the meantime, and his son,
John I., was his successor. Many rich and influen-
tial Jews had gathered from different parts of the
country for the auction of the royal taxes at Burgos,
where the coronation of John took place. These Jews
plotted against the life of Pichon, who was very
popular among the Christians and who had received
marked attentions from the courtiers. It is not
known whether he is in any degree to be blamed for
the extraordinary tax of 20,000 doubloons which
Henry had imposed upon the Jews of Toledo; but,
however this may have been, some prominent Jews,
representing various communities, went to the king
on the day of the coronation, and, explaining to him
that there was among them a "malsin," i.e., an in-
former and traitor who deserved death according to
the laws of their religion, requested him to em-
power the royal officers to execute the offender. It
is said that some minions of the king, bribed by the
Jews, induced John to give the order. The dele-
gation then took this order, together with a letter
from several Jews who were the leaders of the com-
munity, to Fernan Martin, the king's executioner.
The latter did not hesitate to fulfil the royal com-
mand. At an early hour on Aug. 21, 1379, he went
with Don Zulem.a (Solomon) and Don Zag (Isaac) to
the residence of Pichon, who was still sleeping.
Pichon was awakened on the pretext that some of
his mules were to be seized ; and as soon as he ap-
peared at the door Fernan laid hold of him and, with-
out saying a word, beheaded him.

The execution of Pichon, whose name had been
concealed from the king, created an unpleasant sen-
sation. The monarch was exceedingly angry that

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Picoiotto-
Pick

he had been inveigled into signing the death-war-
rant of a respected and popular man who had faith-
fully served his father for many years. He had Zu-
lema, Zag, and the chief rabbi of Burgos, who was
in the plot, beheaded; and Martin was to have
shared the same fate, but was spared at the interces-
sion of some knights. He, however, paid for his
hastiness in the affair by the loss of his right hand.
As a consequence of Pichon's execution, the Cortes
deprived the rabbis and the Jewish courts of the
country of the right to decide criminal cases. The
affair had the most disastrous consequences for the
Jews of Spain, stimulating the hatred of the popu-
lation against them, and contributing to the great
massacre of the year 1891.

Bibliography : Ayala, Cronica de D. Juan I. ii. 126 et seq.;
Zuniga, Anales de SevtUa, il. 136, 211 et seq.; Rios, Hist. li.
333 et seq.; Gratz, Gesch. Till. 45 et seq.; B. E. J. xxxvlil. 258
et seq. _

s. M. K.

PICHON (PITCHON), JOSEPH : Rabbinical
author; lived in Turkey at the end of the seven-
teenth century. He was the author of "Minhage
ha-Bedikah be-'Ir Saloniki," a work relating to the
method which was followed of making meat kasher
in the slaughter-house at Salonica.

Bibliography : Azulal, Shem Ua^Oedolim, s.t.: Franco, Hi«-
toire des Israelites de VEmyire Ottoman, p. 125, Paris, 1897.
s. M. Fr.

PICK, AARON: Biblical scholar; born at
Prague, where he was converted to Christianity and
lectured on Hebrew at the university; lived in Eng-
land during the first half of the nineteenth century.
He was the author of translations and commentaries
of various books of the Bible, his works comprising :
a literal translation from the Hebrew of the twelve
Minor Prophets (1833); of Obadiah (1884); and of
the seventh chapter of Amos with commentary. In
1837 he produced a treatise on the Hebrew accents ;
and in 1845 he published " The Bible Student's Con-
cordance." He was, besides, the author of a work
entitled "The Gathering of Israel, or the Patriarchal
Blessing as Contained in the Forty-ninth Chapter of
Genesis: Being the Revelation of God Concerning
the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and Their Ultimate
Restoration."

s. I- Co.

PICK, ALOIS : Austrian physician, medical au-
thor, and dramatist; born at Karolinenthal, near
Prague, Bohemia, Oct. 15, 1859. He studied medi-
cine at the universities of Prague and Vienna (M.D.,
Prague, 1888). The same year he joined the hospi-
tal corps of the Austrian army ; and at present (1905)
he holds the position of regimental surgeon (" Regi-
mentsarzt,"). He is also chief physician at the first
Army Hospital, Vienna. In 1890 he became privat-
docent and in 1904 assistant professor at the Uni-
versity of Vienna.

Pick has contributed many essays to the medical
journals, among which may be mentioned: "Zur
Lehre von den Atembewegungen der Emphyse-
matiker,"in "Prager Medizinische "Wochenschrif t, "
1888, No. 17; " Beitrage zur Pathologic und Thera-
pie der Herzneurosen," i6. 1884, No. 44; "Der Re-
spiratorische Gaswechsel Gesunder und Erkrankten
Lungen," in "Zeitschrift fur Klinische Medizin,"

Berlin, xvi. ; "Ueber das Bewegliche Herz," in
"Wiener Klinische Wochenschrif t, " 1889; "Zur
Frage der Hepatogenen Dy spepsie, " ib. 1903. He is
also the author of " Vorlesungen liber Magen- und
Darmkrankheiten," Vienna, 1895. Aside from these
medical works, Pick is the author of two small
farces, " Brief steller f ilr Liebende " and " Lord Beef-
steak."

Bibliography : Elsenberg, Das Oeistige Wien, i. 409, 11. 372-
373, Vienna, 1893 ; Pagel, Biog. Lex.
s. F. T. H.

PICK, ARNOLD : Austrian psychiatrist ; born
at Gross- Meseritsch, Moravia, July 30, 1851 ; edu-
cated at Berlin and Vienna (M. D. 1875). He became
assistant physician at the lunatic asylum at Wehnen,
Oldenburg (1875), and at the state asylum at Prague
(1877); privat-docent at Prague University (1878);
and was appointed in 1880 chief physician at the
asylum in Dobrzan, which position he held till 1886,
when he was elected professor of psychiatry at
Prague.

Among his many works may be mentioned : " Bei-
trage zur Pathologic und zur Pathologischen Ana-
tomic des Centralnervensystems " (with Kahler),
Leipsic, 1880; and "Beitrage zur Pathologie und
Pathologischen Anatomic des Centralnervensystems
mit einem Excurse zur Normalen Anatomie Dessel-
ben," Berlin, 1898.

Bibliography : Pagel, Biog. Lex.
s.

F. T. H.

PICK, BEHRENDT: German numismatist and
archeologist ; born Dec. 21, 1861, at Posen. After
passing through the Friedrich-Wilhelms Gymna-
sium of his native city, he went in 1880 to the Uni-
versity of Berlin (Pli.D. 1884), where he studied
classical philology. On the advice of Theodor
Mommsen, of whose favorite pupils he was one, he
took up as his specialty epigraphy and numismatics.
After a short term of service as librarian at the Royal
Library, Berlin, Pick in 1889 became privat-docent
in archeology at the University of Zurich, and in
1891 was appointed assistant professor there. In
1893 he accepted a position at the ducal library and
in connection with the ducal coin-collection of Gotha,
being made director of the latter in 1899. He was,
besides, appointed in 1896 lecturer on numismatics
at the University of Jena, which position he still
(1905) holds.

Pick's chief work is volume i. ("Dacia und Moe-
sia") of "Die Antiken Mlinzen Nordgriechenlands "
(Berlin, 1898), a publication issued by the Berlin
Academy of Sciences.. S.

PICK, ISAIAH. See Berlin, Isaiah b. Loeb.

PICK, PHILIPP JOSEPH: Austrian derma-
tologist ; born at Neustadt, Bohemia, Oct. 14, 1834.
He studied natural sciences and medicine at Vienna
(M.D. 1860) and acted as assistant in several uni-
versity hospitals. In 1868 he removed to Prague
and became privat-docent in the German university
there. In 1873 he was appointed assistant professor,
and in 1896 professor, of dermatology in the same
university.

In 1869 Pick founded in conjunction with Hein-
rich Auspitz the "Archivlilr Dermatologie, " etc.,
of which, since the death of liis colleague in 1886,

Pico de Ulrandola
Pierleoni

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

he has been sole editor. Many essays of his have
appeared in this journal and in the medical papers
of Vienna and Prague. In 1889 he helped to found
the Deutsche Dermatologische Qesellschaft, of which
he was the first president.

At the celebration, in 1898, of the twenty -fifth an-
niversary of his appointment as assistant professor
his pupils and colleagues prepared a jubilee volume,
€dited by Neisser.

Bibliography: Pagel, Biog. Lex.

s. P. T. H.

PICO DE MIBANDOIiA, COUNT GIO-
"VANNI FBEDERICO (Prince of Concordia):

Italian philosopher, theologian, and cabalist; born
Peb. 24, 1463, at Mirandola ; died at Plorence Nov.
17, 1494. Gifted with high intellectual powers, he
commenced the study of theology at an early age,
graduated from the University of Bologna, and at
the age of twenty -three published 900 theses against
the views of the philosophers and theologians of his
time (" Conclusiones Philosophicse Cabalisticse et
TheologiciE," Rome, 1486). These theses included
one which postulated that the Cabala best proves
the divinity of Jesus. Pico received his cabalistic
training from Johanan Aleman, from whom he also
obtained three cabalistic works which he translated
into Latin : the commentary of Menahem Recanati
on the Pentateuch, the "Hokmat ha-Nefesh" (=:
" Scientia Animie ") of Eleazar of Worms (printed at
Lemherg, 1875), and the "Sefer ha-Ma'alot" of
Shem-Tob Palaquera. He tried to harmonize the
philosophy of Plato and Aristotle with the Cabala
and jSTeo-Platonism, but his excessive devotion to
the Cabala resulted in an ascetic and mystical
tendencj', which brought him into conflict with
the Church. He was accused of heresy, but was
acquitted, and retired to Plorence, where he spent
the rest of his life with a friend.

Pico was one of the first to collect Hebrew manu-
scripts. Of his books, which were widely read, two
may here be mentioned: (1) " Cabalistarum Selec-
tiones," Venice, 1569; (2) "Opera," Bologna, 1496;
Venice, 1498; Basel, 1557.

Bibliography : Dreydorll, Das System des J. Pico, Marburg,
1858 ; Dl Giovanni, Pico detta Mirandnla, Filosofo Plato-
nwo, Florence, 1883 : idem, Pico Ndla Storut del Rinasei-
mentn, etc., Palermo, 1894 ; Gratz, Oeseh. viii. 245-247 ; Geda-
liah ibn Yaliya, Shalslielet ha-Kahhalah, p. 50a, Amsterdam,
1697 : Zunz,' Z. O. pp. 8, 522.
D. S. O.

PICTORIAIi ABT : There are no ancient re-
mains showing in what way, if any, the Jews of
Bible times made use of painting for decorative or
other purposes. For the references in the Bible
see Painting. During the Middle Ages painting
was a craft which was monopolized by the gilds,
and Jews were thereby prevented from showing any
proficiency in the art. The only direction in which
the latter evidenced any skill was in the illumina-
tion of manuscripts (see Manuscripts).

In modern times painting was at first mainly
dii'ected to sacerdotal, decorative purposes, but
Jews were precluded from thus employing it, even
in their own synagogues, by the rabbinical inter-
pretation of the second commandment. It is not,
therefore, surprising that it is only with emanci-
pation that any Jewish names are found in the an-

nals of painting. During the last 150 years a cer-
tain number of Jews have displayed considerable
skill as artists, chief among them being Joseph Is-
raels in Holland. A few Jewish painters, prominent
among whom are S. J. Solomon in England and E.
M. Lilien in Germany, have in recent years devoted
their talent to specifically Jewish subjects. The
following is a partial list of Jewish painters who
have distinguished themselves in modern times:

America: Max Rosenthal (b. 1833), historical
portraits; Max Weyl (b. 1837), landscapes; Henry
Mosler (b. 1841), genre and portraits; Toby Edward
Rosenthal (b. 1848), genre ; Herman Naphtali Hyne-
man (b. 1849), genre; Katherine M. Cohen (b. 1859),
portraits; George da Maduro Peixotto (b. 1859),
portraits and mural decorations; Albert Rosenthal
(b. 1863), portrait-etching; Albert Edward Sterner
(b. 1863), genre and water-colors; Louis Loeb (b.
1866), landscapes and portraits ; Augustus Koopman
(b. 1869), genre and ijortraits; Leo Mielziner (b.
1869), portraits; Louis Kronberg(b. 1872), portraits;
Edmond Weill (b. 1872), genre ; J. Campbell PhilHps
(b. 1873), negro life, and portraits; J. Mortimer
Lichtenauer (b. 1876), mural decorations.

Austria-Hungary : Anton Rafael Mengs (1728-
1779), historical, genre, and portraits; Priedrich
Priedlander (b. 1825), military subjects and portraits ;
Adolf Pichler (b. 1834), historical ; Leopold Horo-
witz (b. 1837), portraits and subjects from Jewish
life; Lajos Bruck (b. 1846), subjects from Hun-
garian folk-life and portraits; Karl Karger (b.
1848), genre ; Joseph Koves (b. 1853), portraits and
genre; Isidor Kaufmann (b. 1853), subjects from
Jewish life and genre; Gustav Mannheimer (b.
1854), landscapes; Camilla Priedlander (b. 1856;
daughter of Priedrich Priedlander), still life ; Ernst
Berger (b. 1857), Biblical subjects; Gyula Basch (b.
1859), genre and portraits ; Adolf Hirschl (b. 1860),
historical ; Alexander Nyari (b. 1861) ; Max Bruck
(b. 1863), genre; Adolf Peuyes (b. 1867), genre;
Philip Laszlo (b. 1869), portraits; Karl Reinhard
(b. 1872), genre; Arpad Basch (b. 1873), water-colors;
Leopold Pollak (1806-80), genre and portraits.

Denmark: Ismael Israel Mengs (1690-1765),
miniature and enamel; Karl Heinrich Bloch (b.
1834), scenic and genre; Ernst Meyer (1797-1861), ■
genre; David Monies (1812-94), historical, genre,
and portraits; Geskel Saloman (1821-1903), genre.

England : B. S. Marks (b. 1827), portraits ; Pelix
Moscheles (b. 1833); Carl Schloesser (b. 1836);
Simeon Solomon (e. 1850), Prerafifaelite ; Solomon
J. Solomon, A.R.A. (b. 1860), genre and portraits;
Alfred Praga (b. 1860), genre and miniature ; Abra-
ham Solomon (1824-63); Isaac Snowman (b. 1874);
Ellen Gertrude Cohen (b. 1876), portraits and genre;
Solomon Alexander Hart, R.A. (1806-81), scenic,
genre, and portraits; Lionel Cowen(1846-95).

France: Pelix Dias (1794^1817); Emile Levy
(b. 1826), subjects from Jewish religious history;
Jacob Emile Edouard Brandon (b. 1831), genre;
Constant Mayer (b. 1833), genre and portraits ; Jules
Worms (b. 1833), humoristic genre ; Zachaiie Astruc
(b. 1839), genre and panels In water-color; Henri
Leopold Levy (b. 1840), historical and genre ; Al-
phonse Levy (b. 1843), Jewish life; Leo Herrmann
(b. 1853), genre; Perdinand Heilbuth (1836-79),

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pico de Mirandola
Pierleoni

genre and portraits; Alpbonse Ilirsch (184^84),
genre and portraits ; Henry Baron (1816-85), his-
torical and genre; Auguste Hadamard (1823-86),
genre; Benjamin Eugene Ficliel (1826-95), historical
and genn-; Eugfcne Alcan (1811-98), genre.

Germany: Philipp Arons (b. 1821), portraits;
Rudolf Jonas (b. 1822), landscapes; Louis Katzen-
stein (b. 1824), portraits; Karl Daniel Friedrich
Bach (1756-1829), historical, genre, animals, and
portraits; iloses Samuel Lowe (1756-1831), minia-
ture and pastels; Felix Possart (b. 1837), landscapes
and genre; Hermann Junker (b. 1838), subjects from
Jewish life; Julius Bodenstein (b, 1847), land-
scapes; Jeremiah David Alexander Fiorino (179(5-
1847), miniature ; !Max Liebermann (b, 1849), scenic
and genre; Rudolf Christian Eugen Bendcmann(b.
1851), historical, genre, and mural decorations; Karl
Jacoby (b. 1853), historical and genre; Felix Bor-
chardt (b. 1857), scenic and portraits; Max Kahn
(b. 1857), genre; Wilhelm Feldmann (Ij. 1859), land-
scapes ; Karl Blosz
(b. 1860), genre ;
Julius Muhr (1819-
1865), genre; Her-
mann Goldschmidt
(1802-66), historic-
al; Eduard Magnus
(1799-1872), por-
traits and genre;
Johannes Veit
(1790-1854) and
Philipp Yeit (1793-
1877), religious, his-
torical, and genre;
Julius Jacob (1811-
1882), landscapes
and Dortraits ;
Moritz Daniel Op-
penheim (1801-82),
subjects from Jew-
ish life, portraits,
and genre; Benja-
min Ulmarm (1829-84), historical ; Eduard Julius
Friedrich Bendemann (1811-89), Biblical subjects,
portraits, and genre; Max Michael (1823-91), genre;
Alfred Rethel a816-59) and Otto Rethel (1822-92),
frescos, historical, and genre : Karl Morgenstern
(1812-93), landscapes; Friedrich Kraus (1826-94),
portraits and genre; Louis Xeustutter (1829-99),
genre and portraits; Solomon Hirschfelder (1832-
1903), genre.

Holland: .Joseph Israels (h. 1824), genre; David
Bles (1821-99), genre.

Italy: Piaphael Bachi (c. 17.50), miniature; Tuilo
Massarani (b. 1826), genre: Giuseppe Coen (1811-
18.56j, landscapes and architectural; Leopold Pollak
(1806-80), genre and portraits.

Rttmania : Barbu Iscovescu (1816-.54); Julius
Feld I}). 1871j. portraits and genre.

Bussia and Poland : Isaac Lvovich Asknazi
(b. 1856), religious subjects, genre, and portraits;
Jacob Semeno'vich Goldblatt (b. 1860), historical ;
Moisei Leibovich Maimon (b. 1860). genre and por-
traits; Peter Isaacovich Geller (b. 1862), .Jewish his-
torical subjects; Samuel Hirszenberg (b. 1866),
genre and scenic; Maurice Grun (b. 1870), genre
X.— 3

Tomb of Pierleoni in the

(From Lanciaui, '* >"4w

and portraits; Jacques Kaplan (b. 1872), portraits
and genre; Alexander Lesser (1814-84), historical;
Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (b. 1862), genre and
portraits.

Bibliographt: Jadi»che KlXnxtler, Berlin, 1903; S. J. Solo-
mon, in J. Q. R. 1908.

■J. P. C.

PIDYON HA-BEN. See Pkimogenituke.

PIERLEONI : Noble Roman family of Jewish
origin. A Jewish banker of Rome who had acquired
a princely fortune was baptized in the first half of
the eleventh century, took the name of Benedictus
Chrislianus, and married the daughter of a Roman
nobleman. Leo, the offspring of this union, and
one of the most powerful magnates of the city, had
a castle in Trastevere and affiliated himself with
the papal part}-, and his son Petrus Leonis, from
whom the family derives its name, continued his
father's policy, controlling the Isola Tiberina in ad-
dition to the castle
in Trastevere, and
having another
castle opposite the
Tiber bridge near
the old theater of
Marcellus, which
was included in the
fortifications. He
was the leader of
the papal party and
the most faithful
and powerful pro-
tector of the pope.s.
L'rban II. died in
Petrus' castle, and
the latter defended
the cause of Paschal
11. against the anti-
popes and the em-
peror. When
Henry V. came to
Rome Petrus Leonis was at the head of the papal
legation which effected a reconciliation between the
pope and the emperor, but Paschal's attempt to make
the son of Petrus prefect of the city caused a riot.
Petrus was prominent in the liljeration of Pope
Gelasius II., and when Petrus died in 1128 his son of
the same name was cardinal, and had on several
occasions rendered service to the Church. In 1130
Cardinal Pierleoni was elected pope under the name
of AxACLExrs II., while the counter party chose
Innocent 11. The schism lasted for eight years, until
the death of Anacletus, after which the family of
Pierleoni made peace with the pope, retaining its
power and influence, and being distinguished by
various honors. Leo and Petrus, the Jjrother and
nephew of Anacletus, were papal delegates at Sutri
in 1142, and another brother, -Jordan, with whom the
era of senators begins, became the head of the Roman
republic as Patricius in 1144, while a si.ster is said
to have been the wife of Roger I. of Sicily. In the
twelfth century Cencius Pierleoni was ".scriniarius"
of the Church, and in 1204 John Pierleoni, who had
been appointed elector by Pope Innocent III. , chose
Gregory Petri Leonis Rainerii as senator. The leg-

Cloisters ol St. Paul, Rome.

Tales of Ancient Rome.")

PiKeon
Filgrimag'e

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

end wliicli traces the lineage of the family of Pier-
leonl to the ancient Roman noble family of the Anicii
is as apocryphal as the story of the descent of the
Hapsburgs from the counts of Aventin, who be-
longed to the Pierleoni.

BiBLiOGRAPnT : Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastiei, years 1111,
1115 : Gregorovlus, Oesch. der Stodt Bom im MittelaUer, iv.
349 et seq., 391 et sea.; vols. Iv. and v., passim ; Liber Pontifi-
calvs, ed. Duchesne, il. 303, 307,318, ^, 336, 344, 347; Monu-
menta Germanim HUtorica, v. 472 et seq., xl. 614, xU. 711 ;
Ducbesne, Hist orte Francorum Scriptores, Iv. 376 ; Ollvieri,
n Senato dt Boma, p. 185; Vogelstem and Rieper, Oeseh.
der Juden in Btm, 1. 214 et seq., 218, 221 et seq.; Kehr, In
Archivio delta B. Societd Romand di Staria Patria, xxiv.
(1901), pp. 253 et seq.
s. H. V.

PIGEON. See Dote.

PIGO : Italian family of rabbis. Formerly the
name was as a rule transcribed EiGO ; in an Ital-
ian document of 1643 it appears in the form " Pichio " ;
and in Hebrew it is sometimes written Vp'S. To
this family belong Ephraim Pigo, a learned man
who died in Venice in 1605 or 1606, and the rabbis
Judah. Pigo and Soloraon Pigo ; the latter appear
in the responsa " Mayim Rabbim " of Rabbi Raphael
Meldola.

Another branch of the family lived in Turkey.
Sloses Pigo (d. in Adrianople 1576) wrote "Zik-
ron Torat Mosheli," a dictionary of the haggadic
themes (Constantinople, 1554; Prague, 1623). His
son Joseph Pigo of Salonica was the author of
" Teshubot " and " Dine Eedikat ha-Re'ah " (Salo-
nica, 1653).

Bibliography: Mortara, Indice, pp. 49, 50; Berliner, Luhot
Ahanim, Nos. 130, 131 ; Winter and Wunsche, Die JUdisihe
Literatur, 11. 652 et seq.; Steinsclineider, Cat. Bodl. col. 746 ;
Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 232 ; Furst, Bibl. Jud. 1. 240.

G. ' I. E.

PI-HAHIROTH : A place in the wilderness
where the Israelites encamped when they turned
back from Etham. It lay between Migdol and the
sea " before Baal-zephon " (Ex. xiv. 3, 9 ; Num.
xxxiil. 7, 8). The etymology of the name, which is
apparently Egyptian, was the subject of much spec-
ulation by the ancient commentators. The Septua-
gint, while treating the word as a proper name in
Numbers (Elpii-d ; translating, however, 13 by aT6fia.),
translates it in Exodus by r^f knaMeuQ (= " sheep-
fold " or " farm-building "), thus reading in the He-
brew text rrnan 'S. The Mekilta (Beshallah, Wa-
yehi, 1) identifies the place with Pithom, which was
called Pi-hahiroth (= " the mouth of freedom ") after
the Israelites had been freed from bondage, the place
itself being specified as a valley between two high
rocks. The Targum of pseudo-Jonathan (adloc),
while following the Mekilta in the interpretation of
"Pi-hahiroth," identifies the place with Tanis.

The theory of an Egyptian etymology was ad-
vanced by Jablonsky, who compared it to the Cop-
tic "pi-akhirot" = "the place where sedge grows,"
and by Naville, who explained the name as "the
house of the goddess Kerhet." On the basis of this
latter explanation, Pulgence Fresnel identified Pi-
hahiroth with the modern Ghu waibat al-Bus (= " the
bed of reeds "), near Ras Atakah.

Bibliography : Selbie, In Hastings, Diet. Bible.

E. G. n. M. Sbl.

PIKES, ABRAHAIVI B. ELIJAH HA-
KOHEN : German rabbi; mentioned in "LilfeL^ute
Maharil," hilkots "Shabbat" and "Yom Kippur."
He addressed two letters to the community of Hal-
berstadt, in which he discussed the commandments
and prohibitions. He requested that his epistles
might be copied and read to others. These letters
were printed at Basel in 1599.

Bibliography : Michael, Or hor-j^ayyim. No. 42.
B. C.

S. 0.

PIIiATE, PONTIUS : Fifth Roman procurator
of Judea, Samaria, and Idumsea. from 36 to 36 of the
common era; successor of Valerius Gratua Accord-
ing toPhilo("De Legationead Caium,"ed. Mangey,
ii. 590), his administration was characterized by cor-
ruption, violence, robberies, ill treatment of the peo-
ple, and continuous executions without even the
form of a trial. His very first act nearly caused a
general insurrection. While his predecessors, re-
specting the religious feelings of the Jews, removed
from their standards all the efiigies and images when
entering Jerusalem, Pilate allowed his soldiers to
bring them into the city by night. As soon as this
became known crowds of Jews hastened to Csesarea,
where the procurator was residing, and besought
him to remove the images. After five days of dis-
cussion he ordered his soldiers to surround the peti-
tioners and to put them to death unless they ceased
to trouble him. He yielded only when he saw that
the Jews would rather die than bear this affront.
At a later date Pilate appropriated funds from the
sacred treasury in order to provide for the construc-
tion of an aqueduct for supplying the city of Jeru-
salem with water from the Pools of Solomon ; and
he suppressed the riots provoked by this spoliation
of the Temple by sendiug among the crowds dis-
guised soldiers carrying concealed daggers, who
massacred a great number, not only of the rioters,
but of casual spectators.

In spite of his former experience of the sensitive-
ness of the Jews with regard to images and emblems,
Pilate hung up in Herod's palace gilt shields dedi-
cated to Tiberius, and again nearly provoked an in-
surrection. The shields were removed by a special
order of Tiberius, to whom the Jews had protested.
Pilate's last deed of cruelty, and the one which
brought about his downfall, was the massacre of a
number of Samaritans who had assembled on Mount
Gerizim to dig for some sacred vessels which an
impostor had led them to believe Moses had buried
tliere. Concerning this massacre the Samaritans
lodged a complaint with Vitellius, legate of Syria,
who ordered Pilate to repair to Rome to defend him-
self. On the participation by Pilate in the trial and
crucifixion of Jesus see Crucifixion; Jesus op
Nazareth.

The end of Pilate is enveloped in mystery. Ac-
cording to Eusebius ("Hist. Eccl." ii. 7), he was
banished to Vienna (Vienne) in Gaul, where various
misfortunes caused him at last to commit suicide ;
while the chronicle of Malalas alleges, with less
probability, that he was beheaded under Nero. A
later legend says that his suicide was anticipatory of
Caligula's sentence ; that the body was thrown into
the Tiber, causing disastrous tempests and floods;

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pigeon
Pilgrimag'e

that it afterward produced similar effects in the
Rhone at Vienne; and that, finally, it had to be con-
signed to a deep pool among the Alps.

BlBLiOGRjiPHT : Josephus, Ant. xvUl. 3, 8 12 ; idem, B. J. il. 9,
S9 2-4 ; Ewald, Oesch. iv. 59* ; v. 49-95 ; vl. 319, 322-332, 343 :
Gi-fitz, Gesch. 111. 253-271 ; SchUrer, Geseh. 1. 488-492 ; Brann,
Die SOhne des Herodes, 1873, pp. 1-16 ; Mommsen, Rdimisehe
Qegchichte, T. 508 et eeq.
s. I. Br.

PILEGESH (Hebrew, E»J^'B; comp. Greek, waX-
AoKif). — Biblical Data : A concubine recognized
among the ancient Hebrews. She enjoyed the same
rights in the house as the legitimate wife. Since it
was regarded as the highest blessing to have many
children, while the greatest curse was childless-
ness, legitimate wives themselves gave their maids
to their husbands to atone, at least in part, for their
own barrenness, as in the cases of Sarah and Hagar,
Leah and Zilpah, Rachel and Bilhah. The concu-
bine commanded the same respect and inviolability
as the wife ; and it was regarded as the deepest dis-
honor for the man to whom she belonged if hands
were laid upon her. Thus Jacob never forgave his
eldest son for violating Bilhah (Gen. xxxv. 22, xlix.
4). According to the story of Gibeah, related in
Judges xix., 25,000 warriors of the tribe of Benja-
min lost their lives on account of the maltreatment
and death of a concubine. Abner, Saul's first gen-
eral, deserted Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, who had re-
proached his leader with having had intercourse
with Rizpah, the daughter of his royal father's con-
cubine, Aiah (II Sam. iii. 7) ; and Absalom brought
the greatest dishonor upon David by open inter-
course with his father's concubines (iJ. xvi. 21etseq.).

The children of the concubine had equal rights
with those of the legitimate wife. Abraham dis-
missed his natural sons with gifts (Gen. XXV. 6), and
Jacob's sons by Bilhah and Zilpah were equal with
his sons by Leah and Rachel ; while Abimelech, who
subsequently became king over a part of Israel, was
the son of Gideon-jerubbaal and his Shechemite con-
cubine (Judges viii. 31). In the time of the Kings
the practise of taking concubines was no longer due
to childlessness but to luxury. David had ten con-
cubines (II Sam. XV. 16), who, liowever, also did
housework ; Solomon had 300 (I Kings xi. 30) ; and
his son Rehoboam had sixty (II Chron. xi. 21).

BiBLioGRAPHT : Hastings, Diet. Bible, s.v. Marriage ; Stafle,
Gesch. Isr. 1. 385, 636 ; Hamburger, B. B. T. s.v. Kehsweib.
E. G. H. S. O.

In Kabbinical Literature : According to the

Babylonian Talmud (Sanh. 21a), the difference be-
tween a concubine and a legitimate wife was that
the latter received a Kettjbah and her marriage
was preceded by a formal betrothal ("kiddushin "),
which was not the case with the former (comp. Rashi
on Gen. xxv. 6, and Nahmanides ad loc). Accord-
ing to R. Judah (Yer. Ket. v. 29d), however, the
concubine also received a ketubah, but without the
aliment pertaining to it.
E. c. S. O.

FILGBIIffAGE : A journey which is made to
a shrine or sacred place in performance of a vow or
for the sake of obtaining some form of divine bless-
ing. Every male Israelite was required to visit the
Temple three times a year (Ex. xxiii. 17 ; Deut. xvi.

16). The pilgrimage to Jerusalem on one of the
three festivals of Passover, 81iabu'ot, and Sukkot
was called "re'iyah" (="the appearance"). The
Mishnah says, "All are under obligation to appear,
except minors, women, the blind, the lame, the aged,
and one who is ill physically or.men tally . " A minor
in this case is defined as one who is too young to be
taken by his father to Jerusalem. According to the
Mosaic law every one should take an
Pilgrimage offering, though the value thereof is

to First not fixed (comp. Ex. xxxiii. 14; Deut.

Temple, xvi. 17) ; the Mishnah, however, fixed
the minimum at three silver pieces,
each of thirty-two grains of fine silver (Hag. i. 1, 3).
While the appearance of women and infant males
was not obligatory, they usually accompanied their
husbands and fathers, as in all public gatherings
(Deut. xxxi. 12). The Talmud plainly infers tliat
both daughters and sons joined the pilgrims at the
Passover festival in Jerusalem (Pes. 89a; Git. 25a).

According to tlie Biblical accounts, Jeroboam,
who caused the secession of Ephraim from Judah,
made two calves of gold, placing one in Dan and the
other in Beth-el, to divert the pilgrims from Jerusa-
lem (I Kings xii. 36-38). He stationed guards on
the boundary-lines of his dominions to prevent the
festival pilgrimages to the Temple (Ta'an. 28a). So
great a menace to the Ephraimite government were
the Temple pilgrimages that even King Jehu, who
destroyed the Ba'al, feared to remove the golden
calves of Jeroboam (II Kings x. 28, 29). In Judea
the pilgrimages to Jerusalem were kept up regu-
larly, but the principal gathering of the people was
on the Sukkot festival, called "Hag ]ia-Asif" =
" Festival of Gathering " (I Kings viii. 65 ; II Chron.
vii. 8, 9). King Josiah revived the Passover pil-
grimage to Jerusalem (II Kings xxiii. 23). King
Hoshea, son of Elah, dismissed the guards and per-
mitted the people to go undisturbed to Jerusalem
for the festivals (Yer. Ta'an. iv. 7 ; Git. 88a).

During the time of the Second Temple, the Ju-
deans ruled Palestine and as a united people cele-
brated the Feast of Sukkot in Jerusalem (Neh. viii.
17). From beyond Palestine, especially from the
River Euphrates, they journeyed to
Pilgrimage Jerusalem for the festivals. Some
to Second even endangered their lives passing

Temple, the guards posted to stop the pilgrim-
ages (Ta'an. 38a; Gratz, "Gesch." 3d
ed., iii. 157, 668). The number of Jewish pilgrims
to the Temple was computed by the governor
Gesius Floeus (64-66), who counted 256,500 pas-
chal lambs atone Passover festival; allowing ten
persons to one lamb, this would make 3,565,000 pil-
grims (Josephus, " B. J. " vi. 9). The Tosef ta re-
cords the census of Agrippa, who ordered the priests,
to take one hind leg of €very paschal lamlD, and
counted 1,200,000 legs, which would make the total
13,000,000 (Tosef., Pes. iv. 64b). These figures are
evidently exaggerated, and are based on the desire
to double the 600,000 of the Exodus, a tendency
frequently noticed in the Haggadah. It is calculated
that ancient Jerusalem comprised an area of 3,400,-
000 square j'ards, and, allowing 10 yards for each
person, would contain 240,000 persons (see Luncz,
"Jerusalem," i., English part, pp. 83-103).

Filsrimag'e

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

The facilities provided for the convenience of the
pilgrims were such as to encourage pilgrimages.
Special measures were taken to repair the roads
leading to Jerusalem and to dig wells along the
route (Shek. i. 1, v. 1). Thirty days before the fes-
tival it was forbidden to engage professional mourn-
ers to bewail the dead lest they get their compensa-
tion from the money intended to be spent in Je-
rusalem (M. K. viii. 1). The hides of the sacrifices
were left to compensate the innkeepers for lodging
the pilgrims, and no other fee was allowed (Yoma
12a). The inhabitants of Jerusalem received the
pilgrims hospitably ; the priests permitted them to
see the show bread and told them of the miracle
connected with it (Yoma 31b). Public speakers
praised and thanked the pilgrims (Suk. 49b; Pes.
5b). The ceremony attending the offering of the
first-fruits (see Bikkurim) In Jerusalem (Deut. xxvl.
2-4), which commenced on Shabu'ot (the Feast of
Harvest; comp. Ex. xxiii. 16), is supposed to give
a general idea of the reception accorded to the
pilgrims.

The pilgrimages to Jerusalem did not cease with
the destruction of the Temple (Cant. R. iv. 2). The
women often joined their husbands, sometimes in
spite of the protests of the latter (Ned.
Post-Exilic 23a). But the joy that attended the
Pil- former pilgrimages, when the Temple

grimages. was still in existence, changed to
lamentations for the loss of national
and political independence. The pilgrims mourned
the destruction of the Temple and cried : " Thy holy
cities are now in ruins ; Zion is a wilderness ; Jeru-
salem is a desolation. Our Sanctuary, the pride of
our ancestors, is burned down, and all our precious
things are destroyed " (M. 5. 26a).

The Karaites, in the ninth century, likewise
showed great devotion to Jerusalem. Their hakam,
Sahl ibn Mazliah, wrote to Jacob b. Samuel that
Karaite pilgrims of various towns gathered to pray
for the restoration of Zion; these pilgrims he de-
scribed as Nazarltes who abstained from wine and
meat (Pinsker, " Likkute Kadmoniyyot," Appendix,
p. 31). A company of Karaites, headed by Moses
ha-Yerushalmi, journeyed from Chuf ut-Kale (" The
Jewish Rock "), from the Crimea, and from the Cau-
casus. The inscription on Moses' tombstone, dated
4762 (1003), reads: " Good luck followed him and his
companions to the tomb of King David

Karaite and of his son Solomon, which no
Pil- other persons heretofore had been per-

grimages. mitted to enter. " All pilgrims to Pal-
estine were sent out with music and
song in honor and praise of the Holy Land. The
pilgrims on their return were known as " Jerusalem-
ites " (see the Karaite Siddur, part iv. ; " Luah Erez
Yisrael," v. 33).

The Turkish conquest under Saladin (1187) secured
to the Oriental Jews the privilege of visiting Jeru-
salem and the sacred places. Numerous pilgrims
went from Damascus, Babylonia, and Egypt, and
they remained in Jerusalem over Passover and Sha-
bu'ot. Nahmani, in a letter dated 1268, writes:
"Many men and women from Damascus, Babylon,
and their vicinities come to Jerusalem to see the site
of the Holy Temple and to lament its destruction."

About fifty years later Estori Parhi notes the custom
of the brethren of Damascus, Aleppo, Tripoli, and
Alexandria to go to Jerusalem for the holy days " in
order to express their grief" ("Kaftor wa-Ferah,"
ied. Edelmann, vl. 19). Among the Eastern Jews,
especially those of Babylonia and Kurdistan, it has
been the custom from the fourteenth century onward
to go on a pilgrimage at least once a year, many of
them actually walking the whole distance. The
era of the Crusades evidently encouraged pilgrim-
ages of Jews from Europe ; a most noteworthy ex-
ample is that of JuDAH ha-Levi (1140). Melr of
Rothenburg was made a prisoner on his way to Pal-
estine. Samuel b. Simson (13th cent.) received per-
mission from the governor of Jerusalem to visit the
cave of Machpelah at Hebron. It was on his invi-
tation that 300 rabbis journeyed from France and
England into Palestine in 1310. These pilgrimages
became so frequent that Hayyim ben Hananeel ha-
Kohen felt compelled to issue a warning against
them (Tos. Ket. 110b, s.v. nois xmi).

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1493, and

the consequent settlement of many exiles in Turkish

territory, largely increased the number of pilgrims.

The goal of their journeys was chieflj'

European the tomb of Samuel the Prophet at
Pil- Ramah, where they held annual com-

grimag^s. munions and celebrations, similar in
character to the celebrations instituted
on Lag be-'OMER, a century later, at the tombs of
R. Simeon b. Yohai and his son Eleazar in Meron.
In 1700 Judah he-Hasid of Siedlce and Gedaliah of
Siemjatiszcz started upon a pilgrimage from Poland
(Gratz, "Gesoh." x. 340); they were accompanied
by R. Nathan Note, rabbi at The Hague and author
of "Me'orot Natan." In 1765 a company of four-
teen families from Poland and Lithuania, mostly
Hasidim, went on a pilgrimage to Palestine. Among
them was Simhah b. Samuel, author of "Binyaa
shel Simhah." He writes that he stayed at Con-
stantinople, where the Jewish community provided
passage for the pilgrims to Palestine. There were
110 Sephardim in the vessel that took him to Jaffa
(Luncz, " Jerusalem, "iv. 137-153).

In modern times the term "pilgrimage," with its
ancient and medieval meaning, has ceased to be ap-
plicable. Sir Moses Monteflore and his wife Judith
made a visit of piety to the Holy Land in 1828 ; in
a later one they were accompanied by L. L6we,
and many other individuals made similar visits.
The Zionist movement led to the formation of a
number of parties for the purpose of making visits
of piety to Palestine and the holy places. While
on such a visit, in 1890, R. Samuel Mohilewer and
Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz founded a Jewish library
in Jerusalem. The Jews of Palestine complain of
the lack of interest on the part of their coreligionists
elsewhere as compared with the thousands of Chris-
tians who avail themselves of modern opportunities
to visit the Holy Land.

The following is a partial list of noted Jewish
pilgrims and visitors to Palestine from the twelfth
century up to the present time :

1140. Judah ha-Levi.
1165. Moses Maimonldes.
1171. Benjamin of Tudela.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pilgrrimag'e

1178. Pethahiali of Regensburg.

1210. Abraham Malmonides.

1210. Samuel b. Slmson witb R. Jonathan ha-Kohen of Lunel
(" lUn^ralres," pp. 115, 122).

1216. Judah al-^arizi.

125T. Jehlel of Paris.

1258. Jacob of Paris (" Simane ha-?:ebarim ").

1267. Moses Naljraanl.

1318. Estori Farhl.

1334. Isaac b. Joseph Chelo of Spain (author of " Shibhe di-Ye-
rushalayim ") .

1438. Elijah of Ferrara (author of " Ahabat Zlyyon ") .

1440. Isaac b. Alpera of Malaga (who corresponded with Rabbi
Duran ; " Sefer Yuhasin," ed. Fllipowski, p. 228) .

1450. Joseph b. Nahmaa ha-Levl (sent list of sacred tombs to
Eabbi Duran ; " Sefer Yuhasin," I.e.).

1481. MeshuUam b. Menahem of Volaterra (see his letters In
Luncz's " Jerusalem," 1. 166-227) .

1488. Obadiah da Beitinoro.

1500. Jacob Silkili of SlcUy (" Sefer Yuhasin," I.e.).

1523. Israel of Perugia ("Jerusalem," 111. 97).

1523. David Reubeni.

1535. Isaac Meir Latif.

1540. Gershon b. Asher Scarmelo (author of "YHius ha-Zaddl-
Wm").

1564. trri b. Simeon of Biel (author of " Yibus ha^Abot").

1583. Simeon Back (letters in "Jerusalem," ii. 141-157).

1600. Solomon Shlflmel b. Hayyim of Lattenburg.

1614. Mordecai b. Isaiah LItz of Raussnitz, Austria.

1624. Gershon b. Eliezer ha-Levi (author of " Gelllot Ere? Yis-
rael").

1641. Samuel b. David Yemshel (Sa'D?''), a Karaite. (The name
" Yemshel" is the abbreviation of DiSii' 13:)2'D Sy mj\)
He was accompanied by Moses b. Elijah ha-Levl of
Kafla, Feodosia (Gurland, "Ginze Yisrael," pp. 31^3).

1650. Moses b. Naphtall Hirsch Prager (author of " Darke ?iy-
yon").

1685. Benjaminb.EUjah, a Karaite ("Ginze Yisrael," pp. 44-54).

1701. Judah he-Hasld of Sledlce.

1740. Hayyim Abulaha of Smyrna.

1747. Abraham Gershon Kutewer (of Kuty), brother-in-law of
Israel BeSHT.

1753. Aryeh Judah Meisel of Opatow.

1758. Joseph Soter of Brody (author of " Iggeret Yosef," a jour-
nal of his travels, Frankfor^on-the-Oder, 1761).

1763. Slmhah b. Joshua (author of " SIppure Brez ha-Galil ") .

1765. Moses ha-Yerushalml (author of " Yede Mosheh," de-
scription of sacred graves) .

1768. Perez b. Moses (author of "Shebah u-Tehillah le-Erez
Yisrael," Amsterdam, 1769) .

1777. Israel Polltzki, Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk, and Abraham
Kalisker (Luncz, "Jerusalem," v. 164^-174).

1799. Nahman Bratzlav of Horodok, a Hasid (author of " Maggid
Sihot," a description of his journey to Palestine).

1805. Menahem Mendel and Israel of Shklov (disciples of Elijah
of Wilna).

1828. Moses Monteflore.

1833. Joseph Schwarz (author of " Tebu'ot ha-Arez ").

1837. Menahem Mendel b. Aaron of Kamenec (author of" Aliy-
yat ha-Arez," Wilna, 1839).

1834. Albert Cohn of Paris.

1856. L. A. Frankl (authorof "Nach Jerusalem ").
1867. Charles Netter of Paris.
1872. Heinrich Graetz.
1890. R. Samuel Mohilewer.

1897. Israel Zangwlll.

1898. Theodor Herzl.

For a list of sacred tombs see Tombs; see also

Travei-brs in Palestine.

BiBLiOGKAPHT : Carmolv, Itinfraires de la Terre Salnte,

Brussels, 1847; Gurland, Oinze Yisrael, vol. 1., Lyck, 1865;
Luncz, Luah, v. 5-59.
D. J. D. E.

Pilgrimages are made usually on fixed days in the

year, called by the Oriental and North- African Jews

"days of zi'arah " ; on such days it is customary to

visit the tombs or relics of certain per-

Customs. sonages who in early or medieval times

were famous as kings or prophets or

for their holy lives. There are other holy places

which the people honor as they will and at any

time. The days of pilgrimage are celebrated by
prayers, rejoicings, and popular festivals.

In Jerusalem a crowd of Jews gathers before the
western wall of the Temple of Solomon ("Kotel
Ma'arabi ") every Friday evening and on the eves of
feast-days, as well as on twenty-three successive
days from the eve of the 17th of Tammuz to the
9th of Ab inclusive. On the latter date this re-
ligious service occurs at midnight. On the 6th of
Siwan, the Day of Pentecost, the Sephardic Jews
go to pray at the tombs of the kings of Judah at the
foot of Mount Zlon. On the following day they
pray at the tomb of the high priest Simon the Just,
and at the tombs of other holy men in the neighbor-
hood, while the Ashkenazim gather at the tombs of
the kings of Judah. On the 18th of lyyar, called
"Lag be-'Omer,"all the Jews of Jerusalem, Sephar-
dim and Ashkenazim, pray at the tomb of Simon
the Just.

At Burak, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, is
the tomb of Rachel, wife of the patriarch Jacob, to
which the Jews of Jerusalem go by turns during
the thirty days of the month of Elul. But the 15th
of Heshwan is especially consecrated to this pilgrim-
age (Benjamin II., "Mas'e Yisrael," pp. 3-6, Lyck,
1859). At Rama, near Jerusalem, known in Arabic
as " Nabi Samwil, " all the Jews of the latter city
gather on the 28th of lyyar at the
In tomb of the prophet Samuel. The

Palestine, pious even pass the night there. At
Khaifa, a port of Palestine, on the eve-
ning of the Sabbath which follows the anniversary
of the destruction of the Temple, the Jews hold a
popular festival, with illuminations, in a grotto, sit-
uated on the summit of Mount Carmel, in which the
prophet Elijah is said to have taken refuge from
the persecution of King Ahab. At Tiberias on the
night of the 14tli of lyyar, known as " Pesah Sheni "
(Num. ix. 9-14), Jews gather from all parts of Pal-
estine, and there are brilliant illuminations and a
popular festival at the tomb of Rabbi MeIr (" Ba'al
ha-Nes " = " the miracle- worker ").

At Safed, from the morning after Passover (32d
of Nisan) till the 18th of lyyar, every week the
Jewish population ceases to work, and makes pil-
grimages to the suburbs in the following order;
namely, to (1) Biria, where is the tomb of Beuaiah
ben Jehoiada, David's general; (2) the tomb of
the prophet Hosea in the cemetery; and (3) 'Ain
Zaitun, to the tomb of Joseph Saragossi, a Spanish
immigrant who reorganized the community of Sa-
fed in 1492. On the night of Lag be-'Omer all the
able-bodied Jews of Safed and several thousands
of pilgrims from Palestine, Turkey, northern Africa,
the Caucasus, and Persia celebrate a great popular
festival with illuminations at Meron, near Safed, at
the mausoleum of Simeon ben Yohai. At each
new moon it is considered essential among the Ash-
kenazim of Safed — men, women, and children — to
make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Isaac Luria, the
famous cabalist. At Sidon, toward the end of ly-
yar, people from the most distant parts of Palestine
make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Zebulun, one of
the sons of the patriarch Jacob.

Places of pilgrimage exist not only in Palestine,
but also in Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Egypt, Algeria,

Filgrrimage
Pilpul

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

and Morocco. In Mesopotamia the places of pilgrim-
age are Bagdad, Kiffel, and Bassora. At Bagdad,
at the very gates of the town, is the mausoleum of the
high priest Joshua, known under the popular name
of the " Kohen Mausoleum. " At each new moon it is
visited by thousands of Jews and es-
In SEeso- pecially by barren women. In the
potamia. local cemetery the tomb of the sheik
Isaac, a revered Jew, is also an object
of frequent pilgrimages. At Kefil, a locality in Irak
near the ruins of Babylon, is the tomb of the prophet
Ezekiel, to which the Jews of Mesopotamia go on
pilgrimage on the 6th of Siwan (Pentecost). At Bas-
sora the tomb of Ezra is visited on the same date.

In Kurdistan the Jews have three places of pil-
grimage : (1) In the district of Elkosh, near Mosul,
the tomb of the prophet Nahum is a place of pil-
grimage for fourteen days, the eight days preceding
and the six following Pentecost. Readings are given
from the prophecy of Nahum from a manuscript
supposed to have been written by the prophet him-
self. (2) At Kerkuk, between the upper and lower
parts of the town, are four tombs, said
In Kurdis- to be those of Daniel, Hananiah, Mish-
tan and ael, and Azariah, to which the Jews of
Persia. the district make pilgrimages at Pen-
tecost. (3) In the locality of Bar-Ta-
nura, thirty hours distant from Mosul, is a grotto in
which the prophet Elijah is said to have taken ref-
uge. Several times a year the Jews of this region
go thither on pilgrimage and contribute to the main-
tenance of the grotto.

In Persia there are two places to which Jews
make pilgrimages. (1) At Hamadan, near the for-
tress, is an ancient mausoleum containing the tombs
of Mordeoai and Esther. On the 14th of Adar, the
festival of Purim, the Jews of the region read the
Book of Esther at these tombs; pilgrimages to them
are made also at each new moon and in times of
danger. (3) Twelve and one-half miles from Ispa-
han, in the middle of the fields, is a little synagogue
which, according to local tradition, contains the
tomb of Sarah, daughter of Asher (Num. xxvi. 46).
The Jews of the neighborhood go thither on pil-
grimage on the 1st of Elul.

At Fostat or Old Cairo, in Egypt, three miles from
Cairo, is a synagogue built in the year 1051 (39
Sha'ban, a.h. 429) by Abu Sa'ad, a favorite of the
calif Al-Mustansir Ma'ad (Gratz, "Gesch." vi. 152).
This synagogue contains a tomb in
In Egypt, which, according to local tradition,
Algeria, the prophet Jeremiah rests, and two
and little rooms built over the places where
Slorocco. the prophets Elijah and Ezra prayed.
On the 1st of Elul all the Jews of
Cairo go on pilgrimage to Fostat and hold a mag-
nificent festival there.

There exist in Algeria traditional tombs of revered
Jews which are venerated equally by Jews and Mo-
hammedans. Prayers are said at them in times of
stress, but not at regular dates. In the district of
southern Oran, in the region of Nedrona, inhabited
by the Traras, are the tombs of Sidi Usha (Joshua)
and his father, Sidi Nun. In the department of
Oran on the Rif frontier is the tomb of a certain
B. Jacob Roshdi, which is frequently visited.

In Morocco, as in Algeria, certain tombs are
equally venerated by Jews and Mohammedans, but
there are no fixed days for prayer; e.g.: atAl-Kasar,
that of R. Judah Jabali ; at Tarudant, that of R. Da-
vid ben Baruch; and at Wazan, that of R. Amram
ben Diwan. Amram was one of the rabbis sent out
periodically by the rabbinate of Palestine to collect
money. He traveled in company with his son; and
when the latter fell sick, Amram prayed to God to
accept the sacrifice of his own life and to save that of
his child. The son recovered, but the father died, and
was buried at Jabal Assen. His tomb is said to be
surrounded by a halo, and miracles are said to have
taken place there. The 7th of lyyar is the principal
day of the local pilgrimages (see "Journal des De-
bats, "Paris, Oct. 37, 1903).

In Podolia and Galicia and even in the northern
parts of Hungary the tombs of Hasidic rabbis and
miracle-workers are visited on the anniversaries of
their deaths, and on other occasions by people in dis-
tress. Lamps are burned and praj'ers are recited ;
and often letter-boxes are found at the tombs, in
which the pilgrims deposit slips on which their
wishes are written.

Bibliography : Ludcz, LuahErez Yiarael, Introduction, Jeru-
salem, 1895; Ben,1ainin II., Mas'eYisrael, hyck., 1859; Bul-
letin Annuel de VAlliance Israelite Universelle, 1888,
1898 ; Revue des Ecoles de VAlliance Israelite Universelle,
Paris, 1901, 1903.
D. M. Fb.

FILLAB: The word "pillar" is used in the
English versions of the Bible as an equivalent for
the following Hebrew words:

(1) "Omenot," feminine plural of the active par-
ticiple of JDX = "support," "confirm." This word
occurs only in II Kings xviii. 16. In the Revised
Version (margin) the rendering is "door-posts."

(3) " Mazzebah " (R. V. , margin, " obelisk "). This
denotes a monolith erected as a monument or me-
morial stone (as the " pillar of Rachel's grave," Gen.
XXXV. 30, and "Absalom's monument," II Sam.
xviii. 18 ; comp. I Mace. xiii. 27-80), or as a bound-
ary-mark and witness of a treaty (Gen. xxxi. 44-54;
comp. Isa. xix. 19), or as a memorial of a divine ap-
pearance or intervention. Such stones often ac-
quired a sacred character, and were regarded as
dwelling-places of the Deity or were made to serve
as rude altars upon which libations were poured
(Gon. XXXV. 14, xxxviii. 18-23; I Sam.
Memorial vii. 13 ; possibly also Gen! xxxiii. 20,

Stones. where the verb used indicates the orig-
inal reading to have been naSD =:
" pillar," instead of naiD = "altar ").

In the earlier periods of Hebrew history and as
late as the reign of Josiah one or more of these stone
pillars stood in every sanctuary or "high place."
Thus Moses built an altar at Sinai, and "twelve pil-
lars according to the twelve tribes of Israel" (Ex.
xxiv. 4; comp. Josh. xxiv. 26; Hos. iii. 4, x. 1-3;
Isa. xix. 19). Similar pillars stood at the Canaan-
itish altars of Baal (Ex. xxiii. 34, xxxiv. 18 ; Deut.
vii. 5, xil. 3; II Kings iii. 3, x. 26-27) and in the
sanctuaries of Tyre (Ezek. xxvi. 11) and of Heliop-
olis, in Egypt (Jer. xliii. 18). The recent excava-
tions of the Palestine Exploration Fund at Gezer
have revealed a row of eight monoliths on the site
of the ancient high place. These are hewed to a

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pilgrrimage
Pilpul

Toughly square or round section and one to a sliarp
point ("Pal. Explor. Fund Quarterly Statement,"
Jan., 1903).

By the Deuteronomic and Levitical codes the use
■of the maz?ebah as well as of the asherim at the
altars of Jehovah was forbidden as savoring of idol-
atry (Deut. xvi. 31-32; Lev. xxvi. 1). It is proba-
ble that these had become objects of

Deutero- worship and as such were denounced
nomic and by the Prophets (Mic. v. 13-14 ; comp.

Levitical I Kings xiv. 33; 11 Kings xvii. 10,
Pro- xviii. 4, xxiii. 14). Some such stone

Mbitions. idols seem to be referred to in Judges
iii. 19, 26 (comp. the Arabic " nusb ").
The term "hammanim," rendered "Images" and
"sun-images," is probably used of later and more
artistically shaped or carved pillars of the same
character as the mazzebah (Lev. xxvi. 30; Isa. xvii.
«, xxvii. 9; Ezek. vi. 4, 6; II Chron. xiv. 3, 5;
xxxiv. 4, 7).

(3) "Nezib " (from the same root as " mazzebah "),
while rendered "pillar" in Gen. xix. 26, is elsewhere
translated "garrison" (I Sam. x. 5) and "officer"
(I Kings iv. 19). In the second passage, however,
the Beptuagint renders it by avaarijiia, "i.e., prob-
ably a pillar erected as a symbol or trophy of Phi-
listine domination " (Driver, " Hebrew Text of Sam-
uel," p. 61 ; so, also, H. P. Smith, Wellhausen, and
others).

(4) "Mis'ad " (I Kings x. 13; R. V., margin, "rail-
ing," "prop"). The precise meaning is unknown.

(5) "'Ammud," the word which occurs most fre-
quently in this sense, is used of the pillars or col-
umns which support a house or the roof of a house
{Judges xvi. 35-39), of the posts which supported
the curtains of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxvii. 10, 17;
xxxvi. 36-38; Num. iii. 36-37), and of the pillars in
the Temple (I Kings vii. 3, 3, 6 ; comp. Ezek. xlii.
6; Prov. ix. 1). They were made of acacia-wood
(Ex. xxvi. 33, 37; xxxvi. 36), of cedar (I Kings vii.
2), or of marble (Esth. i. 6 ; comp. Cant. v. 15). A
detailed description Is given in I Kings vii. of two
brass or bronze pillars which were fashioned by Hi-
ram for King Solomon and set up in the

Pillars of porch of the Temple, and to which were

the given the names "Jachln" ("He [or

Temple. "It"] shall establish") and "Boaz"

(" In him [or " it "] is strength "). The

word is used also of the columns or supports of a

litter (Cant. iii. 10). It denotes, too, the column of

smoke rising from a conflagration (Judges xx. 40), and

particularly the column of smoke and of flame which

attended the Israelites in the wilderness (Ex. xiii.

21-32, xiv. 24; Num. xiv. 14). An iron pillar is a

symbol of strength (Jer. i. 18) ; and in poetr)' the

•earth and the heavens are represented as resting on

pillars (Job ix. 5, xxvi. 11; Ps. Ixxv. 4).

(6) "Mazuk," probably a molten support; hence
a " pillar " (I Sam. ii. 8).

(7) " Timarah " ; in the plural, " pillars " of smoke

(Cant. iii. 6; Joel iii. 3). Compare "tomer" (Jer. x.

5, I{. v., margin; Baruch vi. 70), which probably

means a "scarecrow."

Bibliography: W. R. Smith, Rel. of Sem. 2d ed., pp. 201-212,
456-457; Nowaok, HebrOische ArchOologie; Wellhausen,
Rente Arabischen Heidentumes, 2d ed., pp. 101, 141 ; Conder,
Syrian Stone Lore, new ed., p. 86 ; Driver, Commentary on

Oen. xxviii. 2«, and on Deut. xvi. SI ; DIUmann, Commentary
on the same passages ; Whitehouse, PiUa re, In Hastings, Diet.
Bible.

E. 0.

J. P. McL.

PILLAR OP FIBE : The Israelites during their
wanderings through the desert were guided in the
night-time by a pillar of flre to give them light (Ex.
xiii. 21 ; Num. xiv. 14; Neh. ix. 13, 19). The pillar
of fire never departed from them during the night
(Ex. xiii. 23); according to Shab. 33b, it appeared
in the evening before the pillar of cloud had disap-
peared, so that the Israelites were never without a
guide. God troubled the Egyptian hosts through
a plllarof fire and of cloud (Ex. xiv. 34). There is a
legend that Onkelos, by narrating to the messen-
gers sent by the emperor to seize him that God
Himself was the torch-bearer of the Israelites, con-
verted them to Judaism ('Ab. Zarah 11a).

B. Q. H. M. Sbl.

PILLITZ, DANIEL. See Buhger, Theodob.

PILPUL : A method of Talmudic study. The
word is derived from the verb "pilpel" (lit. "to
spice," "to season, "and in a metaphorical sense, "to
dispute violently" [Tosef., B. B. vii. 5] or "clev-
erly" [Shab. 31a; B. M. 85b]). Since by such dis-
putation the subject is in a way spiced and seasoned,
the word has come to mean penetrating investiga-
tion, disputation, and drawing of conclusions, and
is used especially to designate a method of studying
the Law (Ab. vi. 5; Baraita, B. B. 145b; Tem. 16a;
Ket. 103b ; Yer. Ter. iv. 43d). For another explana-
tion of the word, as derived from the Hebrew " pil-
lel," see J. B. Lewinsohn, "Bet Yehudah," ii. 47,
Warsaw, 1878.

The essential characteristic of pilpul is that it
leads to a clear comprehension of the subject under
discussion by penetrating into its essence and by
adopting clear distinctions and a strict difl!erentiation
of the concepts. By this method a sentence or maxim
is carefully studied, the various concepts which it
includes are exactly determined, and all the possible
consequences to be deduced from it are carefully
investigated. The sentence is then examined in Its
relation to some other sentence harmonizing with it,
the investigation being directed toward determining
whether the agreement appearing on a superficial
contemplation of them continues to be manifest when
all the possible consequences and deductions are
drawn from each one of them; for if contradictory
deductions follow from the two apparently agreeing
sentences, then this apparent agree-

Descrip- ment is not an agreement in fact.
tion of Again, if two sentences apparently

SCethod. contradict each other, the pilpulistic
method seeks to|iscertain whether this
seeming contradiction may not be removed by a more
careful definition and a more exact limitation of the
concepts connected with the respective sentences.
If two contiguous sentences or maxims apparently
imply the same thing, this method endeavors to
decide whether the second sentence is really a repe-
tition of the first and could have been omitted, or
whether by a more subtle differentiation of the con-
cepts a different shade of meaning may be discovered
between them. Similarly if a regulation is mentioned
in connection with two parallel cases, this method

Pilpul

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

determines whether it might not have been concluded
■from the similarity of the cases itself that the regu-
lation applying to the one applied to the other also,
and why it was necessary to repeat explicitly the
same regulation.

The pilpulistic method, however, is not satisfied
with merely attaining the object of its investiga-
tion. After having reached the desired result in one
way, it inquires whether the same result might not
have been attained in another, so that, if the first
method of procedure should be eventually refuted,
another method and another proof for the result at-
tained may be forthcoming. This method is fol-
lowed in most of the Talraudic discussions on regu-
lations referring to the Law, and in the explanations
of sentences of the Mishnah, of which an example
may be given here.

The Mishnah says (B. M. i. 1): "If two persons
together hold a garment in their hands, and one of
them asserts 'I have found it,' and the other like-
wise says ' I have found it, ' and the first one says ' It
belongs entirely to me,' and the second likewise
says ' It belongs entirely to me,' then each one shall
swear that not less than one-half of the garment is
rightfully his, and they shall divide the garment
between them." The Gemara explains this mishnah
as follows: "The reason for the two expressions,
' the one says "I have found it," ' and ' the one says
" It belongs entirely to me," ' is sought because it is
obvious that, if the person insists that he found it,
he lays claim to its possession." After some futile
attempts to prove by means of quibbling interpre-
tations that one of these sentences alone would have
been insutflcient, the Gemara comes to the conclusion
that two different cases are discussed in the Mish-
nah. In the first case a garment has been found,
and each of the two persons insists
An that he has found it; in the second

Example, case a garment has been acquired by
purchase, each person insisting that it
belongs to him, since he has purchased it. Then the
Gemara inquires why decisions had to be rendered
in both cases, and if it would not have been sufii-
cient to give a decision in the one case only, either
that of acquisition by purchase or that of finding.
The Gemara then proves that the two ways of ac-
quisition, by purchase and by finding, difl'er in cer-
tain respects, and that if a decision had been given
for the one case, it could not have been concluded
therefrom that it applied to the other case also.

After this Mishnah sentence itself has been ex-
plained, its relation to other sentences is inquired
into. Does this Mishnah sentence, according to
which both parties swear, agree with the principle
of Ben Nanos, who says, in a case in which two
parties contradict each other (Shebu. vii. 5), that
both parties should not be allowed to swear? It is
then shown that, according to Ben Nanos, too, both
parties might be allowed to take the oath, since both
might swear truthfully; for it might be possible
that the garment in dispute belonged to both of
them together, since both together might have
found or purchased it, each one swearing merely
that not less than one-half belongs to him. Then it
is sought to ascertain whether the Mishnah contra-
dicts the decision of Symmachus (B. K. 35b ; B. M.

103), according to whom the two parties should di-
vide the object in dispute between them without
swearing. After a few other attempts at a solution,
which are, however, futile, the Gemara comes to the
conclusion that the mishnah in question agrees in
principle with Symmachus, and that the oath which
the Mishnah prescribes for both parties is merely
an institution of the sages; otherwise any one
might take hold of another person's garment and
insist that it belonged to him, in order to obtain
possession of at least one-half of it (B. M. 3a-3a).

This example, although presented here in a very
abbreviated form, will suffice to give an idea of the
pilpulistic method of Talmudic discussion. As a
method of studying the Law, there was, even in
the Talmudic period, side by side and in contrast
with it, another method, which consisted rather in
collecting, arranging, and preserving
Tradition the halakic sentences. The represent-

Versus ative of the last-named method was

Pilpul. called " ba'al shemu 'ot " = " possessor
of the tradition," while the represent-
ative of the former was called " ba'al pilpul " =
"master of ingenious disputation and deduction"
(B. B. 145b). In Yer. Hor. iii. 48c the one is called
" sadran " (arranger), while the other is termed " pal-
pelan " (disputator).

Both methods were necessary for Talmudism,
which rested, on the one hand, on the solid ground
of tradition, and, on the other, on the independent
development of what had been handed down. The
one method furnished the technical knowledge of
the traditions, while the other furnished the means
of creating by ingenious deductions something new
out of that which existed and had been transmitted.
The method of arranging and collecting was pre-
ferred to the method of ingenious disputation and
deduction (Yer. Hor. iii. 48c) ; and the learned man,
called "sinai," was considered to be greater than
the clever pilpulist, who was termed " uprooter of
mountains " (Ber. 64a ; Hor. 14a). Although the pil-
pulist had the advantage of being able to arrive at
new conclusions and new doctrines and to render
new decisions in cases which had not been provided
for in the works of tradition, and before which the
student of tradition stood helpless, he had neverthe-
less to contend with certain disadvantages. The
clever person is often careless ( 'Er. 90a) ; and the
more acute and hair-splitting his arguments are, the
more likely they are to result in false deductions, as
Raba pointed out (B. M. 96b ; Niddah 33b). Many
of the amoraim were opposed to the method of
the pilpul, which was cultivated especially at
Pumbedita from the time of R. Judah b. Ezekiel.
Some even went so far as to designate this method,
on which the Babylonian Talmud is based, although
in a more rational and logical form, as " ambiguous
obscurity " (Sanh. 24a ; comp. Samuel Edels in his
"Hiddushe Haggadot," ad loo.).

In the post-Talmudic period the Geonim and the
first commentators on the Talmud confined them-
selves more to arranging and explaining the text,
some even despising the ingenious method of the
pilpul (comp. Rashi on Hul. 81a and on Sanh. 43a).
But the tosafists again introduced the method of
the pilpul, which then became predominant. Dur-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pilpul

ing the fourteenth century and the first decades of
the fifteenth, however, the study of the Talmud was
pursued along different lines, probably
Develop- in consequence of the pitiful condition
ment of the Jews in most countries. It
of Pilpul. became shallow and weak and entirely
lacking in independence. Memo-
rizing and technical knowledge (" beki'ut ") took the
place of minute analysis. A rabbi was considered
great in proportion to his knowledge of the text of
the different codes necessary for practical decisions.
But about the middle of the fifteenth century
new life was infused into the study of the Talmud
by the reintroduction of the pilpulistic method,
which laid greater stress on the clever interpreta-
tion of the text than on the study of its halakic re-
sults. "* This method, which, in its hair-splitting dia-
lectics and its detailed analysis as well as in its sur-
prising deductions, surpasses the clever tosafistic
method of teaching, originated in Poland and Ger-
many, and spread thence to other countries. It was
cultivated by the most prominent rabbis ; and the
real importance of a rabbi was thought by some to
lie in his ability to analyze cleverly and treat crit-
ically the subject in question (Israel Bruna, in
Joseph Colon's Resjjonsa, No. 170). Nor does Jo-
seph Colon deny {ib.) that the method of the pil-
pul is an excellent one, saying merely that the
knowledge of the Talmud and of the codes is more
valuable and more useful for the rabbi.

The pilpulistic method of study soon degenerated
into sophistry. It was no longer regarded as a
means of arriving at the correct sense of a Talmudic
passage and of critically examining a decision as to
its soundness. It was regarded as an end in itself;
and more stress was laid on a display
Tendency of cleverness than on the investigation
Toward of truth. This new development of
Casuistry, the pilpul is ascribed to Jacob Poi,-
LAK, who lived at the end of the fif-
teenth century and in the beginning of the sixteenth.
This pilpul par excellence was pursued especially
under two forms. In the one, two apparently widely
divergent halakic themes were placed in juxtaposi-
tion, and a logical connection between them was
sought by means of ingenious and artificial interpreta-
tionsand explanations, but in such a way that the con-
nectivethread between them appeared onlyat the end
of the treatise : this was the " derashah . " In the other
form an apparently homogeneous theme was dis-
sected into several parts, which were then again com-
bined into an artistic whole: this was the so-called
" hilluk " (analysis, dissection). The treatises follow-
ing this method of the pilpul in both of these forms
were called "hiddushim" or "novelise" (original
products) because thereby the mo.st familiar objects
were made to appear in a new light. Various meth-
ods of dialectics were originated by
The means of which these hillu^im and

Hillukim. derashot were built up and developed.
Every school had its own way of find-
ing and disclosing the hiddushim ; as examples the
method of Nuremberg and that of Ratisbon may be
mentioned.

General rules were laid down even for the applica-
tion of this sophistic treatment to the Talmud, the

codes, and the commentaries. The following rule,
for instance, was formulated : " If any person raises
an objection at the end of a sentence, he must at
once be asked why he reserved his objection until
the end of the argument, instead of speaking at the
beginning of it. Then it must be proved by the ob-
jector that if the objection had been raised at the
beginning of the sentence a refutation of it might
have been found, and that only if the objection is
raised at the end of the discussion, can it be claimed
that all possible refutations of the main argument
have been removed and that such an argument be-
comes valid " (comp. on this rule Jellinek in " Bikku-
rim," pp. 3 et seq.).

The adherents of this pilpulistic method did not,
however, intend, by their ingenious disputations, to
draw deductions for practical purposes. Its chief
representatives, in order that they might not
influence any one in practical matters, did not
commit the results of their disputations or their
hiddushim to writing. They intended merely to
sharpen the minds of their pupils and to lead
them to think independently; for this course prece- -
dent was to be found in the Talmud (Ber. 33b ; 'Er.
13a). To this end riddles were often given to the
pupils ; also questions that were manifestly absurd,
but for which a clever pupil might find an answer.
The earliest collection of such riddles is found in a
work by Jacob b. Judah Landau, who
Biddies of lived at the end of the fifteenth cen-
Pilpul. tury, hence about the time when this
new method of the pilpul was devel-
oped; this collection is appended to his work
"Agur" (ed. Piotrkow, 1884, pp. 72a et seq.). The
following example may be quoted : " How was it
that of two boys who were born on two successive
days of the same year the one who was born a day
later than the other attairied first to the legal age of
thirteen years required for becoming a bar miz wah ? "
Answer : " The boj's were born in a leap-year, which
has two months of Adar. One boy was born on the
39th of the first Adar ; the other, on the first of the
second Adar. The thirteenth year following, in
which the boys became bar mizwah, was an ordi-
nary year, with only one month of Adar. The
younger boy, who was born on the 1st of Adar
(Sheni), reached his legal age on the 1st of Adar in
that year, while the elder boy, who was born on the
29th of the first month of Adar, reached his legal age
only on the 29th of Adar in the thirteenth year."

Many prominent rabbinical authorities protested
against this degenerated method of the pilpul {e.g. ,
R. Liwa b. Bezaleel, MaHaRaL of Prague, Isaiah
Horowitz [author of "Shene Luhot ha-Berit"], Jair
Hayyim Bacharach in his responsa " Hawwot Yair "
[No. 123J, and other Polish and German rabbis;
comp. Jellinek in "Bikkurim," i. 4, ii. 5); but their
attacks upon it were futile. The method predomi-
nated down to the nineteenth century, being culti-
vated by the most gifted rabbis in all countries, al-
though in a more or less modified form, according
to the individuality of the rabbis in question and
the dominant movements in the countries them-
selves. It applies the same treatment to the Talmud
as to the codes and the commentaries, and attempts
to confirm or refute the view expressed In one com-

Pilpul
Pilsen

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

mentary, or the rule laid down in one code, by
means of ingenious and at times hair-splitting de-
ductions drawn from an earlier commentary or code,
or especially a remote Talmudic passage. Two ex-
amples may be cited here :

Maimonides ("Yad," 'Edut, xviii. 3) lays down
the principle that a witness can be convicted of hav-
ing given false testimony and becomes amenable to
punishment by proof of an alibi only when such
proof does not disprove the facts set forth in his tes-
timony. When the testimony of those who bring
proof of the alibi refutes at the same time the testi-
mony of the witness for the prosecution, then this is
regarded merely as a contradiction between the two
groups of witnesses, and the one group is not con-
sidered to be refuted by the other. This principle
is attacked by R. Hayyim Jonah (quoted by 11. Jona-
than Eybeschatz in his " Urim we-Tummim," section
" Tummim," 38) through the combination of two Tal-
mudic passages and a clever deduction therefrom.
There is a Talmudic principle to the effect that the
testimony ofawitnessin which he can not possibly be
refuted by proof of an alibi is in itself invalid (Sanh.
41a; B. K. 75b). This principle is perhaps based on
the supposition that the witness, if not restrained by
the fear of being convicted and punished, will jnore
readily make false statements. Another Talmudic
sentence says: "A appears as witness against B
and testifies that the latter committed an assault
upon him (A) against his will. If another witness,
C, can be found to corroborate this statement, then
B is liable to be executed on the testimony of the
two witnesses A and C " (Sanh. 9b). Now, if the
statement of A should be refuted by a proof of
alibi, then this proof would at the same time dis-
prove the alleged commission of the crime ; for, in
the absence of A, B could not have committed the
assault in question upon him. According to the
principle laid down by Maimonides, the refutation
of A's statement by proof of an alibi would be con-
sidered merely as a contradiction and not as a refu-
tation, and A would not be punished as a person
who had been convicted. Hence A would not be
in danger of being refuted and punished, and his
testimony would, according to the principle (Sanh.
41a), be invalid in itself. It therefore necessarily
follows from the Talmudic sentence in question
that the testimony of A is valid, and that the prin-
ciple of Maimonides in regard to the nature of the
proof of alibi is erroneous. Eybeschiltz attempts to
uphold the principle of Maimonides by quoting even
more ingenious combinations.

Another example, by Aryeh L5b b. Asher, one of
the keenest casuists of the eighteenth century, may
be given. He proves the correctness
Examples of one view, and " eo ipso " the in-
of method, correctness of another, from a Tal-
mudic passage. The Talmud says
(Pes. 4b): "The search for and removal of leav-
ened matter on the eve of the Passover is merely a
rabbinical prescription ; for it is sufficient, according
to the command of the Torah, if merely in words or
in thought the owner declares it to be destroyed and
equal to the dust." Rashi says that the fact that
such a declaration of the owner Is sufficient is de-
rived from an expression in Scripture. The tosafot.

however, claim that this can not be derived from the
particular expression in Scripture, since the word
there means " to remove " and not " to declare des-
troyed." The mere declaration that it is destroyed
("bittul ") is sufficient for the reason that thereby
the owner gives up his rights of ownership, and
the leavened matter is regarded as having no owner
(" hef ker "), and as food for which no one is responsi-
ble, since at Passover only one's own leavened food
may not be kept, while that of strangers may be
kept. Although the formula which is sufficient
to declare the leavened matter as destroyed is not
sufficient to declare one's property as having no
owner, yet, as R. Nissim Gerondi, adopting the
view of the tosafot, explains, the right of owner-
ship which one has in leavened matter on the eve
of the Passover, even in the forenoon, is a very
slight one ; for, beginning with noon, such food may
not be enjoyed ; hence all rights of ownership be-
come illusory, and, in view of such slight right of
ownership, a mere mental renunciation of this right
suffices in order that the leavened matter be consid-
ered as without an owner. R. Aryeh LOb (in his
"Sha'agat Aryeh, Dine Hamez," § 77) attempts to
prove the correctness of this tosaflstic opinion as
elaborated by R. Nissim, and to prove at the same
time the incorrectness of Rashi's view, from the fol-
lowing Talmudic passage: "Pes. 6b says that from
the hour of noon of the eve [of Passover] to the con-
clusion of the feast the mere declaration of destruc-
tion does not free a person from the responsibility
of having leavened matter in his house ; for since he
is absolutely forbidden to enjoy it, he has no claim
to the ownership, which he renounces by such a
declaration." The Gemara (7a) endeavors to refute
this assertion by the following baraita : " If a person,
sitting in the schoolhouse, remembers that he has
leavened matter in his house, he shall mentally de-
clare it to be destroyed, whether the day is a Sab-
bath or the feast-day." Although the tasting of
leavened matter is forbidden on the feast-day, yet
the baraita says that the owner shall mentally de-
clare it to be destroyed; hence it follows from the
baraita that a declaration of destruction is effective
even at a time when one may not enjoy the leavened
food at all. R. Aha b. Jacob declares thereupon
that the baraita deals with a case in which a person
remembers that he has left some freshly kneaded
dough at home which is not yet leavened, but may
become leavened before the owner
Further returns home in order to bake it. At
Examples, the moment of his remembering it,
however, the dough is not yet leavened,
and hence may be used for all purposes ; it is there-
fore the property of the owner, who can mentally
declare it to be destroyed, i.e., he may renounce his
right of ownership.

Thus far the Talmudic passage. The " Sha'agat
Aryeh" then asks how the Gemara can conclude
from tlie baraita, which says that during the feast
even leavened matter may be mentally destroyed,
that such a declaration of destruction is valid if one
may not partake at all of such leavened food. This
baraita perhaps agrees with the view of Jose the
Galilean, who says that leavened matter may be
enjoyed during the feast in any way excepting by

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pilpul
Fllseu

eating it. If tlie baraita adopts the point of view of
Jose the Galilean, then it may declare correctly that
leavened matter may be mentally destroyed on the
feast-day also, since the owner may enjoy it in every
way except as food and hence has the right of own-
ership. When, however, the leavened matter may
not be enjoyed, as is the ruling of the accepted hala-
kah, no one has the right of ownership and, there-
fore, of declaring the leavened matter in question des-
troyed. But if one assumes with R. Nissim and the
tosafot that a mental declaration of destruction is ef-
ficacious because it is a form, though a weakened
one, of the hef^er declaration, then this weakened
form of the hefker declaration is sufficient in the
case of leavened matter only because the right of
ownership in it is a weakened one. The right of
ownership in the leavened matter is a weakened one
only because through the interdiction against par-
taking of such food this right becomes of itself illu-
sory from a certain period, namelj', from the hour
of noon of the eve of the feast. If this view is as-
sumed to be correct, then the baraita can not ex-
press the view of Jose the Galilean ; for, according
to him, the right of ownership in the leavened mat-
ter is a strong and inalienable one, since one may
fully enjoy it even during the feast, with the excep-
tion that one may not use it as food. But if the
right of ownership is not a weakened one, then, ac-
cording to the foregoing statements, a weakened
form of the hefljer declaration is not sufficient ; hence
thebittul declaration is insufficient for the purpose
of declaring the leavened matter to be property be-
longing to no one. The baraita, which refers to a
mental declaration of destruction, can not therefore
express R. Jose's view.

The attempt of the Gemara to conclude from the
baraila that a bittul declaration would be valid also
in case a person might have no enjoy-
Complica- ment whatever from leavened matter
tions. is therefore a correct one. According
to Rashi's view, however, that the
view of the bittul declaration being sufficient is de-
rived from a certain expression in Scripture, this
bittul declaration is valid according to R. Jose too ;
since it does not depend on the kind of right of
ownership, the baraita passage quoted might ex-
press the view of R. Jose, although it speaks of
bittul. Hence the attempt of the Gemara to con-
clude from the baraita that bittul would be valid
even if one might not in any way enjoy the leavened
matter, is erroneous; for the baraita, which refers
to bittul during the feast, expresses R. Jose's
view, that during the feast also leavened matter
may be enjoyed in any way except by eating it.
The method of the Gemara, therefore, proves tlie
correctness of the tosafistic opinion, represented by
R. Nissim, and the incorrectness of Rashi's opinion.
This latter example is especially interesting be-
cause it shows the weak foundation on which such a
pilpulistic structure is reared. It rests on the highly
improbable, if not false, assumption that the Gemara
has carefully weighed and considered all points, and
still can find no other refutation of its attempt to
draw the desired conclusion from the baraita than
that advanced by R. Aha b. Jacob. And the whole
fabric falls to pieces with the assumption that the

Gemara could have refuted its attempt by assuming
that the baraita expressed the view of R. Jose, but
that R. Aha b. Jacob thought to find a better refu-
tation by assuming that the baraita expressed the
view generally accepted, and not the single view of
R. Jose, which was rejected by the majority of
teachers.

The method of the pilpul was not confined to the
study of the Talmud and the codes ; it was applied
also in the field of Homiletics and in that of the
Haggadah. A short haggadic sentence of the Tal-
mud or Midrash was cleverly interpreted so as to af-
ford material for an entire treatise on some halakic
theme. Sometimes such a so-called

Applied " curious midrash sentence " (" midrash
Outside the peli ") was invented as a starting-point

Talmud, for some ingenious explanation. The
Biblical personages were made the
mouthpieces of tlie principles of jMaimonid«s accord-
ing to Joseph Caro's interpretation, or of decisions
by Isaac Alfasi according to R. Nissim Gerondi's
interpretation. Abimelech is said to have been
guided by a Talraudic principle in his behavior to-
ward Abraham and Sarah . The antagonism between
Joseph and his brothers is ascribed to differences of
opinion regarding a halakic regulation. Pharaoh is
said to have based his refusal to liberate Israel on
certain Talmudic-rabbinic principles; and Haman's
wife, Zeresh, is said to have deduced from certain
Talmudic teachings that her husband would not
be able to maintain his position against the Jew
Mordecai.

Many homiletic works and commentaries on the
bonks of the Bible, from the beginning of the six-
teenth century down to the nineteenth, follow
this method. Among these R. Judah Rosanes'
"Parasliat Derakim" and R. Jonathan Eybeschlitz's
•'Ya'arat Debash" are especially noteworthy for
their acuteness and tlieir clever combinations. On
the special forms of pilpulistic methods in different
countries and at different times, see Talmud.
Bibliography: Gudemann, Die Neuge^taltuna des Babhi-

nerwesenn im Mittdalter, In Mmiatsschrift. 1864. pp. 435-

433 ; Idem, Gesch. ili. 79-83 ; Jellinek, Le-Soriit Seder 1m-

Limmud, in Keller's Btkhm-im, i. 1-26, il. 1-19.

E. 0. J. Z. L.

PILSEN : City in Bohemia. According to doc-
uments of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
Jews were then living in Pilsen, and they had a syn-
agogue and a cemetery. In tlie sixteenth c'entury
tiiey were expelled, as were the Jews of most of the
other cities of Bohemia. It was not until after 1848
that Jews were allowed to resettle in Pilsen. An
increasing number of Jewish families from several
villages in the neighborhood, where they formed
large communities, then removed to the city ; serv-
ices were at first held in a rented chapel ; and soon
afterward the district rabbi of Pilsen, Anschel Kaf-
ka, took up his residence in the city. In 1859 the
community, which then numbered seventy families,
received its constitution, being one of the few newly
formed congregations in Bohemia whose statutes
were confirmed. In the same year a synagogue was
dedicated, and a four-grade school was organized.
In 187.5 another synagogue was annexed to the
older one ; and in 1893 a handsome new building was
erected at a cost of nearly 1,000,000 crowns. Heine-

Fimentel
Pines

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

mann Vogelstein was called to the rabbinate in 1867,
and officiated until 1880, liis successors being Nathan
Forges (1880-82), Jecheslsel Caro (1882-91), and
Adolf Posnanski (since 1891).

In 1904 the community numbered 3,170 persons,
including 724 taxpayers, in a total population of
68,079; and the annual budget amounted to 73,756
crowns.

Bibliography : Jahrbudh fUr die Israelitiadhtn Oemeinden
in BOhmen, 1894 ; Union Kalender, 1905.
D. A. Kl.

PIMENTEL, SAKA DE FONSECA FINA

T • Poetess of Spanish descent ; lived in England
in the early part of the eighteenth century, as did also
Abraham Henriques Pimentel. She wrote " Es-
pejoPieldeVidas" (London, 1720), laudatory Span-
ish verses on the Spanish metrical translation of the
Psalms by the Marano poet Daniel Israel Lopez
Laguna.

Bibliography : Kayserling, Sephardim Bomanische Poesien
der Juden in Spanien, pp. 251, 299.
J. I. Co.

PIN. See Tent.

PINA, DE : Portuguese Marano family some
members of which were able to escape the Inquisi-
tion and to confess Judaism openly in Amsterdam.

Jacob (Manuel) de Pina : Spanish and Portu-
guese poet; born of Marano parents in Lisbon in
1616 ; went to Holland about 1660. In Amsterdam
he openly accepted Judaism and took the name
Jacob. In Lisbon he had published a "comedia
burlesca" entitled "La Mayor Hazana de Carlos
VI." and a volume of humorous poems entitled
" Juguetes de la Ninez y Travesuras del Ingenio "
(1656), which are the same as the " Chansas del In-
genio y Dislatas de la Musa " mentioned in Wolf (see
bibliography below). Jacob mourned in elegies the
deaths of Saul Levi Morteira and the martyrs Bernal
and Lope de Vera ; and in 1673 he celebrated in a
Portuguese poem the verses of Joseph Penso, and
in a Spanish one the translation of the psalms of Ja-
cob Judah Leon.

Bibliography : Barrios, Betacioji de Zos Poetas, p. 54 ; laem,
Coro de las Musas, p. 505 ; idem, Goviernn Popular Ju-
dayco, p. 45 ; Barbosa Maebado, Bihliotheca L/usitana, lil.
341 ; Wolf, Bm. Hebr. ill. 521, iv. 870 ; Kayserling, Sephar-
dim, pp. 253 et seq.; idem, Bibl. Esp.-Port.-Jud. p. 89.
s. M. K.

Paul de Pina : Born after 1580 in Lisbon. Poet-
ically gifted and inclined to religious fanaticism, he
was about to become a monk, and for this purpose
made a journey to Rome. One of his relatives rec-
ommended him to the physician Filotheo Eliau (Eli-
jah) MoNTALTO in Leghorn, and the latter won the
young man for the religion of his ancestors. Paul
went to Brazil, and thence returned to Lisbon, where
lie still continued to appear as a Christian. He did
not fully embrace Judaism until after the Franciscan
monk Diego de la Axumpao had courageously suf-
fered the death of a martyr for the Jewish faith. In
1604 Paul hastened to Amsterdam, where as a Jew he
was called Bohel Jeshurunand became prominent
in the community. In honor of the synagogue Bet-
Ya'akob he in 1624 composed in Portuguese poet-
ical dialogues between the seven principal moun-
tains of Palestine in praise of the faith of Israel.

These dialogues were printed in Amsterdam in 1767,
and they are reprinted in Kayserling, "Sephardira,"
p. 340.

bibliography : Gratz, Oesch. 3d ed., Ix. 484, x. 4 ; Kayserling,
Sephardim, p. 175.
G.

I. E.

PINCZOW, ELIEZER B. JTTDAH: Polish
rabbi; flourished at the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury ; grandson of R. Zebi Hirsch, rabbi of Lublin.
He was rabbi of Pinczow and other places, and
parnas at Cracow. Pinczow was the author of
" Dammesek Eli'ezer " (Jesnitz, 1723), notes on the
Masoretic text of the Bible, and "Mishnat Rabbi
Eli'ezer" (Amsterdam, 1735), expositions of Tal-
mudio haggadot.

Bibliography : Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 131, Warsaw, 1886 ;
Furst, BiU. Jud. i. 233; Roest, Gat. Rosenthal. BlU. i. 347,
11. Supplement, No. 396 ; Steinschnelder, Cat. Bodl. No. 4993.
H. K. A. S. W.

PINCZOW, ELIJAH B. MOSES GEB-
SHON : Polish physician and Talmudist of the
eighteenth century. He was the author of : " Meleket
Mahashebet," parti., "Ir Heshbon" (Frankfort-on-
the-Main, 1765), on arithmetic and algebra; part ii.,
"Berure ha-Middot " (Berlin, 1765), on geometry;
" Ma'aneh Eliyahu " (Zolkiev, 1758), discussions on
the Talmudic treatises Bezah and Baba Mezi'a, to-
gether with some rabbinical decisions and responsa;
" Nibhar me-Haruz " (1772), extracts from the book
"Ha-'Ikkarim," reproduced in an easy style and in
the form of a dialogue between, teacher and pupil;
" Hadrat Ehyahu " (part i. , Prague, 1786), homiletics ;
"She'elot u-Teshubot Ge'one Batra'e" (Sudilkov,
1795), collected from the responsa of the later rabbis.

Bibliography : Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 118, Warsaw, 1888 ;
Fiirst, Bihl. Jud. 1. 237 ; Benjacob, Ozar ha^Sefarim, pp. 134,
330, Wilna, 1880.
H. B. A. S. W.

PINCZOW, JOSEPH B. JACOB : Polish rabbi
and author; flourished in Poland in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries; descendant of-R. Jacob
Pollak, son-in-law of R. Moses Kramer, chief rabbi
of Wilna, and pupil of Zebi Hirsch, rabbi of Lublin.
Pinczow was at first head of a yeshibah at Wilna;
he then became rabbi of Kosovi (1688), and afterward
of Seltzy, where he maintained a yeshibah. On ac-
count of persecutions he in 1698 fled to Hamburg,
where he remained till 1702, returning then to Seltzy.
Here the plague broke out in 1706 ; and Pinczow,
whose life had often been threatened on account of
accusations made against the Jews, fled to Berlin.
In this city he printed his book " Rosh Yosef " (1717),
on Talmudic lialakot and haggadot, and arranged
according to the order of the treatises. The rabbis
who wrote the haskamot for this work, among whom
was E. Jehiel Michael wf Berlin, praise eiiusively
Joseph's learning and piety.

One of Pinczow 's sons, Moses, was rabbi of
Copenhagen.

Bibliography : Fuenn, Keneset Tisrael, p. 493, Warsaw, 1886;
idem, Kirjiah Ne'emanah, p. 96, Wilna, 1860 ; Fiirst, Bibl.
Jud. ii. 114 ; Walden, Shem ha-Gedolim he-Hadash, 1. 55,
Warsaw, 1882.
H. K. A. S. W.

PINE (PNIE), SAMSON : German translator
of the fourteenth century. He was probably born
at Peine, a city in the province of Hanover, whence

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pimentel
Pines

his name is derived and where a Jewish community
had existed from very early times. Later he lived
at Strasburg. Pine is chiefly remembered for the
assistance he rendered in 1386 to two German poets,
Glaus Wysse and Philipp Kolin of Strasburg, who
prepared a continuation of Wolfram von Eschen-
bach's Middle High German poem "Parzival," after
the French poem in the Ruediger von Manesse man-
uscript. In the parchment manuscript on which
they wrote, these poets thank Pine for his services in
translating the poem into German and in inventing
rimes for it. Incidentally, Pine is thanked as a Jew
by faith; the note is couched in metrical terms;
and Pine is referred to twice in ten lines as a Jew.

Bibliography: Gildemann, Gesch. ill. 159 et seq.; Karpeles,
Oesch. der JUdUchen Literatur, p. 709, Berlin, 1886 ; Mem,
Jewish lAterature, pp. 35, 87, Philadelphia, 1895.
D. A. M. F.

PINELES, HIBSCH MENDEL: Austrian
scholar; born at Tysmenitz, Galicia, Dec. 21, 1805;
died at Galatz, Rumania, Aug. 6, 1870. After hav-
ing studied Talmud and rabbinics in his native
town, Pineles at the age of fifteen removed to Brody,
where he married. In his new home he began to
study German and the secular sciences, particularly
astronomy. As most of the Jews of Brody at that time
were of the Hasidic type, Pineles was, on account
of his scientific studies, accused of heresy, and was
obliged to justify himself before his father-in-law.
About 1853 Pineles went to Odessa, where he lived
till the Crimean war (1855), and then he settled perma-
nently at Galatz.

Pineles wrote articles on various scientific sub-
jects, particularly on astronomy and calendar-ma-
king, in most of the Hebrew periodicals, and carried
on in "Kerem Hemed" (vol. ix., letters 4, 5, 16, 17,
18) and in " Ha-Maggid " a polemical correspondence
on astronomical subjects with Hayyim Selig Slo-
nimski. He acquired particular renown on account
of his work "Darkah shel Torah" (Vienna, 1861),
a critical interpretation, divided into 178 paragraphs,
of several passages of the Talmud, particularly of
the Mishnah, followed by a treatise on calendar-
making, including tables. Pineles says in the
preface that the objects of the book are : (1) to jus-
tify the oral law ; (2) to defend the Mishnah against
both its admirers and its detractors ; and (3) to ex-
plain several sayings of the earlier amoraim as well
as difficult passages in the Jerusalem Talmud and
some in Babli. The most noteworthy feature of this
work is its defense of the Mishnah. Pineles explains
several mishnayot differently from the Amoraim,
who, as he declares, " very often distorted the Mish-
nah." It is true that Rapoport, Hirsch Chajes,
Nachman Krochmal, and other critics had similarly
differed from the Amoraim ; but besides extending
his criticism to the whole Mishnah, his predeces-
sors having dealt with only a -small portion of it,
he also deviated from the amoraic interpretation
even where it concerned the Halakah. This and
his interpretation of the sayings of the earlier amo-
raim, which differed from that of the later amoraim,
called forth protests from some of his contempora-
ries. Waldberg, a Rumanian scholar, published a
polemical work entitled "Kakh Hi Darkah shel
Torah" (Jassy, 1864-68), in refutation of Pineles'

criticisms. It is evident, however, that Pineles did
not act in an antireligious spirit; for, as stated
above, he defended the Mishnah against its detract-
ors like Schorr and Geiger, attacking the latter's
"Urschrift und Uebersetzung der Bibel" (§§ 144-
167), to which Geiger replied in his " Jild. Zeit." (v.
146 et seg.).

BiBLiOGKAPHT : Fuenn, Kenesel Yisrael, pp. 286 et seg.; Zeit-
lin, BiU. Pnst-Meiidels. pp. 268, 367, 402.
S. M. Sel.

PINERO (PINHEIBOS), ARTHUR WING :

English dramatist; born in London May 24, 1855;
eldest son of John Daniel Pinero. He is descended
from a Sephardic family. As a boy Pinero was
articled to a firm of solicitors ; and while in their
oifice he absorbed much of that knowledge of human
nature and human emotions which has made his
productions famous.

The law, however, had few attractions for him,
and in 1874 he joined the company of the Theatre
Royal, Edinburgh, being engaged as "general util-
ity man." Two years later he went to the Lyceum,
London, where he gained invaluable experience in
stagecraft under (Sir) Henry Irving. As an actor
Pinero was not successful, and he soon turned his
thoughts to play-writing. In 1877 he wrote in a sin-
gle afternoon " Two Hundred a Year, " which was
produced at the Globe Theatre with some measure
of success. Soon afterward " The Money Spinners,"
written with almost equal rapidity, was produced at
the St. James's by John Hare and the Kendalls and
made a great hit (1880). He then produced in ten
days " Lords and Commons," following it with " The
Magistrate," which made Pinero famous and estab-
lished his reputation on a firm foundation.

His literary activity has been remarkable and un-
flagging; and "The Schoolmistress," "The Squire,"
"Dandy Dick" (written in three weeks), "The
Rocket," and "The Hobby Horse " appeared succes-
sively at short intervals. Then came his first real
success, "Sweet Lavender," a play redolent with
pathos and sweetness. Subsequently the influence
of Ibsen began to make itself felt in Pinero's work,
after he had written " The Profligate," " The Weaker
Sex," "The Cabinet Minister," "The Times,"
"The Amazons," and "Lady Bountiful." "The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray " was distinctly in Ibsen's
manner; it was succeeded by "The Notorious Mrs.
Ebbsmith," followed, in the same style, by "The
Benefit of the Doubt" and "The Princess and the
Butterfiy."

In 1898 Pinero, reverting to his earlier models,

produced " Trelawny of the Wells." He returned

to the problem play in "The Gay Lord Quex "

(1899), followed by " Iris " (1901) and " Letty " (1903),

of the same class.

Bibliography : The Critic, xxxvii. 117 ; CasselVs Magazine,
xxvlii. 354, ; Pall Mall Mayazine, July, 1900, p. 331 ; Who's
Who, 1904. „ ,,

J. E. Ms.

PINES, ELIJAH B. AARON: Rabbi at
Shklov, government of Moghilef, Russia, in the
eighteenth century; descendant of the- families of
Jacob Polak and Judah L5b Puchowitzer. He was
the author of " Tanna debe Eliyahu " (Zolkiev, 1753),
on religion and ethics, divided into seven parts ac-

Fines
Pinner

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

cording to the seven days of the week, with an ap-
pendix containing discussions on Berakot, extracted
from his unpublished book, "Tosafot Me'ore ha-
Golo."

BiBLiOGEAPHT : Fuenn, Keneset TisraeU p. 118; Benjacob,
Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 657 ; Kaban, Anaf '£? Abot, p. xlx.,
Cracow, 1903.
H. n. A. 8. W.

PINES, JEHIEL MICHAEL : Russian Tal-
mudist and Hebraist; born at Rozhany, govern-
ment of Grodno, Sept. 26, 1843. He was the son of
Noah Pines and the son-in-law of Shemariah Luria,
rabbi of Moghilef. After being educated in the local
Hebrew school and in theyeshibah, where he distin-
guished himself in Talmudic study, he became a
merchant, giving lectures at the same time in the
yeshibah of his native town. He was elected dele-
gate to a conference held in London by the associa-
tion Mazkereth Mosheh, for the establishment of
charitable institutions in Palestine in commemora-
tion of the name of 8ir Moses Montefiore ; in 1878
he was sent to Jerusalem to establish and organize
such institutions. He has lived since then in Pales-
tine, working for the welfare of the Jewish commu-
nity and interesting himself in the organization of
Jewish colonies in Palestine. He was excommuni-
cated by the Palestinian rabbis for interfering in
communal affairs, but was sustained by the Euro-
pean rabbinates. He is now (1905) director of the
Ashkenazic hospital at Jerusalem and lecturer at
several of the yeshibot. He has written: "Yalde
Ruhi " (part i., " Uib 'Ammi," Mayence, 1872, on the
position of Israel among the nations; part ii., "Ha-
Hayim weha-Yahadut," ib., 1873, on the relation of
Judaism to the times) ; " Torat Mishpete Togarma "
(in collaboration with his son-in-law David Yellin;
Jerusalem, 1887); " 'Abodat ha-Adamah," on agri-
culture in Palestine (Warsaw, 1891). He was one of
the founders of the Orthodox biweekly journal
"Ha-Lebanon" (1864), has edited and annotated
Shershevsky's "'01am Katan," on anatomy and
chemistry (Jerusalem, 1886), and has contributed
to numerous journals and magazines published in
Hebrew.

BiBLiOGRAPHr: Eisenstadt, Dor Babbcmaw we-Soferaw, iii.
35, Wilna, 1901 : Zeitlin, Bibl. Post.-Mendels. p. 267, Leipsic,
1891-95 ; Llppe, Asaf ha^Mazkir, i. 367, Vienna, 1881 ; Ha-
Zefirah, 1880, Ko. 34.
H. K. A. S. W.

FINHAS, JACOB: German journalist and com-
munal worker; born Aug., 1788; diedinCassel Dec.
8, 1861. He was the son of Salomon (1757-1837), a
miniature-painter who had received special privi-
leges exempting him from some of tlie Jewish dis-
abilities (comp. "Sulamith," viii. 406), and had been
granted the title of court painter to the Elector of
Hess^-Cassel. Jacob Pinhas prepared to follow his
father's calling ; but the events of the Napoleonic
era caused him to abandon the vocation of an artist
for that of a journalist. When Cassel became the
seat of the kingdom of Westphalia, the "Moniteur,"
its official organ, was published there, and Pinhas,
being conversant with both German and French,
was appointed a member of its editorial staff. After
the battle of Waterloo he obtained from the elector
license to publish the " Kassel'sche Allgemeine Zei-
tung, " which he continued to edit till his death. He

advocated a constitutional form of government, and
although this was considered revolutionary, his
moderation and his honesty gained for him the con-
fidence of the government, which always sought hia
advice on Jewish matters. For his literary merits
the University of Marburg in 1817 bestowed on him
the degree of Ph.D.

When, in 1821, the Jewish congregations of Hesse-
Cassel received a new organization, being divided
into four territories, Pinhas was appointed head of
the " Vorsteheramt " of Niederhessen. As such he
was instrumental in drawing up the law of Dec.
23, 1823, on the organization of the Jews, and in
establishing the normal school of Cassel. When,
later on, the " Landesrabbinat " was organized,
Pinhas was made its "secular member." He was
instrumental also in the drafting of the law of Oct.
31, 1833, which gave full citizenship to such Jews as
were willing to abandon petty trading. This law
was the first of its kind in Germanj' ; but it remained
to a great extent a dead letter owing to the reaction-
ary policy of the government authorities.

Theyear 1848 brought upon Pinhas all the unpopu-
larity which was the lot of those known to be sympa-
thizers with the government, even when, like Pinhas,
they had always defended moderately liberal prin-
ciples. During the period of reaction following the
abrogation of the constitution in 1852, even Pinhas'
enemies acknowledged the far-sightedness of the
man whom they had bitterly opposed ; and it was
due to his influence that the reaction did not go as
far as had been demanded.

Of Pinhas' literary works, two volumes of the
■'Archives Diplomatiques Generales des Annees
1848 et Suivantes " (GOttingen, 1854-55), which he
published conjointly with Carl Murhard, deserve
mention.

Bibliography : Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1863, No. 2.

FINHEIRO, MOSES : One of the most influ-
ential pupils and followers of Shabbethai Zebi ; lived
at Leghorn in the seventeenth century. He was
held in high esteem on account of his acquirements;
and, as the brother-in-law of Joseph Ergas, the well-
known anti-Shabbethaian, he had great influence
over the Jews of Leghorn, urging them to believe
in Shabbethai. Even later (1667), when Shabbethai's
apostasy was rumored, Pinheiro, in common with
other adherents of the false Messiah, still clung to
him through fear of being ridiculed as his dupes.
Pinheiro was the teacher of Abraham Michael Car-
doso, whom he initiated into the Cabala and into the
mysteries of Shabbethaianism.

Bibliography : Gratz, Oesch. 3d ed., a. 190, 204, 225, 229, 312.
J- M. Sel.

FINKES (DpJS, from 7rwa^="a. board," "a
writing- tablet ") : Term generally denoting the regis-
ter of any Jewish community, in which the proceed-
ings of and events relating to the community are
recorded. The word originally denoted a writing-
tablet, of which, according to the Mishnah (Kelim
xxiv. 7), there were three kinds: (1) a tablet covered
with dust, used chiefly for marking thereon arith-
metical calculations, and large enough to serve as a
seat; (2) one covered with a layer of wax, the wri-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pines
Pinnei

ting upon which was executed with a stylet; and
(3) a smooth tablet written upon with ink. Later
the term was applied to a book composed of such
tablets (corap. Shab. xii. 4-5), and afterward to any
book. The term "pinkes" as denoting a register
occurs in the Mislinah : " The pinkes is open, and the
hand writes " (Ab. iii. 16). See Council of Four
Lands; Takkanah.
E. c. M. Sel.

PINKHOF, HEBMAN: Dutch physician;
born at Rotterdam May 10, 1863 ; educated at the
University of Leyden (M.D. 1886). He established
himself as a physician in Amsterdam. Since 1893
he has been collaborator on the " Nederlandsch Tijd-
schrift van Geneeskunde," for medical ethics and
professional interests. In 1895 he founded the Soci-
ety for the Promotion of the Interests of Judaism in
Holland, and since 1898 he has been president of tlie
society formed for the purpose of combating the
Neo-Malthusian principles, of which he is one of the
most vigorous opponents. He has written many
articles on this subject.

In 1890 he published "Abraham Kashlari: over
Pestachtige Koortsen (Werken van bet Genootschap
voor Natuur Genees en Heelkunde)."

Pinkhof is a member of the curatorium of Dr.
Dllnner's Theological Seminary of Amsterdam.

s. E. Sij.

PINNE : City in the province of Posen, Ger-
many. Jews are first mentioned there in 1553, in
connection with a " privilegium " issued by the lord
of the manor restricting them in the purchase of
leather. In 1624 Juspa Pinner, and from 1681 to
1653 his son-in-law Leiser Pinner, are mentioned as
holding various honorary offices in Posen. The
community of Pinne, owing to the practise of the
Polish kings and nobles of endowing churches with
sums exacted from the Jews, became heavily in-
debted to Catholic churches and hospitals. A di-
vorce case in Pinne in 1764 created a sensation.
After the decree bad been granted, the man con-
cerned asserted that he had not been the woman's
husband, but was another person from Przemysl.
This statement led to lengthy discussions, which are
given in two contemporary collections of responsa,
the controversy continuing until two authorities
finally declared the divorce to be illegal. The Jew-
ish tailors of Pinne originally belonged to the Chris-
tian tailors' gild, which had received its charter
from the lord of the manor; but subsequently they
formed a gild of their own, which still existed in
1850.

A " privilegium " was given to the community by
the lord of the manor under date of June 10, 1789;
hut the document refers to rights which had been
granted before that time. Its thirty-four articles
may be summarized as follows: The rabbi, hazzan,
teachers, and the cemetery are exempt from taxation
by the lord; there shall bo unrestricted rights of
trade ; butchers may sell only in the Jews' street, and
shall pay two stone of tallow to the castle ; admis-
sion of foreign Jews may be granted only by the
elders of the community, who shall be elected annu-
ally at the Passover ; the rabbi shall officiate as lower
judge, while the lord of the manor shall be the su-

perior judge ; if one party to a case is a Christian,
the elders of the Jews shall act as lower judges;
criminal cases may be brought only before the court
of the castle ; Jews may not acquire real estate out-
side of the ghetto ; a tax of 600 gulden a year shall
be paid to the castle; Jews may not leave tlieir
houses during Catholic processions ; assaults on Jews
by Christians shall be severely punished.

When the city came under Prussian rule in 1793
it contained 39 Jewish houses in a total of 129, and
219 Jews in a population of 789. There were 86
Jewish families in the town in 1795 ; more than 350
Jews in 1837; 847 in 1857; 673 in 1871; and 376 in
1895. The reader's prayer-book contains a prayer for
Napoleon I. dating from the time when Pinne be-
longed to the duchy of Warsaw (1807-15).

Since the second half of the eighteenth century
the following rabbis have officiated :

Isaac b. Moses ; Solomon b. Isaac ; Naphtali \) .
Aaron; Mordecai b. Michael Moses (d. 1823 or 1824);
Dob Bar b. Schragga Philippsthal (until 1832), author
of "Nahale Debash"; Isaac b. Jacob Lewy (until 1834);
Aryeh I<bbuBh Landsberg (1834-39); Joseph Hayyim
Caro ; Jacob Mattithiah Munk (1852-55), author of
■"Et Setod"; Oberdorfer (1857-62); Abraham Isaiah
Caro (1864r-88), author of an extract In Mecklenburg's " Ha-Ke-
tab weha^Kabhalah " ; Solomon G-oldschmidt (1889-90),
author of " Gesch. der Juden in England " : Moses Schle-
singer (1890-96), author of "Das Aramaische Verbum Im Je-
rusalemischen Talmud," and editor of Aaron ha-Kohen of
Lunel's "Orhot Hayyim"; and Louis Lewin (since 1897),
author ol "R. Simon b. Jochai," "Gesch. der Juden in Inow-
razlaw," " Judenverfolgungen im Zweiten Schwedisch-Pol-
nischen Kriege," and "Gesch. der Juden in Lissa."

The community has produced a number of Jewish
scholars, among whom may be mentioned Gustav
Gottheil and E. M. Pinner.

Bibliography: Louis Lewin, Aus der Vergarmenheit der
JUdischen Gemeinde zu Pinne, Pinne, 1903; manuscripts
in the archives of the Jewish conRregation of Posen.
D. L. Lew.

PINNEKi, ADOIiF : German chemist ; born at
Wronke, Posen, Germany, Aug. 31, 1843; educated
at the Jewish Theological Seminary at Breslau and
at the University of Berlin (Doctor of Chemistry,
1867). In 1871 he became privat-docent at the Uni'
versity of Berlin. In 1873 he became assistant pro-
fessor of chemistry at the University of Berlin, and in
1874 professor of chemistry at the veterinary college
of that city. In 1884 he was appointed a member
of the German patent office, and in the following
year, of the technical division of the Prussian De-
partment of Commerce. He has received the title
" Geheimer Regierungsrath. "

Pinner has contributed many essays to the profes-
sional journals, among which may be mentioned:
" Darstellung und Untersuchung des Butylchlorals,"
in " Annalen der Chemie," clxxix., and in "Berichte
der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft," 1870-77;
"Ueber Imidoather," in "Annalen," ccxcvii. and
ccxcviii., also in "Berichte," 1877-97 (which essays
he combined in book form under the title "Ueber
Imidoather und Dessen Deiivate ") ; " Die Conden-
sation desAcetons," in "Berichte," 1881-83; "Ueber
Hydantole und Urazine," in "Berichte," 1887-89;
"Ueber Nicotin," in "Berichte," 1891-95, and in
"Archiv der Pharmazie," ccxxxi., ccxxxiii. ;
"Ueber Pilocarpin," in "Berichte," 1900-3.

He is also the author of "Gesetze der Naturer-

Pinner
Finsk

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

scheinungen" and of " Repetitorium der Chemie,"
in two volumes, on organic and inorganic chemis-
try respectively (11th ed., Berlin, 1902). The latter
work is well known to all German students of
chemistry, and it has been translated into English,
Russian, and Japanese.

s. F. T. H.

FIN^NER, EPHBAim HOSES B. ALEX-
ANDER StrSSEIIirD : German Talmudist and
archeologist ; born in Pinne about 1800 ; died in Berlin
1880. His first work, bearing the pretentious title
of " Kizzur Talmud Yerushalmi we-Talmud Babli "
= " Compendium of the Jerusalem Talmud and of
the Babylonian Talmud" (Berlin, 1831), contained
specimens of translation of both Talmuds and an at-
tempted biography of the tanna Simeon b. Yohai.
It was published as the forerunner of his proposed
translation of the Talmud ; and his travels through
Germany, France, England, Italy, Turkey, and Rus-
sia were probably undertaken for the purpose of
furthering that plan. Pinner went from Constanti-
nople to St. Petersburg in 1837, and secured the per-
mission of Emperor Nicholas I. to dedicate the trans-
lation to him. It was to have been completed in
twenty-eight folio volumes ; but only one appeared,
the tractate Berakot, which was published five years
later (Berlin, 1842). This is a splendidly printed
book, dedicated to the emperor, who also heads the
list of subscribers. The latter includes the names
of the kings of Prussia, Holland, Belgium, and Den-
mark, and of about twenty-five dukes, princes, arch-
bishops, and bishops. The volume contains appro-
bations from several rabbis, none of whom lived in
Russia, in which country only representatives of
Haskalah, like Abraham Stern, Isaac Baer Levin-
sohn, Jacob Tugendhold of Warsaw, and Abraham
b. Joseph Sack of Wilna, favored the undertaking.
Their approval was given in signed eulogies, which
follow the approbations of the non-Russian rabbis.

Three years after the appearance of the tractate
Berakot, Pinner, who had apparently remained in
Russia in the hope of being able to continue the
publication of the translation, gave to the world his
famous " Prospectus der Odessaer Gesellschaft f ilr
Geschichte und Altherthum GehOrenden Aeltes-
ten Hebraischen und Rabbinischen Manuscripte"
(Odessa, 1845), which for the first time brought to
the attention of the world the archeological dis-
coveries (mostly spurious) of Abraham Fikkovich.
The publication of facsimiles, on which Simhah
Pinsker and other investigators founded their the-
ories on "nikkud" (punctuation), was, according to
Geiger (" Wiss. Zeit. Jiid. Theol." vi. 109), Pinner's
only service to science. His own investigations, like
his translations, were considered by competent crit-
ics to be of no value.

Other works of Pinner were : " Was Haben die
Israeliten in Sachsen zu HofEen und Was 1st Ihnen
zu Wunschen?" Leipsic, 1833; "Offenes Send-
schreiben an die Nationen Eurcpa's und an die Stande
Norwegens," Berlin, 1848; "Denkschrift an die
Juden Preussens, Besonders filr die Juden Berlins,"
ib. 1856, on the political and religious condition of
the Jews; "Kol Kore, Aufraf an die Orthodoxen
Rabbinen Europa's und die Nothwendigkeit einer
Streng Orthodoxen, Allgemeinen Rabbiner-Ver-

sammlung Dargestellt, " ib. 1858. He is, besides, sup-
posed to be the author of an incomplete catalogue
of Hebrew books and manuscripts (see Roest, " Cat.
Rosenthal. Bibl." «.».).

BiBLiOGKAPHY : Allg. ZeU. des Jud. vol. 1., No. 1 ; Blschoff,
Kritische Geschichte der TalmudrUeberiietzunaen, p. 68,
Frankfort-on-the-Maln, 1899 ; Furst, Blbl. Jud. 111. 103 ; Ke-
rem ffemed, 11. 174, 194; Orient, Lit. 1847, Nos. 1-2; Mc-
CUntock and Strong, Cyc. xU. 776 ; Stelnsclinelder. Cat. Bodl.
S.V.; ZeitUn, Bibl. Post-Mendels. pp. 368-269.
S. P. Wl.

PIITSK: Russian city in the government of
Minsk, Russia. There were Jews in Pinsk prior to
the sixteenth century, and there may have been an or-
ganized community there at the time of the expul-
sion of the Jews from Lithuania in 1495; but the
first mention of the Jewish community there in Rus-
sian-Lithuanian documents dates back to 1506. On
Aug. 9 of tliat year the owner of Pinsk, Prince Fee-
der Ivanovich Yaroslavich, in his own name and in
that of his wife. Princess Yelena, granted to the Jew-
ish community of Pinsk, at the request of Yesko Mey-
erovich, Pesakh Yesof ovich, and Abram Ryzhkevich,
and of otlier Jews of Pinsk, two par-
Early eels of land for a house of prayer and

Jewish. a cemetery, and confirmed all the

Settlers, rights and privileges given to the
Jews of Lithuania by King Alexander
Jagellon. This grant to the Jews of Pinsk was con-
firmed by Queen Bona on Aug. 18, 1533. From 1506
until the end of the sixteenth century the Jews are
frequently mentioned in various documents. In
1514 they were included in the confirmation of privi-
leges granted to the Jews of Lithuania by King
Sigismund, whereby they were freed from special
military duties and taxes and placed on an equality,
in these respects, with the other inhabitants of the
land, while they were also exempted from direct
military service. They were included among the
Jewish communities of Lithuania upon which a tax
of 1,000 kop groschen was imposed by the king in
1529, the entire sum to be subject to a pro rata con-
tribution determined upon by the communities.
From other documents it is evident that members of
the local Jewish community were prominent as tra-
ders in the market-place, also as landowners, lease-
holders, and farmers of taxes. In a document of
March 27, 1523, reference is made to the fact that
Lezer Markovich and Avram Volchkovich owned
stores in the market-place near the castle. In an-
other document, dated 1533, Avram Markovich was
awarded by the city court the possession of the estate
of Boyar Fedka Volodkevich, who had mortgaged it
to Avram's father, Mark Yeskovich. Still other
documents show that in 1540 Aaron Ilich Khoroshenki
of Grodno inherited some property in Pinsk, and
that in 1542 Queen Bona confirmed the Jews Kher-
son and Nahum Abramovich in the possession of the
estate, in the village of Krainovichi, waywodeship
of Pinsk, which they had inherited from their father,
Abram Ryzhkevich.

Abram Ryzhkevich was a prominent member of
the Jewish community at the beginning of the six-
teenth century, and was active in communal work.
He was a favorite of Prince Peodor Yaroslavich, who
presented him with the estate in question with all
its dependencies and serfs. The last-named were

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pinner
Fiusk

relieved from the payment of any crown taxes, and
were to serve Abram Ryzhkevlch exclusively. He
and his children were regarded as boyars, and shared
the privileges and duties of that class.

Pesakh Yesofovich, mentioned with Yesko Meyer-
ovich and Abram Ryzhkevlch in the grant to the
Jewish community of 1506, took an important part
in local affairs. Like Abram Ryzhkevlch, he was in-
timate with Prince Feodor Yarosla-
PesakV Ye- vich, was presented by the prince with
sofovich. a mansion in the town of Pinsk, and
was exempted at the same time from
the payment of any taxes or the rendering of local
services, with the exception of participation in the
repairing of the city walls. The possession of this
mansion was confirmed by Queen Bona to Pesakh 's
son Nahum in 1550, he having purchased it from
Bentz Misevich, to whom the property was sold
by Nahum's father. Inheriting their father's in-
fluence, Nahum and his brother Israel played im-
portant roles as merchants and leaseholders. Thus
on June 23, 1550, they, together with Goshka Mosh-
kevich, were awarded by Queen Bona the lease of
the customs and inns of Pinsk, Kletzk, and Goro-
detzk for a term of three years, and had the lease
renewed in 1553 for a further term of three years,
on payment of 875 kop groschen and of 25 stones of
wax. In the same year these leaseholders are men-
tioned in a characteristic lawsuit. There was an
old custom, known as "kanuny," on the strength of
which the archbishop was entitled to brew mead
and beer six times annually without payment of
taxes. The Pesakhovich family evidently refused
to recognize the validity of this privilege and en-
deavored to collect the taxes. The case was carried
to the courts, but the bishop being unable to show
any documents in support of his claim, and admit-
ting that it was merely based on custom, the queen
decided that the legal validity of the custom should
not be recognized; but since the income of the
"kanuny" was collected for the benefit of the
Church the tax-farmers were required to give an-
nually to the archbishop 9 stones of wax for can-
dles, "not as a tax, but merely as a mark of our
kindly intention toward God's churches."

The Pesakhovich family continues to be mentioned
prominently in a large number of documents, some
of them dated in the late sixties of the sixteenth
century. Thus in a document of May 19, 1555,
Nahum Pesakliovich, as representative of all the
Jews in the grand duchy of Lithuania, lodged a
complaint with the king against the magistrate and
burghers of Kiev because, contrary to the old-estab-
lished custom, they had prohibited the
Tlie Pe- Jews from coming to Kiev for trading
sakhovicli in the city stores, and compelled them
Family, to stop at, and to sell their wares in,
the city market recently erected by the
burghers. Postponing his final decision until his
return to Poland, the king granted the Jews the
right to carry on trade as theretofore.

In a document of Oct. 31, 1558, it is stated that
the customs, inns, breweries, and ferries of Pinsk,
which had been leased to Nahum and Israel Pesak-
hovich for 450 kop groschen, were now awarded to
Khaim Rubinovich for the annual sum of 550 gro-
X.— 4

schen. This indicates that the Pesakhovich family
was yielding to the competition of younger men.

An interesting light is shed on contemporary con-
ditions by a document dated Dec. 12, 1561. This
contains the complaint of Nahum Pesakhovich
against Grigori Grichin, the estate-owner in the
district of Pinsk, who had mortgaged to him, to
secure a debt of 38 kop groschen and of 5 pails of
unfermented mead, six of his men in the village
of Poryechye, but had given him only five men.
The men thus mortgaged to Nahum Pesakhovich
were each compelled to pay annually to the latter
20 groschen, one barrel of oats, and a load of hay ;
they served him oneday in every seven, and assisted
him at harvest-time. 'This would indicate that the
Jews, like the boyars, commanded the services of
the serfs, and could hold them under mortgage.
In another document, dated 1565, Nahum Pesakho-
vich informed the authorities that he had lost in the
house of the burgher Kimich 10 kop groschen and
a case containing his seal with his coat of arms.

In 1551 Pinsk is mentioned among the communi-
ties whose Jews were freed from the pa3''mentof the
special tax called "serebschizna." In 1553-55 the
starost of Pinsk took a census of the district in order
to ascertain the value of property which was held in
the district of Queen Bona. In the data thus secured
the Jewish house-owners in Pinsk and the Jewish
landowners in its vicinity are mentioned. It ap-
pears from this census that Jews owned property
and lived on the following streets: Dymiskovskaya
(along the river), Stephanovskaya ulitza (beyond the
Troitzki bridge), Velikaya ulitza from the Spasskiya
gates, Kovalskaya, Grodetz, and Zhi-
Tlie Pinsk dovskaya ulitzi, and the street near the
Jewry in Spass Church. The largest and most
1555. prominent Jewish property-owners in
Pinsk and vicinity were the members
of the Pesakhovich family— Nahum, Mariana, Israel,
Kusko, Rakhval (probably Jerahmeel), Mosko, and
Lezer Nahumovich; other prominent property-
owners were Ilia Moiseyevich, Nosko Moiseyevich,
Abram Markovich, and Lezer Markovich. The syn-
agogue and the house of the cantor were situated
in the Zhidovskaya ulitza. Jewish settlements near
the village of Kustzich are mentioned.

A number of documents dated 1561 refer in vari-
ous connections to the Jews of Pinsk. Thus one of
March 10, 1561, contains a complaint of Pan Andrei
Okhrenski, representative of Prince Nikolai Radzi-
will, and of the Jew Mikhel against Matvei Voitek-
hovich, estate-owner in the district of Pinsk; the
last-named had sent a number of his men to the
potash-works belonging to Prince Radziwill and
managed by the Jew above-mentioned. These men
attacked the works, damaging the premises, driving
off the laborers, and committing many thefts.

By a decree promulgated May 2, 1561, King Sigis-
mund August appointed Stanislav Dovorino as su-
perior judge of Pinsk and Kobrin, and placed all
the Jews of Pinsk and of the neighboring villages
under his jurisdiction, and their associates were
ordered to turn over the magazines and stores to the
magistrate and burghers of Pinsk. In August of the
same year the salt monopoly of Pinsk was awarded
to the Jews Khemiya and Abram Rubinovich.

Pinsk
Finsker

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

But on Dec. 25, 1564, the leases were awarded to
the Jews Vaska Medenchich and Gershon Avramo-
vich, who offered the king 20 kop groschen more
than was paid by the Christian merchants. In the
following year the income of Pinsk was leased to
the Jew David Shmerlevich.

In the census of Pinsk taken again in 1566, Jew-
ish house-owners are found on streets not mentioned
in the previous census ; among these were the Stara,
Lyshkovska, and Sochivchinskaya ulitzy. Among
the house-owners not previously mentioned were
Zelman, doctor (" doctor, " meaning " rabbi " or " day-
yan "), Meir Moiseyevia, doctor, Novach, doctor,
and others. The Pesakhovich family was still
prominent among the landowners.

In a circular letter of 1578 King Stephen Bathori
informed the Jews of the town and district of Pinsk
that because of their failure to pay their taxes in
gold, and because of their indebtedness, he would
send to them the nobleman Mikolai
Under Ste- Kindei with instructions to collect the
plien sum due. Byanorderof Jan. 20, 1581,

Batliori. King Stephen Bathori granted the
Magdeburg Rights to the city of
Pinsk. This provided that Jews who had recently
acquired houses in the town were to pay the same
taxes as the Christian householders. Thenceforward,
however, the Jews were forbidden, under penalty
of confiscation, to buy houses or to acquire them in
any other way. Elsewhere in the same documen t the
citizens of Pinsk are given permission to build a
town hall in the market-place, and for this purpose
the Jewish shops were to be torn down. The grant
of the Magdeburg Rights was subsequently con-
firmed by Sigismund III. (1589-1623), Ladislaus IV.
(1633), and John Casimir (1650).

In spite of the growing competition of the
Christian merchants, the Jews must have carried on
a considerable import and export trade, as is shown
by the custom-house records of Brest-Litovsk.
Among those who exported goods from Pinsk to
Lublin in 1588 Levko Bendetovich is mentioned (wax
and skins), and among the importers was one Hay-
yim Itzkhakovich (steel, cloth, iron, scythes, prunes,
onion-seed, and girdles). Abraham Zroilevich im-
ported caps, Hungarian knives, velvet girdles, linen
from Glogau, nuts, prunes, lead, nails, needles,
pins, and ribbons. Abraham Meyerovich imported
wine. Other importers were Abram Yaknovich,
Yatzko Nosanovich, Yakub Aronovich, and Hilel
and Rubin Lazarevich.

About 1620 the Lithuanian CotfNCiL was organ-
ized, of which Pinsk, with Brest-Litovsk and Grod-
no, became a part. In 1640 the Jews Jacob Rabin-
ovich and Mordecai-Slimoilo Izavelevich applied in
their own name, and in the names of all the Jews
then living on church lands, to Pakhomi Oranski,
the Bishop of Pinsk and Turov, for permission to
remit all taxes directly to him instead of to the par-
ish priests. Complying with this request, the
bishop reaffirmed the rights previously granted to
the Jews ; they were at liberty to build houses on
their lots, to rent them to newly arrived people, to
build inns, breweries, etc.

Toward the middle of the seventeenth century the
Jews of Pinsk began to feel more and more the ani-

mosity of their Christian neighbors ; and this was

true also of other Jewish communities. In 1647

"Lady" Deborah Lezerovaandherson

Increasing^ " Sir " Yakub Lezerovich complained

Anti- to the magistrates that their grain and

Jewish. hay had been set on fire by peasants.

Feeling. In the following year numerous com-
plaints of attack, robbery, plunder,
and arson were reported by the local Jews. Rebel-
lion was in the air, and with the other Jewish com-
munities in Lithuania that of Pinsk felt the cruelties
of the advancing Cossacks, who killed in great num-
bers the poorer Jews who were not able to escape.
Prince Radziwill, who hastened to the relief of the
city, finding the rioters there, set it on fire and
destroyed it.

Hannover, in "Ye wen Mezulah," relates that the
Jews who remained in Pinsk and those who were
found on the roads or in the suburbs of that city
were all killed by the Cossacks. He remarks also
that when Radziwill set fire to the town, many of
the Cossacks endeavored to escape by boats and
were drowned in the river, while others were killed
or burned by the Lithuanian soldiers. MeIr ben
Samuel, in "Zuk ha-'Ittim," says that the Jews of
Pinsk were delivered by the townspeople (i.e., the
Greek Orthodox) to the Cossacks, who massacred
them.

Evidently Jews had again appeared in Pinsk by
1651, for the rural judge Dadzibog Markeisch, in
his will, reminds his wife of his debt of 300 gulden
to the Pinsk Jew Gosher Abramovich, of which he
had already repaid 100 gulden and 110 thalers, and
asks her to pay the remainder. In 1662 the Jews of
Pinsk were relieved by John Casimir of the head-
tax, which they were unable to pay on account of
their impoverished condition. On April 11, 1665,
the heirs of the Jew Nathan Lezerovicli were
awarded by the court their claim against Pana
Terletzkaya for 69,209 zlot. For her refusal to al-
low the collection of the sum as ordered by the
court she was expelled from the country. In 1665,
after the country had been ruined by the enemy, the
Jewish community of Pinsk paid its proportion of
special taxation for the benefit of the nobility.

Beyond the fact that Hasidism developed in the
suburb of Karlin (see Aaeon ben Jacob of Kar-
lin), little is known about the history of the Pinsk
community in the eighteenth century ; but since the
first quarter of the nineteenth century the Jews
there have taken an active part in the development
ot the export and import trade, especially with Kiev,
Krementchug, and Yekaterinoslav, with which it is
connected by a steamship line on the Dnieper.
Many of the members of the Jewish community of
Pinsk removed to the newly opened South-Russian
province and became active members of the various
communities there. In the last quarter of the nine-
teenth century prominent Jewish citizens of Pinsk
developed to a considerable extent
In the its industries, in which thousands of
Nineteenth Jewish workers now find steady oc-

Century. cupation. They have established
chemical-factories, sawmills, a match-
factory (400 Jewish workers, producing 10,000,000
boxesof matchesperannum ; established by L.Hirsch-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Finsk
Piusker

man in 1900), shoe-nail factory (300 Jewish work-
ers), candle-factory, cork-factory, parquet-factory,
brewery, and tobacco-factories (witli a total of 800
Jewish workers). The Luries and Levines have been
especially active in that direction. Another cork-
factory, owned by a Christian, employs 150 Jewish
workers; and the shipyards (owned by a Prencli-
man), in which large steamers and sailing vessels are
built, also employs a few hundred Jews. Besides
these, there are many Jewish artisans inPinsk who are
occupied as nailsmiths, founders, workers in brass,
and tanners; in soap-manufactories, small brew-
eries, violin-string factories, the molasses-factory,
the flaxseed-oil factory, and the tallit-factory. In
all these the Jewish Sabbath and holy days are
strictly observed. Many Jewish laborers are em-
ployed on the docks of Pinsk and as skilled boatmen.
Pinsk has become one of the chief centers of Jew-
ish industry in northwest Russia. The total out-
put of its Jewish factories is valued at two and a
half million rubles. The pay of working men per
week in the factories is :

Industry.

Men.

Women.

3 to 7 rubles.

3 to .5 "

3.60

6 to 18 "

6 to 16 "

1.20 to 2..')0 rubles.

Match-factories

Candle "

1.20 to 2.50 "
1.80

Since 1890 there have been technical classes connected
with the Pinsk Talmud Torah, where the boys learn
the trades of locksmiths, carpenters, etc. , and technol-
ogy, natural history, and drawing.

"S%'l;^r.'l"an?r^osk^M.: i^r^^rTrS?,\#/8;

^°"- J. G. L.

The first rabbi mentioned in connection with Pinsk
is R. Simson. With R. Solomon Luria (MaHRaSh)
and R. Mordecai of Tiktin, he was chosen, in 1568,
to adjudicate the controversy relating to the asso-
ciation of Podlasye. His successors were : R. Naph-
tali, son of R. Isaac Katz (removed to Lublin ; d.
1650); R. Moses, son of R. Israel Jacob (c. 1673;
his name occurs in the " Sha'are Shamayim ") ; R.
Naphtali, son of R. Isaac Ginsburg (d. 1687) ; R.
Samuel Halpem, son of R. Isaac Halpern (d. 1703;
mentioned in "Dibre Hakamim," 1691); R. Isaac
Meir, son of R. Jonah Te'omim ; R. Samuel, son of
R. Naphtali Ilerz Ginzburg (mentioned in " 'Am-
mude 'Olam," Amsterdam, 1713); R. Asher Ginz-
burg (mentioned in the preface to " Ga'on Lewi ") ;

R. Israel Isher, son of R. Abraham
Rabbis. Mamri (mentioned in Tanna debe

Eliyahu, 1747); R. Raphael, son of
E. Jekuthiel Sussel (1763 to 1773; d. 1804); R.
Abraham, son of R. Solomon (mentioned in the
"Netib ha-Yashar"); R. Levy Isaac; R. Abigdor
(had a controversy with the Hasidim on the ques-
tion of giving precedence in prayers to "Hodu"
over "Baruk she-Amar"; the question was sub-
mitted for settlement to Emperor Paul I. -. " Vosk-
hod," 1893, i.); R. Joshua, son of Shalom (Phine-
has Michael, "Masseket Nazir," Preface); R. Hay-
yim ha-Kohen Rapoport (resigned in 1835 to go to
Jerusalem; d. 1840); Aaron of Pinsk (author of

"Tosefot Aharon," KOnigsberg, 1858; d. 1843); R.
Mordecai Sackheim (1843 to his death in 1853) ; R.
Eleazar Moses Hurwitz (1860 to his death in 1895).

Among those members of the community of
Pinsk who achieved distinction were the following:
R. Elijah, son of R. Moses ("Kiryah Ne'emanah,"
p. 135); R. Moses Goldes, grandson of the author of
"Tola'at Ya'akob"; R. Kalonymus Kalman Ginz-
burg (president of the community); R. Jonathan
("Dibre Rab Meshallem"); R. Solomon Baclirach,
son of R. Samuel Bachrach (" Pinkas Tiktin"); R.
Hayyimof Karlin("'Ir Wilna," p. 31); R. Solomon,
son of R. Asher ("Geburath He-Or"); R. Joseph
Janower ("Zeker Yehosef," Warsaw, 1860); R.
Samuel, son of Moses Levin ("Ba'al 5edoshira,"
p. 310); R. Asher, son of R. Kalonymus Kalman
Ginzburg ("Kiryah Ne'emanah," p. 185); R. Gad
Asher, son of R. Joshua Rokeah (" Anshe Shem," p.
63) ; R. Joshua Ezekiel (ib.) ; R. Hayyim Sch5nflnkel
{ib. p. 70); R. Abtaham Isaac ("Birkat Rosh"); R.
Notel Michael SchOnfinkel ("Da'at Kedoshim," p.
181); Zeeb, Moses, Isaac, and Solomon Wolf, sons
of R. Samuel Levin; R. Jacob Simhah Wolfsohn
("Anshe Shem," p. 40); R. Aaron Luria; R. Samuel
Radinkovitz.

The writers of Pinsk include: R. Moses Aaron
Schatzkes (author of " Mafteah "), R. Zebi Hirsch,
Shereshevski, A. B. Dobsevage, N. M. Schaikewitz,
Baruch Epstein, E. D. Lifshitz. Abraham Kunki
passed through Pinsk while traveling to collect
money for the support of the Jerusalem Talmud To-
rah (preface to " Abak Soferim," Amsterdam, 1704).
In 1781 the heads of the Jewish congregations of
Pinsk followed the example of some Russian Jewish
communities by excommunicating the Hasidim. In
1799 the town was destroyed by fire, and its records
were lost. Pinsk has two cemeteries : in the older, in-
terments ceased in 1810. The total population of the
town (1905) is about 38,000, of whom 18,000 are Jews.
Karlin : Until about one hundred years ago Kar-
lin was a suburb of Pinsk, and its Jewish residents
constituted a part of the Pinsk community. Then
E. Samuel Levin obtained the separation of Karhn
from Pinsk (Steinschneider, "'Ir Wilna," p. 188).
In 1870 the Hasidim of Karlin removed to the
neighboring town of Stolin. The rabbis of the Mit-
naggedimof Karlin include : R. Samuel Antipoler;
R. Abraham Rosenkranz; the "Rabbi of Wolpe"
(his proper name is unknown) ; R. Jacob (author of
"Miskenot Ya'akob ") and his brother R. Isaac (au-
thor of " Keren Orah ") ; R. Samuel Abigdor Tose-
fa'ah (author of "She'elot u-Teshubot ") ; David
Friedmann (the present [1905] incumbent; author
of "YadDawid").

H. E. B. El.

PINSKEB, DOB BAR B. NATHAN : Polish
Talmudist of the eighteenth century. He was a
descendant of Nathan Spira of Cracow, and the
author of the Talraudical work " Neta' Sha'ashu'im "
(Zolkiev, 1748), which contains novellre on the sec-
tion Nashun of the Babylonian Talmud and on the
tractates Makkot and Shebu'ot, besides some collec-
tanea.

Bibuorraphy: FOrat, Bibl. Jud. Hi. 104; Zedner, Cat. Hcbr.
Boofts Brit. Mus. p. 210 ; Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 186-
187, Warsaw, 1886.

E. C.

P. Wi.

I'insker
Pinto

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Lev Pinsker.

PINSKER, LEV (LEV SEMIONOVICH) :

Russian plij'siciau ; born at Toiuaslicv, government
of Piotrkow (Piotrikov), Poland, 1821 ; son of Slm-
hah Pinskur; died at Odessa Dec. 21, 1891. Pinsker
obtained Lis early education in bis father's school,
the currioilum of which included not only general
subjects but also specifically Jewish ones. After
finishing his course there he entered tlie gymnasium,
and later the rtiehelieu Lyceum. On graduating
from the latter institution he accepted the position
of instructor hi the Russian language at the Jewish
school in Kisbiuef. In the following year he began
a medical course in the University of Moscow, and
while still a student dis-
played great cotirage in
devoting himself to the
care of hospital patients
suffering from cholera,
which disease was at that
time (184b) epidemic. On
completing his course be
returned to Odessa, and
soon after was appointed
to the staff of the city bos-
jjital, having been highly
recommended by the au-
thorities. His great in-
dustry and thoroughness
gi'adually won for him the
recognition of bis col-
leagues and of the public,
and witliin ten years he became one of the foremost
physicians of Odessa.

Pinsker likewise took an active interest in com-
munal affairs, lie also published occasional arti-
cles in the periodicals "Sion," "Den," and "Raz-
s vyet. " Though not a i^roliflc writer, Pinsker evinced
much originality and feeling; and his articles were
always forceful. He pleaded earnestly for more
freedom for the Russian Jews, and endeavored to
convince the latter of the great value of modern
education. In time Pinsker came to see that the
Rirs.sian Jew could not expect much from an auto-
cratic government, and that any deliverance for him
must come through his own exertions. The expres-
sion of this conviction appears in his " Autoemanci-
pation," wdiich appeared in 1881 over the nom de
plume " Ein Russischer Jude. " The author's name
soon became known, liowever, and the pamphlet
created much comment and discussion. Pin.sker
advocated therein the acciuisition of land by the
Jews, inasmuch as without homes of their own they
would always remain strangers.

A congress of delegates from almost all the coun-
tries of Europe met to dLscuss the fundamental idea
set forth by Pinsker, but failed to formulate an ef-
fective plan for the solution of the proljlem. The
only practical outcome was the establishment of a
society for the aid of JewLsb immigrants in Pales-
tine and Syria. As chairman of this society Pin.sker
energetically devoted himself to the question, work-
ing patiently throughout the remainder of bis life for
the establishment of Jewish settlers in the Holy Land.

BIBLIOCRAPHY : N. S. Rashkovski, Srnyremennyye Russlso-
Yevreishiyc DyeyateJi, p. 6i, Odessa, 1899.
H. E. J. G. L.

PINSKEK, SIMHAH : Polish Hebrew scholar
and arclieologist ; born at Tarnopol, Galicia, Slarch
17, 1801 ; died at Odessa Oct. 39, 1864. He received
his earl}' Hebrew education in the heder and from
bis father, Shebali Iia-Levi, a noted preacher, who
instructed bim in mathematics and German also.
In his youth Pinsker was an enthusiastic admirer of
the Hasidim, hut soon forsook them. He at first
engaged in business, but, having no aptitude there-
for, was obliged to abandon it. He then went to
Odessa, and, owing to his calligraphic skill, became
secretary to the rabbi. Here, in conjunction with
Isaac Horowitz of Brody and Littenfeld, Pinsker
succeeded in establishing a public .school for Jewish
children, of which be himself served as principal
until 1840.

At that time Abraham FiRKOvicn, a Karaite
scholar, brought to Odessa a number of ancient
manuscripts, unearthed in the Crimea. Among
these was one of the Later Prophets which had a
.singular punctuation, differing widely in the form
of the vowels and singing-accents from the one then
in use. This manuscript gave ample opportunity
to Pinsker to satisfy his propensity for research.
He at once set himself to the task of deciphering the
system of punctuation, and satisfactorily accom-
plished it. He bad already become known as an ar-
cheologist of merit through his contributions to the
" Orient " ; but with this di.scovery his fame was es-
tablished. He was thereupon honored by the Rus-
sian government with two gold medals and with the
title "Honorable Citizen"; and the community of
Odessa bestowed upon him a life-pension of 300
rubles a year.

Pinsker then retired from communal work, and
repaired to Vienna in order to devote the rest of his
life to his researches and to the arrangement and
publication of his works. Of these the first and
most imjiortant one was"Likkute Kadmoniyyot"
(Vienna, 1860), in which he describes the different
periods of development in the history of Karaism.
He maintains that the term " Karaite " is derived
from the Hebrew "kara" (Nip) = "to call," "to in-
vite," and that its use dates froin the first period of
the schism, when the members of this sect sent mes-
sengers throughout Jewry "to invite" the people
to join their ranks ("Likkute Kadmoniyyot," p.
16). Pinsker moreover attempts to show tbrougli-
out the whole work that to the scholars of this
sect who preceded the orthodox Biblical scholars
and grammarians is due the correct system of Bib-
lical orthography, grammar, and lexicography ; and
that even in their poetry the Karaites were models
for the Hebrew poets of the Jliddle Ages, sucli as
Ibn Gabirol and Judab ha-Levi (ib. p. 107). The
"Likkute Kadmoniyyot" made such an impression
upon the scholarly world that Jost and Graetz pub-
licly avowed their indebtedness to the author, the
former even changing, in con.sequence, some of the
views expressed in his history of the Jewish sects.

The other great work of Pinsker, published in
bis lifetime, was "Mabo el ha-Nikkud ha-Ashsburi
weba-Babli" (Vienna, 1863), an introduction to the
Babylonian-Hebraic system of punctuation ; it con-
tains the results of his examination of the manu-
scripts in the Odessa library. As an appendix to it is

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fiusker
Pinto

printed the " Yesod Mispar," by Abraham Ibn Ezra,
on the Hebrew numerals. Pinsker's other works are :
an edition of the "Miklol" (Lyck, 1863), Hebrew
grammar by D. K^imhi, with emendations by Pinsker
and others ; " Sefer ha-Ehad " (Odessa, 1867), on the
nine cardinal numbers, by Abraham ibn Ezra, with
commentary; and "Mishle ha-Gezerah weha-Bin-
yan " ("Vienna, 1887), on the Hebrew verb. Pinsker
left, besides, a considerable number of manuscripts
on the Hebrew language and literature.

At Vienna, Pinsker lectured for some time at the
bet ha-midrash ; but, his health soon failing, he was
brought back by his children to Odessa, where he
died.

Bibliography: Zederbaum, In Mizpah, It. 13-14; idem, in
Ha-Meliz, 1864, No. 43; Ha-Maggid, 1865, Nos. 7-10; Mo-
natsschr'ift, x. 176 et seq.; He-Haluz, v. 66 et seq.; Mazkir
lUBene Reslief, In Ha-Shalyir, i. 46 et seq.; H. S. Morals,
Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century, pp. 279 et
seq., PWladelpWa, 1880.
H E. A. S. W.

PINTO or DE PINTO : Family of financiers,
rabbis, scholars, soldiers, and communal workers,
originally from Portugal. Members of it lived in
Syria in the beginning of the sixteenth century; and
in 1535 there was at Home a Diogo Rodrigues Pinto,
advocate of the Maranos. But its most prominent
members lived in Holland, particularly in Amster-
dam, in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
They were among the greatest financiers in that
city ; and one of them bequeathed several millions
to the Jewish community, to the state, to Christian
orphanages and churches, and to the Christian clergy
(see his testament in Schudt, " Jiidische Merkwiir-
digkeiten, " i. 293). Members of the family were also
prominent in South America, namely, in Brazil and
in Dutch Guiana, in the beginning of the eighteenth
century. About the same time other members set-
tled in the United States, becoming very influential,
especially in the state of Connecticut, where they
took an active part in the Revolution. The earliest
mention of the Pintos in the Connecticut records is
under date of 1724; in those of New York, 1736.
The best-known members of this family are :

Aaron de Pinto : Trustee of the Portuguese con-
gregation at Amsterdam in the beginning of the
eighteenth century. He supported Solomon Ayl-
LON against Zebi Hirsch Ashkenazi. Ayllon con-
vinced Pinto that it was his duty to uphold the
superiority of the Portuguese community over the
Ashkenazim. He thus helped greatly to protect Ne-
hemiah Hayyun and to persecute Ashkenazi. Pinto
and Aylion even suggested that Ashkenazi should
be cited before the Portuguese council, which, since
he did not heed the summons, excommunicated him.

D. M. Sel.

Aaron Adolf de Pinto: Dutch jurist; son of
Moses de Pinto and Sara Salvador; born at The
Hague Oct. 34, 1838; studied law at Leyden (LL.D.
1853). In 1863 he was appointed referendary in the
Department of Justice, in 1871 "Raadsadviseur,"
and in 1876 justice of the Supremo Court; he be-
came vice-president of that court Dec. 31, 1903.
He has been a member of the Royal Academy of
Sciences since 1877. The law of 1873, abolishing
tithes, was drawn up by De Pinto. From 1870 to
1881 he was secretary of a commission appointed to

prepare a penal code, which was put in force in
1886 ; he was a member also of the colonial penal
code commission. He is the author of the "Me-
morie van Toelichting op het Wetsontwerp tot Af-
schafflng van de Doodstraf . " From 1888 to 1903 De
Pinto was editor-in-chief of the " Weekblad voor het
Recht," and he was one of the founders of the Juris-
tenvereeniging. He has published: "Wetboekvan
Strafrecht voor Nederlandsoh Indie ; Wetboek voor
Europeanen, Gevolgd door Memorie van Toelich-
ting " (The Hague, 1866) ; " Hezzien Wetboek van
Strafvordering " (3 vols., Zwolle, 1886-88); "Het
Proces Dreyfus Getoetst met Wet en Recht" (3
vols., 1898-99). De Pinto is commander of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion and ofilcer of the
Crown of Italy.

Bibi.iograp)[T: Eigen Hoard, 1898 (with portrait); Een
Halve Eeuw, 1. 190 ; 11. 52, 57, 60.
S. E. Sl.

Abraham Pinto : Cofounder, with his brother
David Pinto, of the Portuguese community at Rot-
terdam in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
The two brothers established also a school (Jesiba de
los Pintcs), which, in 1669, after the death of one of
the founders, was transferred to Amsterdam.

Abraham Pinto : Soldier in the American army
in 1775, at the time of the Revolution. He was a
member of Company X, Seventh Regiment of the
State of Connecticut.

D. M. Sel.

Abraham de Pinto: Dutch jurist; born at The
Hague May 37, 1811 ; died there May 36, 1878. He
studied law at Leyden (LL.D. 1835) and was awarded
a gold medal by the university for a competitive
thesis entitled "Exponaturetad Examen Revocetur
Locus C. C. de Causa Obligandi " (1835). In 1835
he became editor-in-chief of the " Weekblad voor het
Recht," and from 1840 to 1876 he edited the period-
ical " Themis, " which he had founded. Abraham de
Pinto was a member of the municipal council of The
Hague from 1851 until his death. He was president
of the Sephardic congregation, and on his initiative
was founded the " Maatschappij tot Nut der Israe-
lieten in Nederland" (1850). He was appointed
"Landsadvocaat" Dec. 37, 1863.

De Pinto published the following works: "Een
Woord over de Circulaire van den Minister van
Justitie " (The Hague, 1850); "Handleiding tot de
Wet op den Overgang van de Vroegere tot de
Nieuwe Wetgeving" (ib. 1850); "Handleiding tot
het Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering "
(3d ed. , 3 vols. , 1857) ; " Adviezen 1838-53 " (Zwolle,
1863); "Handleiding tot het Wetboek van Koop-
handel " (3d ed., 3 vols., ib. 1879); "Handleiding tot
de Wet op de Rechterlijke Organisatie en het Beleid
der Justitie" (3d ed.,ib. 1880); "Handleiding tot
het Wetboek van Strafvordering" (2d ed., 2 vols.,
ib. 1882); "Handleiding tot het Burgerlijk Wet-
boek" (6th ed., ib. 1883-85).
Bibliography: Weelthlad voor het Recht, 1878, Nos. 4240,

4241 ; Roest, Nieuwsbode, ul. 49 ; Brlnkman, Catalogiis.

s. ■^- Sl.

Daniel Pinto : Syrian Talmudist ; lived at Aleppo
in the seventeenth century. He and Moses Galante
went to Smyrna in order to pay homage to Shab-
bethai Zebi.

Pinto

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

David Pinto : Cofounder, with bis brother Abra-
ham, of the Portuguese community at Rotterdam.

David Pinto : A rich broker of Amsterdam in
the eighteenth century who sided with Jonathan
EybbschOtz in his controversy with Jacob Emden.

Bibliography: Gr&tz, Gesch. 3i ed., Ix. 263; x. 13, 211,321,
368 ; Hiiliner, In Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soe. xl. 88 et seg.

Isaac Pinto ; Dutch captain of the beginning of
the eighteenth century. At the head of a company of
Jews, Pinto in 1713 heroically defended the village
of Savanna in Surinam and beat off the French
under Cassard. Southey ("History of Brazil," ii.
241) speaks of a captain named Pinto, who, when
the Dutch were for the second time besieged at Re-
cife, defended the fort single-handed, until, over-
whelmed by superior numbers, he was obliged to
surrender. He is probably identical with the sub-
ject of this article.

Bibliography: Felsenthal and Gotthell in Puhl. Am. Jew.
Hist. Snc. iv. 3 ; G. A. Kobut, ib. Hi. 118 et seq.; Koenen,
Geschiedente der Joden in Nederland, pp. 281, 294 ; Simon
Wolf, Tlie American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen,
p. 452.
D. M. Sel.

Isaac Pinto: American ritualist; born about
1731; died Jan., 1791; member of Congregation
Shearith Israel in the city of New York. He is re-
membered chietly for having prepared what is prob-
ably the earliest Jewish prayer-book published in
America, and certainly the lirst work of its kind
printed in New York city. The work appeared in
1766, and the title-page reads as follows : " Prayers
for SUabbath, Rosh-Hashanah and Kippur, or the
Sabbath, the beginning of the year, and the Day of
Atonement, witli the Amidah and Musaph of the
Moadim or Solemn Seasons, according to the Order
of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. Translated
by Isaac Pinto and for him printed by John Holt in
New York. A.M. 5526." It seems that the ma-
hamad of the London congregation would not per-
mit this translation to be published in England (see
Jacobs and Wolf, "Bibl. Anglo-Jud." p. 174, Lon-
don, 1888; G. A. Kohut, in "Publ. Am. Jew. Hist.
Soc." iii. 131; Lady Magnus, "Outlines of Jewish
History," p. 348, Philadelphia, 1890).

Pinto was the friend and correspondent of Ezra
Stiles, president of Yale College, who as late as 1790
mentions him in his diary as " a learned Jew at New
York." From Stiles' account it appears that Pinto
was a good Hebrew scholar, studying Ibn Ezra in
the original. An Isaac Pinto, possibly identical
with the subject of this article, appears to have been
a resident of Stratford, Conn., as early as 1748
("Colonial Records of Connecticut," ix. 406).

Bibliography : The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles, ed. F. B.
Dexter, New Yorlc, 1901 ; George A. Kohut, Ezra Stiles and
the Jews, ib. 1902 ; Morris Jastrow, in Publ. Am. Jew. Hist.
Soc. X. 29 ; Leon Hiiliner, The Jews of New England Prior
to 1800, ib. xl. 90.

J. L. HiJ.

Isaac de Pinto : Portuguese moralist of Jew-
ish origin ; born 1715 ; died Aug. 14, 1787, at The
Hague. He first settled at Bordeaux, and then re-
moved to Holland. Pinto was a man of wide infor-
mation, but did not begin to write until nearly fifty,
when he acquired a reputation by defending his co-
religionists against Voltaire. In 1763 he published
his "Essai sur le Luxe" at Amsterdam. In the

same year appeared his " Apologie pour la Nation
Juive, ou Reflexions Critiques." The author sent
a manuscript copy of this work to Voltaire, who
thanked him. Guenee reproduced the " Apologie "
at the head of his " Lettres de Quelques Juifs Portu-
gais, AUemands et Polonais, a M. de Voltaire." In
1768 Pinto sent a letter to Diderot on "Du Jeu de
Cartes. " His " Traite de la Circulation et du Credit "
appeared in Amsterdam in 1771, and was twice re-
printed, besides being translated into English and
German. His "Precis des Arguments Contre les
Materialistes " was published at The Hague In 1774.
Pinto's works were published in French (Am-
sterdam, 1777) and also in German (Leipsic, 1777).

Bibliography: Bidot, Nnuvelle Biographic Gfnerale, p. 282 ;
Barbier, Dictionnavre des Aruinymes ; Dictionnaire d'Bco-
nomie Politicale, ii.; Qu^rard, La France Utteraire, in All-
gemelne Idtteraturzeitung, 1787, No. 273.
D. I. Co.

Jacob Pinto: Early Jewish settler at New Haven,
Conn., where he was residing in 1759; brother of
Solomon Pinto. He figures repeatedly in Connecti-
cut records between 1765 and 1776. Pinto espoused
the patriot cause at the outbreak of the American
Revolution ; and he appears to have been a member
of a political committee at New Haven in 1775. His
name appears, with that of other influential citizens
of the place, in a petition to the Council of Safety
for the removal of certain Tories in 1776.

Bibliography : J. W. Barber, Connecticut Historical Collec-
tions, p. 176, New Haven, n.d.; Leon Hilbner, Die Jews of
New England Prior to 1800, in Puhl. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc.
xi. 93, and autborities tbere cited.

Joseph. Jesurun Pinto : American rabbi; bom
probably in England ; died 1766. He was leader
of Congregation Shearith Israel, New York, from
1759 to 1766, having been selected for the posi-
tion and sent to New York by the London con-
gregation pursuant to a request from that of New
York. A letter from the former to the latter, dated
1758, relating to the matter is still extant. Pinto
became a minister as a very young man, and in
1762 married Rebecca, daughter of Moses de la
Torre of London. The only literary production of
his that has come down is a form of prayer for a
thanksgiving service for the "Reducing of Canada,"
published at New York in 1760.

Bibliography : N. T. Phillips, in Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc.
n. 49-51, vl. 129 ; Charles P. Daly, The Settlement of the Jews
in North America, p. .56, New York, 1893; M. Gaster, Hist.
of Bexns MarUs, London, 1901.
J. L. HiJ.

Josiah. ben Joseph. Pinto (RIF) : Syrian rabbi
and preacher; born at Damascus about 1565; died
there Feb. or March, 1648. His father, Joseph
Pinto, was one of the rich and charitable men of
that city. Josiah was a pupil of various rabbis in
Talmud and Cabala, and later, after his father's
death, he studied Talmud under Jacob Abulafla, who
ordained him as rabbi. Pinto's permanent residence
was at Damascus, where later he ofBciated as rabbi
until his death. He went twice to Aleppo, and
in 1625 he removed to Safed with the intention of
settling there; but the death of his young son,
Joseph, which occurred a year later, induced him to
return to Damascus.

Pinto was the author of the following works:
"Kesef Nibhar" (Damascus, 1616), a collection of

PRAYERS

FOR

SHABBATH, ROSH-HASHANAH, and KIPFUR,

O R

The SABBATH, the BEGINNING of the YSAR,

AND
The DAY of ATONEMENTS,
WITH
The ^MIDAH and MUSAPH of the MO^^DIM,

OR
SOLEMN SEASONS.

According to the Order of the SpanKh and Pof tugucfe Jews.

Translated by ISAAC PINTO*

And for him printed by JOTTN HOLT, m New- York,

A, M. 5j-j6.

Title-Page prom Isaac Pinto's Translation of the Prayer-Book, Printed at New York, 1766.

(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Piotrkow
Pirbrigrht

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

homilies and comments on Genesis and Exodus;
" Kesef Mezukljak; " (flnislied 1625, and published at
Venice, 1628), a homiletic commentary on the Pen-
tateuch, followed by a pamphlet entitled "Kesef
To'afot," glosses on the Pentateuch; "Me'or 'Ena-
yim," commentary on Jacob ibn Habib's "'En
Ya'akob," which is a collection of the haggadot of
the Babylonian Talmud (parti., with the text, Ven-
ice, 1643; part ii., with other commentaaies and the
text, Amsterdam, 1754); "Kesef Zaruf " (ib. 1714),
commentary on Proverbs; and "Nibhar mi-Kesef "
(Aleppo, 1869). Some of his responsa are to be
found in the collection of Yom-Tob Zahalon and in
Aaron Alfandari's " Yad Aharon. " His unpublished
works are: "Kesef Nim'as," a commentary on
Lamentations; "Kebuzzat Kesef," a collection of
civil laws and of laws concerning women; and a
collection of responsa.

Bibliography: Azulai,S?!«m7i«-(?e(JoMm,l.; Fuenn, JTeneset
Tissrael, p. 383 ; Furst, BihJ. Jud. lii. 104 ; Elijah Vita Sa.ssoon,
In Ha-Lebanon, vll. 15, 23 ; Steinschnelder, Cat. UodZ. cols.
1546-1547.
D. M. Sel.

Juan Delgado Pinto. See Dblgado.

Solomon Pinto : American patriot in the Revo-
lutionary war. A settler at New Haven, Conn. , he
served as an officer in the Connecticut line through-
out the war, and was among the patriots wounded
in the British attack upon New Haven July 5 and
6, 1779. Pinto's name appears repeatedly in Revo-
lutionary records ; and he has the additional distinc-
tion of having been one of the original members of
the Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut. He is
mentioned as late as 1818.

Bibliography: Record nf Service nf Connecticut Men in
the War of the Revolution, pp. 218, 325, 360, 373, 553, 636,
Hartlora, 1869; Leon Huhner, The Jews of New End-
land Prior to 1800, In Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc. xl. 94-95,
and authorities there given; G. H. Hollister, The History
of Connecticut, ii. 373, New Haven, 1855 ; Koyal R. Hinman,
HistoricaX Collection, p. 567, Hartford, 1843.
J. L. Hi).

PIOTRKOW: Town in Russian Poland, near
Warsaw. For some time Piotrkow was the seat of
the Polish diet. At the diet of 1538, held there, it
was enacted that no Jew should be permitted to
farm the taxes, and that Jews should wear distinct-
ive garments, " so that they might be distinguished
from Christians." Anti- Jewish laws were passed
also by the diets of 1562, 1568, and 1565, these diets
being influenced by the Jesuits. The Jewish com-
munity of Piotrkow, however, is specifically men-
tioned for the first time in 1567, when two Jews,
Isaac Borodavka and Mendel Isaakovich, were tax-
farmers in that town (" Gramoty Velikikh Knyazei
Litovskikh," p. 104). In the disastrous time be-
tween 1648 and 1658, the period of the Cossack up-
rising, the Jewish community of Piotrkow suffered
with the other communities in Poland. There were
then fifty families there, " almost all the members of
which were killed " by the Cossacks (" Le-Korot ha-
Gezerot," v. 19). In 1897 Piotrkow had a large
Jewish community, having one synagogue, several
houses of prayer, and thirty-six Hebrew schools.
An old and celebrated Hebrew printing-press is
established there. The town has a total population
of 34,866.

bibliography: EnteftlopedichesW Slouar, xxlll. 472 ; Gratz,
Gesch. (Hebrew transl.) vll. 318, 328 ; vUl. 152 ; Begesty, i.. No.
551.
II. K. A. S. W.

PIOVE DI SAGOO (1pE>n Ni3"S) : Small Ital-
ian city in the district of Padua ; the first in that terri-
tory to admit Jews. A loan-bank was opened there
by an association (" consortium ") before 1373, and
was probably an unimportant institution, as it jjaid
a yearly tax of only 100 lire. When, in 1455, the
Jews of Padua were forbidden to lend money, they
transacted their business through their fellow bank-
ers at Piove. No Jews except a few money-brokers
seem to have lived here; and apparently these were
expelled at an early date. Piove never had a
ghetto. Leone Komanini Jacur is now (1905) the
representative for Piove in the Italian Chamber of
Deputies.

The city owes its importance to the fact that a
Hebrew printing-press was temporarily established
there. MeshuUam Cusi Rafa b. Moses Jacob printed
at Piove Jacob b. Asher's " Arba' Turim " in folio,
1475, this being the second work issued there.
Complete copies of this edition are extremely rare.
A fine impression on parchment is in the city library
at Padua (B. P. 574). The "Arba' Turim" was
circulated both as an entire work and in the sepa-
rate parts.

Bibliography : A. Ciscato, GU Ebrei in Padova, 1901, pp. 21,
53, 158 ; G. B. de Eossi, AnnaUs Hebrceo-Typographici, etc.,
XV., No. 2.
G. I. E.

PIPE : Musical instrument akin to the flute.
The flute was a favorite instrument of the ancients.
The monuments show flutes of various shapes. On
the Egyptian monuments are pictured (1) single-
tubed direct flutes made of reed or wood, (2) rather
long cross-flutes, and (3) long, thin, double-tubed
flutes, the tubes of which, however, were not fast-
ened together. On Assyrian monuments is depicted
a shorter, more trumpet-shaped double flute. The
Syrians used the small gingras — known also to the
Athenians — only a span long, with a peoetrating,
mournful sound. The flutes used by the Greeks
were very varied ; and it is probable that the Israel-
ites, too, played several kinds; but, unfortunately,
nothing definite about their shape is known.

(1) The "halil," from "halal" (to bore through),
was a hollowed piece of wood. The name is evidence
for the fact that the flute was made from cane or
wood. It consisted of a tube and a tongue of cane.
The number of holes iu the tube was originally only
two, three, or four; later it was increased. The
tones of such an instrument were naturally limited,
and it was manifestly necessary to have a special
flute for each key. It was not until art was more
highly developed that an instrument was made
which could be played in different keys. Among
the Israelites the halil was used for music played at
meals on festive occasions (Isa. v. 12), in festal pro-
cessions (I Kings i. 40), and during the pilgrim-
ages to Jerusalem (Isa. xxx. 29). The Israelites used
also the " nebi'im " in connection with the kettle-
drum (I Sam. X. 5). The flute was, in addition, the
special instrument to denote mourning (Jer. xlviil.
36) ; and among the later Jews flute-playing was

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Piotrkow
Pirbrigrht

considered so essential at funerals tliat even the
poorest ^yonld not do witliout it.

In the days of the Old Testament there were no
flute-players in the Temple orchestra. In the Mish-
nah, 'Ar. ii. 3, mention is made that flutes were
played; it states that at the daily services from
two to twelve flutes were used. But they accom-

Pipes in Use in Palestine.

(In-the United States National Museum, Washington, X>. C.)

panied psahn-singing only at the slaughtering of
the paschal lambs, on the first and seventli daj'S of
the Passover, and during the eight days of the
Feast of Tabernacles, when a flute was played be-
foie the altar to accompany the singing of the
"ilallel" (conip. Tacitus, "Ilistoria," v. 5).

(2) A second kind of wind-instrument, known from
very early times, was the "'ugab," wliicli was es-
sentially an instrument to express joyousness, and
was played for the amusement of the people, but
never at divine service. According to tradition,
which connects the use of the 'ugab with Jubai
(Gen. iv. 21), the instrument was a bagpipe ("sum-
pongah " ; Dan. iii. 5). The same sort of instru-
ment—called "ghaitah" in North Africa — is used in
Arabian mu.sic. The older descriptions correspond

in the main with the form now found in Egypt,
Arabia, and Italy. Two pipes are inserted in a
leathern bag; one above, into which the player
blows; and the other, provided with holes, at the
bottom or slanting at the side, so that it may be
played with the fingers.

(S) The instrument mentioned in the Hebrew text
of Dan. iii. 5, 7, 10, 15, under the name "mashro-
kita," is the syrinx, or Pan flute, which generally
consisted of seven to nine reed tubes, of different
lengths and thicknesses, arranged in a row. It was
the favorite instrument of shepherds in the Oiient,
where it is used even at the present time. Whether
it was known to the Hebrews is very doubtful.

(4) "Nekeb " (Ezek. xxviii. 13 et seq.) is generafly
understood to denote a kind of flute; but this is
more than doubtful. The word is most likely a
technical term used in the goldsmith's art.

K. G. n. W. N.

PIPERNO, SETTIMIO: Italian economist;
born at I!oine 1834. Ho is (1905) professor of stati.s-
tics and political economy in the Technical Institute
of Rome, director of the Cesi Technical School,
and a member of the board of administration of the
Jewish community of Rome. Piperno is the author
of the following works, in addition to various journal-
istic articles: "Studio sulla Morale Indipendente " ;
"Studio sulla Pei'eezionc" ; "Elemeuti di Seienza
Economica Esposti Secondo i Nuovi Programmi
Governatici per gl' Istituti Tecnici," Turin, 1878;
"II Riconoscimento Giuridicodelle Socictadi Mutuo
Soeeorso," Rome, 1882; "La Pensioni di Vecchiaia
Presso le Soeieta di Mutuo Soeeorso Italiane,"
Turin, 1883; "La Nuova Seuola di Diritto Penale
in Italia, Studio di Scieuza Sociale," Rome, 1886.

Bibliography: De Gubematis, Diz. BioQ.; idem, Ecrlvains
cht Jour.
s. U. C.

PIRBRIGHT, HENRY DE WORMS, BAR-
ON: English statesman; born in London 1840;
died at Guildford, Surrey, Jan. 9, 1903; third son of
Solomon Benedict de Worms, a baron of the Austrian
empire. He was educated at King's College, Lon-
don, and became a barrister in 1863. As Baron Henry
de Worms hesat in the House of Commons as Con-
servative member for Greenwich from 1880 to 1885,
and for the East Toxteth division of Liverpool from
1885 to 1895, when he was created a peer. He was
parliamentary secretary to the Board of Trade in
1885 and 1886 and from 1886 to 1888, and under-scc-
retary of state for the colonics from 1888 to 1893.
In 1888 he was president of the International Con-
ference on Sugar Bounties, and as plenipotentiary
signed the abolition treaty for Great Britain. He
became a member of the Privy Council in the same
year. He was a royal commissioner of the Patri-
otic p^und, and one of the royal commissioners of
the French Exhibition of 1900. His works include:
"England's Policy in the East" (London, 1876),
"Handbook to the Eastern Question " (5th ed., Lon-
don, 1877), "The Austro-Hungarian Empire"
(2ded., London, 1877), "Memoirs of CountBeust"
(ib. 1887).

In 1864 he married Fanny, daughter of Baron von
Tede.sco of Vienna, and in 1887, after her death,
Sarah, daughter of Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips.

Pirhe Zafon

Pirke de-Babbi Eli'ezer

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Lord Pirbright was for several years president of
the Anglo-Jewish Association, but resigned in 1886
owing to objections raised to his having attended
the nuptials of his eldest daughter in a church.
During his parliamentary career he was a warm ad-
vocate of the cause of Jews in lands of oppression,
especially Rumania ("Jew. Chron." Jan. 16, 1903).

Bibliography : Who's Who, 1903 ; Jewish Year Boofc, 1903.
J. V. E.

PIKHE ZAFON. See Periodicals.

FIKKE ABOT. See Abot.

PIBKE DE-BABBI ELI'EZEB : Haggadic-
midrashic work on Genesis, part of Exodus, and a
few sentences of Numbers; ascribed to R. Eliezer
b. Hyrcanus, and composed in Italy shortly after
833. It is quoted immediately before the end of the
twelfth century under the following titles: Pirke
Rabbi Eli'ezer ha-Gadol (Maimonides, "Moreh,"
ii., XX vi.); Pirke Rabbi Eli'ezer ben Hyrcanus
("Seder R. Araram," ed. Warsaw, 1865, p. 32a);
Baraita de-Rabbi Eli'ezer (" 'Aruk," s.v. Dpip; Rashi
on Gen. xvii. 3; gloss to Rashi on Meg. 22b; David
Kimhi, "Shorashim," s.v. iiy); Haggadah de-Rabbi
Eli'ezer ben Hyrcanus (R. Tarn, in Tos. Ket. 99a).
The work is divided into fifty-four chapters, which
may be divided into seven groups, as follows:

i. Ch. i., ii. : Introduction to the entire work,
dealing with the youth of R. Eliezer, his thirst for
knowledge, and his settlement at Jerusalem.

ii. Ch. iii.-xi. (corresponding to Gen. i.-ii.): The
six days of the Creation. On the first day occurred
the creation of four kinds of angels
Contents, and of the forty-seven clouds. The
second day: the creation of heaven,
other angels, the fire in mankind (impulse), and the
fire of Gehenna. The third day : the division of the
waters, fruit-trees, herbs, and grass. The fourth
day: creation of the lights; astronomy and the
determination of the intercalation. The leap-year
reckoning is imparted to Adam, Enoch, Noah,
Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and .lacob. The fifth day:
birds and fishes; enumeration of the kinds which
may be eaten. The story of Jonah, which is said
to belong to the fifth day. The sixth day: God's
conference with the Torah in regard to the way in
which man should be created. Since God is the
first king of the world, all the great rulers are enu-
merated in order to refer to God as the first one.

iii. Ch. xii.-xxiii. (= Gen. ii.-viii., xxiv., xxix.,
1.): The time from Adam to Noah. The placing of
man in the Garden of Eden and the creation of Eve.
Description of the tliree evil qualities which shorten
the life of man — envy, lust, and ambition. Identi-
fication of tlie serpent with Samael. Announcement
of the ten appearances of God upon earth (" 'eser
yeridot "). First appearance of God in the Garden
of Eden, and the punishment of the first pair. The
two ways, the good and the evil, are pointed out to
Adam, who enters upon his penitence. (The story
is interrupted here, to be continued in ch. xx.) De-
tailed discussion of the three pillars of the world —
the Torah, the 'Abodah, and the Gemilut Hasadim.
God's kindness toward Adam, that of the Hananites
toward Jacob, and the consideration to be shown to

those in mourning. The literary quarrel between
the Shammaites and the Hillelites as to whether
heaven or earth was created first. The ten things
which were created on Friday evening. Exegesis of
Psalm viii. , which Adam sang in the Garden of Eden.
Discussion of the Habdalah blessing of the Sabbath
evening and the completion of Adam's penitence.
Cain and Abel; Cain's penitence. Birth of Seth;
the sinful generation. Story of Noah.

iv. Ch. xxiv.-xxv. (= Gen. ix., x., xi., xviii.,
xix.): The sinful generation. Nimrod. God's sec-
ond appearance. The confusion of tongues and the
Dispersion. Nimrod is killed by Esau, who takes
his garments, which Jacob then puts on in order to
secure the blessing.

V. Ch. xxvi.-xxxix. (= Gen. xl., 1.): From Abra-
ham to the death of Jacob. The ten temptations of
Abraham. Lot's imprisonment and Abraham's pur-
suit of the kings. God's covenant with Abraham.
The circumcision, and the appearance of the angels.
Identification of Hagar with Keturah, and the story
of Ishmael. The sacrifice of Isaac. Isaac and Re-
bekah, Jacob and Esau. Proofs given by Elijah,
Elisha, and Shallum b. Tikwah that the dead are
resurrected through the liberality of the living.
Those that will be found worthy to be resurrected.
Prom the sale of the birthright to the time when
Jacob left Beer-sheba. From Jacob at the well to
his flight from Laban's house. Repetition of the
three preceding chapters. Story of Dinah and of
the sale of Joseph. God's fourth appearance — in
the vision of Jacob while on his way to Egypt. Jo-
seph and Potiphar. Joseph in prison ; interpretation
of the dream ; the sale of the grain. Jacob's bless-
ing and death.

vi. Ch. xl.-xlvi. (=Ex. ii.-iv., xiv.-xx., xxxii.-
xxxiv.) : From the appearance of Moses to the time
when God revealed Himself to him in the cleft of
the rock. Fifth appearance of God — to Moses, from
the burning bush. The miracles performed by Moses
before Pharaoh. God's sixth appearance — on Sinai.
Pharaoh's persecution. The value of penitence;
Pharaoh is not destroyed, but becomes King of Nin-
eveh. Amalek's pursuit in the desert: Saul and
Amalek; Amalek and Sennacherib. The golden
calf; Moses' descent from the mountain; his prayer
because of Israel's sin. Moses on Sinai ; his descent,
and the destruction of the golden calf. Seventh ap-
pearance of God — to Moses.

vii. Ch. xlvii.-liv. (=Ex. xv. ; Num. ii., v., xi.-
xiii., XXV., xxvi. ; in these chapters the sequence
thus far observed is broken) : The sin committed at
Baal-peor. The courage of Phinehas. The priestly
office conferred upon him for life as a recompense.
Computation of the time Israel spent in servitude
down to the exodus from Egypt, Continuation of the
story of Amalek. The passing over to Nebuchad-
nezzar and Haman. Story of Esther. Holiness of
the months and of Israel. Enumeration of the seven •
miracles: (1) Abraham in the furnace; (2) Jacob's
birth ; (3) Abraham's attainment of manhood (comp.
Sanh. 107b) ; (4) Jacob sneezes and does not die ; (5)
the sun and moon remain immovable at the com-
mand of Joshua ; (6) King Hezekiah becomes ill, but
recovers; (7) Daniel in the lion's den. Moses is
slandered by Aaron amd Miriam. Absalom and his

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Flrhe Zafon

Pirke de-Babbi Sili'ezer

death. God's eighth appearance — in punishment
of Miriam.

The Pirlje appears, according to Zunz, to be in-
complete, and to be merely a fragment of a larger
work. Sachs, on the other hand, thinks that it was
compiled from two previous works
Com- by the same author, the relation of the
position, two productions to each other being
that of text and commentary, the text
giving merely the story of the Bible, which was in-
terrupted by the commentary in the form of the
Haggadah, and the commentary being intended for
reading during the ten days of penitence. Horwitz
thinks that the author developed those Bible stories
which bore relation to the entire nation, dealing
lightly with those that concerned only individuals.

Jost was the first to point out that in the thirtieth
chapter, in which at the end the author distinctly
alludes to the three stages of the Mohammedan con-
quest, that of Arabia (315J3 NB^), of Spain (D\T "S),
and of Rome (»Dn Sn3 "IIO ; 830 c.e.), the names of
Fatima and Ayesha occur beside that of Ishmael,
leading to the conclusion that the book originated
in a time when Islam was predominant in Asia
Minor. As in ch. xxxvi. two brothers reigning
simultaneously are mentioned, after whose reign
the Messiah shall come, the work might be ascribed
to the beginning of the ninth century, for about
that time the two sons of Harun al-Rashid, El-
Amin and El-Mamun, were ruling over the Islamic
realm. If a statement in ch. xxviii. did not point
to an even earlier date, approximately the same
date might be inferred from the enumeration of the
four powerful kingdoms and the substitution of
Ishmael for one of the four which are enumerated
in the Talmud and the Mekilta.

The author seems to have been a Palestinian ; this
appears not only from the fact that some of the cus-
toms to which he refers (in ch. xiii. and xx.) are
known only as Palestinian customs, but also from
the fact that nearly^ all the authorities he quotes are
Palestinian, the exceptions being E. Mesharshia
and R. Shemaiah. In no case can this work be
ascribed to R. Eliezer (80-118 O.E.), since he was a
tanna, while in the book itself the Pirke Abot is
quoted. Late Talmudic authorities belonging to the
third century c.e., like Shemaiah (ch. xxiii.), Ze'era
(ch. xxi., xxix.), and Shila (ch. xlii., xllv.), are also
quoted.

The following customs and regulations of the Jews
are referred to in the Pirke de-Rabbi Eli'ezer: Reci-
tation of Ps. xcii. during the Friday evening serv-
ices (ch. xix. ; comp. Shab. 118a). The blessing
" Bore me'ore ha-esh " (Praised be the Creator of the
lire) recited during the Habdalah (ch. xx. ; comp.
Pes. 59a). Contemplation of the finger-nails during
this blessing (ch. xx.). After the Habdalah, pour-
ing of the wine upon the table, extinguishing the
candle in it, dipping the hands in it, and rubbing
the eyes (ch. xx.). The prohibition against women
doing fancy-work on the day of the New Moon (ch.
xlv.). The blessing of "tal " on the first day of the
Passover (xxxii.). The sounding of the shofar after
the morning services in all the synagogues on the
New Moon of the month of Elul (ch. xlvi.). The
regulation that during the recitation of the "Kol

Nidre " on the Day of Atonement two prominent
members of the community shall stand beside the can-
tor (xliv.), and that on Thursday all

Customs worshipers must stand while reciting
Mentioned, prayers (ch. xlvi.). The addition of
Deut. xi. 30 to the daily reading of
the " Shema' " (ch. xxiii.). The banquet after the cir-
cumcision (ch. xxix. ; comp. Midr. Teh., ed. Ruber,
p. 234b). The chair of Elijah during the circum-
cision (ch. xxix.). The covering of the prepuce
with earth (ch. xxix.). The performance of the
marriage ceremony under a canopy (ch. xii.). The
standing of the hazzan beside the bridal couple (ch.
xli.). The pronouncing of the blessing upon the
bride by the hazzan (ch. xii.). The regulations pro-
viding that no woman may go out with uncovered
head (oh. xiv. ; comp. Ket. 72a) ; that the groom
may not go out alone on the bridal night (ch. xvi. ;
comp. Ber. 54b) ; that mourners must be comforted
in the chapel (ch. xvii.); that the dead may be
buried only in " takrikin " (ch. xxxiii. ; comp. M. K.
37a, b) ; that a person sneezing shall say, "I trust in
Thy help, O Lord," while any one hearing him shall
say, "Your health!" (ch. lii.) — sickness having been
unknown before the time of the patriarch Jacob,
whose soul escaped through his nose when he sneezed.

The following chapters close with benedictions
from the "Shemoneh 'Esreh ": ch. xxvii. : "Praised
be Thou, O Lord, the' shield of Abraham " ; ch.
xxxi. : " Praised be Thou, O Lord, who revivest the
dead " ; ch. xxxv. : " Praised be Thou, O Lord, Holy
God " ; ch. xl. : " Praised be Thou, O Lord, who
dost pardon knowingly " ; ch. xliii. : " Praised be
Thou, O Lord, who demandest penitence." Chap-
ters xvii., xxx., xxxi,, xlvi., li., lii., liv, also remind
one of the " 'Amidah."

The author dwells longest on the description of
the second day of Creation, in which the "Ma'aseh
Merkabah " (Ezek. i.) is described in various forms,
and although this passage recalls Donolo and the
Alphabet of R. Akiba, it is evidently much older,
since it does not mention the " Hekalot. " This de-
scription is connected with that of the creation of
the seven planets and the twelve signs of the zodiac,
the reference to the "mahzors" and
The the "tekufot," and the discussion of

Tekufot. the intercalation. In the series of
years (3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 in the
cycle of 19) in which the intercalation takes place
the author substitutes the fifth year for the sixth.
His cycle of the moon, furthermore, covers twenty-
one years, at the end of which period the moon again
occupies the same position in the week as at the be-
ginning, but this can happen only once in 689,473
years, according to the common computation.

On the connection of the Pirke de-Rabbi Eli-
'ezer with the Baraita of Samuel, see Sachs in "Mo-
natsschrift, " i. 277. Manuscripts of the Pirke are
found at Parma (No. 541), in the Vatican (No. 303;
dated 1509), and in the Halberstam library. Tlie
following editions are known : Constantinople, 1518 ;
Venice, 1548; Sabbionetta, 1568; Amsterdam, 1712;
Wilna, 1837 ; Lemberg, 1864. A commentary upon
it, by David Luria, is included in the Wilna edition,
and another, by Abraham Broyde, in the Lemberg
edition.

Pirogrov
Pisa

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bibliography : Zunz, O. V. pp. 283 et seq.; Jost, Geacli. des
Jvdenthums und Seiner Sekten, p. 35, note 2, Lelpsic, 1858 ;
Senior Saclis, In Kerem Hemed, viii. 34 ; Ueber dds Qenen-
seitige VerhUltnisg, etc.. In Monaissehrift, i. 277 ; TeMyah,
Berlin, 1850, p. U, note 5 ; p. 20, note 2 ; H. Kahana, In Ha-
Maggid, Till. 6 ; S. Friedmann, In Ralimer's JUd. Lit.-Blatt.
viii. 30-31, 34, 37 ; M. Steinschnelder, In Ha^Yonah, i. 17, Ber-
lin, 1851 ; R. Kirchheim, in Introductio in Librum Talmu-
dicum de Samaritanis, p. 25, Frankfort^jn-the-Maln, 1851 ;
Meir ha-Levl Horwitz, Mishnat Babbi Eliezer, in Ha-Mag-
gid, xxili., Nos. 8-30 ; Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, 1. 321-344, War-
saw, 1886 ; Israel Luria, in Kokebe Yizhak, xxv. 82 ; Israel
L^rt, in B. E.J. xvlii. 83; Creizenach, in Jost's AnnaJen, li.
140 ; Gratz, in Monatssehrift, 1859, p. 112, note 5 ; Bacher,
Ag. Tan. 1. 122-123, Strasburg, 1903.

J. S. 0.

PIROGOV, NIKOLAI IVANOVICH : Rus-
sian physician and pedagogue ; born 1810 ; died Nov. ,
1881. He was professor at the University of Dor-
pat. As a statesman Pirogov belonged to that re-
nowned circle of men whose cooperation in educa-
tional matters was sought by Alexander II. in the
first years of his reign. His " Voprosy K Zhizni,"
in " Morskoi Sbornik " (1856), dealing mainly with
educational problems, led to his appointment as
superintendent of the Odessa school district (1856-
1858), and later to that of the Kiev district (1858-
1861). In this capacity he learned to know, for the
first time, the Jewish people; and as scholar and
seeker after truth, as the true friend of enlighten-
ment and the enemy of class antagonism, he treated
the Jews in a kindly spirit and displayed unusual
interest in the educational problems concerning
them. His attitude toward the Jews is best shown
by the words which he addressed to the Jewish
community of Berdychev on his retirement from
the superintendency of the Kiev district: "You are
conveying to me the appreciation of my sympathy
for the Jewish people. But I deserve no credit for
It. It is a part of my nature. I could not act con-
trary to my own inclinations. Ever since I began
the study of civics from the standpoint of science, I
have felt the greatest antagonism for class preju-
dices; and involuntarily I applied this point of view
also to national distinctions. In science, in practi-
cal life, among my colleagues, as well as among my
subordinates and superiors, I have never thought of
drawing distinctions as prompted by
Friendly class and national exclusiveness. I
Attitude have been guided by these convictions

Toward also in my relations with the Jews
the Jews, when brought in contact with them in
private and public life. These con-
victions, the result of my education, having been
developed by lifelong experience, are now second
nature with me, and will not forsake me to the end
of my life."

This attitude of Pirogov, acknowledged by all as
a ]3rominent man, was for the Jews of great social
moment ; but aside from this he took an active part
in the development of Jewish education also. No-
ticing that the Jewish youth In the search for en-
lightenment encountered obstacles on the part of the
Russian government as well as of the Jewish people,
the great mass of which was hostile to general edu-
cation, Pirogov made timely appeals to the Chris-
tians as well as to the Jews. Being familiar with
the methods of Instruction in the various Jewish and
Christian schools, Pirogov, while superintendent of
the Odessa district, published a special paper on the

Odessa Talmud Torah in the "Odesski Vyestnik,"
citing it as an example for the Christian elementary
schools, and noting also the conscious efflorts of the
Jews in the acquisition of knowledge. Further-
more, while still superintendent he published in the
Russo-Jewish journal " Razsvyet," in 1860, an article
on the necessity of enlightenment among the Jewish
masses ; and he invited the educated Jews to form
an organization for the purpose, avoiding violent
and unworthy methods in the treatment of their
opponents. Pirogov also deemed it the duty of the
Russian public to lend its aid to young Jewish stu-
dents. " Where are religion, morality, enlighten-
ment, and the modern spirit," said Pirogov, "when
these Jews, who with courage and self-sacrifice en-
gage in the struggle against prejudices centuries
old, meet no one here to sympathize with them and
to extend to them a helping hand? "

There existed at that time Jewish government

schools which were very unpopular among the

Jewish masses owing to the manner in

Appoints which they were conducted; and Piro-
First Jew- gov devoted much work toward ma-
ish School king them really serve their avowed
Principal, purpose. His initiative and exertions
led, among other things, to the aboli-
tion of the rule under which only Christians were
eligible for appointment as principals of these
schools. In most cases the principals, coarse and
uneducated, were unfriendly to the Jews. Pirogov
appointed the first Jewish principal, U. S. Rosen-
zweig, one of the most eminent Jewish pedagogues
in Russia.

Pirogov rendered a further service of great im-
portance to the Jews by aiding those who wished to
enter the general middle and higher Institutions of
learning, and in this connection he worked out and
presented to the ministry plans for the reorganization
of the Jewish schools, etc. His task was by no
means an easy one ; for at that time Pirogov was the
only patron of the Jewish youth. It is said that the
contemporary minister of public instruction meas-
ured the distance between the Jewish schools and
the churches.

Pirogov lent his aid particularly in the organiza-
tion at the University of Kiev of a fund for aiding
Jewish students ; it was also he who
Aids Jew- took the first steps toward enabling

ish Stu- Jews to carry on their studies with

dents at government aid, to receive scholar-
TJniversity. ships, etc. Guided by the same edu-
cational motives, while superintendent
of the Odessa district he advocated allowing the
publication of the first Russo-Jewish journal, the
" Razsvyet," and the Hebrew paper " Ha-Meliz."

Unfortunately Pirogov's efforts met with no sup-
port ; his views on the education of the Jews evoked
no sympathy ; and in the course of time access for
the Jews to the general schools became more difficult.

Bibliography : M. Morgulls, JV. J. Pirogov, In VoskTwd, 1881,
No. 5 ; N. Botviunik, Vzglyady Pirogova na Voprosy Prog-
vyescheniya Yevreyev, in VosktMd, 1903, No. 8 ; N. Bakst,
Pamyati Pirogova, In Busski Yevrei, 1882, No. 1 ; Socliine-
niya, N. I. Pirogova, 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1900.
H. B. *

PISA : Town in Tuscany, Italy, at the mouth of
the River Arno ; formerly a port of the Tyrrhenian

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

PIrogov
Fiea

Sea. The settlement of Jews in Pisa dates back to
verj' early times; the first mention of a congrega-
tion is met with in the "Itinerary " of Benjamin of
Tudela, who found twenty families there (c. 1165).
The importance of Pisa as a commercial toAvn ren-
ders it probable that the congregation continued to
exist; and this supposition is direct!}' confirmed by
statutes of the republic issued during the thirteenth
century, which exclude Jews from giving evidence,
and command them to wear the Jews' badge. The
population, possibly envious of the trade of the
Jews, was hostile to them.

Some distinction was bestowed upon the congre-
gation by the settlement of the Da Pisa family, whose
members, by their eminence, education, and readi-
ness to sacrifice, were extensively and benevolently
active in behalf of the Jews. About 1400 Jehiel b.

and had become subject to the Medici, who, well
aware of the advantages which the state would de-
rive therefrom, permitted the settlement of Jewish
immigrants from Spain and Portugal. When, about
1590, the Medici opened the harbor of Leghorn, they
asked Jews to settle there also; and in 1593 the
authorities of the congregation of Pisa, to which
Leghorn was for the time being subordinate, were
granted the privilege of naturalizing foreign Jews.
The young congregation of Leghorn soon .separated
from that of Pisa and outnumbered the latter consid-
erably. The Jews of Pisa fared as did those of other
Tuscan towns. They were obliged to live in a
ghetto, and were restricted in their rights; but in
general they were treated kindlj^. With the en-
trance of the French, in 1798, the Jews were accorded
full citizenship. The Restoration of 1814 acknowl-

'///

54?^^^^^^rr^€'A^^^?^J''

^'\:r

^^'

Old Tombsto.ves from the Jewish Cemetery at Pisa.

(From a drawiog by Albert Hochreirer.)

Mattithiah da Pisa founded a loan-bank in Pisa.
He represented the congregation at the Congress of
Bologna in 1415, and at Forli in 1418. His grand-
son, Jehiel, a Maecenas of Jewish poets and scholars,
was a friend of Don Isaac Abravanel, who was as-
sociated with him and who while still in Spain laid
claim to his assistance for his oppressed brethren.
At the same time, Jehiel himself was in danger; as
elsewhere in Italy after 1450, the Dominicans harassed
tlie Jews in Pisa; and in 1471, apparently during
the presence of Bernardin of Feltre in the city, an
assault was made upon their houses. Numbers of
fugitives from Spain and Portugal disembarked at
the port of Pisa, among them the Yahya family.
Isaac da Pisa, the son of Jehiel, took care of the fu-
gitives and assisted them to find new means of sup-
port. The same intentions guided also his nephew,
Jehiel Nissim b. Samuel da Pisa, who, in 1525, shel-
tered David Reubeni under his roof for several
months, and furthered his enterprises, from which
Jehiel expected much benefit for all Jews.
Pisa in the meanwhile had lost its independence

edged the independence of the congregation; the
ghetto was abolished ; and gradually the rights of
the Jews were extended; but only the establish-
ment of the kingdom of Italy (1861) brought full
equality.

Of rabbis and scholars in Pisa the following are
known: Jehiel b. Mattithiah da Betel (14th cent.);
Daniel b. Samuel Rofe b. Daniel Dayyan da Pisa ;
Raphael b. Eleazar Meldola (1750) ; Jacob b. Moses
Senior ; Eliezer b. Jacob Supiuo (about 1800) ; Judah
Coriat; and A. V. de Benedetti. Active at the uni-
versity were; Salvadore de Benedetti, the translator
of Judah )ia-Levi ; Alessandro d'Ancona, for many
years the dean; and Vittorio Supino, now (1905) also
rector. David Castelli was secretary of the Jewish
congregation in 1865. Pisa had temporarily a He-
brew printing-ofl3ee in the eighteenth century.

In 1865 the Jews numbered 450; in 1901 there
were 500 in a total population of about 61,300.
Bibliography : Erscb and Gruber, Encyc. section ii., part 27,

p. l.il ; Corriere IsraeUtico, x., xl.; B. E. J. xxvl.; Mortara,

Indice, passim.

G. i- Ji-

Pisa, Da
Pittsburif

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

FISA, DA: Italian family, deriving its name
from the city of Pisa. It can be traced back to the
fifteenth century.

Abraham ben Isaac da Pisa : Talmudist ; son
of Isaac ben Jebiel ; lived in Bologna, where he died
in 1554. He was often consulted about religious
questions. One of his responsa is found in the col-
lection of Menahem Azariah da Fano, in which, de-
spite his veneration for MeYr ben Isaac Katzenel-
LENBOGEN of Padua, Abraham refutes the latter's
arguments and expresses the wish that, for the sake
of harmony, the rabbis would agree upon one au-
thority in accordance with whose decisions religious
questions might be decided. A court banker, Abra-
ham suffered much from the exactions of the popes
during the Turkish wars, and consequently was in
straitened circumstances. Not being able to pub-
lish his responsa, he left them in manuscript, with
other works of his.

In the list of names in the archives of the Jewish
community of Rome for the years 1536 to 1542 is
found the name of Solomoii da Pisa (see Vogelstein
and Rieger, " Gesch. der Juden in Rom," ii. 419), and
among the prominent members of the community
during the period 1542-1605 were Abraham ben
Joseph and Itloses ben Solomon da Pisa {ib. ii.
421). Two of the later descendants of this family
were Giuseppe Pisa (b. 1827, Ferrara; d. Milan,
Feb. 24, 1904) and his nephew Ugo Pisa. The for-
mer, a merchant and manufacturer, took an active
part in the revolutionary movement of 1848.

Other distinguished members of the family were
Jehiel (see Jew. Enctc. vii. 83) and Isaac ben Je-
hiel (for whose son Abraham see above).

Daniel ben Isaac da Pisa : Wealthy and learned
philanthropist of the sixteenth century. He was
called to the rabbinate of Rome during the pontifi-
cate of Clement VII., and succeeded in bringing
harmony into that community. He united into one
congregation the diiferent elements, consisting of
Italian and foreign-born Jews, and instituted a coun-
cil of sixty members to administer the affairs of the
amalgamated congregation. The decisions of this
council were declared legal by a papal decree of
Dec. 13, 1524. While David Reubeni was at Rome,
Daniel da Pisa provided for his wants and served as
his interpreter before the pope. Through Daniel's
influence Reubeni received from Clement VII. letters
of recommendation to the King of Portugal and to
other Christian monarchs.

Bibliography: Gratz, Oesch. ix. 248: Gedaliah ibn Tahya,
Shalshelet ha-Kahbalah, ed. Venice, p. 65b ; Heilprln, Seder
ha-Dorot, 1. 236, 245, Warsaw, 1883 ; David Kaulmann, in JR.
E. J. xxvl. 81-96, xxix. 146-147, xxxi. 65 ef seg., xxxii. 130-
134 ; Michael, Orha^^avyim, No. 144 ; 11 Vessmo Israelitlco,
1904, p. 105 ; Vogelstein and Bleger, Oesch. der Jvden in
Bom, ii. 40, 44, 128.
D. S. Man.

XJgo Pisa: Italian writer and senator; born
Aug., 1845. A.fter taking part in the campaign of
1866 he studied law. In 1869 and 1870 he was at-
tached to the Italian consulate at Constantinople,
and was then secretary of legation in China, Japan,
London, and Berlin successively. In 1873 he entered
the Banca Pisa of Milan; he was elected common
councilor, judge of the tribunal of commerce, coun-
sel and president of the chamber of commerce, and
finally senator (Nov. 17, 1898),

Pisa is the author of the following works: "As-
sicurazione Colletiva Contro gl' Infortunii sul La-
voro, ed Intervcnto del Patronato Milanese per Pa-
cilitarnel'Applicazione," Milan, 1885; "LiberiPro-
tezionisti e Socialisti," ib. 1893; in collaboration with
Q. Fraschi, "Sulla Opportunity, di Dare Maggiore
EfBcacia Practica all' Azione del Consiglio dell' In-
dustria e del Commercio," ib. 1893; "Relation sur
la Prevoyance pour les Accidents de Travail en
Italic 1882-89 " (in " CongrSs International des Acci-
dents du Travail et des Assurances Sociales d.
Milan "), ib. 1894; " Delle Norme per Regolare il Li-
cenziamento degli Agenti di Commercio," etc., ib.
1894; "Relation sur la Prevoyance pour les Acci-
dents du Travail en Italic " (in " Comite Italien des
Sciences Sociales pour I'Exposition de Paris "), ib.
1899.
Bibliography : lUustrazione Italiana, 1898, part ii., p. 425.

s. U. C.

PISGAH (always with the article: Ha-Pis-
gah) : Mountain in Moab, celebrated as one of the
stations of the Israelites in their journey through
that country (Num. xxi. 20) and as the place of one
of Balak's sacrifices (ib. xxiii. 14), but chiefly as the
place of Moses' death after he had beheld from
its summit "all the land of Gilead, unto Dan; and
all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Ma-
nasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the hinder
[western] sea ; and the south, and the plain of the
valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar "
(Deut. xxxiv. 1-3, R. V.). It is identified (ib.
xxxiv. 1) with Mount Nbbo; and in Num. xxiii.
14 the "field of Zophim" is the "top of Pisgah."
Under the " slopes of Pisgah " was the " sea of the
Arabah " or Dead Sea (Deut. iii. 17, iv. 49 ; Josh. xii.
3, xiii. 20, R. V.).

Pisgah has been identified also with the modern
Naba, a ridge which projects westward from the
plateau of Moab, near the northeastern end of the
Dead Sea, about five miles southwest of Heshbon,
and 3,643 feet above the Mediterranean and 3,935 feet
above the Dead Sea. It is described by G. A. Smith
("Historical Geography of the Holy Land," p.
563) as about two miles long, with a level top about
one-half mile broad. "It is of flinty limestone,
mostly barren." It commands an extensive view of
the whole of western Palestine. There are two
summits: the higher, Eas Naba; the lower and out-
ermost, Ras Siyaghah. The latter commands the
whole of the Jordan valley and is probably identical
with the " top of Pisgah which looketh down upon
Jeshimon" (Num. xxi. 20, R. V., margin).

The name " Pisgah " has not survived till modern
times, unless in "Ras Fashkah," a headland on the
opposite or western side of the Dead Sea. It is said
to have been still used, however, in the time ef
Eusebius (in the form ^aay6; comp. LXX. ^aaya,
<iaaxd) for a district in that region (Eusebius,
"Onomasticon," ed. Lagarde, pp. 124-135, 337).

Bibliography: G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the
Holy Land, pp. 562-566 : Tristram, Land of Moab, pp. 339-
340; Survey of Eastern Palestine, pp. 154-156, 198-203 ; Con-
der, Heth and Moab, 3d ed., pp. 182 et seg.; Driver, Commen-
tary on Deuteronomy (xxxiv. 1).
B. 0. J. F. McL.

PISGAH, HA-. See Periodicals.

PISTACHIO-NUT. See Nut.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pisa, Da

Pittsburg-

MAP OF

PJTHOM - HEROOPOLIS

f ao 4,0 M ao 100 zoo metres

^BrickwaUs_^ AflerXavillel

PITHOM (Qns; LXX. n«eu, n<rt<j^): One of the
cities which, aicoidiug to Ex. i. 11, was built for
the Pharaoh of tlie oppression by the forced labor
of the Israelites. The other city was Haamses ; and
the Septuagint adds a third, " On, which is Heliop-
olis." The meaning of the term niJ3DD ■'"ly, ren-
dered in the Authorized Version "treasure cities"
and in the Revised Version " store cities, " is not defi-
nitely known. The Septuagint renders TrdXeti; bxvpai
'■strong [or " fortified "J cities." The same term
is used of cities of Solomon in I Kings ix. 19 (comp.
also II Chron.
-xvi. 4). The lo-
cation of Pithoni
was a subject of
much conjec-
ture and debate
until its site was
discovered by E.
Ivaville in the
spring of 1883.
Herodotus (ii.
158) says that
the canal made
by Necho to con-
nect the Red Sea
with the Nile
"passes Patu-
mos, a city in the
Arabian nome."
This district of
Arabia was the
twentieth nome
of Lower Egj'pt,
and its capital
was Goshen
(Egyptian, "Ko-
sen").

The site of
Pithom, as iden-
tified by Navi lie,
is to the east of
the Wady Tu-
milat, south-
west of Ismailia.
Here was for-
merly a group
of granite stat-
ues representing
Rameses II.,
standing be-
tween two __

gods; and from

this it had been inferred that this was the city
of Raamscs mentioned in Ex. i. 11. The excava-
tions carried on by Naville for the Egypt Ex-
ploration Fund disclosed a city wall, a ruined
temple, and the remains of a series of brick buildings
with very thick walls and consisting of rectangular
chambers of various sizes, opening only at the top
and without any communication witli one another.
These are supposed to have been the granaries or
store-chambers, from which, possibly, the army may
have been supplied when about to set out upon ex-
peditions northward or eastward. The city stood in
the eighth nome, adjoining that of Arabia; so that

the statement of Herodotus is not exactly correct.
It was known in the Greek period as Heroopolis
or Ileroonpolis. The Egyptian name, "Pithom"
(Pi-Tum or Pa-Tum), means "house of Turn" [or
"Atum"], i.e., the sun-god of Heliopolis; and the
Greek word "Hero" is probably a translation of
"Atum."

The discovery of the ruins of Pithom confirms the
Biblical statement and points to Rameses II. as the
Pharaoh that oppressed Israel. Tlje name of the
city Pi-Tum is first found on Egyptian monuments

of the nineteenth

dynasty. Im-
portant evidence
is thus afforded
of the date of the
Exodus, which
must have taken
place toward the
end of the nine-
teenth dynasty
or in the be-
ginning of the
twentieth dy-
nasty.

In the Middle
Ages Fayum
was called
"Pithom" by
the Jews, so that
the Gaon Saadia
is termed "Al-
Fayyumi" in
Arabic (Hebr.
"Ha-Pitonii "),
and he himself
translates " Pi-
thom " in Ex. i.
11 by "Al Pay-
yum."

Bibliography: Na-
ville, TJie Stnrc
Cit]i of Pithiim,
etc., in Menu i>rt}f
Egiipt Exjiliird-
titni FuixJ. ISM.');
Sayce, Higher
Criticism andtlie
Monuments,W9i,
pp. 239 et seq., 2.50
et seq.: Driver, in
Hogarth's Au-
thority and Ar-
chcEiilogy, 1899,
pp. 54 et seq., 61,
68.

E. c. J. F. McL.

PITTSBURG : Second largest city in the state
of Pennsylvania. With Allegheny, the twin-city
on the north .side of the Allegheny River, it is the
chief city of western Pennsj'lvania.

There are no reliable records of the beginnings of
the Jewish community; but it has been ascertained
that between 1838 and 1844 a small number of Jews,
mostly from Baden, Bavaria, and Wlirttemberg, set-
tled in and around Pittsburg. These were joined
by others in 1847 and bj^ still others in 1853, who
included in their numbers the founders of Jewish
communal life. The first Jewish service was held
in the autumn of 1844, while the first attempt at

jjjJUiiUlUllBw-

BORMAY 4 CO t

Pittsburg
Piyyut

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

organization was made in 1847, when a mere hand-
ful of men combined with the hope of forming a
congregation. Tliey worshiped in a room on Penn
street near Walnut (now 13th) street, having en-
gaged the Rev. Mannheimer as cantor. They
formed also a Bes Almon Society, and purchased
a cemetery at Troy Hill. The congregational body
finally became known as "Ez Hajjlm." It lacked
homogeneity on account of the varying religious
views of its members; and divisions and reunions
took place from time to time until about 1853, when
a united congregation was formed under the name
"Rodeph Shalom." In 1864 a further division oc-
curred, the seceders chartering a congregation under
the name "Ez Hajjim " in 1865, and purchasing a
cemetery at Sharpsburg.

Congregation Rodeph Shalom first worshiped in

a hall over the Vigilant engine-house on Third

avenue, then in the Irish hall on Sixtli street, and

in 1861 built on Hancock (now Eighth)

Congreg'a- street the first synagogue in western

tion Pennsylvania. In 1879 it purchased

Rodeph the West View Cemetery. In 1884 the

Shalom, synagogue was enlarged, but it was
subsequently torn down, and the pres-
ent building, under erection during 1900 and 1901,
was dedicated on Sept. 6 and 7 of the latter year.
Among the early readers and teachers of Rodeph
Shalom were Sulzbacher and Marcuson. In 1854
William Armhold took charge of the congregation,
remaining till 1865, when he went to Philadel-
phia. During his administration the congregation
erected the temple on Eighth street; and, in con-
junction with Josiah Cohen, he conducted a school
which was maintained from 1860 to 1868. Prom
1865 to 1870 L. Naumburg was teacher and reader;
and in his day the Reform movement was con-
siderably advanced. The first rabbi of the con-
gregation was Lippman Mayer, who came from
Selma, Ala., in tlie spring of 1870. He success-
fully guided the congregation along advanced
Reform lines until his retirement as rabbi emeritus
in 1901. By that time he had seen his congregation
grow from a membership of 65 to 150. He was
succeeded (April 1, 1901) by J. Leonard Levy, the
present (1905) incumbent, who was called from
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, Philadel-
phia. In the past two years Rodeph Shalom has
grown considerably. Its present number of mem-
bers and seat-holders exceeds 400 ; and it is worthy
of record that on the day after the dedication of the
new temple (Sept. 8, 1901) the congregation con-
tributed a sum of money which not only liquidated
a debt of nearly §100,000, but left a surplus of over
§30,000.

Rodeph Shalom, which during the past sixteen
years has been presided over by Abraham Lippman,
has since 1901 issued, for the use of its members and
others : " A Book of Prayer " for the Sunday services ;
"A Text-Book of Religion and Ethics for Jewish
Children " ; "A Home Service for the Passover " ;
" A Home Service for Hanukkah " ; " The Children's
Service"; "Sabbath Readings" for each Sabbath of
the year; and three volumes of Sunday lectures.
The congregation distributes these Sunday lectures
weekly in pamphlet form to all who attend the serv-

ices, and also furnishes gratuitously a special edi-
tion to non-Jewish residents of Allegheny county.

The Ez Hajjim congregation worshiped for a time
in a hall in the Dennis block on Second avenue,
and in 1883 purchased its present building on Fourth
and Ross streets. It has prospered, and is an active
force in Jewish congregational and communal life.
Among its ministers may be mentioned : A. Crone
(1874-81) ; A. Bernstein (1881-91) ; F. Salinger (1891-
1897) ; Michael Fried (since 1898), the present (1905)
incumbent, a graduate of the Jewisli Theological
Seminary of America. Ez Hajjim belongs to the
school of progressive conservatism, and now has
family pews and confers the rite of confirmation.
It has inaugurated Friday evening services and
has a Ladies' Auxiliary Society, a flourishing re-
ligious school, and a growing alumni association.

Pittsburg is notable in American Jewish history
on account of the conference (see Jew. Bncyc. iv.
215, s.v. CoNPEEENCES, Rabbinical) held there in
1885, and is also well known as a generous supporter
of all national Jewish movements, notably the He-
brew Union College and the Denver Hospital.
Among the more prominent local philanthropic and
charitable institutions may be mentioned the follow-
ing: (1) J. M. Gusky Orphanage and Home, with
the Bertha Rauh Cohen Annex. The Home was
founded in 1890 by Esther Gusky, in memory
of her husband, Jacob Mark Gusky. The Annex
was the gift in 1889 of Aaron Cohen in memory of
his wife, Bertha Rauh Cohen, the only daughter
of Rosalia Rauh and the late Solomon Rauh.
The Home has 62 inmates, an annual

Philan- income of about 810,000, and an en-
thropic As- dowment fund of §67,000. (3) The
sociations. United Hebrew Relief Association,
a union of the Hebrew Benevolent
Society and the Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society. It
dispenses $10,000 yearly, and has a sinking-fund
of 129,000. (3) The Columbian Council School, a
social settlement. It conducts' a large number of
classes, public lectures, a library, public baths, a
gymnasium, etc. The bath-house was the gift of
Alexander Peacock. The disbursements are about
§6,000 annually. (4) The Ladies' Hospital Aid se-
cures and pays for hospital attention for the sick poor.
It has an annual income of about 18, 000, and is at pres-
ent endeavoring to erect a Jewish hospital. (5) The
Young Ladies' Sewing Society, which dispenses
clothing to the poor ; income about $2,000 annually.

The Concordia Club fosters Jewish social life
in Pittsburg. The Council of Jewish Women
is represented by the Columbian Council. The
Y. M. H. A. has been reorganized, and gives
promise of great activity. The Independent Or-
der of B'nai B'rith has five lodges; and the Inde-
pendent Order of the Free Sons of Israel, the Sons
of Benjamin, Sons of Israel, and Sons of Abraham
have two each. There are two weekly papers, one
in English, " The Jewish Criterion, " of which Rabbi
Levy and Charles H. Joseph are the editors, and one
in Judseo-German, the " Volksfreund."

The Jews of Pittsburg are prominent in the profes-
sions and in commerce. Donors to non-sectarian
charities include J. D- Bbbnd and Isaac Kaufmann,
the latter of whom in 1895 gave the Emma Kaufmann

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pittsburg
Piyyut

Free Clinic to the medical department of the West-
ern University. Among those who have held posi-
tions in public life are Emanuel Wert-
Prominent heimer, select councilman and member
Je-ws. of the state house of representatives ;
Morris Einstein, select councilman (15
years); Josiah Cohen, judge of the Orphans' Court;
E. E. Mayer, city physician ; L. S. Levin, assistant
city attorney. Isaac W. Frank is president of the
National Founders' Association, and A. Leo Weil is a
member of the executive committee of the Voters'
Civic League.

Since 1883 there has been a steady increase in the
number of Jews in Pittsburg, the new settlers com-
ing mostly from eastern Europe. Russian, Ruma-
nian, and Hungarian Jews have come in large num-
Ijers, and are beginning to display an appreciable
interest in public affairs. They have six synagogues
<whose rabbis include A. M. Ashinsky and M. S.
Sivitz), many hebras, and a number of small relig-
ious societies. The Pittsburg Jewry strongly sym-
pathizes with the Zionistic movement, having a
large number of Zionistic societies. The number of
Jewish inhabitants is estimated at between 15,000
and 25,000, in a total population of about 322,000.

BiBLiOGKAPHT : BUtory of Congregation Rodeph Shalom,
1899 ; articles tn the Jewish Criterion, 1901, and Ameriean
Israelite, 1893.
A. '' J. L. L.

PIUS rv. (Gian Angelo Medici) : Pope from
1559 to 1565. He was a Milanese of humble origin,
and became cardinal under Paul III., through the
latter's relations with Gian's brother Giangiacomo,
who had made himself master of Sienna. Gian, who
enjoyed the pope's confidence, was clever, good-
natured, condescending, somewhat worldly-minded,
and in every way a complete contrast to the fanatical
Paul rv., after whose death he succeeded to the
papacy. This contrast appeared in the severity
with which he dealt with Paul's favorites. Al-
though he did not favor the Inquisition, he did not
•dare attack it. He convened the Council of Trent
for the third time, and succeeded in having it
brought to a satisfactory termination through the
ability of the president of his choice, Marone.

The Jews breathed more freely under Pius. It
was due to his intervention that Emperor Ferdinand
eanceled the edict of expulsion which had been is-
sued against the Bohemian Jews. He bettered the
■condition of the Jews in Rome and in the Pontifical
States by changing and in part revoking the restric-
tions imposed by Paul IV., and by granting them
the following privileges: to lay aside the Jews'
■badge when traveling, if they remained only for one
■day in any place ; to enlarge the ghetto, and to open
shops outside of it ; and to acquire real estate beyond
the ghetto limits to the value of 1,500 gold ducats.
The Jus Gazaka or Gazaqa, of later date, rests
upon a decree to prevent the increase of rent in the
ghetto.

Pius ordered the restoration of account-books and
communal records which had been confiscated, and
pardoned all the trespasses committed by the Roman
Jews against Paul's decrees except murder, coun-
terfeiting, mockery of Christianity, and lese-majesty.
He even granted the Jews permission to print the
X.— 5

Talmud, though under a different name. His suc-
cessor, Pius v., followed in Paul IV. 's footsteps.

Bibliography : Gratz, Gesch. Ix. 393 ; Joseph harKohen, 'Emeh
ha-Balsa, pp. 124 et seg.; David Gans, Zemah Dcairid for the
year 1559 ; Eanke, Gesch. der Papste, 'l. 205 et seo.; Stern,
Urkundliche BeitrOge, p. 137 ; Vogelsteln and Eieger, Oeach.
aerjudenin Bom, 11. 160 et sea.; Zunz, In Geiger's Wiss.
Zeit. JUd. Theol. v. 40.

»• H. V.

PITYTJT (plural, Piyyutim) : Hymn added to
the older liturgy that developed during the Tal-
mudic era and up to the seventh century. The
word is derived from the Greek term for poetry,
perhaps more directly from noi^ijg. The author of
a piyyut is called "payyetan," a Neo-Hebrew form
derived from " piyyu^." In midrashic literature the
word " piyyut " is used merely in the general sense
of "fiction" (Gen. R. Ixxxv.; Yalk., Dan. 1063),
while " payyetan " is used in the technical sense of an
author of synagogal poetry. R. Eleazar, son of
Simon b. Yohai, was called a student of the Bible
and the Mishnah, a payyetan, and a preacher (Lev.
R. XXX. ; Pesik. 179a, ed. Ruber; Zunz, "G. V." p.
380; idem, "8. P." p. 60).

The oldest piyyutim are anonymous. They were
written during the era of the early Geonim (c. 7th
cent.) and are embodied in the prayer-book. They
show an attempt at meter, and, as in
Historical some late Biblical poetical composi-
Bevelop- tions, the successive lines are often al-
ment. phabetically arranged. Examples of
this kind are found in the Sabbath morn-
ing prayer "El Adon, ha-Kol Yoduka," in the peni-
tential prayers " We-Hu Rahum " for Mondays and
Thursdays, and elsewhere.

The oldest payyetan known by name is Jose ben
Jose (ha-Yatom) ; his date can be fixed only from
the fact that he was known to Saadia, who quotes
him; but this merely proves that he lived not later
than 850. The next payyetan known is Yannai,
who is said to have been the teacher of the most pro-
lific and popular of the old pa5'yetanim, Eleazar ben
?alir. The latter's most famous successor was Saadia
Gaon, in the tenth century. From that time the pay-
yetanim become very numerous and are found in
all larger Jewish settlements, notably in Germany,
France, Spain, and Italy. Zunz (" Literaturgesch.")
counts over 900 names of payyetanim.- It seems
likely that they were influenced by the troubadours
and the minnesingers, both in the writing of their
poems and in their musical settings.

In Germany in the eleventh century there were

Moses ben Kalonymus, MeshuUam ben Kalonymus,

Simon ben Isaac, and Gershom ben

In Judah ; in the twelfth century Jeku-

Germany, thiel ben Moses of Speyer, Menahem

France, ben Machir of Ratisbon, Mel'r ben
Spain, and Isaac (the hazzan), Kalonymus ben

Italy. Judah, Eliezer ben Nathan (author of '
the history of the persecutions during
the Crusades), Ephraim ben Isaac of Ratisbon, and
Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn ; in the thirteenth cen-
tury Moses ben Hasdai Ipn (of Tachau ?), Eleazar
ben Judah of Worms, and Eliezer ben Joel ha-Levi.

In France Benjamin ben Samuel of Coutances
(11th cent.; Gross, "Gallia Judaica," p. 5.58), Yom-
'Tob ben Isaac of Joigny (martyred at York in 1190),

Piyyut

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rashi, and many of the tosafists, were liturgical
poets, as were Moses of Coucy and Abraham and
Jedaiah Bedersi.

In Spain, where Hebrew poetry reached the high-
est development, the best liturgical poets were Sol-
omon ibn Gabirol, Judah ha-Levi, and Abraham and
Moses ibn Ezra. A large number of others whose
names are famous in philosophical and Talmudic
literature wrote liturgical poems, as Joseph ben
Isaac ibn Abitur, Isaac Ghayyat, Judah ben Bileam,
Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda, and Isaac ben Reu-
ben of Barcelona; even Maimonidesis known as the
author of a few hymns.

In Italy, where, according to some, Eleazar Kalir
had his home, there were payyetanim from the tenth
to the eighteenth century. According to Zunz, Sol-
omon ha-Babli of the tenth century lived in Rome
(" Babel " being a metonymic name for Rome). To
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries belong Isaiah
di Trani and Immanuel of Rome. After the four-
teenth, payyetanim became fewer, and their produc-
tions were rarely embodied in the official liturgy.
Generally their piyyutim were written to commemo-
rate some local event. Thus Baruch ben Jehiel ha-
Kohen wrote on the devastation wrought during the
time of the Black Death (1347) ; Abigdor Kara.on the
persecution in Prague (1389) ; Samuel Schotten, on
the fire in Prankfort-on-the-Main (1711); Jacob ben
Isaac, on the conquest of Posen by a hostile army
(1716); and Malachi ha-Kohen, on an earthquake
that threatened Leghorn (1743). The Thirty Years'
war (1618-48), also the Cossack persecutions under
Chmielnicki (1648),, produced an extensive literature
of such piyyutim.

The piyyutim are of -various kinds, according to
their theme, their place in the liturgy, or their form.
The Sellhah, the penitential prayer,
Classifica- occupies the foremost rank and is
tion. most likely the oldest. The " We-Hu
Rahum," for Mondays and Thursdays,
was known as early as the time of the Geonira. It
was originally composed for fast-days, as w(?ie some
of the older, anonymous selihot: the "El Melek
Yosheb " and the various litanies, which are, in
parts, found in Talmudic literature; the "Abinu
Malkenu"; and the "Mi she-'Anah." A common
theme of the selihot is the sacrifice of Isaac (see
'Akedah). Another regular feature of the peniten-
tial prayers is the confession of sins ("widdui"),
in which the initial letters of the successive lines are
generally in alphabetical order. The introductory
part is called the " petihah, " and the closing part the
PizMON, to which there is a refrain.

The hymns for holy days and some special Sab-
baths are. more specifically called "piyyutim," or
often, wrongly, "yozerot." They are divided ac-
cording to their place in the regular liturgy. Those
that are inserted in the evening prayer (" 'arbit")are
called Ma'arabiyyot ; those inserted in the first
benediction of the morning prayer are called Yozer,
from the benediction " Yozer Or " ; in
Special the second benediction, Ahabah,
Names. from the initial word of that benedic-
tion ; those inserted in the benediction
following the Shema' are called Zulat, from the key-
worda "En -Elohim ^ulateka," or Cre'uUah., from

the benediction "Go'el Yisrael." Other names
taken from the characteristic words of the passages
in which the piyyutim are inserted are Ofan and
Me'orah.. Kerobot (incorrectly Keroboz, perhaps
under French influence; Zunz, "8. P." p. 65) is the
name of a piyyut inserted in the Teflllah proper (see
Kerobot and Shemoneh 'Esreh). Another name,
rarely used, for the same piyyut is Shfb'ata, from
" shib'ah " (= " seven "), because the teflllot for Sab-
bath and holy days consist of seven benedictions.
A special class of piyyutim is formed by the Tol^a-
hah. (= "reproof "), penitential discourses some-
what similar to the widdui, and the Km ah for the
Ninth of Ab.

According to their poetical form there are to be
distinguished the Sheniyah., the stanzas of which
consist of two lines each ; the Shelish.it, consisting
of three lines; the Pizmon, already mentioned ; the
Mostegab, iu which a Biblical verse is used at the
beginning of every stanza ; the Shalmonit, a meter
introduced by Solomon ha-Babli (Zunz, "S. P." p.
167; idem, "Ritus," p. 135). The poetical form was
originally acrostic, according to the alphabet in
proper order (3"K) or reversed (p'lBTl) or in some
artificial form (D"D^K). In later times, beginning
with the eleventh century, it became customary
for the author to weave his name into the acrostic,
sometimes adding an invocation; for instance, "May
he prosper in the Law and in good deeds."

The days on which piyyutim are inserted in the
regular liturgy are the holy days (including Purim
and the Ninth of Ab) and a number of Sabbaths
which possess special significance, as
"When Piy- the Four PARASHiyroT, including the
yutim Are Sabbaths falling between them (" Haf-

Becited. sakot ") ; the Sabbaths on which New
Moon falls ; Hanukkah Sabbath ; Sab-
bath Bereshit, when the first portion of the Torah
is read ; Sabbaths on which the Scriptural reading
has some special significance, as when the sacrifice
of Isaac (Wayera), or the Song of Moses (Beshal-
lah), or the Ten Commandments (Yitro), or the law
of the Red Heifer (Hukkat) is read; and other Sab-
baths. The persecutions during the Crusades con-
stitute the theme of the "Zulat," on the Sabbaths
intervening between Passover and Pentecost. Spe-
cial events, as a circumcision on the Sabbath or a
wedding during the week, are celebrated by appro-
priate piyyutim. On this point the various rites, as
the Ashkenazic, the Polish, the Sephardic, the Italian,
those of Carpentras and Oran, Frankfort-on-the-
Main, Worms, and Prague, and other prominent
old communities, differ very greatly, as they differ
also with regard to the pieces selected for the holy
days. In general, however, every minhag has given
preference to the works of local authors.

The natural development of the language intro-
duced into the piyyutim not only the Neo-Hebrew
Tvords which are found in the prayers of Talmudic
times, such as " 'olam " in the sense of " the uni-
verse" (Biblical Hebrew, "eternity"), "merkabah"
( = " the divine chariot "), " hitkin " (= " to arrange "),
but also a large number of new words formed on
■models and from roots found in Talmudic and mid-
rashic literature or arbitrarily developed from such
words as are met with in the works of the oldest

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Piyynt

payyetanira. Thus Jose ben Jose employs "shu'at
^etoret " (= " the service of the frankincense ") in
his ritual for the Day of Atonement (Landshuth,
"Siddur Hegyon Leb," p. 507, KSnlgsberg, 1875),
an expression the use of which has
Philolog- only a weak support in tlie Biblical
ical and "sha'ah" (comp. Gen. iv. 5). The
Dogmatic typical development of the mannerism
Charac- of the payyetanim is found as early as
teristics. in the works of Yannai — for instance,
in his piyyut for Passover eve, em-
bodied in the Haggadah and in the Ashkenazic
ritual for the Sabbath preceding Passover ("Az
Eob Nissim"). He uses by preference such rare
and poetical expressions as " zarah " ( = " to call ") in-
stead of "kara," and"sah" (=" he spoke ") for "dib-
ber" ; and such midrashic allegorical designations
as " ger zedek " for Abraham, " Patros " for Egypt ;
and he arbitrarily mutilates Biblical and rabbin-
ical words {e.g., nO'D [="the camp"] from Dp'D
[Greek, rdftf], the Aramaic translation of "degel"
in Num. ii. 2).

The master in this line is Kalir, whose |»S1p )*X in
the kerobah for Sabbath Zakor (the Sabbath prece-
ding Purim) has become proverbial for its manner-
isms (see Erter, " Ha-Zof eh, " Vienna, 1864). No bet-
ter, as a rule, is its intrinsic worth as poetry. The
piyyut suffers from endless repetitions and from ex-
cessive attention to rime and the acrostic. One of
the most curious instances is afforded by the selihah
of Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn (13th cent.), beginning
" Ta shema'," and found in the Ashkenazic ritual for
the fifth day after New-Year. The author, who
shows a remarkable command of the Talmudic idiom
and a profound knowledge of Talmudic dialectics,
argues with God, in the style of the Talmudic dis-
course, to prove that Israel should receive far better
treatment at His hands, saying, " To every question
there is an answer ; only mine remains unanswered ! "
There are, however, a few noble exceptions, as
Judah ha-Levi's poems, notably his famous ode on
Zion, found in the liturgy for the Ninth of Ab, and
Solomon ibn Gabirol's hymns, as his wonderful pen-
itential hymn " Shomamti be-Rob Yegoni " in the
Ashkenazic ritual for the Past of Gedaliah. Abra-
ham ibn Ezra's religious poetry, while noble in
thought and grammatically correct, lacks the in-
spiration of true poetry.

Among the German and French payyetanim, Solo-
mon ben Abun of France (13th cent.) and Simon
ben Isaac of Worms (10th cent.) likewise may be
quoted as exceptions. While both poets labor
under the difficulties created by the customs of
acrostic, rime, and midrashic allusion, they display
deep religious sentiment and are free from that
mannerism which seeks distinction in creating diffi-
culties for the reader. Simon ben Isaac's poem
beginning "Atiti le-hananek," which serves as an
introduction to the kerobah for the Shaharit serv-
ice of the second New-Year's day (Ashkenazic
ritual), is a noble expression of trust in God's
mercy, not unworthy of Ps. cxxxix. , from which
the author drew his inspiration. The pizmon
"Shofet Kol ha-Arez," by Solomon ben Abun (Zunz,
"Litera'turgesch." pp. 311-313), found in the Ash-
kenazic ritual for the day preceding New-Year and

for the Shaljarit service on the Day of Atonement,
expresses in profoundly religious tones the belief in
divine justice.

It seems, as has already been stated, that the
payyetanim, like the troubadours, conceived their
poetry as something that possessed no
Opposition liturgical character in the strict sense
to of the word. The degree of approval

Piyyutim. with which these hymns were re-
ceived, or of personal respect which
the author, in many instances a local rabbi, enjoyed,
decided for or against the insertion of the piyyutim
in the Mahzok of the congregation. Opposition to
the inclusion of the pij'yut in the regular prayer as
an unlawful interruption of divine service is found
as early as the eleventh century. Eabbenu Tarn,
(Jacob ben Meir) defends the practise against the '
objections of Hananeel and Hai Gaon (" Haggahot i
Maimoniyyot," in "Yad," Tefillah, vi. 3). Jacob
ben Asher disapproves of the practise, quoting the
opinion of his father, Asher ben Jehiel, and of MeIr
ha-Kohen. Still, in the fourteenth century the cus-
tom was so well established that Jacob Molln
(Maharil; Hilkot Yom Kippur, p. 47b, ed. War-
saw, 1874), disapproved not only of the action of his
disciples, who preferred to study in the synagogue
while the congregation recited the piyyutim, but
also of any departure from local custom in the selec-
tion of the piyyutim and the traditional airs (Isserles,
in notes on Tur Orah Hayyim, 68; Shulhan 'Aruk,
Orah Hayyim, 619).

Other objections, from the esthetic standpoint,
and on account of the obscure and often blasphe-
mous language used, have been presented in a mas-
terly criticism upon Kalir's piyyutim by Abraham
ibn Ezra (commentary on Eccl. v. 1). These objec-
tions, against which Heidenheim endeavored to de-
fend Kalir (commentary on the kerobah for the
Musaf'of the Day of Atonement), were revived in
; the • earliest stages of the Reform movement (see
Zunz, "Ritus," pp. 169 et seq.). Indeed, as early as
the beginning of the eighteenth century dogmatic
objections to the piyyutim were raised, chiefly in
■ regard to addressing prayers to the angels, and to.
certain gross anthropomorphisms (Lampronti, "Pa-
had Yizhak," s.v. V31S, pp. 33b et «eg.)— objections
the force of which some of the strictest Orthodox
rabbis, like Moses Sofer, recognized. (See Anthro-
pomorphism AND ANTHROPOPATHISM.

The Reform movement resulted in the general
disuse of the piyyutim even in synagogues in
which otherwise the traditional ritual was main-
tained ; but in such synagogues and even in almost
all those which use the Reform ritual, some of the
most popular piyyutim for New-Year and the Day
of Atonement have been retained.

The verbal difficulties of the piyyut made com-
mentaries a necessity, so that even the authors them-
selves appended notes to their piyyutim. An ex-
haustive commentary by Johanan Treves was pub-
lished in the Bologna (1541) edition of the Roman
Mahzor. Of the later commentators none has done
more valuable work than Wolf Heidenhetm, who,
however, limited himself to the Ashkenazic and to
the Polish ritual. He was the first, also, to write a
correct German translation of the whole Mabzor, but

IPizmon
Flagriie

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

neither his nor Michael Sachs's translation succeed
in the almost impossible task of remaining faithful to
the original and producing at the same time a read-
able text in German. The same may be said of the
translations in other modern languages. An excep-
tion exists in the work of Seligmann Heller, who
succeeded in producing a really poetical version of
some of the piyyutim.

Bibliography: Jlfaiizor, ed. Heldenheim, Introduction ; Zunz,
S.P.; iaem, Literaturgesch.; Idem, iJittts ; Gestettner, ilfa/-
teach h(uPijutlm, Berlin, 1889; Weiss, Dor, Iv. 321-226;
Landshutb, 'Ammude ha^'Abodah ; Pleckeles, Teshubahme-
Ahabah, vol. 1., No. 1, Prague, 1809 ; Wolft, Die Stimmen
der Aeltesten und GlaubwUrdigsten Babbinen Uber die
Pljutim, Lelpslc, 1857.

D.
PIZSEON : Hymn with a refrain ; usually the
chief poem in the scheme of selihot sung or recited
by the cantor and congregation in alternation. Of
the many etymological derivations suggested for
the word, '' psalm " (Greek, ipaTi/idg) seems the most
likely. Others which have been offered find the
origin of the word in the Aramaic DtS (lamenta-
tion), the Hebrew tS (treasure; comp. 0020), the
Greek iroiTi/ia (poem), or the French "passemente-
rie " or German " posamentir " (embroidery).

Among the Sephardim any important hymn, in
parts of the service other than the selihot, con-
structed in metrical stanzas with a refrain, is termed
a pizraon. Such, for example, are Ahot Ketannah
and 'Et Sha'abb Razon. These and others like
them are distinguished by a special traditional mel-
ody. This is also the case with the chief pizmonim
of the Ashkenazim (comp. Bemoza'k Mknu^ah;
YiSEABL Nosha'; Zekor Bekit); but several are
chanted to a general melody for such poems, for
which see Sblihah.

On the use of the word " pizmon '' among the Jews
of South Arabia, see "Berliner Eestschrif t, " p. 12.

Bibliography: Anich Campletum, ed. Kohut, s.v. pois,
where valuable material is given.

A. F. L. C.
PIZZIGHETTONE, DAVID BEN ELIE-

ZEB HA-LEVI : Italian Talmudist and physi-
cian ; flourished in the first half of the sixteenth cen-
tury. As physician he was active in Cremona ; as
editor, in Venice. In the latter city he was em-
ployed in the Bomberg printing establishment, and
•wrote an introduction to the edition of Maimonides'
" Yad ha-Hazakah " published there.

According to a statement of Landshuth, Pizzi-
ghettone was rabbi in Ferrara ; but this statement is
erroneous.

Bibliography : Mortara, Indice ; I. T. Eisenstadt, Da'at ^e-
doshim, p. 58 ; Landsbutb, ^Ammude ha-''Abodah, p. 343 ;
Furst, B&l. Jvd. ili. 106.

B. C. A. Pb.

PJTJIIKO, ABRAHAM MAB.CTJS : Russian
Hebraist and pedagogue; born at Lomza Feb. 15,
1853. After having studied Talmud and rabbinics,
he devoted himself to modern Hebrew literature,
publishing successively : " Bat Yiftah " (Lyck, 1873),
a Biblical poem; " Re'uyim ha-Debarim le-Mi she-
Amaram " (Warsaw, 1880), criticisms on Biblical and
Talmudical legends ; "Sefer Miktabim ha-Shalem"
{ib. 1883), a Hebrew letter-writer, containing 150
specimens of letters on different subjects; "Nit'e
Na'amanim" (ib. 1884), 100 stories for the young;
" Kur ha-Mibhan " {ib. 1887), a book for teachers.

containing a Biblical catechism ; " Haskalah Medu-
mah " {ib. 1888), a sketch of Jewish life.

In 1893 Pjurko published eleven stories for chil-
dren, two of which were written by his son Hay-
yim, and in 1894 "Shebet Sofer ha-Shalem," a new
letter-writer, also containing 150 specimens. In the
same year he pu blished " Yalkut ha-Re 'im, " a gram-
matical work in verse, and issued a new and revised
edition of his " Nife Na'amanim. " " Blef ha-Magen, "
a grammar for school courses, was published in
1898.

In 1899 Pjurko began the publication of the
weekly periodical "Gan Sha'ashu'im," in which, be-
sides numerous articles by him, two of his works
deserving special mention were published, namely,
" Ab le-Banim " (1899) and " Ha-Rab we-Talmidaw "
(1900). The latter work consists of essays on gram-
mar. In addition, Pjurko has contributed to many
Hebrew periodicals.

H. E. B. Ei.

FLACE-ITAMES : The geographical names of
Palestine are not so often susceptible of interpreta-
tion as the personal names, which frequently form
regular sentences referring to divine action (see
Names). The majority of place-names, probably,
preceded the Israelitish conquest, as is shown by the
fact that several of them have already been identified
in the name-list given in the Egyptian and Assyrian
monuments (see map, Jew. Enctc. ix. 486). Here
there are towns, like Joppa, Jerusalem, Gaza, Dor,
and Ajalon, which have had a continuous existence
under one name for over three thousand years. Even-
of the compound names, some existed in the early
lists, showing that Abel, Ain, and Beth were used
from the earliest times to designate respectively
meadows, springs, and shrines.

Some of the names of places bear evidence of the
existence of shrines of local deities; thus, Beth-
shemesh and En-shemesh were devoted to the wor-
ship of the sun; Beth-anath and Beth-dagon to
Anath and Dagon respectively. Ashtart seems to
have been the local deity of Ashteroth Karnaim,
and it has been suggested that the various place-
names containing " rimmon " (En-rimmon, Gath-
rimmon, etc.) indicate a deity of that name; though
"rimmon" itself means "pomegranate." In a few
cases the indefinite term " el " is used, as in Beth-el,
Penuel, and Jezreel. It is uncertain whether these
places were named in honor of the Israelitish god or
of some Canaanite local deity.

In addition to such theophorous names there are
many which are derived from plants, as Beth-tap-
puah (the apple-tree) ; Hazezon-tamar (the city of
palm-trees ; another name for Jericho) ; while Elim
and Elon imply the oak. Similarly, place-names are
derived from animals, as from the stag (Ajalon), the
gazel (Ophrah), the wild ass (Arad), the calf
(Eglon), and the kid (En-gedi). Bird-names are
more rare, Beth-hoglah (the partridge) being the best
known. The place Akrabbim was probably named
after the scorpions which abounded there (for a
fuller list see Jacobs, " Studies in Biblical Archaeol-
ogy," pp. 101-103).

Some of these names occur in plural or in dual form,
as Eglaim, Mahanaim, Diblathaim ; in the vocalized
text of the Bible, Jerusalem also has this form. In

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

fizmon
Plague

the majority of cases, it appears this refers to some
duplication of objects — in the case of Jerusalem, to
the twin hills upon which it is situated. There are
a certain number of compound names conveying in-
formation as to the localities, as those compounded
with "en" (spring), e.g., En-rogel, En-gedi; with
"beer" (well), e.g., Beer-sheba, Beeroth; with
"hazar" (village), e.g., Hazar-gaddah ; with "ir"
(town), e.g., Ir-nahash; with "kir" or "kiryah"
(city), e.g., Kir-Moab; and with "gath" (wine-
press), e.g., Gath-rimmon.

Natural features gave names to other places, as
the predominant color in Lebanon (white), or Adum-
mim (red). The size of a town gave rise to the
names Rabbah (great), and Zoar (small), while its
beauty is indicated in Tirzah and Jotbah. The
need of defense is indicated by the frequency of
such town-names as Bozrah, which means literally
a "fortified place," Geder, a "walled place," and
Mizpah, a "watch-tower."

Perhaps the most frequent component is "beth,"
implying, as a rule, a sacred shrine. This, however,
is sometimes omitted, as is shown in the case of Beth-
baal-meon, which occurs also as Baal-meon, though
sometimes the second component is omitted and the
word reduced to Beth-meon. It has been conjectured
that the name of Bethlehem is connected with the
Babylonian god Lahamu. Especial interest at-
taches to the place-names Jacob-el and Joseph-el,
which occurred in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and
are supposed to throw light upon the names of the
Patriarchs.

Altogether, there are about fifteen hundred place-
names occurring in the Old Testament and Apocry-
pha, the majority of which still need philological
inquiry. Many names relating to places occur in
the Old Testament with specialized meanings which
are not adequately represented in the English ver-
sions, as Shefelah (the maritime plain of Phenicia) ;
so with Negeb (southern Judea).

Bibliography: G. B. Gray, In Cheyne and Black, Enwuc.
BSbl.; G. Grove, In Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, pp.
479-534.

J .

FIiAOZEE, ABRAHAM : Austrian rabbi ;
born at Prerau Jan., 1799; died at Boskowitz Dec.
10, 1884. In 1837 he became rabbi in his native
city, and from 1832 to 1840 he officiated at Weiss-
kirciien, in Moravia, whence he was called to Bos-
kowitz. In Oct., 1851, he succeeded S. R. Hirsch as
acting " LandesralDbiner " of Moravia, and in this office
he successfully defended the rights of the Jews, espe-
cially during the period of reaction. Placzek was
one of the most prominent Talmudists of his time,
as well as a successful teacher, and carried on corre-
spondence with eminent rabbis, in whose collections
of responsa his name is frequently mentioned.
BiBLioGRAPHT : Die Neuzeit, 1884, p. 483 ; G. Deutsch, In

Lual}, ed. Epstein, Brttnn, 1885.

s. S. F.

PLACZEK, BARXTCH JACOB: Austrian
rabbi; born at Weisskirchen, Moravia, Oct. 1, 1835;
son and successor of Abraham Placzek. In 1858 he
founded a high school at Hamburg, and two years
later was called to Brunn. Since 1884 he has been
styled "Landesrabbiner" of Moravia, after having

had charge of that rabbinate as assistant to his father
from 1861. It is mainly due to him that only men
with an academic and theological training are ap-
pointed as rabbis in Moravia. Placzek is now (1905)
chief rabbi of BrUnn, a knight of the Order of Fran-
cis Joseph, and curator of the Israelitisch-Theolo-
gische Lehranstalt at Vienna; he was likewise
founder of the Proseminar, with which a cantors'
school is connected, as well as of a number of phil-
anthropic societies. He is an honorary member also
of several political societies.

Placzek has published, in part under the pseudo-
nym Benno Plauek : " Gedichte " (" Im Eruw,
Stimmungsbilder," 1867), the novel "Der Takif,"
and other works, several of which have been trans-
lated into English, French, and Hebrew. He is
known also as a naturalist (comp. "Kosmos," v.,
vols. iii. and x.), his scientific works including :. " Die
AfEen," "Wiesel und Katze," "Der Vogelgesang
nach Seiner Tendenz und Entwicklung, " "Vogel-
schutz Oder Insektenschutz," "Zur Klarung in der
Vogelfrage," "Atavismus," and "Kopf und Herz"
(an introduction to the study of animal logic).

s. S. F.

PIiAGXTE. — Biblical Data: Word which is
used in the English versions of the Bible as a
rendering of several Hebrew words, all closely re-
lated in meaning. These are: (1) "Maggefah"(a
striking, or smiting): Used in a general way of the
plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians (Ex. ix. 3-4);
of the fatal disease which overtook the spies (Num.
xiv. 37), and of that which slew many of the people
after the rebellion of Korah (Num. xvi. 48-49), and
at Shittim because of idolatrous practises at the
shrine of Baal-peor (Num. xxv. 8, 9, 18; Ps. cvi. 39-
30) ; of the tumors which attacked the Philistines on
account of the presence of the Ark (I Sam. vi. 4), and
of the three days' pestilence which ravaged Israel
after David's numbering of tlie people (II Sam.
xxiv. 31, 25) ; of a disease of the bowels (II Chron.
xxi. 14-15), and, prophetically, of a plague which
shall consume the flesh of the enemies of Jerusalem,
both man and beast (Zech. xiv. 13, 15, 18).

(2) "Negef," from the same root and with the
same general meaning as " maggefah " (a blow,
a striking): Used of the plague of Baal-peor
(Josh. xxii. 17), of that which followed the rebellion
of Korah (Num. xvi. 46-47), and with a general ap-
plication (Ex. xii. 13, XXX. 13; Num. viii. 19). The
corresponding verb is used with the sense of " to
plague " in Ex. xxxii. 35, Josh. xxiv. 5, and Ps.
Ixxxix. 33.

(3) " Nega' " (a touch, a stroke) : Used of the last
of the Egyptian plagues (Ex. xi. 1) and many times
of leprosy (Lev. xiii., xiv., and xxiv., and generally
in I Kings viii. 37-38 and Ps. xci. 10). The corre-
sponding verb, in addition to a general use in Ps.
Ixxiii. 5, 14, is used of the plague which afflicted
Pharaoh and his house because of the wrong done
to Abram (Gen. xii. 17).

(4) " Makkah " (a blow, a wound) : Used of the
plague which was due to the eating of quails (Num.
xi. 33), of the plagues of Egypt (I Sam. iv. 8), and
more generally (Lev. xxvi. 31 ; Deut. xxviii. 59, 61 ;
xxix. 32; Jer. xix. 8, xlix. 17, 1. 13).

Plagrae

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

(5) "Deber": Rendered "plagues" in Hos. xiii.
14; "murrain" {i.e., cattle-plague) in Ex. ix. 3; and
"pestilence" in Ex. v. 3, ix. 15; Num. xiv. 13, and
Hab. iii. 5.

E. c. J. P. McL.

In Rabbinical Literature : Commenting on

the words of Jethro, " For in the thing wherein they
dealt proudly he was above them" (Ex. xviii. 11),
the Talmud says: "The Egyptians were cooked in
the pot in which they cooked others" (Sotah 11a),
that is, the punishment was made to correspond to
their crime, on the "jus talionis" principle. This
refers to Pharaoh's edict to the effect that all Jew-
ish infants were to be cast into the Nile, the Egyp-
tians being punished by the plague that turned the
water of the Nile to blood. At the same time this
plague proved that the Nile was not a deity as the
Egyptians believed. Furthermore, the Egyptians
suflered to the full extent the evils of the plagues,
and did not derive any benefit, however indirect,
therefrom. Hence, the frogs died in heaps " and the
land stank"; while the "'arob," which the Rabbis
saj' was a mixture or drove of wild animals (not
"a swarm of flies"), disappeared after the plague
ceased, and " there remained not one " ;
' ' Lex so that the Egyptians might not profit
Talionis.'' from the hides of the animals, which
they might have done had the latter
died like the frogs. Two theories have been ad-
vanced for the plague of darkness, one of which
is that the plague was intended to hide the anni-
hilation of the wicked Israelites who, refusing to
leave Egypt, died there.

The period of each plague was seven da3's (Ex.
vii. 35); and twenty-four days intervened between
one plague and the next. The ten plagues lasted
nearly twelve months ('Eduy. ii. 10; comp. Ex. R.
ix. 13). The order and nature of the plagues are
described by R. Levi b. Zachariah in the name of R.
Berechiah, who says: "God used military tactics
against the Egyptians. First, He stopped their
water-supply (the water turned to blood). Second,
He brought a shouting army (frogs). Third, He shot
arrows at them (lice). Fourth, He directed His le-
gions against them (wild animals). Fifth, He caused
an epidemic (murrain). Sixth, He poured naphtha
on them (blains). Seventh, He hurled at them stones
from a catapult (hail). Eighth, He ordered His
storming troops (locusts) against them. Ninth, He
put them under the torturing stock (darkness).
Tenth, He killed all their leaders (first-born) " (Yalk.,
Ex. 183; Pesik. R. xvii. [ed. Friedmann, 89b]).

Ten other plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians

in the Red Sea (Ab. v. 6 ; Ab. R. N. xxxiii. ; comp.

ed. Schechter, Sd version, xxxvi.), in

Plagues in the various ways in which Pharaoh

the and his hosts were drowned. R.Jose

Red Sea. the Galilean says: "The Egyptians
in the Red Sea suflered fifty plagues.
In Egypt the ' finger ' of God was recognized by the
ten plagues; but at the Red Sea God's powerful
' hand ' was visible [Ex. xiv. 31, Hebr.], which being
multiplied by five fingers makes fifty plagues." R.
Eliezer multiplied these by 4, making 300 plagues;
and R. Akiba multiplied them by 5, making 350
plagues. Each adduced his multiplier from the

verse : " He cast upon them (1) the fierceness of his
anger, (2) wrath, (3) and indignation, (4) and trouble,
(5) by sending evil angels among them " (Ps. Ixxviii.
49). R. Eliezer does not count "fierceness of his
anger" (Mek., Ex. vi. ; comp. Ex. R. xxiii. 10; see
also the Passover Haggadah).

The order of the plagues in the Psalms diilers
from that in Exodus. R. Judah indicated the latter
order by the mnemonic combination 3nNa C^iy "jSn,
consisting of the initial letters of the ten plagues

as follows : n3ns Ti3 pHB* 131 any D'':3 vnnQs m

nniaa (riDO) ^B'n = (l) water turning to blood, (3)
frogs, (3) lice, (4) swarms of beasts, (5) murrain, (6)
blains, (T) hail, (8) locusts, (9) darkness, (10) slaying
of the first-born. The ten plagues are further-
more divided thus : three performed through Moses,
three through Aaron, three directly by God, and
one, the sixth, through Moses and Aaron together
(Ex. vii. 17-x. 31; "Shibbole ha-Leljet," ed. Ruber,
p. 97b).
E. 0. J. D. E.

Critical View: In the majority of cases the

plague is regarded and spoken of as a divine visita-
tion, a penalty inflicted upon the individual, family,
or nation because of sin. Even the common disease
of leprosy is said to be " put in a house " by God
(Lev. xiv. 34). The exact nature of the fatal sickness
which attacked the people on more than one occasion
in the wilderness is a matter of conjecture, but there
can be little doubt that it was the bubonic plague
which destroyed the Philistines (I Sam. v. 6-12).

The calamities inflicted upon the Egyptians be-
cause of Pharaoh's refusal to let the people of Israel

go into the wilderness to observe a feast

Plagues of to Yhwh are designated "plagues"

Egypt. (Ex. ix. 14, xi. 1). The narrative in

Exodus tells of ten such visitations.
According to the critical analysis of the sources of
this narrative it appears that one, probably the ear-
liest, story (J) tells of seven of the ten plagues (viz.,
1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10); another (E), of four, or possibly
six (viz., 1, 3 [?], 7, 8, 9, 10 [?]); and the third (P),
of six (viz., 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 10). Psalm Ixxviii. recalls
seven, and Psalm cv. eight, of these. It is possible
that one or more of the plagues may be duplicated
in the narrative as it now stands.

The first plague was the defilement of the river.
" All the waters that were in the river were turned
to blood. And the fish that was in the river died "
(Ex. vii. 31). The Egyptians regarded the Nile as
a god (seeMaspero, "Dawn of Civilization," pp. 36-
43), and no doubt, to the Hebrew writer, this visita-
tion seemed peculiarly appropriate. The water of
the Nile regularly becomes discolored from minute
organisms or from decaying vegetable matter and
mud carried down by the floods which reach Egypt in
June. The color is said to vary from gray-blue to
dark red. A cause of this plague might therefore
be found in the presence of an unusually large
quantity of such impurities, making the water

putrid. The second plague was a
Details of multitude of frogs. The third and
Plagues, fourth consisted of swarms of insect

pests, probably stinging flies or gnats.
The fifth was a murrain, or cattle-plague, probably
anthrax or rinderpest. Pruner (" Krankheiten des

- ::<•* 2n>;

(i>5%"f5 nj2"iN

Dh?'j Pio p^:> n'r^-}

3n^

□'J3

1:31

n:^^!^

113

nnD3 n??

■it?in

{■■*. i

^'Jw

)i pflfj ("I IC'fn '7

■P'p;i6c;a

p'j! j,v6irj |.i6f lit,-.

> "'l" 131

'Jbfc 11^

■J'E' 67 Ell" Sj^PIJ"
p*» IIO? O'fi I'f' T

^'57150:'

" "^^p

7».ti7 »37rt3>s" e'Cj

•PpjS'JO'lJPI

.ppi)in7Bj"'J

The Ten Plagues, According to a Passover Haggadah of 1695.

(From the Sulzberger collection In the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Plants

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Orients," Erlangen, 1847) describes an outbreak of
the last-named in Egypt in 1842.

The sixth plague was one of boils which Philo (" De
Vita Moysis ") describes as a red eruption in which
the spots became swollen and pustular, and in which
"the pustules, confluent into a mass, were spread
over the body and limbs." This description, if cor-
rect, would point to smallpox. The seventh plague
was a great storm of hall ; the eighth, a swarm of
locusts destroying the crops and even the leaves and
fruit of the trees. The ninth was a "thick dark-
ness " continuing for three days. It has been sug-
gested that such a darkness might have been caused
by tlie south or southwest wind, which blows about
the time of the vernal equinox, bearing clouds of
sand and fine dust that darken the air (see
Denon, "Voyage dans I'Egypte," p. 286, Paris,
1802) ; this wind blows for two or three days at a
time. The tenth and last plague was the destruc-
tion of the first-born, when Yhwh " gave their life
over to the pestilence and smote all the first-born of
Egypt" (Ps. Ixxviii. 50-51).

Bibliography : Dillmann-Byssel, Exodus und Leviticus,
Lelpsic, 1897 ; Pruner, Krankheiten des Orients, Erlangen,
1847 ; A. Maealister, Medicine and Plague, In Hastings,
Diet. Bible.
E. C. J. F. McL.

PLANTS.— In the Bible : The following names
of plants and plant materials are found in the Old

Testament :

[The plant-names in this table lollow the order of the Hebrew
alphabet, but are transUterated according to the system adopted
by The Jewish Encyclopedia.]

Hebrew Name.

Ebeh

Abattihim (plu-
ral).'

Abiyyonab

Egoz

Agam, agmon..

Ahalim, ahalot
(pl.).

Orot

Ezob

Ahu, gome

Atad

El'ah (seezori)..

Allah, allon

Algummim, al-

mugglm (pl.),

Erez

fruit of Capparls spinosa, Linn.

Juglans regla, Linn

Juncus, Arundo, Phragmites. .
Aquilaria Agallocha, Roxb.

(Gildemeister and Hoffmann,
Die Aetherischen Oele," p.

645, note).

Eruca satlva. Lam. (?)

Origanum Maru, Linn

Oyperus Papyrus, Linn

Lycium europgeum, Linn

Pistacla Terebinthus, var. Pal-

ffistina, Engl.
Quercus

Oren..
Eshel..

Bo'shah .
Bedolah .

Botnim (pl.).
Beka'lm

Bezalim (pl.)..

Barkanim

Berosh, berot. .
Borit

Basam, bosem.
Beter

Gad.

Botanical Name.

Cvperus Papyrus, Linn. (?)...
OitruUus vulgaris, Schrad

CedrusLibani..

a conifer, Pinus or Abies. . .
Tamarix Syrlaca, Boiss., or Ta^
marix articulata, Vabl.

gum of the Balsamodendron

Mukul, Hooker,
fruit of Pistacia vera, Linn. . .
mulberry

Allium Cepa, Linn

Phaeopappus scoparlus, Sieb.. .
Abies Clllcioa, Ant. and Ky . . .
vegetable lye of Mesembryan-

themum, Salicomla, Aizoon,

etc.
Balsamodendron Opobalsa-

mum, £unth.
not a plant, but erroneously

identified by Wellhausen and

Kautzsch with Malabathrum.

Coriandrum sativum, Linn.

Popular Name.

Papyrus (?).
Watermelon.

Thorny caper.
Walnut.
Bush, reed.
Aloes-wood.

Eruca.

Wild marjoram.

Papyrus.

Box-thorn,

Terebinth.

Oak.
Sandalwood (?).

Cedar of Leba-
non.
Pine or flr.
Tamarisk.

Stinkweed (?).

Pistachio.
In the Mishnah
a sort of fruit.
Onion.
Phseopappus.
Giliclan spruce.

Coriander.

Hebrew Name.

Galgal .

Gome (see al?u).

Gefen

Gefen8adeh(see

pakku'ot).
Gofer'

Duda'im (pl.) .

Dohan

Dardar

n
Hobnim .
Hadas ...

Zaylt.

Habazzelet

gede^ .
Hoah...

51ttah . . . .

Helbenah .

pallamut .

Hazir

Haf ul

Ylzbar

Trlticum vulgare, Linn

resin of Ferula galbaniflua,

Boiss. and Buhse.
Anchusa, Ijnn

Allium Porrum, Linn.

Lathyrns, Linn

figurative for " zayit "

Kammon..
Kussemet .

Kof er

Karkom...

Libneh ...
Lebonah ..

Luz (see sha

ked).
Lot

D
Malluah. .
Mor

Nahalollm(pl.).

Nahal (see ta^
mar).

Nataf

Nekot

Na azuz.
Nerd

Suf..
Sir..

Sillon (pl. sallo

nlm).
Seueh

Botanical Name.

(prototype) Plantago Cretica,
Linn., Gundella Toumefor-
tli, Linn., Centaurea myrio-
cephala, Schrad., and others
(Fonck, " Strelfzuge," etc.
p. 87; Kerner, "Pflanzenle
ben," il. 787).

Vitls vlnifera, Linn.
Cupressus

Mandragora ofiadnarum, Linn.

Andropogon Sorghum, Linn. . .

a thistle, especially Centaurea

Calcitrapa, Linn., and others.

Myrtus communis, Linn .

rolling balls of
dry weeds,
"witch-balls,"
as explained
by Bar He-
brseus on Ps.
Ixxxill. 14.

Grape-vine.

Cypress.

Mandrake.
Bread, durra.
Star-thistle.

Ebony.
Myrtle.

Olea Europsea, Linn .

Colchicum, especially Colchi-

cum Steveni, Kunth.
Solanum coagulans, Forsk. . . .
probably Echinops viscosus,

DC; perhaps Acanthus Syri-

acus, Linn.

Cuminum Cymlnum, Linn. . . .

Trlticum Spelta, Linn

Lawsonia alba, Lam

root of Curcuma longa, Linn,
(sic).

Populus alba, Linn

from Boswellla Carteria, Bird-
wood, and others.

mastic (sic) of Pistacia Len-

tiscus, Linn.
Artemisia monosperma, Delile,

Artemisia Judaica, Linn.

Atriplex Halimus, Linn

especially from Commiphora
Abysslnlca, Engl., and Com-
miphora Schimperi, Engl,
(according to Holmes, per-
haps Commiphora Eataf,
Engl., Balsamodendron Ka^
f al, Kunth ; see Gildemeister
and Hoffmann, l.c. p. 639;
Schweinf urth, " Berichte der
Deutschen Pharmacologisch-
en Gesellschaft," lil. 237,
cited by Gildemeister and
Hoffmann, I.e. p. 637).

according to Saadia, Prosopis
Stephaniana, Willd.

resin of Styrax oCacinalis, Linn
tragacanth of Astragalus gum-

mifer, Labill., and others.
a prickly plant, which can not

be identified with certainty.
Nardostachys Jatamansi, DC.

Juncus

Poterium spinosum, Linn (?).

Rubus sanctus, Schreb.

Popular Name.

Olive.

Meadow-

sattron.
Nightshade.
According to

tradition, a

fodder for

camels.
Cu 1 tlvated

wheat.

Bugloss or alka-

net.
Leek.
Vetchling.
Olive.

Cumin.
Spelt.
Henna.
Turmeric.

White poplar.
Frankincense.

Absinth.

Orach.
Myrrh.

Storax.

Varieties of as-
tragalus.
Alhagi (?).

Spikenard.

Rush.

Thorny bumet;
perhaps, also,
other thorn-
bushes.

Thorn,, thom-
bush.

Blackberry.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

Hebrew Name.

Sirpad .

'Adashim (pi.).
'Ez shemen . .

'Arabah. .

'Arot, consid-
ered by the
LXX. as iden-
tical with
" a^u."

'Armon . .

'Ar'ar....

according to Ibn Janab, Atra^
phaxis splnosa, Linn.; ac-
cording to Jerome, Urtlca,
Linn.

Lens esculenta, Mnch

Eteagnus hortensis, M. Bleb.
(?), Pinus Halepensia, Mill

Populus Euphratlca, Oliv

Fannag

PalJ^u^otCpl.)..

Fisbtab.

Ze'ellm

Zinnim (pi. ze-
ninim).

Zafzatab

Zorl (see elah)

^iddab,

zl*ah.
Eoz .

^ikayon .

^immos..
Eaneb

Keneb bosem
and kaneb ba-
tob. ■

Einnamon .

Kezah

^isbsbu'im (pi.)

1
Rosh

Rimmon .
Botem . . .

Sorab (same as
dohan[?]).

Slab

Sikkim(pl.)....

Se'ora

Sbum

Sbosbannata,
sbusban.

Sblttah

Sbayit (?).

Sbamir

Sbaked, luz ....

Sblkmab ....
n

Te'enah

Te'asbsbur ,
Tidbar

Tamar, and
sibly also
bal.

Tappuab

Tirzab ..

pos-
na^

Botanical Name.

Platanus orientaUs, Linn.. .
Juniperus oxycedrus, Linn.. . .

Vieiafaba, Linn., probably also
Vlgna Sinensis, var. sesqui-
pedalis, Linn.

Panicum millaceum, Linn. (?) .

Citrullus Colocyntbis (Linn.)
Scbrad.

Linum usitatlssimum, Linn. . ,

Zizypbus spina-^brlsti, Linn...

Sallx salsat, Forsk

resin ol Pistacia Tereblntbus,
var. Palaestina, Engl., but,
according to Jewlsb tradi-
tion, resin of Commipbora
Eataf, Engl. (Balsamoden-
dron Kafal, Kuntb).

varieties of Clnnamomum Cas-
sia, Bl.

Blclnus communis, Linn. .

Urtlca, Linn (?)

Arundo Bonax, Linn., and

Phragmites communis, Trin.

Acorus Calamus, Linn

Clnnamomum Zeylanlcum.

Breyne.

Nigella sativa, Linn

Cucumls Obate, Linn., and Cu-

cumis sativus, Linn,
according to Post, Citrullus

Colocyntbus (Linn.), Scbrad.

(see pakka'ot), but tbls is

very doiifitful).
Punica Granatum, Linn . . .
Retama Raetam (Forsk.), Web.

Artemisia, Linn .

Hordeum, Linn

Album sativum, Linn.. .
Lilium candidum, Linn.

Acacia Nllotica,DeI.,and
otbers.

Pallurus aculeatus, Linck (?)
Prunus Amygdalus, Stokes

(Amvgdalus communis

Linn.).
Ficus Sycomorus, Linn

Ficus Carlca, Linn

Cupressus sempervirens, Linn,
according to tbe Targ., Comus

mas, Linn., or Comus Austra-

lis. Cam.
Pboenlx dactylltera, Linn

Malus communis, Desf

(1) according to Saadla and
Ibn Janab, Pinus Halepensis,
Mill.; (2) according to tbe
Vulgate, Ilex, either Quercus
Ilex, Linn., or Quercus coc-
cifera, Linn.

Popular Name.

Atraphaxis, or
nettle.

Lentil.
Pine.

Euphrates pop-
lar.

Plane-tree.
Juniper.

Horse-bean,
bean.

Millet.

Bitter cucum-
ber.
Flax.

Chrlst's-thom.
Tborn-hedge,

thorns.
Willow.
Terebinth.

Cassia.

Thorn-bush.
Common castor-
oil plant.
Nettle.
Reed.

Calamus (Gllde-
melster and
Hoffmann, I.e.
p. 3M).

Cinnamon-
bush.

Nutmeg-flower.

Cucumber.

Pomegranate.
Juniper-bush.

Wormwood.
Brambles.
Barley.
Garlic.

my.

Acacia.

Garland-thorn.
Almond.

Sycamore.

Fig.

Cypress.
Cornel, dog-
wood.

Palm. •

Apple.

(1) Pine; (2) oak.

In the Apocrypha : In the Apocryphal books

the following plants and plant-products are men-
tioned: vine, palm, flg, olive-tree, mulberry-tree
(pomegranate), wheat, barley, pumpliin, rush, reed,
grass, cedar, cypress, terebinth, mastic, holm-oak,
rose, lily, ivy, hedge-thorn, spices, cinnamon, aspal-
athus, myrrh, galbanum, stacte, and incense. The
rose and ivy are mentioned in the Mishnah also;
but they do not occur in the Hebrew Old Testa-
ment.

The rose-plant of Jericho, mentioned in Ecclus.
(Sirach) xxiv. 14, has been identified, through over-
hasty speculation, with Anastatica Hierochuntica,
which, however, is not found in that district. This
Anastatica is frequently used by the Christians as a
symbol, while the modern Jews have frequently
mentioned it in their poetry. The Asteriscus pyg-
mmis, Coss., which grows at Jericho, also has been
regarded as the rose of Jericho. The branches of
the Anastatica bend inward when the fruit becomes
ripe, so that the numerous closed, pear-shaped pods,
found at the ends of the branches, seem to be sur-
rounded by a lattice. In the case of the Asteriscus,
on the other hand, after the time of ripening it is
not the branches, but the top leaves, grouped in
rosettes, which close over the fruit (Robinson,
"Palastina," ii. 539; Sepp, "Jerusalem und das
Heilige Land," i. 610; Post, "Flora of Syria, Pales-
tine, and Sinai," p. 67; Kerner, "Pflanzenleben,"
ii. 783).

In Philo and Josephus : Philo gives no addi-
tional information regarding the knowledge of bot-
any possessed by the Jews in antiquity. It is true
that he made allegorical use of grass and flowers,
wild trees and those that bear fruit, the oak, the
palm, and the pomegranate, incense, and the tree of
life (Siegfried, "Philo von Alexandria," pp. 185
et seq., Jena, 1875), but he wrote neither on botany
nor on agriculture (Meyer, "Gesch. der Botanik," ii.
80). Josephus, on the other hand, deserves special
mention, since he was the only author in Jewish an-
tiquity who attempted to describe a plant in exact
detail. He says, in his discussion of the head-dress
of the high priest (" Ant." iii. 7, § 6) : " Out of which
[the golden crown] arose a cup of gold like the herb
that we call 'saccharus,' but which is termed
'hyoscyamus' by the Greeks." The form aanxapov
is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic " shak-
runa," which is not mentioned again until it is named
in the medical work ascribed to Asaph ben Bbke-
CHIAH. The next description of the plant is given
in Hebrew by Azariah dei Rossi ("Me'or 'Enayim,"
ch. xlix.). Josephus describes it from personal
observation and shows a very clear knowledge of the
peculiarities of the plant. In describing it he men-
tions the fi^KCjv, or poppy, for the first time in Jew-
ish literature, as well as the plants ev^a/iov (rocket),
Powias, and aiSiipiTiQ. He is likewise the first to refer
to the chick-pea in 'spsjSivdav oko£ ("B. J." v. 13,
§ 3), the vetch (" karshinna " ; Vicia Ervilia, Linn.;
bpo^o^, ib. V. 10, § 3), the fenugreek {Trigonella
Fosnum-OrcBcum, Linn. ; r^^if, ib. iii. 7, § 29), the
amomum ("Ant." xx. 3, § 3) growing near Carrhse,
and the laurel- wreaths of the Romans {Scu^vn, "B. J."
vii. 5, § 4).

The second specifically botanical reference is to

Plants

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

the ir^yavov, a rue of extraordinary size growing in
the precincts of the palace at Machserus. The rue is
mentioned by Josephus (" B. J. " vii. 6,
Plants § 3) for the first time among Jewish
First Sleu- writers, though it occurs also in Luke
tioued. by xi. 42. Later the Greek name appears
Josephus. as a foreign word in the Mishnah. The
rue at Machserus was equal to any fig-
tree in height and breadth, and according to tradition
it had been standing since the time of Herod ; the
Jews cut it down when they occupied tliis fortress.
The valley bounding the city on the north, Josephus
continues, is called Ba'arah (my3; Epstein, "Mi-
IJadmoniyyot, " p. 108), and produces a marvelous
root of the same name. " It is a flaming red, and
shines at night." Then follows the popular de-
scription of a magic root that can be drawn from
the earth only by a dog, which loses its life thereby,
.ffilian (c. 180) repeats the tale ;. but a picture in the
Vienna manuscript of Dioscorides, made in the fifth
century, is the earliest proof that this mysterious
root was supposed to be the mandragora or man-
drake (Ferdinand Cohn, in " Jahresbericht der
Schlesischen Gesellschaft fur Vaterlandische Cul-
tur," botanical section, 1887, 37, x. ; " Verhaudlungen
der Berliner Anthropologisohen Gesellschaft," 17, x.
[1891] 730; 19, xii. 749. Instead of a dog, an ass
pulls out the root according to Midr. Agada, ed.
Buber, on Gen. xlix. 14. On the human form of the
mandrake see Ibu Ezra on Cant. vii. 14; Salfeld,
"Hohelied," p. 73. The popular belief regarding
the mandragora is given in full by Judah Hadassi
i;il48] in "Eshkol ha-Kofer," 153c; Maimonldes,
"Moreh," French transl. by Munk, iii. 335; Giide-
mann," Gesch."iii. 139; Grlinbaum, " Judisch-Deut-
sche Chrestomathie," p. 176).

Josephus was also the first to mention the so-called

Sodom-apple, Calotropis procera, Willd. (Post, I.e.

p. 526), describing it as a fruit exactly resembling

edible apples in color, but composed only of ashes,

and crumbling in the hand to dust

The ("B. J."iv. 8,§4). He speaks highly

Sodom- also of the fruitfulness of Palestine,

Apple. mentioning particularly the palms

("Ant." iv. 6, § 1; " B. J." i. 6, § 6;

iii. 10, § 8 ; iv. 8, §§ 3, 3, 4) and balsam at Jericho

("Ant." xiv. 4, § 1 ; XV. 4, § 2) and Engedi {ib. ix. 1,

§ 3), as well as the palms at Phasaelis, Archelais {ib.

xviii. 3, § 2), and Persea ("B. J." iii. 8, § 3). The

balsam-tree was introduced by the Queen of Sheba,

and was afterward planted ("Ant." viii. 6, § 6) and

tapped ("B. J." i. 6, § 6). At Jericho the cypress

{Kmrpog, ib. iv. 8, § 3) and the jivpojiakavog (ib. iv. 8,

S 3) also grew. In Persea, furthermore, there were

fruitful places where olive-trees, vines, and palms

flourished {ib. iii. 3, § 3), but the fruits of Gennesaret

surpassed all («S. iii. 10, § 8, a statement which is

confirmed by the Talmud).

Naturally every recapitulation of Biblical history
contains references to all the Biblical plants ; and in
Josephus references are found to Adam's fig-leaves
(" Ant." i. 1, § 4) ; the olive-leaf of Noah's dove {ib. i.
3, § 5) ; Noah's vine {ib. i. 6, § 3) ; Ishmael's fir-tree {ib.
i. 13, § 3, i'ka.Tri, as LXX. and Josephus render WTV^n
by analogy with xnit^N); Abraham's oak, Ogyges
{ib. i. 10, § 3) ; the terebinth standing near Hebron

since the creation of the world ("B. J." iv. 9, § 7);

Esau's lentil pottage ("Ant." ii. 1, § 1); Reuben's

mandrakes {ib. i. 19, g 8) ; the wheat-sheaf in Joseph's

dream {ib. ii. 2, § 3) and the grapes in

Biblical the visions of the two Egyptians {ib.

Names ii. 5, § 3) ; Moses' ark of bulrushes {ib.

Recapitu- ii. 9, § 4), and the burning bush (/Jaroc,

lated by ib. ii. 13); the manna that was like

Josephus. bdellium and coriander {ib. iii. 1, § 6) ;

the blossoming almond-rod (ib. iv. 4, §

3) ; the seventy palms (ib. iii. 1, § 3) ; Rahab's stalks

of fiax (ib. V. 1, § 3); the trees in Jotham 'sparable (iJ.

V. 7, § 3) ; the cypress and thistle of the parable in II

Kings xiv. 9 (ib. ix. 9, § 3); Hiram's cedar-trees (ib.

vii. 3, §3; viii. 3, §7; 5, §3; "B. J." v. 5, §3); the

pine-trees, which Josephus says were like the wood

of fig-trees {■rreiiKiva, "Ant." viii. 7, § 1); the lilies

and pomegranates on the pillars of the Temple

(ib. viii. 3, § 4) and on the golden candlestick (iii.

6, § 7).

Solomon " spoke a parable on every sort of tree,
from the hyssop to the cedar " (ib. viii. 2, § 5) and
built the &pv/iav (ib. viii. 6, § 5 ; comp. Spvfidg, " oak-
coppice, "«. xiv. 13, § 3; "B. J." i. 13, § 2; Boett-
ger, " Topographisch-Historisches Lexicon zu den
Schriften des Flavins Josephus," p. 105).

Josephus, as well as the Biblical narrative, men-
tions apples eaten by Herod (" Ant. " xvii. 7 ; " B. J. "
i. 33, § 7) ; fig-trees ("Ant." viii. 7, § 1 ; "B. J." vii.
6, § 3); pomegranates ("Ant." iii. 7, § 6); cages of
sedge (iJ. ii. 10, § 2); wheat (»J. xvii. 13, §3; "B. J."
V. 13, § 7); wheat and barley ("Ant." ix. 11, §3;
" B. J. " V. 10, § 8) ; barley alone (" Ant. " iii. 10, § 6 ;
V. 6, § 4); and herbs (UxavHa, "B. J." iv. 9, § 8).

In describing the legal code, Josephus recapitu-
lates the following Biblical plants: hyssop at vari-
ous sacrifices ("Ant." ii. 14, § 6; iv.
Plants 4, § 6) ; flax in the priestly robes (ib.
Named in iii. 7, § 7) ; pomegranates, signifying
the Legal lightning, on the high priest's gar-
Code, ments ("B. J." v. 5, § 7); lilies and
pomegranates on the golden candle-
sticks ("Ant." iii. 6, §7); cinnamon, myrrh, cala-
mus, and iris (" kiddah ") in the oil of purification (ib.
iii. 8, § 3 ; Whiston : " cassia ") ; cinnamon and cassia
("B. J." vi. 8, § 3); the first-f*uits of the barley
("Ant." iii. 10, §5); he likewise cites the precept
against sowing a diversity of plants in the vineyard
(ib. iv. 8, g 30). In like manner the Biblical meta-
phor of the broken reed (ib. x. 1, § 3) is repeated.
, Josephus is of course acquainted with the citron-
apple, mentioned in the Mishnah and forming part
of the festival-bush together with the palm-branch,
willow, and myrtle, although he calls it vaguely the
" Persian apple " (/iij^m t^c Uepakag), not the " Median"
("Ant." iii. 10, § 4). He is more accurate in desig-
nating the fruit itself (mrpia, ib. xiii. 13, § 1). The
golden vine of the Temple is mentioned twice (ib.
xiv. 3, § 1; "B. J." V. 5, §4).
The "Yosippon" (ed. Gagnier, 11. 10, § 70) men-
tions among the wonders seen by
The Alexander on his way to India a tree,

"Yosippon." )it3pnD''N, which grew until noon,
and then disappeared into the earth.
In the same work (il. 11, § 77) the trees of the sun and
moon forewarn Alexander of his early death.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

In the New Testament : The following names

of plants may be cited from the New Testament:

New Testament
Name.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

aYpi6Aai09 (op-
posed to KoA-
AteAaio?) .

aKav6a

OleaEuropaea, Linn., var. syl-
vestris.

Wild olive of
northern Syria.

Thorn.

Aloe.

Vine.

Amomum.

Dill.

Wormwood.

Blackberry.

Olive

aAoT)

Aqullaria Agallocha, Roxb. . .

auTreAos ((TTaAv-

afluifiOV

Anethum graveolens, Linn. . .
Artemisia, Linn

aipivBo^

^(LTOS

Rubiis, Linn

cAata

Olea Europsea Linn

^tfai'toi'

TiSvoafiov

Lolium temulentum, Linn..'..

Bearded darnel.
Mint

fliiivos, deriva-
tive from Svia.

KaAajuof

KepaTLOv

Thoja arttculata, Vahl

Arundo Donax, Linn., and
Phragmitls commu-
nis, Trin.

Ceratonia Siliqua, Linn

Arbor-vitEe.
Eeed.

Saint-John's-
bread, carob.

Kpt0^

Hordeum, Linn

Barley.
Lily.

KpiVOV

Lilium candldum, Linn

Cuminum Cyminum, Linn . . .

Ki^avos

Linum usitatissimum, Linn

from the Tamarix mannifera,
Ehrenberg, and Alhagl Mau-
rorum, DC.

Nardostaehys Jatamansi, DC.

Flax (used only
metaphorically
for wick and
for linen gar-
ments) .

Spikenard.

Triticum

Wheat, grain.
Myrrh.

<rvKdfiivo^

(TUKOjuopaia

Flcus Sycomorus, Linn

Sycamore.

oAuvfloj.

Tpi'0o\O5

liffcrtuTros

(^otctf , jSatov.. . .

Tribulus terrestris, Linn

Origanum Maru, Linn

Phoenix dactylltera, Linn

Land-caltrop.
Wild marjoram.
Palm.

More general terms are a^So? (flower), /Sotovti (herbage), Siv.
Spov (tree), K\rjtia (branch), Kaxavov (vegetable), tf>pvyavov
(brushwood), ^vreia (plant), x'^^P"' (green), x"?™' (grass).

The following names of plants are found in proper
names in the New Testament : the palm (Thamar),
the lily (Susanna), the fig (Beth-phage), the narcis-
sus (as the name of the Roman Narcissus) ; the name
of the date has been conjectured to form part of the
name of Bethany (Bet-hine). The crown of thorns
placed on Jesus may have been composed of the
garland-thorn, Paliwrus aculeatus. Lam., of the ju-
jube, ZizyphMS vulgaris. Lam., or of a variety of
hawthorn, the Cratwgus Azm'oliM, Linn., or the Cra-
tcegus monogyrM, Willd.

In the Pseudepigxapha : There are few ref-
erences to plants in the pseudepigrapha, so far as
the latter are included in Kautzsch's collection ("Die
Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testa-
ments," Freiburg -im-Breisgau and Leipsic, 1900,
cited here as K.). In these references Biblical figures
and concepts prevail for the most part. The fertility
(" shebah ha-arez ") which was the glory of Pales-
tine (Deut. viii. 8) is lauded by Aristeas (§ 112 ; K.
ii. 15), who praises the agriculture there. "The
land," he says, "is thickly planted with olive-trees,
cereals, and pulse, and is rich in vines, honey, fruits,
and dates." When Abrahan^ entered Palestine he
saw there vines, figs, pomegranates, the " balan "
and the "ders" (two varieties of oak, ^aAoTOf and

^fyi'Q), terebinths, olive-trees, cedars, cypress-trees,
frankincense-trees (Xi^nvo;), and every tree of the
field (Book of Jubilees, xiii. 6 ; K. ii. 63).

According to the later (Christian) version of the
Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (iv. ; K. ii. 451), Noah
planted the vine only because the wine was destined
to become the blood of Jesus ; otherwise, the vine
from which Adam ate the forbidden fruit would
have fallen under a curse. Noah is saved like one
grape of a whole cluster, or one sprig in an entire
forest (II Esd. ix. 21 ; K. ii. 384). The vine is also
mentioned in the Sibylline Books (iv. 17; K. ii. 201),
the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (x. 10; K. ii. 415),
and in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
(Levi, 2; K. ii. 466), where the Lord becomes to
Levi his farm, vine, fruits, gold, and silver. When
the Messiah shall come the earth will bring forth
its fruit ten thousandfold ; and on each vine there
will be 1,000 branches; on each branch, 1,000 clus-
ters; and on each cluster, 1,000 grapes; and each
grape will yield a " cor " of wine (Syriac Apoc.
Baruch, xxix. 5; K. ii. 423). The Syriac Apoc-
alypse of Baruch (xxxvi. 8 et seq. ; K. ii. 424 ei seq.)
contains also a vision of a forest, a vine, and a cedar,
and the Book of Jubilees (xiii. 26 ; K. ii. 65) men-
tions tithes of seed, wine, and oil.

Fig-leaves are said to grow in paradise, a belief
based upon the Biblical account (Apoc. Mosis,
§ 21 ; K. ii. 522), while, according to the Ethiopic
Apocalypse of Baruch, the figs which Ebed-melech
carries remain fresh and uuwithered during his sleep
of sixt.y-six years and are taken to Babylon by an
eagle (p. 402).

Among other trees and fruits mentioned in the
pseudepigrapha are: the olive-tree (Sibyllines, iv.
17; K. ii. 201 ; Test. Patr., Levi, 8, p. 467 ; instead of
" siah " [Gen. xxi. 15], the Book of Jubilees, x vii. 10 ;
K. ii. 70, reads " olive-tree "), palms (Enoch, xxiv. 4;
K. ii. 254), dates of the valley (Jubilees, xxix. 15;
K. ii. 90), nut-tree (Enoch, xxix. 3 ; K. ii. 256 ; not
the almond-tree, which is mentioned shortly after-
ward, ib. XXX. 8), almonds and terebinth-nuts (Jubi-
le.es, xlii. 20; K. ii. 109, following Gen. xliii. 11),
aloe-tree (Enoch, xxxi. 2 ; K. ii. 256), cedar (Test.
Patr. , Simeon, 6 ; K. ii. 464). A book sprinkled with
oil of cedar to preserve it is described in the As-
sumption of Moses (i. 17 ; K. ii. 320) ; the locust-tree
(Enoch, xxxii. 4; K. ii. 256), and, especially, oaks
also are mentioned, as in the Syriac Apocalypse of
Baruch (Ixxvii. 18 ; K. ii. 441) ; they are said to grow
at Hebron (Enoch, vi. ; K. ii. 414), at Mamre (Jubilees,
xiv. 10 ; K. ii. 65), and in the land of Sichem (Jubilees,
xxxi. 2 ; K. ii. 92) ; the oak is likewise mentioned
in the lament over Deborah (Jubilees, xxxii. SO ; K.
ii. 96).

Of all the information regarding trees the most
interesting is the list of evergreens given in Jubilees
(xxi. 13 ; K. ii. 76), while this class of trees is also
alluded to in Enoch (iii. ; K. ii. 287) and in the
Testament of Levi (ix. ; K. ii. 468; LOw, p. 59).
Similar catalogues occur in the Talmud and Mish-
nah, and in the Greek writings on agriculture. The
Book of Jubilees mentions the following as appro-
priate for the altar: cypress, juniper, almond-tree
(for which, following Dillmann, "acacia "has been
suggested as an emendation), Scotch pine, pine,

Plants

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

7»

cedar, Cilician spruce, palm (?), olive-tree, myrtle,
laurel, citron {Citrus medica, Risso), juniper (? Ethi-
opic "arbot," for which Dillmann conjectures "ar-
kot," apKcvBoc), and balsam.

On account of their beauty the following flowers
are mentioned in the pseudepigrapha : lily (Test.
Patr., Joseph, 18; K. ii. 502), rose (Test. Patr.,
Simeon, 6; K. iL 464; Enoch, Ixxxil. 16; K. ii. 287;
cvi. 2, 10 ; K. ii. 308 et seq. : " rubra sicut rosa " and
" rubrior rosa " : it is also mentioned in the Apocry-
pha, Mishnah, Targum, and LXX.), and the rose-
laurel. The oleander seems to be intended by " the
field of Ardaf " in II Esd. (ix. 26; K. ii. 385) (the last
letter with the variants "s," "d," "t," and "b").
"Harduf" ("hirduf," "hardufni") is a borrowed
word even in the Mishnah, and shows, together with
the Arabic " diflah, " that the Nerium Oleander, Linn. ,
came from Europe, or, more exactly (according to
O. Schrader, In Hehn, "Kulturpflanzen," 6th ed., p.
405) , from the Spanish west. The plant had reached
Greece before the time of Dioscoridesand Pliny ; and
it may have grown wild in Palestine by the end of
the first century just as it does at present; it is
always found in water-courses, and flourishes from
the level of the Ghor to an altitude of 3,280 feet in
the mountains (Post, I.e. p. 522). To such a region
the seer of II Esdras was bidden to go, there to sus-
tain himself on the flowers of the field. In Sibyl-
lines (v. 46; K. ii. 206, a passage originally heathen)
the flower of Nemea, ckTuvov (parsley), is mentioned.

As in the Bible narrative, thorns and thistles ap-
peared after the fall of man (Apoc. Mosis, § 24 ; K.
ii. 522), while thorns and prickly briers are men-
tioned in the Sibyllines (Preface, 24 et seq. ; K. ii.
184). The Biblical "duda'im," mentioned in the
Testament of Issachar (i. ; K. ii. 478), are mandrakes,
wliich grow in the land of Aram, on an elevation, be-
low a ravine. Tithes of the seed are mentioned (Jubi-
lees, xiii. 26; K. ii. 65); while according to Aris-
teas (§ 145; K. ii. 17), the clean birds eat wheat
and pulse. Egypt is mentioned (Sibyllines, iv. 72 ;
K. ii. 202) as producing wheat ; and the marrow of
wheat, like the Biblical " kilyot hittah" (" kidneys of
wheat, " Deut. xxxii. 14), is spoken of in Enoch (xcvi.
6; K. ii. 302), while II Esdras (ix. 17; K. ii. 384) de-
clares (R. v.): "Like as the field Is, so is also the
seed ; and as the flowers be, such are the colors also. "
In the same book (iv. 31 et seq. [R. V.] ; K. ii. 357)
occurs also an argument "de minore ad maius,"
found in the Bible likewise: "Ponder now by thy-
self, how great fruit of wickedness a grain of evil
seed hath brought forth. When the ears which are
without number shall be sown, how great a floor
shall they fill!" (comp. the "kal wa-homer" in II
Esd. iv. 10, end ; K. ii. 355 ; and see Schwarz, " Der
Hermeneutische Syllogismus," p. 82, Vienna, 1901).
Lolium (fifav(ov) is mentioned in Apoc. Mosis, g 16
(K. ii. 520). Among the spices and condiments, cin-
namon is described as obtained from the excrement
of the worm which comes from the dung of the
phenix (Greek Apoc. Baruch, vi. ; K. ii. 453), and is
also mentioned in Enoch, XXX. 3, xixii. 1; K. ii. 256;
Apoc. Mosis, § 29; K. ii. 524; Vita Adse et Evse, §
43 ; K. ii. 520. Pepper, spoken of in Enoch (xxxii.
1 ; K. ii. 356), is new, although it is met with as
early as the Mishnah.

Among other plants mentioned in the pseudepig-
rapha are : aloe-trees (Enoch, xxxi. ; K. ii. 256) ;
balsam (ij. xxx. 2); galbanum {ib.; Jubilees, iii.
27, xvi. 24; K. ii. 45, 69); sweet-calamus and saffron
(Apoc. Mosis, Z.c. ; Vita AdaeetEvie, i.e.); costus-root
(Jubilees, xvi. 24; K. ii. 69); ladanum, and similar
almonds (Enoch, xxxi. 2; K. ii. 256); gum-mastic
(Enoch, xxxii. 1, xxx. 1; K. ii. 256; myrrh (Enoch,
xxix. 2; K. ii. 256; Jubilees, xvi. 24; K. ii. 69);
nard (Jubilees, iii. 27, xvi. 24; K. ii. 45, 69;
Enoch, xxxii. 1; 'S.. ii. 256; Apoc. Mosis, § 29;
K. ii. 534) ; nectar, called also balsam and galbanum
(Enoch, xxxi. 1 ; K. ii. 356) ; storax (Jubilees, iii. 27,.
xvi. 24; K. ii. 45, 69); incense (Enoch, xxix. 3; K.
ii. 256; Jubilees, iii. 27, xvi. 24; K. ii. 45, 69; Test.
Patr., Levi, 8; K. ii. 467).

Aristeas (§ 63 ; K. ii. 10) describes pictorial repre-
sentations of plants as decorations on state furniture,
including garlands of fruit, grapes, ears of corn,
dates, apples, olives, pomegranates, etc. He speaks
also (§ 68, p. 11) of the legs of a table which were
topped with lilies, and (§ 70 ; K. ii. 11) of ivy, acan-
thus, and vines, as well as of lilies (§ 75 ; K. ii. 11), and
of vine-branches, laurel, myrtle, and olives (§ 79 ; K.
ii. 12). Plant-metaphors taken from the Bible and
applied to Israel and Palestine are : vines and lilies
(II Esd. V. 23 et seq. ; K. ii. 361) and the vineyard
(Greek Apoc. Baruch, i. ; K. ii. 448).

In poetic and haggadic interpretations wood shall
bleed as one of the signs of the approaching end of
the world (II Esd. v. 5 ; K. ii. 359 ; Barnabas, xii. 1),
and the trees shall war against the sea (II Esd. iv. 13
et seq. ; K. ii. 356). At the last day many of man-
kind must perish, even as the seed sown by the hus-
bandman ripens only in part (ib. viii. 41 ; K. ii. 381),
although every fruit brings honor and glory to
God (Enoch, v. 2 ; K. ii. 237). In the Greek Apoca-
lypse of Baruch (xii. ; K. ii. 456) angels bear baskets
of flowers which represent the virtues of the right-
eous. In the sacred rites, palm-branches, fruits of
trees (citrons), and osier-twigs are mentioned (Jubi-
lees, xvi. 31 ; K. ii. 70).

At the commandment of God on the third day of
Creation, " immediately there came forth great and
innumerable fruits, and manifold pleasures for the
taste, and flowers of inimitable color, and odors of
most exquisite smell " (II Esd. vi. 44, R. V. ; K. ii.
367) ; and the beauty of the trees in paradise is also
emphasized {ib. vi. 3; K. ii. 364). The tree of
knowledge and the tree of life appealed powerfully
to the fancy of the pseudepigraphic writers. The
former, from which Adam ate, is supposed, on the
basis of other Jewish traditions, to have been either
the vine (Greek Apoc. Baruch, iv. ; K. ii. 451) or the
fig (Apoc. Mosis, § 21 ; K. ii. 522). The Book of
Enoch (xxxii. 3 et seq.,; K. ii. 256) describes the tree
of knowledge thus: "Its shape is like the pine-tree;
its foliage like the locust-tree; its fruit like the
grape." The tree of life is planted for the pious (II
Esd. viii. 52 ; K. ii. 382), and is described in Enoch
(xxiv. 3 et seq. ; K. ii. 254) as fragrant and with un-
fading leaves and blossoms and imperishable wood,
while as in the accounts in the Old and the New
Testament its fruit, which is like that of the palm,
gives eternal life (Enoch; II Esd. I.e.; Test. Patr.,
Levi, 18 ; K. ii. 471, reads " tree " instead of " wood ").

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

It is the tree of paradise, and from it flows the heal-
ing oil, the oil of life, the oil of mercy (Vita Adae et
Evse, §§ 36, 41; Apoc. Mosis, § 9; K. ii. 518, 520).

In the Mishnah and Talmud : The Mishnah

has preserved only about 230 names of plants, of
which about 180 are old Hebrew and forty are de-
rived from Greek terms. In the Talmudic literature
of the post-Mishnaic period 100 names of plants are
found in the Jerusalem Talmud and 175 in the Baby-
lonian ; about twenty of these names are of Greek
origin. In the Mi^nah, Talmud, Midrash, and
Targum the following plants are mentioned as in-
digenous to Palestine and Babylon :

[Abbreviations : B. = Babylonian Talmud ; Y. = Jerusalem
Talmud ; M. = Mishnah ; Midr. = Midrash ; T. = Targum. In
the following tahle the name ot the botanical family is printed
In small capitals.]

Name in Mishnah,
Talmud, etc.

WDJNT NPniD..

C\'5-U, B .

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

1BJ, Bible, M.; «JD1J,
tUIT, M., T., B.

JlN.M

,nSK, Bible, M.; KDOia,

T., T., B.
njiaa, M., Bible

]'pnD'B. M

OBlS, M.; didS, M., T...

«imn, B.; ijBTin, M..

OlD'p, M., T

'\h,U

nawn iiiS, M

epVip. M., T

jnnn, M.; NjnoN, T.,

T., B.

jheftt,TS.; nnnnxNC?),
T.

1:bij, M.; wbw ^S'B',

t'D31D, B.

irnSn, Bible, M

Alismace^.
Alisma Flantago aqua-
tica, Linn.

AMABYLLIDACEf .

Narcissus poetlous,
Llnu., Narcissus Ta^
zetta, Linn., and vari-
eties.

Ampelidace^.
Vitls vlnlf era, Linn

Anacardiace*.

Rhus Gorlaria, Linn ....

Pistacla Terebinthus,
var. PalEBstlna, Engl.

Plstacia vera, Linn. . . .

Pistacla vera, Linn.. . .

resin of tiodd, M., Pis-
tacla Lentiscus, Linn.

APOCTNACE.E.
Nerlum Oleander, Linn.

Araliace^.
Hedera Helix, Linn. . . .

AROIDE.E.

Arum orientale,M.Bieb.
Arum Palaestlnum,

Bolss.
Golocasia antiquorum,

Schott.

AURANTIACEiE.

Citrus medlca, Reiss. ■ . .

nsxj, n*?!, M.; uma, B,
(onsp, bud; NniB.
B., blossom; niJV3N.
Bible, M.; Nn'Bi3, B.,
fruit).

113T, M., T

yawn 1111311

jmn, M.; NpSiD, B....
oiJiyS, M.; jusSiD-ip
I'liyD, T.

Wl'jlpl Npli, B

'jnN,M.,B

BEBBEBIDACEiE.

Leontice Leontopetar
lum, Linn.

BOBAGINACEf.
Cordla Myxa, Linn, .

Anchusa offlclnalls,
Linn.

CAPPABIDACE.E.

Gapparls spinosa, Linn,
and varieties.

Water -plan-
tain.

Narcissus.

Grape-vine.

Sumach.
Terebinth.

Pistachio -nut.
Pistachio.

Mastic.

Oleander.
Ivy.

Arum.
Cocoar-root.

Citron.
Lion's-leaf.

Gordia.
Bugloss.

Thorny caper.

Ghenopodiace^.
Blitum virgatum, Linn. Blite.

Ghenopodlum, Linn Gooaefoot.

Beta vulgaris, Linn Beet.

Atriplex Tatarlcum, Orach.

Linn., Atriplex Hall-

mus, Linn. „, ..»/„„

Sallcomia herbacea, Glasswort (see

Linn *lso under

Ficoidese).
Salsola, Linn Isaltwort.

n:ii'7,B..

J1D1D, B.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

NlXlltt', B

njjj'j, Bible; jinjiDBN,
Y., B.; N11J, T.

NDIin, M., T., B

B-\lip, M.,T.,B., Midr.;
1JJ3, B. (not nin:D,
despite Kohut, " Aruch
Completum," s.v.)
(T1D113, NilDia, M.?)

niary, M., t., Midr —

■n-n, Bible, M., T.,
Midr.; Nitin, B.

l»i-\n, nxip, M.; NpniD,
T.,Y.; imm'D.NTi-n,

NnBi:p

ClSTACEiE.
Clstus creticus, Linn.,
Clstus ladaniferus,
Linn., and others.

Composite.
Matricaria Chamomilla,

Linn., and Matricaria

aurea.
Artemisia vulgaris

Linn.
Artemisia monosperma,

Del., and Artemisia

Judaica, Linn.
Echinops spinosus,

Linn., or Eohtnops

vlscosus, DC.
Cynara Scolymus, Linn.

Lad anum-
bush, rook-

Feverfew.

Wormwood.
Wormwood.

Echinops (?).

Artichoke.

Cynara Syrica, Boiss.,
and Cynara Cardun-
culus, Linn.

Centaurea Calcltrapa,
Linn.

jitf'jiy, M.; pDiDpnia,
I131BJN (''?niDi7),Y.;
i3ijin, B.

mtf itfSiy, M.; I'nSiy.T.

(inD, M.) NnniD, B..

mm, M.; NDn, Y.,

Midr.
DiSj mm, M

B.,

«ji3-\w,T.,B.; Kn'jiin

(?), B.
iiVianoDiN, M.; Niifl

NnN, B. ,

IDE' vy, Bible, M.; tf 37,

M.; Jim, Y.
nN, Bible, M. ,B.; N-nN,

CidVu, NJiSil, Dnip,

onnp, B.
l^'n^, nna, Bible, M.,
T., Y., B.; NniiyN, B.:
jiioSn, Midr.

nwr, M., B.; ndi3, B.,

Garthamus tlnotorins,

Linn.
Cichorlum Endlvla,

Linn.

Cichorlum dlvarlca

tum, Schousb.
Picrls Sprengeriana

(Linn.), Polr., or

Taraxacum, Juss.
Lactuca Scariola, var

sativa (Linn.), Boiss.
Lactuca saligna, Linn

(V).

CONIFER.S.
Cupressus sempervl-

rens, Linn,
fruit of Plnua pinea,

Linn.
Plnus Ualepensis, Mill.

Cardoon.

Star-thistle.

Seed of

saflBower.

Safflower, saf-
fron.
Chicory.

Gedrus Llbanl.

Chicory.

Plcris or
dandelion.

Lettuce.

Willow-let-
tuce.

Cypress.

Pine.

Aleppo pine.

Cedar of Leba-
non.

Abies Cllicica, Ant. and
Ky.

CONVOLVnLACE^.
Cuscuta, Linn

CUlcian

pra, T., Midr.,

nth, M., B.; niSjiiJ

NPflS, B.
3n3,M.,Y.,B

S-nn, M.,B

pfl?, M

iinanaM.; pipnans,

Y,
-\iji.l (IBN W 'j), M.

DiVniy, M.; iSnn, B.;

pDiSnn, Y.
njDP, M.; NPSDn, B.

jnijjj, Y.

spruce.

Dodder.

CORNACE.E.

Comus mas, Linn., and
CornusAus trails.
Cam.

CRtrOIFEK^.

Brasslca Bapa, Linn.. .

Brasslca oleracea, Linn

Sinapis alba, Linn., and
Slnapis juncea, Linn.

Brasslca nigra (Linn.),
Koch, or Slnapis ar-
vensls, Linn.; Slnapis
arvensis, var. turglda
(Del.), Asch. and
Schweinf., and var.
AlUonil ( Jacqu.),
Asch. and Schweinf.

Brasslca oleracea, var.
botrytls, Linn.

Eruca sativa, Lam

Cornel, dog-
wood.

Turnip.

Lepidium sativum.
Linn.

Lepidium Chalepense,
Linn., or Erucarla
Alepplca, Gaertn. (?)

Mustard.
Wild mustard.

Cauliflower.

Eruca, wild
and culti-
vated.

Pepperwort
(?).

Pepperwort.

Plants

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Name In Mishnab,
Talmud, etc.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

Name in Misbnab,
Talmud, etc.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

Sin. Siy, M

D>i3D''N, D'iOD, M

JUS, DIBJ, M.; nSjid, T.,
B.; ND'n, B.

V12X31:' (V13X3), M.;

Dutaa, T.
nji:i, M

Nitf:, B

iiyv, M.; iwno'SiD, Y.
(?).

j'jaipy, M., T

Dl|110, M

ivn, B

nincjfl (pi.), M., r.;

N^^31B, B.
Dinns, ypiDiy, M.;

xSny, T.; Nnx, B.

PYJfp, Bible, M.; N'iOp
(pl.),T.;Nj'xn,Nini2,

IibbiSd, m., t., t., b.,

Midr.
n'03N, Bible, M

nyipB, Bible, M

npSi, ti^\-\p, M.; Nnp,
Ny-ip, B.

jiViDip, M., y

niDn npiT

jno'^iN, M.; pijia, T . .
biSj, T., T., B.; o■'J^D
. (pi.), Midr. (Biblical

proper name ona").
WN, ,M. ; NXfly, B.

d'jidSn (?), M.

NDJ, Bible; iDJ, M. ;

pilN, M., T., B.
IBD, T. (Palestinian

Midr.).

ihro (pi.), T., B., Midr.

ynaiS'N, M., T., B,
(piPTifl,M. ?); jU'DplD,
Y., Midr. , ,

p>p, ynrN, M.; n3'717x,

nnij, Bible, M.; Nnn.
B.; 7\:y-\\ M. (?).

D'JIB (pi.), M.; JJB (?),

Bible.

niN, M., Y., B

inn, Bible, M. i.n-\vy 1.

Bible, Y.).

ND'T N0"7'n, B

Iflil!', M..

Iberis (Iberis Jordanl,
Boiss., Iberis Taurica,
DC, Iberis odorata,
Linn.).

Isatls tinctoria, Linn. . .

Raphanus sativus, Linn.

Cryptogamia.
Equisetum, Linn

Ceteracb oflBcinarum,

Willd.
Pteris aqullina, Linn . . .
Adiantum Capillus-Ve-

neris, Linn.

Scolopendrium vulgare,

Sm.
Roccella tinctoria,

Achar.
Lecanora or Spbffiro-

thalliaesculenta,Nees.
Fungus

Tuber. ,

CUCURBITACE.E.

Cucumis Chate, Linn.,
and Cucumis satlTus,
Linn.

Cucumis Melo, Linn

Citrullus vulgaris,

Schrad.
Citrullus Colocynthis

(Linn.), Schrad.
Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser.

Lufflacylindrica(Linn.),
Roem., or Luffa
^gyptiaca. Mill. (?).

Ecballium Elaterium,
Rich.

CUPULIFERyE.

Corylus Avellana, Linn.

Candytuft.

Dyer's-woad.

Radlsb (two

varieties).

Scouring-rush,

borsetall.
Mlltwaste (?).

Bralce.

Maidenhair
(but see
Mentha Pu-
1 e g 1 u m ,
Linn., penny-
royal, under
Labiatse) .

Hart's-tongue.

Litmus.
Manna-lichen.
Fungus.
Truffle.

Cucumber.

Muskmelon.
Watermelon,
Colocynth.
Gourd.

Washing-
gourd.

Squirting cu-
cumber.

Hazel.
Acorn.

Quercus cocciIera,Linn.
and varieties Quercus
Lusltanica, Lam.,
Quercus Cerris, Linn.,
etc.

CTPEKACEjE.

Cyperus Papyrus, Linn.,
and others.

Cyperus esculentus,
Linn, (and Cyperus
longus, Linn., Cyperus
capltatus. Vent.).

Cyperus rotundus, Linn.

EUPHORBIACE^.

Buxus longlfolia, Boiss.

Ricinus communis.
Linn.

FICOIDE^.
Mesembryanthemum,
Linn., or Aizoon
Linn. (7 comp. Sali-
comia, Linn.).

(iRAMINACE^.

Panicum miliaceum,

Linn.

Oryza sativa, Linn

Andropogon Sorghum,

Linn.
Andropogon Schoenan-

thus, Linn.
A.vena

Turkey
etc.

oak.

Papyrus.
Galingale.

Galingale.
Box.

Castor-oil
plant.

Fig -marigold,
ice-plant.

Panic.

Rice.

Durra, guinea-

H'Sa', M.; N?3', B.
(identical wltb aixn,
M., Y., B., Midr. ?).

njp, Bible, M.; N'jp.Y
B.; DJia T.

I'jn, nS'n, M.

I'jil, M., Midr

non, Bible, M., T., Y.,

B., Midr.
nDD3, Bible ; pDDlo, M.;

Nnji3, T., B.; NaSu,

'jyiB' nSiais", M.; •h'<^t>
NSyn, Niif n, B.

n-iiytt», Bible, M.;
NmjJD, T., Y.

rriDip, M.; Nn''jX''tt', B.

(iDi, Bible, M.; N:Dn,
T., B., Midr.; INJ, B.

CynodonDactylon,
Linn.

Arundo Donax, Linn., or

Phragmites com

munis, Trin.
Eragrostis eynosuroldes

(Retz.), Roem. and

Sch.
Lollum temulentum,

Linn.
Triticum vulgare, Linn.

Triticum Spelta, Linn. .

^gilops, Linn. {?)..

•■nDin, B. (?) .

DITM, M., Y .

01013, M., Y., B.; Njiayi.
T.

I'DD', B.

tlJN, Bible, M.; NtlJN, B.

rain (''N), M., B.; jjn,
M.; Nnax, B.; nfl'^^'n
(nfliB", M.).

Hordeum distychum
and Hordeum vulgare,
Linn.

Hordeum bulbosum,
Linn. (?).

Granat^.
Punica Granatum, Linn.

HYPERICINE.S.

Hypericum, Linn

IRIDACE^.

Iris Palaestina, Baker,
Iris pseudacorus,
Linn., and others.

Crocus sativus, Linn.. . .

jASMINACEiE.

Jasminum officinale,
Linn.

JUGLANDACE^.

Juglans regia, Linn

JUNCACEiE.

Juncus or Cyperus

Bermuda-
grass, scutch-
grass.

Persian reed.

Bearded dar-
nel, tares.
Wheat.

Spelt.

Goat-grass.
Barley.

Pomegranate.

t. John's-
wort.

Jasmine.

Walnut.

piJIN, M

nyjj,j):yj, M.; Nn:''D (?),
Y.

■\tyi\ M.; p:nifl, B

Beard-grass.
:Oats.

3VN, Bible, M.; Nnc,

IinDID, piE'DlE', B.

nN'D, M.; nnx, Y., B.;

iNi^'n, Nmas, B.
n'jiip, M., Y„ B

piN, Bible, M. ?; •:-\-/,
NJB1, B.

DlDlin, M., y., B., Midr.
rcDDy, M

NDnn, T. (Dm, Bible)

jnSn, M.; NnSiSje?.

N'jn, B.
nvjlJIJ (pi.), M.;

'pipi:n, Y., B.; h-hz

noVd, b.
>NiD ipipijn (?)

NnDBDN, B

NlfW, B

njn, M.; unj'n, T., B
(Bible, vixyj, ?).

jiBN, M.; 'XDin, B

N'pi2, M., Y

Labiate.
Lavandula Stcechas,

Linn,
Mentha sylvestris.Linn.,

and others.
Mentba Puleglum,

Linn.
Origanum Maru, Linn..

Thymus, Linn., and Sa^

tureia, Linn.
Calamintha, Moencb

Laurace>e.
Laurus nobilis, Linn. (?)

LEGUMINOS.ai.

Lupinus Tennis, Forsk
Lupinus Falsestinus,

Boiss., and Lupinus

pilosus, Linn.
Retama Rsetam,

(Forsk.), Web.
Trigonella Fjenum

graecum, Linn.
Melilotus, Tourn

Melilotus (?), Medicago

(?), Trigonella (?),

TriJolium (?).
Medicago sativa, Linn.

orTritolium,Linn. (?) .
Glycyrrhlza glabra.

Linn.
Alhagi Maurorum, DC

Cieer arietinum, Linn. .
Vicia sativa, Linn, . .

Lavender (?).

Mint.

Pennyroyal.

Marjoram.

Savory.

Calamlnt.

Laurel, bay-
tree.

Lupine.

Juniper-bush.

Fenugreek.

Sweet clover,
honey-lotus.

Medic, or
clover, treloil.
Licorice.

Albajp.

Chick-pea.
Vetch.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

Name In Misbnah,
Talmud, etc.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

Name in Mlshnab,
Talmud, etc.

Botanical Name.

Popular Name.

nrjyo. M.; (n:'n, B...
niriy, M. (Bible);

, NHBlSta, T., B.

ijia, Bible, M.,T.,Y....

iSn SiB, M.; njiiBi3

I'liStiJn ji-jiB,

iiSii

P'yiya', M.; N'Sidb,

Y.; 1DJ1J, NOV^DB.

DiSdi'jb, n'jB'->, pS^'pSp
(?), M.; p-iin>si,
nyiDB (variants
nniDiBi noiDiB)

TBD, M.; W1B"B, Y. .

tc-iin (Snn, Bible) . .
nflin, M.; NniS'D.

Viola ErvUia, Linn

Lens esculenta, Moencb.

Vigna Sinensis (Linn.).
Endl. (not Pbaseolus
vulgaris, Linn.).

Viola Faba, Linn. (Faba
vulgaris, Moench.).

]1|1TIE, M.;
NXBn, B.

NJ13:

Y
J,Y..

ann, M., Y. B...
D'D>'73(?)

Pbaseolus Mungo, Linn.

Latbyrus, Linn

Lalhyrus Cicera, Linn. ,
Latbyrus sativus, Linn

Dollcbos Lablab, Linn. .
Cassia obovata, CoUad.

or Cassia acutifoUa,

Del. (¥)
Ceratonia Sillqua, Linn.

Veteb.
Lentil.

Straight bean.

Four indeter-
minate varie-
ties of beans.

Three indeter-
minate varie-
ties o( pulse,
probably
= S y r 1 a c
N n D -I B, a
variety of
lupine.

Hairy - podded
kidney-bean.

Vetchllng.

Everlasting
pea.

Lablab.

Aleppo senna,
or senna.

nB!i', Bible, from which
comes Nn'Dn Nnj'.n.
B.

iCppN, B

Saint - John's -
bread, carob.
Prosopis Stephanianal (see below) .

(WlUd.), Spreng.
Two varieties of Acacia, Acacia.
Wllld.

D'DH 'JB Syiw npn\ M.;

11DT tni3, Y. (NnDDlN

NaiNi, B. ?).

■•iSy, M.; niSniB.; 'IiSn,

Ssa, Bible, M.;NDC1S',B.

D<DnDn oi'jxa, M. (?)..

D'jiS'pn D''7sa, M

bisSsa, M.; nSu'^jb, Y.
nt:"i3, M. (Tsn, Bible):

biSbp, M., T., Y., B

'niD, T., Y., B.

rnB> irnr, M

sap of Acacia Nilotlca,
Del.

Lemnace.^.
Lemna minor, Linn

BW, Bible, M.; n'JDitJ',
.M.; NDin, NiT'jDin, Y.

aVnn yj, M

Vuijn, M

n:'j>iiy, Bible, M., T.;

•Jiy\?, Y.

^7^i^ nja-w, M

L1LIACE.E.
Aloe vera, Linn..

Allium Cepa, Linn

Allium Ascalonicum,
Linn.

Allium Cepa, Linn....
Allium Porrum, Linn .

Allium curtum, polss

and Gain. (?).
Allium sativum, Linn. .

Omlthogalum, Linn —
Lilium candldum, Linn
FritlUaria, Linn

iniVB, M.; Njp'a, T.,Y.,
B.

Njuin, n'] Njijin

IBS, Bible, M.;
(?), M.

WNiN, N:N-in, B..

njun'

IflJ nox, M., D3-\p (?).
M.: Njflij nDy, Y., B.;
Ntp, B.

01^ Bible, M.; NtJN, T.,
B.

LlNE^.

Llnum usitatissimum,
Linn.

LORANTHACE.fi.

Loranthus Acacife,
Zucc.

LYTHRACEJS.

Lawsonia alba, Linn —

Malvaoe^.
Malva rotundlfolla,
Linn.

Gossypium herhaceum,
Linn.

MTRTAOE.E.

Myrtus communis,
Linn.

Acacia.

Duckweed,
duckmeat.

Aloe.

Onion.

Shallot.

Summer on-
ions.
Onion.
Leek.

Garlic.

Onion.

Star -of -Beth-
lehem.
Lily.

FrltlUary (?).-

Flax.

Common mal-
1 0 w and
others.

Cotton-plant.

Myrtle.

nxnn Sis,. M.; n'jib
NinxD.iai^Y.onn?)

n'j'D, M

nn, Bible, M., T., Y.,
B., Mldr.

nop, Bible, M.; Spl, M.

,T., Y., B.
nSnp

Dijx, M.; xn'>i:x, B —

NTMPHiEACE.«.

Nelumbium speclosum,
Wllld.

OLEAOEjE.

Frazlnus Ornus, Linn . .
Olea Europaea, Linn

Palmace^.
Phoenix dactyllfera,
Linn.

NPijSj, B.
JVBIN, Y..

paSj.M.

limy, Bible ; Ka7n, T.,
Y., B.

nyn auN, M.; NnaDiHi
i<>y-\-\ Nimn, B.

piJi'jjSn, nSj<-i, M. ;
WPBIB, Y., B.

NB3n, M..

PN'in (niin, p'p), M.;
Nnniji unp'y, B.

nsp, Bible

P'tt-'B'Sdf), M. (?)...

pen (pl.),M.; [<-\J3, B.

pBT'r, M.,Y.; i.nDie', B,

PAPATERACE.E

Papaver Rhaeas, Linn.

opium from Papaver

somnlferum, Linn.,

var. glabrum, Bolss.

Glauoium cornlculatum,

Linn. '

Platanaoe^,
Platanus orientalis,
Linn.

POLTGONACE^.

Polygonum avtculare,
Linn., or Polygonum
equlsetlforme, Slbth.
and Sm.

PORTULAOACE.E.
Portulaoa oleracea,
Linn.

Primulaoe.*
Cyclamen Coum, Mill.,
and Cyclamen lati-
folium, S. et S. (?)

RANUNOUtACEiE.

Ranunculus sceleratus.
Linn., and other spe

Nlgella satlva, Linn ....

RESEDACE.E.

Luteola tinctoria, Web.
Reseda luteola, Linn

RHAMNACE.E.

Zizypbus lotus, Lam.,
and Zizypbus spina
Christi, Llun.

Zizypbus vulgaris. Lam.

Lotus.

Ash.
Olive.

Date-palm.

Young palms.
A variety of
palm.

Corn-poppy.
Common pop-
py.

Horn-poppy.

Oriental plane-
tree.

Knot-grass.

Iplf, nS, Bible, M., T.;

NIJW, B.
|1D-\B[N], m., y

nvjpDmn, M.; ny«,
M. (?); nwiHN, Y.;
tllt'D, B. (?).

njD, Bible, M.; N'JD,
NJDN, T.. Y., B.

Till, M., T., Y., B

DjN, t'SiDitaenp, m....

D>'33, M. (Y.)

niDP, Bible, M.; lirn.
T., Mldr.; Cin, 'in)>
niiyaij), M.; NB'ian,

B. . ,

j'lf'ifl, n'7iD'7''D, M.;

pSjlBD'M, Y.
N'lI'DnD, B

Tiin('iN),M. [pvjivDn.

prE'^DPl].
-niij), M.; ■B''7ii3, B....

ROSACEiE.

Amygdalus communis.

Linn.
Persica vulgaris. Mill. . .
Prunus domestlca, Linn.

PNlfl, M.; NPIB, B.

DJ'fl, M.; t<l!»i'2 (f),
WJ''B, B.

Rubus sanctus, Scbreh.,
or Rubus discolor
Wllld. and Nees.

Rosa, Linn

Purslane.

Round -leaved
cyclamen.

Crowfoot, but-
tercup.

Nutmeg - flow-
er.

Dyer's-

weed (?).

Jujube, and
Ohrlst's-
thom.

Common Ju-
jube.

Almond.

Peach.
Plum.

Pyrus communis, Linn.
Pyrus Syriaca, Boiss.(?)
Malus communis, Desf..

Cydonla vulgaris, Wllld.

Blackberry.

Rose.
Pear.

Apple.

Quince.

Sorbu.s, Linn

Mespllus Germanlca,

Linn.
Cratasgus Azarolus,

Linn.

RnBIAOEiE.

Rubia tlnctorum, Linn . ,

RnTACE.E.

Buta graveolens, Linn.,
and Ruta Chalepensis,
Linn., and variety
bracteosa, Boiss.

Service-tree.
Medlar.

Hawthorn.

Madder.

Rue, and Alep-
po rue.

FUnts

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Name In Mistinab,
Talmud, etc.

naiDH nS'no, m., laen-
acalwlthNl3tt',B.(?).

neicix, Bible, U.

«nsSn, nS'j NsVin, B.
naiy, Bible, M.; NnaiN,
NjiinN, B.

OWDW, M.;
B.

NDB'llf, T.,

pin, Bible, M.(T.,T.,B.)

nSnh i2:j;, b

iiox, Bible, N0!3N, T....

O'Nin, Bible; snnj',
T.; pcaD, B.

('jB'N, Bible) NJ13, B...

iPihSd,y..

Botanical Name.

Peranum Harmala,
LlDn.

Salicaceje.

Sallx Salsaf, Forsk.,

or Sallx alba, Linn

Sallx (nigricans, Fries.?)

Populua Euphratlca,

Oliv.

SCROPHULARIAOi:.E.
Verbasoum, Linn

Popular Name.

.-ijiamn,M

-laow, M., T., B.;
Bible.

mif 'd

nnruif'3

nj.

0013, M., Y., B

nnnjjB' 13013, M. ;
llJ'S'«Dni3''B, T.

nn'Dn ('n),m.; n'jij, b.

«'n3, B.; D3ip, M. (?),
IJBIJ, M.; N1DW, Y.;

O'BW, M. (?).
-iNn\ M.; DiiDy, niid,

B. (?).

naiy, M

rjIBUDN, M., Y

ilDD, Bible, M.,T.,B...

mo, M., Mldr

nin, M., Y., B

njiNn, Bible, M.;

Mnj'NP, T., Y., B.
nup^':', Bible, M., Miar.;

NDplE', T.

T3inn, M.; j'ain, Y....

SESAMACELf.
Sesamum Indlcum,
Linn.

SOLANACKE.

Solanum coagulans,

Forsk.
Solanum nigrum, Linn.
Lyclum liuropeeum,

Linn.
Mandragora olflclna-

rum, Linn.

TAMAKISCINEiE.

Tamarix artlculata,
Vabl, and others.

TILIACE^.

fiber ol Corcborus,
Linn.

UMBELtlFEE^.

Erynglum Cretlcum,

Lam.
Coriandrum sativum,

Linn.
BMora testiculata, DC.(?)
Coriandrum tordyliol-

des, Bolss. (?)
Aplum graveolens,

Linn.
Petrosellnum sativum,

Hoflm.
Amml majus, Linn.,

Ammi coptlcum,

Linn., and Ammi Vis-

naga, Linn.

Carum Carui Linn

Foenlculum officinale.

All.
A variety of Ferula.

Anetbum graveolens,

Linn.
Daucus Carota, Linn. . .
Oumfnum Cymlnum,

Linn.

URTICACE.E.

Celtis australls, Linn. .
Morus nigra, Linn

D13Jp, M...

«awip, T..

Ficus Carlca, Linn

Flcus Sycomorus, Linn.

Capriflcus, wild varie-
ties of Ficus Carlca,
Linn., variety of Fi-
cus genuina, Boiss.,
of Flcus rupestrls,
Eaussk., etc.
Cannabis sativa, Linn.,
Urtlca urens, Linn.

Harmel, Syr-
ian rue or
a variety
of mullein
(Soropbu-
larlacese).

Willow, or
white wil-
low.

Black willow.

Euphrates
poplar (dj'B',
osier, accord-
ing to Hal
Gaon, Sallx
vlmlnalls,
Linn. [?]).

Mullein (see
Peganum
Harmala,
Linn., under
Butacese).

Sesame.

Nightshade.

Nightshade (?).
Box-thorn.

Mandrake.

Tamarisk.

Corchorus.

Button snake-
root.
Coriander.

Celery.
Parsley.

Bullwort, bish-
op's-weed,
Spanish
toothpick.

Caraway.

Fennel.

DiU.

Carrot.
Cumin.

Southern hack-
berry.

Black mul-
berry.

Fig.

Sycamore.
Fig

Hemp.

Nettle (?) (see
Tribulus ter-
restils, un-
der Zygo-
FhyllaceEB
?]).

Name In Mlshnab,
Talmud, etc.

NDJNT 'Dip.,

N31X1P, corrupted
nSidiPi T. (?).

Botanical Name.

Verbenace^e.
Avlcennla officinalis,
Linn. (?).

Z VGOPHTLLACKfi.

Tribulus terrestris,
Linn., or Urtica urens,
Linn.

Popular Name.

Avlcennla (?).

Land - caltrop,
or nettle.

The foreign plants mentioned in the Talmud in-
clude the following, although the Boswellia was
cultivated in Palestine in antiquity :

Hebrew Name.

DB'a njp, Bible; ijp

NDDn, T.
DDn, M

fyiflVB, M.; iSipp, Y., B.

t3B'W(nB'13), M.; KD-WS

(?).

•11D, Bible, T., B., Mldr.

IDp, M. (pDDTBN,

pDoSi); aB'3, Bible.
nju"?, Bible, M., T., B.

Botanical Name.

Acorus Calamus, Linn.

pcjp, Bible, M., Y..

Mldr.; NDjip, psn, B.

nsi'T'p, M

DD'DD, B. (readODiD)..
0}V

riiihn, Bible, M., T., B.
CDiyj 'lyNi

mj nSoB', M., Bible;

NSiW, T.

'^bSb, M., Y., B

Dl'jN, M;; NJIJN, T., B.;

from this, ninSn.

Amomum, Linn

Amomum Cardamo
mum

Saussurea Lappa, Clarke
(Aucklandia Costus.
Falconer; Gildemeis-
ter and Hoffmann,
I.e. p. 901).

gum-resin of Commi-
phora Abyssinica,
Engl., Commiphora
Schimperi, Engl., and
others.

Balsamodendron Opo-
balsamum, Eunth.,
Commiphora Opobal-
samum (Linn.), Engl.

frankincense of Bos-
wellia serrata, Boxb.,
and others.

resin of the dragon-tree.
Calamus Draco, Willd,
(Dracaena Draco,
Linn., etc.).

Cinnamomum Zeylanl-
cum, Nees.

bark of Cinnamomum

Zeylanicum, Nees.
Dalbergia Sissoo, Roxb.
DlospyrosEbenum,

Betz.
Galbanum from Ferula

galbaniflua, Boiss. and

Buhse.
Myristica fragrans,

Houtt., and others.

Popular Name.

Sweet-flag, cal-
amus-root.
Amomum.
Cardamom.

Costus.

NJN!:', B.; from

D1jSd3N.
SCJ'iJJt

this.

Nardostacbys Jataman-
si, DC.

Piper nigrum, Linn

Scorodosma (Ferula)
Asafoetlda (Linn.),
Benth. and Hook.
Tectona grandis,.Linn..

Zingiber officinale.
Rose.

Balsam.

Dragon's-
blood.

Cinnamon.

Slssoo-wood.
Ceylon ebony,

Galbanum.

A species of
nutmeg and
mace from
the nutmeg-
tree.

Spikenard.

Black pepper.
Asafetlda.

Teak.

Ginger.

The following are names of briers not yet identi-
fied: iK3in, mn, NIJJV xnia, D'JUXJ?, pp. Tradi-
tion, comparative philology, and botany alike fail
to furnish any aid in the identification of the follow-
ing names of plants, which appear, for the most
part, only once :

pN, M. (Nniji'j), Y.); nvjiN, M. (not lichens); n"('N, Y.;
Nnflt-iN, B. (not St.-John's-wort); yim, M.; vniVnSn (pSnSn),
M.; NnnBn, Y.; ^Sr, M. (not blossoms of the icfiro-opos)!
nS'D, M. (not the oak or the ash); nDD, B.; n'jnBD, Y.;
Itcj) nSyn, M.; n^B^■lD (niBn-io), M.; Nn"fliD, Y.; niTy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

(nn'jl), (not FerboscMm, mullein); D'aa- nxy, M.; niiSiSo (not
ju.«At(7iriii/iuMo>', balm); p"? mo and' varieties ; Njia^iPB and
varieties; n:aS mp (aotCostus Arabicus,IAnn.).

Where tradition is lacking it is extremely diffi-
cult to identify the plant-names recorded in the
Mishnah and Talmud, though inferences may occa-
sionally be drawn from the plants mentioned in
connection with a problematical term. An instance
of this is the D*Dv3, mentioned together with the
ann, carob, St.-John's-bread (Ter. ii. 4; Tosef. v.
33=Yer. 'Orlah ii. 63a; Yer. Bik.
TJnidenti- iii. 65, 13c; 'Ulj:. i. 6), and which oc-
fled curs by itself (D'D'i532tJ' |iE'in'': Tosef.,

Names. Ter. vii. 37; Yer. Ter. viii. 45, 68b;
Sifra, Shemot, 57a; Hul. 67a). This
was traditionally explained as a variety of bean
<" Halakot Gedolot, " ed. Hildesheimer, 547, 4, where
the correct reading is ^^p3 = TaSHBaZ, iii. 11,
^?pN2), but later was regarded as an acorn. The
proximity of the carob suggested Cercis Siliguas-
trum, Linn. (Leunis, "Synopsis," § 437, 14), the
Judas-tree, on which Judas Iscarlot is said to have
hanged himself, althougli according to other tradi-
tions he died on an elder orajujube. Pulse iscalled
"false carob," aypia ^vkoKsparta (Lenz, "Botanik der
Oriechen und ROmer," p. 733; Fraas, "Synopsis,"
p. 65 ; Post, I.e. p. 297). It is, however, to be identi-
fied with the Prosopis Steplianiana (Willd.), Spreng.,
which belongs to the same family. This is in ac-
cordance with the view of Ascherson, who was sur-
prised, while in the oases, by the similarity of the
sweet, well-flavored pulp of the fruit of this tree
with that of the St.-John's-bread {ib. p. 398).

In tlie Geonic Literature: The geonic

period, which came to an end in 1040 (see Gaon),
saw a development of the botanical knowledge of
the Babylonian Jews, as is evident from the deci-
sions of the Geonim and the first great post-Tal-
mudic-halakic work, the " Halakot Gedolot " (cited
hereafter as "H. G."). The chief cultivated plant
that is mentioned in this work for the first time in
Hebrew literature is the sugar-cane. Other im-
portant trees, plants, and fruits mentioned are the
following: tree and fruit of the Musa aapientium,
Linn., the banana, perhaps also a variety of the
Musa paradisiaca, the plantain, under the Arabic
name "mauz," derived from the Sanskrit ("H. G."
56, 19; 57, 5; " Responsa der Geonim, " ed. Lyck, No.
45, p. 18; "Toratan shel Rishonim," ii. 56; "Shibbole
ha-Leliet," 13b; RaDBaZ, ed. FUrth, No. 531, s.«.
"Hai"; "Bet Yosef," Orah Hayyim, 203; LOw,
"AramSische Pflanzennamen, " p. 336); Dawus
Caroia, Linn., carrot, ITJ (also in Arabic and Syriac,
"H. G." ed. Hildesheimer, 60, 19; ed. Venice, 8, b4;
"Eshkol,"i. 68, 10; Post, I.e. p. 373; LSw, I.e. p. 86);
'"133113, Sinapis arvensis, Linn., a variety of mustard,
put in brine in Roman fashion ("H. G." ed. Hildes-
heimer, 72; read thus instead of n331D; Post, I.e.
p. 76; LOW, I.e. p. 178); plums, under the name of
^nsn, like the Syrian " haha " (" H. G. "
The ed. Venice, 7, cl5; LOw, I.e. p. 149);

"Halakot '•JD ("H. G." ed. Venice, 8, b23; lack-

Gedolot." ing in ed. Hildesheimer, 58, 28; "Esh-
kol," i. 68, 'J1D, as in Syriac), a vari-
ety of bean (in this same passage and in " H. G." ed.
Hildesheimer, 547, 5, also i^pH, Arabic " ba^ilta ") ;
X.-6

another variety of bean (L&w, I.e. p. 245); '<p^'<'?n
("H. G." 58, 4-6), myrobalan, as in Syriac, from the
Arabic "halilaj," not mentioned again until the time
of Asaph ben Berechiah, but used later in all tJie
works on medicine (Steinschneider, " Heilmittelna-
raender Araber," No. 1997; LOw, I.e. p. 129); Nn^HK'
(" H. G." ec' . Venice, 8b, 31-33), the Aramaic form of
the mishnaic riDB*. a Persian loan-word, appearing
again in Asaph (Low, I.e. p. 373) ; mjlj ( ?), marginal
gloss in "H. G." (ed. Hildesheimer, 57, 6), a ground-
fruit. In " H. G. " 70, last line = " Eshkol, " i. 68, the
Arabic " hinnah " is used for the Biblical " henna "
(LOW, I.e. p. 213).

Other Arabic and Persian names of plants which
are mentioned in works of the Geonim are : JJintJ',
hemp-seed ("H. G." 56, 20; "Eshkol," i. 68, with
"resh," but in ed. Venice, 7b, rightly with "dalet '';
RaDBaZ, ed. Filrth, 531, «.«. "Hai"; LOw, I.e. pp.
211, 348); J13D3, Polypodium("H. G."lll, 5; LOw,
I.e. p. 268); Ulh^, Brassiea liapa,

Persian Linn., turnip (" H. G."72,31 ; Mishnah,
and Arabic Talmud, ns?; LOw, Z.c. p. 341); nxt}*

Names. D1SDN ("H. G." ed. Venice, 8c), Ocy-
mum hasilieum, Linn., basil; "I31JV,
pine-nuts (ib. ed. Hildesheimer, 57, 8; ed. Venice,
7d; "Eshkol," i. 67); N-|"31J("H. G." 57, end; Hai,
in " Responsa der Geonim, Kehillat Shelomoh," ed.
Wertheimer, No. 9 ; Harkavy, " Responsen der Geo-
nim," p. 28 ; LOW, I.e. p. 386); pID, the Arabic
equivalent of D''P»j;n niClC lily ("H. G." 70, end);
NS^n (ib. 546, 10). A number of Arabic names
of plants may be found in the marginal glosses of
the Vatican manuscript of the "Halakot Gedolot,"
as "hasak," thorn, gloss on 'rn (*. 160, No. 36);
JDSJ (read 30233), violet, on "hyo (ib. 70, No. 103 ;
"Esbliol,"i. 68; RaDBaZ, i. 44 = nSlS<i1, "Keneset
ha-Gedolah," Orah Hayyim, 304; D^'IX'I, responsa,
"Debar Shemuel," No. 2; E'^IK"!, Lebush, Orah
Hayyim, 316, 8) ; p^NDTl, equivalent to the Arabic
"sil," on pin ("H. G." 92, No. 29; Harkavy, I.e.
p. 209).

The Geonim, especially Hai Gaon (see Hai ben
Sheriha), prefer to give their explanations in Ara-
bic. In the responsa the Harkavy edition, for exam-
ple, has " abnus, " " shauhat, " " sasam "(p. 135 ; Krauss,
"LehnwOrter," ii. 46), "abhul" (p. 23; "Responsa
der Geonim," ed. Cassel, p. 42a), "anjudan" (p. 28),
" babunaj " (ib. p. 309), " sunbul al-nardin" (p. 29), and
"kurnub" {ib. p. 208). In his commentary on the
Mishnah (Toharot) Hai Gaon gives, as a rule, the
Arabic names of the plants side by side with the
Aramaic terms, as, for example: "isfunj," "asal,"
"thayyil" (Harltavy, I.e. p. 32), "jauz buwa,"
"juliban-," "harshaf," "hulbah" (ib. p. 33),
"hiltith," "hai fa," "khiyar," "khayzuran," "dar
sini," "rajlah," "rumman," "za'faran," "sadhab,"
"safarjal," "silk," "shuniz," "shaytaraj," "futr,"
"kitha' al-himar," "kirtim," "liar'ah," "kasab al-
bardi," "kummathra," "mahruth," "na'na'."

The Arabic names of plants in the " 'Aruk " are
drawn almost without exception from geonic
sources. The list is as follows (in the order of the
Arabic alphabet):
AJam, DJN (this and "uyun al- Akakiya, ti^ppH.

ba:fe;ar, s.«. j'pDDin). Unbub al-ra'a, 'asa al-ra'a.

Plants

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Simslm, DiyDW.
Sliajar maryam, nB3-\.
Shuh, tnwti.
^aprblr al-adhnab, D'Mlp.
Sanaubar, [dbi yy.
"Ate, NXBN.
'Ukruban, Dij2ipj).
Ghubalra', iiySlfflcnT))).
Fuji, jijx.

FartaMn, nuiSjiSn.
Pustak, ppD'fl is.v. pD).
Fukka', nmtafl (s.d. j'nD^).
Faijan, Dj'fl.
Fuwwab, HNiD.
Kakullah, ijnDyu (il. 2ilb).
Karnabit, in3"\n.
Karanfui, noir.
Kutniyya, nrjap.
Kulkas, Dpnp (not liS).
Kabar (kifar), tpi, Nmo

(vlli. 248).
Karratb, n'i!^y-\^.
Karafs, dbid.
Kuzburab, 13D13, IJ.
Eusbut, nWD.
Kamab, j<nD3.
Labsan, psS.
Na'na', NnjD.
Nil, DDDN.
Elndaba, '^njn.

Baks, pi3a>N.

Baklab, nijiSjiSn (111. 395a).

Bakkam, naDi.

Ballut, DtsiS.

Bunduk, pnjio.

Jillauz, Njtsia p^J3.

Jummalz, t"Dj.

Julban, Sifl, naio.

Habb al-muluk, niijaiJl.

Harmal, N13B'.

Hulbab, jnSn.

Haifa, ti'jn.

Elmmis, D'JIBN.

Handaiuk, nvjlJIJ.

Hanzal, ijjo.

Kblrwa', Na'Snx, ynan.

Kbasbkba^b, pjns.

Bar slnl, }m:p. acn, ps-\-i

(Hi. 161b, 428b).
Dar klsah, nsiS'p.
Eajlab, xS^jn, nuiSji'jn (11.

241b).
Zagbab al-kblyar, 72" nW2

mvp.
Zargbun, )bj hv j'Ti".
Za*rur, Tiry.
Zawan, pjit.
Safarjal, BJinB-
Silk, D'JiyS, pSo (1. 79b).
Summak, jin (also s.v. n^a

J!2SN, No. 2 In Paris MS.).

For a proper understanding of the Talmudic
writings constant reference must be made to the
traditions of the Babylonian schools, preserved in
the decisions, commentaries, and compendiums of
the Geonim and their pupils. Most
Hai Gaon. Jewish statements about plants like-
wise rest on such traditions, of which
the greatest number is preserved in the writings of
Hai Gaon. He has also kept a number of old Aramaic
words in his explanations, such as XD'H, radish;
i<'?y\p, camomile; KJ^aijinCN^aijanE?]; Low,Z.c. pp.
140, 309, 336; Harkavy, I.e. p. 309). R. Hananbel
BEN HusHiEii preserved a considerable amount of
botanical information from geonic sources, and this
was made more generally known by the '"Aruk."
For example, he strikingly describes sago as "a
substance like meal, found between the fibers of the
palm" (Kohut, "Aruch Completum," vi. 65a); co-
conuts as coming from India {ib. vi. 10a) ; arum (eilp)
as a plant whose roots are eaten as a vegetable with
meat, and which has leaves measuring two spans
in length and two in breadth {ib. v. 39a) ; and reeds
as growing after their tops have been cut off (ib. iii.
430b). Mention is made of a prickly food for camels
{ib. il. 130b), as well as of castor-oil and its use {ib.
vli. 19b). Lupines and a certain other
Hananeel pulse, he declares, do not grow in
■fo. HusMel. Babylon (j'i. vi. 339b). He is unable to
describe Peganum Harmala, Linn., ac-
curately, but says it is one of the plants used for
medicinal purposes, while its small, blackish seed,
which has a strong and unpleasant smell. Is very hot
{ib. viii. 19b), in the technical sense of the Greek
medical writers; it is mentioned here for the first
time in rabbinical literature (Meyer, "Gesch. der
Botanik," li. 193; comp. Galen, xii. 83: "It is hot
In the third degree "). According to Sherira Gaon,
all seeds are hot, and therefore the seed-bearing
onion-stalk also is hot (Kohut, I.e. v. 830a; these
are the first traces of Greek medicine in rabbinical

literature). Cedar-wood becomesmoistin water, but

fig-wood remains dry ("Da'at Zekenim, Huj^kat,"

beginning), according to Saadia Gaon,

Saadia. whose translation of the Bible is the
chief source of many identifications
of Biblical plants, since, where definite traditions
were lacking, he introduced definite Arabic terms
to make his translation readable (Bacher, "Die
Bibelexegese," p. 6).

In conclusion, a few more botanical details from the
writings of the Geonim may be mentioned : the ac-
curate differentiation of capers, their buds, blossoms,
fruit, and parts; the correct explanation of "aspara-
gus " as the tender roots of cabbage, not asparagus
(Harkavy, I.e. p. 196); and an accurate definition of
n'DIp {ib. p. 179). Hal Gaon clearly describes the
Ouscuta {ib. p. 215 ; L8w, I.e. p. 281) and the heads of
camomile, and gives a brief account of the XB'D'n^
= Arabic "ghubaira'" (Harkavy, I.e. p. 38; "Ke-
hillat Shelomoh, " ed. Wertheimer, No. 9). The arti-
choke is also well characterized by Sherira and Hai
when they say that the spines are taken off, and the
inside of the plant is eaten (Abu al-Walid, Dictionary,
115, 17; 393, 4 [ed. Bacher] ; D. Kimhi, "Miklol,"«.«.
"iViy)- 0°6 geonic writer, probably Hai, identifies
niJJIpS with the eggplant, but for historical reasons
this can not be accepted.

In the geonic period Eldad ben Mahli ha-Dani
invented his "darjnush" for pepper, and also de-
clared that neither thorns nor thistles grow in the
lands of the Lost Ten Tribes (D. H. MuUer, "Die
Recensionen und Versionen des Eldad
Eldad ha-Dani," pp. 18, 68, Vienna, 1893),
h.a-Dani. which devote themselves to the culti-
vation of flax {ib. p. 1). To the same
period belongs the medical work of Asaph ben Beee-
CHiAH, which is based upon the Syriac translation of
Dioscorides, and has thus preserved many Sjn-iac
names of plants. Shortly after Asaph came Shab-
bethai DonnoIjO (946), who was primarily a writer
on medicine. In the "Sefer ha-Yakar," ch. iii.-iv.,
however, he enumerates the plants that improve or
injure the quality of honey.

The list of thirty varieties of fruit given by
pseudo-Ben Sira is noteworthy, even though it is
borrowed from Greek sources. The passage is dis-
cussed by Low (}.e. pp. 3 et seq.) with reference to-
Mas'udi {ib. p. 4; see also Briill, "Jahrb."i. 205).
Even before L5w, Noldeke had suggested that
there were Arabic recensions of the passage (LOw,
I.e. p. 417); and their existence is evident not only
from Mas'udi but also from Tabari (" R. E. J." xxix.
201). According to Steinschneider ("Hebr. Bibl."
1882, p. 55), the thirty varieties of fruit are mentioned
as Palestinian also by Hayyim Vital in Natan Spira's
"Sha'are Yerushalayim," vi. 6, end.

In tlie Post-Geonic Period: Information

concerning the knowledge of. plants in the post-
geonic period must be sought in the translations of
the Bible, the commentaries on the Bible and Tal-
mud, and the lexicons. Here It will be sufficient
to mention some of the statements of R. Gershom,
the 'Aruk, Rashi, and a few other writers.

In the commentaries which are probably correctly
ascribed to him R. Gershom ben Judah has the
oldest foreign words (KOnigsberger, " Fremdsprach-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants

" "crocu orientel," saffron;
("chmiel," Slavonic);

llche Glossen, I.— R. Gerschom b. Jehuda," 1896;
Brandin, "Les Loazim de E. Gershom," iu "Publ.
Ecole Nationale des Cliartes," pp. 15 et seg., Tou-
louse, 1898; "R. E. J." Nos. 83, 84, 85. Brandin
consulted the manuscripts also; but, strangely
enough, he has not the gloss D'S^S, B. B. 2b, and
this is also lacking in Low's alphabetical list of Ger-
shom's foreign words). Brandin transcribes the
following foreign plant-names: "aveine," wild bar-
ley ; " bayes," fruits of the laurel ; " boso " (Italian),
"bois," boxwood; "cro,'"
"homlon," hop; "kmel
" kos," " kost, " costmary ; " lasre " (Italian, " lasero "),
laserwort; "lesche," sedge; "lor," laurel; "molse,"

moss; "ortyes," nettles; "pores,"

B. Ger- leek; "sape," fir-tree; "sigle," rye;

shorn. "spicu," ear of corn, spikenard;

"tel," linden -tree; "ternure," ternage;
"tora," torus (Menahem b. Solomon, mn); "wa-
ranze," madder-root; and j'Op (on p{j> yy, Tamid
29b).

The linden is mentioned here for the first time in
Jewish literature. Later, n?N is translated " linden "
in Germany (Grilnbaum, I.e. p. 37), and Baruch
Lindau (1788) renders mB'N by " linden. " The only
linden that Post Q.e. p. 8) knows in Palestine is the
Tilia argentea, Desf., the Oriental silver linden,
which grows in the region of the Amana. No linden
is mentioned as coming from Egypt (Ascherson and
Schweinfurth, "Flore d'Egypte," p. 53). Nor did
the Syrians know how to translate ^tkvpa, the name
of silver linden ; the Arabic i-endering by Berggren
(in a manuscript belonging to the Deutsche Morgen-
landische Gesellschaft) is "zihr al-mahlab." The
word "thore," mentioned above, also is of interest,
as R. Gershom ben Judah is the oldest source for
the word.

According to Gustav Schlessinger, Rashi has the
following French names of plants :

French Name.

Alofe (alolne)...
Aloisne, aluisne.
Amandeller.
Amerfoille.

Anetb

Apie

Aristoloche (?)..

Arnica (?)

Asperelle

Asperge

Avene

Baie

Balsme

Blet

Bolet

Broce

Buis

CSprier

Cep

Cerfuel, certoil..

Cerise

Cerque

Chardon

Ghastaigne,
chastaignier.

Chesne

Chiche

Cipoule, ciboule.

Coinz

Coldre

Concombre

Corme, cormler .

Colon

EnglisU
Name.

Aloes.
Wormwood.

DiU.

Smallage.
Birthwort.
Arnica.
Horsetail,
shave-grass.
Asparagus.
Oats.
Berry.
Balsam.
Wild blite.
Boletus.
Shrubs.
Boxwood.
Caper-bush.
Vine-stock.
Chervil.
Cherry.
Oat.
Thistle.
Chestnut.

Oak.

Chickpea.
Shallot, cihol.
Quince.
Hazelnut.
Cucumber.
Sorb, service-
tree.
Cotton.

French Name.

Cresson

Croc, groo.

Eglantier

Eliandre

Erbe lelchifere . .
Erbesabonaire..
Erugue.

Espeltre

Esplc, splc

Esplne

Fa«ele, taseole..
Fenocle, lenoll..
Fenugrec, fene-

gre.

Galle

Galvan

Geneivre, geni-

evre.

Girofle

Gland

Grespignolo,

crespigno (7).
Guesde, waisde .
Homlon.
lerre, ere, edre. .

Jote, jotte

June, jonc

Laltugue

Lanbmls

Lasre

Lesche

Lor

Lupine

Maro

Halve

English
Name.

Cress.

Eglantine.
Oleander.
Fern.
Soapwort.

Spelt, [nard.
Nard, spike-
Thorn.
Kidney-bean.
Fennel.
Fenugreek.

Oak-apple.
Galbanum.
Junlper-

berry.
Clove.
Acorn.

Woad.

Ivy.

Beet.

Rush.

Lettuce.

Wild vine.

Laserwort.

Sedge.

Laurel.

Lupine.

Poppy.

Mallow.

French Name.

Marrubje

Melon

Mente

Meurier, mou-
rier.

Mil

Molse

Nesple, neple . . .
NIele

Olme

Ortie

Oseille

Osre, osier

Faille, poile to-

arre (?).

Panis, peniz

Pastkiue

Perseche, pre-

seche.
Peuplier, pou-

plier.

Planijou (?)

Pomel.
Porchaille, por-

chilague.

Por^, porele

Poulieul.poullol

poliol.

Provain

Prune, prunier.
Pulpiet, pour

pier.

English
Name.

Hoarhound.

Melon.

Mint.

Mulberry-
tree.

Millet.

Moss.

Medlar.

Eose-cam-
pion, mul-
lein-pink.

Elm.

Nettle.

Sorrel.

Osier.

Straw.

Panic-grass.
Watermelon.
Peach.

Poplar.

Pine-tree.
Sapling.

Purslane.

Pore.

Slip.

Plum-tree.

Purslane.

French Name.

Pyrfethre

Rafne

Ronce

Rose

Resell, roseau. . .

Rude

Sadree.

Salce

Salvee, selvie.

Sambuc.

Sap.

Seigle

Sevel

Sorbler, cormler.

Souche

Tan

Thore

Til, tell, tel

Treille

Tremble

Troche

Tudel, pecce. . . .

VedlUe

Verance, va-
rance.

Verdure

Vice, veee.

Viole, vlol^

Zinzibre

English
Name.

Spanish camo-
mile, lever-
lew.

Radish.

Blackberry-
bush.

Rose.

Reed.

Rue.

willow.

Rye.
Hedge.
Service - tree,

sorb.
Stump.
Tan.

Crowfoot.
Linden-harl.
Vine-arbor.
Aspen.
Cluster of

flowers or

fruit.
Halm.
Tendril.

Verdure.
Vetch.
Violet.
Ginger.

Most of the " loazim " of the Mahzor Vitry, ad-
mirably discussed by Gustav Schlessinger, come
from Rashi. Among the names of plants are :

Amerfoille

Apje

Aspic

CerfeuU

Chanve

Chardon

Cresson

Crlsplguo

Croc
Cumin
Eliandre (for

coriandre)
Erbe felchifere
Erbe sabonaire
Erugue
Glanz

Gome

Homlon

Jonc

Laltugue

Marrubje

Mire (myrrhe)

Niele

Pels (pois)

Por^

Poulpiet

Prun

Rafne

R^slne

Rude (rue)

Safran

The Arabic names of plants found in the " ' Aruk"

of R. Nathan b. Jehiel have already been given, since

they are derived for the most part.

The though not exclusively, from geonic

'Aruk. sources. His vernacular glosses, in

part taken from Gershom, are better

preserved than Rashi 's foreign words, of which

twelve are lacking in Kohut's Italian index.

[In the following list the references, unless otherwise stated,
are to Kohut, "Aruch Completum."]

Albatro (vi. 185a).

Aloe (i. 269b).

Aneto (viii. 24a) .

Apple (iv. 341a; "R. E. J."
xxvli. 341).

Armoraccio (vii. 28b).

Asparago (iv. 158a) .

Assafetlda (error for "la-
sero").

Atreplce (v. 49b).

Avellana (11. 42a): nocella (vl.
367b : Menahem b. Solomon,
"SekelTob," p. xil.).

Avena (see segale) .

Balsamo (vii. 84b).

Bambagia (vii. 25b) .

Bassilico (iv. 234b).

Bieta, blitl (i. T9b, 138b; Sl-
ponto [hereafter cited aa
Sip.l on Kil. i. 3; not "bie-
tola").

Bosso, busso (i. 314a, vl. 328a) .

Brasile (vii. 277b; Sip. on

Kll. U. 5).
Canapa (vii. 131a ; Sip. on Kil.

V. 8: "R. E.J." xxvii. 246).
Canella (ili. 161b).
Cappero (v. 374b, vl. 421a, vii.

21a; Sip. on Dem. i. 1;

Ma'as. iv. 6).
Cardi domestici (vl. 90b ; Sip.

on Sheb. Ix. 5; comp. car-

datore, vi. 144) .
Cardo (vl. 196a ; " R. E. J."

xxvli. 248).
Caretto, not corteccia (ill.

408a).
Cerasa (lil. 5b).
CIcerchia, cicercla (iii. 431h,

vi. 301a, b ; Sip. on Kll. 1. 1) .
Ciceri (i. 220a: Sip. on Kll.

lil. 2; Peahili. 3).
Cinnamomo (ili. 305a).
Colocasia (v. 29a) .

Plants
Fledg-es

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Coriandro, culiandro (11. 239a,

241b, Iv. 2r2a; Menahem,

"Sekel Tob," p. xll.; Sip.

on Kil. i. 2; Sbeb. Ix. 1;

"B. E. J." xxvll. 245, note).
Corme (French) salvatlco (Iv.

333a).
Costo (vil. 64a, 223b ; Sip. on

Kil. 1. 8).
Cotogna (ill. 343a ; " R. E. J."

XX vil. 248 ; Sip. on Kil. 1. 1) .
Crespino (vi. 210a ; " E. E. J."

xxvil. 246; Menahem, I.e.

p. xi.).
Croco orlentale (vi. 329b, vil.

310b).
Dattile, gloss (vi. 32b).
Eliotropio (vi. 252b).
EUera, ^dera (ill. 472a, vil.

148b; "R.E.J." xxvil. 247;

Sip. on Kil. V. 8).
Erbaslaueio (11. 290b).
Fagluolo, lasolo (vi. 301b ; Sip.

on Kil. 1.2).
Fava, faba, faba blanca (vi.

301b; Sip. on Kil. 1.1).
Ferula (viii. 19b) .
Flnocchio, fenuclo (iv. 158a,

viii. 61a ; " R. E. J." xxvil.

245; Sip. on Sheb. Ix. 1).
Forraggio (i. 190a).
Fimgo (ill. 14b, vi. 318b; "R.

E.J." xxvil. 248).
Galla (ill. 431b).
Garotano, giroflo (iv. 301b;

"R. E.J." xxvil. 242).
Gelso (11. 129b ; dS'X on <3S^S

nSsn ; Sip. on Sbeb. vil. 5 ;

'dS'x, Ma'as. i. 2) .
Glande (v. 36a, 393a ; vl. 104b) .
Gomma (il. 378b, vU. 122a).
Indaco, indlcum (i. 172a ; Sip.

on Kil. ii. 5).
Indivia (error for "sena^

zlone ") .
Isopo (vi. 2b; Sip. on Sheb.

viii. 1).
Lambrusco (11. 339b) .
Lasero puzzolento orpurulen-

to (Menabem, I.e., id:nSib),

not laserpitium (iii. 421a).
Lattuga (ill. 364b ; " R. E. J."

xxvil. 243, njidS, NpltoSi

Menahem, i.e. ; Sip. on Kil.

1.2).
Laudano (error for "ladano")

(v. 18b).
Lauro (vl. 256b; "R. E. J."

xxvil. 243).
Legume (vil. 83a ; Sip. on Hal.

1.4).
*Lisca (vi. 75a) .
Lupino (false reading, 11. 362a,

iv. 333a) .
Malva (ill. 246b, 404b ; vi. 391a;

Sip. on Kil. 1.8).
Marrobblo (v. 53b, viii. 245a ;

"R. E. J." xxvil. 244; Men-
abem, I.e.).
Menta (1. 131a ; v. 181a, 349b ;

"R. E. J."xxvii. 243).
Mora (vill. 291a).
*Nervolo (?, vl. 30b; 'Sins,

Sip. on Kil. 1. 1; P13^:,

Caleb Afendopolo, Kil. 16b ;

Kohut, " Aruch Comple-

tum," ervolo [?].
Nigella (vli. 175b, Hi. 306b;

not gioglio, loglio, but ni-
gella, corn-campion, con-
fused with darnel).
Nocella (see aveUana) .
Origano (vl. 2b ; Sip. on Sheb.

viii. 1).

Orzo (vil. 256b).
Papavero (vl. 410) .
Pastlnaca (v. 346b).
Pera (1. 25a; Sip. on Kil.

1.4).
Persica (1. 242a).
Plgna (vi. 239b).
Pilatro (iii. 243b, 441b).
Plsi (plsello ; vl. 301b ; Sip. on

Kil. i. 1).
Polio (ill.- 248b ; vi. 315b, 2b ;

Sip. on Sheb. vill. 1).
Porri (iv. 342b; "R. B. J."

xxvil. 245; Sip. on Sheb.

vil. 1; Kil. i. 2).
Procacchia, porcacchia (ill.

395a, iv. 263a, vil. 253a ; Sip.

on Sheb. Ix. 1).
Pragna (111. 155a, iv. 351b, vi.

294a ; " R. E. J." xxvil. 248) ;

NTS DVy\D(1)= NTIfl (vi.

412a ; Mussafla, jujubes, ac-
cording toBuxtorf),'pnx'7ifi,

iplxSlB (viii. 281a; Ben

Slra, " Pflanzenuaraen," 3;

Caleb Afendopolo, twice

with "r." Kohut, I.e. iv.

263a, is Incorrect).
Radlce (v. 364b ; Sip. on Kil.

1.5).
Ramolacclo (see armoraceio).
Robbia (vli. 175b; Sip. on

Sheb. V. 4, N^n).
B"tDl"i (vl. 196a; neither rar

muccio nor rusco) .
Rosmarino (iii. 410a ; " R. E.

J." xxvil. 246).
Nin, Nnn, nn (iii. 362a).
Buchetta oruga (1. 305a, Iv.

345a ("Ruca di Petro";

Sip. on Sheb. i. 1).
Ruta (vi. 391b; "R. E. J."

xxvil. 246 ; Sip. on Kil. i. 8 ;

Sheb. ix. 1).
Salvatlco, selvatlco (vi. 355b).
Sanguine (ill. 241b).
Saturela (iii. 511a; v. 349b;

vi. 2b, 173a).
Segale (Nip^D, Sip. on Kil. i. 1) ,

variant reading, avena (viii.

13b; NJiii, Menahem, I.e.).
Senazione (ill. 222a; Caleb

Afendopolo, Kil. 17a,

'Jlxr-5), domestiche and fo-

restiohe (vi. 210a), not sonco

(comp. "R. E. J." xxvil.

241).
Sesamo (viii. 109b) .
Sisimbrlo (1. 297a, vl. 2b ; Sip.

on Sheb. viii. 1).
Sorbo (vl. 185a; see "alba-

tro," "R. E. J." xxvil. 248;

Sip. on Dem.i. 1).
Sorgo (viii. 144a) .
Spelda, espelta (ill. 168a;

NsS'Bif, Menaiem, I.e.; Sip.

on Kil. 1.1).
Spicanardl (v. 334b, viii. 13a;

" R. E. J." xxvil. 242) .
Tartufo, tartufolo (vi. 318b;

"R.E.J." xxvil. 248).
Veccia (Hi. 221b, iv. 343b, vl.

301b; Sip. on Kil. i. 1).
Zenzero (iU. 305a ; "R. E. J."

xxvil. 247; mrv, Sip.onOr-
lah 11.10).
Zenzevero, zenzlberl (11.

316b).
ZlzzaniaCii. 233) is wrong, even

if the word were Italian ; it

is Aramaic, however.
Zizzlba (?) (ill. 321b).
Zuo«hero (ill. 473a) Is naiD,

and Is not Italian.

Coceo

Espino

Biso

Oostola

Fenugreco

Rosa

di cavolo

Lupino

Salvia

Cucumerl

Meli porcaroU

Senape

Endivia

Miglio

Sicomori

Esplca vulpl

MirtilU

Timo

In the twelfth century R. Isaac bbn Melchize-
DEK OF SiPONTO took over from the " 'Aruk " forty-
one Italian names of plants and a few
K,. Isaac Arabic ones, while the Greek terms,
Sipouto. such as Bijh.g and ^uKoaipaTa, and the
following Italian words occur for the
first time in his work:

Aglio
Amandola
Carruba
Carvl

Gloerl llmpldl
Cicorea
Cipolla

A large number of his plant-names still await iden-
tification. Asparagus proper, which has erroneously
been supposed to be mentioned in the Talmud
(Krauss, "LehnwOrter,"ii. 93), seems to occur first in
Isaac's commentary on Sheb. ix. 1 as JVU"1''=""1QD''K,
"sparagio" (cited in "Kaftor wa-Perah," 107b, Ber-
lin; JIDDX, corresponding to the Arabic "hilyaun"
= "asparagus"; see Aldabi, "Shebile Bmunah," p.
75a; Tobias Cohen, 151a: D'^tSW or ]V^'n is wild
asparagus; |''t13"l\ the cultivated kind). Isaac is
also the first post-Talmudic author to mention the
cornel or dogwood (corniolo ; Kpavka), in the passages
Peah i. 5, Ma'as. i. 3, where he rejects the view that
it is identical with Jis, sumac.

Maimonides gives the names of plants exclusively
in Arabic in his commentary on the Mishnah ; and
these terms have been discussed by Lbw in his
"Aramaische Pflanzennamen," on the basis of the
Berlin manuscripts of this gloss. In his medical wri-
tings likewise Maimonides follows the Arabic phar-
macology ; for instance, ninety -one vegetable reme-
dies are mentioned in his " Dietetics " ; but these be-
long rather to the history of medicine. From his
" Moreh " mention may be made of the story of the
Nabateean cultivation of the mandrake and althea
("Moreh," French transl. by Munk, iii. 335), the
reference to indigo (ib. i. 392), and the expression
"like a locust-bean," meaning "practically worth-
less" (ih. i. 157). Maimonides has won a lasting
name in the history of botany. Even after Sprengel
("Gesch. der Botanik," i. 178) had tried to identify
the plants mentioned in the mishnaic tractate Kila-
yim, basing his investigation on the Latin transla-
tion of the commentary of Maimonides in the edition

of the Mishnah by Surenhuis, Mayer

Mai- ("Gesch. der Botanik," iii. 230), allu-

xaonides. ding to the plants mentioned in " 'Uk-

zin," declared that Maimonides had
given his Interpretations with discrimination and
had displayed an unmistakable knowledge of bot-
any ; but that, though he had a wide acquaintance
with plants, his explanations were drawn chiefly
from school traditions, and were not the i-esult of
independent investigation. Proceeding on the an-
thropocentric theory of the universe, Maimonides
declares in his introduction to the Mishnah that trees
and plants were created for the nourishment or heal-
ing of man, even though in some cases he fails to
recognize this, or has never known it ; and although
the uses of all the plants on the earth may not yet
be understood, each successive generation will be-
come acquainted with new herbs and fruits which
will prove of great advantage to it.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plants
Fledg-es

Of the later halakic writers the only one to be
mentioned here is Estori Fakhi (flourished in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries),
Estori who made a careful geographical and
Farlii. scientific exploration of Palestine.
His remarks on plants in his " Kaftor
wa-Perah " may readily be seen in the third index of
Luncz's edition of that work, for which Low ar-
ranged the data in their proper order. The com-
ments in Wiesner's Hungarian biography of Farhi
(p. 31, Budapest, 1896) on certain botanical notes of
the halakist are very inadequate. Farhi's statements
regarding shallots and onions in Syria are note-
worthy, as are also his identification of C<»-dia Myxa,
his accounts of Mma and Badingan, and the collo-
quial Arabic name for Pyrus Syriaca (Boiss.), equiva-
lent to 'DmS^X, which explains the Syriac KD'DIS
(L8w, I.e. p. 208).

According to Bnber("Sekel Tob," Introduction,
p. xi.), Menahem b. Solomon (1139) has the follow-
ing names of plants in addition to the
Menaliem list already quoted from the " 'Aruk " :
b. Solomon. i:n"m KTlJ on N3Dn; 'iiVllD mj
on IiJiJ-in ; mn on n^n (probably de-
noting E. Gershom's "thora"); Vrh on D'Jt33; its
resin lOJ"lS; ninip''X, chicory (see Isaac Siponto
above) ; lonjll on p^mn ; IpJ-iDK" on Dli).

In order to define the heterogeneous plants more ac-
curately, the Karaite Caleb Afendopolo of Adria-
nople (end of the 15th cent.) arranged an alphabetical
list of about sixty plant-names, and, following Mai-
monides in the main, tried to identify the plants and
explained them in Arabic, Turkish, modern Greek,
and Rumanian. Of this list, which appeared in the
appendix to "Adderet Eliyahu," the
Caleb following may be mentioned as of
Afendo- botanical importance: D'EJ'inn he re-
polo, gards as medlars, called also nVE^'Dn
(LSw, I.e. p. 114; "R. E. J. "xviii.
112, on " nespole " ; Joseph Perles, " Beitrage zur
Gesch. der Hebraischen und Aramaischen Studien,"
pp. 135 et seq.), because they have five seeds. He
relates that the banana, T1XD, was described by
Japheth ha-Levi (953) as a cross between the date-
palm and the colocasia; while he (Afendopolo)
learned from the Karaite Joseph ha-Kohen that it
was a cross between the date-palm and the sugar-
cane. Joseph told him also that the colocasia had a
rootstock as large as an ox-head, and that it was the
daily food in Egypt, where one head often brought
as much as 900 dirhems. He describes the cucum-
ber {Cucumis Ghate, Linn.), which was widely cul-
tivated in Egypt, as very long and as thick as the
finger (ib. vii. 17b). The "nabk" (ZizypJms spina-
C/irisii, Linn.), Christ's-thorn, he describes as sweet,
and as large as a hazelnut (see Post, I.e. p. 201),
while its shell was half red and half green, and its
kernel was like that of an olive or common jujube.
In his time, as at present, the tree was very common
in Egypt (Ascherson and Schweinfurth, I.e. p. 59).
Why Afendopolo ("Adderet Eliyahu, "Appendix, p.
16c) uses the Hebrew or Aramaic NXn (L5w, I.e. p.
225) for " parsley " is not clear.

In connection with Afendopolo two older Karaite
lexicographers may be mentioned, David b. Abra-

ham (Al-Fasi) and Ali b. Sulaiman, in whose works
according to Pinsker's extracts ("Likkute E:admo'-
niyyot," pp. 206 et seq.), the following
David namesof plants are mentioned: "san-
Al-Fasi dal, " D''i)nN, sandalwood ; " ma'atar'" or
and Ali b. " za'atar, " nitK ; " sasam " or " abnus, »
Sulaiman. D'DJ^K, ebony ; " kama,"ni"lN, fungus;
" kazbarah, " IJ, coriander ; " saj, " "ifiij ;
"khatmiyah," niO^n; "za'arur" or " 'ansal," mW;
" wars " or " nilufar, " mj ; " sa'atar " (= '" za'atar"),
naiD; "dulb,"pa-)y; "hanzal,"niypa; "karfah"o^
"kist,"n^p; "karnafal,"]lDJp; "kazah," "shuniz,"
nvp(Pinsker, erroneously, D''^V3 PIT); "salikhah,"
n?nB'; "sant,"D1t2t^';"jummaiz,"^DpB';"sha^bin,"
"abhal," "saj," or "shimashar," nniri- "Henna"
in Pinsker, I.e. p. 212, note 2, is an error.

Bibliography : George E. Post, Flora of Syria, Palestine,
and SmoA from, the Taurus to Bos Muhammad, and- from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian Desert, Beirut, 1896 •
J. Bornmiiller, Eiri Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Flora von
Synen und PalOstina (In Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-
Botanischen Gesellsehaft in TfiieTC, 1898) ; Leopold Fonck,
StreifzUge Dureh die Biblische Flora, Frelburg-im-Brels-
gau, 1900, with a complete bibliography, pp. xi. et seq.
E- G- H. I. L6.

PliATON (PLATYON) OF HOME : Scholar of
the second century c.b. Like Todos (Theodorus) the
Roman, his probable contemporary, Platon sought
to inspire his persecuted coreligionists with resigna-
tion and steadfastness, reminding them that others
had suffered before them for their faith and had been
ultimately delivered. "Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah," said he, "derived courage to resist Nebu-
chadnezzar, at the risk of being burned " (Uan. iii.
13), from the Scriptural assurance (Deut. iv. 29),
" If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God,
thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy
heart and with all thy soul" (Midr. Teh. xxviii. 1).
Platon construes literally the Scriptural saying
(Deut. iv. 11), "Ye came and stood under the moun-
tain." According to him, Sinai was detached from
the earth and suspended in the air, while the Israel-
ites stood under it (Cant. R. viii. 5 ; comp. Abdimi
B. Hamak).

BiELiOGEAPHT : Vogelstein and Rieger, Qesch. der Juden in
Bom, 1. 109 et seq., 176.
B. C. S. M.

PLEDG-ES : The law against taking pledges for
debt is drawn from the following passages: "No
man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to
pledge : for he taketh a man's life to pledge " (Deut.
xxiv. 6, R. v.), "nor [shall he] take the widow's
raiment to pledge" {ib. xxiv. 17, R. V.); "And if
he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his
pledge: thou shalt surely restore to him," etc. {ib.
xxiv. 12-13, R. v.); and Ex. xxii. 26 to like effect.
The " taking to pledge " in these passages is under-
stood as meaning a seizure to secure an overdue
debt, not the taking of a pledge by consent at the
time of a loan.

The oral law goes in its interpretation far beyond
the letter of Scripture. The Mishnah says (B. M.

ix. 13) : " He who takes a mill to pledge

In the breaks a negative command, and is

Idishnali. guilty for each of two implements, the

lower and the upper millstone [refer-
ring to Deut. xxiv. 6] ; and this applies not only to
a mill, but to any implement wherewith life-giving

Pledgres

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

food is made, for it is said, ' lie taketli man's life to
pledge. ' " " One does not distrain the goods of a
widow, whether she be poor or rich " (referring to
ib. xxiv. 17). "He must return the pillow for the
night, and the plow for the day ; but if the debtor
dies, they need not be returned to the heirs." The
seizure in this way is of use to the creditor only to
preserve his lien and to prevent the debt from run-
ning out in the year of release. Elsewhere ('Ar.
vi. 3), on the occasion of an execution on behalf of
the Sanctuary, but as a rule applicable to all debts,
the Mishnah reserves to the debtor (1) food for thirty
days; (2) clothing for a year, bed and bedding, san-
dals, and phylacteries ; (3) to a mechanic his tools,
such as adzes and saws, two of each kind, and, ac-
cording to R. Eliezer also, to a farmer his yoke of
beasts for the plow, and to a carrier his ass. But ac-
cording to the prevailing opinion ('Ar. 33b), oxen and
asses are not regarded as tools and are not exempt.

There is a discussion in the Talmud (Shab. 128a)
as to what should be done in the case of a man
heavily in debt and clothed in a robe worth 2,500
shekels. Should it be taken from him and clothing
suited to his position given him? R. Ishmael an-
swers, "All Israelites are the sons of kings, and no
garment is above their rank. " Prom these passages
in Mishnah and Talmud the Shulhan 'Aruk draws
the following rules (Hoshen Mishpat, 97) :

The officer of the court can not seize a hand-mill,
but a water-mill is landed estate, and, without being
actually seized, is treated like lands (see Appbaise-
ment). But if the creditor undertakes to remove
parts of a water-mill, they become personalty and ex-
empt. Pans and pots for cooking, a knife for slaugh-
tering, and the like, are "implements for life-giving
food." If such things are taken to pledge, the
creditor must return them. Accord-
Further ing to R. Moses Isserles, such tools as
Develop- barber's scissors are not exempt, nor
ment. are beasts of the plow. Scissors for
cutting grass are clearly exempt, the
grass being food. If a man has five hand-mills in
use, none of them can be seized ; but if only one is
in use, the others are subject to seizure. Food itself
is subject after the lawful allowance is set aside.

The officer can not seize a garment which the
debtor has on his body, nor the vessel from which
he is eating, and he must leave a couch or bench to
sit upon, and a bed and mattress to sleep upon.
Though seizing all the rest, he must return bed-
clothes for the night, and tools for the daytime. It
should be remembered that household goods are not
sold, but simply held as security ; other goods are
sold after the lapse of thirty days. The obligation
to return household goods holds even when the
debtor is rich in landed estate.

The officers who arrange satisfaction say to the
debtor: "Bring all your movable property, not
keeping back as much as one needle."
Exemp- From the whole they set aside for him
tions from provisions for thirty days (as a " mid-
Pledge, dling man," .says R. Moses Isserles,
though he had lived like a poor man
before) and clothes for twelve months, excepting,
however, silken garments or a gold-embroidered
turban ; these things they take from him, and give

him a sufficient supply of clothing better suited to
his condition (contrary to R. Ishmael's view). They
set aside also bed, mattress, and bedclothes, but these
things are not set aside as exempt if they are the prop-
erty of the wife and children, who simply keep what
they have; for it is the husband's duty to support
them. Sandals and phylacteries are exempt. A me-
chanic is allowed a double set of tools (as in the
Mishnah); farm- or draft-animals are not set aside,
nor the skipper's ship or boat, nor the professional
scholar's books. The creditor has priority over the
wife's rightof maintenance, but he can not seize her or
her children's clothing, nor the cloth which has been
dyed for their use, nor the shoes bought for them, even
though they have not been worn, nor books bought
for the children's education. According to some
opinions, the finer clothes for the wife's wear on Sab-
baths and festivals are not exempt, and certainly gar-
ments containing gold or silver clasps, if bought by
the husband for the wife, are subject to his debts.
"Where, however, they form part of her dowry they
are exempt.

The allowances named above are to be set aside
from either land or personalty. There is some dis-
pute as to whether the allowance ("siddur") is to
be set aside where the debt has been incurred for
wages or for the hire of beasts, and not for money
or property ; also as to how far the debtor can waive
the allowance when contracting a loan. But the
debtor can not waive the exemption of " implements
for life-giving food," as no stipulations can be made
contrary to the provisions of the Torah. However,
the Hoshen Mishpat closes the subject with a
clause which might defeat all these humane provi-
sions : if the debtor has sworn that he will pay the
debt, he must give up even his last shirt — a clause
which allows the parties to supersede by private
arrangement the words of the Law.

Maimonides, who treats of exemptions in the

" Yad,"Malweh, iii., says nothing about the debtor's

oath as a means of nullifying clauses.

Waiving either in written or in oral law, made in
of Bights, favor of poor debtors — an oath which
the creditor might have forced from
him as a condition of the loan. In fact, the creditor
may not be allowed to accept such a suicidal fulfil-
ment of the oath, for all standards acknowledge the
Scriptural commandment " thou shalt not exact of
thy brother " (Dent. xv. 3, Hebr.) as forbidding such
harsh measures as well as such pressure as would
drive the debtor to encroach on his wife's property.

The standards agree on the treatment of widow
debtors. Maimonides (?.c.) says: " Whether a widow
be rich or poor you can not take her goods in pledge,
either at the time of the loan or by way of execu-
tion." This leaves really no way of enforcing a de-
mand against a widow, unless she have real estate
or outstanding loans, and the rule, if fully enforced,
would have destroyed the credit of widow traders.

The Mishnah gives the measure of a debtor's ex-
emptions in dealing with the demands of the treas-
urer of the Sanctuary, as shown under Estimate.
Here the exemption is based on Lev. xxvii. 8
(Hebr.): "If thy brother has come down" (become
poor), etc. (see 'Ar. 24a).

s. s. L. N. D.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pledgres

Historical View: In ancient Israel every

loan was an act of charity. Tlierefore, if the cred-
itor had taken a garment as a pledge he had to return
it before nightfall, whether he had received pay-
ment or not (Ex. xxii. 26-27; Deut. xxiv. 13-14)
The Talmud (B. M. 14b) explains this to include
every article which can not be spared, so that the
garment needed during the day must be returned
before morning, and the garment needed at night
must be returned before nightfall. Similarly, the law
which prohibits the taking of a millstone as a pledge
{Deut. xxiv. 6) is explained as applicable to every ar-
ticle which is as necessary as a millstone (Sif re, I. c. [ed .
Friedmann, p. 133a]). Therefore the creditor should
not make any use of the pledge ; and he is responsible
for its safety, just as every depositary is responsible
for things held in trust (Hoshen Mishpat, 72).

The development of money-lending among the
Jews as their almost exclusive occupation, which
began in the twelfth century, was in
Medieval all likelihood the consequence of the
Times. persecutions during the First Crusade
(Hbniger, -'Zur Gesch. der Juden im
Fruhern Mittelalter, " in "Zeitschrift fur Gesch. der
Juden in Deutschland," i. 65-97, 136-151); and the
lawsof pawnbrokingbecame more and more detailed.
This is shown by the fact that the charter granted
by Henry IV. to the Jews of Speyer and Worms
(1084-90) does not mention money-lending as an oc-
cupation of the Jews at all, while the charter of
Frederick II. of Austria (1244) devotes nine of its
thirty sections to the regulation of pawnbroking.
This negative evidence is strengthened by the fact
that in the ninth century the anti-Jewish writers
Agobard and Amulo, who were so bitter in their de-
nunciation of the Jews, are silent on this point. It
remains evident, therefore, that loaning money on
pledges, as money-lending in general, has been the
occupation of the Jews only since the twelfth century,
when St. Bernard of Clairvaux condemned the per-
secution of the Jews, saying that where there were
no Jews, Christian usurers acted much worse
(Migne, " Patrologia, " clxxxii. 567; Aronius, "Re-
gesten," p. 113; Gratz, "Gesch." vi. 166; Stobbe,
"Die Juden in Deutschland," p. 107).

The law of Frederick II. of Austria expressly
permits Jews to take any article as a pledge, without
inquiring into the right of possession of the bor-
rower; the exception to this is that bloody or wet
garments may not be accepted, for in such a case
suspicion of robbery is reasonable. On the " Privile-
gium Fridericianum " were based such later laws as
that issued by Ottocar II. of Bohemia in 1354, the
laws of Bela IV. of Hungary, of the dukes of Silesia
and Poland, and a prohibition against lending money
on sacred objects — Pope Gregory I. (590-604) and
Charlemagne (806) had already declared that such
objects should not be sold to Jews. A similar pro-
hibition is found in a law issued by Philip August
of France (1306). The rabbinical synods of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries adopted the same
law, evidently because of the excuse which the dis-
covery of church articles in a Jewish house would
give for riots (Gratz, " Gesch." vi. 199). This prin-
ciple is often repeated in legislations of the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries.

In general, legislation concerning the Jews recog-
nized the rabbinical law, even in dealings between
Jews and Christians ; so a Jew who had
Kabbiuical advanced money on a stolen article was
Law. entitled to recover the amount he had
loaned on it, including interest, if he
could swear that he did not know it had been stolen.
The same held good with regard to stolen property
which had been bought. This law is explained by
the Talmud as necessitated by the needs of business
life (p\tifr\ n:pn ; B. K. 115a; Hoshen Mishpat, 357,
1). Various German laws demanded that the goods
must have been delivered in daytime and without
any secrecy (" unverhohlen und unverstohlen ").
This recognition of the rabbinical law was fiercely
condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities— e.^., by
the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and by various
diocesan synods— as favoring the Jews at the ex-
pense of the Christians, who were compelled by law
to return stolen propertywhich they had bought, but
without any prospect of indemnity. The "Privi-
legium Fridericianum" (§ 7), and a great many
other laws, freed the Jewish pawnbroker from re-
sponsibility in case of the loss of the pledge by fire
or robbery, or in any other way. The manner and
fact of loss, however, had to be established by oath
or through witnesses. This legal enactment is in
conflict with the rabbinical law which considers the
pawnbroker as a depositary (laty lOlE^'), «'■«., re-
sponsible in case of death or theft (Hoshen Mishpat,
72, 2).

While the state law in this case is more favorable
to the pawnbroker than is the rabbinical law, in re-
gard to the unredeemed pledge it is more favorable
to the debtor. The rabbinical law declares that the
pledge is forfeited if it is not redeemed on the day
the payment falls due (Hoshen Mishpat, 73, 13),
though some authorities demand that the pledge
shall not be sold until thirty days after payment falls
due {ib. 3, 14). The " Privilegium Fridericianum "
(§ 27), however, demanded that the pledge should
be kept one year and one day. This stipulation was
adopted in many places up to the fifteenth century.
The privilege of lending money on pledges carried
with it a certain obligation. Thus the Augsburg
law declares that every Jewish money-
Special lender is bound to advance money on
Regu- a pledge to the extent of two-thirds of
lations. its value; while the city of Winterthur
found it necessary to declare, in a
charter of 1340, that a Jew is not liable to punish-
ment if he is unable to lend a Christian the sum de-
manded (Stobbe, " Die Juden in Deutschland, " pp.
lliet seq.). The Strasburg law of 1375makesit the
duty of the Jews to lend money on pledges to any
citizen.

In the frequent anti-Jewish riots which occurred
from the twelfth to the fifteenth century the mob
sacking the houses of the Jews often took the
pledges, and, as a rule, the king issued quitclaims
after he had received part of the plunder. This
was done very frequently by Charles IV., after
the Black Death (1348-51). A typical instance is
that of NOkdlingbn. Under these circumstances it
is not to be wondered at that Jewish law at that
period dealt with the Christian debtor as with an

Pledges
Flessner

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

enemy in war. Thus medieval rabbis decided that
if a non-Jew loaned to a Jew money on a pledge,
and then lost the pledge, and a Jew found it, the
latter sliould return it to the Jewish debtor (Hoshen
Mishpat, 73, 38). Similarly, the law permits a Jew-
ish creditor to keep the pledge after the death of
the Christian debtor, even where its value much ex-
ceeds the amount of the debt (ib. 72, 40).

The Jewish concern with pledges is especially
connected with the Italian "monte di pietS," pawn-
shops established by the ecclesiastical authorities in
the fifteenth century, in opposition to Jewish money-
lenders and for charitable purposes. The name is
found also in French ("mont de piete")and in Latin
(" mons pietatis " ; lit. " mountain of charity ") ; it
is supposed to have originated from the use of the
word " monte " in the sense of " store " or " stock of
goods," and especially with regard to banking, in
the sense of a "pile of coin."

The great change of economic conditions in the
fifteenth century in connection with the troubles in
the Church created among the mendicant orders an
eager desire to bring themselves into prominence.
The Franciscans were especially active in promoting
schemes for economic improvement.
Monte Barnabas of Terni began preaching

di Pieta. against money-lenders in Perugia, and
succeeded in forming a company of
citizens who furnished money for a loan-bank which
would lend at a lower rate of interest than that
charged by the Jews. This first "mountain of
piety " was founded in 1463, and others followed
very soon in various cities of Italy ; that in Orvieto,
1464, was sanctioned by Pope Sixtus IV. Espe-
cially active was the Franciscan Bbenahdinus of
Peltkb, who worked for the promotion of the pop-
ular pawnshops, chiefly in order to create an oppor-
tunity to attack the Jews. The Dominicans, jeal-
ous of the success of the Franciscans, opposed this
movement, claiming that the exaction of even a low
rate of interest was contrary to the Christian law ;
while the Lateran Council (1512-17) and the Council
of Trent (1545-63), as well as various popes, declared
for the Franciscans.

But in Rome, which was under the direct govern-
ment of the pope, such institutions were not organ-
ized. While the operations of the loan-banks inter-
fered with the business of the Jews, they were not
able to drive the Jews to abandon money-lending
altogether; and therefore a special law was passed
by the " signoria " of Venice, in 1547, prohibiting
money-lending by Jews in Padua. In Istkia, Jews
who had lost their business opportunities elsewhere
were privileged to conduct loan-banks. So in
Pirano, in 1484, where a bank was founded by Moses
Sacerdote and three others ; it continued its opera-
tions until 1634, when a monte di pieta was estab-
lished and their privilege was withdrawn. In Capo
d'Istria, Jewish money-lenders were called upon
when the monte di pieta had become bankrupt. In
1611 France introduced the system, but there it had
no anti-Jewish purpose. Since the middle of the
eighteenth century the restrictions against Jewish
money-lenders in Italy have been removed.

In the fifteenth century the business of the Jews
consisted chiefly in pawnbroking, as Israel Isserlein

states (" Terumat ha-Deshen, " part i. , No. 309). They,
dealt with all classes of people, even with princes
and kings. King Rupert (1403) pawned his silver
to Jews (Stobbe, I.e. p. 240); the empress Maria,
widow of Maximilian II., pawned her
In silver to Mordecai Meisel (1578) for

Germany. 2,000 florins (" Zeit. f fir Gesch. der Ju-
den in Deutschland," ii. 175). From
the fifteenth century on, however, the restriction of
money-lending by Jews became the rule. In 1530
and 1544 respectively, the Reichstags of Augsburg
and Speyer issued strict regulations in regard to ex-
cessive rates of interest and other abuses (see Josel
OF RosHEiM). The Landesordnung for Bohemia,
1579, restricted the money-lending of the Jews to
pawnbroking in order to exclude them from banking
on a larger scale ("Zeit. fUr Gesch. der Juden in
Deutschland," ii. 173).

The Judenstattigkeit of Frankfort-on-the-Main,
1614, limited the rate of interest for loans on pledges
to 8 per cent ; the same was done for Fulda in 1615
(ib. iii. 178). How precarious this business was
even then is proved by Glilckel von Hameln, who
tells in her memoirs of an attempt to take a pledge
from her father's shop by force. The danger in
dealing with creditors of this class evidently induced
some medieval rabbis to permit a pawnbroker to
redeem a pledge for a creditor on the Sabbath (Orah
Hayyim, 325, 3).

With the development of the banking business
through the court Jews in the seventeenth century,
and the gradual concession of economic freedom,
pawnbroking among the Jews became rare, and, in
fact, in recent times, disreputable (see also Bank-
ing).

Bibliography: STiitlJwin 'Aruk, HnsJien Mishpat, 72-73;
ZeitscUrift fUr GescU. der Juden 'in Deutschland^ i. 65-97,
136-151 ; Stobbe, Die Juden in Deutschland Wdhrend des
Mittelalt&rs, pp. 112-131, Brunswick, 1868; Soberer, Die
Bechtsverhttltnigse der Juden in den Deutsch-Oesterreich-
ischen LUndern, pp. 196-209, 211-216, Leipslo, 1901; Cerettl,
Storia di Monti di Pietd, Pailua, 1752 ; Ciscato, Qli Ehrei
in Padnva, pp. 48-67, 245-247, Padua, 1901 ; Nuova Enciclo-
pedia Italiana, s.v. Monte di Pietd (wbere further literature
Is quoted).

D.
PLEIADES : The word " Kimah," which occurs
in three passages in the Bible (Job ix. 9, xxxviii.
31, and Amos v. 8), each time in connection with
Orion, is translated by the Septuagint once by
TLXetada (Job xxxviii. 31) ; and Aquila, who repre-
sents the tradition of the scribes, gives the same
rendering in Amos v. 8, being followed therein by
Symmachus and Theodotion. The word is retained
in the Targum, which indicates that it was then
used in the vernacular; so that the meaning given
the term in the Talmud and by Aquila may be ac-
cepted as correct. Although the etymology is not
altogether certain, it may be assumed that "Kimah"
is connected either with the Hebrew Qia = "to
heap up," or with the Assyrian "kamu"=:"he
bound" (Delitzsch, in "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch."
xii. 185).

According to the Talmud (Ber. 58b), this cluster
is called "Kimah " because it consists of about 100
stars (HD'a = nSD3). The constellation is in the
northern sky, with its tail to the west of the Milky
Way {ib. ; comp. Pes. 94b). For the most impor-
tant reference to the Pleiades, which have always

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pledges
f lessuer

attracted attention on account of their brilliancy and
ntimber, see Orion (comp. also Jew. Encyc. ii. 349b,
a.t. Astronomy).

Bib'uographt : SchiaparelU, L'Astronomia nelV Antico Tes-
&"u'^e?;I;r^!'iS' ''°^"°«^' Dict.BibU>M°m;
K- L. B.

PLESSNER, ELIAS : German rabbi; son of
Solomon Plessner ; born Feb. 19, 1841, at Berlin ;
died at Ostrowo March 30, 1898. He studied at the
University of Berlin, and received his degree as
Ph.D. from the University of Tubingen (1870). In
1871 he was appointed " Stif tsrabbiner " at Hanover,
and was called April 20, 1873, to the old community
of Rogasen as successor to Moses Eeilchenfeld. In
Sept. , 1885, he was called to Ostrowo as successor to
the late I. M. Freimann, remaining there until his
death.

Plessner rendered great services to homiletic liter-
ature by publishing the following works by his
father: "Sabbathpredigten," "Festreden," and
"Nachgelassene Schriften" (Frankfort, 1884). His
own works include: In German: "Stellung und
Bedeutung der Israelitischen Frau bei den Hebraern "
(Ostrowo) ; " Der Grabstein in Seiner Hoheren Bedeu-
tung " ; " Ezechiel Landau und Moses Mendelssohn. "
In Hebrew : " Matbea' she! Berakot " ; " 'Asarah
Ma'amarot"; "Dibre Tamrurim we-Tanhumim,"
Posen, 1871; "She'elahu-Teshubah be-'Inyan Behi-
rah," Berlin, 1889; "Hitmannut Kohen Gadol, " Ber-
lin, 1895.

s. I. Bro.

PLESSNER, SOLOMON: German preacher
and Bible commentator; born at Breslau April 28,
1797 ; died at Posen Aug. 38, 1883. Having lost Ins
father when very young, Plessner had to support
his mother and himself. He engaged in business,
but found time to study Hebrew, rabbinics, and
German, under Wessely's influence. At the age of
seventeen Plessner began to study Wessely's He-
brew translation of the Apocrypha, resolving to con-
tinue the translation himself. He indeed published
at Breslau in 1819 his Hebrew translation of the
Apocryphal additions to the Book of
Becomes Esther, under the title "Hosafah li-
Eminent Megillat Ester, " with a literary-histor-
as a leal introduction. At the same time
Preacher, he became known as an eloquent
preacher. Many of his sermons were
published, among them his funeral oration on the
death of Abraham Tiktin, bearing the Hebrew title
"Zeker Zaddik li-Berakah" (Breslau, 1821).

Plessner through his sermons was recognized as a
warm defender of Orthodox Judaism, and on this
account was congratulated by Akiba Eger, rabbi of
Posen. Soon the conflict arose between the Ortho-
dox and Reform Jews concerning the introduction
of the organ into the synagogal services. Plessner
naturally fought against the Reform leaders; and as
they were the more powerful and began to perse-
cute him, forbidding him through the police to de-
liver any sermon, he in 1833 settled at Fcstenbcrg,
a small town in Silesia. In 1825, the government of
the province of Posen having issued a decree for-
bidding Talmudic instruction in schools, Plessner,
at Eger's request, summed up all the observations 1

and opinions of Christian scholars, beginning with
Jerome, on the Talmud. This document, pub-
lished the same year at Breslau un-
His Mem- der the title "Bin Wort zu Seiner
oir on the Zeit oder die Autoritat der JUdischen
Talmud. Traditionslehre," with a part of it in
Hebrew entitled " 'Edut le-Yisrael,"
was in 1826 presented to the Posen government.
Accompanied with a petition signed by the presi-
dents of several communities, it proved efficacious;
and the anti-Talmudic decree was revoked.

In 1830 Plessner removed to Berlin, where for a
short time he was a teacher in the normal school.
Although possessing all the knowledge necessary
for an Orthodox rabbi, he persistently declined
rabbinical oflBce, preferring freedom of speech. He
earned a livelihood by preaching every other Satur-
day in the Berlin bet ha-midrash, continuing at the
same time his study of the Apocrypha. In 1832 his
" Nozelim Min Lebanon " was published in Berlin.
This work consisted of a Hebrew translation of a
part of the Apocrypha, with an appendix, entitled
"Duda'im," containing exegetical notes, verses in
Hebrew and German, and sermons (see Geiger,
"Wiss. Zeit. Jud. Theol." i. 304 et seq.). The fol-
lowing year he was invited to dedicate the new
synagogue at Bromberg, for which occasion he com-
posed poems in Hebrew and in German, which were
published under the title " Shirim la-Hanukkat Bet
ha-Tefillah " (Berlin, 1834). In his sermons Plessner
adopted the expressions of the most eminent Chris-
tian preachers, interspersing his sen-
Removes tences with verses of Schiller and
to Goethe, and rejecting the derashic or

Berlin. homiletic interpretation of the Bible.
In 1834 he began to publish his ser-
mons in yearly volumes under the general title " Be-
lehrungen und Erbauungen " (3d ed. Berlin, 1840,
under the title "Religi5se Vortrage"). In 1838
Plessner published his "Dat Mosheh wi-Yehudit," a
catechism in twelve parts, preceded by an introduc-
tion, on the nature and history of Jewish religious
instruction. His oratorical talent is particularly ex-
hibited in his " Mikra'e Kodesh " (Berlin, 1841), a col-
lection of holy-day sermons for the years 1885 to 1839.
A powerful party of antagonists worrj'ing Plessner
beyond endurance on account of his outspokenness,
he left Berlin and settled at Posen (1843), where he
was active as a preacher for forty years. In Posen
Plessner preached chiefly at the Neuschul. During
his residence in that city he published the following
works : " Shay la-Mora " (Posen, 1846), poem in honor
of Moses Montefiore ; " Shire Zimrah " (Berlin, 1859),
poems composed on the occasion of
Settles in the completion of the ptiblication of
Posen. the Talmud by the Talmud society
Hebrat Shas ; " Shire Zimrah " (ib.
1865), Hebrew poems composed for the celebration
of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
foundation of the society of mohelim.

After Plessner's death two collections of his ser-
monswere published atFrankf ort-on-the-Main : " Sab-
bathpredigten " (1884) and " Festpredigten " (1890).

Bibliography: Fiirst, Bihl. Jud. Hi. 107; H. Hirschfeld, in
Elias Plessner, Biblisches und RabMiiisciies aus Solnmon
Plessners Nachlasse ; Zeitlin, Bibh Post-MendeU. p. 271.
6. M. Sel.

Pletsch
Plymouth

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

PLETSCH, SOLOiyiON : German physician of
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; a native of
Regensburg. Pletsch was in 1394 appointed city
surgeon of Frankfort-on-the-Main with a salary of
36 gulden per year. Besides, the city furnished him
with six ells of cloth for his uniform, which was of
the same color and quality as that of the Christian
officials. Thus the only difference between Pletsch
and his Christian predecessors and successors was
in the form of the oath, the former taking it More
Judaico. In the letter of commission, Pletsch
bound himself to treat gratuitously all the members
of the council with their servants and all the sick
Jews who might be received at the hospital, and to
take moderate fees from the citizens.

Bibliography : M. Horovltz, JUdische Aerzte in "Frankfurt-
am-Main, p. 6, Frankfort^on-the-Main, 1888; Landau,
Gesch. der JUdischen Aerzte, p. 102, Berlin, 1895.
D. M. Sbl.

PliOCK (PLOTZK) : Government in Russian
Poland, with a Jewish population (1897) of 50,473
(in a total population of 553,094), which is the
smallest Jewish population of any government in
the Pale of Settlement.

The most important of the district towns in the
government of Plock are :

HElawa, which has 5,123 Jews in a total pop-
ulation of 11,311 (1897). R. Jehiel Michael Sagalo-
vich (born 1863) became the rabbi of the community
in 1894.

Plock, the capital of the government, which had
only about 6,000 inhabitants in 1816 (when it came
under Russian domination, after having been held by
Prussia under the provisions of the second partition
of Poland in 1798), had a total population of 37,078
in 1897. Of this number more than 10,000 are Jews.
In the city there are several synagogues, a Talmud
Torah (founded 1868), a Gemilut Hasadim (founded
1873), and a well-equipped hospital. It has also a
Jewish boys' school attended by more than one hun-
dred pupils. Instruction in the Hebrew faith is im-
parted to Jewish students attending the local gym-
nasium by A. J. Papierno, a prominent Maskil who
has resided in Plock since 1870, and who established
a library there in 1900.

Owing to the influence of the Hasidim the Jewish
community of Plock frequently changed its rabbis
during the nineteenth century, and the term of sev-
enteen years during which R. Azriel Aryeh Rakovski
held that position, which he resigned in 1880, was con-
sidered an extremely long one. Aryeh L6b Zunz or
Zuenz also was rabbi of Plock and later of Praga, but
removed to Warsaw, where he died April 33, 1833.
Since 1897 R. Ezekiel Libshitz (born In Rossienny,
in the province of Kovno, in 1864), son of R. Hillel
Libshitz of Lublin, and who, like his father, is a Tal-
mudist and able scholar, has been the rabbi of Plock.

Przasnysz, with 4,500 Jews among its 8,586 in-
habitants; it has two synagogues.

Sierpce, with about 600 Jewish families among
its 8,560 inhabitants. The Jews of Sierpce are bur-
dened with a tax of 68 rubles which they have to
pay annually to the owner of the town on account
of a debt said to have been contracted by a certain
David, of whose origin nothing is known ("Ha-
Meliz," 1883, No. 105).

Bibliography: Brockhaua-Efron, EntzlklopedichesM Sto-
var, a.v.; Ha-Meliz, 1878, No. 9 ; 1888, No. 33 ; 1890, No. 200 ;
Ha^Zefirah, 1876, No. 4 ; 1900, No. 44 ; Yevnln, Nahalat 'Olo-
mim, pp. 14-15, Warsaw, 1882 ; Walden, Shem ha^OedoUm
he-Hoctah, p. 80, Warsaw, 1882. ^ „

H. R. P- Wl.

PIiOTKE, JTTLIXJS : German lawyer and com-
munal worker; born at Borek, province of Posen,
Oct. 5, 1857; died at Frankfort-on-the-Main Sept.
37, 1903. Having finished his studies at the gymna-
sium at Krotoschin and the University of Berlin, he
practised law in Bockenheim from 1885 to 1888,
when he entered into partnership with Councilor of
Justice S. Puld in Frankfort-on-the-Main. Plotke
was elected to the board of trustees of the Frankfort
congregation, and participated in all movements for
the relief of his oppressed coreligionists, being a
trustee of the Jewish Colonization Association, of
the Alliance Israelite Universelle, of the Hilfsverein
der Deutschen Juden, and similar organizations.
He wrote various pamphlets and articles on the con-
dition of the Jews of Russia and Rumania.

Bibliography: JUdische Presse, 1903, pp. 441-442; Oester-
reichisehe Woelienschrift, 1903, pp. 648-649; Jew. Chron.
Oct. 2, 1903, p. 33 : Allg. Zeit. Oes Jud. 1903, pp. 484-485.
s. D.

PLOWING : No description of the plow (" maha-
reshet ") is found in the Bible ; but it may be assumed
with certainty that the implement resembled, on the
whole, the very simple plow which is still used by
the fellahs of Palestine. It consists of a long pole
with a wooden crosspiece at the lower end, and a
handle parallel to the latter at the upper end, by
means of which the plow is guided. The wooden
foot ends in an iron share, slightly convex above, be-
ing 34 cm. long and 18 cm. wide at the back. This
point has to be sharpened occasionally (com p. I Sam.
xiii. 30). It is uncertain whether the "efmentioned
in the passage just cited is a different kind of plow
from that described above; Fr. Delitzsch takes
" et " to be the plowshare, which cuts the furrows,
while the plow itself casts up the earth. As the
fellahs generally do not remove the stones from the
fields, thinking that the soil thereby retains the
moisture for a longer period, that kind of plow is
not wholly impractical, since it may readily be
drawn through the stony soil. Moreover, this plow
is easily used, being light enough to be lifted out of
the furrow with one hand and to be replaced in the
same way. Its disadvantage is that it does not plow
deeply enough — only about 8 to 10 cm. — the land
being therefore neither suSiciently utilized nor prop-
erly freed from weeds. As a consequence the latter
grow rankly, and the grain requires additional han-
dling before it can be used or brought to market.

The plow was drawn, as it commonly still is to-
day, by a yoke of oxen, and on light soil by an ass
(Isa. XXX. 34, xxxii. 30) ; but the yoking together of
ox and ass, which is not seldom seen to-day, was
forbidden, at least at the time of the Deuteronomist
(comp. Deut. xxii. 10). The ox walks in front of
the plow, usually in the yoke which is attached to
the beam. To-day the yoke is fastened to the neck
of the animal in such a way that the two blocks of
wood which extend on each side of the neck from
the yoke downward may be fastened at the lower
end by a rope and the ox's neck be enclosed In a

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pletsoh
Plymouth

frame. The plower holds in his right hand the
plow-handle and the guiding-rope, and in his left
the ox-goad ("malmad"; Judges iii. 31; I Sam.
xiii. 21). To one end of the latter is attached an iron
point, with which the oxen are goaded to quicken
their pace, and to the other end is fastened a small
iron shovel which is used to remove the earth cling-
ing to the plowshare.

In ancient times, as to-day, it was doubtless hardly
sufficient to plow the fallow land once only, hut it
had to be gone over three times. The first plowing
(in the winter) was followed by a second (in the
spring), and a third (in the summer); the careful
husbandman even plowed a fourth time (late in the
summer). After the plow had turned the soil over, the
latter was made smooth by a harrow, which perhaps
consisted merely of a strong board or a roller (Hos.
X. 11; Isa. xxviii. 4).

Bibliography : Z. D. P. V. Ix. 24 et seg.

E. G. H. W. N.

PLUM. See Peach.

PLTJNGrlAN : Old town in the government of
Kovno, district of Telshi, Russia. Among the ear-
lier rabbis of Plungian were Jacob b. Zebi, a resi-
dent of Grodno, who gave his approbation to his
younger brother's work, " Ohole Yehudah " (Jess-
nitz, 1719), and Dob Bar, who in 1736 addressed a
halakic question to R. Ezekiel Katzenellenbogen of
Altona (responsa "Keneset Yehezkel," No. 7, Al-
tona, 1732). Its most prominent rabbi in the nine-
teenth century was Jehiel Heller, who died there
in 1861. Hillel Libschitz (b. 1844), formerly of Su-
walki and now (1905) rabbi of Lublin, officiated at
Plungian from 1878 to 1880. Its rabbi at the be-
ginning of the present century was Zebulon Loeb
Barit (see "Ha-Zefirah,"1897, Nos. 40, 56), who died
in 1903.

Other prominent men who came from or were
active in Plungian were: Zechariah Plungian or
Simner (d. 1715), author of " Sefer Zekirah " (1st ed.
Hamburg, 1709), on religious ethics and folk-medi-
cine, which passed through many editions; Morde-
cai b. Joseph (great-grandson of Mordecai Jaffe
[" Lebush "]), and his son Joseph, " rosh medinah " of
Plungian in the eighteenth century (see Jaffe
family). Mordecai Pltjnqian (originally Plungian-
ski), also a descendant of the Jaffe family, and one
of the most prominent Maskilim of the nineteenth
century, was born at Plungian in 1814.

A record of the proceedings before R. Dob Bar
Jaffe, dayyan of Plungian, and of the decisions ren-
dered by him, is preserved in the New York Pub-
lic Library. Its earliest entry is dated 1856, and the
latest 1881.

The population of Plungian, which is mostly Jew-
ish, numbered 3,593 in 1873, and 3,583 in 1897.
Bibliography : Brockbaus-Etron,B«teifc!oj)e(JtchesMStot)ar;

Eisenstaxlt-Wiener, Da'at ^edoshim, pp. 34, 35, St. Peters-

burg, 1897-98. p_ ^^

H. n.

PLUNGIAN (PLUNGIANSKI), MORDE-
CAI (MARCUS): Russian Hebraist and author;
born at Plungian, in the government of Wilna,
1814; died at Wilna Nov. 38, 1883. He was a
descendant of Mordecai Jaffe, author of the "Lebu-

shim." While still young Plungian became a Tal-
mudist of high repute. After a couple of years
of an unhappy married life he left his native town
and settled at Troki, where he devoted himself en-
tirely to rabbinical studies. Soon, however, he was
compelled to leave that place, having displeased
the ultra-conservatives by his more or less advanced
ideas. He then went to Wilna, where he earned a
scanty livelihood by delivering rabbinical lectures,
which were greatly appreciated by the Talmudists
of that place. In the meanwhile Plungian devoted
himself to secular studies also, and acquired, in
a.relatively short time, a thorough knowledge of
several European languages and literatures. This
acquisition procured for him first the position of
teacher in a high school, and in 1867 that of instruc-
tor in Talmud and religious codes in the rabbinical
seminary at Wilna.

Plungian was very unhappy in his old age. The
rabbinical seminary was closed in 1873, and he
had no other position than that of corrector in the
printing-office of Romm, which he had held since
1869. In his literary career he had the misfortune
to displease both the Orthodox, who accused him of
heresy, and the liberals, who regarded him as a
conservative; hence he was persecuted by the
former and repudiated by the latter.

Plungian was the author of the following works:
"Talpiyyot" (Wilna, 1849), on the hermeneutic
rule " Gezerah Shawah " in the Babylonian Talmud,
explaining the logical principles upon which it is
based and criticizing the views expressed on the
subject by Rashi and the tosafists; "Kerem li-
Shelomoh " (ib. 1851), commentary on Eoclesiastes,
published together with the text ; " Ben Porat " (iJ.
1858), biography of Manasseh ben Porat, with ex-
egetic and philological dissertations ; " Shebet Elo-
ah" (ib. 1863), episode of the eighteenth century,
with arguments against the blood accusation ; " Or
Boker" (ib. 1868), three critical treatises on the
Masorah as interpreted in the Talmud; "Kerem
li-Shelomoh" (ib. 1877), commentary on Canticles,
published together with the text.

Plungian left several works in manuscript,
among them a treatise on the Hebrew verbs of four
letters, partly published in "Kerem Hemed" (ix.);
and "Ma'amar Mordekai," a commentary on all the
haggadot found in "'En Ya'akob." In addition
Plungian contributed to nearly all the Hebrew peri-
odicals.

Bibliography: Ha-Shahar, xl. 635; N. Nathanson, Sefat
Emet, Warsaw, 1887; Zeltlln, Bibl. Post^Mendels. p. 272;
Kerem Hemed, ix. 136 ; HOrMeliz, 1883, Nos. 89, 91.
H. R. ■ I- Br.

PLYMOUTH : Seaport in the county of Devon,
England ; one of the principal ports of that country.
A few Jewish families were living there in 1740.
Among the synagogue deeds is a lease of a garden,
dated 1753, the signature to which is witnessed by
one Jac. Myer Sherrenbek ; it evidently refers to the
old burial-ground near the Citadel. In 1763 the
mayor and commonalty leased to Samuel Chapman
a plot of ground for ninety -nine years; and one
Chapman executed a deed of trust reciting that the
lease had been acquired by him at the sole expense
" of the said J. J. Sherrenbek and Gumpert Michael

Plymouth
Poetry

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Emdon, elders of the Synagogue of the Jews." In
the same year £300 was raised on mortgage "to
' complete the buildings, edifices, and erections now
building thereon, and which is designed for a Jew-
ish synagogue or place of worship for those profess-
ing the Jewish religion." In 1786 this lease was
surrendered, and a new one was entered into with
live leading Protestant citizens, who held the same
in trust for one A. Joseph. Eleven years later an-
other lease was granted to the following three
Jewish holders: Henry Hart, Joseph Joseph, and
Samuel Hart ; and in 1834 the freehold of the syna-
gogue was transferred to other trustees. In 1868 a
new burial-ground, adjoining the Christian ceme-
tery, was acquired; and in 1873 the congregation
purchased the ground on which the synagogue
house now stands.

One of the most prominent of Plymouth Jews
was the late Jacob Nathan, who left a considerable
sum of money to Jewish and Christian local chari-
ties. Among his bequests was one of £13,000
(165,000) to found and maintain a Jewish school
for the poor. This school was established in 1869,
and has an average attendance of fifteen scholars.
Solomon Alexander Hart, R.A., a native of Plym-
outh, bequeathed £1,000 to the congregation, and
one of his masterpieces, "The Execution of Lady
Jane Grey," to the corporation. It is one of the
chief adornments of the municipal chamber.

The synagogue in Catherine street retains its an-
cient features — a latticed women's gallery, a beauti-
fully carved wooden Ark, antique silver sets of
bells, and old braaswork. It has a membership of 70.
There are, besides the Jacob Nathan Day School,
two Jewish charities, the Ladies' Hebrew Benevo-
lent Society and the Sick Visiting Society. There are
also several Jewish social institutions. The Jews of
Plymouth number about 300 in a total population of
107,500. Except for two families, the present (1905)
Jewish community comprises recent settlers.

BiBLiOGKiPHY : Jewish Year Book, 1904.
J. L H.

POBYEDONOSTZEV. See Russia.

POCHOWITZEB, (PUCHOWITZER), JTJ-
DAH LOB BEN JOSEPH : Russian rabbi and
preacher ; flourished at Pinsk in the latter part of tlie
seventeenth century ; died in Palestine, whither he
went before 1681. He was the author of : "Keneh
Hokmah" (Prankfort-on-the-Oder, 1681), a work
consisting of seventeen "derashot" on penitence;
" Derek Hokmah " {ib. 1683), a treatise in thirty-two
sections on morals ; " Dibre Hakamim " (Hamburg,
1692), a work in two parts: the first, entitled " Da'at
Hokmah," being a treatise in four sections on morals
and asceticism; the second, "Meljor Hokmah," con-
taining notes to the Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah Hayyim,
up to No. 340. At the end of this work is a pam-
phlet entitled "Solet Belulah," containing novelise
on the Talmud. Tliirty-two treatises taken from
the above-mentioned works were published in one
volume by Solomon Pinkerle under the title "Kebod
gakamim " (Venice, 1700).

Bibliography : Fiirst, Bihl. Jud. lil. 108 ; Nepl-Ghirondl, Tole-
dot Gedole Tisrael, p. 189 ; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols.
1386-1367.
K. M. Set..

POCOCK, EDWARD: English Christian Ori-
entalist and theologian; born at Oxford Nov. 8,
1604; died there Sept. 12, 1691. He studied Orien-
tal languages at Oxford and elsewhere ; was chap-
lain of the English " Turkey Merchants " in Aleppo
from 1630 to 1636 ; and became professor of Arabic
at Oxford in 1686. He spent the period from 1637
to 1640 in Constantinople, and on returning to Eng-
land in 1647 resumed his professorship of Arabic at
Oxford; he became professor of Hebrew, also, in
1649, which position he held until his death, al-
though frequently attacked for political reasons.
During his stay in the East he collected many valu-
able manuscripts, among them one of the Samaritan
Pentateuch.

Among Pocock's works may be mentioned
"Porta Mosis" (Oxford, 1655), a translation of six
sections of Maimonides' commentary on the Mish-
nah (Arabic text in Hebrew characters, with Latin
translation). This was the first book printed in
Hebrew characters in Oxford. In 1657 was pub-
lished Walton's polyglot edition of the Bible, for
which Pocock collated manuscripts of the Arabic
Pentateuch and furnished notes explaining the dif-
ferent Arabic versions.

Pocock was the author of the following commen-
taries: on Micah and Malachi (Oxford, 1677); on
Hosea (ib. 1685); and on Joel (ib. 1691). These
commentaries evidence the wide extent of Pocock's
knowledge of Hebrew language and science, rab-
binical and sacred.

Bibliography : Twells, The Life of Dr. Edward Pocoek,
London, 1740: AUibone, Diet, of BritMh and American
Authors ; McCllntock and Strong, Cyc.; Dictionary of
National Biography.
T. P. T. H.

PODIEBRAD, DAVID: Austrian writer ; born
in 1816 ; died Aug. 2, 1882. He received his educa-
tion in the yeshibah of Prague and by private tui-
tion. He was especially interested in the history
of the Jews in Prague, where for thirty years he
occupied the position of secretary of the hebra
kaddisha. He collected many manuscripts and me-
morials concerning the Jews of Prague. He pub-
lished Benedict Poges' work, " Altertilraer der Prager
Josef stadt," Prague, 1870, which was based mainly
on documents collected by Podiebrad.

s- A. Ki.

PODIVIN. SeeKosTEL.

PODOLIA : Government in southwestern Rus-
sia, on the Austrian frontier (Galicia). It is a center
of many important events in the history of the Rus^
sian Jews. Polish and Russian documents of 1550
mention Jewish communities in Podolia, but from
tombstones discovered in some towns of the govern-
ment it is evident that Jews had lived there much
earlier. (For the earlier history see Lithuania and
Russia; for the sufferings of the Jews in the middle
of the seventeenth century see Cossacks' Uprising ;
for the revolt of the Ukrainians against the Jews of
Podolia in the eighteenth century see Haidamacks.)
Ruined by persecutions lasting for centuries, Podolia
became the breeding-place of superstition and re-
ligious intolerance, which flourished there more than
in any other place within the Pale. Owing to the
extremely impoverished condition of its Jews, Shab-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Plymouth
Poetry

bethai Zebi, the Pranklsts, and the Hasldim found
in Podolia a most fertile soil for the spread of their
doctrines (see Ba'al Shbm-Tob; Frank, Jacob;
Hasidim). Podolia was annexed to Russia at the
end of the eighteenth century. The Jewish popula-
tion of Podolia in 1887 was 335,907— about 12 per
cent of the general population ; the Jews still live
mostly in small towns and villages. The capital of

Podolia is KAJrENETZ-PoDOLSK.

Bibliography : Orshanskl, Tevrei v RosHi ; Bershadski, Li-
toDsWj/e Tevrei ; Litinskl, ^orot ha-Tehvdim be-Podolia
(unreliable); Voshlwd, 1897; Hannover, Yewen Me'-uTah.
H. a. S. Hu.

Podolia: Population (Census of 1897).

District.

Total
Population.

Balta

Bratzlav (Braslavl).

6al.sln

Kamenetz

Letiohev

Litin

UoRtillef

Ol'gopol

Prokurov

Ushitza

Vinnitza

Yampol

Total in Government.

390,978
241,949
248,380
266,506
184,551
210,350
227,651
284,523
225,590
228,478
248,344
266,247

3,018,551

Jewish
Population.

53,075
28,547
22,048
37,486
24,365
24,018
33,119
32,630
27,401
25,846
30,670
27,792

306,597

13.57
11.80
8.88
14.06
13.20
11.47
14.55
11.47
12.15
UM
12.35
10.44

10.12

H. E. V. R.

POETBT.— Biblical : The question whether
the literature of the ancient Hebrews includes por-
tions that may be called poetry is answered by the
ancient Hebrews themselves. A distinction be-
tween different classes of writings is evident in such
a fact as that the section II Sam. xxiii. 1-7 is
designated In the (later) heading as " the last words
of David," although other utterances of this king
are reported as late as I Kings ii. 9 ; It is not known,
however, whether the words of David cited in
II Sam. I.e. are called his "last words" on account
of their substance or of their form. Again, the au-
thor of Ps. xlv. has designated it as a "ma'aseh,"
i.e., "a product"; and this expression corresponds in
a remarkable degree with the Greek nolnaLi, although
he may have applied that term to the psalm only on
account of its contents. But that the ancient He-
brews perceived there were poetical portions in their
literature is shown by their entitling songs or chants
such passages as Ex. xv. 1 et seg. and Num. xxi. 17 et
seg. ; and a song or chant (" shir ") is, according to the
primary -meaning of the term, poetry. In the first
place, therefore, these songs of the Old Testament
must be considered if the qualities that distinguish
the poetical products of the ancient Hebrews from
their ordinary mode of literary presentation are to be
determined.

Characteristics of Ancient Hebrew Poetry : (1) An-
cient Hebrew poetry contains no rime. Although
the first song mentioned above (Ex. xv. 1 ei seg.)
contains a-ssonance at the ends of the lines, as in
"anwehu" and "aromemenhu" (ii. verse 3), such
consonance of "hu" (= "him") can not well be
avoided in Hebrew, because many pronouns are
affixed to words. Furthermore, rime occurs only
as sporadically in Hebrew poems as in Shakespeare;
e.g. , in " thing " and " king " at the end of the second

act of " Hamlet. " There is no poem in the Old Tes-
tament with a final rime in every line; although
Bellermann (" Versuch ilber die MetrikderHebraer,"
1813, p. 210) alludes to an exception, meaning prob-
ably Ps. cxxxvi., the rime throughout which poem
consists only in the frequent repetition of the word
"hasdo." H. Grimme has stated in his article
" Durchgereimte Gedichte im A. T." (in Barden-
hewer's "Bibl. Studien," 1901, vi. 1, 3) that such
poems are represented by Ps. xlv., liv., and Sirach
(Ecclus.) xliv. 1-14; but he regards the consonance
of final consonants as rime, e.g.," ozneA; " and " abik "
(Ps. xlv. 11), while rime proper demands at least the
assonance of the preceding vowel.

(3) The employment of unusual forms of lan-
guage can not be considered as a sign of ancient
Hebrew poetry. In the sentences of Noah, e.g. , (Gen.
ix. 35-37) the form "lamo " occurs. But this form,

which represents partly " lahem " and

Unusual partly " lo, " has many counterparts in

Forms. Hebrew grammar, as, for example,

" kemo " instead of " ke " (Ex. xv. 5,

8); or"emo'

' them " (ib. verses 9, 15) ; or " emo '

= " their " (Ps. ii. 3) ; or " elemo " = " to them "
(ib. verse 5) — forms found in passages for which no
claim to poetical expressions is made. Then there
are found " hayeto " = " beast " (Gen. i. 34), " osri "
= ''tying" (ib. xlix. 11), and "yeshu'atah" =
" salvation " (Ps. iii. 3) — three forms that probably
retain remnants of the old endings of the nomina-
tive, genitive, and accusative: "u(n)," "i(n),"
"a(n)." Again, in Lamech's words, "Adah and
Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech,
harken unto my speech " (Gen. iv. 23), the two
words " he'ezin " and " Imrah " attract attention, be-
cause they occur for the first time in this passage,
although there had been an earlier opportunity of
using them. " He'ezin " = " to harken " could have
been used just as well as its synonym "shama'"
= "to hear" in Gen. iii. 8, 10 et seg., but its earliest
employment is in the above-cited passage Gen.
iv. 33. It occurs also in Ex. xv. 26; Num. xxiii.
18 (a sentence of Balaam); Deut. i. 45, xxxii. 1;
Judges V. 3; Isa. i. 3, 10; viii. 9; xxviii. 33; xxxii.
9; xlii. 33; Ii. 4; Ixiv. 3; Jer. xiii. 15; Hos. v. 1;
Joel i. 3 ; Neh. ix. 30 (in a prayer) ; and in II Chron.
xxiv. 19 (probably an imitation of Isa. Ixiv. 3).
Furthermore, " imrah" = " speech" might have been
used instead of the essentially identical " dabar " in
Gen. xi. 1 et seg., but its earliest use is, as stated
above, in Gen. iv. 23. It is found also in Deut.
xxxii. 2, xxxiii. 9; II Sam. xxii. 31; Isa. v. 24,
xxviii. 33, xxix. 4, xxxii. 9; Ps. xii. 7, etc. ; Prov.
XXX. 5 ; and Lam. ii. 17. In place of " adam " =
"man" (Gen. i. 36 et seg.) "enosh" is employed in
Deut. xxxii. 26; Isa. viii. 1; xiii. 7, 13; xxiv. 6;
xxxiii. 8; 11. 7, 13; Ivi. 3; Jer. xx. 10; Ps. viii. 5,
ix. 20, X. 18, Iv. 14, Ivi. 2, Ixvi. 13, Ixxiii. 5, xc.
3, ciii. 15, civ. 15, ex liv. 3; Job iv. 17; v. 17; vii.
1, 17; ix. 3; x. 4; xiii. 9; xiv. 19; xv. 14; xxv. 4,
6; xxviii. 4, 13; xxxii. 8; xxxiii. 13, 36; xxxvi. 25;
II Chron. xiv. 10 (comp. the Aramaic "enash" in
Dan. ii. 10; Ezra iv. 11, vi. 11). For a systematic
review of similar unusual forms of Hebrew gram-
mar and Hebrew words occurring in certain por-
tions of the Old Testament see E. KOnig, "StiUs-

Poetry

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

tik, " etc. , pp. 377-283. Such forms have been called
" dlalectus poetica " smce the publication of Robert
Lowth's " Praelectiones de Sacra Poesi Hebrseorum, "
iii. (1753); but this designation is ambiguous and
can be accepted only in agreement with the rule " a
parte potiori fit denominatio " ; for some of these
unusual forms and words are found elsewhere than
in the "songs" of the Old Testament, as, e.g., the
" hayeto " of Gen. i. 24 mentioned above, which was
probably preferred as an archaic form in the solemn
utterance of God, while in the following sentences
of the narrator (verse 25) the ordinary form " hayyat "
is used.

Again, these unusual forms and expressions do
not occur in all songs (comp. Num. xxi. 17 et seq.
and II Sam. iii. 33 et seq.), and there are several of
the Psalms that have none of these peculiarities, as,
for instance, Ps. cxlix., although the opportunity
to use them existed. The present writer is of opin-
ion that the use of these peculiar forms of expres-
sion is connected more with the tastes of a certain
(earlier) period, when unusual, archaic, and dialectic
forms were chosen to embellish the diction. The fact
that "he'ezin" occurs also in II Chron. xxiv.
19 is explainable likewise on the theory that
poetico-rhetorical expressions later became compo-
nent parts of common speech, as, for example,
"hammah" = "glowing one," a rare expression in
Biblical Hebrew for the sun (Isa. xxiv. 23, etc.), but
one which is frequently used in this sense in the
Mishnah (Ber. i. 3; iii. 5, etc.).

(3) Not even the " parallelismus membrorum " is
an absolutely certain indication of ancient Hebrew
poetry. This "parallelism" is a phenomenon no-
ticed in the portions of the Old Testament that
are at the same time marked fre-

Parallel- quently by the so-called "dialectus
ism. poetica"; it consists in a remarkable
correspondence in the ideas expressed
in two successive verses ; for example, the above-
cited words of Lamech, " Adah and Zillah, hear my
voice ; ye wives of Lamech, barken unto my speech "
(Gen. iv. 23), in which are found "he'ezin" and
"imrah," show a remarkable repetition of the same
thought. See PAEALiiELisM IN Hbbkbw Pobtky.

But this ideal eurythmy is not always present in
the songs of the Old Testament or in the Psalter,
as the following passages will show : " The Lord is
my strength and song, and he is become my salva-
tion " (Ex. XV. 2). " Saul and Jonathan, the beloved
and the lovely, in life and in death they were not
divided " (H. P. Smith, in " International Commen-
tary," on II Sam. i. 23). "Ye daughters of Israel,
weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, and fine
linen " {ib. 24). " And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season " (Ps. i. 3 ; comp. ib. ii. 12) ; " I laid me
down and slept ; I awaked ; for the Lord sustained
me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,
that have set themselves against me round about "
(ib. iii. 6-7 [A. V. 5-6] ; see also ib. iv. 7 et seq., ix. 4
et seq.). Julius Ley ("Leitfaden der Hebraischen
Metrik," 1887, p. 10) says therefore correctly that
"the poets did not consider themselves bound by
parallelism to' such an extent as not to set it aside
when the thought required it." This restriction

rau.st be made to James Robertson's view ("The
Poetry of the Psalms," 1898, p. 160): "The distin-
guishing feature of the Hebrew poetry ... is the
rhythmical balancing of parts, or parallelism of
thought. "

(4) The poetry of the ancient Hebrews is not dis-
tinguished from tlie other parts of the Old Testa-
ment by rhythm based on quantity,

Quautita- though in view of Greek and Roman
tive poetry it was natural to seek such a

Bhythm. rhythm in the songs and Psalms of the
Old Testament. William Jones, for
example ("Poeseos Asiaticse Commentarii," ch. ii.,
London, 1774), attempted to prove that there was a
definite sequence of long and short syllables in the
ancient Hebrew poems ; but he could support this
thesis only by changing the punctuation in many
ways, and by allowing great license to the Hebrew
poets. However, on reading the portions of the
Old Testament marked by the so-called " dialectus
poetica" or by parallelism (e.g.. Gen. iv. 33 et seq.)
no such sequence of long and short syllables can
be discovered ; and Sievers (" Metrische TJntersuch-
ungen," 1901, § 53) says: "Hebrew prosody is not
based on quantity as classical prosody is."

(5) Hebrew poetic form is based on accent. Al-
though Hubert Grimme recognizes this fact, he is in
danger of recurring to the view that quantitative
meter may be found in ancient Hebrew poetry, hav-
ing recently formulated his rules in his " Metres et
Strophes" (1901, pp. 3 et seq.) and in "Psalmenpro-
bleme " (1902, pp. 4 et seq.). Nivard Schloegl ("Ec-
clesiasticus," 1901, p. xxi.) also adopts this view.
Although both admit that the Hebrew poet regarded
the accented syllables as the chief syllables of the
line, they hold that these syllables contained a
certain number of morse, only a certain number of
which could occur between two accented syllables.
This view is too mechanical, in the present writer's
opinion ; and Sievers also says (I.e. § 81) : " Grimme's
morse are more than questionable."

Gustav Bickell holds that the poetical rhythm of
the Hebrews consisted in the regular succession of
accented and unaccented syllables, saying distinctly :
" The metrical accent falls regularly upon every al-
ternate syllable" ("Z. D. M. G." 1881, pp. 415, 418

et seq.). This statement, however,

Bickell's does not agree with the nature of He-

Recon- brew poetry as it actually exists, as has

struction. nowhere else been more clearly proved

than in Jacob Ecker's "Professor
Bickell's ' Carmina Veteris Testamenti Metrice,'das
Neueste Denkmal auf dem Kirchhof der Hebra-
ischen Metrik" (1883). Ecker shows in this pam-
phlet that Bickell removed or added about 2,600 syl-
lables in the Psalms in order to obtain the " regular
succession of accented and unaccented syllables."
As illustrating the shortcomings of Bickell's view it
may be pointed out that he holds that the poetic
portions of the Book of Job are composed in cata-
lectic iambic tetrameters; hence he transcribes Job
xxxii. 6 as follows: "Ca'ir ani lejamim, V'attem
sabim jeshishim; 'Al-ken zachfilt vaira', Mechav-
vot di'i et'khem "—i.e., he adds the word " zabim,"
and suppresses the afformative "i" of "zahalti," al-
though the "1 " distinguishes this form from that of

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poetry

the second person singular feminine ; hence it is not
surprising tliat Sievers says {I.e. § 55): "I can do
uotliing further with Bickell's system."

Most scliolars now hold that the Hebrew poet con-
sidered only the syllables receiving the main accent,
and did not count the intervening ones. Examples
contrary to this are not found in passages where
forms of the so-called " dialectus poetica " are used,
as Ley holds in his "GrundzUge des Rhythmus,
des Vers- und Strophenbaues in der Hebraischen
Poesie," pp. 99, 116; and the present writer has
proved (in his "Stilistik," etc., p. 333, for example)
that the choice of " lamo " instead of " lahem " favors
in only a few passages the opinion that the poet in-
tended to cause an accented syllable to be followed
by an unaccented one. Such passages are: Gen.
ix. 26 ; Ps. xliv. 4, Ixvi. 7 ; Job xxiv. 17,
Accentual xxxix. 4; andLam. i. 19. Ley has not

Bhythm. noted that the choice of " lamo " dis-
turbs the mechanical succession of un-
accented and accented syllables in the following pas-
sages: Deut. xxxii. 33, 35; xxxlii. 2; Ps. ii.4; xxviii.
8 ; xliv. 11 ; xHx. 14 ; Iv. 30 ; Ivi. 8 ; Iviii. 5, 8 ; lix. 9 ;
Ixiv. 6; Ixxiii. 6, 10, 18; Ixxviii. 24, 66; Ixxx. 7;
Ixxxviii. 9; xcix. 7; cxix.165; Prov. xxiii. 20; Job
iii. 14; vi. 19; xiv. 21; xv. 28; xxii. 17, 19; xxiv.
16; XXX. 13; Lam. i. 23; iv. 10, 15 (for other exam-
ples see Konig, I.e. pp. 333 et seg.). Hence most
scholars now hold that the rhythm of Hebrew poetry
is similar to that of the German " NibeUingenlied "
— a view that is strongly supported by the nature
of the songs sung to-day by the populace of modern
Palestine. These songs have been described by L.
Schneller in his"Kennst Du das Land?" (section
" Mnsik ") in the following words : " The rhythms
arc manifold; there may be eight accents in one
line, and three syllables are often inserted between
two accents, the symmetry and variation being de-
termined by emotion and sentiment." Not less
interesting are G. Dalman's recent observations in
Palestine. He says : " Lines with two, three, four,
and five accented syllables maj' be distinguished,
between which one to three, and even four, unac-
cented syllables may be inserted, the poet being
bound by no definite number in his poem. Occa-
sionally two accented syllables are joined " ("Palas-
tinischer Diwan," 1901, p. xxiii.).

Such free rhythms are, in the present writer's
opinion, found also in the poetry of the Old Testa-
ment. Under the stress of their thoughts and feel-
ings the poets of Israel sought to achieve merely the
material, not the formal symmetry of correspond-
ing lines. This may be observed, for example,
in the following lines of Ps. ii. : " Serve the Lord
with fear" ("'Ibdu et-YnwH be-yir'ah," verse 11),
" rejoice with trembling " (" we-gilu bi-re'adah," ib.).
This is shown more in detail by KOnig, I.e. p. 334;
and Cornill has confirmed this view (" Die Metrischen
StUcke des Buches Jeremia," 1901, p. viii.) by say-
ing: "Equal length of the several stichoi was not
the basic formal law of Jeremiah's metric construc-
tion. " Sievers is inclined to restrict Hebrew rhythm
by various rules, as he attacks (I.e. §§ 52, 88) Budde's
correct view, that " a foot which is lacking in one-
half of a verse may find a substitute in the more
ample thought of this shorter line " (" Handkommen-

tar zu Hiob," p. xlvii.). Furthermore, the verse of
the Old Testament poetry is naturally iambic or
anapestic, as the words are accented on one of the
final syllables.

A special kind of rhythm may be observed in the
dirges, called by the Hebrews "kinot." A whole
book of these elegies is contained in the Old Testa-
ment, the first of them beginning thus: "How doth
the city sit solitary — that was full of people — how
is she become as a widow — she that was great
among the nations — and princess among the prov-
inces—how is she become tributary ! " (Lam. i. 1).

The rhythm of such lines lies in the

The fact that a longer line is always fol-

Dirg'ss. lowed by a shorter one. As in the

hexameter and pentameter of Latin
poetry, this change was intended to symbohze the
idea that a strenuous advance in life is followed
by fatigue or reaction. This rhythm, which may
be designated "elegiac measure," occurs also in
Amos V. 2, expressly designated as a kinah. The
sad import of his prophecies induced Jeremiah also
to employ the rhythm of the dirges several times in
his utterances (Jer. ix. 20, xiii. 18 et seg.). He refers
here expressly to the " mekonenot " (the mourning
women) who in the East still chant the death-song
to the trembling tone of the pipe (ib. xlviii. 36 et
seg.). " Kinot " are found also in Ezek. xix. 1 ; xxvi.
17; xxvii. 2; xxxii. 2 et seg., 16, 19 et seg. This
elegiac measure, being naturally a well-known
one, was used also elsewhere, as, for example, in
Ps. xix. 8-10. The rhythm of the kinah has been
analyzed especially by Budde (in Stade's "Zeit-
schrift," 1883, pp. 299 et seg.). Similar funeral songs
of the modern Arabs are quoted by Wetzstein (in
"Zeitschrift filr Ethnologic," v. 398 et seg.), as, e.g. :
" O, if he only could be ransomed ! truly, I would
pay the ransom! " (see KOnig, I.e. pp. 315 et seg.).

A special kind of rhythm was produced by the
frequent employment of the so-called anadiplosis, a
mode of speech in which the phrase at the end of
one sentence is repeated at the beginning of the
next, as, for instance, in the passages " they came not

to the help of the Lord [i.e., to protect

Ana- Yhwh's people], to the help of the

diplosis. Lord against the mighty " (Judges

V. 28; comp. "zidkot" [ib. lla] and
" nilhamu " [ib. 19a-20a, b]), and " Prom whence shall
my help come? My help cometh from the Lord"
(Ps. cxxi. lb-2a, R. V.). Many similar passages
occur in fifteen of the Psalms, cxx.-cxxxiv., which
also contain an unusual number of epanalepses, or
catch-words, for which the present writer has pro-
posed the name " Leittbne." Thus there is the repe-
tition of "shakan" in Ps. cxx. 5, 6; of "shalom"
in verses 6 and 7 of the same chapter; and the catch-
word " yishmor " in Ps. cxxi. 7, 8 (all the cases are
enumerated in Kenig, I.e. p. 303). As the employ-
ment of such repetitions is somewhat suggestive of
the mounting of stairs, the superscription "shir
ha-ma'alot," found at the beginning of these fifteen
psalms, may have a double meaning : it may indicate
not only the purpose of these songs, to be sung on the
pilgrimages to the festivals at Jerusalem, but also
the peculiar construction of the songs, by which
the reciter is led from one step of the inner life to

Poetry

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

the next. Such graduated rhythm may be observed
elsewhere ; for the peasants in modern Syria accom-
pany their national dance by a song the verses of
which are connected like the links of a chain, each
verse beginning with the final words of the prece-
ding one (Wetzstein, I.e. v. 292).

Alphabetical acrostics are used as an external em-
bellishment of a few poems. The letters of the
alphabet, generally in their ordinary sequence, stand
at the beginning of smaller or larger sections of Ps.
ix.-x. (probably), xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii., cxi., cxii.,
cxix.,cxlv. ; Prov. xxxi. 10-31 ; Lam.
Acrostics, i.-iv. ; and also of Sirach (Ecclus.) li.
13-29, as the newly discovered He-
brew text of this book has shown (see Acrostics,
and, on Ps. xxv. and xxxiv. especially, Hirsch in
"Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." 1902, pp. 167-173). Al-
phabetical and other acrostics occur frequently in
Neo-Hebraic poetry (Winter and Wilnsche, "Die
JildischeLiteraturseit Abschlussdes Kanons," 1894-
1896, iii. 10). The existence of acrostics in Baby-
lonian literature has been definitely proved (H.
Zimmern, in "Zeitschrift filr Keilschriftforschung,"
1895, p. 15) ; and alphabetical poems are found also
among the Samaritans, Syrians, and Arabs. Cicero
says ("De Divinatione," II., liv.) that the verse of
the sibyl was in acrostics; and the so-called "Orac-
ula Sibyllina" contain an acrostic in book 8, lines
317-250.

A merely secondary phenomenon, which distin-
guishes a part of the poems of the Old Testament
from the other parts, is the so-called "accentuatio
poetica " ; yet it calls for some mention, because it
has been much slighted recently (Sievers, I.e. § 248,
p. 375). Although not all the poetical portions of
the Old Testament are marked by a special accentu-
ation, it is noteworthy that the Book of Job in iii.
3-xlii. 6 and the books of Psalms and Proverbs
throughout have received unusual accents. This
point will be further discussed later on.

Correct insight into the rhythm of the poetry of
the Old Testament did not die out entirely in Jew-
ish tradition ; for Judah ha-Levi says (in his " Cu-
zavi," ed. in Arabic and German by H.
Survivals Hirschfeld, 1885-87, ii., §§ 69 ct seq.):
of " ' Hodu le-YHWH ki-tob ' [Ps. cxxxvi.

Rliyth.m. 1] may be recited ' empty and full '
in the modulation of ' le'oseh nifla-
'ot gedolot lebaddo ' " (verse 4), meaning that an
" empty " line of the poem may be modulated in the
same way as a " full " line, the rhythm consequently
not being dependent on a mechanical correspondence
of the number of syllables. It is true that Josephus
says that Moses composed the song in Ex. xv. 2
et seq. ev i^a/iETptp T6v(p {" Ant." ii. 16, § 4), but he
probably found mere superficial resemblances to
hexameters in the rhythm of Hebrew poetry. The
same holds good of the statements of Jerome and
other Christian writers (KSnig, I.e. pp. 341 et seq.).

Division of the Poetical Portions of the Old Testa-
ment According to Their Contents : (a) First may be
mentioned poems that deal principally with events,
being epic-lyric in character: the triumphal song
of Israel delivered from Egypt, or the Sea song
(Ex. XV. 1-18); the mocking song on the burning
of Heshbon (Num. xxi. 27-30) ; the so-called Swan

song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 1-43); the song of Deb-
orah (Judges v.); the derisive song of victory of
the Israelitish women (" Saul hath slain, " etc. ; I Sam.
xviii. 7); Hannah's song of praise (ib. ii. 1-10);
David's song of praise on being saved from his ene-
mies (II Sam. xxli.); Hezekiah's song of praise on
his recovery (Isa. xxxviii. 9-20); Jonah's song of
praise (Jonah ii. 3-10) ; and many of the Psalms,
e.g., those on the creation of the world (viii., civ.),
and on the election of Israel (xcix., c, cv.). A sub-
division is formed by poems that deal more with de-
scription and praise : the so-called Well song (Num.
xxi. 17 et seq.); the song of praise on the uniqueness
of the God of Israel (Ps. xcv., xcvii.); and those
on His eternity (ib. xc.); His omnipresence and
omniscience (ib. cxxxix.); and His omnipotence
(ib. cxv.).

(b) Poems appealing more to reason, being essen-
tially didactic in character. These include: fables,
like that of Jotham (Judges ix. 7-15, although in
prose) ; parables, like those of Nathan and others (II
Sam. xii. 1-4, xiv. 4-9; I Kings xx. 39 et seq., all
three in prose), or in the form of a song (Isa. v.
1-6) ; riddles (Judges xiv. 14 et seq. ; Prov. xxx. 11
et seq.); maxims, as, for instance, in I Sam. xv. 22,
xxiv. 14, and the greater part of Proverbs; the
monologues and dialogues in Job iii. 3 et seq. ; com-

- pare also the reflections in monologue
Didactic in Ecclesiastes. A number of the
Poems. Psalms also are didactic in character.
A series of them impresses the fact
that Thwh's law teaches one to abhor sin (Ps, v.,
Iviii.), and inculcates a true love for the Temple and
the feasts of Yhwh (Ps. xv., Ixxxi., xcii.). Another
series of Psalms shows that God is just, although it
may at times seem different to a short-sighted ob-
server of the world and of history (" theodicies " :
Ps. xlix., Ixxiii. ; comp. ib. xvi., Ivi., Ix.).

(c) Poems that portray feelings based on individ-
ual experience. Many of these lyrics express joy,
as, e.g., Lamech's so-called song of the Sword (Gen.
iv. 23 et seq.); David's "last words" (II Sam. xxiii.
1-7) ; the words of praise of liberated Israel (Isa.
xii. 1-6); songs of praise like Ps. xviii., xxiv.,
cxxvi., etc. Other lyrics express mourning. First
among these are the dirges proper for the dead, as

the kinah on the death of Saul and
Lyrics. Jonathan (II Sam. i. 19-27); that on

Abner's death (ib. iii. 33 et seq.) ; and
all psalms of mourning, as, e.g., the expressions of
sorrow of sufferers (Ps. xvi., xxii., xxvii,, xxxix.),
and the expressions of penitence of sinners (ib. vi.,
xxxii., xxxviii., Ii., cvi., cxxx,, cxliii.).

(d) Finally, a large group of poems of the Old
Testament that urge action and are exhortatory.
These may be divided into two sections : (1) The poet
wishes something for himself, as in the so-called
"signal words " (Num. x. Z^etseq., "Arise, Yhwh,"
etc.) ; at the beginning of the Well song (ib. xxi. 17 et
seq., " ali be'er ") ; in the daring request, " Sun, stand
thou still" (Josh. x. 12); in Habakkuk's prayer
(" tefiUah " ; Hab. iii. 1-19) ; or in psalms of request for
help in time of war (xliv., Ix., etc.) or for liberation
from prison (cxxii.,cxxxvii., etc.). (2) Thepoetpro-
nounces blessings upon others, endeavoring to move
God to grant these wishes. To this group belong

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poetry

the blessing of Noah (Gen. ix. 25-27), of Isaac {ib.
xxlx. 28e<seg,).and of Jacob(iJ. xlix. 3-27); Jethro's
congratulation of Israel (Ex. xviii. 10); the blessing
of Aaron (Num. vi. 24-26) and of Balaam {ib. xxiii.
7-10, 18-24; xxlv. 5-9, 17-24) ; Moses' farewell (Deut.
xxxiii. 1 etseg.); the psalms that begin with " Ashre "
= "Blessed is," etc., or contain this phrase, as Ps. 1.,
xli., Ixxxiv. Setseq., 13, cxii., cxix., cxxviii.

It was natural that in the drama, which is in-
tended to portray a whole series of external and in-
ternal events, several of the foregoing kinds of poems
should be combined. This combination occurs in
Canticles, which, in the present writer's opinion, is
most correctly characterized as a kind of drama.

The peculiar sublimity of the poems of the Old
Testament is due partly to the high development
■of monotheism which finds expression therein and
partly to the beauty of the moral ideals which
i;hey exalt. This subject has been discussed in a
masterly way by J. D. Michaelis in the preface to his
Arabic grammar, 2d ed., pp. xxix. et seq., and by
Kautzsch in " Die Poesie und die Poetischen Bilcher
■des A. T." (1902).

The more recent comparative study of the history
oi literature has brought out the interesting fact
that the poetic portions of the several literatures
■date from an earlier time than the prose portions.
This fact was even recognized by the Romans, as is
;shown by several sentences by Strabo and Varro
that have been collected by E. Norden in his work
■" Antike Kunstprosa," 1898, p. 33. It therefore cor-
responds to the general analogy of the

Relative history of literature that the poetic

Age narrative of the battle of the Israelites

of Poetry, against the northern Canaanites, which

is usually called the song of Deborah

'(Judges V. 1 et seq.), is held by modern scholars to

be an earlier account of this historic event than the

prose narrative of the battle (found ib. Iv. 14 et seq.).

Modern scholars generally agree on this point in ref-

•erence to the relative antiquity of prose and poetry.

Wellhausen says expressly : " We know that songs

like Josh. x. 12 et seq.. Judges v., II Sam. i. 19e< seq.,

iii. 33 et seq., are the earliest historical monuments "

.("Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels," viil. 2).

But now a new question has arisen as to the rela-
tion between prose and poetry in the Old Testament,
which calls for brief discussion in the final section
•of this article.

How much of the Old Testament is to be included
under poetry? This is the most recent question re-
garding the Old Testament poetry ; and several schol-
ars are inclined to answer that the entire Hebrew
Bible is poetry. Hence the following points call for
•examination: (a) Can the prophetic books be con-
sidered as poetry? Setting aside the many modern
exegetes of the Old Testament who have gone so far
.as to discuss the meters and verse of the several
prophets, it may be noted here merely
Extent of that Sievers says (I.e. p. 374) that

Poetry the prophecies, aside from a few ex-

in the Old ceptions to be mentioned, are eo ipso

'Testament, poetic, i.e., in verse. But the fact

must be noted, which no one has so

far brought forward, namely, that every single ut-

-terance of Balaam is called a sentence ("mashal";

X.— 7

Num. xxiii. 7, 18 ; xxiv. 3, 15, 20, 23), while in the
prophetic books this term is not applied to the
prophecies. There " mashal " is used only in the
Book of Ezekiel, and in an entirely different sense,
namely, that of figurative speech or allegory (Ezek.
xvii. 2, xxi. 5, xxiv. 3). This fact seems to show
that in earlier times prophecies were uttered more
often in shorter sentences, while subsequently, in
keeping with the development of Hebrew literature,
they were uttered more in detail, and the sentence
was naturally amplified into the discourse. This
view is supported by Isa. i., the first prophecy
being as follows: "Banim giddalti we-romamti,"
etc. There is here certainly such a symmetry in
the single sentences that the rhythm which has been
designated above as the poetic rhythm must be
ascribed to them. But in the same chapter there
occur also sentences like the following : " Arzekem
shemamah 'arekem serufot-esh; admatekem le-neg-
dek§m zarim okelim otah " (verse 7), or this, " When
ye come to appear before me, who hath required
this at your hand, to tread my courts? " (verse 12).
In the last pair of lines even the translation suffi-
ciently shows that each line does not contain three
stresses merely, as does each line of the words of
God (verses 2b, 3a, b). Hence the present writer
concludes as follows: Although the prophets of
Israel inserted poems in their prophecies (Isa. v. 1
et seq.), or adopted occasionally the rhythm of the
dirge, which was well known to their readers (Amos
V. 2 et seq. ; see above), their utterances, aside
from the exceptions to be noted, were in the freer
rhythm of prose. This view is confirmed by a sen-
tence of Jerome that deserves attention. He says in
his preface to his translation of Isaiah : " Let no one
think that the prophets among the Hebrews were
bound by meter similar to that of the Psalms."
Finally, the present writer thinks tha,t he has proved
in his pamphlet "Neueste Prinzipien der Alttesta-
mentlichen Kritik," 1902, pp. 31 et seq., that even
the latest attempts to find strophes in Amos i. 2 et
seq. are unsuccessful.

(6) Some scholars have endeavored to include in
poetry the historical books of the Old Testament
also. Sievers includes, besides, the prologue and
the epilogue of the Book of Job. The first line is as
follows : " There was a man in the land of Uz, whose
name was Job," the Hebrew text of which has, ac-
cording to Sievers, six stresses ; the next line, which
may be translated "and that man was perfect and
upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil,"
contains, according to the same writer, eight stresses.
The next line has also six stresses, but then fqllovv
lines with 4 -f 3, 3 + 3, 3, 4, 6, 4 -|- 3, 4 + 3 stresse^.
However, the form of these lines is not such as to
justify one in removing the barrier that exists by
virtue of the differences in the very contents of the
prologue, the epilogue, and the dialogues of the
book, between i. 1 etseq., xlii. 7«ise?.,and iii. 3-xlii. 6.
This view is furthermore confirmed by the remark-
able circumstance, alluded to above, that not the
entire Book of Job, but only the section iii. 3-xlii.
6, has the special accentuation that was given to the
entire Book of Psalms and the Proverbs. Further-
more, Jerome, who knew something of Jewish tra-
dition, says explicitly that the Book of Job is writ-

Poetry

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

ten in prose from the beginning to iii. 2, and that
prose is again employed in xlii. 7-17.

Sievers, finally, has made the attempt (I.e. pp. 382
et seq.) to show that other narrative portions of the
Old Testament are in poetry. The first object of
his experiments is the section Gen. ii. 4b et seq., "In
the day that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens," etc. He thinks that the
Sievers' Hebrew text has lines of four stresses
Views. each ; but, in order to prove this state-
ment, even at the beginning of verse
4b, he is forced to regard the expression "be-yom "
as an extra syllable prefixed to " 'asot." He is also
obliged to strike out the word " ba-arez " at the end of
verse 5a, although it has just as much meaning as has
the word " 'al ha-arez " at the end of verse 5c. Then
he must delete the words " but there went up a mist
from the earth, and watered the whole face of the
ground " (verse 6), which contains not four, but six
stresses. He adds in explanation : " They do not fit
into the cojitext, as has long since been recognized."
This refers to the view (Holzinger, in "K. H. C."
1898, ad loc.) that "ed " in Gen. ii. 6 can not mean
"mist," because this "ed " is said to "water," while
mist merely dampens the ground. But the meta-
phorical expression " to water " is used instead of
" to dampen " just as "ed " is used in Job xxxvi. 37,
and there are no grounds for the assertion that the
statement made in verse 6 does "not fit into the
context." On the contrary, verses 5a and 6 cone-
spond in the same way as do 5b and 7. Sievers
attempts similarly to construct other lines of four
stresses each in Gen. ii. 4b et seq. ; but perhaps
enough has been said to show that his experiments
do not seem natural, and can not extend the
boundaries of poetry beyond those recognized here-
tofore.

Bibliography : For the blbliograpli y of the earlier works deal-
ing with the various questions in connection with Old Testa-
ment poetry, Ed. £5nig, SHlistik, BhetoHk, Poettfc, 1900, pp.
305 et seq.: E. Sievers, Metrische Untermctiunuen : I. Stu-
dien zur HebrUisclien Metrik, 1901 ; Nivard Schloegl, Bccle-
ifiasticus (xxxix. IS-xlix. 18) Ope Artw MetrleceinFormam
OrigimiUm Redactus, 1901 ; Canticum Cantienrum Hebra-
iee, 1902 ; Huhert Grimme, Psalmenprnbleme, 1902. pp, 1-19.
E. G. H. E. K.

Didactic : The oldest form of didactic poetry

is mnemonic verse, which was often used in post-
Biblical Hebrew even after the didactic poem was
fully developed. Among the oldest examples of
didactic poetry are mnemonic strophes on calendric
topics and Masoretlc rules. Soon, however, the
circle widens and all poetry is absorbed in the
didactic poem. In a general view there are first to
be considered calendric calculation and everything
connected with it.

On conjunction and the leap-year there are works
— sometimes mnemonic strophes, sometimes longer
poems — by the following authors:
Calendric Jose al-Naharwani ("Kerem Hemed,"
Verses. ix. 41-42; comp. Harkavy, "Studien
und Mitteilungen," v. 116), Saadia
Gaon (see Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." cols. 2170
et seq.; Berliner, in supplement to "Mafteah," p.
15), Simson of Sens and Elijah b. Nathan (Stein-
schneider, "Cat. Berlin," section ii., p. 73), Abraham
Ibn Ezra (Kobak's "Jeschurun," iv. 322), Profiat
Duran ("Ma'aseh Efod," notes, p. 44), Moses b.

Shem-Tob b. Jeshuah, David Vital (Steinschneider,
"Jewish Literature," p. 244), and Eliab b. Matti-
thiah (Ben Jacob, "Ozar ha-Sefarim," p. 578, No.
567). Two anonymous authors (Steinschneider,
"Cat. Berlin," section ii., p. 72; Profiat Duran, I.e.
notes, p. 45) wrote about the quarter-day ; and Elia-
kim ha-Levi wrote verses on the determination of
the feast-days (Steinschneider, " Cat. Berlin, " section
ii., p. 73).

Philology and the sciences related to it occupy a
large space in the history of 'didactic poetry. Gram-
mar was treated by Solomon ibn Gabirol in a didactic
poem of 400 metrical lines, but only a part of it,
ninety-eight lines, has been preserved (the latest,
critical edition is that of Egers in the "Zunz Jubel-
schrift "). Ibn Gabirol was followed by many
others, as Elijah Levita ("Pirke Eliyahu," first
printed in 1530), Moses Provencal ("BeShem Kad-
mon," Venice, 1597), A. M. Greiding ("Shirah Ha-
dashah," first ed., Zolkiev, 1764), Abraham Gemilla
Atorgo (date uncertain; see Steinschneider, "Cat.
Munich," Nos. 241-342). The col-
Grammar: lection of words with the "left sin"
Mne- (" sin semolit "), which perhaps Joseph
monic b. Solomon was the first to make.
Verses. was worked over by Hayyim Caleb
(Benjacob, I.e. p. 578, ' No. 569), by
Aaron Hamon (in Isaac Tshelebi's "Semol Yisrael,"
Constantinople, 1738), and by Moses Pisa ("Shirah
Hadashah " and " Hamza'ah Hadashah, " first printed
in "Shir Emunim," Amsterdam, 1793). The enig-
matic poem of Abraham ibn Ezra on the letters
' ,1 ,n ,X is well known; around it has collected a
whole literature of commentaries in rime and in
prose. A didactic poem on prosody by an anony-
mous writer has been published by Goldblum ("Ml-
Ginze Yisrael," i. 51). Of Masoretic didactic poems,
the well-known one on the number of letters of the
alphabet in the Biblical books is by some attributed
to Saadia Gaon; by others, to Saadia b. Joseph
Bekor Shor (see Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." col.
3225). A didactic poem on the accents was written
by Jacob b. Meir Tarn (Kobak's "Jeschurun," vol.
v.), and, later, one by Joseph b. Kalonymus, who-
devoted a special poem to the accents in the books.
n"D"S, i.e.. Psalms, Proverbs, Job (see "Ta'ame
Emet," ed. Berliner, Berlin, 1886).

The halaklc sciences, religious law, and Talmudic
jurisprudence have employed the poets even more
than has the linguistic sciences. Hai Gaon treated
in metrical verse of property and oaths according
to Talmudic law ("Sha'are Dine Mamonot we-
Sha'are Shebu'ot," ed. Halberstam, in Kobak's
"Ginze Nistarot," ill. 30 et seq.). An anonymous
writer produced the whole of Hoshen Mishpat in
verse ("'En Mishpat," 1620); Mordecai b. Hillel
("Hilkot Shehitah u-Bedikah," commentated by
Johanan Treves, Venice, c. 1545-52),

Halakio Israel Najara ("Shohate ha-Yeladin,"

Poems. Constantinople, 1718), David Vital
(supplement to " Seder Berakah," Am-
sterdam, 1687), and many others versified the regu-
lations concerning shehitah and bedikah ; an anony-
mous writer (perhaps Mordecai b. Hillel) versified
the whole complex system of dietary regulations
(Benjacob, I.e. p. 45, No. 877); another anonymous.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poetry

author worked over the treatise Hullin (Moses Ha-
bib, "Darlje No'am," Venice, 1546; Steinschneider,
"Cat. Bodl." col. 2538, s.v. "Shem-Tob ibn Fala-
quera ") ; and Isaac b. Abraham Hayyot, the whole
"Yoreh De'ah" ("Pane Yizhalj,"" Cracow, 1591).
Saul b. David elaborated the thirty-nine principal
kinds of work forbidden on the Sabbath ("Tal
Orot," Prague, 1615); Elijah b. Moses Loanz, the
Sabbath regulations in general (in " Zemirot u-Tush-
bahot," Basel, 1599); and Abraham Samuel, the
whole Mishnah treatise on the Sabbath ("Shirat
Dodi," Venice, 1719). The Shulhan 'Aruk in its
entirety found a reviser in Isaac b. Noah ha-Kohen
("Sefer haZikkaron," n.d., n.p.).

Here belong also a large portion of the halakic
piyyutim (see Dukes, "Zur Kenntniss der Neuhe-
braischen ReligiSsen Poesie," pp. 42 et seq.) and the
general and special Azhakot. In this connection,
too, should be mentioned the didactic poems on the
Mishnah treatises of the Talmud. Of these, per-
haps the first was composed by Sa'id al-Damrari
(Steinschneider, "Cat. Berlin," section ii., p. 8); the
same material was treated of by Isaac Samora;
while Saadia b. Danan in his didactic poem on this
subject brings in the separate sections of the trea-
tises (in Gavison, "'Omer ha-Shikhah," pp. 123 et
seg.).

The philosophical didactic poem is also very well
represented. Levi b. Abraham b. Hayyim wrote
1,846 lines (" Batte ha-Nefesh weha-Lehashim " ; see
Benjacob, I.e. p. 90, No. 693) on the "seven kinds
of wisdom " (" sheba' hakamot ") ; Solomon b. Im-
manuel da Piera translated Musa b. Tubi's philo-
sophical didactic poem in metrical
Philosophic verse ("Batte ha-Nefesh," ed. Hirsch-
Poems. feld, Ramsgate, 1894); Abraham b.
Meshullam of Modena wrote in rime
a commentary on philosophy (see Michael, "Or
ha-Hayyim," No. 187; "Bi'ur le-Hokmat ha-Pilo-
sofla ba-Haruzim ") ; Anatoli (Seraiah ha-Levi)
wrote on the ten categories ; another poem on the
same subject is printed in "Kobez 'al Yad" (ii.,
"Haggahot," p. 10); Shabbethai b. Malkiel in-
cluded the four forms of syllogism in four lines
(Steinschneider, "Cat. Leyden," p. 218); and the
"thirteen articles of faith" exist in countless
adaptations. Mattithiah Kartin versified the " Mo-
reh Nebukim" (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." p.
428); Mordecai Lowenstamm, the "Behinat '01am"
("Shire ha-Behinah," Breslau, 1832). The Cabala,
too, received attention, as witness the adaptations
of the ten Seflrot. Of other sciences only medicine
need be mentioned. A didactic poem on the con-
trolling power of the twelve months is attributed
to Maimonides (Steinschneider, "Cat. Berlin," sec-
tion i., p. 39); Solomon ibn Ayyub translated Avi-
cenna's didactic poem on medicine in metrical verse
(Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." p. 700); Al-Harizi
was the author of a metrical dietetic
Poems on thesis ("Refu'ot ha-Gewiyah," first in
History "Likkute ha-Pardes," Venice, 1619).
and Dietetic-ethical mnemonic verses by

Medicine. Shem-Tob ibn Falaqnera likewise
are well known ("Iggeret Hanhagat
ha-Guf weha-Nefesh " ; see Steinschneider, "Cat.
Munich," No. 49).

History also was frequently the subject of didac-
tic poems. The historical piyyutim should hardly
be mentioned here; at an early date, however,
a certain Saadia, about whom nothing definite is
known, composed a learned history in rime (Zunz,
"Z. G." p. 71); Falaquera was the author of a " Megil-
lat ha-Zikkaron," of which only the title is known;
to Simon b. Zemah Duran is attributed the author-
ship of a didactic poem on the chain of tradition
(Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." col. 3602); and Moses
Rieti's masterpiece " Mikdash Me'at " may also be
mentioned, although it is not strictly a didactic
poem. Poets wrote about games also, especially on
chess, e.g., Abraham ibn Ezra (see Steinschneider,
"Schach bei den Juden," Berlin, 1873); and there
have not been wanting those who versified all the
books of the Bible. This was not done, however,
for didactic purposes ; and such productions do not
belong to the class of poetry of which this article
treats.

See, also. Fable ; Polemics ; Pkovebbs.

J. H. B.
Lyric: Lyric poetry being essentially the ex-
pression of individual emotion, it is natural that in
Hebrew literature it should be, in the main, devo-
tional in character. Post-Biblical lyrics are confined
within a small scale of human feeling. Love for God
and devotion to Zion are the predominant notes. The
medieval Hebrew poet sang less frequently of wine,
woman, and the pleasures of life, not because the
Hebrew language does not lend itself to these topics,
but because such ideas were for many centuries in-
congruous with Jewish life. Yet there is no form
of lyric poetry which has been neglected by the
Hebrew poet. Ode and sonnet, elegy and song are
fairly represented, and there is even an adequate
number of wine-songs.

Secular poetry in Hebrew literature may be said
to date from the middle of the tenth century. In
the time of Samuel ha-Nagid (d. 1055) it had already
attained a degree of perfection. Still it is diiflcult
to find, in that early period, lyric poetry which is
not devotional, or non-devotional poetry which is
not didactic or gnomic in character. Perhaps the
earliest secular lyric poem is the wine-
In Spain, song ascribed to Solomon ibn Gabirol
(1031-70). said to have been written
against a niggardly host who placed water instead
of wine before his guests. Tlie first great poet to
give prominence to non-devotional lyric poetry was
Moses ibn Ezra (1070-1139), who devoted several
chapters of his " Tarshish " to the praise of wine and
music, friendship and love. The secular lyrics of
his more famous contemporary Judah ha-Levi
(1086-1143) are mostly occasional poems, such as
wedding-songs, panegyrics, and the like. Abraham
ibn Ezra (1093-1167) wrote a number of beautiful
poems of a personal character, but they belong to the
epigrammatic rather than to the lyric class of litera-
ture. Judah al-Harizi (1165-1230), though the first
poet of note to devote himself entirely to secular
poetry, is more of a satirist than a lyrist. Of the
fifty chapters of which his " Tahkemoni " consists
the twenty-seventh is the only one which sings the
praise of wine. The rest are satires, didactic or
gnomic in character.

Poetry
Eolak

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

100

The true ring of non-devotional lyric poetry,
however, is not to be found in Hebrew literature
until the time of Immanuel of Rome (1265-1330).
He united in himself the warm imagination of the
Orient and the erotic spirit of Italy.
Immanuel In a style more flexible even than that

of Rome, of Harizi he gives utterance to pas-
sionate love with such freedom of
expression that the Rabbis thought it justifiable
to forbid the reading of his "Mahberot" on the
Sabbath.

From Immanuel there is a stretch of almost three
centuries before another great lyric poet is met with.
Israel b. Moses Najara is universally acknowledged
to be one of the sweetest singers in Israel. He is,
however, more of a devotional poet, and his right to
be included here comes from the fact that he sings
of God and Israel in terms of love and passion. In
fact, he is so anthropomorphic in his expressions
that Menahem di Lonzano condemned him for it.
Nevertheless the latter, though of a serious turn of
mind, indulged in lighter compositions when the
occasion presented itself. His poem for Purim
(" 'Abodat Mikdash," folio 74, Constantinople) is
one of the best wine-songs in Hebrew literature.

From Najara two centuries pass before true lyric
poetry is again met with. This is a period of transi-
tion in Hebrew poetry. The Hebrew bard had just
begun to come under the influence of European lit-
erature, and as yet had had no time to assimilate
what he had absorbed and strike out in a way of his
own. The drama is introduced into Hebrew litera-
ture in the works of Solomon Usque, Joseph Penso,
and Moses Zacuto. Yet, though the form in which
these poets threw their compositions is dramatic,
the temperament is lyric in all of them. For the
same reason Moses Hayyim Luzzatto must be re-
garded as one of the best lyric poets of the eighteenth
century.

The success which Wessely's "Songs of Glory"
("Shire Tif'eret ") met gave rise to a great number
of imitators, and almost every one
"Wessely. who could write verse essayed the epic.
But soon this German school was over-
shadowed by the Russian lyric school, of which
Abraham Dob Bar Lebensohn and his son Micah
were the acknowledged leaders. From that day
until now the palm has been held by the Russian
poets. With the exception of Joseph Almanzi and
Samuel David Luzzatto of Italy, and Mel'r Letteris
and Naphtali Herz Imber of Galicia, all the more
eminent modern Hebrew poets belong to Russia.

Juclah Lob Gordon, though decidedly a greater
master of Hebrew than his preceptor Micah Leben-
sohn, can not be assigned to an exalted position as a
lyric poet. As a satirist he is supreme ; as a lyrist
he is not much above the older and is far below the
younger Lebensohn. The most fiery of all modern
lyrists is undoubtedly Aba K. Schaijira. Z. H.
Mane is sweeter, M. M. Dolitzky is more melodious,
D. Frischman is more brilliant, and N. H. Imber
sounds more elemental ; but Schapira has that power
which, in the language of Heine, makes his poetry
"a fiery pyramid of song, leading Israel's caravan
of affliction in the wilderness of exile." Of living
poets the nearest to approach him is H. N. Bialik

and A. Libushitzky, though neither has yet arrived
at maturity. See Drama, Hebkew; Epic Poetry;
Piyyut; Satire.

BiBLTOGRAPHY : Delltzsch, Zur Ge»ch. der JMigchen Poesie ;
Steinschnelder, Jewish Literature.
3. I. D.

POGGETTI, JACOB (JOSEPH) B. MOB-
DECAI (called also Pavieti) : Italian Talmudist
and writer on religious ethics; born at Asti, Pied-
mont ; flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. His only known work is " Kizzur Reshit
Hokmah" (Venice, 1600; Cracow, 1667; Amster-
dam, 1735; Zolkiev, 1806), an abridgment of the
"Reshit Hokmah" of Elijah de Vidas. It is in-
tended to teach an ascetic and ethical life.

Bibliography: Furst, Bihl. Jud. li. 23-23; Benjacob, Ozar
ha-Sefarim^ p. 542, No. 42.
D. S. O.

POGOBEIiSKY, MESSOLA : Russian physi-
cian and writer; born at Bobruisk March 7, 1863;
educated at the gymnasium of his native town ; stud-
ied medicine at the University of St. Vladimir in
Kiev, where he was graduated in 1890. In the same
year he was appointed government rabbi at Kher-
son, a position which he held until 1893. Pogorel-
sky is a prolific writer on medical and on Jewish
subjects. Among his treatises of interest to Jewish
readers are: "Circumcisio Ritualis Hebrseorum"
(written in German and published at St. Petersburg,
1888); "Yevreiskiya Imena, Sobstvennyya," on
Jewish names in Bible and Talmud, published in
the "Voskhod" and in book-form {ib. 1893); "O
Sifllisye po Biblii " (Zara'ath), on syphilis according
to the Bible (ib. 1900); "Ob Okkultismye," occult
science according to Bible and Talmud (ib. 1900).

His medical essays have appeared in " St. Peters-
burger Medicinische Wochenschrift," "Russkaya
Meditzina," and other Russian periodicals.

H. r. J. L. La.

POGROMY. See Russia.

POIMANNIKI. See Russia.

POITIERS : French city ; capital of the depart-
ment of Vienne. In 1336 the Jews of Poitiers and
the adjacent country were harried by the Crusaders,
although Pope Gregory IX. , in a letter to the bishop,
strongly condemned their excesses. Four years
later (1340) Nathan ben Joseph engaged in a debate
with the Bishop of Poitiers. Alphonse de Poitiers,
yielding to the demands of the Christian inhabit-
ants, ordered the expulsion of the Jews from the
city (1349) and the cancelation of all debts due them
from the Christians. He was not disdainful of the'ir
knowledge of medicine, however ; for when he was
attacked, in 1353, with a serious affection of the
eyes he called in a celebrated Jewish physician of
Aragon, named Ibrahim. In 1369 he compelled all
Jews remaining in his dominions to wear the badge
of the wheel on their garments. In 1373 the coun-
cil of Poitiers forbade landed proprietors to make
any contracts with the Jewish usurers, and ordered
Christians generally not to lend money to the Jews
or to borrow from them, except in cases of extreme
necessity. In 1396 all Jews were expelled from the
city by Philip the Fair.

101

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poetry
Polak

BIBLIOORAPHT : Boutarlc, St.-Louia et Alphonse de Poitiers,
p. 87 ; DepplnK, Les Juifs dnris U Mnyen Aqe, pp. 128-130 ;
Gross, Oallia Judaica, p. K? ; Saige, Les Juifs clu Lanaue-
doc, pp. 22, 26 ; Ibn Verga, Shetiet Tehudah, p. 114 ; S. E. J.
i. 230, 111. 216, vl. 83.
G. 8. K.

POITOXJ : Ancient province of France. Several
Jewish communities were founded there in the
twelftli century, notably those of Niort, Bressuire,
and Thouars (department of Deux-S6vres), Chatel-
lerault (Vienne), and Mortagne and Tyfauges (La
Vendee). About the year 1166 the scholars of the
province took part in the synod convened at Troyos
under the auspices of R. Tarn and EaSHBaM. In
1336 Pope Gregory IX. interfered in behalf of the
Jews of Poitou, then persecuted by the Crusaders.
Alphonse de Poitiers displayed great severity in all
his dealings with the Jews. In 1249 he expelled
them from Poitiers, Niort, St. - Jean - d' Angely,
Saintes, St.-Maixent, and Rochelle, and five years
later he released the Christians from all interest due
to Jews. In 1267 Jews were forbidden to take part
in public functions or to build new synagogues. A
poll-tax was imposed on them in 1268, and they were
obliged, under pain of imprisonment, to declare the
exact value of their possessions, whether personal
property or real estate. Alphonse exacted with tlie
utmost rigor the payment of the taxes he imposed
on them, and disregarded the measures taken in their
behalf by the Bishop of Toulouse. In 1269 he com-
pelled them to wear the badge ; but in 1270 he ex-
empted the Jew Mosset of St. -Jean-d 'Angely and
his two sons, on the payment of a sum of money,
from the obligation of wearing this badge before
All Saints' day. In tlie same year he appointed the
Dominican prior of Poitiers and a secular priest
chosen by the royal councilors to conduct an inves-
tigation of usury in the jurisdiction of Poitiers. He
ordered that every Christian should be believed upon
oath in regard to any sum less than six sols ; the in-
quisitors were to pronounce upon cases not involving
more than one hundred sols, while cases involving
greater amounts were to be referred to the decision
of the sovereign. In 1296 the Jews were expelled
from Poitou, Philip the Fair exacting in return from
the Christians, who benefited by the expulsion, a
"fuage" (hearth-tax) of 3,300 pounds. In 1307 a
question was raised regarding the rent of a house
and lands situated at Chatillon-sur-Indre, wliich had
formerly belonged to the Jew Croissant Castellon,
called the "Poitovin," the son of Bonfil de Saint-
Savin.

The Jews of Poitou were persecuted in 1320 by
the Pastoureaux, and in 1321 were accused of having
poisoned the springs and wells. Only one scholar
of Poitou is known— R. Isaac, mentioned as a com-
mentator on the Bible (Zunz, "Z. G." p. 89).

Bibliography : Depping, Les Juifs dans le Moyen Age, pp.
88 129 ■ Dom Valssfete, Bistnire GeneraU de Lanquedoe, ill.
510, 513 ; Gulllaume de Nangis, ContimMtw, p. 78 ; Maljez n.
Hist, des Juifs de, Bordeaiix. pp. 45-46: B-E.-T. iiy^ • "'•
216- vl 83: Ix. 138 : XV. 237, 244 ; Salge, Les Jmfsdu Langue-
doc,' pp. 20, 26 ; Gross, Gallia Judaica, pp. 451 et seq.
G. °- ^■

FOLA. See Istbia.

POLACCO, VITTORIO : Italian jurist of Po-
lish descent; born at Padua May 10, 1859. Since
1884 he has been professor of civil law at the Univer-

sity of Padua. His chief works are : " Delia Divi-
sione Operata da Ascendenti Fra Discendenti," Pad-
ua, 1884; "Delia Dazione in Pagamento," vol. i.,
ib. 1888; "Contro il Divorzio," iJ. 1892; "La Ques-
tione del Divorzio e gli Israeliti in Italia," ib. 1894;
"Le Obbligazioni nel Diritto Civile Italiano," ib.
1898. He has also contributed numerous articles on
legal topics to the " Archivio Giuridico," the "Atti
della R. Accademia di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti " of
Padua, the "Atti del R. Istituto Veneto," and other
publications,
s. R. H. K.

POIiAK, GABRIEL JACOB : Talmudist and
bibliographer; born June 3, 1803 ; died May 14, 1869,
at Amsterdam, where he was principal of a school.
He was tlie author of the following works, all pub-
lished in Amsterdam : " Bikkure ha-Shanah " (1844),
a Dutch and Hebrew almanac for the year 5604 ; " Di-
bre Kodesh" (1845), a Dutch-Hebrew dictionary;
" Hal'iUot Kedem " (1847), a collection of Hebrew
poems; "BenGorni" (1851), a collection of essays;
" Sha'ar Ta'ame Sifre Emet " (1858), an introduction
to a treatise on the accents in the books of Job and
the Psalms; a valuable edition of Bedersi's work
on Hebrew synonyms, "Hotem Toknit" (1865); a
biography of the poet David Franco Mendes and his
contemporaries, in "Ha-Maggid," xii. ; and "Meir
'Enayim," a descriptive catalogue of the libraries of
Jacobsohn and Meir Rubens, a work of great bib-
liographical value.

Polak's editions of the rituals are noted for their
accuracy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Furst, Bibl. Jud. ill. 109 ; Eoest, Cat. Rosen-
thal. Bibl. pp. 940-943 ; Zeitlin, Kiryat Sefer, 11. 273.
S. M. L. B.

FOLAK, HENB.I: Dutch labor-leader and poli-
tician ; born at Amsterdam Feb. 22, 1868. Till his
thirteenth year he attended the school conducted by
Halberstadt, a well-known teacher of Jewish mid-
dle-class boys, and afterward learned from his uncle
the trade of diamond -cutting. In 1887 and 1888 and
again in 1889 and 1890 he lived in London, where
he became interested in socialism. Returning to
Holland, he became attached to the Sociaal Demo-
cratische Bond, which he left in 1893 on account of
its anarchistic principles. With Troelstra and Van
der Goes he founded the periodical "De Nieuwe
Tijd." In 1894 he became one of the twelve found-
ers of the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij
(S. D. A. P.); in 1898 he became a member of its
committee; and since 1900 he has been its chairman.

On Nov. 7, 1894, on the occasion of a strike in
the Dutch navy-yards, a confederation was formed
of different parties, with a central committee of
which Polak was chosen chairman. In Jan., 1895,
he was appointed chairman of the Algemeene Neder-
landsche Diamantbewerkers Bond (A. N. D. B.),
which union had its origin in that strike. Since
then he has been editor-in-chief of the " Weekblad."
Polak gave up his trade of diamond-cutting and de-
voted himself to the organization of the A. N. D. B..
which is considered the greatest and best-organized
union in the Netherlands. Besides many minor
strikes Polak has directed seven Important ones, and
has succeeded in obtaining : (1) the abolition of the

Folak
Polemics

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

103

truck system ; (2) an advance of the rate of wages
from 50 to 300 per cent ; and (3) the shortening of
the working-day from twelve to nine hours. The
A. N. D. B. strives to raise the moral and intellectual
status of its members by arranging lecture courses
and by maintaining a library. It includes nine sec-
tions of the diamond industry, v^ith a membership of
7,500—4,500 Jews and 3,000 Christians. It is with-
out any political tendency ; and since 1900 it has had
a building of its own, and its own printing-ofBce
with twenty-five employees.

Polak is a member of the committee for statistics
(since 1900), chairman of the Kamer van Arbeid
(since 1900), member of the municipality (since
1903), and chairman of the Alliance Universelle des
Ouvriers Diamantaires (since 1903). He has a great
predilection for history. Besides some brocliures
for socialistic propaganda Polak has translated 8.
and B. "Webb's "History of Trade Union" ("Ge-
sohiedenis van het Britsche Vereenigingsleven,"
Amsterdam, 1900) and " Theorie en Praktijk van het
Britsche Vereenigingsleven," ib. 1903. He is corre-
spondent of the "Clarion," "Neue Zeit," "Mouve-
ment Socialiste, " and other papers.

s. E. 8l.

POLAK, HERMAN JOSEF : Dutch philolo-
gist; born Sept. 1, 1844, at Leyden; educated at the
university of that city (Ph.D. 1869). Prom 1866 to
1869 he taught classics at the gymnasium of Leyden ;
from 1873 he taught history at that of Rotterdam ;
and from 1883 he was conrector and teacher of clas-
sics there. In 1894 he was appointed professor of
Greek at GrSningen University.

Polak is a member of the Royal Academy of
Sciences and of the Maatschappij voor Letterkunde
of Leyden. Besides his doctor's dissertation " Ob-
servationes ad Scholia in Homerl Odysseam " (1869),
Polak has published the following works : " Bloem-
lezing van Grieksche Dichters " (1875 ; 3d ed. 1893) ;
"Ad Odysseam Ejusque Scholiastas Curas Se-
cundse" (Briel, 1881-83); and "Studien" (1888).
He has also contributed a great number of essays
to "Mnemosyne," "Hermes," "Museum," "Tyd-
spiegel," "Gids," "Elsevier," and other journals.

Bibliography : Jaarhoek Groningsche Universiteit, 1894-95;
Onze Hoogleeraaren, p. 110 ; En Halve Eeuw, ii. 27, 270, 275.

s. E. Sl.

POIiAK, JAKOB EDTJABD: Austrian physi-
cian; born 1818 at Gross- Morzin, Bohemia; died
Oct. 7, 1891; studied at Prague and Vienna (M.D.).
About 1851, wlien an envoy of the Persian govern-
ment went to Vienna to engage teachers for the mil-
itary school at Teheran, then about to be organized,
Polak presented himself as a candidate. He arrived
in the Persian capital in 1851, much impaired in
health by the long voyage; and, pending the organ-
ization of the school, studied the language of the
country.

In spite of the many obstacles which he encoun-
tered—particularly the defective state of medical
science, w^hich was not then taught in class, and the
Islamic prohibition against the dissection of bodies
— Polak soon achieved a reputation in Persia, and
enjoyed the especial confidence of Shah Nasir-ed-
Din. At first he lectured in French, with the aid of

an interpreter; but after a year he was able to
lecture in Persian, and later published in Persian a
work on anatomy. He compiled also a medical
dictionary in Persian, Arabic, and Latin, in order
to provide a system of terminology. Finally he
founded a state surgical clinic containing sixty beds.
A serious illness in 1855 obliged him to give up his
professional work; but he continued his literary
activity.

As physician to the shah, Polak occupied a high
position. About 1861 he returned to Vienna, and
whenever the shall visited Austria Polak greeted
him at the frontier. His "Persien, das Land und
Seine Bewohner; Ethnograpische Schilderungen,"
appeared at Leipsic in 1865.
Bibliography : Draache, In Neue Freie Presse, Oct. 14, 1891.

S. E. J.

POLAND. See Russia.

POLEMICS AND POLEMICAL LITERA-
TURE : Although pagan nations as a rule were not
prone to intolerance in matters of religion, they
were so with regard to Judaism. They were highly
incensed against the people which treated so con-
temptuously all pagan divinities and reviled all that
was sacred in pagan eyes. Especially embittered
against tlie Jews were the Egyptians when, through
the translation of the Bible, they were informed of
the pitiful r61e ascribed to their ancestors at the
birth of the Jewish nation. In Egypt, therefore,
originated the anti-Jewish writings, and the apolo-
getic and polemical works in defense
First Ap- of Judaism against paganism. As
pearance in early as the middle of the third pre-
^gypt- Christian century a Theban priest
named Manetho, in his history of the
Egyptian dynasties, written in Greek, violently at-
tacked the Jews, inventing all kinds of fables con-
cerning their sojourn in Egypt and their exodus
therefrom. The substance of his fables is that a
number of persons suffering from leprosy had been
expelled from the country by the Egyptian king
Amenophis (or Bocchoris, as he is sometimes called),
and sent to the quarries or into the wilderness. It
happened that among them was a priest of Heliopo-
lis of the name of Osarsiph (Moses). This priest
persuaded his companions to abandon the worship
of the gods of Egypt and adopt a new religion
which he had elaborated. Under his leadership the
lepers left Egypt, and after many vicissitudes and
the perpetration of numerous crimes they reached
the district of Jerusalem, which they subdued.

These fables, together with those invented by
Antiochus Bpiphanes in connection with his alleged
experiences in the Temple of Jerusalem, were re-
peated and greatly amplified by Posidonius in his
history of Persia. The accusations thus brought
against the Jews were that they worshiped an ass in
their Temple, that they sacrificed annually on their
altar a specially fattened Greek, and that they were
filled with hatred toward every other nationality,
particularly the Greeks. All these malevolent fic-
tions found embodiment in the polemical treatises
against the Jews by ApoUonius Molon, Cheeremon,
Lysimachus, Apion, and others (see Eusebius,
"Proeparatio Evangelica,"x. 19; Josephus, "Contra

103

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Folak
Polemics

Ap." ii. 7, § 15), and were taken up and retailed, with
sundry alterations and additions, by the Roman his-
torian Trogus Pompeius, and especially by Tacitus,
who, in this respect, displayed such ingenuity as to
excite the envy of the greatest casuists among the
rabbis.

To the various incidents which, according to
Manetho, accompanied the Exodus, Tacitus traces
the origin of nearly all the religious customs of the
Jews. Abstinence from the use of swine's flesh is
explained by the fact that the swine is peculiarly
liable to the itch and therefore to that very disease
on account of which the Jews were once so severely
maltreated. Frequent fasting is alleged by him to
have been instituted in commemoration of the star-
vation from which they had escaped in the wilder-
ness. Their observance of the seventh day of the
week is assumed to be due to their finding a resting-
place on the seventh day (Tacitus, "Hist." v.2etseq.).
It is not astonishing, therefore, that, thus represented,
the Jewish religion was looked upon by the major-
ity of educated people as a " barbara superstitio "
(Cicero, "Pro Flacco," xxviii.), and that the Jewish
nation was made the butt of the wit of the Roman
satirists Horace, Juvenal, and Martial.

To defend the Jewish religion and the Jewish race
against the slanderous attacks of the heathen there
appeared, at various intervals, from about the sec-
ond pre-Christian century to the middle of the sec-
ond century c.E., apologetical and
The polemical works emphasizing the su-

Hellenists. periority of Judaism over paganism.
To works of this kind belong the ex-
planation of the Mosaic law by Aristobulus of
Paneas, the Oracula Sibyllina, the Wisdom of Solo-
mon, the apocalpyses, the Jewish-Hellenistic wri-
tings of Alexandria (see Hellenism), especially
those of Philo, and lastly Josephus' " Contra Apio-
nem." The aim of all these works was the same,
namely, severe criticism of idolatry and vigorous ar-
raignment of the demoralization of the pagan world.
A new polemical element was introduced by
Christianity — that of the interpretation of the Bib-
lical text. Having received from Judaism its ethical
principles, the new religion, in order to justify its dis-
tinctive existence, asserted that it had been founded
to fulfil the mission of Judaism, and endeavored
to prove the correctness of this allegation from
the Bible, the very book upon which Judaism is
founded. Aside from the Gospels and the Acts of
the Apostles, the first Christian polemical work
against the Jews was the account of the dialogue
between Justin Martyr and the Jew Tryphon, which
took place shortly after the Bar Kokba war against
the Romans. The Church father endeavored to
demonstrate that the prophecies concerning the Mes-
siah applied to Jesus, while the Jew met his argu-
ments with the traditional interpretation. Justin
displayed great bitterness against the Jews, whom
he charged with immorality and with having ex-
punged from their Bibles much that was favorable
to Christianity ("Dial, cum Tryph." §§ 73, 73, 114).
These charges were repeated by the succeeding
Christian polemists ; while that of having falsified
the Scriptures in their own interests was later made
against both Christians and Jews by the Mohammed-

ans. A remarkable feature in Justin's dialogue is
the politeness with which the disputants speak of
each other; at the close of the debate Jew and
Christian confess that they have learned much from
each other and part with expressions of mutual good-
will.

More bitter in tone is the dialogue, belong! ng to the
same period, written by the converted Jew Ariston
of Pella, and in which a Christian named Jason and
a Jew named Papiscusare alleged to have discussed
the nature of Jesus. Among other polemical works
directed against the Jews the most noteworthy are:
" The Canon of the Church," or " Against the Juda-
izers," by Clement of Alexandria (see Eusebius,
"Hist. Eccl." vi. 13); "Contra Celsum," by Origen;
Ilpdf 'lovdaiovc, by Claudius Apol-
Church. linarius; " Ad versus Judreos, " by Ter-

Attacks. tuUian ; " Ad versus Judseos " and " Tes-
timonia," by Cyprian; " Demonstratio
Evangelica," by Eusebius; "De Incarnatione Dei
Verbi," by Athanasius of Alexandria; the "Homi-
lies " of John Chrysostom ; the " Hymns " of Ephra-
em Syrus; " Ad versus Hiereses " and "Ancyrotus,"
by Epiphanius; "Dialogus Christiani et Judssi de
St. Trinitate," by Jerome. The main points dis-
cussed in these works are the dogma of the Trin-
ity, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, and especially
the Messianic mission of Jesus, which Christians en-
deavored to demonstrate from the Old Testament.
Some of the Church Fathers emphasized their argu-
ments with curses and revilings. They reproached
the Jews for stiff -neckednessand hatred of Christians ;
they were especially bitter against them for persist-
ing in their Messianic hopes. The following pas-
sage from one of Ephraem Syrus' " hymns " against
the Jews may serve as an example of the polemical
attitude of the Church Fathers: "Jacob blessed
Judah, saying, ' The scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come ' [Gen. xlix. 10]. In this passage the
Jews that perceive not search if there be a scepter
or an interpreter between his [Judah's] feet, for the
things that are written have not been fulfilled,
neither have they so far met with accomplishment.
But if the scepter be banished and the prophet
silenced, let the people of the Jews be put to shame,
however hardened in impudence they be."

The Jews did not remain silent, but answered
their antagonists in the same tone. This at least is
the assertion of Jerome in the preface to his com-
mentary on the Psalms, where he says that in his
time discussions between the Church and the Syna-
gogue were very frequent. He further asserts that
it was considered a great undertaking to enter into
polemics with the Jews— a proof that contests often
ended in favor of the latter. However, in spite of
the frequency of discussions, no particular Jewish
polemical work of that period has survived; the
only source of information concerning the nature of
these discussions is a number of dialogues recorded
in the Talmud and Midrash. These dialogues, like
others between Jews and pagans found in the same
sources, were more in the nature of good-humored
raillery than of serious debate. The rabbis who
excelled in these friendly passages of arms with
pagans, Christians, and Christian Gnostics were

Polemics

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

104:

Jobanan ben Zakkai, Gamaliel II., Joshua ben Han-

aniah, and Akiba. Johanan ben Zakkai answered

several questions of an aggressive na-

Discus- ture put by a Roman commander as
sions in the to the contradictions existing between
Talmud. Num. iii. 33, 28, 34 and the 39th verse
of the same chapter (Bek. 5b) and
between Ex. xxxviii. 26, 27 and Gen. i. 20, ii. 19
(Hul. 27b); also as to the regulation in Ex. xxi. 29
(Yer. Sanh. 19b) and the law concerning the red
heifer (Pesik. 40a).

Interesting are the accounts of the debates ■which
Gamaliel, Eleazar, Joshua ben Hananiah, and Akiba
held with unbelievers at Rome (see Bacher, " Ag.
Tan." i. 85). It is noteworthy that even in the
time of Gamaliel the Christians used as an argu-
ment against Judaism the misfortunes that had be-
fallen Israel. In discussing with Gamaliel, a " min "
quoted Hosea v. 6 to demonstrate that God had
completely forsaken Israel (Yeb. 102b ; Midr. Teh.
to Ps. X.). A similar argument was used, not in
words but in gesture, by another min against Joshua
ben Hananiah, who answered by a sign that God's
protecting hand was still stretched over Israel (Hag.
5b). This took place in the palace of Hadrian,
who questioned Joshua as to how God created
the world (Gen. R. x.); concerning the angels
<Gen. R. Ixxviii. ; Lam. R. iii. 21) ; as to the res-
urrection of the body (Gen. R. xxviii. ; Eccl.
R. xii. 5) ; and in regard to the Decalogue (Pesik-
R. 21).

But rabbinical polemics assumed a more violent
character when the Church, having acquired polit-
ical power, threw aside all reserve, and invective
and abuse became the favorite weapons of the assail-
ants of Judaism. A direct attack upon Christianity
was made by the Palestinian amora R. Simlai. His
attacks were especially directed against the doctrine
of the Trinity (Gen. R. viii. ; Yer. Ber. ix. lid, 12a).
A later Palestinian amora, R. Abbahu, refuted all
tlie fundamental dogmas of Christianity (Yalk.,
Gen. 47; Gen. R. xxv. ; Shah. 152b). With re-
gard to the doctrine of the Trinity, Abbahu says :
" A thing of flesh and blood may have a father, a
brother, or a son to share in or dispute his sover-
eignty, but the Lord said, ' I am the Lord thy God !
I am the first ' — that is, I have no father — ' and be-
sides me there is no God '—that is, I have no son "
(see Isa. xliv. 6; Ex. R. xxix.). Commenting upon
Num. xxiii. 19, Abbahu says, "God is not a man,
that he should repent ; if a man say, ' I am God, '
he lieth ; and if he say, ' I am the son of man ' [Mes-
siah], he shall repent; and if he say, ' I shall go up
to heaven '—he may say it, but he can not perform
it " (Yer. Ta'an. i. 1).

The Church Fathers who lived after Jerome knew
less and less of Judaism, and merely repeated the
arguments tliat had been used by their predecessors,
supplemented by more or less slanderous attacks
borrowed from pagan anti- Jewish writings. Spain
became from the sixth century a hotbed of Chris-
tian polemics against Judaism. Among the numer-
ous works written there, the oldest and the most
important was that of Isidorus Hispalensis. In a
book entitled "Contra Judseos," the Archbishop of
Seville grouped all the Biblical passages that had

been employed by the Fathers to demonstrate the

truth of Christianity. Whether learned Spanish

Jews took up the controversy and re-

Folemics plied to Isidorus' arguments by coun-
witli ter-treatises in Latin, as Gratz believes-
Christians. ("Gesch." v. 75 et seg.), is doubtfuL
In Spain, as everywhere else in that
period, the Jews paid little attention to attacks writ-*
ten in Latin or Greek, which languages were not
understood by the masses. Moreover, the Christian
dogmas of the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc., seemed
to them to stand in such direct contradiction to both
the letter and the spirit of the Old Testament that
they deemed it superfluous to refute them.

The expansion of Karaism during the ninth and
tenth centuries awakened in the Jews the polemical
spirit. Alive to the dangers that threatened tradi-
tional Judaism through the new sect, which, owing
to the inertness of the Geonim of the Babylonian
academies, was rapidly growing, several rabbinical
scholars took up the study of both Biblical and sec-
ular sciences, which enabled them to advance against
the Christians as well as the Karaites a systematic
defense of Jewish beliefs. The first known polemist
of that period was David ibn Merwan al-Mukam-
mas, who devoted the eighth and tenth chapters of
his " 'Ishrun al-Makalat " to the refutation of Chris-
tian dogmas. He was followed by Saadia Gaon,
who, both in his commentaries on the Bible and in
the second chapter of his philosophical "Emunot
we-De'ot," assailed the arguments of the Church.
He maintained that the Jewish religious system,
which allowed man to approach as nearlj' as is pos-
sible to perfection, would always exist, and would
not be replaced by any other, least of all by the
Christian, which transmuted mere abstractions into
divine personalities.

More aggressive' was Saadia's contemporary, the
Karaite Al-Kirkisani. In the third treatise of his
"Kitab al- Anwar wal-Marakib" (ch. xvi.) he says
that " the religion of the Christians, as practised at
present, has nothing in common with the teachings
of Jesus. It originated with Paul, who ascribed
divinity to Jesus and prophetic inspiration to him-
self. It was Paul that denied the necessity of obey-
ing the commandments and taught that religion
consisted in humility ; and it was the Nicene Coun-
cil which adopted precepts that occur neither in the
Law nor in the Gospels nor in the Acts of Peter
and Paul." Equally violent in their attacks upon
Christianity were the Karaite writers Japheth ben
Ali and Hadassi — the former in his commentaries
on the Bible, and the latter in his " Bshkol ha-
Kofer," in which the fundamental dogmas of Chris-
tianity are harshly criticized. The assertion of the
Christians that God was born of a woman and as-
sumed a human form in the person of Jesus is con-
sidered by Hadassi to be blasphemous. Moreover,
the reason given by the Church that God willed the
incarnation of Jesus in order to free the world from
its thraldom to Satan, is declared by him to be
absurd; for, he asks, has the world grown any bet-
ter as a result of this incarnation? are there fewer
murderers, adulterers, etc., among the Christians
than there were among the pagans?

The first works wholly devoted to the refutation

105

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Polemics

of Christianity appeared in the second half of the
twelfth century in Spain— the preeminently fertile
source of anti-Jewish writings between the sixth
and fifteenth centuries. They were the outgrowth
of the restless aggressiveness of the Christian clergy,
who, taking advantage of the irruption of fanati-
cism marking the period of the Crusades, planned
the wholesale conversion of the Jews through the
medium of polemical works written by converts
from Judaism. These converts, instead of confining
themselves to the usual arguments drawn from the
Old Testament, claimed to demonstrate from the
Haggadah that Jesus was the Messiah— from the
very part of rabbinical literature which they most
derided and abused! This new method of war-
fare was inaugurated in Spain by
Petrus Al- Petrus Alphonsi (whose name before
phonsi and baptism was Moses Sephardi) in his
Jacob ben series of dialogues against the Jews,

Reuben, the disputants being himself before
and himself after conversion (Cologne,
1536 ; later in " Bibliotheca Patium, " ed. Migne, clvii.
535). To arm themselves against these attacks
learned Spanish Jews began to compose manuals
of polemics. About a quarter of a century after the
composition of Judah ha-Levi's famous apologetical
work, the "Cuzari," in which Judaism was defended
against the attacks of Christians, Karaites, and
philosophers, Jacob ben Reuben wrote the "Sefer
Milhamot Adonai." This Is divided into twelve
chapters, and contains, besides refutations of the
Christian arguments drawn from the Old Testa-
ment, a thorough criticism of the Gospels and the
Acts of the Apostles, in which he points out many
contradictions.

About the same time Joseph Kimhi, also a native
of Spain, wrote the " Sefer ha-Berit," a dialogue be-
tween a believer and an apostate. The believer
maintains that the truth of the religion of the Jews
is attested by the morality of its adherents. The
Ten Commandments, at least, are observed with
the utmost conscientiousness. The Jews concede
no divine honors to any besides God ; they do not
perjure themselves, nor commit murder, nor rob.
Jewish girls remain modestly at home, while Chris-
tian girls are careless of their self-respect. Even their
Christian antagonists admit that the Jew practises
hospitality toward his brother Jew, ransoms the
prisoner, clothes the naked, and feeds the hungry.
The accusation that the Jews exact exorbitant inter-
est from Christians is balanced by Kimhi's state-
ment tliat Christians also take usurious interest,
even from their fellow Christians, while wealthy
Jews lend money to their "coreligionists without
charging any interest whatever.

Great activity In the field of polemics was dis-
played by both Jews and Christians in Spain in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Among the
Christian works of the thirteenth century the most
noteworthy are the "Capistrum Judseorum" and
the "Puglo Fidel" (Paris, 1651; Leipsic, 1667). In
the latter work, Raymund Martin endeavored to
demonstrate from the Talmud, Midrash, and other
sources that Jesus is announced in rabbinical litera-
ture as the Messiah and the son of God ; that the
Jewish laws, although revealed by God, were abro-

gated by the advent of the Messiah ; that the Tal-
mudists corrupted the text of the Bible, as is indi-
cated in the " Tikkun Sof erim. " Some

Saymund of Martin's arguments were used by

Slartin and Pablo Christian! in his disputation with

Nah.- Nahmanides, who victoriously com-

manides. bated them before King James and
many ecclesiastical dignitaries. Both
the arguments and their refutation were reproduced in
a special work entitled " Wikkuah," written by Nah-
manides himself. The subjects discussed were: (1)
Has the Messiah appeared? (2) Should the Messiah
announced by the Prophets be considered as a god,
or as a man born of liuman parents? (3) Are the
Jews or the Christians the possessors of the true
faith? A direct refutation of Raymund Martin's
"Pugio Fidel" was written by Solomon Adret, who,
in view of the misuse of the Haggadah by converts
to Christianity, wrote also a commentary on that
part of the Jewish literature.

The production of Jewish polemical works in
Spain increased with the frequency of the attacks
upon Judaism, in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen-
turies, by baptized Jews. Of the latter the most
renowned were: Alfonso of Valladolid (Abner of
Burgos), author of the anti-Jewish works " Moreh Ze-
deli" (Spanish version, "El Mustador") and "Teshu-
bot 'al Milhamot Adonai "-(Spanish, "Los Batallos
de Dios ") ; Astruc Raimuch (Christian name, Dies
Came), who was the author of a letter, in Hebrew,
in which he endeavored to verify, from the Old
Testament, the doctrines of the Trinity, original
sin, redemption, and tiansubstantiation; Pablo de
Santa Maria (Solomon Levi of Burgos), author of a '
satire on the festival of Purim, addressed to Meir
ben Solomon Alguades; Geronimo de Santa Fe
(Joshua ben Joseph al-Lorqui), who wrote the anti-
Jewish "Tractatus Contra Perfidiam Judseorum"
and " De Judais Brroribus ex Talmuth " (the latter
was published, under the title "Hebrseomastic," at
Zurich, 1553; Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1603; Ham-
burg, n.d. ; and in Bibliotheca Magna Veterum Pa-
trum, Lyons [vol. xxvl.], and Cologne, 1618).

Against the writings of these converts, the two
last-named of whom organized the disputation of
Tortosa, held before Benedict XIII. (Pedro de Luna)
in 1413, there appeared a series of works which are
remarkable for the aggressiveness of their tone.
The first of this series was the "'Ezer ha-Dat" of
Ibn Pulgar. It is divided into eight chapters (" she-
'arim"), the last of which is devoted wholly to the
work of Alfonso of Valladolid. To the letter of
Astruc Raimuch there appeared two answers, the
more interesting of which is that of Solomon ben
Reuben Bonfed, in rimed prose. Apologizing for
discussing the contents of a letter not addressed to
him, Bonfed minutely examines the Christian dog-
mas and proceeds to show how irrational and unten-
able they are. " You twist and distort
Pablo de the Biblical text to establish the doc-
Santa Maria trine of the Trinity. Had you a qua-

and Joseph ternity to prove, you would demon-

ibn Vives. strate it quite as strikingly and con-
vincingly from the Old Testament."
An answer to Pablo's satire was written by Joseph
ibn Vives al-Lorqui. The writer expresses his aston-

Polemics

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106

ishment that Pablo should have changed his faith.
Satirically he canvasses the various motives which
might have led him to take such a step — desire for
wealth and power, the gratification of sensual long-
ings— and naively concludes that probably Pablo
had carefully studied Christianity and had come to
the conclusion that its dogmas were well founded.
He (Joseph), therefore, begged Pablo to enlighten
him on eight specific points which seemed to war-
rant douhts as to the truth of Christianity: (1) The
mission of the Messiah announced by the Prophets
was to deliver Israel. Was this accomplished by
Jesus? (3) It is expressly stated by the Prophets
that the Messiah would assemble the Jews, the de-
scendants of Ahraham, and lead them out from
exile. How, then, can this be applied to Jesus, who
came when the Jews still possessed their land? (3)
It is predicted that after the arrival of the Messiah,
Palestine, peopled by the descendants of Jacob, who
would have at their head David for king, would en-
joy unbroken prosperity. But is there any country
more desolate than that land is now ? (4) After the
arrival of the Messiah, God, the Prophets foretold,
would he recognized by the Whole universe. Has
this been fulfilled ? (5) Where is the universal peace
predicted for the Messianic time by the Prophets?

(6) Where is the Temple, with its divine service by
the priests and Levites, that the Messiah was to re-
store, according to the predictions of the Prophets?

(7) Great miracles are foretold — the worship in Jeru-
salem of God by all nations ; the war between Gog
and Magog ; etc. Did these take place at the time of
Jesus ? (8) Did any prophet predict that the Messiah
would abrogate the Mosaic law? "These," says
Joseph ibn Vives, "are only a few of the numerous
doubts that have been suggested to me by the words
of the Prophets. Much more difficult to allay are
my doubts concerning the birth, death, and I'esur-
rection of Jesus, his intercourse with his disciples
and others, his miracles ; but these I would discuss
orally, and not in writing."

A general work against Christianity was written
in Spanish, under the title " Tratado " (" Bittul 'Ikkere
ha-Nozerim " in the Hebrew translation of Joseph
ibn Shem-Tob), by the philosopher Hasdai Crescas.
In a dispassionate, dignified manner he refutes on
philosophical grounds the doctrines of

Hasdai original sin, redemption, the Trinity,

Crescas. the incarnation, the Immaculate Con-
ception, transubstantiation, baptism,
and the Messianic mission of Jesus, and attacks
the Gospels. Another general anti-Christian work,
entitled "Eben Bohan," and modeled upon the
"Milhamot Adonai" of Jacob ben Reuben, was
written at the end of the fourteenth century by
Shem-Tob ben Isaac ibn Shaprut, who, in 1376, de-
bated in public at Pamplona with Cardinal Pedro
de Luna, afterward Benedict XIII., on the dogmas
of original sin and redemption. The book is di-
vided into fifteen chapters, the last being devoted
to the refutation of the work of Alfonso of Valladolid
against the " Milhamot Adonai " of Jacob ben Reuben.

Of the same character as the "Eben Bohan," and
of about the same date, are the works written by
Moses Cohen of Tordesillas and by Hayyim ibn
Musa, entitled respectively " 'Ezer ha-Emunah " and

" Magen wa-Romah." A masterpiece of satire upon
Christian dogma is the " Iggeret al-Tehi ka-Aboteka, "
written at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
Proflat Duran and addressed to the baptized Jew
David Bonet Bongoron. It was so skilfully com-
posed that until the appearance of Joseph ibn Shem-
Tob's commentary thereon Christian authors believed
it to be favorable to Christianity, and frequently
quoted it under the corrupted title " Alteca Boteca " ;
but when they perceived the real character of the
epistle they strove to destroy all the copies known.
Associated with this letter is Duran's polemic " Keli-
mat ha-Goyim," a criticism of Christian dogma,
written in 1397 at the request of Hasdai Crescas,
to whom it is dedicated. It was much used by his
kinsman Simon ben Zemah Duran in his attacks
upon Christianity, especially in those which concern
the abrogation of the Mosaic law and are made in his
commentary on the sayings of the Fathers ("Magen
Abot," published separately under the title " Keshet
u-Magen," Leghorn, 1785; reedited by M. Stein-
schneider, Berlin, 1881).

The earliest anti-Jewish writings in Prance date
from the first half of the ninth century. Between
835 and 840 Agobard, Bishop of Lyons, wrote three
anti-Jewish epistles, among which was one entitled
"De Insolentia Judeeorum," and one "Concerning
the Superstitions of the Jews" (" Ago-
In bardi Opera," ed. Migne, civ.). The

France. author endeavors, in the latter work,
to show from various Biblical pas-
sages that the society of Jews should be avoided
even more than association with pagans, since Jews
are the opponents of Christianity. He recounts the
judgments passed by the Church Fathers upon the
Jews, the restrictive measures taken against them
by different councils, their superstitions, and their
persistent refusal to believe in Jesus. Agobard's
successor in the diocese of Lyons, Bishop Amolo,
also wrote against the Jews, denouncing their super-
stitions, calling attention to the invidious expres-
sions used by them to designate the Apostles and
the Gospels, and exposing the fictitious character of
their arguments in defense of their Messianic hopes
("Contra Judseos," ed. Migne, cxvi.).

However, works like those of Agobard and Amolo
were very rare in Prance in the tenth and eleventh
centuries; they began to multiply only after the
Crusades, when every priest considered himself
charged with the duty of saving Jewish souls. The
many anti-Jewish works of the twelfth and thir-
teenth centuries include : " De Incarnatione, Adver-
sus Judseos," by Guilbert; " Annulus seu Dialogus
Christiani et Judaei de Fidei Sacramentis, " by Ru-
pert ; " Tractatus Adversus Judeeorum Inveteratam
Duritiem," by Pierre le Venerable; "Contra Judse-
orum " (anonyrnous) ; " Liber Contra Perfidiam Ju-
dfeorum," by Pierre of Blois; "Altercatio Judsei
de Fide Christiana," by Gilbert Crepin ; " De Messia
Ejusque Adventu Prseterito," by Nicolas de Lyra.
From the thirteenth century polemical works in
French began to appear, as, for instance, "De la
Disputation de la Synagogue et dela Sainte Eglise"
(Jubinal, "My stores du XV SiScle," ii. 404-408);
"La Disputation du Juyf et du Crestian" ("His-
toire Litteraire de France," xxiii. 317).

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Folemics

On the part of the Jews there appeared in north-
ern France a collection of replies made " to Infidels
and Christians " by several members of the Official
family, especially by Joseph the Zealot (who is
credited with the redaction of the Hebrew version,
entitled "Wikkuah," of the disputation of 1240 be-
tween Nicholas Donin and four representatives of
the Jews), Jehiel of Paris, Judah ben David of
Melun, Samuel ben Solomon, and Moses de Coucy.
The characteristic features of these controversies are
the absence of fanaticism in the clerical disputants
and the freedom of speech of the Jews, who do not
content themselves with standing upon the defen-
sive, but often attack their opponents, not with dia-
lectics, but with clever repartee. The following
may serve as an example : Nathan ben Meshullam
was asked to give a reason for the duration of the
present exile, while that of Babylon, which was in-
flicted upon the Jews as a punisliment for the worst
of crimes, idolatry, lasted only seventy years. He
answered: "Because in the time of the First Temple
the Jews made stone images of Astarte and other
statues which could not last for long; while in the
time of the Second Temple they deified one of them-
selves, Jesus, to whom they applied many prophecies,
thus creating a durable idol which attracted many
worshipers. The gravity of the fault, therefore, called
for a corresponding severity in the punishment."

Regular treatises in defense of Judaism against
the attacks of Christianity began to appear in south-
ern France. The most Important of these were: the
"Sefer ha-Berit" of Joseph Kimhi (see above);
the " Mahazik ha-Emunah " of Mor-
In decai beu Josiphiah; the "Milhemet

Provence. Mizwah " of Meir ben Simon of Nar-
bonne ; and three works by Isaac ben
Nathan — a refutation of the arguments contained
in the epistle of the fictitious Samuel of Morocco
(who endeavored to demonstrate from the Bible the
Messiahship of Jesus); "Tokahat Mat'eh," against
Geronimo de Santa Fe; and "Mibzar Yizhak," a
general attack upon Christianity. An interesting
polemical work was written in France at the end of
the eighteenth century by Isaac Lopez, under the
title "Kur Mazref ha-Emunot u-Mar'eh ha-Emet."
It is divided into twelve chapters or "gates," and
contains, besides a refutation of the Christian argu-
ments drawn from the Old Testament, a thorough
criticism of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apos-
tles, in which the author points out many contra-
dictions and false statements. He accuses Paul of
hypocrisy for prohibiting in one country what he
allowed in another. Thus, for instance, to the Chris-
tians of Rome, who clung to the Mosaic law, he did
not dare to recommend the abrogation of circumci-
sion and other commandments: "For circumcision
verily profiteth, if thou keep the law ; but if thou
be a "breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made
uncircumcision.'' " Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the
law " (Rom. ii. 35, iii. 31). But to the Galatians he
said: "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, he
is a debtor to do the whole law " (Gal. v. 2, 3). " If
this is the case," asks Lopez, "why did not Paul,

who was circumcised, observe the Mosaic law?
Then, again, why did he cause his disciple Timothy
to be circumcised?" To the Hebrews Paul said,
"He that despised Moses' law died without mercy
under two or three witnesses" (Heb. x. 28); but to
his disciple Titus he wrote, "But avoid foolish
questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and stri-
vings about the law ; for they are unprofitable and
vain" (Titus iii. 9).

Although the " Disputatio Christianorum et Judse-
orum Olim Romse Habita Coram Imperatore Con-
stantino " (Mayence, 1544) is founded on a fiction,
there is no doubt that religious controversies be-
tween Christians and Jews in Italy were held as
early as the pontificate of Boniface IV. (608-615).

Alcuin (735-804) relates that while he
In Italy, was in Pavia a disputation took place

between a Jew named Julius and
Peter of Pisa. Yet in spite of the frequency of re-
ligious controversies anti-Jewish writings were very
rare in Italy before the Crusades ; the only work of
the kind known to belong to the eleventh century
was that of Damiani, entitled "Antilogus Contra
Judaeos," in which he sought, by means of numer-
ous passages from the Old Testament, such as those
relating to the Creation, the building of the tower
of Babel, the triple priestly benediction, the thrice-
repeated "Holy," and the Messianic passages, to es-
tablish the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and
the divinity of Jesus (Migne, " Patrologia," 2d series,
1853 ; comp. Vogelstein and Rieger, " Gesch. der
Juden in Rom," i. 26 et seq.).

But from the time of the pontificate of Innocent
III. anti-Jewish writings in Italy, as elsewhere, be-
gan to multiply. To the earlier calumny that the
Talmud contained blasphemies against Christianity,
there was added, after the twelfth century, the accu-
sation that the Jews used Christian blood for ritual
purposes. About the same time also there appeared
the charge that the Jews pierce the consecrated host
until blood flows. The first Jewish polemical wri-
ter in Italy seems to have been Moses of Salerno,
who, between 1225 and 1240, composed "Ma'amar
ha-Emunah" and "Ta'anot,"in both of which he
attacked the fundamental dogmas of Christianity.
They were followed by other polemics, the most
important of which are the " Milhamot Adonai " (or
"She'elot u-Teshubot," or "'Edut Adonai Ne'ema-
nah "), by Solomon ben Jekuthiel ; the " Magen Abra-
ham" (or "Wikkuah"), by Abraham Farissol; and
the "Hassagot 'al Sifre ha-Shilluhim," by Brieli.

The shamefully oppressive economic and polit-
ical conditions under which the Jews labored in
Germany and in Austria during the Middle Ages
rendered them regardless of the flood of anti- Jewish
writings with which those countries became inun-
dated. It was not until the fifteenth century that a
polemical work against Christianity appeared in

Austria. Tliis was written by Lip-
In mann Millhausen, under the title " Se-
Germany fer ha-Nizzahon," and it consisted of
and 354 paragraphs, the last eight of which
Austria, contained a dispute which took place

between the author and a convert
named Peter. Lipmann quotes in his work 346
passages from the Old Testament, upon which his

Polemics
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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

108

aigiiment against Christianity is based. Very char-
acteristic is his objection to the divinity of Jesus.
" If really God had willed to descend upon the earth
in the form of a man. He, in His omnipotence, would
have found means to do so without degrading Him-
self to be born of a woman." The Gospel itself, ac-
cording to Lipmann, speaks against the assumption
that Jesus was born of a virgin, since, with the pur-
pose of showing that lie was a descendant of David,
it gives the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of
Mary.

Among the numerous objections raised by Lip-
mann to the doctrine of redemption, mention may be
made of the following: "Why," asks he, "did God
cause Jesus to be born after thousands of generations
had lived and died, and thus allow pious men to
suffer damnation for a fault which they had not
committed? Was it necessary that Christ should
be born of Mary only, and wei-e not Sarah, Miriam,
Abigail, Hulda, and others equally worthy of this fa-
vor? Then, again, if mankind be redeemed through
Christ, and the original sin be forgiven through his
crucifixion, why is the earth still laboring under the
Lord's curse: 'In sorrow thou shalt bring forth chil-
dren. ' ' Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth
to thee ' [Gen. iii. 16, 18] ? Were there invisible
curses which have been removed, while the visible
were allowed to remain? " As may be readily sur-
mised, the "Seferha-Nizzahon" called forth a num-
ber of replies from Christians. Of these there were
published Wilhelm Schickaid's "Triumphator Vap-
ulans, sive Eef utatio Blasphemi Libri Hebraici " (Tu-
bingen, 1629), Stephen Gerlow's "Disputatio Con-
tra Lipmanni Nizzachon" (Konigsberg, 1647), and
Christian Schotan's " Anti-Lipmanniana " (Franeker,
1659). In 1615 there appeared also in Germany a
polemical work in Judseo-German entitled "Der
Jildische Theriak " ; it was composed by Solomon
Offenhausen, and was directed against the anti-Jew-
ish " Schlangenbalg " of the convert Samuel Brenz.
The Jewish work which more than any other
aroused the antagonism of Christian writers was the

" Hizzuk Emunah " of the Karaite

Isaac Isaac Troki, which was written in Po-

Troki's land and translated into Latin, Ger-

" Hizzuk man, Spanish, and English. It occu-

Emunah." pies two volumes and is subdivided

into ninety-nine chapters. The book
begins by demonstrating that Jesus was not the
Messiah predicted by the Prophets. "This," says
the author, "is evident (1) from his pedigree, (3)
from his acts, (3) from the period in which he lived,
and (4) from the fact that during his existence the
promises that related to the advent of the expected
Messiah were not fulfilled." His argument on
these points is as follows: (1) Jesus' pedigree: With-
out discussing the question of the relationship of
Joseph to David, which is verj' doubtful, one may ask
what has Jesus to do with Joseph, who was not his
father? (2) Hisacts: According to Matt. x. 34, Jesus
said, " Think not that I come to make peace on earth ;
I come not to send peace but the sword, and to set a
man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law." On the other hand, Holy
Writ attributes to the true and expected Mes-

siah actions contrary to those of Jesus. (3) The
period of his existence : It is evident that Jesus did
not come at the time foretold by the Prophets, for
they predicted the advent of Messiah at the latter
days (Isa. ii. 2). (4) The fulfilment of the Messianic
promises: All the Prophets predicted that at the ad-
vent of the Messiah peace and justice would reign in
the world, not only among men but even among the
animals ; yet there is not one sincere Christian who
would claim that this has been fulfilled.

Among Isaac Troki's objections to the divinity of
Jesus the following may be mentioned: The Chris-
tian who opposes Judaism must believe that the Jews
tormented and crucified Jesus either with his will or
against his will. If with his will, then the Jews
had ample sanction for what they did. Besides, if
Jesus was really willing to meet such a fate, what
cause was there for complaint and affliction? And
why did he pray in the manner related in Matt.
xxvi. 39? On the other hand, if it be assumed that
the crucifixion was against his will, how then can
he be regarded as God^he, who was unable to re-
sist the power of those who brought him to the
cross? How could one who had not the power to
save his own life be held as the Savior of all man-
kind? (ch. xlvii.).

In the last chapter Isaac quotes Eev. xxii. 18, and
asks how Christians could consistently make changes
of such a glaring nature ; for the change of the Sab-
bath from the seventh to the first day of the week
was not authorized by Jesus or any of his disciples j
and the partaking of the blood and flesh of a stran-
gled beast is a palpable infringement of the dictates
of the Apostles.

A series of apologetic and polemical works, writ-
ten in Spanish and Portuguese by scholarly refugees
from Spain and Portugal, appeared in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, in Holland and in some
places in Italy. Of these the most important are:
" Sobre el Capitulo 53 de Ezaya e au-
By tros Textos de Sagrada Escritura," by

Maranos. Montalto ; " Livro Fayto . . . em Que
Mostra a Verdad de Diversos Textos e
Cazas, Que Alegao as Gentilidades para Conflrmar
Suas Seictas," by the same author; "Tractado de la
Verdad de la Ley " (Hebrew transl. by Isaac Gomez
de Gora, under the title "Torat Mosheh "), by Saul
Levi Morteira; "Tratado da Calumnia," by Nah-
mios de Castro ; " Puenta Clara, las Excellencias y
Calumnias de los Hebreos," by Isaac Cardoso;
" Prevenciones Divinas Contra la Vance Idolatria de
las Gentes" and "Explicapao Paraphrastica Sobre o
Capitulo 58 de Propheta Isahias," by Balthazar
Orobio de Castro; "Fortalazzo" (Hebrew transl. by
Marco Luzzatlo), by Abraham Peregrine.

Though much less violent than the Christian anti-
Jewish writings, an extensive anti-Jewish polemical
literature has been produced by Mohammedan schol-
ars. The subject-matter of this literature is closely
connected with the earlier attacks upon Judaism
found in the Koran and the tradition (" hadith "),
the most debated charge being that of having falsi-
fied certain portions of the Holy Scriptures and
omitted others. Among the examples of falsifica-
tion is the Biblical account of the sacrifice of Abra-
ham, in which, according to the Mohammedans, the

109

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Polemics
Police Laws

name of Isaac was substituted for that of Ishraael.
The passages omitted contained the predictions re-
garding the advent of Mohammed and his mission
to all mankind. A common point for controversy
also was the question of the abrogation of the divine
laws— the Sabbath law, the dietary laws, and other
Biblical commandments.

On the Jewish part very little was written against

Islam, and besides occasional attacks scattered

through the Biblical commentaries of the Rabbin-

ites and Karaites, and the philosophical works of

Saadia, Abraham ibn Daud, Judah ha-

In. Islam. Levi, Moses ben Maimon, and others,

Jewish literature contains but two

productions of any extent that are devoted to an

attack upon Islam: the "Ma'amar 'al Yishmael" of

Solomon ben Adret, refuting the attacks upon the

Bible by Abu Mohammed ibn Hazm, and the

" Keshet n-Magen " of Simon Duran.

The following is an alphabetical list of printed
polemical works in Hebrew and Judseo-German :

TTIUND inn Sn mjN, Proflat Duran. Published with the anti-
Christian satire of Solomon Bonfed
and the disputation ol Shem-Tob ben
Joseph Falaquera. Constantinople,
1570-75; Breslau, 1844, in the col-
lection Dinwi yaip, with a German
translation by Geiger.
'p1l''n yB>ini —\ niJN, Joseph ibn Vlves' answer to Pablo Chris-
tiani. Published in "Dibre Haka-
mim," Metz, 1849.
'jiSbti H'nN (Dlsputatlo Leoni Josepbl Alfonsi cum
Rabbino Judah Mizrahi), Isaac Baer
Levlnsohn. Leipsic, 1864.
DiD3n njlDN, Hayyim Viterbo. Printed in " Ta'an Ze-
kenim," Franklort-on-the-Main, 1855.
njDN 'D, disputations collected from the Talmud
and Midrashim. Isny, 1542.
O'DT DON, Levinsohn. Against the accusation of
ritual murder. Odessa, 1864 ; Warsaw,
1879, 1881.
JJU3"XiPi3 lyi 113, Isaac Jacob ben Saul Ashkenazi. Am-
sterdam, 1696.
onxun nfip Sioa, 9asdal Crescas. Published by Ephraim
Deinard, Keamy, n; J., 1894.
HDV miD p, Isaac Onkeneira. Constantinople, 1577.
nnan 'd, Joseph Kjmhi. Partly published with
the " Milhemet Hobah," Constantino-
ple, 1710.
Dinojnv DMi, M. Rosenschein. London.
niaiT nai, Isaac ha-Levi Satanow. Berlin, 1800 ?
I'T Spa nsnin, Don David Nasi. Frankfort-on-the-Main,
1866, and by Ephraim Deinaitl, Kearny,
N. J., 1894.
'jN'n' '1 ni3'1. In Wagensell's "Tela Ignea Satanae,"
Freiburg, 1681.
pDin nu'l. In Wagensell's "Tela Ignea Satanae,"
Freiburg, 1681, and by Steinschneider,
Stettin, 1860.
njDNJ '^nny m3'i, Solomon ben Jekuthiel (see Jelllnek,
Cn nranSD) "B. H."il.43).

'?33ni, Levinsohn. Odessa, 1864; Warsaw, 1878.
njiDN pun, Isaac Troki. Published by Wagenseil,
and later in Amsterdam, 1705 ; Jerusa-
lem, 1845; Leipsic, 1857. In Judseo-
German, Amsterdam, 1717 ; in English,
by Mocatta, London, 1856.
pNino lyiynv, Solomon Zalman Offenhausen. Amster-
dam, 1737 ; under the title " Sefer ha-
Nizzahon," Hanau, 1615 ; with a Latin
translation, Altdorf, 1680.
nuiCNn iiXD 113, Isaac Lopez. Metz, 1847.
onCN 'BlpS, Kozin. Smyrna, 1855.
niXD ncnSn, Solomon ben Simon Duran. Published
with the " Keshet u-Magen," Leipsic,
1856.
Oi'7i!'3 ncn'^c, Rosenberg. Wilna, 1871.
DiSif 3 ncnSc, Benjaminsohn. New York, 1898.

1Dl3n iinDj. Published by Abraham Berliner, Altona,
1875.
^NIS" nxj, W. Shur. Chicago, 1897.
Jinxjn 'D, LipmannMUlhausen. Published by Wa-
genseil, and at Amsterdam, 1709, 1711,
and KBnigsberg, 1847.
D'ni3''l y3lp, various religious disputations. Pub-
lished by Abraham Geiger, Breslau,
1844.
ysyiBiVilj ptj)'iji'?yi, Gabriel Isaac Pressburger. Prague, 1835.

For later polemics see Anti-Semitism; Conver-
sion; Disputations.

B[bliographt: Heathen Polemics: Frankel, in Monats-
schnft, 1856, -.jp. 81-91 ; Gratz, iti. 1872, pp. 193-206 ; Giles,
Heathen Records to the Jewish Scripture History, London,
1856; idem. Notice of the Jews and Tlieir Country by the
Classic Writers o/ Antiquity, London, 1872 ; L. Geiger, Quid
de JudfBorum Mnrihus Atque Instilutis Scriptoribus Bo-
manis Persuasum Fuerit, Berlin, 1872; Thiancourt, Ce Qui
Tacite Dit des Juifs au Commencement du Livre V. des
Histoires, in B. B. J. xix. 189 ; Theodore Reinach, Texts
d'Auteurs Grecs et Bomains Belatifs au Judaism, Paris,
1895 ; Schurer, Oesch. ill. 103 et seq.; Friedlander, Gesch. der
Jlldischen Apologetik, 1903.

Christian Polemics : Wolf, Bibl. Heir. 11. 993 et seq.; De
Rossi, BibliothecaAntichristiana, Parma, 1800 ; Kayserling,
Bibl. Esp.-Port.-Jud. pp. 114 et seq.; Steinschneider, Jewish
Literature, p. 314 ; Winter and Wiinsche, JiXdische Literor
tur, iii. 655-670; Hamburger, B. B. T. Supplement, 1900, s.v.
Disputation ; Ziegler, Beligi6se Disputationen im MittA-
alter, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1894 ; Isidore Loeb, La Contra-
verse Beligieuse Entre les Chretiens et les Juifs du Moyen
Age, Paris, 1888 ; Israel L^vl, in B. E. J. v. 239 et seq.: Gei-
ger, ProbenJildischer Vertheidigung Gegen Christenthum,
in Breslauer's Jahrbuch, i., ii. (1850-51) .

Mohammedan Polemics : Steinschneider, Polemische und
Apologetische Literatur in Arabischer Sprache Zwisehen
Muslimen, Christen, wul Juden, in Abhandlungen fUr die
Kunde des Morgenlandes, vi.. No. 3 ; Goldziher, Ueber Mu-
hammedanische Polemik Gegen Ahl al^Kttab, in Z. D.
M. G. xxxii. 341-387 ; Schreiner, Zur Gesch. der PoUmiK
Zwisehen Juden und Muhammedanem, jb. xUi. 591-675.
J. I. Br.

POLEMON II. ; King, first of the Pontus and
the Bosporus, then of the Pontus and Cilicia, and
lastly of Cilicia alone; died in 74 c.b. Together
with other neighboring kings and princes, Polemon
once visited King Agrippa I. in Tiberias (Josephus,
"Ant." xix. 8, § 1). The Herodian princess Bere-
nice, of whom it was reported that she held forbid-
den relations with her brother, chose Polemon for a
husband, in order to mend her reputation, she being
at the time the widow of Herod of Chalcis. Pole-
mon married her not so much for her beauty as for
her riches ; and he adopted Judaism, undergoing the
rite of circumcision. His wife soon left him, how-
ever, and Polemon abandoned his Judaism (ib. xx.
7, § 3). According to the Christian Bartholomeus
legend, he accepted Christianity, but only to be-
come a pagan again. If there is any truth in the
story, the numerous Jews living in the Bosporus
kingdom must have taken an interest in his con-
version to Christianity and also in its being made
known in the mother country.

Bibliography : Gratz, Gesch. 4th ed.. 111. 360, 428 ; Gutschmid,
Kleine Schriften, ii. 351, 363 ; Prosopographia Imperii Bo-
mani, ill. 59, No. 406.
G. S. Kit.

POLICE LAWS : Laws regulating intercourse
among citizens, and embracing the care and pres-
ervation of the public peace, health, safety, moral-
ity, and welfare. The prevention of crime is the
main object of the police laws, although there are
many other points not strictly involved in the pop-
ular definition of crime, but materially afEecting the
security and convenience of the public, which are
recognized as lying within their province.

It is a moot question whether the cities of Judea

Police Lia-ws

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

110

had a regulated police force during Biblical times.
There are many terms in the Bible which have been
translated to denote magistrates or police officers ;
but the correctness of the translation is questioned
in almost every instance by modern scholars (see
Government). The Deuteronomic
In. Biblical code (Deut. xvi. 18) enjoins the ap-

Times. pointment of "shoterim" (A. V. "offi-
cers " ; LXX. ypa/i/iaToeiaayuyslc ; Tar-
gum, pjjfiB ; and almost all Jewish commentators,
" police officers " whose duty it was to execute the
decisions of the court ; comp. Rashi and Ibn Ezra,
Midr. Tan. and Midr. Lekah Tob ad loc. ; Pesik. R.,
ed. Friedmann, p. 149b; Maimonides, " Yad," Sanhe-
drin, i. 1, and " Lehem Mishneh " ad loc. ; comp. Prov.
vi. 7) alongside the "shofetim" (judges) in every
town (comp. Ezra vii. 35, A. V. ; LXX. ypa/i/taTelg).
As far as can be gleaned from the Biblical records, the
duties of the " shoterim " were to make proclamations
to the people, especially in time of war (Deut. xx.
5, 8, 9; Josh. i. 10, iii. 3), to guard the king's person
(I Chron. xxvii. 1), to superintend public works (II
Chron. xxxiv. 13; comp. Ex. v. 6, 10, 14, 19, where
the same term is applied to Pharaoh's taskmasters),
and other similar services. The frequent mention
of the shoterim together with the judges (Deut-
xvi. 18; Josh. viii. 33, xxiii. 2, xxiv. 1; I Chron.
xxiii. 4, xxvi. 29), or with the elders of the commu-
nity (Num. xi. 16; Deut. xxix. 9, xxxi. 28) who
acted as judges in earlier times (see Elder; Judge),
would seem to indicate that these officials were at-
tached to the courts of justice, and held themselves
in readiness to execute the orders of the officiating
judge. Josephus relates ("Ant." iv. 8, § 14) that
every judge had at his command two such officers,
from the tribe of Levi. That Levites were later
preferred for this office is evident also from various
passages in Chronicles (I Chron. xxiii. 4, xxvi. 29 ;
II Chron. xxxiv. 13). Besides officers of the town
there were also officers for every tribe, similar, prob-
ably, to the modern district police (Deut. i. 15; Sifre,
Deut. 144 ; Sanh. 16b). The chief of the judicial de-
partment established by Jehoshaphat seems to have
had" also chief jurisdiction over the police (II Chron.
xix. 11 ; comp. ib. xxvi. 11). Mention is also made
of watchmen who patrolled the city at night and
attacked all suspicious persons (Cant. iii. 8, v. 7).

The Temple had a police force of its own, most of
its officers being Levites. These were the gatekeep-
ers (" sho'arim " ; I Chron. ix. 17, 24-

Temple 27; xxvi. 12-18), the watchmen that

Police. guarded the entrance to the Temple
mount, and those that had charge of
the cleaning of its precincts (Philo, ed. Cohn, iii.
210). Levites were stationed at twenty- one points
in the Temple court ; at three of them priests kept
watch during the night. A captain patrolled with
a lantern, to see that the watchmen were at their
posts ; and if one was found sleeping, the captain
had the right to beat him and to set fire to his gar-
ments (Mid. i. 1, 3). The opening and the closing
of the gates, considered to be a very difficult task,
and requiring, according to Josephus ("B. J." vi. 5,
§ 3; "Contra Ap." ii. 10), the services of at least
twenty men, was also one of the watchmen's duties;
and a special officer was appointed to superintend

that work (She^. v. 1; comp. Schiirer, "Gesch."
Eng. ed., division ii., i. 264-268; see Temple).

The Mishnah (Ket. xiii. 1) mentions two judges
of "gezerot" (lit. "prohibitions," "decrees"; see
Gezebah), Admon ben Gaddai and Hanan ben
Abishalora (Hanan the Egtptian), who were in
Jerusalem during the latter part of the second com-
monwealth, and the baraita quoted in the Gemara
(Ket. 105a) adds one more, named Nahum the Mede.
The meaning of the term "gezerot" in this con-
nection, and the significance and functions of these
judges, have been variously explained by modern
scholars (see Frankel, "Darke ha-Mishnah," p. 61;
idem, in " Monatsschrif t, " 1853, p. 247, note 5;
"Weiss, "Dor,"i. 193; Sidon, "Eine Magistratur in
Jerusalem," in Berliner's "Magazin," 1890, pp. 198
et seq. ; Grlinwald, ib. 1891, p. 60) ; but it is safe to
assume that the functions of these judges were simi-
lar to those of modern police magistrates (comp.
Yer. Ket. xiii. 1), although they may have had also
some judicial authority in petty cases. These, un-
like the judges of courts of justice, received a stipu-
lated salary from the Temple treasury ("Terumat
ha-Lishkah," Shek. iv. 2). Each of them was al-
lowed ninety -nine manahs per annum, which sum,
if not sufficient for his support, might be increased
(Ket. 105a; comp. "Yad," Shekalim, iv. 7, where
the annual salary is given as ninety manahs).

Mention is made in the Talmud of various police
officials that held office in tlie Jewish communities
of Palestine and Babylon. The Greek names by
which most of them were known indicate that they
were introduced during a later period, after Hellenic
influence had become strong among the Jews. Most
of these officials received their authority from the

local courts, and were appointed by

Local them as adjuncts to the communal

Police organization. Officers were appointed

Officials, for the following duties: to supervise

the correctness of weights and meas-
ures (D''DT13X, a corruption of D'D1J"l")JX=a7opai'o^f ;
Sifra, Kedoshim, viii. 8 ; B. B. 89a) ; to regulate the
market price of articles (B. B. 89a ; according to an-
other opinion, it was unnecessary to appoint offi-
cials for this purpose, since competition would reg-
ulate the price ; in Yer. B. B. v. 11, Rab is mentioned
as having been appointed to this office by the exil-
arch); to allot land by measurement, and to see
that no one overstepped the limits of his field (B. B.
68a and RaSHBaM ad loc. ; in B. M. 107b, Adda, the
surveyor [nKniEtJ], is mentioned as holding the
office; comp. 'Er. 56a). Besides these, mention is
made of watchmen who guarded the city (B. B. 68a,
according to the interpretation of Maimonides in his
Commentary of the Mishnah, and of R. Hananeel,
quoted in RaSHBaM ad loc. ; comp. Git. 80b ; Sanh.
98b ; Yer. Hag. i. 7 ; Sheb. iv. 2, end) and of mounted
and armed watchmen who maintained order in the
suburbs (B. B. 8a; comp. Yeb. 121b). There were
also officers in charge of the dispensation of charity
(B. B. 8b). Permission was given to the authorities
of every town to supervise the correctness of weights
and measures, to regulate the market price of
articles and of labor, and to punish those who did
not abide by the regulations [ib.). The salaries of
all these officers were drawn from the town treas-

Ill

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Police Laws

ury, to which all the Inhabitants had to contribute
(see DoMiciL).

The police laws of the Bible and of the Talmud
are very numerous. The Biblical commandment to
build a battlement around the roof of a house, " that
thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man
fall from thence " (Deut. xxii. 8), was regarded by
the Rabbis as a general principle, from which were
derived many regulations the object
Special of which was to insure public safety.
Police Thus, it was forbidden to harbor a
Laws. vicious dog or to lieep a broken lad-
der on one's premises (B. K. 15b), or
lO keep a pit or a well uncovered or unfenced
(Sifre, Deut. 329; "Yad," Rozeah, xi. 4). Dogs
had to be kept chained; they might be let loose
during the night only in places where a sudden at-
tack of an enemy was feared (B. K. 83a). Untamed
animals, especially cats that might injure children,
might not be kept ; and any one was permitted to
kill such an animal found on the premises of a Jew
{ib. 80b ; comp. Hul. 7b). A ruined wall or a de-
cayed tree was not allowed to remain in a public
place. The owner was given thirty days' notice to
remove it ; but if the danger was imminent he was
compelled to remove it forthwith (B. M. 117b;
"Yad," Nizke Mamon, xiii. 19; Shulhan 'Aruk,
Hoshen Mishpat, 416, 1, and Isserles' gloss). No
one was permitted to throw stones into the street
(B. K. 60b) or to build a tunnel under the public
thoroughfare (B. B. 60a), except by special permis-
sion of the city authorities and under their super-
vision (Hoshen Mishpat, 417, 1, Isserles' gloss, and
" Pittie Teshubah " ad loc). Weapons might not be
sold to suspicious persons ('Ab. Zarah 15b; "Yad,"
Rozeah, xii. 12, 14; Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah,
151, 5)'.

Another set of police regulations was based on
the Biblical expression " Neither sbalt thou stand
against the blood of thy neighbor " (Lev. xix. 16).
The Rabbis made it obligatory upon any man who
saw one drowning, or in danger of an attack by
robbers or by a wild beast, to endeavor to save him
(Sifra ad loc. ; Sanh. 73a). The court was obliged
to furnish safe passage to travelers in dangerous
places; so that, when a murdered man was found,
the elders of the nearest town could conscientiously
say, " Our hands have not shed this blood " (Deut.
xxi. 7; Sifre ad loc; Sotah 45b, 46a; "Yad," I.e.
ix. 8; ib. Ebel, xiv. 3). The court was obliged also
to provide wide avenues, furnished with posts and
directions, leading to the cities of refuge, so that one
who had committed murder unwittingly might have
easy access to them in his escape from the hands of
thego'el (B. B. 90a; Mak. 10a; see Asylum; Aven-
ger OF Blood).

Numerous laws were instituted by the Rabbis
with the view of preserving the health of the com-
munity (see Health Laws). The laws tending to
the preservation of the life of dumb
Sanitary creatures, and to the considerate care
' Laws. of them, also formed a large portion
of rabbinic legislation (see Cruelty
TO Animals). The care of the poor and the proper
distribution of charity were also regujated by law
(see Charity). Many provisions are found in the

Talmud the purpose of which was to guard free
commercial intercourse. Roads leading from one
town to another had to be at least eight cubits
wide ; so that two wagons, going in opposite direc-
tions, might pass without difflculty. Roads leading
to commercial centers were to be at least sixteen
cubits wide (B. B. 100a, b; RaSHBaM ad loc).
Balconies or other extensions of houses projecting
to the public thoroughfare and trees in the public
streets whose branches might obstruct the passage
of a rider mounted on his camel were also prohibited
(B. B. 27b, 60a). Trees growing near the bank of
a river, if they impeded freight-laborers in their
work, might be cut down with impunity (B. M.
107b). Building-materials might not be prepared in
the public street. Stones and bricks brought for
immediate use in a building might be deposited in
the street; but the owner was held responsible for
any injury caused thereby (ib. 118b). One who
broke a vessel left in the public street was not re-
quired to pay any damages ; but the owner of the
vessel was held responsible for any injury caused
by it, or even by its sherds, if he intended to make
use of them (B. K. 38a; see Baba Kamma). Dur-
ing the summer months no water might be poured
into the street; and even in the rainy season, when
this was permitted, the one who poured the water
was held responsible for any injury resulting from
it (B. K. 6a, 80a). The pious used to bury their
potsherds and broken glass three "tefahim" (flsts)
deep in the field in order that they might cause no
injury to any one nor impede the plowshare in its
course; others burned them; and others, again,
threw them into the river {ib. 30a). Among the ten
ordinances that applied especially to Jerusalem were
the prohibitions against any projections from pri-
vate houses to the street; against the establishment
of potteries, against the planting of gardens (except
rose-gardens that were supposed to have existed
since the times of the early prophets), against keep-
ing chickens, and against dunghills within the city
limits (B. K. 83b).

Provisions were also made by the Rabbis with
the view of guarding the pei'sonal liberty and honor
of the members of the community. Stealing a per-
son and selling him into slavery was
Laws Re- punishable by death, according to the
lating: to Mosaic law (Ex. xxi. 16). ' " They are
Liberty. My [God's] servants, but not servants
to servants," was a principle often
enunciated by the Rabbis (B. M. 10a; Kid. 33b,
based on Lev. xxv. 43). Imprisonment as a punish-
ment is not mentioned in the Bible, although later
it was employed in the case of certain transgressions
(see Imprisonment). The payment of damages for
the infliction of a personal injury included also a
fine for the shame which was caused by such an
injury (see Damage). In inflicting the punishment
of flagellation no more than the prescribed number of
stripes might be given, "lest, if he should exceed,
and beat him above these with many stripes, then
thy brother should seem vile unto thee " (Deut. xxv.
8; see Corporal Punishment). Posthumous in-
dignities at the public execution of a criminal were
prohibited ; and when hanging after execution was
enjoined, the body was not allowed to remain on

Police Laws
Foll-Tax

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

112

the gallows overnight (Deut. xxi. 23 ; aee Capital
Punishment).

The laws of morality and chastity were elaborated
by the Rabbis in greatest detail (see Chastity;
Ethics). The gambler was regarded as an outcast :
his testimony was not admitted in evi-
Public dence (see Evidence), nor was his
Morality, oath believed (see Gambling; Per-
jury). The Rabbis tooli especial care
in interpreting and elaborating the laws touching
upon the property rights of individuals. The bound-
aries of fields were accurately marked ; and a curse
was pronounced upon him who should remove his
neighbor's landmarks (Deut. xix. 14, xxvii. 17; see
Boundaries). Special officers were, therefore, ap-
pointed, as stated above, to measure the fields and
to determine the situation and limits of every one's
land. It was forbidden to keep animals that might
injure the crops of another (B. K. 79b). Dove-cots
were to be fifty cubits distant from a neighbor's
land, in order that the birds might cause no injury
to the seeds (B. B. 23a). Wells, pits, and caves
might not be dug in the vicinity of a neighbor's
property {ib. 17a). An oven might not be con-
structed in one's house, unless it was so built as to
guard against any danger from fire {ib. 30b). Win-
dows and doors might not be constructed so as to
face the windows and doors of a neighbor's house
(fl>. 11a; see Easement; Hazakah).

It was not permissible to buy stolen goods or such
as might be suspected of having been stolen. No
milk, wool, lambs, or calves might be bought from
a shepherd (B. K. 118b), nor wood or fruit from a
hired gardener {ib. 119a). Nothing might be bought
from women who had no personal property, nor
from minors or slaves, except such objects respect-
ing which there could be no suspicion (ib.), nor
might anything be taken from them for safe-keep-
ing (B. B. 51b).

Not only was cheating in business forbidden (Lev.
XXV. 14, 17), but even dissimulation in speech and
misleading statements were prohibited (B. M. 58b),
even when a non-Jew was concerned (Hul. 94a).
Objects might not be "doctored" or ornamented
with the intention of deceiving the buyer, nor might
the finer parts of an article be prominently displayed
in order to attract the eye (B. M. 60a, b). If water
was accidentally mixed with wine, the wine might
not be sold unless the buyer was notified of the ac-
cident (ib.). Special officers were appointed to test
the quality of wine in order to guard against adul-
teration (Tosef., Kelim, B. K. vi. 10; comp. 'Ab.
Zarah 58a, and Rashi, s.v. " Agardemin "). After an
animal had been slaughtered a butcher might not
arrest the free flow of the blood in order to make
the meat weigh more (Hul. 113a).

The prohibition against false weights and meas-
ures applied not only to their use (Lev. xix. 85, 36),
but also to the mere presence of them in one's
house (Deut. xxv. 13-16; B. B. 89b).
Weights R. Levi declared that the sin of using
and false weights and measures was greater

Measures, than that of the breach of the laws of
chastity ; for the latter could be atoned
for by repentance, while the former could not, unless
the transgressor returned to each one whom he had

deceived the amount lost by the deception, which
was almost impossible (B. B. 88b). Weights might
not be made of lead, iron, or any other metal liable to
accumulate rust, but only of stone or glass {ib. 89b).
They might not be left in salt; for this might in-
crease their weight (ib.). Ample space was to be
allowed to admit of the scales swinging freely (ib.
89a). The measures were to be cleaned at least
twice every week ; the weights, at least once every
week; and the scales, after every time that they
were used (ib. 88a). The measures were to be
so graded that each one, whether dry or liquid,
should be one-half of that preceding it (ib. 89b, 90a).
The seller was required to add y^ in liquid and ^^^
in dry measures to the actual amount required, in
order that he might be certain that the measure was
correct (ib. 88b). In places where the custom was
to sell by level measures one was forbidden to sell
heaped measures and raise the price accordingly,
and vice versa (ib. ; see Weights and Measures).

Raising the market price by speculation was re-
garded with disfavor by the Rabbis; and he who
practised it was classed together with the usurer and
with him who used false weights and measures, to
all of whom they applied the words of Amos viii.
4-8 (B. B. 90b). It was forbidden to export from
Palestine, even to the neighboring land
Market of Syria, necessary articles of food
Laws. (ib.). In times of famine one was not
permitted to store up necessary arti-
cles of food, even the products of his own field, but
was required to put them on the market. At other
times the storage of foodstuffs was permitted to
the farmer, but not to the speculator (ib.). Middle-
men were not tolerated, unless they improved the
product either by grinding the grain into flour or
by baking the flour into bread (ib. 91a; comp.
RaSHBaM, s.v. "En"). The retail storekeeper
might not derive for himself a gain larger than one-
sixth of the cost of the article (ib. 90a). The inhab-
itants of a town had the right to bar outsiders from
its market, although much freedom was exercised
by the town authorities when the question of allow-
ing a learned man to sell his goods was brought be-
fore them (ib. 31b, 32a). Pedlers might not be de-
barred from selling their goods; for there was an
ancient tradition that Ezra had permitted pedlers
to sell cosmetics to women in all places (B. K.
82a, b) ; they might, however, be prevented from
settling in a town (B. B. 23a; see Hawkers and
Pedlers).

The property of a person unable to defend himself
was protected in the following ways : (1) In the case
of minors, the court appointed a guardian (Ket. 18b,
20a) ; (2) in the case of the insane, the government
took charge of their property (Hag. 3b; Yoreh
De'ah, i. 5); (3) in the case of an absent defendant,
the court appointed a curator, provided he had left
because his life was imperiled ; othei'wise, the court
intervened only if he had died during his absence
and his property was about to be divided among his
relations (B. M. 38b, 39a).

The only material permissible for legal documents
was material of a kind that would render erasures
or changes easily recognizable (Git. 33a; Hoshen
Mishpat, 43, 1).

113

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Police Laws
PoU-Tax

Bibliography: Bloch, Das Mosaisch-Talmudisnhe Polizei-
recM, Budapest, 1879; Hamburger, B. B. T. 11., s.v. Polizei;
Hastings, Diet. BibU, s.v. Magistrate and Officer : Saal-
schfitz, Dos Mo/taische Recht, ch. v., Berlin, 1853.
B- c. J. H. G.

POLIDO, DAVID. See David Raphael ben
Abraham Polido.

POLISHER JTJDEL. See Pebiodicals.

POLITZER, ADAM : Austrian aurist ; bom at
Alberti-Irsa, Hungary, Oct.l, 1835'; studied medicine
at tlie University of Vienna, receiving his diploma
in 1859 and becoming assistant at tlie university
liospital. Politzer established himself as a physi-
cian in the Austrian capital ; was admitted to the
medical faculty of the university there as privat-
docent in aural surgery in 1861 ; became assistant
professor in 1870 ; was chief of the aural surgical
clinic in 1873, and professor in 1895.

Politzer has arranged a well-known anatomical
and pathological museum for the aural-surgical
clinic. He has written many essays for the medical
journal^, and is the author of: "Die Beleuch-
tungsbilderdes Trommelfells," Vienna, 1865; "Zehn
Wandtafeln zur Anatomie des Geh5rorgans," ib.
1873; "Atlas dcr Ueleuchtungsbilder des Trommel-
fells " (containing 14 colored tables and 392 diagrams
and illustrations), ib. 1876 ; " Lehrbuch der Ohren-
heilkunde," Stuttgart, 1878 (4th ed. 1903); "Die
Anatomische Zergliederung desMenschlichenGehoi-
organs im Normalen und Kranken Zustande, " ib, 1889.

Bibliography : Pagel, Biog. Lex.

s. 6 , « ^ ^ ^

POLKAB, ISAAC B. JOSEPH. See Pulgab,
Isaac b. Joseph.

POLL-TAX : The custom of taxing a popula-
tion at a certain amount per head dates back to very
ancient times. The first time such a tax is men-
tioned is in Ex. xxx. 12-16, where it is stated that
every male "from twenty years old and above"
shall give, as "a ransom for his soul," half a shekel
for an offering unto the Lord. There were three
other annual contributions obligatory on males, the
amounts being proportioned according to their
means-(comp. Deut. xvi. 16-17). Although the con-
tribution of half a shekel was required only at the
time of the numbering of the children of l.srael, the
rabbinical law makes it an annual tax. There are,
however, in the Bible traces of a regular poll-tax.
Ezekiel, remonstrating against exactions, pointed
out that the shekel was twenty gerahs (Ezek. xlv.
9-13). This shows that in Ezekiel's time the princes
imposed a greater exchange value on the shekel than
the prescribed twenty gerahs (comp. Ex. I.e.).

Nehemiah reduced the contribution from half a
shekel to one-third of a shekel, which was used for
the maintenance of the Temple and for the purchase
of the sacrifices (Neh. x. 33-34 [A. V. 83-38]). The
Rabbis also, probably on the basis of the passage
in Nehemiah, declared that the pre-

Shekel scribed half -shekel contribution should
Tax. be employed for the purchase of all
the sacrifices necessary in the service
of the Temple and for the maintenance of the Tem-
ple and the fortifications of Jerusalem (see Shekel
IN Rabbinical Litekaturb). Besides this con-
tribution for religious purposes, the Jews were re-
X.-8

quired at various times to pay poll-taxes of unknown
amounts to their rulers. An inscription of Sen-
nacherib shows that he imposed a per capita tax on
all his subjects; the Jews paid the same tax when
they were under Syrian control. In the time of the
Second Temple the Greeks, particularly the Seleu-
cidan rulers, apparently exacted a capitation tax
from the Jews (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 2, § 3; comp.
I Mace. X. 29); Wilcken (" Griecliische Ostraka," i.
245 et seg.), however, denies, that the capitation tax
existed before Augustus. Prom the reign of the
latter the Romans exacted from the Jews among
other taxes one known as the "tributum capitis."
The Jews rose against this tax, which was both
ignominious and burdensome.

The historians do not agree as to the contribution
per capita under Herod, against whose oppressive
taxations the Jews complained to the Roman em-
peror ("Ant." xvii. 11, § 3). Josephus does not
mention any census which the Romans took in con-
nection with a "tributum capitis" at the time of
Herod. Still, Wieseler ("Synopse," pp. 100 et seq.)
and Zumpt (" Geburtsjahr Christi," pp. 196 et seg.)
maintain that such a census was taken at that time,
and that it was the cause of the sedition stirred
up by the scribes Judas, son of Saripheus, and
Matthias, son of Margolothus ("Ant." xvii. 6, § 2).
According to these two historians, while the other
taxes were levied by Herod himself in order to meet
the expenses of internal administration of the prov-
ince the capitation tax was paid into the Roman
treasury.

In 70 c.E. Titus, being informed that the Jews
had paid half a shekel per capita to the Temple, de-
clared that it should thereafter be paid Into the im-
perial treasury. This practise continued up to the
reign of Hadrian, when the Jews ob-
XTnder the tained permission to apply the half-

Bomans. shekel to the maintenance of their
patriarch (comp. Basnage, "Histoire
des Juifs," iv., ch. iv.). Nevertheless, it appears
from Appian ("Syrian "War," § 50) that Hadrian
imposed on all the Jews of his empire a heavy poll-
tax. It is further stated that the contribution of a
half-shekel continued to be paid to the Roman em-
peror, that it was remitted only under Julian the
Apostate, and that Theodosius reimposed it. This
poll-tax existed during the Middle Ages under the
name of "der goldene Opfbrppenniq." In the
Orient the Jews paid the half-shekel for the main-
tenance of the exilarch, and Pethahiah of Regens-
burg relates that he found at Mosul six thousand
Jews, each of whom paid annually a gold piece, one-
half of which was used for the maintenance of the
two rabbis, while the other half was paid to the
emir (Depping, " Juden im Mittelalter," p. 138).

The age at which the Jews became liable to the
poll-tax varied in different countries. In Germany
every Jew and Jewess over twelve years old paid
one gulden. In Spain and England, in 1373, the age
was ten years. The amount varied in different
epochs. In Anjou the Jews paid ten "sols tour-
nois " as a poll-tax ; on certain occasions the poor
Jews claimed to be unable to pay this poll-tax ; in
these cases its collection was left to the community,
which was responsible to the government for 1,000

PoUak
7ollitzer

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

114

individuals, even when the number of Jews in the
city was smaller. In England the tallage for crown
revenue occasionally took the form of a poll-tax.
In Italy, according to Judah Minz (Responsa, No.
42), a poll-tax was Imposed on the community by
its chiefs to the amount of half the communal ex-
penses, the other half being raised by assessment.
In Turkey, in the fifteenth century, the Jews were
subject to a light poll-tax, payable only by males
over twelve years of age. To defray congrega-
tional expenses, the Jewish communities until re-
cently assessed equally every head of a household
("rosh bayit") in addition to collecting a tax on
property (Erach). A similar tax was demanded
from every family by the Austrian government (see
Familianten Gesetz).

BiBUOGEAPHY : Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages,
pp. 40 et seQ.; Depping, Les Juifs datys le Moyen Age, Ger-
man transl., pp. 24, 28, 138, 189 ; Gratz, Gesch. 3d ed., ill. 9,
260 ; ix. 30 ; Nubling, Judengemeinden des Mittelalters, pp.
xxxvi. et seq., 261 et seq., 435 et seq.i Reynier, JSeonnmie
Politique et Burale des Arabes et des Juifs, pp. 311 et seg.,
Geneva, 1820 ; Schurer, Gesch. 3d ed., 1. 229 et seq., 529 et
passim.
D. JNI. Sel.

POLLAK, A. M., BITTEB VON RXJDIN :

Austrian manufacturer and philanthropist ; born at
Wescheraditz, Bohemia, in 1817 ; died at Vienna June
1, 1884. PoUak was trained for a technical career.
In 1836 he established at Prague a factory for the
manufacture of matches, and was so successful that
within ten years he was able to export his goods.
He established branch offices at London in 1846,
at New York in 1847, and at Sydney in 1850, and
extended his trade to South America during the
years that followed. In 1858 he began to trade with
Japan, established a branch at Yokohama in 1859,
and the next year received permission to import his
goods into Russia. Many of the inventions and
improvements used in the manufacture of matches
originated in his establishments, and as a conse-
quence he was awarded many prizes in international
expositions. His chief factories were at Prague,
Budweis, and Vienna, with branches at Christians-
berg, Maderhausen, and Wodnitza.

Pollak's philanthropy was directed principally to
popular education and the encouragement of scien-
tific studies. His name is most closely associated in
this connection with the Rudolphinum at Vienna,
founded in commemoration of the birth of the
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and dedicated
Dec. 19, 1868. In this establishment 75 students at-
tending the Polytechnic receive board, lodging, and
aU aids to study free. It has an endowment of 160,-
000 florins, while the interest of an additional 5,000
florins is devoted to prizes for proficiency in physics
and chemistry. PoUak also founded a large non-
sectarian kindergarten at Baden. In 1869 he was
ennobled by the emperor with the title " Von Rudin. "

8. E. J.

POIiLAK, JACOB: Founder of the Polish
method of halakic and Talmudlc study known as
the PiLPDL; born about 1460; died at Lublin 1541.
He was a pupil of Jacob Margolioth of Nurem-
berg, with whose son Isaac he ofiiciated in the rab-
binate of Prague about 1490; but he first became
known during the latter part of the activity of Judah

Minz (d. 1508), who opposed him in 1493 regarding
a question of divorce. Pollak's widowed mother-
in-law, a wealthy and prominent woman, who was
even received at the Bohemian court, had married
her second daughter, who was still a minor, to the
Talmudist David Zehner. Regretting this step, she
wished to have the marriage annulled ; but the hus-
band refused to permit a divorce, and the mother,
on Pollak's advice, sought to have the union dis-
solved by means of the declaration of refusal
(" mi'un ") on the part of the wife, permitted by
Talmudiolaw. Menahem of Meiisbbdkg, a recog-
nized authority, had decided half a century previ-
ously, however, that a formal letter of divorce was
indispensable in such a case, although his opinion
was not sustained by the Oriental rabbis. When,
therefore, Pollak declared the marriage of his sister-
in-law null and void, all the rabbis of Germany
protested, and even excommunicated him until
he should submit to Menahem's decision. Judah
Minz of Padua also decided against Pollak, who
was sustained by one rabbi only, Mel'r PfefFerkorn,
whom circumstances compelled to approve this
course (Judah Minz, Responsa, No. 13; Gratz,
"Gesch." 3ded., ix. 518).

Pollak had a further bitter controversy, with
Minz's son Abraham, regarding a legal decision, in
which dispute more than 100 rabbis are said to have
taken part (Ibn Yahya, "Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah,"
ed. Amsterdam, p. 51a).

After the accession of Sigismund I., in 1506, many
Jews left Bohemia and went to Poland, founding a
community of their own at Cracow. Pollak fol-
lowed them, ofBciating as rabbi and organizing a
school for the study of the Talmud, which, up to
that time, had been neglected in Po-

Becomes land. This institution trained young
Rabbi men to introduce the study of the
of Craco'w. Talmud Into other Polish commu-
nities. In 1530 Pollak went to the
Holy Land, and on his return took up his residence
at Lublin, where he died on the same day as his
opponent, Abraham Minz. His most famous pupils
were Shachna of Lublin and Mel'r of Padua.

Pollak, in transferring the study of the Talmud
from GeT-many, where it had been almost entirely
neglected in the sixteenth century, to Poland, ini-
tiated a movement which in the course of time domi-
nated the Talmudlc schools of the latter country.
The sophistic treatment of the Talmud, which Pollak
had found in its initial stage at Nuremberg, Augs-
burg, and Ratisbon, was concerned
Introduces chiefly with the mental gymnastics of
Pilpul into tracing relationships between things

Poland, widely divergent or even contradictory
and of propounding questions and
solving them in unexpected ways.

Pollak's contemporaries were unanimous in re-
garding him as one of the great men of his time,
although the exaggerations to which his method
eventually led were later criticized with severity
(comp. Gans, "Zemah Dawid," ed. Offenbach, p.
31a). Pollak himself, however, was not responsible
for these, since he modestly refrained from publish-
ing the decisions at which he arrived by his system,
not wishing to be regarded as a casuist whose deci-

115

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Follak
Pollitzer

sions were to be implicitly followed. Only a few
quotations from him are found in the works of other
authors.

BiBUOGRAPHT : Jost, Gesch. dcs Judenthums und Seiner
Sekteii, lii. 240 et seg.; Gratz, Gescli. 2d ed., Ix. 58 et seq.\
Zunz, G. S. iii. 84 et seg.; BrilU's Jahrb. vli. 31 et seq.; Dem-
Mtzer, Kritisehe Britfe, etc., p. 19, Cracow, 1891.

s. E. N.

POXiLAK, JOACHIM (HAYYIM JOSEPH) :

Austrian rabbi ; born in Hungary in 1798 ; died at
Trebitsch, Moravia, Dec. 16, 1879, where he officiated
as rabbi from 1828 until his death. He wrote a
commentary, entitled " Mekor Hayyim " (Presburg,
1849; 3d ed. Warsaw, 1885), on R. Isaac Arama's
philosophical work "'Aljedat Yizhak," and a biog-
raphy of the same scholar. Pollak was also the
author of a number of Hebrew songs in the annual
"Bikkure ha-'Ittim," and of a scholarly essay on
the Talmudic rules of the vr\\xh DX C" in Stern's
"Kebuzat Hakamim," besides being a regular con-
tributor to many Hebrew periodicals.

Bibliography : Fuenn, Keneset Tisra^l, p. 366 ; Furst, Bibl.
Jud. Hi. Ill ; N6uze.it. 1879, pp. 402-412 ; Hor-Magoid, 1880, p.
21 ; Zeitltn, ^ii-j/at Sefer. il. 277. , , ^ ^

S. M. L. B.

FOLLAK, KAIM: Hungarian writer; born at
Lipto-Szent-Miklos Oct. 6, 1835; educated in the
Talmud at his native city, at Presburg, and at
Satoralja Ujhely. In 1858 he went to Prague, where
he attended Rapoport's lectures, and then taught
successively at the Jewish schools in Szegzard, Hod
Mezo Vasarhely, and Alt-Ofen. AVhen, in 1870, the
Jewish school of the last-named community was
made a municipal common school, Pollak was re-
" tained in his position, which he continued to hold
until he was pensioned in 1903.

Pollak has been a prolific writer. Besides several
text-books, one of which, a geometry for public
schools, has passed through eight editions (1st ed.
1878), he has published the following works:
"Heber. -Magyar Teljes Szotar" (Budapest, 1880), a
complete Hebrew-Hungarian dictionary; "Valoga-
tott Gyongyok " (ib. 1886), a Hungarian translation
of Gabirol's "Mibhar ha-Peninim"; "Megillat An-
tiochus " (Drohobicz, 1886), a Hungarian translation
with Hebrew notes; Gabirol's "Tikkun Middot
ha-Nefesh" (Budapest, 1895); "Izrael Nepenek
Multjabol" {ib. 1896); Gabriel Schlossberger's
"Petah Teshubah" (Presburg, 1898); "Josephini-
sche Aktenstucke iiber Alt-Ofen" (Vienna, 1902);
and "Die Erinnerung an die Vorfahren" {ib. 1903),
a history of mourning customs. In 1883 and 1883
Pollak edited the religious journal "Jeschurun,"
directed mainly against Rohling.

s. ^- ^•

POLLAK, LEOPOLD : Genre- and portrait-
painter; born at Lodenitz, Bohemia, Nov. 8, 1806;
died at Rome Oct. 16, 1880. He studied under Berg-
ler at the Academy of Prague, and later in Munich
and (after 1838) in Rome. He became a naturalized
citizen of Italy. , , . ,

Of Pollak's paintings, several of which were en-
graved by Mandel and Sti-aucher, the following may
be mentioned: "Shepherdess with Lamb " (Ham-
burger Kunsthalle); "The Shepherd Boy"(Redern
Gallery, Berlin); "Zuleika," from Byron s poem;

and "Maternal Love." He painted also a portrait
of Riedel, which is owned by the Neue Pinakothek
in Munich.

Bibliography : Bryan's Dictionani of Painters and En-
gravers, London, 1904 ; Hans Wolfgang Singer, AJlgemeines
KUnstler-Lexicon, Frankfort-on-the-Maln, 1898.
s. F. C.

POLLAK, LDDWIG: Austrian archeologist;
born in Prague Sept. 14, 1868 (Ph.D. Vienna, 1893).
In 1893 he was sent for a year by the Austrian gov-
ernment to Italy and Greece; and since that time he
has lived in Rome. Besides shorter journeys in
1900 he made an extensive scientific tour through
Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor. In 1898 he was
elected corresponding member of the German Ar-
cheological Institutes.

Pollak has published : " Zwei Vasen aus der Werk-
statt Hierons, " Leipsic, 1900 ; and " Klassische Antike
Goldschmiedearbeiten im Besitze Seiner Excellenz
A. T. von Nelidow, Kaiserlich Russischen Botschaf-
tersin Rom," J*. 1903. S.

POLLAK, MORIZ, HITTER VON BOR-
KENATJ : Austrian financier; born at Vienna Dec.
34, 1827 ; died there Aug. 20, 1904. After leaving
the gymnasium of his native city, at the age of
twenty-two, he took charge of his father's whole-
sale leather business, and soon succeeded in extend-
ing his export trade to France and Germany. In
1857 he was elected to the municipal council of Vi-
enna, and took an active part in the relief and con-
struction works in the year of the great flood (1862).
Soon afterward he took charge of the budget of the
city of Vienna, acting as auditor until his resigna-
tion in 1885. In 1867 he was sent by the city of
Vienna as one of the delegates on the occasion of the
coronation of the King of Hungary at Budapest,
and in 1873 he was made chairman of the executive
committee of the Vienna Exposition. He entered
the Niederosterreichische Escomptebank as exam-
iner, and was director-general and vice-president
from 1885 to 1898, also officiating as deputy of the
Vienna chamber of commerce, director of the Wiener
Kaufmannshalle, and examiner of the Austro-Hun-
garian bank.

Pollak took a very active part in the affairs of
the Jewish community, filling various offices, in-
cluding finally that of president from May 4, 1884, to
Dec. 37, 1885. Besides many other decorations he
received the cross of the Legion of Honor, in recogni-
tion of his services at the Paris Exposition of 18'78 ;
five years before, for his services in connection with
the Exposition of Vienna, he had received from the
Austrian emperor the patent of nobility with the
title "Von Borkenau."

s. E- J-

POLLITZER, ADOLPH: Violinist; born at
Budapest July 33, 1833; died in London Nov. 14,
1900. In 1843 he left Budapest for Vienna, where
he studied the violin under Behm ; and in his four-
teenth year he took the first prize at the Vienna
Conservatorium. After a concert tour in Germany,
he went to Paris and studied under Alard. In 1850
he crossed the Channel, and in London his remark-
able talents as a violinist were speedily recognized.
He became leader at Her Majesty's Theatre under

Follonais
Polotsk

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

116

Sir Michael Costa and also led the new Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Royal Choral Society.

PoUitzer stood preeminent in his day as an inter-
preter of classic chamber-music, his playing attain-
ing to what may be called "the great style." As a
teacher of his instrument he was regarded as the
most eminent of his time in England, and many
pupils who attained distinction liad studied under
him. In 1861, on the establishment of the London
Academy of Music, he was appointed professor of
the violin. This post he held till 1870, in which
year he succeeded Br. Wylde as principal of the
Academy, and retained this position until his death.

Bibliography: Jew. Chron. Nov. 23, 1900.
J. G. L.

POIiLONAIS, AMELIE : French philanthro-
pist ; born at Marseilles in 1835 ; died at Cap Perrat
July 24, 1898 ; daughter of Joseph Jona§ Cohen, and
wife of Desire Pollonais. In 1868 she published
her "Rgverics Maternelles,'' in which she developed
an entire system of education for children, and the
next year she followed this with her " Philosophie
Enfantine," a method of self-instruction for chil-
dren. For her devotion to the wounded in the
Franco Prussian war she received the medal of the
Red Cross Society ; and her subsequent visits to the
huts of the peasantry in the canton of Villefranche
formed the basis of her most important work, "A
Travers les Mansardeset lesEcoles " (1886).

Amelie Pollonais was one of the founders of the
"Gazette des Enfants,"and after 1887 a contributor
to the "Foyer Domestique." In 1898 she founded
a society in the interest of prisoners and released con-
victs, reporting her progress in "La Femme." She
was president of the Societe des Beaux- Arts of Nice.
Shortly after her death the name of the Place de la
Marine and the Boulevard de Saint- Jean, at Ville-
franche, was changed to Amelie Pollonais.

s. J. Ka.

POLLONAIS, GASTON: French journalist;
born at Paris May 31, 1865 ; sou of Desire Pollonais,
mayor of Villefranche, and of Amelie Pollokais.
About 1890 he began journalistic work as the
local correspondent of the " Independance Beige,"
and contributed at the same time to "Le Voltaire,"
" Le Figaro, " and " Le Gaulois. " He then succeeded
Fernand Xau as editor of "Le Soir," but, leaving
that paper, returned to "Le Gaulois," to which he
has now (1905) been a contributor for five years.
During the Dreyfus affair Pollonais was an enthu-
siastic adherent of tlie nationalist party. In 1903
he became a convert to Catholicism, his godparents
being the Jlarquis de Dion and Francois Coppee.
Pollonais is known also as a dramatist, having pro-
duced "Le Jour de Divorce," "Celle Qu'il Paut
Aimer," "Eve," and "Le Degel."

s. J. Ka.

POLNA AFFAIR: An accusation of ritual
murder in Polua resulting from the murder of
Agnes Hruza March 29, 1899. Polna, a city in the
district of Deutschbrod, Bohemia, with a population
of 5,000, including a small Jewish settlement, was
shocked by a cruel murder. Agnes Hruza, a girl
nineteen years old, living in Klein Veznic, a village
two miles from Polna, and going every day to the

city to work as a seamstress, left her place of
employment on the afternoon of March 29, 1899, and
did not return to her home. Three days later
(April 1) her body was found in a forest, her throat
having been cut and her garments torji. Near by
were a pool of blood, some blood-stained stones,
parts of her garments, and a rope with which she
had been either strangled to death or dragged, after
the murder, to the place where the body was found.
The suspicion of the sheriff was first turned
against four vagrants who had been seen in the
neighborhood of the forest on the afternoon of the
day when the murder was supposed to have been
committed. Among them was Leo-
Leopold pold Hilsner, a Jew, twenty-three
Hilsner years old, who had been a vagrant
Accused, all his life. Suspicion against him
was based on the fact that he had been
frequently seen strolling in the forest where the body
was found. A search in his house showed nothing
suspicious. He claimed to have left the place on
the afternoon of the murder long before it could have
been committed : but he could not establish a per-
fect alibi. Hilsner was arrested and tried at Kut-
tenberg Sept. 12-16, 1899. He denied all knowledge
of the crime. The only object which could be used
as evidence against him was a pair of trousers on
which some stains were found that, according to
the testimony of chemical experts, might have been
blood, while the garment was wet as if an attempt
had been made to wash it. The most important
witness against him was Peter Peschak, who claimed
to have seen Hilsner, at a distance of 2,000 feet, in
company with two strange Jews, on the day on which
the murder was supposed to have been committed
and on the spot where the body was found. An-
other witness claimed to have seen him come from
that place on the afternoon of March 29 and to have
noticed that he was very much agitated. Both the
state's attorney and the attorney for the Hruza fam-
ily made clear suggestions of ritual murder. Testi-
mony had proved that Hilsner was too weak to have
committed the crime by himself. Still he was sen-
tenced to death for participation in the murder, while
his supposed accomplices were undiscovered and no
attempt was made to bring them to justice.

On the ground of technicalities an appeal was
made to the supreme court (Cassationshof), which
ordered a new trial, to be held at Pisek in order to
avoid intimidation of the jury by the mob, and that
it might not be influenced by political agitation.
On Sept. 20, 1899, a few days after the first trial,
Hilsner was frightened by his fellow prisoners, who
showed him some carpenters working in the court-
yard of the jail and told him that they were con-
structing a gallows for him. They persuaded him to
give the names of his accomplices, as
The " Con- by doing so he would obtain a commu-
fession." tation of his sentence. Hilsner, a man
of little intelligence, fell into the trap,
and implicated Joshua Erbmann and Solomon
Wassermann as those who had assisted him. Being
brought before the judge on Sept. 29, he declared
that this charge was false. On Oct. 7, however, he
reiterated the charge, but again recanted on Nov.
20. Fortunately for those he had accused, they were

117

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Follonais
Polotsk

able to prove perfect alibis, one of them having
been in jail on the day of the murder, while the
other proved, from certificates of poorhouses in
Moravia which he had visited as a beggar, that he
could not possibly have been in Polna on that day.

Meantime anti-Semitic agitators tried their best

to arouse a strong sentiment against the Jews in

general and against Hilsner in jjarticular. The

" Deutsches Volksblatt " of Vienna sent a special

reporter to the place to make an investigation.

Hilsner's brother was made drunk at

Anti- a wine-shop and was induced to tell

Semitic what the anti-Semites wished him to

Agitation, say. The "Vaterland," the leading

organ of the clericals, reiterated the

blood accusation and produced evidence that the

Church had confirmed it. In various places where

political tension was very strong, as in HoUeschau

and in Nachod, sanguinary excesses took place.

Neither a public indignation meeting which was

called by the Jewish congregation of Vienna (Oct. 7)

nor an appeal which was made to the prime minister

had any tangible eSect.

The sentence of four months in jail imposed
upon August Schreiber, one of the editors of the
"Deutsches Volksblatt," for libeling the Jews (Dec.
11) only added fuel to the fire. Violent speeches
against the Jews were delivered in the Reichsrath
(Dec. 12) ; and Dr. Baxa, the attorney for the Hruza
family, in a speech delivered in the Bohemian Diet
(Dec. 28), accused the government of partiality to
the Jews.

Meantime Hilsner was accused of another murder.
Maria Klima, a servant, had disappeared July 17,
1898, and a female body found Oct. 27 following
in the same forest where that of Agnes Hruza had
been discovered, had, with great probability, been
identified as that of the missing girl. Decomposition
was, however, so advanced that not even the fact
that the girl had been murdered could be estab-
lished. Hilsner, charged with this crime also, was
tried for both murders in Pisek (Oct. 25-Nov. 14,
1900). The witnesses at this trial became more defi-
nite in their statements. Those that at the first trial
had spoken of a knife which they had seen in Hils-
ner's possession, now asserted distinctly that it was
such a knife as was used in ritual slaughtering. The
strange Jews who were supposed to have been seen
in company with Hilsner were more and more par-
ticularly described. When witnesses were shown
that the testimony given by them at the second trial
differed from that given at the first trial, they said
either that they had been intimidated by the judge
or that their statements bad not been correctly
recorded.

A special sensation was created by Dr. Baxa, who
claimed that the garments of Agnes Hruza had been
saturated with blood after the first trial in order to
refute the supposition that the blood had been used
for ritual purposes. The anti-Semites sent agitators
to the place of trial, " L'Antijuif " of Paris being
represented by a special reporter. A Bohemian jour-
nalist, Jaromir Hu§ek, editor of "Cesky Zajmy,"
constantly interrupted the trial by making remarks
which were intended to prejudice the jury agamst
the defendant.

The verdict pronounced Hilsner guilty of having
murdered both Agnes Hruza and Maria Klima and
of having libeled Joshua Erbmann and Solomon
Wassermann. He was sentenced to death (Nov. 14,
1900), but the sentence was commuted by the em-
peror to imprisonment for life. Owing to the agita-
tion of the anti-Semites, various attempts to prove
Hilsner's innocence were futile, especially that made
by Professor Masaryk of the Bohemian University
in Prague, a Christian who proposed the theory that
Agnes Hruza was not killed at the place where her
body was found and that she was most likely the
victim of a family quarrel, and that made by Dr.
Bulowa, a Jewish physician. D.

POIiONNOYE : Town in the district of Novo-
grad, Volhynia, Russia. It was a fortified place in
the middle of the seventeenth century, when about
12,000 Jews found tliere a refuge from the neigh-
boring towns at the time of the Cossacks' Upkising.

Polonnoye had two well-known rabbis in the
seventeenth century, Solomon Harif and his son
Moses, who later became rabbi of Lemberg (see
Buber, "Anshe Shem," p. 160, and D. Maggid,
"Zur Geschichte und Genealogie der Giinzburge,"
p. 231, St. Petersburg, 1899); but the best-known
occupant of the rabbinate was undoubtedly Jacob
Joseph ha-Kohen (d. 1769), whose principal work,
"Toledot Ya'akob Yosef " (Miedzyboz and Koretz,
1780, and numerous other editions), in which the
teachings of R. Israel Ba'al Shem were first set
forth in literary form, was burned in the syna-
gogue-yard of Wilna when the war against Hasldism
was commenced there.

Polonnoye had a Hebrew printing-office at the
end of the eighteenth century and at the beginning
of the nineteenth. The earliest work which is
known to bear the imprint of that town is the re-
sponsa collection " Me'ir Netibim " (1791), by R. MeiT
b. Zebi Margoliot; and the latest is Hayyim ibn
'Attar's " Rishon le-Ziyyon " (1809), on a part of the
Bibie.

At present (1905) the population of Polonnoye ex-
ceeds 10,000, about 50 per cent of whom are Jews.

Bibliography : Brockhaus-Efron, EntziklopedichesM Slovar ;
Graetz, Hist. v. 11; Hannover, Yewen Mezulah, pp. 28 et
sea., Cracow, 1896; Walden, Shem liOnOedolim he-Hadmh,
p. 103, Warsaw, 1880.
H. K.

P. Wl.

POLOTSK (POLOTZK) : District town in the
government of Vitebsk, Russia. The first mention
of its Jewish community occurs in 1551, when, at the
Polish Diet held at Wilna, Polotsk is expressly named
in a list of towns whose Jews were to be exempt
from the special tax known as " Serebeshchizna "
(" Akty Yuzhnoi i Zapadnoi Rossii," 1. 133). There
are indications, however, of the existence of Jews at
Polotsk as early as 1490 (" Sbornik Imperatorskavo
Istoricheskavo Obshchestva," xxxv. 41-43). In 1509
tlie baptized Jew Abraham Ezefovich, a non-resi-
dent of Polotsk, is spoken of as farmer of its rev-
enues and customs (" Aktovya Knigi Metriki Litov-
skoi Zapisei," No. 8), similar positions being held
about 1525 by his brother Michael (iJ. No. 14, p.
235), and about the middle of the same century by
another Jew, Felix (». No. 37, p. 242).

In 1568, in the war between the Russians and the

Polotsk
Poltava

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

118

Poles over Smolensk, the Muscovite grand duke
Ivan the Terrible, having captured Polotsk, ordered,
according to the testimony of an eye-witness, that
all the Jews who refused to adopt Christianity^
about 300 in number — should be thrown into tlie
Dlina (Sapunov, "Vitebskaya Starina," iv. 119, 189,
332). In 1580, however, - a Jewish community is
again found in the town ; but the letters patent of
the so-called " Magdeburg Rights " of that year
contain an edict against the Jews of Polotsk, de-
priving them of the right to trade and to build or buy
houses (" Akty Yuzhnoi i Zapadnoi Rossii," iii. 255).
About sevcnty-flve years later (1655), the Russians,
with whom the Cossacks under Chmielnicki were
allied, again overran Lithuania, and the Jewish
community at Polotsk met the fate of its fellow
communities in Poland in the bloody years of 1648
and 1649. The estates of the slaughtered Jews seem
to have been distributed among the army officers
and the nobility ("Vitebskaya Starina," iv., part 3,
p. 77).

In the sixteenth century Polotsk was more pros-
perous than Wilna. It had a total population of
100,000, and presumably its Jewish community was
well-to-do, although the fact that its taxes were
farmed to two Jews of Wilna (see R. Solomon Luria,
Responsa, No. 4) might be adduced as evidence to
the contrary.

Before Polotsk was finally annexed to Russia (1772)
it had lost its former importance, and a majority of
its inhabitants were Jews. The town
TJnder the was at first incorporated in the gov-
Russians. ernment of Pskov. In 1777 it was
made a government city, and is men-
tioned as such in the letter against Hasidism which
was sent out by Elijah Gaon of Wilna in 1796 (see
Yazkan, "Rabbenu Eliyahu me-Wilna," p. 73,
Warsaw, 1900, where " Gubernia Plock " is a mis-
print for " Polotsk "). In 1780 the town had 360
wooden houses, of which 100 belonged to Jews; but
the number of Jewish families amounted to 478, as
against 437 Christian families. In the same year
Russia, in the flush of exultation over the lion's
share in the division of Poland which had fallen
to her, gave the Jewish merchants of the govern-
ment of Polotsk equal rights with other merchants
("Polnoye Sobraniye Zakonov," xx.,. No. 14,963).
Fourteen years later, however, this policy was
changed, and a double tax was imposed in Polotsk
and in several other governments upon the Jews
who wished to avail themselves of the privilege to
become recognized burghers or merchants. In case
a Jew desired to leave Russia he could do so only
after having paid in advance the double tax for
three years (ib. xxiii.. No. 17,234). In 1796 Polotsk
became part of the government of White Russia ;
since 1803 it has been a part of the government of
Vitebsk. The policy of discriminating against the
Jews was manifested again in 1839, when all the mer-
chants of Polotsk except Jewish ones were granted
immunity from gild- and poll-taxes for ten years
(" Polnoye Sobraniye Zakonov II. " xii. , No. 10, 851).

Polotsk has been one of the strongest centers of
Hasidism in Lithuania, and has been also the seat
of a zaddik. On the whole, however, Polotsk has
never been distinguislied as a center of Jewish

learning, and the names of but very few of its ear-
lier rabbis or scholars have been preserved in Jew-
ish literature. Among them were Zebi Hirsch b.
Isaac Zack, rabbi of Polotsk and Shkud (1778),
who was probably succeeded by Judah L5b b.
Asher Margolioth; Israel Polotsker, one of the
early Hasidic rabbis (at first their opponent), who
went to Palestine in 1777, returned, and died in Po-
land ; and R. Phinehas b. Judah Polotsk, " maggid "
of Polotsk for eighteen years in the latter part of the
eighteenth century and author of numerous works.
R. Phinehas b. Judah afterward settled in Wilna;
he became a pupil of Elijah Gaon, and
Rabbis and died there Jan. 15, 1823. Among the
Scholars, later rabbis of Polotsk were Senior
Solomon Tradkin, Jacob David Wi-
lowsky, Judah Meshel ha-Kohen Zirkel, and Solo-
mon Akselrod (b. Nov. 1, 1855; became rabbi of
Polotsk in 1901). Senior Solomon Eradkin was
known later as Reb Zalmen Lubliner (b. Liadi, gov-
ernment of Moghilef, 1830 ; d. Jerusalem April 11,
1903) ; he was rabbi of Polotsk from 1856 to 1868.
Jacob David Wilowsky, later rabbi of Slutsk and
chief rabbi of the Orthodox congregations of Chi-
cago (1903-4), was rabbi from 1883 to 1887. Judah
Meshel ha-Kohen Zirkel (b. 1838) assumed the rab-
binate in 1895, and occupied it until his death, May
36, 1899.

The Hasidim of Polotsk usually maintain their
own I'abbinate ; in the latter part of the nineteenth
century it was held by Eliezer Birkhan (see Efrati,
"Dor we-Dorshaw," p. 58, Wilna, 1889). The en-
graver and author Yom-Tob, who became well
known in England under the name of Solomon
Bennett, was born in Polotsk about 1757, and lived
there until about 1793 (see "Ha-Meliz," 1868, pp.
85, 161-163).

The population of Polotsk in 1897 was over 30,000,
of which more than half are Jews. It has most of
the institutions usually found in a Russian Jew-
ish community, including a government school for
boys. It is an Orthodox community, and the sale, by
a Jew, of anything on a Sabbath is almost an un-
heard-of occurrence there (" Ha-Meliz, " 1897, No. 89).
The district of Polotsk, exclusive of the city, has
only 3 Jewish landowners in a total of 667.

BiBMOGRAPHr : Gratz, Oesch. Hebrew transl., vil. 358, vUl. 150 ;

Entziklopedicheski Slovar^ xxiv. 368 ; Begesty^ i., Nos. 208,

473, 538-530, 621, 969 ; Bershadski, lAtovskiye Yevreyi. p. 346 ;

i&em, RussHo-Tevreiski Arkhiv, i., No. 97; il., No. 100; lil.,

Nos. 60, 71, 84 : B. O. Lewanda, Sbornik Zakonov, Nos. 33, 43,

359; Fuenn, J^iryah Ne'emanah, pp. 14, 335, Wilna, 1860;

Garland, Le-Ifnrnt ha-Gezerot be-Yisrael, iv. 34; Elsen-

stadt-Wiener, Do'at ^edosMm, p. 16, St. Petersburg, 18X-

1898 ; Elsenstadt, Babbanaw wa-Soferaw, iii. 5-38, iv. 39 ;

Walden, Shem ha-Oedolim he-lfadash, p. 75.

H. K. A. S. W.— P. Wi.

POLOTSK, PHINEHAS B. JUDAH : Polish

commentator on the Bible ; lived at Polotsk, Poland,

in the eighteenth century. He wrote commentaries

on four books of the Old Testament, as follows:

"Shebet mi-Yehudah" (Wilna, 1803), on Proverbs;

" Derek ha-Melek " (Grodno, 1804), on Canticles; a

commentary on Ecclesiastes (ib. 1804) ; and " Gibe'at

Pinehas " (Wilna, 1808), on the Book of Job. Other

works by him are: an extract, which he entitled

"Kizzur Eben Bohan" (ib. 1799), from the great

work of Kalonymus b. Kalonymus; "Rosh ha-

Gibe'ah" (46. 1820), in two sections, the first treat-

119

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Polotsk
Poltava

ing of morals and asceticism, and the second con-
taining sermons on tlio Four Parasliiyyot; and
"IMaggid Zedeli," on tlic 613eommandmouts, wliich
ivorlv is still unpnblished.

BniiJOGRAPHY : Fiirst, BiW. J«d. 111. Ill; Benjacob, Ozarlia-
Scfai'im, p. 3, No. 5, ct passim.
K. e. S. O.

POLTAVA: Government of Little Russia, which
came under Russian domination in 1764, and whose
present organization was established in 1802. It has
a Jewish population of 111,417, the total population
being 3,780,427 (census of 1897). See table at end of
article.

Poltava : Capital of the above-named govern-
ment. It had a small Jewish community, almost
entirely Hasidic, before Jews from Lithuania, Po-
land, and other
parts of Russia
began to arrive
there in larger
numbers after
the great "Ily in -
skaya" fair had
been transferred
to that city from
Romny in 1853.
A Sabbath- and
Sunday-school
for Jewish ap-
prentices was es-
tablished there
in 1861 ("Ha-
Karmcl," Rus-
sian Supple-
ment, 1861, Nos.
46-47). Aaron
Zeitlin then held
the position of
"learned Jew"
under the gov-
ernor of Poltava.
Theanti-Hasi-
dim, or Mitnag-
gedim, soon in-
creased in num-
bers, and erected
a synagogue
for themselves

about 1870. In 1863 Aryeh Lob Seidener (b. 1838;
d. in Poltava Feb. 24, 1886) became the govern-
ment rabbi, and during the twenty-three years in
which he held the position lie was instrumental in
establishing various educational and benevolent in-
stitutions and in infu.sing the modern spirit into the
community. lie was assisted in his etiorts by the
teachers Michael Zerikower, Eliezer Hayyim Rosen-
berg, Abraham Nathan.sohn, and other progressive
men.' In 1890 Aaron Gleizer, son-in-law of Lazar
Zweifel, was chosen to succeed Seidener. Eliezer
AkibahRabinovich (b. Shilel, government of Kovno,
Jlay 13, 1862), whose project of holding a rabbinical
conference in Grodno in 1903 aroused intense oppo-
sition, has been rabbi of Poltava since 1893. One of
the assistant rabbis, Jacob Mordecai Bezpalov,
founded a yeshibah there. Poltava has a Talmud
Torah for boys (250 pupils), with a trade-school con-

nected with it, and a corresponding institution for
girls. It has a Jewish home for the aged (16 inmates
in 1897), a Hebrew literary society, and several chari-
table and Zionist organizations. Tlie most promi-
nent among the Maskilim or progressive Hebrew
scholars who have resided in Poltava was Ezekiel b.
Joseph Mandelstamm (born in Zhagory, government
of Kovno, in 1812; died in Poltava April 13, 1891),
author of the Bil)lical onomasticon " Ozar ha-Shemot "
(Warsaw, 1889), with a "Sefer ha-Millu'im," or sup-
plement, which was printed posthumously in 1894.
He was the father of Dr. Max JIandelstam.m of
Kiev. Michel Gordon's well-known Yiddish song
beginning "Ihr seit doch, Reb Yud, in Poltava
gewen" is a humorous allusion to the moral pitfalls
in the way of pious Jews of the older Polish com-
munities who
settled in the lib-
eral-minded Pol-
tava. The wri-
ter Alexander
Slisskind Rahi-
novich, A. M.
Boruchov (con-
tributor to "Ha-
Shiloah "). and
Benzion Mirkin
(journalist) are
residents of Pol-
tava. Among
the ])rominent
Jews of Poltava
in early times
were the fami-
lies of Zelenski,
Portugalov, and
W a r s h a V s k i .
The city has a
total population
of 53,060, of
whom 7,600 are
Jews.

K r 6 m e n -
tchug' : City in
the government
of Poltava, on
the left bank of
the Dnieper. It
now (1905)includes the suburb of Kryukov on the op-
posite bank, and has the largest Jewish community in
the government, 35,179— orabout60percentot theto-
tal population of the city (1897). It was the lir.st of
the important cities of southwestern Russia to which
Jews from Lithuania and Poland began to flock
about the middle of the nineteenth century. Even in
the calamitous years 1881-83, when anti-Jewish riots
occurred in the government of Poltava, numer-
ous Jews from other places went to Krementchug,
where the local Jewish community raised for them a
relief fund of about 40,000 rubles.

R. Isaac of Krementchug, who died there Dec,
1833, was among the earliest Hasidim of that city.
Next in importance was Abraham Pradkin (to whom
Jacob Lapin addressed a letter which appears in
his "Keset ha-Sofer," pp. 11-13, Berlin, 1857).
Other prominent men in the Jewish community

Poltava
Polygamy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

120

were : Lipavski, Zlatopolski, Michael Lad3'zhensUi,
Sergei (Shmere) Rosenthal, David Sack (son of
Hayyim Sack of Zhagory), and Solomon, Marcus,
and Vasili Rosenthal.

Among those who went to Krementchug in 1864
was Herman Rosenthal, who established a printing-
office there in 1869, and organized a circle of Maski-
lim, among whom were Eliezer Schulmann, J.
S. Olsciiwang, L. and M. Jakobovicli, and M. Sil-
berberg (see Zederbaum, "Massa Erez," in "Ha-
Meliz," 1869, No. 1). Rosenthal published the first
work of M. Morgulis on the Jewish question, " So-
braniye Statei " (1869), the first almanac of Kremen-
tchug, and many other works. He was for eight
years a member of the city council (1870-78), and it
was owing to his efforts that the Realnoye Uchi-
lishche (Realgymnasium) was built in 1873. The
best-known rabbi of Krementchug was Joseph b.
Elijah Tumarkin, who died there in 1875. After his
death the Mitnaggedim elected Meir LOb Malbim as
rabbi, but he died while on his way to assume the
position (Sept., 1879), and the candidate of the Hasi-
dim of Lubavich, Hirsch Tuniarkin, the brother and
son-in-law of Mei'r's predecessor, was elected to the
position. The government rabbis were Freidus
(1865), Mochan (1867-71), a son-in-law of Seidener
of Melitopol, Ch. Berliner, andEreidenberg(whowas
reelected in 1899). The present (1905) rabbi is Isaac
Joel Raphalovioh.

Krementchug has numerous synagogues and the
usual educational and charitable institutions, in-
cluding a Talmud Torah, with a trade-school in
connection with it, founded by Mendel Seligman;
a hospital, with a home for aged persons ("Ha-
Meliz," 1890, No. 139); the society Maskil el Dal
(founded 1898) ; and several Zionist organizations.
It is the most important business and industrial
center in the government.

About a dozen other cities and towns in the govern-
ment of Poltava contain Jewish communities, those
of Pereyaslavl and Romny being among the largest.

Bibliography : Keneset Tisrael, 1. 1124 ; Ha-MeUz, 1883, No.
96 ; 1890, No. 7 ; Ha^Slialmr, vl. 215-218, Ix. 183 et seq.; Elsen-
stadt-Wiener, Da'at yedbsMm, p. 26, St. Petersburg, 1897-98 ;
Ha^^efiran, 1897, No. 14.
H. R. P. Wl.

Population of Poltava Government in 1897.

District.

Total
Population.

Jewish
Population.

Per-
centage.

Gadyacli

142,797
174,729
217,876
232,.565
242,482
151,218
136,606
157,727
185,389
164,127
227,814
192,507
186,482
140,453
227,655

3,233
3,780
3,448
1,938

35,179
4,566
4,527
3,046

10,079
4,987

11,895
8,053
7,145
1,839
7,700

2.26

2.16

1.58'

0.84

14.51

Lokhvitza

3.02

3.31

1.93

Pereyaslavl

5.44

3.00

Poltava

5.22

Priluki

4.18

Romny

3.83

1.31

Zolotoaosbl

3.38

Total in government. .

2,780,427

111,417

4.02

H. E. V. R.

POLYGAMY : The fact or condition of having
more than one wife or husband at a time ; usually.

the practise of having a plurality of wives. While
there is no evidence of a polyandrous state in prim-
itive Jewish society, polygamy seems to have been
a well-established institution, dating from the most
ancient times and extending to comparatively mod-
ern days. The Law Indeed regulated and limited
this usage ; and the Prophets and the scribes looked
upon it with disfavor. Still all had to recognize
its existence, and not until late was it completely
abolished. At no time, however, was it practised so
much among the Israelites as among other nations;
and the tendency in Jewish social life was always
toward Monogamy.

That the ideal state of human society, in the mind
of the primitive Israelite, was a monogamous one is
clearly evinced by the fact that the first man
(Adam) was given only one wife, and that the first
instance of bigamy occurred in the family of the
cursed Cain (Gen. iv. 19). Noah and his sons also
are recorded as having only one wife each (ib.
vi. 7, 13). Abraham had only one wife; and he
was persuaded to marry his slave Hagar {ib. xvi. 3,
3 ; see Pilegesh) only at the urgent request of his
wife, who deemed herself barren. Isaac had only
one wife. Jacob married two sisters, because he
was deceived by his father-in-law, Laban {ib. xxix.
33-30). He, too, married his wives' slaves at the re-
quest of his wives, who wished to have children {ib.
XXX. 4, 9). The sons of Jacob as well as Moses and
Aaron seem to have lived in monogamy. Among
the Judges, however, polygamy was practised, as
it was also among the rich and the nobility (Judges
viii. 30; comp. ib. xii. 9, 14; I Chron. ii. 26, iv. 5,
viii. 8). Elkanah, the father of Samuel, had two
wives, probably because the first (Hannah) was
childless (I Sam. i. 2). The tribe of Issachar was
noted for its practise of polygamy (I Chron. vii. 4).
Caleb had two concubines {ib. ii. 46, 48). David
and Solomon had many wives (II Sam. v. 13 ; I Kings
xi. 1-3), a custom which was probably followed
by all the later kings of Judah and of Israel (comp.
I Kings XX. 3; also the fact that the names of
the mothers of most of the kings are mentioned).
Jehoiada gave to Joash two wives only (II Chron.
xxiv. 3).

There is no Biblical evidence that any of the Proph-
ets lived in polygamy. Monogamous marriage was
used by them as a symbol of the union
Prophetic of God with Israel, while polygamy

Attitude, was compared to polytheism or idola-
trous worship (Hos. ii. 18; Isa. 1. 1;
Jer. ii. 2 ; Ezek. xvi. 8). The last chapter of Prov-
erbs, which is a description of the purity of home
life, points to a state of monogamy. The marriage
with one wife thus became the ideal form with the
great majority of the people; and in post-exilic
times polygamy formed the rare exception (Tobit i.
10; Susanna 63; Matt. xvii. 25, xix. 9; Luke i. 5).
Herod, however, is recorded as having had nine
wives (Josephus, "Ant." xvii. 1, § 3).

The Mosaic law, while permitting polygamy, in-
troduced many provisions which tended to confine
it to narrower limits, and to lessen the abuse that
might arise in connection with it. The Israelitish
woman slave who was taken as a wife by the son of
her master was entitled to all the rights of matri-

121

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poltava
Polygamy

mony (see HTJSBAiiD_AND Wife), even after he liad
taken another wife ; and if they were withheld from
her, she had to be set free (Ex. xxi. 9-11; see
Slaves). One who lived in bigamy might not show
Eispreference for the children of the more favored
wife by depriving the first-born son of the less
favored one of his rights of inheritance (Deut. xxi.
15-17; see Iniieritance). The king should not
"multiply Wives" (i J." Yvir 17; comp. Sanh. 31a,
where the number is limited to 18, 34, or 48, accord-
ing to the various interpretations given to II Sam.
xii. 8) ; and the high priest is, according to the rab-
binic interpretation of Lev. xxi. 13, commanded to
take one wife only (Yeb. 59a; comp. Yoma 3a).

The same feeling against polygamy existed in
later Talmudic times. Of all the rabbis named in
the Talmud there is not one who is mentioned as

having lived in polygamy. The gen-
Rabbinic eral sentiment against polygamy is
Aversion illustrated in a story related of the
to son of R. Judah ha-Nasi (Ket. 63a).

Polygamy. A peculiar passage in the Targum

(Aramaic paraphrase) to Ruth iv. 6
points to the same state of popular feeling. The
kinsman of Elimelech, being requested by Boaz,
to marry Ruth, said, "I can not redeem; for I
have a wife and have no right to talie another in
addition to her, lest she be a disturbance in my
house and destroy my peace. Redeem thou; for
thou hast no wife." This is corroborated by R.
Isaac, who says that the wife of Boaz died on the
day when Ruth entered Palestine (B. B. 91a). Po-
lygamy was, however, sanctioned by Jewish law and
gave rise to many rabbinical discussions. While
one rabbi says that a man may take as many wives
as he can support (Raba, in Yeb. 65a), it was recom-
mended that no one should marry more than four
women (ib. 44a). R. Ami was of the opinion that a
woman had a right to claim a bill of divorce if her
husband took another wife (ib. 65a). The institu-
tion of the Ketubah, which was introduced by the
Rabbis, still further discouraged polygamy; and
subsequent enactments of the Geonim (see MUller's
"Mafteah," p. 382, Berlin, 1891) tended to restrict
this usage.

An express prohibition against polygamy was
pronounced by R. Gershom b. Judah, " the Light of

the Exile " (960-1028), which was soon

Babbi accepted in all the communities of

Gershom's northern France and of Germany. The

Decree. Jews of Spain and of Italy as well as

those of the Orient continued to prac-
tise polygamy for a long period after that time, al-
though the influence of the prohibition was felt even
in those countries. Some authorities suggested that
R. Gershom's decree was to be enforced for a time
only, namely, up to 5000 a.m. (1240 c.e. ; Joseph
Colon, Responsa, No. 101; see Shulhan 'Aruk,Eben
ha-'Ezer, i. 10, Isserles' gloss), probably believing
that the Messiah would appear before that time ; but
this opinion was overruled by that of the majority
of medieval Jewish rabbis. Even in the Orient mon-
ogamy soon became the rule and polygamy the ex-
ception ; for only the wealthy could afford the lux-
ury of many wives. In Africa, where Mohammedan
influence was strongest, the custom was to include

in the marriage contract the following paragraph:
"The said bridegroom . . . hereby promises that
he will not take a second wife during tlie lifetime
of the said bride . . . except with her consent; and,
if he transgresses this oath and takes a second wife
during the hfetimeof the said bride and without her
consent, he shall give her every tittle of what is
written in the marriage settlement, together with
all the voluntaiy additions herein detailed, paying
all to her up to the last farthing, and he shall free
her by regular divorce instantly and with fitting
solemnity." This condition was rigidly enforced
by the rabbinic authorities (see Abrahams, " Jewish
Life in the Middle Ages," p. 120).

The Jews of Spain practised polygamy as late
as the fourteenth century. The only requirement
there was a special permit, for which a certain sum

was probably paid into the king's

Later treasury each time a Jew took an

Instances, additional wife (Jacobs, "Sources," p.

XXV., No. 104, London, 1894). Such
cases, however, were rare exceptions. The Span-
ish Jews, as well as their brethren in Italy and in
the Orient, soon gave up these practises; and to-
day, although the Jews of the East live under Mo-
hammedan rule, but few cases of polygamy are
found among them.

In some exceptional cases bigamy was permitted
(see Bigamy) ; but this was in very rare cases only,
and the consent of 100 learned men of three dif-
ferent states was required (see Insanity). While
in the case of the 'Agunah one witness who tes-
tifies to the death of her husband is sufficient to
permit the woman to remarry, in the case of the
woman's disappearance some authorities ("Bet
Shemuel " on Eben ha-'Ezer, 158, 1 ; 15, 20) are of
the opinion that the testimony of one witness is not
sufficient to permit the husband to remarry (see
Passel, "Mishpete El; Das Mosaisch-Rabbinische
Civilrecht," §§ 63, 112, Nagy-Kanizsa, 1852). Later
authorities, however, permit him to remarry even
when there is only one witness to testify to the
death of his wife, and even when that witness did
not know her personally, providing that after he had
described the deceased woman the husband recog-
nized the description as that of his wife (" Noda'
Bihudah," series ii., Eben ha-'Ezer, 7, 8; comp.
"Hatam Sofer" on Eben ha-'Ezer, responsum 3;
"Pithe Teshubah " on Eben ha-'Ezer, 1, 10).

In spite of the prohibition against polygamy and
of the general acceptance thereof, the Jewish law
still retains many provisions which apply only

to a state which permits polygamy.

Survivals The marriage of a married man is

of legally valid and needs the formality

Polygamy, of a bill of divorce for its dissolution,

wliiie the marriage of a married woman
is void and has no binding force (Eben ha-'Ezer, 1,
10; comp. "Pithe Teshubah," § 30, where is quoted
the opinion of some authorities that after a man takes
a second wife he is not compelled to divorce her).
The Reform rabbis in conference assembled (Phila-
delphia, 1869) decided that " the marriage of a mar-
ried man to a second woman can neither take place
nor claim religious validity, just as little as the
marriage of a married woman to another man, but,

Polyglot Bible
f ouiewicz

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

123

like this, is null and void from the beginning.'' Still,
with the majority of Jews, this is not even an open
question, and the marriage of a married man is con-
sidered just as valid as that of an unmarried man;
it not only requires the formality of divorce in the
case of separation, but also makes him subject to the
laws of relationship ; so that he can not afterward
marry the wife's sister while the wife is living, nor
can he or his near relatives, according to the laws
of consanguinity, enter into matrimonial relations
with any of her near relatives (see Marriage).

Bibliography : Hastings, Diet. Bible, s.v. Marriage ; Ham-
burger, B. B. T., s.T. Vielweiberei ; Frankel, Grundlinien
des Mosaii^ch-Talmudiselwn Ehereehts, Breslau, 1860 ; Lich-
tenstein, Die Ehe naeh Mosa isch-Talmudiseher Auffassung,
lb. 1879; Klugman, Stellung der Frau im Talmud, Vienna,
1898; Habbinowicz, Mebo ha-Talmud, Hebr. transl., p. 80,
Wllna,1894 ; BucUboIz, Die Familw, Bveslau, 1867 ; Mielziner,
The Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce, Cincinnati, 1884 ;
Duscbak, Das Mosaisch-Talmudisehe Eherecht, Vienna,
1864.
B. c. J. H. G.

POLYGLOT BIBLE. See Bible Editions.

POMEGRAITATS: (|1D-| : Punica Oranatum) :
A tree of the myrtle family. The pomegranate was
carried into Egypt in very early historic times
(comp. Num. xx. 5), and was also cultivated in Pal-
estine, Assyria, and most of the countries bordering
the Mediterranean. The spies brought pomegran-
ates, grapes, and figs as signs of the fertility of
Canaan (li. xiii. 33). Several Biblical passages in-
dicate that the pomegranate was among the com-
mon fruit-trees of the country (Deut. viii. 8 ; Joel i.
13; Hag. ii. 19). A famous pomegranate-tree grew
at Gibeah in the time of Saul (I Sam. xlv. 3). Pome-
granate-groves, as well as the beautiful flower of the
tree, are mentioned in the Song of Solomon ; and the
fruit furnishes similes (Cant. iv. 3, 18; vi. 7, 11 ; vii.
13). The pomegranate was used in art. The two
pillars, Jachin and Boaz, were ornamented with a
representation of it (I Kings vii. 18) ; and pomegran-
ates were embroidered on the garment of the high
priest (Ex. xxviii. 38).

Throughout the East the pomegranate is the sym-
bol of luxuriant fertility and of life. Pomegranates
are eaten raw, their acid juice being most refreshing
(comp. Cant. iv. 3). They are also dried (comp.
Ma'as. i. 6). The juice mixed with water is to-day
a favorite drink in the East ; in former times it was
also prepared as a kind of wine (Cant. viii. 3 ; Pliny,
"Hist. Naturalis," xiv. 19).

E. G. H. I. Be.

POMIS, DE (D'msnn |D) : An old Italian Jew-
ish family which claimed descent from King David.
According to a legend, reproduced by De Pomis in
the introduction to his lexicon "Zemah Dawid," the
Pomeria family was one of the four families brought
from Jerusalem to Rome by Titus. The family is a
most important one, being related to that of Anaw.
Members of the family are said to have lived in Rome
until about 1100, when they emigrated, scattering
through Italy. Most of them settled at Spoleto in
Umbria, where, according to the account of David
de Pomis, they and their descendants remained for
420 years; but when Central Italy was sacked by
the army of Charles V. of Spain in 1537, the family
fell into the hands of the enemy and lost its entire
property. In the introduction to his dictionary

David de Pomis incorporates his autobiography, and
traces his genealogy back to the martyr Elijah de
Pomis, as follows: David (b. 1535), Isaac, Eleazar,
Isaac, Abraham, Menahem, Isaac, Obadiah, Isaac,
and Elijah. This would set the date of Elijah at
approximately 1370, which is historically correct.
As the last-named lived at Rome, however, the
statement that the family left that city about 1100
can not be correct. Moreover, members of the
family did not live 430 years, but only 330 years,
at Spoleto.

Bibliography: David de Pomis, Zemaji Datoiilntroduotion;
Nepl-Ghirondi, Toledot Oedole Yisrael, p. 84; Vogelstein
and Bieger, Gesch. der Jtiden in Rom, 1. 257.
Q. I. E.

David ben Isaac de Pomis : Italian physician
and philosopher; born at Spoleto, Umbria, in 1535;
died after 1593. When David was born his father
was rich ; but soon after, he lost his fortune in the
following manner : When the Imperialists plundered
Rome, Isaac, fearing that they would attack Spo-
leto, sent all his possessions to Camerino and Civita.
The troops of Colonna surprised the convoy on its
way, and confiscated all of Isaac's goods. He then
settled at Bevegna, where David received his early
education. In 1533 Isaac de Pomis settled at Todi
and confided the instruction of his son to his uncles
Jehiel Alatino and Moses Alatino, who taught
the boy the rudiments of medicine and philos-
ophy.

David was graduated, Nov. 37, 1551, as " Artium
et Medicinse Doctor " at the University of Perugia.
Later he settled at Magliano, where he practised
medicine, holding at the same time the position of
rabbi. The anti-Jewish laws enacted by Paul IV.
deprived David of his possessions and likewise of
his rabbinate ; and he entered the service of Count
Nicolo Orsini, and five years later that of the Sforza
family.

The condition of the Jews of the Pontifical States
having improved on the accession of Pius IV., David
went to Rome, and, as the result of a Latin dis-
course delivered before the pope and cardinals, ob-
tained permission to settle at Chiusi and to practise
his profession among Christians. Unfortunately,
Pius IV. died seven days later, and the permission
was annulled by Pius V. David then went to
Venice, where a new permission was granted to him
by Pope Sixtus V.

De Pomis was the author of the following works:
(1) "Zemah Dawid," a Hebrew and Aramaic dic-
tionary dedicated to Pope Sixtus V., the words
being explained in Latin and Italian, Venice, 1587.
This dictionary, variously estimated by the lexicolo-
gists (comp. Richard Simon in the appendix to
" De Ceremoniis Judeeorum " ; David de Lara in the
introduction to " 'Ir Dawid "), was modeled after
Jehiel's lexicographical work, '"Aruk." (3) "Ko-
helet," the Book of Ecclesiastes translated into Ital-
ian, with explanatory notes, ib. 1571, dedicated to
Cardinal Grimani. (3) " Discorso Intorno all' Umana
Miseria, e Sopra il Modo di Fuggirla," published as
an appendix to "Kohelet," ib. 1573, and dedicated
to Duchess Margarete of Savoy (David also trans-
lated the books of Job and Daniel; but these were
never published). (4) "Brevi Discorsi et Bflcacis-

123

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Polyglot Bible
FonieTiricz

simi Ricordi per Liberare Ognl Citta Oppressa dal
Mai Contagioso," ih. 1577. (5) " Euarratio Brevis de
Senum Affectibus PriEcavendis Atque Curandis"
dedicated to the doge and senate of Venice, ib. 1588.
(6) A •work on tlie divine cliaracter of tlie Venetian
republic, which he cites in his "Euarratio Brevis,"
hut which has not been preserved. (7) " De Medico
Hebreeo Enarratio Apologica, " ib. 1588. This apolo-
getical work, which defends not only Jewish phy-
sicians, but Jews in general (see some extracts trans-
lated in Winter and Wilnsche, "Die Jtldische
Litteratur," iii. 698 et seq.), earned much praise from
Roman patricians, such as Aldus Manutius the
Younger, whose letter of commendation is prefixed
to the book.

BiBLiOGRAPHT : Wolf, Bxbl. Hebr. i. 311-313 ; Jost, Annalen,
1839, p. 323; Gritz, Ge.scft. ix. 504 ; i( TessiKo IsraeMMco, 1875,
p. 175; 1876, p. 319; Berliner's Magazin, 1875, p. 48; Steln-
schnelder, Jewish Literature, p. 235; idem. In Mnnats-
schrift, xlul. 33 ; Dukes, In B. E. J. 1. 145-152 ; VoKelstein
ana Eieger, Gesch. der Juden in Bom, li. 359-260 ; Carmoly,
Histoire des Medecins Juifs, 1. 150-153.
G. I. Bk.

Elijali de Pomis : Rabbi and director of the
community of Rome ; died as a martyr Tammuz 20,
5058 (= July 1, 1298). When the Roman commu-
nity was assailed under Boniface VIH., Elijah was
the first to be seized. To save his coreligionists he
pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against
him, and was sentenced to trial by fire and water,
perishing in the former, whereupon the confiscation
of his property, the principal object of the trial, was
carried out. Two anonymous elegies were com-
posed on his death.

Bibliography: Knbez '■al TaA, It. 30 et seq.; Berliner, Geseh.
der Juden in itom', ii. 57 ; Vogelsteln and Eieger, Gasch.
der Juden in Rom, 1. 257.

Moses de Pomis and Vitale de Pomis were
known under the name Alatino.

6. ' I- E.

POMPEY THE GREAT (Latin, Cneius
Pompeius Magrius) : Roman general who sub-
jected Judea to Rome. In the year 65 B.C., during
his victorious campaign through Asia Minor, he sent
to Syria his legate Scaurus, who was soon obliged
to interfere in the quarrels of the two brothers
Aristobulus II. and Hyrcanus II. When Pompey
himself came to Syria, two years later, the rivals,
knowing that the Romans were as rapacious as they
were brave, hastened to send presents. Pompey
gradually approached Judea, however; and in the
spring of 63, at the Lebanon, he subdued the petty
rulers, including the Jew Silas (Josephus, "Ant."
xiv. 3, § 2) and a certain Bacchius Judsus, whose
subjugation is represented on a coin (Reinach, "Les
Monnaies Juives," p. 38). Pompey then came to
Damascus, where the claims of the three parties to
the strife were presented for his consideration— those
of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus in person, since the
haughty Roman thus exacted homage from the Ju-
dean princes, while a third claimant represented the
people, who desired not a ruler but a theocratic re-
public (Josephus, § 2; Diodorus, xl. 2). Pompey,
however, deferred his decision until he should have
subdued the Nabatasans.

The warlike Aristobulus, who suspected the de-
signs of the Romans, retired to the fortress of Albx-
ANDRITJM and resolved to offer armed resistance ; but

at the demand of Pompey he surrendered the for-
tress and went to Jerusalem, intending to continue
his opposition there (Josephus, "Ant." xiv. 3, §4;
idem, "B. J." i. 6, g§ 4, 5). Pompey followed him
by way of Jericho, and as Aristobulus again deemed
it advisable to surrender to the Romans, Pompey
sent his legate Gabinius to take possession of the
city of Jerusalem.

This lieutenant found, however, that there were
other defenders there besides Aristobulus, where-
upon Pompey declared Aristobulus a prisoner and
began to besiege the city. Although the party
of Hyrcanus opened the gates to the Romans, the
Temple mount, which was garrisoned by the peo-
ple's party, had to be taken by means of rams
brought from Tyre ; and it was stormed only after a
siege of three months, and then on a Sabbath, when
the Jews were not defending the walls. Josephus
calls the day of the fall of Jerusalem " the day of
the fast" {vri(TTEia^r//j,ipa; "Ant." xiv. 4, § 3); but in
this he merely followed the phraseology of his Gen-
tile sources, which regarded the Sabbath as a fast-
day, according to the current Greco-Roman view.
Dio Gassius says (xxxvii. 16) correctly that it was
on a " Cronos day," this term likewise denoting the
Sabbath.

The capture of the Temple mount was accom-
panied by great slaughter. The priests who were
officiating despite the battle weie massacred by the
Roman soldiers, and many committed suicide ; while
12,000 people besides were killed. Pompey himself
entered the Temple, but he was so awed by its sanc-
tity that he left the treasure and the costly vessels
untouched ("Ant." xiv. 4, §4; "B. J." i. 7, § 6;
Cicero, " Pro Flacco, " § 67). The leaders of the war
party were executed, and the city and country were
laid under tribute. A deadly blow was struck at
the Jews when Pompey separated from Judea the
coast cities from Raphia to Dora, as well as all the
Hellenic cities in the east-Jordan country, and the
so-called Decapolis, besides Scythopolis and Sa-
maria, all of which were incorporated in the new
province of Syria. These cities, without exception,
became autonomous, and dated their coins from the
era of their " liberation " by Pompey. The small
territory of Judea he assigned to Hyrcanus, with
the title of "ethnarch" ("Ant." i.e.; "B. J." I.e.;
comp. "Ant." xx. 10, §4). Aristobulus, together
with his two sons Alexander and Antigonus, and
his two daughters, was carried captive to Rome to
march in Pompey 's triumph, while many other Jew-
ish prisoners were taken to the same city, this cir-
cumstance probably having much to do with the
subsequent prosperity of the Roman community.
Pompey's conquest of Jerusalem is generally be-
lieved to form the historical background of the
Psalms of Solomon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Mommsen, BOmische Oeschichte, 5tli ca., 111.
linMrGratz, Gesch. 4th ed., 111. 157, 173; SchUrer, Gesch.
3d ed 1. 394^301 ; Berliner, Gesch. der Juden m Bnm, 1. 6,
Franltfort-on-tbe-Maln, 1893 (who denies that the Jewish com-
munlty of Rome was founded by Pompey, asserting that the
fall of Jerusalem merely Increased Its numbers ; comp. Vogel-
steln and Eieger, Gesch. der Juden in Bom, i. 5, Berlin,

^f • S. Kb.

PONIEWICZ (PONEVYEZH) : District city
in the government of Kovno, Russia. In 1780 Count

Ponie'wlcz
Popes

THE JEWISH EKCYCLOPEDIA

124

Nikolai Tyszkicwicz by cutting down a forest tiiat
lay between New and Old Poniewicz helped mate-
rially in enlarging the city to its present size and
in founding the suburb Nikolayev. Poniewicz came
under Russian dominion after the last partition of
Poland, and it became a part of the government of
Kovno in 1843. More than half the population of
the city consists of Jews, and there is also a small Ka-
raite community. In 1865 the number of inhabit-
ants was 8,071, of whom 8,648 were Jews including
70 Karaites. By 1884 the population had increased
to 15,030, including 7,899 Jews, but in 1897 the total
population is given as 13,044. Poniewicz has one
synagogue built of brick and seven built of wood.
The Karaite community also maintains a synagogue.
Of other institutions in the city there are a govern-
ment school for Jewish boys, one for girls, a hospi-
tal (opened 1886), and a Talmud Torah. There are
in addition numerous other communal institutions
and societies.

E. Isaac b. Joseph (d. before 1841), whose name
is signed to an approbation in the " 'Ateret Rosh "
(Wilna, 1841), is one of the earliest known rabbis of

Poniewicz. R. Moses Isaac, of Libau,

Rabbis and. Plungian, and Taurogen, was prob-

Scbolars. ably his successor, and was himself

succeeded by R. Hillel Mileikovski or
Salanter. R. Elijah David Rabinovich-Te'omim
succeeded R. Hillel. He was born in Pikeln, gov-
ernment of Kovno, June 11, 1845, and now (1904) is
rabbi at Jerusalem. Rabinovich occupied the posi-
tion of rabbi of Poniewicz from 1873 to 1898, when
he went to Mir as the successor of R. Yom-Tob Lip-
man BOSLANSKI.

The poet Leon GonDON commenced his career as
a teacher in the government school of Poniewicz,
where he remained until 1860 and married the grand-
daughter of one of its former prominent citizens,
Tanhum Ahronstam (died Nov. 10, 1858 ; see " Ha-
Maggid,"ii.,No. 50, and Gordon's letters, Nos. 1-36).
Isaac Lipkin, son of R. Israel Lipkin (Salanter), was
also a resident in the city until his death. The ear-
liest known " maggid " or preacher of Poniewicz
was Menahem Mendel, author of " Tamim Yahdaw "
(Wilna, 1808).

The district of Poniewicz, which contains twenty-
three small towns and villages, had in 1865 7,410
Jews (including 351 Karaites), of whom 59 were agri-
culturists. In 1884 it had 34,066 Jews in a total
population of 200,687, and in 1897 48,600 Jews in a
total population of 210,458.

Bibliography: Alenltzin, Statisticheski Vremennlk, etc.,
series ill.. No. 3, St. Petersburg, 1884 ; Brockhaus-Efron, Ent-
ziklnpedicheski Slnvar, s.v.; JUdisches VolksbUitt, St. Pe-
tersburg, 1886, No. 33 ; Semenov, Bus^n GeograpMeal Dic-
tionary. S.V.; Elsenstadt, Dor Babbanaw we-Soferaw, il.
29, 43, 52 ; Iv. 21, 34.
H. B. P. Wl.

PONTE, LORENZO DA (JEREMIAH
CONEGLIANO): Italian -American man of letters,
composer, and teacher; born at Ceneda, Italy, 1749;
died 1837. He belonged to a well-known Jewish
family, which had produced the distinguished Ital-
ian-Turkish diplomatist Dr. Israel Conbgliano.
With his parents and brothers. Da Ponte, for ma-
terial reasons, was baptized in his fourteenth year,
and the new name which he was destined to make

Lorenzo da Ponte.

famous was adopted in honor of a Catholic bishop
who was his protector.

At an early age he became professor of belles-
lettres at Treviso, later at Venice, and published va-
rious poems, including a political satire, which led to
his exile. Da Ponte went to Austria, where he soon
won the favor of the emperor Joseph II. , was ap-
pointed " poet " to the imperial theaters in Vienna,
and in that capacity met Mozart. He composed for
the great musician the
libretti to his famous
operas " Mariage de
Figaro" and "Don
Juan," and became an
important ligure in
court, literary, and mu-
sical circles. On the
death of Joseph II. he
lost favor, and after
various vicissitudes, in-
cluding several years
of service as dramatist
and secretary to the
Italian Opera Company
in London, he emi-
grated to America
early in the nineteenth
century. Again un-
fortunate, he was compelled to earn a subsistence
by teaching Italian. He wrote various plays, son-
nets, and critical essays, made a translation of the
Psalms, and managed Italian operatic performances.
From 1826 until his death he was professor of the Ital-
ian language and literature at Columbia College. He
encouraged the study and developed the apprecia-
tion of Dante in America, and won considerable
influence over many pupils. He became involved in
a controversy with Prescott, the historian, concern-
ing Italian literature, Presoott's rejoinder to him
being preserved in the historian's "Miscellaneous
and Critical Essays. "

Da Ponte was instrumental in bringing the Garcia
Opera Company to the United States, the first to
play there. He himself became manager of a simi-
lar company in New York in 1833, by which an
opera composed by him at the age of eighty was
presented, his niece being introduced in it as the
prima donna. His best-known work is his ex-
tremely interesting "Memoirs," which Tuckerman
has compared to Franklin's autobiography, and
which appeared in various Italian editions, in a
French translation (1860), with an introduction by
Lamartine, and also in German form. A notice-
able revival of interest in Da Ponte's career, which
had been well-nigh forgotten, was called forth re-
cently by the publication in Italy, in 1900, of his
works, together with his biography, in an elaborate
edition of 500 pages, and of various popular essays
dealing with his career. His Jewish antecedents
were commented upon in various biographies, and
were emphasized by contemporaries for the purpose
of injuring his position. His "Memoirs" indicate
that even in his youth he was proficient in Hebrew,
and the impress of his ancestry and of his early
Jewish studies has been discerned by critics of his
works and views.

125

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poniewicz
Popes

Bibliography : Marchesan, Delia Vita e delle Opera di Lo-
renzo da Ponte, Trevlso, 1900; H. E. Krehblel, Music and
Manners : Henry Tuckerman, in PMtnom's Magazine, 1863,
xli. 527 (reprinted in Dublin Unimrsity Mayaizine, Ixxx.
215) ; Jewish Comment, Aug. 9, 1900 ; see also Krehblel's re-
view ol Prof. Yarcliesan's work in the Tribune, New York,
Sept. 9, 1900.
A. M. J. K.

PONTOISE : French town ; capital of an airon-
dissement in tlie department of Seine-et-Oise. It
contained a Jewish community as early as the elev-
enth century. In 1179 (according to some authori-
ties, in 1166 or 1171) the Jews of Pontoise were ac-
cused of the murder of a Christian child named
Richard, whose body was talien to the Church of the
Holy Innocents at Paris and there venerated as that
of a martyr. A document of 1294 relates that the
ahbe of Saint Denis bought a house at Pontoise be-
longing to a Christian heavily indebted to the Jews
there, who were paid the purchase-money through
the provost Robert de Baan. The Jewish names
which appear in this document are those of Magis-
ter Sanson, Meuns de Sezana, and Abraham de Novo
Castello. In 1296 Philip the Fair made a gift to his
brother Charles, Count of Valois, of Joce or Joucet,
a Jew of Pontoise, and his children, David, Aroin,
Haginot, Beleuce, Hanee, and Sarin. In the same
year Joucet of Pontoise was appointed financial
agent between the crown and his coreligionists of
Amiens, Senlis, and Champagne, and in 1297 Philip
the Fair made him arbiter in a litigation which had
arisen between himself and his brother Charles re-
garding forty-three Jews whom the latter claimed as
natives either of his county of Alencon or of his
lands in Bonmoulins and Chateauneuf -en-Thymerais.
The principal Jewish scholars of Pontoise were:
Jacob de Pontoise ("Minhat Yehudah," pp. 4b,
34b), Moses ben Abraham (Tosel, Pes. 67b; Hag.
19b; Yoma 6b, 64a; Yeb. 61a), and Abraham de
Pontoise ("KolBo," No. 103).

Bibliography: Depplng, LesJuifsdam le MoyenAge,vP-
93, 146 : Dom Bouquet, Historiens de France, xxv. 768 ; Du-
bois, Historia Ecclcsiw Parisiensig,U. 142; UoT6m,Dictwm-
naire Historlque, a.v. Bichard: B. E. J.ii. 24, ix. 63, xv.
234, 250 ; Gross, Gallia Judaica, pp. 442^45.
G. °- '^■

PONTREMOIil, BENJAMIN : Turkish rab-
binical writer ; lived at Smyrna at the end of the
eighteenth century. He was the author of a worli
entitled "Shebet Binyamin" (Salonica, 1824), on
drawing up commercial papers. He had two sons,
Hayyim Isaiah and Hiyya.

bibliography: Kazan, Ho-Ma'olot li-ShelomoR, pp. 31,^;
Franco, Histoire des Israelite de V Empire Ottoman, p. 266.
g M. Fk.

PONTREMOLI, ESDBA : Italian rabbi, poet,
and educationist; bom at Ivrea 1818; died in 1888;
son of Eliseo Pontremoli, rabbi of Nizza, where
a street was named after him. In 1844 Esdra Pon-
tremoli became professor of Hebrew in the Collegio
Foa at Vercelli. He was for fifteen years associate
editor of " Educatore Israelita. " He translated Luz-
zatto's " Derek Erez " into verse under the title II
Falso Progresso " (Padua, 1879).
Bibliography : n VessUlo IsraxlUico, 1888. ^

PONTBEMOIil, HIYTA : Turkish rabbinical
author; died at Smyrna in 1832; son of Benjamm

Pontremoli. Hiyya Pontremoli wrote, among other
works, the "Zappihit bi-Debaah," a collection of
responsa on Orah Hayyim.

Bibliography: Hazan, Ha-Ma'alot li-She/omoh, pp. 31,85;
Franco, Histoire des Israelites de VEmpire Ottoman, p.
268.

s. M. Fk.

POOR, RELIEF OF. See Chakity.

POOR LAWS. See Charity.

POPES, THE: The Roman Church does not
claim any jurisdiction over persons who have not
been baptized ; therefore the relations of the popes,
as the heads of the Church, to the Jews have been
limited to rules regarding the political, commercial,
and social conditions under which Jews might reside
in Christian states. As sovereigns of the Papal States
the popes further had the right to legislate on the
status of their Jewish subjects. Finally, voluntary
action was occasionally taken by the popes on be-
half of the Jews who invoked their aid in times of
persecution, seeking their mediation as the highest
ecclesiastical authorities. The general principles
governing the popes in their treatment
General of the Jews are practically identical
Principles, with those laid down in the Justinian
Code: (1) to separate them from social
intercourse witli Christians as far as possible ; (2) to
prevent them from exercising any authority over
Christians, either in a public (as officials) or a pri-
vate capacity (as masters or employers) ; (3) to ar-
range that the exercise of the Jewish religion should
not assume the character of a public function. On
the other hand, however, the popes have always
condemned, theoretically at least, (1) acts of violence
against the Jews, and (2) forcible baptism.

The history of the relations between the popes
and the Jews begins with Gregory I. (590-604), who
may be called the first pope, inasmuch as his author-
ity was recognized by the whole Western Church.
The fact that from the invasion of the Lombards
(568) and the withdrawal of the Byzantine troops
the Roman population was without a visible head of
government made the Bishop of Rome, the highest
ecclesiastical dignitary who happened to be at the
same time a Roman noble, tlie natural protector of
the Roman population, to which the Jews also be-
longed. Still, even before this time, Pope Gelasius
is mentioned as having recommended a Jew, Tele-
sinus, to one of his relatives as a very reliable man,
and as having given a decision in the case of a
Jew against a slave who claimed to have been a
Christian and to have been circumcised by his mas-
ter against his will (Mansi, "Concilia," viii. 131;
Migne, "Patrologia Graeco Latina," lix. 146; Vogel-
stein and Rieger, "Qesch. der Juden in Rom," i.
127-128). In the former instance the pope acted
merely as a private citizen ; in the latter he was
most likely called upon as an ecclesiastical expert to
give a decision in a local affair. The legend may
also be quoted which makes of the apostle Peter
an enthusiastic Jew who merely pretended zeal
for Christianity in order to assist his persecuted
coreligionists (Jellinek, "B. H." v. 60-62, vi. 9-10;
Vogelstein and Rieger, I.e. i. 165-168; "AUg. Zeit.
des Jud." 1903).

popes

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

126

Nevertheless, the history proper of the popes in
their relation to the Jews begins, as said above, with
Gregory I. He often protected the Jews against

violence and unjust treatment on the

Greg'ory part of ofBcials, and condemned forced

the Great, baptism, but he advised at the same

time the winning of the Jews over to
Christianity by offering material advantages. Very
often he condemned the holding of Christian slaves
by Jews(Gratz, "6esch."v. 43; Vogelstein and Rie-
ger. I.e. i. 132-185). A very obscure order is contained
in a letter of Pope Nicholas I. to Bishop Arsenius of
Orta, to whom he prohibits the use of Jewish gar-
ments. Leo VII. answered the Archbishop of Ma-
yence, who asked whether it was right to force the
Jews to accept baptism, that he might give them
the alternative of accepting Christianity or of emi-
grating (Aronius, "Regesten"; oomp. Vogelstein
and Rieger, I.e. i. 139). Anaclbtus II. (antipope),
whose claim to the papal throne was always con-
tested, was of Jewish descent, and tliis fact was used
by his opponents in their attacks upon him. Bene-
dict VIII. had a number of Jews put to death on
the ground of an alleged blasphemy against Jesus
which was supposed to have been the cause of a de-
structive cyclone and earthquake (c. 1030; Vogel-
stein and Rieger, I.e. i. 213).

In the hitter fight between Gregory VII. and the
German emperor Henry IV. the pope charged the
emperor with favoritism to the Jews, and at a synod
held at Rome in 1078 he renewed the canonical laws
which prohibited giving Jews power over Chris-
tians; this necessarily meant that Jews might not be
employed as tax-farmers or mint-masters. Calixtus
II. (1119-34) issued a bull in which he strongly con-
demned forced baptism, acts of violence against the
lives and the property of the Jews, and the desecra-
tion of their synagogues and cemeteries (c. 1120).
In spite of the strict canonical prohibition against
the employment of Jews in public capacities, some
popes engaged their services as financiers and phy-
sicians. Thus Pope Alexander III. employed Jehiel,
a descendant of Nathan ben Jehiel, as his secretary
of treasury (Vogelstein and Rieger, I.e. i. 235).

The extreme in tlie hostile enactments of the
popes against the Jews was reached under Inno-
cent III. (1198-1216), who was the most powerful
of the medieval popes, and who convened the

Fourth Lateran Council (1315); this
Innocent council renewed the old canonical pro-
Ill, hibitions against trusting the Jews

with public offices and introduced the
law demanding that Jews should wear a distinctive
sign on their garments (see Badge). The theolog-
ical principle of the pope was that the Jews should, as
though so many Cains, be held up as warning exam-
ples to Christians. Nevertheless he protected them
against the fury of the French Crusaders (GrStz,
I.e. vii. 5; Vogelstein and Rieger, I.e. i. 238-330).
Gregory IX., who in various official documents in-
sisted on the strict execution of the canonical laws
against the Jews, was humane enough to issue the
bull " Etsi Judaeorum " (1333 ; repeated in 1235), in
which he demanded that the Jews in Christian coun-
tries should be treated with the same humanity as that
-with which Christians desire to be treated in heathen

lands. His successor, Innocent IV. , ordered the burn-
ing of the Talmud in Paris (1344) ; but Jewish his-
tory preserves a grateful memory of him on account
of his bull declaring the Jews innocent of the charge
of using Christian blood for ritual purposes (see
Blood Acodsation). This bull was evidently the
result of the affair of Fulda (1238), concerning which
Emperor Frederick II. also issued a warning. The
defense of the Jews against the same charge was
undertaken by Gregory X., in his bull "Sicut Ju-
dseis" (Oct. 7, 1372; Stern, "Urkundliche Beitrage,"
i. 5).

The relations of the popes to the Jews in the sub-
sequent two centuries present a rather monotonous
aspect. They issued occasional warnings against vio-
lence, threatened the princes who allowed the Jews
to disregard the canonical laws concerning badges or
concerning the employment of Christian servants,
but conferred minor favors on certain Jews. As a
typical instance, it may be noted that Boniface VIII.,
when the Jews did him homage, insulted them by
returning behind his back the copy of the Torah
presented to him, after making tlie oft-repeated
remark about reverence for the Law but condemna-
tion of its misrepresentation.

The excitement of the Church during the Hussite
movement rendered the Jews apprehensive, and
through Emperor Sigismund, who was heavily in-
debted to them, they obtained from Pope Martin V.
(1417-31 ; elected by the Council of Constance after
the Great Schism) various bulls (1418 and 1423) in
which their former privileges were confirmed and in
which he exhorted the friars to use moderate lan-
guage. In the last years of his pon-
Martin V. tificate, however, he repealed several
of his ordinances, charging that they
had been obtained under false pretenses (Stern, I.e.
i. 31-43). Eugene IV. and Nicholas V. returned to
the policy of moderation, especially in advising the
friars against inciting mobs to acts of violence.
Sixtus IV., while sanctioning the Spanish Inquisi-
tion, repeatedly endeavored (1483 and 1483) to check
its fanatic zeal and prohibited the worship of the
child Simon of Trent, whom the Jews of Trent were
falsely accused of having murdered (1474). He also
employed several Jews as his physicians.

Alexander VI. (Borgia), known in history as the
most profligate of all the popes, was rather favor-
ably inclined toward the Jews. It is especially note-
worthy that he allowed the exiles from Spain to set-
tle in his states, and that he fined the Jewish com-
munity of Rome for its objection to the settlement in
its midst of these unfortunates. Occasionally, how-
ever, he ordered the imprisonment of Maranos; and
on the whole it seems that the pope's leniency was
prompted by his greed. Leo X. also, the humanist
on the throne of St. Peter, was in general favorably
inclined toward the Jews, whom he employed not
only as physicians, but also as artists and in other
positions at his court. The beginning of the Rej'-
ORMATiON influenced his action in the controversy
between Redchlin and Pfeppebkorn, which he
settled in such a way as not to give any encourage-
ment to those who demanded reforms in the Church.

Clement VII. (1523-34) is known ip Jewish history
for the interest which he took in the case of the Mes-

127

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Popes

sianic pretender David Reubeni, and for the protec-
tion which be granted to Solomon Molko, who, as
an apostate, had forfeited his life to the Inquisi-
tion. He also issued an order to protect the Maranos
In Portugal against the Inquisition (1533 and 1534).

The Reformation and the consequent strictness in
enforcing the censorship of books reacted on the
condition of the Jews in so far as con-
Th.e Ref- verts from Judaism eagerly displayed
ormation. their zeal for their new faith by de-
nouncing rabbinical literature, and es-
pecially the Talmud, as hostile to Christianity. Con-
sequently Pope Julius III. issued an edict which
demanded the burning of the Talmud (1553) and
prohibited the printing of it by Christians. In
Rome a great many copies were publicly burned
(Sept. 9, 1553). The worst was yet to come. Paul
IV. (1555-59), in his bull " Cum nimis absurdum "
(July 12, 1555), not only renewed all canonical re-
strictions against the Jews — as those prohibiting
their practising medicine among Christians, em-
ploying Christian servants, and the like — but he
also restricted them in their commercial activity,
forbade them to have more than one synagogue in
any city, enforced the wearing of the yellow hat,
refused to permit a Jew to be addressed as "signor,"
and finally decreed that they should live in a ghetto.
The last measure was carried out in Rome with un-
relenting cruelty.

After a short period of respite under Paul IV. 's
successor, Pius IV. (1559-66), who introduced some
alleviations in his predecessor's legal enactments,
Pius V. (1566-73) repealed all the concessions of his
predecessor, and not only renewed the laws of Paul
IV., but added some new restrictions, as the pro-
hibition to serve Jews by kindling their fires on the
Sabbath ; he excluded them from a

Pius V. great number of commercial pursuits,
and went so far in his display of
hatred that he would not permit them to do homage,
although that ceremony was rather a humiliation
than a distinction (1566). Three years later (Feb.
26, 1569) the pope decreed the expulsion of the Jews
from his territory within three months from the date
of the promulgation of the edict, and while the
Jews of Rome and Ancona were permitted to re-
main, those of the other cities were expelled. They
were permitted to return by the next pope, Gregory
XIII. (1572-85), who, while he showed an occasional
leniency, introduced a large number of severe re-
strictions. Thus, the Jews were prohibited from
driving through the streets of the city, and they
were obliged to send every week at least 150 of their
number to listen to the sermons of a conversion-
ist preacher (1584). The terrible custom of keep-
ing Jews in prison for a certain time each year, and
of fattening them and forcing them, for the amuse-
ment of the mob, to race during the carnival, when
mud was thrown at them, is mentioned (1574) as
"an old custom " for the first time during Gregory's
pontificate.

Sixtus V. (1585-90), again, was more favorable to
the Jews. Aside from some measures of relief in
individual instances, he allowed the printing of the
Talmud after it had been subjected to .censorship
(1586). The policy of succeeding popes continued

to vary. Clement VIII. (1592-1604) again issued an
edict of expulsion (1593), which was subsequently
repealed, and in the same year prohibited the print-
ing of the Talmud. Under Clement X. (1670-76)
a papal order suspended the Inquisition in Portu-
gal (1674) ; but an attempt to interest the pope in
the lot of the Jews of Vienna, who were expelled
in 1670, failed. The worst feature of the numer-
ous disabilities of the Jews under papal domin-
ion was the closing of the gates of the Roman
ghetto during the night. Severe penalties awaited
a Jew leaving the ghetto after dark, or a Christian
entering it.

Pius VI. (1775-1800) issued an edict which re-
newed all the restrictions enacted from the thirteenth
century. The censorship of books was
Pius VI. strictly enforced ; Jews were not per-
mitted any tombstones in their grave-
yards ; they were forbidden to remodel or enlarge
their synagogues ; Jews might not have any inter-
course with converts to Christianity ; they were re-
quired to wear the yellow badge on their hats both
within and without the ghetto ; they were not per-
mitted to have shops outside the ghetto, or engage
Christian nurses for their infants; they might not
drive through the city of Rome ; and their attend-
ance at conversionist sermons was enforced. When
under Pius VI. 's successors the pressure of other
matters caused the authorities to become negligent
in the fulfilment of their duties, these rules were
often reenforced with extreme rigor; such was the
case under Leo XII. (1826).

Pius IX. (1846-78), during the first two years of
his pontificate, was evidently inclined to adopt a
liberal attitude, but after his return from exile he
adopted with regard to the Jews the same policy
as he pursued in general. He condemned as abom-
inable laws all measures which gave political free-
dom to them, and in the case of the abduction of
the child Mohtaka (1858), whom a servant-girl
pretended to have baptized, as well as in the sim-
ilar case of the boy Fortunate CoBn (1864), showed
his approval of the medieval laws as enacted by
Innocent III. He maintained the ghetto in Rome
until it was abolished by the Italian occupation of
Rome (1870).

His successor, Leo XIII. (1878-1908), was the first
pope who exercised no territorial jurisdiction over
the Jews. His infiuence, nevertheless, was preju-
dicial to them. He encouraged anti-Semitism by
bestowing distinctions on leading anti-Semitic poli-
ticians and authors, as Lueger and Drumont ; he re-
fused to interfere in behalf of Captain Dreyfus or
to issue a statement against the blood accusation.
In an official document he denounced Jews, free-
masons, and anarchists as the enemies of the Church.

Pius X. (elected 1903) is not sufliciently known to
permit a judgment in regard to his attitude toward
the Jews. He received Herzl and some other Jews
in audience, but in his diocese of Mantua, before he
became pope, he had prohibited the celebration of a
solemn mass on the king's birthday because the city
council which asked for it had attended a celebra-
tion in the synagogue.

BiBLiOGBAPHT : Berliner, Oesch. der Juden in Bom, Frank-
fort-on-the-Main, 1893; Vogelsteln and EieRer, Oesch. der

Popes
Popper

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

128

Juden in Bom, Berlin, 1895; Stern, Urkundlic-he Beitrdge
Uber die Stellung der PUpste zu den Juden, Kiel, 1893-95 ;
Pastor, Qesch.derPdpste; Mausi, Coneilia,BulkiHum Mag-
num.

The following is a partial account of the more im-
portant bulls issued hy popes with reference to the
Jews up to the middle of the eighteenth century :

1120. Calixtus II. Issues bull beginning " Siout Judseis non "and
enumerating privileges of the Jews (Vogelstein and
Rleger, "Gescli. der Juden in Rom," i. 219 [hereafter
cited as V. R.]).

1145. Eugenius III., ordering Jews to remit Interest on debts of
Crusaders while absent (Baronlus, " Annales ").

1191. Clement III. confirms the bull "Sicut Judaels non " (Rlos,
" Hist." 11. 469 [hereafter cited as Rios]).

1199 (Sept. 15). Innocent III. confirms "Sicut Judaels non."

1207 (Jan.) . Innocent III,, ordering Jews of Spain to pay tithes
on possessions obtained from Christians (Rlos, i. 360) .

1216 (Nov. 6) . Honorius III. in favor of German Jews, confirm-
ing the "Sicut JudEBls non" of Clement III. (V. R.
1.9).

1219. Honorius III., permitting the King of Castile to suspend
the wearing of the badge (Aroulus, "Regesten," 1.362).

1226 (Oct. 21). Gregory IX., remitting Interest on Crusaders'
debts to Jews and granting a " moratorium " for repay-
ment (V. R. 1. 233).

1233 (April 6) . Gregory IX. issues the bull " EtsI Judffiorum,"

demanding same treatment for Jews In Christian lands
as Christians receive in heathen lands (V. R. i. 234) .
1233. Gregory IX., In bull " Sufflcere debuerat," forbids Chris-
tians to dispute on matters of faith with Jews (" BuUa-
rium Romanum," ill. 479).

1234 (June 5) . Gregory IX. to Thibaut of Navarre, enforcing

the badge (Jacobs, "Sources," Nos. 1327, 1388).
1235. Gregory IX. confirms " Sicut Judseis non."
1239 (June 20). Gregory IX., confiscating all copies of Talmud

(V.R. 1.237).
1240. Gregory IX., ordering all Jewish books In Castile to be

seized on first Saturday In Lent while Jews were in

synagogue (Bios, I. 363).
1244 (March 9). Bull "Impla gens" of Innocent IV., ordering

Talmud to be burned (Zunz, " S. P." p. 30) .

1246 (Oct. 21). Innocent IV. confirms "Sicut Judseis non."

1247 (May 28). Innocent IV. issues the " Divlna justitla neqna^

quam," against blood accusation.

1247 (July 5). Innocent IV. issues the " Lacrymabllem Judaeo-
rum Alemanlee," against blood accusation (Baronlus,
"Annales," 1247, No. 84; Stobbe, "Die Juden in
Deutschland," p. 185; Aronlus, "Regesten," No. 243).

1250 (April 15) . Innocent IV., refusing permission to Jews of
Cordova to build a new synagogue (Aronius, "Regesten,"
p. 369).

1253 (July 23) . Innocent IV., expelling Jews from Vienne (Ray-
naldus, "Annales" ; V. R. 1. 239).

1253 (Sept. 25) . Innocent IV. confirms " Sicut Judseis non."

1267 (July 26) . Clement IV. Issues the " Turbato corde " calling
upon Inquisition to deal not only with renegades, but
also with the Jews who seduce them from the faith
(" BuUarlum Romanum," lii. 786 ; V. R. i. 243) .

1273. Gregory X. confirms the "Sicut Judseis non " (V. B. I. 245,

with edition of a denial of blood accusation ; Stem,
" Urkundliche Beitrage iiber die Stellung der Papste zu
den Juden," p. 5).
1272 (July 7). Gregory X., against blood accusation (Scherer,
" Rechtsverhaltnisse der Juden," p. 431).

1274. Gregory X. confirms " Sicut Judaels non."

1378 (Aug. 4). Nicholas III. issues the " Vlneam sorce," order-
ing conversion sermons to Jews ("Bullarium Roma-
num," iv. 45).

1286 (Nov. 30). Bull of Honorius IV. to Archbishop of York
and of Canterbury, against Talmud (Raynaldus, "An-
nales"; Scherer, " Rechtsverhaltnisse," p. 48) .

1391 (Jan. 30). Nicholas IV. issues the "Orat mater ecclesia"
to protect the Roman Jews from oppression (Theiner,
" Codex Diplomaticus," i. 315 ; V. R. I. 252).

1299 (June 13). Boniface VIII. Issues bull "Exhibita nobis,"
declaring Jews to be included among powerful persons
' who might be denounced to the Inquisition without the
name of the accuser being revealed (V. R. i. 251).

1317. John XXII. orders Jews to wear badge on breast, and issues
bull against ex-Jews (Zunz, "S. P." p. 37).

1320 (June 28) . John XXII., ordering that converts shall retain
their property ("Bullarium Romanum," III., 11. 181;
Ersch and Gruber, " Encyc." section 11., part 27, p. 149;
V. R. 1. 305).

1320 (Sept. 4). John XXII. issues to French bishops bull against
Talmud.

1337 (Aug. 29). Benedict XII. issues the bull " Ex zelo fldel,"
promising inqulry.lnto host-tragedy of Pulka (Raynal-
dus, "Annales" ; Scherer, "Bechtsverhaitnlsse,"p.368)-

1345 (July 5) . Clement VI., against forcible baptism.

1348 (July 4) . Clement VI. confirms " Sicut Judseis non."

1348 (Sept. 26). Clement VI., ordering that Jews be not forced
Into baptism ; that their Sabbaths, festivals, synagogues,
and cemeteries be respected ; that no new exactions be im-
posed (Aronius, " Regesten," ii. 200 ; V. R. i. 313 ; Raynal-
dus, " Annales," 1348, No. 33 ; Gratz, " Gesch." viil. 351) .

1365 (July 7). Urban V. confirms " Sicut Judseis non."

1389 (July 2). Boniface IX. confirms "Sicut Judffils non."

1390 (July 17). John of Portugal orders bull of Boniface IX. of

July 2, 1389, to be published In all Portuguese towns
(Kayserllng, "Gesch. der Juden In Portugal," p. 39).

1397 (April 6). Boniface IX. confirms by bull grant of Roman
citizenship to the Jewish physician Manuele and his son
Angelo (V. R. i. 317).

1402 (April 15). Boniface IX., granting special privileges to
Roman Jews— reducing their taxes, ordering their
Sabbath to be protected, placing them under the Juris-
diction of the Curia, protecting them from oppression
by officials ; all Jews and Jewesses dwelling in the city
to be regarded and treated as Roman citizens (V. R. i.
318-319).

1415 (May 11). Benedict XIII., "Etsi doctoribus gentium,"
against Talmud or any other Jewish book attacking
Christianity (Rios, ii. 626-653 ; see years 1434 and 1442,
below).

1417. Bull against Talmud (Jost, " Gesch. der Israeliten," vli. 60) .

1418 (Jan. 31). Martin V., forbidding the forcible baptism of
Jews or the disturbance of their synagogues (Ray-
naldus, " Annales" ; V. R. 1. 4).

1420 (Nov. 25). Martin V. Issues to (3erman Jews bull "Gon-
cessum JudaBls," confirming their privileges (V. R. 1. 5).
No Jew under twelve to be baptized without his own and
his parents' consent (Scherer, " Rechtsverhaltnisse," p.
414).

1420 (Dec. 23) . Martin V. issues " Licet Judaeorum omnium,"

in favor of Austrian Jews.

1421 (Feb. 23) . Martin V., In favor of Jews and against anti-

Jewish sermons ; permits Jewish physicians to practise
(V. R. 1. 5).

1422 (Feb. 20). Martin V. confirms "Sicut Judaels non."

1433 (June 3) . Martin V. Issues bull " Sedes apostollca," re-

newing the law regarding badge (V. R. i. 8) .

1436 (Feb. 14). Martin V. issues bull against Jews (Zunz, "S.
P." p. 48).

1429 (Feb.l5). Martin V. Issues the "QuamquamJudsel," which
places Roman Jews under the general civic law, protects
them from forcible baptism, and permits them to teach
in the school (Rodocachi, " II Ghetto Romano," p.
147; V. B. i. 8).

1432 (Feb. 8). Eugenius IV. Issues a bull of protection for Jews,
renewing ordinances against forcible baptism and dis-
turbance of synagogues and graveyards (V. R. i. 10).

1434 (Feb. 20). Eugenius IV., prohibiting anti-Jewish sermons

(V.R.I. 11).

1442. Bull of Benedict XIII. published at Toledo (Rlos, lil. 44).

1442 (Aug. 8). Eugenius IV. Issues a bull against Talmud (shortly
after withdrawn; Zunz, "S. P." p. 49). The Jews
were ordered to confine their reading of Scripture to the
Pentateuch ; handwork was forbidden to them ; no
Jews were permitted to be Judges (Rleger, 11).

1447 (Nov. 2). Nicholas V. confirms "Sicut Judaels non."

1451 (Feb. 25). Bull of Nicholas V. prohibiting social inter-
course with Jews and Saracens (" Vita NIcolal," v. 91;
V. R. i. 496).

1451 (May 28). Bull of Nicholas V., similar to that of Aug. 8,
1442, to extend to Spain and Italy ; the proceeds to be
devoted to the Turkish war (V. R. i. 16).

1451 (Sept. 21) . Nicholas V. issues the " Romanus pontif ex," re-
lieving the dukes of Austria from ecclesiastical censure
for permitting Jews to dwell there (Scherer, "Rechts-
verhaltnisse," pp. 423-425).

1472 (Feb. 21) . Slxtus IV., ordering taxation of Roman Jews at
a tithe during the Turkish war, a twentieth otherwise
(compounded for 1,000 gulden in 1488), and a carnival
tax of 1,100 gulden (V. R. 1. 126).

129

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Popes
Popper

1481(Apnl3). Sixtus IV., ordering all Cbristian princes to

restore all fuRltlves to Inquisition of Spain (Rlos, ill.

379; V.R.I. 21).
1481 (Oct. 17). Bull of Sixtus IV. appointing Tomasde Torque-

mada inquisitor -general of Avignon, Valencia, and

Catalonia (Rtos, ill. 256).
1500 (June 1). Alexander VI., demanding for three years for

the Turkish war one-twentieth (see U72) of Jewish

property throughout the world (V. R. 1. 28, 126).
1524 (April 7). Clement VII. Issues bull In favor of Maranos

(V.R.I. 59).
1531 (Dec. 17). Bull introducing Inquisition Into Portugal at

Evora, Cotmbra, and Lisbon (Gratz, " Uesch." 11. 266).
1540. Paul III., granting Neo-Chrlstlans family property except

that gained by usury, also municipal rights, but must

not marry among themselves or be burled among Jews

(V. K. i. 63).
1540 (May 12). Paul III. issues "Licet Judasl," against blood

accusation.

1554 (Aug. 31). Julius III., in bull "PastoHs aetemi vices,"

Imposes tax of ten gold ducats on two out of the 115
synagogues in the Papal States (Rodoeachi, " II Ghetto
Romano," p. 228 ; V. R. i. 145).

1555 (March 23). Paul IV., claiming ten ducats for each syna-

gogue destroyed under bu-ll-ofrjuiy 13, 1555 (V. R.l. 155).

1555 (July 12) . Paul IV. Issues the " Cum nimis absurdum " for
Jews of Rome, which renews most of the Church laws,
Including the order to wear the yellow hat and veil, not
to hold anyreal property (to be soldwithinslx months),
not to trade except in second-hand clothing, not to count
fragments of month in reckoning Interest; to sell
pledges only eighteen months after loan and to repay
surplus, to keep business books in Italian In Latin script,
to live only in specified quarters with only two gates,
not to be called " Signer," to maintain only one syna-
gogue (V.R.i. 152-153).

1555 (Aug. 8) . Bull of Paul IV.: Jews may dispense vrtth yellow
hat on journeys; dwell outside ghettos when the latter
are crowded ; acquire property outside ghettos to extent
of 1,500 gold ducats ; Jews of Rome are released from
unpaid taxes on payment of 1,500 scutl ; Jews may have
shops outside ghetto ; rents in ghettos may not be raised
(V.R.i. 161-162).

1567 (Jan. 19). Bull of Pius V., "Cum nos nuper," orders Jews
to sell all property in Papal States ( V. R. 1. 164) .

1569 (Feb. 26). Bull of Pius V., "Hebraeorum gens," expels
Jews from the Papal States, except Rome and Ancona, in
punishment for their crimes and " magic " (V. R. i. 168) .

1581 (March 30). Bull "Multos adhuc ex Christianis " renews
Church law against Jewish physicians (V. R. i. 174) .

1581 (Junel). Gregory XIII. issues the "Antlqua Judssorum
improbltas," giving Jurisdiction over Jews of Rome to
Inquisition in cases of blasphemy, protection of heretics,
possession of forbidden works, employment of Christian
servants (V. R. i. 174).

1584 (Sept. 1). Bull "Sancta mater ecclesla" orders 150 Jews
(100 Jews, 50 Jewesses) to attend weekly conversionlst
sermons (Zunz, "8. P." p. 339; Jost, "Gesch. der Is-
raeliten," ill. 210; V. R. i. 173).

1586 (Oct. 23). Bull of Sixtus V., favorable to Jews (Gratz,

" Gesch." ix. 482).

1587 (June 4) . Sixtus V., granting Magino di Gabriel of Venice

the monopoly of, silk-manufacture in Papal States for
sixty years, and ordering five mulberry-trees to be
planted in every rubbio of land (V. R. i. 181).

1592 (Feb. 28). Bull of Clement VIII., "Cum s^pe accidere,"

forbidding Jews to deal in new commodities (V. B. 1.
184).

1593 (March 8). Bull of Clement VIII., in favor of Turkish

Jews (Gratz, "Gesch." Ix. 486).

1604 (Aug. 23). Bull of Clement VIII., in favor of Portuguese
Maranos (Gratz, " Gesch." ix. 500) .

1010 (Aug. 7) . Paul v., " Exponi nobis nuper fecistis," regu-
lates dowries of Roman Jews (V. R. i. 196).

1658 (Nov. 15) . Alexander VII., in bull " Ad ea perquse," orders
Roman Jews to pay rent even for unoccupied houses
in ghetto, because Jews would not hire houses from
which Jews had been evicted (V. R. i. 215).

1674 (Oct. 3) . Clement X., suspending operations of Portuguese
Inquisition against Maranos (Gratz, "Gesch." x. 276;
V. R. 1. 2&).

J679 (May 27). Innocent XI. suspends grand inquisitor of Por-
tugal on account of his treatment of Maranos (Gratz,
"Gesch." X. 279).
X.— 9

1747 (Feb. 28). Bull "Postremo mense superioris annl" of
Benedict XIV. confirms decision of Roman Curia of Oct.
22, 1597, that a Jewish child, once baptized, even against
canonical law, must be brought up under Christian In-
fluences (V. R. 1. 242-245; Jost, "Gesch." xl. 256 n.).

J.
POPP-ffiA SABINA: Mistress and, after 62
c. E. , second vpif e of the emperor Nero ; died 65. She
had a certain predilection for Judaism, and is cliar-
acterized by Josephus ("Ant." xx. 8, § 11 ; "Vita,"
§ 3) as feo(TC|9^f (" religious "). Some Jews, sucli as
the actor Alityeos, were well received at court,
and Poppsea was always ready to second Jewish pe-
titions before the emperor. In 64 Josephus went to
Rome to obtain the liberation of some priests related
to him who had been taken captive to that city for
some minor offense. With the help of Alityros, Jo-
sephus succeeded in gaining the intercession of the
empress, and returned home with his friends, bear-
ing rich gifts with him.

When King Agrippa added a tower to the ancient
palace of the Hasmoneans, at Jerusalem, that he
might overlook the city and the Temple and watch
the ceremonial in the sanctuary, the priests cut off
his view by a high wall. He then appealed to the
procurator Festus, but a Jewish delegation sent to
Rome succeeded through Poppsea's intercession in
having the case decided in favor of the priests. The
last procurator, Gessius Florus (64-66), owed his ap-
pointment to the empress, who was a friend of his
wife Cleopatra.

Bibliography: Gratz, Gesch. 2d ed., ill. 331 et seq.; Fried-
lander, Darslellungen aua der SittenqeschicTite Bnms, i. 348 ;
Hertzberg, Oesch. des ROmischen Kaiserreiches, pp. 237 et
seg.; Schiller, Gesch. des Blimischen Kawerreiches Unter
Nero, p. 528 ; Vogelstein and Rleger, Oesch. der Juden in
Bom, i. 21, 74, ll5l ; Schurer, Gesch. i. 57, 489, 494 et seq.; ii.
510.
K. E. N.

POPPER, DAVID: Austrian violoncellist;
born at Prague June 18, 1845; a pupil of Golter-
mann at the Conservatorium in that city. At the age
of eighteen he made a tour through Germany, and
was at once acknowledged to be one of the leading
cellists of his time. On his return Popper, on the
recommendation of Hans von Billow, was appointed
a member of Prince von Hechingcu's orchestra at
L5wenburg. He made frequent tours through Ger-
many, PloUand, Switzerland, and England, every-
where winning enthusiastic applause; and in Vienna
he received an appointment as solo violoncellist ja
the court orchestra. He later became prominently
known as one of the principal members of the Hell-
mesberger Quartet. lu 1872 he married Sophie
Menter, the pianist, from whom lie Was divorced in
1886.

Since 1873 Popper has traveled considerablj', re-
siding in London, Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna, afid
Berlin. He is now (1905) professor at the Landes-
musikakademie in Budapest. Among his composi-
tions for the cello, most of which enjoy great pop-
ularity, the following may be mentioned as the
most noteworthy: "Romance," op. 5; "Serenade
Orientale," op. 18; "Nocturne," op. 22; "Gavotte,"
op. 23 (arranged for violin by L. Auer); "Second
Nocturne," op. 32 (arranged for violin byE. Sauret);
"Tarantelle," op. 33; "Elfenlanz," op. 39 (arranged
for violin by C. Halir) ; " Spanische Tanze, " op. 54 ;

Popper

Porges von Portheim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

130

"Spinulicd," op. 55; "Requiem," op. 66; "Unga-
risclie Kbapsodie," op. 68.

BiBLiORRAPHY : Mustkalisclies Wochenhlatt, Leipslc, vi. 335;
Rieinann, Musik-Lexikon.
s. J. So.

POPPER, JOSEF : Austrian engineer and au-
thor ; born Feb. 23, 1838, at Kolin, Bohemia. Besides
essaj's on macliinery published in the " Sitzungs-
berichte der Kaiserlichen Al^ademie der Wissen-
schaften," and in several technical journals, he has
written: "DasRecbt zu Leben und die Pflicht zu
Sterben" (1878); "Die Physikalischen Grundsatze
der Elektrischen Kraftlibertragung " (1884); "Flirst
Bismarck und der Antisemitismus " (1886) ; " Die
Technischen Portschritte nach Ihrer Aesthetischen
und Kulturellen Bedeutung " (1889) ; " Flugtechnik "
(1889) ; "Phantasieen eines Realisten " (1899).

Popper was the first to conceive the idea of the
transmission of electrical power ; and he explained
it in 1862 in a communication to the Imperial Acad-
emy of Sciences, Vienna, which published the same
in 1882. g

POPPER, SIEGFRIED : Austrian naval con-
structor; born at Prague 1848. Educated at the
polytechnic high schools of Prague and Carlsruhe,
he worked for two years in machine-shops and then
entered (1869) the Austrian navy as assistant con-
structor. In 1902 be was appointed director of
naval construction. In 1904 he was made naval
constructor-general with the rank of rear-admiral.

Popper has supervised the building of several
Austrian men-of-war, among them the cruisers
"Panther," "Leopard," " Tiger, " the armored cruis-
ers "Maria Theresia," "Kaiser Karl VI.," "St.
Georg," and the armored battleships "Vienna,"
"Monarch," "Budapest," "Habsburg," "Arpad,"
"Babenberg," "Erzherzog Karl," and "Erzherzog
Friedrich." The nine last named were built after
his designs.

s. F. T. H.

POPPER, WILLIAM: American Orientalist;
born at St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 29, 1874; educated at
the public schools of Brooklyn, N. Y., the College
of the City of New York, Columbia College (A.B.
1896), and Columbia University (A.M. 1897; Ph.D.
1899). In 1899 he went abroad and took postgrad-
ijate courses at the universities of Berlin, Strasburg,
and Paris. The year 1901-2 he spent in traveling
through Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Hauran, the north
Syrian desert, and Mesopotamia.

Returning in 1902 to New York city. Popper be-
came connected, with The Jewish Encyclopedia
as associate revising editor and chief of the bureau
of translation. In 1903, and again in 1904, he was
appointed Gustav Gnttheil lecturer in Semitic lan-
guages at Columbia University.

Popper is the author of "The Censorship of He-
brew Books " (New York, 1899).

A. F. T. H.

POPPER, WILMA: Hungarian authoress ; born
at Raab, Hungary, May 11, 1857; educated in her
native town. She commenced to write at an early
age. Besides contributing numerous essays to the
German periodicals, she has published the following
volumes of stories and sketches: "Marchen und Ge-

schichten," Leipsic, 1891; "Altmodische Leute,''
Dresden and Leipsic, 1894; "Miniaturen," j'i. 1897;
"Neue Marchen und Geschichten," ifi. 1898; "Son-
derlinge,"i4. 1899; "Nieten,"«J. 1900; "Gegen den
Strom, "iJ. 1902; "Die Fahne Hoch,"iJ. 1902; "Fra-
tres Sumiis," ib. 1903; "Flinfe aus Einer HUlse,"
Vienna, 1905.
B. F. T. H.

POPPERS, JACOB BEN BENJAMIIT
COHEN" : German rabbi ; boi'n at Prague in the
middle of the seventeenth century ; died at Frank-
fort-on-the-Main in 1740. His father, who was a
distinguished Talmudist, instructed him in rabbin-
ical literature. In which he acquired great pro-
ficiency. He was successively rabbi at Coblenz,
Treves, Halberstadt, and in 1718 he was called to
the rabbinate of Frankfort-on-the-Main.

Poppers was the author of two works: "Shab
Ya'akob," containing responsa divided into two vol-
umes (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1742), and "Hiddu-
shim," Talraudical novellte inserted by Shabbethai
ben Moses in his " Minhat Kohen " (Furth, 1741).

Bibliography: Azulai. Shem ha-Gednlim, i. 92; Carmoly, in
Revue, Orientale, li. 247 ; SWnsclineider, Cat. Bocll. col. 1193.
E. 0. I. Bu.

POPPERS, MEIR BEN JXJDAH LOB HA-
KOHEN ASHKENAZI: Bohemian rabbi and
cabalist ; born at Prague ; died at Jerusalem in Feb.
or March, 1662. He studied the Cabala under Israel
Ashkenazi and Jacob Zemah, and he wrote a great
number of works, all in the spirit of Isaac Luria ;
thirty -nine of them have "Or" as the beginning of
their titles, in reference to his name "Mei'r." His
works which have been published are: "Or Zad-
dikim" (Hamburg, 1690), a mystical methodology,
or exhortation to asceticism, based upon Isaac
Luria's writings, the Zohar, and other moral works
(an enlarged edition of this work was published
later under the title " Or ha-Yashar " [Furth, 1754]);
" Or Pene Melek," a treatise on the mysteries of the
prayers and coramaudments, condensed and pub-
lished under the title "Sefer Kawwanot Teflllot u-
Mizwot" (Hamburg, 1690); "Me'ore Or," an alpha-
betical arrangement of the cabalistic sacred names
found in Isaac Luria's "Sefer ha-Kawwanot," pub-
lished by Elijah b. Azriel, with the commentary
" Ya'ir Natib " of Nathan Mannheimer and Jacob b.
Benjamin Wolf, under the title "Me'orot Natan"
(Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1709); "Mesillot Hokmah "
(Shklov, 1785), regulations and rules for the study
of the Cabala.

Among his unpublished works the following may
be mentioned: "Or Rab," a commentary on the
Zohar; "Or ha-Abu^ah," a treatise on the Cabala;
"Or Zarua'," a commentary on Hayyim Vital's
"Derek 'Ez ha-Hayyim"; "OrNer," on the trans-
migration of «ouls; "Or Zah,"on the order in which
souls are linked together; "Derushim 'alha-Torah,"
homilies on the Pentateuch ; " Matok ha-Or, " a caba-
listic commentary on the haggadah of the Talmud
and Midrash Rabbah.

BIBLIOORAPHT : Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim. i. 120; Furst, i?iJ)L
Jvd. iii. 113-114 ; Steinschneiaer, Cat. Bodl. col. 1709.
K. M. Sel.

POPULAR -WISSENSCHAFTLICHE MO-
NATSBLATTER. See Periodicals.

131

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Popper

Forges von Fortheim

PORCUPINE: Rendering adopted by many
commentators for tbe Hebrew "kippod," for which,
the English versions have correctly Bitteen. The
porcupine {Hystrix cristata) is, however, very com-
mon in Palestine. It is considered by the natives as
a larger species of hedgehog. Thus the Arabic
" kunfod " (hedgehog) is often applied to the porcu-
pine also.

In the Talmud the porcupine is assumed to be
referred toby the terms npJX (Hul. 133a), "Uippod"
or " ^ippoT " (Kil. viii. 5), and i^" (B. B. 4a). In
the last-cited passage it is related that Herod put
out the eyes of Baba b. Zuta by binding porcupine
skin around them. The skin of the porcupine was
also wrapped around the udders of the cow to pre-
vent them from being sucked by animals (Shab. 54b).

BiBi.tOGKAPH Y : Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 125 ; Lewysohn, Z. T.
p. 100.
E. G. H. I. M. C.

PORGES (PORJES), AARON B. BENJA-
MIN: Rabbi in Prague in the seventeenth century.
Under the title " Zikron Aharon " he wrote an intro-
duction to the "Kizzur Ma'abar Yabbok," concern-
ing the ancient Jewish customs relating to death
and the dead, and containing also counsel for per-
sons suffering from venereal disease. This work,
published first at Prague in 1683, has been often
reprinted.

BIBUOGRAPHY : Furst, Bibh Jud. i. 23 ; Benjacob, Ozar ha-
Sefarim, p. 157 ; Steinsclmeider, Cat. Bodl. col. 718.
E.C. S. O.

PORGES, MOSES BEN ISRAEL NAPH-
TALI HIRSCH: Rabbinical author; lived at
Jerusalem at the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury. He was the author of " Darke Ziyyon " (Am-
sterdam, 1650), written, in Judseo-German, after he
had removed to Prague. The work is in four parts
and is illustrated. Part 1 deals with the return to
Palestine; part 3 with prayer ; part 3 with teaching ;
and part 4 with the commemoration of the dead.

Bibliography: Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1827; Furst,
nail. Jud. ii. 398 ; Wolf, Blhl. Hebr. iii. 764 ; Benjacob, Ozar
ha-Sefarim, p. 121, No. 518 ; Luncz, Jerusalem, Hi., No. 44.
E. c. S. J. L.

PORGES, NATHAN : German rabbi ; born at
Prossnitz, Moravia, Dec. 31, 1848. He was edu-
cated in his native town, at the gymnasium at
Olmutz, and at the University (Ph.D. 1869) and the
Jewish Theological Seminary (rabbi 1869) of Breslau.
He became successively rabbi at Nakel (1875),
Mannheim (1879), Pilsen (1880), Carlsbad (1883), and
Leipsic ; he has officiated in the last-mentioned city
since 1888.

Porges has written many articles, essays, and
critiques for the periodicals, especially for the
"Revue des Etudes Juives," the " Monatssohrift fur
Gesch. und Wissenschaft des Judenthums," "Zeit-
schriftfilrHebraisclieBibliographie,"and the "Cen-
tralblatt fiir Bibliothekswesen," and is the author of
" Ueber die Verbalstainmbildung in den Semitischen
Sprachen," Vienna, 1875; "Bibelkunde und Babel-
funde," Leipsic, 1903.

s. F. T. H.

PORGES VON PORTHEIM: Promi-
nent Bohemian family of which the following mem-
bers won particular distinction :

Joseph. Porges, Edler von Fortheim : Aus-
trian manufacturer and art patron ; born at Prague
1817 ; died there Sept. 3, 1904 ; son of Moses Porges
VON PoRTHEiM. On Completing his studies at the
gymnasium he entered his father's cotton-mills;
there lie occupied various positions until 1873,
when the business was converted into a stock com-
pany, of whose board of directors he was president
for several years. His leisure tima was devoted to
literature and music, and he was well known as a
violoncello virtuoso. Porges founded the Prague
Kammermusikvereins, and was also interested in the
Deutsches Theater of that city. His philanthropy
was extensive, the Josefstadter Kinderbewahran-
stalt, founded by his father, being an especial ob-
ject of his benevolence.

Leopold Judah. Porges von Portheim : Bo-
hemian manufacturer, alderman, and director of the
Jewish community of Prague ; born April 4, 1784 ;
died at Prague Jan. 10, 1869.

Moses Porges, Edler von Portheim: Manu-
facturer and vice-burgomaster of Prague-Smichow ;
knight of the Order of Francis Joseph ; born Dec.
13, 1781 ; died at Prague May 81, 1870. He was one
of the earliest and most prominent of the large
manufacturers of Austria, and was very closely
associated with his younger brother, Leopold Judah.
Moses and Leopold, the sons of the highly respected
but poor Gabriel Porges of the Spira family, ex-
perienced adventures in the camp of the sectarian
Joseph Frank at Offenburg which have been de-
scribed by Gratz in his " Frank und die Frankisten "
(Breslau, 1868) and his "Gesch." x. (last note), and
in greater detail by Dr. S. Back in " Monatssohrift "
(1877, pp. 190 et seq.). Disillusioned, they returned
to Prague, and began a small linen business, and in
1808 commenced, with a single cotton-printing press
and in a dark shop on the Moldau, an industrial
activity which was destined later to reach great
dimensions.

In 1830 the rapidly growing business was trans-
ferred to the suburb of Smichow, where it devel-
oped into one of the largest establishments of the
Austrian monarchy, and in 1841 the emperor Ferdi-
nand conferred upon the brothers the patent of hered-
itary nobility with the title "von Portheim," in
recognition of the fact that they were the first cotton-
manufacturers to employ steam in their works.
"When this -patent had been offered Moses in the pre-
vious year, he asked the Oberstburggraf 6. v.Chotek
for a decree of emancipation of the Jev/s instead, but
this request was not granted. Moses later purchased
and operated the porcelain-factory at Chodau to-
gether with the mines belonging to it, and after the
passage of the laws of 1861 he and his brother en-
tered politics, the latter being elected to the diet,
while the former officiated for several years as vice-
burgomaster of Prague-Smichow. The most note-
worthy among the numerous benefactions of Moses
Porges is the still existing cr6che, which, without
distinction of creed or nationality, for eight months
of the year, receives and cares for 150 children daily
while their parents are at work.
bibliography: H. I. Landau, Pragcr Nekrolnge, Prague,

1883 : Diihemia, May 23, 1870 ; Gratz, In Monatsschnft, 1877,

pp. 190 et seq. ^ „

S. ^- ^I-

Porting'
Porto

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

132

POKGING (Hebrew, ilpij, lit. "iucision";
JudiEO-Qerman, "treibern"): The cutting away of
forbidden fat and veins from kaslier meat. The
Mosaic law emphatically forbids the eating of the
fat and blood of cattle or poultry, the fat and
blood of peace-offerings being appropriated as sac-
rifices to God. The prohibition is "a perpetual
statute " in all generations everywhere (Lev. iii. 17,
vii. 25-27). What constitutes "heleb"(= "forbid-
den fat ") is deduced from the description of the heleb
appropriated for sacrifice, namely, the "fat that
covereth the inwards " (intestines) and " the fat on
the kidneys by the flanks and the caul [lobe] above
^ the liver " {ib. iii. 3, 4). All other fat is regarded
1 by the strict Mosaic law as "shuman " (= "permit-
ted fat "), though the Rabbis have made the pro-
Libition more extensive (see Fat). The Mosaically
forbidden blood-vessels in animals comprise the
main arteries and the nervus ischiadicus (" gid ha-
nasheh"; Gen. xxxii. 32). The Rabbis, however,
have extended the prohibition to the principal veins
that connect with the arteries and tendons.

To guard against an infringement of the prohibi-
tion of eating blood, the kasher meat is salted to
extract the blood from tlie surface of the meat. The
salted meat is then placed in a perforated vessel or
on a plank in a slanting position to allow the ex-
tracted blood to drain off for half an hour, after
■which the meat is thoroughly cleansed with water;
but inasmuch as the salt can not extract the blood
from the closed veins, the latter must first be ex-
cised or severed by porging.

The responsibility of the porger (" menakker ") is as
great as that of the shohet. In former times the pro-
fessional porger was not allowed to be a butcher, as
it was apprehended that self-interest might interfere
with the proper performance of his duty ; but to
siive the expense of hiring a special porger a butcher
who has a reputation for honesty and ability is now
pennitted to perform the porging.

Preparatory to the porging, twelve ribs of the ani-
mal are cut open from the chest downward. The
following order of the various operations in porging
fe arranged according to the opiaion of the best
authorities:

(1) Cutting the head of the animal into two parts and remov-
ing the eyes therefrom ; cleaving the skull and removlnfr from
the brain the upper membrane, as well as the lower membrane
adhering to the bone ; extracting the red veins from the brain ;
(2) extracting veins from the back of the ears ; (3) incising the
lower jaws and extracting a vein on each side close to the
tongue ; (4) cutting away the root of the tongue and extracting
a blood-vessel ; (5) extracting two veins, one red and one white,
on each side of the neck opposite the " shehitah " Incision ;
» (6) cutting around each side of the breast close to the flesh and
extracting two veins, one red and one white, running along
each side ; (7) severing each shoulder with its fore leg from the
body ; cutting into the shoulder in the center and extracting a
thick white vein ; cutting the upper part of the fore leg length-
Tvise and extracting a vein running from the spine to the hoof
(to eradicate this vein requires a deep incision) ; (8) cutting the
}eg and extracting one red vein at the lower end and another
vein on the side near the bone (the porger then turns to the
portion from which he extracted the breast-vein) ; (9) removing

the membrane of the kidneys, and the fat un-
Successive derneath them (the heads of the forbidden fat-
Operations, veins then become visible ; there are to the

right [as the porger faces the front of the
carcass, which Is suspended with the head up] three veins
that split in two, and to the left two veins that split in three :
when the body is warm these veins may be extracted easily) ;

(10) separating the membrane from the lobe of the liver;
til) separating and removing the fat from the loins (there
are on the end of the thigh near the Dank two streaks of fat
which are exposed within the animal when it Is alive, but
which after death are covered by the shrunken flesh ; this flesh
must be cut open and the fat removed); (12) drawing the in-
testines from their position and removing the upper entrail : ex-
tracting the veins from the Ileum (N.^jr) and stripping the fat
from the mesentery (s.'njSTNin); the fat from the stomach,
belly, reticulum (niDiDH nn), and anus (DDsn); also that ad-
hering underneath the diaphragm (nonD) and that on the
small Intestines (ppi) ; removing the fat of the intestines along
one arm's length (24 Inches) from the root (the Intestines
through which the food passes do not contain forbidden blood-
veins); (13) separating the membrane and fat from the spleen
and extracting the main vein, together with three fat-veins ; (14)
extracting the veins of the lungs and bursting the bronchi
(.lUiDrD) and removing the appendix (nt\i); (15) removing
the lobes of the heart because they contain too many blood-vessels
for removal ; cutting the heart crosswise to extract the blood ;
removing the membrane and four veins ; (16) removing the gall
and the fat attached to the liver ; cutting the liver to allow the
blood to run from it ; (17) removing the fat from the flanks with
their upper and lower membranes, scraping off the fat under-
neath, and extracting a vein from each ; (18) removing the
membrane and extracting the large vein of the testicles, which
must be cut apart before salting ; (19) removing the lower en-
trail at the end of the rectum ( Nntj»DiD) ; taking the fat from the
rectum ; (20) severing the tail and extracting a vein which divides
into two and which is connected with the flanks ; cutting away the
extra fatty portion of the tail ; (31) disjoining the thigh and re-
moving the sex genitals ; extracting six veins from the hips and
scraping off the fat around them ; cutting open the udder and
squeezing out the milk (the first vein of the thigh is the nervus
Ischiadicus, which lies deep near the bone and runs through the
whole thigh ; the second vein is near the flesh) ; extracting the
sinews in the shape of tubes (nijpup), which connect with the
nervi iscMadici of the two thighs (see Hul. 92b-93b),and scra-
ping off the adjacent fat; (22) making Incisions above the
hoofs ; extracting^ the cluster of sinews (jnun PDix) from the
lower middle Joint of the hind leg.

Some authorities modify this order and omit sev-
eral items ; for instance, they leave the fat under-
neath tlie diaphragm, or, on extracting a red vein,
leave the white vein which is alongside it.

The porger generally uses a special knife for the
fat and a smaller one for the veins. If he uses the
same knife for both he must wipe it, before opera-
ting on the veins, with a cloth which is suspended for
this purpose from the lower part of the animal.

The principal operations of the porger are per-
foi-med in the lower extremities of the animal, and
in consequence of the scarcity of competent porgers
many Jewish communities in Europe have since the
seventeenth century not used the lower part or sir-
loin of the animal, the butcher selling that part
to non-Jewish customers. But in the Orient and in
several cities in Russia, such as Wilna and Kovno,
where non-Jewish consumers of meat are few in
comparison with the Jewish population, the sirloin
is porged and sold to Jews.

The porging of small cattle is performed with a
smaller knife or with the hand. Fowl need no ex-
tensive porging, beyond the severing of the head
and the extracting of one vein opposite the shehi-
tah incision, the cutting into the wings and tlie
legs, also the lungs and heart, and the removal of
two guts, known as "terefah wurst," and the gall.
See Bedikah ; Blood ; Pat ; Shehitah ; Terefah.
BiBLiOGRAPHy : Maimonides, Yad, Ma'altalnt Amtrni, vi.-
vlii.: Tur and ShuUian 'Aruk. Ynreh De'ah, §S 65, 68; Le-
bush, ''Ateret Zdhah, order Nilflmr, 8 K>, end: Isaac ha-
Kohen, Zihelie, Kohen, pp. 59-64', Leghorn, 1832; Wiener,
Jttdisclie SpeisefiCKCtze, 8§ 1, 3, 4. Breslau, 1895; Jacob Sor-
zena, Seder ha-Nikkur, and abridgment of same by Zebl ben
Isaac Jacob, Venice,' 1595 ; Joshua Segre, Nikrat Issur (see
Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 403) .
B. c. J. D. E.

133

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Forging
Porto

FOBK. Seo Swine.

FOBIAIiEONE (nnx 1VB') : Jewish family of
northern Italy, which probably derived its name
from the quarter of Portaleone, situated in tlie vicin-
ity of the ghetto of Rome. In 1399 Elhanan Por-
taleone was dayyan in Lombardy. The family in-
cluded many physicians also among its members,
Guglielmo (Benjamin) Portaleone acting in this
capacity for Ferdinand I. of Naples, and subse-
quently for Galeazzo Sforza of Milan, after whose
death he settled in his native city Mantua, where
he practised until 1500. He, as well as his sons,
grandsons, and great-grandsons, enjoyed the favor
of the Gonzagas in Mantua, many of them being
physicians to the members of that house. The
following members of the Portaleone family deserve
special notice :

Abraham Portaleone: Physician in Mantua;
died July 29, 1613; great-grandson of Guglielmo
Portaleone (son of David, son of Lazzaro, son of
Guglielmo) ; pupil of Jacob Fano. Dukes Gugli-
elmo and Vincenzo, in whose service he was, granted
him privileges in 1577 and 1587 respectively ; and
Pope Gregory XIV. gave him a dispensation which
enabled him to attend Christians. At the request
of Duke Guglielmo he wrote two medical treatises
in Latin, which he dedicated to his patron, under
the titles " Consilia Medica" and "Dialogi Tres de
Auro " respectively ; the latter treatise was published
in 1584.

David Portaleone: Physician ^in Mantua; died
in 1655 ; son of Abraham Portaleone. He succeeded
his father in his position as physician to the dukes
of Gonzaga.

Guglielmo (Benjamin) Portaleone : Physi-
cian ; son of David Portaleone ; took his degree at
Sienna in 1639, and was licensed in Mantua. After
the death of David Portaleone, Duke Charles II. re-
quested Pope Innocent X. to grant Guglielmo the
same privilege as had been bestowed upon his father
and grandfather.

To a different branch of the family belongs Leone
Ebreo, or Leone Sommo (di Sommi, ''D1DD), who
was otherwise known under the name Judah. b.
Isaac Portaleone. See Judah Leone ben Isaac

SoMMO.

Bibliography : On the family in freneral : Wolf, in AUfi. Zett.
clcs Jud. 1862, p. 635; Steinschneider, Hebr. Bihl. vi. 48 et
set;., XX. 47 ; Mortara, in B. E. J. xii. 112 et seq.: idem, In-
dice, p. 51. On Abraham Portaleone : Wolf, in Hebr. Bihl. i.
18; Mortara, In B. E. J. lii. 96, xii. 115; Reifmann, Ha-Sna-
fiar. Hi.; Steinschneider, In Mnnatsschrift, xlii. 263. On
Leone Ebreo : D'Ancona, Ortgini del Teatro in Italia, ii. 401
et seq.; Dejob, In B. E. J. jtxlii. 378 et seq.; Neubauer, in
Isr. Letterbode, x. 113 et seq.: Peimeau, in Vessillo Israeli-
ticn, 1883. pp. 373 et seq.; Peyron, in Atti delta B. Accademia,
xTx.^ Steinschneider, in Isr^ Ijetterbnde, xii. 73 et seq.; idem,
in Monatsuclirift, xlii. 467 et seq.; Vogelstein and Rieger,
GeKch,. der Juden in Bom, 11. 103 ; Zunz, In Kerem Jfemed,
V. 154 ; Creizenach, Geseh. des Neueren Dramas, 1901, 11.

^'*«'- H. V.

POBTALIS, COMTE JOSEPH MABIE.

See Sanheduin.

POBTLAND. See Oregon.

POBTO (OPOBTO) : Capital of the Portuguese
province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. After Lisbon it
possessed in former times the largest Jewish congre-
gation of the country, and it was the seat of the pro-
vincial rabbi or chief judge. As everywhere else, the

Jews of Porto lived in their "Juderia." By com-
mand of King John I., Victoria and S. Miguel
streets, near the present location of the Benedictine
convent, were assigned to them for residence in 1386.
In the latter street was the synagogue, which Im-
nianuel Aboab records that he saw ; and the stairs
which lead from Belmonte to the old Juderia are
still known as the "Escadas de Esnoga"(= "syna-
gogue steps ").

Although the Porto city council opposed the ad-
mission of Jewish refugees from Spain, apparently
on hygienic grounds (1487), Porto was allotted as the
place and S. Miguel as the street of residence to thirty
Spanish Jewish families which, through the aged
Rabbi Isaac Aboab, negotiated witli King John XL
for permission to settle in Portugal in 1491. The
house of each of these immigrants was marked with
the letter "P," the initial of the name of the city.

The Porto Jews paid to the city a yearly tax of
200 old maravedis, or 5,400 sueldos, for the square
in which the synagogue stood; and even shortly
before the expulsion they had to pay an annual tax
of 10,000 reis. Many of them left the city after the
edict of expulsion; but some remained behind as
secret Jews. The tribunal of the Inquisition was in-
troduced into Porto in 1543 (see Jew. Encyc. vi. 599,
s.v. Inquisition).

Isaac Aboab died at Porto in 1493 ; and here were
born Immanuel Aboab, author of " Noinologia " ;
Uriel or Gabriel da Costa, the physician Diego Jo-
seph, Abraham Ferrar, etc. At present (1905) Jewa
are again living in Porto.
Bibliographj: Aboab, Nnmnlnqia n Discursns Legales, v.

299; Kayserllng, Oesch. der Juden in Portugal, pp. 13,49,

108 et seq.; J. Mendes dos Remedios, Os Judeos em Portugal,

pp. 261, 360 et seq. , , ,,

S. ^I K-

POBTO. See Rome.

POBTO : Italian family of which the following
members are noteworthy :

Abraham b. Jehiel ba-Kohen Porto : Italian
scholar ; flourislied about 1600. Alter living in Cre-
mona and Mantua, he resided in Verona, where in
1594 he edited and printed the " Minhah Belulah"
of his kinsman Abraham Menahem Porto. He him-
self wrote: "Hawwot Ya'ir" (Venice, 1628), an
alphabetical collection of Hebrew words, with their
cabalistic explanations; "Gat Rimmon," a collection
of poems; and commentaries on the Pentateucli
(" Shimmush Abraham ") and on the Psalms (" Hasde
Dawid "), none of which has been published.
Bibliography: Filrst, 7?tW. Jud. Hi. 115 et seq.; Nepi-GM-

rondi, Toledot Gedole Yisrael, p. 35.

Abraham Menahem Porto. See Rapa (Pok-
TO), Menahem Abraham best Jacob ha-Kohen.

Emanuel Porto or Menahem Zion Porto
Cohen : Italian rabbi ; born at Triest' toward the
end of the sixteenth century ; died at Padua about
1660. He was an excellent mathematician and as-
tronomer, and his works were highly praised by
Andrea Argoli and extolled in Italian sonnets by
Tomaso Ercaloni and Benedetto Luzzatto. In 1641
Gaspald Scilppius, editor of the " Mercurius Quadra-
linguis," recommended Porto, in terms which were
very complimentary to the rabbi, to Johannes Bux-
torf, with whom Porto later carried on an active cor-
respondence.

Porto
Portsmouth

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

134

Porto was the author of the following works : (1)
"Breve Istituzione della Qeographia," Padua, 1640.
(3) " Diplomologia, Qua Duo Scriptura; Miracula de
Regressu Solis Tempore Hiskioe et Ejus Immobili-
tate Tempore JosuiE Declarantur," ib. 1643. This
work, dedicated to the emperor Ferdinand III. and
written originally in Italian, was translated by the
author himself into Hebrew, and by Lorenzo Dal-
naki of Transylvania into Latin. (3) " Porto Astrono-
mico " {ib. 1636), divided into four parts, dedicated
to Count Benvenuto Petazzo, Padua. (4) " 'Obar
le-Soher" (Venice, 1627), a treatise on arithmetic in
twelve chapters, published by Porto's disciple Ger-
shon Hefez.

BIBLTOGRAPHT : De Eossi, Dizionario, li. 93 ; FUrst, Bibl. Jud.
iii. 116; Stelnsohneiaer, Cat. Bodl. col. 723; Nepl-Ghirondi,
Toledot Geddle Yisrael, p. 2.58 ; Ozar Nehmad, iii. 133 ; Kay-
serlind, in R. E. J. xiti. 268 et seq.

G. I. Br.

Moses b. AbralLam Porto : Rabbi in Venice ;
died in 1624.

Moses to. Jehiel Porto : Rabbi in Eovigo about
1600; born in Venice; brother of the Veronese
printer Abraham Porto. He was the protagonist in
the controversy regarding the mikweh in Rovigo,
in which no less than seventy rabbis participated.
On this subject he wrote a work entitled "Paige
Mayim," in which he first states the case and then
quotes twenty-eight opinions in favor of his deci-
sion. This portion is followed by another entitled
" Mish'an Mayim," which is a criticism of the rejoin-
der of the opposition, the "Mashbit Milhamot," and
by an examination of the responsa contained in it.
Porto's work was published ki Venice in 1608, and
. is very rare.

BiBLioGEAPHY : Furst, Bibl. Jud. iii. 116 ; Mortara, Indice,
p. 51.

Zecliariah. ben Ephraim Porto : Italian scholar
of the seventeenth century, noted for his learning
and still more for his virtues. He was a native olE
U rhino, and lived at Florence and Rome, where he
officiated as rabbi, although he modestly refused to
assume that title. He wrote a work entitled " Asaf
ha-Mazkir," containing a list of all the explanations
and comments found in the " 'En Ya'akob " and
treating of the haggadic passages of the Talmud.
He himself would not publish this book; it was
printed after his death by the Roman community
(Venice, 1688; according to Zedner, 1675). In his
will Porto made many communal bequests for Tal-
mud Torahs and for dowries.

Btbliographt : Nepi-Gtiirondi, Tolednt Oedole Tiftrael,x>- 99;
Furst, Bihl. Jiid. iii. 117 ; Zedner, Cat Hehr. Boohs Brit.
Mus. p. 788.

G. 1- i'-

PORTO-BICHE, GEORGE DE : French poet
and dramatist; born of Italian parents at Bordeaux
in 1849. He entered a banking-house at an early
age, but was discharged on account of his poetic
tendencies. He then studied law, but soon turned
to his true vocation.

Porto-Riche has published the following volumes
of poetry: "Prima Verba," 1873; "Tout N'est pas
Rose," 1877; "Vanina," 1879; and "Bonheur Man-
que," 1889, a little book of melancholy verses in
which the author relates the memories of his lonely
childhood. His dramatic works are as follows:

"Le Vertigo," 1873, a play in one act, represented
at the Od^on, and marking the commencement of
his dramatic success ; and " Un Drame sous Philippe
n.," 1875.

Estranged from his relatives and without money,
Porto-Riche now saw several of his works rejected.
The Comedio Fran^'aise refused " Les Deux Fautes "
(which, however, was later presented at the Odeon in
1878), "LeCalice," "Le ComteMarcelli," and "L'ln-
fidSle," 1891; but in 1888 "La Chance de Fran^oise,"
a one-act piece in prose, presented at the Theatre
Libre, marked an epoch in the contemporary his-
tory of tlie theater, and through it he now ranks
as the leader of a school. He has written also
"Amoureuse," 1891; "Le Passe," 1897, a remark-
able comedy which was revived at the Comedie
Prangaise in 1902; and "Theatre d' Amour," 1898,
Poi'to-Riche has likewise been the di'amatic critic
of the "Estafette," succeeding Armand Silvestre,
and of " La France " and " La Presse. "

Bibliography: Nouveau Larousse Uluslre; Lanson, His-
toire tie la LUtirature Frangalse. Paris, 1903 ; Galtier, in
Le Temps, May 18, 1904.
s. J. Ka.

PORTSEA. See Poetsmoutii.

PORTSMOUTH : English fortified seaport on
the coast of Hampshire. The Portsmouth (Port-
sea) congregation is one of the oldest in the English
provinces, having been founded in 1747 with a rab-
binate of its own. During the Napoleonic wars the
commercial activity of Portsmouth as a garrison and
naval town attracted a large number of Jews ; and
at that time there were two synagogues. After the
peace of 1815, the Jewish inhabitants having dimin-
ished in numbers, the newly built edifice ceased to
be used, and was finally transferred to a dry-goods
dealer. The present synagogue is the earlier building,
which was constructed in the style of the Great Syna-
gogue, in Duke's place, London. At one time the
entrance to the place of v^orship was gained through
the slums of the town. More than fifty years ago
this entrance fell into disuse, and a handsome new
approach on the opposite side of the synagogue, in
Queen street, was constructed. Following a medi-
eval Jewish custom, the Portsmouth synagogue
had at one time its hall and cooking-utensils for the
celebration of Jewish weddings.

The social position of the Portsmouth Jews at the
commencement of the nineteenth century may be
inferred from the unfavorable estimate given in
Warryat's novels; and there was formerly an in-
scription on one of the local places of amusement
which read: "Jews and dogs not admitted."

The Portsmouth congregation was one of the first
in connection with which religious classes were held
for the instruction of the young. The Hebrew
Benevolent Institution is one of the oldest Jewish
charities, having been founded 100 years -ago.
Portsmouth has other Hebrew charities, but its most
important institution is an educational one. In
1855 the late Lewis Aria, a native of Hampshire,
bequeathed a large portion of his property to be ap-
plied, in the case of certain eventualities, to the
establishment of a college for the support and edu-
cation of j'oung men desirous of being trained as
Jewish ministers. The college was to be established

Interior of Synagogue at Portsmouth, England.

(From a painting in the posseaslon of Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, New York.)

Portugal

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

136

at Portsea, and its advantages were to be restricted
to natives of Hampshire. Nearly twenty years
elapsed before this bequest became available. In
1874 the Aria College was established at Portgca
in accordance with the testator's wishes; but the
clause restricting its benefits to natives of Hampshire
not being found practicable, the institution was
thrown open to students for the Jewish ministry
irrespective of birthplace. Several occupants of
ministerial posts in England and America have
graduated at this institution. The college has had
two principals, the late A. F. Ornstein and 1. S. Mei-
sels. Isaac Phillips has ministered to the Ports-
mouth community for upward of thirty years.

At one time Portsmouth possessed a large convict
prison which contained a number of Jewish prison-
ers ; and Alderman A. L. Emanuel acted as honorary
Jewish prison-visitor. Alderman Emanuel has been
twice elected mayor of Portsmouth. The Jewish
inhabitants of the town are estimated at 500, in a
total population of 189,160.

Bibliography: Jew. World.Dec. 2, 1887; Jew. Chron. March
23, 29, 1872; Jewish Year Book, 1903.
J. I. H.

POBTTTGAL (ancient Lusitania) : Kingdom in
the southwest of Europe. The condition of its Jews,
whose residence in the country is contemporaneous
with that of the Jews in Spain, while in general
like that of their coreligionists in the neighboring
kingdom of Castile, was in some respects different.
The influence of the canonical law was felt much
later here than in Spain and not so violently. Until
the expulsion there were no active liostilities against
the Jews in Portugal. Affonso Henriques (1139-85),
the conqueror and first king of Portugal, found
Jews already settled in Santarem, Lisbon, and Beja :
and, according to Herculano, he is said to have found
villages and localities which were wholly or to a
great extent inhabited by Jews. He pursued the
tolerant policy of his grandfather Alfonso VI. of
Castile, and issued letters of protection to the Jews,
as also to the Moors of Faro. He, moreover, em-
ployed Jews in his service, as, for instance, Dom
Yahya ibn Ya'ish (ancestor of the widely branching
Yahya family), who was his receiver of customs
("almoxarife"), and to whom he gave two estates
(Aldeas dos Negros) which had belonged to the
Moors (c. 1150). Aflfonso Henriques' son Sancho I.
(1185-1311) also was tolerant; likewise Sancho's son
Affonso II. (131 1-83), who employed Jews as farmers
of the taxes and as tax-collectors, although under him
the hostile attitude of the Church began to be felt.
Affonso confirmed the resolutions passed by the Cor-
tes at Coirabra in 1311, to the effect that a Jew who

had been baptized might not return to

In the Judaism, and that no Jew might pre-

Thirteenth. vent his children from embracing

Century. Christianity or disinherit them for so

doing. On the other hand, he opposed
the promulgation of the canons of the Lateran Coun-
cil (1315) with regard to the Jews. Affonso II. died
under a ban, and his son Sancho II. (1333-46) con-
tinued the struggle with the Church. In spite of
the canonical prohibition, he appointed Jews as tax-
farmers. Probably it was he Who appointed D. Jo-
seph ibn Yaliya as almoxarife; he also permitted

him to build a magnificent synagogue in Lisbon
(Carmoly, "Biographic der Jachiaden," p. 3, where
•)^)1 [5010 = 1350] should probably be read instead
of ontrV [SO'-^O]).

In consequence of this favor shown to the Jews,
Pope Gregory IX. sent an order to the bishops of
Astorga and Lugo to protest against these infringe-
ments of ecclesiastical ordinances. The papal threats
had little effect upon Affonso III. (1346-79), son of
Sancho II., who had been deposed by the pope.
The clergy complained to the latter in 1358 that tlie
king gave to the Jews public offices in which they
assumed authority over Christians, and that he did
not compel them to wear the Jews' badge or to pay
the tithe to the Church. This petition seems not to
have had the desired effect on Affonso III. He
commanded that Moorish slaves when bought by
Jews should not obtain freedom, and that Christians
should not evade payment of their debts by selling
goods which they had mortgaged to the Jews
(J. Mendes dos Remedies, " Os Judeus em Portugal, "
p. 437). Further, Affonso III. organized the inter-
nal affairs of the Jews of his kingdom, to whom
Affonso I. had already granted autonomy in civil as
well as in criminal cases. Above all he issued a
decree regulating the rights and duties of the I'abbis,
which was revised in 1403 under John I. The
" rabbi mor " (chief rabbi) stood at the head of the

Portuguese Jews, and, like the "rab

The Babbi de la corte " (court rabbi) in Castile,

Mdr. was an officer of the crown and the

most prominent person in the entire
Jewry. He had his own seal, which bore the Por-
tuguese coat of arms and the legend "Sello do
Arrabbi Morde Portugal." All his official documents
began with the following words: "N. N., Arrabbi
Mor, por nieu Senhor El-Rey, das Communas dos Ju-
deus de Portugal e do Algarve" (i.e., "N. N., chief
rabbi, through my lord the king, of the communi-
ties of the Jews in Portugal and Algarves "). On the
rabbi mor devolved the duty of visiting all the com-
munities of Portugal every year. He supervised
the administration of legacies and funds for orphans,
examined all accounts rendered to him by the direct-
ors and treasurers concerning the income and ex-
penditure of the communities, and, through his " por-
teiro " (messenger), compelled tardy tax payers to pay.
He had authority to compel the communities to ap-
point local rabbis and teachers and to enforce the
latter to accept the positions to which they had been
elected. The local rabbi might not issue writs of
protection except in cases wliere the royal provin-
cial authorities were permitted to grant them. He
might not, moreover, institute a general contribution,
nor could he alienate real estate of the community
without its assent. The rabbi mor was accompanied
on his official tours by an " ouvidor " (chief justice),
who was an expert in Jewish law ; by a " chanceller "
(chancellor), under whose supervision was the office

of the seal; by an "escrivao" (secre-

His tary), who received and drew up the

Duties and protocols; and by a "porteiro" (mes-

Staff. senger), who was under oath and took

charge of the occasional seizures, exe-
cuted sentences of punishments, etc. The rabbi m6r
chose the chief justices for the seven provinces of

137

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Portugal

the country, who were stationed at the respective,
capitals— at Oporto (Porto) for the province Entre-
Douro-e-Minho ; at Mdncorvo for Tras-os-Montes ; at
Covilha for Beira-Alta; at Viseu for Beira-Baixa;
at Santarem for Estremadura; at Evora for Alem-
tejo; and at Fiaro for Algarve. Each provincial
judge carried anofflcial seal bearing the Portuguese
coat of arms and the legend "Sello do Ouvidor das
Communas de . . . ," and had a chancellor and
secretary who might be either a Jew or a Cliristian.
The judge decided cases whicli were brouglit before
him on appeal or on complaint of tlie local rabbi.
Each place in whicli a certain number of Jews re-
sided had a local rabbi, wlio was chosen by the com-
munity and confirmed in oflBce, in the name of the
king, by the rabbi m6r, to whom he was subordinate.
The local rabbi had civil and capital jurisdiction
over the Jews of his district, and to him was respon-
sible the butcher (" degollador ") appointed for tlie
community. The butcher had to make a consci-
entious report to the tax-collector of the number
of cattle and fowl killed by him.

The internal affairs of the Jewish communities
were regulated by directors ("procuradores"), who
were assisted on special occasions by confidential

men (" homgs boOs das communas " or
Regulation "tobe ha-'ir"). In each community
of Jewish, was a notary toilTawup written con-
Internal tracts. After the edict of John I. all
Affairs. documents liad to be written in the

language of the country, and not in
Hebrew. The oaths of Jews in lawsuits among them-
selves or against Christians were very simpleas com-
pared witlr those of Jews in Castile, Aragon, and
Navarre. The Jew swore in the synagogue with a
Torah in his arm and in the presence of a rabbi and
of a royal officer of the law. On Sabbath and feast-
days Jews might not be summoned to court, nor
could any legal proceedings be taken against them.
It was strictly forbidden to cite a Jew before a
Christian judge. Whoever acted contrary to this
law was liable to a fine of 1,000 gold doubloons, and
the rabbi mor was required to keep him in custody
until the sum should be paid.

In Portugal, as in Spain, the Jews lived in sepa-
rate " Juderias, " or Jew lanes. The capital possessed
the largest community, and Jews resided also in
Alcagar, Alcoitim, Aliezur, Alter-do-Chao, Alvito,
Alvor, Barcellos, Beja, Bragan9a, Cacilla, Castro-
Marim, Chaves, Coimbra, Couto, Covilha, Elvas,
Estremos, Alanquer, Evora, Faro, Gravao, Guarda,
Guimaraes, Lamego, Leiria, Loule(which had its
own Jew valley, Val de Judeo), Mejanfrio, Miranda,
Moncorvo, Montemor, Oporto, Penamagor, Porches,
Santarem (where the oldest synagogute was located),
Silves, Tavira, Trancoso, Villa-Marim, Villa- Viciosa,
and Viseu. The Jews of Portugal had to pay the
following taxes: the "Juderega" or " Judenga," a

poll-tax of 30 dinheiros, fixed here, as
Taxation, in Castile, in remembrance of the thirty

pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot ;
a personal tax of 5 maravedis for every boy from
seven to fourteen years of age, and 2i maravedis for
each girl from seven to twelve, 1 maravedi for every
unmarried male over fourteen living in the ho'me
of his parents, and i maravedi for every unmarried

female over twelve. Married people paid SiO solidi.
The rabbinate tax, known as " Arabiado, " fell to the
crown. From the reign of King Sancho II., who
was interested in the development of the navy, the
Jews were obliged to pay a navy tax. For each
ship fitted out by the king they had to provide an
anchor and a new anchor-tow sixty ells long, or in-
stead to make a money payment of 60 livres. A
poll-tax of 1 maravedi was levied on them in sev-
eral places, also a cust.oms and a road tax, from
wliich- Christians were exempt. The Jews paid
King Affonso IV. (1325-57) 50,000 livres annually in
direct taxes. All that a Jew bought or sold was
subject to a special tax — each head of cattle or
fowl which he killed, every fish and every measure
of wine that he bought. The special taxes, as in
other states, were based on the principles then gener-
ally recognized with regard to the position of the
Jews, but restrictions were first enacted upon recog-
nition of the canonical law and its incorporation into
the law of the land.

Under Diniz (1279-1325), the son and successor of
Affonso III., the Jews remained in the favorable situ-
ation they had enjoyed up to that
Favorable time. This was due in no small meas-
Attitude of ure to the influence which D. Judah,
Diniz. chief rabbi at that time, and D. Goda-
liah, his son and successor, who were
also the king's treasurers, had with the king. Geda-
liah's representations as to the partiality of the
judges was not withoiit effect. The favor and pro-
tection, however, granted the Jews by tlie king in-
creased the hatred oif the clergy against them. Tliey
complained thatDiniz permitted the presence of
Jews at his court and entrusted them with official
positions, that he did not compel them to wear
badges, and that he allowed them the free exercise
of their religion. "The Jews are becoming proud
and conceited," they reported to Rome ; " they adorn
their horses with tassels, and indulge in a luxury
that has an injurious effect on the inhabitants of the
country." But not until the reign of Affonso IV.
(1325-57), who was unfavorably disposed to the Jews,
did the clergy accomplish anything with their com-
plaints. Immediately after his accession the law
was enforced by which Jews were prohibited from
appearing in public without a badge — the six-
pointed yellow star in the hat or on the upper gar-
ment— and were forbidden to wear gold chains. lie
limited their freedom of emigration, declaring that
no one who owned property of the value of 500 livres
might leave the country without royal permission,
under penalty of forfeiting his property, which, to-
gether with that of those who went with him, would
fall to the king. They had also to suffer from the
growing hatred of the populace, incited by the
clergy, who made the Jews responsible for the
plague which raged in the year 1350. King Pedro
I. (1357-67), however, who was a model of justice,
protected them against the violence of the clergy and
nobles (see Pedro I.), and under his benevolent rule
their prosperity increased. His body-physician was
Rabbi Mor D. Moses Navarro, who together with
his wife established a large entail near Lisbon.

Under Ferdinand I. (1367-83), who was a spendthrift
and who employed his Jewish treasurer D. Judah

Portugal

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

138

iu his financial operations, and still more under tlie
regency of his wife, the frivolous and highly unpop-
ular Leonora, the Jews were prominent
Under in Portugal. After the death of the
Ferdinand king, Leonora deposed D. Judah and
I. the Jewish collector of customs at Lis-

bon on the representations of the city
deputies ; but wheu she wished to have her daughter
Beatrix and the latter's husband, John I. of Castile,
recognized as regents of the country, and the people
rebelled, killed Leonora's favorites, and proclaimed
John vice-regent of the kingdom (1385), Leonora fled,
accompanied by her confidants, the above-mentioned
D. Judah and the wealthy D. David Negro- Yahya.
Disputes between her and John I. of Castile, who
waged war against Portugal, ended in an open breach
on the occasion of the nomination to the head rab-
binate of Castile. Leonora demanded the place for
her favorite D. Judah, but the king, at the desire of
his wife, appointed D. David Negro-Yahya. Em-
bittered by this, Leonora plotted against the life of
her son-in-law ; but her plan was frustrated by D.
David Negro, and Leonora was banished to a convent
in Tordesillas ; the life of D. Judah was spared on
the plea of D. David Negro. The possessions of D.
Judah, D. David, and other Jews who had sided
with the banished queen and had fled from Portu-
gal, were confiscated and given to the bravest knights
by D. John, who became king after the withdrawal
of the King of Castile (1411).

John I. , in spite of the fact that he favored con-
version and granted special privileges to the con-
verted, was a friend and protector of the Jews.
Through the efforts of Rabbi Mor D.
Jolin I. Moses Navarro, they were shielded
a Friend to from the severe persecutions which
tlie Jews, their coreligionists in Spain expe-
rienced in 1391, and also from the zeal
and sermons of conversion of Vicente Ferrer. John
protected the Jews who had fled from the persecu-
tions in Spain. On the other hand, he enforced the
laws compelling the Jews to wear the badge and
proliibiting them from entering Christian taverns or
holding official positions ; but these were often dis-
regarded. Only a short time before his death (1433)
he was accused of having Jewish physicians at the
court and of permitting Jewish tax-collectors to ex-
ercise executive authority. His son Duarte (1433-
1438) tried completely to separate the Jews from the
Christian population, in spite of the influence ex-
erted over him by his body-physician and astrologer
Mestre Guedelha (Gedaliah) ihn Solomon ibn Yahya-
Negro. When the latter, as is said, advised the
king to postpone the ceremonies of coronation and
tlie king refused to do so, he announced to him that
his reign would be short and unfortunate. Duarte
was indeed unfortunate in his undertakings. His
brother D. Fernando, who borrowed large sums from
D. Judah Abravanel and sent the king a Jewish
surgeon, Mestre Joseph, from Fez, in 1437, died in
a Moorish prison ; and Duarte himself, while still in
the full vigor of manhood, was carried off by the
plague after a short reign. Under Duarte's son, the
inild and gentle AffonsoV. (1438-81), "whoexercised
justice and kindness toward his people," the Jews
again enjoyed freedom and prosperity. It was

their last tranquil period upon the Pyrencan penin-
sula. They resided outside the Juderias ; thej' were
distinguished from the Christians by no external
tokens; and they held public offices. Affonso V.
appointed D. Isaac Abravanel to be his treasurer
and minister of finance, and several members of the
Yahya family were received at court. Joseph ben
David ibn Yahya stood in especial favor with the
king, who called him his " wise Jew, " and who, be-
ing himself fond of learning, liked to discuss scien-
tific and religious questions with him (Ibn Verga,
"Shebet Yehudah," pp. 61 et seq., 108 ei seq.).

The favors shown to the Jews and the luxury
displayed by them, which even the king with ail
his gentleness reproved, increased the hatred of the
people more and more. In 1449 for the first time
in Portugal this feeling broke out in
Revolt of a revolt against the Jews of Lisbon ;
1449. the Juderia was stormed, and several
Jews were killed. The king inter-
vened, and imposed strict penalties on the ring-
leaders, but the complaints against the Jews contin-
ued. At the assemblies of the Cortes in Santarem
(1451), Lisbon (1455), Coimbra (1473), and Evora
(1481) restrictions were demanded. "When D. Af-
fonso died," says Isaac Abravanel, "all Israel was
filled with grief and mourning; the people fasted
and wept."

Affonso was succeeded by his son John II. (1481-
1495), a morose, distrustful person, who did away
with the powerful lords and the house of Braganpa
in order to create an absolute kingdom, and seized
their possessions for the crown. He showed favor
to the Jews, and as often as it was for his advantage
employed them in his service. His body-ph3'sicians
were D. Leao and D. Joseph Vecinho, the latter of
whom, together with D. Moses, the king's mathema-
tician, had also made himself useful in the art of
navigating ; his surgeon was a D. Antonio, whom he
induced to accept Christianity, and who then wrote
a slanderous book against his former coreligionists.
The king employed the Jews Joseph Capateiro of
Lamego and Abraham of Beja to transact bu,siness
for him. He was also friendly toward those Jews
who, exiled from Spain, had sought
Under refuge in Portugal; he promised to
John II. receive them for eight months in re-
turn for a poll-tax of 8 crusados to
be paid in four instalments, and to provide enough
ships for them to continue their journey. His only
purpose in granting them protection was to replenish
the state treasury. He appointed Oporto and other
cities for their temporary residence, although the in-
habitants protested. The number of immigrants
amounted to nearly 100,000. Prom Castile alone
more than 3,000 persons embarked at Benevento for
Braganpa ; at Zamora, more than 30,000 for Miranda ;
from Ciudad-Rodrigo for Villar, more than 35,000;
from Alcantara for Marvao, more than 15,000; and
from Badajoz for Elvas,"Tnore than 10,000 — in all
more than 93,000 persons (Bernaldez, in A. de Castro,
"Historia de los Judios en Espafia," p. 143). John
II. did not keep his promise. Not until aftera long
delay did he provide ships for them. The suffering
which the emigrants were obliged to endure was
terrible. Women and girls were outraged by the

139

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Portugal

ship captains and sailors in the presence of tlieir
Imsbauds and parents, and were then thrown into
tlie water. Tlie Portuguese chroniclers agree with
Jewish historians in the description of these fiendish
acts. Those who tarried in the country after the
prescribed period were made slaves and given away.
John went even further in his cruelty. He tore the
little children away from the parents wlio remained
behind, and sent them to the newly discovered island
of St. Thomas ; most of them died on the ships or were
<levoured on their arrival by wild beasts; those who
remained alive populated the island. Often brothers
married their own sisters (Usque, "Consolacpam,"
etc., p. 197a; Abraham b. Solomon, " Sefer ha-Kab-
balah," in Neubauer, " M. J. C." i. 112). John IT. is
called " the "Wicked " by Jewish historians and once
also "the Pious."

After John's death his cousin and brother-in-law
D. Manuel, called "the Great," ascended the throne
of Portugal (1495-1521). At first he was favorably
inclined toward the Jews, perhaps through the
influence of Abraham Zacuto, his much-esteemed
astronomer; he restored to them the freedom which
John had taken from them and generously declined
a present of money which the Jews offered him in
token of their gratitude. Political interests, how-
ever, brought about only too soon a change in his atti-
tude. Manuel thought to unite the whole peninsula
under his scepter by marrying a Spanish princess,
Isabella, the young widow of the Infante of Portu-
gal and daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel-
la of Castile. The latter couple, who had driven the
Jews out of their own land (1492), made their con-
sent dependent on the condition that

trnder Manuel should expel all the Jews from
Slanuel the his country. He brought the matter

Great. before his state council, some mem-
bers of which warned him against the
expulsion of such a useful and diligent people,
who would settle in Africa, where they would add
strength to the Mohammedans and become danger-
ous to Portugal. On the other hand, the party hos-
tile to the Jews referred to Spain and other states
in which Jews were not tolerated. The king's
course was decided by Isabella herself, who wrote to
him to the effect that she would not enter Portugal
until the land was cleaned of Jews (G. Heine, in
Schmidt's "Zeitschrift fttr Geschichte," ix. 147).
On Nov. 30, 1496, the marriage contract between
Manuel and Isabella was signed, and on Dec. 4 of
the same year the king issued an order at Muja
(Muga), near Santarem, directing that all Jews and
Jewesses, irrespective of age, should leave Portugal
before the end of Oct., 1497, under penalty of death
and confiscation of their property ; that any Christian
found concealing a Jew after tlie expiration of the
prescribed period should be deprived of all his prop-
erty ; and that no future ruler on any pretext what-
ever should permit Jews to reside in the kingdom.
The king granted the Jews free departure with
all their property, and promised to assist them
as far as possible (the decree of banishment, which,
according to Zacuto, "Yuhasin," p. 237 [where
13D"Tni'T"3 should be read instead of V'a], was
issued Dec. 4, is found in the "Ordena^oos d' el
Key D. Manuel" [Evora, 1556], ii. 41, and in Rios,

"Hist."iii. 614 et seq.\ see also "R. E. J." iii. 285
ct seq.).

In order to retain the Jews in the country as con-
verts Manuel issued the inhuman decree that on a
certain day all Jewish children, irrespective of sex,
who should have reached their fourth year and
should not have passed their twentieth should be
torn from their parents and brought up in the
Christian faith at the expense of the king. He did
this "for reasons which compelled him to it," ac-
cording to the assertion of Abraham b. Solomon of
Torrutiel, on the advice of the converted Levi ben
Shem-Tob ("Sefer ha-Kabbalah," ed. Neubauer, I.e.
i. 114) and in opposition to the will of his state
council assembled at Estremoz, which, with the
noble bishop D. Fernando Ooutinho at its head, em-
phatically declared against this enforced baptism.
The Jews in Evora, as in the country generally, re-
ceived the news of the intended deed on Friday,
March 17, 1497 ; and in order that parents might not
have time to get the children out of the way, the
king had the crime committed on Sun-
Forcible day, the first day of the Passover,
Baptism of March 19 (not eaily in April, as is
Children, usually stated ; see Zacuto, I.e. p. 227).
According to Usque (I.e. p. 198), Jews
up to the age of twenty-five years (" vintecinco
annos " ; not fifteen, as Gratz, " Gesch." viii. 392, de-
clares) were taken ; according to Herculano (I.e. i.
125), the age limit was twenty years (see also Goes,
"Ohron." xx. 19). Pathetic scenes occurred on this
occasion. Out of sympathy and compassion many
Christians concealed Jewish children that they might
not be separated from their parents. Many parents
smothered their children in the last farewell em-
brace or threw them into wells and rivers and then
killed themselves. ""I have seen with my own
eyes," writes the noble Coutinho, "how a father,
his head covered, with pain and grief accompanied
his son to the baptismal font and called on the All-
knowing as witness that they, fatlier and son,
wished to die together as confessors of the Mosaic
faith. I have seen many more terrible things that
were done to them." Isaac ibn Zachin, the son of
an Abraham ibn Zachin, killed himself and his chil-
dren because he wished to see them
Compul- die as Jews. As the last date for
sory Con- the departure of the Jews drew near
version the king announced after long hesita-
of 20,000 tion that they must all go to Lisbon
Jews. and embark there. About 20,000 per-
sons flocked together to the capital
and were driven like sheep into a palace with a sev-
enteen-window front, destined for the temporary re-
ception of foreign ambassadors. On its site to-day
stands the Donna Maria Theater. Here they were
told that the time allotted for their departure had
elapsed, that they were now the king's slaves, and
that he would deal with them according to his will.
Instead of food and drink they received the visits of
the converted Mestre Nicolao (body-physician to
the young queen) and Pedro de Castro, who was a
churchman and brother of Nicolao. All sorts of
promises were made in the attempt to induce the Jews
to accept Christianity. When all attempts to shake
their faith had failed the king ordered his bailiffs to

Portugal
Posen

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

140

use force. The strongest and handsomest Jewish
young men were dragged into church by the hair
and beard to be baptized.

Only seven or eight heroic characters, " somente
sete ou vito cafres contumasses," as Herculano re-
ports from a manuscript, ottered an obstinate oppo-
sition; and these the king caused to be transported
across the sea. Among them were probably the
physician Abraham Saba, whose two sons were
forcibly baptized and thrown into prison ; Abraham
Zacuto, the mathematician and astrologer of D.
Manuel; and the scholar Isaac b. Joseph Caro, wJio
had fled to Portugal from Toledo and had here lost
all his sons.

Even the Portuguese dignitaries, and especially
Bishop Osorius, were deeply moved by this cruel
compulsory conversion ; and perhaps it was due to
the latter that Pope Alexander VI. took the Jews
under his protection. Manuel, perhaps advised by
the pope to do so, adopted a milder policy. On
May 30, 1497, he issued a law for the
Protection protectionof the con verted Jews, called
for "Christaos novos" (Neo-Christians),

Maranos. according to which they were to re-
main undisturbed for twenty years,
the authorities to have during that time no right to
impeach them for heresy. At the expiration of this
period, if a complaint should arise as to adherence
to the old faith only a civil suit was to be brought
against them, and in case of conviction the prop-
erty of the condemned was to pass to his Christian
heirs and not into the fiscal treasury. The posses-
sion and use of Hebrew books were forbidden except
to converted Jewish physicians and surgeons, who
were allowed to uee Hebrew medical works. Fi-
nally, a general amnesty was promised to all Neo-
Christians (documents in Kayserling, "Geschichte
der Juden in Portugal," pp. 347 et seq.).

Those Jews who were living as pretended Chris-
tians took the first opportunity to leave the country.
Whoever could sold his property and emigrated.
Large numbers of secret Jews set sail for Italy,
Africa, and Turkey. Thereupon, on April 20 and
21, 1499, Manuel prohibited the transaction of busi-
ness with Neo-Christians and forbade the latter to
leave Portugal without the royal permission. They
were thus obliged to remain in a country in which
a fanatical clergy was constantly inciting against
them a populace that already hated and despised
them. In April, 1506, a savage massacre occurred
in Lisbon. On April 19 and the following days
over 2,000 (accortUng to some over 4,000) secret
Jews were killed in a most terrible fashion and
burned on pyr«s. Manuel inflicted a severe pen-
alty on the Dominican friars who were the leaders
in the riot; they were garroted and then burned,
while the friars who had taken part in the revolt
were expelled from the monastery. The king
granted new privileges to the secret Jews and per-
mitted them, by an edict of March 1, 1507, to leave
the country with their property. To show them his
good-will he renewed the law of May 30, 1497, and
on April 21, 1513, prolonged it for a further period
of twenty years. In 1521, however, he again issued
a law forbidding emigration under penalty of con-
fiscation of property and loss of personal freedom.

So long as Manuel lived the Neo-Christians or

Maranos were not disturbed, but under his son and

successor, John HI. (1531-57), the enmity against

them broke out anew. On Dec. 17,

Introduc- 1531, Pope Clement VII. authorized

tion of the the introduction of the Inquisition into-

Inquisition Portugal, after the Maranos of that

(1531). country had prevented it for fifty

years. The nximber of Maranos who

left the country now increased steadily, especially

under the reign of King Sebastian (1557-78), who-

permitted them free departure, in return for the

enormous payment of 350,000 ducats, with which

sum Jie carried on his unfortunate war against

Africa.

Bibliorrapht: F. BrandSo, Monorchia Ltisitana, passim;
But de Pina, Chronica do Rev D. Duarte ; Idem, Chronica
W el Bey D. Joao I.; idem, Chronica do Senhor Bey D. Af-
fonno ; Idem, Chronica d' el Bey D. Jodo [I. in CoUeccdo
drts Ineditos de Historia Portugueza; F. Lopez, Chronica
d' el Bey D. Pedro, in Colleccao, iv. 17, 20 ; Sousa, Provas,
li. 20, 255; ill. 581, 628; iv. 28; DamiSo de Goes, Chronica do-
Serenissimo Senhor Bei D. Manuel, x. 13 et seq., 20 ; Oso-
rius, De Bebus Emanuelis, etc., 7a, 12b et seq.; Garcia de
Rezende, Chronica dos Valerosos e Insignos Feitos del Bey
Dom Jodo II. pp. 68 et seg., 96 et seq., 132 et seq.; Usque,
Consolagam as Trihulacoens de Ysrael, pp. 188, 195 et seq.i
Joaquim Jos. Ferreira Gordo, Memoria Sobre os Judeos em
Portugal, in Memorias da Academia Beal das Sciencias,
iv. 2 (reprinted, without naming autlior or source, in Bevista
Peninsular, ii. .520 et seq., Lisbon, 1858) ; A. Herculano, Histo-
ria de Portugal, li. 322 et seq.; iil. 107, 128, 138, 215; iv. 210;
idem, Da Origem e EstaheUcimento da fnquisicdo em Por-
tugal, i. 85, 95 et seq., 100 et seq., 120 et seq., l38 et seq., Lis-
bon, 1854; S. Cassel, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section ii.»
part 27, pp. 226 et seq.; Bios. Hist. i. 266 ; ii. 185, 265, 455 ; ill.
179, 334 ; Kayserling, Gesch. der Juden in Portugal, Berlin,
1867 ; J. Mendes dos Bemedios, Os Judeus em Portugal, 1.,.
Coimbra, 1895 ; Gratz, Gesch. vli. 169 ; viil. 49, 374 et seq.; J.
Q. B. 1900, xv. 251-274, 539-530.
D. M. K.

The anticlerical movement instituted by Marquia
Pombal, the all-powerful minister of King Joseph
I. (1750-77), lessened the rigor of the Inquisition.
As early as May 3, 1768, the lists containing the
names of the Neo-Christians were ordered to be sup-
pressed ; a law of May 35, 1773 (the year when the
Jesuit order was abolished), decreed
Reset- that all disabilities based on descent,

tlement. chiefly directed against the Maranos,
should cease ; and finally the Inquisi-
tion, whose powers had been considerably restricted
by a law of Sept. 1, 1774, was altogether abolished
on March 31, 1831.

The first Jew to settle in Portugal after the ex-
pulsion of 1497 was Moses Levy, an English subject
from Gibraltar ("Jew, Chron." Oct. 31, 1904, p. 10),
although the treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which Gib-
raltar had been ceded to England, had expressly
stipulated (article x.) that the Jewish subjects of
England should not have the right of residence in
Portugal. The statement of Thiers (" Histoire du
Consulat et de I'Empire," xi. 71, Paris, 1851) that the
French troops upon their invasion of Portugal in
1807 were hailed by 20,000 Jews, is certainly a gross
exaggeration, as is also the statement ("Revue Ori-
entale," 1841, vi. ; reprinted in " Allg. Zeit. des Jiid."
1841, p. 681) that there were 2,000 to 3,500 Jews in
Portugal in 1825. It has been proved, however,
that as early as 1801 the Jews of Lisbon bought a
plot in the English cemetery of that city, where the
oldest tombstone still extant bears the date of 1804.
A formal motion, proposed by Joseph Ferrao in the
Cortes, Feb. 26, 1821, to admit the Jews into the

141

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Portugal
Poseu

country, was defeated ; and the constitution of 1836,
wliile declaring Roman Catholicism to be the state
religion, allowed foreigners freedom of worship,
provided they conducted it in places not bearing the
signs of a public house of worship.

Outside of Lisbon there is only one congregation
in Portugal possessing a house of worship (erected
1850), namely, that of Faro; it numbers about fif-
teen families and dates from 1820. A few Jews are
living in Evora, Lagos, and Porto; but they are
not organized into congregations. A settlement,
which has of late been steadily decreasing, exists in
S. Miguel on the Azores ; but it is so small that its
members have to send to Gibraltar every year
for some coreligionists in order to secure the re-
quired MiNTAN for the services of the great holy
days.

The Jewish inhabitants of Portugal numbered In
1903 about 500 souls in a total population of fr, 428, 591 .
Most of them are merchants and shipowners, while
a few are professors, among them being Jacob
Bensaudo, who holds the chair of English at Porto
and has published various text-books. James Ana-
hory Athias is an oflBcer In the navy ("Jew. Chron."
Jan. 31, 1902). Lisbon has a rabbi, and Faro a
hazzan. The rabbinical office in Lisbon was occu-
pied for a long time by Jacob Toledano of Tangier,
who died in 1899; the present (1905) incumbent is
Isaac J. Wolflnsohn. Guido Chayes, Portuguese
consulin Leghorn, was made a coimt by King Carlos
in 1904 ("Vessillo Israelitico," 1904, p. 196). Sir
Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was created Baron of Pal-
meira in 1845, and Sydney James Stern, now Lord
Wandsworth, was created a viscount in 1895.

POBTXJGAI-OV, BENJAMIN OSIPOVICH :

Russian physician and author ; born at Poltava 1885 ;
died at Samara 1896. After studying medicine at
the universities of Kharkov and Kiev, he served for
a time as army surgeon. He then settled in the
government of Perm, where, however, he was not
permitted to practise medicine. Portugalov there-
fore sought occupation in the field of literature.
His first article ("Shadrinsk i Cherdyn") was pub-
lished in the " Arkhiv Sudebnoi Meditziny " ; his next
contributions were to the " Dyelo " and " Nedyelya, "
mainly on hygienic subjects. At last an opportu-
nity came to him to take up the practise of medicine ;
he was appointedcity physician at Krasnouflmsk, in
the government of Perm, thereafter becoming suc-
cessively sanitary supervisor of two mining districts
in the Ural Mountains and district physician (1870--
1880) of Kamyshlova, Samara, etc. Portugalov
devoted much of his time to philanthropic work,
maintaining an especially active campaign against
drunkenness. In his last years he expressed his
sympathy with the New Israel movement then de-
veloping in Russia.

Portugalov's works include : " Voprosy Obshchest-
vennoi Gigiyeny " (1874); " Yevrei Reformatory "
(St. Petersburg, 1882); "Znamenatelnyya Dwizhen-
niya V Yevreist vye " (ib. 1884).
Bibliography: EntislhlopedichesHi Slovar, xxlv. 624.

H. K. A. S. W.

FOSEKIU;. See Pesak.

POSEN : Province of Prussia; formerly a part
of the kingdom of Poland, it was annexed by the
former country after the partition of the latter in
1772 and 1793. In the first half of the thirteenth
century, when the Germans crossed the frontier and
began to settle in the territory of Posen, a large
number of Jews seem to have come with them.
Even before that time, however, Jews were living
in Great Poland, which covered a somewhat larger
area than the modern province of Posen. Thus
they are mentioned as residents of Deutsch-Krone
in the eleventh century, of Gnesen in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, and of Meseritz in the four-
teenth century. The dates of the first allusions to
Jews in the principal cities of Great Poland are as
follows: Kalisz, 1354; Posen, 1379; Peisern, 1386;
Schmiegel, 1415; Inowrazlaw (Hohensalza), 1447;
Schneidemilhl, sixteenth century; Lenczyce, 1517;
Schwerin - on - the - Warta, 1520; Bromberg, 1525;
Fraustadt, 1536; Lowicz, about 1537; Prime, 1553;
Brzeaz, 1555; Petrikau, 1555; Exin, 1559; Schrimm,
1573 ; Lissa, 1580 or shortly afterward ; Schwer-
senz, 1590; Neustadt, 1595; Gratz, 1597; Kempen,
seventeenth century, shortly after the founding of
the city ; Wronke, 1607; Warsaw, 1608; Krotoschin,
1617; Wreschen, 1631; Pakosch, 1634; Samter,
1636; Kolo, 1629; Fordon, 1638; Jarotschin, 1637;
Nakel, 1641; Filehne, 1655; Kobylin, 1656; Roga-
sen, 1656; Lask, 1685; Wollstein, 1690; Rawitsch,
1692; Obornik, 1696; and Goslin, 1698. See Po-
land, under Russia.

In a document which was issued by Sigismund I.,
dated Aug. 6, 1527, R. Samuel Margolioth of Posen
was confirmed as chief rabbi of Great Poland, and
was vested with important powers over all the Jews
of that district. The synod of Great Poland, which
had at its disposal a stated clerk (" sofer medinah "),
tax-assessors and tax-collectors, is first mentioned in
1597; it sat in that year and in 1609 at Posen, several
times between 1635 and 1649 at Gnesen, in 1668 at
Kalisz, in 1681 at Neustadt-on-the- Warta, in 1691 at
Jarotschin, and in 1733 at Kobylin. Its functions
included the election of the chief rabbi of Great
Poland, the adoption of measures of protection
against common dangers (especially the frequent
charge of ritual murder), the collection of the poll-
tax and of sums needed for the general welfare, the
negotiation of loans for communal purposes, the
subvention of works of Jewish literature, and ap
probations for printing (see Appkobation).

The Jews of Great Poland were not exempt from
persecution, which, however, generally occurred in
times of war or economic depression. An outbreak
against them took place on the German frontier in

1849, the year of the Black Death,

During- when 10,000 Jews were killed, the

tlie Black commercial retrogression of Great Po-

Death. land in the fourteenth century being

ascribed to this persecution. Many
Jews were martyred during the war between Swe-
den and Poland in 1656; and a smaller numher died
in the Northern war in 1707 and 1716. Social op-
pressions were frequently caused by the Catholic
clergy and by the German merchants for religious
and commercial reasons. The clergy first legislated
concerning the Jews of Great Poland in 1367 at the

Posen

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

142

Council of Breslaii, in accordance with tlie canons of
tlie Lateran Council. The right to give permission
for the building of new synagogues was reserved to
the Archbishop of Gnesen and the Bishop of Poseu.
In the twelfth century Jews were employed at Gne-
sen as farmers of the mint and as coiners, a few under
Boleslaw IV. (1146-73), and a larger number under
Mieczyslav III. (1173-77, 1195-1203). The inscrip-
tions on these coins are partly in pure Hebrew, and
partly in Polish in Hebrew letters, as nilD n313,
n3"l2ni313, ''pD^ia i)-|p an^PDii-e., "Mieszko krol
Polski" [Mieszko, Polish king]), e|DV KptTD ("[May
God] increase Mieszko"), and pnv 13 Dm3N.
Similar coins are found in the cabinets of the Polish
aristocracy, the Radziwills, Sapiehas, and others, in
the Thomson collection at Copenhagen, and in the
Pretorius collection at Breslau.

It is noteworthy that in the fourteenth century
the " grod " or county courts took up the cases of
Jewish creditors against their aristocratic debtors;
that Jews were permitted to acquire land, a privi-
lege which was subsequently repealed ; that women
as well as men engaged in money-lending ; and that a
case set for a Sabbath was postponed to another day
on the Jews' account. It appears that all the Jews of
Great Poland carried their cases against the aristoc-
racy to the " grod " of Posen, not to the courts of the
other cities. Although their condition was more
favorable than in later centuries, as is evidenced by
the fact that tlie epithet "unbelieving Jews," subse-
quently current, was not applied to them at that
time, the general statutes of the archdiocese of
Gnesen decreed that they should wear a piece of
blood-red cloth on the breast. In general they were
not permitted in the cities under the jurisdiction of
prelates, and in some instances they were expelled
from some of the other towns also.

In the following centuries the Jews were subjected
to varying treatment, according as the cities or ter-
ritories were under royal, ecclesiastical, or aristo-
cratic dominion. The words of R.
Privileges Moses Isserlcs, uttered with regard to
and. Little Poland, are applicable to his

Jurisdic- coreligionists of Great Poland as well :
tion. "Every city has its special tax and
its special governor; and even the
king [of Poland] does not rule over them, but only
their own lord of the manor." These lords granted
privileges to their Jews, acted as their judges, and
even sentenced them to death, while from them the
numerous Jewish gilds received their statutes. The
Jews followed many callings at this time, being tai-
lors, furriers, bakers, braiders, butchers, glaziers,
tanners, barbers, goldsmiths, gold-embroiderers,
gold-reflners, jewelers, button-makers, capmakers,
seal-engravers, silk-dyers, horn-workers, cooks, por-
ters, musicians, etc.

In the course of centuries numbers of German
Jews fled to Poland from the hardships which they
suffered at home; in 1474, emigrants went from
Bamberg to Posen ; in 1510, from the electorate of
Brandenburg to Meseritz ; after 1670, from Vienna
to Schwersenz ; and in 1700, from Fulda to Schwerin-
on-the-Warta.

Theritual of Great Poland differed in various points
from that observed elsewhere, containing, for exam-

ple, its own D'BN 1"1K ?K for morning worship on
Mondays and Thursdays. Hebrew printing-presses
existed at Lissa and Posen in the sixteenth centui-y,
although no extant work can with certainty be as-
signed to those establishments. Between 1773 and
1775 Frederick the Great held the northern part of
the country, the so-called district of the Netze, which
contained more than 6,000 Jews. It was contrary to
the policy of Prussia to tolerate such a large number of
Jews within its borders ; and since they were not all
engaged in profitable employments, Frederick de-
cided to send at least two-thirds of tliem across the
Polish boundary-line, a course from which his officials
were unable for some years to dissuade him. Jewish
affairs were regulated by the " General-Juden-Regle-
ment " of Aug. 9, 1773, which deprived the Jews of
their old privileges, their treatment being dictated by
fiscal considerations. When the southern part of the
country also came under Prussian rule, in 1793, one-
twentieth of the population consisted of Jews. On
the day on which homage was paid to the new
ruler they recited a prayer in Hebrew and one in
German, the latter composed by Hartwig Wes-
SBLT. The status of the Jews was now determined
by the "General-Juden-Reglement "
"General- of April 17, 1797, which aimed to

Juden- make them, as mechanics and trades-
Re- men, useful members of the state.
glement." Again they lost their old privileges;
nor was there any improvement in
their condition when, ten years later, the country was
made part of the duchy of Warsaw. The monstrous
kasher-meat tax was especially burdensome to the
Jews. They rejoiced in tlieir reunion with Prussia
in 1815 ; but they did not obtain their promised polit-
ical equality until the enactment of the "Jews'
Law" of June 1, 1833, which conferred citizenship
upon the wealthy and educated classes, and that of
July 23, 1847, which put the Jews on a par with their
brethren of the older Prussian provinces. The
censuses of the Jews in the province are as follows:
43,315 in 1797 and 1804; 9,690 families in 1809; 65,131
Jews in 1835; 77,103 in 1840; 76,757 in 1849; 63,438
in 1875; 44,346 in 1890; and 40,019 in 1900. The
decrease is due to emigration to the west of Europe
and to foreign countries.

The ghettos of Posen have produced many promi-
nent men, such as the historians Heinrich Graetz of
Xions and Julius Flirst of Zerkowo, the pbilosopher
Moritz Lazarus of Filehne, the politician Eduard
Lasker of Jarotschin, and the composer Louis Le-
wandowski of Wreschen.

The City of Posen : Posen, the capital of the
province, containing (1903), among 117,014 inhabit-
ants, 5,810 Jews, was always the principal commu-
nity of Great Poland, except in the last two-thirds of
tlie eighteenth century, when it temporarily gave
place to Lissa ; and it took precedence at the Coun-
cil OP FouK Lands whenever that body assembled in
Great Poland. The earliest Jewish settlement (prob-
ably on the right bank of the River Warta) in the
city of Posen, was under the jurisdiction of the king,
not of the municipality. Subsequently it included
the Judenstrasse, the Schumacherstrasse, and a por-
tion of the Wrackerstrasse. Most of the houses were
built of wood, so that there were frequent con-

143

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fosen

flagrations, with attendant robbery and murder;
and the catastrophes of 1590 are commemorated
in the elegies of two liturgical poets. The stu-
dents of tlie Jesuit college became troublesome
neighbors in 1573; and they were restrained from
attacking the Jews only in consideration of a
money payment. In the sixteenth century com-
merce was restricted, although at that time the
Jews, who numbered 3,000, formed nearly one-half
of the entire population. There were 49 stone houses
in the Jews' street in the early part of the sixteenth
century ; 80 in 1549 ; 75 in 1590 before the fire of
that year; 137 altogether in 1641; 98 in 1710; and
109 in 1714. At the beginning of the seventeenth
century the community, in spite of its many suffer-
ings, numbered 2,300 persons; but this number was
subsequently reduced to the extent of one-half.

The following is a description of the communal
constitution in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies. At the head of the community were five
" parnasim " (directors), assisted by three " tubim "
and five councilmen, this board of thirteen being
called a Kah.\l. Seven " memunnim " acted as a
kind of police, and five municipal representatives
("tube ha-'ir") decided cases involving real estate,
while seven men supervised the morals, etc., of
the members, and the " parnase medinah " watched
over Jews from other places who merely sojourned
in Posen. Each synagogue had its directors; and
artisans, working men, and even Jewisli servant-
girls, were organized in unions presided over by
elected officers. There were several civil courts,
in which the associate rabbis as well as the chief
rabbi sat; and there was, furthermore, a mixed
court in which Jewish and Christian judges decided
cases between those of the two creeds. All these
officials were under oath and, with the exception of
the chief rabbi, were elected annually during the
intermediate days of Passover by the " kesherim "
(trusty men) of the congregation.

In consequence of the Swedish war, political dis-
orders, and accusations of ritual murder, which were
especially virulent in 1736, the population dimin-
ished, while the debts to the nobil-
Increased ity, churches, convents, and Catholic
Taxation, clergy increased rapidly, amounting
in 1774 to the enormous sum of 947,-
546 gulden 19 groschen, which was reduced by a
state commission to 686,081 gulden 30 groschen.
These debts had not been entirely paid even as
late as 1864. The community began to flourish
under Prussian rule; and up to about 1850 was the
largest in Prussia.

Posen has produced a large number of men prom-
inent in many fields of activity. The first Talraud-
ists of the city are mentioned about the middle of
the fifteenth century ; and the following rabbis have
officiated there :

Pechno (mentioned 1389-93); Moses Mariel (c. 1455);
Moses b. Isaac Minz (U74-1508); Meuahem Mendel
Frank ; Moses (1516); Samuel Margolioth (c. 1537-51);
Schachno (1544); Solomon b. Judah Iiobisch Lieber-
manu (c. 1551-57); Aaron (1567); Eliezer Ashkenazi
(1580): Solomon b. Judah Lbbisoh H. (c.1581); Jndah
L6wb. Bezaleel (1585-88, 1592); Mordecai Jaffe (c.l599-
1612); Aaron Benjamin b. Hayyim Morawczyk (c.
1633-31); Simon Wolf b. David Tebele Auerbaoh (c
1625-29); Hayyim b. Isaac ha-Kohen (1630-35); Moses

b. Isaiah Menahem, called Moses Babbi Meudels
(1635-41); Sheftelb. Isaiah Horowitz (1641-58); Isaac
b. Abraham (1667-85); Isaiah b. Sheftel Horowitz
(1688-89); Naphtali Koheu (1690-1704); Jacob b. Isaac
(l714r-29); Jacob Mordecai b. Naphtali Kohen (1732-
1736); Raphael Kohen (1774-76); Joseph Zebi Hirsch
Janow b. Abraham (1776-77); Joseph (ha-Zaddik) b.
Fhinehas (1780-1801); Moses Samuel b. 'Phinehas
(1803-6); AkibaEger (1815-37); Solomon Egrer (1839-52);
Moritz G-oldstein (preacher, 1848-53); Joseph Perles (at
the Brudergemelnde, 1862-71); "Wolf Feilohenfeld (after
1872); and Philipp Bloch (at the Brudersemeinde from 1871
to the present time, 1905) .

Gnesen : According to a legendary account a syn-
agogue existed at Gnesen as early as 905. At the
end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the six-
teenth century the Jews of Gnesen paid large taxes
to the king. In 1499 Cardinal- Archbishop Frederick
protected them against the exorbitant demands of
the Jewish tax-collector; in 1567 they were given
two royal letters of protection, one relating to the
woolen trade, and the other regarding taxes unjust-
ly collected from them ; and four years later a Jew
was placed under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
king.

In 1582 the Jews made a contract for the construc-
tion of a synagogue, and in 1660, on the oath of one
of the elders of the community, tlie king granted
them a copy of their earlier privileges, which had
been destroyed in a fire in 1637, as well as a gen-
eral confirmation of their privileges. In 1654 Jesuit
students plundered the Jews' street ; and two years
later some Jews were slain. The statute concerning
tailors dates from 1779, Christian merchants being
exempted by their statutes from receiving Jews into
their gilds. The community of Posen raised a relief
fund for its Gnesen brethren after the fire of 1710.
In 1819 the archives were burned. In 1744 there
were only 60 Jews in the city; but in 1793, when
the Prussians took possession, there were 685, in-
cluding 53 tailors, 10 butchers, and 6 farriers. By
1800 the Jewish population of Gnesen had increased
to 761, and by 1857 to 1,750; but in 1900 it num-
bered only 1,179. The synagogue was built in 1846.

The following rabbis have officiated at Gnesen :

Benjamin, director of a Talmudio school (1560); TJri Lip-
mann ^efez b. Israel Selig'mann (1688); Abraham
b. Judah ha-Levi (1605); Samuel (c. 1608); Enoch b.
Abraham (1647,1656); Mordecai (c. 1780); JoelHeilprin
(C.1820); Gebhardt (1847-52); M.S. Zuckermandl (1867);
M. Horovitz (1875-78) ; N. Ehrenfeld and M. Jacobson
(since 1890).

The community has numbered among its mem-
bers liturgical poets, halakic coditiers, and authors
of responsa.

Kempen : The Jews of Kempen received their
privileges in 1674 and 1780 from the lords of the
manor; and in 1689 a further privilege protecting
them in the exercise of their worship was granted
by the provost under orders from the assistant
bishop of Breslau. The musicians had their own
gild (this still numbered 26 members in 1864). In
1690 the hebra kaddisha was founded ; and in 1797
the synagogue was built, after a conflagration had
destroyed the greater part of the Jews' street. At
that time there were 1,500 Jews in the city, constitu-
ting one-half of the population. In 1840 there were
3,559 Jews in a total population of 6,181; 3,282 in
1857; and 1,0.]9 in 1900. In 1848 the community
was ravaged by cholera.

Posen
Posquieres

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

144

The following rabbis have officiated at Kempeu:

Moses b. Hillel (" ha-Darshan," 1691); Moses
Manes (c. 1770); Meshullam Zalmau Kohen (c. 1781);
Joseph M. M. (c. 1800); Israel Jonah Landau (1820,
1823); bis sod Joseph Samuel Landau (d. 183r); Israel's
son-in-law Mordecai Zeeb Ashkenazi ; Me'ir Lobush
ben Jehiel Michael Malbim (1841-56) ; Jacob Simhah
Sehfisch ; and L. Munz, the present (1905) Incumbent."

Among the Jews of Kempen have been transla-
tors of prayers, authors of Talmudic novelise, poets,
writers, authors of responsa, and preachers.

Krotoscliin : The community of Kiotoschin suf-
fered so severely by sword and famine during the
Swedish war in 1656 that only tifty families re-
mained out of 400. It quickly revived, however,
and after the second half of the seventeenth century
the Jews were in close industrial relations with
Silesia, and had their own synagogue at Breslau,
while their Talmud Torah was one of the foremost
of the country. Krotoschin, like Posen, Lissa, and
Kalisz, was one of the leading communities of Great
Poland, sending representatives to the general synod
of Great Poland and to the Council of Four Lands.
In a document dated 1773 it is called an " important
community, with man}' sages and men learned in
the Law." In 1710 it suffered from a conflagration,
receiving aid from Posen. The mutual rights of
Jews and Christians as regards liquor licenses were
defined in 1726 and 1728, and the statutes of the lord
of the manor were promulgated in the latter year
and in 1730. In 1738 a fee tor every corpse taken
to Krotoscliin had to be paid to the pastor of each
place through which the cortege passed; and in
1828 the recruits' tax was levied in consequence of
a conflagration. The synagogue, which was dedi-
cated in 1845, was at that time the finest in the
province. In 1800 there were 1,701 Jews in the city,
forming the third largest community of Posen. In
1837 there were 2,213 Jews at Krotoschin; 2,098 in
1857; and 670 in 1900.

The following is the list of rabbis:

Hirsch b. Samson (c. 1617) ; Menahem Man Ashke-
nazi (c. 1618); Israel Heilprin ; Menahem Mendel b.
Meshullam Auerbach (1673; d.ia89); Ezekielb. Me'ir
ha-Levi (1691,1700); Mordecai (belore 1715); LobMunk;
Menakem Mendel Jankau ( Jenikau ?) (1726) ; Mena-
hem Mendel Auerbach b. Moses (1782, 1755); Meshul-
lam Zalman Kohen (c. 1760-70); Aryeh Lbb Caro (c.
1779); Benjamin b. Saul Katzenelnbogren (1785, 1792);
Zebi Hirsch b. Kaphael ha-Koheu (1825); Kaphael
?iebi ; Israel b. Judah Lob (1844) ; Samuel Mendel-
sohn, acting chief rabbi (1853, 1858) ; David Joel (1871, 1880) ;
Eduard Baneth (1882-95); and H. Berger, the present
(1905) incumbent (since 1895).

In 1833 a Hebrew printing-press was founded,
which has issued a large number of works. This
community has numbered ainong its members man}'
prominent scholars and writers, authors of sermons
and of halakic and haggadic novellae, commentators
on the Bible, patrons of Jewish science, grammari-
ans, bibliographers, and printers.

Bibliography: Lewln, Gcich. der Jiiden in Lvtsa, pp. 1 et
seq., 3, 5, et passim, Plnne, 1904 ; idem, Di^ Judenverfol-
guiigen iin Zweiten SchwecUsch-Pnlninchen Kriege, pp. 6 et
secj., Posen, 1901 ; idem, in Heppner-Herzbers, Aus Vergan-
genheit uiulGegenwart derjuden und der JUdisehen Qe-
m.einden in den Pnsener Landen, pp. 42, 69, 77. 106, 108 et
seq.. Koschmin, 1901; idem, in Zettschrift der Hislorischen
OeselUchaft fUr die Prnvinz Pnsen, xv. 57 et neq.; Pnsener
Sfantsarehiv Inncriptirnies Wschov, 1597, p. Itlb; Zunz, ^Ir
lia-Zede,!!,, p. 13, Lemberg,1871 ; Zeitschrift der Historischen

Gesellachaft fUr die Provinz Posen, i. 391 et seq., 395; Iv.
196, 322, 324 et seQ.; v. 298 ; vl., p. xxvi. ; xi. 321; Warschauer,
ib. xix. 12, 11 et seq.; Idem, Die StUdtischen Archive in der
Provinz Posen, pp. 63 et seq., 86, 116, Leipslc, 1901; the
manuscript " kesherim " book of the community of Posen, pp.
7b, 14b, 21a, 22b, 37a, 39b, 219b ; Brann, Oesch. dea Babbinats
in Schneidemilhl, p. 8, Breslau, 1894; idem, in OrdtzJuhel-
schrift, pp. 220, 229, 231, 265, ib. 1887 ; idem, Gesch. der
Juden in Schlesien, Appendix ii., p. xtx.; Frledberg, Gescli.
der Jildi^chen TupngrapMe in Krakau, pp. 16 (jiote 22),
21, Cracow, 1900; Bloch, in Zeitschrift der Histor-ischen
Oesellschaft fUr die Provinz Posen, vi. 113, 163; idem, Der
Streit um den Moreh des Maimonides in , . . Posen um die
Mitte des 16. Jahrh.,in Monatsschrift, 1903, pp. 153 et seq.;
Polkowski, Decouverte d Gleboki, pp. 3 et seq., 11, 31, 41,
46, 19, 77 et seq., Gnesen, 1876: Reinhold, Chronik des
Kreises und der Stadt Birnbaum, p. 132, Blmbaum,
1813: Gratz,Gesc7L 1863, vii. 102 etseg.: Codex Diplomaticus
Majoris Polonim, No. 123, Posen, 1877; Lekczycki, Die Ael-
testen Gross-Polnischen Grodbllcher, i.. Preface, pp. xll., 15,
24, 170 ; il.. Preface, p. xii., Leipslc, 1887 ; Perles, in Monats-
schrift, xiil. 283 et passim, xiv. 89 et passim ; HistoJische
Monatsbiatter fUr die Provinz Posen, i. 117, ill. 166; Kauf-
mann, Die Letzte Vertreibung der Juden aus Wien und
NiederOsterreich, pp. 121, 221, Budapest, 1889 ; Zunz, Bitus, p.
75; Bersmann, Zur Gesch. der Entwickelung Deutscher,
Pnlnischer, und Jildischer BevOlk-erung in der Provinz
Posen, pp. 44, 291, Tiiblngen, 1883; EOnne and Simon, Die . ..
Verhaitnisse der Juden . . .,des Preusslsehen Staates, p. 25,
Breslau, 1843 ; Wegener, Der Wirtscliaftliclie Kampf der
Deuisehen mitden Polen um die Provinz Posen, p. 236, Po-
sen, 1903; rellchenfeld, Die Innere Verfassung der Jildi-
schen Qemeinde zu Posen im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, in
Zeitschrift der Histnrisclien GeselUcliaft fiXr die Provinz
Posen, xi. 122 et seq.; BruU's Jahrb. vli. 33 et seq., 188 ; Stern-
berg, Gesch. der Juden in Polen, p. 8, Leipslc, 1876; Slrisa,
Beschreibung vore SUd- und Neu-Ostpreussen, p. 508, ib.
1797 : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dm-ot, i. 248, Hi. 4, Warsaw, 1881 ;
Wiener, Da'at Jglednshim, pp. 10, 58, 77, 115, 117, 125, 133, 199,
St. Petersburg, 1897; Herzberg, Gesch. der Juden in Brom-
berg, p. 70, Frankf ort-on-the-Maln, 1903 ; Derabitzer, Kelilat
Yofi, 11. 56b et seq., Cracow, 1893 ; Zeitschrift fUr Gesch. und
Landeskunde der Provinz Posen, lii. 36 ; Der Israelit, 1902,
p. 188; Lowensteln, Bliltler fllr JUdische Oesctiichte und
Litteratur, ill. 44 et seq., 56; iv. U6 et seq.; Pr(yi)inziat-Blllt-
ter fiXr das GrossherzogtJium Posen, i. 61 ; Jeschurun, p.
107,' Pleschen, 1902 : Meyer, Gench. des Landes Posen, p. 376,
Posen, 1881 ; Tsraelitixches FamiUenblatt, No. 40, Hamburg,
1903; Roest, Cat. Bosenthal. Blbl. pp. 25, 319, 378, 502, .581,
632, 613, 685 ; Kohen Zedek, Shem u-She'erit, pp. 15, 57,
Cracow, 1895.

D. L. Lew.

POSING- or BGSING (Hungarian, Bazin) :
Small town in the county of Presburg, where on
May 37, 1539 (Friday, Siwan 13), thirty Jews were
burned to deatli on the accusation of having mur-
dered a Christian child for ritual purposes. The
charge was invented by tlie lord of the place, Franz,
Count of St. Georgen and Posing, who wished to
rid himself of the debts which lie owed to the Jews
of Marchegg and POsing. Isaac Mandel, prefect
of the Hungarian Jews, demanded protection and
justice at the hand oE King Ferdinand I. for the
Jews of both these places; but the feudal lord did
not heed the king's warning. The memor-book of
the Cracow hebra kaddisha records the names of
those who suffered deatli at this time. In order to
witness the martyrdom the inhabitants of Neisse,
Olinutz, and Vienna, as well as those of the neigh-
boring cities, poured into PGsing. Among those
who suffered was Moses b. Jacob Kohen, who with
Ills children voluntarily cast himself into the flames.
The Jews of Marchegg were saved, as in the mean-
time the missing child was found alive.

For centuries after this event Jews were not per-
mitted to live in POsing, nor even to spend a night
there. "When a POsing senator gave shelter to the
Jew Lazar Hirsch, the excited populace besought
King Leopold I. (1657-1705) to confirm their old
right of prohibiting Jews from sojourning tliere.
The king decided in favor of the town, and Lazar
Hirsch was compelled to remove to the estate of the
counts of Palffly.

145

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Posen ,
Fosquieres

Bibliography : G. Wolf, In Leopold Rosenberg, Jahrbuch fUr
die Israelitischen Cultusgemeinden in Ungam, 1. 263-
273, Arad, 1860; BUchler, A Zsiddk TOrtinele Budapesten,
p. 96, Budapest, 1901; Kaufmann, In Monatanchrifl, 1894,
pp. 426-429; Sokolow, in Ha-Anf, vl. 133; Ain Erschroclt-
enlich Geschicht, etc., ed. Bucbler, In Magyar Zsidd
Szemle, xi. 90.
D. A. Btj.

POSNANSKI, ADOLF : Austrian rabbi ; born
at Lubraniec, near Warsaw, June 3, 1854 ; educated
at tlie gymnasium, the university, and the rabbin-
ical seminary at Breslau, where he worlied under
Heinrich Qraetz and Manuel Joel, and at the Sor-
bonne in Paris, where he was reader to the Orien-
talist Joseph Derenbourg. While a student at Bres-
lau he gave religious instruction in the secondary
schools of that city, and officiated as rabbi at Rei-
chenberg, Bohemia, from 1888 to 1891, when he was
called to Pllsen. Posnanski is a member of the board
of directors of the Gesellschaft zur P8rderung der
Wissenschaft des Judenthums at Berlin.

His publications are as follows : " Ueber die Reli-
gionsphilosophischen Anschauungen des Flavins Jo-
sephus," Breslau, 1887; "Shiloh: Ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte der Messiaslehre ; i. Theil, Die Auslegung
von Genesis c. 49, v. 10 im Altertum bis zu Ende
des Mittelalters," Leipsic, 1904, containing also quo-
tations from Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts to-
gether with rare prints.

s. A. Ki.

POSNER, CARL: German physician and med-
ical writer; born at Berlin Dec. 16, 1854; son of
Louis Posner; educated at the universities of Berlin,
Bonn, Strasburg, Leipsic (Ph.D. 1875), and Giessen
(M.D. 1880). From 1878 to 1880 he was assistant
in the pathological institute at Giessen ; and till
1886 assistant of Fllrstenheim in Berlin, where ho
settled as a physician. He became privat-docent in
1890, and received the title of professor in 1895.

Since 1889 Posner has been editor of the " Berliner

Klinische Wochenschrift," and since 1894 of Vir-

chow's " Jahresbericht ilber die Leistungen und Fort-

schritte in der Gesammten Medizin." Among his

works may be mentioned : " Diagnostik der Harn-

krankheiten," 1893 (2d ed. 1896); and "Therapieder

Harnkrankheiten," 1895 (3d ed. 1898).

Bibliography: Pagel, Bio». iej:. „ „ „

s. F. T. H.

POSNER, DAVID BEN NAPHTALI
HEBZ : Polish Talmudic compiler; lived about
the middle of the seventeenth century in Posen, and
later in Krotoschin. He was the author of " Yalkut
Davvid " (Dyhernfurth, 1691), homiletic collectanea
on the Pentateuch from the Talmud, the Midrashim,
and the post-Talmudic authors. The work was
edited by his father, Naphtali Herz Spitz. Fuenn's
opinion ("Keneset Yisrael," p. 348) that David is
identical with David Tebele Posner, author of
"Sha'are Ziyyon," seems to be erroneous.

Bibliography : Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, ii. 66 ; Stelnschnei-
der. Cat. Bodl. col. 863 ; Brann, In Monataschrift, 1896, p.
524. , „

E. C. 1- Bek.

POSNER, KARL LTTDWIG VON : Hunga-
rian manufacturer; born 1833; died 1887 at Buda-
pest. In 1853 he founded the largest printing,
lithographing, and bookbinding establishment in
Hungary ; and he was sent by his government as a
X.— 10

commissioner to the expositions of London (1871),
Vienna (1873), and Triest (1883). In 1884 he was
empowered by Trefort, the minister of education,
to introduce the reproduction of maps into Hun-
gary ; and that country is greatly indebted to him
in connection with the graphic arts and the paper
industry. King Francis Joseph I. ennobled him in
1873, and bestov/ed upon him the title of royal coun-
cilor in 1885. His work is successfully carried on
by his son Alfred.

Bibliography : Pallas Lex. xlv.

8. L. V.

POSNER, MEIR (called also Munk or Meir
Pinner) : Prussian rabbi ; born 1735 ; died at Dan-
zig Feb. 3, 1807. He was rabbi of the Schottland
congregation in Danzig from 1783 till his death.

Posner was the author of " Bet Mei'r " (Frankfort-
on-the-Oder, 1787; Lemberg, 1886), a commentary
on the Shulhan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer, and novelise
thereon, entitled "Zal'ot ha-Bayit," published to-
gether with the former work.

Bibliography : Fflrst, Bibl. Jud. HI. 117-118 ; Benjacob, Ozar
ha-Sefarim, p. 74, No. 355.
D. S. O.

POSNER, SOLOMON ZALMAN : Polish rab-
bi; born at Landsberg about 1778 (?); died in Los-
lau in 1863 ; son of Joseph Landsberg, rabbi of Po-
sen. At Solomon's wish his sons erected a wooden
monument over his grave at Loslau.

Posner was the author of several as yet unpub-
lished works, among which are: "Zemir 'Arizim,"
an apologetic work written against young persons
who consider the study of the Talmud unnecessary ;
"Gal 'Ed," moral and instructive letters for sons
when leaving the paternal house to attend the j'eshi-
bah; "Nir Rash," commentary on the whole Penta-
teuch, with various notes on Rashi ; " Dodo Yegalle-
nu," novelise on the Talmud; "Bet ha-Nizoz," in-
troduction to the Talmud; "Noter ha-Keramim,"
advice to fathers concerning the support of their
families and the education of their children.

In 1870 there appeared in Krotoschin a book enti-
tled "To'ar Pene Shelomoh," which contained, be-
sides Posner's biography after his marriage, biog-
raphies of his ancestors as far back as the beginning
of the seventeenth century, together with much
that refers to the history of civilization at that time
and in the eighteenth century. Scholars, however,
disagree as to whether the " To'ar " is Posner's own
work or a rovisal of a manuscript of his, by his
eldest son, Moses, who was once rabbi of Posen.

BiBtiOGRAPHY : To^ar Pene Shelomoh, Krotoschin, 1870 ; Ha-
MeUz, April 17, 1887, p. 906.
E. c. S. O.

POSaUlilRES ({>>-|"p"nia or nT'ptJ'IS) or VATJ-
VERT : Town in the department of the Gard,
France, where Jews are known to have lived since
the twelfth century. When Benjamin of Tudela
visited the city, about 1165, the community was
composed of forty members, among whom he men-
tions Joseph ben Menahem, Benveniste, Benjamin,
and Abraham and Isaac ben Moses ("Itinerary," i.
5). At its head was Abraham ben David (RABaD
III.); his school was attended by many students
from distant countries, whom he welcomed with
much hospitality. In 1173 Abraham suffered a short

Posrednik
Potsdam

THE JEWISH ENCtCL(3PEDIA

146

imprisoDineut, ut the close of which liis )3ersecutor,
Elzear, the seignior of Fosquieres, was aiinimoiied
to Carcassonne l)y his suzerain, Count Roger H., to
explain his conduct toward tlie famous opponent of
Maimonides. It was doubtless after this event tliat
Abraham quit Fosquieres, to reside sometimes at
Lunel and sometimes at Moutpellier, but chiefly at
Ninies, where he lived for many years, thus gaining
tlie surname of "Nemsi" (scholar of Nimes), or
■•^Masterof tlie City of the Woods" ("Rabbi mi-Kir-
yat Ye'arini "). Some Jewish natives of Fosquieres
are mentioned as living at Carpeutras in 1400 and at
Ferpignan in 1413 and 1414. Among the scholars
of the city were: Isaac the Blind or Isaac of Fos-
quieres, "Father of the Cabala " ; liis nephew Asher
lien David ben Abraham ben David; and the Bib-
lical commentator Meuahem ben Simeon.
niHi.iCMiRApnY : Carnidlv. JMunrnphif ih s 7",^rr/'7(7< sr/r Frnnce,

truusl. Ijy Gi'on-'i'S Sti'iinf, IJ. :;im; (,|-"ss, l.nllhi .hnhiifit, pp.
4-H;-4:in: i,i, ,„, m Mniiiitxt^i lir\fl. 1x7:!-: 4: , I "sppli Simon, His-
ti'ii, :!,sjinfsili Xhiii !<.],. IS; Renun-.Xi'uliiLilpr, ics Jifl/)-
hiiis Fnaiciis, pp. .">)s-.=iai; Shrliit ri/np/.i/i, jip. 76a, 78a ;
r. Ill i III Ih -'iiii, pp. :;:.'7-24.S; Zunz, <J. .S. ill. 147-151).

S. K.

POSREDNIK. Sec FEr,TODic.\LS.

POSSART, ERNST VON : German actor and
author; born at BerUn May 11, 1841. When seven-
teen years old he was apprenticed to the Scbroeder-
'sche Buch- und Kunst-Handlung, a well-known
publishing-house in Berlin, where he became ae-
(luaiuted with the actor Kaiser, who offered to teach
him elocution without compensation. After study-
ing for three years,
Fossart, in 1861,
made liis debut at
the Urania amateur
theater, Berlin, as
Riccditt in "Minna
von Barnhclm " and
Ltgo in "Othello,"
and with such suc-
cess that he was en-
gaged to play sec-
ond character roles
at the city tlieater
of Bre.slau. There
he stayed till 1862,
when he accepted
an engagement at
a Berlin theater, to
play leading parts.
The following year
he was in Hamburg, impersonating tlie charac-
ters formerly undertaken by Gorner. From 1864
to 1887 he was connected with the Munich Royal
Theater, playing the leading roles, and becom-
ing in 1873 chief stage-manager (" Oberregisseur ").
In 1878 he received the titles of professor and
director of the Royal Theater. During his vaca-
tions he accepted engagements at the principal Ger-
man theaters in Europe. From 1880 he produced
plays in Munich, with all-star casts. During the
five years following his resignation (1887-92) he
starred at the leading theaters, visiting America in
1888 and 1890. In 1892 he returned to the Royal
Theater as " Generaldirektor," becoming "Intend-

Ernst vutl I'rissart.

ant" in 1895 and lieing knighted by the crciwn of
Bavaria. He still (1905) resides in ilimicli.

His talent as actor and manager is equally great;
his judgment of the capability of different actors
is remarkable, always recognizing and assigning
to each individual the part most suited to him ; and
he has the faculty of giving life and iinportance to
minor parts. He is also very successful as an in-
structor, having been the teacher of many actors
now prominent.

Fossart is at present the foremost of German
actors. His repertoire is manifold. He has ap-
peared in Schiller's dramas as Fram Moor. Bur-
leigh, Talbot, Laiidcogt Gesskr, Ebiiig Philiiq), and
Octavio Piccolomini ; in Lessing's, ns]S'n.thnnc^er^V(ise
and MariuelU; in Goethe's, as Cnrlos, Mepliixto,
Aidonio, Alba, and Vansen; iu Shakespeare's, as
King John, Richard II.. Richard III., IlamUt, Lear,
Hhyliirk, and Jago ; in Byron's "Manfred" as Man-
fred: in Bjijinson's "Fallissement " as Berent; in
Topfer's " Des Konigs Befehl " as Friedrich der
Grosse; and in Ileigel's "Josephine Bonaparte " as
l^apoleon. One of his greatest characters is that i>f
the Jew in "L' Ami Fritz."

Under Fossart's directions was built the Frinz-
regenten Theater at Munich, where under his man-
agement the great works of Wagner and Jlozart
have been ably reproduced.

Fossart is the author of: "Konigliche Theatir-
schule Miinchen," 1877; " Ueber die Gesammtauf-
fi'ihrung des Goethe'schen Faust," 1895; "Die Keu-
einstudierung und Neuauff I'lhrung des Mozart'scheu
Don Giovanni, der Zauberflote, des Wallenstein " ;
"Das Reoht des Herzens," drama, 1898; "Im Aus-
sichtswagen," comedy, 189.8; "Aus Meinen Erin-
neruugen," Munich, 1901 (first appeared in the
" iliinchner Allgeineine Zeitung ") ; " Festvortrag in
der Dcutschen Shakespeare Gesellschaft zu Wei-
mar." Weimar, 1901. He has also edited Shake-
speare's "King Lear" (1875), "The Merchant of
Venice" (1880), " Coriolanus " (1883), and "Feri-
cles" (1884).

Bibliography : Meyers Konvcrsatin iis-Lexikon ; BrockliaK.?
Konversations-Lexikoii.

s. F. T. II.

POSSART, FELIX: German landscape and
genre painter; born in Berlin March 7, 1887. Heat
first intended to pursue a juridical career, and held
tor some j-cars an otflce as " Amtsrichter " in his
native town; but at length his love for painting
became so strong that lie decided to devote his entire
time to this art. He studied assiduously under
Eschke and Gude, and devoted himself especially to
painting scenes and landscapes of southern Spain,
which country he visited several times, first in 1883.
He traveled extensively also iu the Black Forest,
the Bavarian highlands, Switzerland, and Italy.

Of his paintings the following maybe mentioned:
" Interior of Alcazar, Seville " ; " Moorish House in
Granada"; "Tlie Lion Court in the Alhambra";
" View of the Alhambra from Darrothal " ; " The
Interior of the Cautiva Tower of the Alhambra";
" Frigidarium of the Jloorish Bath in the Alhambra " ;
"The Escorial " ; "Landscape of Southern Spain";
"Flirt Alicante"; "In the Alharabra's Jlyrtle-

147

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fosrednik
Potsdam

Grove " ; " View of Tangier " ; " Christ's Entry into
Jerusalem " ; and "Tlie Lord's Supper."

Bibliography : Singer, Allgemeines Kllnstler - Lexicon,
ITankfort-on-the-Main, 189S ; Meyers Konversations-Lexi-
Him, Berlin, 1897.
s. F. C.

FOSVELLER, ABRAHAM ABELE. See

Abraham Abele ben Abraham Solomon.

POTCHI, MOSES: Karaite scholar; lived at
Constantinople in the second half of the sixteenth
century. Ho belonged to the Maruli family, the
name of which was adopted by his son Joseph.
Simhah Luzki attributes to Potchi the unpublished
work "Shelemut ha-Nefesh," which deals with the
creation of the world, the existence of God, and
similar subjects. A poem by Potchi, eulogizing
the "Sha'ar Yehudah" (Constantinople, 1581) of
Judah Poki, is prefixed to that work.

Bibliography: Slmhab Luzkl, Ora?i ^oddifeira, p. 26a; Fiirst,
Gesch. des Kariiert. ill. 23 ; Neubauer, Aiis der Petershur-
ger BibUothek, p. 64 ; Gottlober, Bihhoret le-Ioledot ha-^a-
ra'im, p. 204.
K. I. Br.

POTIPHAR (-iD'Dia) or POTI-PHERAH

(jj-13 't31D) : Name of an Egyptian officer. The form
" Potiphar " is probably an abbreviation of " Poti-
phera " ; the two are treated as identical in the
Septuagint, and are rendered Uerpeip^g or UcTefp^g.
" Poti-phera " is the Hebrew rendering of the Egyp-
tian "P'-di-p'-R' " = "He whom Ra [i.e., the sun-
god] gave." This name has not been found in
Egyptian inscriptions; but names of similar form
occur as early as the twenty -second dynasty.

Potiphar was the Egyptian officer to whom Jo-
seph was sold (Gen. xxxvii. 36, xxxix. 1). He is
described as a " saris " of Pharaoh, and as " captain
of the guard" (Hebr. d^n^Dn IK')- The term
" saris " is commonly used in the Old Testament of
eunuchs; but occasionally it seems to stand in a
more general sense for "court official," and some-
times it designates a military officer (II Kings xxv.
19; comp. lb. xviii. 17; Jer. xxxix. 3, 13). The
second title, "captain of the, guard," is literally
"chief of the slaughterers," and is interpreted by
some to mean "chief of the cooks" (comp. I Sam.
ix. 23, 24, where n2D = " cook "). The former
is much the more probable meaning here, and is
supported by the closely corresponding title (31
DTiatin) of one of the high military officers of
Nebuchadnezzar (II Kings xxv. 8, 10; comp. Dan.
ii. 14). Nothing, however, of this office is definitely
known from Egyptian sources.

Poti-pherah was a priest of On (Heliopolis), whose
daughter Asenath became the wife of Joseph (Gen.
xli. 45, 50; xlvi. 30). See also Joseph.

E. G. H. J. r. McL.

POTOCKI (POTOTZKI), COUNT VALEN-
TINE (ABRAHAM B. ABRAHAM) : Polish
nobleman and convert to Judaism ; burned at the
stake at Wilna May 24, 1749. There are several
versions of the remarkable story of this martyr,
whose memory is still revered among the Jews of
Russia as that of the Ger Zedek (righteous prose-
lyte). A Russian translation, from the Polish of
Kraszewski's "Wilna od Poczatkow Jego do Roku
1750," in which he claims to have followed a
Hebrew original, relates that young Potocki and

his friend Zaremba, who went from Poland to study
in Paris, became interested in an old Jew whom
they found poring over a large volume when they
entered his wine-shop. His teachings and explana-
tions of the Old Testament, to which they, as Roman
Catholics, were total strangers, so impressed them
that they prevailed upon him to instruct them in
Hebrew. In six months they aoquii'ed proficiency in
the Biblical language and a strong inclination toward
Judaism. They resolved to go to Amsterdam, which
was one of the few places in Europe at that time
where a Christian could openly embrace Judaism.
But Potocki first went to Rome, whence, after con-
vincing himself that he could no longer remain a
Catholic, he went to Amsterdam and took upon him-
self the covenant of Abraham, assuming the name
of Abraham ben Abraham.

After residing a short time in Germany, which
country he disliked, he returned to Poland, and for
a time lived among the Jews of the town of Ilye
(government of Wilna), some of whom seemed to be
aware of his identity. While in the synagogue of
Ilye one day he was irritated into commenting se-
verely upon the conduct of a boy who was disturb-
ing those occupied in prayer and study. The boy's
father was so enraged that he informed the authori-
ties that the long-sought "Ger Zedek:" was in Ilye.
Potocki was arrested ; the entreaties of his mother
and friends failed to induce him to return to Chris-
tianity; and after a long imprisonment he was
burned alive in Wilna, on the second day of Sha-
bu'ot. It was unsafe for a Jew to witness the burn-
ing ; nevertheless one Jew, Leiser Zhiskes, who had
no beard, went among the crowd and succeeded by
bribery in securing some of the ashes of the martyr,
which were later buried in the Jewish cemetery.
A letter of pardon from the king arrived too late
to save the victim.

Potocki's comrade Zaremba returned to Poland
several years before him, married the daughter of a
great nobleman, and had a son. He remained true
to the promise to embrace Judaism and took his
wife and child to Amsterdam, where, after he and
his son had been circumcised, his wife also became
a Jewess; then they went to Palestine.

There is reason to believe that the actual teacher
of Potocki, perhaps the one who induced the two
young noblemen to embrace Judaism, was their
own countryman Menahem Man ben Aryeh LOb of
Visun, who was tortured and executed in Wilna at
the age of seventy (July 3, 1749). Tradition has
brought this Jewish martyr into close connection
with the " Ger Zedek," but fear of the censor has pre-
vented writers in Russia from saying anything ex-
plicit on the subject.

Bibliography : Fuenn, ^iryah Ne'emanah, p. 120, Wllna,
1860; Gersoni, The Converted Nobleman, In Sketches of
Jeiinsh Life and History, pp. 187-224, New York, 1873 ; Hur-
witz, 'Ammude bet Yehudah, p. 46a, Amsterdam, 1766 ; Kras-
zewskl, Tevreyskaya Biblioteka, ill. 228-236; B. Mandel-
stamm, Hazon la^Mo'ed, p. 15, Vienna, 1877.
H. R. P. Wl.

POTSDAM : City in the Prussian province of
Brandenburg. It was the residence of the electors
of Brandenburg; and here the Great Elector, Fred-
erick William, ratified May 30, 1671, the agreement
by which he permitted fifty families of the Vienna

Potsdam
Pottery

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDLl

148

exiles (comp. Jew. Encyc. ii. 339, iii. 70) to settle in
his dominions, D,ivid Michel is the first Potsdam
Jew of whom there is record. His name occurs in a
document of 1690. lu the catalogue of the visitors to
the Leipsic fair, Jews of Potsdam are mentioned in
1693 and 169-1. The foundation of the congregation,
however, dates from the first half of the eighteenth
century, when David Hirsch(Pr!iger) received (1730)
special letters of protection to enable him to estab-
lish silk- and velvet-factories in Potsdam. Other
Jewish manufacturers, similarlj' privileged, soon
followed; and in 1743 the congregation, numbering
ten families, acquired a cemetery. In 17.54 it en-
gaged a hazzan, who acted as sexton also, and in
1760 a rabbi, Jehiel Michel, from Poland, who offi-
ciated until 1777. In 1767 tlie first .synagogue was
dedicated in the presence of the Prince and Piineess
of Prussia. The report, however, that King Fred-
erick the Great erected this synagogue at liis own
ex [lense is a legend, based on the fact tliat he granted
the congregation a loan.

The various Jew taxes, to which in 1769 the com-
pulsory purchase of china from the royal ]ioreelain-
factory (comp. Jew. Exoyc. v. 503b) was added,
and the heavy burden of the mortgage on the syna-
gogue, brought the congregation to the verge of
financial ruin ; but the new constitution, passed in
1776, and the repeal of the law compelling the Jews
to buy the royal china restored order. Botli Fred-
erick William II. and Frederick William III. showed
their interest in congregational affairs by granting
subsidies for the remodeling of the synagogue.
The congregation showed its patriotism b_y giving
up the silver ornaments of the S3'nagogue for the
war fund in 1818. One of its members, Marcus
Liebermann, was killed in the war of 1813, and thir-
teen members of the congregation fought in the
Franco-Prussian war (1870-71), one of whom was
decorated with the Iron Cross for bravery displayed
on the battle-field of Spichern.

A new constitution was adopted in 1888; and the
new synagogue, built at a cost of 120,000 marks,
was dedicated June 17, 1903. In Jan., 190.5, the city
council pas.sed an ordinance prohibiting the Siiehi-
TAii (" Allg. Zeit. des Jud." Jan. 13, 190.5).

Of the rabbis of Potsdam after the above-men-
tioned Jehiel Michel the following are known:
David Koppel Reich, who was bookkeeper in one of
the manufactories and officiated temporarily after
Jeliiel iMichel's death; Samuel Ajiolant (1851-57);
Tobias C'ohn (1857-96); Paul Rieger (1896-1903);
and Robert Kaelter (since 1903). Of the prominent
men who were born at Potsdam may be mentioned:
1l:e engraver Abraham Abraiiamson; the inventor
of galvanoplasty, Moritz Hermann von Jacobi; his
I Mother, the mathematician Karl Gustav Jakob
Jaeobi; the poet, physician, and privy councilor
I). Zelenziger; and the medical professors Julius
Hiischberg, Martin Bernhardt, and Max Wolff.

In 1900 the Jews of Potsdam numbered 443 in a
total population of about 60,000.

BiBLiOGRAPHT: Kaeltvr. Gescli. dcv JIMischcn Gemeinde zu
PiiisrMm, Potsdam, 1903.
D. R. Ka.

POTTERY.— Biblical Data : There can be no
doubt that the Israelites first learned the art of ma-

king pottery on Palestinian soil. The nomad in his
continual wanderings can not use the breakable
wares of the potter; and the proper vessels for the
latter's use are the leathern bag and hollowed fruits
or wooden bowls. Even after their settlement the
Israelites seem to have maintained for some time a
disinclination to the use of earthen vessels; and
mention of eartlienware occurs in only one passage
in early literature (II Sam. xvii. 38). Naturally the
Canaanites were the teachers of the Israelites; but
no doubt the Canaanites in their turn learned the
potter's art from the Phcnicians, who supplied for-
eign countries with jjottery, and who, perhaps, even
went through Palestine peddling their wares. The
handicraft does not appear to have developed until
the time of the later kings.

The process by which pottery is made was famil-
iar to the Prophets and to the people. They under-
stood the kneading of the potter's clay ("homer"),
which was trodden bj' the feet (Isa. xli. 35); and
Jeremiah mentions the potter's disks ("obnayim"),
which, as the name indicates, were two in number,
revolving one above the other. Tlie lower and
larger disk was set spinning by the feet, Avhile the
clay, placed on the upper disk, which followed the
motion of the lower one, but could be turned in the
opposite direction also, was molded with the hands
into the desired sliape. The process of burning and
glazing vessels is not mentioned until considerably

Uuyal Stump on Jar-Handle.

(In the possession of tlu- PaloHliiiK EKploratioii Fuml.)

later (comp. Prov. xxvi. 23; Sirach [Ecclus.] xxviii.
34) ; but there can be little doubt that the Canaan-
ites, and through them the Israelites, learned this
part of the craft from the Phenicians at a rather
early period. In Jeremiah's time a potter's work-
shop was probably located in one of the valleys in
the neighborhood of the Potters' Gate (comp. Jer.
xviii. 1 et seq., xix. 1).

The custom of making colored drawings on the
vessels was probably also of Phenician origin, and
was known at an early period, certainly in pre-cxilic
times. Some finds at Jerusalem, showing careful
execution, must, from their location in the lowest
strata, be assigned to the time of the Kings. Com-
pared with these the finds at Tell al-Hasi seem very
primitive. Perhaps the former are of Phenician
workmanship and the latter are domestic imitations.
The ornaments in both cases are purely geometric.

It is known that earthenware was frequently used
as a symbol of fragility and of that which may be

I'dTTf-.KV DJSC0\KJ;M) I.N I'ALKSTINK.

1. I'Hi'-Israelitic Period. 2. Jewish Period. 3. bieleucidan Period.

(From Bliss and Maeallster, " ExcavtitioiiB in Palestine,")

Pottery
Poverty

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

150

quickly and completely destroyed (comp. Ps. ii. 9;
Isa. xxii. 34; Jer. xix. 11). God, as the Creator,
especially as the Creator of man and as the Lord
■who decides the fate of individuals and nations ac-
cording to His judgment, is often likened to a potter
(Isa. xxijf. 16, xlv. 9, Ixiv. 8; Jer. xviii. 6, xix. 11;
Sirach [Ecclus.] xxxiii. 13). It is probable that the
reference in Zech. xi. 13 is to the Temple treasure
(" ha-ozar ") and not to the potter (" yozer ").

E. G. II. W. N.

Early Pre-Israelitic Period: This period be-
gins with the earliest known pottery (probably be-
fore 1700 B.C.), and ceases with the appearance of
Phenician and Mycenaean influence (about 1500 B.C.).
In deteriorated forms some of the types continued
later. The chief characteristics are as
Various follows: (1) the absence of wheel-
Strata, turned ware, except possibly late in
the period; (2) the peculiar ledge-
handles fixed on the sides of jars, found also in the
early Egyptian ware which connects with the first-
dynasty pottery; (3) methods of heating the sur-
face, such as scraping with a comb, and the use of
burnished lines on a colored face ; and (4) potters'
marks, comparable with early Egyptian specimens.
Late Pre-Israelitic Period : The beginning of
this period is marked by the appearance of the
above-mentioned foreign influence on the pottery of
Palestine, about 1500 B.C. How far this influence
extended into the Jewish monarchy is yet to be de-
termined ; the choice of the name therefore was sug-
gested by the origin of the typos. Among the
^ characteristics of the period may be noted the fol-
lowing: (1) almost universal use of the wheel; (2)
direct Cypriote (or Phenician) and Mycensean im-
portations ; (3) local imitations of these ; (4) introduc-
tion of the lamp in its earliest known form (an open
bowl with pinched spout and rounded bottom) ; (5)
small teraphim or idols ; and (6) painted ornamenta-
tion, consisting of lines, zigzags, spirals, birds and
other animals, etc. This is perhaps the most unique
characteristic. While certain resemblances to Pheni-
cian, Mycenaean, and especially Cappadocian mo-
tives may be traced, tlie differences are so great as
to permit one to regard this form of decoration as
a native production.

Je'wish Period : It has been intimated that the
line of demarcation between this period and the
pi'eceding one is not distinct. By Jewish pottery
are meant those types in which the foreign influence
is almost lost, or at best appears in deteriorated
forms, and which certainly prevailed during the
later years of the Jewisli kingdom, though some of
them also survived its overthrow. The forms are,
as a rule, rude and ungainly, and decoration, except
in the style of burnished lines, is rare. Some of the
minute flasks are hand-made; but the pottery is
generally wheel-turned. Greek importations occur.
Tlie most interesting features of this period are
the stamped jar-handles, falling into the following
two groups: (1) Handles stamped with the Hebrew
seal of the potter or owner. On some of these the
Phenician characters are exquisite. Though the
Divine Name (m'' or n'') often occurs in compounds,
yet in the same stratum with these handles are often
associated heathen teraphim and other symbols.

(3) Royal stamps. The oval stamped on the handles
contains one of two symbols, both of which are Egyp-
tian in origin. The first represents a
Character- scaraboeus with four extended wings;
istics the second, a winged disk. In all
of Jewish cases are found two lines of writing ;

Pottery, above the symbol occurs the word IPD?
("to the king"); below, the name of
a town. Although these handles have been found
at seven sites, only four place-names occur: pan
(Hebron), f|ir (Ziph), naiB' (Shocho), and riB'DO
(Memshath ?). The first three are Scriptural names ;
the last appears nowhere in the Bible. Bliss regards
the place-names as indicating the sites of royal pot-
teries (see the obscure reference in I Chron. iv. 23).
Macalister would consider them to be the centers of
districts in which taxes in kind destined for the cap-
ital were collected (comp. I Kings iv. 7-19 with II
Chron. xxxii. 28). According to the first supposi-
tion, the inscription would represent a dedication of
the jars to the king by the royal potters ; according
to the second, a dedication of their contents by the
taxed districts. The jars to which the handles were
affixed are dated tentatively between 650 and 500
B.C., though they may be earlier. Thus " the king "
may be relegated either to the later Jewish mon-
archj' or to the period of Persian sovereignty. The
representation of the scarabseus and winged disk
might be used as an argument in favor of a period
of heathen domination.

Seleucidan Period : While some of the Jewish
types come down to this period, it is chiefly char-
acterized by Greek importations and imitations.
Among the former are the well-known Rhodian am-
phorEE with inscribed handles.

The post-Seleucidan pottery has not been sys-
tematically studied; but it may be roughly divided
into Roman, Byzantine, and Arab. Stamps of the
tenth legion (Fretensis) are common near Jerusa-
lem. Byzantine times show lamps with Christian
inscriptions. The geometrical decoration of the
Arab period should be carefully distinguished from
the pre-Israelitic ornamentation, to which it bears a
superficial resemblance.

The pottery of southern Palestine from early pre-
Israelitic times to the close of the Seleucidan period
has been systematically studied in a series of ex-
cavations undertaken by the Palestine Exploration
Fund. Petrie led the way in 1890, in a reconnais-
sance of Tell al-Hasi (Lachish), where he was fortu-
nate in finding the steep eastern slope so encroached
upon by the stream that the various strata of the
mound (60 feet in height) were practically laid bare.
Both Phenician and Greek types were found, serv-
ing to date approximately the local types with
which they were associated or which they overlaid.
Bliss, systematically cutting down (1891-93) one-
third of the mound, was able not only to verify Pe-
trie's general chronological scale, but also to add to
the material available for study. Owing to the dis-
turbed nature of the soil, the excavations at Jerusa-
lem (conducted by Bliss and Dickie, 1894-97) were
of little help in the systematization ; but the latter
was greatly forwarded by the finds in the four strat-
ified mounds of Tell Zakariya, Tell al-Safi, Tell al-
Judaidah, and Tell Sandahannah, excavated by Bliss

151

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pottery
Poverty

and Macalister in 1898 and 1900. In 1903 Macalister
began tlie excavation of Gezer, where much early
pottery has also been found. On the basis of these
discoveries (prior to the campaign still [1905] in
progress) Bliss and Macalister have classified the
pre Roman pottery of southern Palestine under the
four chronological groups mentioned above: (1)
early pre-Israelitic; (2) late pre-Israelitic ; (8) Jew-
ish ; and (4) Seleucidan.

BiBi.iofiKAPHT : W. M. Flinders Petrie, TelWhHesy (.Lachish),
London, 1891 ; F. J. Bliss, A Mound of Many Cities, or Tell-
cl-Hemi Excavattd, lb. 1894 ; Mem and R. A. S. Macalister,
Excavations in Palestine, 1898-1900, lb. 1902 ; F. B. "Welch,
T he Influence of the ^gean Civilization on Southern Pal-
estine, In Pal. Explor. Fund, Quarterly Statement, 1900, p.
342. A collection of Palestinian pottery, arranged and classi-
fied by Bliss, may be seen in tbe government museum In Jeru-
salem.
E. G. II. F. J. B.

POULTRY.— Biblical Data: The rearing of
domestic fowl for various uses became a part of
Palestinian husbandry only after the return from
Babylon (see Cock; Hen); but from Isa. Ix. 8 it
appears that at the time when that passage was
written th& dove was to a certain degree domesti-
cated (see Dove). The " fowls " (" zipporim ") served
on the table of Nehemiah (Neh. v. 18) probably in-
cluded pigeons and other small birds. Besides there
are mentioned as having been used for food the quail
(Ex. xvi. 13 and parallels) and " fatted fowl " (" bar-
burim abusim " ; I Kings v. 3 [A. V. Iv. 23]).

As all birds not named in the catalogues of Lev.
xi. and Deut. xiv. were clean, they and their eggs
no doubt largely entered into the diet of the He-
brews from early times, and the requisite supply
must have been obtained by fowling. The numer-
ous terms for the Instruments of fowling and hunt-
ing, and the various metaphors derived
Fowling from them, testify, in fact, to the vogue
and of these practises in ancient Israel.

Hunting. There were the net (" reshet " ; Prov.
1. 17; Hos. vii. 12, etc.), and the trap
and snare (" pah " and " mokesh " ; Amos Hi. 5, etc.).
Besides there are mentioned "hebel" (Ps. cxl. 6;
properly " rope " or " cord " ; A. V. " snare " ; R. V.
" noose ■') ; " zammim " (Job xviil. 8-10 ; A. V. " rob-
bers " ; R. V. " snare ") ; and " sebakah " {ib. ; A. V.
"snare"; R. V. "toils"). The bow and sling
{"kela' ") were possibly also employed to bring down
birds. The use of a decoy Is perhaps alluded to In
J'er. V. 26 (comp. Ecclus. [Sirach] xi. 30; see Pak-
thidge). For modern methods of fowling in Pal-
esflne see.Tristram, "Nat. Hist." p. 163.

The use of eggs Is perhaps indicated in Isa. x. 14
and Job vi. 6 (comp. Jer. xvil. 11). The law of
Deut. xxli. 6, in order to forestall blunting of the
tender feehngs as well as the extermination of cer-
tain species of birds, prohibits the taking of the
mother and young from the nest at one and the
same time (known In later rabbinical literature as
the ordinance of " shilluah ha-kan ").
In the Talmud : The Talmud gives the num-
ber of unclean birds after the Pentateuch lists as
twenty-four, and then adds: "the clean birds are
without number " (Hul. 63b). The characteristics of
the clean birds are given (ib. 65a) as follows: (1) they
do not kill or eat other birds; (2) they have a super-
numerary toe ("ezba' yeterah"), which Is inter-

pieted to mean either an additional toe behind the
others, or an elongation of the middle toe ; (3) they
are supplied with a crop ; (4) their stomachs have
two skins, which can be easily separated ; (5) they
catch food thrown to them In the air, but bring it
to the ground, when they divide it with their bills
before eating it, while the unclean birds devour it
in the air, or press it with one foot to the ground
and tear it with their bills. Manj' birds are de-
clared to be doubtful (ib. 62a, b). A distinction Is
made (ib. 42a) between large fowl ("'of ha-gas,"
geese, hens) and small ("'of ha-dalj," doves, spar-
rows). "Zippor," denoting in the Old Testament
the sparrow and other small birds, occurs In the
Talmud as a general name for any clean bird (ib.
139b).

The fowl mentioned as domesticated are the dove,
the goose, the hen (see the special articles thereon),
and the duck (" bar aweza" ; Bezali 32b ; B. K. 92b ;
Hul. 63b). The flesh of fowl was es-
Do- pecially the food of the aged and feeble

mesticated ( Yer. Peah viii. 21a) ; otherwise it was
Fowl. considered inferior to the meat of cat-
tle, so that after blood-letting the lat-
ter was preferred (Me'l. 20b). City residents, being
wealthy, consumed much poultry (Bek. 10a). The
art of fattening fowl is described in Shab. 155b.
The rearing of poultry in Jerusalem, and by priests
throughout Palestine, was forbidden on account of
the possible pollution of holy things (B. K. 79b).

Fowling is often referred to In the Talmud (comp.
Pes. 23a; Bezah 24a), metaphorically in Ab. lii.
20. In addition to the weapons of the fowler (and
hunter) mentioned in the Old Testament there are
enumerated. In Kelim xxiii. 4, the " maddaf " (sloping
board), "palzur," "agon," "ratub," and "kelub"
(basket). The "nesheb" was especially used for
catching pigeons (B. K. 89b). Birdlime ("debek")
and the rod ("shafshef ") on which it was smeared
are mentioned (Shab. 78b), and the art of falconry Is
referred to (ib. 94a). The ordinance of "shilluah
ha-ltan " Is confined by the Talmud to clean birds
(Hul. 138b). See, also, Eggs.

Bibliography : Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 162 ; Lewysohn, Z. T.
pp. 4, 7, 11, 15, 45, 160.
B. c. I. M. C.

POVERTY : Condition or proportion of poor in
a population. Although the riches of the Jews
have passed Into a proverb, all social observers are
agreed that the Jews have a larger proportion of
poor than any of the European nations among whom
they dwell. In 1861 the number of poor, i.e., to-
tally dependent, among the adult workers of the
Jewish population of Prussia was 6.46 per cent, as
against 4. 19 per cent In the general population. On
the other hand, there were among the Jews of Italy
In 1871 only .09 per cent who were technically
paupers, as compared with 2.3 per cent in the gen-
eral population. In 1871 in Budapest 24.3 per cent
of the 31,071 adult Jewish workers were classified as
among the poor, while In 1883 there were In London
no less than 11,099 in 47,000, or 23 per cent, who
accepted some form of charity (Jacobs, " Studies in
Jewish Statistics, " p. 12). In 1869 Jeitteles estimated
that 43 per cent of the Jewish population of Vienna
lived in two rooms or less. In Holland the propor-

Poverty
Prague

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

153

tion of poor among the Jews is statistically deter-
mined by the census. In that of 1900 there were
found to be no fewer than 13,500 poor in Amster-
dam; 846 in The Hague; 1,750 in Rotterdam.; 663
in GrQningen ; and 349 in Arnhem (" Joodsche Cou-
rant," 1903, p. 44), or 16,108 (i.e., 23 per cent) in
73,378, the total Jewish population of these cities.

In 1898 inquiry was made by the Jewish Coloni-
zation Association into the social condition of the
Jews in Russia, extending over territory whioh in-
cluded 709,348 Jewish families, of whioh 138,855
applied for gratuitous mazzot at Passover. The
percentage varied throughout the country : in the
government of Poltava it was 34.5; in Lithuania 33;
while in the whole Pale of Settlement it was 19.4,
and in Poland 16.9. The percentage of Jews ac-
cepting this form of charity in small towns was
18.3; in middle-sized towns, 19.4; and in large
towns 30.3, the poor tending to crowd into the larger
centers. The number of Russo-Jewish poor has in-
creased in recent years. Whereas in 1894 there were
85, 188 families which could be classed

Kussian under this head, the number had in-
Statistics. creased to 108,933 in 1898, forming 37.9
per cent of the Jewish population.
The same tendency is shown by the evidence of free
burials. Thus in 1901, of the 5,533 funerals in War-
saw, 3,401, that is, 43.5 per cent, were free, whereas
in 1873 the percentage was only 33.6. (In London
in 1903 the free funerals numbered 1,008 in a total
of 3,049, or almost 50 per cent.) In 1899 in Odessa
1,880 funerals in 3,980 were free. In the same town
during the winter of the year 1903 no less than
33.31 per cent of the Jewish population, or 48,500
in 150,000, had to appeal for coal and mazzot to
the benevolence of their coreligionists ("Jtidische
Statistik," p. 387). This is not to be wondered at,
since the best-paid workers among them received
on an average §3.75 a week; while in the cork
industries girls received from $3.35 to $4 a month.
Tchubinsky found the average income for a Jewish
family in the Ukraine to be about 890 rubles (E.
Reclus, "Nouvelle Geographie," v. 518), and hence
was not surprised to find 20,000 mendicants in the
eastern part of that territory (ib.). Altogether the
evidence is overwhelming as to the very large pro-
portion of poor among Jews throughout Europe.
The Jewish Colonization Association estimates that
7 per cent of Russian Jews are absolutely supported
by the rest, whereas in the general population of
England only 2.4 per cent, and in Germany only 3.4
per cent, are in that dependent condition.

In the Polish provinces the maximum of tailors'
earnings is under 6 rubles a week; that of shoe-
makers is even less. In the southwestern provinces
of Russia tailors' earnings range from 150 to 300
rubles a year ; shoemakers' from 100 to 300. In the
■southern provinces over 80 per cent of the artisan
Jewish population earn less than 400 rubles per an-
num. Seamstresses rarely earn more than 100 rubles
a year ; and instances are recorded where they have
been paid as little as 4 copecks (3 cents) for making
a shirt ("Jew. Chron." Nov. 4, 1904).

It is, however, in Galicia that the greatest
amount of evidence of pauperism among Jews is
found. The "Juden-EIend" there has passed into

a proverb. This accounts for the fact that of 60,763
Jews and Jewesses who migrated from Galicia in
1899 and 1900, no less than 39,980 were without oc-
cupation, though this number, it should be added,
included wives and children.

BiBLioGR.\PHT : Jacobs, Studien in Jeu'ish Statistics, p. 31;
Jlldisclie Statistik, pp. 287-293; Cnllectinn of Materials on
the Economic Posiiiun of the Jews in Russia, St. Peters-
burg, 1904.
A. J.

POWER OF ATTORNEY. See Attokney,

POWPJR OF.

POZNANSKI, SAMUEL: Arabist, Hebrew
bibliographer, and authority on modern Karaism;
rabbi and preacher at the Polish synagogue in
Warsaw ; born at Lubranice, near Warsaw, Sept. 3,
1864. After graduating from the gymnasium of
Warsaw, he continued his studies at the university
and the Hochschule fur die Wissenschaft des Juden-
thums in Berlin, forming an intimate friendship with
his teacher Moritz Steinschneider, for whose eighti-
eth birthday in 1896 he edited the "Festschrift."

Poznanski is the author of the following woi'ks :
"Eine Hebraische Grammatik desDreizehnten Jahr-
hunderts" (Berlin, 1894); "Mose b. Samuel ha-Ko-
hen ibn Chiquitilla Nebst den Fragmenten Seiner
Schriften" (Leipsic, 1895); "Isak b. Elasar ha-
Levis Einleitung zu Seinem Sephath Jether " (Bres-
lau, 1895) ; " Aboul Paradj Haroun ben al-Farad j le-
Grammairien de Jerusalem et Son Mouschtamil"
(Paris, 1896) ; " Die Girgisani-Handschriften im Brit-
ish Museum " (Berlin, 1896) ; " Karaite Miscellanies "
(London, 1896) ; " Mesroi al Okbari, Chef d'une Secte
Juive du Neuvifime Si^cle " (Paris, 1896) ; " The
Anti-Karaite Writings of Saadjah Gaon " (London,
1897); "Jacob ben Ephraim, ein Anti-Karilischer
Polemiker des Zehnten Jahrhunderts " (Breslau,
1900, in "Kaufmann Gedenkbuch ") ; "Perush R.
Sa'adyaGaon le-Dani'el" (Berdychev, 1900); "Tan-
houm Yeruschalmi et Son Commentaire sur le Livre^
de Jonas" (Paris, 1900); "Miscellen ilber Saadja,
HI. : Die Beschreibung des ErlOsungs-Jahres in
Emunoth we-Deoth ch. 8" (Breslau, 1901); "Tehil-
lah le-Dawid" (Kaufmann) in Hebrew (Warsaw,
1903); "Le Commentaire sur le Livre d'Osee par
Eliezer (ou Eleazar) de Beaugency" (Berdychev,
1903) ; " Anan et Ses Ecrits " (Paris, 1903) ; " Der
Arabische Kommentar zum Buche Josua von Abfl.
Zakarja Jahja Ibn Bal'am " (Frankfort-on-the-Main,
1903); "Eplirajim ben Schem^rja de Fostat et
I'Academie Palestinienne " (Paris, 1904); "Schcch-
ters Saadyana" (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1904);
"Fragments de I'Exeg^se Biblique de Menahem bar
Chelbo" (Warsaw, 1904); "Ibn Hazm liber Ju-
dische Sekten " (London, 1904). He has cor.tributed
also numerous articles to the "Monatsschrift,"
Stade's "Zeitschrift," "Ha-Goren" (Berdychev),
" Ha-Zefirah " (Warsaw), " Revuedes Etudes Juives,"'
and the "Jewish Quarterlj'- Review."

H. K. A. Ki.

PRADO, MOSES : Christian convert to Juda-
ism; lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies, first at Marburg, Germany, and later at Sa-
lonica, Turkey. His Christian name was Conrad
Victor, and he filled the position of professor of the:
classic languages at the University of Marburg„

153

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Poverty

Prague

Finding it impossible to accept the dogma of tlic
Trinity and of the divinity of Jesus, lie went, in
1607, to Salonica, where he emlmiced Judaism, as-
suming the name of jMoscs Piado. After a residence
of seven years in that city he began to solicit per-
mission from the Duke of Ilcsse to return to IVIar-
liurg, where he had left his wife. In a series of
letters addressed by him to an old friend at Marburg
named ITartmanu, Closes justilies himself for em-
liraciug Jiulaism, The truth of Judaism, he declares,
is beyond (luestion, since both the Mohammedans
and the Christians are compelled to acknowledge it.
He only asks tlie Duke of Hesse to show himself as
tolerant as tlio sultan, who grants freedom of con-

hims<'lf more entirely to his incieasing clerical
duties. Professor Prag numbered many Christian
divines among his pupils. lie was a member of the
Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society and
served upon its council; he translated some Piieui-
cian inscriptions said to have been found in Brazil,
and the inscription on the Moabitc Stone.

Jciv. Chroii. Due. 31, 1881; Jciv. Wiirhl, .Jan.

BiBLinriRAPIIY

ti, iss;;.
J.

G. L.

PRAG, JOSEPH: English communal and
Zionist worker; lioniat Liverpool in 1859; educated
at the Liverpool Institute and at Queen's College,
Liverpool. Prag has long l)een a leader in Zionist

Plan of the Cm- of I'iiague in V'A'J. Star Siha\s Pos

(From ft uotiteinporary |.Tliit.)

■lUN OF TUF JF\\IS

science to every man. The desired permission was
refused, and Moses remained at Salonica until his
death.

BlBLloGRAPnv: Sfliuclt, CnmpniiliKiii Nixturiir Jinhiierr. \i.
494; Idem, DclirUr Pllilnlmjiin; p|). XV.t <i xn/.; f.iisnage,
Histoire dex J II if ». xiv . »ii : Uii-fi'iilBirli, .7»i(.i ».■•■ faiirirsii.t,
p. 141; H. L. lienthem. Do titutii Jlrlijii Ki-ilisiasliio el
ScJiiilasticii.ii. 'M); Cerenms, Aiiimculversluiics Jiisturkii-
Philiildiiicce, viii. 218 ct seq.
D. I. Bli.

PBJEFECTUS JUDiEOBUM. See Mendel.

PRAG, JACOB: Professor of Hebrew and rabbi
at Liverpool ; liorn at Danzig 1816; died at Liver-
pool Dec. , 1881. He studied at tlie rabbinical school
at Libau and occupied his first position at the age
of eighteen. He was afterward appointed rabbi
at Sliocnek, Prussian Poland. He later was called
to t)ie Old Hebrew Congregation at Liverpool to
fill there the post of rabbi, which he held till his
death. Shortly after he had settled in Liverpool he
was elected Hebrew master of the Congregational
School; he filled also theehair in Hebrew at Queen's
College, Liverpool. After twelve years' service he
resigned the latter appointment in order to devote

circles, but does not follow the Herzl movement,
retaining allegiance to the Chovevei Zion, the Eng-
lish section of which he founded. He has con-
tributed to the reviews articles on the question of
the colonization of Palestine. Prag is a member of
the council of the Anglo-Jewish Association and
acted as its delegate in 1901, at Berlin, to the Inter-
national Conference on the Jews of Rumania. He
took an active part in arranging matters after the
anti-Jewish disturbances in Limerick.
BIDLIOURAFIIV : Jciviah Yiaf Jliiiili, oUlU (19113-4).

.t. V. E.

PRAGER, MOSES. See MosES isen JIena-
riE M .

PRAGUE : Capital of Bohemia; the first Bohe-
mian <ity in whieli Jews .settled. Reference to tliem
is found as early as 906, when the Jew
Regula- Ibraliim ibn Jacob mentioned them as
tions frequenting the slave - market. Pe-
of Ottocar. thahiah of Regensburg started from
Prague on his journey to the East
(1187). In 1354 Ottocar issued certain regulations in
regard to the Jevi-s of Prague (Celakowsky, "Codex

Prague

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

154

Juris JIuiiici|iioiuin," i. 5), whiclMvere summed up,
in 1269, as follows;

(1) The Jews may take Interest at the rate ot 5 pfennig in the
mark, 6 pfennig In tlie pound, and 1 pfennig In 30. (2) When
a Jew is plaiutiH against a Christian, he must produce Christian
as well as Jewish witnesses, and vice versa. (3) A Jew found
with an unmarried Clirlstlan woman shall be sentenced to death.
i) A Jew found with a married Christian woman shall be Im-
paled at the cross-roads. (.5) Blood-stained garments may not
be taken in pledge. (6) A Christian killing a Jew shall be sen-
tenced to death. (7) A Jew taking an ecclesiastical vessel in
pledge shall surrender it on demand without reimbursement.
(S) A Jew called upon to take an oath in a lawsuit concerning
a Christian shall swear by the Pentateuch.

John "olineLand,"in 1336, sentenced several Jews
to be burned at Prague on the accusation of having
partaken ot Chri.stiau blood; after this he had their
synagogue torn down, where he is said to have found
much monej'. Charles IV. continncd (1856) the
regulations of Ottocar. In 1361 lie personally ex-

In 1393 King Wenceslaus IV. renewed the regula-
tions issued by Ottocar; in 1419 the Bohemian Diet
decreed that a Jew could take in pledge only ob-
jects that had been otHcially inspected. During the
Hussite wars the Jews of Prague sided with the fol-
lowers of Huss and aided them in digging the moat
at the Vyschrnd. When this was captured in 1431
the citizens plimdercd the ghetto. It was again
despoiled in 1448, after Podiebrad captured Prague,
and in 1483. At Podiebrad 's request King Ladislaus
(1440-57) issued several decrees relative to the Jews
of Prague, which were ba.sed upon the so-called law
of Sobeslai, dating from the time of the Hu.s.site wars.
During the king's sojourn at Prague, in 1497, he
granted the Jews the privilege of lending money on
landed property, and on notes of the burgraves of
the city, at 20 per cent interest, "so as to enable
them to support their wives and children." But two

riiocKssio.N OF Jews of Prague in Hoxor of the Biethdat of Archduke Leopold, May IT, 171G.

(From Schudt, " Jiidische Merckwurjif,'keiteii." ni".)

amined the notes held by the Jews against citizens
of the Altstadt and canceled those which had not
been paid; five years later he transferred the house
ot the Jew Lazarus, in the vicinity^ of the Church
of St. Nicholas, to the university. Under Wen-
ceslaus IV. an attack upon the ghetto occurred.
Some childi'en had thrown stones at the host which
the clergy were carrying in pi'ocession on the day
after Good Friday, whereupon the clergy, and espe-
cial] v Jesek Ctyrhranny, exhorted from the pulpit
the people to take vengeance. The pop-
Massacre ulace thereupon attacked the ghetto
of 1389. (April 18, 1389) and killed about 3,000
Jews. On Easter i\[onda)' following,
Huler, one of the royal chamberlains, ordered that
the Jews should be legally punished ; accordingly
five tons of .silver were taken from them, and part
of the ghetto was burned. Abigedor Kama's elegy
nsi^nn Ss nx. which is recited on the Day of Atone-
ment, is a memorial of this pensecution.

money

years afterward he forbade them to lend
on auj' notes whatever.

The council of the Neustadt determined, in 1503,
not to admit any more Jews. The Jews therefore
sent a messenger to King Ladislaus 11. (1471-1516)
at Budapest ; but though they obtained permission to

enter the city, their commercial activity

Persecu- was curtailed in that they were permit-

tions. ted only to take small arliclesin pledge,

and as interest only three pfennig in the
" schock " ; further, they were permitted to barter
only in the market, and were forbidden to peddle sec-
ond-hand clothes. In 1507 the council of the Altstadt
commanded the Jews to close their synagogue at
once and leave the ghetto, because they had failed to
pay punctually the yearly dues to the citizens of the
Altstadt. The Jews again sent a messenger to King
Ladislaus II., who permitted them to reir.ain one year
longer in the ghetto. In the meantime two Jews
paid the interest to the bailies for Mikulasz Hofic.

155

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prague

On St. Philip's day, in 1314, :i <k-nH'nte(l Jew kilk-d
a Christian child with a stone; in punishment he
was broken on the wheel at the foot of the gallows;
onl}^ a heavy storm prevented the populace from
falling upon the Jews.

The question as to whether the Jews of the Alt-
stadt were subjects of the king or of the town coun-
cil, which had been in dispute for a long time, was
finally decided in 151."): the Jews were to recognize
the suzerainty of the king, while paying, at the
same time, taxes into the municipal treasury. It
was further decreed, in the same year, that if a Jew
had made a loan on a mortgage, and the debtor
brought the matter before the burgrave, if the Jew

whip; after which they offered him 100 ducats. On
this occasion the king assigned all the taxes of the
Jews to the citizen Lew of Prague, who in return
agreed to protect them; and the king repealed the
decree of expulsion which the " Klirschner Caidinal "
had obtained the year before from the Bohemian
Diet. On Feb. 5, 1527, the Jews, by command of the
authorities, went to the gates of the ghetto to meet
King Ferdinand, the "Jews' flag" being carried at
the head of the procession, bef<}re the rabbi ; the king
promised to protect them in their religion and their
rights. In 1 539 the Jewish merchants were forbidden
to display their wares in Ladislaus Hall, which was
used as a conference-room by the Bohemian delegates

(;|i:J'^Ti5al?T^atfterX6rictf j>prt i^ertCLuff 7w5 i'crSdmhi-TX.ht- /iy^ _.^_ ^_^^^

Exodus of Jews from Prague, 1715.

(From a contemporary print.)

Still insisted on being satisfied he sliouhl be com-
pelled to leave the city immediately. The Jews were
not allowed to take interest of more than two pfen-
nig in the schock ; they were not permitted to mix
Silesian coin with Kuttenberg money; and they
were compelled to wear the prescribed mantle and
cap, on pain of a fine of two groschen. On IVIarch
11, 1518, the Jews of Prague agreed to pay titty
schock, Bohemian coin, to the burgrave in return for
having their cemetery and bath protected.

When Louis 11., the last Polish king of Bohemia,
entered the city (1522) the Jews met him in solemn
procession, singing psalms, while the rabbi carried
the .scrolls of the Law under a silken canopy.
When the Jews requested the king to touch the
Torah, he complied, not with his hand, but with his

to the Diet. In 1540 a Jew was caught smelting silver,
and in consequence a second edict of expulsion was

proposed and passed by the Diet in

Edict of 1541. Fifteen Jewish families only

Expulsion were permitted to remain, down to

1541. 1543, in which year Ferdinand renewed

their letters of convoy and issued
fifteen others. In 1545 all Jews leaving the city re-
ceived letters of convoy, at the request of the queen
and of Sigismuud of Poland. In 1557 seventy houses
were burned in the ghetto of Prague, and in the saiue
year Ferdinand swore that he would no longer suffer
any Jews in Prague. Mordecai ben Zemah Soncino
tliereujion went with a petition from the Jews to
Po])e Pius lY., who released the king from his
oatli.

Prague

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

156

Jewish Butcher of Prague,
Eiphteentli Century.

In 1561 tlio king decreed that the Jews of Prague
should once a, week attend a Jesuit sermon in the Hal-
vator-Kirche, aud should send their children thither.
In 1566 Maximilian dc
creed that the Jews
should never again be
expelled from Prague.
When the emperor and
empress went to the
cit_v, in 1571, they vis-
ited the ghetto, going
on foot through many
of its narrow streets,
the Jews meeting them
in solemn procession.
In 1585 the Jews of
Prague complained of
the burgrave and the
estates to Emperor Ru-
dolph II., who shortly
after ordered the bur-
grave to cease annoj'-
ing the Jews. The
intermediaries between
the king and the Jews
in the sixteenth cen-
tury were Jacob Bas-

SEVI VON TrEUENBEEG

and Mordecai Marcus
Meisel. In 1621 Walleusteiu commanded that no
soldier should sell anything without the consent
of his captain. Shortlj' after (1623) a soldier stole
some valuable curtains from the palace of Prince
Lichtenstein, selling them to the Jew .Jdcob ben Jeku-
thiel Thein. When the theft was announced in the
synagogue Thein offered to restore the goods; but
Wallenstein insisted on having the Jew punished, and
the elders of the com-
munity had great trouble
in obtaining his release.
They were commanded
to carry ten open bag.s
of silver (11,000 florins)
from the house of the
citizen Smificky to the
town liall of tlie Altstadt
in order that all persons
might take cognizance
of this punishment.
During this time Thein,
guarded by two dogs,
sat under the gallows on
the banks of the Moldau,
before the hou.8e of the
executioner. The money
was to be deposited in
the town hall in perpet-
ual memory of the family
of Wallenstein, the in-
terest to be applied to
the aid of Jewish and
Christian young men

studying Catholic theology (see Purim PtJRHANG).

The condition of the Jews of Prague became worse

under Ferdinand III. New poll- and war-taxes were

introduced in 1638, and in 1639 a tax for the main-

Glld-Cup of the Jewish Shrie-
makers of Prague, Eighteentli
Century.

tenance of the army. In 1645 Hie Jews of the ghetto

were ordered to furnish several hundred uniforms

for the soldiers, but the latter were

Under never quartered in the ghetto. In

Ferdinand 1648 the Jews contributed 1,500 gul-

III. den to the defense of the city. There

were in all 2, 000 .Jews in the ghetto in

16.53, but their ranks were considerably thinned by

the great plague of 1680. The ghetto was destroyed

by tire on June 31, 1689; French incendiaries had

started the lire near the Valentinkirche, and the

flames spread over the entire ghetto within two

hours; the ten massive synagogues were either

burned to shells or reduced to ashes. One hundred

.lews who had sought refuge in the synagogue near

the cemetery were caught under the roof as it fell

in. Some escaped with a part of their possessions

to the banks of the Moldau, only to be plundered

by Christians. The Jews found shelter among the

Christians for the next three months; but the areh-

Tlje Altneuschule, Prague, from the West.

(From a photograph.)

bishop finally forbade them to accept such hospital-
ity, on the groimd that they derided the Christian re-
ligion ; the Jews then removed to a place behind the
Spitalthor. By order of the emperor the houses of
the Jews were rebviilt of stone, this work being com-
pleted in 1703; the ghetto was then separated from
the Altstadt by a wall which was carried down to the
Moldau.

In 1703 the Jewry received a new constitution
and a new Jewish magistracy. The year 1735 was
marked by the refusal of the Jews to pay their per-
sonal tax (" mekes "). During the wars between the
empress Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great,
1740-44 and 1757, Prague was besieged by the
French. After its capture those Jews who had
been among the defenders were obliged to pay large
sums as a war indemnity, aud in spite of their
friendly attitude toward the invaders they were
cruelly treated. A Jewess in whose shop a French

157

THE JEAVIWII ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prague

liidy had left 10 gulden was hanged in the Ncu-
stjidt in 1742 (" Kobez 'al Yad," viii. 13). After
the departure of the Frencli the Jews made their
peace with JIaria Theresa, tlirongh the intercession
of the priniator Frankel ; for the Jews were re-
proached with having assisted ollicially at the coro-
nation of the Bavarian elector as King of Bohemia.
When Frederick forced the city to capitulate, the
populace turned against tlie Jews, and a massacre
was averted only bj^ the appearance of General Ilar-
rach with a detachment of soldiers. But the Jews did
not escape the
danger entirely.
For when Prod-
crick granted
freedom to the
nobility, the
magistrates, and
the university,
he took a similar
iittitude toward
the Jews, even
ordering t h e
soldiers to re-
store to the Jews
everything the_y
had taken from
them ; and on ac-
count of this fa-
vorable attitude
the citizens of
Prague suspect-
ed the Jews of
treachery, and
after the depar-
ture of the Prus-
sians the ghetto
was plundered.
The turmoil
lasted for thirty
hours, and the
Jews who had
saved them-
selves were
seized and
branded under
the arm, in or-
der t o m a k e
them re v e a 1
their hidden
treasures.

On Dec. 18,
1744, Maria Theresa issued a decree to the effect
that all Jews in Prague and the rest of Bohemia
should leave the country within five weeks. This
decree was promulgated in the ghetto
Edict of and the synagogues. After the ex-
Expulsion pulsion the Jews were permitted to
by Maria return to Prague by day for the pur-
Theresa, pose of collecting their debts. The
primator Frankel was held to be chiefly
responsible for this decree, because at the time of
the wars he had won the good-will of the Prussians
and Bavarians by gifts of money. The inhabitants
of the ghetto, who numbered at that time 10,000
persons, presented a petition to defer the date of the

Tbu AltiiLUbcliulB Prague

(Fio a phutog tph )

expulsion on account of the severity of the winter
weather. As the stadtbalter Kolovrat expressed
himself in favor of this jietition, the date was set
for the end of the February following, and was sub-
sequently postponed another month. The Jews left
the ghetto on March 31, and they were not permitted
to return, in spite of the intercession of foreign
princes. Even the petition submitted by the stadt-
balter to permit 300 Jewish families to return was
refused.

Bui after the ghetto had become deserted, and

tlie people be-
gan to tear down
and carry away
portions of the
houses, 301 fam-
ilies received
permission to
live there, in-
stead of the 50
who had been al-
lowed to return
as a result of a
new petition
{Sept., 1748). A
new connnunity
was founded;
and a tax of
204,000 gulden
was imposed, to
be increased at
the rate of 1,000
gulden a year
after five years.
In 1754 a large
part of the ghet-
to was destroyed
by fire; but it
did not materi-
ally affect the
Jews, and sev-
eral stone houses
were built im-
mediately after.
The ghetto re-
ceived a special
magistrate in
1784. In 1788
two Jews grad-
uated as physi-
cians from the
University of
Prague— the first to receive this distinction. In
1790 another Jew received the degree of doctor
of law. The old cemetery in the ghetto was
closed in 1787. Two years later the number of
Jewish families living in Prague was again re-
stricted, and only the eldest son in each family was
permitted to marry. No foreign Jew was pernntted
to move into the city until a vacancy had been
created by death, and unless he pos-
The Jo- sessed at least 20,000 gulden. The
sefstadt. ghetto was called Josefstadt, in honor
of Emperor Joseph II. But in 1848-
1849, when the equality of all citizens, irrespective of
creed, was proclaimed, the Jewish community, which

Prague

TPIE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

158

then numbered S,.')4'3 peisous, was made a part
of the city; in 1850 tlie Josefstadt ceased to be a
township, and since tlien the Jcwisli town ball has
been used lor congregational offices.

The age of the Prague cemetery can not now be
definitely determined, as the oldest tombstones were
destroyed in the massacre of 1389. The first decree
referring to the cemetery dates from the year 1254,
and was promulgated by Przemysl II., who decreed
that the Jewish cemetery should not be damaged
or desecrated. Similar decrees referring to Prague
were issued by Charles IV., Wenccslaus IV., and
Ladislaus. Ac-
cortUug to the
historian To-
mekotPrague,
the greater
part of the
ground c o v -
ereil by this
cemetery was
in the begin-
ning of the fif-
teenth century
laid out in gar-
dens belonging
to Christians.
Down to the
time of the
Hussite wars
the Jews arc
said to have
had another
cemetery,
called the Ju-
deugarten, he-
hind the walls
of the Alt-
stadt, between
Brenntengasse
and Breiten-
gasse; it was
destroyed by
Ladislaus in
117 8. Jews
from abroad
seem to have
been buried
in the latter
cemetery,
and Jews of

Prague in the former, according to a decree issued
l)y Przemysl Ottocar II. (12.54). The Prague cenie-
terv was desecrated in 1389, and again in 1744 after
the departure of the Croatians.

Tlie most noteworthy tombs in this cemetery are
tliose of the following: Abigdor b. Isaac Kara (d.
1439) ; the physician Gedaliali b. Solomon (d. 1486) ;
3Iordecai b. Zemah ha-Kohcn (d. 1591); Mordecai
Meisel (d. 1601); JudahLow benBezaleel (d. 1609);
Hendel, daughter of Eberl Gronini and wife of Jacob
B.\SSEVI (d. 1628; this tomb is of white marble,
with an escutcheon— the lion of Bohemia and tlirce
stars); Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (d. 1655); Simon
"Wolf FranUel Spira (d. 1679). Special parts of tlie
cemetcrv were reserved for the several gilds, as

Interior of the Altnenschule, Prague.

(From a photograpih.)

those of the butchers, tailors, shoemakers, and
musicians.

On most of the tombstones there are symbolical
signs: two hands with spread lingers forakohen;
a ewer, with or without basin, for a Levite; a grape
for an ordinary Israelite. A female figure is tlie
symbol for a virgin, and a similar figure, with arose
in the raised left hand, for a virgin bride. Tliere
are also figures emblematic of the name of the fam-
ily to which the tomb belongs, as a lion, wolf, or
some flower. Czech names also are found there, as
fech, (5erna, 31ara, Vlk, and Sladka. While the

cemetery was
in use, passing
visitors laid
pebbles upon
the graves of
famous per-
.sons, so that
gradually
mounds were
formed ; visit-
ors also left
money on the
graves of their
relatives, as
alms for the
poor who were
too proud ta
beg. In the
eighteenth cen-
tury buildinga
surrounded the
cemetery on all
sides so that it
could not be en-
larged ; in the
Josefstrasse it
has reached the
level of the
second stories
of the houses.
In 1787 it was
closed by order
of Joseph II.
The oldest
constitution of
the hebra kad-
disha is of the
year 1562. One
of the abuses it
was designed to remedy was the blackmail extorted
by the hospital watcluuen, who kept the corpses un-
buried till their claims were satisfied. A fund was
established to which the relatives of the deceased
contributed according to their means. Any balance
was to be devoted to the extension of the cemetery,
to the assistance of other communities, or to provi-
ding fuel for the poor at Passover and Tabernacles.
The oldest synagogue is the Altnenschule, near the
entrance to the cemetery. It is ditH-
The Syna- cult to determine tlie date of the build-
gogues. ing, since its builders did not follow
any certain style. Nine steps lead
fioin the street into a dark vestibule, from which
doors open into a square nave, with black walls

159

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prague

und small Gothic windows. In the center of
I he synagogue there are two rows of pillars run-
ning from east to west, hindering the "view of the
Ark. Within the sj'nagogue proper there is no
space reserved for women; tliey have access, how-
ever, to an outer room. The framework of the roof,
the gable, and the party wall date from the Middle
Ages. On the almcmar there is a scarlet flag bearing
a ■' niagen Dawid " and a Swedish hat, the latter given
as an escutcheon by Ferdinand II. in recognition of
the services of the Jews in the defense of Prague
against the Swedes. The flag was presented to the
Jews by Charles IV. This synagogue was the only
building spared when the ghetto and the "Tandel-
markt " were plundered (No"v. 27-29, 1744). During
the conflagration of 17,j4 the flames reached the
northern side, but were extinguished by the Jews at
the peril of their lives. The name " Altneuschule "
seems to have been given to it after an alteration ef-
fected between 1143 and 1171 by Samuel jMizrahi (see
"Ben Chananja," 1861, No. 11). There was in this
synaa;ogue an organ which was used on Friday eve-
nings (Schudt, "Judische Merckwlirdigkeiten," iv.,
eh. xiv., § 3; vi., ch. xxxiv., § 32).

The Altschule is situated in the district of the
Altstadt, and is separated from the former ghetto
by a row of houses inhabited by Christians. It
seems to have belonged to an Oriental congregation,
and dates at least as far back as the middle of the
f(nirteeuth century, since it is mentioned in the elegy
of Abigdor Kara. In 1389 it was burned by the popu-
lace. Fait of it was again burned in 1516, but it
was completely rebuilt by 1536 and again in 1604.
It was clo.sed by command of the emperor in 1693
because the Jews had built windows in the western
wall, which faced the Geistkirche. Permission to re-
open it was given only in 1703, at the instance of the
cardinal-bishop and the director Samuel Taussig,
after the windows had been bricked up. It was de-
molished by the Croatians in Nov., 1744, and was re-
built by the primator Frankel in 1750. It was again
destroyed by tire in 1754. Down to 1689 there was
kept in this synagogue a curtain which had been
presented to it by R. ]\Iordecai Speyer of Worms in
1227; it was so beautiful as to excite the admiration
of King Ladislaus.

The Pinkas synagogue was built probably toward
the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the
fourteenth century by Phinehas Horowitz, and en-
larged and rebuilt by his descendant Aaron Jleshul-
1am in 1535. It escaped the conflagration of 1754,
and was not rebuilt until 18G2. Down to the middle
of the eighteenth century a portable organ waskept
in this synagogue; it was carried at the head of pro-
cessions and played on festive occasions— for in-
stance, at the birth of Joseph II. (1741). The syn-
agogue contained also relics of the martyr Solomon
>Iolko— a caftan of white linen with an embroidered
border of white silk, and a small red damask flag. _

The Klauss synagogue, the fluest and largest in
the ghetto, was built in the sixteenth century, in
memory of the favor shown to the Jews by Maxi-
milian II. and his wife Maria in going through the
ghetto on foot in 1571. It was partially rebuilt m
1694. In 1741 the Bavarians and Saxons demanded
that it should be turned into a granary, and the di-

rectors had to pay 1,900 gulden to avert the desecra-
tion. Other synagogues that may be mentioned are
the Grosserhof synagogue (so called after the large
court of the Treuenberg house), the Zigeuner syn-
agogue (named after its builder, Salkind Zigeuner),
the Meisel synagogue and the Ilof synagogue (both
built by the primator Meisel ; the last-named syna-
gogue was used by the board of elders, as it con-
nected with the "Rathhaus"), the Popper syna-
gogue, and the Neuschul synagogue (it was the

Wechsler ciasse SvnaguKue, Prague.

(From "Das Prager Ghetto," 1903.)

latest to be built and was the private property of
Gumprecht Duseheues, or Halfan, down to 1754; it
was burned down, and was rebuilt [date not known]
by David b. Low Segal Kuli).

The Jewish " Rathhaus" was built in the sixteenth
century by Mordecai Meisel. At flrst it served chief-
ly for the meetings of the directors of
The the community ; subsequently the ralj-

"Rath- biuical court sat there, after Ferdi-
haus." nand II. had granted to the ghetto, in
1627, a special Jewish magistrate and •
its own jurisdiction ; before this time court was held
in the synagogue. The dial of the large clock in the

Prague

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

160

tower is marked in both Hebrew and Arabic figures.
The bell was recast lu 174.5. The " RatUhaus " now
serves as a general communal building.

The following is a list of the most noteworthy rab-
Ijis of Prague: Abigdorb. Isaac Kara (-1439); Phine-
has b. Jonathan (-1495) ; Isaac Eisig Margolioth
(-1535) ; Jacob Polak (1525-30) i Abraham b. Abigdor
(-1542) ; Judah b. Nathan Sekeln (-1550) ; Isaac Eisig
b. Isaiah of Melnik (1553-83); Low ben Bezaleel (d.

In tile fifteenth century there were in the ghetto

Jews wlio Ivuew no otlier language than Bohemian ;

and there were also Jews, coming from

Social Life Spain, 'who did not know Bohemian ;

and Law. thus there was a community within

the community. Difficulties arose in

spite of the religious freedom which the Jews of

the ghetto enjoyed. In 1537 a Jewish couple is

said to have poisoned at the llrad.schin a Jewish

Interior

"IF THE SY-VAGOGUE AT KiiNIGLICnE WEINEERGE, NEAR PRAGUE.
(From a photogra[Ti.)

1609) ; Solomon Ephraim Lencyz (1004-19) ; Isaiah ha-
Levi Horowitz (1619-21); Moses b. Isaiah Menahem
ilendel of Poland (1621-27); Lipmann Yom-Tob b.
Nathan Heller (1627-29) ; Simon Wolf Auerbaoh (first
Bohemian "Landesrabljiner" ; 1630-31); Joseph b.
Abraliam Kalmankes (1631-37); Aaron Simon Spira
(1610-79): K. Gabriel Eschkeles (1679-94); David
Oppenheim (rabbi and "Landesrabbiner," 1702-36) ;
Moses Isaac b. Jeliiel Michel Spira ( " Landesrabbiner, "
1736-49); Ezekiel b. Judah Lijb Landau (1754-93);
Solomon Lijw Rapoport (1840-67); Dr. Marcus
Hirsch(1880-'<9); Dr. Nathaniel Ehrenfeld (since 1890).

youth bj' the name of Juchym because he intended
to accept baptism. A Jew is said to have dese-
crated the stone cross on the bridge, in 1690; there-
fore a Jew was compelled to inscribe the Tetra-
graramatou upon it in golden letters, to prevent
further desecration. On Feb. 21, 1694, a Jew, with
the aid of a certain Kurzhandel, killed his son,
Simon AbeIjES, because the youth desired to accept
C'hristianit_y. When the deed became known the
father hanged himself; his body was thereupon
dragged through the citv. and his heart was torn
out. The son was solemnlv Ijnried, while the bells

161

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prag-ue

of seventy churches were rung. In order to make
it easier for Jews to accept baptism, a law was
passed to tlie effect tliat converts could not be dis-
inherited by their families,

Tlic Jews of Prague were under their own civil
jurisdiction, and they enjoyed religious liberty; the
"judex Judieorum" was not always a Christian.
Civil cases were decided by the "Judenmeisterge-
richt " ; tlie president of this court generally olliciated
as primator at the same time. The " Judenmei-ster"
and the communal councilors were elected by the
Jews, The court generally sat on Sundays, with

The " Judenmeister " and the elders had charge of the
internal affairs of the gJietto and the collection of
taxes (on account of which a riot occurred before the
council-house in 1503), A "shamraash," a "sehul-
klopfer," a secretary, and a cantor were a.ssigned to
the " Jleisterschaftsgericht," Ritual questions were
decided by the rabbi, whose election was confirraed
by the king and the chamber, and who supervised
the yesliibab, the Talmud Torab, and printing; the
last-named was introduced into Prague as early as
the sixteenth century, the first press being estab-
lished by Gershou ha-Kohen Soncino,

CUUET OF THE BASSEVI HOUSE, PllAO UE,
(From " Dafl Prager Ghetto," 1903.)

open doors. In cases relating to money-lending and
pledges a certain day of aijpearance was set, on
which the bell of the council-house was rung. If
the Christians did not appear on time tbey forfeited
their pledges. In difficult cases the Christians were
permitted to interrupt the proceedings and ai)peal
to anotlier court.

The court before which cases between Jews were
brought was called the "Meisterschaftsgericbt,"
This court had power to impose the following sen-
tences: the minor excommunication (for 8 days); the
intermediate excommunication (for 4 months) ; the
major excommunication (for a longer period); im-
prisonment in the "katzel" (Bohemian, "kocecka").
X.— 11

In pursuance of a decree of Ferdinand II. the court
of the ghetto was divided into two sections— the
lower and the higher court. The lower court, sit-
ting every evening, was presided over by the rabbi;
only minor cases were brought before it; the higher
court, over which the "Landesrabbiner " and an ab
bet din presided, sat only for important cases. The
highest court was that of appeals. The magistracy
was composed of the primator, five justices, six
elders, and twelve associates. Since the time of
Joseph II. the rabbinate has been composed of the
chief rabbi and four associate rabbis. The Jews'
oath, which was required only in the Christian court,
was taken with special ceremonies: the person to

Prague

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

162

whom it was admiDistercd stood with bare feet,
clothed only iu a shirt, on a swine-skiu, with bis right
hand on the Bible and his left on liis breast, while
a second Jew called down upon him all the curses
of the Bible if
he should swear
falsely.

Tl]e Jews were
almost entirely
exchided from
all trades of the
town except
that of butcher-
ing, and they
were not per-
mitted to belong
to any regular
gild, although
the butchers of
the ghetto luul
a gild of tlielr
own, their coat
of arms being
the )ion of llo-
' hernia with the
superseripticin
TtiOC'kasher").
However, the
Jews soon began
to follow other

trades in secret, and iu the beginning of the seven-
teenth century there were Jewish wheelwrights, fur-
riers, hatters, shoemakers, tailors, goldsmiths, and

diamond-cutters. Tlie shoemakers of the ghetto also
iiad a gild of their own, and a gild-cup. Retail trade
and deahng in spices, velvet, damask, silk, or ribbons
were forbidden. The chief source of income of the

Jews, therefore,
was money-lend-
ing. The great-
est dishonesty
prevailed in this-
occupation; the
Jews often re-
fused to return
the pledges, and
the Christians,
after sending
servants to pawn
articles, often
dismissed them
and endeavored
to recover the de-
posited objects
without pay-
ment on the plea
that (he servants
liad stolen them.
The handling
of coin was a
special source of
income, and the
Jews were often
accused of taking good coin to Poland and returning
with inferior coin to Bohemia. They were free to en-
gage in the profession of music, and Jewish musicians

W. l>„|.iie

^€

i^BH^^K^^^^ '<

■R

iMJi

^^i^

i^r-

!^H

iBHatSBKr . i^SH^

Pfp^"

4,'^

wKBS^s^^^^ _^

f^M

HPHr

tT^I^^^^H

■^^

W^^^^^-*

h^=^i^

' l*^ f >

^^H

ml^^^m

ikJ^K^ iH^^^^H

~':^:ZJi

■»-»

^"■^"'^""^

p^^s

"-.-^1

IHHKi

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ttia

•^^'--^

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JE"v\i.-;if rioiETKur o\ Josefstrasse 1 rAdiE

(From " Das Prager Ghetto," 1903.)

Srames-Gasse, Prarue.

(From " Das Prft|,'i;r Ghetto," 1903.)

Prague
Prayer

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

164

often played at banquets in the palaces of the no-
bility.

There were some liquor-saloons kept by Jews in
the ghetto. In 1650 a decree was issued in which
the judges were enjoined to see that working men
did not spend Sunday mornings in the saloons. The
Jews were forbidden, on pain of death, to call them-
selves citizens of Prague. Within the ghetto Jews,
and especially Jewesses, wore the most costly gar-
ments, but outside the ghetto they
Costume, were required to wear their badges.
They had to wear peaked yellow hats ;
and if they wished to wear round hats, a peak had
to be fastened upon the crown. The women were
obliged to wear veils fastened above the forehead,
and were not permitted to wear collars. In 1748
and 1760 it was decreed that the men should allow
the beard to grow, and that strips of yellow cloth
should be worn by men upon the left shoulder and
by women in the hair. The first proclamation
against throwing stones at the Jews is dated 1677.

The Jews of the ghetto of Prague were known
far and wide as excellent firemen. At every siege
the so-called "Rohrkasten" was put in charge of
400 Jews, to be ready in case of fire ; so at all festiv-
ities, as, for instance, at the coronation of Frederick
v., of the Palatinate, as King of J^ohemia in 1619.
Much attention was paid to the education of children.
The names of the most jjrominent Jewish families
of Prague are: Eger, Bondi, Gans, Horwitz, Chajes,
Tausk, JafEe, Landau, Meisel, Epstein, Posner,
Kuranda, and Karpeles; Hock, Wolfy, Wessely
(first Jewish professor in Austria;, and M. I.
Landau deserve particular mention. The popula-
tion of Prague Is 201,589, of whom about 19,000
are Jews. The present (1905) chief rabbi is Dr.
N. Ehrenfeld. The Neusynagoge, the Meiselsyna-
goge, and the Tempelgemeinde have their own
preachers.

BiBLiouRAPHT : S. Hock, Die FamUien Prags, Presburg, 1892 ;
B. Foges, AlterthUmer der Prager Jnse.fstaM, Prague, 1883 ;
Rapoport, Gal 'Ed, lb. 1836 ; M. Frledlander, Lehen und
Wirken der Hervnrragendsten Bahhiniachen Autontdten
Prags, Vienna, 1903 ; Telger, Das Prager Ghetto, Prague,
1903 ; Aronlus, Begesten, pp. 12.5a, 137, 218 ; Schudt, JUdlsche
3Ierclcwilrdigkeiten, vol.iv.; Zunz, S. P.; Honlger ana Stern,
' Das Judenschreinsbuch derLaurenzpfarre, 11. 23, 46, Berlin,
1888: Salleld, Martyrnlogium, pp. 151, 286, 306, Berlin, 1898;
A. Briill, PopuWr-WisKenschaftliche MonatsbUitter, xlv.
30, Franklort-on-the-Maln ; A. Kobn, Die Prayer Juden-
gemeinde, in Kalender und Jahrb. fUr Israeliten S61S,
Vienna; Schobly, Der Feierliche Judenaufzug zu Prafi
im Jdhre 1716, in BOhminche Mnnatsschrift der OeseUschaft
des YaterUlndlichen Museums, 1829 ; G. Wolf, Auto da ft
Jlldischer Bttclier ire Prag 171k, In Stelnschnelder, Hebr.
B'M. vl. 35 ; idem. Tumult Gegen die Juden in Prag, In
Zeit. filr Gesch. der Juden in Deutschland, v. 146; Idem,
Eln FeierJieher Judenaufzug in Prag 1716, In Die Gegen,-
wart, Berliner Wochenscrift fllr Jildische Angelegenhei-
ten, 1867, 1., No. 49 ; Idem, Institutioneii der Alten Prager
Gemeinde, in JUdisches Centralhlatt, v. 120; J. Perles, Die
Judenverjagung am Prag nhU, in Monatuschrift, xv. 231 ;
A. Klsch, Grandeur et Decadence du Ghetto de Prague, in
Arch. Isr. xxlx. 82; Filrst, Ein Klagelied Uber die Pest in
Prag nik, in Geiger's Wiss. Zell. JUd. Thenl. v. 347; G.
Klempner, Das Bahbinat zu Prag 1609-1879, in lllustrirter
IsraditiscUer Volks-Kalender, xxxir.85; M. Grunwald.^p/-
teste Statuten der Prager Israelitischen Beerdigungsl i^-ll-
derschaft, in jadi^chex Centralhlatt, Till. 39 ; G. Freitag,
Bilder a«s der Deutschen Vergangenheit, ill. 393 et seq.,
Leipslc, 1879 ; M. Popper, ies Juifs de Prague, in B. E. J.
xxlx. 127-141, XXX. 79-93 ; Ha-Maggid, xii. 6 ; xv. 4, 11 ; Blr-
kentbal, in Kokebe yizl^dlf, xxiv. 83. -, ^v

D. b. O.

PBAT MAIMON. See Pkat Maimon.
PRAYER. —Biblical Data : From the earliest

epochs recorded in the Bible profound distress or
joyous exaltation found expression in prayer. How-
ever primitive the mode of worship, the individual
is commonly depicted as petitioning or thanking the
Divinity through prayer. Apart from the Psalter,
which is a book of prayer within the Bible, the
Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa are
interspersed with prayers. At least one prayer is
attributed to every great Biblical character from
Hannah (I Sam. i. 10, ii. 1-10) to Hezekiah (II
Kings xix. 15-19).

These individual prayers are independent of ritual
injunction or priestly regulation. They are volun-
tary and spontaneous. Abraham prays for the sal-
vation of Sodom and for the healing
Individual of Abimeleoh (Gen. xviii. 23-33, xx.
Prayers. 17) ; Jacob, for deliverance when Esau
is approaching (Gen. xxxii. 9-12);
Eliezer, that God may prosper his master's mis-
sion (Gen. xxiv. 13-14); Moses, on behalf of err-
ing Israel (Ex. xxxii. 31, 32); Joshua, in the de-
spair that follows the defeat at Ai (Josh. vii. 6-9);
Samuel, when Israel importunes him for a king (I
Sam. xii. 23) ; David, when the duty of building the
Temple Is transmitted to his son (II Sam. vii. 18-
29); Jonah, when in the belly of the great fish
(Jonah ii. 1-9); Daniel, for Israel's restoration from
exile (Dan. ix. 3-19); Ezra, on learning of his peo-
ple's backsliding (Ezra ix. 6-15); Nehemiah, on
hearing of their communal hardships (Neh. i. 4-11).

The building of the Temple naturally invited
public prayer. Indeed, the prayer ascribed to Sol-
omon at its dedication (I Kings viii. 13-53) includes
every form of prayer-adoration, thanksgiving, peti-
tion, and confession. But communal prayer — that is,
liturgy — is hardly found prior to the separation of
Israel and Judah. The first ritual prayers are found
in Deuteronomy (xxvi. 5-10 and 13-15, the former
to be recited on bringing the first-
Counuunal fruits to the Temple, the latter after

Prayer. giving tithes). In connection with
the Atonement-sacrifice, Aaron the
priest lays his hands upon the head of the goat and
confesses-over it " all the iniquities of the children
of Israel" (Lev. xvi. 31). Some words of piayer
probably accompanied most offerings and sacrifices,
and, perhaps, the building of altars (Gen. xii. 8,
xiii. 4). Again, the injunction imposed upon Aaron
and his sons to bless the children of Israel occurs in
a specified prayer-formula — the threefold priestly
blessing (Num. vi. 22-27).

Many portions of the Bible have been incorporated
into the liturgy, though in their original places they
are merely portions of narratives or collections of
precepts. The most notable example is the Shema'
(Deut. vi. 4-9). "Liturgy," then, is a term wider
than "prayer."

It may be inferred that organized service was suf-
ficiently well established in the days of the prophets
of the eighth and seventh centuries to have drifted
into conventionality (comp. Isa. i. 15, xxlx. 13, Iviii.
5). That Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before
his God " (vi. 10), and that Ps. Iv. 17 speaks of
prayer "evening and morning, and at noon," would
indicate the institution of triple daily services,

Tvo^y OF Tombstones ix the Old Cemetery at Prague.

(From Jerabek, " Der Alle Pr:i;,'er Juileii Friedbof.")

A Corner op the old Ji ^m-^ii ( fmetery at Prague.

(From Jerabek, 'I'^-rAlti I rj„. r Juileii tricdhoE.")

Prayer

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

166

though I Chion. xxiii. 80 specifies only morning and
evening. So, too, the mention of grace before ami
alter meat in the New Testament (Matt; xv. 38;
Acts xxvii. 87) leads to the inference that such a
prayer became customary before the close of the
Old Testament canon.

As to the manner of •worship, the chant is prob-
ably older than the spoken prayer (Ex. xv.), even
as verse Is older than prose. ' Later, the musical
embellishments of the service became

Mode of very elaborate. The significance of
Worship, many of the musical terms in the
Psalms is uncertain. The singers
were a gild differentiated by gradations of impor-
tance (see I Chron. xvi., and note the reference to
psaltery, harp, cymbal, and trumpet). Among
tliose that returned to Jerusalem the "two liundred
singing men and singing women" are separately
specified (Ezra ii. 65). It was customary in prayer
to turn towaid the Temple at Jerusalem (I Kings
viii. 88; II Chron. vi. 84; Dan. vi. 11); this atti-
tude may even have been considered necessary to
give validity to tlie prayer. The Israelites prayed
both standing and kneeling. Fasting and weeping
were not unusual accompaniments of petition and
confession, and occasional!}', in times of great dis-
tress, sackcloth and ashes were added, and even
rending of the mantle and shaving of the'head (Job
i. 20). '"

The belief in the objective efficacy of prayer is
never questioned in the Bible. The prayer of Moses
removes the plague from Egypt (Ex. viii. 29, 81)
and heals the leprosy of Miriam (Num. xii. 13, 14).
Both Elijah and Eiisha restore by prayer appar-
ently lifeless children (I Kings xvii. 20; II Kings iv.
83) ; and prayer with fasting and repentance averts
tlie decree of doom against Nineveh (Jonah iii.).
Similar incidents abound throughout the Scriptures.

A. M. H. H.

In Rabbinical Literature : The word " tefil-

lali"is defined as "thought" and "hope" (comp.
'D^pS; Gen. xlviii. 11), as representing the means of
reasoning and discriminating (comp. nPSni; Ex. ix.
4) between good and evil. A tefillah consists of two
parts: (1) Benedictions, or praises of God's great-
ness and goodness, and expressions of. gratitude for
benefits received ; (2) petitions, of either a public or
private character. A tefillah is called a "service of
the heart. " " Ye shall serve the Lord your God "
(Ex. xxiii. 25) is understood as "Ye shall worship
God in prayer." The Patriarchs were the first au-
tliors of pra3-ers, and are credited with instituting
those for the morning, afternoon,, and evening (see
Abudarhara, "I3ibbur Perush ha-Berakot weha-
TefiUot," p. 8a, Venice, 1566). Moseswasthe author
of the phrase, "a great God, a mighty, and a ter-
rible " (Deut. X. 17), wliich was incorporated into the
opening of the 'Amidah(Yer. Ber. vii. 3; Yoma69b).
David and Daniel prayed thrice daily (Ps. Iv. 17;
Dan. vi. 10).

Praying was, however, of a devotional character
and entirely voluntary during the time of the First
Temple. The Davidic hymns sung by the Levites
and the vows of repentance accompanying the sin-
offerings were the only obligatory exercises, though,
according to Maimonides, at least one prayer a day

was obligatory from the time of Moses to Ezra
■(" Yad," Ttfi.Uah-, i. 8). The regulai- daily prayers
oommcnced after the destruction of the First Tem-
ple, when tliey replaced the sacrifices (Hos. xiv.
3:. "render as bulldcks the offering of our lips"
[R. V.]). It appears, liowever, Ihat in Talmudic
times tlie prayers were not recited generally, ex-
cept among the'iniddle classes. It. Gamaliel ex-
empted from prayer husbandmen and working men,
who were represented by- the readers of the congre-
gation (R. II. 35a). The higher class,
* Prayer that is, the scholars, would not be dis-
Substi- turbed in their studies, which they
tuted for considered of superior importance to
Sacrifice, prayers. R. Judah recited his prayers
only once in thirty days (ib. ). - R. Jere-
miah, studying under It. Ze'era, was anxious to
leave his study when the time for prayer arrived ; and
Ze'era quoted, "He that turneth away his ear from
hearing tlie laVf , even his prayer shall be abomina-
tion" (Prov. xxviii. 9; Shab. 10a).

The Talmudists were so occupied with their stud-
ies that they could not concentrate their minds
on the prayers, which they accordingly often read
unconsciouslj'. R. Hiyyab. Ashi said, " Whosoever
is not in a settled state of mind shall not pray."
R. Eliezer exempted travelers from praying for three
days after returning from a journey. R. Eleazar b.
Azariah would exempt almost anybody, on the novel
plea that the prophet Isaiah had called exiled Israel ■
the "afflicted " and "drunken," anda drunkard must
not pray (Isa. li. 21; 'Er. 65a). Raba, who observed
R. Hamnuna lingering over his prayers, remarked,
" They put aside everlasting life [the Law] and con-
cern themselves with the temporal life [praying for
maintenance] " (Shab. 10a). Prayers should not be
considered as a set task, but as petitions to Omnipo-
tence for mercy (Abot ii. 18).

The Jewish monotheistic theory would not per-
mit of any intermediary between God and tlio
prayers of devotees. R. Judah said, "An appeal to
a mortal patron for relief depends on his servant's
willingness to permit the applicant to
Inter- enter; but appeals to the Almighty
mediary in time of trouble do not depend on
Ang'els: the angel Michael' or Gabriel; one
Cabalistic need only c^U upon God. " " Whoso-
View. ever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered " (Joel iii. 5 [A. Y.
ii. 83] ; Yer. Ber. ix. 1). The Cabalists, however,
accepted the symbolic Metathon as the intermediary
who records in the upper heaven man's prayers in
order that they may be reviewed by the Almighty.
In another version Sandelfon (= I,vvdik?^(poc) forms
of the prayers a crown for the Almighty (Zohar,
Wayakhel, 167b).

The cabalists of a later period made direct appeals
to the "mal'ake rahamim " (angels of mercy), which
practise was criticized as contrary to the Jewish
faith. Traces of mediation are found in the Tal-
mud: "Mountains and hills ask mercy for me!
Heavens and earth . . . sun and moon . . . stars
and constellations, pray for me " ("Ab. Zarah 17b) ;
but these expressions are merely figures of speech.
Preparations, based on " Prepare to meet thy God,
O Israel," were made before prayers (Amos iv. 13).

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Prayer

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

168

The pious of ancient times occupied one hour in
preparation for prayer (Ber. v. 1). Ezra's ordinance
required scrupulous washing of the body immedi-
ately before prayer (Yer. Ber. iii. 4). One must be
properly attired. Raba b. Huna put on red gaiters,
another rabbi placed a mantle over his shoulders and
reverently crossed his hands, " like a servant in the
presence of his master" (Shab. 10a). The 'Amidah
is recited standing (whence the term) and facing
the Holy Land (" pray unto thee toward their land " ;
I Kings viii. 48). Those that live in Palestine
" shall pray unto the Lord toward the
Prepaxa- city which thou hast chosen " ; at Je-
tion and rusalem the worshiper shall " spread
Posture, forth his hands toward this house " ;
at the Temple, "before thine altar,"
the Holy of Holies (comp. I Kings viii. 31, 38, 44).
Thus all Israel, at praj'er, turn the face in the same
direction (Yer. Ber. iv. 5).

One shall not mount a platform, but shall pray
from a lowly position, for " Out of the depths have
I cried unto thee, O Lord " (Ps. cxxx. 1). R. Elie-
zer b. Jacob said the worshiper (at 'Amidah) should
keep his feet together, "straight," as do the angels
(comp. Ezek. i. 7; Ber. 10b). He shall spread out
and raise his hands toward the Holy King (Zohar,
Balak, 195b); he shall direct his eyes downward and
his heart upward (Yeb. 105b). During a benedic-
tion he shall bow down, and then arise at the mention
of God's name (Ber. 13a). Thehigherone'srankthe
more lowly should one's conduct be. Thus, the
ordinary worshiper bows at the beginning and end
of the 'Amidah and of Modim; the high priest bows
at every benediction; but the king remains kneeling
until the end of the prayer, as did Solomon (I Kings
viii. 54 ; Yer. Ber. i. 5). At the end of the 'Amidah
the worshiper steps back three paces and bows to
the right and to the left. Abaye and Raba stepped
back in a bowing position ( Yoma 53b). This resem-
bles the custom followed in taking leave of royalty
in ancient times.

R. Judah limited the time during which the morn-
ing prayer may be recited to the first four hours of
the day (Ber. iv. 1). R. Johanan says it is meritori-
ous to worship at dawn, citing, " They
Time and shall fear with the sunshine " (Ps. Ixxii.
Place. 5, Hebr.). The Wetikin (ppini =
"the ancient pious," perhaps identical
with the EssBNBs) watched for the first rays of the
sun to begin the 'Amidah (Ber. 9b, 29b). 'There are
now several societies of Wetikin in Jerusalem who
worship at that hour. They have prepared tables
of the sunrise for the year round from special ob-
servations taken from Mount Olivet. Raba would
not order prayer for a fast-day in cloudy weather :
" Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud that our
prayer should not pass through" (Lam. iii. 44; Ber.
32b).

R. Huna said that the worshiper should have a
regular place for his prayers, like Abraham, who
had a " place where he stood before the Lord " (Gen.
xix. 27 ; Ber. 6b). In the synagogue the elders sit
in the front row, at the back of the Ark, and facing
the people ; the people sit in rows facing the Ark
and the elders ("Yad," Tefillah, xi. 4). The front
row, known as " the mizrah " (the east), thus became

distinguished as the place of prayer for the honored
members of the congregation. The rabbi occupies
the first seat to the right of the Ark, the dayyanim
and learned men sitting next to him, while tlie " par-
nas " (president) occupies the seat to the left of the
Ark, the leaders of the congregation coming next.
The prayers, especially the 'Amidah, should be of-
fered partly in solemn silence and partly in a
plaintive voice (Yer. Ber. iv. 4). One
Solemnity who raises his voice has too little
and faith in the efficacy of prayer (Ber.
Decorum. 24b). R. Jonah prayed in silence at
the synagogue and aloud at home
(Yer. Ber. iv. 1). 'The hazzan, who is the congre-
gational representative (" sheliah zibbur "), repeats
aloud the 'Amidah for the benefit of those who can
not read ; and they respond " Amen " (see Amen).

The duration of prayer is discussed in the Talmud ;
some quote Hannah, who "continued praying" (I
Sam. i. 12). R. Levi deprecates the " talk of lips " ;
other rabbis censure one who prolongs his prayers
and praise him who shortens them. R. Akiba short-
ened his prayers in public and prolonged them in
private (Yer. Ber. iv. 1 ; Ber. 3a, 31a, 32b). The
regular prayers are generally conducted in a con-
gregation of no less than ten adults; and it is highly
commendable to pray in public (Ta'an. 8a), but
where it is inconvenient to join the congregation
the prayers are recited in private. Women as well
as men are under obligation to pray (Ber. iii. 3).
Girls are discouraged from praying. The Talmud
classes among useless creatures "a praying girl, a
gossiping widow, and a truant boy " (Sotah 22a).

One who prays for others will be answered first,
and will be relieved himself if in the same need,
for "the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when
he prayed for his friends " (Job xlii. 10 ; B. K. 92a).
Moses is credited with praying for sinners, that they
might repent, referring to he "made intercession
for the transgressors " (Isa. liii. 12 ; Sotah 14a). In
times of trouble, when a fast-day is ordered, the
people go out to the cemetery to seek the interces-
sion of the dead (Ta'an. 16a; see Death in Rab-
binical Literature).

The efficacy of prayer is emphasized in many

ways. When Isaiah went to Hezekiah with the

message, " Set thy house in order : for

Efficacy thou shalt die " (Isa. xxxviii. 1), Heze-
of kiah answered, "Ben Amoz, finish thy

Prayer. prophecy and go ! 1 have a tradition
of my forefather [David] that even
when the edge of the sword touches the neck one
shall not stop praying for mercy " (Ber. 10a). R.
Hanina b. Dosa was celebrated for effecting cures
by his prayer ; he could tell whether his efforts would
prove successful, and would say, " This patient will
live," or "This patient will die." He judged by
"the fruit of his lips": when the prayer flowed
freely from his mouth, it augured success; when
otherwise, it meant failure. It is related that R.
Johanan b. Zakkai relied more on R. Hanina than
on himself when prayers were needed for his sick
child, assuring his wife, "Although I am greater
in learning than Hanina, he is more efficacious in
prayer ; I am, indeed, the prince, but he is the stew-
ard who has constant access to the king " (Ber. 84b).

169

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prayer

Another story concerns R. Gamaliel, who sent
messengers to Hanina requesting him to pray for
his son. Hanina ascended to the garret, prayed,
and came down, telling the messengers that the
crisis had passed. They noted the time, and found
that at that hour the patient had recovered and
demanded food (Yer. Ber. v. 5).

The prayer of one who is the righteous son of
one who is righteous is more efficacious than the
prayer of the righteous son of a wicked man. R.
Isaac said, " The prayer of tlie righteous is compa-
rable to a pitchfork ["inj?; comp. "iny'1 = "en-
treated " ; Gen. xxv. 21] ; as the pitchfork changes the
position of the wheat so the prayer changes the dis-
position of God from wrath to mercy " (Yeb. 64a).
R. Isaac was of the opinion that prayer could even
reverse the high judgment, though R. Eleazar did not
think it could reverse a j udgment already decreed (R.
H. 18a). The same R. Isaac says that tlie reading of
theShema' before retiring is like a two-edged sword
against demons (Ber. 5a; Rashi ad loc). R. Judah
says that prayer can change the sex of the embryo
as if it were " clay in the potter's hands. " Rab says
Dinah was originally a male, whose sex was changed
by the prayer of Rachel. This, however, is contra-
dicted in the Mishnah, which characterizes any ex
post facto prayer as " a vain effort " (Ber. ix. 3; 60a).
Prayer is valued higher than sacrifice (Ber. 33b).
The prayer of the poor is as worthy as that of Moses
and even more efficacious (based on Ex. xxii. 27 and
Ps. xxii. 24; Zohar, Wayishlah, 168b). Prayer,
when offered with intensity, is as flame to coal in
uniting the higher and lower worlds (Zohar, Wa-
ya^hel, 213b). Prayer is a part of Providence ; it is a
panacea for all ills ; it must, however,
Sig- be harmonious in word and spirit, like
nificance of poetry with music (" 'Ikkarim," iv. 16,
Prayer. 20, 33). " God is not less omniscient
because we are taught to pray to Him,
nor is He less good because He awaits our humilia-
tion before He grants us relief ; but we must assure
in general terras that the expression of our wants in
prayer is one of the duties incumbent on us, in com-
mon with all others ; a test whether we are obedient
and thereby deserving the divine favors, or whether
we are obdurate and therefore deserving the con-
tinuance of the evil which afflicts us, as a just rec-
ompense for our transgressing in not recognizing
the divine Power, in whose hand alone our enlarge-
ment is placed " (Leeser, " Discourses," x. 30). .

The authorship and compilation of the prayers, at
least of the Sheraa' and its benedictions, the Shemo-
neh 'Esreh, and the Birkat Sheba', are credited to 130
elders, among them more than 80 prophets (Yer. Ber.
ii. 4 ; comp. Meg. 13b). Simeon ha-Pakoli arranged
the Shemoneh 'Esreh in the presence of R. Gamaliel
at Jabneh ; Samuel ha-Katan added thereto the bene-
diction, known as "We-la-Malshinim," against the
Sadducees (Ber. 38b) and for the extinction of wha.t
were considered anti-Jewish sects, whom the Phari-
sees feared as dangerous to Judaism. The 'Amidah
nevertheless retained the original name of Shemoneh
'Esreh. Various explanations are advanced for
the number "eighteen" (Yer. Ber. iv. 3). It is not
known whether the prayers were originally taught
orally or were committed formally to writing;

evidently they were recited by the people from mem-
ory for a long time, perhaps as late as the geonic
period.

The first benediction in the Shemoneh 'Esreh is
called " Birkat Abot " ; the second relates to resur-
rection ; the third is the Kedushshah.
Shemoneh. The three concluding benedictions
'Esreh.. are: Rezeh (on the restoration of
Zion) ; Modim (on gratitude to God) ;
and Sim Shalom (a prayer for peace). The inter-
mediate thirteen benedictions are solicitations for
public and personal welfare. The abridgment of
the thirteen benedictions is known as "Habinenu,"
and reads as follows : (1) "Grant us, O Lord our God,
wisdom to learn Thy ways ; (2) subject our hearts
to Thy fear; (3) forgive our sins; (4) redeem us; (5)
keep us from suffering ; (6) satisfy us with the prod-
ucts of Thy earth ; (7) gather our dispersed from all
quarters; (8) judge us in Thy faith; (9) punish the
wicked; (10) reward the righteous; (11) rebuild
Thy city and reconstruct Thy Temple ; (13) let the
royalty of David Thy servant flourish, and continue
the generations of Jesse's son. Thy anointed; (13)
anticipate our call by Thy answer. Blessed be the
Lord who barkens to prayer " (Ber. 29a). This is
the epitome of the nineteen benedictions. Accord-
ing to R. Akiba, if one is pressed for time, or if for
other reasons one is unable to fully recite the bene-
dictions, one may use this abridgment (Ber. iv. 3, 4).
Every 'Amidah is preceded by the first three, and
concluded by the last three benedictions. On Sab-
baths and holy days the intermediary thirteen bene-
dictions of Shemoneh 'Esreh are omitted and replaced
by one benediction bearing on the special occasion.

R.' Johanan says one may pray all day. Others
are of the opinion that the permissible number of
prayers is limited to three, and on a fast-day to four,
including Nb'ilah (Ber. 31a, 31a). R. Samuel b.
Nahamani says the three prayers are for the three
clianges in the day: sunrise, noon, sunset (Yer.
Ber. iv. 1). It is advised that Shaharit, Minhah,
and Ma'arib should be recited ; never-
Number of theless, the Ma'arib prayer is not ob-
Prayers. ligatory. The Zohar distinctly says
that the evening is not opportune for
prayer (Zohar, Wayehi, 339b). This, however, re-
fers to the 'Amidah and not to the Shema' and its
benedictions (see Ma'akib). The Shema' of the
morning is preceded by two benedictions and con-
cluded by one ; the Shema' of the evening is pre-
ceded by two and concluded by two, making al-
together seven benedictions, fulfilling the verse,
" Seven times a day do I praise thee " (Ps. cxix. 164;
Ber. lib). The Shema', with its benedictions be-
ginning with Baraku, was subsequently joined to
the 'Amidah. These in turn were preceded by
liymns based on the verse, "Serve the Lord with
gladness: come before his presence with singing"
(Ps. c. 2). These hymns are called "Pesuke de-
Zimra" (verses from the Psalms), and consist of
excerpts from the Scriptures, principally from the
Psalms. On Sabbaths and holy days more hymns
were added. The hymns begin with Baruk she-
Amar and close with Yishtabbah. This conclu-
sion contains thirteen categories of prayers: song,
praise, hymn, psalm, majesty, dominion, victory.

Prayer
Pi-ayer-Books

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

170

grandeur, might, renown, glory, holiness, and sov-
ereignty, corresponding to the thirteen attributes of
God (Zohar, Terumah, 132a).

The preliminary benedictions were later added to
the Shaharit service. Then were interpolated read-
ings from the Pentateuch, Mishnah, and Gemara,
based on the Talmudic saying : " One should divide
liis time into three periods: Scripture, Mishnah, and
Talmud" (Kid. 80a). Still later many other ad-
ditions, extensions, and embellishments were in-
cluded, among them being the Adon '01am and the
'Alenu (in the 16th cent.).

The Shemoneh 'Esreh was followed by Wehu
Eahum, a kind of selitiah (for Mondays and Thurs-
days), and by Wa-Yomer Dawid (daily, except ou
semi-holy days). The veise " Wa-Yomer Dawid "
<II Sam. xxiv. 14) is the preface to the "tahnun"
beginning with Rahum we-Hannun, and contain-
ing Psalm vi. and other Scriptural passages. This
tahnun is a " silent " prayer, and is said in a muffled
voice, with the face turned downward and resting on
the arm, to resemble the posture of Moses and of
Joshua (Deut. ix. 18, 35; Josh. vii. 6; see Meg. 23b;
B. M. 59b). This is followed by Ashre (Ps. cxlv.)
and U-ba le Ziyyon, 'Alenu, and the psalm of the
day, as they were recited by the Levites in the Tem-
ple (Tamid vii. 4). The Ani Ma'amin, or the thir-
teen articles of faith according to Maimonides, is
part of the additions at the close of the Shaharit
prayer. See, further, Minhah Pkater and Ma-
'akib.

The Sabbath prayers begin on Friday evening
with Kabbalat Shabbat, composed of six psalms —
xcv. toxcix., and xxix. — representing the six week-
days. Next comes the piyyut Lekah Dodi. This
poem, composed by Solomon ha-Levi Alkabiz (1539),
is based on the words of Hanina, "Come, let us
go out to meet the Queen Sabbath" (Shab. 119a); it
is concluded by Ps. xcii. and xciii., followed by
Ma'arib. We-Shameru (Ex. xxx. 16,

Sabbath. 17) is recited before the ' Amidah. The

Prayers, main benediction of the 'Amidah is
the Atta Kiddashta, etc. The haz-
zan's repetition of the 'Amidah is Magen Abot, a
digest of the seven benedictions (Shab. 34b ; Raslii
ad lot. ; " Yad," Teflllah, ix. 10). The second chap-
ter of Shabbat, Ba-Meh Madlikin, is read, followed
by the 'Alenu. Kiddush is recited in the synagogue
by the hazzan for the benefit of strangers.

Sabbath morning prayers commence as on week-
days. Of the hymns, Ps. c. is omitted, its place
being taken by Ps. xix., xxxiv., xc, xci., cxxxv.,
cxxxvi., Xixxiii., xcii., xciii. Nishmat is a rem-
nant of the mishnaic period (Ber. 59b ; Ta'an. 6b) ;
also El Adon, with the alphabet as the initial letters
of the verses (see Zohar, Wayakhel, 105b).

The seventh intermediary benediction of the
Shaharit 'Amidah begins with Yismah Mosheh.
Berik Shemeh (before taking out the Scroll from
the Ark) is from the Zohar, and contains the sen-
tence: "We depend not on a man nor do we trust
in a Son-God, but in the God of heaven, who is the
true God." The YekumPurkan, composed in Baby-
lon in Aramaic, is similar to the Mi she-Berak, a
blessmg for the leaders and patrons of the syna-
gogue. The Sephardim omit much of the Yekum

Purkan. Ha-Noten Teshu'ah is a blessing for gov-
ernment officials.

The main benediction of Mdsap, Tikkanta Shab-
bat, is composed of words in reversed alphabetical
order. When the New Moon falls on Sabbath, Atta
Yazarta is substituted. En ke-Elohenu follows,
which the Sephardim recite every day. The Shir ha-
Yihud and An'im Zemirot are credited to R. Judah
ha-Hasid of Ratisbon. The main benediction of the
Minhah 'Amidah is the Atta Ehad, of vvhich there
were two versions (see Seder of Amram Gaon, p. 30a) ;
the three verses at the conclusion, Ps. cxix. 1, Ixxi.
19, xxxvi. 7, are references to the deaths of Moses,
Joseph, and David, each of whom died on a Sabbath
afternoon (Zohar, Terumah, 278; comp. Seder
Amram Gaon, I.e.). Ibn Yarhi says they refer to
the wicked who are released from Gehinnom on
Sabbath and return thereto in the evening ("Ha-
Manhig," 33b). Since, therefore, these verses refer
to mourning they are omitted when tahnun is
omitted on week-days.

After Minhah, during the winter Sabbaths (from
Sukkot to Passover), Bareki Nafshi (Ps. civ., cxx.-
cxxxiv.) is recited. During the summer Sabbaths
(from Passover to Rosh ha-Shanah) chapters from
the Abot, one every Sabbath in consecutive order,
are recited instead of Bareki Nafshi. The week-
day Ma'arib isrecited on Sabbath evening, concluding
with Wihi No'am, We-Yitten Leka, and Habdalah.'

The New Moon is announced with a blessing on
the Sabbath preceding it. Yom Kippub Katan is
recited on the day before New Moon. Ya'aleh we-
Yabo is inserted in the Shemoneh 'Esreh of New
Moon. Hallbi. is given after the 'Amidah. The
Musaf service contains the main benediction of Mi-
Pene Hata'enu and refers to the New Moon sacri-
fices in the Temple.

The services for the three festivals of Passover,
Pentecost, and Sukkot are alike, except the special
interpolated references and readings for each indi-
vidual festival. The preliminaries and conclusions
of the prayers are the same as on Sab-
The Three bath. The 'Amidah contains seven
Festivals, benedictions, with Attah Beha'rtanu
as the main one. Musaf includes Mi-
Pene Hata'enu, with reference to the special festi-
val and Temple sacrifices on the occasion. The sac-
erdotal blessing on the pulpit or platform of the Ark
(" Dukan ") is pronounced by the " kohanim " after
Rezeh in the 'Amidah. On week-days and Sabbath
the priestly blessing is recited by the hazzan after
Modim. In Palestine the Dukan is pronounced by
the kohanim every day ; in Egypt it is pronounced
every Saturday.

The New-Year service begins with the prelimi-
nary prayers for Sabbath and holy days. There
are interpolations in the 'Amidah referring to the
New-Year's blessings. The main benediction be-
gins with Ube-ken, praying for the recognition of
God's power, the restoration of the Jewish state, re-
ward of the righteous and punishment of the wicked,
and universal theocracy. The prayers for the Day
of Atonement are similar to those for New-Year's
Day, but with special references to the significance
of the day. The AViddui (confession of sins), begin-
ning with 'Ashamnu and Al-Het, is repeated in

171

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prayer
Prayer-Books

«very 'Amidahand, in an abridged form, at Ne'ilah.
Tlie Mahzor contains many extra piyyufim for these
lioly days, the best linown being Kol Nidrb (for
the eve of Yom Kippur) and the 'Abodah (for Mu-
«af). The Tahiiud declares that individual -wor-
shipers may shorten the long 'Amidah of Rosh ha-
Shanah and of Yom Kippur (Yer. Ber. i. 5 ; R. H. 35a).
There are no special prayers for either Hanukkah
■or PuRiM, except those connected with the lighting
of the Hanukkah lamp and the singing of Ma'oz Zur
and Hallel after Sha^arit on the Maccabean festival,
and the reading of the Scroll of Esther, vfith some
special yozerot in Shaharit, on Purim. There are
special references in the 'Amidah at Modim to both
Hanukkah and Puiim. Examples of private devo-
tions are to be found in Baer's " ' Abodat Yisrael,"
p. 163. See Devotional Litebaturb.

In regard to the language of the prayers, R.
Judah preferred the vernacular Aramaic for all
petitions concerning personal needs.
Praying' R. Johanan, however, preferred He-
in the Ver- brew, because " the attending angels
nacular. pay no attention to Aramaic " (Shab.
13b).' Maimonides asserts that the use
of foreign languages by Jews exiled in Persia,
Oreece, and other countries from the time of Nebu-
chadnezzar caused Ezra and his synod to formulate
the prayers in pure Hebrew, so that all Israelites
might pray in unison (" Yad," Teflllah, i. 4). How-
ever, private prayers in Aramaic were later inserted
in the prayer-book ; and Saadia Gaon included some in
Arabic. Since the sixteenth century the prayer-book
las been translated into most European languages.

The terminology of the prayers is the key to the
investigation of their antiquity. In a number of in-
stances the phrases are almost identical with those
found in the New Testament; e. g., " Abinu she-ba-
shamayim " = " Our Father in heaven " ; " May His
great name be extolled and hallowed," "may He es-
tablish His Kingdom " (in the Kaddish) =: " Hallowed
be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come " ; " We will sanc-
tify Thy name in the world as they sanctify it in the
highest. heaven" (in the Kedushshah) = "Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven." " Give us this
day our daily bread " was a common prayer among
the Talmudists. See Benedictions; Liturgy;
JIahzor; Piyyut; Selihah; Yozbb; Zemirah.
BrBLiOGRAPHT : Maimonides, Y-fuJ. Tetllah \ SMhhole ,ha-LR-
fccf , §8 1-54, ed. Buber, Wilna, 1886 ; Ibn Yarlii, Ha-ManMg,
ed.' Goldberg, Berlin, 1855; Sbulhan 'Aruk, Orah JJayyini,
89-134; Albo, 'll<lcarim; 'Arama, 'Akedat Fijfiafc, gate 58 ;
Zunz, O. V. pp.'366 et seq.; Stelnschrieider, JewixU Litera-
ture. §§ 6, 19, London, 1857 (Hebr. ed., Sifrut Yisrael, pp.83-
90, Warsaw, 1897) ; Isaac Leeser, Dismuraes, pp. 29-82, Phila-
delphia, 1868; D. Oppenheim, In Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1845,
Nos. 2^; H. Gruedallah, Ohservatiniix on the Jewish Ritual
of the Present Time, London, 1885 ; Kohler, The PsaVms and
Their Place in the Liturgy, Philadelphia, 1897; Elboeen,
Oesch.des Achtzehngebets, Breslau, 1903; F. Perles, Dos
Gebet, 1904.

E. c. J. D. E.

PBAYER-BOOKS : The collection, in one book,
of the year's prayers for week-days. Sabbaths, holy
days, and fast-days is generally known as the
" Seder Tefillot, " or simply the " Siddur. " The first
compilation known of the Jewish book of common
prayer is that of Amram Gaon, principal of the
yeshibah of Matah Mehasya in Babylon (846-864).
This prayer-book was extensively used and referred
to by the early authorities, as Rashi, the tosafists.

Asheri, and Caro. The "Seder Rab Amram," as it
was called, was the basis of all subsequent prayer-
books. Azulal thinks that the disci-
First pies of Amram wrote this siddur

Prayer- ("Shem ha-Gedolim," ii. 48a). Inter-
Book, polations were made, however, not
only by Amram's disciples but also
by others in later periods. Amram is quoted {ib. ii.
26a); so are Saadia Gaon and other geonim who
lived after Amram's death. The language of some
of the later interpolations is not in the geonic style.
Nevertheless, the siddur as a whole still retains the
original system of Amram Gaon.

Amram's siddur is interspersed with decisions
from the Talmud and with notes of customs pre-
vailing in the yeshibot of Babylon. The text, with
the exception of the benedictions, is somewhat
abridged. But between the divisions or chapters
there are many midrashic excerpts, accompanied by
individual ^addishim, that are omitted in the subse-
quent prayer-books. " Seder Rab Amram " is nearer
the Sephardic than the Ashkenazio minhag. The
contents of the siddur are: Shaharit (morning
prayer), Ma'amadot, Minhah, Ma'arib (omitting the
'Amidah), the Shema' before sleep, selihot for Mon-
days and Thursdays, prayers for Sabbath and close
of Sabbath, New Moon, Blessing of New Moon,
fast-days, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, Haggadah,
Pentecost, Ninth of Ab, New-Year, Yom Kippur,
Sukkot, order of the 'erub, circumcisions, and wed-
dings, and also prayers for travelers, occasional
prayers, and mourners' benedictions.

The second part consists of a collection of seli-
hot by. later authors, divided into fifteen ma'ama-
dot" for the fifteen nights preceding Rosh ha-
Shanah, and hymns and yozerot (piyyutim) for
Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. Amram's sid-
dur, which remained in manuscriptoverl,000 years,
was first published at Warsaw in 1865 from a He-
bron manuscript purchased by N. N. Coronel.

Saadia Gaon, principal of the yeshibah of Sura
(938-942), was the compiler of another prayer-book,
preserved in a manuscript found at his birthplace,
Al-Fayyum, in Egypt. The manuscript includes
two prayers composed by Saadia, and translated into
Arabic — one by Saadia himself and one by Zemah
b. Joseph (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS."
cols. 1096, 2197, 2350).

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) gives the order of
prayers for the whole year in the " Seder Tefillot
Kol ha-Shanah," at the end of the second book of
the " Yad." It is identical with the Sephardic min-
hag. This text, with a German translation, was
published by Leon J. Mandelstamm, at St. Peters-
burg, in 1851.

The most important early compilation of the

prayers is the " Mahzor Vitry, " which was the basis

of the Ashkenazic minhag introduced by the French

rabbis in 1208 ; it was first published

" Mahzor by the Mekize Nirdamim, and was

Vitry." edited by Simeon Hurwitz (Berlin,
1893). The " Mahzor Vitry " is ten
times as voluminous as the "Seder Rab Amram,"
■ which is frequently referred to. Saadia and other
geonim are also quoted. As in the earlier compila-
tions, the decisions of the Talmud and codes are em-

Prayer-Books

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

17»

bodied before the subject-divisions of the text. Here
occur, probably for the first time, the compilation
of " hosh'anot " (p. 447) and of " zemirot " (songs,
hymns) for various occasions (pp. 146, 177, 184), a
parody for Purim (p. 583), and a valuable collection
of " shetarot. " The piyy u^im are listed in a separate
" kontres " edited by H. Brody (Berlin, 1894).

Rabbi Elhanan (13th cent.) is credited with the
compilation of "Seder Tikkun Tefillah" (Tos. Ber.
60b). Jacob Asheri (14th cent.), in Tur Orah Hay-
yim, compares Amram's, the Sephardic, and the
Ashkenazic siddurim (§ 46). Jacob Landau, in his
" Agur " (15th cent.), speaks of the Italian, Castilian,
and Spanish siddurim. There were also the Roma-
gna siddur and the Minhag France, the latter, very
similar to the Ashkenazic ritual, being used in Car-
pentras, Avignon, Lisle, and Cologne. The prin-
cipal differences are between the Ashkenazic ritual
and the Sephardic ritual. The Minhag Ashkenaz,
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was
used throughout Bohemia, Poland, Moravia, White
Russia, and Lithuania ; the Minhag Sefarad was used
in Spain, Portugal, and the Orient;

Various the Italian rite is identical with the
Minhagriin. Minhag Romi, to which the Minhag
Romagna likewise is very similar.
The divergence among these rituals was mainly in
the piyyutimand appended prayers. The traditional
prayers and benedictions were not changed, except
that the Sephardim used a few more adjectives and
a profusion of cabalistic synonyms. Prom the time
of the Ashkenazic cabalist Luria, the Hasidim used
the Minhag Sefarad in many sections of Russia, Po-
land, Galicia, and Rumania, and the Karaite siddur
forms a special division in the Jewish liturgy.

The first printed prayer-book appears to be the
Minhag Romo of Soncino (1486), called "Sidurel-
lo." In the colophon the printer says: "Here is
completed the sacred work for the special minhag
of the Holy Congregation of Rome, according to the
order arranged by an expert " ; the date
First given is the 2d of lyyar, 5246 (= April

Printed 7, 1486). There is a unique copy of
Copy. this siddur in the S ulzberger collection
at the Jewish Theological Seminarj' of
America, with the addition of t)ie Haggadah.

The first prayer-book of the Minhag Sefarad is
curiously entitled "Temunot, Tehinnot, TefiUot"
(Reflections, Devotions, and Prayers) ; it was pub-
lished at Venice in 1534. As early as the sixteenth
century the prayer-book had become too bulky to
handle. In a siddur of that time the publisher apol-
ogizes: "Observing that the material in this work
is constantly increasing, that it is attaining the size
of the Shulhan 'Aruk . . . and has become too
cumbersome to be carried into the synagogue, the
present publisher, with a pure heart, decided to
print the siddur in two volumes, the first to contain
the daily prayers, and the second the prayers for
the holy days. This arrangement will enable one
to purchase either part, as he may desire " (Roest,
"Cat. Rosenthal. Bibl." i. 734).

The Karaite siddur was first published in Venice
in the sixteenth century, in four volumes, for the
use of the congregations in Crimea, Poland, and
Lithuania. Two centuries later it appeared at Chu-

fut-Kale, with additional piyyutim, one for every
Sabbath, suited to the parashah (by Judah Gibbor,
in 3 vols.).

At the end of the seventeenth century the pub-
lishers became careless in printing the prayer-books.
Many printer's errors crept in, as well as mistakes.
in grammar, more especially in the Ashkenazic sid-
durim. An effort was made to remedy the evil, and
the first corrected text was edited by Nahman Lie-
baller and published at Dyhernfurth in 1690. He
was followed by Azriel and his son Elijah Wilna,
in the 1704 edition of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Solo-
mon Hanau, a well-known Hebrew grammarian,
made some radical corrections in the 1725 edition of
Jessnitz. Mordecai Diisseldorf made more moderate
correctionsin his edition, Prague, 1774, and criticized
the extreme views of Hanau. Perhaps the best-
corrected text was in the edition of Isaac Satanow,
Berlin, 1798. Thus the eighteenth century may be
credited with the effort to correct the text of the
prayer-book; this, however, was not fully accom-
plished until the nineteenth century, with the editions
of Wolf Heidenheim and S. Baer. From a literary
point of view, Jacob Emden's siddur was the best
produced in the eighteenth century.

The first translation of the prayer-book, the Min-
hag Romi, in Italian with Hebrew characters, was
published at Bologna in 1538 (Spanish, Ferrara,
1552; Judaeo-German, by Elijah Levita, Mantua,
1562). The author explains that. the translation is
intended for the women, that they too may under-
stand the prayers. The first English translation
was by Gamaliel bbn Pedahzuk (a pseudonym ;
London, 1738). The real name of the author was
concealed from the leaders of the Jewish community
of London, who would not sanction

Transla- the English translation. The print-
ticus. ing in England of the second English
translation, by Isaac Pinto, was simi-
larly opposed, and the translator had it printed by
John Holt in New York, in 1766. The first French
translation was printed by M. Ventura, at Nice, in
1772-73, and the first Dutch translation at The
Hague, in 1791-93. To facilitate the handling of
the prayer-book it was issued in various sizes and
fol:ms, from folio to 32mo, and in varying numbers
of volumes. The "Siddur Magna," used by the
hazzan, is known as " Kol Bo. " Occasional prayers
were published separately. They form a very inter-
esting collection, from both the religious and the
historical point of view. One prayer is entitled:
" A form of Prayer ... on the day appointed for
a General Fast . . for obtaining Pardon of our
Sins and for imploring . . . God's Blessing and
Assistance on the Arms of His Majesty . . . To-
gether with a Sermon preached on the same day by
Moses Cohen d'Azevedo " (Hebrew and English,
London, 1776). This appears to refer to George III.
and the American Revolution.

Below is a partial list of the principal prayer-books,
first editions, in chronological order. 'The initial
following the year of publication identifies the min-
hag : A = Ashkenazic ; S = Sephardic ; I = Italian ;
R = Romagna ; F = French ; K = Karaite. For
the terms denoting the various forms of prayers
.see PiYYUT ; Liturgy.

^yjf (ffi^i'^fft^ 'AJaJj^ptPJ^^ j'j'jij*/tmj» ^jjrf/ff^/xfj >J.c^

f.t^^^M/^fi£>;j'A '^'jJpV^ fsJ^Iu J3?>J>^^ffl ''^fj^f'-U

«— ^j

;V/J»; ^■i^/ ^^^ -7^ yJ^x^/i^ #6|l»?a/ ^^M^/'^/'pf'fJ'^^-^-^^

&&2J ' 'V'Vy'illJ KkPP'(P¥v^ff Sjylv &'Mfnf yPA/^/* .yJMfJ^JtJ •

0l * "^-^

Colophon Pagk of thk Siddur Rab Amram, Written in 1506 at Trani.

(From the Sulzberger coHecLioa ia the Jewish Theolofjical Seminary of America, Nuw York.)

Prayer-Books

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

174=

14S8. (I) Sidurello. Soncino. (Stelnschneider, " Cat. Bodl." No.

20«1.)
1490? (A) Teflllah mi-Kol hsuSlianah. (Zedoer, "Cat. Hebr.

Books Brit. Mus." p. 459; Steinschneider, I.e. No.

2386.)
1495? (A) TeflUali mi-Kol ha-Sbanah. Soncino? (Zedner, I.e.;

Steinscbnelder, I.e. No. 2387.)
1508. (A) Teflllah ml-Kol ba-Sbanab. Pesaro. (Zedner, I.e.;

Steinscbnelder, I.e. No. 2063.)
1510. (R) Seder TeflUot ba-Slianab. Constantinople. (Berliner,

" Aus Meiner BiWiothek," No. 1.)
1512. (A) Teflllah mi-Kol ha^.^hanab, with Haggadah. Prague.

(Steinscbnelder, I.e. No. 2084.)
1534. (S) Temunot, Tehlnnot, Teflllot Sefarad, with Piyyut and

Pizmon. Venice. (Zedner, I.e. p. 485.)
1525. (S) TeflUot, including Abot, with commentary, Ma'aribot,

Yozerot, etc. Trino. (Steinschneider, I.e. No. 2068 ;

Berliner, I.e. p. 62.)
1528-29. (K) Seder ha-TeflUot ke-Minbag Kebal harKara'im, in

4 vols. Venice.
1.537. (I) Teflllah mi-Resbitwe-^Ad Aharit ba-Sbanah. Bologna.
1538. (I) TeflUot Latine (Italian, in Hebrew characters). Bo-
logna.
1552. (I) Libro de Oracyones de Todo el Afio. Ferrara.
1555. (S) Order de (Jraciones de Mes Arreo s. sin Boltar de Una

a Atra Parte. Ferrara.
1560. (A) TeflUot mi-Kol ha-Shanah, designated as a new work ;

with cabalistic commentary by Lipman Miihlhau-

sen, and the "Shir ba-Yihud" of Judab ba-Hasid

of Ratisbon; edited by Napbtali Herz Trevo.

Tbiengen.
1562. (A) TeflUot, with Judaeo-German translation, and Psalms

with translation by Shalom b. Abraham. Mantua.
1571. (A) TeflUot, with Haggadab, Hosba'uot, Yozerot, Selihot,

and commentary by Zebi b. Enoch Zundel and Mor-

decai Koppelmann. Lublin (2d ed., with calendar

for seventy years, Cracow, 1592) .
1573-76. (B) TeflUot. Reprint of the Venice edition of 1524, by

order of Abraham Yerushalini. Constantinople.

1578. (A) Teflllot, with Parasbiyyot, Yozerot, the " Shir ba-

Yihud," Psalms, Ma'amadot, Kinot, decisions, and
customs. Cracow.

1579. (A) Teflllot, with Parasbiyyot, Yozerot, Selihot. Basel.
16(X). (R) Teflllot (known also as "Hazania sbelRomana"),

with devotional prayers, including a prayer entitled
" Bet ha-Lewi " by Elijah ha-Levi. Venice.

1622. (S) TeflUot (in Hebrew and Spanish). Venice.

1644. (S) Teflllot ; daily prayers, and prayers for fast-days and
holy days. 4 vols. Amsterdam.

1649. (I) TeflUot. Verona.

1650. (A) TeflUot, with Judaso-German translation. Amsterdam.
1658. (S) TeflUot; edited by Benveniste. Amsterdam.

1681. (A) TeflUot, with Psalms, Kimhi's commentary, Minhagim

of Isaac Tyrnau, etc. Amsterdam.
1688. (A) 'Abodat ba-Bore ; edited by Akiba Baer. Wllhelms-

dorf (2d improved ed., Sulzbacb, 1707).
1690. (A) TeflUot, with grammatical corrections by Nahman

Lieballer. Dvhernfurth.

1695. (S) Order de las Oraciones Cotidianas . . . Calendano.

Amsterdam.

1696. (A) Teflllah le-Mosheh, with Judaeo-German translation.

Dessau.

1699-1700. (A) Keter Yosef, with Psalms, and commentary by Is-
rael b. Moses Darsban. Berlin.

1700. (A) Derek ba-Yasbar (text without vowels), with caba-
listic annotations by Jacob Napbtali. Berlin.

1703. (A) Teflllot, witbJudEeo-Germantranslatlonanddevotions
for women by Eliakim Schatz of Kamarno. Amster-
dam.

1703. (A) Derek Yesharab, with Psalms, and Judaeo-German

translation entitled " Sha'ar ba-Yir'ab.'' Franklort-
on-tbe-Oder.

1704. (A) Derek Siah lia-Sadeh,Yom Klppur Katan ; grammatical

corrections by Azrlel and bis son Elijah of VVilna,
and a special article, " Ma'aneb Eliyahu," on the
correct Hebrew pronunciation. Frankfort-on-thc-
Main.

1709. (A) Or ha-Ya.sbar, with cabalistic interpretations and in-
troduction, " 'Ammude ha^'Abodab," by Melr Pa^
piers. Amsterdam.

1712. (S) Bet Teflllah, with cabalistic interpretations by Isaac
Luria and tradition by Moses Zacuto. Edited by M.
R. Ottolenghi. Amsterdam.

1717. (A) Sha'are Sham ayim, with commentary by Isaiah Hur-
witz, author of the " Shelab." 4 vols. Amsterdam.

1725. (A) Korban Mlnhab, Ma'aribot, Psalms, etc. 3 vols. Am-
sterdam.

1725. (A) Bet Teflllah, with appendix entitled "Sha'are. Tefll-
lah " ; grammatical corrections by Solomon Hauau.
Jessnltz.

1727. (A) Yad Kol Bo, with introductions, Mahzor, Selihot,
and readings for the whole year. Edited by David
b. Aryeh LOb of Lida. 5 vols. Frankfort-on-tbe-
Main.

1734. (K) TeflUot. Reproduction of the Venice edition of 1528-
1529, with piyyutim by Judab Gibbor. 3 vols. Chu-
fut-Kale.

1737. (S) net Teflllah and Shabbat Malketa, appended to Mish-

nayyot. Amsterdam.

1738. (A) The Book of Religion ; Ceremonies and Prayers of the-

Jews ; translated by Gamaliel ben Pedahzur. Lon-
don.
1741. (A) Bet Rahel and Sha'ar Hallel-Yah, with an introduction.

by Naphtali Cohen, rabbi of Posen. Amsterdam.
1744. (S) TeflUot, with cabalistic interpretation (Luria's iriethod)

and cabalistic commentary by Raphael Emanuel

Recci. Zolkiev.
1744-47. (A) Bet El, Perek Shirab, Hazot, SeUhot, Tikkunim.

Psalms, with introduction by Jacob Emden. Altona..
1760. (A) Teflllot, with English translation by B. Meyers and A.

Alexander. London.
1764. (S) Hesed le- Abraham, Abot, and cabalistic commentary

by Abraham b. Tubiana. Smyrna.
1767. (F) Seder ha-Tamid ; edited by E. Carml. Avignon.

1771. (S) TeflUot. Daily prayers, and prayers for New- Year,

YomKippur, holy days, and fast-days. 5 vols. Am-
sterdam.

1772. (S) Order de las Oraciones Cotidianas, by I. Nieto. London.
1772-73. (S) Prieres Journalieres, by M. Ventura. 4 vols. Nice.

1773. (S) Teflllot, with English translation by A. Alexander.

London.

1774. (A) Teflllot; revised and corrected by Mordecai Diissel-

dorf, with appended kontres of criticism on the sid-
dur of Solomon Hanau. Prague.
1781. (S) TeflUot, with cabalistic annotations from Vital's " 'Ez
Hayyim " ; edited by Aryeh b. Abraham. Zolkiev.

1784. (A) TeflUot ; edited by Wolf Frankel, David Tausk, and

Sflssmann Gluno ; approbation by Rabbi Ezekiel
Landau. Prague.

1785. (A) Wa-Ye'tarYizhak; edited by Isaac Satanov. Berlin.

1786. (A) Gebete der Juden, with abridged German translation

in Hebrew characters by David Friedliinder, and

with Abot. Berlin.
1788. (S) TeflUab, with Luria's cabalistic interpretations ; edited

• by Asher Margolioth. Lemberg.
1789-93. (S) Teflllot, with English translation by D. Levi. 8

vols. London.
1791-93. (S) Geheden der Portugeesche Jooden, Door een Joods

Gnootschap uit 'het Hebreeuwsch. 4 vols. The

Hague.
1794. (S) 'Abodat ha^Tamid, with cabalistic commentary by

Elisha chavillo. Leghorn.
1798. (A) To'ome Zebiyah ; revisedby Isaac Satanow; with Ger-
man translation by D. Friedliinder. Berlin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Steinschneider, Cat. BoclL cols. 295-.514 ; Zed-
ner, Cat. Hebr. Bookn Brit. Mus. s.v. Liturgies; Neubauer,
Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. s.v. Liturgies ; Roest, Cat. Boseii-
thal. Bibl. s.v. Liturgie ; Lowy, Catalogue of Hebraiea and
Judaica in the Library of the Corporation of the City of
London, s.v. Litwgies; Berliner, Alts Meiner Bih}iotheli,
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1898 ; Lehren, Catalog, pp. 187 et seq.,
Amsterdam, 1899.

Many of the old editions were reprinted in the
course of the nineteenth century; these usually in-
cluded additional matter with notes. A marked im-
provement in the grammatical form of the prayer-
book was achieved in the " Safah Berurah, " edited
by Wolf Heidenheim (RSdelheim, 1833), which be-
came the standard text. Heidenheim intended to
issue a special edition entitled "Halakah Berurah,"
with a German translation and notes, similar to his
celebrated Mahzor; the latter work, however, and
other literary matters, took up all his time. The
siddur "Hegyon Leb " by L. Landshuth, and H.
Edelmann's commentary "MekorBernkah " (KOnigs-
berg, 1845) were the first attempts at scientific inves-

_ f '{rmrr'f ^r-Ss^rJinrw? yrro t^flo-i^ trwh

-r ^"13:^? 7^1'^W3 ^Ji35 'r^Sh ^pfiU-* ^M3S

Illuminated First Page of a Siddur, Written by Abraham Farissol, Ferrara, 1538.

(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Prayer-Books

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

176

tigation into the origin of the prayers in the siddur.
Seligman Baer, who had access to Ileidenheim's
additional notes, some old manuscripts, and the old
editions of the various siddurim, by
Baer's editing the " ' Abodat Yisrael " (ROdel-
"'Abodat heim, 1868) gave to the world the
Tisrael." siddur par excellence. The author in
his preface acknowledged the assist-
ance rendered by Leopold Zunz and R. Solomon
Klein through various suggestions and explanations.

A few examples of Baer's emendations will give
an idea of his method: In the benediction "Shelo
'Asani Goi " he changes " goi " to " nokri " (= " non-
Jew "), because in Biblical Hebrew "goi " means "a
people " (p. 40). In the benediction " We-la-Malshi-
nim " of the ' Amidah, in place of " Kol 'ose rish'ah "
(all evil-doers) he inserts the old rendering "ha-
minim," which he thinks is derived from " ha-ine'an-
nim " (refusers; Jer. xiii. 10) — Jews who refuse to
recognize their religion. He argues against the ren-
dering "'ose rish'ah," because nearly all men do
evil sometimes. The author does not dare to make
anj' change in the 'Amidah, so he gives both ver-
sions, leaving the choice between them to the read-
er's discretion (p. 93). In the 'A-bodah, from the
passage, "They bowed, prostrated, thanked, and
fell on their faces," he omits the word "u-modim"
as an error, and shows the origin of this error in the
1580 Salonica edition of the Mahzor, whose editor
followed unconsciously the 'Alenu. The commen-
tary is entitled "Yakim Lashon," and gives ref-
erences for the verses and quotations, compares the
variations, and adds grammatical corrections as to
form, vowels, and accents, concise explanations of
the text, and a digest of the customs and regulations
regarding the order of the prayers. The siddur
contains the prayers for the whole year, the para-
shiyyot-readings for week-days and semiholy days,
ma'amadot, Abot, Perek Shirah, yozerot, selihot;
and the Psalms (special part), prefaced by an explana-
tion of their accents. In the yozer to Shabu'ot, Baer
shows that "keren afelah" (point of darkness) is a
euphemism for Clermont, in Prance, and refers to
the Crusade of 1095 (p. 758). The siddur contains
804 quarto pages, besides the Psalms.

Next in importance is the siddur " 'lyyun Tefil-
lah," by Jacob Zebi Mecklenburg, rabbi of KSnigs-
berg (1855). He followed the method of his own
commentary, "Ha-Ketab weha-Kabbalah," on the
Pentateuch (Leipsic, 1839), in which he endeavored
to show that the whole of tradition was contained in
the text of the Torah. The author's lucid style and
the free use of German paraphrases helped to make
clear the meaning of the conventional terms of the
Hebrew prayers. He aimed at the highest devotional
expression, but in several cases the result is too far-
fetched, as in the instance in which he endeavored
to define each of the sixteen synonyms of "Emet
we-yazzib." The author's "opening words" be-
fore prayer and the pouring out of the sinful soul
before Yom Kippur (end of siddur) are fine speci-
mens of his Hebrew.

The siddurim "Nahora ha-Shalem" (Wilna and
Grodno, 1837), "Seder Tefillat Yisrael" (with "De-
rek ha-Hayyim," voluminous notes on the customs
and regulations pertaining to the various seasons of

the year in connection with the prayers ; compiled
and edited by Jacob Lissa, Zolkiev, 1828), and the
"Korban Minhah" and the "Bet Eahel" were in
common use during the nineteenth century, and
were extensively reprinted.

All these were of the Minhag Ashkenaz. The
Sephardim, save for the English translations of the
old text, were inactive. A new Sephardic minhag,
in a sense a mixture of both the Ashkenazic and
Sephardic, was edited by Jacob Kopel Lipschiltzof
Meseritz, in two parts (Slobuta, 1804). This edition
was used by the Hasidim in Volhynia and Ukraine.
There were no less than six versions of the so-called
" Siddur Nusah ha-Ari " (Luria) when Israel BeShT
adopted the original Sephardic minhag (see Rodkin-
son, " Toledot 'Ammude Habad," p. 31, KOnigsberg,
1876). The siddur of the Jews of Southern Arabia
(Jerusalem, 1894, 1898) also forms part of the
Sephardic "minhag" (Bacher, in "J. Q. R." xiv.
581-621).

The translations of the prayer-book into various
languages multiplied. In addition to Italian, Span-
ish, Judfeo-German, German, English, French, and
Dutch translations that were earlier than the nine-
teenth century, there appeared "Teflllot Yisrael," a
Hebrew text with Hungarian translation edited by
M. Rosenthal and M. Bloch (Presburg, 1841); a
Hebrew and Danish edition was prepared by A. A.
Wolff (Copenhagen, 1845); Hebrew and Polish, by
Hirsch Liebkind (Warsaw, 1846) ; He-
Transla- brew and Bohemian (Vienna, 1847).
tions. The Form of Daily Prayers (Minhag
Sefarad) was translated into Mahrati
by Solomon Samuel and Hayyim Samuel, with a
prayer, in Hebrew verse and Mahrati, for Queen
Victoria (Bombay, 1859). A Rumanian edition,
"Rugaciunile Israelitor," was edited by N. C. Pop-
per (Bucharest and Vienna, 1868). A Russian trans-
lation was made by Joseph Hurwitz, rabbi of Grodno
(Wilna, 1870; a better edition, with introduction,
by Asher Wahl, Wilna, 1886). " Izraeliticki Molit-
venik " is a Croatian translation by Caro Schwartz
(Agram, 1902; see Bloch's " Wochenschrift," 1902,
p. 167). All these translations, with the exception
of the Mahrati, are of the Ashkenazic minhag.

The Karaites published various editions of their
prayer-book (3 vols., Chufut-Kale, 1806; 4 vols.,
Eupatoria, 1836; 4 vols., Vienna, 1854). Their latest
siddur is much abridged (in one volume); it was
edited by Joshua b. Moses Razon Sirgani, for the Con-
gregation of Karaite Israelites in Egypt, by authority
of the Karaite bet-din at Eupatoria in 1898 (ed.
Budapest, 1903). A very interesting discovery was
the "Seder Tefillot ha-Falashim," prayers of the
Falasha Jews of Abyssinia (Ethiopic text with He-
brew translation by Joseph Halevy, Paris, 1877).
The text was procured by Zerubbabel b. Jacob ; the
prayers were composed or compiled by Abba Sakwin
(flpD) in the thirteenth century. The book contains
a prayer by the angels and a prayer at sacrifices.
Another old liturgy is that of the Samaritans, trans-
literated into Hebrew by M. Heidenheim (Leipsic,
1885 ; comp. " La Llturgie Samaritaine, Office du
Soir des Ffetes," by S. Rappoport, Paris, 1900).

In America the " Seder ha-Tefillot " of the Sephar-
dim appeared with an English translation by 8. H.

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Z.-12

Page fkom the Baer Siddur, Eodelheim, 1868.

Frayer-Books

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

17»

Jackson (New York, 1826). A much improved Se-
phardic siddur, "Sifte Zaddikim," was edited by
Isaac Leeser in Philadelphia In 1887 (2d ed. 1846).
The Ashkenazlm satisfied themselves with the Euro-
pean editions, some of which they republished in
New York, although Leeser published also, with an
English translation, the daily prayers of the Ashke-
nazic ritual.

In England the English translation of the prayer-
book received various improvements during the
nineteenth century. The best edition of the Sephar-
dic ritual is that of D. A. de Sola, revised by the
haham Moses Gaster (ed. London, 1901), and the
best edition of the daily prayers of the Ashkenazim
was published for the United Hebrew Congregations
of the British Empire, authorized by Chief Rabbi
N. M. Adler (2d ed., London, 1891). The cost of
production was defrayed by Mrs. Nathaniel Monte-
flore, and the book sold at one shiUing. The text
was corrected from the Baer edition; the translation
is by S. Singer. The low price of the siddur in-
duced a large exportation to America. More re-
cently A. Davis and H. N. Adler have begun a
Service-Book for the Festivals, with an English ver-
sion and with metrical translations of the piyyutim
by Israel ZangwiU and others (London, 1904).
Reform Ritual: The first Reform prayer-
book for public divine service was the "Seder ha-
' Abodah, Minhag Kehal Bayit Hadash " (" Ordnung
derOeffentlichenAndachtfur die Sabbath und Fest-
tage des Ganzen Jahres, nach dem Gebrauche des
Neuen Tempel-Vereins "), in Hebrew and German,
for Sabbath and holy-day services. The reading
began from the left side of the siddur, and the He-
brew was pronounced in the Sephardic style. The
siddur was edited by S. I. FrSnkeland I. M. Bresse-
lau and dedicated to Israel Jacobson (Hamburg,
1818). Previous to this edition there were several
prayer-books in more or less abridged form, In tlie
vernacular, but, being intended for pri-
Tlie Ham- vate devotion, these aroused no opposi-
burg New tion on the part of the Orthodox Jews,
Temple as did the " Hamburg-Tempel-Gebet-
"Ge- buch." On Oct. 26, 1818, immedi-
betbuch.." ately after the holy days, the Ham-
burg rabbinate, consisting of Baruch
b. Me'ir Ozers (ab bet din), and Moses Jaffe and Jehiel
Michel Speier (dayyanim), protested against and
denounced it in all the synagogues of Hamburg.
Their objections were mainly to: (1) the abridg-
ment of the Hebrew text ; (3) changes in the text ;
(3) substitution of translations for parts of the
prayers; (4) abolition of the silent prayer; (5) elim-
ination of various references to the restoration of
Palestine and to the Temple sacrifice of the future.
There was no change in the references to the res-
urrection of the dead ; the changes in the text were
mainly directed against the belief in the Messiah and
in the restoration of the Jewish state and the Tem-
ple sacrifice. Thus, in the benediction before
Shema', in place of "O bring us in peace from
the four corners of the earth and make us go up-
right to our land," was substituted, "Have mercy
on us, O Lord our God, and bring us blessing and
peace from the four corners of the earth." In the
Musaf prayer, in place of "and Thou hast com-

manded us to bring the additional offering of the
Sabbath. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God, to
lead us up in joy into our land, where we will
prepare unto Thee the offerings that are obligatory
for us," etc., the following occurs: "Thou hast
commanded Moses on Mount Sinai to prepare the
additional offering of the Sabbath. Therefore, may
it be Thy will, O Lord, to accept in mercy the ut-
terings of our lips instead of our obligatory sacri-
fices." These changes, however, were inconsistent
with portions of the text left Intact, such as: in the
'Amidah, "Let our eyes behold the return in mercy
to Zion"; in "Ya'aleh wc-Yabo," "The remem-
brance of the Messiah the son of David " ; and in
the Musaf of the holy days, " On account of our sins-
were exiled from our land . Thou mayest again
in mercy upon us and upon Thy Sanctuary speedily
rebuild it and magnify its glory." The 'Abodah,
reciting the mode of sacrifice in the Temple by the
high priest, was included in the Musaf of Yom
Kippur. These contradictions, perhaps, can be ex-
plained by the desire of the leaders of the new move-
ment to avoid too strong an opposition to apparent
flaws in the Jewish ritual.

The interdiction of the Hamburg rabbinate con-
fined the use of the new prayer-book to a very nar-
row circle, even among the members of the Reform
party; and this led to conservative modifications in
the second edition, entitled " Gebetbuch f lir die Oef-
fentliche und Hausliche Andacht der Israeliten"'
(Hamburg, 1841), by the restoration of some of the
Hebrew sections and the week-day prayers, and omis-
sion of the benediction " We-la-Malshinim " of the
'Amidah. But these modifications were insutficient
to satisfy the Orthodox party, and Isaac Bernays, the
hakam-rabbi of Hamburg, on Oct. 11, 1841, promul-
gated an anathema against the use of the Reform,
prayer-book and stigmatized it as " frivolous " and
as designed to deny " the religious future promised
to Israel " (religiOs-verlieissene Zukunft "). On the
other hand, Samuel Holdheim and Abraham Geiger
expressed their approval. Geiger even wished that
the Hamburg Temple prayer-book contained less.
Hebrew, since it is not understood by the wor-
shipers. He desired more radical changes in the
text, but disapproved the Sephardic pronunciation.
Zacharias Frankel approved tlie changes in the piy-
yutim and would have allowed the omission of sac-
rifice references, but he criticized the other changes.
Frankel opposed the omission of "O cause a new
light to shine upon Zion " from the benediction be-
fore Sliemu', notwithstanding that it is omitted from
the siddur of Saadia Gaon. Frankel argued that
it is not a question of legality but of sentiment, and
pointed out the danger of affecting the national and
historical spirit of Judaism by changing the form of
a prayer which is recited by the Jews all over the
world. He also criticized the inconsistency created
by eliminating "Restore the priests to their service,
the Levites to their song and psalmody," while leav-
ing the references to the prayer for the rebuilding
of the Temple.

Evidently Frankel's criticism took effect. At any
rate Geiger's view regarding the Reform prayer-
book occasioned a pronounced reaction. Geiger's.
own " Seder Tefillah Debar Yom be-Yomo " (" Israe-

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Prayer-Books
Prede stination

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

180

litisches Gebetbuch fur den OeffentlicheQ Gottes-
dienst in Qanzen Jahre," Breslau, 1854) is certainly
less radical than either edition of the Hamburg
Temple prayer-book. Geiger's siddur reads from
right to left and contains almost the

Geiger's whole Hebrew text of the prayers.

Siddur. Indeed, the changes are so few and
insignificant that it could easily pass
for an Orthodox prayer-book. There are even the
benedictions for zizit and phylacteries in the week-
day service, including Minhah and Ma'arib. In
the benediction " We-la-Malshinim " "slanderers,"
"evil-doers," and "the arrogant" are changed to
"slander," "evil," and "arrogance." Nearly all
the references to the Messiah and the restoration
remain untouched. The Musaf for Sabbath con-
tains the words "and the additional offering of the
Sabbath-day we will prepare [omitting "and offer
up "] unto Thee in love," etc. The siddur has also
the prayers for the close of Sabbath, including " We-
Yitten Leka." In the New -Year's prayer is in-
cluded the Shofar service, and the Musaf Yom Kip-
pur has nearly the complete list of the " Al-Het."

The Reform ritual of the Hamburg Templetwas
carried over to England, where D. W. Marks edited
a " Seder ha-Tefillot," on Reform lines, for the West
London Synagogue of British Jews (London, 1841).
The Orthodox Jews, more especially of the SejJhar-
dic branch, condemned the innovation,
In England and Haham Raphael Meldola and
and Chief Rabbi Herschel published an in-

America. terdict against the new prayer-book
on May 10, 1841, characterizing it "a
great evil," "an abomination " which should not be
brought into a Jewish home. Br*, while checked in
England, Reform developed in Germany, the second
edition of the " Gebetbuch flir Jlidische Reformge-
meinden " appearing at Berlin in 1853.

Reform prayer-books in America were published
soon after 1850: L. Merzbacher's " Seder Tefillah "
(New York, 1855; 3d ed., S. Adler, 1863); Wise's
" Minhag America " (Hebrew and English, and He-
brew and German; Cincinnati, 1857); Einhorn's
" 'Olat Tamid " (Hebrew and German ; Baltimore,
1858); Benjamin Szold's "Kodesh Hillulim" (He-
brew and German; ib. 1863). The authors of the
American prayer-books were extremely radical in
the abridgment of the Hebrew text and In elim-
inating all references to a personal Messiah, the
restoration, and the resurrection of the dead, and in
place of "resurrection," "immortality" was some-
times substituted. For example, in the 'Amidali,
instead of " Go'el " (Redeemer) was substituted " ge-
'ulah " (redemption) ; and for " mehayyeh ha-metim "
(who quickenest the dead) was substituted "me-
hayyeh ha-kol " (who vivifiest all things [Adler's
ed.]), or "mehayyeh nishmat ha-metim " (whokeep-
eth alive the souls of dying mortals [" Minhag Ameri-
ca"]), or " notea' hayye 'olam be-tokenu " (who hast
implanted within us immortal life [Einhorn ver-
sion, adopted in "The Union Prayer-Book"]). A
curious error occurs in the English translation in the
" Minhag America " : the words " zorea' zedakot "
(He soweth righteousness) are rendered "the arm
of justice"— "zorea' " being mistaken for "zeroa' "
(see Ciocinnati Conference revision, 1873).

Marcus Jastrow collaborated with Benjamin Szold
in the revision of the latter's prayer-book, and edited
" 'Abodat Yisrael " for the synagogue and "Hegyon
Leb " for the home (1870, with English translation).

David Levy's " 'Abodat ha-^^odesh," for the Con-
gregation Beth Elohim, Charleston, S. C. (1879),
retains th©;- phrase "mehayyeh ha-metim," which
he renders! " who granted eternal life to the dead."
Isaac S. MflSes' "Tefillah le-Mosheh" (Milwaukee,
1884) is largely devoted to a revision of the trans-
lation. Joseph Krauskopf 's " Service Ritual " (Phil-
adelphia, 1888; 3d ed. 1893) claims to preserve only
the "spirit" of the prayers; he omits even the
Patriarchal benediction. The book consists chiefly
of readings and choral chants.

Perhaps the most radical prayer-book is Joseph
Leonard Levy's "Book of Prayer" (Pittsburg, 1903;
see D. W. Amram in "Reform Advocate," 1903, p.
544). Einhorn's "'Olat ha-Tamid," with emenda-
tions and English translation by E. G. Hirsch (Chi-
cago, 1896), has become a recognized authority in
the Reform liturgy of America.

The standard Reform prayer-book is the " Seder
Tefillat Yisrael " (" The Union Prayer-Book for Jew-
ish Worship " ; edited and published by the Central
Conference of American Rabbis; 3 vols., Cincin-
nati, 1895). Part i. contains prayers for the Sab-
bath, the three festivals, and the week-days; part
ii. contains prayers for New- Year's Day and the Day
of Atonement. This prayer-book has more Hebrew
than other American Reform prayer-books. The
pi'ayer for mourners occupies a prominent place, as
do the silent devotions. It contains also "The
Blessing of the Light " for Hanukkah
"The (on Sabbath eve), readings from the
Union Torah and Haftarah (translations).

Prayer- selections from the Scriptures, and

Book." recitations. It has no Musaf prayer.
" Abinu Malkenu " is recited on Rosh
ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. "Our Father, our
King ! inscribe us in the bopk of life, " is paraphrased
" . . help us to lead a good and pure life." "In-
scribe us in the book of redemption and salvation "
does not occur, though the Hebrew appears there
unchanged. The Yom Kippur service is divided
into five parts: Evening, Morning, Afternoon, Me-
morial, and Concluding Prayers.

By 1905, ten years after its publication, "The
Union Prayer-Book " had been adopted by 183 Re-
form congregations, and 63,384 copies had been
issued.

Bibliography : Fiirst, in Orient, 1842, pp. 231-232 (enumerates
fourteen distinct works on the subject of the Hamburg Reform
Prayer-Book) ; Zeitung des judenttmms, 1842, No. 8 ; Holz-
man, 'Emelf Befa'tm, New York, 1865 ; Emanuel Schrelber,
Reformed Judaism, pp. 131-156, Spokane, 1892.
A. J. D. E.

PBAYER-MOTIVES. See Music, Syna-

GOGAL.

PKEACHING. See Homimtics.

PRECEDENCE : Priority and preference given
to individuals as a matter of established rule or eti-
quette. The superiority of the husband over his
wife was recognized when God said to Eve, "He
[Adam] shall rule over thee." The male was pre-
ferred to the female, and the first-born son received

181

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prayer-Books
Predestination

a double share of the iuheiitance. The issue of
a bondwoman was considered of a lower class
(Gen. xxl. 10). Class distinction was established in
Egypt, where all of the tribe of Levi were set free
from bondage (Ex. R. v. 30), and where its members
preserved records of their pedigrees (Num. R. xiii.
10). The Le vites were given charge of the Sanctuary
(Num. xvili. 1). Aaron headed the family of priests.
Thus three classes were formed— the Kohanim, the
Levites, and the Israelites. These divisions re-
mained, nominally, after the Temple
Classes was destroyed. Precedence was still
and Banks, given to the Kohen, after whom came
the Levite, and then the Israelite ; this
order was observed in choosing those who were to
read in the synagogue the weekly portion of the
Pentateuch (Git. v. 8 ; see Law, Reading from the).
The Kohen is entitled to precedence in the reading
of the Torah and in saying grace, and he receives
the best portion at the meal (Git. 59b). The Israel-
ites are ranked as follows: the learned men who
are the officers of the community; after these,
learned men who deserve to hold such positions
(candidates); next, the leading men of the congrega-
tions; then the common people (Git. 60a; Shulhan
'Aruk, Orah Hayyim, 136). Men of authority who
render decisions precede those who are learned in pil-
pulistic argumentation ("Be'er Heteb," ad loc).

Order of precedence according to the baraita runs
as follows: (1) one anointed with the sacred oil
(king) ; (3) the high priest ; (3) one anointed for bat-
tle (field-commander) ; (4) the substitute high priest ;
(5) the chief of the guard (of the Temple "ma'a-
mad ") ; (6) the chief of the bet din ; (7) the trus-
tee of the Temple ; (8) the treasurer of the Temple ;
(9) the ordinary priest; (10) the Levite; (11) the
Israelite; (12) the bastard; (13) the Nethinite (see
Josh. ix. 37); (14) the" ger" or proselyte; (15) there-
leased slave (who has embraced Judaism). This
order holds good only where there is equality in
learning; otherwise the learned bastard precedes the
ignorant high priest (Tosef., Hor. ii. [ed. Zucker-
mandl, p. 476] ; comp. Yer. Hor. iii. 5). " The ha-
kam precedes the unlearned king because when a
hakam dies he leaves a vacancy ; but when a king
dies any Israelite is fit to succeed him. . . . The
king precedes the high priest ; the high priest pre-
cedes the prophet " (Hor. 13a).

It was the custom that the younger girl should
not marry before her elder sister (Gen. xxix. 36).
A public marriage ceremony has precedence over
a public funeral, and a reception to the king pre-
cedes both. King Agrippa, however, gave way to
the bridal procession at the crossing of the highway
(Ket. 17a). In the synagogue, if there

ISIarriage be present both a bridegroom and a
Pre- mourner, the bridegroom and the

cedence. wedding-party leave first, and the
mourner with the consolers afterward
(Tos. Ket. ad loc). The bridegroom sits at the head
of the table (M. 5. 38b), and has priority over others
in the honor of reading the Torah. The bridegroom
who marries a virgin precedes one who marries a
widow; but one who marries a divorcee ranks after
both ("Be'er Heteb" to Orah Hayyim, 136, 1).

The ancient custom at meals was to recline on

couches. The highest in rank sits at the head of
the table; the next in rank, at the upper end; next,
at the lower end. R. Johanan said, "The host
breaks the bread and the guest says grace." The
washing of the hands before meals begins with the
highest in rank and ends with the lowest. The
washing of the fingers after meals begins with the
highest, provided there are no more than five persons
present; if there are more, the washing begins with
the lowest and proceeds upward, until the fifth
person from the head is reached ; then the highest
in rank washes, followed by the second, third,
fourth, and fifth (Ber, 46a, b). Brothers sit accord-
ing to age (Gen. xliii. 3, Rashi).

On dangerous roads the lowest in rank goes first.
Thus Jacob, fearing the vengeance of Esau, ar-
ranged that the handmaids with their children
should precede Leah and her children, who went be-
fore Rachel and Joseph, though Jacob himself cou-
rageously headed all (Gen. xxxiii. 1-3). The man
must not follow the woman. "Rather follow a
lion than a woman." R. Nahman called Manoah an
" 'am ha-arez " because he " went after his wife "
(Judges xiii. 11; Ber. 61a). Aaron was always to

the right of Moses. When three per-

Wben sons are walking together, the superior

Traveling, walks in the middle ; the next in rank

on his right, and the other on his left
('Er. 54b). Women ride behind men, as is evident
from the case of Rebekah, who followed Eliezer
(Gen. xxiv. 61). While Rabbah b. Huna and Levi
b. Huna b. Hiyya were on a journey the latter's
donkey moved in front of the former's. Rabbah,
being higher in rank, was offended by the apparent
slight until R. Levi apologized and spoke of a new
subject "in order to brighten him up " (Shab. 51b).
When two camels meet, the one more heavily laden
hastheright of way (J. Briskin, "Taw Yehoshua',"
p. 72, Warsaw, 1895). According to another au-
thority, no order of precedence should be observed
on the road or on a bridge, or in the washing of un-
clean hands (Ber. 47a). At the lavatory the one who
enters has precedence over the one who comes out ;
at the bath-house the order is reversed (J. Briskin,
I.e. pp. 31, 32). In ascending stairs or a ladder the
highest in rank ascends first ; in descending, he goes
down last. On entering a piison the lowest in rank
enters last. The host enters the house first and leaves
last (Derek Erez, iii.). In the case of ransom the
order runs: the mother, oneself, the son, the father,
the religious teacher (Tosef. ii.). See Etiquette;
Gkbeting, Pokms of.
E. c. J. D. E.

PRECENTOR. See Hazzan.

PRECIOUS STONES. See Gems.

PREDESTINATION : The belief that the des-
tiny of man is determined beforehand by God. " Pre-
destination " in this sense is not to be confounded
with the term "preordination," applied to the moral
agents as predetermining either election to eternal
life or reprobation. This latter view of predestina-
tion, held by Christian and Mohammedan theologians,
is foreign to Judaism, which, professing the prin-
ciple of Fees Will, teaches that eternal life and
reprobation are dependent solely upon man's good

Predestination
Pieexistence

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

182

or evil actions. It is in regard to the material life,
as to whether man will experience good fortune or
meet adversity, that Judaism recognizes a divine
decision. According to Josephus, who desired to
present the Jewish parties as so many jjhilosophical
schools, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes were
divided on this question. The Pharisees held that
notall things are divinely predestined, but that some
are dependent on the will of man ; the Sadducees
denied any interference of God in human affairs ;
while the Essenes ascribed everything to divine pre-
destination ("B. J." ii. 8, § 14; "Ant." xiii. 5, § 9).

In this controversy the real point at issue was
the question of divine providence. As followers of
Epicurus, the Sadducees, according to Josephus,
held that all the phenomena of this world are due
to chance and they denied the existence of a divine
providence. The Essenes attributed everything to
the will of God, and, exaggerating the conception
of divine providence, denied to man any initiative.
The Pharisees, fully aware that predestination pre-
cludes free-will, adopted a middle view, declaring
that man is subject to predestination in his material
life, but is completely free in his spiritual life. This
■view is expressed in the teaching of R. Akiba (Abot
iii. 15) : " All is foreseen, yet freedom is granted " ;
and in the similar saying of R. Hanina, " All is in
the power of God, except the fear of God " (Ber.
33b ; Niddah 16b). Another saying of Hanina's is,
"A man does not hurt his finger in this world unless
it has been decreed above " (Hul. 7b). Similarly it
is said, " The plague maj' rage for seven years, and
yet no man will die before the appointed hour"
(Sauh. 29a; Yeb. 114b).

The most striking example of predestinarian be-
lief found in the Talmud is the legend concerning
Eleazar ben Pedat. This amora, being In straitened
circumstances, asked God how long he would suffer
from his poverty. The answer, received in a dream,
was, "My son, wouldst thou have Me overthrow
the world?" (Ta'an. 35a); the meaning being that
Eleazar's poverty could not be helped, he having
ibeen predestined to be poor.

Some later doctors of the Talmud admitted an-
other kind of predestination, which widely differs
from the old doctrine ; this is the belief that every
person has a particular star with which his destiny
is indissolubly bound. Rabba said,
Connection "Progeny, duration of life, and sub-
V7itli sisteiice are dependent upon the con-,
Astrology, stellations " (M. K. 38a). This astro-
logical predestination seems to have
ibeen admitted because it solved the ever-recurring
question, " Why does a just God so often permit the
wicked to lead happy lives, while many righteous
are miserable?" However, whether man's destiny
be regulated by a providential or by an astrological
predestination, it can sometimes, according to the
Rabbis, be changed through prayer and devotion.

The discussions that arose between the Asn'AEiVA,
the Islamic partizans of predestination, and their
opponents, the Motazilites, found an echo in Jewish
literature. In an essay entitled " Iggeret ha-Geze-
rah," Abner of Burgos propounds the Ash'ariya
doctrine of predestination, according to which every
human act, both in the material and the spiritual

life, is predestined. This doctrine, however, was
combated by all Jewish thinkers, and especially by
Maimonides, who pointed out all the absurdities to
which the Ash'ariya were compelled to have re-
course in order to sustain their views (" Moreh Ne-
bukim," iii., ch. xvii.).

K. I. Bb.

PREEXISTENCE: Existence previous to
earthly life or to Creation, attributed in apocryphal
and rabbinical writings to persons and things form-
ing part of the divine plan of human salvation or
the world's government.

Preexistence of tlie Souls of tlie Rigliteous :
"Before God created the world He held a consulta-
tion with the souls of the righteous." This view,
apparently, has been adopted from the Zend-Avesta,
in which the holy " f ravashis " (souls) of the heroes of
Mazdaism have a cosmic character. With these Ahu-
ramazda iiold^ council before creating the world
("Bundahis," ii. 9; "S. B. E." v. 14; comp. xxiii.
179-230; Spiegel, "Eranische Alterthumskunde,"
ii. 91-98). Enoch speaks of an assembly of the holy
and righteous ones in heaven under the wings of the
Lord of the spirits, with the Elect (the Messiah) in
their midst (xxxix. 4-7, xl. 5, Ixi. 12); he mentions
especially the " first fathers and the righteous who
have dwelt in that place [paradise] from the begin-
ning" (Ixx. 4). In fact, it is a "congregation of
the righteous " in heaven that will ajjpear in the
Messianic time (xxxviii. 3, liii. 6, Ixii. 8), and "tlie
Elect, who had been hidden, will he revealed with
them " (xlviii. 6, Ixii. 7). Likewise, it is said in
IV Esd. vii. 38, xiii. 52, xiv. 9 that "the hidden
Messiah will be revealed together with all those that
are with him." Parsism casts light on the origin
and significance of this belief also. In " Bundahis "
(xxix. 5-6, XXX. 17) the immortals that come to the
assistance of Soshians (" the Savior ") are mentioned
by name, and the number of the righteous men and
damsels that live forever is specified as fifteen each
(Windischman, " Zoroastrische Studien," 1863, pp.
244-349; comp. "the thirty righteous ones that stand
before God all day preserving the world " : Gen. R.
xxxvi. ; Yer. 'Ab. Zarah ii. 40; Midr. Teh. Ps. v.;
Suk. 45b has" the thirty -six righteous"). The Syriac
Apoc. Baruch (xxx. 12) speaks of "a certain number
of righteous souls that will come forth from their
retreats at the advent of the Messiah " (comp. Yeb.
63a: " The son of David will not come until all the
souls have left the cage " [" guf," " columbarium "]).

Of the preexistence of Moses mention is made in
Assumptio Mosis (i. 14): "He designed me and pre-
pared me before the foundation of the world that I
should be the mediator of the Covenant " ; similarly
in an apocryphon entitled " Joseph's Prayer," quoted
by Origen.in Johannem xxv., opp. iv. 84, where
Jacob says, "I am an angel of God and a primeval
spirit, the first-born of all creatures, and like me were
Abraham and Isaac created before any other work of
God. I am invested with the highest
Moses and otflce in the face of God and invoke
the Him by His ineffable name." The Pa-

Patriarchs, triarchs are, indeed, declared to have
been part of the Merkabah (Gen. R.
Ixxii. 7; comp. the bridal gown of Asenatii, "pre-
pared from the beginnings of the world ").

183

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Predestination
Preelxistenoe

An ancient baralta handed down in diUerent ver-
sions enumerates six or seven persons or tilings cre-
mated before the world came into existence : (1) the
Torah, which is called " the firstling of His way "
(Prov. viii. 33, Hebr.) ; (3) the throne of glory, which
is " establi^ed of old " (Ps. xciii. 3) ; (3) the sanc-
tuary— "From the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary " (Jer. xvii. 13); (4) the Patriarchs — "I saw
your fathers as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her
iflrat time " (Hos. ix. 10) ; (5) Israel — " Thy congrega-
tion, which Thou hast created from the beginning "
.(Ps. Ixxiv. 3, Hebr.); (6) the Messiah— " Before the
.sun his name sprouts forth as Yinnon, ' the Awa-
kener ' " (Ps. Ixxii. 17, rabbinical interpretation) ;
.also, " His issue is from the beginning " (Micah v.
1; Pirke E. El. iii.); (7) repentance — "Before the
mountains were brought forth, or even thou hadst
iorraed the earth and the world," Thou saidst, "Re-
-turn [to God] ye children of men " (Ps. xc. 3-3).

To these seven some added: (8) Gan 'Eden —
" The Lord God planted a garden in Eden from the
"beginning" (Gen. ii. 8, rabbinical interpretation of
" mi-Kedem ") ; and (9) Gehenna — " Tofet is ordained
of old " (Isa. XXX. 33). There is also a tenth men-
tioned in some sources : the Holy Land — " The first
of the dust of the world " (Prov. viii. 86, Hebr. ; Pes.
Ma ; Ned. 39b ; Pirke R. El. iii. ; Tanna debe Eli-
yahu R. xxxi. ; Tan., Naso, ed. Buber, p. 19; Midr.
Teh. Ps. Ixxiv.; Ps. cxiii. ; Gen. R. i. 3; Sifre,
Deut. 37).

Many parallels are found in the various Apocry-
phal books. " The throne of glory was the first
-thing created by God " (Slavonic Enoch, xxv. 4).
Paradise with all the treasures of reward for the
lighteous (Midr. Teh. Ps. xxxi. 30 [19]) Is prepared
from the beginning (Apoc. Baruch, iv. 6, Hi. 7,
Ixxxi. 4, Ixxxiv. 6; Slavonic Enoch, ix. 1, xlix. 3;
lEthiopic Enoch, ciii. 3; comp. xxxviii. 3; IV Esd.
viii. 53). Leviathan and Behemoth also are pre-
pared from the beginning (Apoc. Baruch, xxix. 4;
IVEsd. vi. 49; comp. B. B. 44b) ; and the glory or the
light of the first day is prepared for the righteous
.(Apoc. Baruch, xlviii. 49, lix. 11, Ixvi. 7; IV Esd.
vii. 9, viii. 53; comp. Hag. 13a; Gen. R. iii. 6). So
with Gehenna and its tortui'es, prepared for the
-wicked (Apoc. Baruch, lix. 3; IV Esd. vii. 84, 93;
viii. 59; xiii. 36; Slavonic Enoch, x. 4). Jerusalem
.also has existed from eternity (Apoc. Baruch, iv. 3,
6 ; IV Esd. vii. 36, viii. 53). The Messiah shall
"bring all tlie hidden treasures to light (Enoch, xlvi.
8, xlix. 4, Ixi. 13; IV Esd. xii. 33, xiii. 35, xiv. 9).

In the New Testament the same view is expressed
regarding the preexistence of persons and things
forming part of the divine salvation. When Jesus,
in John viii. 58, says, "Before Abraham was, I am,"
.allusion is made to the preexistence of the Messiah.
.So is the Kingdom— that is, the reward of paradise
— "prepared for you [the righteous]
In from the foundation of the world"

the New (Matt. xxv. 34; comp. Abot iii. 16).
'Testament. Prom Matt. xiii. 35 it appears that the
" dark sayings of old " of Ps. Ixxviii. 8
was understood to refer to Messianic secrets pre-
pared from the foundation of the world. Similarly
the names of the righteous are " written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world " (Rev. xvii. 8).

But the blood of the martyr prophets was also be-
lieved to have been "shed from the foundation of
the world" (Luke xi. 50); hence, also, that of the
"Lamb " (Rev. xiii. 8; Heb. ix. 36). The Apostles
claimed to have been, with their master, "chosen
from the foundation of the world " (Bph. i. 4 ; comp.
John xvii. 34; I Peter i. 80; Heb. iv. 3). K.

Preexistence of the Messiah : This includes
his existence before Creation; the . existence of his
name; his existence after the creation of the world.
Two Biblical passages favor the view of the pre-
existence of the Messiah: Micah v. 1 (A. V. 3),
speaking of the Bethlehemite ruler, says that his
" goings forth have been from of old, from everlast-
iug"; Dan. vii. 13 speaks of "one like the Son of
man," who "came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days." In the Messianic
similitudes of Enoch (xxxvii.-lxxi.) the three pre-
existences are spoken of: "The Messiah was chosen-
of God before the creation of the world, and he
shall be before Him to eternity " (xlviii. 6). Before
the sun and the signs of the zodiac were created, or
ever the stars of heaven were formed, his name was
uttered in the presence of the Lord of Spirits (=
God ; xlviii. 3). Apart from these passages, there
are only general statements that the Messiah was
hidden and preserved by God (Ixii. 6-7, xlvi. 1-3),
without any declaration as to when he began to
be. His preexistence is affirmed also in II Esdras
(about 90 C.B.), according to which he has been pre-
served and hidden by God " a great season " ; nor
shall mankind see him save at the hour of his ap-
pointed day (xii. 33; xiii. 86, 53; xiv. 9), although
no mention is made of the antemundane existence
either of his person or of his name (comp. Syriac
Apoc. Baruch, xxix. 3).

Thus also the Rabbis. Of the seven things fash-
ioned before the creation of the world, the last was
the name of the Messiah (comp. Ps. Ixxii. 17; Pes.
54a ; Tan. , Naso, ed. Buber, No. 19 ; and parallels) ;
and the Targum regards the preexistence of the
Messiah's name as implied in Micah v. 1 (A. V. 3),
Zech. iv. 7, and Ps. Ixxii. 17.

The "Spirit of God" which "moved upon the
face of the waters" (Gen. i. 8) is the spirit of the
Messiah (Gen. R. viii. 1; comp. Pesik. R. 158b,
which reads as follows, alluding to Isa. xi. 3 : " The
Messiah was born [created] when the world was
made, although nis existence had been contemplated
before the Creation "). Referring to Ps. xxxvi. 10
and Gen. i. 4, Pesikta Rabba declares (161b):
" God beheld the Messiah and his deeds before the
Creation, but He hid him and his generation under
His throne of glory." Seeing him, Satan said,
"That is the Messiah who will dethrone me." God
said to the Messiah, "Ephraim, anointed of My
righteousness, thou hast taken upon thee the suf-
ferings of the six days of Creation " (163a ; comp.
Yalk., Isa. 499). The preexistence of the Messiah
in heaven and his high station there are often men-
tioned. Akiba interprets Dan. vii. 9 as referring to
two heavenly thrones— the one occupied by God
and the other by the Messiah (Hag. 14a; comp.
Enoch, Iv. 4, Ixix. 39), with whom God converses
(Pes. 118b; Suk. 53a).

The "four carpenters" mentioned in Zech. ii. 3

Preexistence
Prefaces

THE JEIVISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

184

(A. V. i. 20) are the Messiah ben David, the Messiah
ben Joseph, Elijah, and Melchizedek (8uk. 52a).
The Messiah will not come on the Sabbath-day,
which is observed in heaven as well as on earth ('Er.
43a) ; and because of the transgressions of Zion he
is hidden (Targ. Micah iv. 8), remain-
Abode ing so in heaven until the end ("B. H."
in Heaven, ii. 55), where he sits in the fifth of the
seven chambers {ib. ii. 49, top). With
him are some who have not tasted death— Enoch,
Moses, and Elijah (II Esd. vi. 26, xiii. 52), and it is
he who comes with the clouds of heaven {ib. xii. 3,
based on Dan. vii. 3). Like heaven itself, he is
made of fire (ib. xiii. 37-28; comp. Pesik. R. 162a,
based on Isa. 1. 11), and he is accordingly regarded
as a star (Targ, Num. xxiv. 17). The frequent ex-
pression, " The son of David shall only come " (Sanh.
88a et passim), presupposes his abode in heaven,
and the statement that the world exists only to de-
light him (and David and Moses) implies his pre-
existence (Sanh. 96b); but he will not appear until
all the souls have left the treasury (" guf " ; 'Ab.
Zarah 5a; comp. Weber, p. 350). His names, Son
of the Stars (Ta'an. iv. 7-8 and parallels). Son of
the Clouds (Sanh. 96b; comp. "B. H." iv. 20, 4, vi.
70, 5, following Tan., Toledot, 14, and I Chron. iii.
24), "He who dwelleth in the clouds" (Targ. I
Chron. I.e.), "the Eternal" (following Jer. xxiii. 6
and Lam. R. i. [nWO]). "Light" (Dan. ii. 23, Lam.
R. i., and Gen. R. i. 6), and "Tinnon" (Ps. Ixxii. 17:
"before the sun was created his name was"; Sanh.
98o and parallels), imply his origin and preexistence
in heaven. He therefore stands higher than the min-
istering angels (Yalk. ii. 476), and he lives through-
out eternity (Midr. Teh. ii. ; Yallj. I.e.).

BiBUOGRAPHT, Buxtorf, Lexicon Hebraicn-ChaMalcum, ed.
Flscber, Ii. 642-644 (containing passages Irom the Targum) ;
Castelli, 11 Afessia Secnndo ylt Ebrei, pp. 207 et seq.. Flor-
ence, 1874 ; Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, 1. 105 et seq., 107, 245-
248, Lelpsie, 1899; Drummond, The Jewish Messiah, etc.,
London, 1877; Frank, Kabbala; Hamburger, B. B. T. 11. 790-
792 ; Htthn, Die Messianvichen Weissagungen des Israeli-
ti^ch-JUdischen Volhes his zu den Ta/rgumim Historisch-
Kritisch Untersucht, pp. 89, 108, HI et seg., 129 et seq., Frei-
burg, 1899; Herzog-Hauck,i?ea!-Emci/c.xlI. 731-735; Schiirer-,
Oesch. 11. 496-498, 528-530 ; Weber, JUdische Theulogie, Lelp-
sie, 1897.
K. L. B.

PREEXISTENCE OF THE SOUL. See

Soul.
PREFACES AND DEDICATIONS: The

general Hebrew name for a preface is " hakdamah. "
The saying "A book without a preface is like a
body without a soul" is often quoted by authors
as a reason for the preface. The origin of the
preface may be traced to the " petihah " (opening),
the text which the Rabbis cited before their lectures
(Cant. R. i. 3). This petihah precedes many mid-
rashic discourses. The first distinct preface is the
letter introducing the " Siddur Rab Amram Gaon "
(9th cent.), and beginning, "Amram bar Sheshna,
principal of the yeshibah of Matah Mehasya, to
Rabbi Isaac b. Rabbi Simeon " (see Pkaybk-Books).
This style of prefatory letter is used by Maimonides
(12th cent.) in the " Moreh" ; in this case the letter is
addressed to his disciple Joseph b. Judah, and is
styled in the heading a " petihah." Aaron ha-Levi
of Barcelona (18th cent.) prefaces his "Sefer ha-
Hinnuk " with a " letter by the author." The word

" mabo " (entrance) often takes the place of " hakda-
mah." The introduction of Maimonides to Zera'im
(translated into German by Dukes, Prague, 1833:
original Arabic MS. and Hebrew translation edited
by Hamburger, Frankfort-on-tho-Main, 1903), the
introduction to the chapter " Helelj " in Sanhedrin,
and the introductions to the " Yad " and the " Moreh "
(besides the petihah), are called " hakdamot, " though
the appellation was given probably by later tran-
scribers of the manuscripts.

The prefaces and introductions referred to are the
longest and most important prior to the introduc-
tion of printing ; moreover, they aroused much dis-
cussion and criticism — the preface to "Helek,"
because of the author's views on the principles of
faith and on paradise. The preface to the " Yad " is
severely criticized by RABaD because Maimonides
therein expresses his wish to have his code supersede
the teaching of the Talmud. The pref-
Early ace to the " Moreh " is remarkable for
Examples, the statement that the author was de-
termined to write it, even if he should
benefit only one reader to 10,000 fools who would
criticize him. Maimonides' preface to the " Yad "
begins with Ps. cxix. 6. Rashi wrote a short pref-
ace to the Song of Solomon.

Next in importance to Maimonides' prefaces is
that of Ibn Ezra to his commentary on the Pen-
tateuch. Isaac b. Abba Marl of Marseilles (13th
cent.) prefixes a short preface to his "Sefer ha-
'Ittur"; incidentally he relates that at the age of
seventeen he completed the chapters relating to
"shehitah" and "terefah." Zedeldah b. Abraham
ha-Rofe (13th cent.), author of the "Shibbole ha-
Leket " (edited by Buber, Wilna, 1886), begins with
Ps. cxviii. 35, and explains his object in gathering
the " gleanings of the ears of corn " from the deci-
sions of the Geonim ; he had found that " the troub-
les of worldly business vanities " left little time for
the pursuit of learning. David Abudarham of Se-
ville (1340), in his liturgical code, has a short preface
on the title-page and a long preface preceding the
body of the work.

The early prefaces generally commence with the
name of the author — " Said Abraham the Sephardi "
(Ibn Ezra), for example, but are preceded by the
name of God, whose aid is implored. The Mahzor
Vitry (1208) begins with V'E'y ''"Dy, the initials of
the wording of Ps. cxxi. 3. Azariah del Rossi (1511-
1578), before his preface to the "Me'or 'Enayim,"
explains the need of mentioning God's name before
commencing any important work, as taught in Yer.
Ber. V. 1 and Zohar, 'Tazria', 50a, 56b. Dei Rossi be-
gins, "The Lord of Hosts is with us" (Ps. xlvi. 13).

Prefaces were supposed to have been composed
before the book. This may be true regarding the
early writers, but in modern times they are invariably
written after the book is finished. Many of the
prefaces to the early works were wholly or partly
omitted by the transcribers or the publishers. In-
deed, some of the prefaces in the first editions were
omitted in the subsequent editions, the publishers
either desiring to save expense or regarding the
preface as superfluous. For example, the preface
of Menahem b. Zarah (1368) to his "Zedah la-De-
rek," which preface is of great historical value

185

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Preexisteuce
Prefaces

and was published with the first edition, Fer-
rara, 1554, is omitted from all other editions. The
same fate befell the preface of Israel ha-Levl Landau
to his " Holj le-Yisrael, " on the 613 precepts (1st ed. ,
Prague, 1798; see Jellinek, " Kontres Taryag, " No.
56). The publishers, perhaps, recognized the gen-
eral disinclination of readers to read the preface.
Shabbethai Bass of Prague, in his " Sifte Yeshenim "
(Amsterdam, 1680), the first Hebrew work on bibli-
ography, says, on the title-page, " All I ask of the
reader is to peruse my preface and learn what will
be the benefit derived from reading the book." On
the next page he greets his readers: "Blessed be he
that cometh in the name of the Lord Sabaoth." The
author enumerates ten benefits to be derived from
reading his book (see Furst, "Bibl. Jud." iii., p.
Ixxvii.).

The preface is generally apologetic for the au-
thor's shortcomings and explanatory of the contents
and object of the book. Sometimes the author ex-
tols his subject, and enlarges on the necessity of

gratifying the public demand for en-
Contents, lightenment in that direction. The
Com- title of the book also is explained (see
position, Titles op Books). The early pref-
Style. aces are often elaborated with verses

and with acrostics giving the name of
the author and of the book. Sometimes a part of the
preface is in rimed prose. In many cases the style
is mosaic — a mixture of Biblical, Talmudic, mid-
rashic, and Zoharic phraseology requiring an expert
to comprehend the meaning and to appreciate the
ingenuity of the author. Prefaces to cabalistic and
theological works usually begin with words the ini-
tials of which form the name of God. Thus Joseph
Albo (1380-1444), in his '"Ikkarim," begins the

preface with Dn''^j;B' m?nnnri ruani Dnpjjri nj?n<

Some prefaces have catchwords either at the be-
ginnings or at the ends of their paragraphs. The
preface of David Gans to " Zemah Dawid " (Prague,
1593) has the catchword "David"; Emanuel Rec-
ci's " Mishnat Hasidim " (Amsterdam, 1740), the
word "Emet"; Malachi ha-Kohen, in his "Yad
Mal'aki " (Leghorn, 1767), the word " Anna " ; and in
the approbation written in the form of a preface, the
word "Kohen." Some prefaces are undated; in
others the date is given by the numerical values of
the letters in some appropriate sentence; sometimes
the dates are given according to the era of the de-
struction of Jerusalem. Arnold Ehrlich, in his
" Mikra kl-Peshuto" (Berlin, 1899), dates the preface
from the year of the American Declaration of Inde-
pendence (see Colophon).

Isaac Aboab, in his "Menoratha-Ma'or" (Constan-
tinople, 1514), has a general preface and a separate
preface and epilogue for each of the seven parts of
the work. The "Pi Shenayim," composed of ex-
cerpts from Midrash Rabbah, given in alphabet-
ical order (Sulzbach, 1712), was compiled by two
authors — Akiba Bar and Seligman Levi, each
writing a preface. In some cases the prefaces were
written by friends of the authors: for example,
Zunz wrote a preface to Krochraal's " Moreh Ne-
buke ha-Zeman" (Lemberg, 1863), though this
was after the death of the author. P. Smolenskin

wrote many prefaces to books published under his
supervision in Vienna. Some prefaces are in a
different language from that of the work itself;
for instance, E. S. Kirschbaum's "Shirim u-Me-
li?;ot" (Berlin, 1830) has a German preface. Max
Letteris, in his " Tofes Kinnor we-'Ugab " (Vienna,
1860), heads his preface with a quotation from
Goethe, in German. As a rule, the poets are poor
in their prose and especially poor in tlieir prefaces.
J. L. Gordon's preface to his "Kol Shire Yehudah "
is in the form of a poem. The prefaces to N. H.
Imber's " Barkai " were written by Jehiel Michel
Pines (vol. i., Jerusalem, 1886) and by the author's
brother (vol. ii., Zloczow, 1900). Mordecai b. Judah
Ashkenazi's " Hakdamat Sefer " (Piirth, 1701) con-
tains a special preface for his cabalistic work
"Eshel Abraham." The author explains the pres-
ence of the isolated preface ; he had found several
copies of the " Eshel Abraham " with only a part
of its preface ; and, further, he desired to give poor
readers an opportunity to possess at least the pref-
ace, if unable to purchase the complete work. The
preface to Mordecai Aaron Ginzburg's "Toledot
Bene Adam " (Wilna, 1833) was published separately
(Ben Jacob, "Ozar ha-8efarim," p. 387).

A preface by the editor or publisher is generally

an apology ("hitnazzelut "). The son of the author

of "Eliyahu Mizrahi," on Eashi (Venice, 1545),

apologizes for some of the ambiguous

Apologies passages, which he explains as due to

toy Pub- his father's dying before he had been

Ushers and able to revise the manuscript. The

Proof- SOD appeals to the reader to apply to

Readers, him for the solution of any difficult

passage, requesting him to excuse the

shortcomings of his father in any case.

The press-corrector generally wrote a separate
preface of apology. Benjamin b. Mattathiah, the
author of "Binyamin Ze'eb," responsa, read his own
proofs; and he apologizes for the typographical
errors due to the employment of non-Jewish printers
(ed. Venice, 1539). Similar apologies occur in the
"Cuzarl" (ed. Venice, 1594) and in "PI Shenayim"
(Venice). The press-corrector says: "There is not a
just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth
not in the matter of type-errors, particularly at
Sulzbach, where the pressmen are non-Jews who
allow the type in the forms to be displaced." A
noted press-corrector, Leon of Modena, wrote pref-
aces in verse — for example, in " Arze Lebanon "
(Venice, 1601). In the publication of the "Mik-
ra'ot Gedolot " (" Biblia Magna" ; Amsterdam, 1727)
two press-correctors, one for the text and one for
the commentaries, were employed, each of whom
wrote a preface (before the Psalms).

Of special interest are the prefaces of Christians
to Hebrew books ; for example: the Hebrew preface,
in the form of a letter to Pope Leo X. , in " Psalteri-
um Giustinianum," dated 1516; the Hebrew preface
to the "Mikdash Adonai," Basel, 1534; that to the
missionary "Ha-Wikkuah" (Discussion) had as a
heading the Latin term " Praefatio" over the Hebrew
preface dated Basel, 1539.

Jewish scholars in search of historical data util-
ized the data given in the prefaces of early works.
In particular. Senior Sachs (b. 1816) became a famous

"Prefaces
Prerau

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

186

N-iipn Sn
Niipn py Sn

nmpn
-\3ncn niSxjnn

NOD

n'lVNlD TJD

'nsiy nnsD

ninnsD

nn'ns

-131 nriD

Diyj N-iip

investigator of Jewish antiquity by means of pref-
-aces ("Keneset Yisrael," i. 833).

Following are the headings of some prefaces, the
titles of the woi'ks in which they occur being given
in parentheses :

(" letter by the author " ; " Sefer ha-Hinnuk,"

Venice, 1600).
("a word to the reader"; editor's preface;

Proflat Duran, "'Ma'aseh Ephod," Vienna,

1865).
("to the reader's eye"; publisher's prelace;

Bar Sheshet, Responsa, Elva di Trento, 1559) .
(" a word to the reader " ; Bloch, " Shebile

^Olam," Warsaw, 1855).
("prefix" ; the lorm generally used).
(" apology by the author " ; Moses Ashkenazi,

"Thesaurus of Synonyms," Padua, 1880).
(" entrance " : a common form) .
("declaration at the beginning"; Benjacob,

" Ozar ha-Sefarim ").
("the opening of my mouth"; "Kol Shire

Gordon," vol. il., St. Petersburg, 1884).
("keys"; Yeruham of Provence, "Toledot

Adam wa-Hawah," Constantinople, 1516).
(" opening " ; Judah Moscato, " Kol Yehudah,"

to the " Cuzarl," Venice, 1594).
("opening word"; the Mekilta, ed. Weiss,

Vienna, 1865).
("sweet reader"; "Pahad Yizhak," Venice,

1750).
("honored readers"; J. H. Hlrschensohn,

"Sheba' Hokmot," Lemberg, 1883).

A dedication, preceding or included in the pref-
-ace, and addressed to a patron or to one who is
beloved and honored, was frequently added by Jew-
ish authors. Amram Gaon (9th cent.) dedicated his
^iddur to R. Isaac b. Simeon, who sent ten gold
pieces for the maintenance of the yeshibah of Ma-
tah Mehasya in Babylon, with a request for a copy
■of the work. Maimonides (12th cent.) dedicated his
"Moreh" to his disciple Joseph b.
Dedications Judah. Al-Harizi translated the " Mo-
to reh" for certain great men in Pro-

Patrons, vence. Ibn Ezra (13th cent.) dedicated
his " Keli Nehoshet " (ed. Edelmann,
Konigsberg, 1845) to his disciple Hananiah, and his
"Yesod Morali" to Joseph ben Jacob, in London
(1158).

Isaac b. Joseph Israeli (1310) dedicated his " Yesod
'01am," on astronomy, algebra, and the calendar
(ed. Goldberg, Berlin, 1848), to his teacher Asher b.
Jehiel. The dedication is perhaps the longest in
Hebrew literature, and is distinguished for extrav-
agantly eulogistic and complimentary phrases:
"Peace, as wide as from the East to the West, and
from the Ursa to the Scorpion, to the honored mas-
ter, favorite and beloved of men, a mountain in wis-
dom and a river in knowledge," etc.

Menahem b. Zarah (1363) dedicated his"Zedah la-
Derek " (Ferrara, 1554) to Don Samuel Abravanel.
Searching Spain and France for "a friend dearer
than a brother," he finally found "the mightj'
prince " Samuel, to whom he devotes twenty-two
verses.

The dedication of Jewish works to kings and
princes may be traced back to the Septuagint — the
■Greek translation of the Bible made at the time of
Ptolemy Philadelphus (285 B.C.). Joseph ibn Sa-
tanas (tyXJtiB'), it is asserted, translated the Tal-
mud into Arabic, for the sultan Al-Hakim, in 997
<Abraham Ibn Daud, in "Sefer ha-Kabbalah," ed.

Neubauer, p. 69). Obadiah Sforno dedicated his " Or
'01am," on philosophical research (Bologna, 1537),
to the French king Henry II. David de Porais dedi-
cated his"Zemah Dawid," a Hebrew-Latin-Italian
dictionary (Venice, 1587), to Pope Sixtus V. Manas-
seh ben Israel dedicated his "Mikweh Yisrael " (Lon-
don, 1652) " To the Parliament, the Supreme Court
of England, and the Eight Honorable the Councilor
of the State Oliver Cromwell." Manasseh's"Nishmat
Hayyim " was dedicated to King Ferdinand HI., in a
Latin letter prefacing the first edition (Amsterdam,
1651). Mordecai Gumpel ha-Levi dedicated his
"TokahatMegillah," a commentary on Ecclesiastes,
to the president of the Swiss republic (Hamburg,
1784). Ephraim B. Pinner dedicated his German
translation, with text, of the tractate Berakot of the
Babylonian Talmud to Nicholas I. of Russia (Berhn,
1843).

A singular dedication is that of Moses b. Gideon
Abudiente in his Hebrew grammar in the Spanish
language (Hamburg, 1833 ; Steinschneider, " Cat.
Bodl." No. 6418): it is addressed to God— "To the
King, the King of kings, the Holy One, praised be
He ! " and is signed, " Thy servant Moses " (" Orient,
Lit." 1850, No. 34). Among Christians also, Span-
ish, Italian, and English authors occasionally dedi-
cated their works to God. John Leycester, for in-
stance, dedicated his work on the " Civil Wars of
England" (1649) "to the honor and glory of the
Infinite, Immense, and Incomprehensible Majesty
of Jehovah, the Fountain of all Excellencies, the
Lord of Hosts, the Giver of all Victories, and the
God of Peace." The second among Jewish authors
to dedicate his work to God was Abraham Mendel
Muhr, in his "Magen ha-Hokmah," in defense of
science (Lemberg, 1834). He boldly described it as
a "letter to God," whom he refers to a passage in
Maimonides' " Moreh " for conflrma-
Curiosities tion of his statements. This style of
of Dedica- dedication, and particularly the im-
tions. pious reference, were severely criti-
, oized by Reggio (" Iggerot Yashar," ii.
13, Vienna, 1836; Rubin, "Tehillat ha-Kesilim," p.
169, Vienna, 1880), who condemned it as blasphemy.

Another interesting dedication is that of Gedaliah
ibn Yahya, in his " Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah " (on chro-
nology and history; Venice, 1587), to his firstborn
son, Joseph, when he became a bar mizwah. Other
books written by Gedaliah between 1549 and 1588
were dedicated to his father, grandfather, children,
and grandchildren respectively. Moses Botarel dedi-
cated his commentary on the " Sefer Yezirah "
(Mantua, 1562) to a Christian scholar, named Juan,
quoting the saying of the Rabbis that "a non-Jew
who is learned in the Torah is better than an igno-
rant high priest."

Eliezer Lisser's "Homat Esh," a commentary on
a poem by Ibn Ezra (Berlin, 1799), bears a dedica-
tion on the title-page, addressed to David Hannover
and his brothers in recognition of their patronage.
Adolf .lellinek dedicated his "Bet ha-Midrash," a
collection of minor midrashim, to Leopold Zunz
(Leipsic, 1853). A. B. Lebensohn dedicated his
"Shire Sefat Kodesh " (Wilna, 1861) "to the Holy
Language, preserved within the House of the Lord ;
chosen by the God of Israel and endeared by the

187

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prefaces
Frerau

Prophets ; the Queen of all tongues ; her holy name
is ' Jiefat 'Eber ' ; may God establish her forever !
■Selah."

Solomon Mandelkem's "Thamar" (3d ed., Leip-
sic, 1897) is really a German translation of Mapu's
Hebrew novel " Ahabat Ziyyon " ; this fact is ignored
■on the title-page^ but the dedication is addressed "to
the master of all Hebrew novel-writers, Abraham
JVIapu,"with the significant text: "For all things
■come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee "
<I Chron. xxix. 14). For an example of dedications
to honored subscribers see Lebensohn's to Sir Moses
■and Lady Monteflore (in "Shire Sefat Kodesh," ed.
Wilna, 1863). Memorial volumes, consisting of col-
Daborated articles edited by admirers and friends or
pupils of a distinguished author who has reached
an advanced age after a long period of literary
activity, or in honor of the memory of such an au-
thor, form a class by themselves. The first of this
kind was the "Mannheimer Album," dedicated to
Isaac Noah Mannheimer, the Jewish preacher of
Vienna, by Mayer Kohn Bislritz ; its Hebrew title
is"Ziyyun le-Zikron '01am" (Vienna, 1864). Un-
der the title of " Jubelschrift " a similar volume was
dedicated to Leopold Zunz on his ninetieth birthday
{Berlin, 1884) ; others were dedicated to Heinrich
Graetz (Breslau, 1887) and Israel Hil-

Jubilee desheimer (Breslau, 1890) on their sev-
Dedi- entieth birthdays. This title gave

cations, place to " Festschrift " in volumes pre-
pared in honor of Moritz Steinschnei-
der (eightieth birthday; Leipsic, 1896), Daniel
Chwolson (in recognition of fifty years' literary
activity— 1846-96 ; Berlin, 1899), Nahum Sokolow
<twenty-five years of literary activity ; " Sefer ha-
Yobel," Warsaw, 1904), Adolf Berliner (seventieth
I)irthday; Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1903). There re-
mains to be mentioned the " Gedenkbuch zur Erin-
nerung an David Kaufmann," by M. Brann and F.
Rosenthal (Berlin, 1900). See Colophon; Titles op
Books.

BiELiOGKAPHT : Relfmann, Toledot Babbenu Zerahyah ha-
Levi, Prague, 1853 ; Henry B. Wheatley, Dedication of Books,
London, 1887.
J. J. D. E.

PREGNANCY. See Childbirth.

PREMEDITATION. See Intention.

PRBMSLA, SHABBETHAI : Galician gram-
marian and scribe of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries ; lived at Przemysl. He was the author of
a commentary (Lublin, 1632) on Moses Kimhi's gram-
matical work, " Sefer Mahalak " ; in it he defends the
author against the criticism of Elijah Levita, a
former commentator on the same worlt. His anno-
tations to the prayers, which first appeared in Dy-
hernf urth (1690), were republished many times. He
was a Talmudical scholar also, -and one of his re-
sponsa, on the writing of the Tetragrammaton, is
found in the "Teshubot ha-Geonim" (Amsterdam,
1707 [not 1717, as in FUrst]). Four of his works,
which were left in manuscript, are known, including
one on the necessity of grammatical studies. Hay-
yim Bochner (d. 1684, at FLirth, Bavaria) was his
pupil.

Bibliography: De Rossi-Hamburger, JTM. WOrterli. p. 272;
Furst, Bibl. Jud. lii. 130 ; Fuenn, Safah le-Ne'emanim, p.
82, Wilna, 1881 ; Ha-Aslf, v. 128 et seq.

S. P. Wl

FRERATJ : Town in Moravia. The Judengasse
of Prerau is mentioned as early as Charles IV. (1339-
1849), but the settlement of Jews in Prerau was of
little significance until 1454, when the expulsions,
due to Capistbano, from Olmutz and Breslau aug-
mented the Prerau community. The newcomers
settled in the suburb Sirsava, where they had their
own synagogue and cemetery ; excavations there
still result in occasional discoveries of old Jewish
tombstones.

In 1511 George Lashinsky donated to the cit}' hos-
pital 44 Bohemian groschen, the amount of a yearly
tax paid by the Jews from the produce of their
fields. The Jews there were also required to pay
yearly to the Chancellor of Bohemia 10| schock
and 15 groschen ; for the right of importing the
wine needed on their holy days they paid 4 pounds
of pepper, or 30 groschen in lieu of every pound of
pepper. They further paid 15 groschen for every
foreign Jew residing among them, a severe penalty
being attached to any concealment. In 1600 the
right of retailing wine was withdrawn by Charles
the Elder of Zierotin, upon the complaint of the
citizens. But a successor, Balthazar of Zierotin
(1638-59), was very friendly to the Jews, and granted
them (May 14, 1638) a new charter, in which he
sanctioned the building of schools, a hospital, an
aqueduct for a mikweh, and the establishment of
a cemetery. In order to check the incendiarism of
which the Jews were the victims, he ordered that
Christian houses adjoining those owned by Jews
should continue in the possession of Christians.
Therefore a ghetto proper did not exist in Prerau.
The Jewish houses were, and still are, marked with
Roman numerals.

After the repeal of the edict of expulsion issued
by Maria Theresa against the Jews of Moravia
(1745), forty-five families were permitted to settle
in Prerau. The census of the town in 1791 showed
330 Jews occupying 60 houses, and 3,658 Christians
occupying 600 houses. Enterprising Jews who de-
sired to establish breweries in Prerau were pre-
vented from doing so by the jealousy of their Chris-
tian fellow citizens, who refused, through the town
council, to permit the necessary buildings; the
breweries were therefore established in Olmutz,
Sternberg, and other places in the vicinity, and some
of these establishments have gained world-wide repu-
tation.

In 1903 the brothers Kulka erected an iron-foundry
in Prerau; David von Gutmann owns a large estate
in Troubek, near Prerau, but most of the Jews there
are merchants. As elsewhere in Moravia, the Jew-
ish community is autonomous ; it has a chief execu-
tive and a school (German) supported by the state.
There are a number of charitable societies and
foundations in Prerau; its hebra kaddisha, with
which the Ner-Tamid society is affiliated, possesses
some very old memor-books.

The best-known writer of Prerau was Marcus
Boss (b. 1830); he contributed to "Bikkure ha-
'Ittim"and "Kokebe Yizhak," and edited "Yalde
Sha'ashu'im," a collection of two hundred Hebrew

Prerau
Presbur^

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

188

epigrams. Solomon Kk-in, rabbi at Zfnla, was
born in Prerau (d. 1902); be wrote " Dibre Shelo-
moh " (1896), Talmudic novelise, in the introductiou
to which he gives interesting descriptions of life in
theyeshibah of Leipnik under U. Solomon Quetseli.
Among the rabbis of Prerau were the following:
Abraham Schiclc (1790-93); Solomon Fried (1793-
1820); Moses Jlandl (1820-25); David Schrotter
(1835-29); Abraham Placzek (1829-34; acting
" Landesrabbiner " of Moravia, 1850-84); Samuel
Schallinger (1834-36); Aaron Jacob Grim (1887-57);
"Wolf Fried (1857-88); Solomon Singer (1888-85);
Dr. Jacob Tauber (from 1886). Among the number

troductiou in wliicli each word, as in the work
itself, begins with the letter "mem" (Brttnn, 1799).
He was the author of "Ben Yemiui," a supercom-
mentary on Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Penta-
teuch (Vienna, 1823).

BiBHOORAPHY : Filrst, Bil)l. Jiid. Hi. 1-1 ; Zeitlln, JJibL Hthr.
Po«1-3IenileU. pp. 378-37<J.
E. r. P. Wl.

PRESBURG (Hungarian, Pozsony) : City of
Hungary', situated on the Kiver Danube. Its loca-
tion on a commercial highroad makes it probable
that its Jewish community is one of the oldest in
Hungary. The first documentary mention of its

HciST Dksecration at Prkshliru, 1591.

(From a coDteiii|jor:iry print.)

of Jews born in Prerau who achieved prominence in
public life were Jacob Brand (chief inspector of the
Nordbahn), District Judges Briess antl Tschiassny,
and JNIinisterial Councilor Theodor Pollak.

The old synagogue was rebuilt in 1898; the silver
ornamentson the Torali roll date from 5467 (= 1707).
There are two cemeteries; the older one, situated in
the Wurmgasse, contains tombstones over two hun-
dred years old.

In 1834 the population of Prerau was 4,533, of
whom 341 were Jews; in 1901 the total pojjulation
was about 17,000, including 717 Jews.

D. J. Ta.

PRERAU, BENJAMIN WOLF : Moravian
Heljraist ; lived at Prerau in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. He published Bedersi's
"Bakkashat ha-Memin," to which he added a Ger-
man translation, a Hebrew commentary, and an in-

Jews dates from 1351. In 1291 they received a
charter from King Andrew III. lu 1860 they were
expelled; and they then settled in the neighboring
town of Heimburg, w-heuce they returned in 1368.
The first synagogue was built in 1399. In 1517
their capitation tax amounted to 120 tiorins annu-
ally. After the disastrous battle of Moliacs, Queen
Maria ordered their expulsion (Oct. 9, 1526); but
King Ferdinand, founder of the Hapsburg dynasty,
repealed this edict in the same year. His son Max-
imilian II. ordered another expulsion (Nov. 26,
1572), but this edict also remained unenforced.
Presburg, as the seat of the Diet, often saw assem-
blies of Jews; e.r/., in 1749, when Jewish delegates
compromised with Queen Maria Theresa with re-
gard to the annual payment of 30,000 florins; and
in 1840, when the Diet deliberated on the question of
Jewish emancipation.

189

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prerau
Presburg

Presburg -was always noted for the anti-Jewish
tendencies of its citizens. The city, whose council
liiid opposed all improvement of the political con-
dition of the Jews in 1S40, was the scene of a fierce
riot in 1848 (April 23-34), caused by the provoca-
tion of the citizens at the granting of equal rights
to the Jews. One of the latter was killed ; sev-
eral were wounded ; and a great deal of property,
including the J<'wish school-building, was destroyed.

The municipal council, which had
History, refused Jews permission to enter

the national guard (March 20), again
showed its prejudice by ordering those Jews who
had rented houses outside of the ghetto to return to

over the claim of the Jews to a share in the institu-
tions for the support of the poor. This difficulty
was finally settled by a compromise, the city agree-
ing to pay annually to the Jewish congregation the
sum of 1,703.88 florins and to leave to it the care of
its poor (1856). The awakening of the anti-Semitic
movement in Hungary found a sympathetic echo in
Prcsburg, where the first Hungarian anti-Semitic
society was founded, which from 1880 had for
its organ the " Westungariseher Grenzbote." The
TiszA-Eszi,AR affair caused riots on Sept. 28, 1882,
and Aug. 4, 1883, which resulted in the destruction
of property for whicli the city had to pay 5,000
florins damages. Blood accusations led to outbreaks

Visit of King Fekuinand to a Jewish School at PitEsnuRG, 1830.

(KruLii a lontKrriiii.rary priiil.J

their former habitations. The memory of these
events is still celebrated by special services on the
seventh day of Passover, on which day the riot
reached its lieight.

A similar riot occurred two years latei' (April 23-
24, 1850), owing to the insistence of the populace
that Jews should not open stores outside the ghetto.
The military restored order temporarily ; but the
city council I'cfused to be responsible for its main-
tenance, unless the government would order all
Jews to close their places of business who had not
]ios.sessed previous to 1840 the privilege of main-
taining stores outside the ghetto. Finally the council
had to yield. The Jews received permission in 1851
to open stores without the ghetto; and in Septem-
ber of the same year the separate administration of
the ghetto was abolished, the latter being made part
of the municipal territory. Further difficulties arose

of a milder character on May 36-27, 1887, and April
13, 1889. In 1892 the cathedral clergy opposed tlie
building of a new synagogue, because of its prox-
imity to their church.

In regard to internal Jewish allairs Presburg has
become distinguished for its yeshiliah and as being
in con.sequence the stronghold of Hungarian Ortho-
doxy. When Joseph II. ordered the compulsory
military service and secular education of the Jews,
Ilirseh Tlieben was prominent among the spokes-
men of the latter, demanding the repeal of these
laws. While the emperor would not yield on these
points, he conceded them the right to wear beards,
a practi.se which had been prohibited (1783).

The yeshibah became particularly prominent
through the influence of Moses Sofer; and through
him also Prcsburg was made the center of the oppo-
sition to the modernization of education and of re-

Prestiurg
Price

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

19a

ligious service. Still, in spite of all opposition, a
modern Jewish school was founded (c. 1832) ; and
about the same time a society for the
Spiritual promotion of handicrafts was estab-
liife. lislied. In 1844 this school received a
new home through the munificence of
Hermann Todesko of Vienna, a kindergarten being
added to it. A Jewish students' society, which had
been formed in 1838 for the promotion of culture
and likewise, among other objects, for the modern-
ization of religious services, was suppressed; but
the Orthodox leaders of the congregation yielded to
the extent of reorganizing the Talmud Torah, into
whose curriculum secular branches were introduced,
and which was placed under the management of a
trained pedagogue. Yeshibah and synagogue, how-
ever, remained untouched by modern influences, al-
though in 1863 the congregation extended a call to
the " maggid " Peisch Pischmann, previously rabbi
of Kecskemet, in order to satisfy the demand for a
service which should appeal more directly to the
younger generation. The first deviation from the
traditional services occurred when the progressive
element of the congregation, dissatisfied with the
election of Bernhard Schreiber as rabbi, separa-
ted and formed the Israelitische Religionsgemeinde
(March 17, 1873). This congregation has a service
similar to that introduced by I. N. Mannheimer in
Vienna. The yeshibah was recognized in 1859 as a
rabbinical institution ; and its students are therefore
exempt from military service. Minister Trefort de-
cided that no student should be admitted who had not
received a secular training equal to that provided by
tlie curriculum of the lower grade of the high school
(May 30, 1883) ; but this decision has never been en-
forced.

As a peculiar survival should be mentioned the
privilege retained by the congregation of present-
ing the king annually with two Martinmas geese,
on which occasion its representatives are received in
personal audience by the monarch.

The earliest known rabbi of Presburg is Yom-

Tob Lipman, one of the Vienna exiles; he officiated

about 1695. Subsequent rabbis include : Moses ben

Meir Harif (1736-58); Akiba Eger,

Babbis. originally assistant to Moses and upon
his death his successor (died 1758, hav-
ing held office for twelve days only); Isaac of Dukla
(1759-63); Meir Barby (1768-89); Meshullam Eger
of Tysmenieca (1794-1801); Moses Schreiber (1806-
1889); Samuel Wolf Schreiber, son of the preceding
(1839-71); Bernhard (Simhah Bonem) Schreiber,
grandson of Moses Schreiber (from 1872). In 1899
Moses' son Akiba was made his assistant as principal
of the yeshibah. The Israelitische Religionsgemeinde
elected in 1876 as its rabbi Julius David, upon whose
death (1898) the present (1905) incumbent, Dr. H.
Funk, was appointed. Of other scholars and noted
men who were natives of Presburg or who lived
there may be mentioned : Mordecai Mokiah (d. 1739) ;
his son Lab Mokiah or Berlin (d. 1743); Daniel
Prostiz Steinschneider (1759-1846); L6b Letsch
Rosenbaum (d. 1846); Michael Kittseer (d. 1845);
Bar Prank (d. 1845) ; Leopold Dukes ; and Albert
Cohn.

In 1900 the Jews of Presburg numbered 7,110 in

a total population of 65,870. The community has.
severaj synagogues and chapels, two schools, various-
charitable societies, a Jewish hospital, and a train-
ing-school for nurses.
Bibliography : Weiss, Abne Bet ha-Yo^zer, Paks, 1900.

PE.ESBYTEK. : Prom the time of Moses down
to the Talmudic period the " zeljenim " (elders) are:
mentioned as constituting a regular communal or-
ganization, occasionally under the Greek name Ge-
RUSiA. But the term " presbyter " {TipeapiiTepog) is.
found nowhere before the beginnings of Christian-
ity, though it must have been current before that
time, for the Christian institution of the presby-
ters was undoubtedly taken directly from Judaism
(Gratz, " Qesch." 3d ed., iv. 80). In a list of officials,
of a Jewish community in Cilicia, archisyna-
gogues, priests(«p£i'f = "kohen"), presbyters ("ze-
kenim"), and "azanites" ("hazzanim") are men-
tioned, and if the source (Epiphanius, "Haeres."^
xxx. 4) gives the sequence correctly, the presbyters
were actually officials, like the azanites, and did not
hold merely honorary offices in the community.

Their status, therefore, v;ould correspond ap-
proximately to the position which presbyters occupy
in the Christian Church. It may be assumed, how-
ever, that they stood in rank next to the archi-
synagogues, with whom elsewhere they are actually
identified ("Codex Theodosianus," xvi. 8, 14 —
" archisynagogi sive presbyteri Judseorum"). In
another passage {ib. xvi. 8, 3) they are identified
with the patriarchs ; in another (iJ. xvi. 8, 13) the
following sequence occurs: archisynagogue, patri-
arch, presbyter; finally ("Justiniani Novelise,"
cxlvi., § 1), they are ranked with the "archiphere-
cites " and teachers. " Presbyter " corresponds to the
Latin "seniores" ("Codex Justiniani," i. 9, 15).
Thus it appears that there is no uniformity even in
the official designations.

The title of "presbyter" occurs frequently on
Jewish tombstones of the Hellenistic diaspora — for
instance, at Smyrna ("C. I. G." No. 9897), Corycus
("R. E. J." x. 76), Bithynia {ib. xxvi. 167), and in
the catacombs of Venosa (Ascoli, p. 60) ; three times
it was given to women (Ascoli, p. 49). The word
has become in many European languages a general
designation for " priest " ; and in this sense it is also
found in Jewish works of the Middle Ages {e.g.,
'3XV ''DID = "Prester John ").
Bibliography: Fabriclus, Btblingraphia Antiguaria, pp.

447-457, Hamburg, 1713 ; Sctiiirer, Gesch. 3d ed., ii. 177.

Q. S. Kr.

PRESBYTER JTJD^ORUM : Chief official
of the Jews of England in pre-expulsion times. The
office appears to have been for life, though in two
or three instances the incumbent either resigned or
was dismissed. Prynne, in his " Demurrer " (ii. 63),
argues that the presbyter Judseorum was merely a
secular officer in the Exchequer of the Jews to keep
the rolls of control, whereas Tovey (" Anglia-Juda-
ica," pp. 53-63) argues that the use of "sacerdos"
and " pontifex " as synonymous of the office shows
its ecclesiastical character. There were only six of
them between 1199 and 1290, the first known being
Jacob of London, appointed in 1199; the next were
Josce of London (1307 ?), Aaron of York (1337),

191

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Presburg-
Price

Elias le Evesque (1237), Hagin fll Mosse (1257), and
Hagin fil Deulacres (1281 ; appointed by the favor
of Queen Eleanor; "Ryraer Toedera," i. 591). In
the grant of Elias le Evesque the justices of the
Jews were ordered not to issue any summons with-
out the confirmation of the said Elias, from which
it appears that the presbyter acted somewhat as a
baron of the Jewish Exchequer ; and it was distinctly
stated that Hagin fll Mosse had been sworn into the
Jewish Exchequer to look after the administration
of justice on behalf of the king and to explain the
king's laws. It is thus probable that the presby-
ter was a successor of the Jewish justices, of whom
two are mentioned toward the end of the twelfth
century.
Bibliography : Papers of the Anglo- JeurUh Association, pp.

178-179, 193, 2B2-Z

PRESS, MOSES ALEXANDROVICH : Rus-
sian engineer and technologist; born 1861; died at
Sankt Blasien 1901. After passing through the St.
Petersburg Institute of Technology, Press became
a contributor to the "Moskovski Journal Putei
Soobshchenii " and the journals of the Society of St.
Petersburg Technologists. At the time of his death
he was engaged in a work on the share of the Jews
in the industries of western Russia ("Voskhod,"
1901, No. 17).

H. E. ^ A. S. W.

PBESSE ISRAELITE, LA. See Peeiod-

ICAl.S.

PRESTER JOHN. See Ten Tkibes, The

Lost.

PREY, BIRDS OF : While few clean birds are
named in the Old Testament (see Poultbt), there
are given in Lev. xi. (13-19) and Deut. xiv. (12-31)
two parallel lists of birds of prey, the former pas-
sage mentioning twenty, and the latter twenty-one.
The generic name forraptorial birds is '"ayit" (Gen.
XV. 11; Isa. xviii. 6; .ler. xii. 9; Ezek. xxxix. 4;
Job xxviii. 7; Isa. xlvi. 11 [a metaphor]). This
large number of names, as also the frequent allu-
sions in metaphors and proverbial expressions to the
habits of birds, shows that, though forbidden as
food, they were nevertheless objects of close obser-
vation and contemplation. They were also cher-
ished, it seems, for the beauty of their plumage (I
Kings X. 22) and as pets for children (Job xl. 39;
comp. Baruch iii. 17). Appreciation of their cry is
indicated in Ps. civ. 13 and Eccl. xii. 4-

The Talmud, noting that "le-mino" (after its
kind) follows the names of four of the unclean
birds in the Pentateuchal lists, and identifying
"ayyah" with "dayyah," assumes twenty-four un-
clean birds are intended; and adds: "There are in
the East a hundred unclean birds, all of the hawk
species " (" rain ayyah " ; Hul. 63b). Some of the
birds of prey were trained to the service of man, the
hawk, e.g., to pursue other birds (Shab. 94a). The
claws of the griffin, the wings of the osprey, and
the eggs of the ostrich were made into vessels
(Hul. 25b; Rashi ad loc; Kelira xvii. 14). Egg-
shells were used as receptacles for lamp-oil (Shab.
29b).
Bibliography : Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 168 ; Lewysohn, Z. T.

E. G. H. I. M. 0.

PRIBRAM (PRZIBRAM), ALFRED : Aus-
trian physician ; born at Prague May 11, 1841 ; edu-
cated at the university of his native city(M.D. 1861).
He established a practise in Prague, after having
been for some time assistant at the general hospital
there. He became privatdocent at the German
University of Prague in 1869, assistant professor and
chief physician of the dispensary in 1873, and pro-
fessor of ijathology and therapeutics and chief of
the first medical clinic in 1881.

Pribram is the author of many essays and works,
among which may be mentioned : " Studien ilber
Pebris Recurrens," 1868 (with Robitschek); "Stu-
dien ilber Cholera," 1869; "Studien ttberdie Zucker-
lose Harnruhr," 1870; " Ueber die Sterblichkeit in
Prag," 1873; "Ueber die Verbreitungsweise des Ab-
dominal- und Flecktyphus," 1880; "Ueber den Un-
terricht in der Innern Medizin an der Universitat in
Prag in der Letzten Halfte des Jahrhunderts," etc.,
Prague, 1899.

He has written essays upon cotein, antipyrin, and
quebracho also, and was a collaborator on Bulen-
burg's " Realencyclopadie der Gesammten Hell-
kunde," his subjects being syphilis of the brain and
gout.
Bibliography : Pagel, Biog. Lex.; Hirsch, Bing. Lex.

s. F. T. H.

PRIBRAM, RICHARD : Austrian chemist ;
born at Prague April 21, 1847; educated at the-
Polytechnic and the University of Prague, and at
the University of Munich (Ph.D. 1869). After a.
postgraduate course at the University of Leipsic he
returned to Prague and became assistant in the
chemical department of the physiological institute
of the university. He was privat-docent from 1873
to 1874, when he was appointed professor of
chemistry at the newly founded Gewerbeschule at
Czernowitz. In 1875 the university there was
opened, and Pribram became privat-docent. In
1876 he was appointed assistant professor and in
1879 professor of general and analytical chemistry,
which position he still (1905) holds. From 1891 to
1893 he was "rector magnificus" of the university.
He holds also a number of public positions, inclu-
ding those of member of the commission appointed
to examine in chemistry teachers and pharmacol-
ogists, and official chemist of the courts of Bu-
kowiua. He is the author of many essays in the
professional journalsand of " Jahresbericht liber die
Fortschritte der Thier Chemie oder der Physiolo-
gischen und Pathologischen Chemie " (Wiesbaden),
and "Einleitung zur Prtlfung und Gehaltsbestim-
mung der ArzneistofCe " (Vienna).
Bibliography : Programme of the $Bth Anniversary of the

University of Czernowitz, 1900.

s. F. T. H.

PRICE, JULIUS MENDES : English trav-
eler, artist, and journalist; born in London about
1858; educated at University College (London), at
Brussels, and at the School of Fine Arts in Paris.
He was war correspondent to the "Illustrated Lon-
don News" during the Bechuanaland expedition
(1884). Subsequently he joined an exploring expe-
dition for the opening up of the NordenskiSld route
to the interior of Siberia, and afterward traversed
Siberia, Mongolia, and the Godi desert unaccom-

Prideaux
Priest

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

192

panied, making his way through to Peking in 1890-
1891. He was with the Greek army during the Greco-
Turkish war, and has traversed western Australia,
the Klondike, and other remote regions. He is the
author of several books of travel, including " From
the Arctic Ocean to the Yellow Sea " (London, 1892)
and "The Land of Gold" {ib. 1895), all illustrated
by himself. He has exhibited at the Paris Salon
and the London Royal Academy.
Bibliography: TTTio's TT'^io, 1904. J.

PRIDEAUX, HUMPHRET : English Orien-
talist; born at Padstow, Cornwall, May 3, 1648;
died at Norwich Nov. 1, 1734; educated at Christ-
church, Oxford, where he became Hebrew lecturer
in 1679. He wrote a life of Mohammed (London,
1697), which was mainly a polemical tract against the
Deists, and " the Old and New Testament Connected
and a History of the Jews and Neighboring Na-
tions in the Time of Christ " (London, 1718, 3 vols.),
which for a long time was the standard history of
the Jews between the canons; it was frequently
reprinted, and was translated into French (1733),
and into German (1726).
Bibliography : IMct. Nat. Biog. J.

PRIEST.— Biblical Data : One consecrated to
the service of the sanctuary and, more particularly,
of the altar. This definition, however, holds true
rather for the later than for the earlier stages of
Hebrew priesthood. In ancient Israel one was not
required to be specially consecrated in order to per-
form the sacrificial functions; any one might ap-
proach the altar and offer sacrifices. Thus Gideon,
of the tribe of Manasseh (Judges vi. 26 et seq.), and
the Danite Manoah {ib. xiii. 16, 19) sacrificed in per-
son at the express command of God and the angel
of God respectively ; similarly, David sacrificed on
the altar he had built at God's com-

Laymen mand on the thrashing-floor of Arau-
as nah (II Sam. xxiv. 25) ; and Solomon,

I^iests. before the ark in Jerusalem (I Kings
iii. 15). David, on the occasion of the
transference of the Ark to Zion, and Solomon, at the
dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, ministered
as priests (II Sam. vi. 14, 17, 18; I Kings viii. 22,
Sietseq.); the latter continued to personally offer
sacrifices on the altar of Yhwh at regular intervals
(I Kings ix. 25). Similar instances, in later times,
are presented by Elijah, sacrificing on Mount Car-
mel (I Kings xviii. 33 et seq.), and by Ahaz, in the
Temple at Jerusalem (II Kings xvi. 13 et seq.).

In accordance with this usage in ancient Israel,
the ordinances contained in the Bookof the Covenant,
the oldest code, concerning the building of altars
and the offering of sacrifices are addressed not to
the priest, but to the people at large (Ex. xx.. 34-
26). Even where there was a sanctuary with a
priesthood, as at Shiloh, any layman might slaugh-
ter and offer his sacrifices without priestly aid
(comp. I Sam. ii. 13-16). As access to the altar was
not yet guarded in accordance with later Levitical
ordinances, so the priesthood was not yet confined
to one family, or even to one tribe. The Ephraimite
Samuel became priest of the sanctuary at Shiloh,
wearing the priestly linen coat ("efod bad") and
the pallium (I Sam. ii. 18 et seq., iii. 1). The kings

of Israel ordained as priest whomever they chose (I
Kings xii. 81) ; David, too, invested his own sons, as
well as the Jairite Ira, of the tribe of Manasseh,
with the priestly office (II Sam. viii. 18, xx. 36).

If a distinct established priesthood is nevertheless
found at the sanctuary of Shiloh and at that of Dan
as early as the time of the Judges, it is obvious
that its real office can not have been connected with
the altar or the sacrifices, and that, consequently, its
origin can not be looked for in the sacrificial func-
tions. Wherein the origin of the Israelitish priest-
hood really lies is sufllciently apparent from the
older Biblical records of the time of the Judges and
the following period. According to these, the func-
tions of the priest were twofold: to care for and
guard the sanctuary and its sacred
Functions images and palladia, and (of still
of greater importance) to consult the

tlie Priest, oracle. Thus the Ephraimite Micah,
after having provided an ephod and
teraphim (see Ephod) for his shrine, installed one
of his sons as priest to take care of them, but only
until he could secure a professional priest, a Levite,
for the purpose, one who was qualified to consult
the oracle (Judges xvii. 5-13).

It is evident that not the shrine, but the images
it sheltered, were the essential thing. These it was
that the migrating Danites coveted and carried off
to their new home, together with the priest, who
had consulted the oracle in behalf of their exploring
party with auspicious results (ib. xviii.). The
sacred palladium of the sanctuary at Shiloh was the
Akk, over wliich the sons of Eli and Samuel kept
guard. The former carried it when it was taken to
the battle-field, while the latter, having special
charge of the doors, slept nightly near it (I Sam.
iii. 8, 15; iv. 4 et seq.). When, later, the ark was
returned from the field of the Philistines and brought
to the house of Abinadab at Kirjath-jearim, Abina-
dab's son Bleazar was at once consecrated guard-
ian over it {ib. vii. 1). The bearing of the ark,
with which, at Shiloh, the sons of Eli were en-
trusted, remained, as the frequent statements to this
effect in later Biblical literature show, a specific
priestly function throughout pre-exilic times (comp.
Deut. x. 8, xxxi. 9; Josh. iii. 6 et seq., iv. 9 et seq.,
vi. 13, viii. 33 ; I Kings viii. 3). After the capture
of its ark by the Philistines the sanctuary of Shiloh
disappeared from history (its destruction is referred
to in Jer. vii. 12, 14 ; xxvi. 6) ; its priesthood, how-
ever, appeared in the following period at the sanc-
tuary of Nob, which also had an ephod (I Sam. xiv.
3; xxi. 1, 10; xxii. 9, 11).

After the massacre of the priesthood of Nob,
Abiathar, who was the sole survivor, fled witli the
ephod to David {ib. xxiii. 6), whom thenceforward
he accompanied on all his military expeditions,
bearing the ephod in order to consult the oracle for
him whenever occasion demanded {ib. xxiii. 9, xxx.
7). Similarly, in the campaign against the Philis-
tines, Ahiah accompanied Saul and the Israelites,
"bearing the ephod " and ascertaining for them the
decisions of the oracle {ib. xiv. 8, 18, the latter verse
being so read by the LXX.). The priests' duty of
guarding the sanctuary and its sacred contents ac-
counts for the use, in pre-exilic times, of " shomer ha-

193

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Frideaux
Priest

Baf," "doorkeeper" (corresponding to the Arabic
"sadin"), as S3'nonymous with "kohen" (II Kings
xii. 10), and explains also how " shamar '' and " she-
ret " became the technical terms of priestly service
and were retained as sucli even after the nature of
the service liad materially changed.

To fill the office of doorkeeper no special qualifi-
cation was necessary, but, as liinted above, to con-
sult the oracle required special training, such as, no
doubt, could be found only among professional
priests. So, though the doorl^eepers wei'e in many
cases not of priestly lineage (comp..
Door- besides the case of Samuel and of Elea-

keepers. zar of Kirjath-jearim, tliat of Obed-
edom ; II Sam. vi. 10 et seg.), those
who consulted tlie oracle were invariably of priestly
descent, a fact which makes it seem highly probable
that the art of using and interpreting tlie ojacie was
handed down from father to son. In this way, no
doubt, hereditary priesthood developed, as indicated
by the cases of tlie sons of Eli at Shiloh and Nob,
and of Jonathan and his descendants at Dan, both
these priestly houses extending back to the very be-
ginning of Israelitish history. The descendants of
Jonathan made express claim to lineal descent from
Moses (comp. I Sam. ii. 27; Judges xviii. 30; the
reading "Menashsheh" in Judges xviii. 30 is, as the
suspended 3 shows, due to a later change of the
■original "Mosheh,"a change which is frankly ac-
knowledged in B. B. 109b; comp. also Rashi and
Kimhi ad loc, and to ib. xvii. 7); in fact, their claim
is supported by Ex. xxxiii. 7-11, according to which
not Aaron, but Moses, was the priest of the " tent of
meeting" (R. V.) in the wilderness, while Joshua
kept constant guard over it. " Whosoever had to
consult God went out to the tent of meeting," where
Moses ascertained the will of God ; and just as Moses,
in his capacity of priest, was the intermediary
through whom Yhwh revealed the Torah to the Is-
raelites in the wilderness, and through whom His
judgment was invoked in all difficult
Interpret- cases, such as could not be adjusted
ers without reference to this highest

•of the Law. , tribunal (Ex. xviii. 16 et seg.), so the
priests, down to the close of pre-exilic
times, were the authoritative interpreters of the Law,
while the sanctuaries were the seats of judgment.

Thus the Book of the Covenant prescribes that all
dubious criminal cases "be brought before God,"
that is, be referred to Him by the priest for decision
(Ex. xxii. 7, 8). That " Elohim " here means " God "
(not, as the A. V. translates, "the judges"; is clear
from I Sam. xiv. 36, where the same phrase, "nik-
rab el Elohim," is applied to consulting the oracle
by means of the Urim and Thummim (comp. the
following verses, 37-43, the last two verses as read
by the LXX.). The urim and thummim were em-
ployed together with the ephod in consulting the
oracle, the former, as may be inferred from the de-
scription in I Sam. xiv. 41, 43, being a kind of
sacred lots: in all probability they were cast before
the ephod. Josh. vii. 14 and I Sam. ii. 35 may
be cited in further proof of the fact that direct
appeal to divine judgment was made in ancient
Israel. This primitive custom is reflected even in
as late a passage as Prov. xviii. 18. The Blessing
X.— 13

of Moses proves that the sacred lots continued to
be cast by the priests during the time of the mon-
archy, inasmuch as it speaks of the urim and thum-
mim as insignia of the priesthood (Deut. xxxiii.
8). This document shows, as does also the Deute-
ronomic code, that throughout pre-exilic times the
expounding of the Torah and the administration of
justice remained the specific functions of the priests,
it declares that the priests are the guardians of
God's teachings and Law, and that it is their mission
to teach God's judgments and Torah to Israel (Deut.
xxxiii. 9, 10), while the Deuteronomic code decrees
that all diflScult criminal as well as civil cases be
referred to the priests {ib. xvii. 8-11, xxi. 5). Fur-
ther proof to the same effect lies in the frequent
references of the Prophets to the judicial and teach-
ing functions of the priesthood (comp. Amos ii. 8;
Hos. iv. 6; Isa. xxviii. 7; Micah iii. 11; Jer. ii. 8,
xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 36).

In addition to the duties thus far discussed, the
offering of sacrifices, in the time of the monarchy,
must have become the office of the
OSering of priest, since the Blessing^^jpf Moses
the mentions it with the otSer priestly

Sacrifices, functions. No direct information is
obtainable from the Biblical records as
to the conditions and influences which brought this
about, but it may be safely assumed that one of the
factors leading thereto was the rise of the royal
sanctuaries. In these, daily public sacrifices were
maintained by the king (comp. II Kings xvi. 15),
and it must certainly have been the business of the
priests to attend to them. There is evidence also
that among the priests of Jerusalem there were, at
least in later pre-exilic times, gradations of rank.
Besides the " chief prie§t " (" kohen ha-rosh ") men-
tion is made of the "kohen mishneh," the one hold-
ing the second place (II Kings xxv. 18 et al.).

As yet, however, it seems apparent that the priest-
hood was not confined to one particular branch
of the family of Levi, but, as both' the Blessing of
Moses and the Deuteronomic code state, was the
heritage of the whole tribe (comp. Deut. x. 8, 9;
xviii. let seg., 5; xxxiii. 8-10; Josh, xviii. 7). This
explains why, in the Deuteronomic code, the whole
tribe of Levi lias a claim to the altar-gifts, the first-
fruits, and the like, and to the dues in kind from pri-
vate sacrifices (Deut. xviii. 1-5), while in Ezekiel and
the Priestly Code the Levites have no share therein.
It explains also how it comes that, not only in Judges
xvii. (see above), but throughout pre-exilic litera-
ture, the terms "Levite " and "priest" are used syn-
onymously (comp. Deut. xvii. 9, 18; xviii. 1; xxi.
8; xxiv. 8; xxvii. 9; Josh. iii. 3; Jer. xxxiii. 18, 21:
the only exception is I Kings viii. 4, where, how-
ever, as the parallel text, II Chron. v. 5, shows, the
1 of O'l^ni is a later insertion).

Since, in pre-exilic times, the whole tribe of Levi
was chosen " to stand before Yiiwii in order to min-
ister unto Him," it is but consistent

Levites that the ofllce " of blessing in Yhwh's
and name " (which in the Priestly Code is

Priests, assigned to Aaron and his sons —
Num. vi. 23) should, in the Deute-
ronomic code, pertain to all the Levites (comp. Deut.
■ X. 8, xxi. 8). A very strong proof that all members

Priest

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

194

of the Levitical tribe were entitled to priesthood is
furnished in the provision which was made by the
Deuterouomic code for those Levites who were
scattered through the country as priests of the local
sanctuaries, and who, in consequence of the Deu-
teronomic reformation, had been left without any
means of support. It stipulated that those Levites
who desired to enter the ranlis of the priesthood of
Jerusalem should be admitted to equal privileges
with their brethren the Levites who ministered there
unto God, and should share equally with them the
priestly revenues (I)eut. xviii. 6-8). As a matter of
fact, however, this provision was not carried out.
The priests of Jerusalem were not willing to accord
to their brethren of the local sanctuaries the privi-
leges prescribed by Deuteronomy, and although
they granted them support from the priestly dues,
they did not allow them to minister at the altar
(corap. 11 Kings xxiii. 8, 9). In this way the Deu-
teronomic reformation marks, after all, the first step
toward the new development in the priesthood in
exilic and post-exilic times.

The attitude of the priests of Jerusalem toward
those of the local sanctuaries was sanctioned by
Ezekiel. In his book (and later in II Chron. xxxi.
10) the priesthood of Jerusalem is called " bene Za-
dok," or "the house of Zadok," after Zadok, who
replaced Abiathar, Eli's descendant, when Abiathar,
because of his partizanship for Adonijah, was de-
posed by Solomon (comp. I Kings ii. 27, 35). Eze-
kiel ordained that of all the Levite priests only the
Zadoldtes, who had ministered to God in His legiti-
mate sanctuary at Jerusalem, should be admitted
to the service of the altar; the rest, who had de-
filed themselves by officiating at the local sanctua-
ries, should be degraded to the position of mere serv-
ants in the sanctuary, replacing the foreign Temple
attendants who had heretofore performed all menial
services (Ezek. xl. 46, xliii. 19, xhv. 6-16). Nat-
urally, the altar-gifts, the tribute of the tirst-fruits,
and the like, were to be awarded thenceforward to
the Zadokites alone (xliv. 39, 30). Though Ezekiel
assigns to the priests the duty of sitting in judg-
ment in legal disputes, as before (xliv. 24), he makes
their ritual functions, not their judiciW functions,
the essential point in his regulations governing the
priests. Administering the Law, according to him,
extends only to matters of ritual, to the distinctions
between holy and profane, clean and unclean, and
to the statutory observance of Sabbaths and festivals
(xliv. 23, 24).

Ezekiel's new regulations formed, in all essentials,
the basis of the post-exilic priestly system which is
formulated in detail in the Priestly Code. A stri-
king difference between Ezekiel and
The the Priestly Code, however, is at once

Priestly evident in that the latter betrays no
Code. idea of the historical development
of things. Whereas Ezekiel records
the old usage and, by virtue of his authority as a
prophet, declares it abolished, the Priestly Code rec-
ognizes only the new order of things introduced by
Ezekiel, which order it dates back to the time of
Moses, alleging that from the very first the priest-
hood had been confined to Aaron and his sons, while
the mass of the Levites had been set apart as their

ministers to fill the subordinate otfices of the sanc-
tuary (comp. Ex. xxviii. 1 ; Num. i. 48 et seq. ; iii.
3-10; viii. 14, 19, 24-26; xviii. 1-7; I Chron. vi. 38
et seg.). The priestly genealogy of I Chron. v. 29-
41 and vi. 35-38 was but the logical result of this
transference of post-exilic conditions back to the
period of the wandering in the wilderness. This
genealogy, the pui'pose of which was to establish
the legitimacy of the Zadokite priesthood, repre-
sents the Zadokites as the lineal descendants of
Phinehas(the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron), who,
for his meritorious action in the case of Zimri, ac-
cording to Num. XXV. 10-18, had been promised the
priesthood as a lasting heritage. That this gene-
alogy and that of I Chron. xxiv. 1-6, in which the
descent of the Elite Abiathar is traced from Aaron's
son Itharaar, are fictitious is evident from the fact that
they conflict with the authentic records of the books
of Samuel and Kings: (1) they know nothing of the
priesthood of Eli ; (2) Ahitub, the son of Phinehas,
the son of Eli, and father of Ahimelech of Nob
(comp. I Sam. xiv. 3; xxii. 9, 11), appears in-them
as the son of an unknown Amariali and tlie father
of Zadok; (3) contrary to I Kings ii. 27, 35 (see
above), Abiathar and his descendants remain priests
at the Temple of Jerusalem.

Regarding the cliaracteristic attribution of post-
exilic conditions to pre-exilic times, a notable exam-
ple may be pointed out in Chron. xxiii.-xxvi. Both
priests and Levites were, in post-exilic
Th.e times, divided into twenty-four fam-

Priestly ilies or classes, with a chief (called

Orders. "rosh " or "sar"; comp. especially I
Chron. xv. 4-12; xxiii. 8 et seg.;
xxiv. 5, 6, 31 ; Ezra viii. 29) at the head of each.
The institution of this system, as well as of other
arrangements, is, in the passage cited, ascribed to
David.

The prominence which the ritual receives in Eze-
kiel reaches its culmination in the Priestly Code,
where the judicial functions of the priest, formerly
much emphasized, have given way altogether to the
ritualistic. To minister at the altar and to guard
the sanctity of Israel, which means practically the
sanctity of the sanctuary, constitute from this time
on the priest's exclusive office. For this purpose,
it is pointed out, God chose Aaron and his sons,
distinguishing them from the rest of the Levites,
and bid them consecrate themselves to their office
(comp. Ex. xxviii. 1, 41-43; xxix. 1, 30, 33, 37, 43-
46 ; XXX. 20, 29 et seg. ; Lev. i.-vii., xiii. et seg., xvii.
Set seg.; Num. vi. 16 et seg., Xvi. 5-11, xviii. 3-7;
I Chron. xxiii. 13; II Cliron. xxvi. 18). Any one
not of priestly descent was forbidden, under penalty
of death, to offer sacrifice, or even to approach the
altar (Num. xvii. 1-5, xviii. 7). As the guardians
of Israel's sanctity the priests formed a holy order
(comp. Lev. xxi. 6-8), and for the purpose of pro-
tecting them against all profanation and Levitical
defilement they were hedged about with rules and
prohibitions. They were forbidden to come in con-
tact with dead bodies, except in the case of their
nearest kin, nor were they permitted to perform the
customary mourning rites (Lev. x. 6, xxi. 1-5; Ezek.
xliv. 20, 25). They were not allowed to marry har-
lots, nor dishonored or divorced women (Lev. xxi. 7).

195

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Priest

Tlicy were required to abstain from wine and all
strong drink while performing sacerdotal duties
(Lev. X. 9; Ezek. xliv. 21). Any priest liaving in-
curred Levitical defilement was excluded, under
penalty of death, from priestly service and from
partaking of holy food during the time of his un-
cleanness (Lev. xxii. 2-7, 9; Ezek. xliv. 26 et seg.).
If afflicted with any bodily blemish the priest was
held permanently unfit for service ; such a one was,
however, permitted to eat of the holy food (Lev.
xxi. 17-23).

A noteworthy feature of the post-exilic priestly
system is the place which the high priest occupies
in it, for which see High Priest.

BiBLioGEAPHY : Haudissin, Oexch. des Alttestamentlichen
Pi-iesteitums, 1889; Benzinger, HehrOiscM ArcTMologle,
1894, pp. 405-428; Nowack, Lehrhueh aier HebrdischenAr-
chdnlngie, 1894, ii. 87-130 ; Wellhausen, Prolegomena zur
Gesch. Israels, 1899, pp. 118-165.

In Rabbinical Literature : The status of the

priesthood in later Judaism and the views that pre-
vailed concerning it were in full accordance with
the Priestly Code. Like the latter (comp. Ex. xxix.
42-46; Lev. ix. et seq.; xv. 15, 30-33; xvi. ; Num.
vi. 27; Zech. iii. 7; Mai. ii. 7), later Judaism saw
in the sanctuary the manifestation of God's presence
among His people, and in the priest the vehicle of
divine grace, the mediator through whose ministry
the sins of the community, as of the individual,
could be atoned for. In Yoma 39b and Lev. I{. i.
(where Zech. xi. 1 is taken as referring to the Tem-
ple) the name " Lebanon " (= " white one ") for the
Temple is explained by the fact that through the
Temple Israel is cleansed from its sins. That the
chief purpose of altar and priesthood is to make
atonement for, and effect the forgiveness of, sin is

stated again and again in Talmud and

To IVEake Midrash (comp. Ber. 55a; Suk. 55b;

Atone- Ket. 10b; Zeb. 85b; Lev. R. xvi. 2;

ment. Tan. to Ex. xxvii. 2; Yalk. ii. 565).

Even the priestly garments were sup-
posed to possess efficacy in atoning for sin (Zeb.
85b; Yalk. i. 108). According to the rabbinical de-
cision, " the priests were the emissaries, not of the
people, but of God " ; hence, a person who had
sworn that he would not accept a service from a
priest might nevertheless employ him to offer sacri-
fices and might make atonement for sin through
him (Yoma 19a; Ned. iv. 3; 35b; Kid. 23b).

Later Judaism enforced rigidly the laws relating
to the pedigrees of priests, and even established
similar requirements for the women they married.
Proof of a spotless pedigree was absolutely neces-
sary for admission to priestly service, and any one
unable beyond all doubt to establish it was excluded
from the priesthood (comp. Ket. 13a, b, 14a, 23a, b,
27a, b; Kid. 78a, b; Maimonides, "Yad," Issure
Biah, XX. 2, 16 ; Shulhan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer, 3,
6, 7). Unless a woman's pedigree was known to be
unimpeachable, a priest, before marrying her, was
required to examine it for four generations on both
sides, in case she was of priestly lineage ; for five
generations if she was not of priestly descent (Kid.
iv. 4, 5; 77a, b; "Yad," I.e. xix. 18; Ebenha-'Ezer,
2, 3). How scrupulously such examinations were
made may be seen from the observations of Josephus
regarding this custom (" Contra Ap." i., § 7). In

addition to the persons enumerated in Lev. xxi. 7,
the Talmudic law enjoined the priest even from
marrying a haluzah (see Halizah).
Importance In a dubious case of haluzah, how-
of ever, the priest was not obliged to an-

Pedigree. nul his marriage, as he was in the case
of a woman excluded by the Levit-
ical law ; nor were the sons born of such a marriage
debarred from the priestliood (comp. Yeb. vi. 2;
54a; Sotah iv. 1; Kid. iv. 6; Sifra, Emor, i. 2;
" Yad," i.e. xvii. 1, 7 ;' Eben ha-'Ezer, 6, 1). Neither
might a priest marry a proselyte or a freedwoman.
Regarding a daughter of such persons, opinion in
the Mishnah is divided as to whether or not it was
necessary that one of the parents should be of Jew-
ish descent. The decision of later authorities was
that, in case both of the woman's parents were
proselytes or freed persons, a priest should not marry
her, but if he had done so, then the marriage should
be considered legitimate (Bik. i. 5; Yeb. vi. 5; 60a,
61a; Kid. iv. 7; 78b; "Yad," I.e. xviii. 3, xix. 12;
Ebenha-'Ezer, 6, 8; 7, 21).

The Levitical law which forl)ids the priest to de-
file himself by coming in contact with a dead body
is minutely defined in the Talmud on the basis of
Num. xix. 11, 14-16. Not only is direct contact
with the dead prohibited, but the priest is forbidden
to enter any house or enclosure, orap-
Contact proach any spot, where is lying or is
with. Dead buried a dead body, or any part of a
Pro- dead body^ — even a piece of the size
bibited. of an ,ohve — or blood to the amount
of half a " log " (about a quarter of a
liter) ; he is forbidden also to towch any one or any-
thing that is unclean through contact with the dead
(comp. Sifra, Emor, i. 1, ii. 1; Naz. vii. 2, 4; 42b,
43a, 47b, 48b, 56a, b; Yer. Naz. 56c, d; "Yad,"
Bi'at ha-Mikdash, iii. 13-15 ; ib. Ebel, iii. ; Shulhan
'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 369, 371). In contradistinction
to Lev. xxi. 2-4, the Talmudic law includes the wife
among the persons of immediate relationship. It
specifies, moreover, that it is the duty of the priest
to defile himself for the sake of his deceased wife or,
in fact, for any of his immediate kin, and that com-
pulsion must be used in the case of any priest who
refuses to do so, as in the case of the priest Joseph
on the occasion of his wife's death (Sifra, I.e. ; M.
K. 20b; Yeb. 22b, 90b; Naz. 47b, 48a, b; Zeb. 100a;
"Yad," Ebel, ii. ; Yoreh De'ah, 373).

But even while occupied in burying a relative,
the priest may not come in contact with other dead
bodies ("Yad," I.e. ii. 15; Yoreh De'ah, 378, 7).
The Talmud prescribes, further, that if any priest,
even the high priest, finds a corpse by the wayside,
and there be no one in the vicinity who can be called
upon to inter it, he himself must perform the burial :
the technical term referring to such a case is " met
mizwah" (comp. Sifra, Emor, ii. 1; Naz. vii. 1;
43b, 47b, 48b; "Yad," I.e. iii. 8; Yoreh De'ah, 374,
1, 2). Finally, the Talmud permits and indeed
orders the priest to defile himself in the case of the
death of a nasi ; it relates that when Judah ha-Nasi
died the priestly laws concerning defilement through
contact with the dead were suspended for the day
of his death (Yer. Ber. iii. 6a; Yer. Naz. vii. 56a,
I Ket. 103b; " Yad," I.e. iii. 10; Yoreh De'ah, 374, 11).

Priest
Priestly Code

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

196

The Talmudic law also specifies minutely what

constitutes a bodily defect sufficient to render the

subject unfit for priestly service. Bek.

Bodily vii. and Sifra, Emor, lii. enumerate
Defects In- 142 cases ; whether the defect is per-
capacitate. manent or only temporary is not taken
into account (eomp. Zeb. xii. 1 ; 102a,
b; "Yad," Bi'at ha-Miljdash, vi.-viii. ; Philo, "De
Monarchia," ii. 5; Josephus, "Ant." lii. 12, § 3).

The division of the priests into twenty-four classes,
mentioned in Chronicles, continued down to the de-
struction of the Second Temple, as statements to this
effect by Josephus ("Ant." vii. 14, § 7; "Vita," § 1)
and the Talmudic sources show. These divisions
took turns in weekly service, changing every Sab-
bath, but on the festivals all twenty -four were pres-
ent iu the Temple and took part in the service.
These twenty-four divisions or classes were sub-
divided, according to their numbers, into from five
to nine smaller groups, each of which was assigned
to service in turn. The main divisions were called
"mishmarot," the subdivisions "batte abot" (terms
which in Chronicles are used interchangeably).
There was a chief at the head of each main division,
and also one at the head of each subdivision (Ta'an.
li. 6, 7; iv. 2; 27a, b; Yer. Ta'an. 68a; Tosef.,
Ta'an. ii. ; Suk. v. 6-8; 25a, h, et al.; 'Ar. 12b;
Yoma iii. 9, iv. 1 ; Yer. Hor. iii. ; 48b).

Besides the various chiefs, the Talmudic sources
frequently mention also the " segan " as an official
of high rank. As early as Tosef., Yoma, i. 6 ; Yoma
39a, Naz. 47b, and Sotah 42a the view
The Segan. is found that the segan was appointed
for the purpose of serving as substi-
tute for the high priest on the Day of Atonement in
case the high priest should incur Levilical defile-
ment. Schlirer ("Gesch." 3d ed., ii. 265) rightly
points out, however, that this view is erroneous,
since, according to the statement in Yoma i. 1, it was
customary every year, seven days before the Day
of Atonement, to appoint a priest to perform the
service on that day in case the high priest should
become Levitically unclean; and there would have
been no need for such an appointment if, in the per-
son of the segan, a permanent provision existed for
such an emergency. (Further reference to this cus-
tom is found in Yoma 12b; Tosef., Yoma, i.) Con-
clusive proof of Schilrer's argument may be found
in the fact that in Sanh. 19a the priest appointed as
the high priest's potential substitute for the Day of
Atonement is called "mashuah she-'abar" (anointed
one that has been retired), and is clearly distin-
guished from the segan. The passage reads: "If
the high priest offers consolation the segan and the
mashuah she-'abar stand at his right hand, and the
chief of the ' bet ab,' with the mourners and the rest
of the people, at his left hand. . . . And if he re-
ceives consolation the segan stands at his right
hand, and the chief of the bet ab, with all the peo-
ple, at his left; the mashuah she-'abar, however, is
not admitted for fear the high priest, in the excite-
ment of his grief, might think that he looked with
complacency on his bereavement."

The name " mashuah she-'abar " is to be accounted
for by the fact (.stated in Tosef., Yoma, i. ; Yer.
Yoma i., 38a, and Yoma 12b, and illustrated by the

case of Jose ben Illem) that a substitute who has
actually taken the place of the high priest ou the
Day of Atonement may not thereafter perform the
services of an ordinary priest; neither may he aspire
to the high-priesthood. In the light of this state-
ment it can readily be understood why Meg. i. 9
calls tlic temporary substitute of the high priest
" kohen she-'abar. " The names " mashuah she- 'abar "
and " kohen she-'abar " are in themselves proof of
Schlirer's assertion, inasmuch as the office of the
segan was a permanent one. But apart from this
negative evidence, which merely shows that the
segan was not identical with the mashuah she-
'abar, there is (contrary to SchUrer, I.e. ii. 264) posi-
tive evidence in the Talmudic sources to show that
his real office was identical with that of the latter.
Thus, in the baraita Sanh. 19a, quoted above, the
title " segan " is used to designate the " memunneh "
spoken of in the preceding mishnah (ii. 1), a circum-
stance which would point to the conclusion drawn
by the Gemara (ib.) that the segan and the memun-
neh were identical. This conclusion is, in fact, cor-
roborated by Mishnah Tamid, where the titles "se-
gan " and " memunneh " are used interchangeably.
There can be no doubt that in Mishnah Tamid iii.
1-8, V. 1-2, vi. 3, vii. 3 these titles refer to one and
the same official, whose ofilce is described in great
detail^-the office, namely, of superintendent of the
whole Temple service. Note especially vi. 8 and
vii. 3, which define the duty of the superintending
priest when the high priest offers incense or sacrifice;
in vi. 3 this official is called " memunneh " ; in vii. 3,
"segan."

It may logically be inferred from these passages
that the duties ascribed to the segan on the Day
of Atonement in Yoma iii. 9, iv. 1, vii. 1 v/ere a
regular part of his office as superintendent of the
service. Indeed, this is borne out by Yer. Yoma
iii., 41a, where, together with the Day of Atone-
ment duties of the segan that are specified in the
Mishnah, is mentioned that of waving a flag as a
signal to the Levites to join in with their singing,
the giving of which signal, according to Mishnah
Tamid vii. 3, was a regular feature of the segan's daily
official routine. The fact that the segan had to act
as superintendent of the service even on the Day of
Atonement fully precludes the idea that he could
ever have been appointed substitute for the high
priest for that day.

Considering the Importance of such a position of
superintendence, some weight must be attached to
the statement in Yer. Yoma (I.e.) that "no one was
appointed high priest unless he had previously oc-
cupied the office of segan." It substantiates, at
least, the conclusion drawn by Schurer (ib.) from
the fact that the segan invariably appears at the
right hand of the high priest (comp. the baraita
Sanh. 19a, quoted above) — the conclusion, namely,
that the segan was the next in rank to the high
priest. Sohiirer is probably correct, too, in pointing
out (ib.) that the segan is identical with the arpaTriydr
Tov Ispov, frequently mentioned by Josephus and in
the New Testament.

Other important officials were the "gizbarim"
(treasurers), who had charge of the Temple prop-
erty, and the " amarkelin " (a word of Persian origin.

197

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Priest
Priestly Code

meaning " cashier "), who probably shared the duties
of the gizbarim (comp. Josephus, "Ant." xiv. 7,

§ 1 ; XV. 11, § 4; xviii. 4, § 3; Peah i.

Other 6, ii. 8, iv. 8 ; Shek. ii. 1 ; v. 2, 6 ; Me'i.

Officials, lii. 8; Men. viii. 2, 7; et al.). Yer.

Shek. v., 49c, mentions also the" kato-
liliin " {KaBoXiKoi), placing them in rank before the
amarkelin.

According to Talmudic law, the regulations de-
manding an unimpeachable pedigree and relating to
Levitical defilement continued to be binding on the
priest, even after the Temple had been destroyed,
in order that he might be fit for priestly service
when, on the advent of the Messiah, the Temple
would be rebuilt and the service of the altar re-
newed. Anyone not complying with these require-
ments Is not allowed to give the priestly blessing,
the pronouncing of which remained the duty of the
priest, according to Talmudic law, even after the
destruction of the Temple (see Blessing, Prikstlv).
Talmudic law prescribes further that the honor of
being first called upon for the reading of the Torah
should belong to the priest (comp. "Yad," Issure
Biah, XX. 13; iJ. Tefillah,xiv.,xv. ; Eben ha-'Ezer, 3,
1 ; Orah Hayyira, 138; 135, 8, 4; Sotah 8Sb; Gif. v.
8; see, however, Hor. iii. 8).

Bibliography: Schilrer, Oesch. 3d ed., Ii. 225-279; Carpzow,
Appa/ratuJ< HiKtnrio-CriticuK AntiquilMwm, Sacri Codicis ;
Haneberg, XKe ReligiOsen AltertiXmer der Bibel ; Llghtfoot,
Miniisterlum Templi Quale Erat Tempore Nostri Salva-
toris ; Lundlus, Die Allen JUdischen HeiUgtUmer, Oottes-
dieivfte und Gewnhnheiten, etc.; Selden, De Successinne
in Pontificatum Ebrceorum ; Ugollnl, Sacerdotium He-
hraicum.
E. c. M. Bu.

PRIESTLY CODE : Name given by modern
scholars to that stratum of the Pentateuch which
deals with ceremonial regulations, especially those
which relate to sacrifice and purification. These
laws once formed part of an independent narrative,
which contained just sufficient historical matter to
form a setting for the laws. In consequence of this,
some of the priestly laws, such as those concerning
circumcision and the Passover, are still given in
narrative form.

The subject-matter of the Priestly Code is as fol-
lows: circumcision (Gen. xvii.); the Passover and
Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. xii. 1-30) ; qualifi-
cations for eating the Passover (Ex. xii. 43-49) ; the
dress of priests (Ex. xx.viii.) ; ritual
Contents, for their consecration (Ex. xxix. 1-37);
the morning and evening offerings
(Ex. xxix. 88-42); composition of anointing-oil and
incense (Ex. xxx. 23-38); law of the Sabbath (Ex.
xxxi. 14b-17, XXXV. 1-3); the laws of burnt, meal-,
peace-, sin-, and guilt-offerings, including specifica-
tions of the priests' portions, and, in some cases, of the
dress of the officiating priest (Lev. i.-vii., x. 13-30);
laws of purification and atonement (Lev. xi.-xvi.
[ch. xi., which treats of clean and unclean animals,
is an expansion of an older law of the Holiness
Code; comp. Leviticus, Critical View]); many
additions to the Holiness Code in Lev. xvii.-xxvi. ;
the commutation of vows (Lev. xxvii.); miscellane-
ous laws concerning lepers, dedicated things, and
women suspected of unfaithfulness (Num. v.); laws
of vows (Num. vr. 1-31); the priestly benediction
(Num. vi. 33-27); how to fix lamps on the golden

candlestick, and how to consecrate priests (Num.
viii.) ; law of the supplementary Passover for those
not able to keep the regular Passover (Num. ix. 9-
14) ; laws of meal- and peace-offerings (Num. xv.
1-31); the law of tassels (Num. xv. 37-41); on the
duties and revenues of priests and Levites (Num.
xviii.); the "red heifer" rite of puriflcatiou after
defilement through a corpse (Num. xix.); inherit-
ance of daughters in families without sons (Num.
xxvii. 1-11); the priestly calendar of feasts and sac-
rifices (Num. xxviii., xxix.); the distribution by
the priest of booty taken in war (Num. xxxi.. 21-
30); the cession of forty-eight cities to the Levites
(Num. xxxv. 1-8); laws of murder and manslaugh-
ter and cities of refuge (Num. xxxv. 9-34); law
concerning the marriage of heiresses to landed prop-
erty (Num. xxxvi.).

It is evident that rules of priestly procedure must
have accompanied the institution of the priesthood.
In the earliest times these rules prob-
Growth. ably were transmitted orally. When
writing was first employed in connec-
tion with them, it is likely that only some general
directions, or some details deemed most important,
were committed to writing. As time passed on
the importance given to written law would lead the
priesthood to commit more and more of the details
to writing. In time, too, variations of detail would
develop, authority for which must be committed tO'
writing, so that actual practise might be justified
by existing law. One would, therefore, suppose
beforehand that such a code would exhibit evidence
of gradual growth.

Proof that this actually occurred in the case of
the Priestly Code is not wanting. As already
pointed out, Lev. xvii.-xxvi. is, in the main, an
older code, wliich has been worked over by a
" priestly " editor. A careful study of the list of
priestly laws exhibits further evidences of their
gradual growth. The law of the " little " Passover,
in Num. ix. 9-14, is a later addition to Ex. xii. 1-20.
The laws of the sin-offering in Num. xv. 22-31 are
supplementary to those in Lev. iv. 13-21, 27-31.
The calendar of feasts in Num. xxviii.-xxix. is
paralleled in Lev. xxiii. The former is much fuller
and more specific than the latter, even after the cal-
endar of feasts of the Holiness Code in Lev. xxiii. has
been expanded by the priestly editor (P). The law of
heiresses in Num. xxxvi. is supplementary to that
in Num. xxvii. 1-11. Since the gradual develop-
ment of this code is so evident, scholars have nat-
urally sought to detect the strata of which it is
composed, though they have not yet come to com-
plete agreement. All recognize the author of the
Holiness Code (P''), which begins priestly codifica-
tion, and the author of the " Grundschrift " (P or pf ),
which gives to the priestly institutions their histor-
ical setting. Kuenen recognized a supplementary
priestly writer, whom he designates P''.

It is now conceded that these supplementary
sections are the work of no one hand or age, and that
some of them date from a time considerably later
than Ezra and Nehemiah. The symbol P' is now
used to designate all these expanders. Carpenter
and Harford-Battersby think that prior to Ps there
existed, besides P'', a writer of the priestly school

Priluk
Pringrsheim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

198

whose work consisted of priestly teaching; tliey
therefore designate him P'. Tliey believe that be-
fore the time of Nehemiah, P» liad embodied iu his
work that of P'' and P', and that most of the sup-
plementary portions were added later. This accords
with the view expressed above (comp. Leviticus,
Ceitical View).

Bibliography : Kuenen, Rexateuch, pp. 65-107, London, 1886 ;
Wellhausen, History of Israel, London, 1885 ; idem, Pro-
Ugomenazur Oesch. Israels, ch. i.-iii., Ix., Berlin, 1899 ; Car-
penter and Harford-Battersby, Hexateuch, 1., ch. xiii., Lon-
don, 1000.
E. G. II. G. A. B.

PRILUK (PRZTLTJK; PURLIK ; FRI-
LOCK), ARYEH LOB: Polish author of the
seventeenth century. He wrote a commentary on
the Zohar from the pericope " Shemot " to " Hukkat,"
which was published, with the "Sefer Yirah," in
Berlin in 1724. The latter book also is credited to
him.

Bibliography : Furst, Bihl. Jud. i. 304, )i. 264 ; Ben.iacob,
Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 229 ; Stelnsclineider, Cat. Bodl. col.
745 ; Zunz, Z. O. p. 238, note b.
E. c. S. O.

PBIMO, SAMUEL: Shabbethaian sectary of
the seventeenth century; born in Jerusalem; died
probably at Constantinople. He was one of the
earliest followers of Shabbethai Zebi, whose private
secretary he became. He first acted in this capac-
ity on Zebi's journey from Jerusalem to Smyrna
in 1665, cleverly managing to give to the advent
of the pseudo-Messiah an air of dignity. From
Smyrna he spread the news among all foreigrt Jews
that the Messiah had actually appeared. With cer-
tain of his confidants he was the first to plan the
abolition of rabbinic Judaism. In the name of
Shabbethai Zebi he also sent a circular to the Jews
(Dec, 1665) advising the abolition of the fast-day of
the tenth of Tebet.

In Feb., 1666, Primo accompanied Zebi to Con-
stantinople; and after the latter had embraced Islam
Primo even tried to explain this apostasy as having
been foreordained in the Messianic role. Concerning
the rest of his life nothing is known.

BiBiJOGRAPHY: Hottinger, Thesaurus, xxx. 287-361, Zurich,
1649: Weiss, in Bet ha^Midrash, 1868, pp. 64, 100; Gratz,
Gesch. 3d ed., x. 199 ef seq. and note 8.
D. S. O.

PRIMOGENITURE (mi33; the first-born,
"1133) ; In the Old Testament as well as in the rab-
binical legislation a distinction is made between the
first-born of inheritance (n^iuij 1133) and the first-
born of redemption (jn3l5 '3 ; comp. Bek. viil. 1, 46a).
The primogeniture of inheritance refers to the
first-born son on the side of the father by any of his
wives (if he lived in polygamy). The law of such
primogeniture is found in Deut. xxi. ISetseg., ac-
cording to which the first-born is to receive a double
portion of the inheritance. The passage referred to,
however, did not introduce this right, for the pref-
erence of the first-born, as the issue of the "first
strength " (px n't^KI) of the father, ex-
Primogeni- isted in patriarchal times (comp. Gen.
ture of In- xxv. 31, xxvii. 39, xlviii. 13, xlix. 3),
heritance. It is generally assumed that the pre-
rogatives of the first-born consisted in a
kind of potestas over the family ; in a double share
of inheritance (comp. I Chron. v. 1) ; and in the right

to the priesthood (comp. Targ. Onk. and Yer. to
Gen. xlix. 3). From Gen. xxv. 31 (comp. xxvii. 36)
it appears also that God's promises to the Patriarchs
were considered as attached to the line of the first-
born. But, as the cases of Esau and Reuben (and
Ishmael, Gen. xxi.) show, it was possible for the
father to deprive the first-born of his right; and the
lawgiver in Deuteronomy prohibits the misuse of pa-
rental power in favor of a younger son by a favorite
wife. In tlie succession to the throne primogeni-
ture was generally taken into consideration (comp.
II Chron. xxi. 3), though it was not always doci- '
sive, as appears in the case of Solomon (I Kings i.
30, ii. 22) and of Abijah (II Chron. xi. 22; and comp.
Junior Right).

Rabbinical law further specifies and qualifies the
right of primogeniture. Only the first-born — not the
eldest surviving son who has been pre-
In the ceded by another child that has died —
Rabbinical and onlj' such a one as, by a normal
Writings, birth and not by a surgical opera-
tion, came into the world In the life-
time of his father is entitled to the double share
(Bek. 46a, 47b ; B. B. 142b). Furthermore, the first-
born of a first-born does not receive a double por-
tion of the inheritance of the grandfather who dies
before the father (Bek. 51b ; B. B. 124a). On the
other hand, if the first-born dies before his father his
right passes over to his children, even to daughters
(B. B. 122b). Neither the inheritance left by the
mother nor posthumous improvements (n3E') of and
accessions ("1X1) to the inheritance left by the father
are subject to the right of primogeniture (Bek. 51a;
B. B. 122b, 134a). The double share of the first-born
is not one-half of the property, but double the share
of each of the other brothers. If there are, for in-
stance, four brothers, the property is divided Into
five parts, the first-born receiving two-fifths and the
others each one-fifth. But the portion of the first-
born is affected by either the death or the birth of
another brother after the demise of the father (B.
B. 133a, 142b). As the double share of the inherit-
ance entails a double share in the obligations on the
part of the first-born, both may be waived by him
(B. B. 134a).

It is apparent from the preceding regulations that
both in the Old Testament and in the rabbinical law
the prerogative of primogeniture was not conceived
as an Inalienable right inherent in the first-born, but
rather as a gift by the Law, prompted by economic
considerations. The eldest son, who was to take the
father's position, was to be placed economically in a
condition to be able to preside with dignity over the
family — something like the right of majorat. It
is, moreover, probable that the first-born had the
obligation of maintaining the female members of
the family who remained in the household. For the
Talmudic regulation of the status and maintenance
of the unmarried daughters after the
Primogeni- father's death see Ket. 68a, b.
ture of Re- The primogeniture of redemption
demption. refers to the male first-born on the
mother's side and applies to both
man and beast : " Sanctify unto me all the first-born,
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children
of Israel, both of man and beast: it is mine"

199

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Priluk
Pring'sheini

(Ex. xiii. 2). In the manner of the sanctification
of these first-born the following distinctions are
drawn:

1. The first-born of a clean animal had to be
brought to the sanctuary within a year from the
eighth day of its birth (Ex. xxii. 80). If without a
blemish it was treated as a sacrifice; i.e., the blood
was sprinkled and the fat burned on the altar. As
regards the disposal of the flesh there is a differ-
ence between the laws in Deuteronomy and those in
Numbers. According to the former (Deut. xv. 19
elseq.; comp. xii. ^etseq., ITetseq.; xiv. 33) the
flesh is eaten by the owner in a sacrificial meal, like
that of the "shelamim," while according to the lat-
ter (Num. xviii. 17 et seq. ; comp. Ex. xxii. 39) it
fell to the priest. The latter practise prevailed in
the time of Nehemiah (Neb. x. 37) and Josephus
(Josephus, "Ant." iv. 4, § 4). Had the animal a
blemi'.h, it was treated like any other common food
(Deut. XV. 21-23).

2. The first-born of an unclean animal had to be
redeemed. When a month old, according to the esti-
mation of the priest, with the addition of one-fifth
(Lev. xxvii. 27; Num. xviii. 15 et seq.). The first-
born of an ass was either ransomed by a sheep or
killed, its neck being broken (Ex. xiii. 13, xxxiv.
20). In Josephus' time {I.e.) all unclean animals were
redeemed with one and a half shekels.

3. The first-born of man was, at tlie age of one
month, redeemed with five shekels (Ex. xiii. 13, xxii.
28, xxxiv. 20; Num. xviii. 15 et seq. ; comp. iii. 44
et seq. ; Neh. x. 37).

In the Talmud the fact that the first-born in this
case must be a Dm "IDS is emphasized. Thus a
first-born son whose birth has been preceded by a
miscarriage, or by a still-birth, or by the birth of a
monstrosity, or one who was himself brought forth
by a surgical operation, is not due to the priesthood.
On the other hand, "if two wives of the same man
both bear sons as first-born children, each must be
redeemed (Bek. viii. 1, 2, 46a, 47b).

In Ex. xiii. 11-15 and Num. iii. 12 et seq. (comp.

ih. 40 et seq. and viii. 15-18) the dedication of the

first-born to Yhwh is connected with

Origin and. the slaying of the first-born of Egypt

Signifi- and the consecration of the Levites to
cance.- the service of the sanctuary. By des-
troying the flrst-born of Egypt and
sparing those of Israel, Yhwh acquired an especial
ownership over the latter. But as it was not feasi-
_ ble to select the first-born of the entire nation
and thus disturb the family organization, the Levites
were substituted for them; and, indeed, rabbin-
ical tradition assigns the priesthood to the first-born
until the completion of the Tabernacle (Zcb. 112b,
115b; comp. Targ. to Ex. xxiv. 5 and Rashi and
Ibu Ezra to Ex. xix. 22, 24). The view implied in
tlie passages quoted seems to be that the Levites
took the place of only those first-born which Yhwh
actually spared in Egypt, and that while the Levites
continued to serve at the sanctuary, all the first-
born after the Exodus were nevertheless the property
of Yhwh, and therefore had to be redeemed, just as
the 373 flrst-born who surpassed the number of the
Levites at Sinai had to be redeemed each with five
shekels (Num. iii. 45-51). Doubtless there is here

also the adaptation of an ancient custom (comp.
Gen. iv. 4). The dedication of the first-born of
man is the extension and application by analogy of
the custom of consecrating to God the first-fruits
of the soil and the firstlings of animals (comp. Ex.
■xxii. 28 et seq.), a custom found also among other
peoples. In Israel this dedication had the signif-
icance of an acknowledgment that it was Ynwn's
"heritage," that it owed to Him all which it had
and was.

The interpretation of the custom of redeeming the
first-born as a modification of an older custom of
sacrificing the first-born sons in connection with the
Passover feast (Baudissin, in Herzog-Plitt, "Real-
Encyc." 3d ed., x. 176; comp. also Frazer, "The
Golden Bough," 2d ed., ii. 48), has no foundation in
history. There are instances in later times attesting
not only the custom of sacrificing children, but also
the fact that at times the first-born was preferred as
a victim (II Kings iii. 37; Micah vi. 7;Bzek. xx.36);
but there is nowhere a trace of the demand of such a
" blood-tax " on the part of the Deity or Lawgiver
from the people, and its existence is unknown even
among the Canaanites (comp. Wellhausen, " Prolego-
mena," 3ded.,p. 91; Robertson Smith, "Religion
of the Semites," 2d ed., p. 464; and Toy on Ezek.
XX. 26in"S. B. O. T.").

Since the destruction of the Temple and cessation
of sacrifices the dedication of the first-born of clean

animals is limited to their being kept

In Modern inviolate and exempt from any use

Times. (comp. Deut. xv. 19), unless they have

or receive some blemish, in which case
they may be slaughtered for food. The redemption
of the first-born of an ass and of man is still car-
ried out according to the Biblical ordinances, and the
redemption of the first-born son (pn JIHS) is a fes-
tive occasion. From such redemption are exempt
not only priests and Levites, but also their children
(Bek. 4a, 47a). Adult flrst-born on either side are
also obliged to fast on the eve of Passover, unless
they are released from the obligation by some festive
celebration, such as the completion of the study of
a tract of the Talmud ("siyyum"; comp. " Yad,"
Bekorot, xi. 17; Yoreh De'ah, §§ 300, 305, 831).

BiBLiOGKAPiiY : Philo, De Prwmiis Sacerdotum., § 1 (ed.
Mangey, ii. 333); idem, £16 Caritate, § 10 (ii. 391); J. H. H.
Hottinger, De Primogenitig, Marhurg, 1711; D. Gerdes, De
Variis S. S. Locis, in Quibun Primogenitorum Mentio
OccurrU, Dulsburg, 1730; J. J. SchrBder, De Veterum Be-
brceorum. Primogenitiis et Eorum Prmrogativis, Marburg,
1741 ; Lundius, Die Alten JUdischen Heiligthilmer, iii., ch.
44 ; Saalsclitttz, Das McisaiscJie Becht, 2d ed., pp. 96, 124, 348,
820; Haneberg, Die BeligWisen AlterthUmer der Bibel,
pp. .569-571, Munich, 1869 ; Hirscb B. Fassel, Das Mosaisch-
Babhinische CivilrechU U 2, p. 370; Leopold LOw, Die
Lebensalter in der Jlldischen Literatur, pp. 110-118;
Bataei Kirsch, Der jErstgeborene nach Mosaisch-Tal-
mudiachem BecM : i.. Die Stellung, Beehte tmd Pflichten
des Erstgeborenen, Franktort-on-the-Main, 1901 ; M. Blocb,
Das Mosaisch-Talmudische Erbrecht, 1890.
E. G. n. I. M. C.

PRINCEPS JXTD.ffiOIlTJM. See Mendel.

PRINCES OF THE CAPTIVITY. See Ex-

ILARCH.

PRIKTCIPAIi ANB AGENT. See Agency,
Law op.

PRINGSHEIM, NATHANIEL : German bot-
anist; born at Wziesko, Oberschlcsien, Nov. 80,

Printers

Procedure in Civil Causes

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

200

1823; died at Berlin Oct. 6, 1894. He was educated
at tlie Friediicbs-Gj'muasium at Breslau, aud at
Leipsic, Berlin (Ph.D. 1848), and Paris, in wliicli
latter two cities lie devoted himself especially to the
study oi: botany. He cstabhshed himself as privat-
docent in botany at the Universitj' of Berlin in 1851.
His "Entwiclielungsgeschichte der Aehlya Pro-
lifera " was published in the " Abhandlungeu der
Lcopoldiuisch-Karolinisehe Akademie der Naturfor-
cher," 1851. The next product of his researches was
" Grundliuien einer Theorie der Ptlanzenzelle," Ber-
lin, 1854, followed by "Befruehtung und Keimung
der Algen, und das Wesen des Zeugenaktes," pub-
lished serially in the " Monatsberichten der Berliner
Akademie," 1855-57. These two works secured his
admission in 1856 as a member of the Berlin Aka-
demie der Wissenschaften.

Two years later ho began the publication of the
"Jahrblicher fi'ir Wissenschaftliche Bolanik." In
1862 his "Beitrage zur Morphologic der Jleeres-
algen " was published at Berlin, and in the follow-
ing year " Ueber die Embryobildung der Gefilss-
Kryptogamen." In 1864 he was called to a profess-
orship in Jena, where he founded an institute for
the study of the physiology of plants. In 1868
he returned to Berlin. His "Ueber Paanuig von
Schwarmsporen " appeared in 1869, and his " Weitere
Nachtrago zur Morphologic und Systematik der
Saprolegniaccen" in 1873. His great contribution to
the advance of botanical science, however, was his
" Untersuchungen fiber das Chlorophyll " (1874), in
which he elucidated his discovery of sexuality
among the lowest forms of plant life, and ad-
vanced an entirely new theory as to the part played
by the leaf-green in the life of the plant.

In 1883 he succeeded in establishing the German
Botanical Society, which in twelve years included
over 400 German botanists, and of which he was
annually elected president until his death. His
"Gesammelte Abhandlungeu" were published in
three volumes, Jena, 1895-96.

BiBLinr.RAPHT: E. Roth, in Anton Bettelheim, Biog. BlUtter,
pp. 227-233, Berlin, 1895 (gives lull bibliography).
S. M. Co.

PRINTERS ; PRINTING. See Typogkapiiy.

PRINTERS' MARKS: Signets, coats of arms,
or pictures printed, from engravings, at the end of a
book or, later, on the title-page. Their use dates from
soon after the invention of printing. The seals of the
printers or the coats of arms of the city were fre-
quently employed. The book-mark often sug-
gests the meaning of the name of the printer; e.(/.,
the deer of "Zebi." The first well-known book-
marks are found in the works printed in the Py-
renean peninsula: the Tur Orah H'lyyi™ of 1485
has a lion erect on a black shield; the Tur Yoreh
De'ah of 1487, a lion erect on a red shield; and the
Pentateuch completed in 1490 has a lion battling
with a horse. The Tur Orah Hiiyyi™ of Leiria,
1495, has a ram with a superscription.

Italian incunabula have no book-marks. Among
the editions brought out at Constantinople in the
sixteenth century mention should be made of the
"Toledot Adam we-Hawwah" (Constantinople, 1516)
and Jacob ben Asher's Pentateuch commentary

Printer's MarK of Isaac ben Aaron
ol Prussnitz, Cracow.

(Constantinoijle, 1514), the first having a small white
lion on a black square at the end of the book, the lat-
ter the same device on the title-page. The Soncino
editions that appeared at Rimini from 1521 to 1526
have the coat of arms of IJimini— a castle, to which
a Hebrew inscription was added. The editions of
Gersouides at Prague

show the priestly " . (/' ~ .,"'~7~1

hands with the sig- , ',.

nature of the printer, ','>

a similar device be- , | ■

ing used later in • " ,

Proops' editions at
Amsterdam. In the
1540, and earlier,
Prague editions of
the Tur Orah Hayy im
there is a crown over
a city gate (the coat
of arms of Prague).
The peacock is found
in the editions of Foa
issued at Sabbionetta
and Mantua, and in
those of Di Gara at
Venice ; a lion with
two tails and two im-
perial globes was used
at Safed, 1587, aud
for a long time in
the Prague editions.
A beast, half lion

and half eagle, with crowns, is found in tlie
Batsheba editions, Salonica, 1592-1605; a griffln,
in those of Giypho, Venice, 1564-67; an elephant

with the legend "Tarde sed Tuto,"

Specimens in those of Cavalh, Venice, 1565-

of 1568 ; a deer, in editions of Cracow,

Printers' Lublin, and, later, Offenbach ; fishes,

Marks. in the editions of Isaac Prossnitz,

Cracow ; fishes with ewers, in those of
Uri Phoebus, Amsterdam. Di Gara of Venice used
several book-marks — the peacock, three crowns
(used also by Bragadiui and in Cremona), and a
woman crushing a hydra. The last was used also
by Bomberg in the Venice, 1545, Sifre.

The seven-branched candlestick, with signature,
was used by MeirFirenzc, Venice, 1545-75. Foa, in
Sabbionetta, sometimes used a blossoming palm with
two lions depending from it and with an inscription;
a similar device was adopted later in "Wilhermsdorf.
Small or large representations of the Temple were
often used — at first by Giustiniaui at Venice, 1545,
next in Safed and Lublin, and tlieu in Prague, as late
as 1627, by Abraham Leniberger. The larger ones
bear an inscription taken from Haggai (ii. 9), dis-
played on an extended scroll. St. George and the
dragon appear in Dyhernfurth editions as late as
the nineteenth century. The castle, star, and lion
found in Beuveniste's editions, Amsterdam, were
imitated in Dessau, Coethen, xVltona, etc. The rep-
resentation of Cain as Hercules, with an inscrip-
tion, is found after the preface in two of Back's edi-
tions (Prague). In those of Offenbach, Fi'irtli, and
Wilhermsdorf the date of ]irinting can often be de-
termined by the book-marks. In tlie nineteenth cen-

201

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Printers

Procedure in Civil Causes

tury tbe signature of the printer toolc the place of
the engravings, Wolf Heidenheim at ROdelheim,
Schmidt at Vienna, and many others marking then-
editions in that way.

Bibliography : Stelnschneider and Cassel, In Ersch and Gru-
ber, Encyo. section ii., part 28, pp. 25 et set;.; Stelnschneider,
Cat. Bodl. section HI.; Frelmann, UebrUische Incunabeln,
Leipslc, 1903.
J. A. F.

PRIORITY : The rules as to priority among
deeds conveying the lands of a grantor, or among
bonds operating as liens upon all the obligor's lands,
have been indicated under Alienation. It remains
to speak as to priorities In the case of a widow or di-
vorced wife making claims under her " ketubah " and
the ordinary creditors of the husband. The Tal-
mudic sources for the rules of priority in either
class of cases are the Mishnah and the Gemara
thereto (Ket. 73b-74a, b).

The covenant which the husband enters into in
the ketubah, to restore upon death or divorce the
dowry brought to him and which he receives at a
money valuation, as an "Iron flock" of unchange-
able value, creates a simple debt like one arising by
loan or by purchase of goods. This Is the opinion
of Maimonides, who is followed therein by the later
codes. As against landed estate, owned before the
contract, it ranks according to time of delivery;
against after-acquired lands or personal property
(the latter being made liable by the Institution of
the Geonim), diligence in collection will generally
give priority ; and here the widow naturally holds
the advantage.

But as to the jointure, or ketubah proper, whether
the legal minimum of 200 or 100 zuzlm or any " ad-
dition " Is concerned, the position of the widow Is not
so favorable. True, where the marriage contract has
land to operate on, since It is a "shetar" attested by
two witnesses, its lien will take rank above all bonds
delivered at a later time, and above all debts not
assured by bond ; but where only one piece of land is
acquired after the date of the ketubah, or where, as is
much more frequently the case, the husband has no
land at all, and the contest Is between the widow
and an ordinary creditor, the former loses on the
ground that the ketubah (if not secured by lien) is
to be paid only from the husband's net estate.

But If, either unaided or with the aid of the court,
the widow succeeds in collecting the amount of the
jointure before the husband's creditors (whether by
bond or parole) have Intervened, she stands according
to some authorities (and these are followed by R.
Joseph Caro in the text of Eben ha-'Ezer, § 102)
in a better position : " they do not take It away from
her"; but Isserles, in his gloss, inclines to the
opposite opinion on the strength of his usual " yesh
omerim " ( = " there are those who say ").

Where a man marries several women, which Is
the case supposed by the Mishnah In the passage
quoted, the ketubah of the first wife takes prece-
dence, as a bond or shetar In the lien on lands, over
the ketubah of the second ; and so on ; but if there
is no land on which to operate, the several wives
have equal rights in so far as the collection of pay-
ment is concerned.

B. c. L- N. D.

PRISON. See Imprisonment.

PRIVACY, RIGHT OF. See Joint Owners;
Neighboring Landowners.
PRIVATE WAY. See Right of Way.

PROCEDURE IN CIVIL CAUSES : Jewish
jurisprudence, both In Biblical and in Talmudic
times, attached the greatest Importance to the laws
of property and to their faithful administration by
the judges. In regard to the manner of conducting
civil suits the Pentateuch contains very few hints.
But In Deut. 1. 16 the judges are told, "Hear . . .
between your brethren " ; and Deut. xix. 17 de-
clares, "Both the men, between whom the contro-
versy Is, shall stand before the Lord." These and
other passages support the Talmudic rule that judg-
ment can be pronounced only against a defendant
who has appeared ; there is no such thing as " judg-
ment by default" — condemnation of the accused be-
cause he has not appeared before the
No court to make defense. This seems

Judgment In modern times a great defect in pro-
by cedure, leading to much needless fric-

Default. tion; but less than a hundred years
ago the English court of chancery had
the same disadvantage to contend with : it acquired
jurisdiction over the defendant only by his answer,
and the latter was compelled to answer the com-
plainant's bill, even though he had nothing to say
in defense. But an exception to this rule has been
shown under the head of Foreign Attachment —
proceedings by a bond creditor against the property
of an absent defendant, an innovation arising from
the necessities of a later age. In fact, the Talmud
suggests (B. K. 112b) that at least upon bonds and
in action for the recovery of deposits there should
be judgment and execution without appearance.
However, there could not well be a judgment by
default, as there was no written complaint.

Job's wish (xxxi. 35), " Oh that . . . mine ad-
versary had written a book " — meaning a " libellus "
or formal complaint— Indicates that in his day there
were written pleadings. But In the procedure
known to the Talmud the allegations of plaintiff
and defendant are made by word of mouth in the
presence of the judges, and are recorded by the
clerk, much as were the pleadings in the Anglo-
Norman courts in the days of the Plantagenets.
The codes deduce from the Mishnah the rule that no
written pleadings can be required: "All judicial
writings may be written only in the presence of
both parties, both to pay the fees of the writers; R.
Simeon ben Gamaliel declared that two copies should
he made, one for each " (B B. x. 4). For the choice
of the court which sha'.i try a civil case see Juris-
diction.

As to the time of holding court, the ordinance of

Ezra, which appoints Monday and Thursday for

that purpose, was recognized by the

Sittings of Mishnah (Ket. i. 1) and by the Gemara

Court. (B. K. 112b, 113a); but the custom

has long since fallen Into disuse. The

courts should not sit on Sabbaths or during festivals

(Bezah iv. 1); for, as the Talmud explains, there

would be temptation to write ; but if the court does

sit and pronounce a judgment, It is binding (Shul-

r.i'apadiiii, "W-nict'.

Antonio Giustlnlanl, Vonice.

(Unknown.)

siH'naiswa jihiVk'ts

Paul I'agiua, Isuy.

-p^^m

Jacob Merearia, Biva di Trento.

prtt'

^rantna and 8aliTiionrtta.

Isaac b. Aaron of I'rossnltz,
Cracow.

Abraliam Usque, Fcrrara. Souciuo, lluuiui.

Printers' Marks.

(Friini tha Siilzlter^er collection in the Jewish Theological SeiiiiDary o£ America, Neiv York.)

iS *A in BV/<S?r».

/lyy^M (M C^^

iSm^'ftyiT Mj^^Ky^^'

W^^^

■ ^- ,w\

Jf^'

'■■' 1

■■'S i • ''

"^'

Geryonides, Pniiriio.

Moses and Mordecai Koticn, Prague.

Judab Lob ben Moses, Prague

^^Lduiau, Amsterdam {'0*

Toblab Foa, Sabblonetta.

Cavalli, Vuulce.

Gad ben Isaac I'oa, \'euiee.

Solouiou I'roops, Amsterdam.
Printers' Marks.

^iPii^

Tobiab Foa, Sabbionetta.

Mel'r ben Jacob Flrenze, Venice.
203

(From the SulzI.erser tolltction in the Jenbh Tlifuloglcal Si-'minary of Amerk-n, New York.)

Procedure in Civil Causes

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

204:

han 'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat, 5, 1).. The rule not to
begin a session in tlie afternoon is made in order that
the afternoon prayer should not be neglected by
judges and others concerned (Shab. 9b); but if the
cause is taken up in the forenoon it may proceed not
only during the afternoon, but after nightfall, the
judgment then rendered being valid. No one can
be compelled to attend a civil trial in the month of
Nisan, on account of the (barley) harvest, nor in
Tishri, on account of the vintage ; and a summons
may not be served on Friday or on the eve of a fes-
tival (B. K. 113a). The vacations in Nisan and
Tishri were continued in later times, when farming
was no longer the occupation of the Jewish people,
in order to give litigants leisure to prepare for the
festivals.

When the proper time comes for hearing causes,
the general rule is that the cause first begun should
be first heard ; but certain classes of plaintifEs are
privileged. Thus, according to Hoshen Mishpat,
15, 1, seemingly based on a remark of
Cause List, the Talmud (Shebu. 30), the suit of a
scholar, though begun later than that
of another, should have priority. This is denied
by some authorities; but the suit of an orphan must
always be heard first ; next, that of a widow (follow-
ing Isa. i. 17 — "judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow"); and a woman's cause must be heard be-
fore that of a man (Hoshen Mishpat, 15„3).

The place always mentioned by the Bible in con-
nection with the hearing of civil causes is the city
gate — the wide space left in the broad city wall at
the entrance to the town. The gate as a place of
trial is not mentioned in the Mishnah, but the Pales-
tinian Talmud mentions the sittings of a court at
the gate of Caesarea. Not much space was needed
for civil trials, and they generally came to be held
in the house of the rabbi sitting as principal judge.
However, there have been Jewish "town halls,"
such as the " Judisches Rathhaus " in Prague, in very
recent times.

The first written document issued in a civil suit
is the summons ("hazmanah" = "time-fixing "),
which is obtained, upon the verbal application
of the plaintiff, fi'om the ordinary judges and is
signed by them or by one of them. It is served on
the defendant by the " messenger of

Days of the court" (see B. 5. 113b, where it

Court. is said that, issued on Tuesday and

served on Wednesday, the court may

fix the time of trial for Thursday of the same week).

The messenger reports the fact of service, or that the

defendant has avoided the service.

According to B. K. 1121), tlie messenger is accred-
ited for the purpose of pronouncing the ban, but
not for the purpose of delivering the " petihah, " that
is, the formal document of excommunication, which
can be made out only upon further proceedings
showing the defendant's contumacy (see Contempt
OF Court).

If the defendant, when first brought into court,
desires time to gain a better understanding of his
case, or to await an absent witness, or if he asks for
time in which to I'aise by private sale the means of
paying the debt, the Talmud {I. a.) permits him a delay
of as much as ninety days. In the Talmudic age the

Jews were farmers. The modern rule, adapted to-
a trading people, is less liberal ; the Hoshen Mish-
pat (16, 1) will not allow more than thirty days,
even when a material witness is absent ; it argues,
that if defendant's witness should appear after judg-
ment it is open to the defendant to bring suit to
vacate the judgment and to recover what he has
been unjustly compelled to pay.

In general, both parties should appear in person
to carry on their pleadings. The reason is that
each may thus be restrained by a sense
In Person of shame from denying the true alle-
or by gations of his opponent, or from as-
Attorney. serting what both parties know to be
untrue. Yet where a demand belongs,
to several persons jointly {e.g., to the several heirs-
of a creditor), in the nature of things one must speak
for all (see Agency, Law op, where an attorney-
ship ["harsha'ah"] for the plaintiff was worked out
from this consideration). Upon this theory the
plaintiff could appoint an attorney only where his
demand was assignable, as in an action for the re-
covery of land, or upon a bonded debt, or on an un-
disputed deposit. Such, it seems, was the Talmudic
rule ; but the Geonim extended to almost all cases the-
right of the plaintiff to plead by attorney (Hoshen
Mishpat, 123). The defendant, however, could not
divide his liability ; moi'eover, with him the tempta-
tion to deny his adversary's assertions is stronger;,
hence he could not plead by attorney. The only
concession made to "honored women" and to-
" scholars " was that the clerks of the court might
call on them at their houses, and there take down,
in writing, their statements of fact {ib. 124).

In the nature of things some parties can not plead
for themselves. Infants, boys under thirteen or
girls under twelve, the deaf and dumb, and lunatics
can plead only through a guardian;
Status and it is the duty of the court to ap-
of Parties, point a guardian for such, if they have
none, whenever they become parties to-
a suit. Again, the husband is the natural attorney
for his wife as to "property of the iron flock," which,
he has taken possession of and for which he is liable,
but not as to "fluid property" ("nikse melug");
yet where land of this kind bears fruit, the hus-
band, being entitled to the latter, can sue for both
land and fruit {ib. 123, 8). A part-owner, such as-
one of several heirs, can sue for himself and his fel-
lows without letter of attorney, and his fellows are
bound by a judgment for the defendant, unless they
live in another place, in which case the defendant
can tell the acting plaintiff, " Either bring a letter
of attorney or sue only for thy own share."

The plaintiff whose attorney has lost a case can
not avoid the result by showing that hs had before
the hearing revoked the power of attorney, unless
notice of the revocation had been brought home to
the court {ib. 3). Botli parties being before the
j udges, they plead in person ; the plaintiff sets forth
the facts on which his claim is based,
Oral and the defendant answers ; when the
Pleadings, latter introduces new alfirmative mat-
ter the plaintiff may reply ; and there
may be a rejoinder. Where either party admits
a fact stated by his opponent, the admission, in

SOS

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Procedure In Civil Causes

the words of the Tahnud, is "better than a hun-
dred -witnesses." It will be seen that in certain
•cases a denial can be made, or affirmative matter
pleaded, only under oath, Scriptural or rabbinical.

When an issue is raised by mere denial, tlio proof
is made by the evidence of witnesses in the manner
■described in the article Evidence. The produc-
tion of deed or bond (" shetar "), unless it has been
" established " before a court or j udge, inust be made
by the attesting witnesses, though it is said (Gi(. 3a
tt al.) that under the Mosaic law an attested deed
proves itself {i.e., is presumably genuine), and that
the obligation of bringing the witnesses into court
is only rabbinical. A " note of hand " (" ketab yad ")
may be set up by witnesses proving the maker's
band writing.

The very narrow limits within which weight is
given to circumstantial eviilence has been shown
under Evidence, and some of the presumptions
which may guide the judges are given under Bur-
den OF Proof and in the article Maxims, Legal.
To these may be added the maxim "no one pays
a debt before it is due" (B. B. 5b; see, for its
application, Debts op Decedents). Hence, such
a payment can be proved only by the direct testi-
mony of two witnesses. There is a slight presump-
tion that a man does not go to law without having
some ground for it; and there are some cases, known
as MiGGO, in which the defense is favored, because if
the defendant liad not been a truthful man he could
have introduced more plausible arguments. The
discretion which the judges enjoy in certain cases,
to decide according to the weight of evidence and the
probabilities, is known as " the throw of the judges "
<" shuda de-dayyane ").

A solemn oath is imposed on the defendant as an

alternative to payment in four cases, the first being

provided in theMosaic law itself (Ex. xxii. 8, 9): (1)

a proceeding by the owner of chattels against the

gratuitous depositary ; (3) where the

Oath, as defendant admits the assertion of the
Alter- plaintiff in part ("modeh be-mikzat
native to hayyab bi-shebu'ah " ; the most com -
Payment, mon case); (3) where the plaintiff es-
tablishes by the testimony of two wit-
nesses his assertion as to part of his demand ; (4)
where the plaintiff has the testimony of one witness
for his assertion. In these cases the court declares
to the defendant, "You must either pay or clear
yourself by the solemn oath."

The rules as to the oath of the depositary are
given in the article Bailments. Here the Mishnah is
very explicit: (1) In order to justify a sworn denial
of a part of a claim, where the other portion thereof
is admitted, the amount demanded must be at least
equal to two small silver coins each equal to one-
sixth of the "denar," and the amount admitted
must be at least one "perutah." Next, the admis-
sion must be of the same kind as the demand ; thus,
to admit a claim to a perufah, which is of copper,^ is
not a partial admission of having two of the plain-
tiff's silver pieces; but this rule holds good only
when the demand is specific, e.g., it a claim is made
for the silver coins, not for the sum of money. Where
the demand is for two silver pieces and a perutah,
the perutah being admitted, or for a mina, fifty

denars being admitted, an oath is due. The claim
being "My father has a mina in thy hand," and the
answer, "I owe thee fiftj' denars," no oath is neces-
sary, " for the defendant is like a man who returns
lost goods. " So where demand is made for a " litra "
(in weight) of gold, defendant admitting a litra of
silver; for grain, beans or lentils being admitted;
for wheat, barley being admitted. In these cases,
and in other similar ones, no oath is required.

(2) The oath is not required in an action for slaves,
bonds or deeds, or lands, nor for things conseci'ated ;
and land in this connection includes everything be-
longing to it, even ripe grapes. But when movable
property and land are included in the same demand,
and the defendant makes denial in regard to part of
the movable property, he must swear as to the land
also. (3) One who confesses a debt in the presence
of two witnesses and thereafter denies it in open
court is not admitted to swear, being disqualified as
a "denier" (pa3). (4) The defendant can avoid
denying the rest of the demand if he at once pays
over or delivers to the plaintiff the part confessed ;
for then the suit for that part is at an end, and he
stands on the same footing as if he denied the whole
cause of action.

By some sort of analogy a widow, or divorced
wife who has " lessened " her jointure by admitting
the receipt of a part thereof, must, to recover the rest,
take an oa.th (Sheb. vii. 7). This position, taken by
R. Hiyya, is mentioned only in a late baraita (B. M.
3a). An opinion is expressed by some that proving
part of the demand by witnesses calls only for the
lesser or rabbinical oath in denial of the rest ; but
later authorities demand here also the " solemn " or
Biblical oath (Maimonides, "Yad," To'en, iii. 10).
Proof by one witness, as the Talmud points out
(Sheb. 40a), is by the Law declared only insufficient
to convict of crime, but not to require an oath for
its contradiction in money matters. The third and
fourth (see above) occasions for the oath occupy but
little space in Talmud and codes, while the " admis-
sion of part " covers a large field. In general, the
oath is never required in denying the demand of a
deaf-mute, of a person of unsound mind, of an in-
fant, or of the Sanctuary ; nor where the plaintiff
states his grounds of action as being only probably
true (XDB'). instead of asserting them to be certainly
true (i-|3).

While generally the judicial oath is taken by the
defendant to clear him from hability, in a few cases
the plaintiff may recover upon his oath (Sheb. v.-
vii.): (1) A hired man: Where the amount earned is
established by witnesses, and the employer says he
has paid it, and the workman denies

Oath, by it, the latter may swear and recover.

Plaintiff. (3) One who has been robbed : Where
witnesses have established that the de-
fendant entered the plaintiff's house to make an un-
authorized distraint, and the plaintiff says, "Thou
hast taken such an object," but the defendant denies
it, the former swears and recovers. (3) One who has
been injured: Where witnesses prove that the plain-
tiff went to the defendant uninjured and left him
wounded, the plaintiff swears and recovers. (4) One
who is unworthy of belief: A professional dicer (see
Evidence) or a flier of pigeons, for instance, can

Procedure in Civil Causes
Procurators

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

206

not, to discbarge himself from a liability, take the
usual oath. The plaintiff swears and recovers also
in other cases in which the defendant may be dis-
charged by oath ; but where both are disqualilied
the defendant takes the oath which the law Imposes
on him. (5) The shopkeeper as to his tablet: This
does not mean that by liis mere oath he can make
the charges written thereon stand good against his
customer ; but where the latter has given an order
("Give my son two bushels of wheat ";," Give my
laborer change for a ' sela' ' "), and the shopkeeper,
who has the charge on his tablet, says, " I have given
it," though the customer denies it — in that case the
shopkeeper may, on his oath, recover from the party
giving the order. The Mishnah says that both the
shopkeeper and the son or laborer should swear;
but to this Ben Nannos objects that if they swear
against each other there must needs be perjury, and
the outcome of the discussion will be obscure (Sheb.
47b). The later authorities, as Mairaonides, hold
that both the shopkeeper, swearing that he has de-
livered, and the laborer, swearing that he has not
received, can recover from the employing easterner.

The Torah knows nothing of an oath to be taken
by the plaintiff ; yet in most of the cases in which
the Mishnah imposes the oath upon him, the solemn
or Biblical oath is to be taken. For the necessity
of an oath by him who sues the heirs of his debtor,
see Debts of Decedents.

The principal occasion for the rabbinical oath
("shebu'at heset") is the assertion, not founded
upon an attested bond, of payment of a debt.
Where a loan is made or credit is given otherwise
than upon the security of such a bond, and there is
no stipulation that payment can be made only before
witnesses, the debtor may plead payment {'flVIQ).
and make his assertion good by the lesser oath . The
weight of authority (" Yad," Malweh, xi. 3 ; Hoshen
Mishpat, 69, 3) puts the holder of a note of hand in
the same position as a creditor by word of mouth
only ; but some of the late aiithorities gainsay this
opinion.

Where the defendant denies the facts on which
his obligation is based {i.e., denies the loan), and
these are proved against him by witnesses, he can
not thereafter plead an affirmative defense (i.e., that
he has paid) and sustain that defense by the rabbin-
ical oath ; for not only has he, as a " denier, " lost his
credibility, but he can not be admitted to prove
such a defense by witnesses; for to say, "I have not
borrowed," is an admission tliat he has not paid (B.
M. 17a). Where the defendant admits that the
plaintiff counted out and handed to him a sum of
money, he can clear himself by alleging that it was
in payment of a debt due to him (the defendant),
taking the rabbinical oath to support the allegation ;
but if he denies the delivery of the money he will not
be permitted to make such a defense, for if none was
delivered, there could be neither gift nor payment.

Where either party was admitted to take the oath,
and took it, this ordinarily led, as a matter of course,
to a decision in favor of that party. But in those
civil suits which were decided upon testimony of
witnesses or upon written proof, or upon the plead-
ings and admissions of fact, the true course (Sanh. 30a)
is based on the custom of the "pure-minded" at

Jerusalem — to remove the parties, their witnesses,
and everybody else from the court-room, so that the
judges might discuss the case among themselves
(l^^taUl p'^'^l^) ^"^"^ "finish" the matter («.<!.,. give
their judgment). Careful and slow deliberation was
recommended by the men of the Great Sanhedrin
(Abot i. 1). When judgment is rendered by a ma-
jority the judges are forbidden to disclose how the
vote was divided. If one of three judges will not
give an opinion for either side there is no court, and
new judges, two at a time, should be cooptated
until a majority declares for one of the parties. If
a majority can not be obtained judgment is rendered
in favor of the defendant. (For the corresponding
rule in criminal cases see Acquittal.) The judg-
ment need not be made out in writing, unless the
successful party demands a transcript.

The Gemara quotes approvingly the saying, "Let
the judgment pierce the mount" (Sanh. 6a, b) — a
saying paralleling the familiar "Fiat jus titia, ruat
coelum"; that is, the judges can not "split" the
matter in controversy, but must act upon the law
that fits the case, no matter how much hardship will
be entailed, for to decide correctly is a duty laid
upon them by the Torah : " They shall judge the peo-
ple with just judgment," and "The judgment is
God's" (Dent. xvi. 18, i. 17). Yet a "splitting" is
highly recommended when it occurs as a compromise
("pesharah") between the parties, and the judges
should advise such a course, for thus only will they
fulfil the words of Zechariah the prophet (viii. 16):
"Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your
gates." But in later times, when in the countries
of the Dispersion it became increasingly difficult
for the Rabbis to enforce their decrees against un-
willing litigants, their efforts were directed more
and more toward inducing the disputants to agree
among themselves, and skill in bringing about a
compromise before giving a decision on the law of
the case was deemed the highest qualification of the
rabbi or dayyan (Hoshen Mishpat, 12, 3). The
compromise made before the judges is like any other
contract, and becomes binding only when the for-
malities are complied with which change the title
to property. See Alienation and Acquisition;
Execution; Judge; Set-Off.

Bibliography : Bloch, DU Civilprozess-Ordnung noAih Mo-
saiseh-BalMnlschem Bechte, pp. 24-27 ; the codes cited in
the text of the article.
B. c. L. N. D.

PROCESS. See Phoceduee.

PROCTTBATOR AD CAPITULARIA JTJ-
D^ffiORUM. See Fiscus Judaichs.

PROCURATORS : Title of the governors who
were appointed by Rome over Judea after the
banishment of Abchelaus in the year 6 C.E.,
and over the whole of Palestine after the defeat of
Agrippa in the year 44. Though joined politically
to Syria, Palestine had its own governor (Josephus,
"Ant." xviii. 1, § 1 ; idem, "B. J." ii. 8, § 1). His
official title was procurator, in Greek ETr/rpoTrof ; but
Josephus sometimes designates him as 'sT^apxoQ
("Ant. "xviii. 2, §2;xix. 9, § 2; xx. 9, § 1; "B.J."
vi. 5, § 3) and riyEfioyv ("Ant." xviii. 3, § 1). In
the Greek text of the New Testament the term

207

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Procedure in Civil Causes
Procurators

ijfyiliiiv Is used (Matt, xxvii. 2, 11, 14, 15, 31, 27;
xxviii. 14; Luke iii. 1, xx. 30; Acts xxiii. 34, xxiv.
1, xxvi. 30); the Talmud and the Midrash likewise
use jIDJn (= iiyeiiiiv), but in reference to the legate
of Syria only, and never the term "procurator."

Only those provinces which possessed a civiliza-
tion of their own received their own procurators, as,
for example, Egypt; or those having
Conditions a semibarbarous population, such as
of Admin- Thrace. Procurators, in the proper
istration. sense of the term, could be selected
only from the ranks of the knights.
Only once was a freedman, Pelix, appointed procu-
rator of Judea.

The procurators of Judea had a military imperium
with five fasces as symbols, and thus possessed the
"jus gladii." They were, accordingly, as inde-
pendent within their own provinces as was the
legate of Syria. The latter, however, was invested
with the right as well as the duty to interfere in
Judean affairs in case of necessity, as did especially
Caius Cestius Gallus. The legate had power even
over the procurator's person. Thus, Vitellius de-
posed Pilate ; and Quadratus sent Cumanus to Rome
to render account to the emperor. Furthermore,
the Jews could have preferred against Florus
charges before the legate had not fear prevented
them from taking this step ("B. J." ii. 14, § 3).

The procurator resided in CfEsarea, where he had
his pretorium, a building which formerly was the
palace of Herod (Acts xxiii. 35). Only on special
occasions, particularly during the
Residence. Jewish high festivals, did the proc-
urator go to Jerusalem, where also he
had a pretorium — again the palace of Herod— which
at the same time was used as barracks ("Ant." xvii.
10, §3; "B. J." ii. 3, g§ 1-4). In one instance a proc-
urator, Cumanus, put an armed body of Samari-
tans into the field against the Jews (ib. xx. 6, § 1) ;
not that he liad the right to do so, but because the
measure was dictated by the disturbed peace of the
land. An exceptional measure was Pilate's order to
carry the emperor's image with the flag of the
troops, which out of regard for the religious senti-
ment of the Jews was not generally done in Palestine.
As a rule, the procurators respected the peculiarities
of the people placed in their charge. Troubles,
however, were inevitable. At the very outset a
revolt was threatened through the census of Quiri-
nius. As the procurator came into the country as
a stranger, he was not moved by the distress of a
population foreign to him ; and to this must be added
the circumstance that the procurator's tenure of
office was a brief one— only under Tiberius was the
term extended. Nothing whatever bound the proc-
urators to the native population ; and even Tiberius
Alexander, a born Jew, and Felix, who was married
to the Jewish princess Drusilla, assumed an inimical
attitude toward the people. A study of the Jewish
law and the Jewish spirit, in a manner such as the
Talmud reports of the legate Tineius Rufus, was not
attempted by the procurators; only Marcus Anto-
nius Juliauus, who was procurator about the year
70, seems to have had a fair understanding of the
Jews (see Schlatter, "Zur Topographic und Ge-
schichte Palastinas," pp. 97-119). It was a dictate

of prudence on the part of the procurators to have
as little contact as possible with the Jews, unless
their own personal interest, especially the desire for
rapid enrichment, demanded a different attitude.
The routine of business was left in the hands of the
local municipalities. This was the case even in re-
gard to judicial functions, over which, however,
they retained the power of supervision, particularly
in cases of capital punishment, in which their assent
was necessary before the sentence could be carried
into effect.

The procurators may be divided into two series :
those preceding and those following the reign of
Agrippa I. I'hose of the first series (6-41 c.e.)
ruled over Judea alone, possessing, together with
the legate, the power of supervision over the Tem-
ple, and the right to appoint and depose the high
priest. Those of the second series (44-70) adminis-
tered Samaria and Galilee, besides Judea. Tacitus'
statement ("Annales," xii. 54) that Cumanus was
procurator of Galilee only, is not confirmed by Jose-
phus, who was better informed. In this period the
supervision over the Temple and the high priests
was exercised by Jewish princes of the Herodian
dynasty. While the reader is referred to the special
articles in Tub Jewish Encyclopedia on the several
procurators, a condensed account of them, as well as
of the legates who followed them, is here presented
in the order of their succession. The first series of
procurators includes the following:

Coponius (6 or 7-9 C.E.). During his administration the re-
volt ol Judas the Galilean occurred (Josephus, "Ant." xvili. 1,
§1; idem, "B. J."il. 8, §1).

Marcus AmWbulus (9-12) . ' Afi/Si'pouAos is the correct reading
in "Ant." xvill. 2, § 2, according to ed. Niese; the older edi-
tions have 'A)i/3i/3ovxo5, which was usually read " Amhivius."

Annlus Rufus (c. 12-15). During his term ol office Augustus
died (Aug. 19, U); and this Is the only basis on which to com-
pute the tenure of office of the first three procurators, of whose
administration Josephus ("Ant." I.e.) reports almost nothing.

Valerius Gratus (15-26). He was the first procurator who ar-
bitrarily appointed and deposed the high priests (46.).

Pontius Pilate (28-36). As Josephus expressly states (ill. 4,
§ 2), he was deposed before the first appearance of Vitellius in Je-
rusalem, namely, in the spring of 36 (comp. ib. 4, § 3 with 5, 8 3) .

Marcellus (36-37). A friend of Vitellius (i&. 4, 8 3), who ap-
pointed him after sending Pilate to Rome to render account.
It may he assumed, however, that Marcellus was not really a
procurator of Judea, but only a subordinate official of Vitellius.
Indeed, this is the only instance where Josephus, in designating
the office of Marcellus, uses the expression eirifieATjT^! = "over-
seer." No official act of Marcellus is reported.

Marullus (37-41).

The procurators of the second series are :

Cuspius Fadus (44 to c. 46). Claudius appointed him to pre-
vent the Syrian legate Vibius Marsus, who was ill-disposed
toward the Jews, from mistreating them ("Ant." xix. 9, 8 3).
This goes to show that in time of peace the procurator was
independent of the Syrian legate.

Tiberius Alexander (46-48). He was sent by the' emperor, in
the belief that a iorn Jew would be welcome to the Jews.

Ventldlus Cumanus (48-52). His appointment is mentioned
in "Ant." xx. 5, 8 2. During his administration popular upri-
sings occurred, and the legate of Syria, Ummidlus Quadratus,
removed him on the urgent petition of the Jews.

Felix (52-60) . He was appointed by the emperor at the desire
of the high priest Jonathan (" B. J." 11. 12, 8 6), which distinctly
proves that the central government in Rome was conciliatory
toward the Jews, and that the procurators were responsible for
the prevailing animosities. Felix was called upon to sit In
.ludgment on the apostle Paul.

Porcius Festus (60-63) . A fairiy just man (" Ant." xx. 8, § 9 ;
"B. J." 11. 14, 8 1), who could not, however, remedy the faults
of his predecessors. He was prominent In the proceedings
against Paul. Festus died while in office. Until the arrival of

Procurators
Professions

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

208

the new procurator, the high priest Ananus, son of Annas, exer-
cised a certain power.

Alblnus (6^64) . Notorious through his extortions.

Gessius Floras (64^66) . A contemptible ruler, under whom a
revolt of the Jews took place. In consequence of the war, the
procurator's offlce could be filled either not at all or only de jure,
as by Vespasian. The important distinction now arose that the
governor held the rank of senator, and was selected, for a time,
from among the pretors, and afterward (probably from Hadrian's
time) from the consular ranks. He had under him a procurator ;
such, e.g., was L. Laberius Maximus, under Bassus. After the
Bar Kokba war there remained in Judea, besides the Tenth legion
("Fretensis"), the Sixth legion ("Ferrata"), and of course,
as previously, several auxiliary troops. Only " legati Augusti
pro praetore " were qualifled to be commanders of this army.
The dependence on Syria now ceased in the natural course of
events.

(Owing to the lack of sources the succession of the govern-
ors at this period can not be stated with precision. In Schiirer's
list, for example, the above-mentioned Antonius Julianus is not
included, while Cerialis, who certainly took part in the cam-
paign against the Jews, is nowhere referred to as procurator.)

L. Laberius Maximus (c. 71). Lucilius Bassus, who is men-
tioned together with him in Josephus ("B. J." vii. 6, § 6), was
one of the generals of Titus, and conqueror of the fortresses
Herodium and Machasrus, but not then governor. About a year
later, however, he became governor. He died during his term
of offlce (i6. vii. 8, § 1).

Flavins Silva. Successor to Bassus iib.).

M. Salvidenus (c. 80). His date is proved by a Palestinian
coin of Titus (Madden, " Coins of the Jews," p. 218) .

Cn . Pompeius Longinus. Mentioned in a military brevet issued
by Domitian, dated 86 ("C. I. L." ill. 857, "Diploma," xiv.;
comp. Darmesteter in "R. E. J." 1. 37-41).

Atticus (107). Referred to as vTrart/cds = " consularis," in
two fragments of the church historian Hegesippus, contained
in Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." ill. 32, §§ 3, 6 (comp. Preuschen,
" Antilegomena," pp. 76, 77, Giessen, 1901 ; Eusebius, "Chroni-
cles," ed. Sch8ne, ii. 162).

Q. Pompeius Faico (c. 107-110) . Known through the letters
of Pliny the Younger. One inscription (" C. I. L." x.. No. 6321)
calls him legate of the province (Judea) , and of the Tenth legion
("Fretensis"), while another ("Journal of Hellenic Studies,"
1890, p. 253) designates him even more distinctly "leg . . . pro-
vinciEE Judseee consularis " ; that is, iirariKO!, as in the case of
Atticus. The title iiranw is, however, frequently used in rab-
binical writings also (see Krauss," Lehnworter," s.v.).

Tiberianus. The Byzantine chronicler Johannes Malalas (ed.
Dindorf, p. 273) speaks of him as governor of the first province
of Palestine (^ye/iwc toG Trpairov TLaKaL(TTivttiv l^i'ous), in Con-
nection with the sojourn of Hadrian in Antioch (114). A simi-
lar notice may be found in Johannes Antiochenus (in Miiller,
" Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum," iv. 580, No. Ill) and in
Suidas, s.v. Tpaiavds. The designation " Palestina prima,"
which came into use in the middle of the fourth century, gives
a historical character to this notice. These authors use a later
designation for the earlier period.

Lusius Quietus (c. 117) . After suppressing the uprising of the
Jews in Mesopotamia, he was appointed governor of Judea
(Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." iv. 2, § 5). Dio Cassius states that he
administered Palestine subsequently to the consulate (Ixvlii. 32,
virarevirai) . Here again there was a legate with a consular rank.
Aside from references to the " War of Quietus," he is mentioned
in rabbinical sources under the name ol " Hegemon Kyntos "
(see Krauss in " R. E. J." xxx. 40, xxxil. 46; Jastrow, "Diet."
p. 13a; Schilrer, "Gesch." 3d ed., i. 649; Schlatter, in his "Zur
Topographic und Geschichte Palastinas," p. 402) . No governor
of this name, nor indeed of a similar name, is mentioned in
other sources.

Tinetus Rufus. Many sources, including rabbinical ones,
have made him familiar as governor during the Bar Kokba up-
rising.

Julius Severus. Celebrated general, who suppressed the Bar
Kokba uprising (135). He is designated in an inscription ("C.
I. L." iii.. No. 2830) as " legatus pro praetore provinciaB Judaeas."

Clfaudius] Pater[nus], Clement[ianus]. According to an in-
scription (ib. iii.. No. 5776), "proc[urator] Aug[usti] provin-
cia[e] Jud[a3ae] v[ices] a[gens] Ifegati] " ; that is, a procurator
replacing the legate who either was recalled or had died. The
date of Claudius' term of offlce is not known, so that he can not be
properly placed in the order of succession. It appears, however,
from the terms of the Inscription that the offlce of procurator
could alternate with that of legate.

(After the Bar Kokba war the Jews ceased to be a political
power, and the sources yield scarcely any information whatever.

The Jews revolted also under Antoninus Pius, who subdued
them through his governors ["praesides "] and legates [Capito-
linus, "Antoninus Pius," § 5], namely, the legates of Syria.
Beginning with the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Judea was again
closely attached to Syria. In this period may perhaps be placed
M. Cornelius " M. fll. Gal. Nigrinus " [" C. I. L." No. 3783]).

Attidius Cornelianus. According to a Gerasa inscription
("C. I. G." No. 4661; comp. Add. iii. 1183), and one of Damas-
cus (fl). iii. 129) , he was a legate of Syria (160-162). A son of
his, or perhaps he himself, was a member of a Syrian priestly
caste (see " Prosopographia Imperii Romani," i. 178, Nos. 1116,
1117 ; "0. 1. L." Supplement, No. 14,387d).

Avidius Cassius. A Syrian by birth, he was, according to the
testimony of several inscriptions, legate of Syria from about 164
to about 171 (Volcatius Gallicanus, "Vita Avidii," S§ 5, 6). In
175 he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor by the army
under his command, and was recognized as such, especially In
Egypt (Wilcken, "Ostraka," No. 939). He was attacked by
Marcus Aurelius, and, after a reign of three years, was killed
in Syria (Dio Cassius, Ixxi. 27; "Prosopographia Imperii Ro-
man!," i. 186, No. 1165). It is unlikely that Jews took part in
his revolt (Gratz, "Gesch." iv.s 207).

Martins Verus. (Dio Cassius, Ixxi. 29.)

Flavins Boethus (after 171) . Governor of Syria under Marcus
Aurelius ; died in offlce.

0. Erucius Claras. Successor of the preceding. (Inscription
in Waddington, "Inscriptions Grecques et Latinos de la Syrie,"
No. 18421, Paris, 1870.)

Ulpius Arabianus (c. 196). Governor under Severus ("C.I.
G."No. 4151).

Bassianus Caracalla. Afterward emperor; he was probably
legate of Syria under his father, Septimlus Severus (c. 200), and
most likely had to wage war against the Jews ; for, according
to an obscure notice (Spartian, " Vita Severi," § 16), he won a
battle in Syria, and the Senate granted him a " Jewish triumph."

Timesitheus (Misitheus). " Proconsul prov.SyriaePalestin£e."
He is perhaps identical with the " praefectus praetorio " of the
same name under Gordian (Marquardt, " Romische Staatsver-
waltung," i. 261, No. 3; perhaps also in Jewish sources; see
Krauss in " J. Q. R." xiv. 366 ; " Rhein. Museum," 1903, p. 627) .

D. Velius Fidus. "Legatus pro praetore Syriae," according to
an inscription ("C. I. L." No. 14,387c; comp. ib., supplemen-
tary vol. ill., Berlin, 1902). His time and character are en-
tirely unknown. A certain D. Velius Fidus was in 155 a ponti-
fex ("Prosopographia Imperil Romani," iii. 392, No. 225). Ifthe
legate was his grandson, then he may be placed after WO.

M. Junius Maximus. Legate of the Tenth legion (" Freten-
sis "), according to a fragmentary inscription found on the road
near Jericho (see Germer-Durand in " Revue Biblique," 1895, p.
69 : " C. I. L." No. 13,597, in supplementary vol. iii. 2222). The
reading is uncertain ; and Ms position and term of offlce are not
known.

Acbseus. Governor under Gallienus (Eusebius, I.e. vii. 15).

Flavianus (c. 303). Referred to in Eusebius ("De Martyrlbus
Palaestinae Proemium," p. 260, in the reign of Valens).

Urbanus (304). Governor nnder Diocletian (lib. § 3) .

Firmilianus (c. 308). (16. §8 8, 9, U.)

Calpurnius Atilianus. " Legatus provinc. Syriae Palaestinae,"
according to a military brevet in " C. I. L." ill.. No. cix.; see
supplement. His character and term of offlce are doubtful.
The Calpurnius Atilianus who was consul in 135 was hardly
identical with him ("Prosopographia," etc., i. 375, No. 198).

Ursicinus (351-354) . Legate of Gallus ; he Ls frequently men-
tioned in rabbinical sources.

Alypius of Antioch (363). He was appointed by Emperor Ju-
lian as overseer of the buildings in Jerusalem, the governors
of Syria and Palestine being instracted to support him (Ammi-
anus Marcellinus, xxxiii. 1 ; comp. Gratz, " Gesch." 3d ed., iv.
343).

Hesychius. A consul; he was on unfriendly terms with the pa^
triarch Gamaliel v., whose documents he stole. On this account
he was sentenced to death by Emperor Theodosius the Great
(Jerome, "Epistola ad Pammachium"; comp. Gratz, !.c. iv.
336, 450; "R. E. J." xlvi. 230).

According to the "Notitia Dignitatum," an offi-
cial register which was drawn up c. 400 (ed. Boeclc-
Ing, Bonn, 1839-53), Palestine was, so far as mili-
tary matters were concerned, under a "dux." At
this time, however, the country was so dismembered
that one part was under the "dux Syrise," another
under the "dux Phoenlces," and another under the
"dux Arabise," whose names, however, are not

209

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Procurators
Professions

known (see Krauss in Berliner's "Magazin,'' xix.
327, XX. 105). In 513 there were Byzantine imperial
troops in Jerusalem under the " dux Oly mpius " (Clin-
ton, "Fasti Romani," ii. 557b). The administrative
conditions of this period form an object of contro-
versy among scholars. The synopsis given above
follows the chronology of Mommsen, who places
the division of Syria, Plienicia, and Palestine at
about 395-399 (Marquardt, I.e. 1st cd., i. 268).
According to Marquardt, Hadrian had already
contemplated the division of Syria; and it was
carried out by Septimius Severus before 198 {ib.
265). lu 535, as appears from the contemporaneous
worlc of Hierocles, there are mentioned: "Paloes-
tina Prima," under a consul; "Palsestina Secunda,"
■under a"pr£6ses," and "Palsestina Salutaris" (Je-
rome, " Quaestiones in Genesin," xxi. 30; see Noldeke
in "Hermes," 1876, x. 164). With so many "pre-
sides" it is no wonder that this new term found
entrance into rabbinical writings also (Krauss,
"Lehnw5rter," ii. 483); but even more frequently
is the term " dux " mentioned. With the conquest
of Palestine by the Arabs that country enters upon
a new era.

BiBLiOGEAPHT : Gerlach, Die BOmischen Statthalter in S)/rt-
en und Jvdcka, In ZeiUchrift fUr iMtherische Theologie,
1869; Kellner, in Zeitschrift filr KatTmliache TUeologie,
1888; Gratz, In Mnnatuschrift, 1877, p. 401 (comp. his Gencft.
4tlied., iii. 724); Bohden, De Palcestina et Arabia Provin-
ells ijamanis, Berlin, 1885; Marquardt, BOmische Staats-
v&invaUung, 1st ed. (from which the quotations have been
taken), pp. 261-266: 2d ed., pp. 411, 419 et seg.; Schurer, Gcsch.
3d and 4tli ed., i. 454-507, 564-585, 642-649, and the extensive
literature there given : Edersheim, The Life and Timen of
Jesus the Messiah, i. 182, London, 1884 ; Borghesi, (Euvres,
iv.160.
D. S. Kn.

PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS. See Evi-
dence.
PROFANATION AND PROFANITY. See

Cursing ; Desecration.

PROFESSIONS (Statistics): Until quite re-
cent times the Jews were debarred from all profes-
sional occupations except that of medicine. Till
entrance to the university was fully granted them,
only a comparatively small number of Jews could
enter the professions, which were mainly recruited
from the universities. But since academic careers
Tiave been opened to them, Jews have crowded into
the professions to so great an extent that the anti-
Semites have vociferously protested that the Jews
were monopolizing them. The proportion of Jews
in the professions is often larger than that of the
general population, but it must be remembered that
professional careers are chiefly adopted by town-
dwellers. Jews being almost invariably of this
class, their proportion in the professions should be
compared only with that of dwellers in cities.

Of the professions generally there are few statis-
tical details. In Prussia, in 1861, 3.55 per cent of
adult Jews were professional men, as against 2.15
among the rest of the population ; in Italy, in the
same year, the proportions were 8.7 among Jews as
against 3.7 among non-Jews. What modifications
these figures would receive if the fact that Jews
mostly live in towns was taken into consideration it
is diflicult to say. In Berlin, in 1895, there were 3,763
Jews engaged in professional occupations out of a
total number of 73,848— that is, 3.8 per cent ("Sta-
X.-14

tistik des Deutschen Reichs"). In 1861 8.7 per
cent of Berlin Jews followed the professions as
against 8.1 in the general population, while for
Vienna, in 1871, the proportions were 5.08 and 5.33
respectively ; this seems to imply that in the sev-
enties the Jews in Vienna did not apply themselves to
the learned professions more than their neighbors.
During the winter semester of 1899-1900 the Jewish
students at the Prussian universities numbered 8.11
of the whole— 8.67 in the law faculties, 14.6 in the
medical, and 7.16 in the philosophical. These pro-
portions show a slight decrease from those of 1891,
when the Jewish medical students numbered as many
as 8.98 per cent of the whole number. Similarly, at
the Hungarian universities the proportions of Jewish
students in the different faculties were as follows:

Faculty.

1886-90.

1896-1900.

Jurisprudence

17.08
10.89
52.55
7.42
26.04
37.89

22.91

12.94

45.43

17.95

24.11

Technical high schools. . •

40.60

In 1869 there were 33 Jewish advocates in Vienna,
and the proportion of Jewish lawyers was 0.59 as
against 0.33 among Gentiles. At the Austrian uni-
versities 11 per cent of the law students in 1870
were Jews, but in 1878 the proportion had risen
to 16 per cent. In 1882 Jacobs calculated that
there were 27 barristers and 47 solic-
La'w and iters among the Jews of London —
Medicine, about the natural proportion.

In Berlin, in 1871, the proportion of
Jews in the medical profession (3.9) was about four
times as great as among the rest of the population
(0.8). It is stated that half of the 32 professors
at the medical faculty were at that time Jews(" Der
Talmud," p. 47); and in Vienna, in 1869, the pro-
portion was 1.31 as against 0.73. About the same
time Servi calculated that in Italy there was one
physician among every 385 Jews, as against 1 in
1,150 among Italians in general ("Gli Israeliti," p.
300). In 1880 there were said to be in Vienna 374 Jew-
ish physicians out of a total number of 1,097 (" Der
Talmud," p. 39). In 1869 Jeiteles enumerated 287.
The specialists were almost entirely Jews— 38 out
of 40 in Vienna in 1880 being of that race. While
in 1851 Jews constituted 16,1 per cent of the medical
students in the Austrian universities, in 1880 their
number had risen to 38 per cent; and in 1877 of
3,307 physicians in Hungary 1,031 were Jews.

The following table is given by Jacobs (" Jewish
Statistics," p. 44) as to the proportion of clergy in
each denomination for various countries and years,
cantors not being included :

Country.

Year.

Number ol Laymen to
Each Clergyman Among

Jews.

Catho-
lics.

Protes-
tants.

1869
1869
1871
1880
1883

2,150
1,578
1,420
900
1,884

1,143

1,420

812

267

1,320

1,734

932

1,800

908

Proflat
Proniinciation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

210

In Vienna, in 1869, 134 Jews followed literature
as a profession, forming 0.45 per cent of the adult
workers in that field as against 0.13 following liter-
ature In the general population. These
Press figures in reality refer to the number
and Art. engaged in the press, for of these 134
no less than 119 were editors or jour-
nalists (see Jeiteles, " Die Cultusgenieinde der Israe-
liten in Wien," p. 74).

At the same date the percentage of the Jews of
Vienna who gained their living through art was
slightly less than the percentage of the general pop-
ulation engaged in the same field, being 0.64 against
0.73. Their numbers were as follows:

Jews.

Jew-
esses.

Jews.

Jew-
esses.

Musicians

Singers

Dancers

2
15

Actors

Painters

30
13

24
6

See also Army ; Occupations ; Pictorial Art ;
etc.

Bibliography: Jacobs, Studies in Jewish Statistics, pp.
41-48 ; G. Ruppin, Die Juden der Oegetiwart, pp. 204-212.

PROFIAT : Name used by Jews in Provence
and northern Spain. In Hebrew it is written in
various forms: D"BnD, n"SnS; DS'lfi, tJIB^IS,

naiia, iDians; or r^ans, j^xaiia, with the

substitution of g for t, not uncommon in Romance
languages ("Shebet Yehudah," ed. Wiener, p. 112);
in Provencal, " ProphSgue " or " Profag " (" Monats-
schrift," xxxi. 499). In Latin documents it takes
the form "Profatius" (e.g., Jacob ben Maldr, men-
tioned by Copernicus in "R. E. J." xiii. 108; "Pro-
facius Etiam Judaeus," in "Monatsschrift," xliii.
254); in French, "Prof ait" ("Isaquetus Prof ait Ju-
daeus," 1409; see "Monatsschrift," xxxi. 499). In
modern times the name has been transcribed as Peri-
poth, Peripetus, Periphot, Prifoth, Prevot, Parfait,
Pourpeth, Peripedes, and Prophiat. The form
1J"3"I'B in Benjamin of Tudela's travels, dnd which
Gratz ("Gesch." vi. .399) explained as "from Perpi-
gnan, " is a mistake for 3"ai"lS. According to Buxtorf ,
Saenger, and Neubauer, "Profiat" is derived from
the Latin "Prof eta," and is a translation of the He-
brew " nabi," an epithet occasionally used in connec-
tion with learned rabbis. The word "nabi," how-
ever, never occurs as a proper name in Hebrew docu-
ments, and the explanation is, therefore, doubtful.

Isaac Bloch and Gross hold that the proper pro-
nunciation of the name is "profet." The name is
the same as Barpat, both originating in the Pro-
vengal "Perfetto."

In combination with " En " ( = " Sen " = " Senior ")
the name occurs as n"D1"iaJX, etc.

Bibliography : Saenger, Ueber die AusspraeJie und Bedeu-
tung des Namens n^anfl. Id Mnnatsschrift, Iv. 197 et seq.;
Gross, in Mnnatsschrift, xxix. 407, xxxi. 499 ; Bloch, in R.
E. J. X. 2t5; Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 371; Steinschneider,
Cat.Bcdl. No. 6783; idem, Hebr. Uehers. p. 221. note 818;
Renan- Neubauer, Le.s Bahbiris Franqais, p. 600; idem,
Ecrivains Juifs, p. 741.

PROGNOSTICATION. See Omen.

PROMETHEUS. See Adam ; Fire.

PROMISSORY NOTES. See Exchange,
Bills op.

PRONUNCIATION, MODERN, OF HE-
BREW : Like Syriac, and probably under its influ-
ence, Hebrew has been handed down with a twofold
pronunciation, the Ashkenazic and the Sephardic.
The former is usually traced to Babylonia, the latter
to Palestine. There are at present no suiBcient data
for a decision as to the tenability of this theory. On
the one hand it is known that the Sephardim (i.e.,
the Spanish-Portaguese Jews) came to Europe from
Palestine, while the Ashkenazim (i.e., the German-
Slavonic Jews) came, at least in part, through south-
ern Russia from Babylonia and Mesopotamia. It is
known also that the vowel " kamez " was pronounced
in Palestine from the time of the Septuagint down
to Jerome as the a in the English word "father."

This would tend to support the theory of a Pales-
tinian origin for the Sephardic pronunciation. But
against it are the following considerations: The
analogy of the Sj'riac would indicate that the " ka-
mez " was pronounced a in Babylonia and 6 in Pales-
tine. There is no proof that the Babylonians in early
times pronounced the " kamez " like 6.
Pronunci- The o sound of that vowel was known
ation even to Philo of Alexandria (Siegfried,
of Kamez. in "Merx's Archiv," vol. i.), and, ac-
cording to Abraham Ibn Ezra ("Za-
hot," p. 8b), was the prevalent one in Tiberias and
North Africa in later times. Two of the systems of
vocalization which have been handed down had, ac-
cording to tradition, their origin in Palestine, and
agree with the traditional Babylonian system of
vocalization in representing " kamez " as o. The
first Russian Jews might have adopted the pro-
nunciation of their German brethren, just as they
have adopted their language. The nasal sound of
the letter y, common among the Sephardim, might
be traced to Babylonia, but is not known to have
existed in Palestine. As has been stated above, the
modern pronunciation is usually separated into
that of the Ashkenazim and that of the Sephardim,
including among the latter the Oriental Jews. But
a better knowledge of the Orient shows the advisa-
bility of classifying the Oriental Jews as a distinct
group.

The data utilized in the following exposition have
in part been gathered from the reports of travelers;
in most cases, however, they are based on personal
observation and oral communications. Under such
circumstances neither completeness nor scientific
accuracy can be vouched for. To the Ashkenazim
belong the mass of the Jews inhabiting
Ashkenaz- Europe and America — in Europe those

ie Pro- of Russia, Rumania, Austria-Hun-
nunciation. gary, Germany, Denmark, Sweden,
Prance, and England. In European
Turkey and the Balkan states, in Italy and Holland,
the Sephardim form, perhaps, the bulk of the Jew-
ish population.

The Jewish population of France, England, Swe-
den, Denmark, and the United States consists of
more recent immigrants, German and Russian ; that
of Rumania is largely of Russian origin. These
communities have therefore no pronunciation of
their own, and consequently are not considered here.

211

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Profiat
Frouuncia tion

For the same reason the Jews in the German terri-
tory of Austria, and in Hungary, are left out of con-
sideration. The chief countries having characteris-
tic pronunciation are Russia, Germany, and Slavonic
Austria.
Throughout the Ashkenazic group the following

sounds are identical: 3 (J); S, ii (ff); 'n, i ((^; n (A);
t (z) ; n (German c7t in " ach ") ; '' {y); 3 {k); *? (l) ; D

(m); J(re); D (s); B (p); a (/) ; X (<«); p (k); f\ (s).
The letters K and jj are not pronounced except when
standing between two vowels, in which case they
form a hiatus. The quantity of the. vowels is not
observed; a, i, and I have the Italian sounds of a
and i. Post-vocalic X and jJ, when in the tone-
syllable, are frequently pronounced like i (comp.
Levias, "Aramaic Grammar," p. 9, note 6). All
words, except »jnK and D'n^N (" Lord " and " God "),
are accented on the penult. All post-tonic vowels
are reduced to the indefinite sound i. The vocal
"shewa," at the beginning as well as in the middle
of a word, is usually disregarded. The " hatefs " are
frequently treated as full vowels. All such charac-
teristics are common in private reading of Hebrew
and in pronouncing the Hebrew vocables which have
entered the vernacular. In the public reading of the
Bible in the synagogues, however, every vowel is
given a distinct sound, and the Masoretic accent is
observed ; all this with a degree of correctness de-
pendent upon the knowledge of the individual reader.
Notice the pronunciation of D'''1''tn, D'n''^13, D^n'JJ?ri.

The Jews of the Russian empire may be broadly

divided into two groups — those of Lithuania and

those of the former kingdom of Po-

Russia. land. The difference in the pronun-
ciation of the two groups is mostly in
the vowel-sounds. Both pronounce 2 and 1 like v ;
D and p[ like t; 5 like n; but the Lithuanians, espe-
cially those of the old province of Samogitia, fre-
quently interchange E* and fc^, pronouncing the
former s and the latter sh, a pronupciation attested
also for Italy by the grammarian S. Hanau (" Yesod
ha-Nikkud," p. 2a) and occurring sporadically in
Poland and elsewhere. It is to this pronunciation
that some attribute the origin of the name of the
sect of the Hasidim, Dn'Dn being the Polish pro-
nunciation of nniETl ("suspected of heresy";
comp. "Ha-Bo^er Or," v. 165). The pronuncia-
tion of "I in the Soutli is more rolled than in the
North ; the sound of the French r (" grasseye ") is
heard in Volhynia. In the same province one fre-
quently hears the misplacement of the n, which is
omitted where it should be pronounced and pro-
nounced where it has no place.

In Lithuania the vowels are pronounced as fol-
lows: "kamez " = 6, the sound heard in the English
word "nor"; "zere" = e, the sound heard in the
English "they"; ''segol" = 6, as in the English
"bed"; "holem"=«, at times = the e sound in
"err"; "shurek" and " kibbuz " = oo in "good,"
"fool." No distinction is made among the Ashke-
nazim as to the quantity of vo wels. Vocal " shewa "
in monosyllabic words ending in a vowel is usually
pronounced like "zere." "Hatef " sounds are fre-
quently pronoimced like full vowels; and "shewa"

and "hatef," when so pronounced, usually have also
the accent.

In Poland, Volhynia, and Podolia the "kamez,"
when in an open syllable, has the sound of oo in
" good " or " fool, " when in a closed syllable that of o
in " dog " ; " zere " = ei in " height " ; " segol " = ey in
" they " in an open syllable, at times = " zere " ; in a
closed syllable it is « as in "bed." "Holem" = oi
in "noise"; "shurelj" and " kibbuz " =: * in "pin."
The influx of Jewish immigrants from Spain and
Portugal in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
has left its imprint on the Jews of Russia in the
pronunciation of individual words, where " kamez "
is pronounced as, "zere," i, and "liolem,"d (comp.
Lebensohn, "Yitron la-Adam," pp. 34, 35). In Po-
land, Volhynia, Podolia, and Galicia the nasal sound
of y is heard in the name apj)' (" Yankeb ") and, in
public reading, a similar sound is
Austria heard in the relative particle IB'X-
and The same nasal sound of y is heard

Germany, here and there in England and Hol-
land also. The pronunciation in Gali-
cia or Austrian Poland is identical with that in Rus-
sian Poland.

In Moravia, " Ijamez " = the o in " note " when in
an open syllable ; o as in " dog " when in a closed syl-
lable; " holem " = «' in " noise " ; " zere, " and " segol "
in an open syllable = e in " they " ; " shurek " and
" kibbuz " = German « or French u. The " kamez "
is pronounced o in an open syllable, o in a closed
syllable, throughout Germany. In rare cases it
has also the sound of the German au (— ou in
"out") (comp. " R. E. J." xvi. 148, 378). "Zere"
in Silesia = the German ai ( = i in " isle ") as in Po-
land; in the rest of Germany e as in "they"; in
Bavaria " zere " = e. " Segol " = «, in an open syl-
lable. "Holem," in Prussia, Baden, and Saxony —
0 ; in Hanover, Westphalia, Silesia, Hamburg, and
Bavaria = au. " Shurek " and " Ijibbuz " everywhere
= « (as in "full").

In Bavaria, Hanover, and Westphalia a and a,
and n and ''i, are interchangeable. In some cases
the sound of 5 is that of ch in the German " ich." a
and 1 at the end of a syllable have in the German
southern states the sound of/. In the city of Pried-
richstadt and in Upper Silesia n is pronounced Ti.
In Hamburg D is sometimes pronounced like X-

The Sephardim form larger communities in Tur-
key proper and its former dependencies, and in Italy
and Holland. In Spain and Portugal,

Sephardim their former homes, there are at pres-
and ent only a few, these being recent im-

Orieutals. migrants from various countries.

The pronunciation of the consonants
in Italy differs from the Ashkenazic in the follow-
ing: n is silent; J) is a guttural nasal; V is s; ri is (i
(Spanish). In Turkey, n is A ; ^f is s ; n is <. Other
letters are pronounced as among the Ashkenazim.
The vowels are pronounced in both countries as they
are given in the ordinary grammars : " kamez " and
"patah" = as, "holem" and "kamez hatuf"=o,
"zere " = 4 "segol" = ^ or «, "shurelj" and "kib-
buz " = u. Under the division of Orientals belong
the Jews in Syria, Morocco, Yemen, Cochin, and
China, and the Samaritans. The pronunciation in

Pronunciation
Prophets and Prophecy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

212

Syria shows the following differences : 3, j are both
pronounced likej in "jet," or g in "strange"; i is
the English w; n is /t ; D is ? ; 3 is the English ch in
" check, " " rich " ; JJ has the sound of the Arabic letter
" 'ain •' ; S = the English « in " hiss " ; p is pronounced
like J?; n as th In "thin." All the vowels are pro-
nounced as in Italy. In Morocco the letters s, j", "i,

1, n, D, 5, V' V, p are pronounced as their equiva-
lent Arabic sounds, ', gh, dh, w, h, t, kh, ', s, k. Ac-
cording to some, S is the English ch in "check,"
" rich " ; n = ts. According to other reports, n has
also the sound of oh in "check." Tlie vowels "ho-
lem " and " shurek " = " kibbuz " are almost indis-
tinguishable; so with "zere" and "hirelj." "Fa-
tah" and "segol" are frequently interchanged.
The a vowel of the article is omitted. Vocal
" shewa " before the gutturals is sounded like the
following vowel; "shewa" with "ga'ya" = a..

In Yemen, x, J, "i, i, n, D, 5, ]>, )l, p, n have the
sounds of the corresponding Arabic letters, as given
above. J =g,j, as in English "strange," "jet"; 3
is, according to Maltzan ("Reisenach Sijd-Arabien,"
i. 177), always J; according to Safir ("EbenSappir,"
i. 54) it is V. p is in San 'a pronounced g, as in " good. "
The vowels are pronounced : " kamez " and " pa-
tah," as in Germany; "holem," as in Poland;
"zere," as in Italy; "segol," like the German a, or
the English a in " span " ; " shewa " before a gut-
tural has the sound of the following vowel ; before
■I, like i; otherwise like a very short a. "Patah"
and " segol " are frequently interchanged. Ac-
cording to Maltzan {I.e.) "holem" is pronounced e,
as in Lithuania. The Jews in Cochin pronounce 3
and T as in Yemen, p is pronounced like n, and n
like K. The Jews in China pronounce " kamez " as
0 ; " zere " as ie (Preach) ; a=p; "^ — t\ "^ = 1.

For ancient pronunciation see Vocalization.

Bibliography: Schwab, Repertoire, Index, s.v. Pronuncia-
Imn ; Romanelll, Massa hor-'Arab, p. 9 ; Derenbourg, Ma-
omel du Lecteur, pp. 196-310 ; Lebensobn, Yitron la-Adam
(printed with Bensew Hebrew grammar, pp. Wet seq.); M.
Grunwald, Sitten imdBrCluche der Juden im Orient, pp. 46
et seq.; S. D. Luzzatto, Bet Jia-Oza/r, in. 55 et seq.; JJ. E. J.
xvi. 278, xxviii. 158 et seq.; Lftwenthal, Allg. Zeit. des Jud.
1895, No. 51, pp. 609-611 ; Relchersohn, JJilknt ha-NiPtud, p.
103 : Letires EdiHantes et Curieuftes Ecriies des Missiwis
Eirangeres par Quehjues Missionaires de la Compagnie de
Jesus, xxxi. 360 et seq.; A. Ember, Amer. Jour. Semtt. Lang.
xix. 233-234; MitteUungen der Oesellschaft fUr JUdisehe
Volkskunde, i. 18 ; Schur and Rimmon, Masot ShelomoJi : J.
Rosenberg, HehrUisehe Conversations-Orammatik, pp. 6, 7.

Regarding the claims ol priority as between A shkenazic and
Sephardlc pronunciation, comp. Lemans, Imrah Zerufah;
Dihre Mesha/rim (anonymous); Friedriehsfeld, Ma'aneh
Bali; Meshib Hemah (anonymous); Somerhausen, Bodef
Me^harim.

On the y-sound : I. M. Cohn, Ber y-iant, Franljtort-on-
the-Main, 1871 ; Bappoport, Tia- nnjN, pp. 224, 225, 231, 236 ;
Rahmer, Jlld. lAt.-Blatt. xxii. 132; Hlrschleld, J. Q. R. Iv.
499 ; Krauss, In Steinsehneider Jubelschrift, p. 148, No. 5 ;
Oussani, Johns Hopkins Unin. Circulars, No. 163, p. 84b.

On the pronunciation of Hebrew among the Samaritans,
comp. Petermann, Versuch einer Hebrillschen Formenlehre,
published in the Abhandlungen fUr die Kunde des Morgen-
landes, vol. v.
T. C. L.

PROOF. See Evidence.

PROPAGANDA LITERATURE. See Po-
lemics AND Polemical Literatl'ee.
PROPERTY. See Chattels; Real Estate.

PROPHET, FALSE : Deuteronomy Is the only
book containing laws concerning the false prophet

(xiii. 2-6 [A. V. 1-5], xviii. 30-33). He is designated
there as "prophet, or a dreamer of dreams," and
it is in accordance with the former designation that
the Talmudic jurisprudence provides that the sub-
ject of the charge of false prophecy must be one
who is a consecrated prophet of God. The com-
moner (" hedyot ") who presumes to tempt people to
idolatry is either a " mesit " or a " maddiah, " accord-
ing as his followers are individuals or communities
(Sanh. vii. 10; 67a; see Abduction). And in the
same Scriptural dicta the Talmud discovers provi-
sions against the following classes of false prophets:
(a) one who presumes to speak in God's name what
He has not commanded (xviii. 30): such a one was
Zedekiah (the son of Chenaanah), who predicted in
the name of God that Ahab would vanquish the
Syrians at Ramoth-gilend (I Kings xxii. 11); (6) one
who pretends to have been charged
Classes of with a message which, in reality, God
False has entrusted to another (as an exam-
Prophets, pie of this class Hananiah, the son of
Azur the prophet, is cited: see Cap-
tivity) ; (c) one who speaks in the name of other
gods (Deut. xiii. 3 [A. V. 3], xviii. 30), whether
ordering tlie observance of strictly Mosaic precepts on
pretense of a revelation to that effect from a strange
deity, or declaring that God ordains the worship
of a strange deity, or that a strange deity ordains
its own worship of itself (Sanh. xi. [x.] 5, 6; 89a).

The criteria by which a prophet is distinguished
as false are, in the view of rabbinical jurisprudence,
partly expressed and partly implied in the Deute-
ronomic dicta : (1) One who has "spoken to turn you
away from the Lord" (xiii. 6 [A. V. 5]). This may
be designated as the religio-moral test, and implies
that when the prophet wilfully ceases to enforce
the doctrines embodied in the law of God he ceases
to be a prophet of God. God 's law is perpetual and
immutable. Moses was its promulgator, and there
can never be another Moses with a different law
(Deut. R. viii. 6; comp. Shab. 104a). Hence, whoso
professes to have Jeceived revelations changing the
Law is a false prophet. Moreover, the passage im-
plies that the prophet who refrains from correcting
the sinner or from arousing the indifferent is a false
prophet. Thus Jeremiah argues (xxiii. 33): "If
they had stood in my counsel, then
Criteria, they would have caused my people to
hear my words, and to turn from their
evil way, and from the evil of their doings " (comp.
xxiii. 17).

(3) When the things predicted " follow not, nor
come to pass" (Deut. xviii. 33). This test is ap-
plicable only when the alleged revelation has refer-
ence to the near future, as in the case of Zedekiah,
who in God's name prophesied success to Ahab's
arms, and in that of Micaiah, who predicted disaster
from the impending war (I Kings xxii. 11 et seq.).
Where his prediction concerns a distant period the
skeptic will say (Ezek. xii. 27) : " The vision that he
seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth
of the times that are far off." But even where the
prophecy concerns the immediate future this test is
not always applicable. It is conclusive only when
a prediction of prosperity fails, because then it ia
seen that the alleged revelation did not emanate

818

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pronunciation
Prophets and Prophecy

from the All-Merciful (comp. Jer. xxviii. 9); but
the failure of a prediction of disaster is not conclu-
sive, the fulfilment of such predictions being always
conditioned by the conduct of the people (Jer. xviii.
7, 8; xxvi. 19; Ezek. xviii. 31, xxxiii. 11; comp.
Yer. Sanh. xi. 30b).

(3) The test of miracles (Deut. xiii. 2 [A. V. 1] ;
comp. Yer. I.e. top) is the weakest of all tests, since
the prophet whose teachings are in strict accord
with the law of God needs no corroboration, while
one who suggests the worship of a strange god, even
temporarily, or the permanent suppression of any
precept embodied in that law, is ipso facto a false
prophet, and the performance of miracles can not
prove him to be a true one (Deut. xiii. 3 [A. V. 2] et
seq.). His suggestion when supported by a miracle
is to be respected only if, in order to accomplish
some salutary purpose, he orders a temporary sus-
pension of a ritualistic law, as was the case with
Elijah, who, to convince the misguided masses of the
folly of Ba'al-worship, invoked a miracle on the sac-
rifice he offered outside of the central sanctuary (I
Kings xviii. 22-39). 'This test is of positive value
only at the first appearance of the prophet (Sifre,
Deut. 175-178; comp. Albo, '"Ikkarim," i. 18; iii.
19, 20).

When a prophet is, by means of these tests,
proved to have become a renegade, and it is duly
ascertained that his attempt to mislead is the out-
growth of presumption (Deut. xviii. 20, 32), he must
be tried by the Great Sanhedrin (Sanh. i. 5). If he is
found guilty of false prophecy, he is punished with
death by strangulation (Sifre, I.e. ; see Capital Pun-
ishment). Other prophets who are denounced as
false, but who are not subject to human punish-
ment, are those who suppress the divine message,
as did the prophet Jonah (i. 3), or who disobey
a revelation received by themselves (I Kings xiii.
9-24; Sanh. xi. [x.] 5).

Bibliography : Sanh. 89a et seq.; Ter. Sanh. xl. 30b et seq.;
Fassel, Das Mosaiseh^Baiibinisehe Strafgesetz, 8 33; Has-
tings, Diet. Bible, Iv. Ilia, 116b ; Malmonldes, in tbe introauc-
tlon to his commentary on Zera'im; idem, Tad, Tesode ha-
Torah, viil.-x.; ib. 'Alckum, v. 6; Maybaum, Entwiekelung
des Israelitischen Prophetenthurm, pp. 125 et seq.; Mayer,
Bechte der Israeliten. etc.. 111. 412; Micbaells, Das Mo-
8a1sche Becht, §§ 36, 252, 253 ; Saalschiitz, Dos Mosaisehe
Becht, pp. 131, 521 et seq.; Salvador, Histoire des Iwttitu-
tUms de Moise, U. 3; Sefer Mizwot Gadol, Prohibitions,
IS 32-35. „ „

s. 8. S. M.

PROPHETS AND PROPHECY.— Biblical
Data and Critical View : Though many ancient
peoples had their prophets, the term has received
its popular acceptation from Israel alone, because,
taken as a class, the Hebrew prophets have been
without parallel in human history in their work and
influence. This brief article will consider, first, the
historical development of prophecy, and, second,
the extant utterances of the Prophets.

I. Historical Development of Prophecy : The name
"prophet," from the Greek meaning " forespeaker "
(vpb being used in the original local sense), is an
equivalent of the Hebrew N13J, which signifies
properly a delegate or mouthpiece of another (see
Ex. vii. 1), from the general Semitic sense of the
root, "to declare," "announce." Synonymous to a
certain degree was the word "seer" (nsn, ntin),
which, as I Sam. ix. 9 indicates, was an earlier desig-

nation than "prophet," at least in popular speech.
The usage of these woi'ds gives the historical start-
ing-point for inquiring as to the de-
Terms velopment of true prophetism in Ls-
TJsed for rael. But there is an earlier stage still
the than that of " seeing, " for it may be ob-

Prophetic served thatwhileSamuel wascurrently
Eunction. called "the seer," a prominent part
of his manifold work was divining.
There are several Hebrew terms for divination of one
kind or another ; but none of these is used as a syn-
onym for " prophesying." Moreover, the words for
" seer " are us^d quite rarely, the probable explana-
tion being that the bulk of the canonical writings
proceed from a time when it was considered that
the special function of declaring or announcing
characterized prophecy in Israel better than the
elementary offices of divining or seeing. At the
same time it must be remembered that " seeing " is
always an essential condition of true prophecy;
hence the continued use of the term " vision " to tlie
last days of prophetic history, long after the time
when seeing had ceased to bo the most distinctive
function of the prophet.

The historic order of Hebrew prophecy begins
with Moses (c. 1300 b.c). He was not a mere pro-
totype of the canonical prophets, but a sort of com-
prehensive type in himself, being the typical com-
bination of civil and religious director in one. His.
claim to be considered the first and
Moses and greatest of the Prophets is founded
Samuel, upon the fact that he introduced the
worship of Yhwh among his people,,
and gave them the rudiments of law and a new sense
of justice wider and deeper than that of the tribal
system. By him "direction" (Torah) was given to
Israel ; all later true prophets kept Israel in the same
right course along the line of religious and moral
development.

Samuel (c. 1050 B.C.) was the first legitimate suc-
cessor of Moses. He was, it is true, characteristic-
ally a "seer" (I Sam. ix.), but the revelation which
he gave referred to all possible matters, from those
of personal or local interest to the announcement of
the kingdom. Like Moses, he was a political leader
or "judge." That he was also a priest completes
his fully representative character.

But there was a new development of the highest
significance in the time of Samuel. There were
bands, or, more properly, gilds of "prophets"
(doubtless in large part promoted by
Prophetic him), and these must be considered as
Gilds. the prototypes of the professional
prophets found all through the later
history. They seem to have been most active at
times of great national or religious peril. Thus,
after the critical age of the Philistine oppression,
they are most prominent in the days of the Pheni-
cian Ba'al-worship, the era of Elijah and Elisha.
They are not merely seers and diviners, but minis-
ters and companions of leading reformers and na-
tional deliverers. That they degenerated in time
into mere professionals was inevitable, because it is
of the very nature of true profflietism to be sponta-
neous and, so to speak, non-insmtutional; but their
great service in their day is undeniable. The view

Prophets and Prophecy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

214

is probably right whiclx traces tlieir origin to tlie
necessity felt for some organized cooperation in be-
half of the exclusive worship of Yhwh and the tri-
umph of His cause.

After the establishment of the kingdom under
David no prophet was officially a political leader,
and yet all the existing prophets were active states-
men, first of all interested in securing tlie weal of the
people of Yhwh. Naturally, they watched the king
most closely of all. Nathan and Gad to David and
Solomon, and Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam, were
kingly counselors or mentors, to whom these mon-
archs felt that they had to listen, willingly or un-
willingly.

The next new type of prophecy was realized in
its first and greatest representative, Elijah, who ia
found maintaining not merelj' a private, but a pub-
lic attitude of opposition to a king displeasing to
Yhwh, ready even to promote a revo-

Elljah., lution in order to purify morals and

Reformer worship. In Elijah is seen also the
and first example of the preaching proph-

Preaclier. et, the prophet par excellence, and it
was not merely because of religious
degeneracy, but mainly because of the genuinely
and potentially ethical character of prophecy, that
a firmer and more rigorous demand for righteous-
ness was made by the Prophets as the changing
times demanded new champions of reform.

But the final and most decisive stage was reached
when the spoken became also the written word,
when the matter of prophecy took the form of liter-
ature. It was no mere coincidence, but the result
of a necessary process that this step was taken when
Israel first came into relation with the wider polit-
ical world, with the oncoming of the Assyrians upon
Syria and Palestine. Many things then conspired
to encourage literary prophecy: the example and
stimulus of poetical and historical collections al-
ready made under prophetic inspiration ; the need
of handbooks and statements of prin-

Written ciples for the use of disciples ; the de-
Prophecy, sire to influence those beyond the
reach of the preacher's voice ; the ne-
cessity for a lasting record of and witness to the
revelations of the past; and, chief of all, the inner
compulsion to the adequate publication of new and
all-important truths.

Foremost among such truths were the facts, now
first practically realized, that God's government
and interests were not merely national, but univer-
sal, that righteousness was not merely tribal or per-
sonal or racial, but international and world-wide.
\ Neither before nor since have the ideas of God's
\ immediate rule and the urgency of His claims been
I so deeply felt by any body or class of men as in the
' centuries which witnessed the struggle waged by
the prophets of Israel for the supremacy of Yhwh
and the rule of justice and righteousness which
was His will. The truths then uttered are con-
tained in the writings of the Later Prophets. They
were not abstractions, but principles of the divine
government and of the right, human, national life.
They had their external occasions in the incidents of
history, and were thus strictly of providential ori-
gin; and they were actual revelations, seen as con-

crete realities by the seers and preachers whose
words both 'attest and commemorate their visions.

II. Utterances of the Prophets : The first of the lit-
erary prophets of the canon was Amos. His brief
work, which may have been recast at a later date,
is one of the marvels of literature for compre-
hensiveness, variety, compactness, methodical ar-
rangement, force of expression, and compelling elo-
quence. Hewroteabout765B.c., just
Amos. after northern Israel had attained its
greatest power and prosperity under
Jeroboam II., and Israel had at last triumphed over
the Syrians. In the midst of a feast at the central
shrine of Beth-el, Amos, a shepherd of Tekoah in
Judah, and not a member of any prophetic gild, sud-
denly appeared with words of denunciation and
threatening from Yhwh. He disturbed the national
self-complacency by citing and denouncing the sins
of the people and of their civil and religious rulers,
declaring that precisely because God had chosen them
to be His own would He punish them for their iniq-
uity. He rebuked their opi^ression of the poor, their
greed, their dishonesty, as sins against Yhwh Him-
self; assured them that their excessive religiousness
would not save them in the day of their deserved
punishment ; that, as far as judgment was concerned,
they stood no better with Him than did theEthiopians,
or the Arameans, or the Philistines. The most es-
sential thing in his message was that the object of wor-
ship and the worshipers must be alike in character:
Yhwh is a righteous God ; they must be righteous
as being His people. The historical background of
the prophecy of Amos is the dreadful Syrian wars.
His outlook is wider still ; it is a , greater world-
power that is to inflict upon Israel the condign
punishment of its sins (v. 27).

Hosea, the next and last prophet of the Northern
Kingdom, came upon the scene about fifteen years
after Amos, and the principal part of his prophecy
(ch. iv.-xlv.)was written about 735
Hosea. b.c. Amos had alluded to the'"Assyr-
ians without naming them. Hosea is
face to face with the terrible problem of the fate of
Israel at the hands of Assyria. To him it was be-
yond the possibility of doubt that Israel must be not
only crushed, but annihilated (ch. v. 11, x. 15, etc.).
It was a question of the moral order of Yhwh's
world, not merely a question of the relative political
or military strength of the two nationalities. To the
masses in Israel such a fate was unthinkable, for
Yhwh was Israel's God. To Hosea, as well as to
Amos, any other fate was unthinkable, and that also
because Yhwh was Israel's God. Everything de-
pended upon the view taken of the character of
Yhwh; and yet Hosea knew that God cared for
His people far more than they in their superstitious
credulity thought He did. Indeed, the love of Yhwh
for Israel is the burden of his discourse. His own
tragic history helped him to understand this rela-
tion. He had espoused a wife who became unfaith-
ful to him, and yet he would not let her go forever;
he sought to bring her back to her duty and her true
home. There was imaged forth the ineradicable
love of Yhwh for His people ; and between the cries
and lamentations of the almost broken-hearted
prophet can be heard ever and anon strains of hope

216

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prophets and Prophecy

and assurance, and the divine promise of pardon
and reconciliation. Thus while prophecy in North-
ern Israel came to au end with this new and strange
lyrical tragedy, the world has learned from the
prophet-poet that God's love and care are as sure
and lasting as His justice and righteousness.

The career of the next great prophet, Isaiah, is
connected with the kingdom of Judah. Here the
historical conditions are more complex, and the
prophetic message is therefore more profound and
many-sided. Isaiah deals much with tlie same
themes as did Amos and Hosea : the sins of luxury,
fashion, and frivolity in men and women; land-
grabbing; defiance of Yhwh (ch. ii., iii., v.). To
his revelation he adds the great announcement and
argument that Yhwh is supreme, as well as uni-
versal, in His control and providence. Ahaz makes
a dexterous alliance with Assyria, against the pro-
phetic counsel, for the sake of check-
Isaiah, mating Samai'ia and Damascus. Let
him beware ;' Yhwh is supreme ; He
will dissolve the hostile combination; but Judah
itself will ultimately fall before those very Assyr-
ians (ch. vii.). The Ethiopian overlord of Egypt
sends an embassy to the Asiatic states to incite them
against Assyria. Isaiah gives the answer: God
from His throne watches all nations alike, and in
His good time Assyria shall meet its fate (ch. xviii.).
The great revolt against Assyria has begun. The
Assyrians have come upon the land. Again the
question is taken out of the province of politics into
that of providence. Assyria is God's instrument in
the punishment of His people, and when it has done
its work it shall meet its predestined doom (ch. x.).
So the trumpet-tone of providence and judgment is
heard all through the prophetic message till Jerusa-
lem is saved by the heaven-sent plague among the
host of Sennacherib.

While in the next century written prophecy was
not entirely absent, another sort of literary activity
— whose highest product is seen in Deuteronomy —
was demanded by the times and occasions. Assyria
had played its r61e and had vanished. The Chal-
dean empire had just taken its place. The little
nations, including Israel, become the
Habakkuk prey of the new spoiler. The won-
and drous seer Habakkuk (c. 600b.c.) pon-

Jeremiah. ders over the situation. He recognizes
in the Chaldeans also God's instru-
ment. But the Chaldeans are even greater trans-
gressors than Yhwh's own people. Shall they es-
cape punishment? Are militarism and aggressive
warfare to be approved and rewarded by the right-
eous God? (ch. i.). Climbing his watch-tower, the
prophet gains a clear vision of the conditions and a
prevision of the issue. The career and fate of Chal-
dea are brought under the same law as the career
and fate of Israel, and this law is working surely
though unseen (ch. ii.). Habakkuk thus proclaims
the universality of God's justice as well as of His
power and providence.

In Jeremiah (636-581) prophecy is at its highest
and fullest. His long and perfectly transparent
oflBcial life full of vicissitudes, liis protracted con-
ferences and pleadings with Yhwh Himself, his
eagerness to learn and do the right, his more than

priestly or military devotion to his arduous calling,
his practical enterprise and courage in spite of native
diffidence, make his word and work a matchless
subject for study, inspiration, and imitation. The
greatest religious genius of his race, he was also the
confessor and martyr of the ancient Covenant, and
he still wields a moral influence unique and unfail-
ing. What then did his life and word stand for and
proclaim? Among other things, these: (1) the na-
ture and duty of true patriotism : oppose your coun-
try's policy when it is wrong; at the peril of liberty
and life, set loyalty to God and justice above loy-
alty to king and country ; (2) the spirituality of God
and of true religion (ix. 33 et seg., xxxi. 31); (3) the
perpetuity and continuity of Yhwh's rule and prov-
idence (xvi. 14, 15; xxiii. 7, 8); (4) the principle of
individual as opposed to tribal or inherited responsi-
bility (xxxi. 39, 30).

These are a selection of the leading truths and
principles announced by the Prophets. It will be
observed : (1) that they are the cardinal truths of
Old Testament revelation; (3) that they were given
in the natural order of development, that is, accord-
ing to the needs and capacities of the learners ; (3)
that they were evoked by certain definite, historical
occasions. Prom the foregoing summary it may
also be learned how the function as well as the scope
of the prophet was diversified and expanded. In
the most rudimentary stage are found traces of the
primitive arts and practises of soothsaying and divina-
tion ; and yet in the very beginnings of the prophetic
work in Israel there can be discerned the essential
elements of true prophecy, the "seeing" of things
veiled from the common eye and the "declaring"
of the things thus seen. If Israel presents the only
continuous and saving revelation ever vouchsafed
to men, the decisive factor in the unique revelation
is the character oi the Revealer. It was the privi-
lege of the Prophets, the elect of humanity, to under-
stand and know Yhwh (Jer. ix. 24), and it still re-
mains profoundly true that " Adonai Yhwh doeth
nothing unless He has revealed His secret to His
servants the Prophets" (Amos iii. 7, Ilebr.).

Bibliography: Besides the standard introductions and com-
mentaries to the Old Testament and the prophetic literature :
Knobel, Prophett»mu8 der Hebraer, 1837; Tholuck, Die
Prnpheten und Ihre Weissagungen, 1860 ; Baur, Oesch. der
Alttest. Weissagung, 1860 ; Oehler, Dos Verhdltniss der Alt-
test. Prophetie zur Heidnischen Mantik, 1881 ; Kuenen,
Prophets and Prophecy in Israel, 1877 ; Duhm, Theolngie
der Propfteten, 1875 ; F. E. KBnig, Der Ofenbarungsbegriff
desA.T. 1882; W. R. Smith, The Propheti of Israel, 1882:
C. G. Monteflore, The iJeJifliono/ Israel (the Hibbert Lectures
for 1892 ) ; Darmesteter, Les Prophetes d'lsraHl, 1892 ; Kirk-
patrick, Th£ Doctrine of the Prophets, 1892 ; Smend, Lehr-
ouch der Alttest. Beliginnsgesch. 1893 ; CornlU, Der Israe-
iitische Prophetismus, 1894 ; McCurdy, History, Prophecy,
and the Monuments, 1891-1901 ; Klttel, Profetie und Weis-
saaung, 1899.
E. G. H. J. F. McC.

In Post-Biblical Literature : The first to re-
flect upon the phenomena of prophecy and to sug-
gest that certain states, either mental or moral, are
prerequisite to the reception or exercise of the pro-
phetic gift was Philo of Alexandria. As in many
others of his conceptions and constructions, so in
his explanation of prophecy, he follows the lead of
Plato, accepting his theory concerning mantic en-
thusiasm ("Phaedrus," p. 534, ed. Stephanus). In
order that the divine light might rise in man the hu-

jProphets and Prophecy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

216

man must first set altogether. Under the complete
emigration of the mortal or human spirit and the in-
pouring of the immortal or divine
Views of spirit the Prophets become passive
PMlo. instruments of a higher power, the vol-
untary action of their own faculties
being entirely suspended (Philo, "Quis Rerum Divi-
narum Haeres Sit, " § 53). The prophet " utters noth-
ing of his own " : he speaks only what is suggested
to him by God, by whom, for the time, he is pos-
sessed. Prophecy includes the power of predicting
the future ; still the prophet's main function is to be
the interpreter of God, and to find out, while in the
state of ecstasy, enthusiasm, or inspired frenzy in
which he falls, things that the reflective faculties
are incompetent to discover (Philo, I.e. §§ 52-53;
"Do Vita Mosis," ii. 1; "Duo de Monarchia," i. 9;
"De Justitia," § 8; "Prsemiis et Poenis,"§9; Drum-
mond, "Philo Judasus," ii. 283; Hamburger, "B. B.
T." ii. 1003, s.«. "Religionsphilosophie").

Yet this inspiration is held not to be the effect of
a special and arbitrary miracle. Communion be-
tween God and man is permanently possible for man.
Every truly good and wise man has the gift of
prophecy : the wicked alone forfeit the distinction
of being God's interpreters. The Biblical writers
were filled with this divine enthusiasm, Moses pos-
sessing it in a fuller measure than any others, who
are not so much original channels of inspired reve-
lation as companions and disciples of Moses (Drum-
mond. I.e. i. 14-16).

As might be expected from the method of the
Tannaim and the Amoraim, no systematic exposi-
tion of the nature of prophecy is given by any of
the Talmudic authorities. Still, mixed
Talraudic with the homiletic applications and
Views. interpretations of Biblical texts, there
are a goodly number of observations
concerning the Prophets and prophecy in general.
Of these the following seem to be the more note-
worthy.

The prophetic gift is vouchsafed only to such as
are physically strong, mentally wise and rich (Shab.
92a ; Ned. 38a). In fact, all the Prophets were " rich"
(Ned. 38a). Prophets are distinguished by individ-
ual traits. In their language, for instance, they dis-
play the influence of environment. Bzekiel is like
a rural provincial admitted to the royal presence,
while Isaiah resembles the cultured inhabitant of
the large city (Hag. 13b). Moses, of course, occu-
pies an exceptional position. He beheld ti'uth as if
it were reflected by a clear mirror ; all others, as by
a dull glass (Yeb. 49b). This thought is present in
the observation that all other prophets had to look
into nine mirrors, while Moses glanced at one only
(Lev. R. i.). With the exception of Moses and
Isaiah none of the Prophets knew the content of
their prophecies (Midr. Shoher Tob to Ps. xc. 1).
The words of all other prophets are virtually
mere repetitions of those of Moses (Ex. R. xlii. ; see
also Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." 1. 164, 500); in fact,
but one content was in all prophecies. Yet no two
prophets reproduced that content in the same man-
ner (Sanh. 89a). Unanimity and concordance of
verbal expression betray the false prophet {ib.).
The Prophets, however, are worthy of praise be-

cause they employ phraseology that is intelligible,
not even shrinking from using anthropomorphic
similes and comparisons drawn from nature (Midr.
Shoher Tob to Ps. i. 1; Pesik. 36a; J. Levy, "Ein
Wort liber die Mekilta von R. Simon," pp. 21-36;
Bacher, I.e. ill. 191, note 4).

All prophecies were included in the revelation at
Sinai (Ex. R. xxviii. ; Tan., Yitro). Still, the "holy
spirit " that descended upon individual prophets was
not the same in degree in each case ; some prophets
received siifflcient for one book, others enough for
two books, and others only so much as two verses
(Lev. R. XV. ; comp. Bacher, l.e-. ii. 447, note 1).
Prophecy was sometimes contingent upon the char-
acter of the generation among whom the potential
prophet lived (Sanh. 11a; Ber. 57a; Suk. 28a; B. B.
134a). All written prophecies begin with words of
censure, but conclude with phrases of consolation
(Yer. Ber. 8d; Midr. Shoher Tob to

Mingled Ps. iv. 8; Pesik. 116a; Jeremiah is in

Censure reality no exception to the rule).
and Conso- Only those prophecies were published

lation. that were valid for future days ; but
God will at some time promulgate the
many prophecies which, because dealing only with
the affairs of their day, remained unpublished (Cant.
R. iv. 11; Meg. 14a; Eccl. R. i. 9). In connection
with this the statement is made that in Elijah's time
there lived in Israel myriads of prophets and as
many prophetesses (Cant. R. I.e.). The prediction
of peace must come true if made by a true prophet;
not so that of evil, for God can resolve to withhold
punishment (Tan., Wayera, on xxi. 1).

Judah ben Simeon attributes to Isaiah the distinc-
tion of having received immediate inspiration, while
other prophets received theirs through their prede-
cessors (Pesik. 125b et seq. ; Lev. R. xiii.); and, re-
ferring to such repetitions as " Comfort ye, comfort
ye," he ascribes to him a double portion of prophetic
power. A very late midrashic collection (Agadat
Bereshit xiv.) designates Isaiah as the greatest,
and Obadiah as the least, of the Prophets, and im-
putes to both the knowledge of all spoken lan-
guages. The prophetic predictions of future bless-
ings were intended to incite Israel to piety; in
reality, however, only a part of future glory was
shown to the Prophets (Yallj. ii. 368; Eccl. R. i. 8).
Where the prophet's father is mentioned by name,
the father also was a prophet; where no place of
birth is given, tlie prophet was a Jerusalemite (Meg.
15a). A chaste bride is promised that prophets
shall be among her sons (ib. 10b). It is reckoned
that forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses
have arisen in Israel. On the other hand, the state-
ment is made that the number of prophets was
double the number of those that left Egypt {ib. 14a).
Eight prophets are said to have sprung from Rahab
(ib.). Fifty is the number given of the prophets
among the exiles returning from Babylon (Zeb. 63a).
Every tribe produced prophets. With the death of
the Former Prophets the urim and thummini
ceased in Israel (Suk. 27a; Sotah 48a).

Since the destruction of the Temple prophecy has
passed over to the wise, the semidemented (fools),
and the children, but the wise man is superior to
the prophet (B. B. 12a). Eight prophets are men-

817

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prophets and Prophecy

tioned as having filled their office after the destruc-
tion of the First Temple, AmoS being among
them. In the same passage Joel is assigned a post-
exilic date (Pesilj. 128b). The elders are, like the
hakamim (see B. B. ISa"), credited with superiority
over the Prophets (Yer. Ber. 3b ; Yer. Sanh. 30b).

Prophecy was not regarded as confined to Israel.
The "nations of the world" had seven prophets (B.
B. 15b; comp. Eccl. R. iii. 19). Before the build-
ing of the Tabernacle, the nations
"Prophets sliared the gift with Israel (Lev. R. i. ;
of the Cant. R. ii. 3). The restriction of
Nations." prophecj'- to Israel was due to Moses'
prayer (Ex. xxxi. 16; Ex. R. xxxii. ;
Ber. 7a). To "the nations " the prophets come only
at night (Gen. R. Iii.; Lev. R. i.) and speak only
with a "half" address (Lev. R. ix.); but to Israel
they speak in open daylight. The distinction be-
tween the manner in which God speaks to the
prophets of Israel and those of tlie "nations" is
explained in a parable about a king who spoke
directly to his friend (Israel), but to strangers only
from behind a curtain (Gen. R. Iii.). Again, to
the " prophets of the nations " God discloses His will
only as one stationed afar off; to those of Israel
as one standing most close (Lev. R, i.). Balaam is
regarded as the most eminent of the non-Jewish
prophets (see Geiger's " Jlid. Zeit." vol. i.).

Under the stress of controversy Saadia was com-
pelled to take up the problem of prophecy more
systematically than had the Rabbis of the Talmudic
period. As the contention liad been raised that
prophecy in reality was unnecessary, since if the
message was rational reason unaided could evolve
its content, while if it was irrational it was incom-
prehensible and useless, Saadia argued that the
Torah contained rational and revealed command-
ments. The latter certainly required the interven-
tion of prophecy, otherwise they could not be known
to men. But the former? For them prophecy was
needed first because most men are slow to employ
their reason, and secondly because through prophecy
knowledge is imparted more rapidly (" Emunot we-
De'ot," p. 13, ed. Berlin). The third argument is that
reason can not evolve more than general principles,
leaving man dependent upon prophecy for details.
Men can, for instance, reason out the duty of thank-
fulness, but can not know, through mere reason,
how to express their gratitude in a way that would
be acceptable in God's sight. Hence

Views of the Prophets supplied what human

Saadia. reason could not supply when they

established th« order of prayers and

determined the proper seasons for prayer. The

same applies to questions of property, marriage,

and the like.

But what is the criterion of true prophecy ? The
miracles which the prophet works and by which he
attests the truth of his message {ih. iii. 4), though
the degree of probability in the prophet's announce-
ment is also a test of its genuineness, without which
even the miracle loses its weight as evidence. The
Prophets, indeed, were men, not angels. But this
fact renders all the more obvious the divine wisdom.
Because ordinary men and not angels are chosen to
be the instruments of God's revelation, what of ex-

traordinary power they exhibit must of necessity
arouse their auditors and the witnesses of tlie mira-
cles wrought to a realization that God is speaking
through them. For the same reason the ability to
work miracles is temporary and conditioned, wliioh
again demonstrates that the Prophets do not derive
their power from themselves, but are subject to a
will other and higher than their own.

To meet the difficulties involved in the assumption
that God speaks and appears, so as to be heard and
seen, Saadia resorts to the theory that a voice spe-
cially created ad hoc is the medium of inspiration,
as a " light creation " is that of appearance {ib. ii. 8).
This "light creation," in fact, is for the prophet tlie
evidence of the reality of his vision, containing the
assurance that he has received a divine revelation.
It is thus apparent that Saadia denies the coopera-
tion of the mental and moral qualifications of the
prophet in the process of prophecj'.

Bahya repeats, to a certain extent, the arguments
of Saadia in proof of the insufficiency of reason and
the necessity of prophecy. Human nature is two-
fold, and the material elements might not be held in
due control were prophecy not to come to the res-
cue. Thus reason alone could not have arrived at
complete truth. That miracles are
Bahya and the evidence of prophecy Bah3'a urges
rbn with even greater emphasis than did

Gabirol. his predecessor (" Hobot ha-Lebabot,"
iii. 1, 4). Nevertheless, he contends
that purity of soul and perfection of rational knowl-
edge constitute the highest condition attainable by
man, and that these make one " the beloved of God "
and confer a strange, superior power " to see the sub-
limest things and grasp the deei^est secrets" (ib. x. ;
Kaufmann, "Die Theologie des Bachya," p. 238,
Vienna, 1875).

Solomon ibn Gabirol regards prophecy as identi-
cal with the highest possible degree of rational
knowledge, wherein the soul finds itself in unity
with the All-Spirit. Man rises toward this perfect
communion from degree to degree, until at last he
attains unto and is united with the fount of life
(see Sandler, "Das Problem der Prophetic,'' p. 39,
Broslau, 1891).

Judah ha-Levi confines prophecy to Palestine.
It is the nXUJn nDIK'and the n^JDOn pNH ("Cu-
zari," i. 95). Prophecy is the product of the Holy
Land {ib. ii. 10), and Israel as the people of that land
is the one people of prophecy. Israel is the heart
of the human race, and its great men, again, are the
hearts of this heart {ib. ii. 12). Abraham had to
migrate to Palestine in order to become fit for the
receiving of divine messages {ib. ii. 14). To meet
the objection that Moses, among others, received
prophetic revelations on non-Palestinian soil, Judah
gives the name of Palestine a wider interpretation :
" Greater Palestine " is the home of prophecy. But
this prophecy, again, is a divine gift, and no spec-
ulation by philosopher can ever replace it. It alone
inspires men to make sacrifices and to meet death,
certain that they have " seen " God and that God has
" spoken " to them and communicated His truth to
them. This is the difference between " the God of
Abraham and the God of Aristotle " {ib. iv. 16). The
prophet is endowed by God with a new inner sense,

Prophets and Prophecy
Prosbul

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

S18

the mriDJ I'' j; (=" hidden [inner] eye"), and this
"inner eye" enables the prophet to see mighty
visions {ib. iv. 3). The test of the
Judah. ha- truth is the unanimity of the Prophets,
Levi. who alone can judge of prophetic
truth. The agreement of the " seers "
as against the " blind " is the finally decisive factor.
Judah ha-Levi demands of the prophet, lest he mis-
take mere imagination for genuine vision, purity of
conduct, freedom from passion, an equable temper-
ament "of identical mixture," a contemplative life,
an ardent yearning toward the higher things, and a
lasting, almost complete, absorption in God. Upon
such as fulfil these conditions in their entirety the
divine spirit of prophecy is poured out (ib. v. 12).
This "outpouring" or "irradiation" is meant by the
Prophetswhen they speak of "God's glory," "God's
form," the "Shekinah," "the fire-cloud," etc. (ib. iii.
3). It is called also the " divine " or " effulgent "
Light (ib. ii. 14). So inspired, the prophet is "the
counselor, admonisher, and censor of the people " ;
he is its "head " ; like Moses, he is a lawgiver (ib. ii.
28). Joseph ben Jacob ibn Zaddik ( " ' 01am Kat6n ")
regards prophecy as an emanation of the divine
spirit, of which all, without distinction, may become
recipients.

The philosophers so far presented consider proph-
ecy a gift from without. Abraham ibn Daud was
the first among Jewish schoolmen to insist that
prophecy is the outgrowth of natural predispositions
and acquired knowledge. He links prophecy to
dreams (see Ber. 57b). An Aristotelian, he invokes
the " active intellect " to connect the natural with
the supernatural. He also attributes to "imagina-
tion " a share in the phenomena of prophecy. He
assumes two degrees of prophetic insight, each with
subdivisions: the visions given in dreams, and those
imparted to the prophet while he is awake. In
dreams imagination predominates ; when tlie prophet
is awake the "active intellect "is dominant ("Emu-
nah Ramah," ed. Weil, pp. 70-73). Soothsaying
as distinct from prophecy results in accordance with
the extent to which the " intellect " is under the con-
trol of imagination. Imagination produces the sen-
suous similes and allegories under which the prophet
conceives the content of his message. As the intel-
lect succeeds in minimizing imagination, revelation
is imparted in clearer words, free from simile and
allegory. Inner reflection is potent in prophecy
grasped by the waking mind. Palestine is for
Abraham the land of prophecy, Israel its predestined
people. In Israel they attain this power who lead a
morally pure life and associate with men of pro-
phetic experience. Otherwise prophecy is within
the reach of all, provided God consents to bestow it.
Abraham ibn Baud's theories are, with character-
istic modifications, restated by Maimonides. He enu-
merates three opinions : (1) that of the
The Mai- masses, according to which God se-
mouideau lected whom He would, though never
View of so ignorant ; (3) that of the philoso-
Prophecy. phers, which rates prophecy as inci-
dental to a degree of perfection inher-
ent in human nature; (3) that "which is taught in
Scripture and forms one of the principles of our re-
ligion." The last agrees with the second in all

points except one. For " we believe that, even if
one has the capacity for prophecy and has duly pre-
pared himself, he may yet not actually prophesy.
The will of God " is the decisive factor. This fact
is, according to Maimonides, a miracle.

The indispensable prerequisites are three : innate
superiority of the imaginative faculty ; moral per-
fection; mental perfection, acquired by training.
These qualities are possessed in, different degrees
by wise men, and the degrees of the prophetic faculty
vary accordingly. In the Prophets the inflaence of
the active intellect penetrates into both their logical
and their imaginative faculties. Prophecy is an
emanation from the Divine Being, and is transmitted
through the medium of the active intellect, first to
man's rational faculty and then to his imaginative
faculty. Prophecy can not be acquired by a man,
however earnest the culture of his mental and moral
faculties may be. In the course of his exposition, in
which he discusses the effect of the absence, or un-
due preponderance, of one of the component facul-
ties, Maimonides analyzes the linguistic peculiari-
ties of the Biblical prophecies and examines the
conditions (e.g., anger or grief) under which the pro-
phetic gift may be lost. He explains that there are
eleven ascending degrees in prophecy or prophetic
inspiration, though Moses occupies a place by him-
self; his inspiration is different in kind as well as in
degree from that of all others (" Moreh, " ii. , xxxii.-
xlviii. ; "Yad," Yesode ha-Torah, vii. 6). For the
controversies that were aroused by Maimonides'
views the articles Alfakae, Moses ben Maimon,
and Moses ben Nahman should be consulted (see
also Nahmanides on Gen. xviii. 1).

Isaac ben Moses Arama ("A^edat Yizhak,"
XXXV.) declares Maimonides' view that the pro-
phetic gift is essentially inherent in human faculties,
and that its absence when all pre-
Later requisite conditions are present is a

Vievirs. miracle, to be thoroughly un-Jewish.
Precisely the contrary is the case, as
prophecy is always miraculous.

Joseph ALBo("'Ikkarim," iii. 8), though arguing
against Maimonides, accepts (ib. iii. 17) Maimonides'
explanation that Moses' prophecy is distinct and
unique because of the absence therefrom of imagina-
tion.

Isaac Abkavanbl (on Gen. xxi. 37) maintains the
reality of the visions of the Prophets which Mai-
monides ascribed to the intervention of the imagina-
tive faculties. Among the writers on prophecy
Gersonides (Levi ben Gekshon) must be mentioned.
Dreams, for this writer, are not vain plays of fancy ;
neither are the powers of soothsayers fictitious ; the
latter merely lack one element essential to prophecy,
and that is wisdom. Moreover, prophecy is always
infallible. It is an emanation from the all-survey-
ing, all-controlling, universal active intellect, while
the soothsayer's knowledge is caused by the action
of a " particular " spheric influence or spirit on the
imagination of the fortune-teller ("Milhamot ha-
Shem," ii.).

Hasdai Ckescas regards prophecy as an emana-
tion from the Divine Spirit, which influences the ra-
tional faculty with as well as without the imagina-
tive faculty ("Or Adonai," ii. 4, 1).

219

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prophets and Prophecy
Prosbul

Modem Jewish theologians have contributed but
little to the elucidation of the phenomenon of proph-
ecy. Most of the catechisms are content to repeat
Maimonides' analysis (so -with Einhorn's"Ner Ta-
mid ") ; others evade the question altogether. May-
baum (" Prophet und Prophetismus im Alten Israel ")
has not entered into a full discussion of the psycho-
logical factors involved. The views of the critical
school, however, have come to be adopted by many
modern Jewish authors.

BiBLiOGKAPHY : A. Seimldl, Studien ilber JUdiscTie BeJi-
gioitsvhilosnphie, Vienna, 1869 ; Neumann Sandler. Das
Problem der Prophetic in der JiXdisehe BeligionspMloso-
phie, Breslau, 1891; Emll G. Hirsch, Myth, Miracle, and
Mldrash, Chicago, 1899.
J. E. G. H.

PROSBXTL (^uniEJ or ^nons) : An abbrevi-
ated form of the Greek phrase jrpof povhj jiov'^Evrav
("before the assembly of counselors"; comp. Scharer,
"Hist, of the Jewish People," etc., Eng. ed., divi-
sion ii., vol. 1., p. 362, who favors the derivation
from npoajio'kri = " delivery ") ; a declaration made In
court, before the execution of a loan, to the effect that
the law requiring the release of debts upon the
entrance of the Sabbatical year shall not apply to
the loan to be transacted (Jastro w, " Diet. " «. ». ). The
formula of the prosbul was as follows: "I deliver
t'JIDID. answering to the Greek word wpoapdUetv ;
comp. Schurer, I.e. p. 363, note 162] unto you . . .
judges of . . . [place], that I may at any time I
choose collect my debts." This declaration was at-
tested by witnesses or by the judges of the court
before whom the declaration was made(Sheb. x. 4).

The institution of the prosbul is ascribed to Hillel ;
and the manner of its introduction is described in
the Mishnah as follows : " Seeing that the law which
prescribed the release of all debts every seventh
year [Deut. xv. 1-3; see Sabbatical
Ascribed to Ybab] brought about the harmful
Hillel. consequence that people refused to
loan to one another and thus violated
what was written in the Law, namely, that a money
loan should not be withheld because of the approach
of the Sabbatical year [ib. verses 9-11], Hillel insti-
tuted the prosbul" (Sheb. x. 3). This institution
was to benefit both the rich and the poor. The rich
"were thereby protected against loss of property ; and
the poor could thus obtain a loan whenever they
needed it (Git. 37a). The reason for this innovation
was therefore given as "mi-pene tikkun ha-'olam"
= "for the sake of the order of the world " (i.e., for
the better organization of society ; Git. 34b ; comp.
Rashi to Git. 37a, «.«. " Bole" ; " Kesef Mishneh " on
Maimonides, " Yad," Mamrim, ii. 2).

From the expression " that which is thine with
thy brother thine hand shall release " (Deut. xv. 3),
the Rabbis derived the law that if one delivered his
debts to the court, he might collect them after the
Sabbatical year (Sifre ad loo. ; Sheb. x. 3 ; comp.
Maimonides' commentary ad loo. ; Git. 37a). Thus
the institution of Hillel would appear to be only a
suggestion to the people to take advantage of a law
which already existed (it is probable, however, that
this law was derived after the promulgation of the
institution of the prosbul, in order to make it ap-
pear to rest on Biblical authority). Later authori-
ties made Hillel's institution an extension of this

law. According to the law as derived from the
Biblical passage, the principle of limitation by the en-
trance of the Sabbatical year did not apply in a case
where the promissory notes were delivered to the
court and the court was thereby made the creditor.
Hillel's institution provided that the delivery of the
notes was not necessary ; that even when the loan
was contracted by word of mouth (" mil weh'al-peh"),
the declaration in the presence of the court was suf-
ficient to allow the creditor to collect his debt even
after the Sabbatical year (see R. Nissim to Alfasi,
Gif. iv. 3, s.v. "Hitkin"; comp. Mak. 3b; Rashi and
Tos. ad loc; comp. Weiss, "Dor," i. 172, note 3).
Although it was conceded that the institution of the
prosbul was based on Biblical authority, the later
amoraim expressed their astonishment at the fact
that Hillel dared to abrogate the Mosaic institution
of the release of all debts every seventh year. To
make Hillel's venture less daring, some declared
that his innovation applied solely to the time when
the law of release itself was only rabbinic, while
others included it under the general principle which
gives power to every court to declare property
ownerless and to give it to whomever it may decide
(Git. 36a, b ; comp. Tos., s.i). "Mi " ; see Sabbatical
Ybab).

A prosbul could be written only when the debtor
possessed some real property from which the debt

could be collected (Sheb. x. 6 ; comp.
Conditions. Yer. Sheb. x. 3, where one opinion

[Rab's] has it that both the debtor and
the creditor must possess real estate, while another
opinion [R. Johanan's] permits the prosbul to be
written even if only one of them has real estate).
The Rabbis, however, were very lenient with regard
to this provision and permitted the prosbul to be
written even though the debtor had only a very small
piece of real estate, or even when the creditor trans-
ferred to him temporarily a piece of land sufficient
to erect an oven upon, or even if the debtor held in
pledge real estate belonging to another (Sheb. x. 6;
Git. 37a; "Yad," Shemittah, ix. 19; Shulhan 'Aruk,
Hoshen Mishpat, 67, 22-25). A prosbul that was
antedated was considered valid; postdated, not
valid (Sheb. x. 5 ; comp. Maimonides' commentary
ac? foe and note; seeTosef., ib. viii. 11; " Yad," I.e. ix.
33, 23 ; " Kesef Mishneh " ad loe. ). During the Hadri-
anic persecutions, when all Jewish laws had to be
observed secretly for fear of the Roman ofiicials, it
was ordained that a creditor might collect his debt
even though he did not produce a prosbul ; for it was
presumed that he had possessed one, but had des-
troyed it out of fear (Ket. 89a; comp. Weiss, I.e. ii.
134, note 1). This temporary provision became an
established law for all times ; and the creditor was
believed when he alleged that he had lost his pros-
bul (Git. 37b; "Yad," I.e. ix. 34; Hoshen Mishpat,
67, 33). In accordance with the principle that " the
court is the father of the orphan," minor orphans
were not called upon to prepare a prosbul during
the Sabbatical year ; for without this formality their
debts were regarded as the debts of the court (Git.
37a; "Yad," I.e.; Hoshen Mishpat, 67, 38).

The Amoraim were divided in their opinions about
the value of Hillel's institution. Samuel said that
if he had had the power he would have abolished it,

Proselyte

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

220'

"while R. Nahman wished to extend it so that even if

no prosbulwas written the debt might be CDllected

after the Sabbatical year (Git. 36b).

Varying Only the highest covirt in each genera-
Views tion might undertake the preparation
About of a prosbul {ib., according to Tos.,

Prosbul. s.v. "De'alimi"; "Yad," I.e. ix. 17).
While the question raised in the Tal-
mud (ib.) whether Hillel established the prosbul only
for his generation or for all generations to come was
left undecided, it appears that tlie institution was in
force in Talmudic times as late as the fourth century.
The disciples of R. Ashi satisiied themselves with an
oral contract between them, a practise which was
later established as law (Hoshen Mishpat, 67, 30, and
Isserles' gloss). In the Middle Ages the use of the
prosbul ceased entirely, so that Asher ben Jehiel,
at the beginning of the fourteenth century, stated
that on his arrival in Spain he was vexed to find
that people were accustomed to collect debts after
the Sabbatical year without any prosbul. His
endeavors at reviving this institution, however,
proved of no avail (Asheri, Responsa, No. 77 [ed.
Wilna, 1885, p. 71b] ; Hoshen Mishpat, 67, 1, Isser-
les' gloss; see Sabbatical Tear).

Bibliography : Blocli, Sha'are Tnrat fia-TaWiannt, division
ii., parti., pp. 93-113, Cracow, 1894, wbere a 'detailed discus-
sion ol the whole subject is given; Hamburger, R. B. T. ii., s.v.
E. 0. J. H. G.

PROSELYTE (irpoarilvTo^, from TrpoaepxeaOai):
Term employed generally, though not exclusively,
in the Septuagint as a rendering for the Hebrew
word "ger," designating a convert from one religion
to another. The original meaning of the Hebrew
is involved in some doubt. Modern interpreters
hold it to have connoted, at first, a stranger (or a
"client," in the technical sense of the word) residing
in Palestine, who had put himself under the protec-
tion of the people (or of one of them) among whom
he had taken up his abode. In later, post-exilic
usage it denotes a convert to the Jewish religion.
In the Septuagint and the New Testament the Greek
equivalent has almost invariably the latter signifi-
cation (but see Geiger, " Urschrif t, " pp. 353 et seq.),
though in the Septuagint the word
The "Ger." implies also residence in Palestine on
the part of one who had previously
resided elsewhere, an implication entirely lost both
in the Talmudical " ger " and in the New Testament
■irponi]lvTOQ. Philo applies the latter term in the
wider sense of "one having come to a new and
God-pleasing life" ("Duo de Monarchia," i. 7), but
uses another word to express the idea of " convert "
— swt/Tiv;. Josephus, though referring to converts to
Judaism, does not use the term, interpreting the
Biblical passages in which " ger " occurs as apply-
ing to the poor or the foreigner.

Whatever may have been the original implication
of the Hebrew word, it is certain that Biblical au-
thors refer to proselytes, though describing them in
paraphrases. Ex. xii. 48 provides for the prose-
lyte's partaking of the paschal lamb, referring to
him as a "ger" that is "circumcised." Isa. xiv. 1
mentions converts as " strangers " who shall " cleave
to the house of Jacob" (but comp. next verse).
Deut. xxiii. 8 (Hebr.) speaks of "one who enters

into the assembly of Jacob," and (Deutero-) Isa. Ivi.
3-6 enlarges on the attitude of those that joined
themselves to Yhwh, "to minister to Him and love-
His name, to be His servant, keeping the Sabbatli
from profaning it, and laying hold on His covenant."
"Nokri" (f^vof = "stranger") is another equivalent
for "proselyte," meaning one who, like Ruth, seeks-
refuge under the wings of YnwH (Ruth ii. 11-12;
comp. Isa. ii. 2-4, xliv. 5; Jer. ill. 17, iv. 2, xii. 16;
Zeph. iii. 9; I Kings viii. 41-43; Ruth i. 16). Prob-
ably in almost all these passages "converts" are as-
sumed to be residents of Palestine. They are thus
"gerim," but circumcised. In the Priestly Code
" ger " would seem to have this meaning throughout.
In Esther viii. 17 alone the expression " mityahadim "
(= " became Jews ") occurs.

According to Philo, a proselyte is one wlio aban-
dons polytheism and adopts the worship of the One
6od("De Pipnitentia," § 2; "De Caritate," § 12).
Josephus describes the convert as one who adopts
the Jewish customs, following the laws of the Jews
and worshiping God as they do — one who has be-
come a Jew ("Ant." xx. 2, §§ 1, 4; comp. xviii. 3,
§ 5; for another description see the Apocalypse of
Baruch, xii. 3, 4; xlii. 5). By many scholars the
opinion is held that the phrase "yir'e Adouai" de-
notes either proselytes in general or a certain class.
(" ger toshab " ; see below). This interpretation is
that of the Midrash (Lev. R. iii. ; Shoher Tob to Ps.
xxii. 22). While this construction is borne out by
some passages (Ps. cxv. 11-13, cxviii. 4, cxxxv. 20),
in others the reference is clearly to native Israelites
(Ps. XV. 4, xxii. 23-25, xxv. 12-14, ei al.). For the
value of the term in the New Testament (in the
Acts) see Bertholet, "Die Stellung der Israeliten
und der Juden zu den Premden " (pp. 328-334),
and O. Holtzmann, "Neutestamentliche Zeitgesch."
(p. 185). According to Schiirer ("Die Juden im
Bosporanischen Reiche," in " Sitzungsberichte der
Berliner Akademie," 1897), the phrase "those who
fear the Most High God " designates associations of
Greeks in the first post Christian centuries, who had
taken their name and their monotheistic faith from
the Jews, but still retained many of the elements of
Greek life and religion (see Jacob Bernays, "Die
Gottesftirchtigen bei Juvenal," in his "Gesammelte
Schriften,"ii. 71-80).

The attitude of ancient Israel to proselytes and
proselytism is indicated in the history of the term
" ger " as sketched abov£, which, again, reflects the
progressive changes incidental to the .

Historic development of Israel from a nation
Conditions, into a religious congregation under
the priestly law. (For the position of
strangers see Gentile.) Ezra's policy, founded on
the belief that the new commonwealth should be
of the holy seed, naturally led to the exclusion of
those of foreign origin. Still, the non -Israelite could
gain admittance through circumcision (see Ex. xii.).

Pre-exilic Israel had but little reason to seek pros-
elytes or concern itself with their status and recep-
tion. The "strangers " in its midst were not many
(II Chron. ii. 16 is certainly unhistorical). As "cli-
ents," they were under the protection of the com-
munity. Such laws as refer to them in pre-exilic
legislation, especially if compared with the legisla-

521

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Proselyte

tive provisions of other nations, may ;jiistly be said
to be Immane (see Deuteronomy ; Gentile). That
the aboriginal population was looked upon with sus-
picion was due to their constituting a constant peril
to the monotheistic religion. Hence the cruel pro-
visions for their extermination, which, however,
were not carried into effect.

During tlie Exile Israel came in contact with non-
Israelites in a new and more intimate degree, and
Deutero-Isaiah reflects the consequent change in
Israel's attitude (see passages quoted above). Even
after the restoration Ezra's position was not with-
out its opponents. The books of Jonah and Ruth
testify to the views held by the anti-Ezra pleaders
for a non-racial and all-embracing Israel. Not only
did Greek Judaism tolerate the reception of prose-
lytes, but it even seems to have been active in its
desire for the spread of Jewish monotheism (comp.
Schiirer, I.e.). Philo's references to proselytes make
this sure (comp. Renan, "Le JudaYsme en Fait de
Religion et de Race ").

According to Josephus there prevailed in his day
among the inhabitants of both Greek and barbarian
cities ("Contra Ap." ii., § 39) a great zeal for the
Jewish religion. This statement refers to Emperor
Domitian's last years, two decades after Jerusalem's
fall. It shows that throughout the Roman empire
Judaism had made inroads upon the pagan religions.
Latin writers furnish evidence corroborating this.
It is true that Tacitus ("Hist." iv. 5) is anxious to
convey the impression that only the most despicable
elements of the population were found among these
converts to Judaism ; but this is amply refuted by
other Roman historians, as Dio Cassius (67, 14, 68),
Cicero ("Pro Placco," § 28), Horace ("Satires," i. 9,
69; iv. 142), and Juvenal (xiv. 96).

Among converts of note are mentioned the royal

family of Adiabene — Queen Helena and her sons

Izates and Monobazus (" Ant." xx., ch. 2-4), Flavins

Clemens (Dio Cassius, I.e.), Fulvia, the wife of

Saturninus, a senator (Philo, " Contra

Roman Flaccum," ed. Mangey, ii., § 517;

Proselytes. "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1; 11, § 3). Women

seem to have predominated among

them (Josephus, "B. J." ii. 20, § 2; "Ant." xviii. 8,

§ 5; Suk. 28; Yer. Suk. ii. 4; 'Ab. Zarah 10; comp.

Gratz, "Die Judischen Proselytenim Romerreiche,"

Breslau, 1884 ; Huidekoper, " Judaism in Rome ").

In Palestine, too, proselytes must have been both
numerically and socially of importance. Otherwise
the Tannaim would have had no justification for
discussing their status and the conditions of their
reception. Common prejudice imputes to Pharisee-
ism an aversion to proselytes, but perhaps this idea
calls for modification. That aversion, if it existed,
may have been due to the part taken in Jewish his-
tory by Herod, a descendant of the Idumeans whom
John Hyrcanus had compelled to embrace Judaism
— a fate shared later by the ItureansC Ant. "xiii. 9, §
1 ; XV. 7, § 9 ; comp. xiii. 9, § 8). The " proselyte anec-
dotes " in which Hillel and Shamraai have a central
part (Shab. 31a) certainly suggest that the antip-
athy to proselytes was not shared by all, while R.
Simeon's dictum that tlie hand of welcome should
be extended to the proselyte (Lev. R. ii. 8), that he
might be brought under the wings of the Shekinah,

indicates a disposition quite the reverse. In this
connection the censure of the Pharisees in Matt. xxv.
15 is significant. Gratz (I.e. p. 80), it is true, argues
that the verse refers to an actual incident, the voy-
age of R. Gamaliel, R. Eliezer b. Azariah, R. Joshua,
and R. Akiba to Rome, where they converted Fla-
vius Clemens, a nephew of Emperor Domitian. But
the more acceptable interpretation is that given by
Jellinek ("B. H." v., p. xlvi.), according to which
the passionate outburst recorded in the Gospel of
Matthew condemns the Pharisaic practise of win-
ning over every year at least one proselyte each
(comp. Gen. R. xxviii.). There is good ground also
for the contention of Gratz (J.e. p. 33) that imme-
diately after the destruction of the Second Tem-
ple Judaism made many conquests, especially
among Romans of the upper classes. Among the
proselytes of this time a certain Judah, an Am-
monite, is mentioned. (Contrary to the Biblical law
prohibiting marriage between Jews and Ammonites,
he is allowed to marry a Jewess, the decision being
brought about large!}' by Joshua's influence (Yad.
iv. 4; Tosef., Yad. ii. 7; comp. Ber. 28a).

Other cases in which Biblical marriage-proliibi-
tions were set aside were those of Menyamin, an
Egyptian (on the authority of R. Akiba; Tosef.,
Kid. V. 5; Yer. Yeb. 9b; Sifre, Ki Tissa, 258; Yeb.
76b, 78a ; Sotah 9a), Onkelos, or Akylas (Aquila),
from Pontus (Tosef., Dem. vi. 13; Yer. Dem. 26d),
Veturia Paulla, called Sarah after her conversion
(see Schiirer, " Die Gemeindeverfassung der Juden in
Rom," p. 85, No. 11, Leipsic, 1879).

At this epoch, too, the necessity for determining
the status of the " half-converts " grew imperative.
By "half -converts" is meant a class of men and
women of non-Jewish birth who, forsaking their
ancestral pagan and polytheistic religions, embraced
monotheism and adopted the fundamental principles
of Jewish morality, without, however, submitting
to circumcision or observing other ceremonial laws.
They have been identified with the " yir'e Adonai "
(the anPi/invoi Tov Oedv). Their number was very
large during the centuries immediately preceding
and following the fall of Jerusalem; Vs. xv. has
been interpreted as referring to tliem.

In order to find a precedent the Rabbis went so
far as to assume that proselytes of this order were
recognized in Biblical law, applying to them the
term "toshab "("sojourner," "aborig-
Semi- ine," referring to the Canaanites; see
Converts. Maimonides' explanation in "Yad,"
Issure Biah, xiv. 7; see Gratz, I.e. p.
15), in connection with "ger" (see Ex. xxv. 47,
where the better reading would be " we-toshab ").
Another name for one of this class was "proselyte
of the gate" ("ger ha-sha'ar," that is, one under
Jewish civil jurisdiction; comp. Dent. v. 14, xiv. 21,
referring to the stranger who had legal claims upon
the generosity and protection of his Jewish neigh-
bors). In order to be recognized as one of these
the neophyte had publicly to assume, before three
"haberim," or men of autliority, the solemn obliga-
tion not to worship idols, an obligation which in-
volved the recognition of the seven Noachian
injunctions as binding ('Ab. Zarah 64b; "Yad,"
Issure Biah, xiv. 7).

Proselyte

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

222

The application to half-converts of all the laws
obligatory upon the sons of Jacob, including those
that refer to the taking of interest, or to retaining
their hire overnight, or to drinking wine made by
non-Jews, seems to have led to discussion and dis-
sension among the rabbinical authorities.

The more rigorous seem to have been inclined to
insist upon such converts observing the entire Law,
with the exception of the reservations and modifica-
tions explicitly made in their behalf. The more
lenient were ready to accord them full equality
with Jews as soon as they had solemnly forsworn
idolatry. The " via media " was taken by those that
regarded public adherence to the seven Noachian pre-
cepts as the indispensable prerequisite (Gerim iii. ;
'Ab. Zarah 64b; Yer. Yeb. 8d; GrStz, I.e. pp. 19-
30). The outward sign of this adherence to Juda-
ism was the observance of the Sabbath (Gratz, I.e.
pp. 30 et seq. ; but comp. Ker. 8b).

The recognition of these quasi-proselytes rendered

it obligatory upon the Jews to treat them as brothers

(see 'Ab. Zarah 65a; Pes. 31a). But by the third

century the steady growth of Christianity had

caused these qualified conversions to

Influence Judaism to be regarded with increas-

of Chris- ing disfavor. According to Simeon

tianity. b. Eleazar, this form of adoption into
Judaism was valid only when the
institution of the jubilee also was observed, that is,
according to the common understanding of his dic-
tum, during the national existence of Israel ('Ar.
29a). A similar observation of Maimonides (" Y'd,"
Issure Biah, xiv. 7-P ; ib. ' Akkum, x. 6) is construed
in the same sense. It seems more probable that
Maimonides and Simeon ben Eleazar wished to con-
vey the idea that, for their day, the institution of
the ger toshab was without practical warrant in
the Torah. R. Johanan declares that if after a pro-
bation of twelve months the ger toshab did not
submit to the rite qt circumcision, he was to be
regarded as a heathen ('Ab. Zarah 65a; the same
period of probation is fixed by Hanina bar Hama in
Yer. Yeb. 8d).

In contradistinction to the ger toshab, the full
proselyte was designated as "ger lia-zedek," "ger
ha-berit " (a sincere and righteous proselyte, one who
has submitted to circumcision; see Mek., Mishpatim,
18; Gerim iii.). The common, technical term for
"making a convert" in rabbinical literature is
"kabbel" (to accept), or "kareb tahat kanfe ha-
Shekinah " (to bring one near, or under the wings of,
the Shekinah). This phrase plainly presupposes an
active propaganda for winning converts (comp. Cant.
R. v. 16, where God is referred to as making propa-
gandic efforts). In fact, that proselytes are wel-
come in Israel and are beloved of God is the theme
of many a rabbinical homily (Ruth R. iii.; Tan.,
Wayikra [ed. Buber, 3]; see also Mek., Mishpa-
tim, 18; Tosef., Demai, ii. 10; Bek. 33a).

Eleazar b. Pedat sees in Israel's dispersion the
divine purpose of winning proselytes (Pes. 87b).
Jethro is the classical witness to the argument of
other proselytes that the " door was not shut in the
face of the heathen " (Pesik. R. 35). He is intro-
duced as writing a letter to Moses (Mek., Yitro,
'Amalek, 1) advising him to make the entry into

Judaism easy for proselytes. Ruth and Rahab are
quoted as illustrating the same lesson (Shoher Tob to
Ps. v. 11). Emperor Antoninus also is
Views Con- mentioned as a proselyte (Yer. Meg.
cerning 72b, 74a) whose conversion illustrates
Proselytes, the desirability of making converts.
The circumstance that Nero (Git.
56a), and, in fact, most of the Biblical persecutors of
Israel, are represented as having finally embraced
Judaism (Sanh. 96b), the further fact that almost
every great Biblical hero is regarded as an active
propagandist, and that great teachers like Sheniaiah
and Abtalion, Akiba and Meir, were proselytes, or
were regarded as proselytes or as descendants of
proselytes (see Bacher, "Ag. Tan." i. 5-6), go far
to suggest that proselytes were not always looked
upon with suspicion. According to Joshua ben
Hananiah, "food" and "raiment" in Deut. x. 18 re-
fer to the learning and the cloak of honor which
are in store for the proselyte (Gen. R. Ixx.). Job
xxxi. 33 was explained as inculcating the practise
of holding ofl applicants with the left hand while
drawing them near with the right (Yer. Sanh. 29b).
Modern researches have shown positively that Ju-
daism sent forth apostles. Jethro was a type of
these propagandists (see Bacher, " Ag. Tan." i. 310;
Harnack, " Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Chris-
tentums," pp. 337-340, Leipsic, 1903; Gratz,
"Gesch." 3d ed., vol. iv., note 31; S. Krauss, "Die
Judischen Apostel," in "J. Q. R." xvii. 370).

Sincerity of motive in the proselyte was insisted
upon. Care was taken to exclude those who were
prompted to embrace Judaism by the desire to con-
tract an advantageous marriage, by the hope of
wealth or honor, by fear or superstitious dreams
(R. Neheraiah, in Yeb. 34b; comp. 76a). The mid-
rashic amplification of the conversation between
Naomi and Ruth (Ruth R. i. 16 ; Yeb. 47b) reveals
the kind of conduct the Rabbis dreaded in proselytes
and what admonitions, with the penalties for dis-
regarding them, they thought wise to impress upon
the candidates. Attendance at theaters and cir-
cuses, living in houses without mezuzot, and un-
chastity were among the former. The same spirit
of caution is apparent in a midrashic illustration to
the story of Adam and Eve, in which the proselyte
wife is warned by her husband against eating bread
with unclean hands, partaking of untithed fruit, or
violating the Sabbath or her marriage vow (Ab. R.
N. i. ). From Ruth's experience the rule was de-
rived that proselytes must be refused reception
three times, but not oftener (Ruth R. ii.).

The details of the act of reception seem not to
have been settled definitely before the second Chris-
tian century. From the law that proselyte and
native Israelite should be treated alike

Xode of (Num. xv. 14 et seq.) the inference was
Reception, drawn that circumcision, the bath of
purification, and sacrifice were prereq-
uisites for conversion (comp. "Yad," Issure Biah,
xiii. 4). The sacrifice was to be an " 'olat behemah "
(a burnt offering of cattle ; ib. xiii. 5 ; Ker. ii. 1 ; 8b,
9a) ; but to lessen the hardship an ofllering of fowls
was accepted as sufficient. Neglect to bring this
offering entailed cei'tain restrictions, but did not in-
validate the conversion if the other conditions were

223

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Proselyte

complied with. After the destruction of the Tem-
ple, when all sacrifices were suspended, it was or-
dained that proselytes should set aside a small coin
in lieu of the offering, so that in case the Temple
were rebuilt they might at once purchase the Offering.
Later, when the prospect of the rebuilding of the
Temple grew very remote ("mi-pene ha-takkalah "),
even this requirement was dropped (comp. Ker. 8a;
R. H. 31b; Gerim ii. ; Tosef., She^ialim, iii. 23).

Nor was it, at one time, the unanimous opinion of
the authorities that circumcision was absolutely in-
dispensable. R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus carried on a
controversy on this subject with R. Joshua, the lat-
ter pleading for the possibility of omitting the rite,
the former insisting on its performance (Yeb. 46a).
The point seems to have remained unsettled for the
time (see Gratz, "Die Jildischen Proselyten," p. 13).
For Rabbi Joshua the " tebilah " (bath of purifica-
tion) was sufficient, while his antagonist required
both circumcision and bath.

The bitterness engendered by the Hadrianic perse-
cution undoubtedly prompted the Rabbis to make
conversion as difficult as possible. It is more than
a mere supposition that both at that period and ear-
lier Jews suffered considerably from the cowardice
and treachery of proselytes, who often acted as spies
or, to escape the "fiscus Judaicus" (see Gratz, I.e.
pp. 7 et seq.), denounced the Jews to the Romans.
An instance of this kind is reported in connection
with Simeon ben Yohai's sufferings (Bhab. 83b).
This circumstance explains the reasons that led to
the introduction into the daily liturgy of a prayer
against the " denunciators and slanderers " (" meso-
rot," "minim"; see Joel, "Blicke in die Religions-
gesch." i. 33). Yet the true proselytes were all
the more highly esteemed; a benediction in their
behalf was added to the eighteen of the Shemoneh
'Esreh, and later was incorporated with that for
the elders and pious (Tosef., Ber. iii. ; Yer. Ber. 8a;
Ta'an. 85c; comp. Gratz, I.e. p. 11).

After the Hadrianic rebellion the following pro-
cedure came into use. A complete "court," or
"board," of rabbinical authorities was alone made
competent to sanction the reception. The candidate
was first solemnly admonished to consider the
worldly disadvantages and the religious burdens in-
volved in the intended step. He, or she, was asked,
"What induces thee to join us? Dost thounotknow
that, in these days, the Israelites are in trouble,
oppressed, despised, and subjected to endless suf-
ferings? " If he replied, "I know it, and I am un-
worthy to share their glorious lot," he was i-e-
minded most impressively that while a heathen he
was liable to no penalties for eating

Inffueuce fat or desecrating the Sabbath, or

of the for similar trespasses, but as soon as

Hadrianic he became a Jew, he must suffer ex-

Per- cision for the former, and death by

secutiou. stoning for the latter. On the other
hand, the rewards in store for the
faithful were also explained to him. If the appli-
cant remained firm, he was circumcised in the pres-
ence of three rabbis, and then led to be baptized ;
but even while in the bath he was instructed by
learned teachers in the graver and the lighter obliga-
tions which he was undertaking. After this he was

considered a Jew (Yeb. 47a, b). The presence of three
men was required also at the bath of women con-
verts, though due precautions were taken not to
affront their modesty. This procedure is obliga-
tory at the present time, according to the rabbin-
ical codes (see Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 368;
"Yad,"Issure Biah, xiv.). The ceremony should
be performed by a properly constituted board of
three learned men, and in the daytime; but if only
two were present and the ceremony took place at
night, it would not therefore be invalid. The cere-
mony of conversion could not take place on the Sab-
bath or on a holy day (ib.). Proper evidence of con-
version was required before the claimant was rec-
ognized as a proselyte, though to a certain extent
piety of conduct was a presumption in his favor.
If the convert reverted to his former ways of living,
he was regarded as a rebellious Israelite, not as a
heathen ; his marriage with a Jewess, for instance,
was not invalidated by his lapses. The conversion
of a pregnant woman included also the child. Mi-
nors could be converted with their parents, or even
alone, by the bet din, but they were permitted to
recant when of age.

The proselyte is regarded as a new-born child ;
hence his former family connections are considered
as ended, and he might legally marry his own mother
or sister ; but lest he come to the conclusion that his
new status is less holy than his former, such unions
are prohibited (see Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah,
369; "Yad,"Issure Biah, xiv. 18). This conception
of the proselyte's new birth (Yeb. 63a; Yer. Yeb.
4a) and of his new status with reference to his old
family is the subject of many a halakic discussion
(Yeb. xi. 3; Yer. Yeb. I.e. ; ei al.) and has led to cer-
tain regulations concerning marriages contracted
either before or after conversion ("Yad," I.e. xiv.
18 et seq. ; with reference to the first-fruit offering
see Yer. Bik. 64a; Tosef., Bik. i. 3). That many of
the earlier rabbis were opposed to proselytes is
plain from observations imputed to
Unfavor- them. R. Eliezer is credited with the
able "View, opinion that the nature of proselytes
is corrupt, and that hence they are
apt to become backsliders (Mek., Mishpatim, 18; B.
K. 59b; Gerim iv.). Jose ben Judah insists that any
candidate should be rejected unless he binds himself
to observe not only every tittle of the Torah but all
the precepts of the scribes, even to the least of them
(Tosef., Dem. ii. 5; Sifra 91a, to Lev. xix. 34).

Sad experience or personal fanaticism underlies
the oft-cited statement — in reality a play upon Isa.
xiv. 1 — that proselytes are as burdensome to Israel
as leprosy (Yeb. 47b, 109b ; Kid. 70b ; ' Ab. Zarah 3b ;
Ket. 11a ; Niddah 13b) ; or the dictum that prose-
lytes will not be received during the days of the
Messiah ("Yad," Issure Biah, xiii.-xiv. ; ib. 'Aba-
dim, ix. ; Yoreh De'ah, 368). While evil upon evil
is predicted for tlie " mekabbele gerim " (propagan-
dists ; Yeb. 109b), the proselytes themselves, notwith-
standing their new birth, are said to be exposed to in-
tense suffering, which is variously explained as due
to their ignorance of the Law (Yeb. 48b), or to the
presence of an impure motive in their conversion
(e.g., fear instead of love), or to previous miscon-
duct (Yeb. 68b). Nevertheless, once received, they

Proselyte
Provence

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

224

were to be treated as the peers of the Jew by
birth.

According to K. Simeon b. Lakish, proselytes are
more precious at Sinai than Israel was, for the latter
would not have taken the " kingdom " upon himself
had not miracles accompanied revelation, while the
former assume the " kingdom " without liaving seen
even one miracle. Hence an injury to a proselyte
is tantamount to an injury to God (Tan., Lek Leka,
beginning; Hag. 5a). The proselyte might marry
without restriction ("Yad," Issure Biah, xii. 17).
The descendants of Ammon, Moab, Egypt, and
Edom formed an exception : the males of Ammon
and Moab were excluded forever, though no restric-
tion existed against marriage with their women.
Descendants of Egyptians and Edomites of either
sex were proscribed in the first and second genera-
tions; the third enjoyed full connubial rights. But
these restrictions were assumed to have been ren-
dered inoperative by Sennacherib's conquest, and
therefore as having no authority in later times
("Yad," I.e. xii. 17-24).

Besides the proselytes already mentioned, all be-
longing to the Roman period, there are records of
others later. Among these were the kings of the
Jewish Himyarite empire; Arab tribes (before the
6th cent.); Dhu Nuwas; Harith ibn 'Amr; the
Kenites ; Warakah ibn-Naufal ; the Chazars. Many
also must have come from the ranks of the Chris-
tians ; this would be the natural inference from the
prohibition of conversion to Judaism issued by the
Councils of Oi'leans, repeating previous prohibitions
by Emperor Constantine. The code of Alfonso X.
made conversion to Judaism a capital crime (Graetz,
"Hist."ii. 562; ill. 37, 595).

In modern times conversions to Judaism are not
very numerous. Marriage is, in contravention of
the rabbinical caution, in most instances the motive,
and proselytes of the feminine sex pre-
In llodern dominate. In some of the new rituals
Times. formulas for the reception of prose-
lytes are found — for instance, in Ein-
horn's " 'Olat Tamid " (German ed.). Instruction in
the Jewish religion precedes the ceremony, which,
after circumcision and baptism, consists in a public
confession of faith, in the main amounting to a repu-
diation of certain Christian dogmas, and concluding
with the reciting of the Shema'. Some agitation oc-
curred in American Jewry over the abrogation of cir-
cumcision in the case of an adult neophj'te ("milat
gerim "). I. M. Wise made such a proposition
before the Rabbinical Conference at Philadelphia
(Nov., 1869), but his subsequent attitude (see "The
Israelite" and " Die Deborah," Dec, 1869, and Jan.,
1870) on the question leaves it doubtful whether he
was in earnest in making the proposition. Bernard
Felsenthal ("Zur Prosely tenf rage, " Chicago, 1878)
raised the question about ten years later, arguing in
favor of the abrogation of the rite and quoting R.
Joshua's opinion among others. The Central Con-
ference of American Rabbis finally, at the sugges-
tion of I. M. Wise, resolved not to insist on milat
gerim, and devised regulations for the solemn recep-
tion of proselytes. I. S. Moses has proposed the es-
tablishment of congregations of semiproselytes, re-
viving, as it were, the institution of the ger toshab.

Certain restrictions regulating the status of women
proselytes are found in the Mishnah. Girls born
before the conversion of their mothers were not re-
garded as entitled to the benefit of the provisions

concerning a slanderous report as to

Female virginity set forth in Deut. xxii. 13-21

Proselytes, (see Ket. iv. 3) ; and if found untrue to

their marriage vows, their punishment
was strangulation, not lapidation. Only such female
proselytes as at conversion had not attained the age
of three years and one day, and even they not in
all cases, were treated, in the law regulating matri-
mony, as was the native Jewish woman {ib. i. 3, 4 ; iii.
1, 2). Proselytes were not allowed to become the
wives of priests ; daughters of proselytes, only in case
one of the parents was a Jew by birth (Yeb. vi. 5;
Kid. iv. 7; see Cohen). R. Jose objects to the re-
quirement that one parent must be of Jewish birth
(Kid. I.e.). On the other hand, proselytes could con-
tract marriages with men who, according to Deut.
xxii. 3, were barred from marrying Jewish women
(Yeb. viii. 2). While a proselyte woman was deemed
liable to the ordeal of jealousy described in Num.
V. 11. ('Eduy. V. 6), the provisions of the Law re-
garding the collection of damages in the case of
injury to pregnant women were construed as not
applicable to her (B. K. v. 4, but consult Gemara ;
"R. E. J."xiii. 818).

In these passages the strict interpretation of the
Pentateuchal texts, as restricted to Israel, prevails,
and in a similar spirit, in the order of Precedence
as laid down in Hor. iii. 8, only the manumit-
ted slave is assigned inferior rank to the proselyte,
the bastard and the " natin " taking precedence over
him. On the other hand, it should not be overlooked
that it was deemed sinful to remind a proselyte of
his ancestors or to speak in disrespectful terms of
them and their life (B. M. iv. 10).

Bibliography : Hastings, Diet. Bible ; Hamburger, B. B. T.;
Gratz, Qesch.; Kalisch, Bible Studies, vol. 11. (the Book of
Jonah), London, 1878.
J. E. G. H.

FBOSEB, MOSER: Russian Hebraist; born
at Keidani, government of Kovno, Jan. 1, 1840.
Proser pursued the conventional course of He-
brew education and studied Talmud in various ye-
shibot. In 1858 he went to Wilna and prepared to
enter the rabbinical seminary there, but owing to
his father's opposition and to his own poor health
he was compelled to return home. In 1863 Proser
went to Kovno, where he became private instructor
in Hebrew, and where he made the acquaintance
of Abraham Mapu. Proser began his literary career
with pseudonymous (Ezra me-ha-Shafer, etc.) con-
tributions to "Ha-Meliz." In 1870 he went to St.
Petersburg and became instructor in the orphan
asylum founded by Baroness Gilnzburg, and when
" Ha-Meliz " was established in St. Petersburg (1871)
Proser was appointed editor of the department "Be-
Arzenu. "
Bibliography : Sefer Zikharon, p. 200, Warsaw, 1889.

H. B. A. S. W.

PROSKTJROV : Russian town, in the govern-
ment of Podolia. The Jewish community there has
one large and eight smaller synagogues, and a Tal-
mud Torah built by the late Hayyim Masel in mem-

225

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Proselyte
Provence

ory of his father, Phinehas. The expenses of the
Talmud Torah are met by a grant of 3,000 rubles
annually from the Income of the meat-tax. There
are also a Jewish school for boys and one for girls, a
library, founded liy the Zionists, and various other
institutions. The town has a total population of
32,915, about 39 per cent being Jews (1897).

The district of Proskurov, exclusive of the city,
has a population of 204,246, of which 8 per cent are
Jews— a decrease from the proportion of 1866, when
there were 13,616 Jews there (9 per cent) in a total
population of 141,703.

Bibliography: Brookhaus-EIron, Entsiildopedicheslci Sl<>-
var; Ha-McUz, 1903, No. 8; Semenov, OeograHchesho-Sta-
tislicheski Sloiar.
H. K. p. Wl.

PBOSSNITZ : Austrian manufacturing town, in
the province of Moravia. Probably its earliest Jew-
ish settlement dated from the latter half of the fif-
teenth century, when exiles from Olmutz found a
refuge there (1454). Up to the time when the re-
striction on the freedom of residence of Jews in
Austria was removed, Prossnitz was the second lar-
gest congregation in Moravia, numbering 338 families
(see Pamiliantbn Gesetz). The congregation first
emerged from obscurity in the beginning of the sev-
enteenth century, when Simhah ben Gershon Rapo-
port printed there a collection of Sabbath hymns
("Kol Simhah," 1603). The printing-press, how-
ever, did not exist very long, nor did it produce any
works of consequence. Of the rabbis who have
officiated in Prossnitz the following are known:
Gershon Ashkenazi (c. 1660) ; Me'ir Eisenstadt
(Ash; c. 1700); Nahum (Nehemias) Trebitsch
(until 1830) ; Low Schwab (1830-36) ; Hirsch B.
Fassel (1836-53); Adolf Schmiedl (1853-69);
Emil HofF (1870-97); L. Goldschmied (since
1897),

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
Prossnitz was the center of the Shabbethaian heresy,
notably because of the influence of LObele of Pross-
nitz. In the first half of the nineteenth century the
town became the center of the educational and Re-
form movement in the province. L5w Schwab was
the first German preacher in Moravia, and his suc-
cessor, Hirsch B. Fassel, worked for the progress
of education, the reform of religious services, and
the encouragement of manual industry. He also
petitioned Emperor Ferdinand in the interest of the
political emancipation of the Jews. Through the
activity of the Jews Prossnitz has become an indus-
trial center for the manufacture of clothing and cal-
ico. The fact that the Jews have always sided with
the small German minority of the city's popula-
tion against the Slavic majority has often produced
friction.

Prossnitz had many Talmudic scholars. Moses So-
FER, who lived there about 1790, conducted a yeshi-
bah ; and during the first half of the nineteenth cen-
tury Moses Katz Wannefried presided over a large
yeshibah which numbered Adolf Jellinek among its
pupils. Of Jewish scholars and other well-known
persons born in Prossnitz, Moritz Steinschneider,
Moritz Eisler, Gideon Brecher, and Louis Sohnabel
of New York may be mentioned. Among the prom-
inent Orthodox rabbis who were natives of Pross-
X.— 15

nitz were Daniel Prostiz Steinschneider of Pres-
burg, and Menahem Katz, rabbi of Deutsch-Kreuz,
for years the recognized leader of Hungarian Ortho-
doxy. A number of artists and scholars were born
at Prossnitz, as the pianist Brlill.

Prossnitz has a synagogue, dedicated in 1904, a
bet ha-raidrash, founded by Veit Ehrenstamm, and
numerous foundations for charitable purposes. The
former Jewish school was made a public school in
1868, but is still largely attended by Jewish pupils.
The town of Prossnitz has a population of 24,000,
of whom 1,680 are Jews (1900). D.

PBOSSNITZ, liOBELE (PROSTIZ) : Cabalis-
tic impostor; born about the end of the seventeenth
century at Brody, Galicia; died about 1750. He
left his native city and went to Prossnitz, Moravia,
where he married, earning a livelihood by peddling
in the neighboring villages. On account of his
poverty he occupied a deserted hovel, which was
believed to be haunted. Suddenly he assumed the
r61e of a prophet, and promised to summon the
Shekinah to appear at midnight in a large gather-
ing. LObele had stretched across his room a per-
forated curtain, behind which he had secretly lighted
a mixture of alcohol and turpentine. He himself,
robed in white, stood behind the curtain, and the
light brought out in full relief the gilt letters of the
Tetragrammaton, which he had placed on his breast.
The spectators were disposed to believe in a miracle,
when some one present (Jacob Emden thinks the
rabbi) pulled down the curtain and so exposed the
fraud. The impostor' was excommunicated by all
the rabbis of Moravia, among them the " Landrab-
biner " David Oppenhelmer.

In spite of all this L5bele found many followers
among the Shabbethaians. He proclaimed himself
the Messiah ben Joseph, and signed his name " Jo-
seph ben Jacob. " He had relations with the Shab-
bethaian Mordecai Eisenstadt and with Jonathan
Eybeschiltz, and seems to have been especially in-
fluenced by the Shabbethaian impostor Nehemiah
Hayyun. Lobele wandered from city to city in Aus-
tria and Germany, and succeeded in duping many
persons, who supplied him with funds. In 1725 the
excommunication was renewed, whereupon he be-
took himself to Hungary. Emden relates that he
died there among non-Jews.

LObele taught the strange doctrine that since the
appearance of Shabbethai Zebi God had surrendered
the guidance of the world to the latter, after whose
•ascent to heaven the mission was entrusted to Jona-
than Eybeschiltz and to LObele himself.
Bibliography : Gratz, Oesch. x. 349, 364 et seq., 387 ; Jacob
Emden, Torat Tio-JTena'ot, pp. 71, 72, Lemberg, 1870 ; Kohn

iKuhmn), Ebenhd-ToHm, Vienna, 1873; Moses ya0z, iejit-
ghat Saraf (reprinted in Emden, Xorat ha-l^ena'nt), pp. 81,

85.

D. H. M.

PROVENCAL, ABRAHAM BEN DAVID.
See Abraham ben David Pkovbnqal.

PROVENCAL, MOSES BEN ABRAHAM.
See MosES ben Abbaham Provencal.

PROVENCE (KSynna) •• Province of ancient
France lying between the Rhone, the Mediterranean
Sea, and the Maritime Alps, although medieval
Jewish scholars frequently applied the name to a
portion of Bas-Languedoc (Menahem Me'iri, Intro-

Provence
Proverbs

THE JEWISH EKCYCLOPEDIA

226

diiction to "Bet ha-Behirah," 17b; Estori Farhi,
"Kaftor -wa-Feiah," p. 113; Abraliam ben Nathan,
"Manhig," pp. 10a, 19a). Jews settled in Provence
at an early date; and in the sixth century they
formed important communities at Aries and Mar^
seilles. In 1376 Charles I. protected them against
the Inquisition, which had persecuted them severe-
ly, obliging them to wear new badges, and going
so far in the case of some cities, as Marseilles, Avi-
gnon, and Forcalquier, as to throw them into prison
and to extort ransom. In 1308 Charles II. forbade
them to hold public office. In 1348 the number of
Jews who had died by sword or pestilence was so
great that Queen Jeanne, by letters patent dated
July 26 of that year, released the Jews of Provence
for ten years from the payment of their annual trib-
ute of 2,000 livres. In the same year a massacre
occurred at Toulon, where they were accused of
having introduced the Black Death into France;
and similar events took place at Luc and Forcalquier
in 1351.

Louis II. exempted the Jews from further taxation
in 1400, and forbade Christians to molest them, while
Louis III., to protect them against the tyranny of
the tribunals, appointed special guardians to whom
was reserved the power of decision in Jewish af-
fairs. The greatest nobles of Provence sought this
office ; and Charles de Castillon (Baron of Aubagne),
Jean de Matheron, and Jean de Forbin were succes-
sively invested with it. In 1445 the Jews of Pro-
vence united to present silver cups and a set of plate
to King Rene on the occasion of his marriage to
Jeanne de Laval. Although this king maintained
their ancient rights and customs, mitigated the se-
verity of the edict thitherto enforced regarding the
wearing of the wheel, and confirmed the privilege
of the Jewish physicians to practise the healing art,
he imposed in 1446 an annual tribute of 2,745 florins
on the Jewish congregations of the province. In
1469 this sum was increased to 18,000 florins, and in
1475 and 1476 it was set at 4,000 florins.

The year 1484 was a disastrous one for the Pro-
vencal Jews. On the 13th of Nisan (April 8) a band
of mountaineers from Provence, Auvergne, and
Dauphine, who had come to Aries for the harvest,
attacked and robbed the Jews, and demolished their
synagogue, similar outrages being committed at
Aix and Tarascon. In 1496 the Jews were accused
of being the enemies of Christianity, and of com-
mitting "usuries, rapines, and innumerable other
crimes " ; and two years later they were expelled,
although the edict of banishment was not enforced
until 1501. Some took refuge in the Comtat-Venais-
sin ; others, in the Levant, chiefly at Salonlca, where
a Jewish community composed entirely of Pi-oven-
^al Jews was founded ; while many went to Italy,
where they founded a synagogue called nX'Dy31"lS.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries several
Italian scholars, natives of Provence, bore the name
"Provencal."

Bibliography : Blancard, Inventaire Snmmaire des Archives
Departementales des Bouches-du-Rhbne^ B. 2489 etxtassim ;
Depplng, LesJuifs dans le Miiyen jlpe, pp. 198-209; Beu-
gnot, IiCs Juifs d'OccMient, part i., p. i;i5 ; Bouche, Hist, de
Provence, book Ix.; idem, Chronographie de Provence, il.
494 ; CamlUe Aruaud, Essai sur la Condition des Juifs en
Provence, p. 34 et passim ; Gross, Les Juifs d'ArUs, In
Monatsschrift, 1878; idem, GaUia Judaica, pp. 489-493;

Desmolets, Memoire pour Servir d I'iffctoire des Juifs de-
Provenee ; Nostradamus, Hist, de Provence, part vl. ; Papon,
Hist. Oenerale de la Provence, 111. 61, 190, Documents, No.
15 ; B. E. J. xU. 18, xvl. 315, xlvll. 231.
G. 8. K

PROVERBS : Wise, witty, and pithy maxims
or aphorisms. Jewish proverbs are derived from
the following sources: (1) Biblical collections, in-
cluded in the canon ; (2) Apocryphal collections, not
included in the canon ; (3) the Talmud ; (4; collec-
tions «f the Moorish-Spanish period ; (5) miscellane-
ous works. The Biblical collections include, apart
from the aphorisms scattered througli the Psalms
and the Prophets, the collection known as the Book
of Proverbs (see separate article). The chief sources
for proverbs in the Apocrypha are Ecclesiasticus
(Sirach) and the Book of Wisdom. The New Tes-
tament quotes from the former without mentioning
the source (comp. Luke xviii. 22 and Ecclus. xxix.
14); the Talmud forbids its being read, including
it among the "sefarim hlzonim," like the works of
Ben Tiglah and Ben La'anah, and the " Megillat Ha-
sidim." Yet, as the Talmud, despite its own prohi-
bition, cites this megillah (Yer. Ber.), so it quotes
from the book of Ecclesiasticus, with the words
IDN KTiD p, XTD p IDX si^HD, and even without
naming its source. Many of these Ecclesiasticus
sentences acquire a more theological coloring in the
Talmud, especially when associated with Biblical

The Talmudic sources include the treatises Abot,
Abot de-Rabbi Natan, Derek Ere? Rabbah, and
Derek Erez Zuta. The sporadic aphorisms of R.
Johanan, the teachers of Jabneh (see Ber. 17a), and
others, are quoted with the following formulas:

'JlijST iTDiaa K^JID, pam in"D1S3 K^JJ-ID. They
fall into two classes, one inculcating the necessity
of prudence in the affairs of life (KD^iyT ifj^B), and
the other consisting of regulations for the practise
of the religious life ; many of them relate to dietetics.
Most of them are compared with Biblical passages,
being connected therewith either by the phrase l3iy
DIB'D, which lends a halakic note to them, or by the
formulas Nnb'D NH Ni», IJ'VD p'H, I"JD. The
number of Biblical passages at the basis of an apho-
rism is frequently given, as in Cant. R. 27a, and
both npn bti (e.g., Ab. vl. 2; see M. J. Landau,
"Qeist und Sprache der Hebraer," pp. 30 et seq.,
Prague, 1823) and D'^IDD (Yeb. 4a et al. ; comp.
Ps. iii. 8) occur in witticisms.

Original collections of proverbs are found in:
(1) "Mussar ha-Sekel," by E. Hai Gaon; (2) "Ben
Mishle," by Samuel ha-Nagid; (3) "Tarshish," by
Moses ibn Ezra ; (4) three translations from tJie Ara-
bic-—"Mibharh^i-Peninim " and " Tikkun Middotha-
Nefesh," by Solomon ibn Gabirol, and "Mussare ha-
Filosoflm, " by Hunain ibn Ishak. Isolated proverbs
are found in Bahya ibn Pakuda's " Hobot ha-Leba-
bot, " Abraham b. Hisdai's "Ben ha-Melek weha-Na-
zir," All's "Iggeret Mussar," Immanuel's "Mahbe-
rot," Abraham Gavison's "Omer ha-Shikha," and
others (comp. Jost's " Annalen," p. 83).

From the above sources a considerable number of
proverbs can be cited which may be regarded as
being more or less Jewish in character and which
are utilized in various ways in Jewish literature.
These maxims are quoted, either explicitly or im-

227

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Provence
Proverbs

plicitly, as proverbs, with the formulas IDIN i'B'D,

■1D1K Dinn iiB^, ION nShd, i'sj-jn ne^5^^, noN

Nn"13, Sn'' ''-lan a:^'?. Tho high re-

lyiethod gard in whicli proverbs were held is
of evident from Midr. Cant, lb : " Scorn

Quotation., not the mashal, for through it thou
mayest gain a firm hold upon the
Law ; like a king who had lost a piece of gold or a
pearl, but by means of a wick, which is worth but
a trifle, was able to find it again." The formulas
sn^'D Nn N3D, Nin nip iNn, and NipD 1^3 t»>^ are
used to connect proverbs with Biblical passages, al-
though the connection is at times merely mechan-
ical; sometimes a proverbial meaning entirely for-
eign to it is given to a Biblical passage, as with
Lev. xi. 15, IJ'O^ 31ivii3 riN, which is paraphrased
as " Like seeks like."

Some Jewish proverbs are found in the New
Testament, as imjn 'DN N'DN (Gen. R. 20b; comp.
Luke iv. 23). The proverbs originating in Palestine
are generally quoted in the Babylonian Talmud
with the phrase nDN X31VD3. or jnON [Dn. Jeru-
salem is mentioned in Ket. 66b (N^riD p^flD 1^3
D'i'K'T'a); Galilee in B. K. 52 (nNi5''i'J iNH E'ln);
etc. An aphorism in Yer. Kid. 13a is quoted in the
name of the millers (piDX X'JriD ''Jn).

The nature of the pD313 '^E'D ("' Kobsin prov-
erbs ") is not clear (see jEsop's Fables). A purely
Greek proverb is given in the Jerusalem Talmud
(■'Orient, Lit." vili. 330), and Arabic proverbs are
easily recognizable (Steinschneider, "Jiidische Li-
teratur," in Ersch and Gruber, "Encyc." section ii.,
part 28, p. 374). Jewish proverbs, which are mostly
in Aramaic, are restrained and gentle in their satire,
and not trivial, like the Arabic proverbs quoted by
Preytag, "Proverbia Arabum,"iii. 354 (Steinschnei-
der, I.e. p. 375). It is indicative of a high level of
culture among the Jews, as Dukes correctly ob-
serves ("Blumenlese," p. 16), that physical infirmi-
ties were seldom ridiculed in their proverbs, as they
were among other peoples. The inhabitants of
Nehar Pekoda are derided as Abderites; those of
Pumbedita and Naresh as thieves (Hul. 127a); and
those of Mahoza as " fat-guts " (ib. 68b). Many per-
sons have become historical through proverlss, as
Kamza and Bar Kamza (Gi^. 55b), Shwilnai (Sanh.
82b),'Tobiah and Zigud (Pes. 113; Mak. 11a), Shilo
and Johanan (Gen. R. 31b). Among the Biblical
personages quoted are Zimri and Phinehas (Sotah
32), Shechem and Mibgai (Mak. 11a). Garments
also furnish comparisons, as in " His girdle is a sign
of his poverty " (Hul. 108a). Moral lessons are drawn
from fables, or the fables themselves are epitomized
and quoted: e.g., in Sanh. 106 (the camel which
desired grain) ; Gen. R. 58a (the raven that set flre
to its nest); Yalk., Tehillim, 767 (the scorpion and
the camel). ♦

Puns were popular ; e.g. , in Palestine when any
one married it was said XV1D IN NVD (Yeb. 63b ;
comp. Eccl. vii. 37). Proverbs (imn nONia) are
often quoted to elucidate difficulties in technical or
philosophical problems.

Among proverbial phrases may be mentioned
that in Sotah 47b referring to the "sycophants"
(= proud "'[Rashi]); Gen. R. 59b, "Thy bread is

baked everywhere," equivalent to "Thou wilt find
sustenance anywhere " ; Kid. 16b, "iota as the small-
est object"; Yer. Ma'as. Sh. 15b, "to recognize one's
bodkin" (i.e., his influence).

The Talmudic "mashal" (proverb) is usually
concisely worded ; it condenses the sense it has to ex-
press into a few clear-cut words. The animal king-
dom is frequently drawn upon for illustration, and
many of the fables and moralizations drawn there-
from become popular property by repetition, and
ultimately are summed up in the form of proverbs.
It is to be noted that the Talmudic proverb is gener-
ally expressed in concrete form, whereas proverbs
in languages other than Hebrew favor abstract ex-
pressions. Compare, for instance, Yeb. 45a: N^DJ
aipl N3pN noa ("In Media the camel dances on a
basket"), which has the same meaning as the
French, " A beau mensonger qui vient de loin " (" He
who comes from afar may easily lie ") ; or B. K. 92a :
N313 ''pi? NVn iin^ ("Hurt the stalk and you hurt
the cabbage "), which corresponds to the German
"Mitgegangen, mitgefangen. "

The following may be taken as examples of Tal-
mudic proverbs:

Character. The character of a man may be recognized by
three things— his cup, his purse, ana his anger.

Man aiid the World. Before a man attains one-half of his
desires, death comes.

Youth and Aqe. He who possesses wisdom is old. Old men
tor the council, young men for war. When the old demolish,
they build ; when the young build, they destroy.

Fortune and Mlsforturw. Fortune is a wheel which re-
volves with speed. The stars in heaven weep with him who
weeps by -night. Three kinds of men cause
Talmudic their own misfortunes : those who lend money

Proverbs, without witnesses [without taking a receiptl;
those who are ruled by their wives ; and those
who go into slavery by their own will. And who are these [lat-
ter] ? Those who give their whole property to their children
while they themselves are still in the flesh.

Wealth and Poverty. Whoso enjoyeth his riches is rich.
Poverty runs after the poor, and wealth after the wealthy.
[Comp. Matt. xxv. 29 : " For unto every one that hath shall be
given."] Only the Ignorant man is really poor.

Wisdom and Folly. A wise man is greater than a prophet.
He who learns from every one is wise.

Piety and Virtue. Moral transgressions are worse than
ritual transgressions. Prayer without devotion is like a body
without soul.

Sin and Vice. Sinful thoughts are worse than sinful deeds.
The eye and the heart are agents of sin.

Passion. Evil inclination is at first slender as a spider's
thread, and then strong as a rope. The greater the man, the
more violent his passion.

Self -Knowledge. Adorn thyself before thou undertakest to
adorn others.

Moderation. When wine enters in, the secret slips out. He
who can digest barley-bread must not eat wheat-bread.

Modesty. Wantonness [leads] to hell, modesty to paradise.

Work. The famine lasted for years, but it did not enter the
houses of the working men. Better to be a servant in the tem-
ple of an idol than to take alms.

Learning. Learning is better than sacrifice. Learning is
better than priesthood or kingship. Learning promotes peace
in the world. If thou hast acquired knowledge, what dost thou
lack ? If thou laokest knowledge, what hast thou acquired ?
A bastard with learning is better than a high priest with igno-
rance. The sage who teaches not is as the myrtle in the desert.

Teaching the Young. The teacher deserves the name of
father more than does the parent. A blow with the tongue which
goes to the heart is better than many stripes.

Man and Wife. [On woman in rabbinical literature see
" Mlttheilungen der Gesellscbaft fur Jiidische Volkskunde," I.
31, note 8.] If thy wife Is short, stoop and whisper into her
ear. Whoso remaineth unmarried deserveth not the name of
man, for it is written : "Man and woman created he them, and
he called their name man."

Proverbs
Proverbs, Book of

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

228

Parents mid Children. Whoso strlketh his son that is grown
driveth Mm to sin.

Benevolence and Friendship. Thou shalt be measured with
the same measure with which thou measurest. [Comp. Matt.
Tli. 2.] Love him who showeth thee thy faults more than him
who only pralseth thee.

Gratitude. Cast not stones Into the well Irom which thou
hast drunk.

PhiUmthrnpy. Benevolence is better than sacrlllce. Even
the bird in the air knoweth the niggard. The beggar doth more
for the giver than the giver for the beggar [comp. " It is more
blessed to give than to receive"]. Who practlseth friendship
entertaineth Gnd Himself.

Pride and Humility. If thou spittest into the air, thy spittle
win fall on thine own face. Pride is a mask for faults.

Insult and Injurii. If one in a family has hanged himself,
say not to them, " Hang up the flsh," for this might be deemed
an allusion. Be persecuted rather than persecute.'

Contention. It was said in Palestine : " Whoso first desisi-
eth from strife is of good family." A quarrel is as a leak In a
pall, which ever Increases.

Anger and Mildness. Patience [" matun "] is worth 200
[" matan "] dinars.

Speech and Silence. A word is worth one dinar, silence is
worth two. Like a bee, a word has honey In its sting.

Slander. The tongue of slander kills three : him who Is slan-
dered, him who slanders, and him who listens.

Lying and Truthfulness. A He has no feet. Truth Is the
seal of God.

Seemliness. Eat and drink according to thy means; dress
above thy means. Three things are good in small measure, but
not in large : leaven, salt, and a refusal [in accepting attentions] .

Self -Criticism. The Jews give both to build the Temple and to
make the golden calf. Israel is compared to the stars of heaven
and to the dust of earth : if It rises. It rises to the stars, and if it
falls, it falls even to the dust. The true Jew is distinguished
for three quaUties : sympathy, modesty, and benevolence.

Death. So live that people may speak well of thee at
thy grave. The Just needs no memorial, for his deeds are his
monument.

The Talmud contains a large fund of genuine
world-wisdom in tlie form of Aramaic proverbs and
popular sayings. They touch the whole round of
human existence ; the home, the family, society, as
well as all the circumstances of the individual, are
treated of with a keen knowledge of life and life's
experiences. Cities and countries, as

Aramaic well as personages both Biblical and
Proverbs. non-Biblical, are made the subjects of
popular sayings. Those that follow
certain callings are also favorite subjects of these ut-
terances, as, for instance, weavers and wool-carders;
all revealing incidentally curious little points of
information concerning the manners and customs,
local happenings and circumstances, of those days in
Babylonia and Palestine.

A proverb is frequently adduced in proof or at.
testation of some special teaching — and this not ex-
clusively in haggadic portions of the Talmud ; and
it is not unusual even for a halakic discussion to be
decided by the quotation of some popular say-
ing, or for a lengthy religious controversy to be
finally ended by the citation of some terse and ap-
propriate maxim of daily life. There are traces of
small collections of such sayings in the Talmud
itself, as, for instance, in B. K. 93b, 93a, and Yeb.
118b. Some proverbs, moreover, possess value as
proffering etymological explanations of words the
meanings of which have become obscure. Some,
and especially such as are paralleled in the New
Testament, were no doubt exceedingly frequent in
the mouths of the people long before the writing
down of the Talmud. Those which refer to histor-
ical personages may be approximately fixed as to

their date, but these, of course, are in the minority.
The language in which all of these are couched is
the eastern Aramaic dialect, which about the year
500 was spoken in the upper Euphrates and Tigris
lands.
J. M. Gn.

To the student of comparative proverbial litera-
ture the study of the Aramaic sayings and prov-
erbs should yield rich results. Very many of them
are encountered in some form in other languages,
and many more have been adopted verbatim. The
following may serve as examples :

mS np NDNi niDiy ndn, >ahT\ ira 'Npi ndn (Sanh. 44a;
" A myrtle Is called a myrtle, and is a myrtle.
Comparative even when growing among ferns"); compare
TTse. " II mlrto e sempre mlrto benche sla I'ortlchl."

ni'j Minp lion naipna n'lflN sncn (Shab.
53a ; " The ass freezes, even In the month of Tammuz ") ; com-
pare " Chi e destlnato a gelare gela del mese d'Agosto."

ajj tnin nSn 3JJ N133P 1N7 (Git. 45a; Kid. 56b; "Not the
mouse is the thief, but the mouse's hole").

jjjS nN-iip nx-\D ("Opportunity makes the thief "); compare
" Le trou Invite ie larron " and " Occasio facit f urem."

'iniS NDE>iifl HTi'^j Nmp (Meg. 12b; "Even the weaver is
a ruler In his own house ") ; compare " Chacun se tlent fort sur
son fumier" and " My bouse is my castle."

nnoi Nn"E'pi N3p nn, nnm i3p nn (Toma 79b; "Two
kabs of dates, one kab of stones"); compare " Two baskets of
dates, one basket of stones."

J. SR. L. Lew.

The following proverbs in Judseo-German are still
current in eastern Europe :

God and the World. None has ever lost aught to God.

God waits long, but pays with Interest.

God strikes with one hand and heals with the other.

Man strives and God laughs.

Whom God would regale, man can not quail.

If thou intend a thing, God will help thee.

God gives naught for nothing.

One path leads to paradise, but a thousand to hell.

Better to receive from God by the spoonful than from man by
the bushel.

The world can be changed by neither scolding nor laughing.

A man can bear more than ten oxen can draw.

God forbid that we should experience all that we are able to
bear.

Ten enemies can not do a man the harm that he does to him-
self.

A man can eat alone, but not work alone.

Comrades are needed both for joy and for sorrow.

Better a fool that has traveled than a wise man who has re-
mained at home. [Compare " Mitthellungen der Gesell-
schaft fur Jiidlsche Volkskunde," i. 30, and Benfey, " Pant-
sohatantra," ii. 6, No. 21.]

A fool bringeth sorrow. [Compare ib. 11. 2, No. 8.]

Everything in one is nowhere found.

If folk knew what others intended for them, they would kill
themselves.

To know a man you must ride in the same cart with him.
Man and Tl^oman. ' [Compare "Mitthellungen," 1.31.] The
wife exalteth her husband and casteth him down.

Give thine ear to all, thy hand to thy friends, but thy lips only
to thy wife.

A man without a wife is like a " lulab " without "etrog."

A third person may not interfere between two that sleep on
the same pillow.

Women persuade men to good as well as to evil, but they al-
ways persuade.

Women refrain from reproving the tailor when he sews
shrouds for them.

Women must be led to the "^)uppah," but they run to the
divorce.

Fools generally have pretty wives.

Grace is worth more than beauty.

Love tastes sweet, but only with bread.
Family lAfe; Parents; Children. Small children, small
joys ; large children, large annoys.

There is no bad mother and no good death.

229

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Proverbs
Proverbs, Book of

When the mother dies the neighbors ascertain how many

children she had.
Parents may have a dozen children, but each one Is the only

one for them.
A boy, a blessing. [See " Mltthellungen," 1. 39, and Benfey,

I.e. 11. 51 : "A girl has been bom ; a great care," etc.]
A married daughter Is as a piece ol bread that Is cut oS.
A lather supports ten children, hut ten children do not sup-
port one father.
The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law do not ride In the

same cart.
Money. Though money has a dirty father. It is regarded as

noble.
A golden nail drops from a golden cart.
He who sayes is worth more than he who earns.
If thou borrowest money, thou dost purchase thee an enemy.
Shrouds have no pockets.
The way mo-st valued leads to the pocket.
In hell an ox Is worth a groschen, but no man has that groschen.
The poor are ever liberal.
He that is sated believes not the hungry.
If a poor man eat a chicken, either he is sick or the chicken

was sick.
He that hath "me'ot" [hundreds] hath "pe'ot" [opinions].
Self-Critici»m. Before the Jew goes to market he buys every-
thing cheap [optimism].
If a Jew breaks a leg, he says, "Praised be God that I did not

break both legs " : If he breaks both, he says, " Praised be

God that I did not break my neck."
When a Jew is hungry, he sings ; when the master [Polish

nobleman] is hungry, he whistles; when the peasant is

hungry, he beats his wife.
Every Jew has his own Sbulhan 'Aruk.
If the Jew be right, he is beaten all the more.
The master [nobleman] thinks of his horse and dog, the Jew

of his wife and child.
If only two Jews remained in the world, one would summon

to the synagogue and the other would go there.
Fate. Intelligence is not needed for luck, but luck Is needed

for Intelligence.
When luck fails, the ducat loses worth.
If I can not do as I will, I would rather sit still.
Dowries and Inheritances bring no luck.
Nothing is so bad but that good may come of it.
He who rejoices in his neighbor's good fortune will prosper.
He with whom luck plays the game hits the mark without

his aim.
Life and Death. The angel of death always finds an excuse.
Better ruined ten times than dead once.
No man dies before his time.

Every man knows that he must die, but no one believes it.
Better a noble death than a wretched life.

Tlie following proverbs are from earlier Judfeo-
German literature (compare "IVIlttheilungen," ii.
5-23; Glackel of Hameln, pp. 44, 47; Emden, "Di-
bre Emet we-Shalom," p. 16):

He often gives counsel who has none himself.

The rope drawn too taut is apt to break.

As if a fried pigeon had flown into his mouth.

Thou coverest shame with flg-leaves.

The churl should not ride the king's horse.

Where there is nothing the emperor loses his power.

Parsimony enriches not, nor does benevolence impoverish.

Bibliography : I. Bernstein, Jildische Sprichw6rter, In Hang-
freund, 1889; H. Bloch, Omri Inschi, Breslau, 1884; L.
Dukes, Babtnnitiche Blumenlese, Lelpslc, 1814 ; idem, Zur
BabMnischen Spruchkunde, Vienna, 1850: D. Ehrmann,
Am PallMina und Babylon ; R. Faulche-Delbosl, Proverbes
Juden-Egpagnoles, Paris, 1895; G. N. Gotemb, MUhle Ha-
^camim, Wllna, 1879; Ad. Jellinek, Der Jilditche Stamra,
Vienna, 1869; Dav. Kahane, Mishle 'Am, In Ha-Asif, 111.-
iv., Warsaw, 1886-87; M. Kayserllng, Bibh Esp.-Port.-Jud.;
idem. In Bevue Bispanique. Paris, 1897; Mos. Levin, Ara-
mOische SpnchwOrter und VolkssprlXche, Frankfort-on-the-
Main, 1895 ; F. Sailer, Sinn»prttche am dem Talmud ima
der Babbinischen Literatur. Berlin; M. Schuhl, Sentences
et Proverbes, Paris, 1878; Jac. Stem, lAchtstrahlen aus
dem Talmva, Zurich, 1882; A. Tendlau, Sprichwiirter und
Bedensarten Deutseti-JUdiseher Vorzeit, Frankfort-on-the-
Maln, 1860: M.Wahl, Das Sprichwort der HebrWixJi^Ara-
maischen IMeratur. Lelpslc, 1871 ; Weissberg, Mishle Kad-
monim, Nelsln, 1900; Michelstadt, MUUn de-Babbanan,
Frankfort^)n-the-Oder, 1780 (new ed., 1869) ! Buxtprf,/tort-
lefftMm, etc., Basel, 1648; Fiirstenthal, Babbmische Antho-
logle, Breslau, 1835 ; G. FOrst, PerUn AramUlscher Onomen,

Lelpslc, 1836; Jolowlcz, BlUten Bal)binischer Weisheit,
Thorn, 1849; Dessauer, Spruchlexicon des Talmuds und
Midrasch, Budapest, 1876 ; Kohut, Arueh Completum ;
Wilnsche, Neue BeitrOge zur ErlHuterung der Evangelien
aus Talmud und Midrasch, GBttlngen, 1878 ; I. Hamburger,
B. B. T.

J. M. Gb.

PROVERBS, BOOK OF : One of the Ketubim, or
Hagiograplia, belonging to the group of "Hokmah,"
or " Wisdom " books. The IVIasoretic superscription
to the first and twenty-fifth chapters is " Proverbs
of Solomon " (" IMishle Shelomoh " ; and so in the sub-
scription to the book in the Alexandrian and Sina-
itic Greek IVISS.); but in the Greek and in later Jew-
ish usage (and in the A. V. and R. V.) the book is en-
titled simply " Proverbs " ("Mishle"). The longer
title belonged originally to the central collection of
aphorisms, x. 1-xxii. 16, and to xxv.-xxix., and may
have been extended early to the whole work, but
the shorter form became the predominant one, as,
indeed, there are other titles to certain
Title and sections (xxii. 17, xxx. 1, xxxi. 1). It
Divisions, is uncertain whether or not the name
" Wisdom " (or " All-Virtuous Wis-
dom "), common in early Christian writings (Clement
of Rome, "Corinth," i. 57; Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl."
iv. 23 et al.), was of Jewish origin; the designation
"Book of Wisdom" in the Talmud (Tosef., B. B.
14b) may be a descriptive term and not a, title, and
the citation of Job xxviii. 13 ("But where shall wis-
dom be found ? ") at the beginning of the Midrash
merely indicates that the book belongs in the Hok-
mah category.

The foUovping divisions of the book are indicated
in the text: (1) A group of discourses on the con-
duct of life (i.-ix.), comprising the praise of wisdom
as the guide of life (i.-iv.); warnings against un-
chaste women (v.-vli. ; with three misplaced para-
graphs, vi. 1-19, against certain social faults); the
description of wisdom as the controller of life and
as Yhwh's companion in the creation of the woild
(viii.) ; and a contrast between wisdom and folly (i.x. ;
with a misplaced collection of aphorisms, ix. 7-12).
(3) A collection, or book, of aphoristic couplets (x.
1-xxii. 16). (3) Two small groups of aphoristic
quatrains (xxii. 17-xxiv. 22 and xxiv. 33-34). (4)
A second collection of couplets (xxv.-xxix). (ii) A
miscellaneous group of discourses and numerical
aphorisms (xxx. -xxxi.), mostly in tetrads: reverent
agnosticism (xxx. 1-4); certainty of God's word (5-
6) ; a prayer (7-9) ; against slandering a servant (10) ;
against certain vices and errors (11-33) ; a code for a
king (xxxi. 1-9); a picture of a model housewife
(10-31). These divisions, various in form and con-
tent, suggest that the book was formed by the com-
bination of a number of booklets.

The ascription of the book to Solomon, in the titles
and in tradition, is without valid foundation. In
the Prophets and Psalms titles are admittedly not
authoritative — they are based on the feeling or
guesses of late scribes, not on documentary evi-
dence—and they can not be more trustworthy here.
The elaborate heading to the section
Not xxv.-xxix. ("Proverbs of Solomon

Solomonic. Edited by Scholars of Hezekiah's
Court") is paralleled by the super-
scriptions to some of the Psalms (li., lix., Ix.),
which are manifestly untrustworthy. Hezekiah's

Proverbs, Book of
Proverbs, Uidrash to

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

230

time may have been chosen by the author of this
heading because he regarded the collection xxv.-
xxix. as later than x.-xxii. 16, and therefore to be
referred to the Augustan age of Hez.ekiah, which
followed the golden age of David and Solomon.
But there is no proof that the age of Hezekiah was
Augustan ; on the contrary, it was a period of con-
flict, and the work of editing and combining did
not begin till a century or two later. Moreover, as
is pointed out below, the thought of the Book of
Proverbs is as alien to the Hezekian as to the Solo-
monic age.

In the first place, there is no trace in the book of
the religious problems and conflicts of the pre-exilic
period. The Prophets, from Amos to Bzekiel, are
in deadly fear of foreign cults, and testify, during
this whole period, that Israel is more or less given
over to the woi'ship of other gods than Yhwh and
to Idolatry. The polemic against such infidelity is
the dominant note of the prophetic preaching down
to the latter half of the sixth century. But in Prov-
erbs there is not a word of all this. Monotheism is
quietly taken for granted. There is no mention of
priests or prophets (the word " vision " in xxix. 18
is a clerical error); the sacrificial ritual is almost
completely ignored. Throughout the literature till
the time of Ezra the national interest is predomi-
nant; here it is quite lacking — the name Israel does
not occur. The religious atmosphere of the book is
wholly different from that which characterizes Jew-
ish thought down to the end of the fifth century.

In no point is the change more noticeable than in
the attitude toward wisdom. The wisdom of the
pre-Ezran Old Testament writings is shrewd com-
mon sense and general keen intelligence (II Sam.
xiv. ; I Kings iii.); and because it was controlled by
worldly considerations it was looked on with dis-
favor by the Prophets as not being in harmony with
the word of God as they understood it (Jer. viii. 9,
ix. 23; Ezek. vii. 26). In Proverbs it stands for the
broadest and highest conception of life, and is iden-
tified with the law of God. Yet it is the utterance
of sages, whose counsel is represented as the only
. suflicient guide of conduct (i. -i v. , xxii. 17-21). The
sages do not employ the prophetic formula " Thus
saith the Lord " or appeal to the law

Wisdom, of Moses ; they speak out of their own
minds, not claiming divine inspira-
tion, yet assuming the absolute authoritativeness of
what tbey say — that is, they regard conscience as
the final guide of life. "While the contents of the
book are various, parts of it dealing with simple,
e very-day matters, the prevailing tone is broadly
religious : God is the ruler of the world, and wisdom
is the expression (through human conscience) of His
will. In one passage (viii.), animated by a fine en-
thusiasm, wisdom is personified (almost hyposta-
tized) as a cosmic force, the nursling of God, stand-
ing by His side at the creation of the world (comp.
Job xxviii. ; Wisdom of Solomon vii.). This con-
ception, foreign to the pre-Ezran Old Testament
thought, suggests the period when the Jews came
imder Greek influence.

The theology of Proverbs is the simplest form of
theism. The individual man stands in direct rela-
tion with God, needing no man or angel to act as

mediator (comp. Job v. 1, xxxiii. 23). No super-
natural being, except God, is mentioned. Salvation
lies in conduct, which is determined by man's will.
Men are divided into two classes, the righteous and
the wicked: the former are rewarded, the latter
punished, by God ; how one may pass from one class
into the other is not said. Reward and punishment
belong to the present life; the conception of the
underworld is the same as in the body of Old Testa-
ment writings ; there is no reference to ethical immor-
tality (on xi. 7 and xiv. 32 see the commentaries).
Wickedness leads to premature death (v. 5, ix. 18,
et al); wisdom confers long life (iii. 16). Doubt-
less the authors, pious men, observed the national
sacrificial laws (xv. 8), but they lay no stress on
them — they regard conduct as the important thing.
The book contains no Messianic element. The de-
scription in xvi. 10-15 is of the ideal king, who is
controlled by the human law of right

No Im- (in contrast with the delineations in
mortality Isa. xi. 1-5, xxxii. 1, 3; Zech. ix. 9).
or This attitude may point to a time

Messiah., when there was a lull in the general
Messianic interest (about 250-200 B.C.),
but it is satisfactorily accounted for by the supposi-
tion that the sages, concerned with the inculcation of
a universal code of life, took little interest in tJie
popular hope of a restoration of national inde-
pendence.

Proverbs bears witness, especially in the first and
the third division, to the existence of some sort of
organized higher instruction at the time when it
was composed. The frequent form of address, " my
son," indicates the relation of a teacher to his pupils.
There is no information regarding regular academies
before the second century B.C. (from Antigonus of
Soko onward), but it is probable that those that are
known did not spring into existence without fore-
runners. The instruction in such schools would
naturally be of the practical ethical sort that is found
in Proverbs (on the " mashal " form here adopted
see Proverbs). The book has been always highly
valued for the purity and elevation of its moral
teaching. Not only are justice and truthfulness
everywhere enjoined, but revenge is forbidden
(xxiv. 17), and kindness to enemies insisted on (xxv.
21). The conception of family life is a high one:
monogamy is taken for granted; children are to
honor parents, and parents to be the guides of chil-
dren ; an honorable position is assigned the wife and
mother. Infidelity on the part of a married woman
is denounced at length (v., vii.), and the youth is
repeatedly warned aigainst the "strange woman,"
that is, the unchaste wife of another man. There
are many maxims relating to thrift and economy
(vi. 1-11, xxvii. 23-27, et al.). Excess is denounced,
and self-control and temperance enjoined. The
motive urged for well-doing is well-being, success,
and happiness. In so far the ethical system is util-
itarian, but the success presented as a goal, while
sometimes merely material (xi. 15; xviii. 2, 18, etal.),
rises at other times to the height of an ideal concep-
tion of a happy life (iii., viii.). In this higher sense
the utilitarian view approaches the idea of a life de-
voted to humanity, though this idea is not definitely
expressed in Proverbs.

:S31

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Proverbs, Book of
Proverbs, SEidrash to

The characteristics described above point to the
■post-Ezran period as the time of origination of the
book ; to this period alone can be referred the tacit
recognition of monotheism and monogamy, the ab-
sence of a national tone, and the marks of a devel-
oped city life. These traits are reproduced in Ben
Sira (B.C. 190), the similarity of whose thought to
that of Proverbs is obvious. But this latter is made
up of different parts that appear to be of different
dates. Prom a comparison of thought and form the
following conclusion may be regarded as probable :
The earliest collections (about the year 400) were the
aphorisms contained in x.-xv., xvi.-
Date. xxii. 16, xxv.-xxvli., and xxviii.-
xxix., from which later editors formed
the two booklets, x.-xxii. 16 and xxv.-xxix. (350-
300). A little later came the collection of more elab-
orate quatrains, xxii. 17-xxlv., and, toward the
middle of the third century, the sustained discourses
■of i.-ix. The latest section, probably, is xxx.-xxxi.,
.and the whole may have been edited not long before
the year 200. These dates are approximate, but it
seems reasonably certain that the book is later than
the year 400 B.C. On the objection made to its
■canonization see Bible Canon (§ li) ; on the text
and versions see the commentaries. In the Septua-
glnt the order of subsections in the third, fourth,
and fifth divisions is as follows: xxii. 17-xxiv. 23;
XXX. 1-14; xxiv. 23-34; xxx. 15-33; xxxi. 1-9;
xxv.-xxix, ; xxxi. 10-31. Whether this divergence
from the Hebrew order is due to accident, or to ca-
price, or to an original difference of arrangement, it
is hardly possible to say.

.Bibliography : Text : Baumgartner, Etude Crttitfue sur
VEtatdu Texte du Hvre des Proverbes,1890 ; Blckell, in W.
Z. K. M. 1891; Plnkuss (Syriac version), in Stade's Zeit-
scltrift, 1894 ; Gratz, in his Mnnatsschrift, 1884, and Emen-
dationes, 1892-94 ; Chajea, Proverbien Studien, 1899 ; Miiller
and Kautzsob, in S. B. 0. T. 1901.

Translations and Commentaries : Midrash Mishle^ ed.
Buber, 1893 ; Saadia, ed. Derenbourg, 1894 ; Basbi, Ibn Ez-
ra, Levi b. Gershom, in Giggeius, In Prnverbia Salomonis,
1620. For other Jewish commentaries see L. Dukes, in Cohen,
La, Bible, 1847, and H. Deutsch, Die Sprllche Salomon's
nach Talmud und Midranch DargesteUt, 1885 ; Ewald, Poe-
tisehe Bttcher des A. T.'s, 1837, 1867 ; Delitzsch, Commentary,
English transl., 1875 ; Nowack, in Kurzgefasstex Exegetisches
Handbuch, 1887 ; Frankenburg, In Nowack's Hand-Knm-
mentar, 1898 : Toy, in International Critical Commentary,
1899. SeealsoBois, iaPoesieCfnomigue, 1888; Cheyne, JoT)
and Solmnnn, 1887 ; Monteflore, Notes upon Proverbs, in J.
Q. B. 1889-90. Parallels from other literatures are given by
Malan, Original Notes on the Book of Proverbs, 1889-93, and
G. Jacobs, Altaratyische Pa/rallelen zum A. T. 1897.

PROVERBS, MIDRASH TO : Haggadic mid-
rash to Proverbs, first mentioned, under the title
"Midrash Mishle," by R. Hananeel b. Hushiel (first
half of the 11th cent.) as quoted in "Mordekai " on
B. M. iii. 293. Nathan of Rome calls this midrash
"Agadat Mishle" ('"Aruk," «.«. '\\>i). It was, be-
sides, called erroneously " Shoher Tob " (ed. Zolkiev,
1800; Benjacob, "Ozar ha-Sefarim," p. 302, Nos.
449-451). The midrash has not been preserved en-
tire ; for there are no comments whatever on several
•chapters, «.g'. , on iii., vii.,and xviii.,and others have
"been annotated only in part. The editor of the
Yalkut used some portions of this midrash which are
now missing, although it may be assumed that not
:all the sentences which he included in his work with
the statement that they were taken from this mid-
a-ash were really a part of the Midrash Mishle which

he had at hand (comp. Buber, " Midrash Mishle, " In
trod notion, p. 5b).

This midrash is different from all the other hag-
gadic midrashimin that its interpretations approach
the simple exegesis then in vogue.
Form. being brief and free from the prolix-
ity found in the other midrashim, so
that this work is in the form of a commentary rather
than in that of a midrash. The interpretations fol-
low immediately upon the words of the text, with-
out the introductory formulas found in the other
midrashim, "as Scripture says," or "Rabbi N. N.
began"; the latter formula, however, occurs at the
beginning of the midrash. The editor of the mid-
rash drew upon the Mishnah, Tosefta, Mekilta,
Sifre, Pesikta de-Rab Kahana, Abot de-Rabbi Natan,
Bereshit Rabbah, Wayikra Rabbali, Ecclesiastes
Rabbah, Canticles Rabbah, and the Babylonian Tal-
mud. But he does not seem to have known anything
about the Palestinian Talmud, since he does not quote
from it. The editor was therefore probably a Baby-
lonian, although this can not be definitely decided.

The exact time at which the editor lived can not
be determined. Zunz holds (" G. V."p. 268) that the
midrash was compiled in the middle of the eleventh
century ; but this is dubious inasmuch as it is men-
tioned by name by Hananeel and Nathan, both of
whom lived in the first half of that century. Buber
thinks that the midrash was compiled as early as the
eighth century, since quotations from it are found,
though not with references to the source, at the end of
the " Halakot Gedolot " and in the " Seder R. Amram, "
12b. Although the midrash contains comparatively
few legends, myths, or parables, it has many in-
teresting sentences for which no parallel exists in
the other midrashim. For instance, the four riddles
which the Queen of Sheba propounded to Solomon
(Buber, I.e., p. 20b) are found in no other extant mid-
rash, but they correspond to the first four of the nine-
teen riddles mentioned in the manuscript Midrasli
ha-Hefez (comp. S. Schechter in "Folk-Lore," 1890,
p. 853).

Aside from the manuscripts mentioned by Buber
(pp. 14b-15a), there is one of the Midrash Mishle in
the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America (p. 5, 1018, fols. 25a-48b). This manu-
script, which includes onl}' chapters
Hanu- i. to xvi., corresponds in many pas-
scripts and sages with the Constantinople edition.
Editions. In xiv. 34 (ed. Buber, p. 39b) it has
" Metatron " instead of "Michael," as
in the printed editions. If this reading is the orig-
inal one, it would confirm the assumption that the
editor was a Babylonian, since the name "Metatron "
occurs only a few times in the Palestinian sources,
the name "Michael" being found instead («.p'. , Targ.
Yer. on Ex. xxiv. 1 has "Michael," while Sanh.
38b has " Metatron ").

The first edition was issued at Constantinople
without date ; the second, at Venice in 1547. Apart
from these two, eight other editions have been issued
(comp. Buber, Introduction, p. 16a). The latest and
best edition is that by Buber (Wilna, 1893), with an
introduction and notes. The Midrash Mishle has
been translated into German by August WUnsche
(Leipsic, 1885).

Providence

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

232

Bibliography: Zunz, G. V. pp. 268-269: Weiss, Dor, ill. 276;
Buber, Introduction to his edition ol the Midrash Mishle ;
Wiinsche, introduction to his translation of the Midrash
Mishle.
w. B. J. Z. L.

PROVIDENCE {irpdvoia) : The term occurs only

in the Apocryphal books (Wisdom xiv. 3, xvil. 2),

and has no equivalent In Biblical Hebrew, the later

philosophical writers employing "hashgaljah" as a

translation for the Arabic " 'inayah. " " Providence "

is employed to connote (1) God's "actio seterna"

(His foreknowledge and His disposi-

Two tions for the realization of His supreme

Senses of will iTvpSyuuaic and npS^emc]), and (3)

the Term. God's "actio temporis " (His power to

preserve and to control the universe

and all that is therein). Most theologians use the

term solely in the latter sense, to which, therefore,

the following discussion is confined.

The doctrine of the providential care and govern-
ment of the world is found among non-Jewish and,
perhaps, non-monotheistic authors (comp. Cicero,
"De Natura Deorum," ii. 30 et seq.; Seneca, "De
Providentia"). Socrates argues that a beneficent
providence is manifest in the construction of the
human organs (Xenophon's "Memorabilia," i. 4, §3).
The faith in providence, Yhwh's all-sustaining and
directing care, more especially manifest in His rela-
tions to His people Israel, is variously, but always
clearly, expressed in Hebrew Scriptures. Though
nowhere presented in coherent systematic form, the
Biblical belief in providence reflects the spontaneous
religious consciousness of humble and confident be-
lievers rather than the reasoned deductions of stren-
uous thinkers.

Disregarding questions concerning chronological
sequence, and other questions involved in the crit-
ical school's assumption of an evolutionary process
in Israel's religion, the following collection of Bib-
lical statements will serve to illustrate the views of
Scripture on providence :

From heaven the Eternal looks down ; He sees all the sons of
man (Ps. xxxiil. 13,14). In the heavens the Eternal has His
throne, but His government encompasses all (Ps. xl. 4). God's
realm embraces all the worlds (eons), still His rule extends over
every generation (Ps. cxlv. 13). God is King (iSd) and Shep-
herd (Ps. xxiii. 1). God Is the Eecord-Keeper (Ps. cxxxix. 16).
Nature is constantly the object of divine sustaining solicitude,
and always under divine direction (Job xxxvi. 27, xxxviii. 25 :
Isa. xl., xli.; Jer. xxxlii. 31-35 ; Ps. Ixvl. 8 et neq-: civ. 13, 29, 30 ;
cxlvli. 14-18) . God provides food In due season for all(Ps. cxlv.
16). Man is uninterruptedly under divine care (Ps. xxii. 10;
Job xiv. 5). God directs the course of human affairs, the fate
and fortune of the peoples (Ps. xxxvii. 5, xlvl. 10, Ixvi. 7, xci.
1-7, civ. 13-16.; Prov. xvi. 4; Dan. 11. 21, Iv. 14; Isa. x. 5-10;
Jer. V. 24, xviil. 7-8 ; Job xxxvU. 2-7 ; Amos Iv. 7).

In the life of the Biblical heroes the reality of
this divine guidance and protection is prominently
brought out (Gen. xxiv. 7; xlviii. 4, 15, 30). But
• it is Israel that is eminently the beneficiary of divine
solicitude, witnessing in its own fortunes God's prov-
idence (comp. Deut. xxxii.). Essentially interwo-
ven with the Biblical doctrine of the Messianic
kingdom is the thought that the providence of God,
the Ruler, is effective in the conflicts and relations
of the various peoples. A necessary corollary of
this faith in providence was the optimism which
characterizes the Biblical world-conception. Evil
was either caused by man, who had the freedom of

choosing, or was disciplinary and punitive; ia
either case it served the end of divine providence.
The sinner was, perhaps, the dearest object of di-
vine watchfulness and love (see Optimism and Pes-
simism). The simple faith of the Biblical writers,
never stopped to inquire how providence and human
freedom could be shown to be congruous.

The position of the Tannaim and Amoraim is not
essentiallj' different from that taken in the Biblical
books. Their opinions may be gath.-
Talmudic ered from scattered homiletical and
Views, exegetical comments, from parables,
and anecdotes ; but no systematic pres-
entation may be reconstructed from these detached
observations of theirs. The following quotations,
may throw light on the underlying theology : All
that God does is for a good purpose (Ber. 60b). Ac-
cording to R. Akiba, every event is predetermined,
though liberty is given. The world is judged in
goodness, yet the decision is rendered in accordance-
with the predominating character of man's conduct
(Ab. iii. 24; Ab. R. N. xxxix.). All is determined
and all is finally made plain. Even in the seem-
ing irrationality of the prosperity of evil-doers and
of the suffering of the righteous, God's purpose^
is effective (Ab. iii. 16; Yoma 86b). God is pictured
as making ladders, on which He causes some to
ascend and others to descend ; in other words, God
is the Arbiter of men's fate and fortune (Lev. R.
viii. ; Gen. R. Ixviii. ; Pesik. lib; Midr. Shemu'el,
V. ; Tan. , Bemidbar, 18). Moses, praying for insight
into God's ways, learns why evil-doers prosper and
the righteous suffer (Ber. 7a). God protects Pales-
tine and, on its account, all other lands also. He
guards Israel and other nations as well (Sifre, Deut.
40). None may wound a finger unless it be so de-
creed above (Hul. 7b).

God's protection is not like that extended by man.
to man. Royal servants watch in the streets over
the safety of the king in the palace. God's servants,
remain in their houses while He, the King, watches,
over them from without (Men. 38b; 'Ab. Zarah 11a,
with reference to the mezuzah). God's providential
care is especially extended to those that " go down
the sea in ships, " to travelers in the desert, and to-
those that are recovering from illness (Jellinek, "B.
H." i. 110). Rain and the miracle of human birth
are often adduced as evidences of divine providence
(Ta'an. 3; Lev. R. xiv. 3-3). Serpents, lions, even
governments, work harm only under God's decrees
(Eccl. R. X. 11). Deut. xxxi. 15 is invoked to prove
that man's physical condition and moral and mental
qualifications are predetermined by providence be-
fore birth, though freedom of choice is allowed to
him (Tan., Piklkiude; Yalk. ii. 716). The actions of
the leaders in history were predetermined in God's
council at Creation (" B. H. " i. 1 ; Pirke R. El. xxxii. ).

The old prayers affirm this doctrine; God's crea-
tive activity is uninterrupted (so in"Yozer Or"-
" He creates anew every day the works of the begin-
ning "). His governing providence is.
In the manifest in Israel's history (see Aha-

Liturg'y. bahRabbah). He helps and sustains
the living, resurrects the dead, sup-
ports the falling, heals the sick, delivers the captive-
(second benediction of the Shemoneh 'Bsrbh). In=

233

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Frovidencei

the New-Year liturgy (Rosh )ia-Shanah, Netanneh
Tolfef) God's kingship (" malkuyot ") is especially
emphasized, as weU as His predetermination of the
fate of individuals and nations — a conception occur-
ring also in a baraita, Bezah 15b, 16a, with refer-
ence to man's sustenance and nourishment. God's
wise foresight is manifest even in the creation of the
wind, which makes profitable man's labor in plow-
ing, hoeing, planting, harvesting, and mowing (Pe-
sil^. 69a ; Lev. R. xxviii. 2). God provides food for
every man (Lev. R. xiv. 2).

As in the Bible, in the Talmud the moral liberty
of man and God's providential rulership are taught
together, without further endeavor to show their
compatibility. "Everything is in the control of
God save the fear of God" (Bar. 33b; Meg. 25a;
Niddah 16b).

If the doctrine was, for the Talmudists, partly
the expression of spontaneous religious feeling,
partly the result of their labored exegesis of Biblical
passages, Philo's presentation is that of the trained,
systematic thinker. God being the benevolent au-
thor of the world, He must continue to exercise
providential care over the whole and every part of
it, for it is natural for parents to provide for their
children ("De Opiflcio Mundi," § 61). God holds
the reins of the cosmos by an autocratic law (" De
MigrationeAbrahami," § 33). He is the "archon of
the great city, the pilot who manages the universe
with saving care" ("De Confusione Linguarum,"
§ 83). In the exercise of this providential care
God's goodness is poured forth with unrestricted
lavishness ("De Allegoriis Legum," i. 13). His
judgments are tempered with mercy ("Quod Deus
Sit Immutabilis," § 16). The recipients of God's
bounties being of limited capacity, God measures
His gifts accordingly ("De Opificio Mundi," § 6).

Philo does not conceal the objections to the faith
in providence. He endeavors to meet them, more
especially in a treatise entitled "De Providentia"
(sec Drummond, "Philo Judaeus," ii. 58). The ex-
istence of pain he endeavors to explain on the
ground that God can not be held to be its author in
all cases, as well as on the ground that often evil is
good in disguise. Evil is prophylactic at times, dis-
ciplinary at others. Men who are righteous in our
eyes may perhaps be sinners, and deserving of pun-
ishment (Drummond, I.e.).

The rise of Islam and the disputes engendered in
its household concerning predestination and free will
had the effect of stimulating Jewish
Views of thinkers in the Middle Ages to make
the Phi- a more profound analysis of the doc-
losophers. trine. How was human liberty rec-
oncilable with God's foreseeing, fore-
knowing, omnipotence? The question constituted
the crux of their disquisitions. Saadia discusses it
in the fourth chapter of his "Emunot we-De'ot."
Arguing that God's knowledge of things does not
necessarily result in their reality and existence,
Saadia proceeds to maintain that God's prescience
is due to His knowing the ultimate outcome of hu-
man conduct, though it is not He that brings it
about. But in a case in which God wills that a cer-
tain one be killed and employs another as the instru-
ment of His will, is the murderer to be accounted

responsible or not ? Saadia would have the murderer
adjudged accountable. He might have refused to
do the act, in which case God would have employed
other means to bring about the death of the sinner.
The weakness of Saadia's argumentation is apparent.
Judah ha-Levi conceives of divine providence as,
in the main, divine government, and before showing
that it and human freedom are mutually consistent,
he denounces fatalism, largely by an appeal ad
hominem exposing the inconsistencies of the fatal-
ists. He agrees that, in the last analysis, all things
are caused by God, but that they are not necessarily
directly so caused ; in many cases God is a remote
cause. To the class of secondary or intermediate
causes human free will belongs; it is not under con-
straint, but is at liberty to choose. God knows
what a man's ultimate choice will be, but His
knowledge is not the cause of a man's choice. In
relation to man, God's prescience is accidental, not
causative ("Cuzari," v.).

Abraham ibn Daud, in writing his " Emunah Ra-
mah," purposed to reconcile the existence of evil
with the providence of God. Evil can not be caused
by God, who is benevolent ("Emunah Ramah," ed.
Weil, p. 94). God produces only reality and posi-
ti vity. Evil has no positive existence ; it is the nega-
tion of good. As such, it has no author. God and
matter are at opposite poles. God is absolute es-
sence. Matter is non-existence ; it is the cause of
all imperfection. Some imperfections, however, are
not evils. God's providence manifests itself in that
every creature is endowed with that degree of per-
fection which corresponds to its nature. Seeming
imperfections apparent in certain individuals are
seen to be perfections in view of the larger ends of
the community: for example, some men are born
with limited mental capacities in order that they
might profit society by their manual labor. In ref-
erence to man's freedom of will in its relation to
providential prescience, Abraham ibn Daud assumes
in view of his introduction of the concept of po-
tential possibilities— that God Himself has left the
outcome of certain actions undecided, even as re-
gards His own knowledge, that man's will might
have the opportunity to assert itself in freedom.
As an Aristotelian, Ibn Daud is, in this as in many
other positions, the precursor of Maimonides.

In Maimonides' "Moreh," part iii., a lengthy ex-
position of providence is found. He re j ects the view
of providence entertained by the Epicureans, ac-
cording to whom accident rules all. Next he criti-
cizes Aristotle's theory, which assigns providence
to the lunar sphere and almost ex-
Views of eludes it from the sublunar sphere.
Mai- Providence has no care for individuals,
monides. only for the species. The Aristotle
against whom Maimonides here wages
battle is the pseudo- Aristotelian author of "De
Mundo. " In the " Ethica Nicomachea " passages are
' found that plead for the recognition of a special
(" hashgahah peratit") as well as a general (" hashga-
hah kelalit ") providence. Again, Maimonides dis-
putes the position of the Asli'ariyyah (fatalists), ac-
cording to whom all is determined by God's will
and power, necessarily to the complete exclusion and
denial of freedom of human action. Next he takes

Providence
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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

234

up the theory of the Motazilites, who, on the one
Jiand, refer everything to God's wisdom, and, on the
■other, attribute freedom of action to man. His ob-
jection to their doctrine arises from their failure to
cecognize that It involves contradictory propositions.

Maimonides then proceeds to expound the theory
■of the Jewish religion. Man is free and God is just.
■Good is given man as a reward, evil as a punish-
ment. All is adjusted according to merit. Provi-
dence, practically, is concerned only about man.
The relation of providence is not the same to all
men. Divine influence reaches man through the in-
tellect. The greater man's share in this divine in-
fluence, the greater the effect of divine providence
on him. With the Prophets it varies according to
their prophetic faculty; in the case of pious and
good men, according to their piety and uprightness.
The impious are become like beasts, and are thus
•outside the scope of providence. God is for the
pious a most special providence.

God's prescience is essentially unlike any knowl-
edge of ours. His knowledge comprehends all, even
the infinite. God's knowledge does
God's not belong to time ; what He knows,
Prescience. He knows from eternity. His knowl-
edge is not subject to change; it is
identical with His essence. It transcends our knowl-
edge. God knows things while they are still in the
state of possibilities ; hence His commands to us to
take precautions against certain possibilities {e.g.,
placing a guard around the roof, etc.). Maimonides'
theory has been well described (Muller, " De Gods-
leer der Joden," p. 151, Groningen, 1898) as showing
that man knows what liberty is better than what
providence is. Maimonides' theodicy, which culmi-
nates in the assertion that as evil is negative and
privative, God can not be its author — that, in fact, it
has no author— is certainly mere sophistry and word-
juggling (Maimonides, "Dalalatal-Ha'irin,"iii. Vl et
seq. ; see also " Yad," Teshubah, v.).

For the theories of Joseph Albo and Levi ben
Gershon see tlie former's " 'Ikkarim " (iv. 1) and the
latter's " Milhamot Adonai " (iii. 3). For Bahyaben
Joseph's view see his " Hobot ha-Lebabot " (iii. 8).
Modern Jewish theology has not advanced the sub-
ject beyond Maimonides. In catechisms, of what-
ever religious bias, the doctrine of providence is
taught as well as the moral responsibility of man.

It may be worth noting that, according to Jo-
sephus, one of the points iu controversy among the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes was the
adoption or rejection of the doctrine of providence
("Ant." xviii. 1, §3).

E. c. E. G. H.

PROVIDENCE. See Rhode Island.

PBOVINS : French town, in the department of
Seine-et-Marne. Jews were settled there as early as
the twelfth century. Thibaut, Count of Cham-
pagne, made an agreement with Provins in 1330 in
whiclL he reserved to himself all rights over the
Jews of the town. In 1298 or 1399 Hagin, a Jewish
resident of the town, was commissioned to deposit
in the hands of the royal officials the proceeds of the
taxes paid by his coreligionists of the bailiwick of
Troyes. In 1301 Simonnet and Vivant, sons of

Simon the Jew, sold to Perronelle, widow of Jean de
Joy, goldsmith, for the sum of 31 livres of the cur-
rency of Tours, one-half of a piece of land situated
in the Jewish quarter of Provins, above the Porte
Neuve, and bordering on an estate belonging to the
Jew Hagin Dalle. A document of 1313 mentions
the sale by Maitre Pierre d'Argemont, clerk, for the
sum of 400 livres (Tours currency), of a house which
had belonged to the Jews Josson de Coulommiers
and his son Croissant, adjoining the enclosure of the
chateau and surrounding the Jewish school. The
following are noteworthy among the names of Jews
of Provins : Abraham, Molin, Haquin, Samuel Cour-
toiz, Judas, the Jewess Bonne, and the scholars
Jacob ben Melr (13th cent.), Mel'r ben Elijah (Zunz,
" Literaturgesch. " p. 338), and Isaac Cohen of i<J31"ia
= CJ'a'nS (lived at Paris in 1317).
Bibliography : Gross, Gallia Judaica, pp. 495, 515-516 ; Steln-
schnelder, Hebr. Bibl. xxl. 107 ; B. E. J. 11. 29, 69 ; xv. 240,
247, 251; xix. 253-255; Teulet, Layettes du Tresor des
Charles, 1. 186, No. 2075.
G. S. K.

PBUSSIA : Kingdom and the largest unit of the
German empire. The kingdom of Prussia grew out
of the margravate of Brandenburg, which in 1415
was given to a prince of the Hohen-
Th.e zoUern family. A member of this fam-

Expansiou ily, who in 1525 was grand master
of of the Teutonic Order and, as such, ru-

Prussia. ler of Prussia, embraced Protestantism
and declared himself a secular ruler.
His territory was in 1618 united with Brandenburg.
New acquisitions in the west and north of Germany
under Frederick William, the Great Elector (1640-
1688), considerably increased the area of the state,
which, under his successor, Frederick, was pro-
claimed as the kingdom of Prussia (1701). Fred-
erick the Great's acquisition of Silesia in 1742 and
of part of Poland in 1773 further increased its area.
After the upheavals of the Napoleonic period, the
Congress of Vienna in 1815 strengthened Prussia
by attaching to it various small German territories.
Finally, in 1866, after the war with Austria, Prussia
was given Hanover, Hesse-Nassau, Hesse-Homburg,
Hesse-Cassel, Sleswiok-Holstein, the free city of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, and some small territories
ceded by Bavaria and Saxony. The establishment
of the German empire under Prussian hegemony,
in 1871, has made Prussia the leading state in
Germany.

Through the annexation of territories in western
Germany, Prussia has come into possession of the old-
est Jewish settlements in Germany —
Oldest Set- those founded along the Rhine and its
tlements. principal tributaries, which have been
highroads of commerce since the time
of the Roman conquest. The oldest notice of Jews
in Germany occurs in an edict of Emperor -Constan-
tine (331), which orders that the Jews of Cologne
shall not be exempt from service on the municipal
board. While these Jews may have been traders
living temporarily in Cologne, the probabilities are
that they were permanent settlers, since the rabbis
and elders are expressly exempted from the duties in
question (Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 338, v. 195; Stobbe,
" Die Juden in Deutschland," pp. 8, 88, 201 ; Aronius,
"Regesten," No. 2). The Jew Isaac, whom Charle-

235

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

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Prussia

magne attached to the embassy which he sent to
Calif Harun al-Rasliid, most likely came from Ger-
many, for on his return lie reported at Aachen
(Pertz, "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scrip-
tores," i. 190; Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 333; Aronius, ^.c.
No. 71). An order dated 830, authorizing a raid
upon suspicious characters in Aachen, mentions ex-
pressly both Christian and Jewish merchants (Pertz,
ih. "Leges," i. 158; Aronius, I.e. No. 79). Since Jews
are referred to frequently in Constance and Mayence
after the tenth century, there can be hardly any
doubt that in that century they possessed relatively
numerous settlements in the Rhenish cities, now
under Prussian rule. Jewish merchants in Magde-
burg and Merseburg are mentioned in 965, and about
the same time reference is made to a salt-mine under
Jewish management near Naumburg (Aronius, I.e.
Nos. 129 and 132).

In the beginning of the eleventh century, in what
are at present the western provinces of Prussia,
traces of larger communities and of spiritual activity
are found. A synagogue was built at Cologne in
1012. Gershom ben Judah (d. 1028), who taught at
Mayence, speaks of the important traffic carried on
by Jews at the fairs of Cologne. Joshua, physician
to Archbishop Bruno of Treves, was converted to
Christianity ; a later convert was the monk Herman
of Cologne (formerly Judah ben David ha-Levi),
who was baptized in 1128, and who tells in his au-
tobiography of the thorough Talmudic education
he had received. The Crusades brought terrible
sufferings to the Jews of these parts of Prussia. In
1096 a great many communities in the present Rhine
Province were annihilated, as those
Persecu- of Cologne, Treves, Neuss, Altenahr,
tions. Xanten, and Geldern. In the Second
Crusade (1146-47) the congregations of
Magdeburg (which had suffered in 1096) and Halle
were martyred. When Benjamin of Tudela visited
Germany, about 1170, he found many flourishing
congregations in Rhenish Prussia and a considerable
number of Talmudic scholars (" Itinerary, " ed.
Asher, i. 163 etseq.). Even east of Rhenish terri-
tory, and as early as the thirteenth century, a num-
ber of Jewish settlements in apparently flourishing
condition existed. The Archbishop of Magdeburg
as early as 1185 granted to the convent of Seeberg
two marks which the Jews of Halle were required to
pay him as an annual tribute (Aronius, I.e. No. 319).
Jews are mentioned as " owners " of villages near
Breslau early in the thirteenth century ; evidently
they held mortgages on lands owned by nobles ; and
in 1337 Duke Henry I. of Silesia ruled that Jewish
farmers in the district of Beuthen should "be re-
quired to pay tithes to the Bishop of Breslau {ib.
Nos. 860-361, 364). In the principality of Jtjlich,
which was annexed to Prussia by the Great Elector,
Henry VII. conceded (1227) to Count William abso-
lute control over the Jews in his territory; this
seems to be the first case on record in which a
German emperor made such a concession to one of
his vassals (ib. No. 441). By 1261 the Jewish legis-
lation of Magdeburg had come to be regarded as a
standard for other towns, and had been adopted by
Duke Barnim I. of Pomerania for Stettin and other
towns in his territory (ib. No. 678).

About the middle of the thirteenth century the
Archbishop of Treves claimed jurisdiction over the
Jews. He required them to furnish annually 150
marks in silver for his mint, six pounds of pepper
for his household, and two pounds for his treasurer
(" camerarius "). To this tax were added silks and
belts, while the archbishop undertook to give an-
nually to the " bishop " of the Jews a cow, a pitcher
of wine, two bushels of wheat, and an old mantle
" for which he had no further use " (" quo abjecto
deinceps indui non vult"; ib. No. 581). While
originally the gifts of the archbishop were evidently
a symbol of his protection, the description of the
mantle clearly shows a desire to humiliate the Jews.
Persecutions, though less fierce than those of 1096,
continued sporadically during the thirteenth cen-
tury; the decisions of the Fourth Lat-
Ecclesias- eran Council (1215) were reaffirmed by
tical Op- various diocesan synods, including
pression. that of Mayence, held at Pritzlar in
1259. Just before the century dawned
the Crusaders murdered oight Jews in Boppard
(1195); about 1206 the Jews of Halle were expelled
and their houses burned; in 1321 twenty-six Jews
were killed in Erfart. The first positive blood
accusation was made in Pulda in 1335, when thirty-
two Jews were killed by Crusaders. The Jews of
Halle and Magdeburg are said to have been mulcted
to the extent of 100,000 marks by the archbishop;
this, however, is probably an exaggeration. Occa-
sionally rioters were punished ; or, rather, the rulers
fined the offending municipality a certain sum as
compensation for the loss caused to their treas-
ury by the killing and plundering of the Jews.
Thus the city of Magdeburg paid to the archbishop
1,000 marks in connection with the outrages com-
mitted against the Jews in 1306. In 1246 King
Conrad IV., in the name of his father, Emperor
Frederick II., acquitted the citizens of Frankfort-
on-the-Main of all responsibility for the riot of 1241,
during which 180 Jews had been killed. Neverthe-
less the unprotected condition of the Jews, who
were the victims alternately of mobs and of legiti-
mate rulers, became so serious a source of disturb-
ance, and the letting loose of the passions of the
mob became so dangerous to public safety, espe-
cially in view of the weakness of the federal gov-
ernment, that measures for the protection of the
Jews became a necessity. Thus King William,
in a charter granted to the city of Goslar in 1352,
promised expressly that he would not molest the
Jews of that city or imprison them without cause
(Aronius, I.e. No. 585). In 1255 he confirmed the
peace agreement ("Landfrieden ") promulgated by
the Rhenish Federation, and in which the Jews were
expressly included (ib. No. 620). The Bishop of Hal-
berstadt made a treaty with that city in 1361, in
which both contracting parties promised to protect
the Jews, not to impose unlawful taxes upon
them, and to allow them to leave the city whenever
they chose (ib. No. 676). It would appear that this
treaty was a consequence of the cruel treatment the
Jews of Magdeburg had received from their arch-
bishop earlier in the same year. The Abbess of
Quedlinburg, under whose authority the Jews of
that city lived, exhorted the citizens in the name

Prussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

236

of Cliristianity not to do any harm to the Jews (1273 ;
ib. No. 768).

In the margravate of Brandenburg, which was the
nucleus of the Prussian monarchy, Jews are first
mentioned in 1297, when the margraves Otto and
Conrad promulgated a law for the Jews of Stendal.
In Spandau Jews are mentioned in 1807 ; in the city
of Brandenburg, in 1315 ; in Neurup-
Branden- pin, in 1329. The Jews of Berlin and
burg. Coin (later incorporated with Ber-
lin) are first mentioned in a law of
Margrave Waldemar, dated Sept. 15, 1317, which
provides that in criminal cases the Jews shall be
amenable to the city court of Berlin. The jurisdic-
tion of this court over the Jews was extended to civil
and police cases in 1330, and to cases of all kinds
in 1828. This measure, however, seems to have been
a temporary one, and was probably due to the de-
sire of winning the city over to one of the claimants
to the margravate after the death of Margrave Wal-
demar in 1819. When in 1334 Ludwig IV. gave
Brandenburg to his son Ludwig the Elder, the meas-
ure was disregarded, for in the charter granted to
the Jews of the margravate on Sept. 9, 1844, juris-
diction over the Jews was again reserved to the
margrave's judges, except where a Jew had com-
mitted some flagrant offense ("culpa notoria per-
petrata "). The Jews were further protected against
exactions and arbitrary imprisonment ; they might
not be indicted unless two Jewish witnesses appeared
against them as well as two Christians. They were
allowed to take anything as a pledge provided they
took it in the daytime, and they might take horses,
grain, or garments in payment of debts (Sello,
"Markgraf Ludwig des Aelteren Neumarkisches
Judenprivileg vom 9. September, 1344," in "Der
Baer, Zeitschrift fUlr Vaterlandisohe Gesch. und
Alterthumskunde," 1879, No. 3; see abstract in
" Allg. Zeit. des Jud." 1879, pp. 865 et seg.).

It seems that during the time of the Black Death
the Jews in Brandenburg suffered as much as those
elsewhere. Margrave Ludwig recommended the
Jews of Spandau to the protection of their fellow
citizens (Nov. 26, 1349). The city of Salzwedel
sold the "Judenhof '■ (cemetery ?) with the excep-
tion of the " Judenschule" (Steinschneider, "Hebr.
Bibl." xxi. 24). The quitclaims granted by Mar-
grave Ludwig in 1352 and by his brother Otto in
1361, for "what has happened to the Jews,'' clearly
prove the perpetration of outrages against the latter
("Allg. Zeit. des Jud." 1879, p. 365). An obscure
report speaks of an order issued by Margrave Lud-
wig to burn all the Jews of KOnigsberg (Gratz,
" Gesch." vii. 378). But the exclusion of Jews from
Brandenburg could not have lasted long, for in 1358
mention is made of the income which the margrave
derived from the Jews of Milncheberg.

The Hohenzollern family, taking possession of
the margravate in 1415, treated the Jews with fair-
ness. Frederick I. confirmed their charter of 1344,
and especially their right to sell meat, which the
butchers' gilds often contested (Steinschneider, I.e.
xxi. 24). About the middle of the fifteenth century
expulsions took place in Brandenburg as elsewhere.
In 1446 Elector Frederick II. ordered all Jews re-
maining in the margravate to be imprisoned and

their property confiscated. Soon afterward, how-
ever, it was decreed that the Jews should be read-
mitted; Stendal refused to obey the
Under the decree, but was finally compelled to.
Hohen- yield to the margrave's wishes (1454 ;
zoUerns. "Monatsschrift," 1882, pp. 34-39). The
growing power of the margraves, who
by 1488 had succeeded in breaking the opposition
of the cities, brought greater security to the Jews,
who, as willing taxpayers, were settled in various
cities by the princes.

As late as Dec. 21, 1509, Margrave Joachim re-
ceived Jews into his territory. In the year following
a Christian who had stolen a monstrance from a.
church testified that he had been hired by the Jews
to sell them a consecrated host; in consequence
thirty -six Jews were burned at the stake in Berlin,
while two who had accepted Christianity were be-
headed (July 17, 1510; Gratz, "Gesch." ix. 99-100;
"Zeitschrift filr die Gesch. der Juden in Deutsch-
land, " ii. 21, 23). The Jews were then expelled from
the margravate and their synagogues and cemeteries,
confiscated, as appears from an agreement between
Margrave Joachim and the city of Tangermunde
(Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." xxi. 26).

The exclusion of the Jews from the Mark seems
not to have lasted very long, for in 1544 the famous
financier Michel Jud is found as owner of a house
in Berlin, where he enjoyed the protection of Elect-
or Joachim II. It appears that the espousal of the
cause of the Reformation by the latter resulted in
the repeal of the edict of expulsion; for the decree
of expulsion having been due to the fact that the
Jews had been accused of committing a crime which
had been attended by the usual miraculous conse-
quences, and Protestant views precluding belief in
the miraculous phenomena alleged, the entire accu-
sation was discredited and the edict repealed. Joa-
chim II. employed also as financial adviser Lippold
of Prague, who upon the death of his protector be-
came a victim of the policy which liad made his
master unpopular. Lippold was put to death under
the charge that he had poisoned the elector (Jan.
28, 1573), and the Jews were again expelled from
the territory (GrStz, "Gesch." ix. 474; "Jiidische
Literaturblatt," 1875, p. 94). Meanwhile two Jews
(in 1538 and 1541 respectively) had gained admis-
sion into Prussia (KBnigsberg), which the grand
master Albert of Brandenburg, after his conversion
to Protestantism, had declared a secular princi-
pality.

Under the Great Elector, Frederick William (1640-

1688), individual Jews were admitted into large

cities Jike Halberstadt, and the Jews in the Jillich

territory were left undisturbed. Fi-

Spirit of ually Brandenburg, including Berlin,

Toleration, was opened to some Jewish families

that had been exiled from Vienna

(1670). The edict of admission, dated May 21, 1671,

opened to the Jews all the cities of the Mark, allowed

them to deal in various goods, subjected them to the

city authorities in civil affairs, and in criminal affairs

placed them under the jurisdiction of the elector's

courts. They were forbidden to lend money at

usury, or import debased, or export good, specie.

They were required to pay eight thaler annually

237

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prussia

per family as protection money, but were exempted
from the poll-tax (Leibzoll). They were granted
freedom of worship, but were not permitted to build
synagogues (Geiger, "Gesch. der Juden In Berlin,"
1. 6 et mj.). Complaints made by Christian merchants,
however, soon resulted In restrictive measures; an
edict of April 2, 1680, prohibited the Jews from deal-
ing in hides ; another of July 12, 1683, prohibited
their dealing in silver and in specie. Their terms of ,
toleration were limited to periods of twenty years,
but renewal was always secured without any diffi-
culty (R5nne and Simon, " Die Prliheren und Gegen-
wartigen Verhaltnlsse der Juden in den Samnitlichen
Landestheilen des Preussischen Staates," p. 207),
although frequently a census of the Jews was taken
at which each was required to show his credentials.

In spite of this strictness in supervision, and in
spite of the fact that the Jews protected by charter
were very jealous of their privileges and assigned a
clerk to assist the police in excluding those of their
coreligionists who were undesirable, the number of
Jews in Berlin as elsewhere increased. A law of
Jan. 24, 1700, stipulated that the Jews should pay
double the amount of the former tax of eight thaler
for every licensed (" vergleltete ") family, and 3,000
thaler annually as a community, while their exemp-
tion from the poll-tax was withdrawn. Those who
had no license (" unvergleltete Juden ") were required
to pay double the amount for the time that they had
been in the country, and were then to be expelled.
A petition from the Jews was granted in a new reg-
ulation, issued Dec. 7, 1700, exempting them from
the poll-tax again, but raising their annual tribute
to 1,000 ducats.

Frederick III. (1688-1714), who in 1701 proclaimed
himself King of Prussia, needed the Jews to assist
him in raising the funds required to meet the ex-
penses of his extravagant household. Therefore he
evaded replying clearly to the demands of the Prus-
sian states (1689) for the expulsion of the Jews who,
in part under his father, had been allowed to settle
in K8nigsberg, Memel, and Tilsit ; he declared that
such petitions had been frequently made, and it had
been found impossible to carry out the wishes of
the states (Jolowicz, " Gesch. der Juden in KOnigs-
berg," p. 24, Posen, 1867).

JosT LiBBMANN and Marcus Magnus, court Jews,
enjoyed special privileges and were permitted to
maintain synagogues in their own houses ; and in
1712 a concession was obtained for the building of a
communal house of worship In Berlin. A law of
May 20, 1704, permitted the Jews of Brandenburg
to open stores and to own real estate ; and even the
principle that the number of privileged Jews should
not be increased was set aside in favor of those who
could pay from 40 to 100 reichsthaler, such being
allowed to transfer their privileges to a second and
a third son (Jolowicz, ib. p. 46). On the other hand,
the king was easily persuaded to take measures
against the supposed blasphemies of the Jews.
Thus the synagogue service was placed under strict
police supervision (Aug. 38, 1703), that the Jews
might not pronounce blasphemies against Jesus
(R5nne and Simon, I.e. p. 308; Geiger, I.e. 1.17;
Moses, "Ein Zwcihundertjahrriges Jubilaum," in
" Jiidische Presse," Supplement, 1903, pp. 39 et seg.).

The king further permitted the reprinting of Eisen-
mbnqer'b " Entdecktes Judenthum " in his states,
though the emperor had prohibited it.

Frederick William I. (1714-40) was despotic
though well-meaning, and treated the Jews, against
whom he had strong religious prejudices, very
harshly. He renewed the order against the passage
in the 'Alenu prayer supposed to con-
Frederick tain blasphemies against Jesus (1716),
William I. and acted on the principle that the
commimity should be responsible for
the wrong-doings of every individual. Levin Veit,
a purveyor for the mint, died in 1731, leaving liabil-
ities to the amount of 100,000 thaler. The king
ordered that all Jews should assemble in the syna-
gogue; it was surrounded by soldiers, and the
rabbi, in the presence of a court chaplain, pro-
nounced a ban against any one who was an accom-
plice in Levin's bankruptcy. The two laws which
Frederick issued regulating the condition of the Jews,
one for Brandenburg, May 30, 1714, the other the
"General Juden Privilegium" of Sept. 29, 1730,
breathe the spirit of intolerance. The number of
Jews was limited ; a " Privilegium " could ordinarily
be transferred only to one son, and even then only
on condition that the latter possessed no less than
2,000 thaler; in the case of a second or third son the
sum required (as well as the taxes for a marriage
license) was much higher. Of foreign Jews only
those possessing at least 10,000 thaler were admitted.

The king's general harshness of manner knew no
bounds when he dealt with Jewish affairs. Thus
he answered the petition of the Berlin congregation
for the remission of the burial dues for poor Jews
with a curt note to the eflect that if in any case the
dues were not paid the hangman should take the
body on his wheelbarrow and bury it under the
gallows. He insisted that the congregation of Ber-
lin should elect Moses Aaron Lemberger as its rabbi ;
and when it finally obtained permission to elect
another rabbi it was compelled to pay very heavily
therefor. On the other hand, the king was far-
sighted enough to give special liberties to Jewish
manufacturers. Hlrsch David Prager obtained (1730)
permission to establish a velvet - manufactory in
Potsdam, and so became the pioneer of the large
manufacturing enterprises which rapidly developed
under Frederick (Geiger, I.e. ii., 77 e< seg.; Kalter,
" Gesch. der J Udischen Gemeinde zu Potsdam, " p. 12,
Potsdam, 1903 ; " Mittheilungen aus dem Verein zur
Abwehr des Antisemitismus," 1897, pp. 337 et seg.).

Frederick II. (the Great) (1740-86), although a
scoffer in religious matters, declared in an official
edict (April 17, 1774) that he disliked the
Frederick Jews (" vor die Juden iiberhaupt nicht
the Great, portirt"). Earlier in his reign, in sign-
ing a " Schutzbrief " for the second son
of a privileged Jew, he had said that this would be
exceptional, because it was his principle that the
number of Jews should be diminished (1747). Still,
great statesman as he was, he utilized the commer-
cial genius of the Jews to carry out his protectionist
plans, and therefore, following in the footsteps of
his father, he granted exceptional privileges to Jews
who opened manufacturing establishments. Thus
Moses Rics obtained an exclusive privilege for his

Prussia
Przemysl

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

238

silk-manufactory in Potsdam (1764) ; later on others
secured similar privileges, including Isaac Bern-
hard, Moses Mendelssohn's employer. While the
Jews were thus benefited by the king's protection-
ist policy, they suffered from it in other ways. An
edict of March 21, 1769, ordered that every Jew,
before he married or bought a house, must buy
from 300 to 500 thaler's worth of chinaware and
export it.

When Erederick acquired Silesia (1742) he con-
firmed the Austrian legislation regarding the Jews
(Berndt, " Gesch. der Juden in Gross-Glogau," p. 64,
Glogau, n.d.). When he. took part of the kingdom
of Poland, in 1772, he was with great difticulty dis-
suaded from expelling the Jews, his aversion to
whom was especially manifested in his refusal to
confirm Moses Mendelssohn's election as a member
of the Berlin Academy. His revised " Generalregle-
ment und Generalprivilegium " of April 17, 1750
(ROnne and Simon, I.e. pp. ^^letseq.), wasvery harsh.
It restricted the number of Jewish marriages, ex-
cluded the Jews from most of the branches of skilled
labor, from dealing in wool and yarn, and from brew-
ing and innkeeping, and limited their activity in
those trades permitted to them. Of his many hostile
orders may be mentioned one which held a congre-
gation responsible if one of its members received
stolen goods.

The short reign of Frederick William II. (1786-97)
brought some slight relief to the Jews, as the repeal
of the law compelling the buying of china, for which
repeal they had to pay 4,000 thaler (1788). Individ-
ual regulations issued for various communities, as
for Breslau in 1790, still breathed the medieval spirit ;
and a real change came only when Prussia, after
the defeat at Jena (1806), inaugurated a liberal
policy, a part of which was the edict
Emancipa- of March 11, 1812, concerning the civil
tion. status of the Jews (R6nne and Simon,
I.e. pp. 264 et aeq.). Its most impor-
tant features were the declaration of their civic
equality with Christians and their admission to the
army. They were further admitted to professor-
ships in the universities, and were promised polit-
ical rights for the future.

The reaction following the battle of Waterloo and
the fact that Frederick William III. (1797-1840) was
himself a strict reactionary caused a corresponding
change of conditions. Still the edict of 1812 remained
valid with the exception of section viii., declaring the
right of the Jews to hold professorships; this the
king canceled (1822). But the law was declared to
apply only to those provinces which had been under
Prussian dominion in 1812; and so it came that
twenty-two anomalous laws concerning the status
of the Jews existed in the kingdom. This condition,
aggravated by such reactionary measures as the
prohibition against the adoption of Christian names
(1828), led first to the promulgation of the law
of June 1, 1833, concerning the Jews in the grand
duchy of Posen — this was from the start a tempo-
rary measure— and finally to the law of July 23,
1847, which extended civil equality to all Jews of
Prussia and gave them certain political rights. Al-
though the constitutions of 1848 and 1850 gave the
Jews full equality, the period of reaction, beginning

in the fifties, withdrew many of these rights by in-
terpretation.

Frederick William IV. (1840-61), who declared
in the beginning of his reign that he desired to
exclude the Jews from military service, believed
strongly in a "Christian" state. When his brother
William I. (1861-88) became regent conditions be-
gan to improve ; Jews were admitted to professor-
ships and to the legal profession, but remained still
practically excluded from military careers and from
the service of the state. The last vestige of medi-
evalism disappeared with the abolition of the Oath
MoKB JuDAico in 1869. The history of the Jews
in Prussia since 1870 is practically identical with
that of the Jews of Germany. See, however, Anti-
Semitism.

Prussia has a population of 34,472,000, including

392,332 Jews (1900).

BiBLiOGBAPHT : Jost, Ncuere Oesch. der Israeliten, vol. i.,
Berlin, 1840 ; E6nne and Simon, Die Frttheren ««d Gegen-
wartigen Verhaitnisse der Juden in den SdmmtUchen
Landestheilen des Preussischen Staates, Breslau, 1843 ; Gel-
ger, Gesch. der Juden in Berlin, Berlin, 1871 ; W. Freund,
Entunvrf zu einer ZeitgemOssen Verfassung der Juden in
Preussen. Breslau, 1842; VoUstdndige Verhandlungen des
Ersten Vereinigten Preiissischen Lcmdtages Uher die
Emaneipationfi - Fra{ie der Juden, Berlin, 1847, and vari-
ous monographs on the history of important congrega-
tions, as Bromberg, Erfurt, KOnigsberg, Magdebdrg;
Zeitsehrift fUr Qeneh. der Juden in Deutschland, il. 30-29
(for periodicals).

PBTTZHANY : Russian town in the govern-
ment of Grodno. It had a Jewish community at
the end of the sixteenth century, when Joel Sirkes
held his first rabbinate there. The community is
first mentioned in Russian documents in 1583 ("Re-
gesty i Nadpisi "). In 1628 the Council of Lithuania
adopted a resolution that Pruzhany should be its
permanent meeting-place, but the resolution seems
not to have been adhered to. The number of its
inhabitants in 1817 is given as 824; but it grew fast
under Russian rule, and, notwithstanding the almost
total destruction of the town by fire in 1863, it had,
by 1865, a population of 5,455, of whom 2,606 were
Jews. The last census (1897) showed a population
of 7,634, of whom about 60 per cent were Jews.

The best-known rabbis of Pruzhany were : Abig-
dor b. Samuel (d. 1771, at the house of his son Sam-
uel, the last rabbi of Wilna); Enoch b. Samuel
Schick (went later to Shklov ; died about 1800 ; great-
grandfather of Elijah Schick, or " Lida'er ") ; Yom-
Tob Lipmann (son of the preceding, and probably his
successor) ; Elijah Hayyim b. Moses Meisel (about
1860; now [1905] rabbi of Lodz; born at Horodok,
government of Wilna, Jan. 9, 1821); Jeruham Perl-
man (from 1871 to 1883; removed to Minsk); Elijah
ha-Levi Feinstein (born in Starobin, government of
Minsk, Dec. 10, 1842; successively rabbi of Staro-
bin, Kletzk, Karelitz, and Khaslavich).

The district of Pruzhany had, in 1897, a popula-
tion of 132,245, of whom about 13 per cent were
Jews.

Bibliography : Enbziklopedieheshi Slovar ; Eisenstadt, Dnr
Babbanaw we-Soferaw, i. 45-46, Warsaw, 1895 ; Feinstein,
'Ir Tehillah, p. 103, Warsaw, 1886 ; Fuenn, Keneset Tisrael,
pp. 5, 369, Warsaw, 1888 ; Jttdisches Volksblatt (St. Peters-
burg), 1883, No. 3.
H. R. p. Wl.

PBZEMTSL : City of Galicia ; once the capi-
tal of Red Russia. While Przemysl is referred to

239

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Prussia
Frzemysl-

by the Russian chronicler Nestor in the year 981,
no mention of Jews in the city occurs until 1437
("Akta Grodzkie," xiii., No. 683), and even then
they are found there only sporadically, as in the
other cities of Red Russia, with the exception of
Lemberg. According to the earliest statistics, da-
ting from 1543, eighteen Jewish families were then
living at Przemysl, including seven house-owners,
who paid annually, "et ratione Judaismi,"a rent of
4 Polish gulden, their teuants paying 3 gulden.

The earliest legal regulation of the Jewish com-
munity at Przemysl was issued by King Sigismund"
August on March 20, 1559, and was signed by the
highest civil and ecclesiastical author-
Early ities. The Jews, who had long (" an-
Refereuces. tiquitus ") inhabited their own street,
had the right of perpetual residence
there ; they might buy houses in that quarter from
Christians, bequeath them, and enjoy all the com-
mercial privileges of Christians. They were under
the royal jurisdiction, i.e., the waywode's court,
which is mentioned in acts of the year 1576 as the
" Jews' court " ; and they had to pay the I'oyal treas-
ury 4 Polish gulden for each house. King Sigis-
mund granted three other privileges to the Jews,
which were in part confirmations and in part inter-
pretations of the preceding ones.

It appears from a lawsuit of the year 1560 that
the Jews then possessed a frame synagogue, said to
have been founded by two wealthy Spanish immi-
grants. By permission of the chapter this structure
was replaced in 1593 with one of stone.

On the accession of Stephen Bathori (June 37,
1576) the Jews obtained a second privilege, "ad
bonum ordinem," determining the internal organiza-
tion of the community and its relation to the state
authorities. This statute, containing twelve sec-
tions, was granted about the same time to the Jews
of Lemberg aud Posen as well, and, together with
a second ordinance, formed the basis for a new
epoch in the status of the Polish Jews in general,
who thenceforth enjoyed complete autonomy (comp.
Schorr, "Organizacya Zydow w Polsce," p. 18,
Lemberg, 1899). The two most important sections
of this statute are the fifth aud the tenth. Accord-
ing to the former, the directors might not be forced
upon the community, but were to be chosen by the
Jews and then confirmed by the waywode, while
the latter section ruled that the waywode might
not force a rabbi upon the community, but should
merely have the right of approving or disapprov-
ing its choice (see Lemberg).

The privileges of the Jews were confii'med by
Sigismund III. on his accession to the throne (1587).
The citizens, who at first did not oppose the perma-
nent settlement of the Jews, entered into an agree-
ment with tliem in 1595 to the effect that on the
payment of 600 Polish gulden toward the fortifica-
tion of the city the Jews should be exempt forever
from any further payment for that purpose, and
should receive aid from the city in case of need.
These friendly relations were soon disturbed, how-
ever ; and the complaint of the competition of the
Jews, brought befo're the magistracy in 1608, marks
the beginning of the economic struggle between
them and the citizens. This struggle continued

until the fall of Poland, becoming more bitter and
brutal in the course of time, and leading to pro-
longed lawsuits and to the ultimate
Per- ruin of both parties. In 1638 the citi-
secutions. zens fell upon the Jews, plundered
their shops, and even entered the hos-
pital, causing damage to the Jews to the amount of
33,000 gulden.

In 1630 an event occurred which is still commem-
orated in one of the older sj'nagogues by fasting and
by the recitation of an elegy on the 30th of Adar.
A Christian woman accused certain Jews of having
persuaded her to steal a consecrated host. This
declaration led to a riot, during which Moses (Moss-
ko) Szmuklerz (= "braider") was imprisoned on
suspicion, and was condemned to cruel tortures and
the stake by the Grod court after a short trial, with-
out the privilege of appeal. With liis last breath
he proclaimed his innocence, dying with the cry
"Shema' Yisrael." The description of the tortures
in the documents agrees with that of an elegy com-
posed by the contemporary Moses ha-Medakdek
(comp. Lazar in "Ha-Asif," vol. iv., part ii., pp.
193-198, Warsaw, 1887, and Kaufmann, ib. v., part
ii., pp. 135-130, ib. 1889). This unjust verdict of
an incompetent court seems to have caused great
excitement among the Jews throughout Poland;,
and on the accession of King Ladislaus IV. a special
clause relating to competent courts was inserted in
the usual act of the confirmation of privileges of the
Jews throughout Poland, probably through the in-
tervention of the Council of Pouk Lands, this
clause containing uumistakable allusions to the case
at Przemysl.

In 1637 almost the entire ghetto, with the excep-
tion of the synagogue, was destroyed by a confla-
gration. A royal decree was issued in the following
year for the reestablishment of the community,
which had a new source of income from about
twenty-six of the neighboring towns and villages;
these were required to pay regular taxes to the
central community at Przemysl for the privilege
of holding divine service, burying their dead,
etc. It was also enacted that the rabbi of Przemysl
should be regarded as the final authority, and should
receive 3 florins a year from each innkeeper.

The economic relations between the Jews and the
citizens were regulated after many lawsuits by an
important contract made in 1645, and remaining in
force, almost without change, until 1773. This
contained eighteen paragraphs, in which the individ-
ual municipal gilds clearly defined the boundaries
within which Jewish merchants and artisans might
ply their vocations. The former privileges of the
Jews were thus abrogated, and they were subse-
quently forced to pay from time to time even for
these limited concessions.

The Jews of Przemysl did not suffer during the
Cossack disturbances of 1648 and 1649, when they
took part in defending the city, as is reported by
Nathan Hannover in his "Yewen Mezulah," nor
during the Polish-Swedish war, although the city
was besieged twice. A trustworthy source (Pufen-
dorf, "De Rebus a Carolo Gustavo Gestis," p. 188,
Nuremberg, 1696) says that some Jewish divisions
fought beside the Polish soldiers at the San River.

Przemysl
Psalms

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

240

near Przemysl, and another authority ("Teatrum
Europaeuni," vii. 820, Prankfort-on-the-Main, 1685)
states that a Jew acting for a colonel was captured
by the Swedes in the siege, this story being con-
firmed by documents in the archives. Although the
•city did not suffer, the consequences of the war were
■disastrous to the Jews, who were ruined by the
war taxes and bj^ plunderings on the part of the
Polish soldiers quartered in the city ; so that in 1661,
to raise a larger loan, the community was obliged to
mortgage its synagogue to the nobility. According
to a statistical document of 1662, there were eighty
Jewish merchants in the city, mostly small dealers,
some braiders, apothecaries, and grocers, and one
dealer in guns, armor, and war material.

During the last three decades of the seventeenth
century and throughout the eighteenth the eco-
nomic condition of the Jews grew steadily worse, in
consequence of the increasing taxes and contribu-
tions which they had to pay to assure their exist-
ence, obliging them to contract enormous debts
among both the nobility and the clergy. The Jews
were finally ruined by a conflagration which des-
troyed the entire ghetto in 1678, leading to a series
■of debtors' suits. They were so impoverished that
they even thought of leaving the city, when King
John Sobieski (1674-96) extended the time for the
payment of their debts. King Augustus II., who
had confirmed their former privileges in 1700, ex-
empted the Jews for twenty years from all taxes
paid for their right to brew mead and beer, which
were among the principal articles of commerce of
Przemysl ; but ten years later he repealed his decree.
The community was further disriipted by internal
-dissensions ; and on account of the increasing taxes
which the directors found themselves obliged to levy
in order to paj' the debts due the clergy and the no-
bility, so many Jews left the ghetto that the way-
wode forcibly checked the emigration. The unfor-
tunate condition of the Jews in the middle of the
■eighteenth century is shown only too clearly by the
debt of 141,750 Polish gulden which they owed the
nobility in 1773.

In 1746 Jesuit students attacked the ghetto of
Przemysl, as those of other cities, plundered the
synagogue, ruined the costly vessels, and tore up
the Torah scrolls, scattering the pieces in the streets.
They destroyed also the greater part of the valuable
^archives, which contained priceless documents of
the waywode's court, only a few of the original
copies of the privileges being saved. The extent of
the damage is indicated by the fact that after tedious
negotiations the Jesuits finally paid an indemnity of
15,000 Polish gulden. According to statistics of the
year 1765, there were at that time about 2,418 Jews
in Przemysl.

During the first half of the nineteenth century,
when the city was under Austrian rule, the Jews
suffered as much as ever from heavy taxes; but
after the promulgation of the " Staatsgrundgesetze "
in 1867 the community was able to develop more
freely.

Of historic interest is the reference to the phy-
sician Marcus Niger, who lived at Przemysl at the
end of the sixteenth century, and enjoyed the spe-
■cial favor of the king. He oflSciated also as the

president of the community, and is mentioned in the
records with the title "honestus." A " Doctor Hen-
zel, son of Rebekah," is mentioned in a document of
the year 1659. A very valuable pinkes of the tailors'
gild, dating from the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury, contains important data showing that as early
as the beginning of that century there were regularly
incorporated Jewish working men's gilds, as exclu-
sive as the Christian gilds, and with similar organ-
izations.

The following rabbis and scholars of Przemysl
are noteworthy : Moses b. Abraham Katz (a pupil
of i3"B'"")"n"D, and the author of "Matteh Mosheh,"
" Pene Mosheh, " and many other works) ; Simon
Wolf (son of R. Meir Nikolsburg of Prague, the
author of a work entitled " Sha'ar Simeon " ; later
rabbi at Posen, Vienna, and Prague; d. 1632);
Joshua b. Joseph (later rabbi at Lemberg ; author
of " Magineh Shelomoh " and " Pene Yehoshua' " ;
d. 1648) ; Isaac Eizik (son-in-law of the preceding) ;
Aryeh L5b (son of R. Zechariah Mendel and brother
of R. Zebi Hirsch ; later rabbi at Vienna and Cracow ;
d. 1671); R. Joseph (author of "Zofnat Pa'aneah,"
printed in 1679) ; Joseph Segal (son of Moses Harif ;
previously "resh metibta" at Lemberg; d. 1702);
Mendel Margolioth (d. April 3, 1652) ; Joshua Peivel
Te'omim (son of R. Jonah, who wrote the " Kikyon
de-Yonah " ; an act of the Council of Four Lands
was signed by him in 1713) ; Hayyim Jonah Te-
'omim (son of the preceding ; later rabbi at Breslau) ;
Samuel Schmelka (son of R. Menahem Mendel and
father-in-law of R. Hayyim ha-Kohen Rapoport of
Lemberg ; d. 1713) ; Ezekiel Michael (son of Samuel
Schmelka; an enthusiastic adherent of R. Jacob
Eybeschiitz ; d. 1771) ; Aryeh L6b (son of the prece-
ding ; later rabbi at Lemberg ; d. 1810) ; Joseph Asher
(pupil of R. Samuel Saler of Lemberg; d. 1826);
Asher Bnzel (son-in-law of the preceding) ; Samuel
Heller; Lipa Meisels; Isaac Aaron Ettinger (later
rabbi at Lemberg; d. 1891); Isaac Schmelkes (now,
1905, rabbi at Lemberg).

The Jews of the city number (1905) about 15,000
in a total population of 40,000. The community
supports the following institutions : three principal
synagogues, eight chapels, two Talmud Torah
schools, three bath-houses, people's kitchen, hos-
pital, infirmary, three women's societies, a Yad Ha-
ruzim (working men's union), a Zweikreuzer-Verein
for the relief of poor school-children, and several
other philanthropic societies.

BiBLioGKAPHT : L. Hauser. Monografia Miasta Przemyala,
1885 ; M. Schorr, Zndziw Przemyslu Opracowaniei Wydaw-
nictwo Materyatu Archiwalnego, Lemberg, 1903 ; Azulai,
Sftem ha-Gedolim; Buber, Anshe She-m, Cracow, 1896;
Steinscbneider, Cat. Bodl. ; Lazar, In Ha-A«if, iv., part li.,
pp. 125-130.
D. M. SCH.

PSALMOMANCY : The employment of the
Psalms in incantations. The general use of the
Bible for magic purposes has been discussed under
BiBiiiOMANcy. Inasmuch as the employment of the
Psalms is mentioned there, a brief summary, to-
gether with certain supplementary material, will
suffice in this article. Next to the Torah", the Psalms
were especially popular in magic, since they formed
the real book of the people, one which they knew and
loved as a book of prayers ; and prayers had, ac-

241

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Przemysl
PsalmB

■cording to the popular opinion of the ancients, ex-
tremely close affinities with incantations. As early
as the second century Ps. xci. was called " The Song
Against Demons"; and the same statement holds
true of Ps. iii. (Yer. Shab. 8b, 21; Sheb. 15b; and
parallel passages). The former psalm, which is still
recited at funerals, was found inscribed in a tomb
at Kertch (Blau, " Das Alt-Jl\dische Zauberwesen,"
in " Jahresbericht der Landesrabbinerschule in Buda-
pest," 1898, p. 96) ; and the beginning of it occurs to-
gether with Rom. xii. 1 and I John ii. 1 on a Greek
papyrus amulet, which was undoubtedly buried
witli the dead (Heinrici, "Die Leipziger Papyrus-
fragmente der Psalmen," p. 31, Leipsio, 1903).

Tablets Inscribed with verses of the Psalms or of
the Bible generally, and found in great numbers in
recent years, must have been regarded as a means
of protection for both the living and the dead,
whether the charms were Jewish or Christian in ori-
gin, as, for instance, amulets inscribed with the
Lord's Prayer. The recitation of Ps. xxix. was
recommended to avert the peril of drinking uncov-
ered water in the dark on Wednesday evening or
on Sabbath eve (Pes. 113a). In ancient times the
scrolls of the Law, when worn out, were placed in
the grave of a scholar (Meg. 26b) ; and the papyrus
books, which are almost without exception defect-
ive, are obtained from graves.

No other ancient examples of this use of the
Psalms are known ; but in the Middle Ages the em-
ployment of the Psalms in all the vicissitudes of life
was so extensive and detailed (comp. Jew. Encyc.
iii. 302-305, s.». Bibliomancy) that there is no doubt
that it was based on ancient custom, especially as a
similar use of the Psalms for magic purposes existed
among the Syrians and the European Christians in
the early medieval period (comp. Kayser, " Gebrauch
von Psalmen zur Zauberei," in "Z. D. M. G." xlii.
456-463— a veritable Syriac " Shimmush Tehillim " ;
Meyer, "Aberglaube des Mittelalters," pp. 145 et
seq., Basel, 1884). The recitation of Ps. xvi. and
cix, was regarded as a means of detection of thieves
(Meyer, I.e. p. 230); and the Psalms were also em-
ployed in the Ordeai^ (Herzog-Hauck, "Real-
Encyc." vii. 34). In all probability the origin of
the employment of the Psalms in magic is essen-
tially Jewish.

Bibliogkaphy: WKUUungen der GeselUcliaft fUr Jlldische
Vollcskunde, x. 81 et seq.
3. L. B.

PSALMS,: ^ame derived from the Greek fa?^fi6(
(plural faX/ioi), which signifies primarily playing
on a stringed instrument, and secondarily the com-
position played or the song accompanied on such
an instrument. In the Septuagint (Codex Alexan-
drinus) faXTr/pwv is used, which denotes a large
stringed instniment, also a collection of songs in-
tended to be sung to the accompaniment of strings
(harp). These terms are employed to translate the
Hebrew " mizmor " and " tehillim. " The exact deri-
vation and meaning of the former are uncertain.
It would seem that, etymologically denoting " para-
graph," it owes its signification of "psalm," "song,"
or " hymn " to the circumstance that it is found pre-
fixed to the superscriptions of a number of psalms.
The word "tehillim" is a plural, not occurring in
X.— 16

Biblical Hebrew, from the singular " tehillah " =
"song of praise." It is thus a fitting title for the
collection of songs found in the " Ketubim " or Ha-
giographa (the third main division of the Hebrew
canon), and more fully described as " Sefer Tehilhm,"
or the "Book of Psalms." "Tehillim" is also con-
tracted to " tillim " (Aramaic, " tillin ").

Biblical Data : In the printed Hebrew Bible

the Book of Psalms is the first of the Ketubim;
but it did not always occupy this position, having
formerly been preceded by Ruth (B, B. 14b; Tos.
to B. B. I.e.). Jerome, however ("Prologus Gale-
atus"), has another order, in which Job is first and'
the Psalms second, while Sephardic manuscripts as-
sign to Chronicles the first and to the Psalms the
second place (comp. 'Ah. Zarah 19a). The Book of
Psalms is one of the three poetic books denoted as
n"o"« (EMaT = Job [lyyob]. Proverbs [Mishle], and
Psalms [Tehillim]) and having an accentuation (see/
Accents in Hebrew) of their own.

The Sefer Tehillim consists of 150 psalms di-
vided into five books, as follows: booki.= Ps. i.-
xli. ; ii. = Ps. xlii.-lxxii. ; iii. = Ps. Ixxiii.-lxxxix. ;
iv. = Ps. xc.-cvi. ; V. = Ps. cvii.-cl., the divisions
between these books being indicated by doxologies
(Ps. xli. 14 [A. V. 13] ; Ixxii. 19 [18-19] ; Ixxxix. 53
[52] ; cvi. 48). The conclusion of book ii. is still
further marked by the gloss iB>< p nn nibsn 1^3 =
"The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.''
Of the 150 psalms 100 are ascribed, in their super-
scriptions, to various authors by name: one, Ps. xc.,
to Moses; seventy -three to David; two, Ixxii. and
cxxvii., to Solomon; twelve, 1. andlxxiii. tolxxxiii.,
to Asaph; one, Ixxxviii., to Heman; one, Ixxxix.,
to Ethan ; ten to the sons of Korah (eleven if Ixxxviii. ,
attributed also to Heman, is assigned to them). In
the Septuagint ten more psalms are credited to
David. Sixteen psalms have other (mostly musical)
headings. According to their contents, the Psalms
maybe grouped as follows: (1) hymns of praise,
(2) elegies, and (3) didactic psalms.

Hymns of -raise : These glorify God, His power,
and His loving-kindness manifested in nature or
shown to Israel, or they celebrate the Torah, Zion,
and the Davidic kingdom. In this group are com-
prised the psalms of gratitude, expressing thankful-
ness for help extended and refuge found in times of
danger and distress. The group embraces about
one-third of the Psalter.

Elegies : These lend voice to feelings of grief at
the spread of iniquity, the triumph of the wicked,
the sufferings of the just, the "humble," or the
"poor," and the abandonment of Israel. In this
category are comprehended the psalms of supplica-
tion, the burden of which is fervent prayer for the
amelioration of conditions, the restoration of Israel
to grace, and thg^repentance of sinners. The line of
demarcationh«een elegy and supplication is not
sharply dra^lBT Lamentation often concludes with
petition; and prayer, in turn, ends in lamentation.
Perhaps some of this group ought to be considered
as forming a distinct category by themselves, and to
be designated as psalms of repentance or penitential
hymns ; for their key-note is open confession of sin
and transgression prompted by ardent repentance,
preluding the yearning for forgiveness. These are

Psalms

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

243

distinct from tlie other elegies in so far as they are
inspired by consciousness of guilt and not by the
gnawing sense of unmerited affliction.

Didactic Psalms : These, of quieter mood, give
advice concerning righteous conduct and speech,
and caution against improper behavior and attitude.
Of the same general character, though aimed at a
specific class or set of persons, are the imprecatory
psalms, in which, often in strong language, short-
comings are censured and their consequences expa-
tiated upon, or their perpetrators are bitterly de-
nounced.

Most of the 150 psalms may, without straining the
context and content of their language, be assigned
to one or another of these three (or, with their subdi-
visions, seven) groups. Some scholars would add
another class, viz., that of the king-psalms, e.g., Ps.
ii., xviii., xx., xxi., xlv., Ixi., Ixxii., and others.
Though in these king-psalms there is always allu-
sion to a king, they as a rule will be found to be
either hymns of praise, gratitude, or supplication, or
didactic songs. Another principle of grouping is
concerned with the character of the speaker. Is it
the nation that pours out its feelings, or is it an in-
dividual who unburdens his soul? Thus the axis
of cleavage runs between national and individual
psalms.

In form the Psalms exhibit in a high degree of
perfection charm of language and wealth of meta-
phor as well as rhythm of thought, i.e., all of the
variety of parallelism. The prevailing scheme is the
couplet of two corresponding lines. The triplet and
quatrain occur also, though not frequently. For
the discussion of a more regular metrical system in
the Psalms than this parallelism reference is made
to J. Ley (" Die Metrischen Formen der
Literary Hebraische^ Poesie," 1866; "Qrund-
Form. ztige'dra Rhythmus der Hebriiischen
-Poesie;" 1875), Bickell ("Carraina V.
T. Metrice," 1883; and in "Z. D. M. G." 1891-94),
Grimme ("Abriss der Biblisch-Hebraischen Met-
rik," ib. 1896-97), and Ed. Sievers ("Studien zur
Hebraischen Metrik," Leipsic, 1901; see also "The-
ologische Rundschau," 1905, viii. 41 et seq.). The
refrain may be said to constitute one of the salient
verbal features of some of the psalms (comp. Ps.
xlii. 5, 11; xliii. 5; xlvi. 7, 11; Ixxx, 3, 7, 19; cvii.
8, 15, 21, 31; cxxxvi., every half -verse of which
consists of "and his goodness endureth forever").
Several of the psalms are acrostic or alphabetic in
their arrangement, the succession of the letters of
the Hebrew alphabet occurring in various positions
— the beginning of every verse, every hemistich,
or every couplet; in the last-mentioned case the
letters may occur in pairs, i.e., in each couplet the
two lines may begin with the same letter, Ps. cix.
has throughout eight verses beginning with the same "
letter. Occasionally the scheme is not completely
carried out (Ps. ix.-x.), one letter appearing in the
place of another (see also Ps. xxv., xxxvii., cxi.,
cxii.).

The religious and ethical content of the Psalms
may be summarized as a vivid consciousness of
God's all-sustaining, guiding, supreme power. The
verbal terms are often anthropomorphic ; the similes,
bold {e.g., God is seated in the heavens with the

earth as His footstool ; He causes the heavens to
bow down ; He scatters the enemies of His people ;
He spreads a table). God's justice and mercy are
the dominant notes in the theology of the Psalms.
His loving-kindness is the favorite
Religious theme of the psalmists. God is the
and Father who loves and pities His chil-

Ethical dreu. He lifts up the lowly and de-
Content, feats the arrogant. His kingdom en-
dures for ever. He is the Holy One.
The heavens declare His glory : they are His handi-
work. The religious interpretation of nature is the
intention of many of these hymns of praise (notably
Ps. viii.,xix.,xxix.,lxv., xciii., civ.). Man's frailty,
and withal his strength, his exceptional position in
the sweep of creation, are other favorite themes.
Sin and sinners are central to some psalms, but even
so is the well-assured confidence of the God-fearing.
Repentance is the path-pointer to the forgiving
God. Ps. 1., for instance, rings with an Isaianic
protest against sacrificial ritualism. The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit. Often the nation is
made to speak; yet the "I" in the Psalms is not
always national. Individualization of religion is not
beyond the horizon. Nor is it true that the national
spirit alone finds expression and that the perfect
man pictured is always and necessarily conceived of
as a son of Israel. The universalistic note is as often
struck. The imprecations of such psalms as cix.
are not demonstrations of the vindictiveness of nar-
row nationalism. Read in the light of the times
when they were written (see Psalms, Ceitical
View), these fanatical utterances must be under-
stood as directed against Israelites — not non-Jews.
Ps. XV. is the proclamation of an ethioal religion
that disregards limitations of birth or blood. Again,
the "poor" and the "meek" or "humble," so often
mentioned — " poverty " or humility being found
even among God's attributes (xviii. 35) — are Israel-
ites, the " servants of Yhwh," whose sufferings have '
evoked Deutero-Isaiah's description (Isa. liii.). The
"return of Israel" and the establishment of God's
reign of justice contemporaneously with Israel's res-
toration are focal in the eschatology of the Psalms,
treated as a whole. But perhaps this method of re-
garding the Psalms as virtui,lly reflecting identical
views must be abandoned, the reasons for which are
detailed in Psalms, Critical View.

In Babbinical Literature : The richest in

content and the most precious of the three large
Ketubim (Ber. 57a), the Sefer Tehillim is regarded
as a second Pentateuch, whose virtual composer was
David, often likened to Moses (Midr. Teh. ch. i.).
"Moses gave [Israel] the five books of the Torah,
and to correspond with them [DIJJD] David gave
them the Sefer Tehillim, in which also there are
five books" {ib.). Its sacred character as distinct
from such books as the " Sifre Homerus " (works of
Hermes, not Homer) is explicitly emphasized (Midr.
Teh. I.e. ; Yalk. ii. 613, 678). The Psalms are essen-
tially " songs and laudations " (ninSB'ini JTlT'E')- Ac-
cording to Rab, the proper designation for the book
would be "Halleluyah" (Midr. Teh. I.e.), because
that term comprehends both the Divine Name and
its glorification, and for this reason is held to be the
best of the ten words for praise occurring in the

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Page from Polyglot psalms, Genoa, 1516. Latin Gloss Mentions Discovert of America by Columbus.

(Fruin the Sulzberger collection in the Jewish Theological Seuiloary of America, New York.)

Psalms

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

244

Psalms. These ten words, corresponding in number
to tlie ten men wlio bad a part in composing tlie
Psalms, are : " berakali" (benediction) ; Hallel ; " te-
flUab " (pra3'er) ; "sbir" (song); " mizmor " (psalm) ;
"ueginab" (melody); "nazcah" (to play on an in-
strument): "asbre" (happy, blessed); "liodot"
(thanks); "balleluyah" (ib.).

Ten men had a share in the compilation of this

collection, but the chief editor was David (B. B. 15a;

Midr. Teh. i.). Of the ten names two variant lists

are given, namely : (1) Adam, Moses,

Composi- Asaph, Heman, Abraham, Jeduthun,

tion of the Melchizedek, and three sons of Korah ;

Psalter. (2) Adam, Moses, Asaph, Heman,
Abraham, Jeduthun, David, Solomon,
the three sons of Korah counted as one, and Ezra
(B. B. 14b; Cant. R. to verse iv. 4; Eccl. R. to vii.
19 ; sometimes for Abraham, Ethan ha-Ezrahi is sub-
stituted). Adam's psalms are such as refer to cos-
mogony, creation. Ps. v., xix., xxiv., xcii. (Talk.
ii. 630) were said to have been written by David,
though Adam was worthy to have composed them.

The division into five books known to the Rabbis
corresponded with that observed in modern edi-
tions. The order of the Psalms was identical with
that of modern recensions; but the Rabbis sus-
pected that it was not altogether correct. Rabbi
Joshua ben Levi is reported to have desired to make
alterations (Midr. Teh. xxxvii.). Moses was cred-
ited with the authorship of eleven psalms, xc.-c. {ib.
xc). They were excluded from the Torah because
they were not composed in the prophetic spirit (ib.).
Ps. XXX. ("at the dedication of the house") was
ascribed to David as well as to Ezra (ib. xxs.).
Twent3'-two times is "ashre" found in the Psalms;
and this recalls the twenty-two letters of the He-
brew alphabet (ib. i.). "Barki nafshi" occurs
five times in Ps. ciii., recalling the analogy with
the Pentateuch (ib. ciii.). Ps. xxix. names Yhwh
eighteen times, in analogy with the eighteen bene-
dictions of the Shemoneh 'E8KBH(iJ. xxix.). Ps.
cxxxvi. is called "Hallel ha-Gadol" (Pes. 118a), to
which, according to some, the songs "of degrees"
also belong. The ordinary " Hallel " was composed
of Ps. cxiii.-cxviii. (Pes. 117a).

The Masorah divides the book into nineteen " se-
darim," the eleventh of these beginning with Ps.
Ixxviii. 38 (see Masoretic note at end of printed text).

One Palestinian 'authority, R. Joshua b. Levi,
counts only 147 psalms (Yer. Shab. 15). According
to Gratz ("Psalmen," p. 9), this variance was due
to the effort to equalize the number of psalms with
that of the Pentateuchal pericopes according to the
triennial cycle. Ps. i. and ii. were counted as one
in Babylon (Ber. 9b, 10a ; as in the LXX.). Ps. x. 15
belonged to ix. (Meg. 17b). The concluding verse of
Ps. xix. was added to Ps. xviii. (Ber. 9b) ; xlii. and
xliii. were counted as one (see Filrst, "Kanon," p.
71). Ps. Ixxviii. was divided into two parts com-
prising verses 1 to 87 and 88 to 73 respectively (Kid.
80a). Ps. cxiv. and cxv. were united (see Kimhi, com-
mentary on Ps. cxiv.), and cxviil. was divided into
two. Psalms whose authors were not known, or the
occasion for whose composition was not indicated,
were described as " orphans " (XDin^ NIIDTD; 'Ab.
Zarah 24b).

According to Talmudic tradition, psalms were
sung by the Levites immediately after the daily
libation of wine; and every liturgical psalm was
sung in three parts (Suk. iv. 5). During the inter-
vals between the parts the sons of Aaron blew three
different blasts on the trumpet (Tamid vii. 3). The
daily psalms are named in Ihe order in which they
were recited: on Sunday, xxiv.; Monda}^ xlviii. ;
Tuesday, Ixxxii.; Wednesday, xciv.; Thursday,
Ixxxi.; Friday, xciii. ; and Sabbath, xcii. (Tamid I.e.).
This selection shows that it was made
Liturgical at a time when Israel was threatened
Songs. with disaster (see Rashi on Suk.
55a). The fifteen " Songs of Degrees "
were sung by the Levites at the Feast of Taber-
nacles, at the festive drawing of water. Ps. cxxxv.
and cxxxvi. were recited antiphonall3'by the officia-
ting liturgist and the people. As New-Year psalms,
Ixxxi. and the concluding verses of xxix. were used
(R. H. 30b). Those designated for the semiholy
days of Sukkot are enumerated in Suk. 55a. Mas-
sek. Soferim xviii. 2 names those assigned for Pass-
over. At New Moon a certain psalm (number not
given in the Talmud) was sung in the Temple (Suk.
55a) ; Soferim names Ps. cv. with the concluding
verses of civ. For Hanukkah Ps. xxx. is reserved
(Soferim xviii. 2). From Sotah ix. 10 (see Tosefta ad
loe.) it is apparent that at one time Ps. xliv. consti-
tuted a part of the Temple morning liturgy, while
xxx. was sung during the offering of the Fibst-
Fkuits. The same psalm, as well as iii. and xci.,
was sung to the accompaniment of musical instru-
ments on the occasion of the enlargement of Jeru-
salem (Shebu. 14a).

Critical View : Tlie Book of Psalms may be

said to be the h3'mn-book of the congregation of
Israel during the existence of the Second Temple,
though not every psalm in the collection is of a
chai-acter to which this designation may apply.
By earlier critics advancing this view
Hymn-Book of the nature of the Psalms it was held
of Second that they were hymns sung in the

Temple. Temple either by the Levites or by
the people. Later scholars have mod-
ified tbis opinion in view of the circumstance that
the participation of the people in the Temple ritual
was very slight and also because the contents of
many of the psalms are such that their recitation at
sacrificial functions is not very probable (e.g., Ps.
xl. and 1., which have a certain anti-sacrificial tend-
ency). While B. Jacob (in Stade's "Zeitschrift,"
1897, xvii.) insists that the Psalter is a hymn-book
for the congregation assisting at or participating in
the sacrificial rite, and as such must contain also
liturgical songs intended for individuals who had to
bring offerings on certain occasions, others maintain
that, while a number of the hymns undoubtedly
were of sacerdotal import and, consequently, were
intended to be sung in the Temple, many were
written for intonation at prayer in the synagogue.
In this connection the determination of the reference
in the so-called " I " psalms is of importance.

The discovery of the Hebrew text of Ecclesias-
ticus (Sirach) has caused Noldeke (Stade's "Zeit-
schrift," 1900, XX.), on the strength of the observa-
tion that in Ecclus. (Sirach) Ii. 2-29 the "I" refers

245

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fsalms

to Ben Sira, to urge that the "I" psalms must sim-
ilarly be construed as individual confessions. The
traditional view was that David, the reputed author
of most of these " I " psalms, was in them unbosom-
ing his own feelings and relating his own experiences.
It is more probable, however, that, while the " I "
in some instances may have its individual signifi-
cance, on the whole this personal pronoun has refer-
ence to the " congregation of Israel " or to a circle
or set of congregants at prayer, the "pious," the
"meek," the "righteous." The metrical reconstruc-
tion of the Psalms (see Baethgen, "Commentar," 3d
ed.) promises to throw light on this problem, as the
assumption is well grounded that hymns written for
or used on public liturgical occasions had a typical
metrical scheme of their own (comp. " Theologische
Rundschau," viii., Feb., 1905). At all events, some
of the psalms must have served at private devotion
(e.g., Ps. cxli.), as, indeed, the custom of hymn-sing-
ing at night-time by some of the pious is alluded to
(ib. lix., xcii., cxix., cxlix.).

On the other hand, many of the didactic psalms
remind one of the general type of gnomic antholo-
gies. It seems more likely that these

Didactic were recited, not sung, and were

Psalms, learned by heart for ethical instruction
and guidance. That the "alphabet-
ical " psalms were not intended originally for litur-
gical uses may be inferred at least from Ps. cxi.
Most of this class reflect the study-room of the
scholar, and lack entirely the spontaneity of the
worshipful spirit. There are good reasons for re-
garding Ps. i. as a prologue, prefaced to the whole
collection by its latest editors, who were not priests
(Sadducees), but scribes (Pharisees) interested in the
rise and establishment of synagogal worship as
against the sacerdotal liturgy of the Temple. If so
regarded, Ps. i. reveals the intention of the editors
to provide in this collection a book of instruction
as well as a manual of prayer.

The existing Psalter is a compilation of various col-
lections made at various times. The division into sev-
eral parts was not in every case altogether due to a de-
sire to imitate the structure of the Pentateuch. Books
i. (Ps. i.-lxi.), ii. (Ps. Ixii.-lxxii.), andiii. (Ps. Ixxili.-
Ixxxix.) are marked as separate collections by doxol-
ogies, a fact which points to their separate compila-
tion. The doxology which now divides books iv. and
V. after Ps. cvi. has the appearance of being the
beginning of another psalm (comp. I Chron. xvi.,
where it occurs at the close of the interpolation
verses 8 to 36). It is impossible to determine the
date at which these older collections may have
been put together. Book i., containing "David"
psalms (originally without Ps. i. and ii.), may have
been the first to be compiled. In books ii. and
iii. (Ps. Ixii.-lxxxix.) several older and smaller
compilations seem to be represented, and that,
too, in some disorder. The {a) "David" hymns
{llivoL =ni^nn; H- li.-lxxii.)are clearly distinct from
the (b) songs of the sons of Korali (xlii.-xlix.),
(c)" Asaph" songs (1., Ixxiii.-lxxxiii.), and ((f) la-
ter supplements of promiscuous psalms (Ixxxiv.-
Ixxxix.). It is noteworthy that in the "David"
hymns duplicates of psalms are found, incorporated
also in book i.(Ps.liii. = xiv.; lxx. = xl. 14-18; Ixxi.

1-3 = xxxi. 3-4), while Ivii. 8 et seq. is duplicated
in book v. (oviii. 3-6). Another peculiarity of this
book is the use of "Elohim" for " Yi-iwn," except
in the supplement (Ixxxiv.-lxxxix.).

Comparison of the texts of the duplicate psalms,
as well as the circumstance that these duplicates
occur, indicates the freedom with which such col-
lections were made, and suggests that many collec-
tions were in existence, each with variant content.
Book iv. is distinct in so far as it contains, with the
exception of three psalms (xc. "of Moses"; ci., ciii.
"of David"; but in the Septuagintnine more), only
anonymous ones. The character of the doxology (see
above) suggests that this book was separated from
the following only to carry out the analogy with
the Pentateuch. Books iv. and v. are characterized
by the absence of "musical" superscriptions and in-
structions. In book V. the group comprising cvii.
to cix. is easily recognized as not organically con-
nected with that composed of cxx.-cxxxiv. It is
possible that the liturgical character and use of cxiii.
to cxviii. (the [Egyptian] "Hallel") had necessitated
the redaction of the "Hallel" psalms separately.
The " Songs of Degrees " (see below) must have con-
stituted at one time a series by themselves. The
metrical arrangement is the same in all, with the ex-
ception of cxxxii. The rest of book v. is composed
of loose " Halleluyah " psalms, into which have been
inserted "David" psalms (cxxxviii.-cxlv.) and an
old folk-song (cxxxvii,).

As to who were the compilers of these distinct
collections it has been suggested that an inference
might be drawn in the case of the psalms marked
"to the sons of Korah" or "to Asaph, Heman,
Ethan, Jeduthun," respectively. But the p prefixed
to the superscription in these cases is plainly not a
"lamed auctoris," the names being those of the
leaders of the choir-gilds (established, according to
Chronicles, by David). The headings in which
\> occurs merely indicate that the
The hymns were usually sung by the

" Iiamed choristers known as "sons of Korah,"
Auctoris." etc., or that the psalm constituting
a part of the repertoire of the singers
so named was to be sung according to a fixed
melody introduced by them. These choir-mas-
ters, then, had collected their favorite hymns, and,
in consequence, these continued to be named
after their collector and to be sung according to
the melody introduced by the gild. It has also
been urged as explaining the terms nnk nwh
(" unto David," "unto Moses") that a certain melody
was known by that term, or a collection happened
tt) be labeled in that way. It is, however, manifest
that in some instances the superscription admits of
no other construction than that it is meant to name
the author of the psalm (Moses, for instance, in Ps.
xc), though such expressions as "David song,"
"Zion song " = " Yhwh song " may very well have
come into vogue as designations of sacred as distin-
guished from jjrofane poems and strains. Still, one
must not forget that these superscriptions are late
additions. The historical value of the note Tn^
(= " unto David ") is not greater than that of others
pretending to give the occasion when and the cir-
cumstances under which the particular psalm was

Psalms

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

246

composed. The variants in these superscriptions
in the versions prove them to be late interpolations,
reflecting the views of their authors.

By tradition David was regarded as the writer of
most of the psalms, even the other names occurring
in the captions being construed to be those of sing-
ers under his direction (David Kimhi, Commentary on
Psalms, Preface). He was held to be also the editor
of the Biblical Book of Psalms. But this ascription
of authorship to him is due to the tendency to con-
nect witli the name of a dominating personality the
chief literary productions of the nation. Thus
Moses figures as the lawgiver, and the
Date author of the Pentateuch; Solomon,
of Psalter, as the "wise" man and, as such, the
writer of the Wisdom books ; David,
as the singer and, in this capacity, as the composer
of hymns and as the collector of the Psalms as far as
the}' are not his own compositions.

When the Book of Psalms first assumed its present
form is open to discussion. Certain it is that the
New Testament and Josephus presuppose the exist-
ence of the Biblical Psalter in the form in which it
is found in tlie canon. This fact is further corrob-
orated by the date of the so-called "Psalms of Solo-
mon." These are assigned to about 68 B.C. ; a fact
which indicates that at that period no new psalms
could be inserted in the Biblical book, which by
this time must have attained permanent and fixed
form as the Book of Psalms of David. It is safest
then to assign the final compilation of the Biblical
book to the first third of the century immediately
preceding the Christian era.

Concerning the date of the two psalms Ixxix. and
cxlvi., I Maccabees furnishes a clue. In I Mace.
vii. 17, Ps. Ixxix. 2 is quoted, while cxlvi. 4 is util-
ized in I Mace. ii. 63. These psalms then were
known to a writer living in the time of the Hasmo-
nean rulers. He construed Ps. Ixxix. as applying
to the time of Alcimus. As remarked above, the
historical superscriptions are worthless for the pur-
pose of fixing the chronology, oven if the concession
be made that some of these preteudedly historical
notes antedate the final compilation of the Psalter
and were taken from the historical romances re-
lating the lives of the nation's heroes, in which,
according to prevailing ancient literary custom,
poetry was introduced to embellish prose (comp.
Ex. XV. ; I Sam. ii.), as indeed Ps. xviii. is found
also in II Sam. xxii.

By comparison with what is known of the events
of Jewish internal and external history during the
last centuries before the destruction of the Second
Temple, critical scholars have come to the conclu-
sion that the political and religious circumstances
and conflicts of these turbulent times are reflected
in by far the greater number of psalms. Most of
the 150 in the Biblical book, if not all
Reflection of them, are assigned a post-exilic ori-
of History, gin. Not one among competent con-
temporaneous scholars seriously de-
fends the Davidio authorship of even a single
psalm ; and very few of the recent commentators
maintain the pre-exilic character of one or the other
song in the collection. Of exilic compositions Ps.
cxxxvii. is perhaps the only specimen. To the Per-

sian period some psalms might be assigned, notably
the "nature " psalms (e.g., viii,, xix.), as expressive
of ^onotlieism's opposition to dualism. But there
is no proof for this assumption. Still a goodly
number of psalms must have been composed in pre-
Maccabean years. Some psalms presuppose the ex-
istence and inviolability of the Temple and the Holy
City (for instance, xlvi., xlviii., Ixxvi.). Ps. iii.,
iv., xi., and Ixii. might reflect the confidence of
pious priests before the Maccabean disturbances.

But it is obvious that other j)salms refer to the
trickery and treachery of the house of Tobias (Ps.
Ixii.). The Maccabean revolution — with its hero-
ism on the one hand, its cowardice on the other, its
victories, and its defeats — has supplied many a
hymn of faith and defiance and joy. The DT'DPI
and D''p''1V— the "faithful," the "righteous," the
"meek" — find voice to praise God for His help and
to denounce the "wicked," the foreign nations that
have made common cause with Syria (see Ixxiv.,
Ixxxiii., cxviii., and cxlix.). Ps.'xliv. and Ixxvii.
point to events after the death of Judas Maccabeus ;
Ps. Iv. and others seem to deal with Alcimus. The
establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty on the
throne and the conflicts between Pharisees (nation-
alists and democrats) and SADDrcBES (the represent-
atives of aristocratic sacerdotalism) have left their
impress on other hymns (Ps. ex. 1-4,

Reflex "Shim'on" in acrostic). Some of the
of Politics, psalms are nothing less than the pro-
nunciamentos of the Pharisees (ix.,
X., xiv., Ivi., Iviii.). Dates cannot be assigned to
the greater number of psalms, except in so far as
their content betrays their character as Temple or
synagogal hymns, as eschatological constructions,
or as apocalyptic renderings of ancient history or
of. mythology.

Synagogal liturgy and strictly regulated Temple
ceremonial are productions of the Maccabean and
post-Maccabean conflicts. Apocalyptic ecstasy, di-
dactic references to jsast history, and Messianic spec-
ulations point to the same centuries, when foreign
oppression or internal feuds led the faithful to pre-
dict the coming glorious judgment. The "royal"
or " king " psalms belong to the category of apoca-
lyptic effusions. It is not necessary to assume that
they refer to a ruling king or monarch. The Mes-
sianic king warring with the "nations" — another
apocalyptic incident — is central in these psalms.
The " 'Aniyim " and the " ' Anawim " are the " meek "
as opposed to the " Gewim " and " ' Azim" (which
readings must often be adopted for " Goyim " and
" 'Ammim "), the "proud " and "insolent." The for-
mer are the (Pharisaic) pious nationalists battling
against the proud (Sadducean) violators of God's
law ; but in their fidelity they behold the coming of
the King of Glory, the Messianic Ruler, whose ad-
vent will put to flight and shame Israel's foreign
and internal foes.

The " Songs of Degrees " are pilgrim songs, which
were sung by the participants in the

Pilgrim processions at the three pilgrim festi-
Songs. vals ; all other explanations are fanci-
ful. David Kimhi in his commentary
quotes the usual interpretation that these songs were
sung by the Levites standing on the fifteen steps

247

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Psalms

between the court of the women anil tluit of the
Israelites. But lie also suggests that tliey refer to
the post-exilic redemption, being sung by those that
" ascend " from captivity. In fact, Kimhi often re-
veals a very clear perception of the psalms of the
post-exilic origin.

The text is often corrupt. It contains interpola-

those of Duhm andBaetligen ; also Griltz, "Psalm-
en," Introduction). According to Griitz {I.e. p. CI),
such combinations of two psalms in one was caused
by tlie necessities of the liturgical services. It is not
unlikely that some psalms were chanted respon-
sivel}', part of the Lcvites singing one verse, and the
others answering with the next.

p'cw ']!'f> -ujs 'jPD •in i:J3 IJ'D m'^iK

J) f3i:J)^;3O'D0p)l):D'i-):!)rn57) -1)7 ia3,3

Nh i5 h]} : it<a Nvpj lima niii? i^yt ncna
iDn> ■ D'Q_' 3^3 Q*"in BiDfji ^TN Tari3 vsno
S "''li- ii^P l';^'^: J3 nnn idjjt I'a'a nan>
Hx ■• \vhv '3Dtp inp Dh'iM n>3J innE;> vjHa

aion iSipajrantoSDojuDD'ijraii^npa

pyj^^ ,._ . ,,,j, jiiJuuLiiiiVMf i «<3 JIIUIC TO X'K nn'riih3;.sp nn^ia^ njo

(3) iii ;->3iD P'cp 'i^f OM rnJf D'^J DVl'^TK jyr? ju rrrip i» i'Jj pap "^T^ji •'j}'t)'C

'^Wf iji iC'P P'? ^)P i^^ )'P'J' '""''P' WJ" f3) '"'la ")':; '7J3 'U )rr'3)')J'3D 5P3 0')5;5? [>3 rj'Tj-'D

•)'? •>':no VP) cpj'Dr>3 c'-oTp'y^ Ji fjiw p^ c'-'j/i t t33pfvr)i)7jp jpjr; ywjjojp r'wi'Pf
3'ro5p-e fPt fo' '3 r^Jijif >iiD )"'»/' (3 ij? Jfp J/) irpw p.^w ip ri»pp j^iyppp d>?d? jwjj
oi f»)0' 1-3 •'wfi) O'i iyj c[) ")33 '3 r'v-" bhv ^o f73 [3 p'C" )i(' )"ipp''"'p^) rcj' B'rj c pwp

5)P P>1PP CO-) C'P tpP f'JWI J')"P J-IPP' 12iT -fj)p JdP "j-iT 's'tD W3 p3Jn pfjp JiJDsi

pjr '?5)i3 •'PP D^'fa rrf'3 ("^i"' rJT' »') rp tpj ot j'lprj cdjj d'Ju o'pp )t)»' V/ib cn)?p

-TpD rjis e'p T'P ii5P') )Uw>) o'ln jddi'd rro I'jij? IIJ p'P) dst j'j^w itr>yi ^^t i» o'p?

iry'D' )Uic -i^J icp T^t V^d icn )ppd' bf- if)-!' ('i'6''D') cur 5i73lf>w fs pwpi^j pi?7j p-)3

5^ "".r 5PPD' '?r? "'f^P ylCD "IPJ f53' Cli/J ""». 6'?) tS'icjI'W irj /'J'D'»jf»''D'»-'PD C'P'P TIJ3
"330' ^»P'^"'D' p^ J3'3'mJ3' (I'il! «33DP D)7p to)p» ft)? "I'rP fjjr') t5>7jfj T^P DW'pjis O'^i/i

■;j>30 )r3 7r)5CP3_t"p» j/iui (icea ov oj^sfiD) Jdp3 rif iopr) 0'iD)T ft'p op3d D7)r>'P) | vi»
» cc r'P? pinTPD 'si "TJ "^ "'P 3^5J»i isipr (ii''3i r3->ro O'l'lf^ •cJon'?' o"p o')^ ibs>
'p y:353"!» PTT ^'^^ J'J'Pj'a) ct^p )BDi) ■'':>p P73i35 p"3r T'to:'3'pl'e ws O'ioi' Iij pppi>5

» ))>30'« 5Pn-55i3 rjJrJ PJP^Vft f3) "')(' P'P'3-ID Jiri :''':') f3 ttS CcVf'B W3 1^3 p-IF''wD'P

r-Vr.T OF \ CEXSOKKD P.IGK IKOM PSALMS, ATITH KlMHl'S COJIMENTABT, NAPLES, 1487.
(From the .SulzberRer collrclioii in Ihe Jewish Theolugiuai S^mioary ot America, Keiv Yorli.)

tions, marginal glosses transposed into the body of
psalms, quotations not in the original, liturgical
glosses, notes, and intentional alterations. Conso-
nantal interchanges abound. Many of the psalms
are clearly fragmentary torsos; otiiers, as clearly,
are composed of two or more disjointed jjarts
drawn from other psalms Avithout connection or co-
herence (comp. the modern commentaries, especially

In the synagogues the Psalms were chanted an-
tiphonally, the congregation often repeating after
every verse chanted by the precentor the first verse
of tiie psalm in question. " Halleluyah " was the
word with which the congregation was invited to
take part in this chanting. Hence it originally
prefaced the Psalms, not, as in the Masoretic text,
coming at the end. At the conclusion of the psalm

Fsalms

Psalms, Midrash to

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

248

the "makre" or precentor added a doxology end-
ing-with pa -noKI ("and say ye Amen"), where-
upon tlie congregation replied "Amen, Amen"
("Monatsscbrift," 1872, p. 481). The synagogal
psalms, according to this, then, are cv., cvi.,
cvii., cxi., cxii., cxiii., cxiv., cxvi., and cxvii. (the
shortest of all psalms), cxviii., cxxxv., cxxxvi. ,
cxlvi.-cl.

Concerning the musical accompaniment less is
known. Boys seem to have been added to the men's
chorus (' Ar. 13b). Twelve adult Levites constituted
the minimum membership of a chorus; nine of these
played on the "kinnor," two on the "nebel," and
one on the cymbals {ib. ii. 8-5). Sing-
Musical ing seems to have been the principal
Accom- feature of their art, the instruments
panimerit. being used by the singers for their
self-accompaniment only. The kin-
nor, according to Josephus, had ten strings and was
struck with a plectrum ("Ant." vii. 12, § 3), while
the nebel had twelve notes and was played with the
Augers. This information is not confirmed by what
is known of the " lyra " or " kithara " of the Greeks.
Jewish coins display lyres of three strings, and in a
single instance one of five strings. Tosel, 'Ar. ii.
gives the kinnor seven strings. According to Ps.
xcii. 3, there must have been known a ten-stringed
instrument. The Jerusalem Talmud agrees with
Josephus in assigning the nebel to the class of
stringed instruments (Yer. Suk. 55c ; 'Ar. 13b). But
it seems to have had a membranous attachment or
diaphragm to heighten the effect of the strings
(Yer. Suk. I.e.). The nebel and the "alamot" (I
Chron. xv. 20; Ps. xlviii. ; Ps. ix., corrected read-
ing) are identical (see Gratis, I.e. p. 71). The flute,
"halil," was played only on holy days ('Ar. ii. 3).
The Hebrew term for choir-master was "menaz-
zeah." See also Cymbals.

Fifty -seven psalms are designated as IIDTD ; this
is a word denoting " paragraph, " hence a new
beginning. Thirty psalms are designated as V^
(= "song"), probably indicating that the psalm was
actually sung in the Temple. Thirteen psalms are
labeled {j'atJ'D, the meaning of which word is doubt-
ful (see Hebrew dictionaries and the commenta-
ries). Six psalms are superscribed Dn3D — another
puzzle — three times with the addition nnBTI hv,
once nny \^W (Ix.), and in Ivi. with flJI'' Sj?
D'pim. Five psalms are called n^sn = " prayer "
(xvii., xl., Ixxxvi., cii., cxlii.). Two psalms are
marked lOtn^ = " to remember " (xxxviii., Ixx.), the
meaning of which is not known. Ps. c. is desig-
nated by rmn^ = "for thanksgiving," probably
indicating its use in the liturgy as a hymn for the
thanU-oileriug. Ps. civ. is marked rhnr\ = " j ubilee
song or hymn," indicating its content. Ps. Ix. has
fcV?, probably a dittogram for nn^ = "for David."
Ps. Ixxxviii. has the heading DMv'?, which seems to
be also a dittogram of the preceding n^TID hV- Ps.
vii. has another enigmatical caption (see commen-
taries).

Bibliography: The most modem commentaries are those by
Duhm, in K. H. C. ; Baethgen (3d ed.), in Nowack's Hand-
commentar ; and Wellhausen, in S. B. 0. T. Cheyne's trans-
lation (1900) and introduction (1891) give the latest litera-
ture up to those dates. j;_ (j_ jj^

PSALMS, MIDRASH TO (Midrash Tehil-

lim) : Haggadic midrash, known since the eleventh
century, when it was quoted by Nathan of Rome in
his "'Aruk" (s.«. TnD), by P. Isaac b. Judali ibn
Ghayyat in his " Halakot " (lb), and by Rashi in his
commentary on I Sam. xvii. 49, and on many other
passages. This midrash is called also "Agadat
Tehillim " (Rashi on Deut. xxxiii. 7 and many other
passages), or "Haggadat Tehillim" ("'Aruk," s.v.
"IJ)D, and in six other passages). From the twelfth
century it was called also "Shoher Tob" (see Mid-
rash Tehillim, ed. Buber, Introduction, pp. 35 et
seq.), because it begins with the verse Prov. xi.
29, "Shoher tob," etc. The true midrash covers
only Ps. i.-cxviii. ; and this is all that is found
either in the manuscripts or in the first edition (Con-
stantinople, 1512). In the second edition (Salonica,
1515) a supplement was added covering, with the
exception of two psalms, Ps. cxix.-cl. The author
of this supplement was probably R. Mattithiah Yiz-
hari of Saragossa, who collected the scattered hag-
gadot on Ps. cxix.-cl. from the Yalljut, adding
comments of his own. Since there are in the Yal-
kut no haggadic interpretations of Ps. cxxiii. and
cxxxi., the author of the supplement included no
haggadic sentences on these two psalms. This omis-
sion has been supplied by Buber, in his very full
edition of the Midrash Tehillim, by printing, under
the superscription of the two psalms, collectanea
from the Pesikta Rabbati, Sifre, Numbers Rabbah,
and the Babylonian Talmud, so that the midrash
in its present form covers the entire Book of
Psalms.

The name of the editor and the date of the redac-
tion of the true midrash (Ps. i. -cxviii.) can not now
be determined. The assumption that R. Johanan or
R. Simon, the son of R. Judah ha-Nasi, edited it can
not be substantiated (comp. Buber, I.e. pp. 3-4). It
may, on the contrary, be shown that the midrash is
not the work of a single editor. There are many
passages containing the same thought. Substan-
tially the same haggadot appear in
A different forms in different passages,

Composite e.g., Ps. vii.. No. 6 and Ps. xviii.. No.
Work. 18; Ps. xviii., No. 25 and Ps. xcv..
No. 3; Pa. xviii.. No. 36 and Ps. ciii..
No. 3; Ps. xxvii., NO. 7 and V,&. xciv.. No. 5; Ps.
xlv., No. 4 and Ps. c. No. 4; Ps. xci.,'No. 6 and
Ps. civ.. No. 3.

It has been said that the date of the redaction of
the midrash can not be determined. Haggadic col-
lections on the Psalms were made at a very early
time, and arc mentioned several times in the Tal-
mudim and in Genesis Rabbah, e.g., Yer. Kil. ix.
32b; Yer. Ket. xii. 3, 35a; Gen. R. xxxiii. 3; Kid.
33a (comp. Rashi ad loe.). But it can not possibly
be assumed that the haggadah collections on tlie
Psalms are identical with the present Midrash Te-
hillim, since the latter contains many elements of
later date. It can not be denied, however, that much
material from those old collections is included in the
present midrash. It must therefore be assumed that
parts of the old collections had been preserved
among the later haggadists. Then, when a midrash
to the Psalms was undertaken together with the
other midrashim, homilies and comments on single

sh ft^t- n^ csi:

aL.

TITLE-PAGE PKOM MIPBASII TEIIILLDr, I'RAfilE, lUlS.
(From the Sulzberger collection in the Jewhh Theological Seminary of America, New York.)

Psalms, Slidrash to
Pseudo-Messiahs

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

250

verses were collected from the most diverse sources,
and were arranged together with the earlier hag-
gadic material on the Psalms, following the se-
quence of the Psalms themselves. In the course of
time this collection was supplemented and enlarged
by the additions of various collections and editors,
until the Midrash Tehillim finally took its present
form. Its definitive completion must, according to
Zunz, be assigned to the last centuries of the period
of the Geonim, without attempting to determine an
exact date. But Zunz's assumption, that the mid-
rash was compiled in Italy, can not be accepted.
The work was edited in Palestine, as
Mode and appears from the language, style, and

Date of manner of haggadic interpretations.
Com- Nearly all the amoraim mentioned in
pilatiou. it are Palestinians, and the few Baby-
lonian amoraim referred to, e.g., R.
Hisda, are mentioned also in Yerushalmi (comp.
Buber, I.e. p. 33, note 131).

Tlie midrash contains homilies on the Psalms and
comments on single verses and even on single words.
The homilies are as a rule introduced with the
formula "as Scripture says." In only a few cases
are they introduced as in the other midrashim, with
the formula "Rabbi N. N. has begun the discourse,"
or "Rabbi N. N. explains the Biblical passage."
Among the comments on single verses are many
which are based on the difference of "keri" and
" ketib " as well as on the variant spellings of words,
plene and defective. IMany woi-ds, also, are ex-
plained according to the numerical value of the
letters (Gkmatkia) or by analysis of their compo-
nent parts (NoTAitiKON) as well as by the substitu-
tion of other vowels ("al-tikri"; comp. the collation
of all these passages in Buber, I.e. p. 10a, b). The
midrash is prone to interpreting numbers, contrib-
uting likewise thereby important observations on
the number of the Psalms and of the sections of the
Pentateuch as well as on the number of verses in
various Psalms. Thus it enumerates 175 sections of
the Pentateuch, 147 psalms (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xix.
22), and nine verses in Ps. xx. (Midr. Teh. to Ps.
XX. 2).

The midrash contains, besides, a number of sto-
ries, legends, parables, proverbs, and sentences, with
many ethical and halakic maxims. Of the interest-
ing myths may be mentioned that of Remus and
Romulus, to suckle whom God sends

Legends a she-wolf (Midr. Teh. to Ps. x. 6;
and Myths. Buber, I.e. p. 45a), and the legend of
Ilmperor Hadrian, who wished to
measure the depth of the Adriatic Sea (Midr. Teh.
to Ps. xciii. 6; Buber, I.e. p. 208a, b). Among the
proverbs which are found only in this midrash may
be mentioned the following: "Walls have ears"
(Midr. Teh. to Ps. vii. 1; Buber, I.e. p. 31b), i.e.,
care should be taken in disclosing secrets even in a
locked room (comp. Rashi in Ber. 8b, who quotes
, this proverb). " Wo to the living who prays to the
dead ; wo to the hero who has need of the weak ;
wo to the seeing who asks help of the blind ; and
wo to the century in which a woman is the leader "
(Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxii. 20; Buber, I.e. p. 96b).
Many a custom may be traced to this midrash, e.g.,
that of not drinking any water on the Sabbath be-

fore the evening (Tur and Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah
Hayyim, 291; comp. Midr. Teh., ed. Buber, p. 51b,
note 48).

Bibliography : Midrash Tehillim, ed. Buber, Introduction,
Wilna, 1891 ; J. Tlieodor, Ueber S. Buber's 3Iidrasch Te-
hillim, reprinted from the Meiwrah, Literaturbhitt. Ham-
burg ; Zunz, G. V. pp. 206-368.
w. B. J. Z. L.

PSALMS OF SOLOMON, THE : Pseudepi-
graphic work not contained in the Septuagint (and
therefore not included in the Apocrypha). At pres-
ent it exists only in Greek and in translations made
from the Greek; but it is probable that it was writ-
ten originally in Hebrew. It is Palestinian, and
Hebrew was the natural language for a Palestinian
Jew; the rude and sometimes unintelligible char-
acter of the Greek and the fact that a number
of its obscurities may be ascribed to a misunder-
standing of Hebrew words make it probable that
the Greek work is a translation of a Hebrew orig;-
inal. Thus, for example, the impossible tov e'melv
(" to say " ; IDxi') of ii. 29 may easily have arisen from
a miswriting or misunderstanding of 1Db.(for -iDn? ;
"to change"; comp. Hos. iv. 7); and the future
tense in ii. 13 and elsewhere may be due to a false in-
terpretation of the Hebrew imperfect. It is uncer-
tain when and why the psalms were ascribed to Solo-
mon ; the simplest explanation is that as David was
reckoned the author of most of the canonical psalms,
this later production was ascribed to Solomon, who
stood next to David in literary glory, and was the
titular author of two psalms of the Psalter.

The book consists of eighteen psalms, the con-
tents of which may be summarized as follows: suf-
fering inflicted by foreign invasion (i., viii.); dese-
cration of Jerusalem and the Temple, death in
Egypt of the invader (ii.); debauchery of Jewish
"men-pleasers" (iv.); recognition of God's justice in
rewarding the pious and in punishing the wicked
(iii., vi., ix., x., xiii., xiv., xv.); expectation of and
prayer for divine intervention (vii., xi., xii., xvi.);
description of the Messiah (xvii., xviii.).

A definite mark of date is given by the mention
(ii. 80, 31) of Pompey's death (48 B.C.). The polit-
ical situation depicted (the delivery of the city to
the invader, the slaughter of tlie Jews, and the pol-
Ivition of the Temple) answers fairly well to the ac-
count of Pompey's conquest (63B.c.)given by Jose-
phus ("Ant." xiv. 3,_§ 4); and there is no need to
suppose a reference to Antioohus Epiphanes or
Herod. The composition of the psalms may be as-
signed to 45 B.C., or, less exactly, to the period 70-
40 B.C. The date of the Greek translation is un-
certain.

The description of the internal situation reflects
the struggle between the Pharisees and the Sad-
ducees. The author is a Pharisee, devoted to the
Law, with a high moral standard, but animated by
a bitter hatred of the "wicked" Sadducees, whose
ethical failings he doubtless exaggerates, and by
hostility to the Hasmonean dynasty (viii. 18-26).

The Messiah is a son of David (in opposition to
the Maccabean priest-kings and the Levitical Mes-
siah [see Messiah]), a man without supernatural
power, raised up by God to 'purge Jerusalem and
to reign in peace over all nations. The description
of him is taken largely from the Prophets and the

asi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Psalms, Midrash to
Fseudo-Hessiahs

Psalter. He Is called in the text (xvii. 36) "the
lord Messiah," or "auointed one, lord" {zpuyrbr;
Kiipioc), which is perhaps a clerical error for "the
anointed of the Lord, " the common expression. This
conception of his character, destined to be perma-
nent, is a return, natural under the circumstances, to
the Old Testament representation (see Messiah).
Bibliography: O. von Gebhardt, Die Psalmen Salamn's
Lelpsic, 1895 (Greek text and history of MSS.); H. B. Swete,
Tlie Old Testament in Gh-eek, vol. ill., ai ed., Cambridge,
Eng., 1899; Kyle and James, The Psalms of SoUmion, lb.
1891 (Greek text, Eng. transl., and Introduction); Kittel, In
Kautzsch, Apolcnjphen, Leipslo, 1898 (German transl. and in-
troduction); Geiger, in JM. Zeit. 1868, vl.; Wellhausen, Die
Pharislier %md die Saddiiciler, Appendix, 1874 ; M. Vernes
Hint, des Idies Messianiques, ISTi ; Schtirer, Hist, nf Jewish
People, 11., p. Hi.; M. James, in Hastings, Diet. Bible, s.v.

T.
PSALTERY. See Harp and Lyre.

PSANTIE, JACOB BEN ZELIG : liumanian
historical writer; born at Botoshani June 6, 1820;
died in Bucharest March 22, 1901. From his child-
hood he devoted himself to the study of music,
and at an early age he became conductor of a band
of traveling Gipsy musicians. Once Psantir and his
band were invited to play at a festival given in the
monastery of Neamtz. A dispute arose between the
guests on the Jewish question, some of tliem main-
taining that all the Rumanian Jews were foreign-
born. Psantir was then asked how long his family
had lived in Rumania. He answered, " for several
centuries, as may be seen by tumulary inscriptions
found in the cemetery of Botoshani."

This incident determined Psantir's subsequent
career. He began to write a history of his family,
but as he proceeded with it his ambition moved him
to enlarge the scope of his work until it finally em-
braced the history of the Jews of Rumania. For
five years, though possessing very limited means,
he traveled throughout Rumania, visiting the cem-
eteries and studying the communal documents. The
results of his labors were published in two works
written in Judeeo-German, and respectively entitled
" Dibre ha- Yamim la-Arzot Rumania " (Jassy, 1871)
and "Korot ha-Yehudim be-Rumania" (Lemberg,
1873). A Rumanian edition of both works was pub-
lished at Bucharest in 1877.

Psantir is the author also of two works which re-
main in manuscript; "Ha-Sablanut ha-Datit be-
Rumania," on religious tolerance in Rumania, and
"Ha-Kosem," on magicians and their villainies.
BiBLiOGSAPHY : Ozar ha-Sifrut, ill. 86 et seg.

s. I. Br.

PSEUDEPIGBAPHA : Literally "books hav-
ing false titles, " fraudulently or erroneously ascribed
to the authors whose names they bear. Thus Dio-
nysius of Halicarnassus speaks of " pseudepigraphic
orations " of Demosthenes ; that is, orations com-
monly attributed to Demosthenes, and included in
collective editions of his works, but not really by
him (" De Admirabili Vi Dicendi in Demosthene,"
ch. Ivii.). Similarly Serapion, Bishop of Antioch
(190-203), says concerning the Gospel of Peter ; " We
receive Peter and the other apostles even as Christ;
but the writings ["Pseudepigrapha"] which are
falsely inscribed with their names we reject " (in
Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." vi. 12).

By Protestant scholars the term "Pseudepig-
rapha " is employed to designate a class of extra-

canonical writings, in the main of Jewish origin,
which Catholics, in accordance with ancient Chris-
tian usage, generally call Apocrypha (see Jew.
Encyo. ii. lb, s.v. Apocrypha, § 1, end). Many of
these writings are pseudonymous; but others are
anonymous, so that the name " Pseudepigrapha " is
applicable to the whole class only " a potiori. " Those
who introduced it doubtless had primarily in mind
the apocalpyses, such as IV Esdras, in which the
ascription of authorship to some famous man of an-
cient times is an es.sential part of the fiction. /

The books included under the name " Pseudepig-
rapha " are many and various ; several of the most
important have been brought to light in recent
times, and fresh discoveries are continually being
made. The most noteworthy of these writings are
enumerated in tlie articles Apocrypha and Apoca-
lypse. See also Sibyllines and the separate arti-
cles on the several books. /

T. G. F.IM.

PSETJDO-ARTAPANUS. See Art ap anus.

PSEUDO-MESSIAHS : Persons who claim to
bo the deliverers of Israel divinely appointed to bring
about the establishment of the promised Messianic
kingdom. Some of the pseudo-Messiahs who have
arisen at various epochs were impostors seeking
to exploit the credulity of the masses for selfish
purposes ; others, victims of their own beliefs or de-
lusions. All of them had as their goal the resto-
ration of Israel to its native land. Some sought
to accomplish this through penitence, fasting, and
prayer, and looked forward to miracles to assist
them ; others appealed to arms. In connection with
their Messianic rSle, some enacted the part of
religious reformers, introducing innovations and
even trying to subvert the existing Judaism. As
there existed a belief in two Messiahs
Two — an Ephraitic Messiah, who would
Messiahs, be the forerunner of the Davidie Mes-
siah— there appear among the pseudo-
Messiahs both those who claim to be the Messiah
of the house of David and those who pretend to be
the Messiah, son of Joseph. Their influence was
mostly local and temporary; some, however, suc-
ceeded in attracting large numbers of followers,
and created movements that lasted for considerable
periods. The effects of these Messianic movements
were pernicious. Many of these Messiahs and their
followers lost their lives in the course of their ac-
tivities; and they deluded the people with false
hopes, created dissensions, gave rise to sects, and
even lost many to Judaism.

The pseudo-Messiahs begin to appear with the end

of the Hasmonean dynasty, when Rome commenced

its work of crushing the independence of Judea.

For the maintenance of the endangered state the

people looked forward to a Messiah.

From Josephus it appears that in the first century

before the destruction of the Temple

In the a number of Messiahs arose promising

First relief from the Roman yoke, and

Century, finding ready followers. Josephus

speaks of them thus: "Another body

of wicked men also sprung up, eleanerin their hands,

but more wicked in their intentions, who des-

Pseudo-Messiahs

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

253

troyed the peace of the city no less than did these
murderers [the Sicarii]. For they were deceivers
and deluders of the people, and, under pretense
of divine illumination, wero for innovations, and
changes, and prevailed on the multitude to act like
madmen, and went before them in the wilderness,
pretending that God would there show them signs
of liberty" (Josephus, "B. J." ii. 13, § 4; idem,
"Ant." XX. 8, § 6). Matt. xxiv. 24, warning against
"false Christs and false prophets," gives testimony
to the same effect. Thus about 44, Josephus re-
ports, a certain impostor, Theudas, who claimed to
be a prophet, appeared and urged the people to fol-
low liim with their belongings to the Jordan, which
he would divide for them. According to Acts v.
36 (which seems to refer to a different date), he se-
cured about 400 followers. Cuspius Fadus sent a
troop of horsemen after him and his band, slew many
of them, and took captive others, together with their
leader, beheading the latter ("Ant." xx. 5, § 1).

Another, an Egyptian, is said to have gathered to-
gether 30,000 adherents, whom he summoned to the
Mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem, promising
that at his command the walls of Jerusalem would
fall down, and that he and his followers would enter
and possess themselves of the city. But Felix, the
procurator (c. 55-60), met the throng with his sol-
diery. The prophet escaped, but those with him
were killed or taken, and the multitude dispersed
(ib. XX. 8, § 6; "B. J." ii. 13, § 5; see also Acts
xxi. 88). Another, whom Josephus styles an im-
postor, promised the people " deliverance and free-
dom from their miseries " if they would follow him
to the wilderness. Both leader and followers were
killed by the troops of Festus, the procurator (60-
62 ; " Ant." XX. 8, § 10). Even when Jerusalem was
already in process of destruction by the Romans,
a prophet, according to Josephus suborned by the
defenders to beep the people from deserting, an-
nounced that God commanded them to come to the
Temple, tliere to receive miraculous signs of their
deliverance. Those who came met death in the
flames ("B. J." vi. 5, §3).

Unlike these Messiahs, who expected their people 's
deliverance to be achieved through divine inter-
vention, Menahem, the son of Judas the Galilean and
grandson of Hezekiah, the leader of
Menahem the Zealots, who had troubled Herod,
toen Judah. was a warrior. When the war broke
out he attacked Masada with his band,
armed his followers with the weapons stored there,
and proceeded to Jerusalem, where he captured
the fortress Antonia, overpowering the troops of
Agrippall. Emboldened by hissuccess, he behaved
as a king, and claimed the leadership of all the
troops. Thereby he aroused the enmity of Eleazar,
another Zealot leader, and met death as a result of
a conspiracy against him {ib. ii. 17, § 9). He is
probably identical with the Menahem b. Hezekiah
mentioned in Sanh. 98b, and called, with reference
to Lam. i. 17, "the comforter ["menahem"] that
should relieve" (comp. Hamburger, "R. B. T."
Supplement, iii. 80).

With the destruction of the Temple the appear-
ance of Messiahs ceased for a time. Sixty years
later a politico-Messianic movement of large pro-

portions took place with Bar Kokba at its head.
This leader of the revolt against Rome was hailed
as Messiah-king by Akiba, who referred to hinx
Num. xxiv. 17: "There shall come forth a star out
of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and
shall smite through the corners of Moab," etc. (Yer.
Ta'an. iv. 7; Lam. R. to Lam. ii. 3), and Hag. ii.
21, 22: "I will shake the heavens and the earth and
I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms. ..."
(Sanh. 97b). Although some, as Johanan b. Torta
(Lam. R. to Lam. ii. 2), doubted his Messiahship,
he seems to have carried the nation with him for
his undertaking. After stirring up a war (133-135)
that taxed the power of Rome, he at last met
his death on the walls of Bethar. His Messianic
movement ended in defeat and misery for the sur-
vivors (see Bab KoKjiA akd Bar Kokba War).

The unsuccessful issue of the Bar Kokba war put
an end for centuries to Messianic movements ; but.
Messianic hopes were none the less cherished. In
accordance with a computation found in the Tal-
mud the Messiah was expected in 440 (Sanh. 97b) or
471 ('Ab. Zarah 9b). This expectation in connection
with the disturbances in the Roman empire attend-
ant upon invasions, may have raised up the Mes-
siah who appeared about this time in Crete, and
who won over the Jewish population to his move-
ment. He called himself Moses, and promised tO'
lead the people, like the ancient Moses, dryshod
through the sea back to Palestine.
Moses His followers, convinced by him, left

of Crete, their possessions and waited for the
promised day, when at his command
many cast themselves into the sea, some finding
death, others being rescued. The pseudo-Messiah
liimself disappeared (Socrates, " Historia Ecclesias-
tica," vii. 38; Gratz, "Gesch."3d ed., iv. 354-855).

The pseudo-Messiahs that followed played their
roles in the Orient, and were at the same time relig-
ious reformers whose work influenced Karaism. At
the end of the seventh century appeared in Persia
Ishak ben Ya'kub Obadiah Abu Tsa al-Isfahani of
Ispahan (for other forms of his name and for his
sect see "J. Q. R." xvi. 768,770,771; Gratz, I.e.
v., notes 15 and 17). He lived in the reign of the
Ommiad calif 'Abd al-Malik ibu Marwan (684-705).
He claimed to be the last of the five forerunners of
the Messiah and to have been appointed by God to.
free Israel. According to some he was himself the
Messiah. Having gathered together a large number
of followers, he rebelled against the calif, but was
defeated and slain at Rai. His followers claimed
that he was inspired and urged as proof the fact
that he wrote books, although he was ignorant of
reading and writing. He founded the first sect
that arose in Judaism after the destruction of the
Temple (see Ishak ben Ya'kub Obadiah Abu
'IsA al-Isfahani).

Ishak's disciple Yudghan, called "Al-Ra'i"
(= " the shepherd of the flock of his people "), who
lived iu the first half of the eighth century, declared
himself to be a prophet, and was by his disciples
regarded as a Messiah. He came from Hamadan,
and taught doctrines which he claimed to have
received through prophec}'. According to Shah-
ristani, he opposed the belief in anthropomor-

253

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Fseudo-Messiahs

phism, tauglit the doctrine of free will, and lield that
the Torah had an allegorical meaning in addition to
its literal one. Ho was thus, according to Gratz
(I.e. V. 467), a Jewish Motazilite. He admonished
his followers to lead an ascetic life, to abstain from
meat and wine, and to pray and fast often, follow-
ing in this his master Abu 'Isa. He held that the
observance of the Sabbath and festivals was merely
a matter of memorial. After his death his followers
formed a sect, the Yudglianites, who believed that
their Messiah had not died, but would return (comp.
Gratz, I.e. note 17, § 4, 18, § 1; Hebr. cd., iii. 503,
511).

Between 720 and 723 a Syrian, Serene (his name
is given variously in the sources as Slierini, Sheria,
Serenus, Zonoria, Saiira; see Gratz, I.e.
Serene. v. 401-402), appeared as the Messiah.
The immediate occasion lor his ap-
pearance may have been the restriction of the liber-
ties of the Jews by the calif Omar II. (717-720) and
Ids proselytizing efforts. On the political side this
IVIessiah promised the expulsion of the Moham-
medans and the restoration of the Jews to the Holy
Land. He had followers even in Spain, where the
Jews were suffering under the oppressive taxation of
their new Arab rulers ; and many left their homes
for the new Messiah. Like Abu 'Isa and Yudghan,
Serene also was a religious reformer. He was hos-
tile to rabbinic Judaism. His followers disregarded
the dietary laws, the rabbinically instituted prayers,
and the prohibition against the " wine of libation " ;
they worked on the second day of the festivals ; they
did not write marriage and divorce documents ac-
cording to Talraudic prescriptions, and did not re-
gard the Talmudic prohibition against the marriage
of near relatives (see Gratz, I.e. note 14). Serene
was arrested. Brought before Calif Yazid, he de-
clared that he had acted only in jest, whereupon he
was handed over to the Jews for punishment. His
followers .were received back into the fold upon
giving up their heresy.

Under the influence of the Crusades the number
of Messiahs increased, and the twelfth century re-
cords many of them. One appeared in France (c.
1087), and was slain by the French; another ap-
peared in the province of Cordova (c. 1117), and one
in Fez (c. 1127). Of these three nothing is known
beyond the mention of them in Maimonides' "Ig-
geret Teman."

The next Important Messianic movement appears
again in Persia. David Alroy or Alrui, who was
born in Kurdistan, about 1160 declared himself a
Messiah. Taking advantage of his
David personal popularity, the disturbed
Alroy. and weakened condition of the calif-
ate, and the discontent of the Jews,
who were burdened with a heavy poll-tax, he set out
upon his political schemes, asserting that he had
been sent by God to free the Jews from the Moham-
medan yoke and to lead them back to Jerusalem.
For this purpose he summoned the warlike Jews of
the neighboring district of Adherbaijan and also his
coreligionists of Mosul and Bagdad to come armed
to his aid and to assist in the capture of Amadia.
From this point his career is enveloped in legend.
His movement failed ; and he is said to have been

assassinated, while asleep, by his own father-in-law.
A heavy fine was exacted from the Jews for this
uprising. After his death Alroy had many followers
in Khof, Salmas, Tauris, and Maragha, and these
formed a sect called the Menahemists, from the Mes-
sianic name "Menahem," assumed by their founder.
See Alkoy, or Aleui, David.

Soon after Alroy an alleged forerunner of the
Messiah appeared in Yemen (in 1172) just when the
Mohammedans were making determined efforts to
convert the Jews living there. He declared the
misfortunes of the time to be prognostications of the
coming Messianic kingdom, and called upon the
Jews to divide their propertj' with the poor. This
pseudo-I\lessiah was the subject of Maimonides'
"Iggeret Teman." He continued his activity for a
year, when he was arrested by the Mohammedan
authorities and beheaded — at his own suggestion, it
is said, in order that he might prove the truth of
his mission by returning to life.

With Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (b. 1240;
d. after 1291), the oabalist, begin the pseudo-Messiahs
whose activity is deeply influenced by their cabalistic
speculations. As a result of his mystic studies,
Abulafla came to believe first that he
Abraham was a prophet ; and in a prophetic
Abulafia. book which he published in Urbino
(1279) he declared that God had spoken
to him. In Messina, on the island of Sicily, where
he was well received and won disciples, he declared
liim.self (in a work which he published Nov., 1284)
to be the Messiah and announced 1290 as the year
lor the Messianic era to begin. Solomon ben Adret,
who was appealed to with regard to Abulafia's
claims, condemned him, and some congregations de-
clared against him. Persecuted in Sicil}', he went
to the island of Comino near IMalta (c. 1388), still as-
serting in his writings his Messianic mission. His
end is unknown. Two of his disciples, Joseph Gi-
katilla and Samuel, both from Medinaceli, later
claimed to be prophets and miracle-workers. The
latter foretold in mystic language at Ayllon in
Segovia the advent of the Messiah.

Another pretended prophet was Nissim ben Abra-
ham, active in Avila. His followers told of him that,
although ignorant, he had been suddenly endowed,
by an angel, with the power to write a mystic work,
"The Wonder of Wisdom," with a commentary
thereon. Again an appeal was made to Solomon
ben Adret, who doubted Nissim's prophetic preten-
sion and urged careful investigation. The prophet
continued his activity, nevertheless, and even fixed
the last day of the fourth month, Tammuz, 1295, as
the date for the Messiah's coming. The credulous
prepared for the event by fasting and almsgiving,
and came together on the appointed day. But in-
stead of finding the Messiah, some saw on their
garments little crosses, perhaps pinned on by unbe-
lievers to ridicule the movement. In their disap-
pointment some of Nissim's followers are said to
have gone over to Christianity. What became of
the prophet is unknown.

After the lapse of a century another false Messiah
came forward with Messianic pretensions. Accord-
ing to Gratz {I.e. viii. 404), this pretended Messiah
is to be identified with Moses Botarel of Cisneros.

Pseudo-Messiahs
Pseudo-Phocylides

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

254;

One of his adherents and partizans was Hasdai
Crescas. Their relation is referred to by Geronimo
da Santa Fe in his speccli at the disputation in Tor-
tosal413 (comp. Giittz, I.e.).

Another century later, in 1503, Asher Lemmlein
(Lammlein), a German proclaiming himself a fore-
runner of the Messiah, appeared in Istria, near Ven-
ice, and announced that it the Jews would be peni-
tent and practise charity the Messiah
Asher would come within half a year, and
Lemmlein. a pillar of cloud and of smoke would
precede the Jews on their return to
Jerusalem. He found believers in Italy and Ger-
many, even among the Christians. In obedience to
liis preaching, people fasted and prayed and gave
alms to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, so
that the year came to be known as the "year of
penitence." But the "Messiah" either died or dis-
appeared (see Lemmlein, Asher).

Among the pseudo-Messiahs are to be included
David Reubeni and Solomon Molko. The former
pretended to be the ambassador and brother of the
King of Khaibar — a town and former district of
Arabia, in which the descendants of the tribes of
Rueben and Gad were supposed to dwell — and sent to
the pope and powers of Europe to secure cannon and
firearms for war against the Mohammedans, who, he
said, prevented the union of the Jews living on the
two sides of the Red Sea. He denied expressly that
he was a Messiah or a prophet (comp. Fuenn, " Kene-
set Yisrael," p. 356), claiming that he was merely a
warrior. The credence which lie found

Reubeni at the papal court in 1524, the recep-
and tion accorded to him in 1525 at the

Solomon Portuguese court (whither he came at

Molko. the invitation of John III. and where
he at first received the promise of
help), the temporary cessation of persecution of the
Maranos — all gave the Portuguese and Spanish Ma-
ranos reason to believe that Reubeni was a forerunner
of the Messiah. Selaya, inquisitor of Badajoz, com-
plained to the King of Portugal that a Jew who had
come from the Orient (referring to Reubeni) had
filled the Spanish Maranos with the hope that the
Messiah would come and lead Isi-ael from all lands
back to Palestine, and that he had even emboldened
them to overt acts (comj). Gratz, I.e. ix. 533). A
spirit of expectancy was aroused by Reubeni's stay
in Portugal. A Marano woman in the region of
Herara in Puebla de Alcocer declared herself a
prophetess, had visions, and promised to lead her
coreligionists to the Holy Land. She and many
who believed in her were burned.

A more important result of Reubeni's coming than
such a phenomenon is the return to Judaism of the
Marano Diogo Pires (b. e. 1501 ; d. 1532), an event
of which Reubeni was perhaps the cause (see Molko,
Solomon).

To some extent belong here also the cabalists

Isaac Luria, the founder of the modern school of

Cabala, and Hayyim Vital Calabrese,

Isaac his chief disciple and successor. Both

Luria. claimed to be Ephraitic Messiahs,

forerunners of the Davidio Messiah.

Isaac Ltieia (b. 1584 in Jerusalem; d. 1573 in

Sated) taught in his mystic system the transmi-

gration and superfetation of souls, and believed
himself to possess the soul of the Messiah of the
house of Joseph and to have it as his mission to
hasten the coming of the Messiah of the house of
David through the mystic improvement of souls.
Having developed his cabalistic system in Egypt
without finding many followers, he went to Safed
about 1569. There he met Hayyim'Vital Calabrese,
to whom he revealed his secrets and through whom
he secured many disciples. To these he taught se-
cretly his Messiahship. He believed that the Mes-
sianic era would commence in the beginning of the
second half of the second day (of the year 1000)
after the destruction of the Temple, i.e., in 1568.

On Luria's death Hayyim Vital Calabrese (b.
1543 ; d. 1620 at Damascus) claimed to be the Eph-
raitic Messiah and preached of the speedy advent of
the Messianic era. In 1574 Abraham Shalom, a
pretender to the Davldic Messiahship, it seems, sent
to Vital, saying that he (Shalom) was the Davidio
Messiah, whereas Vital was the Messiah of the house
of Joseph. He urged Vital to go to Jerusalem and
stay there for at least two years, whereupon the
divine spirit would come upon him. Shalom bade
Vital, furthermore, not to fear death, the fate of the
Ephraitic Messiah, as he would seek to save him
from this doom (see Fuenn, I.e. p. 353).

Another Messiah is reported by Lent (" De Pseudo-
Messiis," ch. iv., § 15) to have appeared in Coroman-
del in 1615 (see Jost> " Gesch. der Israeliten, " viii.481).

The most important Messianic movement, and one
whose influence was wide-spread throughout the
Jewry, lasting in some quarters over a century,
was that of Shabbethai Zebi (b. at Smyrna 1626 ;
d. at Dulciguo 1676).

After his death Shabbethai was followed by a line
of Messiahs. Jacob Querido, son of Joseph Pilosof,
and brother of the fourth wife of Shabbethai, became
the head of the Shabbethaians in Salonica, being re-
garded by them as the incarnation of Shabbethai.
He pretended to bo Shabbethai 's son and adopted the
name Jacob Zebi. With 400 followers
Sh.ab- he went over to Islam about 1687,
bethaian forming a sect called the Donmeh. He

Pseudo- himself even made a pilgrimage to

Messiahs. Mecca (c. 1690). After his death his

son Berechiah or Berokia succeeded

him (e. 1695-1740), and was similarly regarded as

Messiah and successor of Shabbethai Zebi.

A number of Shabbethai's followers declared
themselves Messiahs. Miguel (Abraham) Cardoso
(1630-1706), born of Marano parents, may have been
initiated into the Shabbethaian movement by Moses
Pinheiro in Leghorn. He became a prophet of the
Messiah, and when the latter embraced Islam he
justified this treason, saying that it was necessary
for the Messiah to be reckoned among the sinners iu
order to atone for Israel's idolatry. He applied Isa.
liii. to Shabbethai, and sent out epistles to prove
that Shabbethai was the true Messiah, and he even
suffered persecution for advocating his cause. Later
he considered himself as the Ephraitic Messiah, as-
serting that he had marks on his body which were
proof of this. He preached and wrote of the
speedy coming of the Messiah, fixing different dates
until his death (see Cardoso, Miguel).

255

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pseudo-Messiahs
Pseudo-Phocylides

Another follower of Shabbetliai who remaiued
faithful to him, Mordecai Mokiah ("the Rebuker")
of Eisenstadt, also pretended to be a Messiah. His
period of activity was from 1678 to 1683 or 1683.
He preached at first that Shabbethai was the true
^iessiah, that his conversion was for mystic reasons
necessary, that he did not die but would reveal
himself within three years after his supposed death,
and pointed to the persecution of the Jews in Oran
(by Spain), in Austria, and in Prance,
Mordecai and to the pestilence in Germany as

Mokiah.. prognostications of his coming. He
found a following among Hungarian,
Moravian, and Bohemian Jews. Going a step fur-
ther, he declared that he was the Davidic Messiah.
Shabbethai, according to him, was only the Ephra-
itic Messiah and was furthermore rich, and therefore
could not accomplish the redemption of Israel. He
(Mordecai), being poor, was the real Messiah and
at the same time the incarnation of the soul of the
Ephraitic Messiah. Italian Jews heard of him and in-
vited him to Italy. He went there about 1680, and re-
ceived a warm welcome in Reggio and Modena. Ho
spoke of Messianic preparations which he had to
make in Rome, and hinted at having perhaps to
adopt Christianity outwardly. Denounced to the
Inquisition, or advised to leave Italy, he returned to
Bohemia, and then went to Poland, where he is said
to have become insane. Prom his time a sect began
to form there, which still existed at the beginning of
the Mendelssohnian era.

Another Messiah of the Shabbethaians was Lilbele
Prossuitz (a partizan of Mordecai), whose theory
was that God had resigned the dominion of the
world to the " pious one," i.e., the one who had en-
tered into the depths of the Cabala. Such a repre-
sentative of God had been Shabbethai, whose soul
had passed into other "pious" men, into Jonathan
Eybeschiitz and into himself. Another, Isaiah
Hasid (a brother-in-law of the Shabbethaian Judah
Hasid), who lived in Mannheim, secretly claimed to
be the resurrected Messiah, although publicly he
had abjured Shabbethaian beliefs. Jonathan Eybe-
schiitz may have been regarded by some Shabbe-
thaians as the Davidic Messiah (see Gratz, I.e. note
7, and p. 339).

The last of the Shabbethaian Messiahs was Jacob

Prank (b. 1726 in Podolia ; d. 1791), founder of the

Prankists. In his youth he had been brought into

relation with the DOnmeh. He taught

Jacob that by metempsychosis the same Mes-

Frank. siah soul had dwelt in David, Elijah,
Jesus, Mohammed, Shabbethai Zebi
and his followers to Berechiah, and finally in him
(Prank). Having secured a following among Turk-
ish and Wallachian Jews, he came in 1755 to Podolia,
where the Shabbethaians were in need of a leader,
and revealed himself to them as the reincarnation of
the soul of Berechiah. In accordance with the Shab-
bethaian trinitarian doctrine of the Deity, he laid
stress on the idea of the " holy king " who was at the
same timeMessiah, and he accordingly called himself
" santo senor" (=" holy lord "). His followers claimed
he performed miracles ; and they even prayed to him.
His purpose, as well as that of his sect, was to uproot
Talmudic Judaism. He was forced to lea ve Podolia ;

and his followers were persecuted. Returning in
1759, he advised his followers to embrace Christian-
ity, and about 1,000 were converted. He himself
was converted in Warsaw Nov., 1759. Later his
insincerity was exposed, and he was imprisoned as a
heretic, remaining, however, even in prison the head
of this sect (see Prank, Jacob, and the Prankists).
Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (b. 1707 in Padua; d.
1747), the poet, also believed himself to be a Mes-
siah. He had early been initiated into the Cabala.

Self-deluded as a result of his occupa-

Moses tion with the Zohar, and influenced by

liuzzatto. the cabalistic atmosphere in which he

lived, he beUeved that a divine spirit
had given to him an insight into its mysteries,
and at last fancied himself to be destined by
means of the "Second Zohar," which he wrote, to
redeem Israel (see GriUz, I.e. x. 373, note 1; idem,
Hebrew ed., viii. 389, note 1). His Cabala was at
first kept within a narrow circle of disciples. When
the secret was revealed, an oath was exacted of Luz-
zatto that he would refrain from writing, publishing,
and teaching his doctrines unless he went to Pales-
tine. He returned to his cabalistic activity, and
was several times excommunicated. About 1744
he went to Palestine, there to engage in his cabalis-
tic studies undisturbed, or to fill his Messianic rSle ;
and there he died.

Bibliography : Gratz, Gesch. passim ; Hamburger, B. B. T.
s.v. Mensiase : M. Gaster, in Jew. Chran. Feb. U and March
11, 1898 ; A. M. Hyamson, False Messiahs, In Oentleman's
Magazine, Ixix. 79-89; Johannls k Lent, De, Judceorum
Pseudo-Messiis.
K. H. G. P.

PSEUDO-PHOCYLIDES : A Judffio-Hellenis-
tic poet and the author of a didactic poem in epic
style of 350 verses. He assumed the name of the
ancient gnomic bard Phocylides of Miletus; and
medieval scholars, regardless of criticism, accepted
his composition as a genuine classic work. Since
its ethical teachings are of the highest, and in entire
harmony with Christian and monotheistic doctrines,
it was used until the sixteenth century and even
later as one of the most popular school manuals of
epic style ; and only after classical philology had been
firmly established on a critical basis was discarded
the naive belief that an ancient heathen poet had
preached monotheism and a system of ethics of
equal purity centuries before Christianity was
known.

The problem of the authorship of this poem was
first solved by Jacob Bernays in 1856. He proved
that the composition was entirely dependent on the
Bible and was directly opposed to
Author- heathenism, while there was no allu-
ship De- sion whatever in it to Christianity or
termined to the New Testament, which showed
by Jacob that it was absolutely uninfiuenced by
Bernays. Christian teachings. He proved also
that the source of the most essential
teachings of the work is the Pentateuch. These
precepts are especially the so-called law of reason,
which the author hoped would appear acceptable to
the Gentiles ; for such prohibitions as those respect-
ing eating flesh torn by an animal (= "terefah";
verses 139, 147-148; comp. Ex. xxii. 80), or taking
the mother bird and her brood together from the

Pseudo-Phocylides
Pseudonymous Literature

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

256

nest (verse 84; comp. Deut. xxii. 6), may be consid-
ered moral laws. Commandments which apply es-
pecially to the Jews are not mentioned by pseudo-
Phocylides, since he conld not hope that the Gentiles
would listen to them. It was, therefore, the laws
that were binding upon the Noachidoe which the
pseudo-Phocylides preached (Krauss, in "R. E. J."
xlvii. 32) ; lie, however, omitted the prohibition
against idolatry, which he, curiously enough, did
not attack, probably for the simple reason that he
wished to preserve his anonymity, in which case he
does not deserve in any degree Bernays' reproach of
lukewarmness and cowardice.

The essentially Jewish character of the poem of

pseudo-Phocylides is proved by the fact that his

precepts may all be traced to the Bible. Bernaj-s

confined his parallels to the Pentateuch ; but later

investigators have carried the search

Jewish further and have shown that the au-
Ckaracter thor drew largely on other books of

of Poem, the Bible, especially the gnomic liter-
ature. Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes,
as well as on Apocryphal writings, such as Ecclesi-
asticus (see I. Levi, "L'Ecclesiastique," part ii., p.
Ixiv., Paris, 1901) and the Wisdom of Solomon. To
verse 129, in which the Logos is described as being
inspired by God, an exact parallel is found in Wis-
dom vii. 24-25 ; and the statement in verse 106,
" The spirit is lent by God to men, and is His very
likeness," finds its closest analogue in Wisdom ii.
23. In addition to Bernays and Gomar, Arthur Lud-
wich has contributed much to the establishment of
a correct text of the poem.

Whether pseudo-Phocylides won success among
the Gentiles by his moral teachings is quite unknown.
This question might perhaps be answered if the time
and authorship of the poem were established. Con-
cerning the date of its composition it can only be said
that it was written after the completion of the Sep-
tuagint, but before Christianity (which the author to-
tally ignores) had become widely known, since after
this time — in other words, after 150 c.B. — the new re-
ligion'would have demanded mention. It would seem
that the home of the author was Alexandria ; for there
all the conditions for suclLapseudepigraphical work
were existent. This view is perhaps confirmed by
the strict prohibition of the dissection of the ca-
daver, a prohibition which is based by the author
upon the doctrine of the resurrection of the body
(verses 104-105), although this argument can not be
pressed far, since the passage is very possibly a
Christian or a pagan interpolation (Harnack, "Die
Chronologic der Altchristlichen Litteratur," i. 589,
Leipslc, 1897).

The poem does not seem to have been well known ;
for the Church Fathers Clement of Alexandria and
Eusebius, who eagerly collected everything pertain-
ing to Jndaeo - Hellenistic literature, were igno-
rant of its existence. It is remarkable that verses
5 to 79 of the poem have been incorporated, with
a simple omission of verses which have a Gentile
ring, into the Sibyllines (ii. 56-148). The impor-
trnce of the poem lies further in the fact that it was
used as a text-book in schools at the time of the Ref-
ormation; and with this object in view it was re-
printed, annotated, and translated repeatedly after

its first edition in 1495. The value and influence
of the poem have been exaggerated beyond measure
even in the most recent times ; Lemcke makes the
incorrect assertion that it is older than Alexan-
drianisnr, and that it carried Parseeism to Judea,
where it influenced all religious life and activity.

BiBLiofiRAPHY: J. Bernays, XTeber das Phnkvlidelnche Oeclic7it,
first published in Jahresbericht des JUdischen Theolngischen
Seminars zu BresJau, 1856, then in Gesammelle Abhandlun-
gen, 1. 192-261, Berlin, 1885, wbere the older literature and the
amended text are given ; Gustav Gomar, De Pseudo-Phocji-
lide. In PhUnlogus, xiv. 91-113; K. Sebestyi^n, A Pseudo-
PhokttUdes, Budapest, 1895 (discussion and text). There are
also studies on the text by A. Hart, in JahrbUcher fUr Clas-
sisohe Philologie., 1868, xcvii.; H. Hlnck, ib.; idem, in Rliein-
isches Museum, new series, 1871, xxvi.; and A. Ludwich,
Lectiones Pseudophocijl idew, Konigsberg, 1872. On the new
manuscript discovered in Janina see PliUolngtis, Ivi. 616-620 ;
K. F. A. Llncke, Samaria und Seine Propheten, with a sup-
plement: Die Weisheitflelire des Phohylides, Griechisch
und Deutsch, Tubingen, 1903 ; Griitz, Gesch., 4th ed., ill. 377-
379, 610-611: and Schurer, Gesch,., 3d ed., Hi. 473-476, with
exhaustive literature. The text has been edited with a critical
apparatus by Bergk, in Poetw Lurid Greed, 4th ed., ii. 74-
109, and by Feuling, Phocylides, Poem of Admonition with
Introduction and Commentaries, translated by Goodwin,
Andover, Mass., 1879.

T. S. Kr.

PSEUDONYMOUS LITERATURE AND

WRITERS : The habit of adopting literary dis-
guises is a very old one in Hebrew literature. Ac-
cording to the views of higher criticism, there are
a large number of books of the Old Testament which
might be included under the foregoing heading. The
cabalists of later days often chose the names of Rabbi
Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba, whom tradition celebrated
as the greatest teachers of esoteric doctrines. But
the choice of names was not always as appropriate
as in these instances. No one, for example, can tell
why the " Sefer Yezirah " should have been ascribed
to Abraham, and the "Sifra di-Zeni'uta" to Jacob.
In these instances, however, it must be borne in
mind that the pseudo-authorship is perhaps the
invention of a later day, and that the books were
originally anonymous (Zunz, "G. V." 1892, p. 175).

The employment of pseudon3'ms may be said to
have been more in vogue among authors of imag-
inative and mystic writings, while those who wrote
halakic works, if they did not acknowledge their au-
thorship, left them anonymous. In their search for
great names the pseudonymous writers not only
leaped over centuries, but even ascended to heaven.
Thus the " Sefer Raziel " is ascribed to an angel of
that name.

The pseudonymous literature of the Middle Ages
is too extensive to be treated here exhaustively.
The best-known works, besides those
Early already mentioned, are : the " Otiyyot
Instances. de-Rabbi 'Akiba"; the " Sefer Bahir,"
ascribed to Nehunya b. ha-Kanah ; the
"Sefer ha-Taggin," ascribed to R. Ishmael b. Elisha
or to the high priest Eli (Zunz, J.c. p. 418, notei);
and the Zohar, ascribed to R. Simeon b. Yohai.
This last-named work is perhaps the greatest literary
forgery of all times, considering the influence it ex-
erted upon the Jewish people. Of a different charac-
ter, but no less popular, were the two pseudonymous
books "Yosippon," ascribed to Josephus, and the
"Sefer ha-Yashar," said to have been found during
the destruction of the Second Temple.

In modern times the use of literary disguises has
been more widely adopted ; but, at the same time,

257

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pseudo-Fhocylides
Fseudonymous lilterature

the number of literary forgeries has considerablj'
diminislied. Perliaps tlie last great literary t'orgevj'
was the "Besamim Rosh" (Berlin, 1793) of R. Saul
Berlin, which he ascribed to R. Asher b. Jehiel,
Authors have now more often cause to conceal their
identity ; but the names they assume generally hold,
as it were, the real name in solution.

The most ordinary class of pseudonyms is that
which is composed either of the initial or the final
letters of the author's real name. Such, for instance,
is AB (= "father") for Abraham Berliner, and
HaBeT (= " look ") for Solomon Lob Rapoport. Oc-
casionally an author will hide his identity under an
anagram, composed of the letters which, in the ar-
rangement of the alphabet, immediately precede or
follow the initials or final letters of his name. Thus
the pseudonym pEJ'j, which Abraham Baer Dobse-
witch (pilJJtan "lya Cmax) employed, is composed
of letters which in the alphabet immediately follow
the final letters of his name. Another common
method of forming pseudonyms is metathesis, e.g.,
pDV It}' JJItJ"' I'ly for ''pDIVB'VIVB' '3V. Sometimes
the pseudonym is nothing more than a Hebrew
translation of the author's family name, as Ish
Mal.ishabot for Trachtmann. Less frequent is the
pseudonj'm based on a Biblical allu-
Methods sion, as Ben Tamar for J. L. Perez, an
of allusion to Gen. xxxviii. 29. Still

formation, rarer is the pseudonym based on an-
other pseudonym. This Is met with
in cases where a writer well known under one
pseudonym forms another out of the first. Thus
A. S. Friedberg, known under the pseudonym Har
Shalom, often signs himself tJTI, which is an .abbre-
viation of his pseudonym. The most compTfftSiited
pseudonym, formed by a combination of several of
the above-mentiohed methods, is ''DJp''Dn IT'IIS p,
whickis the norri de plume of Joseph Brill of Jlinsk.
By metathesis •'DJp''Dn stands for ipoyDn, "the
native of Minsk," and ninv p for 3Nr, according
to II Sam. ii. 13 ; and 3XV, again, contains the initials
of ii''"l3 tlDV ''JS- Finally, there are pseudonyms en-
tirely independent of the author's name, but indica-
tive of the writer's attitude, as Ahad ha-'Am ("one
of the people") for Asher Gunzburg, while others
are rare Biblical names, as Bukki ben Togli (Num.
xxxiv. 33), the pen-name of J. L. Katzenelson.

In the selected list of pseudonyms that follows
here only those pen-names have been included which
liave been used by the authors themselves, or which,
through long usage, have become inseparably asso-
ciated with an author's works, as, for example,
Rashi, which is always used for E. Solomon of
Trbyes when mention is made of his writings. Pen-
names like VSX for Abraham ibn Ezra, JJK for Abra-
ham Geiger, or lOHNn for De Rossi, belong rather
to abbreviations and nicknames. Every name in the
subjoined list is followed by a corroborative source,
except in such well-known pseudonyms as require
no corroboration. The letters within parentheses
refer to these sources as given in the bibliography
at the end of tUis article. It should be added that,
since the following list is bilingual, some of the let-
ters of the pseudonyms must, of necessity, appear
unrepresented in the real name, and, furthermore,
that the letters K, 1, n, », J, "I of the pseudonym are
X.— 17

not reproduced in the real name when they stand
for >JK, nan, ppn, IJIID, DISJ, 13-1. The same holds
good for any combination of these words.

Authors and Their pseudonyms.

.N N = Isaac Eucliel.

.TT .N = Abraham Dobsewitch ("Ha-Mellz," 1869, p. 15).

S .N = Abraham Ludwipol (S.).

.D .D .s = Abraham Mendel Mohr (Bj. p. 230).

.ly .D .N = Victor Marmelsteln (" Arba' ^ushyot ").

.y .N = A. Elyashov (S.).

.H-ttf .N = Eliezer Skrelnka (yn'iDj, v. 66-71; R.).

1C3NS = Abraham Elijah Sandler (Seh.).

^^iN = Abraham Aba Bakowski (S.).

3'N = Abraham Berliner (" Or ha-Hayyim," p. 610, Franktort-
on-the-Main, 1891).

nnn 3'n = Abraham b. Judah Hasid; Asher b. Jehiel (L.).

N3N = Abraham b. al-Nakkar (H. B. xvi. p. 63); Abraham b.
Asher, T3 Sy N'3N li'nD, -(Sd unjJD (F. i. 6); Asher b. Eli-
jah (Konstantin) Shapiro (Si.); Elijah Benamozegh (Si.).

J3N = Abraham Baer Gottlober.

lyniNH nJ2N = Alter Droyanov ^S.).

S'n^N = Judah LBb Lewln (S.).

in ON = Jacob Samuel Yatskan (S.).

D^pil'n-rTjJD >3N = Benjamin Mandelstamm.

a^iaN = Abraham b. Hezekiah Basan (D.); Isaac Benjacob (Bj.
p. 184); Reuben A. Braudes(SI.); Arnold B. Ehrlich (nnnp,
p. 15J(, New York) .

n^3^( = Israel Zebi Bernstein (Sch.); Albert Harkavy (SDnan,
vi. 237); I. B. Hurwitz (S.); Abraham b. Judah ha-Levi
Minz (M. p. 39).

S-p i£"N n'DN = Israel Zebi Bernstein (So. p. 195).

p'3N = Abraham Jonah of Venice (Si.).

1DV2N = Reuben Bralnln (S.).

nnitON = J. L. Katzenelson (2p'n, p. 14).

"3N = Abraham b. Isaac Joshua Latasn ("Iggerot Shadal," p.
199).

[ON = Adolph Neubauer (Sch.).

j;'3N = Abraham b. Isaac Antibi (Si.).

pN = Abraham b. Nathan ha-Yarhi (L.).

nSi pN = Judah LBb Rittermann (Z. p. 430).

ff:r-\ pN = Abraham b. Samuel Flrkoyich.

tlJ3t< = Aaron Noah Kaminka (S.).

1J3N = Aaron b. Nahum Eosenfeld ("Ha-Boker Or," iv. 1475).

JI3N = Abraham Ehrlich (Sch.).

)S2N = (by metathesis Dm^N p 'as DlNj) = Hirsoh Schere-
schewsky (S.).
X = Abraham b.
.''NJ313N = Abraham Levkowitz (" Ha-Boker Or," vi. 2); Abra-
ham ben Aryeh LBb Rakowsky (" Ha-Kol," i. 6).

niS Dm3N = A. L. Lewinski (" Luah Ahiasaf," i., col. 223).

DiSiv 3N = Abraham Shalom of Padua (j)ni33, 1836, p. 56).

lySj -ft/ Vs-n^JN = I. Goldberg (S.).

-,ljx = w. Goldstein (Sch.).

^^^J^( = ISllakim Getzel Kohen ("Ha-Kol," 111. 103).

)JN = Abraham Gagin of Jerusalem (Si.).

1<TN = Ephraim Deinard.

-n« = Abraham Deb Cohen (Si.).

mN = B. M. Andermann (Sch. ) ; Elijah Daniel del Bene (M. p. 7).

pan mN = Abraham Dob Bar Lebensohn.

nx = Aaron Halle (" Ha-Meassef," 1790, p. 132).

Snx = Alexander ha- Levi Langbank ("Ozarha-Sifrut,"i. 30-37).

mv'^'O'^ nnBi:'DD nniN = Judah LBb Mieses ("Tekunatha-
Rabbanim," Lemberg, 1879).

^yJ'-•^l^! = Senior Sachs (pSnn, 1869, p. 54).

21IN = Judah LBb Gordon (S.).

iDtt" SNTi"3 SnJ inN = Israel Salant (Bj. p. 656).

Dninn inN = Isaac Jacob Weissberg (S.).

ayn inN = Asher Gunzburg.

ti^ND nnx = Aryeh LBb Erumkin (" Eben Shemu'el," p. 110,
Wilna, 1874).

niBDsn 'Sy^D ^^N = ^ayyim Lazar Muschkat (z. p. 248).

ntOD niD inN = Moses Lazar Eisenstadt; Isaac Jacob Weiss-
berg (" Ha-Yem." i., No. 18 ; S.).

w'^iii Ty 'tS^d nnN = Isaac MeJr Dick ("Ha-Oreah," KBnigs-
' berg, 1860; Bj. p. 30).

Nj^'iiD JIN].-!. . . ■'T'D^PD "iriN = Benjamin Solomon Ribeles
("Sefer Gebia' Gebia' ha-Keset" [Shklev, 1804]; Zed. p.
656).

VSn h'i/ m'D7nD inN = Joseph Rosenthal (S.).

inx = Aaron Hayyim Ve'.terra, m'laSll ("Bakkashah Hada-
shah," Leghorn, 174fl ; W. No. 1559).

Pseudonymous Literature

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

258

ninN = H. Abraham Wagenaar ("Toledot Ya'abez," Amster-
dam, 1868).
aitO'HN = I. J. Weissberg (S.).
D''n-iD''N = Abraham Ludwipol (S.)-.
p<N = Abraham Joseph Danon (" Maskil le-Etan," Adrianople,

1888).
ai'Ni t<p-ci3 arin n'm- p ^l^N = Joseph Brill ("Ha-Shahar,"

vlii. 317).
2Vpo 2i'N = I. J. Weissberg (S.).

nS'N = Aaron Judah LBb Horowitz (" Ha-Karmel," 1. 16).
iSa^n 'D^N = Abraham Jacob Sluckl (S.).
Djyiij'Bi!' pii-iN = David Frischmann (" Ha-Yom," 1887, No.

207).
n^N = Aaron Joseph Randegger ("Bikkure ha-'Ittlm," xi. 169-

177).
v>H = Saul Jacob Elyashar (Si.): Eliezer Isaac Shapiro (So. p.

115); Israel Steiner (Sch.); Abraham Jacob Stern ("Ha-

Nesher," V. 189).
dVin u^x = Asher b. Isaiah da Montagna (M. p. 41).
■V!'2 a^N = Aklba Pleischmann ("Kadimah," p. 172).
ij z^a = Abraham Joseph Solomon Graziano (Bj. p. 132).
nnn ivn = Albert Katz (S.).
'n B"N = Jonas Garland.
312Sd ddh iif'X = Abraham Mendel Mohr (in notes to "Zemah

Dawid," Lemberg, 1847 ; Bj. p. 510).
nnicn ir-^N = Eliezer David Llbermann (" Ge Hizzayon," War-
saw, 1880 ; W. No. 1938) .
mm ar^i< = Jeslah David Sllberbusch (S.).
NiDD mrr' tf^N = Moses Mordecai Pros (Si.).
'iS n'DD B"X = Jacob Samuel ha-Levi Trachtmann (S.).
NamD IVN = Moses Dob ha-Kohen b. Eleazar Aryeh Goldmann

("Shlrim," Vienna, 1886).
nutfnD i:"N = J. S. Trachtmann ("Migdanot," p. 45).
■■DJIJ lif^n = Elimelech Weehsler.
i^yx t!/>x = Elijah b. Moses Israel, author of " Kol Ellyahu "

(Si.).
3Nt p ti'^is N-ipjn -\-\ lyN = Raphael ha-Kohen (" Hut ha-Me-

shullash," Odessa, 1874).
DiSa- B"N = Me'ir Friedmann.
SfCniN = Israel Neumann (" Ha-Berlt ha-Hadashah," Breslau,

1821; W. No. 1630).
nnn b"n Tn = Albert Katz (Si.).
Sn = A. Luria (" Ha-Karmel," i.. No. 16).
N-i'njSN:] jnn '[ id.sVn = Aaron Chorin (" Iggeret Elasaf,"

Prague, 1826; W. No. 171).
m'DmSN = S. Eosenfeld (S.).
jjp ti)SN = Wolf Kaplan (" Migdanot," 1883, p. 33).
JD'P IiSn = J. S. Trachtmann (S.).
yn^Vs ; ytiii'^hx = I. J. Weissberg (S.).
dSk = Abigdor Levi of Glogau (JEW. ENOTO. .S.J). ABIGDOE BEN

SIMHA).

iixdSn = Julius Fiirst (Concordance, Leipslc, 1840).

pSn = A. L. Katerzinski ("Ketab Yosherhe-Hadash," Warsaw,
1885).

ncN = Isaac Meir Dick.

DCN = Mordecai Penso (L.).

E'EN = Moise Schwab (L.).

PEN = Aaron Margolis (" Semel ha-Ahabah weha-Kin'ah," Vi-
enna, 1877).

piS'nN yT'JN p 'PDN = David Caro ("Berit Emet," Dessau,
1820; Bj. p. 85).

m p n'VTi p ■>nrN = Leon of Modena (Bj. p. 553).

n^jn 1JK = Moses Proser (S.).

nDin ijN = Mordecai Weissmann-Hajes (" Ha-Nesher," ill. 66).

DD^nN IDr ijN = Joseph Eliezer b. Abraham Morpurgo (yn'i'33,
vii.95-98: R.).

ilSn ■£!'■"!> 'JN = J. S. Trachtmann (y^^cn, 1864, No. 7).

ry.s = Abraham Epstein. \vs n^i^D (nn'if n, xil.).

nsN = Proflat Duran (L.); Eliezer David Finkel (S.).

'BN = Abraham Farlssol (H.B.xvi. p. 65); Abraham PalagKSi.).

imsN = David Frischmann (S.).

DSN = Abraham Zuckermann.

'jijnn iSpN = A. Droyanov (S.).

IN = A. Eabbinowitz ("Leket Shoshannim," Paris, 1878).

aiJiN = I. J. Weissberg (S.).

rns = Alexander Zederbaum.

nN = Isaac Ashkeuazi Luria.

Sn^n = Judah LOb Gamso (S.).

]J1N = Eliezer Nahman Foa (M. p. 23).

v;n n/ti = Abraham Shalom Frledberg ("Luah Ahiasaf," iii.,
col. 180).

pimn NPN = I. J. Weissberg (S.).

1-P-3 = Baruch Jeiteles ("Ha-Meassef," 1790; C. B. No. 3713).

J3 = Israel B. Gedallah Bristiner (S.); Beer Goldberg.

12 = S. Bernfeld (" Luah Ahiasaf," vlii. 317).

-\X> 13 = Bernhard Schleslnger (" Bikkure ha-'Ittlm," v. 60-

62: R.).
12' 13 = Bernhard Schleslnger (ynija, iv. 191-192; R.).
'Sj< p Ilia = J. L. Katzenelson ("Ha-Yom," 1886, No. 25).
"nn = Jacob Israel IJorgin ("Hed Harim," Berdychev, 1891,

autograph copy) .
)Sa3 = J. Ch. Tavyov (S.).

niJl''S3'3 = A. S. Fretdus (" Ner ha-Ma'arabi," 1., No. 6, p. 37).
nr3 = Judah L6b Levin (S.).
^N'?3 = Hirsch Schereschewski (S.).
nj p p'?3 = M. M. Litewskl (S.).
inji3N p = Abraham L. Shalkovitz (S.).
oniaN p = Isaac S. Fuchs (S.).
IK'S p = Isaac Warsehawski (S.).
J3 J3 p = Judah L6b Kantor (S.>.
pnij p = Micah Joseph Berdyczewski (S.).
3)1 p = Aaron Libushitsky (S.).
3Nt p = Herman Moeller (" Ha-Modia' la-Jfadashim," i.. No. V,

New York).
onin p = Beer JeruchamSbhn ("Talpiyyot").
niii' p = E.JPerlmann.
inji p = Michael Rabblnowitach ("Or Mat'eh," Warsaw,

1898).
DRiT p = Beer Jeruchamsohn (see " Ben Horim ").
in'yz" p = J. S. Trachtmann (S.).
Ssnit" p = J. David Sllberbusch (S.).
DnjD p = Moses Mendelssohn.

p p = Morris Winchevsky("Ha^Modia'la-Hadashim,"l.,No.2).
'D? p = N. E. Mendrochovitz (S.): M. J. Rablnowltsch (Wie-
ner, " Yiddish Literature," p. 384) .
DlDj! p = M. Sablotzki (S.).

nfl p = Ephraim Silber (" Perah Shoshan," Drohobicz, 1896).
13! p = Em. Benzlon (" Orah Zedakah," Odessa, 1876 ; W. No.

911); M. A. Eisenstadt (S.);'m. Sablotzki (S.).
P'S p = Joshua Tulsky (S.); I. J. Weissberg (S.).
■'□:p''Dn mns p = Joseph Brill (see above n^ns p 3l''N).
D'Jiyit!' p = Moses Rosensohn (" 'Ibri Anokl," xvii.. No. 19).
IDH p = Judah L6b Perez (S.).
D'llBn Sya = Jacob b. Asher.
I'l'DD nSjD Sya = David Apotheker (" Ha^'Ibri," ill.. No. 14,

New York).
ni3if nD h';2 = J. S. Trachtmann.
S'ljii Ipt nSon ^^3 = I. J. Weissberg (S.).
I3a'y3 = Israel of Meseritz.
ii)jl>)3 = I. J. Weissberg (S.).
P3 = J. C. Rabnilzki ("Pardes," ii. 262).
31 'i 13 = M. J. Berdyczewski (S.).
Nllll 13 = Arthur Freeman (" Ha-Shahar," ix. 86).
fxp 13 = J. C. Rabnitzkl (Wiener, I.e. p. 384).
N2"iBi NE"ipi N13 = Adolph M. Radin (" Ner ha-Ma'arabi,"

1., No. 8). -
aisj^iiNDiia = J. L. Lewin (S.).

'Svia = Joshua Eisenstadt (" Luah Ahiasaf," vii. 320).
■»nn>n ^^^113 — Baruch Jekuthiel Susmanowitz (" Ha-Dod Mo-

sheh," Warsaw, 1893, W. No. 2318).
'7'13 = Joel LOwe.
D^nSs ^!<SD SniiSb' p ni3l3 = Abraham AbulaflaC'Sefer ha-

Yashar"; Bj. p. 234).
pl3 = J. Ch. Rabnitzkl (S.).
n .3 .J = Gershon Bader (S.).
i''3J = Gabriel b. Joseph Rawitsch ("Ha-Kol," 1. 59).
71J = Gabriel Judah Lichtenfeld (D.).
bS J = Gershon Letteris (Letteris, In " Ha-Zeflrah," p. 88) .
IIDJ = J. L. Perez (" Keneset Yisrael," iii., cols. 409-411).
flj = Gabriel Polak (" Ben Gornl," p. 60).
'S33n pj = Lazar Atlas (S.).
'JN ID Si IJ = Michael Gordon.
3tyim IJ = Eliezer Isaac Shapiro (S.).
..3D .0 .3 ..1 = David Friedrichsfeld (0. B. No. 3713).
J''!!J!<1 = Moses Schatzkes (Z. p. 55).
nij3' 13 111 = David Kahan ("^okmat Yehudah," 1892).
WQU 111 = David Franco-Mendes.
DDll = David Moses Mitzkun (" Ha-Karmel," 11. 199).
nD'lp>«c 3in N"ni in = Hayyim Judah LOb Markon (i6. Iv.

621-624).
pxiDyjND TJpll = L J. Weissberg (S.).
inyS 3ia IVin = M. Welssmann ("Ha-Kol," iii. 19).
nnicn i:"n Sn^n = L. B. Llbermann (" Ha-Shahar," vi. 45).
1NJ3 Sn>ji = Judah Lob b. Asher Gordon (" Ha-Karmel," vUi.

139).
pi = David Kaufmann.

259

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pseudonymous Literature

a'^Nn = Abraham Jarob Bruck (" HarKarmel," \y. 219).
(JNUJiSbc) 7\ht<n = A. Lipschltz (D"njBON Dit, Mayenoe, 1872;

Z. p. 214).
DN-i JlHN J3 iVDNn = Moses Abrabam Eomm ("Amet ha-La-

shon," Wllna, 1855).
133.1 = Solomon L6b Eapoport (" Bikkure ba-'Ittim," 1823, p.

139).
lajn = Gabriel ba^Kohen Flscbmann ("Sefer ha-Noten ba-Yom

Derek," Warsaw, 1893).
Nij.n = Elijah o£ Wilna.
jvxS tyinn = Isaac Zebl Elsenberg (S.).
Din = Beer Sufrln (" Mizmor Shir Hanukkah," Cracow, 1888).
mn = Hlrsch Sommerhausen ("Haggaaah le-Lel Shikkurlm,"

p. 11.).
i:!y p SSm = Jud,ib L. Landau (Si.).
jD<n = Aaron Halle (C. B. No. 3713).
(D) inNlW'.yT'n = M. Siiblotzkl (S.).
■':3'?n = I. J. Welssberg (S.).
iSi = Leon Zolotkoff (" Ha-Tom," 1836, No. 4) .
ySnn = J. L. Gordon ( S.).
cyjND) T^DH = Mordecal Zebl Mane (SI.).
-lorsn = Mattithiah S. Rabener (Sch.).
n''B'Dn = Moses Israel Hazan ("Nabalah le-Yisrael," Vienna,

1&51).
'T':nj)n:in'i''jn = Nachman Isaac Flscbmann ("Ha-Nesher,"

V. 93).
"jn = H. Neumanowltz (SI.),
opjn = Nachman Krochmal (Letterls, " Zlkkaron ba-Sefer,"

p. 52).
'NiS'Sn r|iDi'?fln = G. Sellkovitscb (" Ha-'Ibri," i.. No. 8, New

York).
N3xn = Zebl Benjamin Auerbach (" Ha-Zofeh 'al Darke ha-

Mishnah," p. 54) .
-\y^7\ = Joseph Rosenthal (S.).

D^pnsn "iS pD l^ysn = L. Libermann ("Ha-Emet," p. 56).
])t/2 in = Moses Beer b. Shemarlah Oretzkin (" Ha-Karmel,"

ill. 278).
nj n in = M. S. Felerberg (S.).
DiSiy in = A. S. Friedberg (SI.)-
nxiin = Simeon Judah Stanislavski (S.).
pi = Moses Proser (S.) .

mn = I. J. Welssberg (S.); Franchetta da Montpellier (M.p.24).
ifn = A. S. Friedberg.

Kim Kill = Mattithiah Straschun ("Ha-Karmel," lil.).
) -11 = Aaron Halle (" Ha^Meassef," 1790, p. 186).
HiSa') tOBNiiNli = M. Rodkinssohn ("Ha-^ol," ill. 126).
.J = M. Sablotzki (S.); J. H. Sagorodski (S.).
.1 .N .t = Alexander Susklnd Easchkow (" Weg zum Lebens-

baume," Breslau, 1825).
1-131 = J. D. Silberbusch (S.).

^nI = Selig ha^Kohen Lauterbach (" Ha^Shahar," 11. 177-184).
m = S. Jacob Wichnianski ("Beromo shel '01am," Odessa,

1894).
jS -^i = Selig Lauterbach (S.).
inSn S'3Ji = Judah Steinberg (S.).
flr = Seligmann Pappenhelm (Delltzsch, "Zur Gesch. der Ju-

dlschen Poesie," p. 108).
pj, - s_ Fridkin (" Ha-Yom ha-Aharon be-Hayye ha^Niddon

le-Mltah," Warsaw, 1898).
jpj = Wolf Kaplan.
711J IPT = Leon Solotkoff.
nij = Eliezer Isaac Shapiro (S.).
.1 .n = A. S. Bettelheim (" Shishshah Miktabim," Kuschau,

1886).
inn = Hayyim Arkln (" Ha-Kol," lii. 257).
pipan = Israel Davidson (" Ha-'Ibri," ylii.. No.
'NJlDp HMD in

1869, p. 44).

Nnan JD in = J. L. Levin (" Ha-Teljiyyah," 1900, No. 23).
ijiNi '2'in = J. J. Lewontin (S.).
hwn = 5ayylm S. Ellaschewicz (Z. p. 22).
Din = IJayyim Selig Slonimski.

xna 'n = Hayyim Jonas Gurland (" Ha-Shahar," iii. 687).
2p >n = Hayyim J. Katzenellenbogen (" Ha-Karmel," 1., No. 19) .
Ni'n = 5ayylm Joseph David Azulai.
ni'n = Hayyim Deutsch ("Bet Talmud," v. 149-153).
jvn = Hayyim Jonas Gurland.

D'^n = Hayyim Judah Markon (" Ha-Karmel," Iv. 129).
'DllD liu'iilD I'll? D"n = Baruch Jelteles ( Ha-Oreb,

1795; W. No. 523).
3pi S'n = 9ayyim Judah LBb Katzenellenbogen (" Ha-Mebas-
ser,"«. 82).

Abraham Jacob Paperna ("Ha-Meliz,"

jn = Hananeel Nepl (S.).

3113 jn = Hlrsch Edelmann.

Sxn = 5ayylm Zebl Lerner.

Unn = Jacob Frances (" Metek Sefataylm," p. 15).

•JDiyn = N. S. Llbowitz.

'Dl' 3a = Llpmann of Miihlhausen (Bj. p. 83, No. 570).

.0 .3 .' = Joel Beer Falkowltsch ("AblnaiJab," Odessa, 1888;

W. No.25).
.11 .1 = Joseph Welsse (" Bikkure ha-'Ittlm," vii. 60-68 ; R.).
.Ln.' = J. C. Rabnltzky (" HarShiloah," Iv. 96).
ilS n'3D l^"'N...'7 .1 = Israel Landau (ed. "Orhot '01am,"

Prague, 1793; W. No. 923).
.i3 S .1 = Judah LBb Perez (S.).

.D . . .1 = Julius Meller ("Kokebe Yizhak," v. 41-45; R.).
S .D .•■ = Jacob Mordecal Lewlnsohn (" Gan Peraljim," 1890,

p. 63).
.0 .D .1 = Jehiel Michael Pines (S.).
■0 .]) .1 = J. E. Salkinson C" Wa-Yegaresh ba-Adam," Vienna,

1871).
TBNi = Israel E. Goldblum (So. p. 16).

IN' = Joshua Eliezer Rotln (" Ha-Karmel," ill. 123); Isaac Roller
("Dibre Ya'er," Berlin, 1881; W. No. 2143); Joseph Aaron
Eandegger ("Zlyyon," 1. 131).
1N3'' = Isaac b. Aaron RIttenberg (" Ozar ha^Slfrut," 1. 81).
13121 = Israel Tropp ("Ha-Karmel," vl. 293).
1131 noS ijn p S31 = Joel LBwe ("Ha-Meassef," 1788).
D3' = Israel Bahmer ("Kerem Hemed," ix.); Micah Joseph

Berdyczewski (" Ha-Kerem," p. 63).
nun \i"t< i'7Ji = Morris Wlnchevski("AsetatHakamim,"No.2).
\ffn 11 = J. Elsenstein ("Ozar ha-Hokmah weha-Madda'," No.

2, p. 25).
Dl' = Israel David Miiller ("Ha-Shahar," vl. 645-648).
iJlJ)T = Saul Berlin ("JCetab Yosher," Lemberg, 1784 ; Bj. p.

248, No. 336).
i)i'7NilK'iN''l3))n n-yii = S. Mandelkern ("Ha-Karmel," iv. 136).
1311 = Judah b. Jonas Jelteles (" Shir Teblllah," Vienna, 1835 ;

Bj.p. 578).
iSBiyini = Phlnehas Turberg (S.).
Sni = Samuel Zebl Kamenetzki (" Ha-Kol," iii. 35); Judah Le-

wlk (S.); Isaac Lewlnski (" Keneset ha-Gedolah," 11. 148).
DiSni = Joshua Mesach (S.) .
SSm = Judah LOb Levin,
-ja'n SSi' = Ezeklel Leavitt (S.).
tt'm = J. H. Schorr.
3N11 = Joseph Brill (" Ha-Kol," 1. 44).
'jNli = Joseph Almanzi (" Abne Zlkkaron," p. 4).
!3DliS Snv = Joseph Elijah Triwosch ("Ml-Mizrah umi-Ma^

'arab").
iDlon Sav = Joseph Brill ("Ha-Kol," lii. 43).
DjlpiyDlf Npiv = N. M. Schalkewitsch (" Mumar le-Hak'ls,"

Warsaw, 1879).
inDN 13 njii = M. A. Giinzburg ("Maggid Emet," Leipsic,

1843; " Ha-Morlyah," pp. 34^8).
-it:>ii = Joseph Schechtmelster (" Ha-Kol," lii. 262).
idbSn pin' = Joseph Elhanan Melamed (" Har^ol," ill. 592).
tni = Israel llayylm Sagorodskl ("Ha-Asif," 11- 149).
ijillD □m3N Sn'I' = Hayyim Judah LOb Markon ("Ha-Kar-
mel," iv.. No. 10).
iy3 SN'n" = David Frischmann (" Ha-Yom," 1887, No. 234).
03n' = Isaac Hayyim Cantarinl of Padua.
nir Di' = Joshua ^ayyimowltz of Neu Sager (aim lyjNID ;

' "Ha-Karmel," vi. 89).
inj3i = I- N- Goldberg ( Wiener, I.e. p. 383).
Si = Judah LBb BBhm (" Bikkure ha-'Ittim," vi. 107 ; E.) .
13 Si = Israel Bahmer (W. No. 868).
^Ij ,-i L,, = Israel ha^Levl Landau ("Ho^ le-Yisrael," Prague,

1798; Bj.p. 199).
p Si = Jehiel Mendelssohn (" Ha-Boljer Or,' iv. 4).
jSi = J. L. Gordon; J. L. Gamso (S.).
piji = J. L. Bensew (Delitzsch, he. p. 106); J. Lewlk (S.).
I'll = Naphtall Mendel Schorr (Z. p. 349) .
D' = Jacob Mordecal Netter (" Shelewim Min ha-Yom," Vienna,

I860). „ , „

ID' = Joel Mordecal Eeinhertz ("Ha-Meassef," p. 4, Warsaw,

1886). „ . . .,

^nji = N. H. van Biema (" Reshemat Yenahel," Amsterdam,

1905).
y3yi = Israel Jacob b. Zebi Emden.
po;; -w yw r^y '- Hirsch Schereschewski ("Boser Abot,"

Odessa, 1876).

Fseudonymous Literature
Ptolemy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

260

i:i p '?Niy'' = Wolf Jawetz (" Ha-Shahar," x. 467-470).
DP C"N 3py = J. S. Trachtmann (" Aguddah Ahat," p. 43).
PD nS apy = J. S. Traclitmann ("Ha-Boker Or," v. 8).
rjnD2 [i"j«cj!npi Diry-ixp Tyn tcaV p nns^'DD npT apy
[N-Di-\] Y'iH2 [pSni] »i:-Sn = Isaac BaerLevlnsohnC'Dlbre
Zaddlkim," Vienna, 1830; W. No. 3236).
l^^s^ = Z. H. Masliansky (" Ha-Yizhari," Manchester, 1895).
NrViD n pniji = Saul Berlin (Z. p. 380).
n^ = Josel Pik Rochnove (Delitzscli, I.e. p. 108); Israel Eall.
SyjiT = M. J. BerdyczewskI ("Ozar ha-Silrut," iv. 1-40).
iNB'Sn onn' = Joseph Gahreelow (" Ha-'Ibri," ill.. No. 24, New

York),
tail = Mendel Mirlinski (Z. p. 435).
K;y = Saul Jacob Elyashar (SI.).
2^*' = J. S. Bik.

SN^aa" = Jacob S. h. Isaac Olschwanj? (" Ha-Meliz," 1869, p. 19) .
D''S!:'n''-'ii'''N 'II" = Israel Jonathan Jerusalimsky ("Ha/-Ke-

rem,"p. 119).
NiJ'Jiiaj'D 2>^it ^v = Israel Isaac Black (" Shebile ha-Yahadut

be-Angliyah," Manchester, 1903) .
I'J" = M. Johalemstein, D^S ->2?D OunjD (" Ha-MeUz," 1888).
jjiyi = Hirsch Schereschewskl (S.).
B'i" = Jacoh Samuel Fuchs (S.).
no'i" = Joseph Shabbethai Farhl (SI.); Israel Pieskin ("Ha-

Maggld," Til., Nos. 45-51).
-\'yy = Isaac Samuel Reggio.
N'njpD fv = Joseph Solomon Delmedigo.
SxnB" nji3Dn nnni '?niis" = J. S. Olschwang (see btiOB'i).
•'StciB"n Nini = A. Harkayy is.).
'njn tniN p S^Sd = Joseph Masel ("Megillah Hadashah le-

Purim," Manchester, 1902) .
N-iSD nSi ns"D nS = A. A. Rakowski (" Masseket Shetarot,"

Warsaw, 1894; " Ha-Modea' la-Hadashim," ii. 17).
JljaS = I. J. Welssberg ("Ha-Yom," 1886, No. 113).
3'DD -h = Leopold Dukes ("Bikkure ha-'Ittim," vi. 75).
fS = J. L. Perez (S.).

nasS = J. L. Perez ("Die Zukunlt," New York, 1902).
pS = J. L. Kantor ("Ben Ammi").
.n .D = Michael Weber (S.).
.1 .D = M. Sablotzki (S.).
"7.0 = Mendel Levin ("Masse'ot ha-Yam," Lemberg, 1859; Z.

p. 165).
T .S .D = Abraham Mendel Mohr (" Kol Bo le-Purlm," Lem-
berg, 1855; Bj. p. 240).
■D .D = Moses Mendelssohn ("Ha-Meassef," 1784, p. 133).
h .D .D = M. M. Lilien ("KokebeYizhak," xiii. 67-69; R.).
p .D = Moses Eunitz ("Mosedot Tebel," Prague, s.a.; BJ. p.

306).
I3ND = Moses Eliezer Belinson ("Kokebe Yizhak," xxviii. 24-

25).
jnNiDyiXC = J. L. Smolenskin ("Ha-Shahar," vi. 79).
VI TND = N. S. Libowitz ("Efrayim Dainard u-Selaraw be-

Amerika," New York, 1901).
E'ND = Meir Friedmann (" Bet Talmud," i. 24).
3D = M. Braunstein ("Ha-Yekeb," p. 72).
N3D = Moses b. CJri ("Ha-Meassef," 1810; see Dehtzsch, I.e.

p. 108).
)OD = Jacob Kaplan (" Keneset ha-GedoIah," iil. 65).
j'i'DD = M. Braunstein (see 3D).

jD = Mordecai Ghirondi (" Bikkure ha-'Ittim," vi. 57 ; R.).
pD lUD = Zebi Schereschewskl (S.).
'rnn = Me'ir ha-Levi Letteris.
SnSShd = A. B. Gottlober.
nino = Meirb. Baruch of Rothenburg (Zunz, I.e. p. 40); Meir

of Lubhn (Bj. p. 275, No. 37).
ilNni^D D"\nD = Moses Schatzkes (" Gan Perahim," 1882, p. 50).
pnD = Nahman of Breslau (" Likkute pnn " ; Bj. p. 265) .
Na'-inD = Solomon Alfasi of Tunis (SI.); Samuel Edies (Bj. p.

183, No. 468).
StS'inD = Solomon Luria.

niD = Mordecai Weissmann-Chajes (see nnin 'JN).
Std = M. Sahlotzkl (S.).
D'lND Sid = M. Sablotzki (S.).
ain = Mordecai Dob Frledenthal (W. No. 2353).
K-UN ni^'i'DD = J. S. Trachtmann (S.).
310 = M. J. BerdyczewskI (" Ozar ha-Sifrut," ii. 234).
piNT p Snd'd = Raphael Kirchheim (ed. "'Alilot Debarim";

" Ozar Nehmad," iv. 178).
h^Ti = Micah Joseph Lebensohn.

)3S?N p ?N2"D

: Samuel L. Citron (" Ha-Eshkol," iii. 153-160) .

iitVD [= pii3i am'i> njv ■'3'nc] = M. J. Bosenfeld ("Ozar

ha-Slfmt," 1. 121 ; W. No. 1141).
Sd = Meir Letteris (ymD3, Iv. 181; C. B. No. 6134).
D''3'7D = Meir Lebush b. Jehiel Michael (" Mashal u-Melizah,"

Warsaw, 1877).
hhn = Moses L. Lilienblum (" Asefat Hakamim," p. 72).
i!'''? D"D = Menahem Mendel LBwenstamm (" Bikkure ha-Sha-

nah,"1843, p. 48; R.).
nijD = Nahum Sokolow ("Zaddik we-Nisgab," Warsaw, 1882).
3N onJD = J. L. Kantor ("Ha-Yom," 1886, p. 151).
tN ':d = Sehg Lauterbach (S.).
hm = M.N. Litinskl (S.).
"innOD = Simeon Judah Stanislavski (" Ha-Yom," 1886, No.

22; S.).
DnsD nDiD 'SyiiVD = Shalom Jacob Abramowitsch.
BD = Michael Friedlander (tiDNDn ; Delitzsch, I.e. p. 108).
HDD = Lazar Atlas (So. p. 6) .
pD = M. Oreizenach ("Ziyyon").
SpD = Moses Kleinmann(S.).
ID = Moses Reines (" Ozar ha-Sifrut," iii. 95); Mordecai Roch

(" Ha-Meassef," 1794 ; Delitzsch, I.e. p. 108).
3T 13 ID = M. Reines (S.).

toD i3nD = Mordecai h. David Strelisker (" Ha-Shajiar," i. 31).
>3-iD = Moses Rosensohn (" Ha-Karrael," iv. 768).
DnVD '311D = Moritz Adelmann (" Ha-Shahar," vil. 504-508).
piD = Hirsch Schereschewskl (S.).
I31D = Hayyim Lazar Muschkat ("Tikwat Hanef," Warsaw,

1888'; Z. p. 438).
n'32'D = Moses b. J . Schatzkes (" Ha-?ol," iii. 241) .
nii'D = Moses Simeon Antokolski (" Ha-Karmel," ill. 492).
'yinnifNn dSb'd = Isaac Euchel ("Ha-Meassef," 1790, p. 171;

see Letteris, S^d^n nnSin, in " Ha-Meassef," p. 44, Vienna,

1862).
DTi'D = Meir Friedmann (" Bet Talmud," i. 62-63).
v/va = Moritz Steinschneider ("Ha-Karmel," iil. 309).
') 'I = Reuben Brainin (S.).
.p .^ .3 = A. B. Dobsewitch (see above)..
IDNJ = Moses Aaron Rachamim Piazza (nnDil'i miN, Leghorn,

1786; Roest, "Cat. Rosenthal. Blbl." ii. 932).
H3J = Benjamin b. Jacob Espinoza ("Yafeh Naf," Leghorn,

1773 ; Bj. p. 228).
uij = Naphtali S. Tur ("Ha-Karmel," ii. 121).
i3nj = N. S. Libowitz ("Ner ha-Ma'arabi," ii. 106).
'Bfll p '3nj = J. B. Lewner (Wiener, I.e.).
ipDvsn liiy 13 Din: = J. L. Kantor ("Ha-Shahar," v. 23).
a'nsn ipDVXn Dim = J. L. Kantor ("Asefat 5akamim,"p. 40).
Snij = Isaac Satanow (W. No. 1898).

d'Sji n^J = David Apotheker (n3yn, iii.. No. 14, New York).
Oi = Nahum Sokolow.
Dyj = N. -M. Mendrechowitz (S.).
3'SJ = Naphtali Zebi Judah Berlin (Si.).
pj = Naphtali Keller (" Ha^Kokabim," p. 33).
mipj = Reuben Bi'ainin (S.).
S'lfJ = N. S. Libowitz.

t-r .D = Solomon Gotthold ("Bikkure ha-'Ittim," i. 120-136).
"i^HD "lolD = Ezekiel Lipschitz ("Galgal ha-Hozer," Warsaw,

1886).
□no 131D = J. S. Trachtmann (S.).

il<E!3DD = Saadla Meir b. Tobias Jonah (" Ahiasaf," vii. 301).
|LD = Phinehas Menahem HeilprinC'Teshuhotbe-AnsheAwen,"

Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1845).
r|D = H. Witkind (Sipn, i. 75). .
DHD = J. S. Trachtmann (S.).

.0 .y ■-= Isaac Euchel (idndh, 1790; see C. B. No. 3713, and Mar-
tinet, " Tlf'eret Yisrael," p. 188).
3J) = 0. Blohstein (S.).
S'Sj s'ni Nil-n3y = I. Goldberg (" Ha-Yerah," Berdychev,

1895; 8.).
nn3iy = Joseph Perl (" Kerem Homed," iii. 53-61).
ijnSnbd 1113 p H'laiy = Saul Berlin (" Mizpeh Yoktel," Ber-
lin, 1789; see Jew. Encyc. s.d.).
n'nrifl p nii3iy = Joseph Perl.
iBtS' iiD Nity = M. Proser (S.).
'jBjn Sxnty = A. Feigin (S.).
Sy = J. LBwe ("Ha-Meassef," 1784; 0. B. No. 3713).
'jiSy = J. Ch. Tavyov (S.).
iSlN'pnxn I'Sp iSy = I. J. Linetzki (" Ha-Meliz," 1869, pp. 113-

114).
DIB N''if J N3'py = Jacob Frances (" Metek Sefatayim," p. 105).
IB = I. Freidsohn ("Zikronot," Warsaw, 1902).
incN p Dnj'D = N. S. Libowitz ("Ner ha-Ma'arabi," ii. 51).
3KI p nSb. See 3sr p nSb Nipjn ii ly^N.

261

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pseudonymous Literature
Ptolemy

'nSd = Abraham b. Elijah ot Wilna (" Gebulot Erez," Berlin,
1801; W. No. 1836); Phinehas M. Hellprln ("Ebeii Bofian,"
rrankIortH)ii-the-Maln, 1846; W. No. 51); Zechariah Isaiah
JoUes (W. No. 2316); Moses Cohen ("Dabar be-'Itto," War-
saw, 1895; W. No. 2052); A. G. Lewltan ("Debar Torah,"
"Warsaw, 1890 ; W. No. 2069) ; J. L. Perez ; Alexander Zeder-
baum ("Ha-Kol," 1., No. 19),

niSb = Hlrsoh Schereschewskl (S.).

3^-■'aD •'jidSn 'jiSo = M. Relchersberg ("Ha-K;ol," ill. 384).

Nin -1N0|1N11 ■<Ths = I. Kamlner (i&. ill. 223).

'JiSj 'jlSo = J. C. Tavyov (S.).

{W StcB^a = Joseph Ellas Trlwosch (S.).

js = Moses b. Url Phlllppson ( " Ha-Meassef " ; see 0. B. No.
3713).

ao nS'D it iriJiN n'jjn onjo = Baruch Jeiteles (" Ha-Oreb,"
Vienna [?], 1795; W. No. 523).

(nnSi:' '13 ni^r) ixdt'-is = A. B. Lebensohn ("Tokatitl la-
Bekarlm," WUna, 1868; " Kol Shire Adam we-Mlkal," 1.,
p. xvii., ib. 1S95).

mx = H. Dan Bawli ("Shoresh Dabar," Wilna, 1866).

inx = Hlrsch Babbinowitz ; Herman Rosenthal.

'Tj^Siipn ins = Herman Rosenthal.

^lS^ inrnx = I. B. Hurwitz (" Gan Perahlm," 1890, p. 108).

nn>nn o^'^in 13 inD'?3 = Moses h. Lllienblum.

n:x = Perez Smolenskin (" Ha-Shahar," xi. 569).

ijiyn 'JIBX = David Maggid (S.).

3vp = I. J. Welssberg (S.).

iSl = J. L. Kantor (" Ha-Yom," 1887, No. 15).

Nip = Ellezer Isaac Shapiro (S.).

Nonn Di-nin i2l Sir unp = J. S. Trachtmaun (S.).

"1 = Joseph Rosenthal (S.).

.3 .1 = Reuben Brainin (S.).

.n .: .1 = Abraham Mendel Mohr (see T h .D).

N .p .T = Ellezer Isaac Shapiro (S.) .

ifNT = Asher b. Jehlel.

TJX 31 = ^ayyim Tschernovitz (" Sefer ha-Yobel," p. 309,
Warsaw, 1904) .

pnx ''31 = Isaac Zebi Brodotzki (a'pnx ifnc, Berdychev,
1899).

pxp 131 = J. C. Babnltzkl (see pxp 13).

3ilp '31 = A. L. Lewinski (S.).

pll = David IClmhi.

Snvi = Abraham b. Samuel Abulafla (Bj. p. 43, No. 833).

Nan = Isaac Kaminer ("Ha-Shahar," viii. 69).

S3n = Joseph Brill ("Keneset Yisrael," i., col. 593).

Sail = Isaac Baer Levinsohn (" Talkut Rlbal," Warsaw, 1878).

r|'i = Isaac Allasl.

NDi = Moses Isserles.

D3m = Moses b. Maimon.

J3D1 = Moses b. Nahman.

rDi = M. Selikowitsch <" Yalkut ha^Ro'im," Odessa, 1869).

jyi = Obadiah ot Bertinoro.

pi = Melr Obemik (" Ha-Meassef," 1784; C. B. No. 3713).

HTS/s = Solomon ben Adret.

Dai?! = Samuel b. Mei'r.

'a?l = Solomon b. Isaac of Troyes.

.) .D .Hf = Solomon Mandelkem ("Keneset Yisrael," 1., col.
1000).

Ss'iaSo .B' = Joseph Elias Triwosch ("Ha-Shahar," x. 574).

NB> = Ellezer Skrelnka (" Blkkure ha^'Ittim," v. 50-52 ; E.).

JN1!> = S. I. Graber ("Ozar ha-Silrul," 1.); Samuel AbaGoro-
detzki (S.).

inNtSlNtt' = David Frlschmann ("Ha-Asif," 11. 764).

tiNij' = Simeon Ellezer Fiiedenstein (" Keneset ha-Gedolah," i.
103).

3i£' = S. Bernfeld.

I3if = S. Bemfeld.

nils' = Samson Bloch (" Kerem ^emed," i. 95).

nsE' = Shabbethalb.HayyimKorngold("Ha-Karmel,"vlii.74).

3131!' = Simeon b. Isaac Bacharach (Simon Bacher) .

Soif = Solomon Gelbblum ("Sefer ha-MilUm," Wilna,
1892).

1113 |3f< 310 DV t3 insa" = Arnold B. Ehrlich ("Mlfra kl-
Peshuto," Berlin).

'70312' = Samuel David b. Hezekiah Luzzatto (" Bikkure ha-
'Ittim,"ix. 76).

'712' = Samuel David Luzzatto.

SniB''''? 3113 invi' = W. Pederow (" Yerushalayim," Vienna,
1876).-

nniB' = Samuel Weissmann-Chajes (S.).

IBItt" = David Frlschmann (S.).

D"tf n3 mvw = S. Ostowske ("Shabatha-Malkah," 1900).

Iif = Senior Sachs ("Kerem pemed," ix. 49).

nniiy = S. J. Halberstam.

^1301^ = Samuel Hayyim b. David LoUi ("Blkkure ha-'Ittim,"

ix.76).
inv = Idem ; S. J. Halberstamm (ib.) .
ijll'i'n n'.ai' = Hlrsch Schereschewskl (S.).
Tiir = S. I. Fuchs (S.); Samuel Joseph Fuenn.
I'ly = Solomon J. Rapoport.
1^ = Shabbethai ha-Kohen.

ih\i> = Samuel L8b Goldenberg; Samuel L8b Gordon (S.).
DS'Sp Dl'71:' = Solomon Rabinowitsch.
'7N''Dl'''i> = Idem (S.).
'ityiix p Sn'diSe' = Friedrich Albert Christian, editor and

translator of "Zaljkan Melummad u-Mitharet," 1683 (Libo-

wJtZ, NJ''11D ^'''i, p. 115).
I'^'pSxi nnSs' = S. Epstein ("Kaweret," pp. 64, 70).
nailN lor p jmSi' = Joseph Freidkln.
B'Sa' = Hlrsch Mendel Pineles.
njs J3 UDB" = Gershon Bader (S.).
(Dir = Shalom Cohen (C. B. No. 3595).
iDiy = S. Mandelkern ("Ha-Shahar," ix. 107); N. M. Scheyke-

wltsch (" Mot Yesharim," Warsaw, 1887).
ilijiji = Senior Sachs (" Kanfe Yonah," p. 38).
O'lr = Shema Satanow ("Ha-Meassef," 1787, p. 191; Delltzsch,

r.c. p. 108).
nB'-i = Phabl Jolles (Sch.) .

•■J^D 113 IOfl'2' = Tobias P. Shapiro ("Ha-Meliz," 1869, p. 75).
MDN p r\>a!)V = Phinehas Turberg ("Me-'Et le-'Et," 1900).
ISID1 IDiy = Samuel Feigensohn (ed. " Siddur Korban Tamid,"

Wilna, 1893 ; S.).
IS'J' = Samuel P. Rabbinowitz.

liy = S. Rosenfeld (S.); Bernhard Schlesinger ("Bikkure ha-
'Ittim," ix. 59-60 ; R.).
'oSli'i S''n p lir = Simhah Reuben b. C. J. L. Edelmann

(" Shoshannim," KBnigsberg, 1860).
D'' hsf US' = Joshua Meisach.
DiSif I'J' = A. B. Dobsewitch (" Ha-'Ibri," 11., Nos. 6, 15, New

York) .
ISlDi n^'iif = A. S. Eabinovltch (" Ha-Dor," i.. No. 42).
rili' = S. F. Dlker (Si.).
Ifi:' = Lebusch Holisch (G. B. No. 3595).
■^n = Aaron Luria ("Ha-Karmel," ill. 219).
on = J. S. Trachtmann.

Bibliography : Beniacob.Oaorho-Se/arim [quoted in the fore-
going article as B].] ; G. H. Handler, Lexilum der AbbreviOr-
turen als AnJiang zu Dal man's Aram iiisch-Neuli ebrilisches
WOrterbuch [D.] ; L. LBwenstein, Abbreviaturen (n3i3
DniSN, pp. 255-264, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1903) [L.] ; M.
Mortara, Indiee [M.] ; M. Roest, isa, nnp, Amsterdam, 1867
[R.] : M. Sablotzki, DiD'JlllDfl pp'Dp'r, Berdychev, 1902 j:s.] ;
M. Schwab, Initiales et Pseudonymes HebreuT, in Reper-
toire, Supplement, pp. 200-207, Paris, 1903 [Sch.] ; D. Simon-
sen, AbgekUrzte Hebrdisehe Schriftstellernamen, in Zett.
filr Hebr. Bibl. iv. 87-92 [Si.] ; N. Sokolow, pi3? IBD, War-
saw, 1890 [So.] ; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. [0. B.], pp. xxvii.,
xcvii., cxxxii. ; idem, Hebr. BiW. [H. B.] xvl. 65; xxi. 103;
L. Wiener, The History of Tiddish Jjiterature in the Nine-
teenth, Century, pp. 383-384, New York, 1899; S. Wiener,
nti/D nSnp [Wi], St. Petersburg, 1893; Zeitlin, Bill. Post-
MendeJs. Lelpsic, 1891-95 [Z.] ; Furst, Bibl. Jud. [F.] ; Zed-
ner. Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus. [Zed.]. Essays on the
literature: N. H. Getzow, in D13n, pp. 158-162; S. I.au-
terbach, in pj.i, i. 61-64 ; I. S. Reggio, iri nilJN (Letter
1); J. H. Schorr, in ifiSnn, ix., x.; L. Schulmann, in pji.

ii. 104.
J

I. D.

PTOIiEMY : 1. Prince (tetrarch) of Iturea and
Clialcis from about 85 to 40 B.C., in which year he
died; son of Mennseus. He tried to extend his
liingdom by warlilje expeditions (Strabo, xvi. 2,
§ 10); and ruled the Lebanon, threatened Damascus,
subjugated several districts on the Plienician coast,
and once had Paneas in his hands (Josephus, "Ant."
XV. 10, §§ 1-3). In fact, the whole of Galilee had
formerly been in the possession of the Itureans, and
had been taken away from them in 103 by Aristo-
bulus I. {ib. xiii. 11, § 3).

The Jews thought themselves oppressed by Ptol-
emy, and hence Aristobulus II., at that time still

Ptolemy 1.
Ptolemy IV.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

262

prince and sent by liis mother, Alexandra, undertook
an expedition against Damascus to protect it against
Ptolemy (16. 16, §3; idem. "B. J."i. 5, §3), Pompey
destroyed Ptolemy's strongholds in the Lebanon
and doubtless took away from him the Hellenic
cities, as he did in Judea. When Aristobiilus II.
was murdered by Pompey's party in Judea (49 B.C.),
his sons and daughters found protection with Ptol-
emy ("Ant." xi v. 7, § 4; "B. J."i. 9, § 2). It may
be that the national Jewish party at that time de-
pended for support on the Itureans in Chalcis,
and perhaps the following statement has reference
to that fact : " On the 17th of Adar danger threat-
ened the rest of the ' Soferim ' in the city of Chal-
cis, and it was salvation for Israel " (Meg. Ta'an.
xii.).

Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, also supported
Ptolemy in his efEort to establish himself as king in
Judea ("Ant." xiv. 13, § 1). Ptolemy died just as
the Parthians were invading Judea [ib. xiv. 13, §3;
"B. J." i. 13, § 1). He was succeeded by his son
Lysanias.

BiBLiOfiRAPHY: Gratz,Gesc7i.4tlied., ill. 148,174, 186; Schiirer,
Uesch. 3(1 ed., i. T12-713.

2. Strategus of Jericho; son of Abubus (=
313n?), son-in-law of Simon Maccabeus. He wished
to gain possession of the rulership over Judea,
and hence when his father-in-law was visiting him at
the fortress of Dok, near Jericho, iu the montli of
Shebat, in the 177th year of the Seleucid era (= 135
B.C.), Ptolemy gave a banquet at whicli he caused
Simon and his two sons Mattathias and Judas to be
murdered (I Mace. xvi. 11-17; Josephua, "Ant." xiii.
7, § 4). Moreover, he sent men to murder the third
son, John Hyrcanus, who was in Gazara ; but the
latter, having been warned in time, killed the men,
and took possession of Jerusalem, so that Ptolemy
was obliged to retire to Dagon (doubtless identical
with Dok). Here he was besieged by John ; but as
lie threatened to kill John's mother, who was in liis
power, and as the Sabbatical year was approach-
' ing, the siege was unsuccessful. Although Ptol-
emy was now able to withdraw without opposi-
tion, he nevertheless caused John's mother to be
killed before he left ("Ant." xiii. 8, § 1; "B. J." i.
% §§ 3, 4).

BiBLiOGRAPHT : Gratz, Oescli. 4th ed., lii. 63-65; Schiirer,
Ge»ch. 3d ed., i. 355-258.
G. S. Kr.

PTOLEMY I. (surnamed Soter and Lag'l) :

At first satrap (323-307 B.C.), then king (305-385), of
Egypt. He founded the dynasty of the Ptolemies,
which, from his father's name, is also called that
of the Lagi. Kayii^ means " hare " ; and a rabbin-
ical tradition relates that the Septuagint avoided
translating by layui the word "hare" in Lev. xi. 6
and Deut. xiv. 7. In more recent times an attempt
has been made to prove from Egyptian inscrip-
tions that Ptolemy I. tried to conceal his father's
name and that he called himself " Ptolemy, son of
Ptolemy "in consequence (Revillout, " Revue Egyp-
tienne," i. 11) ; but this theory can not be maintained,
because the father's name is often mentioned ex-
plicitly in documents, and the "Ptolemy, son of
Ptolemy " referred to is not Ptolemy I., but his son

Ptolemy II. (Mahafify, "The Empire of the Ptol-
emies," p. 31).

It was Ptolemy I. who brought Palestine and the
Jews under the dominion of the Ptolemies. After
the death of Alexander the Gieat
Takes CosleSyria and Judea were appor-
Jerusalem tioned to Laomedon, but Ptolemy I.
on the took them from this weak prince — as
Sabbath. Josephus maintains, at least as re-
gards Jerusalem by deception as well
as by persuasion. Ptolemy appeared before the city
(330 B.C.), pretending that he wished to sacrifice,
and seized it on a Sabbath, a day on which the Jews
did not fight. As authority for this statement Aga-
tharchides of Cnidus, a Greek author, is cited by Jo-
sephus (" Conti'a Ap. " i. , § 33 ; more briefly in " Ant. "
xii. 1, § 1 ; comp. MUller, " Fragmenta Historicorum
GroBcorum," iii. 196; T. Reinach,"Textes d'Auteurs
Grecs et Remains Relatifs au Judal'sme," i. 43). On
this occasion Ptolemy I. is said to have taken many
captives from Jerusalem and from the rest of Judea
as well as from Samaria, and to have settled them in
Egypt. Furthermore, since he knew how sacred an
oath was for the Jews, he is said to have used them
to garrison important strongholds ("Ant." I.e.).
Josephus adds that thereafter many Jews went vol-
untarily to Egypt to live, partly on account of the
excellence of the land and partly on account of the
kind treatment accorded ihem by Ptolemy {ib.).

Elsewhere also the kindness of the Ptolemies
toward the Jews is highly praised by Josephus
("Contra Ap."ii.,§§ 4, 5); and this
Kindness especially in comparison with the cruel
to persecutions which the Jews sufEered

the Jews, later at the hands of the Seleucidse in
Syria. In fact, the policy of the lead-
ing circles in Jerusalem was always to rely on the
Ptolemies in opposition to the Seleucidae. But that
manifested itself only in the course of time. As re-
gards the early period the statements of Josephus
are very doubtful, since both the early settlement of
Jews in Egypt — which, at least in the case of Alex-
andria, is said to have taken place under'Alexander
the Great— and their military virtues seem to
have been assumed for apologetic reasons when
the hatred of the Jews, proceeding from Alexandria,
made an apology desirable. According to a later
authority, no less than 30,000 Jewish soldiers were
placed in Egyptian forts (Aristeas Letter, ed. Wend-
land, § 13). Something similar must at any rate
have happened later; for a "camp of the Jews" is
explicitly mentioned, and military achievements of
the Jews are certainly spoken of. It is positive that
the legal organization of the Eg3'ptian Jews, as in
fact the whole legal organization of the Ptolemaic
state, was instituted by Ptolemy I. It can hardly
be doubted that he gave the Jews at Alexandria
equal rights (LaoiroT^LTela) with the incoming Mace-
donians.

Ptolemy went to Palestine several times on mili-
tary expeditions, e.g., in the campaign of the year
320, and in that of 312, which ended with the battle
of Gaza. Although he was victorious, he found
it expedient to evacuate Palestine for the time being ;
and on his departure he caused the strongholds of
Acre (Acco), Joppa, Gaza, Samaria, and Jerusalem

268

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ptolemy I.
Ptolemy IV.

to be razed to the ground (see Appian, "Syriaca,"
§ 50). According to the testimony of Hecata?us of
Abdera, whom Josephus (" Contra Ap. " i., § 22) cites,
• many Jews felt impelled on this occa-

Many Jews sion to move to Egypt, and the gen-
rollow erally respected higli priest HezeUiali
Ptolemy also attached himself to Ptolemy. It
to Egypt, was, in truth, difficult for Egypt to
retain Palestine in opposition to the
newly arisen Syrian kingdom, but Ptolemy I. and
his successors never relinquished their claim to the
cities of Gaza, Joppa, and Jerusalem. The wars
which were waged tor these places between the
Ptolemies and the Seleucidse, and the sufferings
which ensued therefrom for the Jews, are graph-
ically described in Dan. xi. ; the " king of the south "
in verse 5 of that chapter referring to Ptolemy I.
(see Jerome in the name of Porphyrins ad loc).
G. S. Kk.

PTOLEMT II. (surnamed Philadelphus) :

King of Egypt from 385 to 247 B.C. He continued
the struggle for Ca?le-Syriaand Palestine and estab-
lished himself permanently in possession of those
countries about 274. Like all Diadochi, he took
pleasure in building cities; and Philadelphia (Bte-
phanus Byzantius, s.v.; Jerome on Ezek. xxv.),
Philoteria (near Lake Tiberias ; see Polybius, v. 70,
§ 3), and Ptolemais (pseudo-Aristeas, § 115) were
founded on Palestinian soil during his reign. Re-
cently it has been believed that his statue and that
of his wife Arsinoe have been found in Ptolemais
("Revue Archeologique," 3d series, 1893, xxi. 98).
He married his sister Berenice to the Syrian king
Antiochus II. for the sake of peace, of which union
it is said in Dan. xi. 6 (R. Y.): "And at the end of
years they shall join themselves together; and the
daughter of the Idng of the south shall come to the
king of the north to make an agreement." The
murder of the young queen, however, led only to
further wars between Egypt and Syria.

According to Aristeas, the Septuagint originated
during the reign of Ptolemy II. ; and although tlie
trustworthiness of the Aristeas Letter is generally
doubted; it may'nevertheless be regarded as histor-
ically true that it was Ptolemy Philadelphus who
gave the Impulse to the translation, for his literary
efforts are known also from other sources (Schlirer,
"Gesch."3ded., iii. 309).

G. S. Kk.

PTOLEMY III. (surnamed Euergetes I.) :

King of Egypt from 347 to 232 B.C. ; referred to in
Dan. xi. 7-9. According to that passage, the Egyp-
tian king made great conquests in Syria, which
statement is confirmed by external authorities. The
idols of the conquered, together with gold and silver
vessels, were, according to the Biblical passage,
seized by him for Egypt ; and the marble monument
of Aduli supports this account in stating that Ptol-
emy III. brought back to Egypt 40,000 talents of
silver and 3,500 statues of the gods, among them
tliose which Cambyses had stolen from Egypt;
this deed won for him the cognomen " Euergetes "
(= " well-doer ") in his land.

Ptolemy III. was gracious toward the Jews. After
iis great victory he went to Jerusalem, sacrificed

there according to Jewish custom, and made an
offering of incense (Josephus, " Contra Ap." ii., § 5).
With his reign references to the numerous Jews
settled in Nomos Arsinoe, the present Fayum, begin
to be frequent; e.g., the Jew Jonathan is mentioned
in the tenth year of his reign (Mahafly, " The Flin-
ders-Petrie Papyri," ii. 38). On one occasion great
danger threatened the Jews of Palestine. The ava-
ricious high priest Onias II. had withheld twenty
talents of silver which should have been delivered
annually as a voluntary contribution together with
the taxes ; and the king in anger threatened to di-
vide the land of the Jews into lots and to give it to
his veterans {nhipovxoi ; Josephus, " Ant. " xii. 4, § 1).
The danger was averted by the oleyer nephew of
Onias, the young Josephus; and although the long
story related by Flavius Josephus in this connec-
tion sounds very legendary, it nevertheless shows
plainly the gracious, even friendly, attitude of the
king toward the Jews. The king appointed Josephus
tax-collector not only of Judea but of all Ccele-Syria
{lb. g§ 1-5).

An inscription (at present in the Berlin Museum)
from Lower Egypt, which bears witness to Ptolemy
III.'s care for the Jews, deserves to be mentioned
here because it stands almost alone. It relates that
at the command of the " king and queen " (whose
identity is not known) the following tablet in a
"proseuche,"j. e., a synagogue, was restored: Ba<ri-
Xciif IlTO/lEyuaioc 'Eiicp-yeTtii; T^v irpoaevxyv aavTiov. That is
to say, the right of asylum had been conferred on
that synagogue, which was probably a high distinc-
tion ("C. I. L." iii., Supplement, No. 6583; Schlirer,
"Gesch." 3d ed., iii. 66). It is noteworthy that the
king, doubtless out of consideration for the Jews,
does not mention 6e6g (God). It is highly probable
that a synagogal inscription only recently discovered
in Shedia, a place in Lower Egypt, refers to Euer-
getes I. It reads : 'TjTrfp jiaaikiuQ \ Uro/ic/iaiov xal |
PaaMaariq \ BepeviKi/c aSe'k \ ^fj^ Kal ymaiKb; nal \ raf
TeKvav I T^v npoaevxv'" I oi 'lovdaloi ("In honor of King
Ptolemy and of Queen Berenice, his sister and wife,
and of their children, this synagogue the Jews [ded-
icate]"; see T. Reinach in "R. E. J." 1903, xlv.
161-164).

G. S. Kn.

PTOLEMT IV. (surnamed Philopator) : King
of Egypt from 222 to 205 B.C. ; hero of the events
described in Dan. xi. 11-12. The passage in ques-
tion refers to battles between him and Antiochus the
Great, more especially the decisive battle at Raphia
(217 B.C.), in which Ptolemy won a brilliant victory,
and by that very fact showed himself to be a much
more able ruler than is commonly supposed.

Two episodes in the battle of Raphia are men-
tioned in III Maccabees also: (1) how a certain The-
odotos, conducted by a Jew called Dositheus, son of
Drimylus, tries to murder Ptolemy in his sleep, but
fails in his purpose ; and (2) how Arsinoe, sister of
the Egyptian king, incites the troops to fight bravely
(III Mace. i. 1-7). Both accounts originate with
Polybius (v. 79), and hence are historical. Accord-
ingly the rest of the story narrated in III Mac-
cabees can not be pure invention, although there
are absurd details in it which are doubtless due to
the fact that the author is trying to glorify a great

Ptolemy "V.
Publican

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

264

miracle. Tlie author relates that after the battle of
Raphia Ptolemy Philopator visited Jerusalem aud
declared that he would enter the Temple. By di-
vine interposition, however, he fell to the ground
stunned. When he had returned to Alexandria he
thought of revenge, and caused all the Jews of Al-
exandria and Egypt to be bound and dragged into
the arena to be trampled by his elephants ; but the
beasts threw themselves upon the king's troops in-
stead. The Jews celebrated their escape by an an-
nual feast-day {ib. vi. 36).

At least this feast-day must be historical, for Jose-
phus mentions it ("Contra Ap." ii., ^5), placing the
event, however, in the reign of Ptolemy VII., Phys-
con, and relating the simple fact without referring to
any miracle. ScJiilrcr {I.e. iii. 365) prefers the version
of Josephus; Mahaffy (i.e. p. 269) inclines to III
Maccabees, the author of which was well versed in
Egyptian affairs, and, for example, was right in
saying that the king observed the cult of Dionysus
(see Dionysus). According to Mahaffy, it was chiefly
a question as to whether or not the Jews of Alexan-
dria should be allowed to preserve their equal rights ;
though they may also have become involved in an
insurrection 'which the native Egyptians had insti-
gated against the king, and in which the king's anger
appears to have changed in their favor. I. Abrahams
(in "J. Q. R.'Mx. 39-58) and A. Biichler ("Tobiaden
und Oniaden," pp. 172-313, Vienna, 1899) are of the
opinion that the persecution extended to only a
small portion of the Egyptian Jews ; namely, to those
in the nome of Arsinoe. The offense of the Jews
probably consisted in the fact that they did not wish
to take part in the Dionysus cult which was prac-
tised by the Ptolemies in this verj"- nome. Re-
cently, however, WiHrich has revived the theory,
held by Ewald and Grimm, that the Third Book
of Maccahees refers to events under Caligula. He
claims even that they are the same as those related
in the Book of Esther.

G. S. Kr.

PTOLEMY v. (surnamed Epiphanes) : King
of Egypt from 305 to 183 B.C. He was a child of
five when he came to the throne. The protracted
struggle for the possession of Coele-Syria and Pales-
tine was now finally decided in favor of the Syrians.
Antioclius the Great conquered the land (303) ; and
the Egyptian general Scopas, who tried to retake it
for Egypt, was defeated at the sources of the Jor-
dan, his army being wholly destroyed at Sidon
(Jerome on Dan. xi. 15). According to Josephus
("Ant." xii. 3, § 3), the Jews in Jerusalem aided
Antiochus and even besieged the Egyptian garrison
independently. This policy of the Jews appears to
have been the result of the persecution experienced
in the preceding reign: Daniel (xi. 14) appears to
blame them for their attitude toward the Ptolemies,
because the latter were at any rate preferable to the
SeleucidiE. Ptolemy Epiphanes died from poison,
as Jerome (on Dan. xi.) relates in the name of Por-
phyrius.

G. S. Kr.

PTOLEMY VII. (surnamed PWlometor ; gen-
erally known as Ptolemy VI.) : King of Egypt
trorn 183 to 146 b. c. ; eldest son of Ptolemy V. With
him the power over Egypt passes into unworthy

hands. Philometor was still a child when he came
to the throne, the Jewish philosopher Aristobulus of
Paneas being mentioned as his teacher (II Mace. i.
10 ; Schtlrer, " Gesch. " 3d cd. , iii. 384). The procla-
mation of his independent rule, usually called ava-
KAj^Tfjpia, but in II Mace. iv. 31 irpuroKlujia, was a
call to Antiochus IV., the oppressor of tlie Jews,
to look to his own welfare; for, according to Dan.
xi. 34 (where DnSD is to be read instead of Dn^'lD),
he always had the conquest of Egypt in mind. In-
deed, it was a regular part of the Egyptian policy to
attempt the conquest of Syria; and Antiochus had
to take account of that fact, as Jerome (on Dan. xi.
23) relates. Antiochus wished to anticipate the
Egyptians, and lience attacked and defeated them
(170 B.C.) in a sanguinary battle which is described

in I Mace. i. 18-30. Philometor was

Is forced to flee ; and the Alexandrians

Dethroned, raised to the throne his younger

brother, who was known afterward as
Euergetes II. Antiochus now carried on opera-
tions in favor ofr Philometor. He besieged Alex-
andria, and even assumed the crown of Egypt, so
that he had two kingdoms (I Mace. i. 10) ; but he
had to withdraw on account of pressure from the
Romans. It was probably in this war tliat Ptolemy
Macron, governor of Cyprus, deserted Philometor
aud went over to Antiochus (II Mace. x. 13).

The two neighboring kingdoms, which were mor-
tal enemies of each other, disagreed materially in
their treatment of the Jews : in Syria the latter were
pei-secuted; in Egypt they were favored. In the
ensuing disputes about the succession to the throne
in Syria, Philometor always took a part, reckoning
on the Jews who were at war with the Syrians. In

150 B.C., when he gave his daughter

Honors Cleopatra tQ Alexander Balas to wife,

Jonathan at Ptolemais, the Maccabean Jonathan

Maccabeus, was present and was treated with

great honor by both kings (I Mace. x.
57-60). This marriage, however, did not prevent
Philometor from warring with Alexander, or from
givinghis daughter to Alexander's rival Demetrius.
On the march Jonath'an was accused before Philo-
metor ; but the latter would not listen to the charges,
aud instead met Jonathan kindly in Joppa {ib. xi.
5-6). It is noteworthy that the First Book of Mac-
cabees represents this expedition of the Egyptian
king as treacherous and faithless, whereas Josephus
("Ant." xviii. 4, §8) sets the Egyptians In the right.
The former is from the Syrian standpoint ; the latter
from the Egyptian, as Mahaffy {I.e. p. 371) rightly
observes. Prom this it follows that at that time
there must have been a party in Jerusalem which
.saw in the Egyptian king the salvation of the Jews,
and justly so; for Philometor was well disposed
toward them.
With some exaggeration Josephus says of Philo-
metor ("Contra Ap." ii., § 5) that he and
Entrusted his wife Cleopatra entrusted their en-
His tire kingdom to Jews and that the com-
Kin^dom manders-in-chief of their army were
to Jews, the Jews Onlas and Dositheus. The
Onias temple was built under him, and
the work of Aristobulus on the explanation of
the Mosaic laws was intended primarily for him.

265

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ptolemy "V.
Publican

The Greek postscript to the Book of Esther shows
that that book was brought to Egypt in the fourth
year of his reign, for the passage therein concerning
Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra without doubt refers
to him. The synagogal inscription of Athribis also
probably refers to him.

Ptolemy Philometor died from a wound received
in the battle on the River Oenoparus in Syria (I
Mace. xi. 14-19; "Ant." xviii. 4, § 8). The friendly
attitude of this king toward the Jews caused Graiz
("Gesch." 4th ed., iii. 577) to assign the Septuagint
to his reign, but that work, as Freudenthal espe-
cially has demonstrated, is much older. On the
other hand, to the reign of Philometor may be as-
signed the origin of another class of literature, and
that is the polemic hostile to the Jews, which pro-
ceeded from Alexandria and which arose from the
fact that the Jeves filled public oiHces, seized the
leadership of the army, and built a central sanctuary.

G. S. Kr.

PTOLEMY IX. (surnamed Euergetes II.;
known also as Ptolemy VII., but more commonly
as Physcon) : King of Egypt from 146 to 117 b.c.
After the death of Ptolemy Philometor, his brother,
Euergetes 11., tried to overthrow his widow and suc-
cessor, Cleopatra, whose army was commanded by
the Jewish general Onias (Joseph us, "Contra Ap."
ii., § 5). In this connection Josephus deals with the
captivity and the rescue of the Jews in Alexandria
which, on the strength of the Third Book of Macca-
bees, are assigned to the reign of Ptolemy IV. Since
the Jews were persecuted by Ptolemy IX. not for
their religion but on account of their political posi-
tion, the matter is of little importance ; and with
the establishment of order, peace was doubtless re-
stored to the life of the Jews also.

Willrich (" Juden und Griechen vor der Makka-
baischenErhebung," pp. 142-153) gives some reasons
which make Ptolemy IX. appear in the light of a
friend to the Jews. The grandson of Jesus b. Sira
went to Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of Euergetes
(the king reckoned his reign from the year 170) and
found leisure there to translate the book Ecclesias-
ticus (Sirach). . This king is probably identical with
the seventh king of Egypt of Hellenic stock, who
is mentioned three times in the Sibyllines (iii. 191,
318, 608).

From 117 B.C. onward, Cleopatra III. reigned
with her sons, Philometor (Soter II.)or Lathy-
rus and Ptolemy Alexander (117-81). An account
of the wars of Lathyrus on Palestinian soil may
be found in the history of the Jewish princes Hyr-
canus I. and Alexander Jannaeus (see also Cypmus).

G. S. Kr.

PTOLEMY MACRON : General of King Anti-
ochus Epiphanes of Syria; sent by the prefect Lys-
ias with two other generals, Nicanor and Gorgias,
to fight against the Jews under the Maccabees. In
I Mace. iii. 38, II Mace. iv. 45, and in Josephus,
" Ant." xii. 7, § 3, he is called the son of Dorymenes.
In the second passage cited it is related that Mene-
laus sent him many presents to secure his interces-
sion with the king. That fact alone would show
that Ptolemy was a man of higher rank, and in II
Mace. viii. 8-11 he is called governor of Coele-Syria

and Phenicia, who as such sent Nicanor and Gorgias
against the Jews.

Ptolemy is given the cognomen " Macron " in II
Mace. X. 12, which supplies a short sketch of his life.
He faithlessly abandoned Cyprus, which had been
entrusted to him by the Egyptian king Ptolemy Phil-
ometor, and went over to Antiochus Epiphanes, for
which he was rewarded with the governorship of
Coele-Syria and Phenicia. Since he tried, however,
to treat the Jews kindly, he was denounced before
the king, whereupon he ended his life by poison.
The passage in Polybius (xxvii. 12) and the biog-
raphy which Suidas gives of Ptolemy refer to his
conduct in Cyprus.

G. S. Kr.

PTJAH : 1. One of the two midwives who were
ordered by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew male chil-
dren (Ex. i. 15). Philo ("Quis Rerum Divinarum,"
ed. 1613, p. 889; ed. Schwickert, 1828, iii. 30, § 26)
possibly correctly identifies this name, which in
Hebrew is njJia, with another Puah written in
Hebrew nXIS, and explains ^ova kpvBpav ipiiriveiieTai,
i.e., "Puah, which is interpreted 'the red.'" In
the sense of "color" "pu'ah" (Arabic "fuwwah")
occurs in Shab. 89b and Yer. 'Er. 36c.

In Midr. Tadshe (on Ex. i. 15) it is assumed that
Puah, as well as the other midwife, was a proselyte,
and was not identical with Miriam. For the differ-
ent views which identify Puah with Miriam, or Eli-
sheba see Miriam in Rabbinical Literature and

JOCHBBED.

2. Father of Tola the judge, and son of Dodo of
the tribe of Issachar (Judith x. 1). The Septuagint
renders " Dodo " by uncle (of Abimeleoh) and inter-
polates the word "Kareah," which is not foimd in
the Masoretic text of this passage. The opinions
of recent commentators are very much divided re-
gai'ding the meaning of the word "Dodo."

3. Second son of Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13). In the
desert he formed the tribe of the Punites (Num.
xxvi. 23); and he is mentioned in I Chron. vii. 1.
In the Authorized Version the name is spelled
"Pua"} in the Revised Version, "Puvah."

BiBLiOGKAPHY: Levy, Neuhehr. WOrterb. s.v.; Vdvr^Aramilr
ische Pfianzennamen, p. 331, Vieona, 1881 ; HoUenberg,
In Stade's Zeitschrift, i. lOi et seq.
B. G. H. S. O.

PUBERTY, AGE OF. See Majority.

PUBLICAN : Local tax-farmer; the oflBce ex-
isted among the Jews under the Roman dominion.
The Romans were accustomed to farm out, generally
for five years, the customs dues on exports. These
taxes were mainly ad valorem, and therefore, as the
value placed upon goods varied, lent themselves to
extortion ; hence the unpopularity of the publicans,
especially when, as under the Romans, they were
Jews exploiting their fellow Jews. Echoes of this ill
repute are foimd in the New Testament, where pub-
licans are coupled with sinners (Matt. Ix. 10; Luke v.
30, vii. 34), and even with the most degraded per-
sons (Matt. xxi. 31). Taxes were levied on pearls
(Kelim xvii. 15), slaves (B. B. 137b), and boats ('Ab.
Zarah 10b). Tax-farmers were not eligible as
judges or even as witnesses (Sanh. 25b), and it was
even regarded as undesirable to exchange money

Puoher
Pulpit

THE JEWISH ENCYOLOPEDIA

266

with them, as they might be in possession of stolen
coin. If one member of a family was a publican, all
its members were liable to be considered as such for
purposes of testimony (Sheb. 39a).

Bibliography: Levy, JVcii/iebr. W7)rterb.s.v.; Jastrow, Dtci.
s.v. NDJiD ; Herzfeia, Handelsgesch. der Juden des Alter-
tlmma, pp. 160-163.
T. J.

PUCHER, SOLOMON: Rabbi; born 1829 at
Neustadt-Sherwint, Poland ; died Nov. 23, 1899, at
Riga. Educated at the yeshibah of Georgenburg
and at the rabbinical school of Wilna, he was called
in 1859 to the rabbinate of Mitau. As a rabbi Pu-
cher received from the government the silver and
the gold medal of merit. In the sixth decade of the
nineteenth century he bravely opposed, in speeches
and in written articles, the Christian-Jewish mission
in Courland, therebj' ci-eating a great sensation. He
labored with tact and discretion to obtain civil and
political rights for the Jews, and in 1864 he was
called to St. Petersburg as a member of the com-
mission for securing the right of residence to Jewish
workmen. About twenty j'ears later he wrote and
presented to Count Pahlen, chairman of tlie Jewish
commission, who was staying in Courland, a de-
tailed memorandum in their favor of the condition
of the Jews. His efforts to improve their status
represent a portion of the history of the Jews not in
Courland only, but in Russia generally. With
equal energy he worked to develop the inner life of
the community. He labored also for the religious
education of girls, establishing confirmation classes
for them ; and he gave the boys free religious in-
struction in the gymnasium.

In 1893 he accepted a call as rabbi to Riga, Rus-
sia, where he labored till 1898, when he retired from
public life. The community at Riga raised a large
fund in his honor, the interest of which is used for
the benefit of widows and orphans.

Pucher's literary activity is represented by several
printed sermons, by a pamphlet, " Ueber den Thier-
schutz," and by articles directed against the Chris-
tian-Jewish mission, especially his "Olfenes Scnd-
schreiben an die Kurlandischen Herren Synodalen,"
in the "Baltische Mdnatssclrrrft," xvi. 217-241.

H. K. J. Br.

PTTCHOWITZEB, JTJDAH LOB B. JOSEPH
PARZOWEB : Russian rabbi, cabalist, and author;
lived in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
He was rabbi at Pinsk, and in his old age emigrated
to Palestine and settled at Jerusalem, leaving behind
him an injunction to his son Elijah to publish his
writings.

He was the author of: "Kene Hokmah," seven-
teen homilies, Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1681 ; "Derek
Hokmah," on morals and asceticism, in thirty-two
chapters, ib. 1683; "Dibre Hakamim": (l)"Da'at
Hokmah," on moral subjects, in four divisions ; (2)
"Mekor Hokmah," notes on Orah Hayyim, with
an appendix, "Solet Belulah," on the ritual deci-
sions after the compilation of the Orah Hayyim,
Hamburg, 1692; "Kebod Hakamim," extracts from
his other works, with ten additional homilies, ed.
by M. S. Pinkerle, Venice, 1700.

Bibliography: Steinschnelder, Cat. Bodl. col. 5764; Furst,
Bibl. Jud. iii. 108 ; Michael, Or ha^^ayyim., p. 464 ; Azulai,

Shem lia-Oedolim, ii. 28, 130; Nepi-Ghirondi, Tnledot GednU
I'lsrciel, p. 189 ; Benjacob, Ozar ha^Sefanm, pp. 103, 236,
530 ; Zedner, Cat. Hebr. Boolcs'Brit. Mu«. p. 644.
II. E. A. S. W.

PtJCKLER-MUSKAXJ, WALTER, COUNT :

German anti-Semitic agitator ; born Oct. 9, 1860, at
Rogan. near Breslau. He graduated from the Uni-
versity of Breslau with the degree of doctor of law,
and was appointed referendar, but soon left the
public service. After 1899 he became very notori-
ous in connection with the anti-Semitic movement,
his harangues being distinguished for extreme vul-
garity of language. In all his addresses, mostly
delivered in Berlin, he has advised the most violent
measures against the Jews — breaking into their
stores, plundering, whipping, driving them from
their homes, killing them. From his constant repeti-
tion of "beat the Jews," "crack their skulls," "kick
them out," "thrash them," and similar rowdyisms,
he has received the cognomen "Dreschgraf" (the
thrashing count). He considers himself the legiti-
mate successor of Stooker and Ahlwardt, although
the former sharply criticized him for his violence
and vulgaritj'. The anti-Semitic journals, especially
the Berlin " Staatsbiirgerzeitung, " which published
his addresses, have greeted him as a worthy ally ; yet a
few of them have repudiated his appeals to violence.
Generally, no restraint has been put upon him by
the authorities, though he has occasionally been
tried for inciting to violence. His declaration before
the court of Glogau, May 12, 1899, often repeated
since, that his expressions were figurative and
meant no harm to the Jews, was accepted as a valid
plea.

On Jan. 12, 1905, a Berlin court sentenced Plick-
ler-Muskau to six months' imprisonment. He ob-
jected to one of the judges, Simonson, on account
of his Jewish descent, but his objection was not
sustained. His plea that he had been acquitted sev-
eral times when he had used much sharper language
was not considered valid. After being sentenced he
challenged the presiding judge loaduel, whereupon
he was sentenced to three days' further imprison-
ment for contempt of court. Dr. Neumann, expert
alienist, expressed the opinion before the court that
Pftckler was mentally nnsound and should be sent to
an asylum for the insane. Thereupon Plickler chal-
lenged Neumann also to a duel and was condemned
to two months' imprisonment in the fortress of
Weichselmunde. He then issued a paper entitled
"Der Better aus der Judennot," the first number of
which was seized by the police. See Anti-Semitism.

BiBLiOGBAPHT : Mittheiluntjen aus dem Verein zur Abwehr
des Antisemitismus, 1899-1905.
D. S. Man.

PTJCrlLISM. See Athletes ; Bandoff, Benja-
min; Bblasco, Abuaham; Bblasco, IsnABL ; Ben-
jamin, William; Bernstein, Joseph; Bittoon,
Isaac ; Choynski, Joseph ; Elias, Samuel ; Evans,
Samuel; Mbndoza, Daniel.

PTJL : A usurper who ascended the throne of
Babylonia in 745 B.C. and reigned until 737; iden-
tical with Tiglath-pileser III. He appears in the list
of kings as "Pulu," but his identity with Tiglath-
pileser, first suggested by Rawlinson (" AthensEum,"
Aug. 33, 1863), was six years later independently
established by Lepsius. On his accession Pul

267

THE JEWISH ENOYCLOPEDLV

Pucher
Pulpit

restored peace in Babj'lonia. In 738 lie conquered
kullani, apparently the Biblical C'alno (Isa. x. 9).
Tribute was levied also on Syria as far south as
Sanuuia. In his inscriptions Jlinahimu (=Mena-
liem of Samaria) is mentioned, probably identical
with the one mentioned ill II Kings xv. 19. Tiglath-
pileser speaks of himself as King of Assyria, of
Sumer, and of Accad.

BUtLIOORAPIlY ;

Sclirader,

K.a.F. pp. «3-46n; Wlnckler,

(Usdl. Baliijh

nini:< niir

Asf<iirini^, Lpipsir, lS!t'.

K. v.. II.

S. Fr.

See

PTJLGAR, ISAAC BEN JOSEPH IBN

lux PiLo.vu, ls.\.\(' i;i:x .b isici'ii.

PULITZER, JOSEPH : American editor and
journalist; born April 10, 1847, at Budapest, Hun-
gary; educated privately. In 1863 he left his native
town for the
United States,
w h i c h he
leached in time
to enlist in the
Federal army as
a private in a
c a V a 1 r }• regi-
ment. He took
part in the fight-
in g until the
close of tlic war.
On receiving his
discbarge and
failing to obtain
employment in
the city of Kew
York, Pulitzer
went to St.
Louis, wliere be
joined the staff
of the "West-
liclie Post," first
as a reporter,
later as mana-
ging editor and
joint proprietor
(1866-68). Gain-
ing prominence
in state politics,
Pulitzer was
elected to the
legislature of
Missouri in 1869,
and in 1873 was
appointed dele-
gate to the National Liberal Republican Convention
at Cincinnati which nominated Horace Greeley for
the presidency. In 1874 be was elected delegate to
the Missouri State C^onstitutional Convention. Dur-
ing the fall and winter of 1876 and 1877 he acted as
correspondent of the New York " Sun " in Washing-
ton, D. C, and in the following year purchased
the St. Louis " Dispatch " and " Post," and, amalga-
mating them, published the "Post-Dispatch," which
quickly sprang into prominence (1878).

In 1880 Pulitzer was again active in politics, and
was elected delegate to the National Democratic
Convention and took part in the drafting of the
platform. Three years later he purchased the New

Interior o( a Synagogue,

(From a fourt^uiith-century manui

York " World," which be raised from an insignih-
caut sheet to an influential daily newspaper. He
was elected as a Democrat from the Nintli District
of New Y'ork a member of Congress for the term
1885-87, but resigned after having served a few
months. Nevertheless he continu(?d to take an act-
ive interest in politics and advocated the National
Democratic ticket, favoring the gold standard, in
1896.

In Aug., 1903, Pulitzer donated §1,000,000 to
Columbia University for the purpose of founding a
school of journalism, the opening of which is lo be
postponed until after his death.

.\. F. II. V.

PULPIT : In the earliest time a post (" 'ammud ")
was used instead of a pulpit; from it the king spoke

to the people,
and from it Jo-
si a h renewed
with the people
the covenant of
the Law before
the Lord (11
Kings xi. 14,
xxiii. 3). When
Ezra returned
from Babylon he
"stood upon a
pulpit ["mig-
dal "] of wood
. made for
the purpose"
(Neh. viii. 4), to
read the law of
Moses in the
street before the
people. In the
Talmudic and
geonic periods
the pulpit was
placed either on

the ALMEMAKOr
in front of the
Ark ; in Pales-
t i n e it was
placed on the al-
memar; else-
where it was
stationed in
front of the Ark
(see Pai.estin'E,
Laws and Cus-
toms). The Talmudic term for the pulpit is " tebah "
(desk). Whenever a fast-day was decreed by the bet
din, the desk was taken into the street,
Facing- and the elder (hakam) stood in frontof
the People, it, facing the people, and addressed
them in words of humility (Ta'an. ii.
1). In the synagogue the elders sat in the front
row facing the people nud with their backs toward
the side of the Ark. The desk was placed opposite
the people with its back toward the Ark.

Mainionides states that in the center of the syna-
gogue is placed the almemar, on which the reader of
the Pentateuch or the preacher stands in order that he
may be the better heard. The Zohar likewise places

Showing the Pulpit.

cript in the Briti&li Hu.seum.)

Pulpit

Punctuation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

268

the pulpit on the almemar in the center of the sj'n-
figogue, facing the Ark. The Zohar calls the pul-
pit "migdal 'oz " (a strong tower ; Prov. xviii. 10).
The desk is ascended by si.x steps, above wliich is
an additional step to receive the Pentateuch and to
serve as a pulpit for the lecturer. The si.x steps
represent those of Solomon's throne (II Chron. i.x.
18; Zoliar, Wayakhel, E.x. 206a; Isaac Horowitz,
"81ielah,"Num. 164b).

In the case of a large congregation the almemar,
with the pulpit, was originally placed in the center
of the S3'Dagogue in order that the voice of the
reader or preacher might be heard by all the wor-
shipers; "whereas the hazzau stood by the Ark, it
being easier to follow him in the familiar prayers.
The placing of the almemar with
PuliDit and the pulpit in the center of the syna-
Almeinar. gogue was purely a matter of con-
venience, and not of obligation. In
later times, when the congregations became smaller,
the almemar was erected nearer the Ark (Caro,
"Kesef Mishneh" to "Yad," Tefillah, xi. 3, 4).
The case of Orthodoxy against Reform, in the
nineteenth century, in regard to taking the almemar
from the middle of the synagogue and placing

Pulpit from a Synagogue at Modena, Early Sixteeuth Century.

(Now iu the MuBee de CIuDy, Paris.)

it near the Ark, was not l)ased on Jewish law, but on
the adopted custom, strengthened by the desire to
avoid the appearance of aping Christian practises.

In modern times the Orthodox Jews still keep
the almemar separated from the Ark and about one-
third of the length of the synagogue from it. The
reader of the Pentateuch, from the desk on the al-
memar, faces the Ark. But the preacher's pulpit is
on the platform of the Ark and facing the audience.

Individual worshipers also use a pulpit or desk,
called a "stander" or "stodt" (= "statt," "statte,"
i.e., place) in which to lock their tallit, tefllliu, and
prayer-books.

BrBr.ioiiRAniT: David SelileslnRer, liar Tahor, Presburg,

1881; Akiba .losepb, Leh ha-'Ihri. p. 7B, Lemberg, 1873;
Scbreiber, Be funned Jiulaisin, p. 153.

A. J. D. E.

PXJMBEDITA. See Aoadicmtf.s in B.vbvi.onia.

PUMPIANSKI, AARON ELIJAH B.
ARTEH LOB: Kussiau government rabbi and
authdi ; boin at Wilua in 1835; died at Riga April
26, 1893. He graduated from the rabbinical school
of Wilna in 1859 and edited, iu conjunction with
Asher Wolil, the Russian supplement to"Ha-Ivar-
inel" (1860-61). In 1861 Pumpianski was chosen
government rabbi of Ponevezh, government of
Kovno, where he remained until 1873; he was then
elected to the same office in the Jewish community
of Riga, remaining there until his death.

Pumpianski was the aiithor of a collection of ser-
mons in the Russian language which he delivered in
Ponevezh (Riga, 1870); a new edition of the Psalms
with a Russian translation and a Neo-llebrew com-
mentary (Warsaw, 1871); "Solomon Premudroi"
(Riga, 1883); a Russian drama which he published
under the pseudonym "I. Heinian " ; "Shire Ziy-
yon," Hebrew poetry, of which the latter part con-
tains translations from Russian poets. He also
edited a monthly magazine, " Yevreiskiya Zapiski,"
of which twelve numbers appeared in Riga in 1881.
He wrote for that magazine and for various other
Russo-Jewish and Russian periodicals numerous ar-
ticles on divers topics, among them being a sketch
of the history of the Jews in Courland and Livonia.

BiDLiocRAPHV: Tla-Afdf, vl. 166; Sokolow, Scfcr Ziltkaron,
p. H5, Warsaw, 189U ; Ha-Sliahar, vi. Si-Sa.
II. n. • P. Wi.

PUNCTUATION (Ilebr. mpj): When the Bib-
lical text received its linal form in the schools of
Palestine during the first and second centuries, and
the Masorah began its task of preserving this text, it
consisted exclusively of letters to which were added
no signs either to indicate the vowels or to mark the
larger and smaller divisions. The method of read-
ing this text, which consisted almost entirely of con-
sonants, and in which only the chapters ("parashiy-
yot ") were marked, and these merely by spaces,
was entrusted to oral tradition, which was preserved
as accurately as the written text itself by those
who transmitted the Masorah — the scholars proper,
the teachers, and the readers. At an early period
the principle was established, " Ye,sh em la-mikrah "
(= "the reading has a firm foundation, a sure tradi-
tion"); but by the side of this was develo[)eil also
another principle, "Yesh em la-masoret " (= " the
transmission of the written text has a firm foimda-
tion "). On the basis of this latter maxim, exegesis
in its interpretation and application of the Biblical
text permitted itself to adopt a vocalization which
diverged from the traditional reading (Baclier, "Die
Aelteste Terminologie," p. 120).

In some few passages, however, the written text
contained points over individual letters, words, or
parts of words. These points, which occur in ten
places in the Pentateuch, in four in the Prophets,
and one in the Ilagiographa (see Ben Asher, " Dik-

269

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pulpit
Punctuation

du^e lia-Te'amim," ed. Baer and Stiack, p. 48),
Lave only a critical or exegetical value (see Blau,
" Massoretischo Uutersucliungon," pp. 6 et seq.), and
even in the tannaitlc period there was a rule for
the interpretation of such words as
Original had them (Bacher, " A g. Tan. " ii. 431).
Dotted Those points were regarded as an in-
Letters. tegral part of the consonantal text;
later their name ("' nekuddah " ; plviral,
"nekuddot"; see Cant. i. 11) was applied to the
newly invented vowel-points, and from it was do-
rived the word "nikkud" (= "punctuation"), a
" nomen actionis " from the verb " nikljed " (= " to
punctuate "). The word " nekuddah " was used also
to denote those parts of point-like individual letters
tliat resembled dots (see the passages cited by Levy,
"Neuhebr. WOrterb." iii. 434b, with which is to
be compared Blau, I.e. p. 164; comp. also Eccl. R.
vii. 1, where a baraita on the names of the tribes
of Israel written on the breastplate of the high priest
states that no point ["nekuddah ahat"] may be
omitted there, perhaps meaning by this the hook of
the " yod " ; comp. further Men. 29a ; Matt. v. 18).
No trace of any other points or characters added to
the consonantal text of the Bible is found in all the
traditional literature, nor is there any allusion to
punctuation even in the treatise Soferim, which
dates at the earliest from the sixth century, ami
forms a compilation of the rules for the Biblical
text. In this tractate only one sort of punctuation
is mentioned (Soferim iii. 6 [ed. Joel Miiller, Ger-
man part, p. 48]) : " A copy of the Torah in which
the verses are separated by points [" niliked "] may
not be used for reading in the synagogue."

Such points were found at the beginning of verses
in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Their use to separate
verses represents the initial stage of the punctuation
which later developed into a stereotyped body of
signs denoting vowels and accents, although noth-
ing is known regarding the date of the completion
of this system or when its first elements were intro-
duced to facilitate the reading and
Beginnings study of the Bible. The oldest extant
of Punc- manuscripts of the Scriptures, dating
tuation. from the ninth and tenth centuries,
are punctuated; and the two great
Biblical scholars of the tenth century, Saadia Gaon
and the Masorite Aaron ben Ashcr, regarded vowel-
pointing as a long-established component of the
tradition. It is safe to assume, therefore, that by
the beginning of the ninth century, or the middle of
tlie eighth, punctuation already existed as a whole ;
and there is even historical justification for the view
which regards the middle of the eighth century as
the " terminus ad quem " for this innovation. Thus
Karaism, which arose shortly after this period, pre-
supposes the existence of punctuation; otherwise
the followers of Anan could scarcely have obeyed
tlie commandment of their teacher to search the
Scriptures. There is no ground, however, for the
assumption that vowel-pointing was evolved by the
Karaites; for it is incredible that rabbinic Judaism
should have accepted such an innovation from a
hostile sect, and have developed it within a short
time into an essential part of the tradition. The
assertion that the Karaites Mocha and his son Moses,

both of whom lived in the eighth century, invented
punctuation, as is believed by Pinsker and Graetz,
is clearly nugatory (see Harkavy's note in the He-
brew translation of Graetz 's "Hist." iii. 195). It
may be regarded as practically certain that punc-
tuation originated in the sixth and seventh centuries,
and that about the middle of the eighth vowel-points
were incorporated into the text of the Bible as a
most important aid to its study and as henceforth
indispensable.

In the texts employed in public worship (the
copies of the Pentateuch and the scroll of Esther),
from which the lessons were publicly read in the
synagogue, this innovation found no place. The
opposition of the heads of Babylonian Judaism to
it is shown by a responsum of a gaon which is pre-
served in the Maljzor Vitry (ed. Hurwitz, § 120;
comp. "Kerem Hemed," iii. 200), in answer to the
question whether it is forbidden to punctuate the
scroll of the Law. The reply runs as follows:

"We have not heard that the book ol the Law was pointed
when it wa.s Kiven to Moses. The punctuation was not given
on Sinai, but the sages [" ha-hakamim "] introduced it as a sign
[i.e., as an external aid for the reading of the Bible]. We
should transgress the prohibition against adding anything to the
Torah (Deut. xili. 1) if we should add the punctuation to the
Biblical text ; and although the division of verses and the can-
tniatlon according to the meaning have been transmitted from
Sinai to this day, this tradition Is, nevertheless, an oral one, not
given by means of marks of punctuation [" slmane nekldah "]."

According to Gratz ("Gesch." v. 555), who, how-
ever, arbitrarily prefixes the gaou's name, the author
of the responsum was Natronai ben Hilai, who lived
in the middle of the ninth century.

At all events, this responsum expresses the view
that prevailed in the geonic school regarding punc-
tuation ; namely, the pronunciation and the accentu-
ation of the text were transmitted together with it
as objects of oral instruction, while the
Represent visible signs of this pronunciation and
Tradition, accentuation were introduced by the
sages. Thus the Geonim recognized
the appropriateness of punctuation in those copies
of the Bible which were not employed in public
worship, and at the same time they traced its
origin to those who transmitted tradition. On the
other hand, it is, unfortunately, not clear what
"sages" are meant in the responsum, whether Tan-
naim, Amoraim, or even those of later date. The
same view of the importance and origin of vowel-
pointing is expressed by Judah ha-Levi ("Cuzari,"
iii. 31 ; comp. Bacher, " Die Bibelexegese der Jli-
dischenRehgionsphilosophen,"p. 110). Ben Asher's
(I.e.) rimed prose eulogy of punctuation (§ 9) does
not disclose his view of its origin. He speaks, it is
true, of the "countless points," as if they were in-
separably connected with the letters in the tradi-
tional text; but it is impossible to read either in this
paragraph or in that on the accents (§ 16) Ihe view
which was expressed two centuries later by Judah
Hadassi, one of the leadei'S of the Karaite school,
who declared ("Eshkol ha-Kofer," ch. clxxiii.) that
God had not given the Torah without vowel-points
and accents. It is well known that this is the the-
ory which was opposed in the sixteenth century by
Elijah Levita, when he expressed in his "Massoret
ha-Massoret " his conviction that the old view of the

Functuatlon

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

270

late origin of punctuation was the only one wliich
was justifiable.

The problem as to tlic source of punctuation lias
been ably treated by Graetz in his studies on the
origin of the vowel-points in Hebrew ("Monats-
sohrift," 1891, pp. 348-367, 395-405),
The on the accent-marks in Hebrew {ib.

Source. 1882, pp. 389-409), and on the use and
significance of the dagesh (ib. 1887, pp.
435-451, 473^97). Especially instructive is his the-
ory that in the old Masoretic expressions "above"
and "below" ("mi-Ie'el" and "mi-lera'"), which
served to distinguish similar forms from each other,
there is a relic of the period in which this differ-
entiation was effected by pointing, since in the case
of that form of the word which contained the strong
or long vowel the point was placed above, and in
that which contained the weak or short vowel it ap-
peared below. These points were not vowel-points,
but nevertheless indicated tlie vocalic pronunciation
of the text, and thus prepared the way for a system-
atic vocalization. The attempt to prove that ac-
centual points had similar forerunners has been made
by Bucliler in his dissertation " Zur Entstehung und
Entwickelung der Hebraisehen Accente " (Vienna,
1891) ; but unfortunately not even the smallest frag-
ment of a manuscript has been preserved from the
period in which it is claimed that such an antecedent
system of points was used in copies of the Hebrew
Bible, although there are Syriac manuscripts prior
to the sixth century that contain an analogoiis sys-
tem of points and one which was the forerunner of
systematic Syriac punctuation. It is safe to assume
that both these preliminary points and the fully de-
veloped Syriac system of punctuation influenced
the Jewish Masorites ; and particularly is it very
probable that the introduction of vocalization among
the Nestoriansof eastern Syria immediately affected
the Jewish scholars of Babylonia. It was doubtless
in Babylonia, too, that vowel-points were first intro-
duced and systematized. An important point of
evidence for the Babylonian origin of Jewish pimc-
tuation is found in tiie use of the same vowel-point
(" kamez ") for the two vowels wliich were pro-
nounced in Palestine as " a " and " 6," and for which,
consequently, had the system of vocalization origi-
nated in Palestine, two different points would have
been employed. In Babylonia, on the other hand, the
former of these two vowels was pronounced as an
open " o " (a), so that qualitatively it approximated
"6." A single point was chosen for both vowels,
especially as the quantity of vowels was disregarded
in the punctuation.

The system of punctuation which may be regarded
as the oldest one known is the so-called Babylonian.
This system after having fallen into disuse was
forgotten until the middle of the nineteenth cen-
tury, when knowledge of itwas revived from old
manuscripts of the Bible as well as from more mod-
ern ones which were brought from
Various southern Arabia to Europe ; for it was
Systems, employed by the Jews of Yemen until
very recent times, although it has
been now superseded by the regular system. The
Babylonian system of punctuation, which is termed
also Assyrian or Eastern, exists in three very diver-

gent forms, which, however, agree in tlicir maia
vowel-signs, having as their special characteristic
that the vowel-points are written above the letters
(whence the system is called the supralinear). Op-
posed to the Babylonian punctuation is the Tiberian,
which receives its name from Tiberias, the seat of
the Palestinian Masorites. Owing to the powerful
influence of these scholars, it completely superseded
the Babylonian system, so that it became author-
itative not only for manuscripts of the Bible, but
also for all investigations of Hebrew phonology and
morphology, Hebrew grammar being entirely based
upon and developed from Tiberian punctuation.

The brief account of the systems of punctuation
to be given in this article disregards the marks of
accentuation, since tiiis subject has been treated
under Accents in Hebuew. To the bibliography
of that article may, however, now be added Praeto-
rius, "Ueber die Herkunft der Hebraisehen Ac-
cente" (Vienna, 1901), and Kahle, "Zur Geschichte
der Hebraisehen Accente" (in "Z. D. M. G." Iv.
167-194). See also Vocamzation.

The Babylonian System of Punctuation :
(1) The simple form, adopted in a large number of
manuscripts from Yemen preserved in the British
Museum. These manuscripts date from the twelfth
to the seventeenth century and contain texts from
the Bible and the Targums (see list in Merx, " Chres-
tomathia Targumica," p. xv., Berlin, 1888). Mar-
goliouth gives ("Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch." xv. 165 ef
seq.) a survey of the vowel-points of the oldest two
of these manuscripts (Or. 1467, 2363). The points
indicating the six vowels are as follows: liamez,

i. y ■ ■ 'I .. ..

3; patah,3; holem,13, 3; shurek, 13, 3;zere, '3, 3;

hirek, '3, 3 ; while the vocal " shewa mobile " (hatef)
is denoted by a horizontal line, 3. The six vowel-
points of the Babylonian system fall into three
groups of two points each. These are apparently
derived from the three vowel-letters found in the
Biblical text (s, 1, i); for the signs of the first group
are abbreviations of the K; in the second the 1 is
given entire, eitlier as a single vertical stroke, or as
two dots one above tlie other ; while the third group
uses for the " i " a single dot representing the ' and for
the zere two dots one over the other. (For other ex-
planations of these points see Praetovius, " Ueber das
Babylonische Punktationssystcm des Hebraisehen,"
in"Z. D. M. G."liii. 181-196; Margoliouth, I.e. ; and
Eriedlander, in "Monatsschrift," 1894, p. 815.) The
two manuscripts cited above also have a sign for the

rafe over the letters n"B"3T"y'3, as in 3; but a point
for the dagesh within tlie letters is found only in
the Hebrew text, and not in the Targum.

(2) The complex form, found in the famous codex
of the Prophets dating from 916 and preserved in
the Library of St. Petersburg, as well as in certain
fragments in the same collection. The vowel-points
are the same as in the simple system, except that

when the " waw " is written plene, shureli is rep-

I
resented by a point within it, e.g., !|3, not 13-

Combinations of tliese points with the stroke of the
hatef, however, form new points to indicate the
position of the vowels within the word and the con-
sequent modifications of pronunciation, thus giving
rise to the following vowel-signs: JL, kamez be-

271

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Punctuation

fore a dagesli forte (as in ■'Ji, Isa. liv. 1); ~ , patali
before a dagesh forte (as in l^pi, Hab. i. 8); j^,
sbureli; before a dagesli forte (as in 0^33, ib. i. 6);
~ . zere (the segol of the Tiberian system) before
a dagesh forte (as in 11VK1, Isa. xlix. 8) : j_, hire^
before a dagesh forte (as in n^Sn, Hab. iii. 1) ; and
alsoji^ ,_L, _ii., J^, for kamez (nntJ'D, Mai. i. 14),
shurek (inXDn, Hos. vii. 4), zere ("im\ Hab. ii. 1),
and Ijirek ("]J)OB', ib. iii. 3) in a closed syllable. For
patah in a closed syllable (as in f|3D, Hab. ii. 9) the
vowel-point is not z , but jl , this being perhaps
imitated from the similar Byriac point zekafa, al-
though the last-named corresponds to the kamez.
No combinations are formed from the holem (_L_).
Of the combinations used in closed syllables thi-ee
( i , jL , —), serve to designate semivowels with
gutturals, and thus correspond to the ~Tr, ~^', and
~ of the Tiberian punctuation.

(3) A third form of Babylonian punctuation is
found in some fragments that contain texts of the
Bible written in shorthand (see Neubauer in "J.
Q. K. '' vii. 361 ; Priedlander, ib. 564 et seq. ; idem, in
"Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch." 1896, pp. 86 et seq. ; Kahle,
"Beitrage zur Geschichte der Hebraischen Punkta-
tion," in Stade's "Zeitschrift," xxi. 373 et seq.) as
well as in some Hebrew poems published by Levias
in the " Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xv. 157 et seq. The
vowel-points of this system have the following forms :
kamez, 3 ; patah, 3 ; holem, 3 ; shurek, X ; zere, K ; and
hirek , x. To these may be added as a seventh vowel-
point the 3, which corresponds to the Tiberian segol
and is also used for the vocal shewa. This note-
worthy form of Babylonian punctuation agrees
with the Tiberian in the seventh vowel and in the
point for the patab, while it harmonizes with both
the principal types of the Babylonian system in
that the points are above the letters. The vowel-
points themselves, however, are absolutely different
from those of Ihe first two forms, whose sign for the
holem denotes hirek in the third system, while their
shnre^ sign is used to represent kamez, and their
zere, shurek (for further details see Friedlander and
kahle, I.e.). The existence of this third form of
s\ipralinear punctuation is especially interesting as
showing that repeated efforts were made to fix in
writing the vowel pronunciation of the text of the Bi-
ble. Of these three systems only the first survived
for any length of time, and, as already noted, it
was employed as late as the seventeenth century
not only in manuscripts of the Bible and the Targum,
but also in writing poetry (see "Berliner Fest-
schrift," pp. 18, 30). It was most fortunate and
important for the development of a grammatical
knowledge of Hebrew that the Babylonian system
of punctuation, already existing in divergent forms,
was superseded by the Tiberian, which attained un-
disputed supremacy.

The Tiberian System: This contains seven
vowel-points, the segol being added to the Baby-
lonian system. Its inventors, proceeding partly on
the basis of a divergent pronunciation of the vowels,
confined the difl:'erent cases in which there had been
applied in the Babylonian system the patah, the zere,
or the hirek to a single vowel, which was a shadmg

of the patah to "a" or "6," inventing for this the
vowel-point "TT. This, like the others, excepting
the holem, was written under the letter, not above
it. Zere and hirel^ had the same "points (~^, ~^)
as in the supralinear punctuation, while the signs
for kamez and patah (~t^, ~^) were apparently
only abbreviations of the Babylonian signs. Ho-
lem was written with a single point instead of with
two as in the Babylonian system, while in ease
shurek was written plene with "waw," it was des-
ignated, as in the complicated Babylonian system,
by a point within the "waw," or, if the "waw"
was lacking, by a point between two others which
were arranged obliquely ("T"). To indicate the
semi-vowel (vocal shewa), and at the same time to
designate that a consonant was vowelless (silent
shewa), two points one above the other were em-
ployed CD, with which the segol or shewa of the
third system of supralinear punctuation (_l_) may
be compared. To give the exact pronunciation of the
shewa with gutturals, one of the three vowel-points
for Ijamez, patah, and segol was employed in com-
bination, thus giving rise to the signs t: , -.- , ~.
The Tiberian system adds to these vowel-points
the signs for dagesh (a) and rafe (3), which are
of much importance in the rules for vocaliza-
tion.. This system, as has been noted above, al-
though developed by the Masoretic school of Tibe-
rias, is Babylonian in origin, and it may be assumed
that it became localized at Tiberias by Babylonian
Masorites who settled there (see Bacher, " Die An-
fange der Hebraischen Grammatik," pp. 15, 19;
Steinsehneider, " Vorlesungen uber die Kunde Ile-
braischcr Handschriften," p. 12).

The names of the seven vowels or of their points
as given in the Tiberian system are first found com-
plete in Saadia (commentary on the " Sefer Yezirah, "
ed. Amsterdam, p. 42), and areas follows: "kamez,"
"patah," "holem," "segol," "hirek," "zere," and
"shurek." With the exception of "segol," the
Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew "eshkol" (clus-
ter of grapes, so called because of the shape of the
vowel-point 'TT), these words are properly to be
read as substantives of the segolate class : "kemez,"
"petah" "helem," "herek," "zeri," and "shere^."

With the older grammarians the

Names names of the vowels still have their

of Vowels, original form ; but later the tendency

to introduce the sound of each vowel
into its name led to the linguistic monstrosities which
are still current, and in which the first syllable of
the name of the vowel is pronounced with the
vowel sound it designates. The names of the vowels,
again, with the exception of the segol, refer to the
sovmds themselves, and not to the signs, being
older than the latter and traceable to the instruc-
tion which teachers gave their pupils at a very early
period to impress upon them the correct pronuncia-
tion. Thus, to distinguish between the two "a*
vowels, one shading into "o," and the other preserv-
ing the pure "a" sound, pupils were instructed to
"round the mouth" (hence "kemez"), and to "open
the mouth " (hence " petah " ; or in Aramaic, accord-
ing to a Masoretic note, " iniftal.i puma " ; see further
Bacher, I.e. pp. 15-17). At a very early period the
holem was called also the " fulness of the mouth "

Punctuation

Purchase Under Mistake

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

272

{"melo fura ''), and the shurek the "rounding of the
mouth" ("kibbuzfum," from which "Ijubbuz," the
later name for " u," was derived). It was not until
the fifteenth century that the term " melo fum "
was introduced as a name for the slnirek (see Nestle
and Bacher in "Z. D. M. G." Iviii.). The seven
vowels of the Tiberiau system were called "the
seven kings" by Ben Asher {I.e. p. 34), as determin-
ing the forms of speech ; and this designation was
retained even by the grammarians, theshewa, which
Ben Asher regarded as an eighth vowel, being
added.

After Hebrew grammar had been placed on a scien-
tific basis by Judah Hayyuj and liis school, the theory
of the vowels and their number was essentially modi-
fied. A knowledge of Latin grammar led Joseph
Kimhi (see his "Sefer Zikkaron," ed. Bacher, p. 17)
to distinguish long and short vowels in Hebrew and
thus to introduce the factor of quantity into the
theory of the vowels. He thus postulated ten
vowels, dividing kamez into two, a short (desig-
nated as the short vowel of holem) and a long one
(with patah as its short vowel). He likewise di-
vided the liirek into two vowels (I, I), and tlie shurek
into two (u, u), while he regarded segol as a short
vowel (e) and zere as long (e). This innovation,
which its author's sons, Moses and David Kimhi,
introduced into their grammars, gradually attained
supremacy in the presentation of the teaching of
the Tiberian school. Since the punctuation was not
altered, however, there was a continual discrepancy
between the old system of " the seven kings," which
regarded merely the quality of the vowels, and the
new system of live long vowels and five short, this
incongruit}' leading to confusion even in grammat-
ical literature.

Punctuation, the most important product of the

activity of the Masorites of the early geonic period,

itself became an object of their studies; so that the

determination of vocalization and its

Masoretic variations formed the basis of a con-

Punc- troversy between Ben Asher and Ben

tuation. Naphtali, who may be termed the last
Masorites in tlie strict sense of the
word. When the reading of the Biblical text with
the help of points to indicate vowels and accents
had once been fixed in writing, it became all-impor-
tant to add these points accurately and correctly to
the consonantal manuscripts of the Bible. Punctu-
ation thus became a learned profession, even though
the " punctuators " (" nakdanim "), who flourished
especially in Germany, Prance, and England, are not
mentioned by this title before the twelfth century.
In the establishment of their rules, on which some
of them wrote special treatises, the best known be-
ing the " Sefer ha-Nikkud " of Moses ha-Nakdan,
the nakdanim made frequent use of the writings
of the grammarians (see Steinschneider, I.e. p.
15; Zunz, "Z. G." pp. 107 et seq. ; and Nakdanim).
Hebrew grammatical science is based upon the Maso-
retic punctuation and its rules. The "nikkud" (a
term first found in Ben Asher; Bacher, I.e. p. 36)
brought together the most important material for a
knowledge of the Hebrew language; and it may
even bo said that in the Masoretic punctuation, and
the phonology and morphology which it established.

the whole of Hebrew grammar was implied. The
first Hebrew grammarian known, Saadia, wrote a
work on "nikkud," although this is known only
from a citation (in Rashi on Ps. xlv. 10), and Ju-
dah Hayyuj also wrote a "Kitab al-Tanliit," or
"Book of Punctuation," containing rules for vowels
and accents, and devoting itself particularly to
the segolate nouns. More closely related to the real
teachings of the Masorites is the "Introduction for
the Reader of the Bible," written by another gram-
marian of the Spanish golden age, Judah ibn Ba-
laam. The theory of vowels and accents, however,
is treated by the older Hebrew grammarians only in
passing, or even receives no special notice at all,
since they considered this subject as the special
property of the Masorah ; nor was it until centuries
later that this portion of Hebrew grammar became
an integral part of the science under the name of
"nikkud."

Punctuation, originally confined to the text of the
Bible, was used also for other works of Jewish liter-
ature in so far as they were written with Hebrew
letters. It was therefore employed

Applica- not only in Hebrew and Aramaic
tion. books, especially tlie liturgical and
poetical works as well as copies of the
Mishnah and the Targum, but also in compositions
in other languages. Thus it is that the Judseo-Ger-
man books of modern times are made more clear by
pointing, although the vowels are usually desig-
nated by the vowel-letters. In like manner recent
Judseo-Persian books, which are almost exclu-
sively popular in character, are, nearly without ex-
ception, punctuated, and this is also true of a great
portion of Judaeo-Persian manuscripts. On the
punctuation of Arabic texts among the Jews of
Yemen see "Berliner-Pestsohrift," pp. 12-16.

The oldest statement regarding the supremacy of
Tiberiau punctuation over Babylonian is found in a
manuscript of tlie Pentateuch (Codex De Rossi No.
13), which states that the Targum in this codex (or
in its original) was copied from one brought from
Babylonia, which was " punctuated above with the
nikkud of the land of Asshur," this being changed
by the copyist to the Tiberian system (Zunz, " Z.
G." p. 110; Luzzatto, in"Halikot Kedem," 1847,
p. 24), while a similar transcription forms the basis
of the Sabbionetta edition of the Targum Onkelos
of 1557 (see Berliner, "Targum Onkelos," ii. 137 et
seq.). A noteworthy passage is found in the Mah-
zor Vitry (introduction to Abot, ed. Hurwitz, p.
463): "The Tiberian punctuation is not like ours,
and neither is it like that of the land of Israel."
This statement Is unintelligible, unless it be as-
sumed that its author was a Babylonian scholar,
who designated the Babylonian vowel-pointing as
" ours " (" nikkud she-lanu "), while " punctuation
of Palestine," which differed from that of Tibei'ias,
may denote the third form of supralinear punctiia-
tion (see Friedlander in "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch."
1891, pp. 86-98; comp. Kahle, I.e. xxi. 275). These
forgotten statements first became known to Jewish
science in the fifth decade of the nineteenth century,
and at the same time, after centuries of oblivion,
specimens of this method of vowel-pointing were
brought to light, being first published in the He-

273

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Punctuation

Purchase tJnder Mistake

brew journal "Ziyyon" (1841, i. 152). The first
thorough account of this system of iDunctuatiou was
given in 1869 in Pinsker's Hebrew "Introduction to .
the Babylonian-Hebrew Systems of Vowel-Point-
ing," where its complicated form is described on the
basis of the codex of the Prophets dating from 916.
Since the eighth decade of the nineteenth century a
large number of manuscripts brought from southern
Arabia to Europe have furnished abundant data re-
garding the simple variety of the supralinear punc-
tuation. See Vocalization.

Bibliography : In addition to the works cited in tlie body of
this article see the biblioRraphy ol Vocalization.
T. W. B.

PUNISHMENT : It has been shown in the arti-
cles Capital Punishment, Ckime, Homicide, and
Stripes that a court may inflict for the violation
of one of the prohibitive laws a sentence of: (1)
death in one of four different forms ; (2) exile to one
of the cities of refuge in the case of Involuntary
manslaughter; (3) stripes, not to exceed forty; in
practise thirty-nine or less. In Jew. Enctc. iv.
358b, S.I). Crime, some rather irregular punishments
have been referred to. The offenses against prop-
erty, such as theft, the fraudulent conversion of a de-
posit, embezzlement, robbery (see Bailments; Em-
bezzlement; Robbery; Theft), are punished only
by the exaction of more than the value of the thing
taken, the excess going to the injured party, and
thus differing from a true fine or forfeiture to the
community. The housebreaker is liable to be slain
with impunity.

A fine in the modern sense is unknown to Scrip-
ture, unless the guilt-offering discussed in Lev. v.
can be considered in that light. The
Fines. payment of one hundred shekels
by a husband who has falsely ac-
cused his newly wedded wife, under the provision
in Deuteronomy goes to the wife's father; the
"bridal price" ("mohar") for seducing a virgin and
the mulct of fifty shekels for ravishing one go to
the girl's father.

So much for the repressive measures of the Mo-
saic law. But when the power to deal with crime in
the regular way was slipping away from the Jewish
courts, the sages contrived the lesser and the greater
Excommunication, called by them "niddui" and
"herem," to maintain the control of the community
over its backsliding or refractory members. They
laid down also the dangerous doctrine that in an
emergency steps may be taken to keep down ex-
cesses (niX'lS, the German " Ausgelassenheit "),
steps which are allowable only "for the hour"
and can not be drawn into precedent. The doctrine
was broached in a baraita by R. Eliezer ben Jacob
(Sanh. 46a):

" I have heard [i.e., I have the tradition from my teachers]

that a court may whip or otherwise punish where this can not be

done according to the Torah, not indeed to transgress the words

of the Torah, but in order to make a fence

Cases of around It. So it was done to one who at the

Emerg-ency . time ot the Greeks [i.e., during the war against

Antiochus] was found riding on the Sabbath ;

they brought him before the court and [under its orders] stoned

him to death— not because he was guilty of any capital offense,

but because the hour made it necessary ; and again there was a

man who had cohabited with his wife under a Dg-tree [i.e..

m public nnd in open day] and was whipped [received forty

stripes] for it."

X.— 18

It may be remarked that as early as the Mishnah
(see Naz. iv. 3) a " beating for disobedience " (" mak
kat mardut ") was prescribed in a case in which no
Biblical prohibition was actually violated, though
thei'e was an intent to commit such violation. The
case is that of a woman who, not knowing that her
husband has dissolved her l^azarite vow, but be-
lieving herself to be still bound by it, has drunk
wine or totiched the dead. The same phrase, " mak-
kat mardut," is used in nearly the same sense and
application in the Talmud (Ket. 45b et al.).

Reference is also made to the act of Simeon ben
Shetah, the head of the Pharisaic party, during the
reign of Alexander Jannsaus ; he caused, by a sort
of court martial, eighty women guilty of rioting at
Ashkelon to be put to death in one day.

When the Jews came to live in exile, and, by
the doctrine that only "ordained judges" can in-
flict Scriptural punishment, were prevented from
enforcing, under regular legal forms, any discipline
against lawbreakers even though the Gentile gov-
ernment might give them ample autonomy for the
purpose, they had to resort to the principle that an
emergency overrides and supplants the written law.
This principle is expressed by ]VIaimonides(" Yad,"
Sanhedrin, xxiv.), by Jacob ben Asher in his Arba'
Turim, and again in the Shulhan 'Aruk, Hosheu
Mishpat, § 3, substantially in the words of the fore-
going baraita ; and the codifiers add the important
clause that if the defendant be "defiant and power-
ful" ("allim") they may work out his punishment
through the power of the Gentile authorities. This
procedure is justified under the Mishnah (Git. ix.
8) : "A bill of divorcement, written under compul-
sion of Israel [a Jewish court], is valid; under com-
pulsion of Gentiles, it is invalid; but if Gentiles use
force, saying [to the husband], ' Do what the Israelites
demand,' it is valid." The codifiers seek to miti-
gate these dangerous rules by declaring : " All these
things must be for God's greater glory ["le-shem
shamayim"], and must be directed by the foremost
men of the age, or at least by the best men in the
community. " Maimonides, in his zeal to stem a flood
of heresy and apostasy, goes further than Joseph
Caro : he names among the measures of repression
imprisonment in a very harsh form.

ReMA, in his gloss upon Hoshen Mishpat, § 3,

gives a practical hint : " It has become customary in

many places that where a man has

Fines done a thing for which under the

Instead of Mosaic law he ought to receive forty

Stripes. stripes, he is called upon to pay forty

florins." Here is found at last a true

fine and a penalty easy of enforcement. As there

is no injured party to whom the forty florins ("ze-

hubim ") can be paid, they must needs go into the

coffers of the community. See also Pines and

Forfeiture.

E. c. L. N. D.

PUPILS AND TEACHERS. See Peda-
gogics.
PURCHASE AND SALE. See Sale.

PURCHASE UNDER MISTAKE.

Fraud and Mistake.

See

Purgatory
Purim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

274

PURGATORY : An intermediate state through
which souls are to pass in order to be purified from
sin before they are admitted into the heavenly para-
dise. The belief in purgatory, fundamental with
the Roman Catholic Church, is based by the Church
authorities chieiiy upon II Mace. xii. 44-45 : " If he
[Judas] had not hoped that they that were slain
should have risen again It had been superfluous and
vain to pray for the dead. . . . Whereupon he
made an atonement tliat they might be delivered
from sin " ; for this indicates that souls after death
pass through an intermediate state in which they
may by some intercession be saved from doom. The
same view, that an atonement should be made for
the dead, is expressed in Sifre, Deut. 210. The
idea of an intermediate state of the soul, release
from which may be obtained by intercessicm of the
saints, is clearly dwelt upon in the Testament of
Abraham, Recension A, xiv. , where the description
is given of a soul which, because its good and its evil
deeds are equal, has to undergo the process of puri-
fication while remaining in a middle state, and on
whose behalf Abraham intercedes, the angels join-
ing him in his prayer, whereupon the soul is ad-
mitted into paradise.

The view of purgatory is still more clearly ex-
pressed in rabbinical passages, as in the teaching of
the Sharamaites: "In the last judgment day there
shall be three classes of souls: the
Rabbinic righteous shall at once be written

Views. down for the life everlasting; the
wicked, for Gehenna ; but those whose
virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall
go down to Gehenna and float up and down until
they rise purified ; for of them it is said : ' I will
bring the third part into the fire and refine them as
silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried' [Zech.
xiii. 9] ; also, ' He [the Lord] bringeth down to
Sheol and bringeth up again' " (I Sam. ii. 6). The
Hillelites seem to have had no purgatory; for
they said: "He who is ' plenteous in mercy ' [Ex.
xxxiv. 6] inclines the balance toward mercy, and
consequently the intermediates do not descend into
Gehenna "(Tosel, Sanh. xiii. 3; R. H. 16b; Bacher,
" Ag. Tan." i. 18). Still they also speak of an inter-
mediate state.

Regarding the time which purgatoiy lasts, the
accepted opinion of R. Akiba is twelve months ; ac-
cording to R. Johanan b. Nuri, it is only forty -nine
days. Both opinions are based upon Isa. Ixvi. 23-
24: "From one new moon to another and from one
Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship
before Me, and they shall go forth and look upon
the carcasses of the men that have transgressed
against Me ; for their worm shall not die, neither
shall their fire be quenched " ; the former interpret-
ing the words " from one new moon to another " to
signify all the months of a year ; the latter inter-
preting the words "from one Sabbath to another,"
in accordance with Lev. xxiii. 15-16, to signify
seven weeks. During the twelve months, declares
the baraita(Tosef.,Sanh. xiii. 4-5; R. H. 16b), the
souls of the wicked are judged, and after these
twelve months are over they are consumed and
transformed into ashes under the feet of tlie right-
eous (according to Mai. iii. 21 [A. V. iv. 3]), where-

as the great seducers and blasphemers are to under-
go eternal tortures in Gehenna without cessation
(according to Isa. Ixvi. 24).

The righteous, however, and, according to some,
also the sinners among the people of Israel for whom
Abraham intercedes because they bear the Abra-
hamic sign of the covenant are not harmed by the
fire of Gehenna even when they are I'equircd to
pass through the intermediate state of purgatory
(■Er. 19b ; Hag. 27a).

The idea of the purging fire through which the
soul has to pass is found in the Zend-Avesta (" Bun-
dahis," xxx. 20): "All men will pass into the melted
metal and become pure ; to the right-
History eous it will seem as though he walks
of through warm milk " (comp. Enoch,

Purgatory. Hi. 6-7, Ixvii. 6-7). The Church Fa-
thers developed the idea of the "ignis
purgatorius " into a dogma according to which all
souls, including those of the righteous who remain
unscathed, have to pass the purgatory (Origen on
Ps. xxxvii., Homily 3; Lactantius, "Divinae Insti-
tutiones," vii. 21, 4-7; Jerome on Ps. cxviii.. Ser-
mon 20; Commodianus, "Instructiones," ii. 2, 9);
hence ijrayers and offerings for the souls in purga-
tory were instituted (TertuUian, "De Corona Mili-
tis,"3-4; "De Monogamia," 10; "Exhortatio Cas-
titatis,"ll; Augustine, "Enchiridion ad Lauram,"
67-69, 109; Gregory I., "Dialogi," iv. 57). Hence
also arose in the Church the mass for the dead cor-
responding in the Synagogue to the Kaddish (see
Kaddish).

Bibliography : Boeklen, Die VerwandUchaft der Jttdvtch-
Ghristlich&n mit der Perslschen Eschatolngie, 1902, pp. 118-
125 ; Atzberger, Die Christllche Eschatolngie, 1890, pp. 99
et seq.., 182, 275 ; HerzoK-Hauck, Beal-Encyc. s.v. Fegefeucr ;
McClintoct and Strong, Cyc. s.v.

PURIFICATION. See Tauaeah.

PURIM : Jewish feast celebrated annually on the
14th, and in Shushan, Persia, also on the 15th, of
Adar, in comijiemoration of the deliverance of the
Persian Jews from the plot of Haman to exterminate
them, as recorded in the Book of Esther. Accord-
ing to that book the feast was instituted as a na-
tional one by Mordecai and Esther. For a critical
view of Purim see Esther. In the present article
are treated only the various features of the feast as
developed after its institution.

Aside from the much-mooted question whether
Purim is of Jewish or of heathen origin, it is certain
that, as it appears in the Book of Esther, the festi- I
val is altogether devoid of religious A
Non- spirit — an anomaly in Jewish religious
Religious history. This is due to the worldlyl
Character, spirit of the Book of Esther. The only!
religious allusions therein are the men-
tion of fasting in iv. 16 and i.v. 31, and perhaps I
the expression of confidence in the deliverance of j
Israel in iv. 14. This secular character has on the
whole been most prominent in this festival at all
times. Like Hanukkah, it has never been univer-
sally considered a religious holy day, in spite of the
fact that it is designated by the term "yom-tob"
(Esth. ix. 19, 22). Accordingly business transac-
tions and even manual labor are allowed on Purim,
although in certain places restrictions have been

275

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purg'atory
Purim

imposed ou work (SImlhau 'Aruk, Orali Hayyiiu,
696).

Nevertheless Purim lias been held in high esteem
at all times and in all countries, some even muin-
tuiuiug that when all the prophetical and hagio-
graphical works shall be forgotten the Book ot
Esther will still bo remembered, and, accordingly,
the Feast of Purim will continue to be observed
(Yer. Meg. i. 5a; Mairaonides, " Yad," Megillah, iii.
18: comp. Schudt, ".Ji'idisehe Merkwtirdigkeiteu,"
ii. 31 1). It is also claimed that Purim is as great as
the day on which the Torah was given on Sinai
(" Mordckai " ou
B. M. ix., end;
comp. Lampron-
ti, '■ Pahad Yiz-
l.iak," s'.i\ "Pu-
lini "). In Italy
the .1 e w s , i t
seems, h a v e
even used tlie
word "Purim"
as a fa m i 1 y
name, which
also proves the
high esteem that
the festival en-
i o y s a m o n g
them ( V o g e 1 -
stein andKicger,
" Gesch. der Ju-
den in Rom," ii.
430; but comp.
Steinschneider
in " 51 o n a t s -
schrift," 1903,
p. i7r>).

The Book of
Esther does
prescribe ;
ligious

for Purim ; it en-
joins only the
annual celebra-
tion of the feast
among the Jews
on the 14th and
loth of Adar,
c o m m a n (1 i n g
that they should
" m ak e them
days of feasting
and joy, and of

sending portions one to another, and gifts to the
pool'." It seems, therefore, that the observance of
Purim was at first merely of a convivial and social
nature. Gradually it assumed religious features.

The first religious ceremony ordained for the ccl
ebnition of Purim is the reading of the Book of

E.sther in the synagogue, a regulation.

Reading- of ascribed in the Talmud (Meg. 2a) to

the the " :Mcn of the Great Synod," of

Meg-illah. which Mordccai is reported to have

been a member. Originally this enact-
ment was for the 14tli of Adar only ; later, however,
R. Josliua 1). Levi (3d cent.) prescribed that the I\Ie-

oes notl

i any re-

servieel

Purim

(From Leusden, "Philuloj

gillah should be reatl on the eve of Purim also.
Further, ho obliged women to attend the reading
of the Megillah, inasmuch as it was a woman. Queen
Esther, through whom the miraculous deliverance
of the Jews was accomplished^ (Meg. 4a; see, how-
ever, Yer. Meg. ii. .'5, where' this law is reported
in the name of Bar Kappara; comp. "R. B. J."
.x.x.xii. 43).

In tlie Mishnah there is a dilTerence of opinion as
to how much of the Megillah one must read in order
to discharge one's duty. According to R. Jiidah,
the portion from ii. 5 to the end suffices; others

considered the
portion from iii.
1, or even from
vi. 1, to the end
suflieient; while
R . Me 1 r d e -
111 a n d e d the
reading of the
entire scroll, and
his view was ac-
cepted in the
Talmud (Meg.
19a). In some
congregations it
was customary
to read the first
portion of the
Megillah, i.-vi.,
at the "outgoing
of the first Sab-
bath " in Adar
and the rest on
the outgoing of
the second Sab-
bath of that
month. In other
places the whole
Megillah was
read on the out-
go! ng of the
second Sabbath
(Soferim .xiv.
IS). In some
places it w a s
read on the 15th
of Adar also {ib.
xxi. 8), for ex-
ample, at Tyre
(comp. Z u n z ,
"Ritus," p. 56).
According to
the Mishnah, the " villagers " were permitted for
the sake of convenience to read the Megillah on the
Monday or Thursday of the Purim week, on whicli
days they came to the towns for divine service.

In the Misluiali the recitation of a benediction
either before or after the reading of the Megillah is
not yet a universally recognized obligation. The
Talmud, liowever, prescribed three benedictions be-
f(u-e and one after the reading (comp. Meg. 21b ;
Yer, Meg. iv. 1 ; Masscket Soferim .xiv. 5, 6, where
the formulas for the closing benediction differ;
comp. also Shulhau 'Aruk, Orah Hayyini, 693, 1).
The Talmud added other provisions also in connec-

Flayers.

ius Helirieo-Mixlus,'

Purim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

276

tiou with the reading of the McgiUah. For example,
the reader was to pronounce the names of the ten
sons of Haman (Esth. ix. 7-10) in one breath, to in-
dicate tlieir simultaneous death (Meg. 16b ; Orah
Ilayylm, 690, 15). Tlie congregation was to recite
aloud with the reader the verses ii. 5, viii. 15-16,

^' Hainan Klopfers" Used on Purim Feast by .Jewish Children
of Russia.

(Froii,"Gl.,buB.")

and X. 8, which relate the origin of Mordecai and
liis triumph (Abudarham, ed. Amsterdam, 1736, p.
76; Orah Hayyim, I.e.). This rule is of geonic ori-
gin (see Bri'ick, " Pharisilische Volkssitten," p. 158).
Saadia Gaon demanded that only the first two verses
of the four mentioned above be read aloud; and
this was the custom in Spain (Abudarham, I.e.).

The Megillah is read with a traditional chant dif^'
fering fj-om that used in the reading of the pericopes
of the Pentateuch. In some places, however, Itisj
not chanted, but is read like a letter, J
The because of the name " iggeret " (epi.s-

Megillali— tie) which is applied (Esth. ix. 26, 39)
How Read, to the Book of Esther (comp. Judah
'Ayyash, "Bet Yehudah," No. 23,
Leghorn, 1747). For the same reason it lias been
also customary since the time of the Geonim to unroll
the whole Megillah before reading it, in order to
give it the appearance of an epistle (Orah Hayyim,
690, 17; comp. Briick, I.e. p. 159).

Finally, it is to be mentioned that the Megillaii.
may be read in any language intelligible to the audi-l
ence. In Hebrew and also in Greek it may be readl
even when not understood (Meg. 18a; Orah Hay -I
yim, 690, 8-13; see, however, Soferim xxi. 8, where
it is said that all Israel is in duty bound to read the
i\[egillah in Hebrew). In Saragossa the Megillah
was read in 8pani,sh, a practise against which Isaac
ben Sheshet (Responsa, Nos. 388-391) and Nissim
Gerondi protested (see Gratz. "Gesch." viii. 35;

Abrahams, "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," pp.
345 et seq. ; Steiuschneider, in " Monatsschrif t, " 1903.
p. 178). Talking during the public recitation was
prohibited (Orah Hayyim, 693, 2). According to
the Jlishnah (Meg. 30b"), in addition to the Megillah
Ex. xvii. 8-10, the story of the attack on the Jews
by Amalck, the progenitor of Haman, is to be read.

Purim gave rise to many religious compositions,
some of which were incorporated into the liturgy.
For the large number of hymns intended for the
public service as well as other writings (dramas,
plays, etc.) intended for general edification, both in
Hebrew and in other languages, see the exhaiistive
study by M. Steiuschneider, "Purim und- Parodic,"
in " Monatsschrif t," .xlvi.-xlviii., Index, especially
xlvi. 379 ct seq., 373 et seq. ; for Karaitic rites .see ib.
pp. 378 et seq.

As pointed out above, the Book of Esther pre-
scribed "the sending of portions one to another, and
gifts to the poor." This became in the course of
time one of the most prominent features of the cele-
bration of Purim. Jews sent gifts of food, espe-
cially dainties, to one another ; and the \
Social poor were made recipients of charity. J

Customs. In the synagogue, too, regular collec-
tions were made on the festival, and
the money so procured was distributed aiuong the
need}'. No distinction was to be made aiuong the
poor ; any one who was willing to accept, even a non-
Jew, was to be allowed to participate (Orah Hay-
yim, 694). It was obligatory upon the poorest JeW,
even on one who was himself dependent on charitT,
to give to other poor — at least to two (ih.). In soifle
congregations it is customary to place a box ("kup-
pah ") in the vesti-
bule of the syna-
gogue into which
every one may put
the half of the unit
coin ("raahazit ha-
shekel ") of the coun-
try, corresponding to
the half-shekel which
had been given to the
Temple in Adar (ii.).
The genera! provision
is for every one to
give three halves ; but
some give according
to the number of
persons in the fam-
il}' (comp. Jehiel Ep-
stein, " Kizzur Sliene
Luhot ha-Berit," p.
105b, Amsterdam,
1701). The amount
of money thus dis-
tributed on Purim by
wealthy members of
the community often readied very large sums (see
Steiuschneider, I.e. xlvi. 180 et seq.). Dedications
of works appear among the various forms of Pu-
rim presents (ib. and xlvii. 174 et seq., Nos. 5,
7, 19).

The national rather than the religious character
of the festival made it appear appropriate to cele-

Purlm Players at Prague, Early
Eighteenth Century.

(From ..I contemporary drawing.)

277

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purim

brate the occasion by feasting. Hence it was tlie
rule to liave at least one festive meal, calleil " sc'uilat

Puiim," toward tlie evening of the
Feasting-. 14tU (Meg. 7b; Oral.i Hayyim, 095, 1).

In this connection it niaj' be mentioned
th.it for the celebration of Purim there developed
an;ong the Jews a special kind of halting. Cakes
were sliaped into certain forms and were given
names liaving some symbolic bearing on the histor-
ic;'! events of Purim. Thus the Jews of Gerjnany
eat "Haniantaschen " and "Hamanohren" (in Italy
"orrechi d'Aman"), "Kreppehen," "Kiudchen,"ctc,
(comp. Steiuschneider, l.r. xlvii. 177, 360 et mq.).
The jovial character of the feast was forcibly illus-
trated in the saying of the Talmud (Jleg. 7b) that
one should drink on Purim until he can no longer
distinguish "Cursed be Haman " from " Blessed be
iiordecai," a saying which was codified in the Slud/
ban 'Arnk (/».), but which was later ingeniously

186), even transgressions of a Biblical law, such as
the appearance of men in women's attire and vice
versa, which is strictly prohibited in Dent. xxii. 5^^y
This went so far that if through exuberance of"^
spirits a man inflicted damage on the property of
another on Puiim he was not compelled to repair
it (Orah Hayyim, I.e., and the references there
given).

J One of the strangest species of merrymaking was
'the custom of mas(iuerading, which was first intro-
duced among the Italian Jewsabout the close of the
fifteenth century under the influence of the Roman
carnival. From Italy this custom spread over all
\ countries where Jews lived, except

^ Masquer- perhaps the Orient (Steinschneider, I.e.
ading. p. 181 ; xlvii. 469, No. 9). The first
among Jewish authors to mention this
custom is Judah Minz (d. 1508 at Venice) in his Re-
sponsa. No. 17, (luotcd by Isserlcs on Orah Hayyim,

OUSEKVA.N'CE OF I'UKIM I.N .1 GERM.IX SYN.VI.OIj L'E OF TIIF Eli;IlTFE.\TU CFXTCI
(From BDd..!jsthatz, " Kirchliche VerfassunK," n.J8.)

explained as referring to the letters occurring in the
sentences [Dn TITN and OTIO "|1")3, in each of which
tljc numeiical value of the letters amounts to 503
(comp. Abudarham, J.e. ; Lewin, " Gesch. der Juden
in Lissa," p. 213, Pinne, 1904). While the Jews
have always been noted for abstemiousness in the
use of intoxicants, drunkenness was licensed, so to \
speak, on Purim, to comply with the command
which seemed to lie in the Biblical term "mishteh " /
(drink) applied to Purim (Abudarham, I.e.). It is,
therefore, not surprising that all kinds of merry-
making, often verging on frivolity, have been in-
dulged in on Purim, so tliat among the masses it
has become almost a general rule that "on Purim
everything is allowed " (comp. Steinschneider, I.e. p.

696, 8. He expresses the opinion that, since the
purpose of the masquerade is only merrymaking, it
should not be considered a transgression of the Bib-
lical laAv regarding dress. Although .some rigorous
authorities issued prohibitions against this custom
(comp. Isaiah Horowitz, " Shene Luhot ha-Berit,"
3611), Amsterdam, 1653), the people did not heed
them, and the more lenient view prevailed (comp.
Is.serles, I.e., and Lampronti, I.e.). The custom still\
obtains among, the Orthodox Jews of the eastern 1
parts of Europe. Boys and girls walk from house
to house in grotesque masks and indulge in all kinds
of jollity. As a rule, they sing some comic dog-
gerel, e.g., "heuf is Purim, morgen is aus, gebt
mir a Kreuzer, und werft mich hinaus" ; and they

Purim
Purim Plays

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

278

Boisterous-

ness in
the Syna-
gogue.

are often given a few coins (comp. Steinsclmeider,
I.e. xlvi. 176, 182).

Purim songs have even been introduced into tlie^
synagogue. For tlie cliildien's sake certain verses/
from tlie Bool? of Estlier have beenS
Songs. sung in chorus on Purim (Abrahams,/
I.e. p. 33). Indeed, Purim Yi&e, an oc-
casion on which much joyous license was permitted
even within the walls of the synagogue itself. As
such may be reckoned the boisterous hissing, stamp-
ing, and rattling, during the public service, at the
mention of Haman or his sons, as well as the whis-
tling at ihe mention of Mordecai by the reader of the
Megillah. This practise traces its origin to French
and German rabbis of the thirteenth century, who,
^in accordance with a passage in the Midrash, where
he verse "Thou shalt blot -out the remembrance of
malek" (Deut. xxv. 19)is«xplained to mean "even
from wood and stones," introduced the custom of
writing the name of Haman, the offspring of Ama-
lek, on two smooth stones and of knocking or rub-
bing them constantly until the name was blotted
(5ut. Ultimately, however, the stones feH into dis-
use, the knocking alone remaining (Abudarham, I.e. ;
Brilck, I.e. ; see, however, L8w," Le-
bensalter," p. 297, also p. 291, No. 10).
Some wrote the name of Haman on the
soles of their shoes, and at the mention
of the name stamped with their feet
as a sign of contempt ; others used for
the same purpose a rattle — called " gregar " ( = Po-
lish, " grzegarz "), and producing much noise — a
custom which is still observed by the Russo-Poljsh
Jews. Some of the rabbis protested against these
uproarious excesses, considering them a sinful dis-
turbance of public worship (comp., for example,
Isaiah Horowitz, I.e. pp. 260a, 261a, below), but
often in vain (see Brilck, I.e., and Zunz,. "Ritus,"
p. 69).

Outside the synagogue the pranks indulged in on
Purim by both children and adults have been carried
even to a greater extreme. Some of them date from
the Talmudic period (see, e.^.,,the tale In Meg. 7b;
Sanh. 64b and Rashi ad loc. ; comp. also "'Aruk,"
s.v. "niB>, and Abudarham, I.e.). As early as the
fifth century (see Schudt, I.e. ii. 309), and especially
in the geonic period (9th and 10th cent.), it was a
custom to burn Haman in etJigy on Purim. This]
is described in the " 'Aruk" (Z.c.)asfollows: "Four
''or five days before Purim the young men make an
effigy of Haman and hang it on the roof. On Purim
itself they make a bonfire into which they cast the
eflSgy while they stand around joking
Burning and singing, at the same time holding
of Haman's a ring above the fire and waving it
Effigy. from side to side through the fire"
(see Ginzberg in "J. Q. R." xvi. 650;
Abudarham, I.e. ; Brilck, I.e.). In Italy the Jewish
children used to range themselves in rows, and pelt
one another with nuts; while the adults rode
through the streets with fir-branches in their hands,
shouted, or blew trumpets round a doll representing
Haman and which was finally burned with due solem-
nity at the stake (Abrahams, I.e. p. 360; and espe-
cially Gildemann, "Gesch." p. 211, Vienna, 1884).
In Frankfort-on-the-Main it was customary to make

a house of wax wherein the figures of Haman and his
executioner, also of wax, were placed side by side.
The whole was then put on the almemar, where
stood also the wax figures of Zeresh, the wife of
I-Iaman, and two guards — one to her right and the
other to her left — all attired in a flimsy manner, and
with pipes in their mouths. As soon as the reader
began to read the Megillah the house with all its
occupants was set on fire to the enjoyment of the
spectators (comp. Schudt, I.e. ii. 309; S. Cassel,
" Juden," in Ersch and Qruber, "Encyc." section ii.,
part 27, pp. 78 et seq.).

It must be mentioned here that these customs |
often aroused the wrath of Christians, who inter-
preted them as a disguised attempt to ridicule Jesus
and the cross and issued prohibitions against them;
e.g., under the reign of Honorius (395-433) and of
Theodosius II. (408-450; comp. Schudt, I.e. ii. 309,
317, and Cassel, I.e.). Moreover, the Rabbis them-
selves, to avoid danger, tried to abolish the obnoxious
customs, often even calling the magistracy to their
aid, as in London in 1783 (see Maiiamad).

Finally, it must be stated that the Fast of Esther, i
celebrated before Purim, on the 13th of Adar, is not/
an original part of the latter, nor was it later insti-i
tuted " in commemoration of the fasting of Esther,
Mordecai, and the people" (Hastings,)
Fasting "Diet. Bible, "i. 854, col. 2), since this
Before and fasting fell, according to rabbinical
After Pu- tradition, in the month of Nisan and
rim. lasted three days. The first who menl-
tions it is R. Aha of Shabha (8th
cent.) in "She'eltot," iv. ; and the reason there given
for its institution is based on an arbitrary interpre-
tation of Esth. ix. 18 and Meg. 3a, "The 13th was
the time of gathering," which gathering is explained
to have had also the purpose of public prayer and
fasting (comp. Asheri on Meg. i., beginning; Abu-
darham, i.e. p. 94; Brilck, I.e. pp. 56 et seq.; and
Berliner, in "Kaufmann Gedeukbuch," p. 270,
Breslau, 1900). Some, however, used to fast three
days in commemoration of the fasting of Esther;
but as fasting was prohibited during the month
of Nisan (see Soferim xxi. 3) the first and second
Mondays and the Thursday following Purim were
chosen {ib. xvii. 4, xxi. 1 ; Orah Hayyim, 686,
3). The fast on the 13th is still commonly ob-
served ; but when that date falls on a Sabbath the
fast is put back to Thursday, Friday being needed
to prepare for the Sabbath and the following Purim
festival (Abudarham, I.e. p. 94b ; Orah Hayyim, 686).
In leap-years Purim Is celebrated in the second
Adar, but by the Karaites in the first; the respect-
ive days of the first Adar being then called "Purim
Katan" (Little Purim), for which there have been
set forth certain observances similar
Purim Ka- to those for Purim proper, with the ex-
tan, ception of reading the Megillah, send-
ing gifts to the poor, and fasting on
the 13th of the month. The distinctions between
the first and the second Purim in leap-years are
mentioned in the Mishnah (Meg. i. 46b ; comp. Orah
Hayyim, 697).

Bibliography : Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages,
Index, s.v. Purim; Berliner, Ams dem Lehen der Deutschen
Juden im Mittelalter, p. 32, Berlin, 1900; M. Bruck. PTirt-
risUisehe Volkssilten. pp. 56,, 156, Frankfort-on-the-Main;

379

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purim
Purim Plays

Cheyne and Black, Encyc. Bin. s.v. Esther and Purim :
Gratz, Gesch. iii. 171, vlil. 35; Epstein, in Kaufmann
Gedenkbuch, pp. 313 et seq.; Gfldemann, Gesch., 1884, p.
211; Hastings, Diet. Bible, s.v. Esther and Purim; J. 6.
B. xvl. 650 et seq.; Leopold LOw, Die Lebensalter in cler Ju-
iiischen Ltteratur, pp. 291, 295 et seq., Szegedin, 1875 ; Perles,
in Gratz Jubelschrift, p. 35, Breslau, 1887; Sohudt, JUdische
MerkvAlrdiiiheiten, part il., pp. 307-317, Franktorton-tbe-
Maln, 1714 ; Vogelsteln and Rieger, Geseh. der Juden in
B<tm, i. 337 et seq.; Stelnsohnelder, Purim, und Parndie, in
Mcmatsaclirift, xlvi.-xlvill.; Zunz, Bitus, p. 56 ; and the arti-
cles Esther; Fasting and Fast-Days; Mahamad.
K- H. M.

PURIM PLAYS : Jewish folk-comedies, wiitf
ten lor performance in Jewish family circles or be
fore a Jewish public during the month of Adar
especially on Purim. While in general a dramatic
performance was considered frivolous, an exceptioi
was made with regard to Purim. Even in the Tal-
mud mention is made of certain spectacular enter-
tainments and buffooneries, which must have been
very common on Purim (see Sanh; 64b ; Meg. 7b).

In geonic times the dramatization of the story of
Esther was a well-established custom .among thfe
Jews of the Orient. The central figure of theSi
plays was a dummy representing Ha-
In. Geonic man, which was burned while th ;
Times. spectators were jesting and singing.
Similar amusements are reported of
the Jews of other countries during the Middle Ages,\
and they may be seen in some countries even to-
day (see Pdrim; comp. Glidemann, "Gesch. "iii. 211
etseg.; L9w,"Lebensalter," p. 296). TherealPurin
play, however, the Judaeo-German "Purimspiele,'
did not make its appearance until the first decade oi
the eighteenth century. There were, it is true, some
dramatic productions on the subject of the Book o1
Esther and the Feast of Purim long before that
time, as the drama "Esther," by Solomon Usque
a,nd Lazaro Gratiano (1567) — the first Spanish drama
written by a Jew (comp. Kayserling, "Sephardim,"
p. 141; Berliner, "Yesod '01am," p. xiii. ; L5w, I.e.
p. 298) — and the " Comedia Famosa de Aman y Mor-
dechay " (Leyden, 1699), by an anonymous author,
probably the noted Spanish poet Antonio Enriquez
Gomez (comp. Kayserling, I.e. pp. 228, 350; Stein-
schneider, in "Monatsschrift," xlvii. 170); but these
dramas were probably intended for the general
stage, since -there- is no record that they were ever
performed by the Jews.
/According to information drawn from a satirical

i^oem written in Judseo-German in 1598, it appears
that a Purim play entitled "Spil von Tab Jaklein
mit Sein Weib," etc., was acted "every Purim "at
Tannhausen in the sixteenth century. No trace of
this play exists, and possibly it was never printed (see
Steinschneider, I.e.). Therefore as the first Purim
plays intended for and actually performed on the
stage during the days of Purim must be considered
the two Judaeo-German dramas, if they really deserve,
this name, described by Schudt in his "Jiidischel
Merkwilrdigkeiten " (ii. 314-317). One of thesej
I)ears thc-^title— -Ahasllwerosh-Spiel , " and was pub-
lished anonymously at Frankfort-on-
Tlie the-Main in 1708 (later reprinted in

Frankfort Schudt, I.e. ii. 202-226). A specimen
Plays. in English translation will be found in
Abrahams' "Jewish Life in the Mid-
dle Ages" (p. 265). This comedy does not reveal
any literary value ; its language is very often frivo-

lous and was justly criticized by Schudt (I.e. ii. 316),
and later by S. L. Rapoport in his Hebrew Purim
drama " She'erit Yehudah " (Vienna, 1827). Indeed',
the Jewish authorities at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
where it was performed several times, have forbid-
den its performance and confiscated and burned all
obtainable copies (Schudt, I.e. ; Berliner, I.e. p. xv.).

The othei^ play, written by Baermann of Lim-
burg, bears the Yi tie "Mekirat Yosef," its theme
being the story of Joseph and his brethren. It was
published at Frankfort by LOb Ginzburg before 1711
(not, as Steinschneider, following Wolf, says, l.c.\
xlvii. 88, in 1712). Schudt (I.e. ii. 314) reports that
all the copies of this first edition were burned in the
great conflagration of the Frankfort ghetto in 1711,
and that another edition was prepared there in 1713.
The matter is of some importance, as all the bibli-
ographers differ on that point (comp. Berliner,
I.e.). The play was published in a third edition by
Schudt {I.e. iii. 226-327), with a German translation.
It must have been performed at Frankfort and
Metz several years before 1711 (Schudt, la. ii. 314).
The actors in both places were Jewish students of
Prague and Hamburg, with the above-mentioned
Baermann of Limburg as their theatrical manager.
The play excited great interest, and two soldiers
were required to keep back the crowd ; but when
Christians also began to flock to the play, the per-
formance was prohibited (Schudt, I.e.). ,

It should be said that this comedy, although on
the whole of no literary or artistic value, is far su-
perior to the " Ahashwerusli-Spiel," both in moral
tone and in diction. The only frivolous character
in this play is the clown named Pickelharing (comp.l
Schudt, I.e. iii. 305), who is not a Jewish invention,!
but is taken from the German drama (Abrahams, I. el
p. 264). This comedy became very popular among
the Jews, and was performed in Minsk as late a^
1858 (Steinschneider, I.e. xlvii. 88); probably it is
still acted in eastern Europe.

In this connection should be mentioned a Purim
play which was perforiiifiJLat Frankfort, alternately
with the "Mekirat Yosef," during the whole month
of Adar, and whose subject was_the_storyj)f Davitl
and5i>Jiatli- This comedy is pfobablj'^
The David Identical with the one quoted by Stein-
and Schneider (I.e. xlvii. 87) under the title

Goliath. "Aktion von KOnig David und Go-
Play, liath" (n.d., n.p.). If this is so, its
first publication should be placed be-
tween 1714 and 1719, as it had not yet been printed
when Schudt, who published his " JUdische Merk-
wurdigkeiten " in 1714, reported its performance (ii.
314). Another play which calls for special mention
is one in Judseo-German, which was performed in
1720 at Prague, where it was published anonymously
(in the same year) under the title " Akta Esther niit
'Achaschwerosch" (later edition, Amsterdam, 1774).
This comedy differs very favorably from the plays
described above, in both its dramatic composition
and ethical tendency (comp. Berliner, I.e.). On tha
title-page of the play it is asserted that "it was
acted at Prague in a regular theater, with trumpetsj
and other musical instruments" (comp. Roest, "Cat.
Rosenthal. Bibl." i. 67 [Hebr. part, ii.. No. 171]).
The actors were all pupils of R. David Oppen-

Purims, Special

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

280

HEiM of Prague, who gave his consent to the per-
formance.

There is a considerable number of other Purim
plays, including comedies and tragedies composed
in Judoeo-German and other languages (among them
Hebrew and Arabic) and written during the last two
centuries, of which a list is given by Steinschneider.
Of special interest is"Haman, der Grosse Juden-
fresser," by Jacob Koref (Breslau, 1862), to which
Lagarde ("Purim," pp. 56-57, GOttingen, 1887) has
given undue prominence.

Bibliography : Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Apes,
ch. xlv.; Berliner, Aiis dem Leben der Deutschen Juden,
pp. 32 el seq., Berlin, 1900 ; iaem, Yesod 'Olam, Introduction,
Berlin, 1874; Franz Delitzsch, Zur Oesch. der JUaiaehen Po-
esie, p. 81 ; M. Griinbaum, JUdiseh^DeuUehe Literatur, in
Winter and Wilnsche, Dis JUdische Lltteratur, lil, 59B ;
Kayserling, Sephardim, pp. 141, 228, Leipsio, 1859; LBw,
Lebensalter, pp. 293 et seq.; Schudt, JfXdische Merlfwilrdig-
kelten, li. 312 etseq., iii. 202-327, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1714 ;
Steinschneider, Purim undParodie, in Monatsschrift, xlvii.
84r^9, 169 et seq.

D. H. M.

PXnilMS, SPECIAL : Certain fast- and feast-
days specially observed iu some Jewish communi-
ties, in imitation of the national Purim, to commem-
orate deliverance from some danger which threatened
either a whole community or an individual family.
At the celebration of these anniversaries a Hebrew ;
megillah (scroll), giving a detailed account of the |
event commemorated, is read in the synagogue or/
in the family circle, certain special prayers are re-/
cited, and business is suspended for the day. Quits
a number of such Purims are known, some of whicll
are enumerated here in alphabetical order. [j

D. M. Ph.

Ptirim of Atorahaiii Danzig (called also Pul-
verpurini=" Powder Purim"): Memorial day estab-
lished for himself and his family by Abraham Dan-
zig, to be annually observed by fasting on the 15th
of Kislew and by feasting on the evening of the
same day in commemoration of the explosion of a
powder-magazine at Wilna in 1804. By this acci-
dent thirty-one lives were lost and many houses
destroyed, among them the home of Abraham Dan-
zig, whose family and Abraham himself were all
severely wounded, but escaped death (see Dan-
zig, Abraham ben Jehiel). Danzig decreed that
on the evening following the 15th of Kislew a meal
should be prepared by his family to which Tal-
mudic scholars were to be invited, and alms should
be given to the poor. During the feast certain
psalms were to be read, and hymns were to be sung to
the Almighty for the miraculous escape from death.

BiBLiOGKAPHT : Abraham Danzig, Hayve Adam, S 165 ; idem,
Binat Adam, p. 64, Wilna, 1844 ; Steinschneider, Purim und
Parndie, in Monatssehrift, xlvii. 473.

Purim of Ancona : Celebrated by the Jews of
Ancona on the 31st of Tebet, and intended to pre-
serve the remembrance of severe eartliquakes which
occurred in that city on the date in question (Dec.
39, 1690), threatening great disaster. The feast is
preceded by a fast on the 30th of Tebet ; and special
prayers are ordained for both days. An account of
the event is printed with the prayers in '"OrBolker"
(p. 47, Venice, 1709 ; comp. Steinschneider, " Cat.
Bodl." col. 3791; idem, in "Monatsschrift," xlvii.
385, No. 13; Zunz, "Ritus," p. 129).

D. H. M.

Purim of Angora : Celebrated on the 11th of
lyyar (see Hayyim Benveniste, " Kcneset ha-Gedo-
lah," § 682'; David Amado, " 'Ene ha-'Edah," p.
93d, Smyrna, 1866).

Purim Borghel : In 1793 a certain Borghel, a
corsair, took possession of Tripoli with his galleys,
and drove out the governor, Ali Pasha Karamanli,
the Jews becoming the victims of many atrocities.
At the end of two years Karamanli recaptured the
city, on 39th of Tebet, 5553 (= 1793); and the anni-
versary of tliis date was celebrated as the Purim
Borghel (Franco, "Histoire des Israelites Ottomans,"

d- 131).

y Purim di Buda. See Buda, Pueim of.
,j/ Purim of Cairo: In the year 1534 Ahmed Shai-
tan Pasha, governor of Egypt, imprisoned twelve
of the leading Jews of Cairo in order to extort from
them a considerable sum of money. Among them
was the chief rabbi, David ibn Abi Zimra. This
governor— a rebel against his suzerain, Sulaiman the
Magnificent, because the latter wished to stamp
coins with his own image — excited popular anger
by his cruelty. One day he promised to massacre
all the Jews in Cairo as soon as he had taken his
bath. However, while in the bath he was stabbed
by one of his subordinates; and the Jews thus es-
caped a general massacre. For this reason the
Purim of Cairo is annually celebrated on the 28th
of Adar (Franco, I.e. pp. 48-49).
D. M. Fn.

Purim of Candia : Observed by the Jews of
Candia on the 18th of Tammuz. It is mentioned by
Isaac Lampronti (" Pahad Yizhak, " letter T, fol. 81a,
col. 1), who refers to unpublished responsaof Elijah
Capsali (1533) as his source, without stating the ori-
gin of this festival or the time when it was first in-
stituted.

BiBLioSEAPHT : steinschneider, Purim und Parndie, in Mo-
natssehrift, xlvii. 286, No. 21 ; Zunz, Bitus, p. 128.
D. H. M.

Purim of Chios (called also Purim de la Se-
iora = " of the Good Lady ") : Celebrated by the
lews of Chios in commemoration of an event which
)ccurred, according to some, in 1595, according to
I ithers in 1820. The event of 1595 was the descent
upon the island of 500 soldiers from a squadron of
Terdinand I., Duke of Tuscany, comnhanded by
Virginio Orsino. The event of 1820 was the revolt
of Chios against the Turks during the Greek war
of independence. In eithey event a good Jewish
housewife in putting her bread into the oyen in-
advertently rested the glowing end of her shovel
near a cannon, the fuse of which took fire, causing
it to be discharged. It should be explained that, as
in other places in the Orient, the Jews on the island of
Chios lived in a bastion of the fortress. At the
sound of the cannon the Turkish soldiers extermi-
nated the enemy. The lady obtained a "berat"
granting her certain privileges and the Jews certain
favors.

Bibliography : Bayyim Benveniste, Keneaet lia-Gedolah;
El Tempo, Constantinople, March, 1903.

Purim de los Christianos (called also Purim
de las Bombas) : In 1578 Sebastian, King of Por-
tugal, landed in Morocco and fought the battle

Til-; Jewnh Eiicycl<»pftliii, Vol. X

PURIM CEREMONIES IN THE S'

From llip ATn4lenl;irij KilitLon <<

rNAGOGUE AT AMSTERDAM.

Calrnrt PrMile.l in 173J.)

281

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purims, Special

of the"Tliice Kings," at Alcazar-kebir, with tlie
view of reinstating the dethroned Mulai Hamad.
The Jews had been in great danger, but they es-
caped ; hence the institution of a Purim and tlie
reading of a megillah on the 1st of Elul. At Tetuan
this f6te is called "Purim de los Christianos " ; at
Tangier, " Purim de las Bombas. "

Bibliography : Bevue des Eeoles de V Alliance Israelite Uni-
verselle, p. 211; Bulletin Mensuel deV Alliance Israelite
Universelle, 1888, p. llji.

Purim Edom (called also Purim al-ITasara) : In
1541 Charles V., aided by Admiral Andrea Doria, at-
tempted to seize Algiers from Khair al-Din Barba-
rossa. The Spaniards landed ; but their fleet was
destroyed by a tempest, due, legend says, to the
prayers of R. Solomon Duran, grandson of the cele-
brated Solomon ben Simon Duean. The Jews thus
escaped the fanaticism of the Spaniards ; and they
instituted this Purim on the 4th of IJeshwan.

Bibliography : Bevue des Eeoles de V Alliance IsraBite XJni-
verselle, p. 211.
D. M. Ek.

Purim. of Florence : Celebrated by the Jews of
Florence on the 37th of Siwan, on which day in 1790
they were saved fi'om a mob by the efforts of the
bishop. The festival is preceded by a fast on the
26th of Siwan. The details of the occurrence are
related in full by Daniel Terni in a Hebrew pam-
phlet entitled "Ketab ha-DaT," Florence, 1791.

Bibliography: D. Simonsen, in Monatsschrift, xxxvlll. 525;
M. Stelnschneider, Purim und Parodie, ib. xlvil. 286, No.
16 ; see also Florence.

Purim di Fuoco. See Pdkim of Padua, No. 1.

Purim Fiirliaiig (Curtain Purim): Festival en-
joined on his family by Hanok b. Moses Altschul
of Prague, to be observed by it annually on the
23d of Tebet in remembrance of his deliverance from
the hands of a tyrant. In 1633 damask curtains
were stolen from the palace of the governor, Prince
Lichtenstein, during his absence from Prague. In
compliance with an order from the custodian of the
palace an announcement was made in all the syna-
gogues of Prague that any one having the stolen
goods in his possession should turn them over to
the sexton. Thereupon a Jew, Joseph b. Jekuthiel
Thein, delivered the curtains to Altschul, at that
time sexton of the Meisel Synagogue, Prague, stating
that he had bought them from two soldiers. Vice-
Governor Count Rudolph Waldstein, who was in
charge of the affairs of the provincial government,
demanded that the buyer be named and delivered to
him for punishment; but as the congregational stat-
utes forbade the naming of receivers of stolen goods
who voluntarily had given them up, the sexton re-
fused, and, in consequence, was thrown into prison,
an order being issued to hang him on the following
day.

To save his life Altschul, with the permission of
the president of the congregation, revealed the name
of the buyer, whereupon Altschul was set free and
Joseph Thein was sentenced to the gallows in his
stead. All the efforts of influential Jews to effect
his release proved futile, but finally through the
efforts of a prominent Christian and upon the inter-
cession of the city councilors Count Waldstein re-
leased the prisoner on the condition that the congre-

gation pay a fine of 10,000 florins. In order to
humiliate the Jews he further ordered that this
money, divided into ten equal parts, be paid in silver
coin and carried in linen bags by ten prominent
Jews escorted by soldiers through the streets of
Prague to the city hall.

Altschul recorded the event in a scroll entitled
"Megillat Pure ha-Kela'im" ("The Scroll of the
Purim of the Curtains "), and made it obligatory
upon all his descendants to read the scroll annually
on the 32d of Tebet, on which day he was liberated,
and to observe the day by "feasting and giving
thanks to God for his salvation." The event was
made the subject of a novel by Matthias Kisch.

Bibliography: Gratz, Gesch. x. 51, note 1; A. Kiscb, In
Oratz Juhelschrift (Hebrew part), pp. 48 et seg., Breslau,
1887; M. Kiscb, Vorhatigpurim, Historische Erzaidung aus
dem Prager Qhetto, Vienna, 1888 (reprinted from tbe Oester-
reichlsche WnchensehrifU 1888, wbere the title is Damast-
Vorhdnge), Vienna; D. Simousen, in Monatsschrift, xxxviii.
526 ; Steinscbneider, Purim und Parodie, xlyii. 284.
D. H. M.

Purim of Gumeldjina (popularly called Purim.
de los Ladrones = "Purim of Bandits"): In 1786
about 5,000 mountain brigands (" tokatchikli ") in
trying to pillage the town of Gumeldjina, near Adri-
anople, entered the bastion inhabited by the Jews
and terrorized them. The governor succeeded in
driving off the brigands, but the Jews were ac-
cused of having conspired with them. The Jews
energetically protested and proved their innocence.
In memory of this escape from a double misfortune
the 32d of Elul was ordained by the rabbis as a
local Purim.
Bibliography : Yosif Da'at, Adrianople, Dec. 20, 1888.

D. M. Fr.

Purim of Jonathan, to. Jacob of Fulda: In-
stituted by Rabbi Jonathan b. Jacob of Fulda on
the 17th of Tammuz to commemorate a calamity
that was averted from his congregation. He him-
self called this festival "Purim Shell" (="My
Purim ").
Bibliography: Simonsen, in Monatsschrift, xxxviii. 526;

Steinscbneider, Purim und Parodis, xlYii. 284, note 3 ; idem,

Oeschiehtliche Liieratur dcr Juden, p. 87, § 94.

Purim of Lepanto : Celebrated by the Jews of
Lepanto on the 11th of Tebet in commemoration of
a miraculous escape of the Jews from danger. It is
mentioned in the responsa of Moses b. Isaac Alash-
kar (Sabbionetta, 1554), No. 49 (comp. Simonsen in
"Monatsschrift," xxxviii. 536).

Purim of Narbonne : Celebrated on the 21st of
Adar by the Jews of Narbonne in commemoration
of an event which took place there on that day in
1336. The facts, as recorded by R. Meir b. Isaac of
Narbonne, are as follows : In a quarrel between a
Jew of Narbonne and a Christian fisherman the
- former dealt the latter a heavy blow from which he
died. This aroused the wrath of the Christian pop-
ulace, which attacked the whole Jewish community
and started a riot in the Jewish quarter, pillaging
first the house of the above-mentioned Rabbi Meir
and carrying away his entire library. Fortunately
Don Aymeric, the governor of Narbonne, appeared
on the scene with a force of soldiers for the protec-
tion of the Jews. The mob was soon dispersed,
order was reestablished, and even the spoil which
had been taken from R. Meir was returned to him.

Purims, Special
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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

282

He then recorded the event; and the 31st of Adar

was instituted as the "Purim of Narbonne."

Bibliography : D. Kaufmann, in R. E. J. xxxil. 129 et scq.;
Neutjauer, In M. J. C. ii. 251; Steinschneider, In Mnnats-
fichrift, 1903, p. 283 ; S. A. Wertheimer, Ginze Yerushalayim,
i. 9.

Purim of Padua: 1. (Purim di Puoco.)

A festival, still observed by the Jews of Padua on
the 11th of Siwan, in commemoration of a great
conflagration which occurred in that city in 1795
and which w^s extinguished through extraordinary
efforts on the part of the vice-podesta ; it is for this
reason that it is called "Purim di Fuoco." The
event is fully described by Jacob Raphael Pinzi (d.
1812) in his work "Leshon 'fish," Offenbach, 1798
(comp. Steinschneider, "Purim und Parodie," in
"Monatsschrift," xlvii. 286, No. 18; "II VesslUo
Israelitico," 1880, p. 373). 2. (Otherwise known as
Purim. di Buda.) See Bdda, Purim of.

Purim. Povidl (Plum-Jam Purim) : Instituted by
David Brandeis of Jung-Bunzlau, Bohemia, in 1731,
to be celebrated annually by all the members of his
famil}' on the 10th of Adar in commemoration of his
deliverance from a calamity that was brought upon
him by slanderers. Brandeis kept a grocery-store
at Jung-Bunzlau. On the 4th of Shebat a Christian
girl, the daughter of a bookbinder, purchased from
Brandeis some " povidl " (= "plum- jam"), after par-
taking of which the members of the bookbinder's
family became ill, and the bookbinder himself died
within a few days. The burgomaster of the city,
being informed of the matter, ordered the store to
be closed and David Brandeis, his wife, and son to
be Imprisoned on the charge of selling poisonous
food to Christians. After a careful investigation
by the municipal authorities and later by the court
of appeal at Prague also, it was found that the
bookbinder's death had been due to consumption,
whereupon the prosecution was dropped. Brandeis
recorded the event in a Hebrew scroll which he
called " Shir ha-Ma'alot le-Dawid, " making it obliga-
tory upon all his descendants " to read this scroll
every year on the 10th of Adar and to make that
day a day of rejoicing and gladness." The festival
was still observed by the descendants of David in
the nineteenth century.

Bibliography: M. Giiinwald, Povidl-Purim in Jung-
Bunzlau, In Berliner's Magazin, xv. 191-196; Ozar Tnb,
1888 pp. 3-5 ; D. Simonsen, In Monatsschrift, xxxvln. 527 :
M Steinschneider, Purim iind Parodie, In Monatsschrift,
xlvli. 285, No. 15.
D. H. M.

■purim of Rhodes : In 1840 the Greeks on the
island of Rhodes, in revenge upon the Jews who
were competing with them in the sponge trade,
caused the disappearance of a child. The child,
however, was later found alive on the island of
Syra. In the meanwhile the Jews of Rhodes had
been imprisoned and tortured. Sultan 'Abd al-
Majid deposed the governor, and gave the Jews a
flrman declaring that the accusation of ritual mur-
der was false. By a curious coincidence the impris-
onment of the Jews and the granting of the firman
took place on the day of the Purim of Esther (14th
of Adar). Since then Purim is celebrated as a double
festival at Rhodes, and special prayers and hymns
are read.
Bibliography : Franco, Histoire des Israelites Ottomans,

p. 158.

Purim of Saragossa : In the year 1880 or 1420,
under Peter IV. or under Alfonso V., King of
Aragon, whom the Megillah written for this Purim
designates "Saragossanos," a converted Jew called
Marcus accused the Jews of Saragossa before the
kiug of having attended the parade held in honor of
the king with cases in their arms from which the
scrolls of the Law, usually kept therein, had been
purposely removed. This was true, the removal
having been ordered by the rabbis of the city be-
cause of religious scruples. The king resolved, on
the advice of Marcus, to have the cases opened in
the street on the next similar occasion. But, the
story continues, the prophet Elijah appeared in the
night to the beadles of the twelve synagogues and
told them to take proper measures. Accordingly,
the next day, when the king passed by, the guards
opened the cases and stated that no deception had
been practised. The anger of the king fell upon
Marcus, and he was hanged. In memory of this
miracle the descendants of the Jews of Saragossa
celebrate this Purim on the 17th or 18th of Shebat
in the synagogues founded by their ancestors at
Constantinople, Magnesia, Melasso, Smyrna, Aidin,
Jerusalem, and Salonica.
Bibliography : Revue des Ecoles de V Alliance Israelite, pp.

148-152, Paris, 1901-2.

Purim Sherif: In 1705 the governor of Tunis
laid siege to Tripoli in Africa, devastated the envi-
rons, and threatened to destroy all the population if
he should enter the town. Fortunately, the plague
broke out suddenly among his followers, and the
siege was raised. Hence the rabbis Instituted the
Purim Sherif on the 24th of Tebet. The populace
call it " Purim Kidebuni " (= " the false ") to distin-
guish it from the Purim of Estlier (Franco, " His-
toire des Israelites Ottomans," p. 121 ; comp. Stein-
schneider in "Monatsschrift," 1902, p. 375; and,
especially, 1903, p. 285, No. 14).

Purim of Shiraz (called also Purim of Mo'ed
Katan) : On the 2d of Heshwan the Jews of Shiraz
in Persia celebrate a festival called "Mo'ed Katan"
(Little Feast). On that day they do no work, ex-
change visits, and salute one another with the words,
"Mo'ed Katan" and "Abu al-Hasan." According
to a tradition which is substantiated by an ancient
Judsfio-Persian manuscript of uncertain date (possi-
bly written about 1400 or even as early as 1200), a
Jew named Abu al-Hasan, who was both shohet and
butcher, was accused of having sold terefah meat
on the eve of the Feast of Rosh ha-Shanah. The
anger of the Jews was aroused against the culprit,
who immediately embraced Islam, and accused his
former coreligionists of many crimes. The Moham-
medans gave the Jews their choice between death
and conversion to Islam; and all chose the latter
alternative. One month afterward Abu al-Hasan
died mysteriously, on the 2d of Heshwan, and a
statement was found in his pocket declaring that
the Jews were innocent of the charges brought
against them. They were then permitted to return
to Judaism ; and In memory of the event the Purim
of Mo'ed Katan was instituted.
Bibliography: Bulletin Mensuel de V Alliance IsruBite

Universelle, May 5, 1903.

Purim of Tammuz at Algiers : In 1774 Mo-
hammed ibn Uman, thedey of Algiers, courageously

283

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purims, Special
Purity of Baoe

defended the city against the Spanish general
O'Reilly. The Jewish legend has it that flames
which came out of the graves of the rabbis Isaac
beu Sheshetand Solomon ben Simon Duran contrib-
uted to the Spanish defeat. Hence, in order to
celebrate the miracle of having again escaped from
the Spaniards, the Jews of Algiers instituted a
Purim on the 11th of Tammuz.

BiBLioGUAPHT : Revue des Ecoles de V Alliance Isfraelite UnU
versellc, p. 2U.

Purim of Tiberias : In 1748 Sulaiman Pasha,
governor of Damascus, came in the capacity of a
feudal lord to lay siege to Tiberias, where ruled the
sheik Dair al-Amar. The Jews suffered much dur-
ing the eighty -three days of the investment. The
date of the raising of the siege (4th of Elul) and that
of the news of Sulaiman Pasha's death (7th' of Elul)
became the days of the local Purims.
Bibliography : Yosef Da'at, Adrlanople, 1888, p. 312.

D. , M. Fr.

Purim of Tripoli : Festival mentioned in a
fragment of an old " luah " in the possession of D.
Simonsen of Copenhagen. It was celebrated on the
15tli of Shebat. See also Pukim Sheeif.

Bibliography : D. SImonaen, in Mnnatuschrift, xxxviii. 537 ;
Stelnschaelder, Purim und Parodie, lb. xlvil. 386, No. 22.
D. H. M.

Purim of Widdin : In 1807 Passvanoglu, the
feudal lord of the region of Widdin, on the Danube,
had in his service as physician ("hakim bashi ") a
person named Cohen. Passvanoglu having become
mortally ill through contact with a poisoned sword,
the Mohammedan population accused the Jewish
physician of having made an attempt on the gov-
ernor's life, and the Jewish community was threat-
ened with a general massacre. Fortunately the
dying man himself energetically defended his phy-
sician, and the threatened calamity was averted.
Hence the 9th and 10th of Heshwan, the dates of
the events, were declared days of Purim.

Bibliography : Annuand Pentru Israelitzi, Bucharest, 1888,
vol. xl.
D. M. Fr.

Purim Winz (called also Purim Frankfurt) :
Instituted by the Jews of Frankfort-on-the-Main for
the 20th of Adar because of their deliverance from
the persecutions of Vincent Fettmilch and his fol-
lowers in 1616. For the details of the events and
for the mode of celebration, see Fettmilch, Vin-
cent, and Steinschneider, in "Monatsschrift," 1903,
p. 284, No. 9.

Purim. of Yom-Tob Lipmann Heller : Festi-
val established by Rabbi Yom-Tob Lipmann Hel-
ler in 1644 to be celebrated annually by his family
on the 1st of Adar (i.e., the second day of Rosh
Hodesh Adar; see his "Megillat Ebah," end). In
1630 Heller had enjoined on his family the observ-
ance of the 5th of Tammuz, the day on which his
troubles began, as a perpetual fast-day ; but he hesi-
tated to direct it to be followed by a Purim, as at
that time, although freed from prison, "he was still
in trouble and had no reason to rejoice " (ib. ed.
Munkacs, 1897, fol. 6b). But when, fourteen years
later, he was elected to the rabbinate of Cracow he
established also the Purim on the 1st of Adar. I

Bibliography : Megillal Ebah ; Simonsen, In Monatsschrift,
xxxviii. 525, 527 ; Steinsclineider, Purim und Parodie, lb.
xlvll. 285, note 11, and p. 473.

For local Purims in general, compare Heinrich
Zirndorf, "Imitative Purim, "in "Deborah" (Cincin-
nati), 1893, Nos. 35-51 ; 1893, Nos. 1-8. For family
Purims not mentioned in this article, see Steinschnei-
der, "Purim und Parodie," in "Monatsschrift,"
xlvii. 472 ei seg.

r>. H. M.

PURITY OF RACE : The question whether
the Jews of to-day are in the main descended from
the Jews of Bible times, and from them alone, is
still undecided. No one denies that the Jews of
Bible times were to a certain extent of mixed parent-
age, and the a-ttempts made by Ezra to prevent the
intermixture shows its wide extent. Intermarriage
seems to have been mainly with Ammonites, Moab-
ites, and Idumeans, all recognized to have Ibeen of
the same origin. In Babylon, during the later exile,
certain districts were regarded as prohibitory with
regard to intermarriage (Kid. 71b). For a discussion
on " 'issah " (= " paste "), as intermixture was called
by the Talmudists, see "Monatsschrift," 1879, pp.
481-508; 1881, pp. 38-48, 118-123, 207-217, but such
discussions refer mainly to the purity of marriages
of Kohanim, or descendants of the priests, upon
which marriages there are special restrictions, in-
cluding some with regard to the descendants of
proselytes (see Cohen).

The number of these latter appears to have been
great in Biblical times. Wherever Paul lectured he
found them — in the congregations at
Proselytes. Antioch, Thessalonica, Athens (Acts
xvii. 4, 16-17, 26). They are referred
to even in the post-exilic Isaiah (Ivi. 6) and in Esther
(viii. 17, ix. 27); and three of the later psalms
(cxvii., cxviii., cxxxv.) divided the Jews into three
classes — "the House of Israel," "the House of
Aaron,'' and "those who fear the Lord" (that is,
proselytes). Josephus frequently refers to prose-
lytes ("B. J." vii. 3, § 3; vi. 9, § 3). On the other
hand, Tacitus says that Jews and aliens never inter-
married (" Historiae, " v. 5). The proselytes, how-
ever, were not allowed to share the Passover meal
(Josephus, I.e.), and Christianity particularly ad-
dressed itself to them. As soon as the Church be-
came predominant, intermarriage between Chris-
tians and Jews was declared to be on the same
footing with adultery (Codex Theodosianus, Iv. 2),
and punishable with death. Thus, while of the
two hundred tannaim seven are of Gentile extrac-
tion (comp. Brllll, " Mishualehrer von Ileidnischer
Abkunft," in his "Jahrb." ii.), onl}' three of the
fifteen hundred amoraim belong to that class — Mari
bar Rahel, Ju3ah of India, and Samuel bar Shilat —
showing a marked decrease in the number of mixed
marriages. In the classical inscriptions only two
proselytes are mentioned, and in the twenty thou-
sand or so inscriptions of medieval and modern
times the number mentioned is likewise only two
proselytes, these being of Amsterdam.

Wolf gives a list of proselytes in the Middle Ages
numbering only forty-four names, to which perhaps
five could be added from the memor-books. Dur-
ing the years from 1830 to 1877, in an average pop-
ulation of twenty-flve thousand Jews there were

Purity of Race
Quail

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

284

only thirty mixed marriages in Algeria (Ricoiix,
"La Demograpliie de I'Algerie," 1880, p. 71). Al-
together, there is very little historic evidence for
any intermixture. TJie chief instances are ailorded
hy the Chazars (from whom in all probability most of
the Karaites of the Crimea are descended), the Fala-
shas, and the Daggatuns (the case of the Beui-Israel
is doubtful): none of these intermarry with Jews.
In the majority of cases where intermarriage can be
traced, as in Spain before the expulsion, almost all
the descendants disappear from Judaism. It has,
besides, been shown that the fertility of intermar-
riages is much below that of pure Jewish marriages,
and conseqxiently the proportion of persons of mixed
descent would decrease in geometrical proportion
(see Births).

Against this general historical evidence of the

purity of race, anthropologists bring forward the

varieties of type shown by measurements of modern

Jews and Jewesses. They are pre-

Authropo- dominantly brachycephalic, or broad-

log-ical headed, while the Semites of Arabic
Evidence, oiigin are invariably dolichoceplialic,
or long-headed. Against this it may
be urged that modern Semites have largely recruited
the race from slaves brought mainly from Africa,
while some anthropologists are inclined to associate
the racial origin of the Jews, not with the Semites,
whose language they adopted, but with the Arme-
nians and Hittites of Mesopotamia, whose b]-oad
skulls and curved noses they appear to have inher-
ited. The small variability of the crania of the
Jews (see Chaniombtky) might be adduced as fur-
ther proof of purity of race. The more recent in-
vestigations of Pishbei'g, however, have shown that
eastern Europe as a whole shows tlie same narrow
range of variability of the skull-index, so that even
if intermixture had occurred, the frequency-curve
would not betray it.

The comparatively large number of blonds among
Jews (see Eye; Hair) would, however, seem to
indicate admixture to the extent indicated by the
proportion, which reaches on an average 25 per cent.
But Virchowhas pointed out that Jews are blondest
where the general population is least blond, and
vice versa, so that it would be difficult to explain
the blondness by any modern intermixture. This
argument, however, could be met by reference to
the wandering nature of the Jewish population,
which was driven about in mid-Europe for nearly
three centuries. Almost equal variation is found in
the shape and appearance of the nose, which is far
from uniform among Jews.

On the other liand the remarkable unity of resem-
blance among Jews, even in different climes, seems
to imply a common descent. Photographs of Jews
taken in Bokhara resemble almost to identity those
of Jews in Berlin or New York. Such similarity may
be due to the existence of a type which has caused
social, and thus sexual, selection, but the fact that it
remains constant would seem to prove the existence
of a separate variety. Countenance and expression
can be selected from one generation to another, but
do not necessarily imply similarity in head-form or
other anthropological marks. Wherever such a type
had been socially or racially selected, the law of in-

heritance discovered by G. Mendel would imply that
any hybrids tend to revert to it, and a certain
amount of evidence has been given for the prepo-
tency of the Jewish sitle in mixed marriages. One
branch of Jews, the Kohanim, are prevented by
Jewish law from marrying even proselytes, and yet
the Cohens do not appear to differ anthropologically
from the rest of Jews. This might be used to prove
either the purity of the race or the general impurity
of the Cohens. Altogether, the question is a very
complex one, on which no decisive answer can
at present be returned. All history points to the
purity of the race ; some anthropological facts ai'e
against it.

Bibliography: E. Eenan, Le Jiuiaisme Comme Race ct
Ciimme Religion, Paris, 1883 : A. Neubauer, in Jnur. Anthro-
pological Institute, 1885 : Andree, Zur Vollcskunde der Ju-
dem, 1831 ; W. Z. Ripley, T?i6 Baxes of Europe, New York,
1899 ; Judt, Die Juden als Basse, Berlin, 1903 : A. Kuppln,
Die Juden der Oegenwart, pp. 371-273, Berlin, 190l : J.
Jacobs, Studies in Jewish Statistics, pp. xvil.-xxx.

J .
PURPLE : Mention is made in the Old Testa-
ment of two kinds of purple, or purple dye: (1)
"argamau" (Aramaic, " argevan " ; Greek, ttdpfvpa),
probably the bright-red purple, which was costliest
when it had the color of coagulated blood, and
appeared black when viewed directlj', but lustrous
red when viewed obliquely; (3) "tekelet" (Greek,
vaKivSog), which, according to Philo and Josephus,
resembled the color of the sea, the aii', or the clear
sky, and was, therefore, termed also blue. In in-
stances it was black or dark-colored.

It is now possible to ascertain from what source
the ancients obtained their purple dye. There are
remains of the old workshops for making purple at
Tarentum, in the Morea, and especially at Tyre.
These consist of concrete hill-shaped masses of spi-
ral-like shells. An examination of these heaps
has up to the present revealed only two kinds of
murex, found on the Mediterranean coast, Murex
brandaris and Murex trunculus; the former at Ta-
rentum and in the Morea, and the latter at Tyre.
Without doubt, of the two kinds of murex described
by Pliny, the one which he calls " purpura " or " pe-
lagia " is not the species now so called, but Murex
hrandaris, as he mentions not only the spines on
the whorl of the shell, but also the duct which is a
prolongation of the aperture. This duct he thought
contained the tongue, though, as a matter of fact,
it holds the respiratory organ of the moUusk.
Probably he included Murex trunculus under the
same name.

Besides these two, another species of the present
genus Purpura is found in the Mediterranean, Pur-
pura hcBmastoma, the purple juice of which is even
now occasionally used by the inhabitants of the
coast for marking linen. Although sheila of these
moUusks have not yet been found among the re-
mains of ancient purple dye-works, it is likely that
the ancients knew and used them, as they answer
better than Murex trunculus to Pliny's description
of the second species mentioned by him, Murex huc-
cinum,.

The pigment is secreted by a gland in the lining
of the stomach. The juice is at first whitish, but
changes on exposure to the atmosphere, and be-
comes successively yellowish and greenish, and at

285

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Purity of Race
Quail

last either reddish (in the species Ilurex bmndaris
and Pw-pura hcBmastoma) or violet (in Murex trun-
culus). The mollusks were found on the Phenician
coast, on the Palestinian shores, fartlier south (as at
Dor), on the coast of Caria in Asia Minor, on the La-
conian coast of Greece, on the shores of the strait of
Euripus, and on the North- African coast. It is re-
markable that in the Old Testament mention is made
of purple imported into Tyre, but not of that made
in Plienicia itself, although the Phenicians were I'e-
garded by tlie ancients as the discoverers of purple-
dyeing, and the manufacture of purple was known
to them in very early times.

Purple fabrics were very costly. Both kinds of
purple were used for the carpets and curtains of the
tabernacle, and for the high priest's gala dress, as
also for the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the
Temple. Bluish purple was used more extensively
for sacred purposes than reddish. Blue material was
used for the entire outer garment of the high priest
as well as for tlie covers put over llie sacred chattels
in transportation. Red was used only in the cloth
of the altar of burnt offerings. The loops holding
the curtains of byssus in the tabernacle (Ex. xxxvi.
11), the "lace" fastening tlie high priest's breast-
plate and miter {ib. xxviii, 28, 31, 37, 39), and the
threads of the tassels on every Israelite's outer gar-
ment had to be made of bluish purple.

No mention is made of purp'e garments of Israel-
itish kings, with the exception of the reddish-purple
seat (covering?) of Solomon's chariot (Cant. iii. 10),
whereas references occur to the reddish-purple rai-
ment of the kings of Media (Judges viii. 26), and the
blue raiment of Assyrian "captains and rulers"
(Ezek. xiii. 6). At the Babylonian court the be-

stowal of reddish-purple raiment was a mark of
the liighest favor (Dan. v. 7, 16, 29; comp. I
Mace. X. 20, 62, 64; xi. 58; xiv. 43 et seq. ; II Mace,
iv. 38).

B. G. IT. "VV. N.

PYGARG (ftJ'^l) : Clean animal mentioned in
Deut. xiv. 5, following the Septuagint. The iden-
tity of the animal has not been established.

BIBLIOOEAPHT : Tristram, Natural History of the Bible,
p. 126.

B. G. H.

I. M. C.

PYKE, LIONEL EDWARD : English barris-
ter; born at Chatliam April 21, 1854; died in Brigh-
ton March 26, 1899. lie was the second son of
Joseph Pyke, warden of the Central Synagogue,
London, and was educated at Rochester Cathedral
Grammar School and at London University, taking
the degrees of LL.B. and B.A. He entered as a
student of the Inner Temple Nov. 3, 1874, and was
called to the bar June 13, 1877. In 1880 he be-
came a member of the council of the Anglo-Jewish
Association, and served on the executive committee
from 1882 until his death. Pie took a great interest
in yachting. His most extensive practise was in the
Admiralty Court; he became queen's counsel in
Feb., 1893, and immediately attained a leading posi-
tion in the Admiralty Court ; he became the leader
of that branch of the bar designated as the Probate,
Divorce, and Admiralty division on the elevation
of Sir W. Phillimore to the bench. In 1895 Pyke
unsuccessfully contested the Wilton division, Wilt-
shire, in the Liberal interest.

BiBLiOHEAPHT : Jew. Chron. and Jew. World, March 31, 1899.
J. G. L.

aXTADRATUS, UMMIDIUS CAIUS : Ro-
man governor of Syria from 50 to 60 c.b. The proc-
urator Cumanus had showed partiality to the Sa-
maritans, who were at variance with the Galileans,
and both parties appealed to Quadratus. The gov-
ernor went to Samaria in 52 and suppressed the dis-
turbance. The Samaritan and Galilean insurgents
were crucified ; five (eighteen according to Joseplius,
"B. J." ii. 12, § 6) Galileans whom the Samaritans
pointed out as instigators of the movement were
executed ia Lydda; the liigh priest Ananias and
Anan, the governor of the Temple, were sent in
•chains to Rome ; and the leaders of the Samaritans,
the procurator Cumanus, and the military tribune
Celer were also sent to plead their cause befoi'e the
emperor. In fear of further disturbances, Quadra-
tus hurried to Jerusalem ; finding the city peacefully
celebrating the Feast of Passover, he returned to
Antioch (Josephus, "Ant." xx. 6, ?§ 1-2; "B. J."
ii. 12, §§ 3-6 ; Zonaras, vi. 15). Cumanus was de-
posed and was succeeded by Felix, appointed at
the request of the high priest, Jonathan, whom also
Quadratus had sent to Rome.

The version of Tacitus ("Annals," xii. 45, 54) can
not be reconciled with that of Josephus, since, ac-

cording to the former, Felix and Cumanus were proc-
urators at the same time, the one in Samaria and the
other in Galilee. According to Tacitus, also, Quad-
ratus himself sat in judgment upon Cumanus, and
he expressly states that Quadratus was superior to
the procurator in authority. Quadratus died during
his tenure of office (Tacitus, "Annals," xiv. 26).
Several coins struclc by him have been found.

BiBLIOGEAPHT : Griitz, Oesch. 4th ea., Iii. 725-728 ; Schiirer,
Oeseh. 3d ed., i. 335, S70 ; Prosopographla Imperii Bomani,
iii. 468, No. 600.
B. S. Kr.

QUAIL (lisB*) : Mentioned in Ex. xvi. 11-13 and
Num. xi. 81 (comp. Ps. Ixxviii. 27, cv. 40) in con-
nection with the miraculous feeding of the chil-
dren of Israel in the wilderness. Quails pass over
the Sinaitic Peninsula in vast numbers, migrating
northward in spring and returning south in tlio
autumn. They fly very low, are soon fatigued, and
fall an easy pre}'. Yoma 75b enumerates four kinds
of quail, including, besides the quail proper, the
fieldfare, the partridge, and the thrush. "The fat-
ness of the quail likewise is alluded to.

BiELionRAPHY: Tristram, Natural History of the BihU, p.
229 ; Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, p. 210.
B. G. H. I. M. C.

Quebec
Q,uorum

THE JEWISH ENCYCL(^PEDIA

286

aXJEBEC : Capital of the province of Quebec;
situated on tbe left bank of the River St. Lawrence.
Tbe first Jew known to have resided in Quebec was
Abraliam Jacob Pranks, who settled there in 1767.
His son David Salesb)' (or Salisbury) Fkanks, who
afterward became head of the Montreal Jewish com-
munity and an ofticer in the American Revolutionary
army, also lived in Quebec prior to 1774. Abraham
.Joseph, who was long a prominent figure in public
affairs in Quebec, took up his residence there shortly
after his father's death in 1832. Quebec's Jewish
population for many j'ears remained very small, and
early efforts at organization were fitful and short-
lived. A ceme-
t e !■ y was a e -
quired in 18.33,
and a place of
worship was
opened in a hall
in the samej-ear,
in which serv-
ices were held
intermittently ;
but it was not
until 1892 that
the Jewish pop-
ulation of Que-
bec had suffi-
ciently augment-
ed to permit of
the permanent
establishment of
the present syn-
agogue, Beth Is-
rael. Tlie con-
gregation was
granted the
right of keeping
a register in
1 8 9 7 . O t h e r
communal insti-
tutions are the
Quebec Hebrew
Sick Benefit As-
sociation, the
Quebec Hebrew
Kelief Associa-
tion for Immi-
grants, and the
Queljec Zionist

Society. The present (1905) Jewish population is
about' 3.50, in a total population of 68,834. See
Can.\d.\.

BiBLiociRAPHY : Mercantile Recorder, 1828 ; Jacques J. Lyons
and Abraham de Sola, Jewish Calendar with Introductoni
Esxau, Montreal, 1854 ; Le Bo.* Canada, Quebec, 1S57 ; Pen-
plr nf Lower Canada, 1860 ; The Star (Montreal), Dec. 30,
ISflS. '
,j. C. I. ])E S.

aUEENSLAND : British Australasian colony.
WJicn Queensland separated from the mother colony
of New South Wales (18.59) a few Jewish families
from Sydney settled permanently in Brisbane. The
names most prominent among these were those of
Coleman, Davis, W. E. Jewell, 51. Mendoza, Samuel
Davis, John Goldsmid, Benjamin Benjamin, A. E.
Ale-xander, and others, who formed a congregation

S.ynogogue at Brisbane, Queensland.

(From a photogra^ih.)

about 1864 and invited the Rev. Joseph E. Myers of
Sydney to act as its minister; he served up to Oct.,
1865, when he returned to England. Shortly after
this a commercial crisis occurred in Queensland, and
public services were discontinued. Tiiis state of
things, however, lasted but for si.'c months, wlien
the colony regained its status; a new era of progress
was entered upon, and many of the old colonists
returned, among whom was Jonas M. Jlyers (b.
1824), who acquired a small building and reas.sem-
bled the congregation under tbe name of K. K.
Sheaari Amoon, which it still bears.
Jonas M. jMj'crs, after serving the congregation

for over thirteen
years, was com-
pelled for per-
sonal reasons to
relinquish hisof-
f i c e , and the
Rev. A. P. Pliil-
lips, who had
been the second
minister of the
Melbourne syn-
agogue, was
called to the rab-
binate. By this
time tbe com-
m unit y h a d
greatly in-
creased, and
more accommo-
dations were re-
quired. A large
room was rented,
therefore, in the
Masonic Hall,
which served its
purpose until
the present edi-
lice was erected
in Margaret
street (1880).
The Rev. A. P.
Phillips resign-
ing, Jonas M.
Myers was again
invited for a pe-
riod of three
years, on the e.\-
jiiration of which he was presented with an illumi-
nated address and a i)urse of a hundred guineas. The
Rev. Chodowski, from New Zealand, then olTiciated
for about three years. Jonas M. Myers then re-
sumed his ministry, which he still (1905) maintains.
During an interval of twelvemonths (1901-2) Myers
was relieved by the Rev. B. N. Michelson, who re-
signed in consequence of ill health.

A congregation, of which the Rev. A. P. Phillips
is minister, exists at Toowoomba.

J. J. 31. 51.

aXJEMADERO (ftUEMADERO DE TA-
BLADA) : Placi' of execulion built by the first
inquisitoi's at Seville in 1481 ; it was decorated with
four largo statues representing prophets. The archi-
tect, as a follower of Judaism, was one of the first

287

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Quebec
Quorum.

to fall a victitH to the Inquisition. Tlie Quemadero
was not destroyed until 1809, when the material
was used for fortifications during the French inva-
sion of Andalusia.

Bibliographt: Ad. de Castro, Hist, dclos Jiidios en EmafM,
p. 116.
8. M. K.

QUEBIBO, JACOB (called also Jacob Zebi) :
Successor of Shabbethai Zebi; born at Salouica;
died at Alexandria in 1690. He was a son of Joseph
" the Philosopher" and a brother-in-lawof Shabbethai
Zebi. His sister, Shabbethai's widow, is said to have
alleged, in order that Jacob might succeed to the
leadership of the sect, that he was her son by Shab-
bethai. Assisted by Solomon Florentin, a learned
Talmudist who had joined them, he gained a large
following, and embraced Mohammedanism about
1687. He then made a pilgrimage to Mecca with
many of his disciples, and died on his return to Alex-
andria. He was succeeded by his son Berechiah.
Querido was regarded as the real founder of the
apostate sect of Salonica which formally renounced
Judaism and took.the.name of Donmeh (D5lraeh).

Another Jacob ftuerido, a contemporary of the
preceding, was hakam at Middelburg, Holland,
where he died at an early age. A third Jacob
Querido, also, living at this time, was rabbi at Smyr-
na and a son-in-law of Joseph b. Elijah Hazzan,
who in his " 'En Yosef " mentions Querido's commen-
tary on the Bible.
Bibliography : Gratz, GeacU. x. 337 et scg., Ixvi.; De Barrios,

Arhol de las Vidaa, p. 88; Nepi-Ghirondi, Toledot OedoU

Ylsrael, p. 168.

D. M. K.

Q,TJETSCH, SOIiOlVION: Austrian rabbi and
Talmudist ; born at Nikolsburg, Moravia, Oct. 13,
1798 ; died there Jan. 30, 1856. He was educated at
the yeshibah of his native city under Mordecai
Benbt, whose favorite disciple he was. He olEci-
ated as rabbi successively at Piesling, Leipuik, and
Nikolsburg. In the last-named city, where he suc-
ceeded Samson Raphael Hiksch, he ofBciated only
a few months. He was a rabbi of the old school,
but was distinguished by a tolerant and kindly dis-
position. Of his literary works only some Talmudic
novelise are known, edited under the title " Hokmat
Shelomoh, " in the collection " Har ha-Mor, " by Moses
Lob Kohn (Vienna, 1862).

BIBI.IOGEAPHY : Friedlander, ^ore fto-Dorot, p. 63, Brunn,
1876; Kaufmann Gedenl!bueh,v. 33S; Die Deborah, 1903,
p. 38 ; Schnltzer, JUdische Kulturbilder aus Meinem Le-
ben, pp. 38-56, Vienna, 19M ; Van Straalen, Cat. Hebr. Boolrs
Brit. Mun. p. 21 ; S. Klein, in preface to LiKkute Shelomoh,
P4ks, 1893. „

8. D.

aXJiETtrS, LTJSITJS : Roman general and gov-
ernor of Judea in 117 o.e. Originally a Moorish
prince, his military ability won him the favor of
Trajan, who even designated him as his successor.
During the emperor's Parthian campaign the nu-
merous Jewish inhabitants of Babylonia revolted,
and were relentlessly suppressed by Quietus, who
was rewarded by being appointed governor of Judea
(Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." iv. 3; idem, "Chronicon";
Orosius, vii. 12; Die Cassius, Ixviii. 32). The rest-
lessness in Palestine caused Trajan to send his favor-
ite, as a legate of consular rank, to Judea, where he
continued his sanguinary course. Rabbinical tradi-
tion (Sotah ix. 14, and Seder '01am Rabbah, near

end, the correct reading in both places being DD''p
instead of DCta = " Titus ") mentions the war of
Quietus, referring to the Palestinian campaign, as
Gratz correctly states, rather than to that in Mesopo-
tamia, as Schiirer supposes, since it is mentioned to-
gether with the wars of Vespasian and Bar Kokba.
The contention of Volkmar and Gratz, however,
that the campaign of Quietus is described in the Book
of Judith, can not be proved. In consequence of this
war the Rabbis forbade the garlanding of brides on
their wedding-day and the study of Greek literature
(the latter prohibition probably being intended to
cause a rupture with the Jews of the Diaspora in
Cyprus, Cyrene, and Egypt, with whom the rebel-
lion had really originated). The confused Talmudic
accounts imply that a cruel persecutiou took place
under Quietus which exposed Jewish virgins to dis-
honor (Krauss, in "R. E. J." xxix. 38), while the
"Hegemon" with whom R. Gamaliel came into offi-
cial relations was the governor of Judea himself (ib.
p. 40). Talmudic tradition relates further that the
Roman general who caused the Jews such misery at
this time was suddenly executed. The sources, in-
deed, appear to indicate Marcius Turbo as this gen-
eral, but they more probably refer to Quietus, and
the tradition contains a reminiscence of the fact that
Lusius Quietus was recalled by Hadrian and exe-
cuted shortly afterward as a possible rival (Spartia-
nus, "Vita Hadriani," §t5 5, 7; Dio Cassius, Ixix. 3).
An inscription found in Palestine ("C. I. G." No.
4616) seems originally to have contained the name
Quietus, which was perhaps later erased at the com-
mand of Hadrian.

Bibliography: Borghesi, CEin'res, i.500; Gratz, Ge,ic?i. 3d ed.,
iv. 116 et aeq., «7 et seq.; Schurer, Oesch. 3d ed., i. 647, 666-670 ;
ProsmograpMa Imperii Bomani, II. 308, No. 325 ; Schlatter,
Die Tage Trajan,3 und Hadrians, p. 90, Gutersloli, 1897.
S. S. Kk.

QTJIBINIUS, P. SULPICIUS: Roman gov-
ernor of Syria about 6 c.b., with whose name are as-
sociated events and problems of great importance.
After the banishment of AnciiBLAUs in the year 6,
a date confirmed by Dio Cassius (Iv. 27), Judea
came under the direct administration of tlie Romans,
and was incorporated with the province of Syria.
It thus becomes clear why the emperor Augustus
should have ordered the ex-consul Quirinius (Greek,
KvpT/vioc) to Syria to levy an assessment (Joseplius,
"Ant." xvii. 13, § 5). At the same time CopoNins
was sent as procurator of Judea; but Quirinius went
thither also, since the levying of the tax on the
entire province was his special duty (ib. x viii. 1, § 1).

The assessment caused great dissatisfaction among
the Jews {ib.), and open revolt was prevented only
by the efforts of the high priest Joazar {ib. 2, § 1).
The levying of this assessment resulted, moreover, in
the revolt of JnDAS the Galilean and in the forma-
tion of the party of the Zealots (Josephus, " B. J. " vii.
8, § 1 ; Lucas, in Acts v. 37). Josephus mentions the
assessment in another passage also ("Ant." XX. 5, §3).

Bibliography: The literature is given in Schiirer, Oesch. 3d
ed., 1. 508-543, the f oUowinK works beinf? especially important :
T. Mommsen, Res Gestce Divi Aiigusti, Isted., p. 121 (2d ed.,
pp. 175 et seq.): Keim, Geseh. Jesu, 3d ed., pp. 101 etseq., Zu-
rich, 1873: Strauss, Das Leben Jesu, 11th ed., i. 57, il. 24,
Bonn, 1895 ; Edersheim, Life of Jesus the Messiah, i. 182,
London, 1883; Haverfleld, in The Classical Revieiv, 1900.
s. S. Kb.

QUORUM. See Mintan.

Kaab
Babbah

THE JEWISH EKCYCLOPEDIA.

288

RAAB (Hungarian, Gyor) : Cliief town of the
county of tlie same name, possessing one of the old-
est Jewish communities in Hungarj'. As early as
1490. a Jew named Simon, living in Raab, brought
a suit against the municipality. In the sixteenth
century the number of Jews in the place had largely
increased, as is evidenced by the fact that the of-
ticial records mention a "Jew street, facing the
mountain." In the second half of the seventeenth
century General Montecuccoli expelled the Jews
from the town, admitting them to the fairs only.
According to a census taken in the middle of the
eighteenth century, about forty Jews were then re-
siding in Raab.

The synagogue built in 1798 is still used. The
corner-stone of the new synagogue was laid Oct. 15,
1869, and the building was opened Sept. 15, 1870.
Among the institutions supported by the Jewish
community are a grammar-school for both boys and
girls, a Talmud Torah, a hebra Ijaddisha, a women's
charitable society, and a society for the aid of the
sick.

The list of rabbis who have officiated since 1803
is as follows: Abraham Schick, Eleazar Strasser,
J. Salomon Freyer, Salomon Rauschburg, Gyula
Fischer, and Moritz Schwarz, the present incum-
bent.

D. M. Sz.

B.AAMSES. See Rameses.
RAB ASHI. See Ashi.

BABA (properly, B. Aba) B. 'XJLLA : Babylo-
nian amora of the third generation. The exact time
at which he lived is uncertain, although he was a
friend of 'Ulla, the pujDil of R. Johanan (Yeb. 77a;
Hag. 25b). His comments are mentioned before
those of Raba b. Joseph b. Hama ('Er. 31b; see the
variants in the edition of Rabbinowitz) and R. Papa
(Hul. 91a). Raba was also a haggadist', and some
of his maxims have been preserved (Shab. 31b, 63b),
one of which is as follows : " When the Bible says,
' Be not over much wicked ' [Eccl. vii. 17], it does
not imply that one may sin a little ; but it is rather
an exhortation to him who has once committed evil
not to repeat his iniquity, but to repent" (Shab. 31b,
according to the correct reading in Yalk., Eccl.; see
the variants in Rabbinowitz's "Varise Lectiones "
adloc).

This Raba b. 'Ulla must not be confounded with
the later Rabbah b.'UlIa, who was a pupil of Bibe
b. Abaye ('Er. 8a), although confusion frequently
occurs in the writing of their names.

BiBLiOGKAPHY : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dornt, ii. 337, Warsaw,
1882; Bacher, Ag. Bab. Amor. pp. 139-140.
w. B, J- Z. L.

BABA (B. JOSEPH B. HAMA) : Babylonian
amora of the fourth generation ; born about 280 c.b.
at Mahoza (where his father was a wealthy and dis-
tinguished scholar); died there in 353 (Shcrira, in
Neubauer, " M. J. 0. " i. 32). In his youth Raba went

to Sura, where he attended the lectures of R. Ilisda
and associated with Rami b. Hama. About ten
j'ears after the latter's death Raba married his
widow, the daughter of R. Hisda (Yeb. Bib).

The teachers of Raba were R. Joseph, Rabbah,
and, chiefly, R. Nahman b. Jacob (who lived in
Mahoza). The chief companion of his studies was
Abaye, who was about the same age, and both of
them developed the dialectic method which R. Ju-
dah and their teacher Rabbah had established in
their discussions of tradition ; their debates became
known as the " Hawayot de Abaye we-Raba " (Suk.
38a). Raba surpassed Abaye in dialectics; his con-
clusions and deductions were as logical as they were
keen, whereas those of Abaye, although very inge-
nious, were not always sound.

"When, after the death of R. Joseph, Abaye was
chosen head of the Academy of Pumbedita (Hor.

14a), Raba founded a school of his

rounds a own in Mahoza, and many pupils.

School preferring his lectures to those of

at Mahoza. Abaye, followed him thither (B. B.

33a). After Abaye's death Raba was
elected head of the school, and the academy was
transferred from Pumbedita to Mahoza, which, dur-
ing the lifetime of Raba, was the only seat of Jewish
learning in Babylonia.

Raba occupied a prominent position among the
transmitters of the Halakah, and established many
, new decisions and rulings, especially in ceremonial
law {e.g., Hul. 43b, 43b, 46b, 47a, b; Pes. 30a). He
strove to spread the knowledge of the Halakah by
discoursing upon it in lectures, to which the public
were admitted, and many of his halakic decisions
expressly state that they were taken from such dis-
courses ('Er. 104a; Shab. 143a; Pes. 43a; B. B. 127a).
He was a master of halakic exegesis, not infre-
quently resorting to it to demonstrate the Biblical
authority underlying legal regulations, fie adopted
certain hermeneutic principles which were in part
modifications of older rules and in part his own
(comp. Bacher, "Ag. Bab. Amor." pp. 131-132).
He was regarded as a greater authority than Abaye,
and in cases where there was a difference of opinion
between them Raba was generally followed ; there
are only six instances in which Abaye's decision
was preferred (Kid. 53a).

Raba was as preeminent in Haggadah as in Hala-
kah. In addition to the lectures to his pupils,
he used to hold public discourses, most of them
haggadic in character, and many of his interpre-
tations of the Haggadah are expressly said to have
been delivered in public (e.g. , Sanh. 107a, 108b, 109a ;

IJag. 3a, 15b; 'Er. 31b; etal.). Even

As more numerous are the interpretations

Haggadist. which, although not expressly stated

to have been delivered in public,
seem to have been presented before a general au-
dience, since they do not differ from the others in
form. The greater part of these expositions, which
frequently contain popular maxims and proverbs

289

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Raab
Kabbah

(comp. Bacher, I.e. pp. 134 et seq.), refer to the first
books of the Hagiographa — Psalms, Proverbs, Job,
Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.

Bacher justly Infers from this that the haggadic
lectures of Raba were delivered in connection with
the Sabbath afternoon service, at which, according
to a custom observed in Nehardea and later, proba-
l)ly, in Mahoza also, parashiyyot were read from the
Hagiographa (Shab. 116b; Rapoport, " 'Erek Mil-
lin," pp. 170 et seq.). Raba therefore appended his
haggadic discourse to the section which liad been
read.

The study of the Law is a frequent topic of Raba's
Haggadah. In the reckoning In the future world
each one will be obliged to state whether he devoted
certain times to study, and whether he diligently
pursued the knowledge of the Law, striving to de-
duce the meaning of one passage from another
<Shab. 81a). The Torah, in his view, is a medicine,
life-giving to those who devote themselves to it
with right intent, but a deadly poison for those who
do not properly avail themselves of it (Yoma 72b).
" A true disciple of wisdom must be upright ; and
bis interior must harmonize with his exterior " (ib.).
Raba frequently emphasizes the respect due to
teachers of the Law (e.g., Banh. 99b; Shab. 23b),
the proper methods of study ('Ab. Zarah 19a), and
the rules applicable to the instruction of the young
(B. B. 81a). In his Haggadah, furthermore, he re-
peatedly discusses the characters of Biblical history
(Sanh. 108b; B. B. 123a; Sotah34b; etc.).

Raba was secretly initiated, probably by his

teacher R. Joseph, into haggadic esoterism (Bacher,

I.e. p. 130); he is the author of a

Mystical number of aphorisms which are tinged
Tendency, with mysticism (see especially Sanh.
65b). On one occasion he wished to
lecture in the academy upon the Tetragrammaton,
but an old man prevented him, reminding him that
such knowledge must be kept secret (Pes. 50a).
Raba enjoyed the special protection of the mother
of Shapur II., the reigning King of Persia (Ta'an.
24b), and for this reason, and in consideration of
large sums which he secretly contributed to the
court (Hag. 5b), he succeeded in making less severe
Shapur's oppressions of the Jews in Babylonia.

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ha^Dnrot, ii. 323-327 ; Gratz,
Oesch. Iv. 331-337 ; A. I. Jafle, in Berliner's Magazin, 1885,
pp. 217-224 ; Bacher, Aa- Bab. Amor. pp. 108 et seq., 414-433 ;
Weiss, Dor, iii. 200-209; Halevy,Dorot ha-BUnonim, 11. 473-
480.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABA B. ADA : Babylonian amora of the third
generation ; pupil of R. Judah b. Ezekiel at Pum-
bedita (Bezah 33b). He quoted sayings by Rab
which he had heard from his (Raba's) father or from
R. Judah (Men. 39a; Yoma 53b; comp. Ta'an. 34b),
and aphorisms by R. Isaac (Tem. 39a; Mak. 18b),
but none of his own sayings has been preserved.
Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder /lO-Dorot, ii. 337.

w. B. J. Z. L.

BABAD. See Abkaham ben David of Pos-

QUlilEBS.

BABAI OF BOB : Youngest sabora of the first
generation; succeeded R. Simona as bead of the
Academy of Pumbedita; died in 550. Sherira says
X.— 19

how-
gaon.
"head
last of
in his

; Gratz,

27-30.

of him, " It is said that he was a gaon. " This
ever, does not mean that he was the first
Sherira uses the term "gaon" as equivalent to
of a school," for he says of R. Jose also, the
the Amoraim, that he was a gaon, though
case it can mean only "head of a school."

Bibliography : Sherira, In Neubauer, M. J. C. i. 34-35
Oesch. V. 7, note 2; Halevy, Dorol ha-Bishonim, 111.
W. B. J. Z

BABBAH (BABBATH) : Capital of the Am-
monites, where, according to Deut. iii. 11, the bed
of the giant Og was shown. David besieged and
took the city (II Sam. xi. 1), but under Solomon, or
soon after the division of the kingdom, when Am-
mon regained its independence, Rabbah again be-
came a great and flourishing place with magnificent
palaces, and the Prophets more than once announced
the destruction of it as of a hated enemy (Amos i.
14; Jer. xlix. 4; Ezek. xxv. 5). In the post-exilic
period nothing is known of the city until the Dias-
pora, when it was rebuilt on a magnificent scale by
Ptolemy Philadelphus and named Philadelphia. It
then became one of the most important Hellenistic
cities of the east-Jordan country ; it belonged to the
Decapolis. The city was taken by Antiochus Epiph-
anes in 318 B.C., and continued to flourish in the
Roman time, as is shown by its ruins, which lie in
a well-watered valley, on both sides of the Nahr
Amman. The date of its destruction, which was
due in great part to earthquakes, is unknown. The
Arabic historian and geographer Abu al-Fida states
that it was in ruins when the Mohammedans con-
quered Syria.

The ancient name has been preserved in the pres-
ent 'Amman, which replaced the Greco-Roman name ;
this has happened frequently in Palestine. The
fortress was situated on the hill on the northern
side, and the "city of waters," on the lower part of
the stream, is distinguished from the city proper
{i.e., the upper part, with the fortress on the hill)
as early as the account of David's campaigns (II
Sam. xii. 27 et seq.). A colony of Circassians is now
settled in the ruins.

Bibliography : Survey nf Eastern Palestine, Memoirs, 1. 19
et seq.; G. A. Smith, Historieal Geography, pp. 595-608 ;
Baedeker, Palestine, 6tli ed., pp. 129 et seq.
E. 6. H. I. Be.

BABBAH B. ABX7HA : Babylonian amora of
the second generation ; teacher and father-in-law of
R. Nahman b. Jacob. He was related to the house
of the exilarchs (Letter of Sherira Gaon, in Neu-
bauer, "M. J. C." i. 33; Halevy, "Dorot ha-Risho-
nim," ii. 413), and is even said to have been an ex-
ilarch himself (Weiss, "Dor, "iii. 176; Bacher, "Ag.
Bab. Amor." p. 46). He lived at Nehardea; and
after the destruction of that city in 259 he went
with his son-in-law to Mahoza, where they both set-
tled (Letter of Sherira, I.e. p. 29). There are allu-
sions to a number of decisions and rulings made by
him while at the latter city (Yeb. 115b ; Sliab. 59b ;
'Er. 36a). He was a pupil of Rab (Abba Arlka),
whom he frequently cited as an authority (Sanh.
63a; Shab. 139b, 130b; 'Er. 75b, 85a, 86a; Git. 63b;
and many other passages).

Rabbah was not a prominent teacher; and he
himself admitted that he was not thoroughly versed

Kabbah Gaon
Kabbah b. Mari

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

290

even in the four orders of the Mishnah, which were
generally stiidied in the schools (B. M. 114b). Some
of his interpretations of various mishnaic passages
have been preserved (e.g., Ber. 53b; Shab. 57a;
Sheb. 49b), as well as confirmations of earlier halakot
{e.g., B. K. 46b; Shab. 149a), and halakic decisions
of his own («.,(?., Ber. 21b; Shab. 76b; B. M. 91b).
The following haggadic maxim by him maybe cited
here: "The commandment to love one's neighbor
[Lev. xix. 18] must be observed even in the execu-
tion of a criminal, since he should be granted as
easy a death as possible" (Ket. 37b). According to
a legend, Kabbah was a friend of the prophet Elijah
(Meg. 15b; B. M. 114a, b), who gave him leaves
from paradise, so that he became rich (B. M. I.e.).

Bibliography : Hellprin, Seder ha-Dnrot, ii. 335-336. Warsaw,
1883; Weiss, Dor, lii. 176-177 ; Bacher, A a- Bab. Amor. pp.
46, 81 ; Halevy, Dorot ha-Bishonim, li. 206a-307b.
w. B. J. Z. L.

RABBAH GAON (MAB, RABA) : Gaon at
Pumbedita from 640 to 650 (Halevy, "Dorot ha-
Rishonim,"iii. 177; comp. "Sefer ha-'Ittur," i. 59b);
or, according to Gratz, from 670 to 680. He was a
contemporary of Huna, gaon of Sura. These two
school leaders were the authors of a very important
regulation regarding divorce. According to Tal-
mudic law, a wife may seek a divorce only in very
rare cases, as when her husband is afflicted with
a loathsome disease or is engaged in an offensive
business. Their decision, however, made it possible
for a woman to secure a divorce on grounds of in-
compatabllity, and that without the necessity of
waiting a year from the date of application and
without suffering any loss of property, which had
been the previous practise (Sherira, in "Sha'are
Zedek," No. 15, ed. Cassel). This decision intro-
duced legal equality between man and wife.

Bibliography: Sberira, In Neubauer, M. J. C. 1. 35: Gratz,
Gescn. V. 117, 349 ; Halevy, Dorot ?ia-Bishonim, iii. 173-177.
w. B. J. Z. L.

KABBAH B. HANA (B.. ABBA B. HAITA
OF KAFB.I) : Babylonian amora of the first gen-
eration; nephew of R. Hiyya and cousin of Abba
Arika (Rab; Sanh. 5a). Like Rab, he went to Pal-
estine, where he was one of the prominent pupils of
Judah ha-Nasi I. When he was about to return to
Babylonia he was empowered by the latter, at the
instance of R. Hiyya, to decide all forms of relig-
ious questions and to offlciateas dayyan (ib. ). After
his return Kabbah was frequently associated with
Lis cousin Rab (Kid. 59a; B. B. 52a). He trans-
mitted a saying of his uncle R. Hiyya (Yer. B. K.
X. 7b) ; and some of his own halakic sayings have
been preserved (Hul. 100a, where " Rabbah b. Hana "
should be read Instead of " Rabbah bar bar Hana " ;
Yer. Bezah Iv. 62d; Yer. Shab. iv. 7a; Yer. Git. i.
43b, quoted b}' Ze'era).

Bibliography: Heilprin, Seder tM-Dorot, ii. 331; Frankel,
Mebo, p. 57a, b ; Gratz, Gesch. iv. 197, 257.
w. B. J- Z. L.

BABBAH BAB BAR HANA: Babylonian
amora of the second generation; grandson of 5ana,
the brother of Hiyya. He went to Palestine and
became a pupil of R. Johanan, whose sayings he
transmitted. Kabbah- bar bar Hana (Rabbah bar
Rabbah bar Hana) does not seem to have en-

joyed high regard in his adopted country, for it was
taken as a matter of course that K. Simeon b. La-
kish should not do him the honor of addressing him
in public (Yoma 9b). After a somewhat prolonged
sojourn in Palestine he returned to Babylonia, re-
siding both at Pumbedita and at Sura. In the
former city he at first refused to attend the lectures
of K. Judah b. Ezekiel (Shab. 148a), but he soon
became his friend, and was consulted by him in dif-
ficult cases (M. K. 17a). Judah and his pupil Rab-
bah b. Nahmani once visited Rabbah, who was ill,
and submitted a halakic question to him. While
they were there a Zoroastrian priest ("geber")
suddenly appeared and extinguished the lamp, the
day being a festival of Ormiizd, on which Jews
were forbidden to have fire in their houses (Gratz,
"Gesch." 2d ed., Iv. 392). Rabbah thereupon sor-
rowfully exclaimed : " O God, let us live either un-
der Thy protection, or at least under the protection
of the children of Esau " (the Romans ; Git. 16b-17a).

The persecutions of the Babylonian Jews by the
Sassanids caused Rabbah to resolve to return to
Palestine (Pes. 51a), although it is nowhere said that
he carried out that intention. During his residence
at Sura he wished to introduce the recitation of the
Decalogue into the daily prayer, but was dissuaded
by R. Hisda (Ber. 13a). Later he visited Mahoza,
and he tells of the wonderful feats he saw per-
formed there by a juggler (B. B. 73a, b; comp.
Bacher, "Ag. Bab. Amor." p. 88, note 7, with
Neubauer, "G. T." p. 398).

Some haggadic sayings by Rabbah bar bar Hana
have been preserved. He compares the Law to fire
(Jer. xxlii. 39), in that as fire does not
Haggadic start of itself neither does the Law
Aphorisms, endure in solitary study (Ta'an. 7a).
His interpretations of Prov. ix. 3, 14
and Isa. xxviii. 26 (see Sanh. 38a, 105a) also are note-
worthy ; his saying that " the soul of one pious man
is worth the whole world " (Sanh. 103b) is especially
memorable.

Rabbah bar bar Hana's stories of his marvelous
experiences during his voyages and his journeys
through the desert have become famous. These
accounts may be divided into two classes. In the
first he records his observations, generally begin-
ning with the words "I have seen." Among these
are his remarks regarding the Identity of the most
fertile part of Palestine — "the land flowing with
milk and honey" (Ket. lllb-113a); the distance
between Jericho and Jerusalem (Yoma 39b) ; the
area of the district in the plains of Moab mentioned
in Num. xxxiil. 49 as the camp of the children of
Israel (Yoma 75b); the castor-oil plant cultivated in
Palestine, or the gourd of Jonah (Shab. 31a). Here
also belong his accounts of his relations with the
Arabs, one of whom once used a term which ex-
plained to him the word 13n' in Ps. Iv. 28 (Ket. 73b,
75a; Yeb. 120b; R. H. 36b).

The other group of the narratives of

Fantastic Rabbah bar bar Hana includes his fan-
Ad- tastic adventures on the sea and in the

ventures, desert. In these stories one of the most

conspicuous -figures is the Arab who

was the guide of Rabbah and his companions on

their journey through the desert. This Arab knew

291

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rabbah Gaon
Kabbah b. Mari

the route so well that he could tell from the odor of
the sand when a spring was near (B. B. 73b). The
travelers passed through the desert in which the
children of Israel wandered for forty years, and the
Arab showed Mount Sinai to Rabbah, who heard
the voice of God speaking from the mountain and
regretting Israel's exile. The Arab likewise pointed
out the place wliere Korah and his followers had been
swallowed by the earih, and from the smoking abyss
Rabbah heard the words, " Moses is truth and his
teachings are truth, but we are liars " (B. B. 74a).
He was shown the gigantic bodies of the Israelites
who had died in the desert, lying face upward, and
the place where heaven and earth almost touched,
so that he could watch the rotation of the heavenly
spheres around the earth in twenty-four hours (ib. ).
Rabbah's stories of his adventures on the sea re-
semble tales of other navigators concerning the im-
mense size of various marine animals. As an exam-
ple the following one may be cited : " Once, while
on a ship, we came to a gigantic fish at rest, which
we supposed to be an Island, since there was sand
on its back, in which grass was growing. We
therefore landed, made a fire, and cooked our meal.
But when the fish felt the heat he rolled over, and
we would have drowned had not the ship been
near" (B. B. 73b). Here the resemblance to the
later voyage of Siudbad is obvious. Rabbah him-
self tells how his tales were received. In regard to
two of them his colleagues remarked, " All Rabbahs
are asses and all Bar bar Hanas fools " (B. B. 74a).
Rabbah's stories have called forth an entire litera-
ture ; in addition to the numerous commentaries on
the haggadic portions of the Talmud which dwell
by preference on these accounts, more than twenty
essays interpreting and annotating them have ap-
peared in various periodicals.

Bibliography : Heilprln, Seder ha-Dorot, ii. 331 : Bacher, Ag.
Bab. Amor. pp. 87-93.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. HAN AN : Babylonian amora of
the fourth generation ; pupil of Rabbah bar Nahmani
and a colleague of Abaye, who was of the same age
and had been his fellow student (Ber. 48a, according
to the correct reading ; comp. Rabbinowitz, " Varise
Lectioues"). Rabbah bar Naljmani declared that
both his pupils would eulogize their teacher after
his death (Shab. 153a). Rabbah ben Hanan fre-
quently conversed with Abaye, addressing questions
to him ('Er. 14b, 38b, 45a, 68a, 75b; Shab. 148b;
Men. 14b ; Bek. 54a), and he once called Abaye " tar-
da" (heedless one ; Ker. 18b). He associated much
with Raba also, expounding problems for him (Zeb.
55a) or addressing questions to him (Men. 40a; Be-
zah 13b). He resided at Artebana, a small town
near Pumbedita, which he could easily reach on the
Sabbath ('Er. 51b), and he was evidently wealthy
{ib. ; comp. Rashi ad loc).

Bibliography: Heilprln, Seder ha-Dorot, p. 335, Warsaw,
1882.
w. B. J- Z. L.

RABBAH B. HIYYA OF CTESIPHON :

Babylonian amora of the second generation. He is
said to have performed the ceremony of hali?ah in
a manner which was considered allowable only by

one tanna, the majority disapproving. For this he
was censured by R. Samuel (Yeb. 704a).
Bibliography : Heilprln, Seder ha-Dorot, p. 337.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. HUNA: Babylonian amora of
the tliird generation ; died in 323 ; son of R. Huna,
the head of the Academy of Sura (Heilprin, "Seder
ha-Dorot," ii. 167b). He was a man of true piety
(Shab. 31a, b) and genuine modesty (M. K. 28a;
comp. Git. 43a), and was urged by his father to at-
tend R. Hisda's lectures diligently and to profit by
his acumen. At first, however, Rabbah held aloof
because matters were discussed which did not appeal
to his earnest nature (Shab. 82a) ; but later he be-
came closely associated with R. Hisda, and was ap-
pointed judge under him (ib. 10a) ; subsequently tlie
two treated of haggadic subjects together (Pes.
110a, 117a; Sotah 39a). After the death of R. His-
da, Rabbah became the head of the Academy of
Sura, though he apparently held this position
without the approval of the exilarch. His general
relations with the exilarchate were by no means
friendly, and he declared himself independent of its
authority (Sanh. 5a).

A number of halakic and a few haggadic sentences
of Rabbah b. Huna have been preserved: "He
who is insolent must be considered a transgressor "
(Ta'an. 7b). "When one falls into a rage he loses
the respect of God " (Ned. 22b). " He who possesses
learning [in the Torah], but is without the fear of
God, is like unto a steward to whom liave been given
the keys of the inner storehouses but not the outer
keys; he can not gain access to the storehouses"
(Shab. 31a, b).

Bibliography : Heilprln, Seder ha-Dorot, pp. 167b, 168a, War-
saw, 1883 ; Weiss, Dor, 111. 195; Bacher, Ag. Bab. Amor. pp.
62-63.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. LIWAI : Babylonian amora of
tlie fourth generation ; contemporary of Raba b.
Joseph b. Haina, two of whose decisions he proved
to be wrong, thus compelling their annulment (Pes.
40b ; ' Ab. Zarah 65b). A saying of his has been pre-
served (Nid. 46b). Raba was extremely vexed with
liim, and once, when a misfortune befell Rabbah,
Raba said that it was a punishment for having con-
futed him during a public discourse (Pes. 110a).
Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii. 335, Warsaw, 1882.

w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. MABI : Babylonian amora of the
fourth generation, who resided for a time in Pales-
tine and then returned to his home (Yoma 78a),
where he transmitted aphorisms of R. Johanan (B.
K. 92a) and especially of R. Joshua b. Levi (Ber.
42b, 44a). He also delivered haggadic lectures ('Er.
86), of which some passages were known even in
Palestine (Yoma 86b; B. B. 16b), although his name
is mentioned neither in the Palestinian Talmud nor
in midrashic literature.

He was a frequent visitor at the house of Raba
(Ber. 42b), on whose haggadah he exercised great
influence. Raba asked for the Biblical bases of the
ideas expressed in many aphorisms current among
scholars (B. K. 92a; Yeb. 62b), and the answers
given satisfied him. Raba also showed Rabbah thir-
teen popular proverbs, for which the latter gave

Babbah b. Matna
Babban

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

292

references to the Bible (B. K. I.e.); and it is note-
wortliy in this connection that Rabbah cited a pas-
sage from Ben Sira (Ecclus. [Sirach] xiii. 15) and that
he regarded the latter as one of the hagiographic
"ketubim." In reply to Raba's inquiries, Rabbah
b. Mari also interpreted the passages in Jer. xxxiv.
5 and II Kings xxii. Stf as being in entire harmony
with Jer. xxxix. 7 and II Chron. xxxv. 33 (M. K.
28b).

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dornt, 11. 169a, Warsaw,
1882; Bacher, Ag. Bab. Amor. pp. 124-127.
w. B. J. Z. L.

:RABBAH B. MATNA : Babylonian amora of
the fourth generation ; contemporary and colleague
of R. Zera II. Rabbah was slow and careful in his
methods, and his conclusions were generally correct
and were accepted as authoritative in practical mat-
ters (Hor. 14a). Rabbah is mentioned in two other
passages in the Talmud; one being Shab. 21a,
where he transmits a baraita, and the other Pes.
34a, where he comments on a diificult mishnaic
passage.

Bibliogkapht: Heilprin, Seder ha-Dnrot, U. 338, Warsaw,
1882 : Halevy, Dnrot ha-Bishonim, 11. 460-461.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. NAHMAN B. JACOB : Baby-
lonian amora of the third generation ; contemporary
of Rabbah b. Huna, with whom he was closely as-
sociated. The latter visited him at his home (Shab.
119a), and once sent him a question, addressing him
with the words, " May our teaclier teach us " (Yeb.
25a). These friendly relations, however, were sub-
sequently disturbed, for Rabbah b. Nahman once
had some of Rabbah b. Huna's trees cut down be-
cause they stood on the banks of a river and inter-
fered with the river traffic. When Rabbah b. Huna
heard of this he cursed Rabbah b. Nahman : " May
the 6lfspring of him who caused thesis trees to be
cut down be uprooted." It is related that Rabbah
b. Nahman's children died in consequence of this
malediction (B. M. 108a).

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder Tio-Dorot, 11. 336, Warsaw, 1882.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. NAHMANI : Babylonian amora
of the third generation ; born about 270 ; died about
330; a descendant of a priestly family of Judea
which traced its lineage to the prophet Eli (R. H.
18a). He was a pupil of R. Huna at Sura and of
R. Judah b. Ezekiel at Pumbedita, and so distin-
guished himself as a student that R. Huna seldom
decided a question of importance without consult-
ing him (comp. Git. 27a; B. M. 18b; B. B. 172b;
Yeb. 61b). His brethren in Palestine were little
pleased with his residence in Babylonia, and wrote to
him to come to the Holy Land, where he would find
a teacher in R. Johanan, since it would be far bet-
ter for him, wise though he was, to have a guide
than to rely on himself in his studies (Ket. Ilia).
Rabbah, however, seems not to have answered this
urgent request, and apparently never left Baby-
lonia, all supposed evidence to the contrary being
refuted by Bacher (" Ag. Bab. Amor. "pp. 97 et seq.).
In Shebu. 10b and Ned. 57a, where Rabbah is asked
by R. Hisda, "Who will listen to thee and thy
teacher R. Johanan? " the latter is only figuratively

called Rabbah's teacher. There is no foundation
for the theory which attributes to Rabbah the
authorship of the haggadic compilation Bereshit
Rabbah and of the other midrashic works bearing
the designation of " Rabbah " (Abraham ibn Daud,
"Sefer ha-Kabbalah, " in Neubauer, "M. J. C."
p. 58).

Rabbah was not a prolific haggadist and was,
therefore, scarcely fitted to project such a collection
of haggadot. While most of his halaklc aphorisms
have been preserved, only about ten of his haggadic
sayings are known (Sanh. 21b, 26b; Shab. 64a; Pes.
68b; Meg. 15b; Hag. 5b; 'Ar. 8b; 'Er. 22a; Git.
31b); evidently he had little interest in haggadic
exegesis. His main attention was devoted to the Ha-
lakah, which he endeavored to elucidate by inter-
preting tlie mishnaic decisions and the
Halakist. baraitot, and by determining the fun-
damental reasons for the various Pen-
tateuchal and rabbinical laws and explaining the
apparent contradictions contained in them. He
often asks : " Why did the Torah command this ? "
" Why did the sages forbid this? " His keen dialec-
tics won him the name of " 'Oker Harim" (uprooter
of mountains; Ber. 64a), since he deduced new con-
clusions by separating individual passages from
their noVmal context. He did not confine his interest
to the practical ordinances of theMishnah, however,
like his teacher R. Judah, but studied the entire
six mishnaic orders (Ta'an. 24a, b), and even in
the remoter subject of the Levitical regulations
on cleanness and uncleanness he was the leading
authority (B. M. 86a).

On the death of R: Judah, Rabbah was elected
" resh metibta " of the Academy of Pumbedita, which
office he held until his death, twenty-
At Pumtoe- two years later (Ber. 64a; Letter of
dita. Sherira Gaon, in Neubauer, " M. J. C. "
pp. 30-31). He greatly increased the
prestige of the academy and attracted a host of audi-
tors, so that during the " kallah" months his audience
is said to have numbered twelve thousand (B. M.
86a). He was wont to begin his lectures with witty
aphorisms and interesting anecdotes which put his
audience in a cheerful mood and made it receptive
of serious thoughts (Shab. 30b).

Rabbah frequently tested the judgment of his
audience, and quickened its attention by captious
questions and paradoxical halakot (Ber. 33b). With
all his critical ability, however, he was unable to
free himself from certain views on demonology
which he shared with his colleagues (Hul. 105;
comp. Bacher, I.e. p. 101, note). Rabbah was highly
esteemed by scholars, but was hated by the people
of Pumbedita because of his severe and frequent
denunciation of their fraudulent proclivities (Shab.
153a; Rashi ad loe.).

Rabbali and his family lived in great poverty, and
seem to have suffered various calamities ; even his
death was a wretched one. The charge was brought
against him that during the kallah months his
twelve thousand auditors took advantage of his lec-
tures to escape their poll-tax. Bailiff's were sent to
seize him ; but, being warned, he fled, and wandered
about in the vicinity of Pumbedita. His body,
which had been concealed by the birds (B. M. 86a),

293

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ital)bah b. Hatna
Babban

was found in a thicket where he had hidden from
his pursuers. Many legends exist concerning his
death (ib.).

Bibliography : Heilprln, Seder ha-DoroU ii. 332-33i, Warsaw,
1882; Weiss, Dor, lii. 190-191; Halevy, Dnrot ha-RUhonim,
il. 218a-220a ; Gratz, Gesch. iv. 322427 ; Bacher, Ag. Bab-
Amor. pp. 97-101.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH OF PABZIKI : Babylonian amora
of the sixth generation; contemporary of R. Ashi,
with whom he often had discussions (Sotah 36b; Pes.
7.6b ; B. K. 36a). His learned son Huna also was a
pupil of R. Ashi.

BiDLiOGEAPHT : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii. 338.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. SAMUEL (called also Abba b.
Samuel) : Babylonian amora of the second half of
the third century ; son of Mar Samuel of Nehardea.
He was an associate of R. Hiyya bar Abba, to whom
he addressed a question (Zeb. 105a, where he is called
Abba), of R. Hisda (B. K. 98b), and of R. Sheshet
('Er. lib, 39b; Sheb. 45b). To the two last named
he communicated anumberpf baraitot previously un-
known to them. Rabbah b. Samuel was evidently
well versed in these traditions, since he appears in
Hag. 17b and R. H. 20a as expounding them. In
Ber. 29a he raises an ob,iection to a tradition of his
father as cited by R. Nahman, and in Ber. 40a he
transmits others of R. Hiyya. A number of his own
apothegms, both halakic (Shab. 12b ; Yer. Sanh. 21c)
and haggadic ( Yeb. 63b ; B. B. 15b ; Meg. 14a, b),
have been preserved.

Bibliography : Heilprin, Sederha-Dorot, ii. 336, Warsaw, 1882;
Baoher, Ag. Pal. Amor. iii. 532-533.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. SHEIjA : Babylonian amora of
the fourth generation ; contemporary of Raba, and
a judge (Ket. 104b), probably at Pumbedita. His
strict honesty is shown by a judicial maxim of his
which states that a judge may not borrow anything
from those who are under his jurisdiction, unless he
is in a position to lend something in return, since
otherwise he may be bribed by the kindness which
has been done to him in the making of the loan in
question (Ket. 105b). Rabbah was probably a pupil
of R. Hisda, to whom he once addressed a halakic
question (Shab. 81a, b); he also quotes some of
Hisda's halakic and haggadic passages (Shab. 7a,
33a). He likewise transmitted maxims in the name
of R. Nahman (B. B. 155b) and of R. Matna (Hag.
33a). Several of his interpretations of Biblical pas-
sages have been preserved, some being his inde-
pendent opinions (Yoma 54a, b; Men. 87a; Ned.
41a), while others were derived from his predecessors
(Ta'an. 2a; Sotah 35b; B. B. 123b).

According to a legend, Rabbah had a conversa-
tion with Elijah in which he asked what was the
occupation of God, receiving the answer that He
was promulgating halakic maxims in the name of
the sages, although there were no citations from R.
Meir, because he had studied under Aher (Elisha'b.
Abuyah). Rabbah replied : " Why is this? R. Meir
has studied only the Torah under Aher, and has
disregarded his other teachings, like one who finds a
pomegranate and eats the fruit, but throws away
the rind." Thereupon Elijah said: "Because of

thine argument God has just quoted an aphorism
by R. Meir "(Hag. 15b).

Bibliography: Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, 11. 338-.337, Warsaw,
1882 ; Bacher, Ag. Bab. Avior. 11. 140-141.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH TTTSFA'AH (TOSEFA'AH): Bab-
ylonian amora of the seventh generation. He was
a pupil of Rabina I. (Suk. 32a; comp. Halevy,
"Dorot ha-Rishonim," iii. 96) and a contemporary
of Rabina II., with whom, sometimes, he is men-
tioned in the Talmud (Shab. 95a ; M. K. 4a). A few
independent decisions of Rabbah have been pre-
served (Ber. 50a ; Yeb. 80b). One of them (Yeb.
80b) assumes that the pregnancy of a woman may
extend from nine to twelve months. The chief
work of Rabbah was to complete, by additions and
amplifications, the compilation of the Talmud begun
by R. Ashi. These additions consisted for the
most part of short, explanatory remarks, indispen-
sable for an understanding of Talmudic themes or
for deciding between the conflicting opinions of
older authorities (Halevy, I.e. p. 20). From these
additions and amplifications (tosafot) to the Talmud
he is said to have derived his name of Tosefa'ah
(= "the completer"; Halevy, I.e. iii. 19; Briill's
" Jahrb." ii. 19). It is more probable, however, that
he was so named after his birthplace — Tusfah
= Thospia (Brilll, I.e.). Rabbah Tosefa'ah is seldom
mentioned by name in the Talmud — only in nine
places. However, all sayings in the Babylonian Tal-
mud Introduced by " Yesh omerim " (some say) are
ascribed to him (Heilprin, "Seder ha-Dorot," iii. 337;
Brilll, I.e. ii. 13). Rabbah Tosefa'ah succeeded Mar
b. R. Ashi (Tabyomi) as head of the Academy of
Sura, which position he held for six years. He
died in 494 (Sherira, in Neubauer, "M. J. C." i.
34; Abraham ibn Daud, "Sefer ha-Kabbalah," il>.
i. 59).

Bibliography: Heilprin, SeiJerha-Dorof, 11.337; Weiss, Dor,
iii. 314-315; Brull, Jahrb. ii. 12-13, Frankfort-on-the-Maln,
1876 ; Gratz, Gesch. Iv. 374 ; Halevy, Dorot ha-Bishonim, iii.
95-98.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABBAH B. XJEBAN : Babylonian amora of
the third century. He transmitted a haggadic
aphorism of R. Eleazar b. Pedat (Meg. 15b); and
an independent haggadic interpretation of Jer. xlix.
38 by him has also been preserved (Meg. 10b).
Nothing further is known concerning him.

w. B. J. Z. L.

B ABB AN (lit. "our teacher," "our master"):
Title given only to patriarchs, the presidents of the
Sanhedrin. The first person to be called by this title
was the patriarch Gamaliel I., ha-Zaken. The title
was handed down from him to all succeeding patri-
archs. According to Prankel (" Hodegetica in Misch-
nam," p. 58), Gamaliel I. received this title because he
presided over the Sanhedrin alone without an ab bet
din beside him, thus becoming the sole master. This
derivation, however, is disproved by the fact that Ga-
maliel's father, Simon b. Hillel, was not called by that
title, although he was the sole president of the San-
hedrin and had no ab bet din beside him. Another,
still more improbable, explanation of the title is
given by Brlill ("Einleitung in die Mischnah," i. 51).
It is more likely that there was no special reason

IRablian, Joseph
Hablji

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

294

for the title, beyond the fact that the people loved

and honored R. Gamaliel, and endeavored in this

way to express their feeling (Weiss, "Dor," i. 179).

E. c. J. Z. L.

RABBAN, JOSEPH. See Cochin.

KABBENXr HA-KADOSH. See Jddah I.'

RABBI ('31 = "my master").— The Title:
Hebrew terra used as a title for those who are dis-
tinguished for learning, who are the authoritative
teachers of the Law, and who are the appointed
spiritual lieads of the community. It is derived
from the noun y\, which in Biblical Hebrew means
"great" or "distinguished," and in post-Biblical
Hebrew, " master " in opposition to " slave " (Suk. ii.
9 ; Git. iv. 4) or " pupil " (Ab. i. 3). In the Palestinian
schools the sages were addressed as " Rabbi " (my
master). This term of respectful address gradually
came to be used as a title, the pronominal suffix "i"
(my) losing its significance with the frequent use of
the term. Nathan ben Jehiel, in the " 'Aruk " (a.v.
"3K), quotes the following passage from the letter
addressed by Sherira Gaon to Jacob ben Nissim with
regard to the origin and signification of the various
titles derived from an ; " The title ' Rab ' is Babylo-
nian, and that of ' Rabbi ' is Palestinian. This is
evident from the fact that some of the tannaim and
amoraim are called simply by their names without
any title, e.g., Simon the Just, Antigonus of Soko,
Jose ben Johanan ; some bear the title ' Rabbi, '
e.g., Rabbi Akiba, Rabbi Jose, ete. ; others have the
title 'Mar,' e.g., Mar 'Ukba, Mar Yanuka, etc. ;
others again bear the title ' Rab, ' e.g. , Rab Huna,
Rab Judah, etc. ; while still others have the title
'Rabban,' e.g., Rabban Gamaliel and Rabban Jo-
hanan ben Zakkai. The title ' Rabbi ' is borne by the

sages of Palestine, who were ordained

"Rabban," there by the Sanhedrin in accordance

"Rabbi," with the custom handed down by

and the elders, and were denominated

"Rab."' 'Rabbi,' and received authority to

judge penal cases; while 'Rab' is
the title of the Babylonian sages, who received
their ordination in their colleges. The more ancient
generations, however, which were far superior, had
no such titles as 'Rabban,' 'Rabbi,' or 'Rab,' for
either the Babylonian or Palestinian sages. This is
evident from the fact that Hillel I. , who came from
Babylon, had not the title ' Rabban ' prefixed to his
name. Of the Prophets, also, who were very emi-
nent, it is simply said, 'Haggai the prophet,* etc.,
'Ezra did not come up from Babylon,' etc., the
title ' Rabban ' not being used. Indeed, this title is
not met with earlier than the time of the patriarchate.
Itwasfirstusedof Rabban Gamaliel the elder, Rabban
Simeon his son, and Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai, all
of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhe-
drin. The title ' Rabbi, ' too, came into vogue among
those who received the laying on of hands at this
period, as, for instance. Rabbi Zadok, Rabbi Eli-
ezer ben Jacob, and others, and dates from the time
of the disciples of Rabban Johanan' ben Zakkai
downward. Now the order of these titles is as fol-
lows : ' Rabbi ' is greater than ' Rab ' ; ' Rabban, '
again, is greater than ' Rabbi ' ; while the simple name

is greater than ' Rabban.' Besides the presidents of
the Sanhedrin no one is called ' Rabban.' "

Sherira's statement shows clearly that at the time

of Jesus there were no titles; and Gratz ("Gesch."

iv. 431), therefore, regards as anach-

' ' Rabbi " ronisms the title " Rabbi " as given in

in the the gospels to John the Baptist and

Gospels. Jesus, Jesus' disapprobation of the

ambition of the Jewish doctors who

love to be called by this title, and his admonition

to his disciples not to suffer themselves to be so

styled (Matt, xxiii. 7, 8).

A different account of the origin and the signifi-
cation of the titles is given in the Tosefta to 'Bdu-
yot (end) : " He who has disciples and whose disci-
ples again have disciples is called ' Rabbi ' ; when
his disciples are forgotten [i.e. , if he is so old that
even his immediate disciples belong to the past
age] he is called ' Rabban ' ; and when the disciples
of his disciples are also forgotten he is called simply
by his own name."

In modern times the term " Rabbi " (in JudsBo-
German, "Rab ") is used as a word of courtesy sim-
ulating the English "Mister."

BiBLTOGRAPHT : Llgbttoot and Wetstein on Matt, xxili. 7 ; Bux-
torl, De Abhrevtaturis Hebraicis, pp. 127-177; Carpzov,
ApparatiLS Histnrico-Criticu.^ Antiquitatum et Codicil
Sacri et Gent-is Hehrcew, p. 139; Winer, B. B. 11. 396: Pres-
sel, in Herzog, Beal-Encye. 1st efl., xii. 471 ; Gratz, Gesch.
iv. 431 ; Ewald, GescU. v. 25, 305; Scliurer, Oesch. ii. 315.

s. I. Br.

In Ancient Times : The rabbi in the Tal-

mudic period was unlike the modern official minis-
ter, who is elected by the congregation and who is
paid a stipulated salary. The function of the rabbi
of the Talmud was to teach the members of the
community the Scriptures and the oral and tradi-
tional laws. There were three positions open to
him: (1) the presidency of the community with the
title "Nasi," (3) the head of the judiciary ("abbet
din "), and (3) the ordinary master of civil and ritual'
laws and exemplar in charitable work and moral
conduct. For the first position the rabbi was elected
by the leaders of the community ; for the second,
by the members of the judiciary ; while the third
position was a matter of duty imposed upon the
rabbi by the very Law he was teaching. All these
were honorary positions, without emolument, save
the bare living expenses of the rabbi when he gave
up his occupation for the public welfare (Shab.
114a). The rabbi as a justice could claim only com- .
pensation for loss of time (see Feb). Rabban Gama-
liel III. said the study of the Law without employ-
ment brings transgression (Ab. ii. 3).

The Rabbis invariably had their private occupa-
tions. The elder Hillel earned a "tarpe'ik" {rpo-
•namd^ = a half-denarius) a day as a wood-chopper,
spending one-half of his earnings to gain entrance
to a bet ha-midrash ; Shammai was a builder (Shab.
31a); R. Joshua, who was ele'cted nasi, a black-
smith (Ber. 38a); R. Jose, father of R. Ishmael, a
tanner (Shab. 49b); Abba Hoshaiah

Vocations of Turya, a laundryman (Yer. B. K.

of Rabbis, x. 10) ; R. Hanina and R. Oshaya,

shoemakers (Pes. 113b); Kama, a

wine-taster; R. Huna, a water-carrier (Ket. 105a);

Abba b. Zemina, a tailor (Yer. Banh. iii. 6) ; and

295

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Babban, Joseph
Kabbl

Hisda and R. Pappa were brewers of mead (Pes.
113a). Other rabbis whose names indicate their
callings are : Isaac Nappaha = " the smith " ; R.
Johanan ha-Sandalav = " the sandal-maker " ; and R.
Abin Naggara = " the carpenter. " Rabbis were also
found as merchants, but principally as agricultur-
ists (see Artisans).

The Rabbis were indirectly assisted by tlie prefer-
ence given to them in tlieir trades and business en-
terprises. Thus wlien R. Dimi of Nehardea im-
ported a vessel-load of dried flgs, the president of
the community (" resh galuta ") gave orders to " hold
the marlcet" for R. Dimi {i.e., to allow him to dis-
pose of his goods first; B. B. 32a). The rabbi had
also the privilege of exemption from taxes, follow-
ing the instruction of Artaxerxes, " It shall not be
lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom upon them "
<Ezra vii. 24). Scholars were exempt from provi-
ding substitutes as laborers on public works; but
they were required to lend their services in digging
street wells (B. B. 8a).

The rabbi worked at liis trade one-third of the day
and studied during tlie remainder. Some, espe-
cially farmers, worked in summer and studied in
winter (Eccl. R. vii.). R. Judah b. 'Ilai complained
that times had changed ; that the rabbis of former
generations spent most of their time in study and
less time in labor, yet succeeded in both, while those
of later generations made study subservient to labor
and failed in both (Ber. 35b).

Outside her household duties the wife of the rabbi

was not connected with the business nor even with

the charitable concerns of her hus-

The band. Like all Oriental wives, she did

Babbi's not mix in society beyond her own
Wife. family circle. All marketing was done
by the husband. Regarding the ques-
tion of matrimony, R. Johanan thought one could not
study the Law with "a millstone round his neck."
The consensus of opinion was that the home student
should not be fettered by matrimony, but that the
traveling student might be married before he started
for the yeshibah in a foreign country, the family in
this case being provided for beforehand, and there
being no fear of his being disturbed while studying
(Kid. 39b; Rashi ad loc). Raba said to his pupils :
" i pray ye, do not come to see me in the days of
Nisan [harvest-time] nor in the days of Tishri
[viticulture-time], that ye may provide for your
maintenance for the whole year " (Ber. 85b).

The title " Rabbi " was obtained through merit of
learning. Any one might become qualified as a
rabbi, irrespective of his antecedents. The cele-
brated Resh Laliish was a gladiator before he became
a rabbi. The circumstances under which he was
induced to give up his former life are related as fol-
lows : " R. Johanan, seeing Resh Lakish diving in
the Jordan after him, remarked, 'Thy strength
should be preserved for the Law. ' Resh Lakish re-
joined, 'And thy beauty for women.' Said Jo-
hanan, 'If thou wouldst be converted I will give
thee my sister, who is more beautiful than I. ' Resh
Laliish consented; and Johanan taught him the
Scriptures and the oral law and made of him a
great rabbi. One day the scholars at the bet ha-
midrash discussed the question, ' The sword, knife,

dagger, and spear, in what state of finish are they
liable to contamination?' Johanan referred the
question to Resh Lakish as a competent iudge.
Resh Lavish took offense and ironic-
Converted ally asked, ' How didst thou benefit
Brigand as me? They called me "Rabbi" [chief

Babbi. of the gladiators] then ; and they call

me "Rabbi " now.' Said Johanan, ' I

did benefit thee by bringing thee under the wings

of the Shekinah'" (B. M. 84a; see Bacher, "Ag.

Pal. Amor." i. 344).

R. Judah ha-Nasi ordained the son of R. Eleazar
as rabbi for the purpose of inspiring him with am-
bition to mend his ways and study the Law. The
same Judali converted the licentious grandson of
R. Tarfon and induced him to become a rabbi by
promising him his daughter in marriage (ih.).

The personal appearance of the rabbi should
command respect. R. Johanan said, "The rabbi
sliould appear as clean and pure as an angel. " He
quoted, "'They shall seek the law at his mouth, for
he is the angel of the Lord Sebaoth" (Mai. ii. 6,
Hebr. ; Mak. 17a). The Rabbis generally dressed
in long, flowing white robes, and sometimes wore
gold-trimmed oflScial cloaks (Git.'73a).

The honor paid to the Rabbis exceeded even that
due to parents. The "elder in knowledge " was re-
vered even more than the "elder in years" (Kid.
33b). " When the nasi enters the as-
Honor sembly the people rise, standing till
Paid to tlie he bids them sit down ; when the ab

Babbis. bet din enters, they form a row on

each side of him, standing till he takes

his seat ; when a hakam enters, each one rises as the

wise man passes him " (Hor. 13b ; comp. Kid. 33b).

The rabbi or hakam lectured before the Talmud
students at the bet ha-midrash or yeshibah. He
seldom spoke in public except on the days of Kal-
LAH, i.e.. during the months of Elul and Adar (Ber.
8b), and on the Sabbaths immediately preceding the
holy days, when he informed the people of the laws
and customs governing the approaching festivals.
The rabbi who was a haggadist or maggid preached
before a multitude of men, women, and children
(Hag. 3a). A short sermon was delivered by him
every Sabbath after the reading of the Pentateuchal
portion (Sotah 41a; Bezah 38b). With regard to
preaching on fast-days, funerals, and special occa-
sions see Kallah ; Maggid ; Yeshibah.

Bibliography : Schiirer, BUt. nf the, Jewish People, p. 317,
Edinburgh, 1890 ; Mnnatsschrift, 1862, p. 66; 1864, p. 393.
J. J. D. E.

In Modern Times : In the last quarter of

the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth
century a great change took place in regard to
the position and requirements of the rabbi and
to the services expected of him, a change which
finally ^mounted to a complete revolution of former
ideas. This change originated in Ger-
Influence many, which country from that time
of Moses became the center for the develop-
Men- ment of Reform Judaism and for
delssohn. the scientific treatment of Jewish
. history and Jewish religion. The im-
pulse to this movement was given by Moses Men-
delssohn. Through his ti-anslation of the Bible

Sabbi

Babblner Seminar

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

299

into pure German, Mendelssohn taught his people
to speak the language of Germany, to read her
classical authors, and to feel that they were Integral
parts of the nation in whose midst they lived ; that
the country of their birth was their fatherland.
In this way he breathed new life into the sluggish
masses and educated the German Jews to take an
active part in the national literary and social life.

Meanwhile some rabbis of even large congrega-
tions remained out of touch with the educated
Jews. They came into contact with their constit-
uents chiefly in the decision of ritual and cere-
monial questions, and in the performance of certain
legal acts, especially in connection with the laws of
marriage and inheritance.^ Their literary activity
was confined to casuistry, their opinions being ren-
dered only in Hebrew. Some led lives so retired from
the world that their influence upon the members
of their congregations was scarcely perceptible.
Many of them, though very learned in Talmudical
lore, had not even the most elementary knowledge
of the things essential to a common education. They
could hardly make themselves understood in the
language of their country. Some, again, addressed
their congregations only twice every year, and then
on subjects uninteresting to the great majority of
their hearers.

By the abolition of the specific Jewish jurisdic-
tion, the rabbis' acquaintance with the civil law of
the Jewisli code, to which in former times tlie great-
est attention had been paid, became unnecessary
for most practical purposes, and the imperative ne-
cessit}' for a general education became obvious.

After the foundation for a scientific treatment
of Jewish history and religion had been laid by
Leopold Zunz and his colaborers, a number of en-
thusiastic young rabbis, struggling against the most
violent opposition, strove to bring about a recon-
ciliation of rabbinism with the modern scientific
spirit. Foremost among these was Abraham Gei-
ger, who devoted his whole life to the battle for
I'eligious enlightenment and to the work of placing
Judaism in its proper light before the world. He
and his associates succeeded in arousing the German
Jews to the consciousness of their duties. By fear-
lessly uncovering existing evils they cast light upon
the proper sphere of rabbinical activity and showed
how the moral and religious influence of the rabbin-
ical office could be enhanced.

It was one of the results of their labors that some
congregations awoke to the fact that -rabbis ought
to be more than merely Jewish scholars, that they
should be equipped with a thorough secular educa-
tion. This tendency was furthered by the circum-
stance that first in Austria (under Joseph II.), next
in France, and thereafter in many other European
(especially German) states, the government began to
demand evidence of a certain degree of general edu-
cation from rabbinical aspirants.

The yesliibot, and uncontrolled instruction by indi-
vidual rabbis, were found to be increasingly unsatis-
factory. The necessity of preaching in the vernacu-
lar and of explaining and defending the Jewish re-
ligion in a scientific manner involved systematic edu-
cation and training. Abraham Geiger recommended
and enthusiastically worked for the establishment

of a faculty of Jewish theology at one of the Ger-
man universities, parallel to those existing for Chris-
tian theology. This would have been
Rabbinical the ideal solution of the question of

Schools. the education of Jewish rabbis; but

its application was prevented by

the inveterate prejudice of the ruling authorities.

The next best thing was the foundation of semi-
naries and special institutions of learning for Jewish
theology. These sprang up in rapid succession.
The oldest were that in Metz, founded in 1824 and
transferred to Paris in 1859, and that in Padua, Italy,
founded in 1837, where Samuel David Luzzatto was
the ruling spirit. Then followed the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary at Breslau in 1854; the Lehran-
stalt filr die Wissenschaft des Judenthums in 1873
and the Rabbiner Seminar in 1873, at Berlin ; the
Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, founded by
Isaac M. Wiscin 1874 ; the Landesrabbinersohule at
Budapest in 1877; the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America, New York, in 1886 (reorganized in
1901); and the Israelitisch-Tlioologische Lehrenstalt,
Vienna, in 1893.

While these institutions have equipped many rab-
bis with a thorough knowledge of Jewish religion
and literature, based upon general education pre-
viously acquired at colleges and universities, they
have by no means abandoned the principle that
there is in Judaism no distinction between the
clergj' and the laity except that given by superior
learning and character.

Frankel thus expresses this principle : "In Juda-
ism there is no power endowed with the right to
bind and to loose ; there are no clergymen who by
higher inspiration stand above the laymen ; but only
teachers, who expound the Law and give infor-
mation thereof " ("Jahresbericht des Breslauer Se-
minars," 1860, p. xviii.). Geiger observes: "The
practical theologian [rabbi, minister, or priest] holds
among the Jews the position of moral influence ap-
propriate to him. Neither as priest, by his ordina-
tion, nor as officer, by the material power of the
state, is he entitled to interfere in tlie direction
of religious afiairs ; but only through his knowledge,
through tlie call he receives from the congregation,
and through being imbued with the spirit, is he so
entitled and is he furthermore the custodian of the
eternal contents, of the transient history, and of the
further development, of Judaism; as such he is
entitled to a more authoritative voice than others.
As little as he is a master, so little he is a mere serv-
ant" (Geiger, " Nachgelassene Schriften," ii.27).

In the Jewish religion the rabbi is no priest, no
apostle; he has no hierarchical power. He is a
teacher, one who unfolds and explains religion,
teaches the young in the school and the old from the
pulpit, and both by his writings.

BiDLiOGRAPHT : Geiger. Wiss. Zeit. Jild. Theol. ii. 18 et seq.;
idem, jad. Zeit. 1862, pp. 165 et seq.: idem, Nachgelassene
Schriften, 11. 37-31; Gudemann, in Monatsschrift, 1864, pp.
69 et seq.. 97 et seq.. 384 et seq., 421 et seq.: idem, Gesch. i. 23,
246; ill. 31 etseq.: Hamburger, R. B. T. Supplement iv., pp.
82-^8 ; Holdhelm, QottesdieiutUche VortrUge, pp. xlv. et seq.,
Frankfort-on-the-Maln, 1839 : Landau, in Frankel's Zeitsetvrift
filr die ReligiSsen Interessen des Judenthums, 1845, pp. 139
et seq., 182 et seq., 214etse(j.; LOw, Nachgelassene Schriften,
iv. 166-210, V. ISetseq.; Zunz, G.V. i., ch. xxiv.; idem, Z. G.
pp. 185 et seq.

K. M. LAN.

297

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Babbi

Rabbiner Seminar

The chief distinction between the old and the
modern rabbi consists in the functions they sever-
ally discharge. The former, if living
The Old in Eastern countries under medieval
and conditions, was expected principally

the IVEodern to decide questions of law, ritualistic

Babbi. or judicial, for people who adhere
scrupulously to the rabbinical code.
He supervised the religious institutions of the
community, such as the Mikweh and the She-
HiTAH, and, as head of the council of rabbis of the
town, formed a bet din for the giving of a get or
a halizah ; some of the other rabbinical functions,
such as preaching, were regarded of secondary im-
portance. It was his example rather than his pre-
cept that led the community in the fear of God and
in a life of piirity and sanctity.

The modern rabbi, on the other hand, though
trained to some extent in the halakic literature, is as
a rule no longer expected, except in extraordinary
cases and in matters concerning marriage or di-
vorce, to decide ritualistic questions; but greater
stress is laid upon his work as preacher and ex-
pounder of the tenets of Judaism, as supervisor and
promoter of the educational and spiritual life of the
congregation. In matters concerning ancient tra-
ditions and beliefs and the views and aims of mod-
ern culture he is looked to to reconcile the present
with the past. As the spiritual head of the con-
gregation he is on all public occasions regarded as
its representative, and accordingly he is treated as
the equal of the dignitaries of other ecclesiastical
bodies. In countries in which state supervisors
guard or support the interests of religion, the
function of the rabbi or chief rabbi is defined and
prescribed by the government, and accordingly the
necessary equipment and fitness are demanded of
him (see Jost, "Neuere Gesch. der Israeliten," i. 98,
131, 214, 360, 365, 373-377; ii. 100, 169).

As a matter of course, the example of the minister
in the Church, especially in Protestant countries,
exerted a great influence upon the function and
position of the rabbi in the Synagogue ; even upon
his outward appearance, since the vestments of the
Christian clergy, or their abandonment, have some-
times been copied by the modern rabbi, much to
the chagrin of the followers of the tradition which
prohibited the imitation of non-Jewish rites as
"hukkat ha-goy" (see "Die Amtstracht der Eab-
binen " in L. L5w's "Gesammelte Werke," iv.
316-334).

Another function of the modern rabbi which fol-
lows the pastoral practise of the Christian minister
is the offering of consolation and sympathy to per-
sons or families in bereavement and distress, in
forms perhaps more cheering and elevating than
those formerly in use. Here, as well as in his pul-
pit and educational work, the modern rabbi has the
opportunity of bringing the blessings of religion
home to every individual in need of spiritual up-
lifting. He claims to have infused a new spirit
and ardor into the divine service and other religious
rites by his active participation therein ; and in the
communal work of charity and philanthropy he
takes a conspicuous share. Modern life with its
greater complexity and deeper problems has pro-

duced the new type of rabbi, possibly less ascetic
and not so well versed in Hebrew lore, but more
broad-minded, and more efficient in the direc-
tion of manifold activities in a larger field of use-
fulness. K.

BABBI. See Games and Spohts.

BABBI UOB. 8ee Landeskabbiner.

KABBINEB, mOBDECAI BEN ABBA-

HAm : Russian rabbi ; born at Sloboda, a suburb
of Bauske, Courland, 1758; died at Bauske 1830; a
descendant on his mother's side of Mordecai Jaffe,
author of the " Lebushim. " He was rabbi at Bauske
from 1800 to 1830, and wrote : " GeduUat Mordekai,"
responsa, and "Parashat Mordekai," sermons, pub-
lished by his grandson Rabbi Bar Rabbiner to-
gether with his own responsa and those of his
father, Benjamin Salkind Rabbiner (b. at Bauske
1853), for many years president of the yeshibah at
Diinaburg (Dvinsk) and since 1891 u rabbi in New
York, U. S. A. Zemah Kabbiner (b. at Bauske
1863), a brother- of Benjamin Salkind, studied at
Dorpat and Berlin, from which latter place he grad-
uated with the degree of doctor of philosophy. He
published " Beitrage zur Hebraischen Synonymik im
Talmud und Midrashim," Berlin, 1899.

H. R.
BABBINEB SEMINAR FUR DAS OR-
THODOXE JUDENTHUM: This institution
was founded at Berlin by Dr. Israel Hildesheimer
tor the training of Orthodox rabbis. In accepting
the call as rabbi of the Berlin Orthodox party in
1869 he stipulated that he be allowed to continue
his activities as rabbinical teacher just as he had
done at his former rabbinical office in Eisenstadt,
Hungary. After deli vering lectures which attracted
a great many pupils, he addressed ten prominent
persons in different parts of Germany in 1873, and
explained to them the necessity of organizing an
Orthodox rabbinical seminary at Berlin. These men
at once took up the subject, and a central committee
was formed, which included Oberrath J. Altmaun
of Carlsruhe, Rabbi Dr. Auerbach of Halberstadt,
Chief Rabbi Dr. Solomon Cohn of Schwerin, A. H.
Heymann (a banker) of Berlin, Gustav Hirsch of
Berlin, Sally Lewisohn of Hamburg, and Emanuel
Schwarzschild of Frankfort-on-the-Main. The sem-
inary was dedicated on Oct. 33, 1873. At the open-
ing of the institution the faculty included the rec-
tor. Dr. Israel Hildesheimer, and two lecturers, Dr.
David Hoffmann (for the Talmud, ritual codices,
and Pentateuch exegesis) and Dr. A. Berliner (for
post-Talmudic history, history of literature, and
auxiliary sciences). In 1874 Dr. Jacob Barth, sub-
sequently son-in-law of Hildesheimer, was added to
the faculty as lecturer in Hebrew, exegesis of the
Bible with the exception of the Pentateuch, and re-
ligious philosophy. Dr. Hirsch Hildesheimer, son of
the founder and a graduate of the seminary, was ap-
pointed in 1883 lecturer in Jewish history and the
geography of Palestine. When Dr. Solomon Cohn
removed to Berlin from Schwerin in 1876 he took
charge of the courses in theoretic and practical homi-
letics, continuing them until he went to Breslau in
1894. By this time the attendance had greatly in-
creased, and owing to the large number of pupils

Babbiner Seminar
Sabe

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

298

at tlie institution it became necessary to employ a
new teacher; accordingly in 1895 Dr. J. Wohlge-
muth, a former pupil, was appointed. After the
death of the founder, Dr. Hildesheimer, June 12,
1899, D)'. D. Hoffmann, the lecturer, was elected rec-
tor of the institution.

The seminary is divided into an upper and a lower
division. Pupils in the lower division follow a two
years' course, being promoted to the upper division
on passing an examination; but pupils who have
qualified in the principal branches are immediately
admitted to the upper division. The course in this
division is one of four years. The conditions for ad-
mission to the seminary include, besides a blameless
religious life, the following: (1) the candidate must
prove by examination that he is able to understand
a moderately difficult Talmudic text, Rashi, and the
Tosafot ; (3) as regards the secular sciences he must
either have a certificate of graduation from a clas-
sical gymnasium or be able to show that he is fitted
for the graduating class of such a gymnasium. At
the end of the course, pupils who leave the institu-
tion as qualified rabbis must pass special examina-
tions showing that aside from their attainments in
the various branches of Jewish science they are suf-
ficiently familiar with the ritual codices to decide
correctly ritual and religio-legal questions.

In the thirty-two years of its existence the semi-
nary has graduated about two hundred pupils, most
of whom have become rabbis, although many have
accepted positions as teachers in higher institu-
tions of learning, or as librarians in large libraries.
Among them are Dr. Eduard Baneth, lecturer at the
Lehranstalt filr die Wissenschaft des Judentums at
Berlin; Dr. Alexander Marx and Dr. Israel Fried-
lander, professors at the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary of America at New York ; Dr. Hartwig Hirsch-
feld, reader at the Jews' College, London ; Dr. David
Herzog, lecturer at the University of Prague ; and
Dr. Jacob Horowitz, lecturer at the University of
Berlin.

The seminary is supported partly by the j'early
contributions of the members of an association es-
tablished for its support, partly by voluntary contri-
butions and by the interest derived from the fund.
The library is a very large and valuable one, and is
open to any one studying Jewish literature.

Bibliography : Annual Report of the Seminary for 187S-
187U; Das JRabbiner-Seminar zu Berlin : Berwht Uber die
Ersten FUnf und Zwanzig Jahre Seines Bestehens, Ber-
lin, 1899.
s. J. Z. L.

BABBINOWICZ, ISRAEL MICHEL : Rus-
so-French author and translator; born at Horo-
detz, near Kobrin, government of Grodno, June 6,
1818; died in London May 37, 1893. His father, R.
Asher Zebi, like his grandfather R. Israel, was
rabbi of Horodetz ; and Rabbinowicz received the
usual rabbinical education. In 1838 the elder Rab-
binowicz became rabbi of the neighboring city of
Antopol; and there the son grew up and became
noted as a clever Talmudist. He pursued his rab-
binical studies in Grodno and Brest, and afterward
studied Greek and Latin at Breslau, subsequently
entering the university of that city, where he stud-
ied philology and medicine. In 1854 he went to
Paris to finish his medical studies, and for several

years acted as "interne des hOpitaux " in that city.
He received his degree of M.D. in 1865, but never
took up the practise of medicine seriously, being
too much absorbed in theoretical studies and in the
preparation of his works.

Rabbinowicz's fame rests on his translations of
parts of the Talmud. His " Legislation Civile du
Talmud," a translation of entire tractates and parts
of tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, with intro-
ductions, critical commentaries, etc., comprises five
large volumes (Paris, 1873-80). His "Legislation
Criminelle du 'Talmud " (ib. 1876), critical transla-
tions of the tractates Sanhedrin, Makkot, and part
of 'Bduyot, was published by the French govern-
ment. He wrote also "La Medecine du Talmud"
and " Principe Talmudique de Schehitah et de Tere-
pha au Point de Vue Medicinal " (ib. 1877 ; German
edition Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1886). His intro-
duction to the Talmud was translated into Ger-
man by Sigmund Mayer ("Einleitung in die Ge-
setzgebung des Talmuds," Treves, 1881); his "Me-
bo ha-Talmud " appeared after his death (Wilna,
1894).

Rabbinowicz was besides the author of Hebrew,
Polish, French, and Latin grammars. Of his other
works and essays, the most noteworthy are : " Traite
des Poisons de Maimonide," Paris, 1865; "Le RSle
de Jesus et des Apotres," ii. 1866; "La Religion
Natiouale des Anoiens Hebreux," ib. 1873; "Essai
sur le Judaisme," ib. 1877; and "Histoire Sainte:
Ancien Testament."

Bibliography: Ozar ha-Sifrut, iii. 117-123; Bischolt, Kri-
tiscTie Oesch. der TalmucLtJebersetzungen, p. 64, FranMort-
on-the-Main, 1899 ; Ha-Asif, 1894 ; AMasaf, 1894.
H. K. ' P. Wl.

BABBINOVICZ, RAPHAEL NATHAN :

Talmudical scholar and antiquarian ; born at Novo-
Zhagory, government of Kovno, Russia, in 1835;
died at Kiev Nov. 28, 1888. At the age of twenty-
eight he left Russia, and, having spent some time in
Leinberg, Presburg, and Eiseustadt, went to Munich,
where he finally set-
tled. There he found
buried in the royal li-
brary the famous " Co-
dex Hebraicus." This
manuscript of the Bab-
ylonian Talmud was
written in 1343 and had
the good fortune to
escape the hands of the
censors. One hundred
and fifty years before
Rabbinovicz first saw
this manuscript its sig-
nificance had already
been pointed out by
R. Nathan Weil, the
author of the " Korban
Netan'el," but nobody had yet ventured to under-
take the immense task of editing it. Rabbinovicz
determined to make a critical examination of it.
His task was greatly facilitated by the munificence
of Abraham Merzbacher, a wealthy antiquarian of
Munich, who appropriated a large sum of money for
the maintenance of Rabbinovicz while engaged in

Kaphael Babbinovlcz.

299

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Babbiner Seminar
Babe

his work of research, and who put Ms magnificent
library at his disposal.

Rabblnovicz spent six years in study and travel.
During this period he visited many libi-aries in
Prance, Italy, England, and liussia. Everywhere
he gathered material for his magnum opus, the
" DikduJ^e Soferim. " In 1868 the first volume, com-
prising Berakot and Zera'im, was published. It was
followed in quick succession by others ; fifteen vol-
umes were published by 1888; the sixteenth vol-
ume was being prepared for publication when death
closed his career.

The " Dikduke Soferim, Varise Lectiones in Misch-
nam et in Talmud Babylonicum," a work that is
indispensable to the student of the Talmud and its
antiquities, gave to Rabblnovicz a world-wide repu-
tation. Scholars in every part of Europe, Jewish
and non-Jewish, turned to him whenever a disputed
point in Talmud needed to be elucidated. Among
other works written or edited by Rabbinovicz are
the following : " Kontres 'Ikkere ha-'Abodah," a col-
lection of rules and regulations for the offering of
sacrifices at the Temple (Presburg, 1863) ; "Ga'on
Ya'akob," a treatise on 'Erubin by Rabbi Jacob of
Vienna; "Moreh ha-Moreh," a reply to the attacks
of Zomber in his "Moreh Derek" (Munich, 1871);
"YiljuseTana'ira we-Amoraim,"a genealogy of the
great Talmudical rabbis, based on an old Oxford man-
uscript (edited, with notes; Lyck, 1874); "He'erot
we-Tikkunlm," annotations to the "'Ir ha-Zedek"
of J. M. Zunz {ib. 1875) ; "Ma'amaral-Hadefasat ha-
Talmud," a critical review of the different editions
of the Babylonian Talmud since 1484 (Munich,
1877); "Ohel Abraham," a catalogue of Merzbach-
er's library {ib. 1888).

Bibliography: MUnchener Allgemeine Zettuna, Nov., 1888;
Hci-Meliz, Nov., 1888 ; Zeltlln, Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 281.
H. K. J. Go.

RABBINOWITZ, SAUL PHINEHAS

(T"DB') : Russian Neo-Hebrew publicist and histo-
rian ; born in Taurogen, government of Kovno, April
8, 1845. At tlie age of five he was taken to Wilna,
where his father, Samuel Mordeeai Rashkes, became
rabbi of the old suburb of Shnipishock. Baul re-
ceived his Hebrew and Talmudic education from
his father and his maternal grandfather, Simon
Zarhi, rabbi of Taurogen. At the age of fourteen
he entered the yeshibah of R. Jacob Barit; at eight-
een he was ordained rabbi. A Protestant minister of
Poniemuni, near Kovno, taught him the rudiments
of German, to which Rabbinowitz added a knowl-
edge of several other languages. In 1871 he began
to contribute to "Ha-Maggid"; in 1874 he settled
in Warsaw, where he still (1905) resides. From
1877 to 1883 he was one of the chief collaborators
of "Ha-Zefirah" (to which he contributed a biog-
raphy of Ckbmieux), and he was afterward em-
ployed in a literary and secretarial capacity by the
Chovevei Zion. From 1886 to 1887 he edited
volumes 1 to 3 of the year-book " Keneset Yisrael "
(Warsaw), and he edited also the succeeding two
volumes of that annual published by Isidor Hur-
witz. In 1888 he began the work on which his
reputation rests: the translation of Qratz's "6e-
schichte der Juden " into Hebrew.

The first volume of the Hebrew translation (War-

saw, 1890), which bears the title " Dibre ha-Yamim
li-Bene Yisrael," has a short Hebrew preface by
Gratz himself, who was much pleased with this
translation of his life-work. The volume contains
nearly the entire first volume of the " Volksthilmliche
Geschichte der Juden," with amplifications from the
larger work, but does not cover the whole period to
the destruction of the Second Temple, as does the
original work. The translator explains that the
events leading up to the final downfall of Judea are
of too great importance to be treated briefly at the
end of a volume. The third volume {ib. 1893) con-
tains volume five of the original, and concludes with
a collection of important notes by A. Harkavy. The
next four volumes (4-7) contain volumes six to nine
of the original ; but in volume eight, after following
the original (vol. 10), the translator divides the elev-
enth or last chapter into two and inserts an original
chapter, by himself, on tlie history of the Jews in
Poland, Lithuania, White Russia, and Red Russia
from the middle of the seventeenth to the latter lialf
of the eighteenth centurj'. At the end of this vol-
ume, wliich is the last, Rabbinowitz gives his reason
for not translating the closing voluir.e of Gratz. It
is, briefly, that Gratz has denied space and atten-
tion to the history of the Jews in Russia and Poland
in later times, and failed to appreciate the influence
on Judaism exercised by the lives and teachings of
such men as Israel Baal-Shem or Elijah ben Solo-
mon of Wilna. The translator promises to cover that
period himself, from the standpoint of the Russian
Jews, and to include the results of the latest re-
searches into their history.

The translation is valuable for its many amplifi-
cations and for the short discourses which refer to
the comments of competent authorities upon the
original work ; for the rearrangements which bring
the history of Russia and Poland into greater prom-
inence ; and for the explanations of terms, events,
periods, and personalities in general history which
Gratz assumed to be well known to the German-
reading public, but which were generally unfamiliar
to readers of Hebrew. On the other hand, appro-
priate changes are made in recognition of the closer
familiarity of the Hebrew reader with Biblical and
Talmudical subjects.

In 1895 Rabbinowitz published (at Warsaw) his
"Moza'e Golah," a history of the exiled Spanish
Jews and of their literature, considered to he one of
the most accurate works on that subject. He has
written also aa exhaustive biography of Zunz (" R.
Yom-Tob Lipman Zunz," Warsaw, 1896), a mono-
graph on Zacharias Frankel {ib. 1898), and several
minor works.

Bibliography: Sefer Zikltarnn, pp. 103-104, Warsaw, 1890;
Zeltlln, Bihl. Posl-MeniMs. pp. 282-283 ; Llppe, BiUiogra-
pUisches Lexicon, 11. 223-225, v. 298-300 ; Ha-^efirah, 1880,
Nos. 8-17. ^ „^

H. E. P. Wl

BABE, JOHANN JACOB: German translator
of the Mishnah and the Talmud ; born 1710 in Lind-
flur, Unterfranken ; died Feb. 13, 1798. He was
city chaplain in Ansbach (Onolzbach). " This man
is a strong Talmudist," wrote Moses Mendelssohn to
Herder under date of Dec. 8, 1771, "and I wonder
at his patience. He has translated into German the
first three parts of the Babylonian and the Jerusa-

Babener
Babinovlch

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

30O

lem Talmud, as he informs me, and has them ready
for the printer, but can find no publisher for them."
Rabe's works include the following: "Mischnah
Oder Text des Talmuds; aus dem Ebraischen
TJebersetzt, Umschreiben und mit Anmerkungen
Erlautert," Ansbach, 1760 et seg. (reviewed by M.
Mendelssohn ; see his " Gesammelte Schrif ten," iv. 3,
134: et seg.); "DerPredigerSalomo, miteinerKurzen
imd Zureichenden Erklarung nach dem Wortver-
stande zum Nutzen der Studirenden von dem Ver-
fasser des 'Phadon'; aus dem Hebraischen Ueber-
setzt von dem Uebersetzer der Mischnah," ib. 1771 ;
" Der Talmudische Traktat Berachoth von den Lob-
sprilchen, als das Erste Buch im Ersten Theil nach
der Hierosolymitischen und Babylonischen Gemara ;
aus dem Ebraischen Uebersetzt und mit Anmer-
kungen Erlautert," Halle, 1777; " Der Talmudische
Traktat Peah von dem Ackerwinkel, Uebersetzt und
Erlautert, Nebst einer Abhandlung von Versorgung
der Armen," Ansbach, 1781.

BiBUORKAPHT : Nlcolal, Reisen, 1. 193: ¥urst, Bibl. Jiid. iii.
137 ; Kayserling, Moses Mendelssohn.. Sein Leben und Seine
Werlie, 1st ed., p. 515 ; Zunz, Monatstage, p. 8.
T. M. K.

BABENER, MATTITHIAH SIMHAH B.
JUDAH LOB: Austrian Hebraist and educator;
born in Lemberg Jan. 33, 1836. After recei'Ving the
usual rabbinical education, he took up, at the age
of fifteen, the study of Neo-Hebrew and modern
languages. In 1860 he became head teacher of a
Jewish school in Czernowitz, Bukowina, and in
1867 a teacher of Jewish religion in the gymnasium
and the general schools of Suchaw, Moravia. In
1867 he became director of a Jewish school in Folti-
chani, Rumania, where he occasionally officiated as
preacher. In 1869 he was called to Jassy to the
positions of preacher in the Reform synagogue and
director of the Jewish orphan asylum. He retired
from these offices in 1885. He had one daughter,
Sabina, and two sons, Leo (army physician) and
Emil (merchant and musical composer).

Rabener is the author of " 'Et ha-Zamir," a He-
brew translation of a number of poems by Schiller
(Czernowitz, 1862; Jassy, 1868); "Neginot 'Eber,"
a translation of Byron's "Hebrew Melodies" (Czer-
nowitz, 1864); "Ha-Shulamit," a German dramati-
zation of the Song of Songs (Jassy, 1888). He has
written also a number of songs, mostly elegiac, and
articles, published in various periodicals, and was
the editor of a Hebrew quarterly magazine entitled
"Mi-Zimrat ha-Arez," two numbers of which ap-
peared in Jassy in 1873.

BiBLiofiRAPHT : Ozar ha-Slfrut, ii. 394-396; Zeitlin, Bihl.
Post-Mendels. p. '280.
s. P. Wi.

BABIN B. ADDA : Babylonian amora of the
third generation ; brother of Kabbah b. Adda and
pupil of Judah b. Ezeldelof Pumbedita(Bezah33b).
He transmitted traditions by R. Isaac (Ber. 6a ; Pes.
8b, where he is called Abin) and a decision of
Rabbi's, but none of his own has been preserved.

w. B. J. Z. L.

BABINA I. : Babylonian amora of the fifth
generation; died about 430. He was a pupil of
Raba b. Joseph b. Hama, and his extreme youthful-
ness at that time is shown by the fact that his

teacher designated him and Hama b. Bisa as " dar-
dekl" (children; B. B. 16b).' He frequently ad-
dressed questions to Raba (Mak. 8a; Men. 67a),
whose sayings he cites (Shab. 136a, b). At an early
age Rabina was recognized as a teacher, leaving the
academy at Mahoza while Raba was still living
('Er. 63a; Halevy, ','Dorot ha-Rishonim," ii. 543-
544). Wherever he lived he was recognized as a
teacher and judge, and was called upon to render in-
dependent decisions ('Er. 40a; Git. 73a). Rabina was-
on friendly terms with Nahman b. Isaac (Git. 32b ;
Hor. 9a), and was a colleague of R. Aha (b. Raba),
with whom Tie had many disputations on legal ques-
tions, Rabina being inclined to liberal interpreta-
tions while R. Aha upheld those more rigorous.
Eabina's decisions always prevailed, with the ex-
ception of three cases in which, contrary to his
custom, he advocated stern measures (Hul. 93b).
When R. Ashi became director of the Academy of
Sura (or Matah Mehasya), Rabina became a student
there, although he was at least as old as Ashi —
perhaps even a few years older ; however, he was
rather the associate of Ashi (" talmid haber ") than
his pupil ('Er. 63a). Next to Ashi, Rabina had the
greatest share in the redaction of the Talmud un-
dertaken by Ashi and his colleagues. Rabina died
seven years before Ashi.

Bibliography : Hellprin, Seder lia^Dorot, ii. 339 ; Halevy, Do-
rot fia-Bisfionim, ii. 536-550, ili. 74-85.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BABINA II. (B. HTJNA) : Babylonian amora
of the seventh generation. He did not rememfler
his father, R. Huna, who died while Rabina was still
a child, but the Talmud states several times that his
mother communicated to him the opinions held by
his father (Ber. 39b ; Men. 68b). After his father's
death, his maternal uncle, Rabina I., became his
guardian (Ket. 100b). Rabina II. officiated as judge
at Sura shortly after Ashi's death (Ket. 69a), and
was a colleague of Mar b. Ashi (Men. 37b; Ber.
36a), although he was not so prominent. After
Rabbah Tosefa'a's death Rabina became, for a year
(474), director of the Academy of Sura (Abraham
ibn Daud, "Sefer ha-Kabbalah," in Neubauer, "M.
J. C." i. 61). According to Sherira Gaon (Neubauer,
I.e. i. 34), Rabina, "the last of theHora'ah" (B. M.
86a), died in 500. His death marks the close of the
amoraic period and of the completion of the Tal-
mud redaction (see Talmud).

BiBLiOGRAPRT : Gfatz, Gesc?i. Iv. 377; Halevy, Dorotha-Bisho-
nim, iii. 5-14.
w. B. .1. Z. L.

RABINA III. OF UMZA : Sabora of the first
generation; died Adar, 508. Nothing further about
him is known (Sherira Gaon, in Neubauer, "M. J.
C. " i. 34; Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 377).

w. B. J. Z. L.

RABINOVICH, LEON : Russian physicist
and journalist; born at Brestovitz, government of
Grodno, Jan. 3, 1863. He is descended on his father's
side from Yom-'I'ob Lipmann Heller, and on his
mother's side from Mei'r Eisenstadt, being a grand-
son of Abraham Hirsch Eisenstadt. He received his
early education in the heder and from his mother,
who taught him German. At the age of fourteen

301

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Babener
Babinovich

yeSLts he went to the yeshibah of Mir and thence to
that of Volozhin. In 1881 he went to K8nlgsberg,
where he pursued the study of medicine for two years.
In 1884 his predilection for physics tooli him to Paris,
where lie entered the Sorbonne. He won a gold medal
at the Paris Exhibition of 1890 for various inventions
in machinery. His inventions, which are numerous,
include an oil-raiser, a rotating thermometer, a porta-
ble fountain, an automatic siphon, and a distributor
lor liquids.

Rabinovich contributed a series of scientific arti-
cles to " Ha-Meliz " in 1887, and later wrote for other
Hebrew periodicals, as well as for " La Nature." In
1890 he undertook the editorship of " Ha-Meliz " and
of " Die Blatter " (Yiddish) ; in 1904 he began to pub-
lish " Der Tag, " a Yiddish daily. Rabino vich's arti-
cles in " Ha-Meliz " were collected under the title
■" Ha-Yerushah weha-Hinnuk. "

BiBLiOGRAPHY : Ozar tM-Sifrut, ill. 63-67.
H. K.

A. S. W.

KABINOVICH (RABBINOWITZ), OSIP
AARONOVICH : Russian Jewish author and jour-
nalist; born Jan. 14, 1817, at Kobelyaki, govern-
ment of Poltava ; died at Meran, Tyrol,"Oct. 16, 1869.
His father, Aaron Rabinovich, one of the oflScials of
the government liquor monopoly, spoke Russian
fluently, though the Jewish masses, even in the
southwestern part of Russia, had only a slight
knowledge of that language. Aaron gave his son a
very careful education in both Hebrew (under Melr
Emdefl, who had traveled
in America for about fif-
teen years) and European
languages. The South-
Russian Jews of that time
were inclined to see the
first step toward apostasy
in such a liberal education,
and it required much
firmness and influence to
avert religious ostracism.
When Rabinovich reached
the age of eighteen a mar-
riage was arranged for
him by his parents. Fam-
ily life, however, did not
interfere with his former occupations; he contin-
ued to study assiduously, especially jurisprudence
and western-European legislations. In 1840 Rabi-
novich went to Kharkov, passed the required exam-
inations, and entered the medical school of the uni-
versity. He would have chosen a legal career had
not his religion closed that profession to him accord-,
ing to the laws of the time. Before he had com-
pleted his course, however, his father lost his fortune,
and Rabinovich was compelled to leave the univer-
sity and engage in business. Later he accepted a
position as inspector in connection with the govern-
ment liquor monopoly ; but, that occupation proving
distasteful to him, he surrendered it and removed to
Odessa (1845). At Odessa he engaged himself as a
clerk to a prominent law firm, and within a year he
was attached as attorney to the court of commerce.
He soon acquired a- large practise, and in 1848 be-
came a notary public.

Oslp Eabinovlch.

Rabinovich's translation of Eichenbaum's Hebrew

poem " Ha-^erab " appeared in 1847. This masterly

translation awoke admiring comment

His in Russian periodicals — "Biblioteka

Russian dlya Chteniya," "Odesski Vyestnik,"

Produc- etc. It seemed hardly credible to the
tions. Russians that a Jew could possess such
mastery of their language. In the
same year, in the "Odesski Vyestnik," he published
"Novaya Yevreiskaya Sinagoga v Odessye." It
raised a storm of indignation among the Orthodox
Jews because it exposed some of their religious
prejudices and advocated religious reform. These
first productions were followed by an article enti-
tled "Po Sluchayu Dobravo Slova," inspired, as the
title indicates, by the friendly attitude of the Rus-
sian writer Balitzki toward the Jews. This arti-
cle placated even the Orthodox part of the Jewish
community, which now learned to appreciate the
motives that prompted Rabinovich's revelation of
the dark side of their lives.

At that time there was formed in Odessa a liter-
ary circle which issued a periodical entitled " Lite-
raturnyye Vechera"; Rabinovich's "Istoriya Tor-
govavo Doma Firlich i Co." (a story; 1849) and his
" Moritz Sefardi " (1850) appeared respectively in
its first and secoiid volumes. The year 1850 intro-
duced one of the most reactionary periods in Rus-
sian history and one of the most calamitous for the
Russian Jews; the autocratic hand of Nicholas I.
ruled over Russia with a rod of iron. Rabinovich
naturally felt the general oppression, and did not
write anything until the end of the Crimean war.
The reign of Alexander II. inaugurated an era of
general awakening whose influence was felt even
among the Jews, while the Russian press discussed
their status and expressed sentiments of tolerance
hitherto unheard. At this time Rabinovich pub-
lished an essay entitled " O Moshkakh i Yoskakh "
(in "Odesski Vyestnik," 1858, Np. 10), in which he
rebuked his coreligionists for the habit of distorting
their names, thus manifesting a lack of self-respect
that exposed them to the derision of their adver-
saries. In 1859 he published, in the " Novorossiski
Literaturny Sbornik," an essay on the same subject
— "O Sobstvennykh Imenakh Yevreyev." This
essay suggested the adoption of names shown to be
correct philologically. Previous to that he had
published (in the "Russki Invalid," 1858, No. 83)
an essay entitled " Ustaryelye Vzglyady, " a vehe-
ment protest against the calumnies and malicious
attacks upon the Jews on the part of the anti-Jewish
press. Afterward Rabinovich began the publication
of a series of tales under the general title " Kartiny
Proshlavo " (Pictures of the Past). The most note-
worthy of them are " Shtrafnoi " (in
His the "Russki Vyestnik," 1859) and

Stories. "Nasyledstvenny Podsvyechnik " (in
"Razsvyet," 1860). These stories
deeply impressed the public by their vivid por-
trayal of the terrible sufferings of the Jews under
Nicholas I. and by their striking descriptions of
actual Jewish life. It is worthy of note here that
" Shtrafnoi " was translated by the historian Jost into
German immediately after its appearance (in " Jahr-
buch fur die Gesch. der Juden und des Juden-

Rabinovioh
Babinowitz

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

303

tUums," Leipsic, 1860), the whole edition of 4,800
copies selling within two weeiis. Konelsky's He-
brew translation of "Shtrafnoi," binder the title
"Ben 'Onesb," appeared at Odessa in 1865.

While these works won for Rabinovich great pop-
ularity, his services to the Russian Jews were more
important as founder and editor of the first Jewish
journal published in Russian — the "Razsvyet."
Many enlightened Russian Jews had realized the
importance of such a paper years before, but the
moment propitious for its establishment was long in
coming. Even in an epoch of great reforms, marked
by almost complete changes in the principles gov-
erning Russian social and public life, the obstacles
seemed insurmountable, and it was due only to the
perseverance and energy of Rabinovich that permis-
sion to establish such a paper was at last granted
by the minister of the interior (Jan., 1860). The
first number of the "Razsvyet" was
The "Raz- issued May 27, 1860, and as editor of

svyet." the paper Rabinovich fully demon-
strated his talent as a publicist and
novelist. The " Razsvyet " existed about a year,
only forty -five numbers appearing. The reason for
its discontinuance was the unfavorable attitude of
the Russian authorities, especially of the new Rus-
sian governor-general. Count Stroganov; Rabino-
vich decided to discontinue the paper rather than
submit to the ofiicial restrictions. With the " Raz-
svyet " his literary activity practically ended. A
humorous sketch, "Chaim Shulim Peighis," pub-
lished by him in Odessa in 1865, has little literary
merit. Notwithstanding its short existence the
" Razsvyet " had great influence among the Jews of
Russia and inspired many of the younger generation
to seek education and Western culture.

During his closing years Rabinovich was active
in commercial undertakings. In 1859 he was in-
vited to share the labors of the committee in Odessa
appointed to draw up a new communal statute.
He became a member of the city coiincil of Odes-
sa. Poor health drove him to seek relief at Me-
ran, Tyrol, where he died.' A complete edition
of his writings, with a biography, was published
in three volumes, St. Petersburg and Odessa, 1880-
1888.

Bibliography : Sochineniya, 0. A. Rahi^wvicha, vol. iii.,
Odessa, 1888 ; Den, 1869, Nos. 24, 28 ; Razsvyet, 1880, Nos. 36,
37; Hessen Oallereya Texrreisktkh Dyeyatelei, part i., St.
Petersburg, 1898.
H. K. G. D. R.

BABINOVITZ, JOSHUA BEN ELIJAH:

Russian rabbi; born at Shat, near Kaidan, in 1818;
died at Nesvizh, government of Minsk, March 18,
1887. Rabinovitz was instructed in Talmud and
rabbinics by his father, who was known as Elijah
Ragolek. At the age of eighteen he married the
daughter of a wealthy resident of Kletzk, where
he afterward became head of the yeshibah and, in
184:7, rabbi. Twenty years later he was invited
to the rabbinate of Nesvizh, where he officiated
until his death. Rabinovitz's fame was such that
even Christians accepted him as an arbitrator in
their disputes, and he was held in great esteem by
Prince Radziwill, the proprietor of Nesvizh (comp.
Leon Gordon in "Ha-Asif," 1889).

Bibliography : Tolednt Eliuahu Frumltin, p. 27, Wllna, 1900;
Keneset Y Israel, 1888, p. 260; Steinschneicler, 'Ir Wilna, p.
278 : NaUalat Abnt, p. 34, Wilna, 1894.

s. B. Ei.

RABINOVITZ, SAMUEL JACOB: Russian
rabbi and author; born in Chelm, government of
Kovno, 1857. He became rabbi at Jevije in 1887,
and was called in the same year to Alexoty. He
contributed a number of articles to "Ha-Meliz,"
which later were published under the title " Ha-Dat
weha-Le'umit " (Warsaw, 1900). He was a delegate
to the Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897. In 1900
he became rabbi of Sopotkin. Ho published his
"Orah Yashar," a catechism of the Talmud, at
Wilna in 1904.

H. K. B. Ei.

RABINOVITZ, SHALOM (pseudonym, Sha-
lom Alekem) : Russian journalist and novelist;
born in Pereyaslav, government of Poltava, 1859.
At the age of twenty-one he became government
rabbi of a small town in the neighborhood. Later he
settled in Kiev, where he still (1905) resides. Rabi-
novitz is a constant contributor to Hebrew period-
icals. He has written the following Hebrew novels:
"Shimele," in " Ila-Asif " (1889) ; "Shoshannah," in
" Ha-Zeflrah " (1889) ; " Don Kishot mi-Mazepewka,"
in "Pardes" (1893); and " Gemar Hatima," in "Bet
'Eked " (1892). His silhouettes, which first appeared
as feuilletons in "Ha-Meliz" (1889-90), afterward
separately under the title "Temunot u-Zelalim"
(St. Petersburg, 1889-90), rank with the highest of
their kind in Neo-Hebrew literature.

Rabinovitz has written also a Russian novel of
Jewish life called the "Mechtatel," which appeared
in " Yevreiskoe Obozrenie" for 1886. But he is chiefly
known by his contributions to Judseo-German litera-
ture. His two best-known novels are " Stempenyu, "
in which an untutored musical genius is the hero, and
" Yosele Solovei, " in which the adventures and tragic
life of a phenomenal young " hazzan " are described.
Both stories were published in the year-book " Volks-
bibliothek" (1889). Rabinovitz has written many
other novels and criticisms, the best known among
the latter being: "Kinderspiel," St. Petersburg,
1887; "Reb Sender Blank," ib. 1888; and the sensa-
tional review of the works of N. M. Shaikevitch
(Shomer) which he published under the title
" Shomer's Mishpat " (Berdychev, 1888). The first
volume of his collected works was published by
the " Volksbildung " society, Warsaw, 1903.

Bibliography : Wiener, History of Yidciish Literature in
the Nineteenth Centum, pp. 106, 110, 194^-202; Sefer Zikha-
ron, Warsaw, 1890, p. 105 ; Zeltlln, Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 285.
H. E. P. Wl.

RABINOWITSCH - KEMPNER, LYDIA :

Physician; born at Kovno, Russia, Aug. 22, 1871;
educated at the girls' gymnasium of her native city,
and privately in Latin and Greek, subsequently
studying natural sciences at the universities of Zu-
rich and Bern (M.D.). After graduation she went
to Berlin, where Professor Koch permitted her to
pursue her bacteriological studies at the Institute
for Infectious Diseases. In 1895 she went to Phila-
delphia, where she was appointed lecturer and,
subsequently, professor at the Medical School for
Women. There she founded a bacteriological insti-

303

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rabinovich
Babinovritz

tute, though still continuing her studies every sum-
rner under Professor Koch. In 1896 she delivered
before the International Congress of Women at Ber-
lin a lecture on the study of medicine by women in
various countries. In 1898 she married Dr. Walter
Kempner of Berlin. At the congress of scientists
held at Breslau in 1904 she presided over the section
for hygiene and bacteriology.

Bibliography : Anna Plothow, in Ber Weltspiegel, Oct. 27,
ia04 ; Deutsche Uausfrauenzeituny, July, 1897.
S. R. N.

RABINOWITZ, ELIJAH DAVID BEN
BENJAMIN : Russian rabbi ; born at Pikeln, gov-
ernment of Kovno, June 11, 1845. He studied Tal-
mud and rabbinics under his father (who was rabbi
successively at Shilel, Rogova, and Vilkomir), and
at the age of fifteien had acquired a substantial
knowledge of Talmudic and rabbinical literature.
In 1873 he was invited to the rabbinate of Pone-
viezh, in the government of Kovno. After twenty
years in that rabbinate lie was appointed rabbi of
Mir, government of Minsk. In 1901 he was made
assistant to Samuel Salant (chief rabbi of the
Ashkenazic communities at Jerusalem), whose age
precluded his continuing to discharge unassisted
the full duties of the rabbinate. Rabinowitz wrote
novellffi on Maimonides' " Yad " (Wilna, 1900), and
published also novellis and glosses on all branches
of Talmudic literature in "Ha-Tebunah," "Kebod
ha-Lebanon," "Ha-Zofeh," "Ha-Maggid," "Kene-
set Hakme Yisrael," " 'Ittur Soferim," and "Kene-
set ha-Gedolah." Many of his novelise and notes
are printed in works to which he gave his appro-
bation.
J. B. Ei.

KABINOWITZ, HIRSCH (ZEBI HA-
KOHEN) : Russian scientist and publicist; born
at Linkovo, near Poneviezh, government of Kovno,
Feb. 23, 1832; died in St. Petersburg Jan. 16, 1889.
His chief instructor in Talmud and kindred subjects
was his father, who was
the local rabbi. Hirsch
very early evinced an in-
clination to scientific stud-
ies, and was happy when
his father permitted one
of his old friends to in-
struc t him in the rudiments
of mathematics. At the
age of twenty he was well
acquainted with natural
science, and in 1852 com-
menced to write scientific
works in Hebrew. About
that time he married and
removed to Dunaburg
(Dvinsk), where he found-
ed a technical school for
Jewish boys. He was a thorough master of the
Russian language and wrote in the " Yevreiskaya
Biblioteka " of 1878 a memorable reply to the attack
on the Jews contained in the "Kniga Kahala" of
Jacob Brapmann, a converted Jew.

Settling in St. Petersburg, Rabinowitz became
an active member of the Society for the Promotion
of Culture Among the Jews of Russia. In 1879 he

Hirsch Rabinowitz.

and L. Behkmann established in that city the Rus-
sian weekly "Russia Yevrei," and in 1885 the
monthly " Yevreiskoo Obozrenie," both of which in
1886 ceased to appear. In the latter year he was
raised by the government to honorary citizenship in
recognition of his services to literature and the ad;
vancement of knowledge.

Rabinowitz's works include: "Yesode Hokmat
ha-Teba' " : book i., " Ha-Menuhah weha-Tenu'ah "
(Wilna, 1867), containingtheprinciples of mechanism
and of acoustics; "Hosafah Madda'it," a scientific
supplement to "Ha-Meli?" (St. Petersburg, 1871;
three months ) ; " Mishpete ha-Magbilim " {ib. 1871),
of which the second half is a translation of a work
by the mathematician S. Pineto; and "Ozar ha-
Hokmah weha-Madda' " (German title, " Bibliothek
der Gesammten Naturwissenschaften ") : vol. i. , " To-
ledot ha-Esh weha-Mayim," on heat and steam ; vol.
ii., "Bben ha-Sho'ebet," on magnetism, which con-
tains his own theory of original matter and of
motion; vol. iii., " Pla-Harkabah weha-Haf radah, "
on chemistry, the last three works being published
in Wilna in 1876.

In his publicistic writings in the Russian lan-
guage Rabinowitz always insisted that the Jews
are hated not for their faults, but for their excellent
qualities. He continually pointed out that only
those nations which stand low in the scale of civili-
zation or are retrograding persecute the Jews, while
those which are really civilized or progressing are
the most friendly toward them. He was not in
favor of religious reforms ; and, unlike other prog-
ressists of liis kind, lie never wrote a harsh word'
against the strictly Orthodox Jews, among whom
he had been brought up.

Bibliography : ZaKorodsliT, in Ha-Asif, iii. 440-447 (with por-
trait); ib. V. 101-102; Sefer Ziftfcaron. pp. 103-104, Warsaw,
1890; Zeitlin, Bibl. Post^'Mendels. pp. 284-385; Ha-Sliiltial}.,
i. 161-162 ; Solcolow, Sefer ha-Shanah. 1900, pp. 241-242 ; Dei-
nara, Massa'- be-Europa, pp. 87, 108, 131, 188.
H. K. P. Wl.

RABINOWITZ, ISAAC (ISH KOVNO):

Russian poet ; born in Kovno Oct. 13, 1846 ; died in
New York (U. S. A.) March 9, 1900. He began to
compose Hebrew songs at an early age. When
fourteen he took instruction in Hebrew grammar
from Abraham Mapu. At eighteen he entered the
rabbinical school at Wilna. In 1867 he married and
settled in Telshi, where he enjoyed the friendship
of Mordecai Nathansohn (his wife's grandfather)
and of Leon Gordon, who was a teacher in that
city. Rabinowitz lived therefor twenty-two years,
being engaged most of that time in business, and
writing occasionally for Hebrew periodicals. In
1889 he removed to "Vilkomir ; in 1891 he went to
New York, to which city his children had preceded
him. Here he translated novels into Yiddish.

"Zemirot Yisrael" (Wilna, 1891) contains most of
his Hebrew songs. Those written after his arrival
in the United States fall below the standard of his
former productions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Ozar ha^Sifrut, Hi. 74 etseg.; Zeitlin, Bibl.
Post-Mendels. p. 285 ; G. Bader, in Die Welt, May 11, 1900.
H. TX. P. Wl. .

KABINOWITZ, JOSEPH: Russian mission-
ary to the Jews; born in Orgeyev, Bessarabia, Sept;
23, 1887 ; died in Kishinef May 13, 1899. He was

Saca
Sachel

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

304

brought up as a hasid, but later acquired some sec-
ular knowledge and mastered the Russian language.
For a time he practised law in the lower courts
of his native town, settling subsequently in Kish-
inef. In 1878 he wrote a long Hebrew article on
the improvement of the rabbinate, which was pub-
lished in Gottlober's "Ha-Bolj:er Or" (iv., Nos. 7-8).
This was his only contribution as a Jew to He-
brew literature. In 1883 he founded the sect Novy
Israel, and began in a veiled and cautious way to
preach a kind of new Christianity to the Jews of
Kishinef. Following immediately upon the found-
ing of the BiBLEiTZY brotherhood by Jacob Qordin
at Elizabethgrad, the new movement attracted much
attention, and was freely discussed in Russian news-
papers. Rabinowitz succeeded for a time in inter-
esting Professor Delitzsch of Leipsic in his move-
ment and in allaying the suspicions of the Russian
government, which strictly prohibits the formation
of new religious sects. But his open conversion to
Protestantism had the natural result of estranging
many of his followers. He was baptized in Berlin
on March 34, 1885. See Now Israel.

Bibliography : Dunlop, Memoirn of Gospel Triumphs Among
the Jews, pp. 445 et seq., London, 1894 ; J. F. A. de le Roi, Ge-
schichte der Evarmelischen Juden-Missl/m, i. 345 et seq.,
Leipsic, 1899 ; Voskhod, 1888, No. 8, pp. 45-46 ; Ha^MeHz, 1885,
Nos. 3, 8, 10, 33 ; Missionary Review, Jan., 1894 ; March (pp.
205--207); and July (p. 560), 1899.
H. R. P. AVl.

BACA (REKA) : Noun formed from the adjec-
tive "rek " (= "emptj'"), and applied to a person
without education and devoid of morals (comj).
Judges xi. 3). Tlie noun occurs several times in
the Talmud; e.g., Ta'an. 20b; Ber. 22a, 33b; Git.
58a; B. B. 75a; Pesik. R. 38 (ed. Friedmann, p. 54a).
The plural " rekaya " is found in Ecclesiastes Rabbah.
" Raca " occurs also in the New Testament (Matt. v.
32), where it is equivalent to an expression of con-
tempt.
Bibliography: 'Aruk, s.v. P'l; Levy, Neuhebr. WOrterb.

T. J. Z. L.

RACE, THE JEWISH. See Anthropologt.

RACES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT : The

ancient Hebrews from time to time came in contact
with peoples who were obviously of different speech,
customs, or physique from their own. To these
they learned to give names. A whole list of such
names is contained in Genesis x., which is a kind of
ethnographic survey of the nations known to the
Hebrews and inhabiting territory that extended from
Mesopotamia, Tarshish, and Abyssinia to the Mgenn
Archipelago. Many, if not most, of these names
occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, showing that
they were in use among tJie people, and were not a
mere name-list derived from official or literary rec-
ords. The arrangement in Gen. x. is on the whole
geographical and political, Canaan, for example,
being included under the sons of Ham.

Evidence of explicit knowledge of these various

tribes and nationalities is mainly given, as might

be expected, in regard to the inhabit-

Races in ants of Palestine. There appears to

Palestine, have been a tradition that the earlier

inhabitants were giants and Anakim,

who sometimes bore the names of Rephaim, Zuzim,

Zamzummim, Emim, and Avim, while the Horites

or "cave-dwellers" are also specially referred to
as inhabitants of Seir (Gen. xiv. 5, 6; Deut. ii.
10-13, 30-23). The most numerous inhabitants of
the land when the Israelites first entered it are re-
ferred to as Canaanites. Sometimes names of more
restricted meaning are given to them, as Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, and Girga-
shites. Of these the Amorites are most frequently
mentioned, and are cthnologically the most interest-
ing if, as is claimed for them by Sayce, they were
of light complexion and blue-eyed, besides being
dolichocephalic or long-headed. This description,
however, has been based on the colored pictures of
Amorites found on the Egyptian monuments (W.
M. Plinders-Petrie, "Racial Types from Egypt,"
London, 1887), and which to a certain extent are con-
ventional. The Hivites, who were found both in the
north (Josh. xi. 3) and in Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 2),
are sometimes called Amorites, and are consequently
ethnologically connected with them. So, too, were
the Amalekites, with whom may be reckoned the
Kenites and Kenizzites («'6. xv. 19; Num. xxiv. 30,
21), who were nomads of southern Palestine. Two
other tribes which are mentioned as dwelling in
Canaan were probably immigrants like the Hebrews:
the Philistines on tlio southwest coast are stated to
have come from Caphtor (regarded by some schol-
ars as the coast of Asia Minor), and were, therefore,
possibly of Aryan origin ; and the Hittites, found
in both the north and south of Canaan, were related
to the inhabitants of the Hittite empire in northern
Syria. These latter have been connected ethnolog-
ically by Jensen with the modern Armenians, but
his argument is not convincing.

In the immediate neighborhood of the Hebrews are
mentioned the Edomites or Idumeans (south of the
Dead Sea) and the Moabites and Ammonites (east of
that sea), who were regarded by tradition as racially
connected with the Hebrews, while still farther to
the southeast the Ishmaelites of Arabia were also
similarly connected. Other tribes of Arabia are
mentioned, as the Joktanitesin the extreme south of
Saba (Gen. x. 26-30), while the Midianitesof Arabia
Petrsea in the north are represented as related to
the Amalekites and as intermarrying with the He-
brews in the time of Moses. Northwest were the
Phenicians, dwelling mainly in Tyre and Sidon, who
certainly spoke a language identical with the He-
brew. Finally should be mentioned the Samaritans
of later date, who were regarded as the descendants
of the " mixed multitude " brought by the Assyrian
conquerors to colonize the Northern Kingdom. See
Samaritans (Anthropology).

With regard to their relations to tribes and peoples
farther removed, the Hebrews had a tradition con-
necting themselves with the Arameans, who were
regarded as sons of Shem (ib. x. 23) and
Tribes of grandsons of Nahor(8S. xxii. 21); and it
Asia is supposed to have been from Padan-

Minor. aram that Isaac and Jacob, the fathers
of the nation, derived their wives. This
would tend to connect the early Hebrews with the
Assyrians and Babylonians. Literally Aram refers to
the districts of north Syria ; and various divisions of
Aram are mentioned, as Aram of Damascus (II Sam.
vili. 5, 6, Hebr.) and Aram of Beth-rehob (ib. x. 6).

305

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kaca
Bachel

The knowledge of the Hebrews with regard to
persons of Aryan descent was somewhat limited.
The ships of Solomon seem to have gone to Tar-
shish, in Spain; Cyprus is known asChittim; and
the Greeks of the Asiatic continent were known as
lonians under the name of Javan. Later the Per-
sians became known. The Aryans of Armenia did
not enter that country until the seventh centui'y
B.C., when they followed the Medes. Before that
time this part of Asia Minor was inhabited by the
Tabareni and Moschi, the Tubal and Meshech of the
Old Testament. Other tribes of this neighborhood
were referred to as Gog or Magog ; both terms are
possibly hut not probably derived from the name of
the King of Lydia known in Greek history as Gyges,
whence would come the Assyrian form " Mat-Gugu "
(the country of Gyges). Tlie derivations of other
names referring to the same neighborhood, like Ash-
kenaz, Togarmah, and Riphath, are less certain,
though their solution may throw considerable light
upon the racial affinity of the Hebrews. The three
great divisions, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, are geo-
graphical and political : Shem represents the region
stretching from the Arabian peninsula to Blam
(which in language was not Semitic) ; Ham is Egypt
and its dependencies (including Canaan) ; Japhet is
Asia Minor and probably the Greek peninsula.

The whole question of tlie purity of the Hebrew
race is at present obscured in the absence of ade-
quate anthropological data with regard to the in-
habitants of Asia Minor. The indications in the Old
Testament point merely to linguistic affinities, those
who spoke the same or a similar language being re-
garded as of the same descent. Up to the present
very few crania have been unearthed in Palestine or
. in the neighborhood; and it would be difficult in
most cases to determine their racial relations even if
many more should be found. The only other source
of information, the pictures on the Assyrian and
Egyptian monuments, has not been sufficiently an-
alyzed. See also Nations and Languages, The
Seventy.

Bibliography : Sayce, Races of the Old Testament, London,
]891 ; G. A. Barton, Sketch nf Semitic Origins, New York,
1903 ; R. Stuart-Poole, In Journal of the Anthropological
Institute, May, 1887; B. Berlin, ib. Nov., 1888; Jacobs,
Studies in Biblical Archceologu, pp. 11-12.
T. J.

RACHEL (^n"l = "a ewe"). — Biblical Data:
Laban's younger daughter, who became one of Ja-
cob's wives (Gen. xxix. 26-28). Her first meeting
with Jacob occurred at a well near Haran, whither
she had taken the flocks for water. As she was
beautiful and well favored, Jacob fell in love with
her and agreed to serve Laban for seven years on
the condition that at the end of that time Rachel
should become his wife. Through the fraud of
Laban, Jacob's marriage with Rachel took place
after he had married her elder sister, Leah, who,
though less loved than Rachel, became the mother
of four sons, while the latter was childless. This
tilled Rachel with envy, and, having expressed her
feelings to Jacob, she taade him take her handmaid
Bilhah to wife in order that she miglit obtain a fam-
ily through her (xxix. 9-13, 17-18, 31 ; xxx. 8).

Later, Rachel became the mother of Joseph (xxx.
22-24). Rachel and Leah persuaded their husband
X.— 20

to flee from Laban's house, and at the moment of
Jacob's flight Rachel stole her father's teraphim.
She put them in the " furniture " of the camel on
which she sat, and when her father came to search
for them she pleaded sickness (xxxi. 14-16, 19, 34-35).
At his meeting with Esau, Jacob showed his partic-
ular affection for Rachel by placing her last, with
her son Joseph (xxxiii. 2, 7). Jacob was on his way
back to his native country when Rachel died while
giving birth to her second son, Benjamin. Her
death occurred not far from Ephrath, and she was
buried on the road leading thither, Jacob setting up
a pillar on her grave to perpetuate her memory (xxx v.
16-20). Rachel and her sister Leah are mentioned
as the two women who founded the house of Is-
rael, Rachel, though younger, being mentioned first
(Ruth iv. 11). Jeremiah represents Rachel, weep-
ing for her children being driven into captivity, as
the personification of tenderness (Jer. xxxi. 14).

B. G. n, M. Sel.

In Rabbinical Literature : Rachel and Leah

were twin sisters, fourteen years old when Jacob
came to their father's house; consequently they
were twenty-one years old at the time of their mar-
riage to Jacob (Seder '01am Rabbah ii.). The
terms "elder" and "younger," applied respectively
to Leah and Rachel (Gen. xxix. 16), are explained
by the Rabbis as referring to the divine gifts
bestowed upon their descendants; for while roy-
alty and the priesthood remained permanently with
Leah's descendants, they were held only temporarily
by Rachel's — royalty with Joseph and Saul, and the
priesthood with the tabernacle of Shiloh (Gen. R. Ixx.
15). In other respects the two sisters were alike, both
being ancestresses of kings, heroes, prophets, judges,
and conquerors (i6. Ixx. 14; Tan., Wayezo, 13).

When Jacob met Rachel near the well, and pro-
posed to marry her, she informed him that she
had an elder sister, and that as her father was of a
deceitful nature, he (>Iacob) would be
Rachel and imposed upon. Jacob replied that he
Leah. was her father's equal in trickery;
and he agreed with Rachel upon cer-
tain signs which would enable him to recognize her.
Later, when Leah was given in marriage instead of
Rachel, the latter revealed the signs to her sister in
order to spare her from being disgraced by Jacob.
It was through the merit of her discretion that
Rachel became the ancestress of King Saul, who also
was discreet (Meg. 13b ; B. B. 123a ; Midr. Agadah
to Gen. xxix. 12; Targ. pseudo-Jonathan ad loc).

Rachel's envy at her sister's fertility (comp. Gen.
xxx. 1) is only once (Gen. R. xlv. 6) interpreted by
the Rabbis as indicating one of the cliaracteristics of
women. Most of the Rabbis consider the idea of
Rachel being an envious woman as incompatible
with what has been previously said of her. They
declare that Rachel was not envious of her sister's
fertility, but of her righteousness ; she thought that
if Leah had not been a better woman than she, she
would not have had children. Besides, Rachel was
afraid that her father, seeing that she had no chil-
dren by Jacob, might marry her to Esau (Midr.
Agadat Bereshit li. 1; Gen. R. Ixxi. 9). She
therefore insisted that Jacob pray to God for chil-
dren, arguing that his father,, Isaac, had done so

Kachel
Kagoler

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

306

(comp. Gen. xxv. 31). Jacob objecting on the
ground that his father had one wife only, while lie
himself had two, and that though one of them was
childless, he had children by the other, she urged
him to follow Abraham's example, and to take her
handmaid for a wife (Midr. Agadat Bereshit I.e. ;
comp. Midr. Agadah to Gen. xxx. 1 ; Tan., Wayeze,
19; Gen. R. Ixxi. 10). According to the "Sefer ha-
Yashar" (section "Wayeze," p. 46a, Leghorn, 1870),
Rachel herself prayed God to give her children,
and God finally answered her pra3'er.

In the episode of the mandrakes, when Leah
reproached her sister for having robbed her of her
husband (Gen. xxx. 14-15), Rachel's feelings were
wounded, and she replied bitterly: "Jacob is not
thy husband ; he is mine. It was for my sake that
he came here and served our father for so many

6), this prayer of Rachel caused Leah's seventh
child, which at the time of conception was a son, to
be transformed into a daughter; otherwise Rachel
would have been the mother of only one son (comp.,
however, Ber. 60a, and Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to
Gen. xxx. 21).

The Rabbis differ as to the reason why Rachel
stole her father's teraphim. Some consider that she
did so in order to conceal Jacob's flight; others, that
her object was to turn her father from idolatry
(Pirke R. El. xxxvi. ; Gen. R. Ixxiv. 4; " Sefer ha-
Yasliar, " section " Wayeze," p. 47a).

As Rachel's death occurred fifteen years after her
marriage, she must have died at the age of thirty-
six (Seder '01am Rabbah I.e. ; Midr. Tadshe, in
Epstein, "Mi-Kadmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," Supple-
ment, p. xxi., where the number 37 must be cor-

Traditionai, Tomb of Rachel.

(From ft photograph by Bonfils.)

years. Had I not revealed to thee our signs, he
would never have become thy husband " (Midr.
Agadah to Gen. xxx. 15). The affair of the man-
drakes is generally represented by the Rabbis as
unfavorable to Rachel; and it was due to her mode
of obtaining them (comp. Gen. I.e.) that she was not
buried in the cave of Machpelah by
the side of her husband (Gen. R. Ixxii.
3). God remembered Rachel on Rosh
ha-Shanah (Ber. 29a; li. H. 11a), and
it was particularly her self-abnegation
at the time of lier sister's marriage which gained
for her the divine clemency (Gen. R. Ixxiii. 3 ; Midr.
Agadah to Gen. xxx. 23).

Rachel's words at the birth of Joseph, "The Lord
shall add to me another son " (Gen. xxx. 34), show
that she was a prophetess. She knew that Jacob
was to have only twelve sons, and, Joseph being
the eleventh son, she prayed for only one son more
(Tan., Wayeze, 30). According to Gen. R. (Ixxii.

Her Self-
Ab-
negation.

reeled to 36). The "Sefer ha-Yasliar" (section
"Wayishlah," p. 56b), however, gives her age at
the time of her death as forty -five. Rachel's early
decease was due, according to the general opinion
of the Rabbis, to Jacob's involuntary curse uttered
when Laban was searching for the teraphim, " With
whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not
live" (Gen. xxxi. 33), he not knowing that Rachel
had taken the images. R. Judan's opinion, how-
ever, was that Rachel died before Leah because,
although she was the younger sister, she spoke be-
fore Leah when they were addressed by their hus-
band (ib. xxxi. 14; Midr. Agadat Bereshit li. 3;
Pirke R. El. I.e. ; Gen. R. Ixxiv. 3, 6).

Rachel's death was so deeply felt by Jacob that
he considered it the greatest of all his sorrows (Ruth
R. i. 3). He buried her on the road to Ephrath be-
cause he foresaw that the Israelites, when driven
into captivity along that road, would need her in-
tercession with God in their behalf (Midr. Agadah to

307

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bachel
Kagroler

Gen. XXXV. 19; Gen. R. Ixxxii. 11). Jer. xxxi. 15

(see Biblical Data, above) is the source of the mid-

rashic legend that when the Israelites were driven

into captivity by Nebuzar-adan, and

" Rachel the supplications of the Patriarchs

lyCourning' and of Moses proved of no avail,

for Her Rachel arose from her grave and im-

Ch.ildren." plored God's clemenc3% basing her

plea upon her own self-abnegation

with regard to her sister. God thereupon promised

her the restoration of Israel (Lam. R., Petihta, 35).

Rachel was one of the four Jewish matriarchs, all
of whom were prophetesses (Ber. 60a), and who are
often referred to in the liturgy, Rachel being men-
tioned before Leah. As the four different plants
with which the Jews were commanded to celebrate
the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxlii. 40) are consid-
ered by the Rabbis to symbolize the four matriarchs,
Rachel, who died the youngest, they consider sym-
bolized by the willows of the brook, which fade
sooner than any other plant (Lev. R. xxx. 10).

E. c. M. Sbl.

RACHEli. See Akiba b. Joseph.

BACHEL, ELIZABETH. See Felix, Elisa-
Rachel.

RADIN, ADOLPH M. : American rabbi ; born
at Neustadt-Schirwindt, Poland, Aug. 5, 1848. He
received his Talmudical education at Volozhin and
Elseshok, and studied at the universities of Berlin,
Konigsberg (where be was editor of the " Judische
Grenzbote"), and Greifswald (Ph.D.). After suc-
cessively occupying rabbinates at Mewe, Kempen,
Kalisz, and Lodz, he went to the United States,
where he assumed the rabbinate of the congrega-
tion at Blmira, N. Y., and later of the Congregation
Gates of Hope, New York city. At present (1905) he
officiates at the People's Synagogue. Radin is es-
pecially concerned in the care of Jewish prisoners.
Bibliography : American Jewish Year Book, 1903-4, p. 87.

s. F. T. H.

BADNEB, DAVID: Hebrew writer; born
Fob. 22, 1848, at Wilna, Russia; died there Nov. 11,
1901. He translated into Hebrew Schiller's " Will-
iam Tell" (1878) and "Don Carlos" (1879), Mosen-
thal's "Deborah" (1880), and Cassel's "Geschichte
und Litteratur der Juden."

Bibliography : Sokolow, Sefer Zi/ctoron, Warsaw, 1889 ; Win-
ter and Wiinsche, Die JUdische Litteratur, iii. 895.

J. I. Wak.

B ADO (originally BODEB), ANTON: Hunga-
rian poet and author ; born at Moor June 29, 1863 ; son
of the grammarian Adolf Roder. He studied clas-
sical and modern philology at Steinamanger (Szom-
bathely) and Budapest, and engaged in journalism
in 1880. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in 1883
with the work ■' A Magyar JMtiforditas TOrtenete "
(History of the Hungarian Art of Translation), he
went to Italy to study, and later won a reputation
in Hungarian literature as a translator.

Rado's renderings include Tasso's "Jerusalem,"
Byron '.s " Lara " (1883) ; Petrarch's sonnets (1884);
the lyric poems of Leopardi, Corneille's "Cid,"
Euripides' "Ipliigeniain Aulis," Ariosto's "Orlando
Furioso " (1893) ; and extracts from the Persian of
Firdusi ("Syavush," 1896; "Zal and Rudabah,"
1898). For the stage he has translated librettos

of Wagner, Boito, Verdi, Riccini, Ponchielli, Mas-
cagni, Leoncavallo, Kienzl, Giordano, Giacosa, Cos-
tetti, Bracco, Rovetta, Goldoni, and Cavallotti.
Rado has published, besides, a collection of original
poems, an anthology of Greek and Latin poetry
(1885), and a history of Italian literature ("Az
Olasz Irodalom TOrtenete," 3 vols., 1896). He is a
member of the Hungarian Kisfaludy society.
BiBLiOGKAPHY : Pallas Lex.

s. L. V.

EAFFALOVICH, AETHUB : Russian econo-
mist; born at Odessa in 1853; a member of the
well-known banking family of that name. He
studied economics and diplomacy at Paris and Bonn,
and became private secretary to Count Schuvalov
in London (1876-79); at the same time he was cor-
respondent of the " Journal des Debats"; later, of
the "Temps." He was appointed member of the
Superior Council of Commerce in Russia. His wri-
tings are mainly devoted to economic and finan-
cial subjects: "L'ImpOt surles Alcohols etle Mono-
pole en Allemagne " (Paris, 1886) ; " Le Logement
de rOuvrier et dti Pauvre " (1897) ; "Les Finances
de la Russie " (1899). He publishes an annual finan-
cial review, "L'Annee Financifere," and is the chief
editor of the " Dictionnalre de I'Bconomie Politique. "
Bibliography : Nouveau Larousse lllustre.

s. J.

BAFBAM I. (BEN PAPA) : Babylonian amora
of the fourth century. In his youth he was a pupil
of R. Hisda (Shab. 83a), in whose name he transmits
various halakic and haggadic sayings (Ber. 36b;
Shab. 81a; 'Er. 83a; Ta'an. 13a; Kid. 81b; Ber. 8a,
59a). He succeeded Rab Dim! as head of the school
in Pumbedita. He died, according to Abraham ibn
Daud, In 887; according to Sherira Gaon, in 395.

Bibliography : Abraham ibn Daud, Sefer ha-Kabhalah, in
Neubauer, JVf. J. C. 1. 59 ; Sherli'a Gaon, ih, 1. 32 ; Heilpiln,
Seder ha-Dorot, li. 311 ; Weiss, Dor, iii. 207 ; Halevy, Dorot
ha-Bishonim, iii. 85-89.
w. b. J. Z. L.

BAFBAM II. : Babylonian amora of the sev-
enth generation ; he was a pupil of R. Ashi, to
whom he frequently addressed questions (Ket. 95b ;
Git. 42a), and a colleague of Rabina II. (Yoma 78a).
He succeeded R. Gebiha as head of the Academy of
Pumbedita, and held that position from 433 until
his death in 443 (Sherira, in Neubauer, "M. J. C."
i. 34 ; Abraham ibn Daud, ib. i. 61).
Bibliography : Halevy, Dorot ha-Bishonim, lil. 85-89.

w. b. J. Z. L.

BAGOLEB, ABBAHAM BEN SOLOMON :
Lithuanian Talmudist of the eighteenth century ;
born at Wilna; brother of Elijah b. Solomon (Elijah
Wilna). Ragoler was preacher at Shklov and the
author of "Ma'alot ha-Torah" (2d ed., KSnigsberg,
1851), a collection of Talmudio passages extolling
the Torah and its students.

Bibliography : Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 351, No. 17i3 ;
SuTst, Bitil. Jud. ill. 516 (who calls him Abraham Wilna);
Walden, Shem ha-Gedolim he-Hadash, i. 15.
B. 0. M. Sel.

BAGOLEB, ELIJAH BEN JACOB: Rus-
sian rabbi and cabalist ; born at Neustadt Sugind,
government of Kovno, in 1794; died at Kalisz Nov.
5, 1849; a descendant of Mordecai Jafle through
Zebl Hirsch Ashkenazi (Hakam Zebi). After Rago-
ler's boyhood had passed he studied the Talmud

Rag'oler

Bahem Na 'Alaw

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

308

alone; and as he had never attended any yeshi-
bah, his mind was free from casuistry (" pilpul ").
He clung to the literal interpretation of the Tal-
mud, preferring the commentary of Rashi, and
often endeavored to understand the Talmudic text
without the aid of any commentary whatever. Be-
sides Talmudic literature, Kagoler
Early Pro- devoted himself to the study of the
ficiency. Bible and Hebrew grammar, and, in
addition, of Latin and German. At
the age of twenty-one he turned his attention to
the Cabala, and, after he had studied alone for some
time, he went to Volozliin with the intention of con-
tinuing his investigations under Hayyim Volozhiner.
He, however, remained only a short time at this
place; and when he returned to his native town he
was forced, by a reverse in his father's fortune, to
accept a rabbinical office.

Ragoler was called to the rabbinate of Shat,
government of Kovno, and iu 1831 to that of
Eiragola, in the same government, commonly
known to the Jews as Ragola, whence his name,
Elijah Ragoler. He remained in this place three
years and then (1824) became rabbi of Viliampol-
Slobodka, a suburb of Kovno. There he lectured
on Talmud before a great number of students ; and
most of his pupils became rabbis. In the beginning
of 1840 Ragoler was called to the rabbinate of
Kalisz, where he officiated until his death. Although
Kalisz was a larger town, his occupancy of the
rabbinate brought liim little satisfaction, so much
did he miss his former pupils.

Ragoler was one of those enlightened rabbis who,
in defending Orthodox Judaism against its adver-
saries, carried on the struggle with moderation. In
1844, when the Reform rabbis, under
Defends the leadership of Abraham Geiger, as-
Orthodox sembled at Brunswick for a confer-
Judaism. ence, Ragoler was invited by Zebi
Hirsch Leliren of Amsterdam to join
the Orthodox rabbis in their protest. He accord-
ingly, in a letter to Lehren, argued against the
tenets of Reform rabbinism, but at the same time
insisted upon the avoidance of violence and partic-
ularly of insulting words. He contended that it was
not worth while to bring on a quarrel so long as his
party was without particulars of the conference.
Besides, he declared, insulting the Reform rab'bis
would only enrage them the more without profiting
Orthodoxy. He contented himself with indicating
the means of preventing the mass of the Jews from
"faUing into the net of Reform."

Althougli, as stated above, Ragoler studied Cab-
ala, he did so only from a scientific point of view ;
he objected to its practise, detesting the writing
and use of "kemi'ot" (see Amulet). The chief
points of his method of study are: (1) never to tire
one's mind with commentaries on Rashi; (3) after
having studied a section of the Pentateuch, to study
the Talmudic passages in connection
His with such section ; (3) to teach chil-

ISIethod of dren first the Pentateuch, then the
Study. Prophets and Hagiographa, and then,
when their minds are ripe enough, the
Talmud. In delivering his decisions he followed
the Law strictly ; he thus abolished many old cus-

toms which he considered to be contradictory there-
to. His ordinances ("tak^anot"), the observance
of which he strongly recommended, are very char-
acteristic, e.g., that women in particular should not
go to the river on Rosh ha-Shanah for the recitation
of the "Tashlik" (he held that it would be well to
abolish this custom altogether); that one should
not recite the " kiddush ha-lebanah " under the open
sky, nor on Yom Kippur and the Sabbaths follow-
ing the Passover feast the piyyutim which occur
before "Sliema'."

Ragoler left a number of writings, some of which
were published half a century after his death by his
son-in-law David Levitin, under the title "Yad
Eliyahu" (Wilna, 1900), the work consisting of three
parts: (1) "Pesakim," responsa on the four divi-
sions of the Shulhan 'Aruk ; (3) " Sefer ha-Kelalim,"
an alphabetical index of Talmudical subjects; (8)
"Ketabim," novelise on the Talmudic themes, ar-
ranged in alphabetical order.

Bibliography : Aryeh Lob Frumkin, Toledot Eliyahu, Wilna,
1900.
E. c. M. Ski..

RAGSTATT, FRIEDRICH VON WEILA:

Convert to Christianity ; born in Germany 1G48.
His Jewish name was probably Weil, whence his
surname von Weila. He embraced Christianity
at Cleves in 1671, and became pastor in a Dutch vil-
lage. Ragstatt was author of the following works:
(1) "Yefeh Mar'eh " (Amsterdam, 1671; written in
Latin), in which he endeavored to prove, as against
the Jewish controversialists, especially Lipmann of
Mlilhausen, the Messianic mission of Jesus. A Dutch
translation of this work, which contains also an ac-
count of Shabbethai Zebi, was published at Amster-
dam in 1683. (2) "Uytmundende Liefde Jesu tot
de Zeelen," ib. 1678. (3) "Van het Gnaden Ver-
bond," ib. 1683, (4) Two homilies on Gen. xlix.
10 and Mai. iii.. The Hague, 1684. (5) "Noaohs
Prophetic von Bekering der Heyden," Amsterdam,
1685. (6) Addresses delivered on the occasion of
the baptism of the Portuguese Jew Abraham Gabai
Faro, ib. 1688. (7) "Brostwepen des Geloofs," «.
1 689. (8) " Jesus Nazarenus, Sion 's Koning, on Psalm
II. 6," Amsterdam, 1688.

Bibliography: Wolf, Bibl. Hehr. iii. 948, No. 1853; Furst,
Bihl. Jud. iii. 138.
D. I. Br.

RAGUSANO, AARON BEN DAVID HA-
KOHEN. See Aaron ben David Cohen op
Ragusa.

RAHAB : Originally a mythioal name designa-
ting the abyss or the sea; subsequently apphed to
Egypt. Job ix. 13 and xxvi. 13 indicate that it is an
alternative for "Tiamat," the Babylonian name of
the dragon of darkness and chaos ; Ps. Ixxxix. 9 also
indicates that " Rahab " is a name applied to the sea-
monster, the dragon. According to a sentence pre-
served in the Talmud, " Rahab " is the name of the
demon, the ruler of the sea (" Sar shel Yam " ; B. B.
74b). It is used as a designation for Egypt in
Ps. Ixxxvii. 4 and Isa. xxx. 7. Similarly, in Isa. 11.
9, which alludes to the exodus from Egypt, the de-
struction of Pharaoh is described as a smiting of the
great sea-monster Rahab or the dragon Tannin. The
j uxtaposition of " Rahab " and " Tannin " in this pas-

309

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Baeoler
Bahem Na

Alaw

sage explains wliy " Rahab " was used as a designa-
tion for Egypt, which was otherwise called " Tannin "
(see Ezek. xxix. 3, Ilebr.). It must be noted that the
Jewish exegetes deprived the word " Rahab " of its
mythological character, and explained it as merely
an equivalent for " arrogance, " " noise, " or " tumult "
— applied both to the roaring of the sea and to the
arrogant noisiness and proud boasting of the Egyp-
tians (comp. Abraham iba Ezra on Ps. Ixxxvii. 4
and Ixxxix. 9).

Bibliography: Cheyne and Black, Enci/c. BiW.; Smltb.Dtct.
Bible ; Gunkel, SchOpfung und Chaos, pp. 30-40, Gottlngen,

w.B. J. Z. L.

BAHAB (3m = "broad ").— Biblical Data : A
woman of Jericho who sheltered the spies sent by
Joshua to search out the land. Having arrived at Jer-
icho, the two spies remained at Rahab's house, situ-
ated in the wall of the city and having a window on
the outside (Josh. ii. 1, 15). Rahab was ordered by
the king, who had been informed of the arrival of
the spies, to deliver them to him; she, however,
hid them on the roof and declared that they liad
come and gone without her knowing who they
were (ii. 3-6). In her conversation with the spies
upon the roof, Rahab proved to have been well
informed of the progress of the Israelites since
they had crossed the Red Sea. Slie told them tliat
she was certain of their final conquest of the land,
and asked them to reward her by sparing herself
and her whole family — her father, mother, broth-
ers, and sisters, all of whom lived in the interior of
the city (ii. 8-14). After she had let the spies down
through the window of her house, they enjoined her
to take her whole family into her house, which she
should distinguish by placing a scarlet string or rope
in the window through which they had made their
escape (ii. 15-21). At the conquest of Jericho by
the Israelites, Joshua ordered the two spies to rescue
Rahab and her family, whose descendants thencefor-
ward dwelt in Israel (vi. 33-33, 25).

E. G. H. M. Sel.

In Rabbinical Literature : Rahab was one

of the most beautiful women in the world, the mere
mention of her name exciting inordinate desire
(Meg. 15a; Ta'an. 5b). Later Jewish commentators,
Rashi among them, interpret njltn, the Hebrew
term for "harlot," as "one who sells food," basing
their view on Targum Jonathan (to Josh. ii. 1),
which renders it by Kn'pnJIS (= "innkeeper";
comp., however, David !Kimhi ad loc). In the Tal-
mudic literature, however, it is accepted that Rahab
was a harlot. She was ten years old when the
Israelites came out of Egypt, and she pursued her
immoral calling during the forty years that the
Israelites were wandering in the wilderness. There
was not a prince nor a ruler that had not had rela-
tions with her; and she was therefore well informed
of what was going on outside Jericho (Mek. , Yitro,
'Amalek, 1; Zeb. 116b). At the conquest of that
city by the Israelites, Rahab became a sincere prose-
lyte to the cult of Yhwh. She then married Joshua
and became the ancestress of eight priests who were
prophets as 'WeU, Jeremiah among them, and of
the prophetess Huldah (Meg. 14b). Raliab was also
one of the proselyte women styled "the pious"

("Ijasidot"; Midr. Tadshe, in Epstein, "Mi-Kad-
moniyyotha-Yehudim," Supplement, p. xliii.). The
words "and the families of the house of them that
wrought fine linen," etc. (I Chron. iv. 21), are con-
sidered by the Rabbis to refer to the house of Rahab
(Ruth R. ii. 1).

The conversion of Rahab is regarded by the Rabbis
as more complete than that of Jethro and Naaman;
for while the latter two did not free themselves
entirely from a belief in other gods, Rahab acknowl-
edged that Yhwh was the only God both in heaven
and on earth (Mck., I.e. ; Deut. R. ii. 19). This ac-
knowledgment of Rahab called forth the admiration
of God Himself, who said : " On earth thou couldest
see with thine eyes that there is no other God be-
sides Me ; but to acknowledge also that I am the
only God in heaven needs special faith. I promise
thee, therefore, that one of thy descendants [refer-
ring to Ezekiel] shall see what no prophet before
him shall have seen" (comp. Ezek. i. 1); thus ma-
king Ezekiel also one of Rahab's descendants (Midr.
Shcmuel, in Yalk., Josh. 10). Rahab's reward was
alluded to by Hezekiah in his prayer for recovery
from his sickness (comp. II Kings xx. 3), when he
said that as Rahab was greatly recompensed for
the rescue of only two men, he who rescued so
many from idolatry certainly deserved some re-
ward (Bed. R. v. 2).

E. c. M. Sel.

BAHABI, DAVID: Indian calendar-maker;
born in the state of Cochin about the middle of the
eighteenth century. His father, Ezekiel Rahabi,
was one of the wealthiest merchants there; and
when he died (1771) David took over the manage-
ment of his business, devoting, however, consider-
able time to his studies also. He is known througJi
his work " Ohel Dawid " (Amsterdam, 1785), which
treats of the origin of the Hebrew calendar.

Bibliography : Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1840, pp. 710-711.
J. P. C.

BAHAMIM, NISSIM: Turkish rabbinical wri-
ter ; lived at Smyrna ; died there 1838. He was the
author of a Hebrew work entitled "Har ha-Mor"
(Salonica, 1835), consisting of sermons and disserta-
tions on Maimonides (Hazan, " Ha-Ma'alot li-Shelo-
moh," p. 250).

D. M. Fr.

RAHEM NA 'ALAW : A dirge of the Sephar-
dim, chanted by tliose taking part in the sevenfold
processional circuit around the bier before interment
(see Hakkafot), as depicted in the print b}' Picart,
1723, reproduced in Jew. Encyc. iii. 433 (see alsiy
Funeral Rites). In accordance with the tone of
pious resignation pervading the Jewish funeral cere-
mony (" Zidduk ha-Din "), the melody to which this
dirge is chanted breathes a distinct note of prayer-
ful hope. The same chant is used also for the long
hymn by Solomon ibn Gabirol, each stanza of which
commences "Elohim Eli Attah," prefixed as a "re-
shut" (see Kerobot) to the ancient prayer "Nish-
mat kol hai," in the morning service of the Day of
Atonement, according to the Sephardic ritual. The
melody is by many deemed to be of more modern
origin than the majority of the chants preserved in
the tradition of that ritual.

Bahmer
Kainbow

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

310

RAHEM NA 'ALAW

P Larghetto.

^#=^"

^=i:

:T^=^

--* — w-

-*— ^

ores.

* *-

H ^

Ba - bem na 'a law.

--ai m -^ J^

El e - lo him hay yim.

=1-

^:^

-J — ■•^

me lek 'o lam,
/

ki 'im - me ka. . . . me- kor hay yim.

ah naf sho .... bi-ze - ror

Bibliography : Zunz, Literaturgeseh. p. 411 ; D. A. de Sola,
Ancient MelodkK of the Sephardie Liturgy, pp. 17, 23, and
No. 70, London, 18.57 ; S. Namnbourg, Recueil de Chants: Re-
Ugieux, No. 57, Paris, 1874 ; Cohen and Davis, Voice of Prayer
and Praise, No. 380, London, 1899.
A. P. L. C.

BAHMEB, MOBITZ: German rabbi; born
Dec. 13, 1837, at Rybnik, Prussian Silesia; died at
"Magdeburg March 3, 1904. After studying at the
seminary of Breslau (1854-63) he was called to Thorn
(1863) as preacher and rabbi ; subsequently he went to
Magdeburg (1867), where he officiated until his death.
Among his writings are the following: "Ueberdie
Einleitung zu Maimonides' Mischnacommentar "
(Breslau, 1860); "Die HebrSischen Traditioneu in
den Werken des Hieronymus" (jJ. 1861; continued
in "Ben Chananja," 1864, and in "Monatsschrift,"
xiv., xvi., xvii.); "Hebraisches Gebetbuoli fur die
Israelitische Jngend " (6th ed., 1890); and "Hierony-
mus' Commentar zu den Zwolf Kleinen Propheten "
(Berlin, 1903). He was editor of the "Jiidisches
Litteraturblatt " from 1873 until his death, of the
"Israelitische Wochenschrif t " from 1878 to 1895,
and of several volumes of a " Predigtmagazin "
(1878).

Bibliography: Brann, Oesch. des Breslaiier JUdiseh-The-
ologischen Seminars, 1905: Allg. Zeit. desJud. March. 1904.
s. S. O.

RAIMTJCH (BEMOCH), ASTBUC : Physi-
cian of Fraga in the fourteenth century. As an
Orthodox Jew he visited Benveniste ibn Labi of
Saragossa and other prominent Jews ; but in 1391
lie renounced his religion, taking the name of Fran-
cisco Dias-Comi, and endeavored to convert his
former Jewish friends, among them En-Shealtiel
Bonfos, probably a son of the physician Isaac Bon-
fos b. Shealtiel of Falces.

Bibliography : Letter sent by Remorh to En-Shealtlel, In
Efodi's epistle Al Tehi, Appendix ; Geiger, Das Judenthum
und Seine Gesch. ill. 105 ; Gratz, Gesch. vili. 85 et seq.
S. M. K.

BAIIf. — Biblical Data : Palestine did not re-
quire such laborious artificial irrigation as Egypt ;
Yhwh supplied it with " water of the rain of heaven "
(Deut. xi. 11). The harvests were regarded as the gift
of Yhwh, since they depended on rain coming at the
proper time. Yhwh revealed His might by giving
or withholding rain (Zech. x. 1 ; Job xxxvi. 27 et
seq.), which He caused to fall in some places and
denied to others (Amos iv. 7). Abundant and sea-
sonable rain is promised to the people as a reward for
faithfully keeping the commandments (Lev. xxvi.
4; Deut. xi. 13 et seq., xxviii. 13; Jer. v. 24; Ezek.
xxxiv. 36). Israel's sins, on the other hand, cause
the course of nature to be disarranged (Jer. v. 35),
and Yhwh punishes the people's iniquity by with-
holding rain (Deut. xi. 17, xxviii. 33 et seq.). The
favor of the king is "as a cloud of the latter rain"
(Prov. xvi. 15). The farmer longs especially for the
"latter rain " (Job xxix. 33). Cant. ii. 11 et seq. de-
scribes the awakening of nature after the winter
rains. See Palpistine.

B. G. H. I. Be.

In Babbinical Literature : The source of

rain is in dispute in the Talmud. R. Eliezer held
the opinion that all the world drank the water of
the ocean, quoting, " There went up a mist from the
earth, and watered the whole face of the ground"
(Qen.ii. 6). "The clouds, "he explained, " 'sweeten'
the saltwater of the ocean." R. Joshua thought
clouds are formed like bottles; they open their
mouths to receive the water from the heights, and
then they sprinkle the earth as through a sieve, with
a hairbreadth space between the drops (Ta'an. 9b).

When rain is spoken of in rabbinical works, it re-
fers only to that of Palestine, unless otherwise speci-
fied. The " yoreh " (early rains) fall in Heshwan, and
the "malkosh" (later rains) in Niaau. R. Jose says
the yoreh are due in Kislew (Ta'an. 6b).

The most Convenient tira^s for rain are Wednes-

811

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kahmer
Baiubow

day night and Friday niglit, when the people re-
main at home. Rain on Friday disturbs shopping
in preparation for Sabbath (Ta'an. 8h, 23a; Rashi
ad loc).

On the last day of Sukkot the people observed the

"wind for indications of the following year's rain.

The pilgrims in Jerusalem watched

Signs of the drift of the smoke from the altar
Bain. in the Temple; if it drifted toward
the north, there would be plenty of
rain; if toward the south, the rains would be scanty
(Yoma 31b). R. Hisda said that after the destruc-
tion of the Temple the southern winds no longer
brought rain (B. B. 35b).

Scarcity of rain is attributed to the stoppage
of the contributions of tithes, resulting in famine
and loss of business. Tithe-giving causes the win-
dows of heaven to open and the outpouring of the
blessing of rain (Mai. iii. 10). R, Johanan said rain-
less heavens follow the people who fail to keep
their promise to give alms, quoting, " Whoso boast-
eth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind
without rain " (Prov. xxv. 14; Ta'an. 7b, 8b).

The heathen, in the event of a drought, sacrificed
human life to appease the anger of their idol ; their
priest selected the victim indicated by a dream (' Ab.
Zarah5a). The Jewish remedy was prayer. The high
priest on Yom Kippur prayed for healthful, rainy
seasons (Yoma 53b). Shemini ' Azeret is the water's
judgment day (R. H. i. 2), when Geshem (the rain-
prayer) is recited in the 'Amidah at Musaf, before
the phrase "Mashshib ha-ruah u-morid ha-gashem."
It is interpolated in the benediction

Prayers of the resurrection, inasmuch as rain

for Bain, revives the products of nature (Ber.
v. 3, 33a), The insertion of "Tal u-
matar " in the ninth benediction of Shemoneh ' Esreh
is known as the " request " or " solicitation " (" she'e-
lah ") for rain. In Palestine the she'elah prayer is
first recited on the 7th of Tishri. R. Gamaliel set this
date so that the pilgrims whose homes were in the
east might, on returning from Jerusalem, have fif-
teen days after Sukkot in which to reach the Eu-
phrates (Ta'an. i. 8). Beyond Palestine the she'elah
does not begin until the sixtieth day after the au-
tumnal equinox (i.e., during the twentieth century
on Dec. 5; Ta'an. 10a). Both interpolations are
omitted from the first day of Passover till the next
Shemini 'Azeret, as rain in summer causes injury to
the harvest. In countries where rain is beneficial
during the summer, the rain-prayer is inserted at
the end of the sixteenth benediction (Shomea' Te-
fiUah), including a country even as large as Spain
or Germany (Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah Hayyim, 117, 3).

The Jews who went to Brazil in the first half of
the seventeenth century (probably 1642-46) found
that the rainy season there occurred at a different
time in the year ; they therefore addressed a ques-
tion to R. Hayyim Shabbethai of Salonica as to the
necessity of changing the time of the rain-prayers
from winter to summer to meet the conditions of
the Brazilian climate. R. Hayyim decided that the
rain-prayer might be omitted in winter and might
be inserted at Shomea' Tefillah ("Torat Hayyim,"
iii.. No. 3, Salonica, 1713-33). This is the first casu-
istic record of American Jewry.

A series of fast - days follow if the rainy season
is delayed. The fast -days are known as 2"T\2
("Sheni Hamishshi we-8heni"; that is, Monday,
Thursday, and Monday). If the rain fails to come
by the 17th of Heshwan the pious observe the three

fast-days ; if the rain has not come by

Fast-Days the 1st for Kislew, the bet din decrees

for Bain, additional jjublic fasts on the same

day for three successive weeks. In
case this remains ineffective, the bet din decrees an-
other three-day fast, with all the regulations of the
Yom Kippur fast-day, each beginning from the pre-
vious evening. If these do not avail, the bet din
decrees seven more fast-days in which shofar-blow-
ing takes place. The ceremony is conducted in the
public square of the town, and the elder of the con-
gregation preaches liumiliation (Ta'an. i. 4-7, ii. 1).
When rain falls on the fast-day, the day is ended by
the recitation of full Hallel. The benediction for
needed rain is, "We thank Thee, O Lord, for every
drop of rain which Thou causest to descend upon
us " (Ber. 59b).

Honi ha-Me'aggel was the most successful in pray-
ing for rain in the Second Temple period. But he
would not pray against an excess of rain, saying, " I
have a tradition not to pray against overabundance. "
Once, however, when the people urged him to pray
for the cessation of rain which caused damage, he
prayed : " O Master of the Universe ! Thy people
Israel, whom Thou hast delivered from Egypt, can
bear neither too much good nor too much evil ; they
can stand neither Thy wrath nor. Thy overabundant
blessings. May it please Thee, O Lord, to stop the
rain" (Ta'an. 33a).

Bibliography : Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah IJayvim, S!5-Si:7. For
the prayers for rain and lor the cessation of rain, with a list
of special psalms, see Baer, 'jLbodat YUrael (ROdelheim, 1868) .
w. B. J. D. E.

BAINBOW (ncfp).— Biblical Data : This phe-
nomenon of nature is mentioned but rarely in the
Old Testament. The beauty of the rainbow is
dwelt upon (Ecclus. [Sirach] xliii. 11 et aeq., 1. 7),
and the glory surrounding Yhwh is compared to
the splendor of the rainbow (Ezek. i. 28; comp. Rev.
iv. 3, X. 1). A poetic interpretation, based on an-
cient mythological ideas, has been given to the rain-
bow in connection with the story of the Flood.
When the waters subsided, God placed the rainbow
in heaven in token of the covenant He had made
with Noah (Gen. ix. 13 et seq.). The rainbow is
Yhwh's immense bow of war ("my bow"). This
idea may be compared with the conception of the
flashes of lightning as Yhwh's arrows (Ps. vii. 13 et
seq. ; Hab. iii, 11). If Yhwh lays aside His bow
and hangs it in the clouds, it is a sign that His anger
has subsided ; on beholding it men may feel assured
that the storm is past and that no flood will come.
These mythological conceptions are of course very
ancient. They are found in India, where the bow is
Indra's weapon, which he lays aside after his battle
with the demons. The Arabs also regard the rain-
bow as Kuzah's bow, which he hangs in the clouds
when he has finished shooting. The legend of the
rainbow is not found In any of the fragments of the
Gilgaraesh epic.

E. G. H. I. Be.

Ba'is
Sameses

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

312

In Rabbinical Literature : The Talmud

classes the rainbow with other things created at
twilight on the last day of Creation (Pes. 54a), as
the Rabbis weie disinclined to believe that the laws
of nature were changed after Creation. Nahmani-
des, in his commentary on the Pentateuch, says:
■'We are forced to accept the view of the Greek
scientists that the rainbow is tlie natural result of
the sun's reflection on the clouds." The literal
translation of "Kasliti natatti be-'anan" (My bow
have I set in the cloud) indicates that tlie rainbow
was already an established institution; but it there-
upon assumed a new role as a "token" of God's
covenant with the earth against the Flood. The
token shows that Heaven's wrath ceased, the ends
of the bow pointing downward, as the warrior low-
ers his bow on declaring peace (ib.).

The rainbow is a sign of censure and a reminder
that the wickedness of mankind is deserving of
punishment. The virtue of the righteous is sup-
posed to protect his generation from evil, and the
appearance of the rainbow is a reproach to the com-
munity, as it shows that there were none worthy of
such protection (Ket. 77b). The rainbow is the rev-
elation of God's glory on earth, and to show due
respect one must not gaze at the rainbow, just as
etiquette forbids one to gaze at a high official (Hag.
16a). R. Joshua b. Levi thought that on seeing the
rainbow one should fall on his face in reverence, as
did Ezekiel when he saw " the appearance of tlie
bow that is in the cloud " (Ezek. i. 38). The Rabbis
of Palestine, however, censured the custom, as to
kneel before the rainbow savors too much of
heathenism ; but they approved the custom of re-
citing the benediction, " Praised be He who remem-
bereth the covenant" (Ber. 59a). The full text of
this benediction is: "Praised be the Lord our God,
the King of the Universe, who remembereth the
covenant and is faithful in His covenant, and main-
taineth His word."

w. B. J. D. E.

BA'IS : Until the time of Mahmud 11., the title
of the presiding officer or head of a community in
Egypt. Each Judseo-Egyptian community had its
own ra'is, who was recognized by the calif and
who exercised both spiritual and judicial functions,
being empowered to appoint or confirm the presi-
dent and hazzan, and to inflict punishment for
crime. This official, who was termed "nagid" by
the Jews, received a regular salary from the commu-
nity, in addition to fees for executing legal papers.
The office is said to have been introduced into Jew-
ish communities by the daughter of a calif of
Bagdad. Maimonides is called ra'is by all of the
Arabic historians who mention him. See Egypt.

BinuoGRAPHT : Gratz, Oench. vl. 258. 302.
J. S. O.

RAKOWER (BLOCK), JOSEPH B. DAVID

TEBELE : Polish rabbi and Hebraist; died in Ei-
benschiltz, Moravia, Nov., 1707. He was rabbi of
Eibenschiitz, whither he had removed from Cracow.
He is chiefly known as the author of " Leshon Naki,"
one of the best Hebrew " letter-writers " of the earlier
period. It first appeared in Frankfort-on-the-Oder,
in 1689, and was several times reprinted, entire and

in part. Rakower wrote also a work entitled " Mer-
kebet ha-Mishnah, " which remained in manuscript,
and at the end of which is described a conflagration
which took place in Plock.

BiBMOORAPiiT : Fiirst, Bibl. Jud. iii. 129; Orient. Lit. x. 504-
505; Steinschnelder, Cat. Budl. No. 6980 ; iiem.Blhlioaraph-
fec/ies Handbuch ilber die ThenretiKche und Prakti»che
Literatur filr HebrUische Spraehkunde, No. 1614-, Leipslc,
1859.
E. C. P. Wl.

RAKOWSKI, ABRAHAM ABEL : Austrian
author; born at Maryampol, Austrian Galicia, Dec,
1855. He studied 'falmud under his father (who
was a rabbi) and was educated privately in Hebrew
and modern languages. Since 1873 Rakowski has
been a frequent contributor to Hebrew journals, es-
pecially to " Ha-Zetirah." He has published the fol-
lowing: "Niddehe Yisrael," a translation of Philipp-
son's novel upon the subject of the Maranos in
Spain (Warsaw, 1875); " Hoter rai-Geza' Yishai," a
translation of Disraeli's romance " David Alroy " (ib.
1880); "Ha-Nekaraah," a historical narrative (ib.
1883). The following appeared in "Ha-Asif"-
"Nispeh belo Mishpat," a historical novel (1884);
" Lei ha-Pesah, " a story of the Prague ghetto (1884) ;
"Ta'alumot ha-Mikroskop," a humorous story
(1884) ; " Dibre Hakamim," a collection of pithy say-
ings and citations from universal literature (1884) ;
"Min ha-Mezar," a story of the ghetto of Prague
(transl. from Auerbach ; 1884) ; " Ha-Kesef, " a history
of the development of money and of its influence
upon culture, political economy, and commerce
(1885); "Takkanot Hanhagat ha-Yehudim" (1886);
"Debar Elohenu Yakum le-'01am,"an epitome of
the history of Semitic nations during the Biblical
ages (1886); "Zaken wa-Yeled," a translation from
the Polish of Okanski (1886); "Mirtala," a transla-
tion from Orzhesko (1888). By 1895 Rakowski had
become a prosperous merchant at Zambraw, Rus-
sian Poland.

Bibliography : Sokolow, Sefer Zikkaron. Warsaw, 1889 ; Zeit-
Un, Bibl. Post-MendeU.

H. ij. I. War.

RAId. See MEitR ben Samuel.
RAM. See Sheep.

RAMAH (RAMATH or BAMATHA) : Word
(meaning "height ") of frequent occurrence as an
element in the place-names of the mountain districts
of Palestine ; as, Ramath-lehi ; Ramath- or Ramoth-
negeb; Ramath- or Ramoth-gilead ; and Ramath-
mizpeh. It occurs also in the form of Rama-
thaim. In addition, there are a number of different
towns designated simply Ramah.

1. Ramah in Asher ( Josh. xix. 39): Probably the
present Ramiya, southeast of Tyre, a small but very
ancient village.

2. Ramah in Naphtali (Josh. xix. 36): Fortified
place, probably the present Er-Rameh, 13 kilo-
meters southwest of Safed, and favorably situated
in a well-watered region.

3. Ramah in Benjamin: Mentioned together with
Gibeon (Josh, xviii. 25) as being north of Jerusalem,
near Gibeah or Geba (Judges xix. 13; Isa. x. 39),
and near the boundary-line between Judah and
Israel. Baasha of Israel fortified it in order to close
the road from Jerusalem to the north (I Kings xv.
17 et seg. ; II Chron. xvi. 1 ei seq.), but Asa of Judah

313

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ba'is
Barneses

immediately razed tlie worlis (I Kings xv. 22). Ac-
cording to the " Onomasticon " of Eusebius, it was
6 Roman miles from Jerusalem, opposite Betli-el. It
undoubtedly corresponds to the present village of
Al-Ram, on the road from Jerusalem to Nablus, and
9 kilometers north of Jeiusalem. Reference to this
Ramah is intended in Jer. xxxi. 15, Judges iv. 5, and
Hosea v. 8, although it is a moot point whether it is
identical with the birthplace of Samuel (see Ramah
No. 4).

4. The native place of Samuel. In I Sam. i. 1,
the place is called Ramathaim, but elsewhere Ra-
mah ; the Septuagint, however, always uses the first
form. According to I Sam. ix. 5, Samuel's home
lay in the territory of Zuph, so that his father is
called a Zuphite (see Ramathaim-zophim); the ad-
dition, "of Mount Ephraim," shows that this terri-
tory and Ramah were situated on the mountain of
Ephraim, in the southern part, on the frontier of
Benjamin. In like manner, it is clear from 1 Mace,
i. 34 ('Prti?«|UEiv) that Ramathaim was farther north
than Ramah No. 3, for according to this passage
Ramah, like Ephraim and Lydda, was originally
part of the Samaritan territory, not being incorpo-
rated with Judea until 145 B.C., so that Eusebius
places Ramah in the vicinity of Diospolis (see Lyd-
da). The tomb of Samuel, which according to the
Biblical account was in Ramah (I Sam. xxv. 1), is
by current tradition pointed out in "Nabi Samwil" ;
the latter place, however, is certainly not Ramah, but
corresponds to the ancient Mizpeh in Benjamin. No
definite identification of Ramah has yet been made.
Ramallah, a large Christian village west of Al-Birah,
has been suggested, but this does not agree with the
statements in the " Onomasticon." The site is more
probably that of Rentis, about 15 kilometers east
of Lydda; or Bet Ramah, somewhat east of that
place.
E. 6. n. I. Be.

RAMATH-LEHI : Place on the frontier be-
tween Judah and Philistia; mentioned only in the
story of Samson (Judges xv. 9, 14, 17). The name,
^rf? nO"i (= "Jaw-Bone Height"), is explained by
the tradition that Samson slew there 1,000 Philis-
tines with the jaw-bone of an ass and then cast the
bone away. More probably the hill was so called
because of its peculiar form. The name of the spring
'En ha-Kore (= " Partridge Spring "), which flows
past the hill, is explained by legend to mean the
"Spring of the Caller" ("Kore") because it was in
answer to Samson's prayer that YnwH cleft the jaw-
bone, sending forth a well of water. The scene of
the Samson stories was laid in the vicinity of Tim-
nath and Zareah, in the present Wadl al-Sarar. It
is also stated that Kamath-lehi lay near the chasm of
Etam. Since the place is called 'Ziaj^v in the Sep-
tuagint, it has been identified with the site of Khir-
bat al-Siyar, south of Wadi al-Sarar ("Z. D. P. V."
X. 162 etseq.).
B. G. H. I- Be.

RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM : Birthplace of Sam-
uel according to the present text of I Sam. i. 1,
which, however, is corrupt. The usual interpreta-
tion, " Ramathaim of the Zophites," is an impossible
one, since it would be contrary to Hebrew linguistic

usage to regard " Zophim " as qualifying " Rama-
thaim." The reading must be, therefore, "a man
of Ramathaim [or "of the Ramathites"], a Zophite
of Mount Ephraim." Zuph is, according to I Sam.
ix. 5, a district south of Ephraim, on the frontier
of Benjamin. No details are given regarding its sit-
uation, hut according to I Sam. i. 1, Samuel's na-
tive city, Ramathaim, lay in this district.

E. G. II. I. Be.

BAMBAM. See Moses b. Maimon.

BAMBAN. See Moses b. Nahman.

RAMESES : 1. Egyptian city; one of the
"treasure cities" built by the Israelites in their
servitude (Ex. i. 11; "Raamses"); the point from
which they started on their journey through the
wilderness (Ex. xii. 37). Further, the northeast di-
vision of Egypt contained a region known as the
"land of Rameses" (Gen. xlvii. 11). There the
migrating Israelites were settled, "in the land of
Goshen" (Gen. xlvi. 34, xlvii. 4, et al.). The addi-
tion of the Septuagint to Gen. xlvi. 28— "to the city
Heroopolis," preceding the words "into the land
of Goshen "—seems to include the city of Pitliom
(Heropolis, Heroo[n] polls) in this region, while the
passages concerning Rameses as the starting-point
of the Exodus extend its boundary so far to the east
tliat " land of Goshen " and " land of Rameses "
would seem to be synonymous. The latter name
seems to be derived from the famous King Rameses
II., who, by digging a canal and founding cities,
extended the cultivable land of Goshen, formerly
limited to the country at the mouth of the modern
"Wadi Tumilat, over the whole valley to the Bitter
Lakes. Less probable is it that the " land of Ram-
eses " is to be limited to that part of the region that
was newly colonized by Rameses II.

The city of Rameses betrays its builder and the
date of its foundation by its name ; from Ex. xii. 37
and Num. xxxiii. 3, 5 it may be concluded that it
was situated one day's journey west of Succoth —
the modern Tell al-Maskhutah or its vicinity. Con-
sequently it ought to be not far from the entrance
into the Wadi Tumilat, near the modern Tell al-
Kabir. There is, however, so far, no epigraphic
support for this assumption, and the various ruins
identified with Rameses (Tell Abu Sulaiman ; Tell
al-Maskhutah ; see above for its identity with Suc-
coth) have not confirmed it. The inscriptions of
Rameses 11. mention various colonies— one being
called "House of Rameses," in Nubia, not far from
Tanis— but only once such a city in or near Goshen.
This place, where, in the twenty-first year of Ram-
eses II., the treaty of peace and alliance between
Egypt and the Hittites was made, was probably
the Biblical Rameses; but an exact determination of
its situation can not yet be furnished (comp. Na-
ville, "The Store-City "of Pithom and the Route of
the Exodus," 1884).

2. Egyptian king; the founder of the city of
Rameses and of Pithom (comp. Ex. i. 11), who
would, consequently, seem to be the Pharaoh of the
Exod«s. This king, the second of his name (Egyp-
tian, Ra'mes-su; Ra'-mes-es), and the third ruler of
the Egyptian dynasty, succeeded his father, Sethos
I., in early youth and reigned for almost sixty -seven

Kami b. Szekiel
Baug-er

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

314

years. Concerning him, under tlie name Sesostris
(possibly confounded witli a king of ttie twelftli
dynasty), tlie Greeli writers tell stories of great con-
quests in Asia, Europe, and Africa; the monuments
narrate, however, that be waged only one serious
war, that with the Hittite empire, in Asia Minor and
Syria, and that this long war, followed by a mar-
riage with the daughter of the " great king of the
Hittltes," had no other result than to confirm him
in the possession of his modest inheritance — Pales-
tine and half of Phcnicia. The frequent representa-
tions of the same few victories, especially that at
Kadesli on the Orontes (celebrated also in a lengthy
epic erroneously ascribed to Pentaur), seem to have
given to later generations a false impression of Ram-
eses' acliievements. The king was quantitatively
the greatest Egyptian builder, and the Ramesseum
(called the tomb of Osymandyas by Diodorus, after
the second, offloialname of Rameses II., User-ma' [t]-
n-rg'), with its colossal statues, the temples at
Luxor, Abydos, Abu Simbel in Nubia, etc., belongs
to the grandest constructions of ancient Egypt;
many other monuments, however, were only usurped
by this indefatigable builder. The colonization of
Goshen and the digging of canals from the Nile to
the Bitter Lakes (but hardly to the Red Sea !) formed
another great monument of this Pharaoh. His
sepulcher is in the valley of the royal tombs at
Thebes ; his mummy is in the museum of Cairo.
E. 0. W. M. M.

RAMI B. EZEKIEIi : Babylonian amora of the
third generation ; younger brother of Judah b. Eze-
kiel, the. founder of the Academy of Pumbedita.
He studied under his father, Ezekiel (Sanh. 80b).
Disregarding the opinion of his brother Judah that
it was a sin to leave Babylon for Palestine, Rami
went to Bene-Berak (a city southeast of Joppa),
where Akiba's academy had once stood, and there
he became convinced that Palestine was indeed a
land flowing with milk and honey (Ket. 111b). He
subsequently returned to Babylonia, however, and
corrected many of the sayings which his brother
Judah had cited in the names of Rab and Samuel :
" Harken not to the sayings quoted by my brother
in the name of Rab [or Samuel], for Eab [or Sam-
uel] spake thus" (Ket. 21a, 60a, 76b; Hul. 44a).
Rami occasionally quotes a baraita (Shab. 138a;
'Er. 14b, 58b). He had friendly relations with Rab
Huna (Shab. 138b).

Bibliography: HeUprln, Seder Jia^Dorot, il. 343: Gratz,
Gench. Iv. 297.
w. B. J. Z. L.

BAmi B. HAMA: Babylonian amora of the
third generation; a pupil of R. Hisda, and a fellow
student of Raba, who was somewhat his junior (B.
B. 12b ; Suk. 39a ; comp. Rabbinowitz, " Varise Lec-
tiones"). He frequently addressed questions to R.
Hisda (Ket. 86b; Yoma58a; Pes. 27b; 'Er. 8b, 73a).
R. Hisda once asked him a question to which Rami
found an answer in a mishnah ; R. Hisda thereupon
rewarded him by rendering him a personal service
(B. K. 20a, b). He was also associated with R.
Nahman, whom he often endeavored to refute ('Er.
34b; B. M. 65a; Hul. 35a). Rami married the
daughter of his teacher Hisda ; when he died, at an

early age, his colleague Raba married his widow.
Raba declared that his premature death was a punish-
ment for having affronted Manasseh b. Tahlifa, a
student of the Law, by treating him as an ignoramus
(Ber. 47b). Rami b. Hama was possessed of rare
mental acuteness, but Raba asserted that his un-
usual acumen led him to reach his conclusions too
hastily. He attempted to decide questions inde-
pendently, and would not always search for a mish-
nah or baraita to support an opinion. His pupil
Isaac b. Judah left him, therefore, to study under
R. Sheshet, saying that although a decision might
apparently be based on correct reasoning, it must
be ignored if a mishnah or a baraita could be found
that contradicted it ; but a decision rendered in agree-
ment with a mishnah or a baraita does not become
invalid, even where another mishnah or baraita can
be cited in opposition to it (Zeb. 96b). Rami b. Hama's
daughter married R. Ashi (Bezah 29b).

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ha-Dnrot, if. 343.
w. B. J. Z. L.

RAMI B. TAMRE : Babylonian amora of the
third generation ; a native of Pumbedita, and proba-
bly a pupil of R. Judah. He once went to Sura on
the eve of the Day of Atonement, and attracted at-
tention by conduct which was not regarded as per-
missible there. According to Hul. 110a, b, he justi-
fied his behavior, when brought before R. Hisda, by
citing a saying of R. Judah's, thereby proving him-
self an acute scholar. In the same passage he is
identified with Rami b. Dikuli, who transmits a say-
ing of Samuel in Yeb. 80a. In another passage he
■is designated as the father-in-law of Rami b. Dikuli
(Men. 29b).

Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ha^Dorot, il. 344.
w. B. J. Z. L.

RAMOTH-GILEAB : One of the cities of ref-
uge, in the east-Jordan district, in the tribe of Gad ;
apportioned to the Levites (Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 38;
Deut. iv. 43; I Chron. vi. 80). When Solomon di-
vided the country into districts, Ramoth-gjlead was
made the center of one of them and the seat of a
governor (I Kings iv. 13). In the Syrian wars Ben-
hadad captured it from the Israelites as an impor-
tant frontier post, and Ahab was killed in an at-
tempt to recapture it (I Kings xxii. 3 et seg.). His
son Joram succeeded in taking it (II Kings viii. 28
et seg.), and had returned to Jezreel to reqover from
his wounds when Jehu was proclaimed king in
Ramoth-gilead (II Kings ix. 1 et seg.). The subse-
quent history of the city is unknown, but probably
it soon fell again into the hands of the Syrians. Ac-
cording to the " Onomasticon " of Eusebius, Ramoth
was fifteen Roman miles west of Philadelphia, a
localization which seems to indicate the present Al-
Salt, about 10 kilometers south of the Jabbok, and
which has, therefore, frequently been identified with
Ramoth-gilead. Al-Salt, however, was the ancient
Gedor, and Ramoth-gilead can hardly have been so
far south. The city for whose possession the Syr-
ians and Israelites were continually fighting lay
near the frontier, and consequently in the northern
part of the east-Jordan district. The reference in I
Kings iv. 13 also points to a site in the north. As
the governor of Ramoth-gilead ruled over the dis-

315

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bami b. Ezekiel
Bang'er

trict of Argob in Bashan, he can not have had his
capital south of Jabbok. There were, moreover, two
other governors farther south, so that Al-Eamtah,
11 kilometers southeast of Dar'at, and Raimun, west
of Jorash, have been proposed as the site of the city.
It is also frequently identified with Mizpeh-gilead,
since a Ramath-mizpeh is mentioned in Josh. xiii.
26; but this identification is doubtful. SeeMizPAH.
E. G. H. I. Be.

RAM'S HOBN. See Shofar.

RAMSGATE : Seaside resort on the Kentish
coast of England. This small town owes its im-
portance in modern Anglo- Jewish history to its con-
nection -with Sir Moses Monteflore, who in 1830 pur-
chased the East ClifE estate there as his country-
seat. A small community of Jews was already in
existence, but the nearest synagogue and established
congregation were those of Canterbury. One of
the first uses to -which Monteflore put his newly
acquired estate was to build a synagogue, which
he opened to all comers. The foundation-stone was
laid in 1831, and the building was consecrated
two years afterward. Two brothers, Isaac and
Emanuel Myers, were appointed ministers. Sir
Moses became president of the synagogue, and a
regular attendant at its services when at Ramsgate ;
and it was his invariable custom to extend the hos-
pitalities of East Cliff Lodge to all visitors from
London whom he recognized at his place of wor-
ship. When his wife. Lady Judith, died (1862),
she was buried in the synagogue grounds ; and over
her grave was erected a white-domed mausoleum,
being a facsimile of the historic tomb of Rachel.

This mausoleum is not the only Jewish memorial
of Lady Judith with which her husband endowed
Ramsgate. Seven years after her death he founded
the Judith Monteflore Theological College, " to pro-
mote the study and advancement of the holy Law
and general Hebrew literature." The first princi-
pal of this college was the eminent Orientalist L.
LOwe, who had accompanied Sir Moses on many of
his missions to the East ; and learned men were in-
vited from various parts of Europe to devote their
declining days to the objects for which the institu-
tion was founded. At the same time a valuable
library was accumulated. When Sir Moses died the
institution passed into the trusteeship of the Spanish
and Portuguese Congregation in London, which reor-
ganized it under the principalship of the haham, M.
Gaster. A department was added for the training of
Jewish students and of candidates for the ministry.
This department and a portion of the Monteflore Li-
brary have since been transferred to Jews' College.

The Judith Monteflore Theological College has
now reverted to its original uses as a place of study
for retired scholars. Two hours every morning and
every afternoon are devoted to this object; and
monthly lectures are delivered, on the first Sunday
in the month, to which the public are admitted.
The principal collegian is the Rev. J. Chotzner;
and the librarian is the Rev. G. S. Belasco, who is
also the minister of the synagogue.

The present Jewish population of Ramsgate is
130; but this is largely increased during the holiday
season. In the summer of 1903 the Union of Jewish

Literary Societies held its first summer assembly

at Ramsgate. See Judith Montefiorb College.

Bibliography : Luclen Wolf, Biography nf Sir Mnses Mon-
teflore, pp. 51 6t seq.; Jewish Year Book, 1903 ; BevorU of
the Judith Montejtore College, 1893 et seq.; J. Q. B. 1902 et
seq.; Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew MSS. of the
Montejiore Library.
J. I. H.

BAN. See Nissim b. Reuben Gbrondi.

BANDAB or ABENDATOB (Polish, Are-
darz ; probably from the French " rendeuv " [used
as early as the fourteenth century for "tenant"],
the medieval Latin "arrendatarius," "arrendator,"
" renderius") : Name originally applied to the tenants
of a fee-farm, or even of an entire village, in Poland,
Lithuania, and Little Russia, as well as in the Slavic
portions of Austria. Subsequently the name was
applied also to the tenants of mills and taverns on
the highways or within the boundaries of the cities.
These tenants are still found throughout Poland in
districts where there are few railways. Such tav-
erns were and still are leased almost exclusively by
Jews, and the Jewish tenant of the tavern has become
a permanent personality in Polish literature. Under
the name of " Jankiel " he flgures as the type of
submissiveness and of ever-ready helper in the works
of famous Polish prose-writers (as Korzeniowski in
" Speculator " and " Kollokacy " ) and poets (like
A. Mickiewicz in " Pan Tadeusz " ).

The randar is always ready to give good advice,
and is noted for liis patriotism. He appears in an
especially idealized form in the "Pan Tadeusz,"
where, among various good qualities, there is as-
cribed to him knowledge of the art of cymbal-play-
ing, by which he delights the court of his master,
the " soplicy . " In this poem his iome is depicted as
a storehouse for the arms of the Poles in 1813. In
Russia also the Jews occasionally lease the taverns;
in the nineteenth century not less than thirty-three
regulations referring to such taverns were issued.

BiBLiOGKAPHT : Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz, passim ; W.
Korolenko, Der Oerichtstag, Leipsio, n.d. ; Ha-Shahar, 1873,
ili. 651-655; Ha^Shiloah, 1897, il. 424-433; V. O. Levanda, in
Shomih, St. Petersburg, 1874 ; S. Orshanski, Yevrei v Bossyi,
St. Petersburg, 1877.
s. S. O.

RANDEGGEB, MAIEB : Austrian education-
ist ; born at Randegg Feb. 9, 1780 ; died at Triest
March 13, 1853. He was educated at home, at
Lengau (Switzerland), at Fiirth (Bavaria), and at
Presburg, after which he accepted a position as in-
structor in Vienna. Later he removed to Triest,
where he opened a private school. He passed the
remainder of his life at Triest, with the exception of
the years from 1838 to 1847, spent in teaching at
Plume and Fiorenzuola. In 1833 and again in 1834
he acted as rabbi during temporary vacancies occa-
sioned by the deaths of two incumbents.

Randegger maintained a correspondence with the
leading rabbis and scholars of his time. Among his
works may be mentioned " Zinnat Dawid " (Vienna,
1841) and " Haggadah " (ib. 1851), with an Italian
translation by his daughter and annotations by
liimself.
Bibliography : Schott, in Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1853, p. 333.

s. P- T. H.

KANGEB, MOBBIS : English flnancier ; born
in Hesse-Cassel about 1830; died at Liverpool April,

Ransohburg:
Raphael

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

316

1887. He joined the Liverpool Exchange, and at
one time was one of the largest cotton -speculators
in the world, but later failed in business. The
vastness of his transactions may be gathered from
the fact that he spent about £100,000 per annum in
brokerages and commissions, and in the year of his
failure turned over nearly £10,000,000. Ranger was
prominently identified with Jewish affairs in Liver-
pool. He exercised great benevolence and founded
a scholarship at the Liverpool University.

Bibliography : Jew. World, April 22, 1887.
J.

G. L.

BANSCHBXJRG, PATJIj : Hungarian psychia-
trist; boin at Raab Jan. 3, 1870. On taking his de-
gree of M.D. at tlie University of Budapest in 1894,
he was appointed assistant at the psychiatric clinic
there. In 1899 he established a psychophysiological
laboratory.

Rauschburg's writings are as follows: "Transi-
torische GeistesstOrungen," 1894; "Studien iiber
den Werth der Hypnotisch-Suggestiven Therapie,"
1895; "Hysterie ira Greisenalter." 1896; "Bxperi-
men telle Beitrage zur Psychologic des Hysterischen
Geisteszustandes," 1897; "Qualitative und Quanti-
tative Veranderungen GeistigerVorgSngeim Hohen
Greisenalter," 1899; "Psychotherapie," 1900; "Stu-
dien liber die Merkfahigkeit der Normalen, Neuras-
thenischen und Geisteskranken," 1901; "Schwach-
befahigte und Schwachsinnige Scliulkinder," 1903;
"Der Sporadisohe Kretinismus,"1904; and "Phy-
siologische und Pathologische Psyohologie des
Kindes," 1904.

s. L. V.

RANSOHOFF, JOSEPH: American physi-
cian ; born in Cincinnati, (Jhio, May 26, 1858. After
graduating from the Medical College of Ohio (M.D.
1874), he studied surgery at the universities of
Wlirzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London
(P.R.C.S. 1877). Returning to his native city, he
became, in 1879, professor of anatomy at the Med-
ical College of Ohio ; this chair he filled until 1903,
when he was called to the chair of surgery in the
same institution. In 1903 he was appointed a trus-
tee of the University of Cincinnati, and he has been
a member of the surgical staffs of the Cincinnati
Jewish hospitals. He is a fellow of the American
Surgical Society, of the American Academy of Med-
icine, and of the Society for the Advancement of
Science.

Ransohofl has made a number of important con-
tributions to the science of surgery in connection
with diseases of the gall-bladder, the vermiform
appendix, the brain, tlie kidneys, and the arteries
(aneurisms). He has contributed to the "Interna-
tional Encyclopedia of Surgery," the "Reference
Handbook of Medical Sciences," and "Surgery, by
American Authors."

A. S. Man.

BAIfSOX (D"13K' tins) : Captivity being con-
sidered a punishment worse than starvation or death
(B. B. 8b, based on Jer. xv. 3), to ransom a Jewish
captive was regarded by tlie Rabbis as one of the
most important duties of a Jewish community ; and
such duty was placed above that of feeding or cloth-
ing the poor. He who refrains from ransoming a

captive is guilty of transgressing the commandments-
expressed or implied in Biblical passages such as
the following : " Thou shalt not harden thy heart "
(Dent. XV. 7); "Thou shalt not shut thine hand
from thy poor brother" {ib.); "Neither shalt thou
stand against the blood of thy neighbor " (Lev. xix.
16) ; " He shall not rule with rigor over him in thy
sight" (ib. XXV. 53, R. V.); "Thou shalt open thy
hand wide unto him" (Deut. xv. 8, 11); ". . . that
thy brother may live with thee" (Lev. xxv. 36);
" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself " {ib. xix.
18); "Deliver them that are drawn unto death"
(Prov. xxiv. 11; Maimonides, "Yad," Mattenot
'Aniyim, viii. 10; Shulhan 'Aruk, YorehDe'ah, 353,
2). One who delayed in the work of ransoming a
Jewish captive was placed in the category of the
murderer (Yoreh De'ah, 253, 3).

Any money found in the communal treasury, even
though it had been collected for other purposes,
might be utilized in ransoming cap-
Urgency tives. Not only the money collected
of for the building of a synagogue might

the Duty, be so used, but also the building mate-
rials themselves might be sold and the
money diverted to that end. If, however, the syn-
agogue had already been erected it might not be sold
for such purpose (B. B. 3b; "Yad," I.e. viii. 11;
Yoreli De'ah, 353, 1 ; see Desecration).

If there were several Jewish captives and the
money in the communal treasury was not sufficient
to ransom all of them, the cohen (priest) had to be
redeemed first, and then the Levite, the Israelite,
the bastard, the Natin (see Nbthinim), the prose-
lyte, and the liberated slave in the order named. A
learned man, however, even though a bastard, took
precedence over a priest who was an ignoramus. A
woman captive was to be released before a man
captive, unless the captors were suspected of prac-
tising pederastj'. One's mother takes precedence
over all others in regard to release from captivity ;
and thereafter one is required to release himself, then
his teacher, and then his father (Hor. 13a; comp.
Precedence).

When a man and his wife were taken captive the
court might sell the man's property, even against
his will, for the purpose of redeeming his wife.
The court might sell also a captive's property for
his own redemption, in spite of the captive's pro-
test. If a man voluntarily sold himself into slavery,
or was taken captive for debts he owed, the com-
munity was obliged to pay his ranisom the first and
second times, but not the third time, unless his life
was in danger. His children, however, were in any
case to be redeemed after his death (Git. 46b). Tlie
community was not obliged to liberate a convert
from Judaism, even when his apostasy consisted in
the fact that he gave up only one of the laws of the
Jewish religion. A slave who had gone through
the ceremony of the ritual bath and had lived as a
Jew was to be liberated at the expense of the com-
munity ("Yad," I.e. viii. 14).

In the tannaitlc period it had already been found
necessary to make provision against paying too
high a ransom for Jewish captives, so as not to en-
courage pirates in their nefarious practises. The
ransom-money might not exceed the value of the

317

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Banschburg
Baphael

■captive, if sold as a slave, or the price usually placed
on captives (Gif. 45a; "Yad," I.e. viii. 13; Yoreh
De'ah, 252, 4). This law was relaxed
Provisions in later times. A. man might give all
Ag'aiust he possessed for his own release, or
Excessive for that of his wife (see Husband
Ransom, and Wife). The community was re-
quired to pay all that was demanded
for the ransom of a learned man or of a promising
youth (comp. Git. 45a; Tos. «.■». "Delo" ; ROSH
<id loe. % 44; comp. Gratz, "Qesch." 3d ed., vii. 175,
where it is related that E. Mei'r of Rothenburg re-
fused to be released for the large sum of 20,000
marks, which the German Jews were willing to pay
for his ransom, lest similar captures should be en-
couraged thereby). The Rabbis forbade the assist-
ance of captives in their attempts to escape, lest
the treatment of captives generally should in conse-
quence become more cruel (Git. 45a). See Captives.

BiBLiofiRAPHT : Abrabams, Jewish Life in the Middle Aqes,
pp._96^335, Pbnadelpbia^l896; Hamburger, B. B. T. 11. r"

'£ol Bo, § 82, Filrtb, 1782.
W. B.

J. H. G.

BAFA, ElilJAH B. IVEENAHEM (ELIJAH
B.APOPORT) : Italian Talmudist of the sixteenth
century. He was the author of "Be'er Mayini
Hayyim " (Corfu, 1599), on Talmudic and other
subjects, and "Erez Hefez " (n.d.), on Biblical and
Talmudic subjects.

Bibliography : Elsenstadt- Wiener, Da'at Kedoshim, p. 147,
St. Petersburg, 1897-98.
E. C. A. S. W.

BAFA (FOBTO), MENAHEM ABRAHAM
B. JACOB HA-KOHEN (MENAHEM BAFO-
FOBT): Italian rabbi and author; lived at Porto,
in the district of Verona, and at Cremona; died
Dec. 30, 1596. He was a descendant of the Rapa
family, but he changed his name toRAPOPOKT(4.e.,
Rapa of Porto). Early in life Menahem went to
Venice, where he studied Hebrew with the help of
Elijah Bahur and medicine under Victor Trincavella,
■besides Talmud and the sciences generally (Reifman,
in "Ha-Shahar,"iii. 353). He was proof-reader of
Hebrew books printed at Venice.

Rapa was a witness of the burning of the Talmud
pursuant to the papal bull of 1553, and observed
the date of the auto da fe as a fast-day for the rest
of his life (see his "Minhah Belulah," p. 203b, Cre-
mona, 1582). In 1574 he became rabbi of Cremona
{Carmoly, I.e. p. 7).

Rapa was the author of the following works: (1)
"Zofnat Pa'neah," Venice, 1555, on <;ryptography ;
Eisenstadt, in " Da'at Kedoshim," p. 144, attributes
this book to another Menahem. (2) "Ma'amar 'al
Mezi'ut ha-Shedim" (unpublished), on the existence
of devils. (3) "Minhah Belulah," Cremona, 1582,
commentary on the Pentateuch, with a preface of
1,000 words, each beginning with the letter 3. (4)
Responsa (unpublished with the exception of the
article "Dagim," which was printed in "Pahad Yiz-
hak "). He edited the " Yalkut Shim'oni," Venice,
1565.

BiBLTOGKAPHT : Azulal, Shcm fia-Oedolim,, ii. 8Z, WUna, 1852 ;
J Reifman, ToUdot R. Menalfemha-KohenAnHOrShahar,
Hi. 353 et sea.; Carmoly, Ha^'OreMm u-Bene Yonah,vv- 5
et sea., ROdelbeim, 1861 ; Eisenstadt- Wiener, Da at If.eao-
ghim, p. 144, St. Petersburg, 1897-98.

E. C.

A. 8. W.

RAPA (PORTRAPA), SIMHAH BEN
GERSHOM HA-KOHEN: Talmudic scholar and
author of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries;
born at Porto, Italy; died at Vienna. He was a
younger cousin of Menahern Abraham Rapa ; when
the latter changed his name to Rapoport, Simhah
began to call himself Portrapa (Carmoly, "Ha-
'Orebim u-BeneYonah," p. 8).

Rapa went to Venice, where he lived at the house
of his cousin, and studied Talmud under Samuel
JudahKatzenellenbogen, rabbi of that city. In 1593
he settled atProssnitz, Moravia; and thence moved
to Vienna, where he remained till his death. He was
the author of "Kol Simhah" (Prossnitz, 1602), a
hymnal acrostic on Saturday.

Bibliography: Carmoly, Ha-'Orebim u-Bene Yonah, p. 8,
RSdelbelm, 1861.
B. C. A. S. W.

RAPHAEL (^XSI) : One of the archangels.
The word occurs as a personal name in I Chron.
xxvi. 7 (A. V. and R. V. " Rephael "), but it is not
found as the name of an angel in the canonical books,
as are the names of Michael and Gabriel. This must
be due to chance, however, since Raphael is an im-
portant figure in the pre-Christian Apocrypha, while
from the fact that he ranks immediately below the
two angels just mentioned it maybe concluded that
he appeared in Jewish angelologj' shortly after
them. The late Midrash Konen (Jellinek, "B. H."
ii. 37) states that he was once called Labiel, but
there is no evidence in support of this statement.

Raphael is one of the seven archangels who bring

prayers before God (Tobit xii. 15), although he was

not one of the six who buried Moses

One of (Targ. Yer. Deut. xxxiv. 6). In

the Seven Enoch, xx. 1-7 he is the second among

Arch- the six or seven angels, Michael, as

angels. the most prominent, being placed in
the middle (see Jew. Encyc. i. 590,
S.I). Angblology); yet in a papyrus devoted to
magic, in which the seven archangels appear, Ra-
phael ranks second, immediately after Michael
(Wessely, " Griechischer Zauberpapyrus," ii. 65, line
38). In the same place Suriel is mentioned as the
fourth angel, and in a gnostic diagram cited by
Origen (" Contra Celsum," vi. 30) Suriel is also reck-
oned as one of the seven, together with Raphael;
this refutes Kohut's theory (■' Angelologie," p. 35)
of the identity of the two (seeLiiken, "Michael," p.
7, GOttingen, 1898). In the lists of planetary angels
given in the Jewish calendar, Raphael presides over
the sun and over Sunday {ib. p. 56).

The four angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and
Uriel appear much more often in works of Jewish
mysticism. Prom heaven they behold all the blood-
shed on earth and bring the laments of souls before
the Lord (Enoch, ix. 1-3). J'rom out of the darkness
they lead souls to God (Sibyllines, ii. 314 et seq.).
They are the four angels of the Presence, and stand
on the four sides of the Lord, whom they glorify
(Enoch, xl., where the fourth angel is Phanuel).
Each has his own host of angels for the praising of
God, around the four sides of whose throne are the
four groups of angels. In accordance with their
position in heaven, they are the four leaders of the
camp of Israel in the wilderness : Michael on the

Kaphael
Eapoport

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

318

east, opposite the tribe of Levi; Rapliael on tlie
west, opposite Ephraim ; Gabriel on the south, facing
Reuben and Judah ; Uriel on the north, facing Dan
(Pirke B. El. iv.; Hekalot R. vi., in Jellinek, "B.
H." ii. 39, 43; Pesik. R. 46 [ed. Eriedmann, p.
188a] ; Nuni R. ii. 10).

In like manner, the four rivers of paradise are
divided among these four angels ("Seder Gan
•Eden," in Jellinek, "B. H." ill. 138). The magic
papyrus also names the four angels (Wessely, I.e.
ii. 70 et seg.), and accordingly, on page 41, line 641,
where the names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel
are plainlj' legible, the letters missing after Kaiov
must be supplied so as to read nai Ovpitj'k. Schwab
(" Vocabulaire de I'Angelologie," p. 10) cites an
exorcism by these "'holy angels," who, as the most
august, according to the apocryphal fragments of
Bartoiomaeus, were created first (Liiken, I.e. p. 114).

Raphael, like every other angel, can assume any
form he will (Tobit) ; a tablet on his breast bears the
name of God (Pesik. R. 108b); according to the
Zohar, he is the chief of the "ofannim." A realization
of the foreign character of this angel is inferred in
the statement of Simeon ben Lakish (in 350 c.E.) to
the effect that the names of the angels originated in
Babylon, meaning among the Parthians who ruled
there (Gen. R. xlviii. 9). Raphael, as his name
imphes, is the angel of healing diseases and wounds
(Enoch, xc. 9) ; he overcomes Asmodeus, the evil
spirit (.Tobit V. 4 e« seq.; ix. 1, 5; xi. 1, 6; Testa-
ment of Solomon, in "J. Q. R." 1898, p. 24); he
binds even Azazel, and throws him into a pit
(Enoch, X. 4). He cures blindness (Tobit I.e. ;
Midrash of the Ten Commandments, in Jellinek,
"B. H." i. 80), and because of his healing powers he
is represented as a serpent (Origen, I.e.). Raphael,
as the third in rank, appeared with Michael and Ga-
briel to cure Abraham (Yoma 37a ; B. M. 86b ; Gen.
R. xlviii. 10). He cures also moral evil (Pesilj. R.
46 [ed. Eriedmann, p. 188a]).

Raphael was a favorite figure in Christian as well
as in Jewish angelology, and early Christian amu-
lets, encolpions, tombstones, and other monuments
have been found bearing the names
Raphael in of the angels Michael, Gabriel, and
Christian Raphael(Luken, Z.c. p. 119). Asmall,
Th.eolog'y. gold tablet discovered in the grave of
Maria, the wife of the emperor Hono-
rius, bears a similar inscription (Kopp, "Paleo-
graphia Critica," iii., § 158; comp. Liiken, I.e. pp.
118, 123). The names of the same angels occur on
Basilidian gems, and Origen likewise mentions them
(Liiken, I.e. pp. 66, 68), although in the magic papyri
Raphael appears chiefly in the formulas for amulets.

In post-Talmudic mysticism Raphael preserves
his importance, and is himself described as using
Gematria (Zohar, iii. 133, 328, 363; Jellinek, "B.
H." ii. 27, 39, 43, et al. ■ Schwab, I.e. p. 249; Talk.,
Hadash, ed. Presburg, p. 67a et al.). His name oc-
curs in Judseo-Babylonian conjuring texts (Stilbe,
p. 37), and is conspicuous in the liturgy— as in the
evening prayer, where he is mentioned together
with the three other angels, at whose head stands
God, exactly as in the Christian version of Zechariah
vi. (Liiken, I.e. p. 133). He is mentioned also in
association with various ofannim (Zunz, "S. P."

p. 479), evidently being regarded as their head.
Naturally, his name appears on amulets intended
to prevent or cure diseases (Grunwald, "Mitthell-
ungen," v. 77). See Angelology; Gabriel; Mi-
chael.

BiBUOORAPHT : Hamburger, B. B. T. II. 96 ; Hastlnss, DicL
Bible ; Kohut, JUdlsche Angelnlngie, pp. 35 et seq., Lelpslo,
1886; W. LOken, Michael, Gottingen, 1898; Riehm, Bibl.
HandwOrterbueh ; M. Schwab, Vocabulaire de I'Angelolo-
gie, pp. 10, 249, 345, Paris, 1897 ; 0. Wessely, Oriechiseher Zau-
berpapyrus, Vienna, 1888 ; idem, Neue Oriechische Zauber-
papyri, ib. 1893.
J. L. B.

RAPHAEL, FREDERICK MELCHIOR:

Enghsh soldier; born in London 1870; died at
Spion Kop, Natal, Jan. 34, 1900; son of George C.
Raphael; educated at Wellington College. Joining
the Rifle Brigade (Militia Battalion) in 1889, he
passed into the regular army in 1891, being assigned
to the First Battalion South Lancashire Regiment.
He was gazetted first lieutenant in that regiment in
1893, and in 1898 reached the rank of captain. He had
qualified in signaling and in military topography,
and had also acted as instructor in musketry and
as adjutant to his regiment.

At the outset of the conflict between the English
and Boer governments, Raphael was ordered with
his regiment to South Africa (Nov., 1899). He was-
senior subaltern in his battalion and acting captain
in charge of 130 men and a machine gun ; he was
killed in Warren's engagement with the Boers at
Spion Kop.

Bibliography : Jew. Ghron. Feb. 2, 1900.

.1. G. L.

RAPHAEL, HENRY LEWIS : English finan-
cier and economist ; born at London 1832 ; died at
Newmarket May 11, 1899; son of Louis Raphael.
He was senior partner in the firm of R. Raphael &
Sons, stockbrokers and bankers, and his influence
on the Stock Exchange was considerable. Raphael
showed a grasp of difficult economic subjects, and
gave evidence before various royal commissions and
parliamentary committees, including the Gold and
Silver Commission of 1888. He was a man of large
charities, dispensed not within the Jewish circle
only, but over a wider area. In memory of his wife
(d. Aug., 1897) he gave £20,000 to Guy's Hospital
for the endowment of a " Henriette Raphael Ward."
He was a generous supporter of the London Jewish
Board of Guardians and of other charitable insti-
tutions. He took a great interest in the turf also.

Raphael's son, Herbert H. Raphael (b. 1859),
has sat on the London County Council and the
Loudon school board, and has contested various
parliamentary seats.

Bibliography: JeiL\ Chron. May 13, 1899; The Times (Lon-
don), May 12, 1899.
J. G. L.

RAPHAEL BEN JEKUTHIEL StJSSKIND
HA-KOHEN: Talmudist and author; born in
Livonia Nov. 4, 1723; died at Altona Nov. 36, 1808.
He was educated at Minsk under Aryeh L5b ben
Asher, whose successor as head of the yeshibah of
that town he became in 1743. In 1744 he was called
to the rabbinate of Rakov, and in 1747 to that of
Vilkomir (a town not far from Wilna), where he re-
mained till 1757, when he was called as chief rabbi

319

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Raphael
Bapoport

to Minsk. Six years later he became rabbi and
head of the yeshibah at Pinsk. In 1771 he went to
Berlin for the purpose of publishing there his work
"Torat Yekutlel." The scholars of that city re-
ceived him with enthusiasm and respect, and offered
him the rabbinate, which was then vacant, but for
some unknown reason he declined the offer. In 1772
he became rabbi of Posen, and four years afterwards
he was called to take charge of the " Three Com-
munities " (Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck ; see
Alton a).

For twenty-three years he ministered to these
congregations, and then retired from active service,
spending the remainder of his life among his former
parishioners. How highly his work was esteemed
may be inferred from the fact that the King of Den-
mark, to whose territory these congregations be-
longed, upon hearing of Raphael's resignation, sent
him a letter in which he expressed his appreciation
of the service he had rendered to the Jewish com-
munity. Raphael was Mendelssohn's bitterest oppo-
nent, and intended to utter a ban against the latter's
Pentatevich translation while it was still in manu-
script. Indeed, he fought against all modern cul-
ture, and on one occasion fined a man for wearing
his hair in a cue.

Raphael was the author of the following works:
(1) "Torat Yekutlel" (Berlin, 1773), novelise and
comments on the Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah
(to the end of paragraph 106), appended to which
are some responsa. It was against this work that
Sant Berlin wrote his " Mizpeh Yekutlel " (tb. 1789).
(3) " Marpe Lashon " (ib. 1790), lectures on ethics.
(3) " We-Shab ha-Kohen" (Altona, 1792), 101 responsa
explaining the laws of the four parts of the Shul-
han'Aruk. (4) " Sha'alat ha-Kohanim Torah " («J.
1792), novelise and comments on the Talmudic trea-
tises Zebahim, Menahot, ' Arakin, Temurah, Keritot,
Yoma, and Me'ilah. (5) " Zeker Zaddik " {ib. 1805),
his last two public lectures.

Bibliography : Gratz, Oesch. xi. 540 ; Lewln, Talpiyvot, p. 8,
Berdycliev, 1895; Lazarus Elesser, Zeker ^addik, Altona,
1805; Elsenstadt, RaVbane Minsk wa-Jfakamena, p. 18,
Wilna, 1899.

E. C.

B. Fe.

RAPHAEL, MARK : Italian convert to Chris-
tianity; flourished at Venice at the beginning of the
sixteenth century. He was a halakist of some re-
pute, and it was said that he was a " chief rabbi "
before his conversion. He was consulted by Henry
VIII. on the question of the legality, according to
Jewish law, of his levirate marriage to Catharine of
Braganza, and was invited by him to England.
Raphael accordingly arrived in London on Jan. 38,
1531 ("Calendar of State Papers, Spanish," i. 335).
He decided that such a marriage was legal, but sug-
gested that the king might take another wife con-
jointly with the first. This advice not being accept-
able, Raphael revised his opinion by pointing to the
object of levirate marriage, and contending that as no
children had been the result of the union, the king
must have married his brother's widow without the
intention of continuing his brother's line, and that
consequently his marriage was illegitimate and in-
valid. His opinion was included in the collection
presented to Parliament, and Raphael was rewarded

in many ways; among others, he was granted a
license to import six hundred tons of Gascon and
two woads in 1533 (Gardner, " Letters and Papers of
Henry VIII." v. 485).

Bibliography : L. WoU, in Papers of the Angk>-Jewisli His-
torical Exhibition, p. 63 ; D. Kauf mann, in R. E. J. xxvli.
52, XXX. 310.
8. J.

RAPHALL, MORRIS JACOB: Rabbi and
author; born at Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 3, 1798;
died at New York June 23, 1868. At the age of
nine he was taken by his father, who was banker to
the King of Sweden, to Copenhagen, where he was
educated at the Hebrew grammar-school. Later he
went to England, where he devoted himself to the
study of languages, for the better acquisition of
which he subsequently traveled in Prance, Ger-
many, and Belgium. After lecturing on Hebrew
poetry he began to publish the "Hebrew Review,
and Magazine of Rabbinical Literature," which
he was forced to discontinue in 1836 owing to ill
health.

For some time he acted as honorary secretary to
Solomon Herschell, chief rabbi of Great Britain.
He made translations from Maimonides, Albo, and
Herz Wessely; conjointly with the Rev. D. A. de
Sola he published a translation of eighteen treatises
of the Mishnah ; and he also began a translation of
the Pentateuch, of which only one volume ap-
peared. In 1840, when the blood accusation was
made at Damascus, he published a refutation of it in
four languages (Hebrew, English, French, and Ger-
man) and wrote a defense of Judaism against an
anon}'-mous writer in the London "Times."

In 1841 he was appointed minister of the Bir-
mingham Synagogue and master of the school.
He continued in these capacities for eight years, and
then sailed for New York (1849). In that city he
was appointed rabbi and preacher of the B'nei Je-
shurun congregation, where he continued as pastor
till 1866, his duties then being relaxed owing to his
infirm health.

Raphall was the author of a text-book of the
post-Biblical history of the Jews (to the year 70
C.E.). He received the Ph.D. degree from the Uni-
versity of Erlangen (Germany).

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. July 17, 1868 ; Morais, Eminent
Israelites. ^ _,

J. I. Co.

RAPOPORT : Family, the various branches
of wliich claim a common Kohenitic origin. The
names of Rapa or Rappe ha-Kohen (y''^ NSI) are
met Avith about 1450. At that time MeshuUam Kusi
(abbreviated from "Jekuthiel") Rapa ha-Kohen-
Zedek, theearliest known member of thefamlly, lived
on the Rhine, probably in Mayeuce. Several decades
later the family disappeared from Germany, proba-
bly on account of the expulsion of the Jews from
Mayence Oct. 39, 1462. In 1467, in Mestre, near
Venice, the wealthy Hayyim Rappe is found as col-
lector of alms for the poor of the Holy Land. In
Venice the physician E. Moses Rap was exempted
in 1475 from wearing the Jew's badge.

The Polish branch of the family explains its name
through the following legend: One Easter a cer-
tain Jew, to prevent his enemies from smuggling the

Kapoport

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

320

body of a Cliristian child into his house, closed
all possible entrances and openings except the
chimney. Down the chimney, however, the dreaded
corpse fell, but when a crowd stormed the house
nothing but a partridge (Old German, " Rephuhn " or
" Raphuhn ") was found in the fireplace. But the
" Von den Jungen Baben " in the signature of Abra-
ham Menahem ha-KohenRapa von Port (see Rapa,
Menahbm Abkaham b. Jacob ha-Kohbn) at the
end of his Pentateuch commentary, and the addi-
tional fact that the coat of arms of the family bears
two ravens, clearly show that XBT signifies " Rabe "
(Middle High German, "Rappe"). The family
name, therefore, at the end of the sixteenth century
seems to be clearly established as Ha-Kohen Rabe.

In the middle of the sixteenth century there ap-
pears in Italy a Kohenitio family of the name of
Porto. On March 18, 1540, R. Isaac Porto ha-Kohen
obtained from the Duke of Mantua permission to
build a synagogue (Ashkenazic). The name of the
family is to be derived neither from Oporto (Portu-
gal) nor from Pilrth (Bavaria), but from Porto, near
Mantua, where undoubtedly the above-named Isaac
Porto ha-Kohen lived. An alliance between the
Rabe and Porto families explains the combination of
the two family names in Rapoport; indeed, in 1565,
ofliciating in the above-mentioned synagogue of Man-
tua, there is found a Rabbi Solomon b. Menahem
ha-Kohen Rapa of Venice, while a Rabbi Abraham
Porto ha-Kohen (1541-76) was parnas of the com-
munity. See Rapa.

However this may be, in the middle of the seven-
teenth century authors belonging to the Rapa-Port
family were living in Poland and Lithuania, the

Arms of tlie Rapoport Family.

name having meanwhile undergone the following
modifications: Rapiport, Rapoport, Rapperport,
and Rappert. The family spread principally from
Cracow and Lemberg ; in the latter place, in 1584,
was born the famous Talmudist Abraham Rapa von
Port (called also Schrenzel). In 1650 Rapoports
lived in Dubno and Krzemeniec; in the eighteentli

century descendants of R. Judah Rapoport are
found in Smyrna and Jerusalem. About 1750 there
were two Rapoports in Dyhernfurth (Silesia) — one
named Israel Moses and the other R. Meir: the
former came from Pinczow, the latter from Kroto-
schin. Both found employment in the printing es-
tablishment at Dyhernfurth.

The sons of the Rapoport of Krotoschin who set-
tled in Breslau and Liegnitz adopted, in 1818, the
name of Warschauer. During the last 450 years
members of the family have been found in eighty
difl'erent cities of Europe and Asia. S.

Abraham Bapoport (Schrenzel) : Polish Tal-
mudist; born at Lemberg in 1584; died in 1651
(June 7); son of R. Israel Jehiel Rapoport of
Cracow and son-in-law of R. Mordecai Schrenzel of
Lemberg. Rapojjort was a pupil of R. Joshua Palk
ha-Kohen. For forty-five years he was at the
head of a large yeshibah at Lemberg. Being very
wealthy, he had no need of seeking a rabbinical
position; and he was able, therefore, to expend
large sums in behalf of the pupils of his academy.
He was president of the Council of Four Lands,
and was administrator of the money collected for
the poor in the Holy Land. Rapoport's "Etan ha-
Ezrahi" (printed at Ostrau, 1796) is divided into two
parts. Part i. contains responsa and decisions ; part
ii., called "Kontres Aharon," contains sermons on
the weekly sections of the Pentateuch. He is said
to have written a number of works which have
been lost.

Bibliography : Azulai, Shem ha^QecUiUm, 1., No. 17 ; Solomon
Buber, Anshe S/iem, pp. 7-13, Cracow, 1895.
s. J. Z. L.

Arnold Bapoport, Edler von Porada: Aus-
trian deputy; grandson of S. L. Rapoport; born in
1840 at Tarnow. In 1848 he accompanied his fam-
ily to Cracow, where he subsequently studied law;
he took his degree in 1863 and opened a law-office
in 1870. In 1874 he was elected a member of the
municipal council of Cracow, which office he held
until 1881, when he went to Vienna. In 1877 he
was returned to the Galician Diet by the Cracow
chamber of commerce, of which he is still a member
(1905). He was elected to the Reichsrath in 1879.
As a member of the Austrian legislature he has
devoted himself chiefly to economic questions, and
more lately to questions relating to canals and water-
ways in Austria.

Since the beginning of his public career Rapoport
has been actively interested in ameliorating the piti-
able condition of his Galician coreligionists, organ-
izing committees and founding societies for their
relief. In 1890 he was ennobled by the emperor
Francis Joseph; he is a knight of the Legion of
Honor, and the Turkish order of Nishan-i-Medjidie
and the Servian order of Sawa (1st class) have been
conferred upon him.

s. E. J.

Aryeh Lob h. Baruch. Bapoport : German
rabbi of the eighteenth century. He was at first a
wealthy merchant, but after losing his wealth be-
came rabbi of Odensoos, Schnaittach, and Hutten-
bach; later he was elected rabbi of Herzfeld (Car-
moly, "Ha-'Orebim u-Bene Yonah," p. 18) and

321

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bapoport

Wttrzburg (1757). In conjunction -with his fatlier,
he wrote a Iiaskamah (Sulzbach, 1755) for the " Hok-
mat Shelomoh " of Solomon Lurla (Eisenstadt-
Wiener, "Da'at Kedbshim," p. 161).

s. A. S. W.

Baruch. b. Moses IVEeir Kahaua Kapoport :
Polish rabbi; born probably in Lemberg; died in
FUrth, Bavaria, in 1746(Nisan), at an advanced age.
According to Fuenn he was rabbi of Wilna for a
short time about 1709 ; but there is evidence that he
went to Fiirth as earlj' as 1701. When his uncle
Simhah Rapoport left Grodno for Lublin in 1715,
Baruch was selected to succeed him, but he refused
to abandon the smaller community of Fiirth, because
he desired to remain in Germany. Still he assumed
the title of rabbi of Grodno, which he appended to
two approbations dated about that time. "His re-
sponsa are included in the Michael collection of man-
uscripts, now in the British Museum. He opposed
Nehcmiah Hayyun and Moses Hayyim Luzzatto.
A letter addressed to him in defense of the latter,
written by R. Isaiah Basan, is reproduced in " Kerem
Hemed " (ii. 62).

Bibliography: Fuenn, Kiryah JVe'emanah, p. 98; Idem,
Kenestt risroel, p. 197 ; Ozerot Bayyim, Nos. 788-789, Ham-
burg, 1848; El8en9tadt- Wiener, Da of , XedosMm, pp. 156-
157. See also Etthausen, Or Ne'elam, responsum No. 39,
Carlsrune, 1765. ^ .^

8. P- Wl.

Benjauun toen Simliah. h.a-Kohen Bapo-
port : Galician preacher ; lived at Brzezany toward
the end of the eighteenth century. He was the au-
thor of " Gebulot Binyamin " (Lemberg, 1799), con-
taining novella; on the Pentateuch arranged in the
order of the "parashiyyot," novelise on the sayings
of Rabbah bar bar Hanah, and a commentary on the
Pesah Haggadah.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Eiseustadt^ Wiener, Da'at Kednshim, p. 156 ;
Fuenn, Keneset Tisrael, p. 174.
g. M. Sel.

Benjamin. Zeeb Wolf ben Isaac hia-Kohen
E,apoport : Hungarian rabbi ; born at Nikolsburg,
Moravia, in 1754; died at Papa, Hungary, April 14,
1837. Prom his childhood Rapoport manifested
extraordinary ability in the study of the Talmud.
From 1771 to 1781 he was lecturer in Talmud in
Alt-Ofen; and from 1781 until his death he was
rabbi of Papa. Rapoport's liberalism with regard
to ritual decisions drew down upon him the dis-
pleasure of men like Mordecai Benet, chief rabbi of
Moravia, and Moses Schreiber, rabbi of Presburg,
both of whom urged the community of Papa to dis-
miss him. Failing in this, they accused him before
the Austrian government of introducing a new
Torah, with the result that he was commanded by
the government either to rescind his decisions or
to support them by evidence. He was an opponent
of Cabala and Hasidism.

Rapoport was the author of the following works:
"Simlat Binyamin u-Bigde Kehunnah" (Dyhern-
furth, 1788), novelise on that part of the Shulhan
'Aruk (Yoreh De'ah) which deals with vows and
oaths ; " Netibot ha-Hokmah , " or " Simlah Sheniyah "
(Vienna, 1800), a collection of thirty-two responsa;
" 'Edut le-Yisrael " (Presburg, 1839), novelise on the
treatise Makkot, edited and supplemented by his son
X.— 21

Mendel Rapoport. Carmoly and Eisenstadt-Wiener
credit to Rapoport the following works, which they
declare were published by Mendel Rapoport with-
out giving place or date of publication : " Noy Suk-
kah," containing the. regulations peculiar to the
Feast of Tabernacles; "Slia'ar Binyamin," novelise
on the Talmud ; and " Yikkawu ha-Mayim, " another
Talmudic work. In addition, Carmoly ascribes to
him a work entitled "Seder ha-Mishnah," on the
three divisions of the Torah — the Bible, the Mish-
nah, and the Gemara — while Eisenstadt-Wiener as-
cribes to him the authorship of "Shelosh Me'ot
Kesef," homilies.

Bibliography : Carmoly, Ha-'Orehim u-Bene YonaU, pp. 21-
22, Eodelheim, 1861; Elsenstadt- Wiener, Da'at ^edmhim,
p. 172 ; Fiirst, Bibl. jud. Hi. 130 (where this Rapoport is con-
fused with Benjamin b. Simhah Rapoport) .
s. M. Sel.

Elijah. Rapoport. See Rapa, Elijah b. Mena-

HEM.

Hayyim b. Bar Bapoport : Rabbi at Ostrog,
Russia, in the first half of the nineteenth century.
He was the author of the collection of responsa called
"Mayim Hayyim " (parts i. and ii., Jitomir, 1857;
parts iii. and iv., ib. 1858). The appendix, entitled
"Ozerot Hayyim," contains novella on the Penta-
teuch.
Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 367; Benjacob,

Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 324, No. 1118.

s: ^ " J 2. L.

Hayyim b. Simhah ha-Kohen Rapoport :

Polish rabbi; born about 1700; died in Lemberg
1771. He was rabbi in Zetel, Lithuania, about 1729,
but in the following yearappears as rabbi in Slutsk,
in the government of Minsk ; his signature, attached
in that year to an approbation of R. Jehiel Heilprin's
"Seder ha-Dorot," indicates that he was even then
considered an authority. Ten years later he was
chosen rabbi of Lemberg, a position to which his
father had been chosen twenty-two years previously,
but had died before he could assume the oflBce.
With R. Baerof Yazlovicz and R. Israel Ba'al Shem,
in 1759 Hayyim, under orders from Bishop Mikolski,
held the memorable disputation with the Frankist
leaders. His responsa and approbations are found
in numerous contemporary works, including those
of his brother-in-law Zebi of Halberstadt.

Hayyim had two sous, Aryeh Lob (d. 1759), head
of the yeshlbah of Lemberg, and Nahman, rabbi
of Qlogau. Of his three daughters, the first was
married to Joel Katzenellenbogen, a Galician rabbi ;
the second married Aaron ha-Levi Ettinger (d. at
Lemberg e. 1759), for some time rabbi of Rzeszow,
Qalicia ; the third became the wife of a certain Baruch
b. Mendel b. Hirz. Hayyim ha-Kohen Rapo-
port of Ostrog, Volhynia, author of " Mayim Hay-
yim," responsa (.Jitomir, 1858), who died in 1839,
was Hayyim b. Simhah 's great-grandson.

Hayyim's works remained in manuscript for
nearly a century after his death. The first, a col-
lection of responsa entitled "She'elot u-Teshubot
Rabbenu Hayyim Kohen," in the order of the Shul-
han 'Aruk', was published in Lemberg in 1861. The
second, "Zeker Hayyim," sermons and funeral ora-
tions, also appeared in Lemberg, in 1866. He is
said to have written several more works which are
still in manuscript.

Eapoport
Bappoltsweiler

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

323

Bibliography : Dembitzer, Kelilat Ynfi, pp. 137 et seq., Cra-
cow, 1888 ; Eleazar ba-Kohen, KUVat Soferim, p. 73, note,
Lemberg, 1892 ; Buber, Anshe Shem, pp. 69-72, Cracow, 1895.

S. P. Wl.

Isaac h. Judah. ha-Kohen Rapoport : Pales-
tinian rabbi of the eigliteenth century; born and
died at Jerusalem , a pupil of R. Hezekiah da Silva.
After a journey to Europe in behalf of the haluk-
kah fund, lie was elected rabbi of Smyrna, where he
remained forty years. At an advanced age he re-
turned to Jerusalem, where he was appointed to a
rabbinate. He was the author of a work entitled
" Batte Kehunnah. " The first part contains responsa
and treatises on the posekim (Smyrna, 1741); the
second part consists of sermons, together with
studies on the Talmud (Salonica, 1744).

Bibliogeapht: Furst, Bibliotheca Judaica, iii. 130-131.
s. J. Z. L.

Jekuthiel Siisskind (Siissel) Rapoport :

Russian communal leader; born 1802; died in Minsk
March 7, 1872 ; son of Hayyim ha-Kohen, rabbi of
Ostrog, Volhynia (d. 1889), and great-grandson of
R. Hayyim ha-Kohen Rapoport of Slutsk and Lem-
berg. He married into a wealthy family of Minsk,
where he settled. His extensive Talmudic knowl-
edge and his piety did not prevent him from sym-
pathizing with the progressive movement for the
spread of secular knowledge among the Jews of
Russia, and he encouraged Dr. Lilienthal, who vis-
ited Minsk on his tour through Russia in 1843. In
1856 he was chosen a member of the rabbinical com-
mission which met the following year in St. Peters-
burg to discuss Jewish affairs. He and his brother
Jacob, rabbi of Ostrog, published their father's
"Mayim Hayyim" (Jitomir, 1857-58). Jekuthiel
left two sons, Jacob of Warsaw and Wolf of
Minsk (d. 1898), and three daughters, one of whom
married Israel Meisels, rabbi of Siedlce.

Bibliogeapht : Alia. Zeit. des Jud. 1849, p. 435 ; Ha^Maggid,
Iii. 147, 163; xvi.,No. 27; Ha-Snahar, iii. 338; Lelfet Ama-
rim, p. 89, St. Petersburpr, 1889 ; Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp.
313-^14 ; Eisenstadt- Wiener, Da'at Kedoshim, pp. 174, 177, St.
Petersburg, 1897-98.
s. P. Wl.

Menaliem. Rapoport. See Rapa (Porto), Men-
AHEM Abraham b. Jacob ha-Kohen.

Moritz Rappaport: Austrian poet and physician ;
born at Lemberg Jan. 19, 1808; died at Vienna May,
38, 1880 ; cousin of Solomon Judah LOb Rapoport.
He received his early education at home ; his father
belonged to the party of Reform, while his mother
was strongly Orthodox. The period from 1822 to
1833 Rappaport spent in Vienna, attending the gym-
nasium of the Benedictine monks and studying med-
icine at the university (M.D. 1833). Immediately
after graduating he established himself as a physi-
cian in his native town. For forty years he was one
of the leading physicians of Lemberg, where he was
appointed chief physician at the Jewish hospital.
Rappaport took an active interest in the welfare
of his coreligionists, spending both time and money
in behalf of the synagogde, the school, the orphan
asylum, and the poorhouse. From 1872 to 1878 he
resided in Vienna ; in 1879 he was again in Lemberg ;
but in the last year of his life he returned to Vienna.

Moritz Rappaport's " Moses, " an epic-lyric poem in

five cantos, appeared in 1843; his "Bojazzo," in
1863. Under the title "HebrSische Gesange" he
translated Lamentations, the Song of Songs, the
"LekahDodi,"etc.

Bibliography: Karpeles, Gese/i. der JUdischen ]jiteratur,ii.
1129-1130; Winter and Wunsche, Jtldische Litteratur,ill.
883 ; Allg. Zelt. des Jud. 1880, p. 427 ; 1892, p. 483 et passim.
s. F. T. H.

Soloiuoii Judah. Lob Rapoport : Austrian rabbi
and scholar; born at Lemberg June 1, 1790; died at
Prague Oct. 16, 1867. Thrown upon his own re-
sources about 1817, Rapoport became cashier of the
meat-tax farmers. He had already given evidence
of marked critical ability, though his writings pre-

Solomon Judah L8b Eapoport.

viously published were of a light character — poems,
translations, etc. His critical talent, however, soon
revealed itself. In 1824 he wrote for " Bikkure ha-
'Ittim " an article on the independent Jewish tribes of
Arabia and Abyssinia. Though this article gained
him some recognition, a more permanent impression
was made by his work on Saadia Gaon and his time
(published in the same journal in 1839), the first of
a series of biographical works on the medieval Jew-
ish sages. Because of this work he received recog-
nition in the scholarly world and gained many
enthusiastic friends, especially S. D. Luzzatto (Bern-
feld, "Toledot Shir,"p. 33).

By this time Rapoport's circumstances had be-
come straitened. In 1833 the farming of the meat-
tax fell into the hands of his enemies, and he was left
without a source of income. He endeavored, with
the aid of his friends Zunz and Luzzatto, to secure
a rabbinate in Berlin or in Italy ; but for a position
in the former place he was not sufficiently proficient
in German, and for one in the latter he had not the

323

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kapoport
Kappoltsweller

required university diploma. Tlie intellectual Jews
of Brody, therefore, established a business and made
Rapoport its superintendent (" Iggerot Shir, " p. 359).
In 1837 he was appointed, through theendeavorsof J.
Perland other Maskilim, rabbiof Tarnopol ("Kerem
Hemed," iv. 341 et seg.), and in 1840
Babbi rabbi of Prague. Rapoport was con-
at Prague, servative in his religious views. His
Orthodoxy was of the type of Zacha-
rias Prankel's. He wrote " Torah Or " against the
radical views Geiger had expressed in his "Ur-
schrift," rebuked Jost for taking the same attitude
in his " Tokahat Megullah " (an open letter to the
rabbis assembled at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1845,
published with a German translation by Raphael
Kirchheim, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1846; see p. 1),
and assumed a negative attitude toward the conven-
tion of German rabbis at Frankfort-on-the-Main in
1845.

Rapoport was chiefly distinguished as a critical
investigator. As such he was preceded by Zunz,
Jost, and Krochmal, though in his researches he
was independent of them. He differs from the first
two in that he is deeper and more thoroughgoing in
his researches, and from Krochmal in that his in-
vestigations are more minute and detailed. It was
in virtue of this excellence that Rapoport succeeded,
in most of his investigations, in establishing histor-
ical dates. Thus he was the first to throw light
on the life and period of Saadia Gaon
Biog- ("Toledot Shir," p. 33). He did sim-

raphies. ilar service in connection with the bi-
ographies of R. Nathan (author of the
" 'Aruk "), Hai Gaon, Eleazar ha-Kalir (" Bikkure ha-
'Ittim," 1840-41), R. Hananeel, R. Nissim(i6. 1843),
and others.

Of the other works of Rapoport, the following
are the most important: notes on the English trans-
lation of "The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela"
(London, 1840-41); " 'Erek Millin," encyclopedic
dictionary of Judaism (parti., Prague, 1852); "Dibre
Shalom we-Emet," in defense of Zacharias Prankel
against the attacks by the Orthodox (ib. 1861);
"Nahalat Yehudah," against the Hasidim (written
1861) and against Geiger's "Urschrift" (Cracow,
1868); "Nahalat Yehudah," strictures on "Ben Yo-
hai" by M. Kuniz (Lemberg, 1873); "Zikkaron la-
Aharonim," letters to Luzzatto (Wilna, 1881); "Ig-
gerot Shir," other letters (Przemysl, 1885); an
article in "Kerem Hemed" (v. 197 et se,q.) on the
Chazars, the Lost Ten Tribes, and the Karaites
(this article regained him the lost friendship of Luz-
zatto) ; various other articles on similar subjects.

Bibliography : Bernfeld, Toledot Shir, a biography of Rapo-
port (Berlin, 1899) ; Halberstam, Toledot Rapoport, Cracow,
19(XJ ; Das Centenarium S. J. L. BapnporVs, Vienna, 1890 ;
Grfttz, Gesch. xl. 449 et seg., Lelpslc, 1900 ; I. H. Weiss, Zik-
ronotai, pp. 86 et seq., Warsaw, 1895 ; Jellinek, in Neuzeit,
1867, No. 46 ; Forges, In Ha-Shahar, 1869 (separate fascicule) ;
Ha-Bo'en. criticism on the works of Rapoport hy different
scholars (Ofen, 1839); MilsahaBl, n"i3Ni, strictures on the
works of Zunz and Rapoport (ib. 1837).
B. A. S. W.

BAPPAPORT, PHILIP: American lawyer
and journalist; born in 1845, at Filrth, Bavaria,
where he was educated. Removing to the United
States in 1866, he became reporter for the "Frei-
heitsfreund," in Pittsburg. The following year he

held the editorship of a German daily at Wheeling,
W. Va., studying law at the same time. After being
admitted to the bar in 1870 he removed to Cincin-
nati, where he became assistant editor of the " Cou-
rier," later of the " Volksblatt." In 1874 he went
to Indianapolis, Ind. and took up the practise of
law. In 1881 he founded the "Indiana Tribune,"
of which paper he was the principal owner and
editor for nineteen years. Since 1900 he has been
practising law in Indianapolis.

A. F. T. H.

BAPPOLDI, EDOTJABD: Austrian violinist;
born at Vienna Feb. 21, 1839. He studied at the
Vienna Conservatoriuni under Jansa, Hellmesberger,
BOhm (violin), and Sechter (composition). From
1854 to 1861 he was a member of the Vienna court
opera orchestra, and made successful tours through
Germany, Holland, and Belgium. From 1861 to
1866 he was concert-master at Rotterdam, and from
1866 to 1870 conductor at Lilbeck, Stettin, and
Prague. In 1871 he was appointed teacher of the
violin at the KOnigliche Hochschule ffir Musik in
Berlin, where he remained until 1877, when he be-
came chief instructor in the violin at the Dresden
Conservatorium, which position he held for fifteen
years. Until his retirement in 1898 he was also con-
cert-master of the Dresden opera orchestra. In 1874
he married Laura Kahrer, the pianist.

Though a violinist of the first rank, Rappoldi pre-
fers artistic interpretation to display. He is also-
distinguished as a quartet player, and has contrib-
uted greatly to the advancement of chamber -music
in Dresden. His compositions include symphonies,
quartets, sonatas, and songs with pianoforte accom-
paniment.

Bibliography : liUdwigHartmann, inilirM.«7c<xlisc?ifS Wochen-
hlatt, Lelpslc, ix. 480 ; Champlln, Cya. of Music and Musi-
cians ; Mendel, Musiltali^ches Konversations-LexHwn.
s. J. So.

BAPPOLTSWEIIiEB (French, Bibeau-
ville): Townof Upper Alsace. The earliest known
oflicial document concerning its Jews dates from
1331. Inthatyear LouisIV., Emperorof Germany,
transferred the Jews of Rappoltsweiler to the Sieur
de Ribeaupierre as surety for a loan of 400 silver
marks. Ten years later they were pledged by
the same monarch to John of Rappoltstein. In
consequence of the Armlbder riots of 1337 the
Jews of Rappoltsweiler were partly massacred and
partly banished by the Lord of Rappoltstein. The
emperor at first threatened the perpetrators of these
cruel acts with severe punishment for the encroach-
ment upon his property; but later he granted in-
demnity to the brothers John and Anselme of Rap-
poltstein.

In 1349 the community of Rappoltsweiler was
completely annihilated in consequence of the perse-
cution caused by the Black Death. Soon, how-
ever, Jews again settled in the town and maintained
themselves there until the end of the sixteenth cen-
tury, when the municipality issued a decree of ban-
ishment. Toward the middle of the seventeenth
century they were again allowed to settle in Rap-
poltsweiler, under the condition that each of the
first ten settlers should pay a yearly protection tax
of 20 florins, while those that came later should pay,

Baschko^r
Bashi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

324

besides the yearly tax, 200 livres for admission.
Rappoltsweiler at the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury contained about 20 Jewish families; in 1784
these had increased to 58 families, comprising 286
persons. Upon the establishment of consistories
(1808) Rappoltsweiler became part of the con-
sistorial diocese of Colmar. The rabbis who have
held office at Rappoltsweiler during the last fifty
years have been Elijah Lang and Weil (the present
incumbent).

The Jews of Rappoltsweiler number (1905) about
210 In a total population of 6,100.

BiBLiOGEAPHY : Depplng, ies Juifs au Moyen Age, p. 91 ;
Sclieid, Histnire des Juifs d' Alsace, pp. 11, 14 ; Reuss, UA l-
sace au XVII« Steele, li. 580; Salfeld, Martyrologium, pp.
339,283.

D. I. Br.

RASCHKOW, LAZAR (ELEAZAR) : Ger-
man physician and writer ; born at Raschkow, prov-
ince of Posen, 1798; died Aug. 2, 1870. He received
his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, who
was the local rabbi, and at an early age took a
position as tutor at Neisse, where he prepared him-
self for the " secunda " of the gymnasium of that
city. After his graduation he studied medicine at
the University of Budapest, and was then appointed
surgeon In the Austrian army, but was obliged to
resign because of his writings on behalf of the
emancipation of the Jews. He then began to prac-
tise at Mad in the county of Tokay, but being soon
forced to give up this work on account of ill health,
he engaged in tutoring and writing. From this
period dates his history " Kerot Yeme '01am, "while
his dramatic poem "Amnon we-Tamar" (Breslau,
1832) is a product of his youth. Shortly before his
death he composed his epitaph, in which he related
the story of his life.

Biblioorapht: Furst, Bibl. Jud. ill. 133; Sllbermann, In Ha-
Mofigid, 1870, No. 33 ; Zeltlln, Bibl. Pust-Mendds. 11. 393.
s. M. L. B.

RASCHKOW, StJSSKIND: German poet;
died at Breslau April 12, 1836. He was the author of
the following works: " Yosef we-Asenat," a drama
(1817); "Hayye Shimshon," an epic poem (1824);
and "Tal Yaldut," poems and proverbs (1835).

Bibliography : Zunz, Monatstage, Berlin, 1873 ; Stelnsehnei-
der, Cat. Bodl. col. 2664 ; Winter and Wiinsche, Die JUdisclie
Litteratur, vol. iii., s. v., Treves, 1896.

H. K. I. War.

RASCHPITZ (RASCHWITZ), HAYYIM :

Scholar of the seventeenth century ; martyred, prob-
ably at Prague. He wrote the prayer " 'lyyun Te-
fillah," on the persecutions and the martyrdoms of
Prague (2d ed., Amsterdam, 1671; 4th ed., Dessau,
1671; 5th ed., with German tiansl. by Zebi Hirsch
Kaidanover, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1709).

Bibliography : Zedner, Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus. p. 183 ;
Ben.iacob, Ozar ha-Setajrim, p. 437; Steinschneider, Cat.
Bodl. cols. 832-833.
e. S. O.

RASHBA. See Adret, Solomon ben Abra-

HA.VI.

RASHBAM. See Samuel ben MeIr,

RASHI (SOLOMON BAR ISAAC): French

commentator on Bible and Talmud; born at Troyes

in 1040; died there July 13, 1105. His fame has

made him the subject of many legends. The name

of Yarhi, applied to him as early as the sixteenth
century, originated in a confusion of Solomon bar
Isaac with one Solomon de Lunel, and a further error
caused the town of Lunel to be regarded as Rashi's
birthplace. In reality he was a native of Troyes,
where, a century ago, butcher-shops were still shown
which were built on the site of his dwelling and which
flies were said never to enter. R. Simon the Elder
was his maternal uncle ; but a genealogy invented at
a later date assigned this relationship to the tanna Jo-

Basbi Chapel at Worms.

(From a photograph.)

hanan ha-Sandalar. According to tradition, Rashi's
father carried his religious zeal so far that he cast into
the sea a gem that was much coveted by Christians,
whereupon he heard a mysterious voice which fore-
told him the birth of a noble son. Legend states
also that his mother, imperiled in one of the nar-
row streets of Worms during her pregnancy, pressed
against a wall, which opened to receive her. This
miraculous niche is still shown there, as well as the
bench from which Rashi taught. As a matter of

fact, however, Rashi merely studied

His at Worms for a time, his first teacher

Teachers, being Jacob b. Yakar, of whom he

speaks with great veneration. After
Jacob's death his place was successively filled by
Isaac ben Eleazar ha-Levi, or Segan Lewiyali, and
by Rashi's relative Isaac b. Judah, the head of the
school of Mayence, a school rendered illustrious
through R. Gershom b. Judah (the " Light of the
Exile "), who may be regarded as Rashi's precursor,
although he was never his teacher.

Tradition to the contrary notwithstanding, Rashi
never made the extensive journey through Europe,
Asia and Africa which have been attributed to him,
and accounts of which have been embellished with
details of a meeting with Maimonides and of Rashi's
marriage at Prague. About the age of twenty-
five he seems to have left his masters, with whom
he always maintained most friendly relations. His
return to Troyes was epoch-making, for thenceforth
the schools of Champagne and northern France were
destined to rival, and shortly to supplant, those of
the Rhenish provinces. Rashi most likely exercised

325

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Raschkow
Rashi

tlu' fuuctiiius I'f liibbi in his native city, but lie
seems to liuve depended for support clni'Hy on bis
vineyards and the manufacture of wine. About
lUTO he founded a school which attracted many dis-
ciples and which became still more important after
the death of his own preceptors. His most noted
pupils were Binihah of Vitry and Shemaiah, who
were his kinsmen, and Judah b. Abraham, Joseph
b. Judah, and
Jacob b. Sam-
son. He had no
sons, but three
daughters, of
whom Jliriam
and Jochebed
married two of
his pupils, Ju-
dah b. Nathan
and Mei'r b.
Samuel ; so that
his family bc-
earac, in a sense,
the dilTusers of
rabbinical learn-
ing in France.

Iiashi's train-
ing bore fruit in
his commen-
taries, possibly
begun while he
was still in Lor-
raine. His last
3-ears were sad-
dened by the
massacres which
took place at the
outset of the
first Crusade
(1095-1096), in
which he lost
relatives and
friends. One
legend connects
his name with
that of Godfrey
de Bouillon, to
whom he is said
to have foretold
the defeat of
his e-xpedition;
while another
tradition attrib-
utes to him a
journey to Bar-
celona, in the latter part of his life, to seek a man
indicated to him in a dream as destined to be his
comrade in paradise. Another legend further states
that he died and was buried in Prague.

J. M. Lib.

Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch was first
printed without the text at Keggio in 1475 (the first
dated Hebrew book printed); tive years later it was
reprinted in square characters. Its first appearance
with the text was at Bologna in 1482, the commen-
tary being given in the margin; this was the first
commentary so printed. Since that date there have

been published a great many editions of the Penta-
teuch with Rashi's commentary only. At dilTcrent
periods other parts of the Old Testament appeared
with his commentary ; the Five Scrolls (Bologna,
c. 1484); the Five Scrolls, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehe-
miah (Naples, 1487); Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and
Daniel (Salonica, 1515); the Pentateuch, the Five
Scrolls, Ezra, and Chronicles (Venice, 1517). The

cditio princeps
of Rashi on the
whole of the Old
Testament was
(■ailed " Mikra'ot
Gedolot" {ib.
1525), in which,
h o w e v e r , of
Pro verbs and the
books of Job
and Daniel the
text alone was
given. Owing
to its i m p 0 r -
tance, Rashi's
c o m m e n t a r y
was translated
into Latin by
Christian schol-
ars of the seven-
teenthand eight-
eenth centuries,
some parts sev-
eral times. The
most complete
Latin translation
is that of John
Frederick Breit-
haupt, which
appeared at
Got ha: on the
Pentateuch,
1710 ; on the
Prophets, the
twelve Minor
Prophets, Job,
and Psalms,
1713 ; on the
Earlier Prophets
and the Hagi-
ographa, 1714.
The whole com-
mentary on the
Pentateuch was
translated into
German by L.
Dukes (Prague, 1838), and parts of it were translated
into Judico-German by Judah Lob Bresch in his edi-
tion of the Pentateuch (Cremona, 1560), and likewise
by Jacob b. Isaac in liis " Sefer ha-Maggid " (Prague,

15'''6)- , ...

No other commentaries have been the subject

of so many supercommentaries as those of Rashi.

The best known of these supercommentaries are:

the "bi'urim" of Israel Isserlein (Venice, 1519); the

" Sefer ha-Mizrahi" of Elijah Mizral.ii (ih. 1527); the

" Keli Yakar " of Solomon Ephraim of Lenchitza

(Ltdjlin, 1602) ; and finally the most popular one,

Interior of the Rashi Chapel at Worms.

tFrom a photograph.)

Kashi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

326

the " Sif te Hakaraim " of Sliabbethai Bass (appearing
in many Pentateuch editions by the side of Rashi's
commentary.)

Rashi's commentary on the Talmud covers the
Iilishnah (only in those treatises where there is Ge-
mara) and the Gemara. In the various editions
Rashi is assumed to include all the treatises of the
Talmud, with the exception of Mak-
Lacunse in kot from 19b to end, Baba Batra from

Talmud 39b to end, and Nedarira from 33b to
Commenta- end. Modern scholars, however, liave
ries. shown that the commentaries on the
following treatises do not belong to
Rashi: Keritot and Me'ilah (Zunz, in his "Zeit-
schrift," p. 368), Mo'ed Katan (Reifmann, in "Mo-
natsschrift,"iii. 339, who credits the commentary on
this treatise to Gershon Me'or ha-Golah), Nazir and
Nedarim (allotted by Reifmann, I.e., to Isaiah di
Trani), and Ta'anit (Azulai, "Shem ha-Gedolim," i.
168). Rashi's commentary on the treatise Berakot
was printed with the text at Soncino in 1483.

Cross-Section of the Raslii Chapel at Worms.

The editio princeps of the whole of the Talmud,
with Rashi, is that of Venice, 1530-33. Rashi's
mishnaic commentary was printed with the Basel
1580 (the order Tohorot) and the Leghorn 1654 (all
six orders) editions. A commentary on Pirke Abot
was printed, with the text, at Mantua in 1560 and
was attributed to Rashi ; the critics, however, doubt
that the commentary is his work. Rashi's Talmudic
commentary was soon afterward the object of severe
criticism by the tosafists, who designated it under
the term " kontres " (pamphlet). But in the seven-
teenth century Joshua Hbschel b. Joseph, in his
" Maginne Shelomoh " (Amsterdam, 1715), a work
covering several treatises, defended Rashi against
the attacks of the tosafists.

Other works attributed to Rashi are: commen-
taries on Genesis Rabbah (Venice, 1568; not Rashi's
according to Jacob Emden in his " 'Ez Abot,"
Preface) and Exodus Rabbah (Vatican MS.); "Sefer
ha-Pardes," a collection of halakot and decisions (a
compendium, entitled "Likkute ha-Pardes " [Venice,
1519], was made about 1330 by Samuel of Bamberg) ;
"Siddur Rashi," mentioned in Tos. Pes. 114 (MS.
owned by Luzzatto); "Dine Nikkur ha-Basar"
(Mantua, 1560), laws of porging. Several decisions
found in the " Sefer ha-Pardes " are separately quoted
as Rashi's. Rashi's responsum to the rabbis of Au-
xerre was published by Geiger in his " Melo Chof na-
jim " (p. 33, Berlin, 1840). Two other responsa are

to be found in Judah b. Asher's " Zikron Yehudah "
(pp. 50a, 53b, Berlin, 1846), and twenty-eight were
published by Baer Goldberg in his "Hefes Mat-
monim" (Berlin, 1845). Rashi was also a liturgist;
three selihot of his, beginning respectively : " Adonai
Elohe ha-Zeba'ot, " " Az terem nimtahu, " and " Taunot
zarot lo uukal," are found in the selihot editions;
his hymn on the unity of God ("Shir 'al ahdut ha-
bere ") has not yet been published.
J. M. Sbl.

Rashi's attainments appear the more remarkable
when it is remembered that he confined himself to
Jewish fields of learning. Legend notwithstanding,
he knew neither foreign languages, except French
and a few words of German, nor secular science,
^ave something of the practical arts. But in Bib-
lical and rabbinical literature his learning was both
extensive and reliable, and his numerous quotations
show that he was familiar with nearly all the He-
brew and Aramaic works of his predecessors. Rashi's
celebrity rests upon his commentaries on the Bible
and the Talmud, this vast task of elucidation being
entirely his own, except for a few books in the one
and certain treatises in the other. They are not con-
secutive commentaries, but detached glosses on diffi-
cult terms or phrases. Their primary
His Com- quality is perfect clearness: Rashi's
m.entaries. explanations always seem adequate.
He manifests also a remarkable facility
in the elucidation of obscure or disputed points, re-
curring, whenever he finds it necessary, to schemata.
His language is not only clear, but precise, taking
into consideration the actual context and the prob-
able meaning and reproducing every varying shade
of thought and signification. Y''et it is never difEuse ;
its terseness is universally conceded. A single word
frequently suffices to summarize a remark or antici-
pate a question.

Rashi sometimes translates words and entire propo-
sitions into French, these passages, written in He-
brew characters and forming an integral part of the
text, being called "la'azim." Rashi was not the
first to employ them, but he greatly extended their
use by adopting them. His commentaries contain
3,157 la'azim, forming a vocabulary of 3,000 words,
a certain number of which are contained in later
Hebrew-French glossaries. These glosses are of
value not only as expressions of the author's thought,
but as providing material for the reconstruction of
Old French, both phonologically and lexicographic-
ally. It is not difficult to retransliterate them into
French, as they are transcribed according to a defi-
nite system, despite frequent corruptions by the
copyists. A large number of manuscripts were read
and much material bearing on the la'azim was col-
lected by Arsfene Darmesteter, but the work was
interrupted by his death.

The Biblical commentaries are based on the Tar-
gumim and the Masorah, which Rashi follows, al-
though without servile imitation. He knew and
used the almost contemporary writings of Moses
ha-Dakshan of Narbonne and of Menahem b. Helbo,
of whom the former confined himself to the literal
meaning of the text while the latter conceded much
to the Haggadah. The two principal sources from
which Rashi derived his exegesis were the Talmudic-

327

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bashi

midrashlc literature and the hermeneutic processes
which it employs — the "peshat"and the "derash."
Rashi, unfortunately, attributed too great impor-
tance to the second process, often at the expense
of the first, although he Intended it, as he states on
several occasions, only to elucidate the simple, ob-
vious meaning of the text. To his immediate fol-
lovi'ers he entrusted the honorable task of comple-
ting the reaction against the tendencies of his age,
for his own scientific education was not without
deficiencies. His grammatical knowledge was ob-
viously inadequate, although he was acquainted
with the works of the JudEeo-Spanish grammarians
Menahem b. Saruli and Dunash b. Labrat, and had
gained a thorough knowledge of Hebrew. Rashi's
qualifications for his task, and even his faults, have
made his commentaries on the Bible, particularly on
the Pentateuch, especially suitable for general read-
ing and edification, and have won for him the epi-
thet of " Parshandatha " (Esth. Ix. 7), taken by
some writers as " parshan data " (= " interpreter of
the Law ").

Rashi's commentaries on the Talmud are more
original and more solid in tone than those on the
Scriptures. Some were revised by the author himself,
while others were written down by his
On tlie pupils. Here, as in his Biblical exege-
Talmud. sis, he followed certain models, among
them the commentaries of his teachers,
of which he of ten availed himself, although he some-
times refuted them. Like them, and sometimes in
opposition to them, Rashi began by preparing a
rigid recension of the Talmud, which has become
the received text, and which is the most natural and
most logical, even though not invariably authentic.
To explain this text he endeavored to elucidate the
whole, with special reference to the development
and discussions of the Gemara, striving to explain
the context, grammar, and etymology, as well as
•obscure word.s, and to decide the meaning and im-
port of each opinion advanced. He was seldom
superficial, but studied the context thoroughly,
considering every possible meaning, while avoid-
ing distortion or artificiality. He frequently availed
himself of parallel passages in the Talmud itself,
or of other productions of Talmudic literature ;
and when perplexed he would acknowledge it
without hesitation. A list of general rules to which
he conforms and which may be found in his Biblical
commentaries presents the rudiments of an introduc-
tion to the Bible, resembling the collection of prin-
ciples formulated by him in his commentaries on
the Talmud and constituting an admirable Talmudic
methodology. These commentaries contain, more-
over, a mass of valuable data regarding students of
the Talmud, and the history, manners, and customs
of the times in which they lived. Wliether they
were derived from written sources, oral tradition, or
Imagination, their consistency and ingenuity are
praised by scholars, who frequently draw upon them
for material.

As a rule, Rashi confined himself strictly to com-
mentatorial activity, although ho frequently deemed
it necessary to indicate what was the halakah, the
definite solution of a problem in cases in which
;such a solution was the subject of controversy or

doubt, or could not readily be discerned amid the
mass of Talmudic controversy, or was indispensable
for a clear comprehension either of a text under
consideration or of passages relating to it. In every
case Rashi's authority carried a weight equal to that
of the leading "posekim," and it would have had
still more influence if his rulings and his resjjonsa,
which his disciples carefully noted — as they did also
oven his slightest acts and gestures — had been united
in one collection, as was the case with the Spanish
and German Talmudists, instead of being scattered
through a number of compilations. The most im-
portant of these collections are: the "Sefer lia-
Pardes," often attributed to Rashi himself, but in
reality composed of two others, one of which was
probably made by Rashi's pupil Shemaiah; the
"Sefer ha-Orah," also compiled from two other
works, the first containing fragments which appar-
ently date from the time of Rashi's followers ; the
"Sefer Issur we-Hetter"; the "Mahzor Vitry," a
more homogeneous work (with additions by Isaac b.
Dorbolo), compiled by Simhah of Vitry, a pupil of
Rashi, who introduced into it, in the order of the
events of the ecclesiastical year, his teacher's laws
of jurisprudence and his responsa. The first and
fourth of these works were published respectively
at Constantinople in 1805 and at Berlin in 1892, and
editions of the remain-
ing two have been pro-
jected by Buber.

The responsa of Rashi
throw a flood of light
on the character of both
their author and his
period. The chief sub-
jects of discussion are
the wine of non-Jews
and the relations between
Jews and baptized Jews
(possibly an echo of the
times of the Crusades).
In his solutions of these
Rashi shows sound
judgment and much
mildness. No high de-
gree of praise, however,
can be awarded to several
liturgical poems attrib-
uted to Rashi, for they

rank no higher than the bulk of the class to which
they belong, although their style is smooth and
flowing and they breathe a spirit of sadness and a
sincere and tender love of God.

If the merit of a work be proportionate to the
scientific activity which it evokes, the literature to
which it gives rise, and the influence
His which it exerts, few books can sur-

Influence. pass those of Rashi. His writings cir-
culated with great rapidity, and his
commentary on the Talmud greatly extended the
knowledge of the subject, thus increasing the num-
ber of Talmudic schools in Prance, which soon came
to be of great importance, especially those at Troyes,
Ramerupt, Dampierre, Paris, and Sens. His two
sons-in-law, Judah b. Nathan (RIBaN) and Mei'r b.
Samuel, and especially the latter's three sons, Sam-

llasbi Chair at Worms.

Kashi
Kathaus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

328

uel (RaSHBaM), Judah, and Jacob (R. Tam), were
tlie first of a succession of tosafists who were closely
identified in work and methods witli Rashi. The
achievements of their leader in Biblical exegesis, a
favorite study of almost all of the tosafists, were
equally lasting and productive, even though later
commentaries, written in imitation of Rashi's, at
times surpass their model. Samuel b. Meir, Joseph
Kara, Joseph Bekor Shor, and Eliezer of Beaugency
are the best known but by no means the only repre-
sentatives of this brilliant French school, which has
never won the recognition which its originality,
simplicity, and boldness merit.

The fame of Rashi soon spread beyond the bound-
aries of northern France and the German provinces
of the Rhine. Shortly after his death he was known
not only in Provence, but in Spain and even in the
East. The Spanish exegetes, among them Abraham
Ibn Ezra and Nahmanides, and such Talmudists as
Zerahiah Gerondi, recognized his authority, although
at first they frequently combatted his opinions. In
France itself, however, repeated expulsions by suc-
cessive kings and the burning of Hebrew books, as
at Paris in 1340, scattered the Jews and destroyed
their institutions of learning. Throughout these
persecutions the Bible and the Talmud, with the
commentaries of Rashi, were their inseparable com-
panions, and were often their supreme as well as their
only solace, and the chief bond of their religious
unity.

The French Jews carried their literature with
them and diffused it among foreign communi-
ties, in which its popularity steadily increased.
Rashi's commentaries on the Talmud became the
text-book for rabbis and students, and his commen-
tary on the Pentateuch the common study of the
people. The popularity of the works extended to
their author, and innumerable legends were woven
about his name, while illustrious families claimed
descent from him. This universal esteem is attested
by the numerous works of which his commentaries
were the subject, among them being the supercom-
mentaries of Elijah Mizrahi and Shabbethai Bass,
which have passed through numerous editions
and copies, while Rashi's commentary on the Pen-
tateuch is the first Hebre'w work of which the
date of publication is known (Reggio, Feb.,
1475).

Rashi's influence was not confined to Jewish cir-
cles. Thus the French monk Nicolas de Lyre (d.
1340), the author of the " Postillae Per-

Outside petuai " on the Bible, was largely de-
Influence, pendent on the commentaries of Rashi,
which he regarded as an official re-
pository of rabbinical tradition, although his ex-
planations occasionally differed from theirs. Nico-
las in his turn exercised a powerful influence on
Martin Luther, whose exegesis thus owes much, in
the last analysis, to the Jewish scholar of Troyes.
In the same century the humanists took up the
study of grammar and exegesis, then long neglected
among the Jews, and these Christian Hebraists stud-
ied the commentaries of Rashi as interpretations au-
thorized by the Synagogue. Partial translations of
his commentaries on the Bible were published ; and
at length a complete version of the whole, based on

the manuscripts, was published by Breithaupt at
Gotha (1710-13).

Among the Jews themselves, in the course of
the eighteenth century, such Talmudists as Joel
Sirkes, Solomon Luria, and Samuel Edels brought
to the study of Rashi both profound learning and
critical acumen ; but it was Rapoport and Weiss, by
their extensive use of liis writings, who created the
scientific study of the Talmud. Mendelssohn and
his school of bi'urists revived the exegesis of the pe-
shatand employed Rashi's commentaries constantly,
even attempting an interpretation of the French
glosses.

The name of Rashi is inseparably connected with
Jewish learning. In 1823 Zunz wrote his biogra-
phy; Heidenheim sought to vindicate him, even
when he was wrong ; Luzzatto praised him enthusi-
astically ; Weiss devoted a monograph to him which
decided many problems; while Geiger turned his
attention especially to the school of tosafists of which
Rashi was the founder, and Berliner published a
critical edition of Rashi's commentary on the Pen-
tateuch.

Rashi's lack of scientific method, unfortunately,
prevents his occupying the rank in the domain of
exegesis merited by his other qualities. Among the
Jews, however, his reputation has suffered little, for
while it is true that he was merely a commentator,
the works on which he wrote were the Bible and the
Talmud, and his commentaries carry a weight and au-
thority which have rendered them inseparable from'
the text. Even if his work is inferior in creative
power to some productions of Jewish litei'ature, it
has exercised a far wider influence than any one of
them. His is one of the master-minds of rabbinical
literature, on which he has left the imprint of his
jjredominant characteristics — terseness and clear-
ness. His work is popular among all classes of Jews
because it is intrinsically Jewish.

BiBLroGRAPHY : ZuDz, Salomou b. Isaac, Oenannt Rasch\
in Zeitschrift fUr die Wissenschaft des JudentJiums, 1823,.
pp. 277-384 (Hebrew transl., with additional notes, by Blooh,
Lemberg, 1840; 2d ed., Warsaw, 1862); idem, S. P.; Idem,
Literaturgesch.; Weiss, Babbenu Shelomoh bar Yizhak, in
Bet-Talmud, ii., Nos. .2-10 (reprinted as part ii. of ToUiiot'Ge-
dole Yisrael, Vienna, 1882); Georges, Le Bobbin Salomon
BascM, in L'Annuaire A^mlnixtratif . . . du Departe-
ment de l'^M7)e, 1868, part ii., pp. 3 etseqr, Clement-Mullet,
Documents pour Servtr d VHistoire du Bobbin Salomon,
Fits de Isaac, in Memnires de la Society d' Agriculture . , .
du Departement de I'Aube, 1855, xix. 143 et seg.; Idem, Po-
esies ou Selichot Attribuees a Raschi, in Memoires de la So-
ciete Academique de I'Aube, 1856, xx. 131-142 ; Gratz, Oesch.
vi. (Hebr. transl., vol. iv., Warsaw, 1894); Kronberg, BascM
als Exeget, Halle, 1882 ; Geiger, Nite'e ISTa'amanin, Berlin,
1847; idem, Parschandata; die N'ordframlmsche Exege-
tcnscUule, Leipsic, 1855 ; L^vy, Die Exegese bei den Fran-
zOMschen Israeliten, ib. 1873 ; Berliner, BascM, Commentar'
zum Pentateuch, Introduction, Berlin, 1866; idem, Zwr
Charakteristih Baschi'n, in Kaufmann Oedenkbuch; idem,
Zur Oesch. der Baschi^Commentare, 1904; Darmesteter,
Beliques Scientijlques, vol. i., Paris, 1890; Weiss, Dor, Iv.
321-334 ; Winter and Wilnscbe, Jildische Litteratur, ii. 276'.
et seq., 458, 462.

J- M. Lib.

BASHI CHAPEL. See Rashi ; Wokms.
BATHAUS, ABBAHAM B. MENAHEM
MANISH : Russian pioneer of the " haskalah "
movement; died in Berdychev Jan. 6, 1886, at an
advanced age. One of the first in Berdychev to be-
come imbued with the spirit of progress, he sympa-
thized with the efforts of the Russian government
under Nicholas I. to spread secular knowledge'
among the Jews of Russia. When LiLiENTHAli.

^iyft rifii'if) ipt:>f.

%f Xi^y!) ts;! ^J:it

m^p

y|i,..',.

■■car

COLOPUON or THE FIRST EDITIOM OF RASHI OX THK PK.VTATECCH, THE FIRST DATED HEBREAT BOOK.

(Finished IOtii of Adar, 51';)5 = Fed. .5, 1475.)

(In tlic public librar> .il rarnia, lUlj .)

Kathenau
Ratisbon

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

330

jomiioj-ed through Russia to induce the Jewisli
coiiimunities to cstablisli schools, Rathaus acted as
liis secretary. In his later years, Rathaus, who was
a man of wealth and a patron of Hebrew literature,
was one of the prominent members of the Jewisli
couuiiunitv of Berdychev' (''Keneset Yisrael," i.
1122 ).

II. u. P. Wi.

RATHENAU, WALTHER : German natural-
ist, liaiiUer, and writer; born in Berlin Sept. 29,
1807; educated at the universities of Berlin (MD.
1889) and Stras-
burg. In 1891
he entered as
scientific assist-
ant the service
of a joint-stock
company in the
aluminum in-
dustry at Neu-
hauscn, Switzer-
land. There he
worked out. to-
gether with tlie
director Kiliani,
a method for the
electrolytic pro-
duction of chlo-
rin and alkalis.
To turn this in-
vention to ac-
count he found-
ed the electro-
chemical works
at Bitterfeld in
1893, the first
German under-
taking in con-
n e c t i o n w i t h
electrochemical
proces.ses exclu-
sively. While
he was director
of this company
and of the elec-
t r 0 c h e m i c a 1
works estab-
lished two years
later at Rhein-
feld, he devised
electrolytic and
electrothermlc
methods for pro-
ducing natrium,
magnesium, carbid, ferrosilicium, etc., details of
which may be found in the corresponding patent-
writs.

In 1899 Ratlienau entered the board of directors
of the AUgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft, which
position he resigned in 1902 to become manager of
the Berlin Handels-Gesellschaft, one of the oldest
banking-houses in Germany. In 1902 he published
a collection of essays under the title " Impressionen. "

RATIBOR. See Silesia.

laterlor of the Old Synagogue at Ratisbon.

(From a Jrawiug by Altdorfer.)

RATISBON: Bavarian city; capital of the
Upper Palatinate; formerly a free city of the Ger-
man empire. The great age of the Jewish coinnui-
nity in this city is indicated by the tradition that a
Jewish colony existed there before the common era;
it is undoubtedly the oldest Jewish settlement in
Bavaria of which any I'ecords exist. The earliest
historical reference to Jews in Ratisbon is in a doc-
ument of 981, where it is stated that the monastery
of St. Emmeram bought a piece of propert3' fi'em
the Jew Samuel (Aronius, "Rcgesten," No. 1S5).
The Jewish cjuarter, "Juda;orura habitacula," is

mentioned as
early as the be-
ginning of the
eleventh cen-
tury (1006-28),
and is the oldest
German ghetto
to wliich there
is any reference
in historical
sources (Aro-
nius, I.e. No.
150). The Jews
were granted
their first privi-
leges there in a
charter of 1182.
Therein E m -
peror Frederick
I. confirmed
the rights they
had received by
the favor of his
predecessors,
and assigned to
them, as to their
coreligionists
throughout the
empire, the sta-
tus of cham-
ber servants
(see Kajimee-

KNECIITSClMF'l').

But their polit-
ical position be-
came compli-
cated later bj'
the c i r c u m -
stance that the
emperor trans-
ferred them to
the dukes of
Lower Bavaria
without releasing them from their obligations as
chamber servants. To these overlords the Jews
of Ratisbon were pawned in 1322 for the yearly
sum of 300 pounds of Ratisbon pfennigs; but they
were also subject to taxation by the municipal
council of the city, though they received some
compen,sation in the fact that thereby they secured
the protection of the city council against the ex-
cessive demands of the emperor and the dukes.

During the first Crusade (1096) the community
suffered like many others in Germany. Later an

831

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sathenau
Batisbon

old chronicle says with reference to the persecutions
that took place in Franconia and Swabia in 1298
(see Rindfleisch) : "The citizens of
History of Ratishon desired to honor their city
the Com- by forbidding tlie persecution of the
munity. Jews or the slaying of them without
legal sentence." The wave of fanat-
icistn which swept over Germany in 1349 was
checked at Katisbon, In a similar spirit, by the dec-
laration of the magistrates and the citizens that they
would protect and defend their Jews. The munic-
ipal council again shielded them by punishing only
the guilty when, in 1384, a riot occurred because
some Jews had been convicted of giving false re-
turns of their property to the tax -assessor. The
protestations of the magistrates, however, could
not protect their wards against the exactions of tlie
«mperor Wenzel when (1385-90) he replenished his
purse by contributions levied upon the German
Jews. In the following years they were again heav-
ily taxed by both emperor and dukes, and in 1410
the magistrates,, tired of ineffectual protest, took
part in the game of spoliation by making an agree-
ment with the duke that the Jews should pay 200
florins a year to liim and 60 pounds a year to the
city, extraordinary taxes to be divided between the
two. This marks the turning-point in the history
of the Jews of Ratisbon, who were henceforth aban-
doned to their fate ; religious intolerance and social
prejudice threatened their very existence.

After the Jews had been expelled from the vari-
ous Bavarian territories Duke Ludwigthe Wealthy,
Palsgrave of the Rhine, demanded in 1452 that
the Jews should be driven from Ratisbon as well.
Though the city council did not at first accede to
this demand, it ordered the Jews henceforth to wear
the badge. A chronic persecution now began, aided
especially by the clergy ; and a number of sensa-
tional accusations of ritual murder were brought
against the community and its rabbi, presaging its
approaching destruction despite the repeated and
energetic intervention of the emperor. In 1486 the
duke placed their taxation entirely in the hands of
the city council, " that the expulsion might be ef-
fected the sooner." The preacher of the cathedral;
Dr. Balthazar Hubmaier, incited the people from
the pulpit, and the more prudent counselors who
still dared to take the part of the Jews were mock-
ingly called " Jew kings. " The ghetto
Persecu- was threatened with boycott, although
tions. Imperial influence shielded it until the
interregnum following the death of
Emperor Maximilian in 1519. Then 500 Jews had
to leave the city, after they themselves had de-
molished the interior of their venerable synagogue,
on the site of which a chapel was built in honor of
the Virgin. According to a chronicle the exiles
settled, under the protection of the Duke of Bavaria,
on the opposite bank of the Danube, in Stadt-am-
Hof, and in villages in the vicinity ; from these they
■were expelled in the course of the same century.

The first cemetery of the community of Ratisbon
was situated on a hillock, still called tlie " Judenau. "
In 1210 the congregation bought from the monas-
tery of St. Emmeram a plot of ground, outside the
present Peterthor, for a new cemetery, which was

destroyed in the course of excavations made in the

city in 1877. It served as a burial-ground for all the

Jews of Upper and Lower Bavaria,

Cemetery and, in conseq ueuce of the catastrophe

and Syna- of Feb. 21, 1519, mentioned above,

gog'ue. more than 4,000 of its gravestones are

said to have been either demolished

or used in the building of churches. The synagogue

that was destroyed was an edifice in Old Romanesque

style, erected between 1210 and 1227 on the site of the

former Jewish hospital, in the center of the ghetto,

whej'e the present Neue Pfarre stands. The ghetto

was separated from the city itself by walls and

closed by gates.

The " hakme Regensburg " of the twelfth century
were regarded far and wide as authorities, and a
number of tosafists flourished in this
Scholars, ancient community. Especially note-
worthy were R. Ephratm b. Isaac (d.
about 1175), one of the most prominent teachers of
the Law and a liturgical poet, and R. Baruch b.
Isaac, author of the " Sefer ha-Terumah " and of
tosafot to the treatise Zebahim ; but the best known
of all was R. Jodah b. Samdei^ he-Hasid (d. 1217),
the aifthor of the " Sefer Hasidim " and of various
halakic and liturgical works. The Talmudic school
of Ratisbon became famous in the fifteenth century ;
a chronicle of 1478 says, "This academy has fur-
nished ' doctores et patres ' for all parts of Ger-
many." R. Israel Brcna (15th cent.) narrowly
escaped falling a victim to an accusation of ritual
murder. The clironlcler Anselmus de Parengar
gives an interesting description of the magnificent
apartments of the grand master Samuel Belassar.
Shortly before the dispersion of the community R.
Jacob Margolioth, the father of the convert and anti-
Jewish writer Antonius Margarita, was living at
Ratisbon ; he is referred to in the " Epistolae Obscu-
rorum Virorum " as the " Primas JudsBorum Ratisbo-
nensis. " Finally, the learned Litte (Liwe) of Ratisbon
may be mentioned, the authoress of the " Samuel-
buch," which paraphrased the history of King David
in the meter of the "Nibelungenlied."

In 1669 Jews were again permitted to reside in

Ratisbon ; but it was not until April 2, 1841, that the

community was able to dedicate its new

In Modern synagogue. R Isaac Alexander (b.

Times. Ratisbon Aug. 22, 1732) was probably

the first rabbi to write in German.

His successor appears to have been R. Weil, who

was succeeded by Sonnentheil and the teacher Dr.

Schlenker. From 1860 to 1882 the rabbinate was

occupied by Dr. LOwenmeycr of Sulzburg, who was

followed in Jan., 1883, by Dr. Seligmann Meyer,

the editor of the "Deutsche Israelitische Zeitung."

The present (1905) total population of Ratisbon is

45,436, of whom about 600 are Jews.

BmLiOGRAPHT : For earlier works on Katisbon see_ C. G.
Weber, Literatur der Deutschen Staatengesch. i. 709-720,
Leipsic, 1800 ; a list of more recent works is given in Stern,
QuellenMinde zur OescU. der Deutschen Juden, I. 49-50.
See also : C. Th. Gemeiner, Chronih der Stadt und des Hnch-
stiftsBeaensbura (Ratisbon, 1800-24): Cbristopher Ostrofran-
eus IVactatm de Batisbona MetrnpoU Bnjoanai et Sitbtla
Ibidem Judasnrum, Augsburg, 1519; Oefele, Berum Bnwa-
rum Scriptm-es, 1763; Rled, Codex Chronolngico-Diplo-
maticus Epi-fcnpatus Batisbnnensis, Ratisbon, 1818 ; Janner,
Oescli. der Bischnfe vim BegenOjurg ; Gumpelzhaimer, Be-
gensburger Geschichte, Sagenund MerkwUrdigkeiten, ir>.

Ratisbouno
Baveuua

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

332

1830-40; Hugo Graf von Walderdorfl, Becrembiirff in Seiner
Veryanaenheit und Qegenwart, 4th ed., ib. 1896 ; Bavaria.
Laiules- unci Vnlksliunde tka Kiiiii^jsreMies Bayern, li. 675
et sea.; Wiener, Reyivtcn zuv Ocscli. derjuden in Deutsche
land Wahrend cies MittelaUcrs, 186^; Aronlus, BcgeKten;
Stobbe, Die Juden in Dcutsvhland Withrend des Mittdal-
ters, 1866, pp. 67-83 ; Train, Die Wichtigitten Tatmchen mis
der Gcscli. der Juden in 1-teuen^bnrg. in Allg. Zcit. filr die
Hint. Tlteologie, 1837, vii. 39-138 ; L. Geiger, Zur Oexch. der
Juden in Regensburg. in Geiger's Jild. Zeit. 1867, pp. 16 et
seq.; M. Stem, Aus der Aeltercn Oescli. der Juden in Be-
aensburg. in Geiger's Ze it. fUr Geseh. der Juden in Deulsch-
lanel, 1. 383 et seq.; H. Bresslaii, Zur Geseh. der Juden in
Deutscldand. in Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. 1870, x. 107 et
sea.; Monatsschrift. 1867, pp. 161 et seq.. 389 et seg.; 1868, pp.
34o et seq.; Lehmann, Der Israelit. 1877, No. 48, p. 1150;
Gratz, Gescft.; Ost und West. Monatsselirift fllr Miidernes
JudenUmi. 1901, pp. 831-833 ; Aretln, Gesch. der Juden in
Baiiern, 1803 ; Kohut, Ocsch. der Deutsehen Juden.
D. A. E.

RATISBONNE, ALPHONSE- MARIE :

French convert to Catholicism ; brother of Marie-
Theodore Ratisbonne; born at Strasburg May 1,
1812 ; died at Jerusalem May 6, 1884. After taking
his degree in law he visited Kome, where he ab-
jured the Jewish faith (Jan. 30, 1842). He then en-
tered the order of Notre Dame de Sion, after passing
through his novitiate In the Society of Jesus. His
conversion, under singular and romantic circum-
stances, became the subject of numerous pamphlets
taking widely differing views of the matter. Ratis-
bonne founded a monastery at Jerusalem. He was
the author of " Elevations sur les Litanies de la Sainte
Vierge" (1847).

Bibliography : La Grande Encyelopedie.
s. J. Ka.

RATISBONNE, MARIE -THIIODORE:

French convert to Catholicism ; born at Strasburg
Dec. 18, 1802; died at Paris Jan. 10, 1884; son of
the president of the Jewish consistoiy of Strasburg.
He practised law until his conversion to Catholicism
in 1826, when he took holy orders. He became suc-
cessively professor in the Petit Seminaire, assistant
rector of the Cathedral of Strasburg, and superior-
general of the order Notre Dame de Sion, founded
by him in thanksgiving for the conversion of his
brother, Alphonse-Marie. Among other works Ratis-
bonne published: "Essai sur I'Education Morale"
Strasburg, 1828); "Histoire de Saint-Bernard" (3
vols., ib. 1841; 5th ed., 1864); "Le Manuel de la
MSre Chretienne" (ib. 1860); "Questions Juives" (ib.
1868) ; " Miettes Bvangeliques " (ib. 1873) ; " Reponse
aux Questions d'un Israelite de Notre Temps" (ib.
1878).
Bibliography : La Grande Eneyelnpedie.

s. J. Ka.

RATNER, DOB BAER BEN ABRAHAM
BEZALEEL : Russian Talmudist ; born at Wilna
about 1845. He is the author of: "Mebo la-Seder
'Olam Rabbah," on Josef ben Halafta's historical
work (Wilna, 1894); "Seder 'Olam Rabbah," a crit-
ical edition of the text of the " Seder 'Olam Rabbah "
(ib. 1897); " Ahabat Ziyyon we-Yerushalayim," vari-
ants and additions to the text of the Jerusalem Tal-
mud. Of the last-named work only three volumes
so far have been published : on Berakot («J. 1901);
on Shabbat (*. 1903) ; on 'Erubin 1 (ib. 1904).

Bibliography: R. E. J. xtIII. 301 ; Zeit. fur Hebr. Bibl. vl.
43, Tli. 3.

s. L Bk.

RATNER, ISAAC : Russian mathematician ;
born at Shklov in 1857. He has written mathemat-
ical and astronomical articles for various journals,
and is the author of " Mishpat Emet " (St. Peters-
burg, 1884), a criticism on Lichtenfeld's pamphlets
against Slonimski's works. He edited a second edi-
tion of Slonimski's " Yesode Hokmat ha-Shi'ur," on
the principles of algebra (Wilna, 1888).
Bibliography: Sokolov, Se/cr Ziftfcaron ; Zeitlin, BiW. Posf-
Mendels. , ..,,.

ir. K. I- War.

RAUDNITZ : Town of Bohemia. According
to tradition it is one of the oldest three communities
of Bohemia, the other two being Bunzlau and Kolin
(the mnemonic word is I'^pn ). The ancient ceme-
tery was situated near the present Kapuzinergarten,
where tombstones with Jewish inscriptions have
been found. These arc preserved in the Podripske
Museum. In the old cemetery in the former ghetto
there are more than 1,500 tombstones, including
many of the seventeenth century, and several tombs
of martyrs. The new cemetery was opened in 1896.
In 1853 a large temple was built', the services in
which are conducted with choir and organ. The
hebra kaddisha is mentioned on tombstones as early
as the seventeentli century.

The earliest known rabbi of Raudnitz is Rabbi
Nehemiah (d. 1637), who officiated here for more
than twenty-five years (see Hock-Kaufmann, "Die
Pamilien Prags," p. 336, Presburg, 1892). Other
noteworthy rabbis were : Abraham Broda ; Simeon
Jeiteles (d. 1762), buried in the old cemetery of
Prague (ib. p. 168); Mosea. Spiro (d. 1760); R. Mat-
tathias NeugrOschel (d. 1778 ; ib. p. 234) ; the district
rabbis Joseph Deutsch (1778-1825), Mahler, Pereles,
and Albert Cohn (d. 1873); Moritz Klotz (1889-93).
Julius Reach is the present (1905) incumbent (since
1894).

Down to 1873 Raudnitz was the seat of the district
rabbinate. Since the law of 1890 the congregation
has comprised all the Jews living in the county of
Raudnitz. In 1903 there were 400 Jews in a total
population of 8,000.

D. J. Re.

RATJNHEIM, SALY (SAMXTEL HIRSCH

BEN MEN AHEM) : American mining-engineer ;
born in Frankfort-on-the-Main June 7, 1838 ; died in
New York city Sept. 9, 1904. He was educated in
his native city and at the universities of Heidelberg
and Freiburg, and in 1861 became engaged in the
mining industry. In 1863 he bought for the French
banker Reinach a zinc-mine in Rauheim, near Hei-
delberg, which two years later was sold for 3,000,-
000 francs, having cost but 30,000 francs.

In 1879 Raunheim emigrated to the United States,
and with his brothers-in-law Leonard and Adolph
Lewisohn organized in 1881 at Butte, Mont., the
Montana Mining Company, which company was
bought by the Amalgamated Copper Trust. During
the years 1888-91 Raunheim developed the copper-
mines of San Pedro, New Mexico, which also were
the property of the Lewisohns.

From 1891 Raunheim lived in New York city,
where he took great interest in Jewish affairs.
Bibliography : Jeuiish Comment. Sept. 23, 1904, p. 11.

A. P. T. H.

333

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Batisbonne
Bavenua

RAtrSUK, SAMSON: Hebrew poet; born at
Wilkowiski, Lithuania, in 1793; died in London
Sept. 11, 1877. He pursued at his native place tlie
career of a merchant. On tlie occasion of the visit of
Sir Moses Montetiore to Russia in 1846, Rausuk was
one of the delegates appointed to receive him. He
went to London in 1848, and held the post of libra-
rian to the bet ha-midrash for nearly a quarter of a
century. He was an erudite Hebraist and Talmud-
ist, and possessed poetic powers of some merit.
Many of his Hebrew compositions, dealing with
subjects of passing interest, were published ; he
was regarded as the poet laureate of the London
community for nearly thirty years.

BiBLiOGEAPHT : Jdw. Chmii. Sept. 14, 1877 ; Jacobs ana Wolf,
Bibl. A7ialo-Jud. Nos. 204.5-2047, 2060-2054, 2057-2062, 2067,
2071-2074.
J. G. L.

HAVEN (Hebrew, " 'oreb ") : The first bird spe-
cifically mentioned in the Old Testament (Gen. viii.
7), where it is referred to in connection with Noah
and the ark. It is included among the unclean birds
in Lev. xi. 15 and Deut. xiv. 14, where the term em-
braces the whole family of Cormdce — crows, rooks,
jackdaws, etc. It has eight species in Palestine.
The raven lives generally in deep, rocky glens and
desolate places (comp. Isa. xxxlv. 11). Its habit of
commencing its attack by picking out the eyes of
its victim is alluded to in Prov. xxx. 17. The figure
of the raven is used illustratively where references
are made to the care with which God watches over
His creatures (comp. Ps. cxlvii. 9). Ravens are said
to have provided Elijah with food (I Kings xvii.
3-6). The dark, glossy plumage of the raven is
compared to the locks of youth (Cant. v. 11).

In the Talmud, besides " 'oreb " (B. K. 92b, etc.),
the raven is designated " pushkanza " (B. B.73b), and,
from its croaking, " ^orkor " (B. B. 23a). " Shalak "
in Lev. xi. 17 is explained in Hul. 63a as a bird which
takes fishes from the sea, and Rashi adds, " It is the
water-raven" (comp. Targ. adloc, and see Cormo-
rant). "Zarzir" is considered a species of raven,
and this gave rise to tlie proverb : " The zarzir goes
to the raven, for it is of its kind " — the equivalent of
the English " Birds of a feather flock together " (see
Hul. 62a, 65b; and, for other species, Hul. 63a, 64a).
While ravens love one another (Pes. 113b) they lack
affection toward their young as long as the latter
remain unadorned with black plumage (Kct. 49b) ;
but Providence takes care of them by causing
worms to arise from their excrement (B. B. 8a et al.).
In copulation the spittle ejected from the mouth of
the male into tliat of the female effects conception
{Sanh. 108b). The wealthy domesticated the raven
(Shab. 126b), but on account of its filthiness the bird
was frightened away from the Temple by means of
a scarecrow (Men. 107a). The croaking of the raven
was an ill omen (Shab. 67b). The compaiison of
dark locks with the plumage of the raven is found
also in Hag. 14a. See Dove.
BiBLiooEAPHY : Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 198 ; Lewysolin, Z. T.

P- 1''2- T ,.;r ^

E. G. H. I. M. C.

RAVENNA: Italian city, capital of the prov-
ince of Ravenna. A Jewish community existed in
Ravenna from very early times ; during an at-
tack by the populace in 519 its synagogues were

burned. The Jews appealed to King Theodoric
at Verona, who condemned the city to rebuild the
ruined synagogues at its own expense; any one
unable to pay the fine levied for that purpose was
condemned to the lash. About 930 R. Solomon ben
Tanhum ben Zadok was victorious in a religious con-
troversy in the Romagna. In the early part of the
thirteenth century the emperor Frederick II. un-
dertook the defense of Donfolino, a Jew of Ravenna,
against an \injust extortion by the mayor Pietro
Traversari (July 11, 1226). In 1248 Cardinal Otta-
viano Ubaldini, legate of Pope Innocent IV., seized
Ravenna and annexed it to the papal dominions.
Under the rule of the popes at least a part of the
Jews lived in the quarter known as San Pietro Mag-
giore, where they were engaged in usury. Ravenna
passed under the domination of the republic of
Venice in 1441. The treaty of cession provided that
in the interest of the city and of the district the
Jews should be permitted to remain and lend money
at the rate of interest of five denarii per lira to the
citizens of the city and district of Ravenna, and of
six to strangers. The Doge of Venice, Francesco
Foscari, confirmed this treaty March 20, 1441.

Toward the end of the century the Jews of Ra-
venna obtained leave to remove their synagogue to
another locality (1489). They were, however, not
left long unmolested. In a short time the fiery ser-
mons of Fra Bernardino da Feltre, the implacable
enemy of the Jews, so roused the old popular hatred
against them tiiat the money-lenders

Monte narrowly escaped expulsion. In op-
di Pieta. position to the latter class he estab-
lished the monto di pieta, an institu-
tion soon afterward approved of by Pope Julius II.
(Aug. 25, 1508).

In 1508 Pope Julius joined the League of Cambrai
against the Venetian republic, and in 1509 Ravenna
was reconquered by the pope's nephew, Francesco
Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, and, until its
union with the kingdom of Italy, was governed by
ecclesiastical oflicers. The community of Ravenna
was represented at the congress of rabbis held at
Bologna in 1416, and at that of Forli in 1418, when
the Jews of Italy united to seek a means of averting
the dangers that menaced them. A similar conven-
tion was held somewhat later at Ravenna (1442), when
Pope Eugene IV. issued a bull, of forty-two articles,
which deprived the Jews of all the rights they had
hitherto enjoyed. They were forbidden, under pen-
alty of confiscation of property, to study anything
but the Pentateuch ; they were deprived of the right
of residence in the city without special license from
the authorities; and later all trades were prohibited
to them, and the Jewish tribunals were abolished.
The representatives of the Italian communities then
met in synod at Tivoli, and later at Ravenna. The
persistent efforts of these assemblies wrung from
Gian Francesco Qonzaga permission for Jews to
reside in Mantua and enjoy liberty in matters of
religion, law, and commerce. At length, after pay-
ment of immense sums of money, the synod ob-
tained the annulment of the bull.

On Feb. 10, 1535, Pope Paul III. granted the
community of Ravenna certain additional privi-
leges already enjoyed by the Jews of the Marches

Bawicz

Bazsvyet

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

334:

and contirmed tliein June 30, 1540. On Aug. 13,
1553, Julius III. published an edict commanding that
botli Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds be confis-
cated and burned. This edict was strictly enforced
at Ravenna, where a number of copies of the Tal-
mud were burned on the Sabbath day. Paul IV.
(1555-59) issued several bulls conceived for the fur-
ther curtailment of Jewish liberties. Under his suc-
cessor, Pius IV. (1559-66), the Jews enjoyed a short
re.spite; but Pius V., the next occupant of the pon-
tifical tlirone (1566-72), pursued the malevolent pol-
icy of Paul IV., and published a bull, dated Feb.
26, 1569, ordering the complete expulsion, within
three months, of the Jews from all Pontifical States
but Rome and Ancona.

With the exception of a few who abjured their
faith, the unfortunate Jews emigrated in the follow-
ing May, abandoning their property and all the
debts due to them, the latter amounting, according
to Gedaliah ibn Yahya ("Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah,"
p. 96b), to more than 10,000 ducats in
Expelled, in Ravenna and Imola. Under Gregory
1569. XIII. (1572-1585) a Jewish commu-
nity was again established at Ravenna,
but the Jews were finally banished by Clement VIII.
(1593). In 1901 there were only thirteen Jews living
in the city.

BiBLiOREAPHY : Fantuzzi, Monumenti Ravennati, 1. 378 : ill.
75, 362, 375, 429 ; v. 183 ; Gedaliah Ibu Yahya, Shalshelet ha-
kabbalah, ed. Amsterdam, pp. 94a et seq.; Gratz, Gesch. 2d
ed., V. 37, vlil. 179, ix. 383 ; J. Q. B. It. 613 ; Joseph ha-Kohen,
'Emek ha^Baka, ed. Wiener, p. 90 ; Stem, Urliundliche Bei-
trilae Uber die Stellung der Papstezudenjuden,i.78,82:
Vogelsteln and Rieger, Qcsch. der Juden in Bum, 1. 130, 160 ;
ii. 11, 146 et seq.
8. U. C.

RAWICZ, VICTOR MEYER: German rabbi;
born at Breslau Aug. 19, 1846. He attended the
Jewish theological seminary and the university of
his native city (Ph.D. 1873). Rawicz has held suc-
cessively the following rabbinates: Kempen (1874),
Schmieheim (1876-98), and Offenburg (Baden). He
has published a translation of the following Tal-
mudic tractates: Megillah (1883), Rosh ha-Shanah
(1886), Sanhedrin (1893), and Ketubot (1900).

RAWNITZKI, JOSHUA HAYYIM: Rus-
sian author; born Aug. 14, 1845, at Odessa. His
first literary efforts appeared in "Ha-Kol," and he
soon became a frequent contributor to Hebrew jour-
nals. In 1887 he published, iu conjunction with
Krankenfeld, " Der Jildische Wecker," in which ap-
peared his article " Der Pintele Jud " ; from 1892 to
1896 he edited "Ha-Pardea" (Odessa). He wrote:
"Peninim mi -Yam ha -Talmud" (Odessa, 1893);
"'Aseret Kesef," a novel of Jewish life (in "Kene-
set Yisrael," iii. 1888); and "Safah Berurah," an
essay on Neo-Hebrew (in "Kawweret," 1890). Un-
der the title of " Ha-Abib " (Warsaw, 1889) he pub-
lished a collection of Hebrew poems for children.

Bibliography: Sokolov, Sefer Zihharon ; Zemin, Bibl.Post-
Mendels.

II. B.

I. War.

RAYNAL, DAVID : French statesman ; born
at Paris Feb. 26, 1841 ; died Jan. 28, 1903. The son
of a merchant, he was brought up for a commer-
cial career, and in 1863 he founded the house of As-
true et Raynal in Bordeaux. There he became ac-

quainted with Gambetta. During the Pi-anco-Prus-
sian war he held the rank of major of the volunteers
of the Gironde.

Raynal entered public life in 1874, when he be-
came alderman for Bordeaux. In 1879 he was
elected deputy, and took his seat among the repub-
lican unionists. In 1880 he was appointed general
secretary in the Department of Public Works. Re-
elected in 1881, he became minister of that depart-
ment, under Gambetta. Resigning with the cabinet
in Jan., 1882, he accepted the same portfolio under
Jules Perry in Feb., 1883; but again resigned with
the cabinet in 1885. Reelected in 1885, 1889, and
1893, he became in Dec, 1893, minister of the in-
terior, but resigned in May of the following year,
when Casimir-Perier withdrew from the presidency
of the French republic. During this time Ray-
nal was a member of the parliamentary finance
committee, and belonged to the republican unionists.

In Jan., 1897, Raynal was elected senator for the
department of the Gironde, joining the left wing of
the republicans in the Upper House. He served, as
president of the commission for the improvement of
the merchant navy. Raynal took an active part in
the debates of both houses, being an able speaker.

Bibliography: Curlnler, Diet. Nat. 11. 43; La Grande En-
cuelnpedie ; Nouveau Larousse : Jew. Chron. Jan. 30, Feb.
6, 1903.
s. F. T. H.

RAYNEB, ISIDOR : American senator ; born
at Baltimore, Md., April 11, 1850. He was educated
at the University of Virginia (1866-70), pursuing
the academic course for three 3'ears and the law
course for the last year. On leaving that institu-
tion he became a law student in the offices of
Brown & Brune, Baltimore; shortly afterward he
was admitted to the bar, and soon secured a large
trial practise. In 1878 Rayner, as a Democrat, was
elected a member of the Maryland legislature.
Thereafter he devoted himself entirely to law until
1886, when he was elected state senator. In the
same year he was nominated for Congress, and was
elected for three terms ; he declined nomination for
a fourth term.

Rayner served upon the committees of foreign
affairs, coinage, weights and measures, and com-
merce. Pie was chairman of the committee on or-
ganization, and was conspicuous in the contest for
the repeal of the Sherman silver act.

In 1899 Rayner was elected attorney-general of
Maryland, and in 1901, when Admiral Schley was
called before a government court of inquiry, he was
appointed associate counsel, becoming senior coun-
sel upon the death of Judge Wilson. He increased
his reputation by his masterly defense of that ad-
miral. Rayner was elected United States senator on
Feb. 4, 1904, for the term beginning March 5, 1905.

A. S. H. L.

RAYNER, WILLIAM SOLOMON: Mer-
chant and financier; born in Oberelzbach, Bavaria,
Sept. 23, 1822; died in Baltimore, Md., March 1,
1899. In 1840 he removed to the United States.
Declining an offer of the position of religious teacher
in the old Henry Street Synagogue, New York, he
removed to Baltimore, where he entered upon a suc-
cessful mercantile career. At the close of the Civil

335

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ba'wicz
Razsvyet

war he became one of the chief figures in the finan-
cial development of Baltimore, serving for many
years on the directorates of the Western National
Bank, the Baltimore Equitable Society, and the
Western Maryland Railroad.

Rayner was instrumental in organizing the Har
Sinai Verein, which soon after became the Har
Sinai congregation. He was a strong advocate of
Reform, and it was mainly through his Influence
that David Eikiiokn became rabbi of this congre-
gation (1855). He was one of the founders of the
Baltimore Hebrew Orphan Asylum, donating its
first building and grounds. He was also the first
president of the Baltimore Hebrew Benevolent
Society under its present state charter. He repre-
sented the city of Baltimore for many years in the
management of the House of Refuge and served as
a vice-president of the Baltimore Poor Association.
During the Civil war he was very active in the for-
mation of the Union Relief Association, and was
one of its first vice-presidents. In 1844 he married
Amalia Jacobson. Of this union four children sur-
vive ; two of them, in memory of their father, en-
dowed a fellowship in Semitics in the Johns Hop-
kins University ; the eldest son, Isidor Raynek, was
elected, in 1904, to the United States Senate.

A. C. A. R.

BAZIEL : Angel, first named in the Slavonic
Book of Enoch (written before the common era; see
Jew. Enctc. i. 591, s.v. Angelology), where, under
the name "Raguel" or "Rasuel," he is mentioned to-
gether with Shemiel or Shemuel. Apart from this,
he is unknown both to the Jewish and to the Christian
literature of antiquity, the next occurrence of his
name being in the Targum on Eccl. x. 30: "Each
day the angel Raziel makes proclamation on Mount
Horeb, from heaven, of the secrets of men to all
that dwell upon the earth, and his voice resounds
through all the world," etc. His name, indeed, de-
notes "secret of God," and it was given to him be-
cause of his transmission of "secrets" ("Each angel
is named according to his vocation, as Raziel, because
he transmitted the Book of Secrets " ; " Raziel," ed.
Amsterdam, p. 31b).

With the communication of the Book of Secrets
the real Importance of Raziel ends, nor is he men-
tioned as often as the angels Michael, Gabriel, Ra-
phael, etc. According to the Book of Raziel, he is
the angel of magic, who teaches men astrology,
divination, and the lore of amulets; the mysticism
associated with him is the precursor of the " prac-
tical Cabala." In this capacity Raziel appears in
the astrology of the Arabs, where he presides over
the twentieth lunar station in the zodiac. In
view of these characteristics a distinction must be
made between the mysticism of the Mebkabah
and of Metatkon on the one hand, and the
mysticism of Raziel on the other. See Raziel,
Book op.
Bibliography: Zunz, O.V. p. 167; Bloch, Gesch. der Entwtcke-

lung der Kabbala, pp. 33-34, Treves, 1894, ; Schwab, Vocabu-

laire de V Angilolngie, p. 246, Paris, 1897.

ij,_ Li. is.

BAZIEL, BOOK OF : Collection of secret wri-
tings, probably compiled and edited by the same
hand, but originally not the work of one author.

This appears from the fact that the book con-
tradicts itself in regard to the person to whom its
contents are claimed to have been communicated.
The first part states that they were imparted hy
Raziel to Adam when he was driven from paradise
(2a) ; the third part (34a) says they were communi-
cated to Noah before he entered the ark. The book
was engraved on sapphire-stone and handed down
from generation to generation until it, together with
many other secret writings, came into the possession
of Solomon ; the Book of Raziel, however, was the
best preserved of these works (15, 34a).

Zunz ("G. V." 3d ed., p. 176) distinguishes three
main parts: (1) the Book Ha-Malbush; (2) the Great
Raziel; (3) the Book of Secrets, or the Book of Noah.
These three parts are still distinguishable — 2b-7a,
7b-33b, 34a and b. After these follow two shorter
parts entitled "Creation" and "Shi'ur 5omah,"and
after 41a. come formulas for amulets and incanta-
tions. The first part, "which contains little but
strange conceits ascribed to the angel Raziel, and
which describes the entire organization of heaven "
(Zunz), was composed at the earliest in the eleventh
century, as is shown by both content and language,
and by the coined words and angel-names, which
number several thousand {ib. ). Kohler (Jew. Encyc.
i. 595, s.v. Angelology) correctly compares the
Book of Raziel with the "Sword of Moses," edited
by Gaster (London, 1896), also a book of magic.
Curiously enough, the name "Raziel" occurs not
once among the names of angels, of which there
are over a thousand. The citations made in the
middle portion of the work under consideration
prove its comparatively recent date of composi-
tion, and upon this fact Zunz based his theory that
it was written by Eleazar b. Jtjdah b. Kalony-
Mus OP Worms, a hypothesis refuted by Jellinek from
the original manuscript of it ("Orient," 1846, No.
16), although it is probable that the redactor com-
bined an older work with that of Eleazar of Worms
(Bloch, "Gesch. der Entwickelung der Kabbalah,"
p. 34, No. 1). The Book of Raziel was first printed
in Amsterdam in 1701, under the title N1SD ilt
riKDTp mXT- The belief was formerly current that
the Book of Raziel protected from fire the house
which contained' it.

Bibliography : Zunz, O. V. 2d ea., pp. 176 etseq.; Bloch,
Qesch. der Entwickelunfi der Kabhala, pp. 33-34, 'Ireves,
1894 (in which is found a German translation of an important
portion of the Book of Eaziel) : Schwab, Vocabulaire deVAn-
gelologie, p. 246, Paris, 1897 ; Ozarlia-Sefarim, Hi. 545, No. 121.
q,^ L. B.

RAZSVYET : Russo-Jewish weekly ; founded
in Odessa by Osip Rabinovich May, 1860. It was
the first journal in the Russian language devoted to
Jewish interests; and considerable difficulty was
encountered by its founder in securing the neces-
sary governmental permission for its establishment.
Owing to the powerful influence of N. I. Pirogov,
the permission was ultimately obtained, but with
the stipulation that the journal be published in
Yiddish. Rabinovich was greatly discouraged with
the result of his petition ; for, apart from the fact
that it was the Russian language which he had
specified therein, the proposed journal was placed
under the supervision of the Kiev censor, and since
only two cities, Jitomir and Wilna, were allowed to

■^s n)xi' -yixrv^rv"

^•xv

^ % ij ?" I

^ 9 f ','3

.-.^

Page fiiom tiik Skkeh Raziei,, Amstejioam, 1701.

(From the Sulzber^'tr uoUeetion in the Jewish Theological Seminary o£ America. Xew York.)

837

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Razsvyet
Beal Estate

have Hebrew printing-houses, the matter was ren-
dered very complicated. Rabinovioh again peti-
tioned the government, and with the aid of Pirogov
the desired permission was finally obtained.

I'he purpose of the journal was to diffuse light
among the ignorant Jewish masses of Russia ; and
accordingly its motto was "Let tlierc be light." In
the first petition of 1856 Rabinovich in outlining the
policy of the proposed journal said that the corrupt
jargon used by the great mass of Russian Jews was
not adapted to mental enlightenment and progress,
since it could not be used for the expression of ah-
stract thoughts ; that the Jews would by means of
the proposed journal become more familiar with their
country and its people, and that the Russian people
would become better acquainted with their Jewish
neighbors. The journal was to concern itself with
questions of religion, sociology, history, criticism,'
science, biography, travels, trade, agriculture, etc.

The first numbers of the "Razsvyet" raised much
bitter criticism on the part of the conservative Jew-
ish people; for the editors fearlessly undertook to
point out and to comment on the bad as well as
the good features in the life of the Russian Jews.
Much opposition was raised particularly by the arti-
cle "A Few Words About the Jews of Western
Russia," which appeared in the first number. From
all parts of the country letters and telegrams, some
of them containing threats, were addressed to
the editors ; but they fearlessly continued in what
seemed to them to be the right course. In the
third number they again declared that they were
not working .in the interests of anj' party, but in
the interests of Judaism. Gradually the Jewish
public began to appreciate the sterling worth of
the journal, and waited impatiently for the ap-
pearance of every number. Its educational value
proved of great moment to the Jews of Russia,
and laid the foundation for much future good.

In the forty-fifth number Rabinovich announced
his intention of discontinuing the publication of
the "Razsvyet," "on account of insurmountable
difiiculties. " He remained firm in his resolve in the
face of a storm of protest ; but in the fiftieth num-
ber it was announced tliat in view of the great
regret caused by the proposed discontinuance of the
" Razsvyet " Dr. Pinsker and Dr. Soloveichik had
undertaken to continue its publication, and that in
future it would appear under the title "Sion."

Bibliography : Vnshhnd, 1881, No. 6, p. 133 ; O. M. Lemer,
Yevreii v Novorossiskom Kraye, p. 191, Odessa, 1901.
H. K. J. G. L.

BEADINQ : City of Berks county. Pa. A few
Jewish immigrants settled here before 1847, when
Reading became a city. In 1864 a cemetery plot
was acquired in the southern part of the city, and
in the same year Congregation Oheb Sholom was
founded with about fifteen charter members, most
of them South-Germans. In 1884 a house of wor-
ship, located on Chestnut street, near Pearl street,
was bought from the Evangelical Church, and, after
being rebuilt, it was dedicated July 31, 1885, by
Isaac M. Wise. A rabbi and Sabbath-school teacher
was engaged; and Reform service of a moderate
type was instituted. In 1897 Rabbi Julius Frank,
the present (1905) incumbent, introduced the Union
X.— 23

Prayer-Book and full Reform service. In 1898 the
congregation bought another cemetery at Shilling-
ton, three miles from the city, the old one being
vacated, and about sixty bodies were removed to the
new burial-ground. Connected with the congrega-
tion are the Ladies' Hebrew Aid Society and the
Ladies' Auxiliary.

The Orthodox Jewish element, consisting entirely
of Russian and Polish immigrants or their descend-
ants, combined in 1887 and formed Congregation
Shomre Habris. Their house of worship is located
on North 8th street. A Hebrew Free School, situ-
ated on Moss street, is connected with this congre-
gation.

Reading has a population of about 90,000, of
whom approximately 800 are Jews. Most of these
are engaged in mercantile life, and a few are manu-
facturers. Ben Austrian, a painter of still life, has
gained a' reputation in the artistic world.

A. J. F.

REAL ESTATE (D^ypip) : Landed property.
The differences between landed or immovable and
chattel or movable property have been indicated
in the articles Alienation, Appraisement, Debts
OP Decedent, Deed, Execution, Fraud and
Mistake, Infancy, Ona'ah, and Sale. In what
respects the two kinds of property are treated alike
has been pointed out under Agnates and Wills.
In the articles Fixtures and Landlord and Ten-
ant it has been shown whicli of the things resting
upon or growing upon the land are treated as part
of it, and which as personalty (" mittaltelin ").

As regards inheritance and wills, as is shown un-
der Agnates, there is no difference between the
rights of succession in land and those in personalty ;
herein the Jewish law differs radically from the
common law of England, but agrees with the Ro-
man law. The eighth chapter of Baba Kamma,
which defines who are heirs, nowhere distinguishes
the kind of property to be inherited. In like man-
ner the "gift of him lying sick," which takes the
place of the last will (see Wills), was, if made un-
der the proper conditions, that is, during apprehen-
sion of speedy death which came true, as valid in
its operation on lands as on goods and credits. For
" the words of him lying sick are considered as writ-
ten and sealed " ; hence they fill the part of a deed
required to pass lands as well as that of the manual
taking or " pulling " required to change ownership
of goods.

As to changes of title between seller and buyer,
or donor and donee, the forms differ according as one
or another kind of property is the object of sale or
of gift by the healthy; but goods may always be
transferred by sale or gift along with land by any
formalities which give title to the latter (see Alien-
ation and Acquisition).

In the Talmudic law, contrary to the Biblical idea
of an inalienable title to lands vested in the family
rather than in the individual owner, and contrary
to the customs of nations other than the Jews and
to the English and American laws, lands and not
goods were deemed the primary fund for the pay-
ment of debts. Lands and " Canaanitish slaves " to-
gether were known as " wealth which has its respon-
sibility " ("aharayot"). This meant mainly that

Kebekah
Kecauati

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

3SS

property of this kind, land and slaves, was bound
by the owner's bond from the time of its delivery, a
bond meaning a written contract attested by two
subscribing witnesses; and tlie debt might be levied
not only on "free estate," but also on "subjected
estate," that is, on such as had thereafter been given
away, sold, or encumbered. Under the older law
also, only lands and slaves were liable for the debts
of decedents, till the almost universal landlessness
of the Jews necessitated a change (see Debts of
Decedents ; Deed) ; but for the security and peace
of mankind ("tikljun ha-'olam") it was ordained
that a bond, in so far as it secures unliquidated dam-
ages, should operate only on " free estate " ; for in-
stance, the warranty in a deed of conveyance, in so
far as it indemnifies the buyer against the payment
of mesne profits, or the covenant in the wife's Ke-
TUBAn, which secures alimony to her and to her
daughters (Git. v. 3).

The occupation of land, in so far as it gives title
of derelict (see Derelicts), or raises, after a lapse
of three years, a Presumption of grant from the
former owner, is governed by different rules from
those which govern the possession or occupation of
goods and chattels.

The manner of subjecting land to the payment of
debts under writ of Execution after due Appraise-
ment, is very formal and elaborate; and for this
purpose land is divided into three classes, best, mid-
dling, and cheapest, while the sale of the debtor's
chattels is rather informal and summary.

Under the head of Infancy, Legal Aspect of, it
has been shown that until young persons arrive at
the age of twenty years they have no power to sell
those lands which have come to them by inheritance.

Under Ona'ah it has been pointed out that the
rule under which a seller or purchaser may set aside
a sale or purchase by reason of excess or deficit of
one-sixth above or below the market price does not
apply to lands or slaves, on the ground that lands
and slaves have no market price; but when one
party to a sale charges actual Fraud or Mistake
there is no material difference between sales of land
and sales of goods.

E. c. L. N. D.

BEBEEAH. — Biblical Data : Daughter of
Bethuel, sister of Laban, and wife of Isaac (Gen.
xxii. 23, xxiv. 39, 67). Abraham sent his servant
Bliezer to seek a wife for Isaac. Arriving with his
attendants at Aram-naharaim, Eliezer stopped near
the *ell outside the city and declared to Yhwh that
he Would choose the first maiden that should offer
to draw water for himself and his camels, though he
should ask it only for himself. After Rebekah had
drawn the water, Eliezer asked and obtained her
father's and brother's consent to her departure.
Kebekah remained childless for nineteen years, when
she bore two Sons, twins, after Isaac had besought
Yhwh to remove her barrenness (Gen. xxv. 20-26).
Afterward, when Isaac temporarily settled at Gerar,
he and Rebekah agreed to pass as brother and sister.
Abimelech, the King of Gerar, having discovered
that Rebekah was Isaac's wife, under penalty of
death forbade any to do them harm (Gen. xxvi. 6-11).
Shortly before Isaac's death, Rebekah, moved by her
preference for Jacob, induced the latter to intercept

by a trick the blessing which his father had destined
for his brother Esau (Gen. xxvii. 6 et seg.). Later
she exhorted Jacob to flee to her brother Laban
until Esau should have forgotten the injury done
him. Rebekah was buried in the cave of Machpelah
(Gen. xlix. 31). See Jacob.

E. G. n. M. Sel.
In Rabbinical Literature : The Rahbis dis-
agree as to the age of Rebekah at the time of her
marriage to Isaac. The statement of the Seder ' 01am
Rabbah (i.) and Gen. R. (Ivii. 1) that Abraham was
informed of Rebekah ' s birth when he ascended Mount
jMoriah for the 'Akedaii, is interpreted by some as
meaning that Rebekah was born at that time, and
that consequently she was only three years old at
the time of her marriage. Other rabbis, however,
conclude from calculations that she was fourteen
years old, and that therefore she was born eleven
years before the ' Akedah, both numbers being found
in different manuscripts of the Seder '01am Rabbah
(comp. Tos. to Yeb. 61b)., The " Sefer ha-Yashar "
(section "Hayye S^rah," p. 38a, Leghorn, 1870)
gives Rebekah's age at her marriage as ten years.

From the fact that when Rebekah went down to
the well the water rose toward her (Gen. R. Ix. 6)
Eliezer immediately recognized that she was the
maiden chosen by God as Isaac's wife. The miracles
which had been wrought through the virtue of Sarah
and which had ceased after the latter's death, re-
commenced through the virtue of Rebekah (Gen. R.
Ix. 15) when she was taken by Isaac into his tent
(Gen. xxiv. 67).

Rebekah joined Isaac in prayer to God for a child,
they having prostrated themselves opposite each
other. Isaac prayed that the children he was des-
tined to have might be borne by the righteous Re-
bekah, the latter that she might have children by
Isaac only. Isaac's prayer alone was answered
(comp. Gen. xxv. 21), because he was a righteous'
man, and the son of a righteous man, while Rebekah's
whole family was wicked (Yeb. 64a ; Gen. R. Ixiii.
5). It Is said that Rebekah, when suffering from
her pregnancy (comp. Gen. xxv. 32), went from
door to door, asking the women whether they had
ever experienced the Ijke: The answer she received
{ib. xxv. 23) came, according to R. Eleazarb. Simeon,
directly from God ; R. Hama b. Hanina declares that.
God spoke through an angel, and R. Eleazar b.
Pedat that the answer was delivered through Shem,
the son of Noah, into whose bet ha-midrash Rebekah
had gone to inquire (Gen. R. Ixiii. 6-8). She should
liave borne twelve sons, fathers of twelve tribes, but.
through the birth of Esau she became barren again
(Pesik. iii. 23b; Gen. R. Ixiii. 6-7). Rebekah was a
prophetess; therefore she knew that Esau Intended
to slay Jacob after Isaac's death, and the words
"Why should I be deprived also of you both in
one day " (Gen. xxvii. 45) are interpreted as be-
ing her prophecy to this effect (Sotah 13a ; Gen. R.
Ixvii. 9).

The Rabbis agree that Rebekah died at the age of
133 years (Sifre, Deut. 357 ; Midr. Tadshe, in Ep-
stein, " Mi-Kadmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," p. xxii.;.
"Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Wayishlah," p. 56b).
Her death occurred while Jacob was on his way back
to his parents' home ; and it was coincident with.

339

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kebekah
Kecanati

that of Deborah (comp. Gen. xxxv. 8). Her decease
is not mentioned because Jacob not having yet ar-
rived, Esau was tlie only son present to attend to
her burial.' Moreover, the ceremony was performed
at night out of shame that her coffin should be fol-
lowed by a son like Esau (Pesik. I.e. ; Midr. Agadah
on Gen. I.e.). According to the Book of Jubilees
(xxxi. 8-11, 48), Jacob, when he arrived home,
found his mother alive ; and she afterward accom-
panied him to Beth-el to accomplish his vow (comp.
Gen. xxviii. 19-30). She died at the age of 155, five
years before Isaac's death (Jubilees, xxxv. 1, 41),
this determining that her age when she married was
twenty years.
E. c. M. Sel.

BEBENSTEIN, AABON. See Bebnstein,
Aaron.

BEBICHKOVICH, ABRAHAM JOSEPHO-
VICH. See Abraham Jesopovioh.

REBUKE AND REPROOF : "Faithful are the
wounds of a friend," says the Old Testament prov-
erb (Prov. xxvii. 6), doubtless referring to reproof.
A mild rebuke administered for a breach of etiquette,
or for an act of disrespect, was called " hakpadah " ;
a severe rebuke, as for contempt of authoiuty, was
known as "nezifah." In both cases, however, the
offense involved is unintentional. They are thus dis-
tinguished from cases that are punishable by the
declaration of the Ban, nezifah involving a mild
form of ostracism (see Excommunication).

A rebuff to a friend for a breach of etiquette is
mentioned in a case in which R. Hiyya called at
the house of Raba, but neglected to wipe his feet
before he sat on the couch. Desiring to express dis-
approval of his conduct, Raba rebuked him indirectly,
propounding to him a legal question (Shab. 46a, b).
, R. Johanan expressed indignation because his dis-
ciple Eleazar lectured in the bet ha-midrash on a cer-
tain subject without recognizing the authority of his
master (Yeb. 96b). R. Joseph reproached R. Ze'era
because he had insinuated that the former had had
so many masters that lie was apt to confound his
sources ; he indignantly asserted that his only master
was R. Judah (Hul. 18b).

The manner of showing disapprobation is illus-
trated by R. Sheshet, who stretched out his neck
snakelike toward R. Hisda for omitting certain por-
tions which the former thought should be inserted
when saying grace (Ber. 49a). R. Judah I., in his
desire to maintain strict discipline among his disci-
ples, rebuked them whenever they fell short in re-
spect for his authority, although their lapses were
unwitting. R. Simeon, son of Rabbi, and Bar Kap-
para were studying together when they came to a
difficult passage. R. Simeon suggested that it be
submitted to his father, whereupon Bar Kappara
remarked, "How can Rabbi solve it?" The next
time Bar Kappara appeared before Rabbi the latter
turned to him and said, "I do not recognize thee."
Bar K!appara considered this as a nezifah, though
Rabbi probably intended only a hakpadah.

A similar incident occurred when Rabbi ordered
that his disciples should not study in the street. R.
Hiyya and his two cousins disregarded the order.
When Hiyya next went to see Rabbi the latter said.

" Art thou not wanted outside ? " Hiyya understood
this question as a rebuke, and remained away thirty
days (M. K. 16a, b; see Gen. R. xxxiii. 3).

A delicate question presents itself to the preacher
as to how far he may remonstrate with a friend in
regard to impropriety of conduct. Indeed, R. Tarfon
doubted the advisability of forcing the issue, since
few are willing to accept a rebuke. " If a preacher
says, ' Take out the mote from thy eye, ' a friend
retorts, ' Take out the beam from thine own eye ' "
(comp. Matt. vii. 3). Rab said a preacher should
remonstrate with liis friend until the latter resents
violently; R. Joshua said, until he curses; but R.
Johanan thinks the limit should be a mere re-
buke. They all refer to Jonathan's remonstrance
with Saul in regard to David ('Er. 16b). See
Anathema.

J- J. D. E.

RECANATI: Town in Italy, on the Musone,
and in the province of Macerata ; formerly included
in the Pontifical States. Jews are known to have
lived in Recanati as early as the thirteenth century,
when R. Menahem Recanati flourished in that city.
The] usefulness of Jewish money-lenders was well
recognized in the Marches, almost every town hav-
ing its money-lender, who ranked almost as a public
official. In Recanati there were several, who main-
tained business relations with those of Urbino. In
1433 one Sabbatuccio di Alleuzzo, a Jew of Reca-
nati, obtained permission fiom the Duke of Urbino
to establish a money-lending business in that city.
He went there, and on June 30 of the same year
entered into business relations with others, which he
maintained until Dec. 9, 1436.

Notwithstanding the protection accorded by the
authorities to Jewish money-lenders, the popular
hatred against them continued unabated. When
Pope Nicholas V., at the instance of Capistrano, a
bitter enemy of the Jews, forbade them to lend
money at interest (1447), and commanded the restora-
tion of all money that had been received by them
as interest, a general rising of the mob took place in
Rome, rapidly followed by similar risings through-
out Italy. The community of Recanati took steps
to avert a similar calamity, and, being unable to bear
unassisted all the necessary expenses, endeavored to
form a union with other Italian communities for this
purpose, particularly with that at Ancona. With
this object a letter was written to the latter commu-
nity, urging it to appoint a day on which delegates
from the principal communities might meet and dis-
cuss measures of protection. The community of An-
cona, however, unwilling to take the lead, advised
the community of Recanati to secure the influence
of the bishop of its city through the Jews of Rome.

This terminates all information relative to this
matter, the outcome of which is unknown. But it
is certain that the circumstances of the Jews were
no longer flourishing. One of the measures directed
against them was the establishment of a " monte di
pieta " at Recanati in 1468. On the Day of Atone-
ment in 1558, Pilippo, a converted Jew, made a
forcible entrance into the synagogue of Recanati and
placed a cross upon the Ark; and when the indig-
nant Jews drove him forth he made such a disturb-
ance that the wrathful populace surrounded the

Recanati
Rechabites

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

340

synagogue. Two Jews were arrested by the author-
ities aud publicly flogged. The sixteenth century
•witnessed the cud of the Recanati community. Pope
Pius V. banished the Jews from the Papal States, ex-
cepting those of Rome and Ancona (Feb. 26, 1569),
and his decree, although abrogated for a short time
by Sixtus V. (Oct. 25, 1586), was renewed by Clem-
ent VIII. (1593). R. Rafael Finzi da Recanati, R.
Jacob ben Rafael Finzi da Recanati, and R. Petha-
liiah Jare, all of the sixteenth century, were rabbis
at Recanati. Isaac ben Hayyira ben Abraham ha-
Kohen lived in Recanati in 1517.

Bibliography: Joseph ba-Kohen, "Emtlf ha^Baka, efl. Wiener,
p. 97 ; Luzzatto, I Banehieri Ebrei in Urhlno ndV eta Xm-
cale^ passim; David Kaufmanii, in R. E. J. xxill. 251 et sea.;
Vogelstein and Rieger, Uesch. der Juden in Bom, 11. 14, 93;
Mortara, Indice, passim.
S. U. C.

RECANATI : Italian family deriving its name
from the city of Recanati in the former Papal States.
Subjoined is the family tree:

Sbabbetbai Elbanan Recanati

I
Menahem Recanati

Judah Hayylm Recanati

I
Shabbethai Elbanan Recanati

Moses Nahamu Recanati

Isaac Samuel Recanati
(d. 1812)

I
Jacob Hayylm Recanati

Moses Nahamu Recanati Emanuele (Menahem) Recanati

The more important members are the following:

Amadeo ( Jedidiah) ben Moses Recanati :

Lived in the sixteenth century. He translated Mai-

monides' " Moreh Nebukim " into Italian in 1583,

under the title "Erudizione dei Confusi," dedicating

his work to the cabalist Menahem Azariah da Fano.

Elijah Recanati : Lived in the Romagna about

1660. At an advanced age he wrote a " widdui " in

rimed prose, beginning "Ribbono shel '01am," and

a lament for the wars, pestilence, and famine, which

simultaneously afflicted the countrJ^

Bibliography: Zunz, S. P. p. 440; Vogelstein and Rieger,
Oeseh. der Juden in Bom, 11. 215.

Emauuele (Menalieni) Recanati : Italian phy-
sician; born at Sienna in 1796; died at Verona, where
his father had been rabbi, Jan., 1864. After study-
ing medicine Emanuele practised as a physician at
Verona. He was the author of : " Grammatica Ebraica
in Lingua Latina" (Verona, 1843); "Dizionario
Ebraico-Caldaico ed Italiano " {ib. 1854) ; " Dizionario
Italiano ed Ebraico " (ib. 1856).

Jacob Hayylm Recanati : Rabbi and teacher ;
born in Pesaro 1758 ; died Feb. 27, 1824; son of Isaac
Samuel Recanati. In his youth he was an elementary
teacher at Ferrara, and later was successively rabbi
of Sienna, Acqui, Moncalvo, Finale, Carpi, Verona,
and Venice, in which last city ho succeeded Jacob
Menahem Craoowa. He was, moreover, a gram-
marian and a profound mathematician. Recanati
was the author of several works, among them be-
ing the following : " Poske Rekanati ha-Aharonim "
(Leghorn, 1813) ; a treatise on arithmetic, published
at Sienna; a compendium of the doctrine of Judaism

(Verona, 1813); and "Ya'ir Netib" (Dessau, 1818), a

responsum on the Hamburg Reform Temple. He

wrote also Hebrew poems, and left some collections

of sermons in manuscript.

Bibliography : Nepl-Ghirondi, Tolednt Oediile YisraeJ, p.
15.5 ; Stelnschnelder, Cat. Bodl. col. 1248 ; Divia, Elegia Fii-
nebre pel Babbino de Verona, Oiacobbe Vita Becanati,
Verona, 1834.

Judah. Hayyim ben Menahem Recanati :
Rabbi of the Spanish community of Ferrara in the
second half of the seventeenth century. One of his
responsa is contained in Jacob Recanati's " Pos^e Re-
kanati ha-Aharonim," § 5.
Bibliography: Nepi-Ghlrondl, Toledof Gedo/e risroel, p. 127.

Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati : Italian
rabbi ; flourished at the close of the thirteenth cen-
tury and in the early part of the fourteenth. He
was the only Italian of his time who devoted the
chief part of -his writings to the Cabala. He wrote:
(1) " Perush ' Al ha-Torah " (Venice, 1523), a work
full of mystical deductions and meanings based upon
a textual interpretation of the Bible; it describes
many visions and celestial revelations claimed to
have been experienced by the author, who was
blinded by cabalistic ideas, and expresses the highest
respect for all cabalistical authors, even the most
recent apocryphal ones. The work was translated
into Latin by Pico di Mirandola, and was republished
with a commentary by Mordeoai Jaffe, at Lublin in
1595. ' (3) " Perush ha-Tefillot" and (3) "Ta'ameha-
Mizwot," published together (Constantinople, 1543-
1544; Basel, 1581). Like the preceding work, these
are strongly tinctured with German mysticism. Re-
canati frequently quotes Judah he-Hasid of Regens-
burg, Eleazar of Worms, and their disciples, and
alludes also to the Spanish cabalists, Nahmanides
among them. He is rarely original, quoting almost
always other authorities. Although Recanati had a
high reputation for sanctity, he exercised less influ-
ence on his contemporaries than upon posterity. To
assist him in his cabalistic researches, he studied
logic and philosophy ; and he endeavors to support
the cabala by philosophical arguments. (4) "Poske
Hilkot," Bologna, 1538.

Bibliography : GOdemann, Gesch. 11. 180 et seq.; Zunz, Lite-
raturgesch. p. 369 ; idem, in Geiger's JUd. Zeit. iv. 139 ; Ge-
dallah Ibn Yahya, Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah, p. 48b.

Menahem Recanati : Rabbi of Ferrara in the
seventeenth century. He wrote a number of re-
sponsa, some of which are inserted in Jacob Re-
canati's "Poske Rekanati ha-Aharonim" (§g 4,6,
33). The legend related by Nepi, in " Toledot Ge-
dole Yisrael " (p. 235), refers not to this Menahem,
but to Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati.
Bibliography ; Gedaltah ibn Tahya, ShaWielet ha-Kabbalah,

p. 48b ; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1734.

Moses Nahamu Recanati : Rabbi of Senigaglia
and Pesaro in the eighteenth century.

Moses Nahamu Recanati : Joint rabbi with his
father-in-law, Moses Aaron Yahya, of Correggio at
the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Bibliography : Nepl-Gbirondi, Toledot Gedole. Yisrael, p. 157.

Shabbethai Elhanan Recanati : Rabbi of
Ferrara in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
He lived at the time of the establishment of the
ghetto.
Bibliography: Nepi-Ghlrondi, Toledot fJedole Fisraei, p. 335.

341

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kecanati
Bechabites

Shabl)eth.ai EHianan Brecanati : liabbi for
many years of the Spanish community in Eerrara.
One of his responsa is inserted in the " Debar She-
muel " (p. 280) of Samuel Aboab. Approbations
("haskaniot ") by liim are frequently met with, e.g.,
in Lampronti's "Pahad Yizhalj," Jacob Daniel
Olmo's " Reshit Bikkure Kazir," Samson Morpurgo's
"Shemesh Zedakah," and Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh
De'ah, § 50. In the section Eben ha-'Ezer of the
last-named work is included a responsum by He-
canati on the writings of Maimonides.
Bibliography : Nepi-GMronai, Toledot Qednle Yisrad, p. 319.

Other branches of the family are found in various
Italian cities, e.g., in Rome: Shabbethai Recauati
(see MS. De. Rossi No. 403); Maestro Joab in 1553
(see Vogelstein and Rieger, "Gesch. der Juden in
Rom," ii. 420); at Santa Vittoria, Ferrao: Jehiel
ben Joab in the fifteenth century ("Mose," v. 192);
in Pesaro: in 1636, Lazzaro and Elia Recanati,
bankers ; Isaac di Salvatore, Jacob, and Abramo Re-
canati. In the nineteenth century the rabbinate of
Pesaro was held by Giuseppe Samuele Recanati (b.
at Pesaro in 1807 ; died there Oct. 15, 1894).

A branch of the Finzi family bears the cognomen
"Da Recanati," and claims descent from the first
Menahem Recanati (see Jew. Encyc. v. 389b, s.t\
Finzi).

s. IT. C.

RECHABITES. — Biblical Data: Mem-
bers of a family descended from Hammath, the pro-
genitor of the house of Rechab ; otherwise known as
the Kenites (I Chron. ii. 55), who w«re the descend-
ants of Hobab (Jethro), the father-in-law of Moses
(Judges iv. 11). In Jeremiah (xxxv.) it is recorded
that the prophet took some Reohabites into the
Temple and offered them wine to drink, and that
they declined on the ground that Jehonadab, son
of Rechab, their ancestor, had commanded them
not to drink wine or other strong drink, or to live
in houses, or to sow seed, or to plant vineyards, and
had enjoined them to dwell in tents all their days.
Jeremiah used this fidelity of the Rechabites to their
principles as an object-lesson in his exhortations to
his contemporaries.

Jehonadab appears at an earlier point in the Bible
as the companion of King Jehu when he slaughtered
the prophets of Baal (comp. II Kings x. 15, 23). Je-
honadab was apparently a champion of the wor-
ship of Yhwh as against that of Baal. After the
Exile Malchiah, the Rechabite ruler of the district of
Beth-haccerem, built a portion of the walls of Jeru-
salem (Neh. iii. 14, 15). In I Chron. (ii. 55) it is
stated that certain people of Jabez in Judah were
" the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the
house of Rechab." It is clear from these- passages
that the Rechabites were a people who endeavored
to resist the customs of settled life in Palestine by
maintaining the nomadic ideal ; that they existed at
difEerent times in both the Northern and Southern
Kingdoms; that they were especially interested in
the worship of Yhwh ; and that the Chronicler con-
nects them with the Kenites.

E. c. G- A. B.

In Rabbinical liiterature : God's promise

that the Rechabites " shall not want a man to stand

before me forever " (Jer. xxxv. 19) is interpreted by
R. Jonathan to mean that they shall become scribes
and members of the Sanhedrin.
In th.e Other rabbis say the Rechabites mar-
Talmud, ried their daughters to priests and
had grandchildren in the priesthood
(Yalk., Jer. 333). Jonathan's appears to be the
accepted view, as the Rechabites became scribes (I
Chron. ii. 55) and sat with the Sanhedrin in the gran-
ite chamber ("lishkat ha-gazit"; perhaps the same
as the chamber of Hanan) of the Temple. The names
of the subdivided families, the Tirathites, the Sbe-
nieathites, and the Suchathites (ib.), are appellations
indicating their learning and (in the case of the last-
named) their custom of living in tents (Mek., Yitro,
ii. 60b ; Sifre, Num. 78 [ed. Priedmann, p. 30a] ;
Sotah 11a). R. Nathan remarked that God's cove-
nant with the Rechabites was superior to tlie cove-
nant with David, inasmuch as David's was condi-
tional (Ps. cxxxii. 13), while that with the Rechabites
was without reservation (Mek., I.e.). The Talmud
identifies " ha-yozerim " ("the potters"; I Chron.
iv. 33) as the Rechabites, because they observed
("she-nazeru ") the commandment of their father (B.
B. 91b). Evidently the Talmud had the reading
"ha-nozerim" (= "diligent observers") instead of
" ha-yozerim." This would explain the term " Mig-
dal Nozerim," the habitation of the Rechabites,
in contrast with a " fenced city " (II Kings xvii. 9,
xviii. 8). The appellation of " Nozerim " or " No-
zerites " is perhaps changed from " Nazarites " as in-
dicative of the temperate life of the Rechabites.

The appointed time for the service of the Recha-
bites in the Temple was the 7th of Ab (Ta'an. iv.
5). After the destruction of the See-
In ond Temple, traces of the Rechabites
the Second ai'e found in the pedigree of R. Jose b.
Temple. Halaf ta, the author of " Seder ' 01am, "
who claimed to be a direct descendant
of Jehonadab ben Rechab (Gen. R. xcviii. 13).

Judah L&w b. Bezaleel, in his " Nezah Yisrael "
(Prague, 1599), claims that the Jews in China are
descended from the Rechabites and that they are
referred to in Isa. xlix. 13 ("the land of Sinim").
Benjamin of Tudela (1160) found Rechabites in his
travels: "Twenty -one days' journey from Baby-
lon, through the desert of Sheba, or Al- Yemen, from
which Mesopotamia lies in a northerly dii-ection, are
the abodes of the Jews who are called the Recha-
bites. " He describes them as " an independent tribe.
The extent of their land is sixteen days' journey
among the northern mountains. They have large
and fortified cities, with the capital
According' city of Tema. Their nasi is Rabbi
to Hanan [a name suggestive of the

Benjamin chamber of Hanan]. The Rechabites
of Tudela. make marauding expeditions in dis-
tant lands with their allies, the Arabs,
who live in the wilderness in tents. The neighbor-
ing countries fear the Jews, some of whom cultivate
the land, raise cattle, and contribute tithes for the
men learned in the Law, for the poor of Palestine,
and for the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, who,
except on Sabbaths and holy days, neither eat meat
nor drink wine, and who dress in black and live in
caves." Benjamin's description of the Rechabites is

Bechabites
Recording An^el

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

343

ambiguous, and, tlie text being unpunctuated, it is
difficult to tell when lie refers to the Rechabites,
when to the Arabs, and when to the mourners of
Zion. Probably the tents referred to are those of
the Arabs, and the abstention from meat and wine
applies to the mourners of Zion. The latter evi-
dently were Karaites, who made frequent pilgrim-
ages to Jerusalem in the tenth and eleventh centuries

(see PiLGKIMAGE).

The Rechabites were found also by the English

missionary Dr. Wolff, in 1828, near Mecca in Arabia.

He credits them with the observance of the pure

Mosaic law. They speak Arabic and a little Hebrew.

They are good horsemen, and number about 60,000.

Bibliography : Lewisohn, Slwrshe Lebanon, pp. 220-228,
WUna, 1841 ; M. A. Ginsburg, Dehir, i. 96-101, Warsaw, 1883 ;
L. de St. Aignau, La Tribu de Rechabites Betrouvee, Ver-
sailles, 1871 ; The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, ed.
Asher, London, 1840-41.

w. B. J. D. E.

Critical View : According to Ewald, Schra-

der, Smend, and Budde, the Rechabites represented
areaction against Canaanitish civilization. As Budde
points out, in the wilderness, or steppes, the relig-
ion of Yhwh was the religion of a simple nomadic
, people, devoid of the voluptuous ritual which the
greater wealth of Canaan made possible (comp.
"The New World," 1895, pp. 736-746; "Religion
of Israel to the Exile," ch. i.). The Yhwh religion,
he holds with Tiele and Stade, was the religion of
the Kenites.

These Rechabites, a part of the Kenites, as even
the late Chronicler remembered, bound themselves
to maintain the nomadic ideal of life and the primi-
tive simijlicity of Yhwh's religion. This would ex-
plain the form of their life as depicted by Jeremiah,
and the aid rendered by their ancestor to Jehu. If,
however, this view is correct, they are really much
older than Jehonadab, the contemporary of Jehu.
Budde supposes that Jehonadabdidnot originate, but
revived or reimposed, the old rule of their brother-
hood.

If tliey were Kenites, how came they in the
Northern Kingdom at this time ? The Kenites were
dwellers on the southern borders of Judah until
absorbed by that tribe (see Kenites; comp. I Sam.
xxvii. 10, XXX. 29). The explanation is probably
to be found in I Chron. ii. 55, which connects Rech-
abites with Hammath, a town at the hot springs by
the Sea of Galilee, a little to the south of Tiberias
(comp. Buhl, "Geographie des Alten PalSstina,"
pp. 115, 236). Probably a colony of them settled at
this point for a time, and so became residents of the
Northern realm. The same reference connects them
with Jabez in Judah. It is probable, therefore, that
all were of one family. In the time of Nehemiah
they were connected with Beth-haccerem, a town
near Tekoah, southeast of Bethlehem. Budde has
well shown the importance of the Rechabites for an
understanding of the religion of Israel.

BiBLiOKRAPHY : Ewald, GescTi. ill. 543 et seg.; Smend, Alttes-
tamentlicheBeligionsgeschiehte, 2ded.,pp.93etsc((.; Smith,
Bel. of Sem. 2d ed., pp. 484 et seq.; Budde, Beliginn of Israel
to tJie Exile, ch. i.: DiUmann, Old Testament Theology, p.
172 ; Barton, Sketch of Semitic Origins, p. 277.
E. 0. G. A. B.

RECIFE (PERNAMBTJCO) : Brazilian city and
seaport; capital of the state of Pernambuco. It

was merely a collection of fishermen's huts w'hen
occupied by the French in 1561. Shortly afterward,
however, it began to attract attention as a port.
Both Recife and the neighboring town of Olinda
were captured by the Dutch under Admiral Loncq
in 1631. Thereafter Recife became one of the most
important strongholds of the Dutch in Brazil.

The liberal policy of the Dutch induced many Jews
and Neo-Christians to remove thither from other
parts of Brazil, and soon Recife had a large Jewish
population. It is described by Portuguese writers
as being chiefly inhabited by Jews, who by 1639
had the trade of the city practically
Under the in their own hands; and in a work

Dutch.. published at Amsterdam in 1640 they
are stated to have been twice as numer-
ous there as Christians. They were permitted to ob-
serve their Sabbath. The importance of the city in-
creased during the wars between the Dutch and the
Portuguese. Anxious to make it the foremost city
of their possessions, the Dutch endeavored to attract
colonists from abroad, and appealed to Holland for
craftsmen of all kinds. In response many Portu-
guese Jews left Holland for Recife, induced to do
so not only by pecuniary considerations and the ad-
vantage of the free exercise of their religion, but
doubtless by a preference for a community in
which the Spanish and Portuguese tongues were
spoken.

Within a few years the Jews at Recife numbered
thousands, and one of them, Caspar Diaz Ferreira,
was considered one of the richest men in the coun-
try. Nieuhoff, the traveler, writing in 1640, says:
" Among the free inhabitants of Brazil the Jews are
most considerable in number ; they have a vast traf-
fic, beyond all the rest ; they purchased sugar-mills
and bought stately houses in the Receif. " In 1642
several hundred Spanish and Portuguese Jews emi-
grated from Amsterdam to Brazil. Among these
were two famous scholars, both of whom settled at
Recife. One of them, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, be-
came the hakam of the congregation, and the other,
Raphael de Aguilar, its reader. Among the promi-
nent Jews born at Recife may be mentioned Elijah
Machorro and Dr. Jacob de Andrade Velosino, who
wrote against Spinoza.

Recife soon became favorably known throughout
Europe. Its congregation became influential, and
among its distinguished members may be mentioned
Ephraim Suero, the stepbrother of Manasseh ben
Israel. In fact, the latter seriously considered going
there in 1640, and dedicated the second part of his
" Conciliador " to the most eminent members of the
congregation at Recife, including David Senior
Coronel. In 1645, when Joam Fernandes Vieyra
urged the Portuguese to reconquer Brazil, one of his
arguments was that Recife " was chiefly inhabited by
Jews, most of whom were originally fugitives from
Portugal. They have their open synagogues there,
to the scandal of Christianity. For the honor of the
faith, therefore, the Portuguese ought to risk their
lives and property in putting down such an abom-
ination. " When the conspiracy was in its infancy
the Dutch authorities were slow to realize what
was happening; "but the Jews of Recife were loud
in their expressions of alarm." In the words of

343

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bechabites
Kecordlng- Angrel

Southey, "They liad more at stake tliau the Dutch ;
they were sure to be massacred without mercy dur-
ing the insurrection, or roasted without mercy if the
insurgents should prove successful. They therefore
besieged the council witli warnings and accusa-
tions."

At tlio beginning of his insurrection Vieyra prom-
ised the Jews protection provided they remained
peaceably in their houses. The Jews, however, re-
mained loyal to the Dutch, and in 1646,
Insurrec- when the war was raging, they raised
tion large donations for the service of the

of Vieyra. state. When, in the same year, the
city was besieged by the Portuguese,
the Jews were its stoutest defenders, being "re-
solved to perish by the sword rather than surrender. "
Dutch aid arrived in time, and the war was pro-
longed. So influential was the Jewish community
at Recife that when the Portuguese, in 1648, con-
templated the purchase of the place, they considered
the advisability of making a secret agreement con-
cerning the Jews even before broaching the sub-
ject to Holland. But the Dutch regime was
doomed. The story of the sufferings and fortitude
of the Jews at Recife during the siege, when
general famine prevailed, has been preserved in a
poem by Isaac Aboab, an eye-witness. Though the
first siege was unsuccessful, the city was again be-
sieged ; many Jews were killed, and many more died
of hunger. When it became evident that resistance
was futile, the Jews clamored for a capitulation,
" without which, they well knew, no mercy would be
shown them." They were especially mentioned in
the terms of capitulation, the Portuguese promising
them amnesty " in all wherein they could promise
it." More than 5, 000 Jews were inRccife; they hur-
riedly removed, many going to Surinam, others re-
turning with Aboab and Aguilar to Amsterdam, and
still others going to Guadeloupe and other West-
Indian islands. Probably the small group of Jews
that arrived in New Amsterdam (New York) in 1654
were refugees from Recife.

After the Portuguese reconquest Jews do not ap-
pear to have had a community at Recife, though
Jews were there probably during the
Tinder the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
■ Por- as the Portuguese sent large numbers
tuguese. of " reconciled " Neo-Christians to Bra-
zil between 1683 and 1707. Most
likely such Jews have long since been absorbed bj'
the Catholic population. No restrictions against
Jewish settlement exist in Brazil to-day, and there
are a number of Jewish residents at Recife, largely
of German or Russian origin. Nevertheless, in a list
of the leading merchants of the town published by
the Bureau of American Republics (1891) such de-
cidedly Sephardic names appear as Carvalho, Seixas,
Pereira, and Machado.

BiBLiOGEAPHT : Aujfustus Van Quelen, Knrt Verlmel van den
StcKt van Fernanbuc, Amsterdam, 1640 ; *Robert Soutbey,
nislm-y of Brazil, il. 158, 241, &50 et sea., London, 1822 ;
Nieuhoff, Voyages and Travels in Brazil, in Plnkerton's
Colleetion of Travels, vol. xiv.; Alphonse de Beauchamp,
Bistoire du Brisil, vol. ill., Paris, 1815 ; J. B. Femandea
Gama, Mem. HUt. da Prov. de Pemambucn, Pernambuco,
1844; Barteus, Berum in Brasilia Gestarum Histnrla,
1660 ; H. J. Koenen, Gescliiedeiiis der Joden in Nederland,
Utrecht, 1 84.3 ; Netacher, Les Hnllandais au BrfMl, in ie Mo-
niteur des Indes Orientales et Occidentales, 1848-49 ; Encyc.

Bril.s.v. Pernambueo; Johnson's Universal C)ielopedia,vi.
531; Publications Am. Jew. Hist.Soc. Nos. 3 (M. Kayserllng
and Q. A. Koliut) and 9 (L. Hilhner) ; Bulletins of the Bureau
of American Republics, vols. vil. and Ix.
A. L, Htj.

BECKENDORF, HERMANN (HAYYIM
ZEBI BEN SOLOMON) : German scholar and
author; born in Trebitsch in 1825; died about 1875.
Having acquired a thorough acquaintance with the
Hebrew language and literature, Reckendorf devoted
himself to the study of the other Semitic languages.
In 1856 he went to Leipsic, where he occupied him-
self with the study of history; later he became
lecturer in the University of Heidelberg. Influenced
by Eugfene Sue's "Les Mysteres de Paris," Reck-
endorf planned a similar work in Jewish history.
The result of his design appeared in his "Die Ge-
heimnisse der Juden" (5 vols., Leipsic', 1856-57), a
collection of sketches from Jewish history, written
in German. Tliese, though independent of one an-
other, preserve an unbroken historical sequence cov-
ering the whole period from the time when the Jews
were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar up to his own time.
Reckendorf endeavored especially to show that the
line of David never disappeared ; that it passed from
Zerubbabel, through Hilleland certain Jewish kings
in Arabia, and through the Abravauels. His asser-
tions are based on various historical works and on
the Talmud, the sources being referred to in foot-
notes. Abraham Kaplan translated the first part
into Hebrew under the title of " Mistere ha-Yehu-
dim" (Warsaw, 1865); later the whole work was
freely translated into Hebrew by A. S. Eriedberg,
under the title of "Zikronot le-Bet Dawid" {ib.
1893).

In 1857 Reckendorf published at Leipsic a He-
brew translation of the Koran under the title of
" Al-Kuran o ha-Mikra " ; its preface, written by the
translator, contains an essay on the pre-Moham-
medau history of Arabia, a biography of Mohammed,
an essay on the Koran itself, and other small trea-
tises on allied themes. In 1868 he published at
Leipsic " Das Leben Mosis, " a life of Moses accord-
ing to Biblical and other sources, and a French arti-
cle on thelbn Tibbons ("Arch. Isr." xxix. 564, 604).

Bibliography : Allg. Zett. des Jud. 1858, pp. 201, 398 ; Epi-
logue to Reckendorf 's Die Oeheimnisse der Juden ; Fiirst,
i?ii>J. Jud. ill. 137, 138 ; Zeitlln, Bibl. Post-3IendeU. pp. 295-
296.
S. M. Sel.

RECORD. See Deed; Judgment.

RECORDING ANGEL: The angel that, in
popular belief, records the deeds of all individuals
for future reward or punishment. The keeping of a
general account between man and his Maker is repre-
sented by Akiba thus: "Man buys in an open shop
where the dealer gives credit ; the ledger is open,
and the hand writes " (Abot iii. 20). Citing, " He
sealeth up the hand of eveiy man ; that all men may
know his work " (Job xxxvii. 7), R. Shila said, " Two
attending angels follow man as ■witnesses, and when
a man dies all his deeds are enumerated, with- place
and date of occurrence, and the man himself in-
dorses the statement" (Ta'an: 11a). Again, citing
Mai. iii. 16 ("'and a book of remembrance was writ-
ten before him for them that feared the Lord "), R.

Sed Heifer
Bee

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

344:

Shila said, " Whenever two discuss the Law tlieir
words are recorded above " (Ber. 6a).

All prayers are recorded in heaven by the angels
(see Prayer). The principal recording angel ap-
pears to be Gabriel, "the man clothed with linen,"
whom God ordered to place a sign upon the fore-
heads of the men in Jerusalem who were to be spared
(Ezek. ix. 4 ; see Shab. 55a). The entry in the royal
anuals recording the meritorious act of Mordecai in
saving the life of Ahasuerus was said to have been
erased by the royal secretary Shirashai, an enemy of
the Jews, and to have been restored by Gabriel,
the champion of Israel, which incident brought
about the fall of Haman and the victory of the
Jews (Meg. 16a; Rashi ad loc). See Elijah;
Enoch ; Esohatology.

K. J. D. E.

RED HEIFER.— Biblical Data : According to
Yh"wh'b instructions to Mosesand Aaron the Israelites
prepared for sacrifice a red heifer which was free from
blemish and which had not yet been broken to the
yoke. It was slain outside the camp, in the presence
of Eleazar, representing the high priest; Eleazar
dipped his fingers in the blood and sprinkled it seven
times in the direction of the tabernacle; then the
carcass was burned in his presence — hide, flesh, and
blood. The priest himself took cedar-wood, hyssop,
and scarlet, and cast them upon the pyre. Another
man, ceremonially clean, then gathered up the ashes
of the consumed heifer and stored them in a clean
place outside the camp, that they might be used in
preparing water of purification. The priest, the
man who attended to the burning of the heifer, and
the one who gathered the ashes had to wash them-
selves and their clothes ; they remained ceremonially
unclean until sunset.

The ashes were dissolved in fresh water, which
was sprinkled on those who were contaminated by
coming In contact with a dead body or in proxim-
ity to the dead. The one so contaminated re-
mained unclean for seven days; he was sprinkled
with the water on the third and seventh days, and
at sunset of the last day was clean again. The
sprinkling was done by one who was clean, and
who, after the sprinkling, washed himself and his
clothes and remained unclean until sunset. All who
touched the water or the unclean person were like-
wise unclean until sunset. The one who neglected
to observe this law was deprived of religious privi-
leges, for he defiled the sanctuary of Yhwh (Num.
xix. 1-23). Spoils of war consisting of metal vessels
were to be purified by fire and finally cleansed by
the water of purification (Num. xxxi. 21-24).

Rabbinical View : See Parah.

Critical View : Modern critics declare that

Num. xix. is composed of two sections— 1-13 and
14-22. Wellhausen and Kuenen think that the sec-
ond section is an appendix giving precise instruc-
tions regarding the application of the regulation to
particular cases ; but according to the editors of the
"Oxford Hexateuch" (1900) the second section is
derived from a body of priestly torot or decisions.
Other critics, however, are of the opinion that the
more elaborate and peculiar title of the first section
— " Hu^kat ha-Torah " — as well as other indications,

suggests rather that this section is the later of
the two and belongs to the secondary strata of the
Priestly Code (P). The connection of this chapter
with the preceding one is explained by Ibn Ezra:
both contain " a perpetual statute " for the priests
(Num. xix. 21). The connection with the following
chapter is thus explained by Josephus: Moses insti-
tuted the rite of the red heifer on the death of Miriam
(Num. XX. 1), the ashes of the first sacrifice being
used to purify the people at the expiration of thirty
days of mourning ("Ant." iv. 4, § 6).

The sacrifice of the red heifer should be compared
with that of the scapegoat, similarly sacrificed out-
side the camp by one who must purify himself be-
fore returning to it. The bullock as the sin-offering
of the high priest and the goat as the sin-offering of
the people were likewise burned outside the camp —
hide, flesh, and dung (Lev. xvi. 26-27). The red-
heifer sacrifice is similar to the heifer sacrifice otiered
for the purpose of purifying the land from the de-
filement attending an untraced murder, a heifer
" which hath not been wrought with, and which
hath not drawn in the yoke " (Deut. xxi. 3). In
both cases the heifer was chosen as being a more
suggestive offering in a rite associated with death.
This view is supported by Bahr, Kurtz, Keil, Eders-
heim, and others. The Jewish exegetes point, in
addition, to the uncultivated "rough valley" and
the wilderness as suggestive of the check to human
multiplication caused by natural death and by man-
slaughter.

The performance of the rite at a distance from the
tabernacle excluded therefrom the high priest, who
could not leave the sanctuary ; hence he was repre-
sented at the ceremony by a substitute. The term
" me niddah " (A. V. " water of separation " ; R. V.
"water of impurity"), rendered by the Septuagint
as v6ap pavTiOfiov (" water of sprinkling " ; by Luther,
"Sprengwasser"), is interpreted by Rashi by com-
paring " niddah " with " wa-yaddu " (on Lam. iii. 53)
and " le-yaddot " (to cast, throw, or sprinkle ; Zech.
ii. 4 [A. V. i. 21]). Ibn Ezra compares "niddah"
with "menaddekem" (cast you out; Isa. Ixvi. 5), as
denoting " exclude from the cultus," like the Nco-
Hebrew "niddui" (to excommunicate), and he there-
fore interprets " me niddah " as " the water of exclu-
sion," i.e., the means for removing the uncleanness
which is the cause of the exclusion ; this explanation
agrees with the rendering of the Authorized Version
"water of separation."

The " cedar-wood " thrown on the fire was proba-
bly a piece of fragrant wood of Juniperus Fhmnicea
or Juniperus Oxycedrvs {L'6w , "Aramaische Pflanz-
ennamen, " p. 57). The explanation may be found in
the belief of primitive times, when fragrant woods,
such as juniper and cypress and the aromatic plants
of the mint family, were supposed to act as a pro-
tection against the harmful unseen powers that were
thought to be the cause of death. Even in com-
paratively recent times, in tlie United States, a juni-
per-tree planted before a house was regarded as a
preventive of the plague.

The essential part of the rite, it is claimed, is
of extreme antiquity. Robertson Smith points out
that " primarily, purification means the application
to the person of some medium which removes a

345

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bed Heifer
Bee

taboo, and enables a person to mingle freely In the
ordinary life of bis fellows." The best medium is
water, but for serious cases of uncleanness tlie addi-
tion of ashes is necessary (Bahr, "Symbolik," ii.
495). The symbolical significance of the rite has
been interpreted as follows : The majestic cedar of
Lebanon represents pride, and hyssop represents
humility; uncleanness and sin and sin and death
are associated ideas; the ceremony, therefore, is a
powerful object-lesson, teaching the eternal truth
that a holy God can be served only by a lioly
people.

The early Jewish conception was that the sacri-
fice of the red heifer was an expiatory rite to atone
for the sin of the golden calf. The color of the
heifer, as well as the scarlet thrown upon the fire,
represents sin (comp. " your sins be as scarlet " ; Isa.
i. 18).

Bibliography: Bahr, Symbolik, i. 493-513; Malmonldes,
Mnreh, 111. 47 ; Nowack, Hehratsche ArchOologie, ii. 288 ;
Edershelm, The Temple, p. 304 ; Kent, The Afessofles of the
Bible, p. 347, New York, 1902; Hastings, Diet. Bible.

J. J. D. E.

RED SEA : References to the Red Sea under
that name are not found earlier than the Apocrypha
(Judith V. 12 ; Wisdom x. 18, xix. 7 ; I Mace. iv. 9).
The natne refers to the body of water, termed " Yam
Suf " in all other passages, crossed by the Israelites
in their exodus from Egypt (Ex. xiii. 18 ; xv. 4, 32 ;
Num. xxxiii. 10 et seq. ; Deut. xi. 4; Josh. ii. 10; et
al.). It denotes, therefore, the present Gulf of Suez,
which at that time extended considerably farther
north, reaching, according to Greek and Latin au-
thors, as far as the city of Hero (= Pithom), in the
Wadi Tumilat. The meaning of the word "suf"
in the name is uncertain, although it appears from
Ex. ii. 3, 5 and Isa. xix. 6 that it meant "reed."
According to Ermann and others it is an Egyptian
word borrowed by the Hebrews, although the Egyp-
tians never applied that name to the gulf. While it
is true that no reeds now grow on the salty coast of
the gulf, different conditions may have prevailed
along the northern end in ancient times, where fresh-
water streams discharged into it. Other authorities
translate " suf " as " sea-grass " or " seaweed, " which
is supposed to have been reddish and to have given
tliat body of water the name " Red Sea. " Seaweed
of that color, however, is seldom found there. In
other passages the same name, "Yam Suf," is ap-
plied also to the .^Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea,
which exJiends northward on the eastern side of the
Sinaftic Peninsula, with Ezion-geber and Eloth at
its northern end (I Kings ix. 26; 5x. xxiii. 31;
Deut. i. 40; Judges xi. 26; Jer. xlix. 21; et al.). It
is difficult to say how the Red Sea received its name;
red mountains on the coast, or the riparian Ei;j-
threans, may have given rise to it.
E. G. n. I. Be.

BEDDIIfGE, BOBERT DE : English preach-
ing friar, of the Dominican order; converted to Ju-
daism about 1275. He appears to have studied He-
brew and by that means to Ijave become interested
in Judaism. He married a Jewess, and was circum-
cised, taking the name of Hagiu. Edward I., when
he heard of this, brought the case before the Arch-

bishop of Canterbury. It is said that this was one
of the causes which led the king and his mother,
Eleanor, to aim at the expulsion of the Jews from
England.

BiBLiOGKAPHY : GrStz, Geseh. vii. 421-432.
REDEMPTION. See Salvation.

REDLICH, HENRY : Polish engraver in cop-
per ; born at Lask, government of Piotrkow, 1840;
died at Berlin Nov. 7, 1884. He went at an early
age to Breslau, where he entered the public school.
At fourteen he returned to Russia and became a
government pupil in the Warsaw school of fine arts.
In 1861, after winning a prize, he went to Mu-
nich and Dresden to continue his studies. From
1866 to 1873 he lived at Vienna, and then returned
to Warsaw. In 1876 the government appointed him
a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Pine
Arts. Being di.sappointed, on account of his relig-
ion, in his expectation of a professorship, Redlich
went to -Paris, where his engravings won for him a
gold modal at one of the exhibitions. Overtaken
by illness at Paris, he was removed to Berlin, where,
as stated above, he died.

Redlich's most important engravings are: "The
Tempi Madonna, "from Raffael; "The Entrance of
the Polish Army into Harthausen in 1659," from
Brandt ; " The Preacher Peter Skarg Before the Po-
lish King Sigismund III.," from Mateiko; "Coper-
nicus Expounding His System of the World to the
Astronomers of Rome," from Gerson. Redlich oc-
cupied himself also with drawing, especially por-
traits and Alpine scenes.

Bibliography : Entziklopedieheski Slovar;Ha^Asif, ii. 760.
H. K.. A. S. W.

REE, ANTON : German educationist ; born at
Hamburg Nov. 16, 1815; died Jan. 18, 1891. He was
educated at Kiel, during which time he wrote two
works, " Wanderungen eines Mitgenossen auf dem
Gebiete der Bthik" and "Ueber die Pflicht." In
1838 he was appointed a teacher at the Hamburg
Israelitische Preischule, and in 1848 was promoted
to the position of director. He admitted Christian
pupils to this institution, and by 1869 they outnum-
bered the Jewish. He founded a scholarship for
Christian and other nou-Jewish pupils in memory
of his only daughter, who died at an early age
(" Allg. Zeit. des Jud." 1891, p. 38).

s. S. O.

REE, ANTON: Danish pianist and author;
born in Aarhuus, Jutland, Oct. 5, 1820 ; died in Copen-
liagen Dec. 20, 1886. He studied in Hamburg under
Jacques Smitt and Karl Krebs, in Vienna under
Halm, and in Paris. In 1843 he settled in Copen-
hagen, where he soon gathered a great number of
pupils around him and where his superior technique
won him a place among tlie foremost pianists of the
day. In 1866, when the Copenhagen Conservatory
of Music was established, he became one of its first
teachers. Anton Ree composed some pieces for
pianoforte, and was the author of several articles in
Danish and German musical periodicals. He wrote
also a valuable work on the piano entitled " Bidrag
til Klaverspillets Teknik " (Copenhagen, 1892), and

Kee

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

346

an essaj' on the general history of music entitled
" Miisikhistoriske Momenter" {ib. 1893).

Bibliography : Salmonsen^s Store Illustrerede Konversa-
tiutis-Lexicon.
s. F. C.

REE, BERNHAE.D PHILIP : Danisli editor
and politician ; born in Aarhuus, Jutland, July 18,
1813; died there Nov. 13, 1868; son of Hartvig
Philip Ree. He studied law for a while, but in
1838 became editor of the " Aalborg Stiftstidende,"
at the same time engaging in the publishing business.
In addition to the "Stiftstidende," he edited and
published several magazines, of which may be
mentioned "Laesekabinettet " (1841-42, 3 vols.);
" Almindelig Dansk Landbotidende '' (1846) ; and
"Nyeste Aftenpost" (1849).

In 1844 Ree was elected a member of the munici-
pal council, and in 1860 was reelected, serving
during both terms as a member of committees on
steamship communication, postal service, and ag-
riculture dealing with questions of importance to
the community of Aalborg. From 1850 to 1854 Ree
served as a member of the Polketliing, or Lower
House, representing the third and fifth election dis-
tricts of Aalborg amt. As a member of this legisla-
tive body Ree strongly advocated the sale of the
Danish West Indies to the United States.

In 1864 Ree was again returned to the Polkething,
and in 1866 he was elected a member of the Lands-
thing, or Upper House, but illness compelled him to
resign in the following j'car.

Bibliography: C. F. Biiclta, Dansk Bingrafisk Lexicon.
s. F. C.

REE, HARTVIG PHILIP: Danish merchant
and author; born in Frederioia, Jutland, Oct. 13,
1778; died in Copenhagen Oct. 1, 1859. On the
death of his father, Ree succeeded to the manage-
ment of an important business which had been
established in Fredericia by the former. He, how-
ever, found time also for the study of Jewish phi-
losophy and literature, the itinerant teacher Eleazar
Lisser being his instructor. As a merchant Hart-
vig Ree was very successful, and he became one
of the wealthiest men in Jutland. He engaged in
shipbroking, in the manufacture of beet-sugar and
cocoa, and in the clothing industry.

Ree was the first Danish Jew to receive full citi-
zenship (1814). The Jewish congregation of Aar-
huus owed its first synagogue to his munificence ;
and he personally defrayed all its expenses for sev-
eral years (1820-35). In addition to several hymns
for the synagogue services, Ree wrote " Forschun-
gen iiber die Ueberschriften der Psalmen," Leipsic,
1846.

In 1850 Ree settled in Copenhagen, where he be-
came interested in the new philosophy propounded
by Rasmus Nielsen. Ree was the father of Anton,
Bernhard Philip, and Julius Ree.

Bibliography: C. F. Bricka, Dansk Binrjrafisk Lexicon.
s. F. C.

REE, JTrLrCS : Danish merchant and political
author; born in Aarhuus, Jutland, June 1, 1817;
died in Copenhagen Sept, 3, 1874; son of Hartvig
Philip Ree. In 1842 he established a wholesale

produce business in Randers, in which town he filled
many public ofiices, being, e.g., a member of the
harbor committee and an alderman (1849-53). He
was, besides, a representative of the Jewish con-
gregation. In 1857 Ree transferred his business to
Copenhagen, and in 1864 was elected a member of
the Folkething, or Lower House.

Ree wrote, besides several- articles on national
economy, a political history of Norway entitled
" UndersOgelser over Norges Forholdi 1814," which
appeared in several numbers of the " Dansk Maaneds-
skrift" (1862, 1863, 1865). He was one of the
founders of Kreditforeningen for Landejendomme i
Ostifterne (1866), a society for the promotion of
agriculture by means of loans to the owners of
small farms.

Bibliography : O. F. Bricka, Dansk Bingrafisk Lexicon.
s. F. C.

REED : Rendering given in the English versions
for several words used to designate rush-like water-
plants of various kinds. These words are: (1)
" Gome " ; the Cypcrus papyrus of Linnaeus. (2)
" Suf " (Ex. ii. 3 ; Isa. xix. 6) ; identified by Egyptolo-
gists with the Egyptian " thof " (Nile reed ; on " Yam
Suf" as a name of the Red Sea, see Red Sea). (3)
" Ahu " (Gen. xli. 2, 18 ; Job viii. 11) ; Egyptian loan-
word denoting a marsh-grass growing on the banks
of the Nile and used as fodder ; the translation " flag, "
based on the Vulgate, is, therefore, incorrect. (4) ■
"Agmon" (Isa. ix. 18, xix. 15, Iviii. 5; Job xl. 26;
Jer. li. 32 ["again"]); generally explained as a kind
of rush (" scirpus ") ; according to the " Hierobotani-
con" of Celsius, the common reed. (5) "Ebeh"
(only Job Ix. 26 ; Arabic, " aba' " ; Assyrian, " abu ") ;
the reed or sedge from which, as from the " gome "
(Isa. xviii. 2), boats were made in Egypt (comp.
Erman, "Egypten,"p. 636). (6) " Kaneh " (I Kings
xiv. 15 et al.); probably the common marsh-reed,
the Amudo donax of Linnasus (Boissier, " Flora Orien-
talis," iv. 564), which is much stouter than the com-
mon reed. It was used as a staff (II Kings xviii.
21; Isa. xxxvi. 6, xlii. 3; Ezek. xxix. 6), or made
into measuring-rods (Ezek. xl. 3), etc. Animals live
among the thick reeds (Ps. Ixviii. 31 [R. V. 30]), and
according to Job xl. 21, behemoth (the hippopota-
mus) lies " in the covert of the reed, " this passage im-
plying that the word "Ikaneh" was used as a general
term for this plant, Including the common variety
(Arundo phragmites). (7) " Gofer " ; see Gopheu-

WOOD.

E. G. 11. I. Be.

REEVE, ADA: English actress; born in Lon-
don about 1870. Her parents were themselves con-
nected with the dramatic profession, her father being
for many years a member of stock companies which
included Toole and Irving among their members.
She first appeared as a child of six in a pantomime
at the Pavilion Theatre, Mile End, London. Pass-
ing to melodrama, she played as a child the charac-
ters of servant-girls and even old women. She then
toured with Fannie Leslie in 'Mack in the Box,"
and at twelve appeared as a serio-comic singer.
Later she scored a great success with a song entitled
"What Do I Care!" and in 1895 appeared at the
Criterion in "All Abroad" and afterward in the

847

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"Gay Parisienne" at the Duke of York's, London.
In 1899 she took a leading part in " Plorodora " at
the Lyric Theatre, London, and appeared later at
Daly's Theatre in "San Toy."
J. Q. L.

REFORM ADVOCATE: Jewish weekly ; first
issued Feb. 30, 1891, at Chicago. Founded by
Charles E. Bloch, of the Bloch Publishing Com-
pany, and published by Bloch & Newman, it en-
tered the journalistic field as an advocate of progress-
ive Judaism. Since its inception it has been con-
ducted by Emil G. Hirsch, who was its sole editor
at the outset; from 1901 to 1903 T. Schanfarber was
associate editor. It is the most fearless champion
of Reform Judaism.

BiBUOGRAPHT : Reform Advocate, 1., Nos. 1, 3.
H. K. I. War.

REFORM JUDAISM FROM THE POINT
OF VIEW OF THE REFORM JEW: By

Reform Judaism is denoted that phase of Jewish re-
ligious thought which, in the wake of the Mendels-
solmian period and in consequence of the efforts
made during the fifth decade of the nineteenth cen-
tury to secure civil and political emancipation, first
found expression in doctrine and observance in some
of the German synagogues, and was thence trans-
planted to and developed in the United States of
America. The term is not well chosen. It suggests
too strongly that the movement culminates in en-
deavors to recast the external forms of Jewish relig-
ious life. Moreover, it is transferred from the ter-
minology of the Protestant Reformation, though in
its bearing on the Judaism of the modern Synagogue
the term can not be construed as im-

" Reform" plying that, like Protestantism to the
a Misnomer. Christianity of the early centuries.
Reform Judaism aims at a return to
primitive Mosaism ; for in that case rabbinical Juda-
ism must have been a departure from the latter.

The Reform movement in its earlier stages was
merely a more or less thoroughly executed attempt
to regulate public worship in the direction of beau-
tifying it and rendering it more orderly. With
this in view, the length of the services was reduced
by omitting certain parts of the prayer-book which,
like the " Yekum Purkan " and the " Bameh Madli-
]jin," were recognized as obsolete; the former being
the prayer in behalf of the patriarchs of the Baby-
lonian academies, which had for centuries ceased to
exist ; the latter, an extract from the mishnaic trea-
tise Shabbat, and thus not a prayer. In addition,
the piyyntim (see Piyyut), poetical compositions
in unintelligible phraseology for the most part, by
medieval poets or prose- writers of synagogal hymns,
were curtailed. The time thus gained came gradu-
ally to be devoted mainly to German chorals and oc-
casional sermons in the vernacular. The rite of Con-
firmation also was introduced, first in the duchy of
Brunswick, at the Jacobson institute. These meas-
ures, however, aimed at the esthetic regeneration of
the synagogal liturgy rather than at the doctrinal
readjustment of the content of Judaism and the
consequent modification of its ritual observances.

The movement later took on an altogether different
aspect in consequence, on the one hand, of the rise

of "Jewish science," the first-fruits of which were
the investigations of Zunz, and the advent of young
rabbis who, in addition to a thorough training in
Talmudic and rabbinical literature, had received an
academic education, coming thereby under the spell
of German philosophic thought. On the other hand
the struggle for the political emancipation of the
Jews (see Riessbh, Gabkibl) suggested a revision
of the doctrinal enunciations concerning the Mes-
sianic nationalism of Judaism. Toward the end of
the fourth and at the beginning of the fifth decade
of the nineteenth century the yearnings, which up
to that time had been rather undefined, for a read-
justment of the teachings and practises of Judaism
to the new mental and material conditions took on
definiteness in the establishment of congregations
and societies such as the Temple congregation at
Hamburg and the Reform Union in Prankfort-
on-the-Main, and in the convening of the rabbin-
ical conferences (see Conferences, Rabbinical) at
Brunswick (1844), Frankfort (1845), and Breslau
(1846). These in turn led to controversies (see
Fbankel, Zacharias), while the Judische Reform-
genossenschaft in Berlin (see Holdhbim, Samuel)
in its program easily outran the more conservative
majority of the rabbinical conferences. The move-
ment may be said to have come to a
Principles standstill in Germany with the Bres-
Laid Down lau conference (1846). The Breslau
in Con- Seminary under Frankel (1854) was
ferences. instrumental in turning the tide into
conservative or, as the party shibbo-
leth phrased it, into " positive historical " channels,
while the governments did their utmost to hinder a
liberalization of Judaism (see Budapest ; Einhoen,
David).

Arrested in Germany, the movement was carried
forward in America. The German immigrants from
1840 to 1850 happened to be to a certain extent com-
posed of pupils of Leopold Stein and Joseph Aub.
These were among the first in New York (Temple
Emanu-El), in Baltimore (Har Sinai), and in Cincin-
nati (B'ne Yeshurun) to insist upon the moderniza-
tion of the services. The coming of David Einhorn,
Samuel Adler, and, later, Samuel Hirsch gave to the
Reform cause additional impetus, while even men
of more conservative temperament, like -Hubsch,
Jastrow, and Szold, adopted in the main Reform
principles, though in practise they continued along
somewhat less radical lines. Isaac M. Wise and
Lilienthal, too, cast their influence in favor of Re-
form. Felsenthal and K. Kohler, and among Amer-
ican-bred rabbis Hirscli, Sale, Philipson, and Shul-
man may be mentioned among its exponents. The
Philadelphia conference (1869) and that at Pittsburg
(1885) promulgated the principles which to a cer-
tain extent are basic to the practise and teachings of
American Reform congregations.

The pivot of the opposition between Reform and
Conservative Judaism is the conception of Israel's
destiny. Jewish Orthodoxy looks up-
Th.e Center on Palestine not merely as the cradle.
Principle, but also as the ultimate home, of Juda-
ism. With its possession is connected
the possibility of fulfilling the Law, those parts of
divine legislation being unavoidably suspended that

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348

are conditioned by the existence of the Temple
and by the occupation of the Holy Land. Away
from Palestine, the Jew is condemned to violate
God's will in regard to these. God gave the Law;
God decreed also Israel's dispersion. To reconcile
this disharmony between the demands of the Law
and historically developed actuality, the philosophy
of Orthodoxy regards the impossibility of observing
the Law as a divine punishment, visited upon Israel
on account of its sins. Israel is at the present
moment in exile: it has been expelled from its
land. The present period is thus one of probation.
The length of its duration God alone can know and
determine. Israel is doomed to wait patiently in
exile, praying and hoping for the coming of the
Messiah, who will lead the dispersed back to Pales-
tine. There, under his benign rule, the Temple
will rerise, the sacrificial and sacerdotal scheme will
again become active, and Israel, once more an inde-
pendent nation, will be able to observe to the letter
the law of God as contained in the Pentateuch.
Simultaneously ■with Israel's redemption, justice
and peace will be established among the dwellers on
earth, and the prophetic predictions will be realized
in all their glories.

At present Israel must maintain itself in a condi-
tion of preparedness, as redemption will come to
pass in a miraculous way. That its identity may
not be endangered, Israel must preserve and even
fortify the walls which the Law has erected around
it to keep it distinct and separate from the nations.
The memories of and yearnings for Palestine must be
strengthened even beyond the requirements of the
written law. The Law itself must be protected by
a "hedge. " The ceremonial of the Synagogue, reg-
ulated by the Law as understood in the light of rab-
binical amplifications and interpretations, is both a
memento and a monition , of the Palestinian origin
and destiny of national Israel, while life under the
Law necessarily entails the segregation of Israel from
its neighbors.

Reform conceives of the destiny of Israel as not
bound up in the return to Palestine, and as not in-
volving national political restoration
Relation to under a Messianic king with the Tem-
Na- pie rebuilt and the sacrificial service

tionalism. reinstituted. It is true, many of the
commandments of the Torah can not
be executed by non-Palestinian Israel. Yet, despite
this inability to conform to the Law, Israel is not
under sin (the Paulinian view). It is not in exile
("galut"). Its dispersion was a necessary experi-
ence in the realization and execution of its Mes-
sianic duty. It is not doomed to wait for the mirac-
ulous advent of the Davidic Messiah. Israel itself
is the Messianic people appointed to spread by its
fortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth over all
the earth, to be an example of rectitude to all others.
Sacrifices and sacerdotalism as bound up with the
national political conception of Israel's destiny are
not indispensable elements of the Jewish religion.
On the contrary, they bave passed away forever
with all the privileges and distinctive obligations of
an Aaronic priesthood. Every Jew is a priest, one
of the holy people and of a priestly community ap-
pointed to minister at the ideal altar of humanity.

The goal of Jewish history is not a national Mes-
sianic state in Palestine, but the realization in soci-
ety and state of the principles of righteousness as
enunciated by the Prophets and sages of old.

Therefore Reform Judaism has (1) relinquished
the belief in the coming of a personal Messiah, sub-
stituting therefor the doctrine of the Messianic des-
tiny of Israel, which will be fulfilled in a Messianic
age of universal justice and peace. (2) Reform
Judaism disregards con,sciously, not merely under
compulsion, all Pentateuchal laws referring to sac-
rifices and the priesthood or to Palestine ("miz-
wot ha-teluyot ba-arez "). It eliminates from the
prayer-book all references to the Mes-
Its siah, the return to Palestine, and tJie

Negations, restoration of the national sacerdotal
scheme. It ceases to declare itself to-
be in exile ; for the modern Jew in America, Eng-
land, France, Germany, or Italy has no cause to
feel that the country in which he lives is for him a
strange land. Having become an American, a Ger-
man, etc., the Jew can not pray for himself and his.
children that he and they may by an act of divine
grace be made citizens of another state and land,
viz., national Israel in Palestine. (3) Reform Juda-
ism relinquishes the dogma of the Resukkkction,
involved in the Jewish national Messianic hope (see
Messiah; Pharisees) that at the final advent of the
Messiah all the dead will rise in Palestine, and elim-
inates from the prayer-book all references to it.

The foregoing shows that Reform was never in-
spired by the desire to return to Mosaism. Mosaism
certainly presupposes the Levitical institutionalism
of Judaism ; and it is nomistic, insisting on the eter-
nally binding character and the immutability of the
Law. Reform Judaism ignores and declares abro-
gated many of the laws of Mosaism. Its theory of
Revelation and of the authoritative character of
Scripture must of necessity be other than what un-
derlies Orthodox doctrine and practise.

According to Orthodox teaching, God revealed
His Law on Mount Sinai to Moses in two forms, (1)
the written law (" Torah shebi-ketab "), and (3) the
oral law ("Torah shebe-'al peh"). According to
Mendelssohn and all rationalists of the "Aufkla-
rung " philosophy, there was no need for the revela-
tion of religion, human reason being competent to
evolve, grasp, and construe all religious verities.
Judaism is, however, more than a religion. It is a
divine legislation, under which the
Relation to Jew qua Jew must live. Human rea-
tlie son could not have evolved it nor can

Oral Law. it now understand it. It is of "su-
perrational," divine origin. It was
miraculously revealed to Israel. The Jew need not
believe. His religion, like every rational religion, is
not a matter of dogma^ But the Jew must obey-
His loyalty is expressed in deed and observanoe.

This Mendelssohnian position was undermined, as
far as the oral part of revealed legislation was con-
cerned, by the investigations into the historical de-
velopment of "tradition," or Talmudic literature,
brilliantly carried to definite and anti-Mendels-
sohnian results by Zunz and his disciplbs. The oral
law certainly was the precipitate of historical proc-
esses, a development of and beyond Biblical, or even

849

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Pentateuchal, Judaism. Judaism, then, was not a
fixed quantity, a sum of 613 commandments and
prolubitions. The idea of progress, development,
lustorical growth, at the time that the young science
of Judaism established the relative as distinguished
from the absolute character of Talmudism and tra-
dition, was central in German philosophy, more
clearly in the system of Hegel. History was pro-
claimed as the self-unfolding, self -revelation of God.
Revelation was a continuous process ;
Influence and the history of Judaism displayed
of God in the continuous act of self-reve-

Evolution. lation. Judaism itself was under the
law of growth, and an illustration
thereof. Talmudic legalism certainly was a product
of the Talmudic period. It was not originally in-
herent la Judaism. It must not be accepted as eter-
nally obligatory upon later generations.

But was Biblical law, perhaps, the original, di-
vinely established norm and form of Judaism, and,
as such, binding upon all subsequent generations?
If it was, then Reform Judaism, ignoring post-Bib-
lical development and tradition, was identical with
Earaiam ; and, furthermore, its omission of all refer-
ence to sacerdotal and sacrificial institutions, though
these form an integral part of the Mosaic law and
revelation, is in violation of the assumption that
Judaism is Law, which Law divinely revealed is the
Pentateuch. This was the dilemma with which
Reform theologians were confronted. Tliis was an
inconsistency which, as long as Judaism and Law
were interchangeable and interdependent terms, was
insurmountable. To meet it, a distinction was drawn
between the moral and the ceremonial laws, though
certainly the Torah nowhere indicates such distinc-
tion nor discloses or fixes the criteria by which the
difEerence is to be established. God, the Lawgiver,
clearly held the moral and the ceremonial to be
of equal weight, making both equally obligatory.
Analysis of the primitive scheme in connection with
the possible violation of the precepts, tends to prove
that infractions of certain ceremonial statutes were
punished more severely (by "karet" = "excision")
than moral lapses.

Nor could the principle be carried out consistently.
Reform Judaism retained the Sabbath and the other
Biblical holy days, circumcision, and in certain cir-
cles the dietary laws. Were these not ceremonial?
What imparted to these a higher obligatory charac-
ter? In this artificial distinction-between the moral
and the ceremonial content of the di-
National vinely revealed law the influence of
and Kantian moralism is operative. Hold-

TTniversal heim, to escape this inconsistency,
Elements, urged as decisive the distinction be-
tween national and religious or uni-
versal elements. The content of revelation was two-
fold—national and universal. The former was of
• temporary obligation, and with the disappearance
of state and nation the obligatory character ceased ;
but the universal religious components are binding
upon religious Israel. While this criterion avoided
many of the difficulties involved in the distinction
between ceremonial and moral, it was. not effective
in all instances. The sacrificial scheme was relig-
ious, as Einhom remarked when criticizing Hold-

heim's thesis, and still Reform ignored its obliga-
tory nature. Nor could Judaism be construed as a
mere religion, a faith limited by creedal propositions.
Samuel Hirsch approached the problem from the
point of view of tlie symbolist. With his master
Hegel, he regarded history as the divine process of
revelation. Against Paul, Hegel, and Kant, and
against most of the Reform rabbis, he
Symbolic maintained that Judaism was not law
Views of but "Lehre," a body of truths finding
S. Hirsch. expression in Israel through the gen-
ius of its prophets, and for the appli-
cation of which in life and the illustration and ex-
emplifying of which before the whole world Israel
was chosen and appointed. This obligation and
this appointment descend from father to son, and
are imposed at birth. "Torah" does not signify
"law," but "Lehre," doctrine. The laws are sym-
bols illustrative of the truths confided to Israel.
They are aids to keep alive the Jewish conscious-
ness. As long aa symbols are vital and not mechan-
ical they may not be neglected ; but when they have
fallen into desuetude or are merely retained in me-
chanical, perfunctory observance, or from fear or
superstition, they have lost their value, and they
need not be retained. Life and actual observance,
not law or custom, decide what rite shall be prac-
tised. Between theory and life perfect concord
must be established.

Yet some symbols have been expressive of the
unity of Israel. These (the holy days, the Sabbath)
must receive reverent care and fostering attention in
the synagogal scheme. Reform is, .according to
Hirsch, not interested in the abolition of ceremony,
but it insists that ceremonies be effective as means
of religious culture, that they be observed not as
ends unto themselves or with a view to obtaining
reward, but as expressions of religious feelings and
as means of religious instruction. All ceremonies
pointing to Palestine as his national home conflict
with the sentiments and hopes of the politically
emancipated Jew. Bloody sacrifices are repugnant
to modern religious ideas. These national symbols,
then, have no longer a place in the cult of the mod-
ern Jew. The Sabbath, too, is a symbol. It em-
bodies the deepest truth of Judaism— man's divinity
and freedom. It is not conditioned by the notation
of the day. If modern Jews could observe the tra-
ditional Sabbath, there would be no call to make a
change. But they can not and do not. Life and
theory are at opposite poles. But tlie Sabbath is
expressive also of the unity of all Israel. All Israel
alone could make the change. The misconstruction
of Judaism as Law is the thought of the Roman
period, and is a clear departure from the broader
conceptions of the Prophets.

The foregoing detailed analysis of the positions of
the early German Reformers was necessary to under-
stand their attitude with reference to the obligatory
character of the Biblical and Pentateuchal laws.
The Talmudic amplifications were ignored as being
clearly not of divine origin and authority {e.g., sec-
ond holy days, and many of the Sabbath regula-
tions) ; but a similar decision was not so easy in the
case of the Biblical statutory insistences.

The researches of more recent years in the domain

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350

of Biblical literature have enabled the successors of
these earlier Reformers to apply to the Bible and
Pentateuch the principles applied by their predeces-
sors to rabbinical literature. The Pentateuch is not
the work of one period. Pentateuchal
Influence legislation also is the slow accretion of
of Higher centuries. The original content of
Criticism. Judaism does not consist in the Law
and its institutions, but in the ethical
monotheism of the Prophets. Legalism is, accord-
ing to this view, originally foreign to Judaism. It is
an adaptation of observances found in all religions,
and which therefore are not originally or specifically
Jewish. The legalism of Ezra had the intention and
the effect of separating Israel from the world. This
separatism is to-day a hindrance, not a help, to the
carrying out of the Jewish mission. The Jew must
seek the world in order to make his ethical religion
a vital influence therein. The Pentateuchal ordi-
nances are binding upon the Jew in no higher degree
than the Talmudic.

But this new school — commonly designated as the
Radical — adopts also, thoiigh in a new form, Samuel
Hirsch's theory of the symbolic value of the cere-
monial element. It invokes the psychological factor
as finally decisive. Certain laws and institutions
have in course of time, and owing to bitter persecu-
tions, taken on a new significance. They have come
to be associated in the Jewish consciousness with
Jewish loyalty unto death in the face of apostasy and
prejudice and oppression. Circumcision, the Sab-
bath, and the dietary laws (see Bib. Book of Daniel)
may be said to comprise this class of institutions.
The former two, even in Radical congregations and
in the life of their individual members, have retained
their hold on the religious consciousness. The sev-
enth-day Sabbath, though observed only in theory,
is still regarded as the one citadel which must not
be reconstructed. It is proclaimed the visible sign
of Israel's unity. Congregations that would offi-
cially substitute the first day for the seventh as the
Sabbath would be called schismatic.

The dietary laws have had their own history in
Reform thought. A committee was appointed at
the Breslau conference to report on them; but as the
conference never again convened, only the sugges-
tions of some of the members appeared in print.
The more conservative opinions were in favor of
reverting to Biblical practise, recognizing that the
rabbinical insistence on a certain mode
The of slaughtering, and Talmudic inter-
Dietary pretations of "terefah," of "meat and
Laws, milk," etc., are without Biblical war-
rant (see Wiener, " Die JUdischen Speise-
gesetze," pp. 482 etseq.). In the United States the Bib-
lical equally with the Talmudic dietary laws have
fallen generally into disuse, even in so-called conserv-
ative congregations, though no rabbinical conclave
or synod ever sanctioned or suggested this. On the
principle, fundamental to Jewish Reform, that the
national exclusiveness of Judaism is no longer its
destiny, these practises, necessarily resulting in Jew-
ish separatism and incorporated into the Levitical
scheme to effect Levitical purity, must be looked
upon as in one class with all other sacerdotal and
Levitically national provisions.

Reform Judaism withal does not reduce Judaism
to a religion of creed, least of all to a religion of
salvation, with the prospect of heavenly rewards or
life everlasting for the pious believer. In saying
that Judaism is a mission to keep alive among men
the consciousness of man's godlikeness, Reformi
Judaism holds that Judaism is imposed on the Jew
by birth. It is not accepted by him in a voluntary
act of confession. The Jew by his life and exam-
ple is called to demonstrate the perfectibility — over
against the Paulinian dogma of the total depravity
— of every human being, and to help to render con-
ditions on earth more and more perfect. Insistence
on justice and righteousness are the practical postu-
late of the .lew's ethical monotheism, which is never
a mere belief, but always a vitalizing principle of
conduct. This duty of being an exemjDlar to others,
incumbent on the Jew by virtue of his historical
descent from prophetic ancestors on whose lips this
monotheism was first formulated, at times entails
suffering and always requires fortitude ; but it is
imposed in the certainty that ultimately justice and
righteousness will triumph on earth, and all men
will learn to know God and live the life which those
who know God must live. With this Messianic ful-
filment the history of the Jew will attain its goal.

Reform Judaism, then, may be said to advance
the following dogmas, using that term, however, not
in the Paulinian-evangelical sense :

(1) The world and humanity are under the
guidance of God, who reveals Himself to man in

history as the Supreme Power unto
"Dogmas" Righteousness, as the Educator and
of Reform Father of His children, the whole hu-
Judaism. man family. The anthropomorphic
character of the theological terminol-
ogy is fully recognized.

(2) In His grace and wisdom God has appointed
Israel to be His witness on earth, laying upon this
His priest-people the obligation by its life to lead
the world to the recognition of the truth that love
and justice and righteousness are the only principles
of conduct which can establish peace among men
and fill man's life with blissful harmony, besides
conferring on man an imperturbable sense of worth
and worthiness, independent of accidents of fortune
or station.

(3) This election of Israel confers no privilege on
the Jew, but imposes greater obligations. Every
human being is God's child, called to lead and capa-
ble of leading a righteous life.

(4) The dispersion of the Jews and the destruc-
tion of the Temple were not acts of providential re-
quital for sins. They were providential devices to
bring Israel nearer unto other children of man. The
goal of Israel's history is not national restoration and
segregation, but the rise of a more nearly perfect hu-
manity in which Jewish love for God and man shall
be universalized. Not a Messiah, but the Messi-
anic age, is the burden of Israel's hope.

(5) Like all Judaism, Reform rejects the doctrine
of man's innate sinfulness. The Law — which ac-
cording to Paul is a means to arouse a consciousness
of the futility of man's attempt to conquer sin and is
thus expressive of Judaism's content as merely
preliminary — is not Judaism's distinctive badge or

351

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beform Judaism

possession. The Law, often of non-Jewish origin,
is the product of time, and is subject to growth and
change in the course of time. But Judaism is a
body of spiritual and moral truths, and as such in-
dependent of legal expression or enactment. Cir-
cumcision Is not, like baptism, an indispensable and
prerequisite rite of reception. Born of a Jewish
mother, the Jew is Jew by birth (see Proselyte).
As Israel is not now, and is not necessarily destined
again to be, a political nation on the soil of Palestine,
there are omitted all references not only to Pales-
tine as the only legitimate home of Judaism and to
the sacerdotal and sacrificial Temple services and
laws, but also to the laws and institutions that are
bound up with social conditions no longer extant
and not expected to become reactive (in Palestine)
in the future. For example, the Leviratb and
H.\uzAH, not being applicable to our times and
conditions, are abolished as having lost binding
force. The laws regulating marriage and divorce,
as developed more especially in Talmudic casuistry,
often operate unjustly (see Get) and are, in view of
the better provisions in the civil codes of modern
nations, amended and in many respects superseded
by the law of the land (see Monogamy). Woman
is no longer deemed to be a minor, but is admitted
to full participation in the religious life of the con-
gregation.

As far as possible, Reform Judaism endeavors to
preserve the historical continuity with the past, espe-
cially in its ritual and synagogal services. The best
illustration of this is afforded by Ein-

Reform horn's prayer-book " 'Olat Tamid "

Bitual. (see Einhorn, David). This is based
on Zunz's researches into the rise and
development of the Jewish ritual. It omits the
MusAP, as essentially sacrificial. Allusions in the
older forms of the prayers to the Messiah are
changed into expressions of hope in the Messianic
destiny of Israel and of all mankind. For the doc-
trine of resurrection is substituted that of God's sus-
taining love. Otherwise, the scheme is maintained
as it was an the synagogues of the tannaitic period,
the service on Yom ha-Kippurim alone showing de-
partures of greater scope from the traditional pat-
tern, the piyyutim being largely replaced by para-
phrases of the Psalms illustrative of the Jewish
conceptions of sin, repentance, and atonement. The
Yom ha-Kippurim itself is' treated as typical of the
ultimate Messianic fulfilment. The service for the
Ninth of Ab (" Tish'ali be-Ab ") is especially note-
worthy. It is a resume, in fact, of the Reform con-
struction of Israel's history and Messianic obliga-
tions. The Hebrew language is retained in the
prayers that are of tannaitic origin — e.g., Shema'
with its berakot, and Shemoneh 'Esbbh.

Some minor points resulting from the application
of the foregoing principles, in which the practise of
the Reform synagogues differs widely from the tra-
ditional, should be noticed.

In public and private prayers the use of the ver-
nacular language predominates. For this there is
good historical precedent (Yer. Sotah vii. 1). R.
Jose, controverting the prohibition of the use of any
language but Hebrew (Sotah vii. 1, 33a; Yer. Sotah
iii. 1), permits the recitation of the Shema', the

Decalogue, the " Tefillah " (" Shemoneh 'Esreh "), and
grace after meals in any language understood by

the worshiper (comp. Maimonides,

Language "Yad," Keri'at Shema', ii. 10; Shul-

of han ' Aruk, Orah Hayyim, 63, 3 ; 103,

Prayers. 4). Einhorn, followed in the main by

the Union Prayer-Book (see Prayer-
BooKs), retains the Hebrew for the mishnaic prayers,
and, strange to say, the Aramaic for the Kaddisii
where the original is in the vernacular of its day.
The Kaddish in America has become a jjrayer in
memory of the dead, though this perversion of its
meaning is not countenanced by all. The Reform-
genossenschaft of Berlin omitted Hebrew almost
entirely; but even in tlie most radical congrega-
tions of America such portions as tlie Bareku, the
Shema', and the Kadosh (see Keditshshah) are re-
cited in Hebrew. In the reading of the Law the
triennial cycle was adopted, tliough of late most
congregations have reverted to the annual one — read-
ing, however, only a small portion of each "pa-
rashah," which results in the Torah being read in
disjointed fragments. The scheme of the Union
Prayer-Boolt ignores both the annual and the trien-
nial cycle. The " calling up " of the prescribed
number of men is omitted, the reader reciting the
benedictions before and after and reading the por-
tion without interruption. The trope (see Jew.
Encyc. iii. 537b, s.v. Cantillation) also has been
abandoned.

Tallit and tefiUin (see Phylacteries) are not
worn; neither is the "kittel" (see Sabgenes) on the
Day of Atonement ; nor are the shoes removed on
that day. Worship is engaged in with uncovered
head. For this latter concession to Occidental cus-
tom there seems to have been a precedent in the
habits of the Jews in France in the thirteenth cen-
tury (see Isserles, "Darke Mosheh," on Tur Orah
Hayyim, 383, n^lJD tysia pipl riBIV jnJOD ; and
"Ha-Manhig," ed. Berlin, p. 15, where the covered
head is called the "custom of Spain," from which it
is plain that in Provence, the country of Abraham
b. Nathan ha-Yarhi, the author of the "Manhig,"
the uncovered head was the rule).

In Reform synagogues the Organ and mixed
choirs are always among the appointments of public

worship. In Germany the gallery for

Use women is without curtain or lattice-

of Organ, work to hide its occupants from view ;

while in America the segregation of
the sexes has been abandoned in favor of family
pews. Women no longer regard it as a religious
duty to clip or to cover up their hair. The Al-
memab is connected with the Ark.

The observance of the second days of the lioly
days (see Festivai,s) has been discontinued, as
there is at present no uncertainty concerning the
proper day. Minyan is not determined by the
presence of ten men. The Dukan of the priests is
abolished, since the privileges of priest and Levite
are sacerdotal and thus bound up with nationalism.
The priestly benediction is recited by the reader,
with reading changed from "Aaron and his sons,
the priests. Thy holy people " to " Aaron and his
sons, the priests of Thy holy people" (from D'':n3 to
''jna). In the understanding of what the proper ob-

BefoTm Judaism

THE JBAVISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

352

servance of the Sabbath requires, Reform Judaism
rejects the legalism of the rabbinical scheme, with
its iusisteuce on 'Ehtjb, tehum, and similar legal
Actions. Woi'k is interpreted to be "labor for
profit," and not merely such work as was under-
taken at the construction of the Tabernacle in the
desert (see Sabbath). Many of the Reform congre-
gations have introduced supplementary Sunday serv-
ices, or have set the Friday evening service at an
hour later than the " reception of the bride Sabbath "
(035^ n^3p), and have changed its character by in-
troducing "lectures." The regular sermon consti-
tutes the principal feature of the Reform service.
Reform synagogues are generally called "temples"
after the Hamburg precedent, probably to indicate
that they take the place of the temple in Jerusalem,
which Orthodoxy looks forward to as the to-be-re-
stored sanctuary.

See also Aub, Joseph; Confekences, Rabbin-
ical; Geigek, Abkaham; Holdheim, Samuel;
PiiiLippsoN, LuDwiG; Stein, Leopold; Wechs-
ler, Bbrnhakd; Wise, I. M.

Bibliography : D. Elnhorn, in Sinai, Baltimore and Phila-
delphia, 1856-^Sl, passim ; idem, David Einhorri's A.usge-
wlthlte Predigten und Beden, ed. K. Kohler, New York,
1879; idem, Ne,r Tamtd (catechism), Philadelphia, 1865; Sam-
uel Hirsch, DieBefm-m im Judenthum, Leipsic, 18*3; The
Jewish Times, New York, passim, especially 1870-72; The
Jewish Beformer, New York, 1887 ; The Befrrrm, Advocate ;
C. G. Monteflore, Liberal Judaism, London, 1904; E. G.
Hirsch, The Originalitii of Judaism, in Hebrew Union Col-
lege Annual, Cincinnati, 1904; K. Kohler, Backwards or
Forwards'! New York, 1885.
K. E. G. H.

History : Although the Reform movement in

Judaism as such dates from the opening years of
the nineteenth century, still its beginnings must be
sought in the radical changes wrought in the life of
the Jews during the closing quarter of the eighteenth
century. That stirring era of emancipatory efforts of
various kinds, ijolitical, educational, social, and relig-
ious, affected no section of the people more markedly
than it did the Jews, who, in the ghettos to which they
Jiad been forced to confine themselves for centuries,
had been virtually cut off from the life of the world.
Various agencies combined at this time in urging
the title of the Jews to the common rights of man-
kind. Politically, the American and the French
revolutions occup5' the foremost place ; the influence
of the doctrines which these struggles brought to
the fore gradually effected the removal of the polit-
ical disabilities of the Jews, particu-
Predispo- larly in France, England, Germany,
sing' Fac- and Italy. Educationally, the work
tors. of Moses Mendelssohn furnislied the
Impetus; his translation of the Penta-
teuch into pure German was the " open sesame "
which unbarred for the Jews the gates leading to
the treasure-houses of the world's learning. This
translation achieved, too, what may be termed a
linguistic emancipation ; as long as Yiddish was their
language the Jews were debarred from the intel-
lectual companionship of the masters of thought,
but when they succeeded in acquiring the German
language in its purity, the domain of Kant and Les-
sing, Goethe and Schiller, was open to them, and
their outlook upon things was changed materially.

In connection with this the founding of schools
wherein secular instruction was given to Jewish

children may not be overlooked; in 1778 the Frei-
schule, the first of its kind, was opened in Berlin;
in 1781 the emperor Joseph II. of Austria issued
his famous "Toleration Edict," wherein he com-
manded the establishment of such schools throughout
his empire. Hartwig Wessely addressed an epistle
to his coreligionists urging them to comply with the
injunction of the emperor. But a number of rabbis
pronounced the ban upon this epistle of Wessely's,
as they had upon Mendelssohn's translation of the
Pentateuch. They felt that the acquisition of the
culture of the age which the knowledge of German
and the newer education were making possible
would result in a breaking away from the old relig-
ious moorings ; and this proved to be the case. Re-
ligious reform was the outcome of the educational
and linguistic emancipation.

Mendelssohn is spoken of frequently as the
founder of the Reform movement in Judaism. This
rests upon a misconception. True, he made the
movement for religious reform possible by giving
the impulse to modern education and culture among
the Jews. But a religious reformer he was not.
His conception of Judaism was that it is a divine
legislation, and he held that since the ceremonial law
was revealed by God, it will have potency in all its
minutiae until such time as a distinct second revela-
tion repeals it ("Jerusalem," p. 31).
Attitude of The Reform movement, through its

SCendels- foremost expounders, taught the very
solm. opposite. Whereas in Mendelssohn's
view every ceremony has eternal va-
lidity, the reformers claimed that ceremonies are the
transitory expressions of the religious spirit, and
must be accommodated to the changing needs of
successive ages. The spirit of an age also is a reve-
lation of God, and this may demand the abolition of
observances that had religious sanction at one time,
and require the institution of others (Holdheim,
" Gesch. der Berliner Reformgemeinde," pp. 94, 127;
idem, " Das Ceremonialgesetz im Gottesreich (Messi-
asreich)," pp. 58, 68; "Ueber die von Mendelssohn in
Jerusalem GeSusserte Ewige Verpflichtung des Cere-
monialgesetzes," in "Israelii des Neunzehnten Jahr-
hunderts," vi. 153).

An indication of the tendency in the closing years
of the eighteenth century to disregard traditional
customs is presented by a remarkable book which
appeared in Berlin in 1793 under the title "Besamim
Rosh." It was a collection of responsa purporting
to be by Asher ben Jehiel, the great rabbinical au-
thority of the fourteenth century, and was pub-
lished by Saul Berlin, son of Hirschel Levin, chief
rabbi of Berlin. In it such reforms are sanctioned
as the use of rice and pulse on Passover, and of
cheese and wine procured from non-Jews ; the use
of a knife for shaving ; riding on the Sabbath ; the
cancellation of the obligation to abstain from eating
during the Fast of Esther ; eating before the stars
appear on all fast-days except the Day of Atone-
ment; the suspension of fasting on Tisha' be-Ab in
order that the feast at a circumcision may be par-
taken of ; the elimination of piyj^utim from the serv-
ice on New-Year's Day. All of these dispensations
were, of course, conditioned by circumstances.

Obviously, Saul Berlin, influenced by the forward

S53

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beform Judaism

tendencies of his age, wrote tliese responsa and as-
cribed them to Asher ben Jehiel, not daring to ad-
vocate such reforms in liis own name,
Berlin's but hoping to obtain sanction for them
" Besamim by crediting them to a paladin of Rab-
Rosh." binism. The booli and the author
were assailed by Marcus Benedict, the
chief rabbi of Moravia, who denounced the produc-
tion as spurious ; and it was defended as zealously
by Hirschel Levin, the father of Saul Berlin. A
letter addressed by this Levin to the Berlin congre-
gation throws a most interesting light upon condi-
tions at this critical juncture, when the old Juda-
ism was struggling to retain its hold and the new
had not yet made its appearance. The old rabbi
recognized that changes were impending; Judaism
seemed to him in great danger and to be nearing
dissolution. Because of this distressing condition
of affairs he stated in his letter that he desired to
resign his office and end his days in the Holy Land,
since he could not endure any longer to witness the
decay of religious life amohg his people. Prom
expressions like this it becomes evident that many
Jews had ceased to conform to rabbinical practise.
There was a conflict between the traditional inter-
pretation of the faith and the larger life the people
were leading. Partaking of the philosophical and
literary culture of the time, numbers failed to find
religious satisfaction in the observance of many
forms, customs, and ceremonies which had been ac-
cepted unquestioningly by their fathers as constitu-
ting an essential element of the faith. The old Ber-
lin rabbi, and such as he, knew but one rule for the
Jew, and that was the faithful observance of evei'y
item of religious practise as codified in the Shulhan
*Aruk. About him, however, were hundreds upon
whom this obligation sat lightly, or who disregarded
utterly many an injunction that he considered of
supreme importance.

But although change was in the air, the eight-
eenth century witnessed only one practical demon-
stration of the working of the new spirit; and this
occurred not in Germany, but in Holland. In 1796,
after great agitation, a congregation was organized
in Amsterdam underthenameof " Adath Jeshurun,"
whose avowed purpose was to introduce certain
Teforms; but the results were painfully inadequate:
they consisted merely in the abolition of some piy-
jutim wherewith the synagogal service had become
overburdened, and the use of the vernacular in pub-
lic addresses.

In as far as any one individual can be credited with
"being the pioneer of the movement for introducing
reforms into the Synagogue, that credit
Israel belongs to Israel Jacobson. Jacobson
Jacobsou. noted with distress the indifferent at-
titude of many Jews toward their
faith, for he was deeply attached to his ancestral re-
ligion ; he came to the conclusion that this indiffer-
ence was due to the fact that Judaism had degener-
ated into a lifeless formalism which could not
possibly appeal to such as regarded religion as the
depositary of spiritual truths. Form and ceremony
had usurped the place of the essentials. The serv-
ices in the Synagogue were unintelligible, and the
disorder and indecorum prevalent there did not tend
X.— 23

to further the spirit of devotion. Jacobson became
convinced that the only method whereby these
abuses could be corrected was the reform of the
service. He proceeded cautiously. He began his
activity in the cause of Reform by founding a school
at Seeson, in which the children were instructed in
secular subjects in addition to the Hebrew branches,
and a religious service was instituted. Features
were introduced at these services which would not
have been tolerated in the Synagogue, such as songs
and sermons in the vernacular. These services were
attended frequently by adults who, becoming ac-
customed to hearing the German language at a re-
ligious service, were readily enlisted in the cause
when the time came for inaugurating reforms in the
house of worship ; and when the children who
attended this and similar schools grew to maturity,
they likewise became hearty supporters of the
new movement.

But Jacobson's real opportunity did not come
until the time of the French occupation of "West-
phalia. On March 31, 1808, a Jewish consistory was
established in that province after the French model,
and Jacobson was named president. Determining
to use his position to carry his Reform ideas into
practise, he induced his colleagues to found at
Cassel a school similar to that at Seesen. A place
of worship was built in connection with the school,
and every Sabbath services were conducted partly
in Hebrew and partly in German ; a member of the
consistory (which was made up of the president, three
rabbis, and two laymen) preached a sermon in the
vernacular, and German songs were sung. The
rabbinical members of the consistory took pains to
explain that these reforms were not antagonistic to
any traditional rabbinical enactments. The success
of this departure encouraged Jacobson to take a
bolder step. At his own expense he erected a tem-
ple at Seesen, placing in it an organ, and forming a
choir from among the pupils of the school.

This, the first Reform temple, was dedicated with
elaborate ceremonies on July 17, 1810. The occa-
sion was described bombastically as
First Re- the " festival of the Jewish Reforma-
form Tem.- tion." Jacobson was lauded extrav-
ple, 1810. agantly by sympathizers of the move-
ment as the regenerator of Judaism.
He took these praises seriously. He really thought
that the religious ills that had been corroding the
very vitals of Judaism were now removed. But
the evil was beyond his power to fathom. The
reforms wherewith his name is associated were
purely external. He did what he could, according
to his light ; but he did not penetrate to the seat of
the distemper that was playing such havoc with the
inherited traditions. Observing that many an unes-
thetic custom had crept into the divine service, and
that the prayers were unintelligible, he thought that
the introduction of German sermons, German songs,
and German prayers would render the religion a liv-
ing entity to his generation, as it had been to the
fathers; but these few external reforms touched
merely the surface of the trouble. Still, with all his
limitations, his fame is secure as the opener of a path
that many others followed later.

This first attempt at Reform was purely local; it

Reform Judaism

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

354

did not spread beyond Westphalia. Wlien the
Frencli occupation of tliat province ceased, tlie
Frencli institutions, among them the Jewish consis-
tory, were abolished. But this did not end Jacob-
son's activity in the cause of Reform. At the Feast
of Weeks (1815), on the occasion of the confirmation
of his son, he established a Reform
First Ber- service in his own house in Berlin,
lin Reform whither he had removed from Cassel.
Syna- From that time a weekly service was
gogue. conducted in Jacobson's home, the
distinguishing features of which were
music by a choir, with organ accompanimen t, and ser-
mons and prayers in German. (It may be stated here
that the iirst confirmation service in the history of J\i-
daism was held at Cassel, in 1810, under Jacobson's
supervision.) The attendance at these services soon
exceeded the accommodations afforded by Jacob-
son's house, and in consequence Jacob Herz Beer, a
wealthy banker, father of the composer Meyerbeer,
instituted similar services in his home. But the
government, appealed to by the Orthodox party to
stop these services on the ground that they under-
mined the traditional Jewish faith (1817), ordered
all private synagogues closed. Beer evaded imme-
diate obedience to this decree by the subterfuge that,
because the communal synagogue was undergoing
repair, his private temple must be used as a tempo-
rary house of worship for the community. The
struggle between the two parties now began in ear-
nest. The rabbis of Berlin, whose chief was Meyer
Simon Weyl, were opposed unalterably to any re-
forms, even the preaching of sermons in the vernac-
ular. A number of compi'omises were suggested,
but none proved acceptable. The outcome of this
first clash between the two schools of Jewish thought
in Berlin was a complete victory for the traditional-
ists. The government was reactionary and opposed
to reforms of any kind anywhere. On Dec. 9, 1823,
a decree was issued to the effect " that the divine
services of the Jews must be conducted in accord-
ance with thb traditional ritual and without the
slightest innovation in language, ceremonies, prayers,
or songs." This decree stopped effectually, for the
time, all efforts at reform in the Prussian capital;
the Beer temple was closed, and the old order was
continued.

In 1817 Eduard Kley, who had been one of the
preachers in the private Reform temple at Berlin,
removed from that city to Hamburg to accept the
post of principal of the Jewish Free School in that
city. He began to agitate for a reformed service
almost immediately, and, finding a number of sym-
pathizers, organized a Reform society.
The Active steps were at once taken for

HamTjurg the erection of a house of worship, and
Temple, on Oct. 18, 1818, the building tJiat be-
came famous as the Hamburg Temple
was dedicated. The bitterest opposition was engen-
dered. But the issue between the traditionalists and
the reformers was not as clear-cut as it might have
been ; although protesting ostensibly against Rab-
binism, the reformers sought to justify their reforms
from the rabbinical standpoint instead of standing
flrmlj- and uncompromisingly upon the right to in-
stitute such changes in custom and interpretation as

the altered conditions of their day demanded. The
Talmud was the norm of authority for Rabbinism;
for centuries Judaism had been held to be synony-
mous with Talmudism. It excites little wonder
therefore that the early reformers sought to find
Talmudic support for their innovations. It was an
artificial attempt. The spirit of the new time was
opposed to the spirit of Rabbinism, and the religious
point of view of the Jew who was an emancipated
citizen of the state was altogether different from that
of his forefather, the isolated pariah of the ghetto.

Like other compromises, this too was unsatisfac-
tory, but it was not recognized to be so till a much
later day. The introduction of the first reforms, how-
ever, really sounded the death-knell of the authority
of the Talmud as the absolute rule for Jewish prac-
tise among those who followed the Reform teaching,
although years before the Reform movement took
shape this question had been decided ; for to all in-
tents and purposes the Talmud, or rather its codifi-
cation, the Shulhan 'Aruk, had lost its hold upon
Jews of modern culture. It is true that it continued
to be recognized officially, and the struggle prom-
ised to be long ere its authority would be renounced
definitely by any representative body. (This step
was later taken by the Central Conference of Amer-
ican Rabbis, at the Rochester meeting in July, 1895;
see " Year-Book of Central Conference," No. 6, p. 63.)

From the present standpoint the issue between the
party of tradition and the party of Reform is seen to
have been well defined ; the two parties represented
two incompatible tendencies. The former held to
past practise and custom in all particulars; the
latter declared that the dead hand of the past must
not be permitted to rest upon the present, and that,
unless the expression of religion conformed to the
requirements of living men, these would drift away
from its influence altogether. The one party de-
fended the principle of stability and immutability
in religious practise and belief, the other that of
progress and change. That this difference was not
understood at first is rendered very apparent by the
Hamburg movement. There was no thoroughgoing
definiteness. A few changes in the liturgy, the in-
troduction of German praj'ers, and the use of the
organ comprised Reform for the Hamburg Temple.
As in the innovations made by Jacobson at Seesen,
the estheticization of the service seemed to be the be-
all and end-all of the work of the reformers, though
it is true that the partial omission and the partial
modification of the prayers for the coming of a per-
sonal Messiah indicate some consciousness of the
deeper significance of the new phase whereon Juda-
ism had entered.

Tl^e three rabbis of Hamburg, Baruch ben Me'ir
Oser, Moses Jacob Jafe, and Jehiel Michael Speler,
issued a proclamation denouncing the heresies of the
new movement ; they even attempted to induce the
senate of Hamburg to close the new house of wor-
ship. This caused the reformers to bestir them-
selves. The officers of the new congregation re-
quested expressions of opinion from rabbinical
authorities on the validity of the reforms they had
introduced. This resulted In the publication of
"Nogah Zedek," with an appendix, "Or Nogah"
(Dessau, 1818), containing a number of opinions

355

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beform Judaism

favorable to the new depaituie. The rabbis of
Hamburg appealed also to their colljjagues for sup-
port in the stand they had taken. They received
twenty-two responsa (" Eleh Dibre ha-Berit," Altoua,
1819), all approving the position taken by the rabbis
of Hamburg and violently denouncing the reformers.
These condemnatoi-y opinions had no practical re-
sult. The Orthodox party did not succeed in hav-
ing the temple closed by the government. Shortly
after the dedication Gotthold Salomon was called
from Dessau to fill the office of preacher in conjunc-
tion with Eduard Kley. In 1820 the Hamburg re-
formers established a branch synagogue at Leipsic,
wiiere services were conducted during the great
yearly fairs. Merchants from all over Europe gath-
ered at these fairs, and the ideas expressed in ser-
mons preached in the Reform synagogue were spread
through many distant communities, and frequently
became an incentive to work along the lines of Re-
form. I. L. Auerbach of Berlin was the preacher
of this cosmopolitan congregation.

During the third, fourth, and fifth decades of the
nineteenth century many congregations in Germany,
Austria, Hungary, France, and Denmark introduced
reforms to a greater or less extent. These reforms
were usually in the direction of greater
The decorum, fewer piyyutim, music by

Progress of a regular choir, and sermons in the

Reform, vernacular. Such was the so-called
Vienna program, which was adopted
by the congregation of the Austrian capital under
the guidance of its preacher, Isaac Noah Mann-
HEiMBB, and its cantor, Solomon Sulzer. Confirma-
tion was introduced quite generally. A number of
governmental edicts were issued during these years
containing instructions to the heads of the Jewish
communities to remove the abuses which had crept
into the synagogues and to introduce reforms ; among
such edicts maybe mentioned those of Saxe-Weimar
(1823), Anhalt (1835), Hanover (1837), Baden (1838),
Middle Franconla and Saxe-Meiningen (1839).

Abraham Geiger liad been elected rabbi of Wies-
baden in 1832 ; in 1835 he began the publication of his
" Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift f lir Ji'idische Theo-
logie," through which he exerted great influence as
a leader of Reform ; in 1837 he called a rabbinical
conference, which met at Wiesbaden, but had no
practical result. In 1838 the Jewish community of
Breslau determined to appoint a rabbi who belonged
to the new school as a colleague of S. A. Tiktin,
who had served the community since 1821 and was
a representative of the old school. Abraham Geiger
was appointed, but Tiktin had no sympathy with
the feeling that actuated his congregation, and there-
fore he did all in his power to prevent Geiger's com-
ing to Breslau. A discreditable campaign of abuse
was directed against Geiger by Tiktin's followers.
They hoped to make Iiis acceptance of the position
impossible by inducing the Prussian government to
withhold from him the naturalization papers neces-
sary before he could enter upon the position to which
he had been elected. They entered all kinds of accu-
sations against his religious soundness, and he was
compelled to remove to Berlin in order to give his
whole time and attention to the matter. After fifteen
months he succeeded in securing his naturalization

papers ; he preached his inaugural sermon as rabbi
of Breslau on Jan. 4, 1840, when he used these
words: "Judaism is not a finished tale; there is
much in its present form that must be changed or
abolished ; it can assume a better and higher posi-
tion in the world only if it will rejuvenate itself ; all
should unite in this work."

Geiger displayed great activity, preaching in the

vernacular, instituting classes for the young, and

delivering lectures on Jewish history and literature.

Tiktin refused to recognize him as a

The colleague. The situation in the com-

Geiger- munity becoming intolerable, it was
Tiktin suggested that there be a separation
Affair. of functions, that Tiktin be recognized
as the rabbi, with jurisdiction in all
cases which required rabbinical decisions, and that
Geiger act merely as the preacher. To this Geiger
would not consent. The relations between the two
became so strained that the governing board of the
congregation was forced to suspend Tiktin from of-
fice. In order to fortify himself in his position Tik-
tin had addressed various rabbis of Upper Silesia for
an expression of opinion, all of whom agreed with
him. In June, 1842, he issued a pamphlet entitled
" Darstellung des Sachverhaltnisses in Seiner Hie-
sigen Rabbinatsangelegenheit," in which he included
some of the responsa he had received.

This constituted an appeal to the larger Jewish
world and advanced the controversy beyond the local
stage. Tiktin and his colleagues stated their posi-
tion clearly and unmistakably. They read Geiger
and all who thought as he did out of Judaism and
declared for the inspiration of the Talmud. Ac-
cording to these rabbis, Judaism was a fixed and
practically immutable system. Tiktin accused the
governing board of the congregation of having
" selected a dayyan who in spoken and written dis-
course denies unreservedly the authoritative validity
of traditional Judaism, and whose call and mission
appear to be to extirpate it root and branch for all
time." This placed the governing board upon the
defensive; it therefore determined to call for the
opinions of well-known rabbis as to the justice of
the claims of the Tiktin party. It received sev-
enteen replies, which were published in two volumes
under the title "Rabbinische Gutachten uber die
Vertraglichkeit der Freien Forschung mit dem Eab-
bineramte." These rabbis were unanimoiis in the
opinion that freedom of thought is compatible with
the exercise of rabbinical functions, and they con-
demned Tiktin and his sympathizers for the attitude
they had assumed. The board accordingly addressed
a letter of confidence to Geiger; but the bitter feel-
ings that liad been engendered were not removed.
Even the death of Tiktin, in March, 1843, did not
end the conflict. The opposition, being certain that
Geiger would be elected chief rabbi, resolved to
form a new congregation. Affairs were growing
increasingly unpleasant in the community, and' the
government was invited to interfere; a rescript was
issued ordering that Geiger be the chief rabbi, that
a second rabbi be elected, that there be no split in
the congregation, and that thereafter the govern-
ment be not called upon to settle the internal con-
troversies of the Jewish community. Geiger was

Beform Judaism

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

356

established flrmly in his position, and the cause of
Reform had achieved a decided victory.

In 1842 the Hamburg Temple again became the
storm-center. In 1839 a committee had been appointed
to revise the prayer-book used by the congregation.
The publication of the revised edition
The in 1841 called forth from Isaac Ber-

Prayer- nays, the ecclesiastical chief of the
Book Con- Orthodox community, a proclamation
troversy. ("raoda'ah") warning all Israelites
not to use the book and declaring that
any one doing so would fall short in his duty
as a Jew. This brought forth a counter declaration
from the Temple officers rebuking Bernays for his
presumption. Both these documents were ordered
removed from the synagogues by the senate of the
city. Bernays then issued a caution (■' azharah ") :
" It is forbidden to pray the obligatory prayers and
benedictions from the book entitled ' Prayers for
Israelites,' which appeared here during- the past
year. " This unprecedented action of Bernays caused
such a commotion that the Temple directorate found
it necessary to secure from accredited theological
authorities opinions in regard to the prayer-book.
Twelve rabbis of high standing responded, and their
opinions were published in a volume entitled "The-
ologische Gutachten ilber das Gebetbuch nach dem
Gebrauche des Neuen Israelitischen Tempelvereins
zu Hamburg." All the writers, from the conserva-
tive Isaac N. Mannheimer to the radical Holdheim,
condemned Bernays' action, and declared that the
prayer-book was permeated with the spirit of Juda-
ism and that any one who prayed from it performed
his full duty as a Jew.

In 1836 several members of the Ancient Synagogue
of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Bevia Marks) of
London petitioned the Mahamad to introduce into
the service " such alterations and modifications as
were in the line of the changes introduced in the
Reform synagogue in Hamburg and other places."
This petition caused the elders to take steps to in-
sure greater decorum at the services. Tliis, how-
ever, did not satisfy the reformers. _
Reform in. They petitioned aseoond time in 1839;
England, the reforms which they advocated wei'e
a diminution in the length and num-
ber of prayers, a more convenient hour of service on
Sabbaths and holy days, sermons in English, a choir,
and the abolition of the second days of the holy days.
Tliis petition was disregarded. The reformers then
took a more decided step ; not wishing to secede from
the congregation, they requested permission to erect
a branch synagogue in the West End, near their
homes, where they might introduce the desired
changes while the mother synagogue continued
along traditional lines. This was refused on the
ground of an "askama" (rule) of the congregation
forbidding within a radius of four miles of the
synagogue the erection of anj' house of prayer or
the holding of any service not of a domestic nature.
This forced the reformers to organize an independ-
ent congregation, which was done at a meeting held
April 15, 1840. The new congregation was to be
called the West London Synagogue of British Jews.
In a communication addressed by the organizers of
the new congregation to the elders of the Bevis

Marks Synagogue, on Aug. 34, 1841, they announced
their intention of opening a new place of worship
and of introducing changes and innovations in the
ritual. The elders passed a resolution denouncing
the movement as schismatic. The ecclesiastical
chiefs of the Portuguese and German congregations,
H. H. Meldola and Solomon Herschel, issued, on Oct.
34, 1841, a warning directed against the new congre-
gation and its prayer-book, " Forms of Pi-ayer Used
in the West London Synagogue of British Jews,"
which had appeared in the preceding August. The
warning against the congregation and its prayer-
book was sent to all the congregations in England :
the London congregations received it favorably;
the congregations in Liverpool and Manchester dis-
approved of it and returned it ; the Plymouth con-
gregation burned it.

The new- congregation dedicated Its synagogue
Jan. 37, 1843, the Rev. D. W. Marks, who had been
elected secretary and minister, jjreaching. Just be-
fore this event took place the chiefs of the two Or-
thodox communities promulgated an order (not re-
pealed until 1849) which read out of the Jewish
communion the members of the Reform congrega-
tion. These latter then resigned from the Bevis
Marks Synagogue — the break was complete. In the
meantime the reformers had been compelled to ac-
quire a burial-place; for, being excommunicated,
they were not permitted burial with their fathers.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews likewise took
sides against the reformers, and refused to certify to
the olHoial position of the Rev. D. W. Marks as the
secretary of a congregation. This caused much in-
convenience, notably in the matter of marriages.
The minister of the Reform congregation, not being
a registered official, could not perform the marriage
ceremony legally ; this had to be done by the regis-
trar, after which the minister performed the re-
ligious ceremony. This condition lasted until the
passing of an act of Parliament in 1856 which em-
powered the minister of the West London Syna-
gogue of British Jews to register marriage ceremo-
nies ; and this act established the full autonomy of
the congregation and placed it oruan equal footing
before the law with the Orthodox congregations.

A feature of the early attempts at the introduc-
tion of reforms was the foundation of Reform societies
by those who were dissatisfied with conditions in the
Synagogue, that they might meet for discussion and
the eventual organization of a congregation. Pos-
sibly the most noted of these societies was the Ve-
rein der Reformfreunde in Prankfort-on-the-Main.
This was an association of radicals who gained much
advertisement because of their extreme views. This
society was organized in 1843. In Aug., 1843, it
issued a program ending with a " Declaration of Prin-
ciples," as follows: "(1) We recognize
Verein der the possibility of unlimited develop-

Beform- ment in the Mosaic religion. (2) The
freunde of collection of controversies, disserta-
Frankfort. tions, and prescriptions commonly des-
ignated by the name Talmud possesses
for us no authority, from either the dogmatic or the
practical standpoint. (3) A Messiah who is to lead
back the Israelites to the land of Palestine is neither
expected nor desired by us ; we know no fatherland

357

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Keform Judaism

except that to which we belong by birth or citizen-
ship." This declaration called forth severe attaclis
from all qviarters, Orthodox and Reform ; men dif-
fering as widely in their opinions as David Einhorn
and Samuel Hirsch on the one hand, and Michael
Sachs and Zacharias Frankel on the other, assailed
the destructive tendencies of the society. Einhorn,
the reformer, called its declaration of principles a
"confession of unbelief" ; and Frankel, the conserv-
ative, wrote:, "the society can not be considered
Jewish ; it belongs to Judaism as little as to any
other religion." Dr. M. A. Stern defended the soci-
ety in a series of open letters to its critics, letters so
bold, so biting, so unsparing, and so sarcastic that
they constitute one of the most unique productions
of that period of storm and stress in Judaism.

It is unlikely, however, that this Frankfort soci-
ety would have attained such prominence had it not
been for the circumcision controversy associated
with it. The society at one of its meetings had de-
clared against circumcision as a sine qua non for en-
trance into Judaism. Just about this time a number
of cases of circumcision liad resulted
The Cir- fatally, and the sanitary bureau of
cumcision Frankfort had commanded that the
Contro- circumcision of Jewish children be
versy. placed under the direct supervision of
the sanitary office ; the same measure
ordered that " Israelitish citizens and inhabitants, in
so far as they desired to have their children circum-
cised, should employ only persons who had been ap-
pointed especially to perform the rite of circum-
cision." This was interpreted by some, notably
members of the Keform society, to mean that the
circumcision of a child was optional with the father.
Soon a number of instances occurred in which the rite
was dispensed with. The aged rabbi of Frankfort,
Solomon Abraham Trier, petitioned the senate of
the city to declare that no child of Jewish parentage
could be received into the congregation unless it had
been circumcised; but the senate refused to pass
such a measure. Trier also addressed a communi-
cation to eighty European rabbis asking for opin-
ions on the Reform societj' and on the significance
of circumcision. Responses were received from
forty -one; twenty-eight were published in a volume
entitled " Rabbinische Gutachten iiber die Beschnei-
dung." All were strongly in favor of circumcision ;
Samuel Hirsch, the reformer, I. N. Mannheimer, the
conservative, and Jacob Aaron Ettlinger, the ultra-
Orthodox, clasped hands in agreement upon the
point at issue. The result of the agitation was to
leave the matter practically where it had been before.
The Reform society passed out of public notice
soon after the election, in March, 1844, of Leopold
Stein, a rabbi of Reform tendencies, as associate
to Trier. This appointment was very distasteful
to the older rabbi, who refused to acquiesce in the
choice of an associate of the new school. He pro-
tested to the senate of the city against the election,
and the senate referred him to the directorate of the
congregation. Trier resigned as rabbi (May, 1844),
and Stein began to introduce moderate reforms.

Among the most important incidents in the history
of Reform are the rabbinical conferences held at
Brunswick, Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Breslau, in

1844, 1845, and 1846 (see Confekbnces, Rabbin-
ical). In the winter of 1844 Dr. Sigismund Stern de-
livered before the Culture Society of Berlin a course
of eight lectures on the subject "The Mission of
Judaism and the Jew in the Present." In these
lectui-es he pleaded for some action tliat would stem
the tide of indifference and bring back to the Syna-
gogue the great number who had drifted away be-
cause its religious practises and ceremonies had
ceased to satisfy them. The outcome
The Berlin of these lectures was the formation of

Beforiu the Genossenschaft fiir Reform im
Congrega- Judenthum. On April 3, 1845, the
tion. "Appeal to Our German Coreligion-
ists " appeared, in which the signers,
members of the Reform association, called upon the
Jews of Germany to cooperate with them in their
efforts for Reform. The significant point in the ap-
peal lay in the closing words: "Thus our appeal
goes forth to you, German coreligionists far and
near, that you associate yourselves with us in name
and assure us of your support and aid in word and
act, in order that we may convene a synod which
shall renew and establish Judaism in a form in which
it will be capable and worthy of continuing as a
living force for us and our children." Finding,
however, that the needs of the Berlin community
were such as made it impracticable to wait until a
synod could be convened, the leading spirits of the
new society determined to institute a Reform serv-
ice on the holy days in the autumn of 1845. A com-
mittee consisting of S. Stern, A. Rebenstein, M.
Simion, and L. Lesser was appointed to prepare a
service for the holy days. This committee suggested
a number of radical measures which were concurred
in by the trustees and carried into eflect : services
almost entirely in the vernacular; worship with
uncovered heads ; abandonment of the blowing of
the shofar on New-Year's Day; discontinuance of
the use of the tallit; the pronouncing of the priestly
benediction by the preacher and the choir instead of
by the so-called Aaronides ; the religious equality of
woman with man.

The first services were held on New-Year's Day
and the Day of Atonement, 1845; Dr. Ludwig
Philippson of Magdeburg preached the sermons. In
the following month, November, it was resolved by
the association that steps be taken toward holding
services regularly twice every week, on Saturday
and Sunday. On April 3, 1846, the house of wor-
ship was dedicated, Dr. Samuel Holdheim preach-
ing the dedication sermon. Holdheim was elected
preacher in the following September, and a year
later, on Sept. 5, 1847, was inducted into office,
which he filled until his death in 1860. The Satur-
day services were discontinued in 1849, since which
date services have been conducted on Sunday only.
In April, 1895, on the occasion of the fiftieth anni-
versary of the congregation, the prayer-book was
revised.

The stirring political events of the year 1848 so
engrossed the people that little attention was paid
to anything else; and during the sixth and seventh
decades of the nineteenth century very little active
work was done in the interest of the Reform cause
in Europe. True, reforms of a moderate kind con-

Heforzu Judaism
Reggio

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

358

tinued to be introduced in many congregations, but
on the whole a reaction set in, and the conservative
temper was much more pronounced than in the
years preceding the revolutions of 1848. The first
sign of reawakening appeared in 1868, when a rabbin-
ical conference took place at Cassel. This confer-
ence, however, accomplished very little ; it is notable
only because it was in a measure preparatory to the
convening of the two synods at Leipsic and Augs-
burg in 1869 and 1871 (see Synods, Rabbinical).

The spread of anti-Semitism during the past three
decades seems to have crushed until quite recently
all efforts at religious progress in Judaism in west-
ern Europe; official Judaism still recognizes the
authority of the Shulhan 'Aruk, although the life
of the majority of the people is led in disregard
of its provisions. There still exists the very same
inconsistency between official Judaism and the life of
its professors that in the first half of the nineteenth
century led to the rise of the Reform mo.vement.

Although Reform failed to realize the expecta-
tions of its founders in Europe, it became quite
dominant in the United States during

Sporadic the nineteenth century ; but before the

Reform story of its development in the western
Measures, hemisphere is recounted a few words
must be devoted to a number of inde-
pendent movements in Europe. In 1843 the Breslau
Reform Association was formed along the lines
of the Berlin society ; it issued a like appeal, and
engaged the sympathies of Abraham Geiger, the
rabbi of Breslau. Its appeal, however, had no prac-
tical results. The congregations of KOnigsberg
and Offenbach instituted a supplementary Sunday
service in 1847. In 1848 the Reform Society of
Budapest was organized by Ignatz Einhorn and a
number of sympathizers ; services, with sermon and
prayers in the vernacular, were held on Sunday. In
1852 David Einhorn was elected rabbi ; but the Or-
thodox part}'- prevailed upon the government to
close the temple, and after a few years of enforced
seclusion Einhorn received a call to America. In
1856 the rabbis of France met at the call of M. UU-
man, the grand rabbi of Paris, and recommended
a number of moderate reforms in the ritual, leav-
ing it, however, to the grand rabbi of each con-
sistory to act upon the recommendation. In Eng-
land two additional Reform congregations were
organized — in Manchester and Bradford. In 1890 a
service marked by certain reforms was instituted at
Hamijstead, near London, by the Rev. Morris Jo-
seph; these services were conducted on Sabbath
afternoon and continued for three years. The Jew •
ish Religious Union was organized in London in
1903, with the view of holding services on Sabbath
afternoons, with prayers and sermon in the vernacu-
lar; this, too, is an independent movement, laimehed
by a number of earnest men and women animated
by the same ideas as were the early reformers of
Germany. Finally, attention may be called to the
spirited election of representatives of the Berlin
Jewish community in Nov., 1901, which hinged on
the holding of a service on Sunday. Although the
liberals were defeated, their vote was large enough
to show that a great section of Berlin Jewry was
restive under unsatisfactory religious conditions.

Forty-seven members of the Congregation Beth
Elohira of Charleston, S. C, petitioned the vestry in
1824 to reform the ritual ; in their petition tliey urged
the use of the vernacular in the prayers, the preach-
ing of English sermons, and the shortening of the
service. The petition was rejected by
Reform in the vestry without discussion. Anum-
the United bar of the petitioners resigned from
States. the congregation and organized the
Reformed Society of Israelites. The
society adopted practically the Maimonidean creed,
with the omission of the articles declaring belief in
bodily resurrection and in the coming of the Messiah
to restore the Jewish state and temple. It also re-
formed the traditional service. This society existed
only a few years, but the spirit of Reform entered
the mother congregation, which was under the guid-
ance of the Rev. Gustav Poznanski, elected in 1836.
A new synagogue was built and dedicated in 1841 ;
an organ was placed in the building, and the ob-
servance of the second da3's of the holy days was
discontinued.

In 1842 the Har Sinai congregation of Baltimore,
and in 1845 the Emanu-El congregation of New
York, were organized by advocates of Reform.
Since then Reform synagogues have sprung up
all over the land, and many congregations that were
founded on traditional lines have adopted the re-
formed ritual under the leadership and influence of
the great early reformers who emigrated from Eu-
rope— Isaac M. "Wise, Max Lilienthal, David Einhorn,
Samuel Adler, and Samuel Hirsch. Their work
has been taken up and is being continued by hun-
dreds of rabbis in all sections of the country. Isaac
M. Wise organized the congregations into a union
for combined work ; this union, known as the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations, was established
in 1873. It is practically an organization of the
Reform congregations of the country, although
some conservative congregations are to be found on
its roster. The union founded the Hebrew Union
College, the Reform theological seminary, in 1875,
and in 1903 it undertook the great task of organ-
izing congregations and religious schools through-
out the country in communities in which they did
not already exist.

The Union Prayer-Book, prepared and published
by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, has
been introduced very generally, 188 congregations
having adopted it (1905). The characteristic doc-
trines of the Reform movement which differentiate
it from traditionalism find constant expression in the
prayers: the belief in the coming of the Messianic
era instead of a personal Messiah ; the universalism
of Israel's mission as the priest-people in place of
the nationalism involved in the belief in the return
to Palestine, the establishment of the Jewish state,
and the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood; the
repudiation of the belief in a bodily resurrection
and the substitution of the belief in spiritual immor-
tality. Sermons in the vernacular, a mixed choir, the
organ, family pews, uncovered heads during wor-
ship, and a confirmation service for boys and girls
are distinguishing features of public worship in Re-
form congregations in the United States. The ob-
servance of the second days of the holy days has been

359

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Keform Judaism.
Beg'g'io

abolished, as well as of all minor fast- and feast-
days except Hanukkah and Purim. Woman is ac-
counted of equal importance witli man in the relig-
ious life. In a number of congregations she is ad-
mitted to full membership. Get and Hai.izaii are
abolished. In accordance -with a decision of the
Central Conference, male proselytes may be received
into' the faith without circumcision. Twelve con-
gregations have services on Sunday supplementary
to those on Saturday, and one (the Sinai congre-
gation of Chicago) conducts services on Sunday
only. Membership in congregations is voluntary.
The public religious life of Reform congregations is
very active. All have religious schools, and many
conduct Bible classes and post-confirmation classes,
besides maintaining women's societies for personal
service, together with clubs of various kinds for
study and pliilanthropic work.

Reform Judaism in the United States has re-
nounced the binding authority of the rabbinical
codes; it stands for the principle of development
and emphasizes the prophetic, universal aspect of
the faith. Its constant effort has been to reconcile
Judaism with life and to fit its eternal principles
into a modern mold ; it may be said that it has veri-
fied the observation of Abraham Geiger : " Judaism
requires merely the liberating breath in order to be-
come rej uvenated from within. " See Conferences,
Rabbinical.

Bibliography: l.'M..Jost,CulturgeschicMezurNeuerenGesch.
cUr Israeliten vnn 1815 bis 18U6, Berlin, 1847 : idem, Gesch.
des Judenthums und Seiner Sehten, lii. 285-390, Leipsic, 1859 ;
Geiger, JUdisehe Oesch. von 18S0 his zur Ocgenwart I.18k9),
in Nachgelassene Schriften, li. 246-273; HoMheim, Oesch.
der Berliner Beformgemeinde, Berlin, 1857 ; I. H. Ritter,
Oesch. der JiMischen Beformation, Berlin, 1865; S. Stern,
Oesch. des Judenthums von Mendelssohn bis auf die Neu-
ere Zeit, Berlin, 1870 ; M. Levin, Die Beform des Juden-
thums, Berlin, 1895; E. Schreiber, Beform Judaism and Its
Pioneers, Spokane, 1892; 8. Bemte\A,JudenundJudcnthum
im Neunzehnten Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1898; I. H. Ritter,
Die JUdisehe Beformgemeinde zu Berlin, Berlin, 1902; D.
PhUipson, The Beginnings nf the Reform Movementin Ju-
daism, in J. Q. B. xjf. 17.5-521 ; idem. The Beform Movement
in Judaimi, in J. Q. B. xvl. 30-72, 486-523; xvii. 307-353;
idem, Progressof the Jewish Reform Movement in the Uni-
ted States, in J. Q. R. x. 52-99.
K. D. P.

REFORM-ZEITTJNG. See Periodicals.
EEFOBMATION. See Luther; Reuchlin.
KEFTTGE, CITIES AND PLACES OF. See

Asylum.

E.EGENBOGEN, BARTHEL : German meis-
tersinger of the latter part of the thirteenth century ;
lived as a smith at Mayence. He was remarkable
for his intense hatred of the Jews, and endeavored
to convert them by interweaving Christian dogmas
in his poetry, atoning for his lack of persuasiveness
by scurrihty. Pie often expresses his desire to see
all the Jews exterminated; and one of his songs
ends with the words : " Ich hazze inch, Juden, sunder
maze " (I hate you, Jews, beyond all measure).

Bibliography: V. d. Hagen, Minnesinger, iii. 35 et seq.;
Gudemann, Oesch. 1. 144-145.
J. S. O.

B^G]^NEKATION, LA. See Periodicals.

E.EGENSBTJIIG-. See Ratisbon.

BEGGIO : 1. Italian city on the Strait of Messina;
capital of the province of Reggio di Calabria. The
presence of Jews in Calabria as early as 398 is

attested by an edict of Emperor Honorius ; but there
is little further information about this community
until the reign of Emperor Frederick II. The
ghetto, known in the city records as the Strada
Giudoca, was in the northwestern part of the city,
and was without any communication with the cen-
tral part: the Jews entered and departed through
the Porte Anzaua. The Jews of Reggio, some of
whom were wealthy, followed various trades. The
most common industry was that of silk-manufactur-
ing. Many were merchants, united in an important
gild, which was aflBliated with gilds in other com-
munities of Calabria. Jews were licensed to lend
money at a rate of interest not exceeding 10 per
cent. Frederick II. tolerated their presence and did
not ill-treat them, though in 1231 he obliged them to
distinguish themselves from Christians by wearing
a badge. Joanna II. was very harsh toward them,
and threatened them with banishment as a result of
accusations of usury and of lending money to the
citizens of Reggio on products and manufactures.
Perceiving, however, that these accusations were
greatly exaggerated, she contented herself with ■
levying a tax upon them of one-third of a scudo
per head.

Until the year 1486 civil and criminal cases among
the Hebrews were tried before a magistrate specially
appointed for this purpose ; after that date they were
tried before the ordinary judges. In 1493, after the
expulsion from Spain, a large number of Spanish
Jews settled in Reggio, much increasing the size
and commercial importance of the community. The
citizens of Reggio were accustomed to sell their silk
to the Jews, who lent them money for the "feeding
of the silkworms, " at an interest of 4 tari on every
pound of silk. The Jews thus controlled the silk-
market, or fair, which was held each year at Reggio
from the 15th to the 31st of August, and which was
attended by dealers from all parts of the country,
especially from Lucca and Genoa. These mer-
chants, enraged at the monopoly held by the Jews,
sought to have them banished from this territory ;
they succeeded in their efforts in the beginning of
the sixteenth century. During the vice-regency of
Don Raimondo di Cardona the Genoese secretly de-
nounced the Jews to the government of Naples,
which accordingly forwarded an adverse report
in regard to them to the King of Spain, depicting
the alleged nefarious proceedingsof the Jewish gilds
and urging the necessity of expelling the Jews from
Calabria. On this report the king commanded the
banishment of all Jews from Calabria before July 25,
1511. The unfortunate Jews were compelled to de-
part, and the communities of Reggio, Catanzaro,
Corigliano, Belcastro, Tropea, Castrovillari, Alto-
monte, Rossano, Montalto, and many others, ceased
to exist. The exiles went first to Messina, and later
to Rome, Leghorn, and other Italian cities.

In the fifteenth century a Hebrew printing-press,
the property of Abraham Garton, existed at Reggio:
here was produced the first edition of Rashi, which
was likewise the first dated Hebrew book ever printed.
See Incunabula.

Bibliography : D. Spano-Bolani, Archivio Stnrico per le Pro-
vince Napolitane, vi. 335 et seq.; Gudemann, Oesch. ii. 240.
S. U. C.

Beggio

Beggio, Isaac Samuel

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

360

2. Italian city, capital of the province of Reggie
neir Emilia. Borso, Inrst Duke of Fenara, Modena,
and Reggio, considered the presence of the Jews, who
were residing in Reggio as early as 1445, necessary
to the welfare of his state, and sought and obtained
from Pope Nicholas V. permission to retain them ;
he secured also a promise that they should conduct
unmolested their banking business and possess their
synagogues in peace. These privileges granted by
Borso were confirmed and extended by his successor,
Ercole I. (Dec. 16, 1473). But during the latter's
reign his dominions were visited by the preacher
Bernardino da Peltre, a bitter enemy of the Jews.
In 1498 Ercole decreed that every Jew in his terri-
tories should wear a yellow cap. Alfonso I. (June
11, 1503) and Ercole II. (Nov. 20, 1534) confirmed the
rights and privileges of the Jews.

In the sixteenth century the community of Reggio
joined with the other communities of Italy — Rome,
Venice, Padua, Perrara, Mantua, Modena — in the
formation of a Jewish committee for the revision of
Hebrew books, their purpose being to consider
means of avoiding the ecclesiastical censorship.
After the expulsion of the Jews from the duchy of
Milan in 1597 many of the exiles fled to Reggio. In
the beginning of the seventeenth century the Duke
of Modena and Reggio invited a large number of
Portuguese Jews to settle in his territory, promising
them liberal concessions. Modena and Beggio re-
mained under the rule of the house of Este until
they were incorporated in the Cisalpine Republic.
During this period there is no record of the political
status of the Jews. There was a temporary change
for the better in their condition during the French
Revolution, and until Modena and Reggio were
united to the Cisalpine Republic in 1797; in 1815
the duchy of Modena was formed, under Francesco
IV., and lasted until 1860, when Modena and Reggio
both became part of the united kingdom of Italy.

The most noted scholars and rabbis of Reggio
were: Isaac Foa, Immanuel Sonino, Obadiah ben
Israel Sforno (16th cent.), Nathan ben Reuben
David Spira (d. Reggio, 1607), Menahem Azariah
Fano, Baruch Abraham ben Elhanan David Foa,
Hezeldah ben Isaac Foa, Isaac ben Vardama Foa,
Israel Nissim Foa, Israel Solomon Longhi (17th
cent.), Isaiah Mordecai ben Israel Hezekiah Bassani,
Israel Benjamin ben Isaiah Bassani, Elhanan David
Carmi, Benjamin ben Ellezer ha-Kohen, Joshua ben
Raphael Fermi, Moses Benjamin Foa, Abram Mi-
chael Fontanella, Judali Hayyim Fontanella, Israel
Berechiah Fontanella, Raphael Jehiel Sanguinetti
(18th cent.), Isaac Samson d'Angeli, R. J. Bolognese,
Hananiah Elhanan Hai ha-Kohen, Jacob Levi, Moses
Benjamin Levi, Israel Berechiah Sanguinetti, David
Jacob Maroni, Giuseppe Lattes, Alessandro da Fano,
and Lazzaro Laide Tedesco (19th cent.).

Bibliography : B. E. J. xx. 34 et seq.\ Vogelstein and Rie-
ger, Qesch. der Juden in Bom, 11. 179 ; Gratz, Oesch. 2d
ed., Ix. 506 ; Mortara, Indice.

B. V. C.

BEGGIO, ABRAHAM (VITA) BEN AZ-
BIEL : Italian rabbi and cabalist ; born at Perrara
in 1755 ; died at G6ritz Jan. 8, 1843. Reggio studied
under Samuel Lampronti, devoting himself especially
to the study of Hebrew grammar. He gave lessons

in Hebrew to the children of wealthy Jews in sev-
eral villages, and in his spare moments occupied
himself with bookbinding. Occasionally he went to
Gradisca to attend the lectures of Abraham Morpur-
go, whose son-in-law he became. Later Reggio was
appointed teacher in the Talmud Torah of GiJritz,
whore he studied Talmud under Moses Hefez, rabbi
there. After the latter's death (1798) Reggio was
ordained as his successor by Judah Malavida, rabbi
of Perrara ; he occupied the rabbinate of GOritz un-
til his death.

Reggio was a recognized authority on rabbinical
matters, and many rabbis, among them Mordecai
Benet, appealed to him for decisions. Reggio was
the author of a work entitled " Eshel Abraham "
(still in MS.), a collection of treatises in thirteen
jjarts on various subjects. He wrote also a pam-
phlet entitled " Tiglahat ha-Ma'amar " (Leghorn,
1844), a refutation of the "Ma'amar Ua-Tiglahat " of
his son, Isaac Reggio.

Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset TifiraeU pp. 16i}-164; Ghl-
rondl. In Mohr's Yerushalayim, i. 75 etseq.
S. M. Sbl.

BEGGIO, ISAAC SAMUEL (YaSHaB) :

Austro-Italian scholar and rabbi; born at Goritz,
Illyria, Aug. 15, 1784; died there Aug. 39, 1855.
Reggio studied He-
brew and rabbinics un-
der his father, Abra-
ham Vita, later rabbi
of Goritz, acquiring
at the same time in the
gymnasium a knowl-
edge of secular science
and languages. Reg-
gio's father, one of the
liberal rabbis who sup-
ported Hartwig Wes-
sely, paid special at-
tention to the religious
instruction of his son,
who displayed unusual
aptitude in Hebrew,
and at the age of
fourteen wrote a met-
rical dirge on the death
of GSritz. Besides Italian, his mother tongue, Reg-
gio knew French, German, and Latin, and he studied

several Semitic languages in addition

His to Hebrew. He possessed a phenom-

Acquire- enally clear, if not profound, intellect,

ments. and as mathematics offered the widest

field for his analytical talent, it was at
first his favorite study. In 1802 he published in the
"Neuwieder Zeitung" the solution of a difficult
mathematical problem, which gave him reputation
as a mathematician (comp. "AUg. Zeit. des Jud."
1837, p. 228). He discovered also a new demonstra-
tion of the Pythagorean theorem, which was pra,ised
by Cauchy, the well-known French mathematician.
A year later (1803) Reggio went to Triest, where
for three years he was a tutor in the house of a
wealthy family. There he made a friend of Mor-
decai Isaac de Cologna, at whose death (1824) Reg-
gio wrote a funeral oration in Italian. He returned
to GOritz in 1807, where one year later he married

Isaac Samuel Reggio.
of Moses Hefez, rabbi

361

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beggrlo
Eegg-io,

Isaac Samuel

the daughter of a wealthy man and settled down to
a life of independent study. When the province of
lUyria (1810) became a French dependency, Reggio
was appointed by the French governor professor
of belles-lettres, geography, and history, and chan-
cellor of the lyceum of GOritz. But three years
later Illyria became again an Austrian province, and
the Austrian anti-Jewish laws compelled Reggio to
resign. He then devoted himself exclusively to
Jewish literature and cognate subjects ; he studied
even the Cabala, butthemorehestudieditthe greater
grew his aversion to its mystical and illogical doc-
trines. Taking Mendelssohn and Wessely as guides,
he next made his name celebrated in connection with
religious philosophy, and. Indeed, became to the
Italian Jews what Mendelssohn was to his German
coreligionists. In 1832 an imperial decree having
been issued that no one might be appointed rabbi
who had not graduated in philosophy, Reggio pub-
lished at Venice an appeal, in Italian, for the estab-
lishment of a rabbinical seminary.
Founds the arguing that just as the emperor did
Rabbinic not desire rabbis devoid of philosoph-
Seminary ical training, neither did the Jews de-
of Padua, sire rabbis who had had no rabbinical
education. This appeal resulted in
the .establishment of a rabbinical college at Padua,
for which Reggio drew up the statutes and the edu-
cational program.

Following the example of Mendelssohn, Reggio
endeavored to extend the knowledge of Hebrew
among the Jewish masses by translating the Bible
into Italian and writing a commentary thereon.
His simple but clear and attractive style made a deep
impression not only on the Italian but even on the
German Jews. Although he believed that in the
main the text of the Bible has been well guarded
against corruption, yet he admitted that involuntary
scribal errors had slipped in and that it would be no
sin to correct them ("Iggerot Yashar," Letter V.).
The reproaches of MeirRandegger(d. 1853) concern-
ing his Biblical corrections Reggio answered by sta-
ting that every one was permitted to interpret the
text according to his understanding, provided such
interpretations were not in opposition to the princi-
ples of the Jewish religion {ib. Letter XXX.).

An opponent of casuistry, Reggio rejected hag-
gadic Biblical interpretations and the pilpulistic
study of the Talmud. He was persecuted by many
German rabbis on account of his liberal views; even
his father did not wholly approve of his methods.
Nevertheless, in 1846, after his father's death, the
community of G6ritz insisted upon his accepting the
rabbinical oflBce ; he agreed, but declined to receive
the salary attached to it. After occupying the posi-
tion for ten years he resigned.

Reggio was a voluminous writer. He published :
"Ma'amar Torah min ha-Shamayim" (Vienna,
1818), on the divine authority of the
His Jewish law, an introduction to his

Works. Italian translation of the Pentateuch ;
"Sefer Torat Elohim" {ib. 1821), the
Pentateuch, with an Italian translation and a He-
brew commentary; "Ha-Torah weha-Pilusutiah "
{ib. 1837) ; " Behinat ha-Dat 'im Perush we-He'arot "
{ib. 1833), an edition of Elijah Delmedigo's" Behinat

ha-Dat," with a commentary and notes; "Iggerot
Yashar'' {ib. 1834-36), a collection of exegetical,
philosophical, and historical treatises in the form of
letters to a friend ; " Ma'amar ha-Tiglahat"(ii. 1835),
a decision ("pesak") permitting the shaving of the
beard on semiholy days (" hoi ha-mo'ed " ; this work
called forth two protests, one by Jacob Ezekiel ha-
Levi, entitled " Tisporet Lulyanit," Berlin, 1839, and
one by Reggio's father, entitled "Tiglahat ha-
Ma'amar," Leghorn, 1844); "Mafteah el Megillat
Ester" (Vienna, 1841); "Mazkeret Yashar" {ib.
1849), a bibliographical sketch (presented to his
friends in his sixty-fifth j'ear) in which he enumer-
ates 103 works ; " Behinat ha-Kabbalah " (Q5ritz,
1852); " Yalkut Yashar" {ib. 1854), collectanea, in-
cluding a defense by Reggio of the opinion which
attributes Isa. xl.-lxvi. to an author who lived after
the Captivity. He wrote also a metrical Italian
translation of the Book of Isaiah (Udine, 1831), and
translated into Italian prose the books of Joshua,
Ruth, and Lamentations, the treatise Pirlje Abot,
and Mendelssohn's correspondence with Lavater on
religion. In the notes to Delmedigo's "Behinat ha-
Dat" Reggio often supplements or criticizes this
work ; he, moreover, refutes Aaron Chorin in notes
8, 15-19, and attacks the Cabala in notes 9-13. It
may be noticed that thirteen years previously Moses
Kunitzer printed, in his "Sefer ha-Mezaref," Reg-
gio's letter in defense of the Cabala.

Reggio was an indefatigable contributor to most
of the Jewish journals of his time and an able apol-
ogist. He was also the editor of " Bikkure 'Ittim
ha-Hadashim," the Hebrew part of Busoh's ".Tahr-
bilcher " (Vienna, 1845), and " Meged Geresh Yera-
him," a supplement to the "Central-Organ flir Ju-
dische Interessen " {ib. 1849). It may be added that
Reggio was a painter of considerable ability. There
are more than two hundred drawings and paintings
by him, including portraits of many Jewish celebri-
ties, and a map drawn by him is preserved in the
library of Triest. In 1812 he inscribed the whole
Book of Esther on a small piece of parchment one
and a half handbreadths long. He left also a great
number of unpublished writings, among which are
sermons and poems in flebrew and Italian.

Reggio's most important works are "Ha-To-
rah weha-Pilusuflah," "Mafteah el Megillat Ester,"
and "Behinat ha-Kabbalah." The first, a religious-
philosophical essay in four sections ("ma'amarira"),
was written as an answer to the rabbis
His Philos- of the old school who protested against
opliy. the establishment of the rabbinical col-
lege at Padua. It should be explained
that Reggio applies the term " philosophy " to all
studies outside the Talmud and rabbinics. Reggio
not only endeavors to reconcile the Jewish religion
with modern science, but attempts to prove that they
are indispensable to each other. One chapter, entitled
" Ha-'Olam weha-Adam," was republished by Marti-
net in his " Tif'erct Yisrael " (Bamberg, 1837). An-
other chapter, in which was discussed the question
as to whether the Torah is in opposition to the
Cabala, was stricken out by the censor. Later this
chapter was plagiarized by S. M. Rosenthal, who
published it in Piirst's edition of Leon of Modcna's
"Ari Nohem" (pp. 92-97, Leipsic, 1840).

Begg'io, Isaac Samuel
S,eich, Ig-uaz

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

362

The"Mafteah el Megillat Ester" is an introdiic-
tioii to the Book of Esther, and deserves special
notice in consideration of its originality. Having
concluded that the Persian king in that book was
Darius Hystaspes, Reggio shows that the main
object of the writer was to prove that Darius was
the first to establish the post. Analyzing the text
carefully, Reggio maintains that Mordecai was by
no means such a great man as the Rabbis declare
him to have been, but that, on the conti'ary, he was
an ordinary Jew ; for he not only gave no religious
educatioo to his adopted daugliter Esther, but he
even commanded lier to deny her race and religion.
His refusal to bow before Ilaman was unnecessary,
as such an act would not have violated any Jewish
religious law. Even when he was informed of the
imminence of the danger to his coreligionists con-
sequent upon his senseless refusal, he did not re-
sort to prayer and fasting ; it was Esther who did
that. His inhumanity is evidenced by his command
to slaughter women and children (Esth. viii. 11).
Afterward, when Mordecai attained great power, ho
did nothing to better the lot of his brethren in Jeru-
salem (comp. Neh. ix. 36-37). This view of Reg-
gie's provoked a protest from Isaac Bar Lewinsohn
("Bikkure Ribal," p. 115, Warsaw, 1889), and was
violently criticized by Mendelson (" Orient, Lit." viii.
314 et seq.).

T)ie " Behiuat ha-Kabbalah " is an edition of Leon
of Modena's two pamphlets "Kol Sakal" and
"Sha'agat Aryeh"; these Reggio provided with a
preface, and with one hundred critical notes forming
the second part of the work. In the preface Reggio
outlined Leon of Modena's biography. The notes
are independent treatises reviewing Modena's works
chapter by chapter, now supplementing, now re-
futing his views. Reggie's main point is that most
of the Talmudic ordinances were not intended for
perpetual observance ; they were practised onl}"- by
the rigorous Pharisees. It was not until much later,
he declares, that the casuists ("posekim") estab-
lished such ordinances as a part of the Law. Conse-
quently, Modena was iu many cases wrong in at-
tacking the Talmudists. Reggie's theory has been
refuted by Simon Stern in the preface to his Ger-
man translation of Modena's works published under
the title "DerKampf des Rabbiners Gegen den Tal-
mud im XVII. Jahrhundert. "

Bibliography : S. Cahen, In Arch. Isr. xvi. 666 ; Isaac H.
CastlgUoni, in Ozar ha-Sifnit, Iv. 82 et seg.: J. Derenbourg,
In Geiger's Wies:. Zeit. JUd. Thenl. ii. 331 ef seg. ; Fuenn,
Keneset Yltrael, pp. 659 et seq.\ Furst, Bihl. Jud. iii. 139 et
seg.; Geiger, Leon da Modena, pp. 57 et seg.; Goldentlial,
in AUq. Zeit. des Jud. 1839, Supplement, No. 35, p. 159; N.
Hurwitz. in Ha^Melif, iii. 140, 158, 174 ; Jost, AnnaUn, 1841,
p. 240; Mazlseret Yashar; Morais, Eminent Israelites, pp.
296 et seq.; Ozar Nehmad, i. 5, 11, et passim; I. H. Weiss,
ZlJironotai, pp. 158 et seg.,Warsaw, 1895 ; Zeitlin, Bibl. Post-
Mendeli. pp. 296 et seq.
s. M. Sel.

REGGIO, ISSACHAR EZEKIEL: Italian
rabbi and grammarian; born at Ferrara in 1774;
died in 1837, on the 1st of Elul. He was a pupil of
Graziadio Neppi and Joseph David Bassano, the lat-
ter of whom made him assistant in the Talmud
Torah in Ferrara. When Bassano died Reggio suc-
ceeded him as rabbi, in association with Shabbethai
Elhanan Pesaro, after whose death he became the
bead of the Spanish synagogue. Reggio founded

a number of religious institutions in his com-
munity.

Bibliography : Nepj-Ghirondi, Toledot Gedole Yisrael, p. 153.
s. U. C.

REGGIO, LEONE : Italian rabbi ; born at Fer-
rara in 1808; died there Sept. 23, 1870; son of Zac-
caria Reggio, cliief rabbi of Ferrara. At the age of
twenty he became a teacher in the Talmud Torah
there, and at the death of Jjis father succeeded to
the rabbinical chair. He was the author of " Gram-
matica Ragionata della Lingua Ebraica," Leghorn,
1844 ; " Elementi di Ortologia della Lingua Ebraica, "
ib. 1844; "Sefat Leshon ha-Kodesh," a manual for
the practical study of Hebrew, ib. 1860 ; and " Dine
Shehitah >i-Bedikah. "

Bibliography : Educatore Israelita, 1870, p. 323.
s. U. C.

REHETJSS, CARL: German educationist ; born
in 1793 at Altdorf-im-Breisgau; died in 1842 at Hei-
delberg. From 1809 to 1816 he occupied the posi-
tion of teacher in schools at Gailingen, on the Lake of
Constance, at Basel, and at Biihl, near Rastadt. In
1819 he was appointed " Israelitischer Oberlehrer und
Prediger " by the Grand Duke of Baden ; and in 1834
lie received the degree of Ph.D. from the University
of Heidelberg.

Rehfuss' works include: "Imre Emet," on the
admissibility of confirmation among the Israelites
(Heidelberg, 1830); "Leshon Yehudit," handbook
of JudsEO-German (ib. 1833); "Sefer lia-Hayylm," a
book of devotions for the afflicted {ib. 1839).

Bibliography : A. Friedlanfler, in Alia. Zeit. des Jud. 1842,
p. 248; Zunz, Mnnatstage des Kalenderjahres, Berlin. 1842;
Sulamith, viii. 98 ; McClintock and Strong, Cye.
s. S. O.

REHOBOAM.— Biblical Data: Son of Solo-
mon by Naamah the Ammonitess (I Kings xiv. 21),
and his successor on the throne in Jerusalem. Sol-
omon's administrative policy had fostered dangerous
principles. His ambition for the magnificence and
fame of his capital, Jerusalem, had led him to in-
augurate a system of levies and taxes that proved
burdensome and galling to his subjects. His at-
tempt to form domestic alliances with his numerous
neighbors (I Kings xi. 1-4) filled his court with for-
eign customs and religions, and in later generations
produced unfortunate results. Solomon's wisdom
and power were not sufficient to prevent the rebel-
lion of several of his border cities. Damascus un-
der Rezon secured its independence of Solomon;
and Jeroboam, a superintendent of works, his ambi-
tion stirred by the words of the prophet Ahijah
(I Kings xi. 29-40), fled to Egypt. Thus before the
death of Solomon the apparently unified kingdom
of David began to disintegrate. With Damascus in-
dependent and a powerful man of Bphraim, the
most prominent of the Ten Tribes, awaiting his op-
portunity, the future of Solomon's kingdom became
dubious.

The assembly for the coronation of Solomon's suc-
cessor, Rehoboam, was called at Shechem, the one
sacredly historic city within the territory of the
Ten Tribes. The fact that it met here was a recog-
nition of the prominence of those tribes in the gov-
ernment of Israel. It seems that Jeroboam (I Kings

363

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beg'gio, Isaac Samuel
Keioh, Ignaz

xii. 2, 3, 20) either was present at the assembly or
was in close touch with the leaders. Before the cor-
onation took place the assembly re-
Coronation quested certain reforms in the ]iolicy
Council, followed by Relioboam's father, Solo-
mon. Rehoboam was forty-one years of
age (I Kings xiv. 21), but he was not ready at once to
modify a policy that had yielded him and his court
associates such large privileges of luxury and ease.
The reforms requested would materially reduce the
royal exchequer and hence its power to continue the
magnificence of Solomon's court. Rehoboam was
advised by the old men, who had seen the evils of
his father's course, to yield to the people's request;
but his own companions, accustomed to the pleasures
of the brilliant court of Solomon, advised him rather
to increase his revenues.

This precipitated a rebellion. The Ten Tribes,
never wlioUy unified with Judah since Saul's reign,
and particularly that of his son (II Sam. ii. 8-10),
violently withdrew and said, "Now see to thine own
house, David " (I Kings xii. 16). Outraged by this
action, Rehoboam resolved to enforce his riglits and
collect his revenues. But the collector, Adoram,
was stoned to death, and the proud would-be king
was compelled to flee to Jerusalem, where without
ceremony he seems to have assumed the crown over
Judah and the few peoples who lived adjacent to
its boundaries. Israel, the Ten Tribes so called,
made Jeroboam its king. Rehoboam's ambition
was not yet subdued, and he collected an immense
army of 180,000 men to put down the revolt. But
before this body of troops could be put in mo-
tion, the prophet Shemaiah delivered a message of
the Lord, commanding Rehoboam to
Interven- desist from war, " for this thing is of
tion of the me " (I Kings xii. 34). The haughty
Prophet young ruler obeyed. The records (I
Shemaiah. Kings xiv. 22-24) declare that his peo-
ple became infatuated with idolatry,
and that the strange worships introduced under
Solomon's pohcy took root in the land. Indeed,
so thoroughly did the people become imbued with
heathen idol-worship that " they did according to all
the abominations of the nations which the Lord
drove out before the children of Israel " (R. V.).

In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign Shishak,
King of Egypt, went up and pillaged Jerusalem
(see Shishak). The most valuable part of the booty
was the golden shields Solomon had made for the
royal body-guard. Rehoboam replaced these with
shields of brass. The feeling of enmity and jeal-
ousy between the two kingdoms was bitter all the
days of Rehoboam. Nothing is said of any battles
fought between them during Rehoboam's life, but
the expression " there was war between Rehoboam
and Jeroboam continually" presents the spirit pf
retaliation animating both kingdoms. The dis-
ruption was a fact that carried its results through-
out the existence of the kingdoms of Israel, and it
became a frequent theme of prophetic discourse.
Judah henceforth stood practically alone.
E. G. H. I- M. P.

In Rabbinical Literature : Rehoboam was

the son of an Ammonite woman ; and when David
praised God because it was permissible to marry

Ammonites and Moabites, he held the child upon
his knees, giving thanks for himself as well as for
Rehoboam, since this permission was of advantage
to tliem both (Yeb. 77a). Rehoboam was stricken
with a I'unning sore as a punishment for the curse
which David had invoked upon Joab (II Sam. iii.
29) when he prayed tliat Joab's house might for-
ever be afflicted with leprosy and ]'unning sores
(Sanh. 48b). All the treasures which Israel had
brought from Egypt were kept until the Egyptian
king Shishak (I Kings xiv. 25, 36) took them from
Rehoboam (Pes. 119a).
w. B. J. Z. L.

EEHTJMAI (I.), BAB : Babylonian amora of
the fifth generation; pupil of Raba b. Joseph b.
Hama. He addressed some questions to Abaye
(Pes. 39a; Nazir 13a). He died on the eve of a Day
of Atonement, and the manner of his death is told
as follows ; He was wont to return home on the eve
of every Day of Atonement, but on the last occa-
sion he was so engrossed in his studies that the time
for departure passed and left him still at Mahoza.
His wife waited for him in vain, and at last gave
expression to her disappointment in tears. As a
punishment for his neglect, so runs the legend, it
was decreed in heaven that he should die. Accord-
ingly, the roof on which he was sitting fell in and
he was killed (Ket. 63b).
Bibliography : Heilprin, Seder ftii-DoTOt,Ii.3i2; Halevy, Do-

rof ha-Bishonim, ill. 13.

w. B. J. Z. L.

BEHTJMAI II. : Babylonian amora of the sev-
enth generation; pupil of RabinaI,,for whom he
expounded a saying of Huna b. Tahlifa (Zeb. 77a).
After Rafram II., Rehumai II. was the head
of the Academy of Pumbedita from 443 to 456,
dying during the persecutions of the Jews under
Yezdegerd II. (Sherira, in Neubauer, "M. J. C." i.
34, where it is said that he was frequently called
Nahumai; Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 371; Halevy, "Dorot
ha-Rishonim,"iii. 12-13).

w. B. J. Z. L.

REHUMAI III. : One of the early saboraim ;
died in 505, in the month of Nisan. In 'Er. 11a he
is mentioned with his contemporary R. Jose ; each
of them gives a different explanation of an expres-
sion used by an earlier authority (Sherira, in Neu-
bauer, "M. J. C." i. 34, 45; Halevy, "Dorot ha-
Rishonim," iii. 13; Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 377).

w. B. J' Z. L.

REICH (RAJK), ALAdAr : Hungarian law-
yer and deputy ; born at Baja June 25, 1871 ; edu-
cated at the gymnasium of his native city and at
the universities of Budapest, Berlin, and Paris.
He was admitted to the bar at Baja, which city
returned him to the Hungarian Parliament in the
election of 1901, when he defeated Minister of Jus-
tice Plosz. He was reelected in 1905.
BIBLIOGRAPHY : Sturiu, in Orszaggyttlesi Almanach, 1901-6.

s. L. V.

REICH, IGNAZ (EIZIG) : Hungarian teacher
and author; born at Zsambekl821; died at Buda-
pest April 18, 1887. He received his early instruc-
tion from his father, a Jewish communal notary,
and then studied at the yeshibah of Grosswardein,

Reich, Moritz
Reifmann

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

364:

going tlience to Arad, where lie came under the in-
fluence of Aaron Chorin. After graduating from
tlie gymnasium of Arad he went to Pest in 1842 to
study pliilosophy, devoting himself at the same
time to literature.

Reich was the prototype of a patriotic Hungarian
Jew, always wearing the Hungarian national cos-
tume. For forty years he was a teacher at the Jew-
ish communal school and at the state institution
for the blind. He was the first Jew to translate to
his pupils the Bible into Hungarian. He was a con-
tributor to the "Magyar Izraelita," edited by Ed.
Horn ; and he translated also the prayer-book and the
Haggadah into Hungarian. Reich published in Ger-
man: "Beth-El" (2 vols., 1856; 2d ed. 1868), biog-
raphies of eminent Hungarian Jews; and "Beth
Lechem " (Budapest, 1871), an annual for the pro-
motion of agriculture, trade, and industry among
the Jews of Hungary.

Bibliography : Neuzeit, 1887, No. 17 ; Vasarnwpi UJsdg, 1865,
No. 5.
s. L. V.

REICH, MORITZ: German writer; born at
Rokitnitz, Bohemia, April 20, 1831 ; died there
March 26, 1857. The son of an indigent shohet and
hazzan, he attended the gymnasia at Reichenau and
at Prague, and went in 1853 to Vienna, where he de-
voted himself to literature. His sketches were col-
lected and published in 1858 by his faithful friend,
the celebrated Austrian poet Alfred Meissner, under
tlie title " An der Grenze. Aus dem Nachlasse des
Moritz Reich."

BiBLiOGRAPHT : Briimmer, Lexikon Deutseher Dichter unci
Prosaisten, ii. 175.
s. M. K.

REICHENBERG : City of Bohemia. No Jews
were allowed to live there until after the law of Oct.
26, 1860, which repealed the restrictions against
them in Austria. The first Jewish settlers numbered
about thirty families. The need of a united relig-
ious service soon became evident, and on Sept. 4,
1861, on the eve of the New-Year's feast, a syna-
gogue was opened in a rented house; the authorities
of the state and of the town were present, and the
acting rabbi was I. Elbogen, district rabbi of Jung-
Bunzlau. The existence of the congregation was
legalized on Dec. 12, 1863, and the establishment of
a cemetery was permitted two years later, the dead
having been buried liitherto at Turnau, thirty kilo-
meters distant. During the same year a special
registration district was formed, with its capital
at Reichenberg. A hebra kaddisha was likewise
founded in 1864, which, in addition to its special
duties, gave financial aid to destitute sick corelig-
ionists, and paid for the funerals of paupers. A
ladies' club was established for the same purpose,
and about the same time was begun the collec-
tion of funds wherewith to build a temple to ac-
commodate the increasing community. Meanwhile
the congregation, which numbered ninety families
in 1869, removed from its former synagogue to
larger quarters. A Talmud Torah which had been
founded was later abandoned, the religious in-
struction being given in the public schools, while,
for the protection of Jewish interests, a Jewish mem-
ber was elected to the district school board. The

new statutes were confirmed in 1877, although they
were at first rejected by the Bohemian provincial
government since they contained no mention of a.
ritual bath for women. The ministry, however,
sustained the appeal of the community, which stated
that the establishment of a separate bath for Jewish,
women was an antiquated institution.

The fund for the temple, from which property ia
the center of the town had already been purchased,
amounted to 44,000 florins in 1887, and the corner-
stone was laid in the autumn of that year, the build-
ing being dedicated Sept. 27, 1889. The service is.
moderately Reform. The first rabbi, Julius Reach
of Prague, officiated until 1888, when he was suc-
ceeded by Adolf Posnanski, who was followed in
1891 by the present (1905) incumbent, Emil Hoff-
mann. The yearly income of the community
amounts to 32,990 kronen, and its expenses ta
31,289 kronen. The Jews of Reichenberg to-day
(1905) number 1,395 in a total population of about
40,000.

D. A. Ki.

REICHENHEIM, LEONHARD : German
manufacturer and politician ; born at Bernburg May
3, 1814 ; died at Berlin Jan. 26, 1868. At the age of
fourteen he entered his father's business, which
was located first at Magdeburg and then at Ber-
lin, and which later became very prosperous. In
1846 the firm bought from the Seehandlung the
woolen-mill at Wuestegiersdorf in Silesia, which
soon became one of the leading establishments in the
country, employing 2,500 laborers and maintaining
model institutions for the welfare of the working
classes, such as a school and an orphan asylum.
The firm had also a branch in England. In 1854
Reichenheim was honored with the title of commer-
cial councilor ; and in 1855 he received the Order of
the Red Eagle, third class. In 1859 he was elected
a member of the Prussian Diet for the district of
Reichenbach-Waldenburg, and he was returned to-
every successive legislature until his death. The
same district elected him as its representative to the
first North German Reichstag in 1867. He further
served as a member of the Stadtverordneten, or board
of aldermen, of Berlin from 1864, and was made
a municipal councilor (" Stadtrath ") in 1867. He
held offices also in the Jewish community, notably
as director of the Jewish hospital.

In the Diet he distinguished himself as a recog-
nized authority on questions of financial and indus-
trial legislation, and during the whole time that he
was a member of the house he served on committees
dealing with such questions. His integrity and
ability often won for him the applause of the con-
servatives in the house, although he was a strong
advocate of the people's rights in the period of the
" Conflict " between Bismarck and the Diet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Alia. Zeit. des Jud. 1867, pp. 867-868, 905-908,
985-928 ; 1868, pp. 110, 129.

s. D.

REICHER, EMANUEL: Austrian actor;
born July 18, 1849, at Bochnia, Austria. Reicher's
theatrical life is divided into two periods : the first
ending with his separation from and the subsequent
death of his first wife, Hedwig Reichbr-Kindkb-

S65

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Reich, Moritz
Keifmann

MANN, the singer; the second beginning with his
marriage to Lina Harf, who reawaliencd tlie shim-
bering ambition of the disheartened actor. Reicher's
debut toolv place at Tyrnau, but for a time he made
little headway in his profession. Hishomelife, amost
unhappy one, prevented him from doing full jus-
tice to himself: and it was not until after his second
marriage that he rose to the foremost rank of Ger-
man actors. His first success was a semicaricature
oi Justinian in Sardou's "Theodora," produced at
the Residenztheater, Berlin. Subsequently he was
pitted against the great Italian tragedian Ernesto
Rossi, playing Li^/o to his Otliello and emerging tri-
umphantly from the ordeal. He soon realized, how-
ever, that his forte was in the modern drama, and
he devoted all his powers to expositions of roles of
this class. His specialty was and is the portrayal of
Ibsen's characters, although he swerved once in his
fidelity to the Norwegian dramatist in producing
Goldschmidt's mystic "G A. a," a play whose pro-
duction was refused elsewhere in Europe.

Bibliography: Dos JUng.<te X)eMtsc?»!aTid, 1900, pp. 114, 118,
169, 19B, 289: O. G. Fluggen, BUhnen-Lealton, p. 261; Das
Geistiae Berlin, 1897, p. 435.
s. E. Ms.

REICHEB - KINBERMANN, HEDWIG :

German prima donna; born at Munich July 15,
1853 ; died at Triest June 2, 1883 ; daughter of the
baritone August Kindermann. She received her
early instruction on the piano from her mother, and
at the age of fifteen entered the Musikschule of
Munich, where she studied voice-culture under her
fatlier. She made her debut at the Hoftheater
of Munich as a chorus-singer, ballet-dancer, and
actress, and after a season at Carlsruhe appeared at
the opera in Munich and in the operetta company at
the Gartnerplatz. She was married to the actor
Emanuel Reicher in 1875, and was divorced in 1881.
After acting in Bayreuth in 1876, at Hamburg in
1877 and 1878, and at Vienna, Munich, Monaco, and
Paris, she was called to Leipsic in 1880, where she
became known as an interpreter of Wagner's hero-
ines, appearing in "'Der Ring des Nibelungen" in
Germany, Belgium, Italy, and London (1881-83)
under the direction of Angelo Neumann.

Bibliography: AUg. Deutsche Biograptiie ; Meyers Kon-
vernatinns-Lexikon ; Brnckhaus KonversatUms-Lexikon ;
Das Goldene Buch der Musik. ^ ^^

S. R. N.

REICHEBSON, MOSES HA-KOHEN : He-
brew grammarian; born in Wilna Oct. 5, 1827; died
in New York April 3, 1903. After studying Tal-
mud, Hebrew, and European languages, he became
teacher of Hebrew at Wilna. About 1890 he went
to New York, where he became teacher in a Jewish
school.

The literary activity of Reicherson was chiefly in
the field of Hebrew grammar. He wrote: "Hel-
]kat ha-Nik^ud," on Hebrew punctuation (Wilna,
1864) ; " Helkat ha-Pe'alim weha-Millot, " on Hebrew
verbs and particles {ib. 1873); "Yad la-Nikkud,"
a compendium of the rules of Hebrew punctuation
for beginners (appended to the prayer-book " Hinnuk
Teflllah"; ib. 1880); "Diliduk Haberim," catechism
of the elementary rules of Hebrew grammar (ap-
pended to the same prayer-book; ib. 1883); "Ma-
'areket ha-Dikdulj," a compendium of Hebrew

grammar (ib. 1883; it was translated into Yiddish
by its author and published in the same year) ; " Hel-
Ijat lia-Shem," on the Hebrew noun (ib. 1884);
"Tikkun Meshalim," a translation of the fables
of the Russian writer Krylov {ib. 1860); "Mishle
Lessing we-Sippuraw," a translation of Lessing's
fables (New York, 1903).

Reicherson wrote also "He'arot we-Tikkunim
la-Diwan," notes on the "Diwan" of Judah ha-Levi
(Lyck, 1866). He left a number of works in manu-
script, including : " Dibre Hakamim we-Hidotam,"
on Talmudic haggadot; commentaries on the Penta-
teuch, on the books of Samuel, Kings, Isaiah,
Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Psalms, Job, and
Proverbs ; a prayer-book, " Tefillah le-Mosheh " ; a
work on Hebrew syntax ; and fables, original as well
as translations from Gellert.

Bibliography: Sefer Zikkaron, pp. 189-173, Warsaw, 1889;
Zeitlip, Bihl. P»)sf-Jlfe»ide!s. p. 299; Eisenstadt, Hakmc Tis-
rael lie-Amerika, p. 101, New York, 1903: Ha-ie'om, 1903,
No. 6 ; HapKood, The Spirit of the Ghetto, pp. 46 et seg.. New
York, 1902.
H. It. A. S. W.

REICHSHOCHMEISTER. See Hochmeis-

TEK.

REICHSKAMMERKNECHT. See Kammer-

KNECHTSCIIAFT.

REIE, ABRAHAM: Galician poet; born at
Mosciska, Galicia, 1803; died in 1859. He crime
early under the influence of the school of the Me-
'assepim, but subsequently broke away from the
movement. Tobias Fedeh, the author of the sar- -
castic work "Kol Mehazezim," deeply influenced
his literary work. Alexander Langbank (d. 1894 at
Yaroslav, Galicia) introduced Reif to the profane
sciences ; and after Reif 's death lie purchased from
his widow, Jente, all his posthumous works.

Reif was much feared by the fanatics on account
of his ready wit. As at first he did not display
his liberalism, he was able to open a school for
the study of the Bible and the Hebrew language in
his native city. This school has produced promi-
nent Hebraists. Reif was a poet of refinement and
delicacy, and his language was the pure Biblical
Hebrew. His chief dramas, "Ha-Nidka'im," "Sliu-
lammit," and " Yehudit," vividly portray the life of
the Galician Jews. As he was too poor to publish
his works, he gave manuscript copies of them to his
pupils.

Bibliography : M. Marirel, Abraham Reif, Sein Leben und
Settle Werke, la HOr-Maggid (Cracow), 1901, Nos. 13-35.
8. M. Mb.

REIFMANN, JACOB : Russian author and
philosopher; born April 7, 1818, at Lagow, near
Opatow, Russian Poland ; died at Szczebrszyn Oct.
13, 1895. Up to the age of six he received in-
struction in Hebrew from his father, whom circum-
stances had forced to become a " melammed " ; after
that age he studied Talmud under diflerent rabbis
of Opatow, to which town his family had removed
from Lagow. The most prominent of his early
teachers was R. Melr Harif, but the instruction he
received was very unsystematic. Passages for dis-
cussion were selected at random from different parts
of the Talmud, and during the nine years of study
under these rabbis not a single volume was read by

Eeifmann
Keinach

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

366

Jacob Reifmann.

him in its entirety. When lie reached the age of
fifteen he commenced to study alone. At that time
his logical tendencies began to assert themselves,
and his studies proceeded in an orderly and •well-
arranged manner. He also made great efforts to fol-
low the same logical system in his writings and
speech. From Opatow
Reifmann went to Szczeb-
rzeszyn, where he married
the daughter of Joseph
Maimon. In his father-in-
law's house he discovered
a veritable treasure of
books, including the " Mo-
reb Nebukim " of Maimon-
ides and the "Cuzari" of
Judah ha-Levi. With in-
describable zeal he began
to read them, and before
long he knew them by
heart. These, together
with many works of
the German philosophers,
which he read and studied extensively, opened a
new world of ideas to him, supplied him with a
broad field for investigation and study, and af-
forded him the means of exercising his wonderful
faculties to greater advantage. Still, he did not
neglect the Hebrew language, and from time to time
he wrote Hebrew poems in which he displayed won-
derful poetic skill and great depth of feeling. He
also carried on an extensive correspondence with
such scholars as Rapoport, Geiger, Jost, Luzzatto,
Kirchheim, Sachs, Goldberg, and Steinheim. With
the exception of his letters to Steinheim, which dealt
with various philosophical problems, his corre-
spondence was of a critical character, and either
dealt with Biblical exegetical questions or contained
discussions and investigations concerning archeo-
logical subjects.

Of Reifmann's works the following are the most
important:

Tabnit ha^Bayit, six Talmudic fliscussions. Zolkiev, 1841^.

Pesber Dabar, twenty-two critical interpretations of Talmudic
and midrasbic passages. Warsaw, 1845.

Toledot Eabbenu Zerahya, a biography of Zerabiab ba-Levi,
with a review of his works. Prague, 18.53.

Hut ba-Meshullasb, consisting of three treatises : (1) on the
knowledge of tbe Amoraim of the Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic,
Persian, Greek, and Latin languages ; (2) history of the fables
of iEsop among the Jews ; (3) notes on tbe " Mibhar ba-Peni-
nim" (a work written by a non-Jew). Prague, 1859.

Kol Mebasser, an announcement in regard to the edition of
" Halakot Gedolot " by Simon Kayyara. Prague, 1859.

Arba'ab IJarasblm, comprising four treatises: (1) observa-
tions concerning Ben Sirach ; (2) a treatise on the " Sef er Hasi-
dim " ; (3) six notes on the " Seder harTeflllah " ; (4) two notes
on the " She'eltot " of Aha of Shabba.

Mishloah Manot, on Purim gifts— observations, conjectures,
and emendations. Prague, 1860.

Mo'ade 'Ereb, notes and studies on the Bible, the Talmud,
and the Midrash. Wilna, 1863.

Te'udat Yisrael, on the destiny of the Jews among tbe na-
tions. Berlin, 1868.

Kan Zippor, based upon one of .ajsop's fables. Berlin, 1870.

Imrot Ya'akob, tbe first of eleven books containing discus-
sions on morality. Eydtkuhnen, 1873.

Sedeh Aram, containing a number of interpretations of the
"Onkelos." Berlin, 1876.

Or Boker, on the criticism of tbe Talmud. Berlin, 1879.

Minha't Zikkaron, one hundred passages in the Bible critically
explained. Breslau, 1881.

Hobat ha-Ab 11-Beno, a pedagogical treatise on the training of
children. St. Petersburg, 1882.

Ruah Hadashah, treatises on the Talmudic literature. Pres-
burg, 1884.

Ohel Yissaskar, a biography of Issachar ha-Kohen (Baermann
Asbkenazi). Przemysl, 1887.

Sanhedrin, a study of tbe origin, signiflcance, personnel, and
power of this highest tribunal o£ the Jews. St. Petersburg, 1891.

Reifmann also contributed extensively to the peri-
odicals of his time. In 1881 Sir Moses Montetiore
sent Reifmann a golden loving-cup, on which was
engraved a Hebrew poem.

BiBLiORRAPHY : Keneset YUirael, 1888, ill. 174 (an autobiogra-
nby) ; Ner lia-Ma'arabU 1. 32; Ha-Asif, vi. 2U0 ; Zeitlin, Bibl.
pDst-MeiidcU. p. 300.
H. K. J. Go.

BEINACH : German family which emigrated to
Prance in the first half of the nineteenth century.
As its most eminent members may be mentioned:

Jacques Reinach., Baron : French financier ;
uncle and father-in-law of Joseph Reinach ; born at
Paris ; died there Nov. 20, 1892. He was financially
interested in the second Panama Canal Company,
and was active in obtaining further concessions for
the company from the House of Deputies in 1888. In
Sept., 1892, Edouard Drumont, in the "Libre Pa-
role," asked him to account for the 3,000,000 francs
he had received from tbe company for purposes of
"publicity," and which it was hinted had been used
for bribery and in order to pass tbe supplementary
law of 1888. Reinach was summoned before a com-
mittee of tbe House of Deputies Nov. 8, 1893; he
failed to appear, and a warrant for his arrest was
issued Nov. 19. The next day he was discovered
dead in his bed, and was suspected of having com-
mitted suicide. His nephews, it is understood, ac-
counted for the money in question.

Bibliography: Journal des Debats, Nov. 21, 1892; La
Grande Encuclopedie, s.v. Panama.
S. J.

Joseph. Keinach. : French author and statesman ;
born in Paris Sept. 30, 1856 ; son of Hermann Joseph
Reinach and Julie Bilding. He was educated at
the Lycee Condorcet and tbe Faculte de Droit. He
was admitted to the bar of Paris in 1877. His first
publication was a political and historical work en-
titled " La Serbie et le Montenegro," while his studies
in foreign politics, published in the "Revue Bleue,"
attracted the attention of Leon Gambetta. He was
a contributor to the "Republique Franpaise" and
the "Dix-Neuvifeme Sifecle," and was prosecuted by
the government of May 16, 1877, for his pamphlet
"La Republique ou le Qfichis." On bis return from
a mission in the East he wrote " Voyage en Orient "
(3 vols. , Paris, 1879). For a short time in 1881-83
be was the " directeur du cabinet " of Leon Gam-
betta, president of' tlie council of ministers, and,
after Gambetta's death, as the political editor of the
" Republique Franpaise " from 1886 to 1893, he ener-
getically opposed the Boulanger movement.

In 1889 Reinach was elected deputy for Digne,
department of the Basses-Alpes, and was reelected
in 1898 ; but five years later he lost both his seat as
deputy and his rank as captain in the territorial
army on account of his prominence in the Dreyfus
case (1898). Until 1900, in public meetings as well
as in the columns of the " Sificle," he was one of the
first to advocate a revision of the trial, and conse-

367

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Keifmann
Beiuach

quently was constantly attacked by the opponents
of Dreyfus.

Reinacli was named chevalier of the Legion of
Honor in 1886. He is the author of numerous
articles in the "Revue des Deux Mondes," the
"Grande Revue," the "Revue Britannique,'- and
other periodicals, and has contributed to the " Nine-
teenth Century" and the "Athenaeum."

Reinach wrote also the following works: "Du
Retablissement du Scrutin de Liste " (Paris, 1880);
" Les Recidivistes " (1882) ; " Leou Gambetta " (1884) ;
"Le Ministere Gambetta, Histoire et Doctrine"
(1884); "Le Ministere Clemenceau" (1885); "Les
Lois de la Republique " (1885-86) ; " Traduction de
la Logique Parlementaire de Hamilton" (1886);
"Les Petites Catilinaires," a collection of articles
against Boulanger and his policy (3 vols., 1889);
"Essais de Litterature et d'Histoire" (1889); "La
Politique Opportuniste" (1890); "La Prance et
ritalie Devant I'Histoire" (1893); ":Mon Compte
Rendu " (a collection of his principal speeches, 1893) ;
"Diderot" (1894); "Pages Republicaines " (1894);
"L'Eloquence in Frangaise Depuis la Revolution
Prangaise Jusqu'a Nos Jours" (1894); "Dema-
gogues et Socialistes" (1895); "L'Education Poli-
tique, Histoire d'un Ideal " (1896); "]\[anuelde I'En-
seignement Primaire " and " Essais de Politique et
d'Histoire " (1898).

His contributions to the literature of the Dre3''fus
case are as follows: "Une Erreur Judiciaire sous
Louis XIV.; Raphael Levy" (1898); "Vers la Jus-
tice par la Verite " (1898) ; " Le Crepuscule des Trai-
tres" (1899); "Tout le Crime" (1900); "Les Bles
d'Hi ver " (1901) ; and " Histoire de 1' Affaire Dreyfus "
(4 vols. ; the fifth in preparation). He edited also
"Les Discours de Gambetta" (11 vols.), "Les Dis-
co urs et les Dep§ches de Gambetta Pendant la Guerre
Pranco-Allemande " (2 vols.), and " Les Discours
de Challemel-Lacour."

Solomon Reinach. : French philologist and ar-
cheologist; born at St.-Germain-en-Laye Aug. 29,
1858; brother of Joseph and Theodore Reinach; edu-
cated at the Lycee Condorcet and at the Ecole Nor-
male Superieure (1876-79). While a member of the
Ecole Frangaised'Athfenes (1879-82) he made discov-
eries of much interest at Myrina, near Smyrna, in the
Archipelago, and along the coast of Asia Minor. In
1886 he became a member of the staff of the Mu-
seum of National Antiquities at St. -Germain, and
was deputy professor of national archeology at the
Ecole du Louvre from 1890 to 1893 and assistant
curator of the National Museums in the following
year; he was elected titular member of the Acade-
mic des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres three years
later. He is an officer of public instruction and an
officer of the Legion of Honor.

Reinach is the author of the following works:
translation of Schopenhauer's "Ueber den AVillen
in der Natur" (Paris, 1877); "Manuel de Philologie
Classique" (3 vols., 1883-34); "Traite d'Epigra-
phie Grecque " (1885) ; " Precis de Grammaire
Latine" (1885); "Recherches Archeologiques en
Tunisie en 1883-84 " (in collaboration with E. Ba-
belon; 1886); "La Colonne Trajane an Musee de
Saint-Germain" (1886); "Terres Cuites et Autres
Antiquites Trouvees dans la Necropole de Myrina "

(1886) and "La Necropole de Myrina" (3 vols.,
1887)— both in collaboration with E. Pettier; "Es-
quisses Archeologiques " (1888) ; " Description Rai-
sonnee du Musee de Saint-Germain " (1889) ; " L'His-
toire du Travail en Gaule £l I'Exposition de 1889 "
(1890); "Antiquites de la Russie Meridionale" (in
collaboration with Kondakov and Tolstoi; 1891-93);
" Bibliothfique des Monuments Figures'' (4 vols.;
1888-95); "Clironiquesd'Orient"(3 vols., 1891-96);
" L'Origine des Aryens " (1893) ; " Les Celtes dans les
Vallees du P6 et du Danube " (1894) ; " Repertoire de
la Statuaire Grecque et Romaine" (3 vols., 1897-
1904) ; " Repertoire des Vases Grecs et Etrusques "
(1899) ; " Guide lUustre du Musee National de Saint-
Germain " (1899) ; " Apollo " (a general history of
art; 1904); "Cuites, Mythes et Religions" (1904).
He edited also Tissot's " Exploration Scientiflque de
la Tunisie, Geographie et Alias de la Province Ro-
maine d'Afrique" (2 vols., 1888).

Reinach's active interest in Judaism is shown by
the fact that he is the vice-president of the central
committee of the AUianee Israelite Universelle and
a shareholder and member of the committee of the
Jewish Colonization Association ; he has also been
the president of the Societe des Etudes Juives, to
whose review he has contributed a number of arti-
cles on Judaism.

Theodore Reinach : French scholar ; born at
St.-Germain-en-Laye July 3, 1860; brother of Jo-
seph and Solomon Reinach. He was educated at
the Lycee Condorcet, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes,
and the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, and has
taken up, in turn, the study of law, history, and
classical archeology. He was a member of the bar
of Paris from 1881 to 1886. In 1890 he was sent on
an archeological mission to Constantinople, and from
1894 to 1896 he delivered a course of public lectures
on ancient numismatics under the auspices of the
Faculte des Lettres of Paris. Since 1903 he has
been professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes
Sociales, where he lectures on the history of relig-
ion. He has been editor of the " Revue des Etudes
Grecques" since 1888. His article "Judoei" in the
" Dictionnaire des Antiquites Grecques et Romaines "
and his " Juifs " in " La Grande Encyclopedie " de-
serve mention.

Reinach is the author of the following works:
"De la Purge des Hypothfiques Legales Non In-
scrites " ; " De la Vente des Immeubles du Bailli "
(Paris, 1880); a translation (prose and verse) of
"Hamlet" (1880); "Histoire des Israelites Depuis
Leur Dispersion Jusqu'a Nos Jours" (1885; 2d ed.,
1901, 3d ed., 1903); "De I'Etat de Sifige et Institu-
tions de Salut Public ^ Rome, en France, et dans
la Legislation Comparee" (1885); "Les Monnaies
Juives " (1887 ; English transl. by Hill, 1903) ; " Trois
Royaumes de I'Asie Mineure, Cappadoce, Bithynie,
Pont " ( 1888) ; " De Archia Poeta " (1890) ; " Mithridate
Eupator, Roi de Pont" (1890; German transl. 1894);
"Recueii des Inscriptions Juridiques Grecques"
(in collaboration with Dareste and Haussoullier;
1890-1904); the first French translation of Aris-
totle's noXiTeca 'A^yvaluv (1891); a transcription
of the Delphic hymn to Apollo discovered by the
Ecole Frangaise d'Athfines ; " Une Necropole Royale
a Sidon " (1892-96) ; " Pofimes Choisis de Bacchylide "

Keines
Kelaud

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

368

(in collaboration with E.d'Eichthal, 1898): "Textes
d'Auteui's Grecs et Remains Relatifs au Judai'sme "
(1895); a translation and edition (in collaboration
with li. Weil) of Plutarch's "De Musica" (1900);
"L'Histoire par les Monnaies" (1903); "Catalogue
General des Monnaies Grecques de I'Asie Mineure,
Commence par Waddington " (in collaboration with
E. Babelon; 1st vol., 1904).

Eeinach is the editor of a French translation of
the complete works of Josephus, of which three vol-
umes have appeared (1900-4). He is a member of
the committee of the Jewish schools of Paris, and in
1899 was president of the Societe des "Etudes Juives.
He is a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Bibliography : La Grande EncydopedU ; Schwab, Reper-
toire, 1899-1903.
s. J. Ka.

REINES, ISAAC JACOB B. SOLOMON
NAPHTALI : Russian rabbi, and founder of the
"Mizrahi," or Orthodox, branch of the Zionist or-
ganization; a descendant of Saul Wahl; born in
Karlin, government of Minsk, Oct. 37, 1839. His
father, a native of Wilna, who lived several years
in Palestine before Isaac was born, gave his son a
thorough rabbinical education. Isaac made rapid
progress in his Talmudical studies, and devoted part
of his time to the studj' of Hebrew works on logic
and mathematics. He read also the medieval Jewish
philosophers and acquired the Russian and German
languages — an uncommon accomplishment among
Russian rabbis of the older generation.

In 1855 young Reines went to the ye.shibah of
Volozhin, where he remained about two years.
After spending some time in Eisheshok he returned
home (1857). In 1859 he married the daughter of
Joseph Reisen, rabbi of Hordok, settled there, and
continued his studies under the roof of his father-
in-law; and when Reisen became rabbi of Telsh
(1863) Reines removed with him to that city. In
1867 Reines became rabbi of Shukian, and in 1869
he was chosen rabbi of the more important town of
Shwentsian, in the government of Wilna, where he
remained for about sixteen years.

Reines began to attract attention when he devel-
oped in his "Hotem Toknit" (Mayence, 1880; vol.
ii., Presburg, 1881) a new plan for a modernized,
logical method of studying the Talmud. Some of
the ultra-Orthodox condemned his plan as a radical
innovation, and only his great learning and piety
saved him from being openly charged with heresy.
He was one of the rabbis and representative Jews
who assembled in St. Petersburg in 1883 to consider
plans for the improvement of the moral and mate-
rial condition of the Jews of Russia, and there he
proposed the substitution of his method for the one
prevalent in the yeshibot. Plis proposition being
rejected, he founded a new yeshibah in which his
plans were to be carried out. It provided a ten
years' course, during which the stu-
His dent was to acquire the rabbinical

"Hotem knowledge necessary for ordination as

Toknit." rabbi, and at the same time secure the
secular education required in a gov-
ernment rabbi. But although the plan to supply
Russian-speaking rabbis agreed in principle with the
aims of the Russian government, there was so much

Jewish opposition to his yeshibah that it was closed
by the authorities after an existence of four years ;
all further attemijts of Reines to I'eestablish it failed.
In 1885 Reines became rabbi of Lida, government
of Wilna, of which rabbinate he is still the incum-
bent (1905). His next undertaking was the estab-
lishment of a system popularly known as that of the
Kovno'er Perushim, for the purpose of subsidizing
young married men (" perushim ") studying for the
rabbinate outside of yeshibot (see Blaser, Isaac b.
Solomon; "Ozarha-Sifrut,"iii. 31). Later he joined
the Zionist movement, and when, after the fifth
Zionist congress, the Swiss and other students formed
a radical faction and threatened to turn the move-
ment in a direction which would lead away from
religion, Reines founded the Mizrahi branch, now
probably the strongest branch of the Zionist organ-
ization in Russia. His personal influence helped to
give the support of that powerful Orthodox body
to the regular Zionist organization on the question
of the East-African or Uganda project.

Besides the above-mentioned work Reines pub-
lished : notes on the " 'Edut bi-Yehosef " of his
father-in-law (Wilna, 1866); '"Edut be-Ya'akob,"
on testimony (ib. 1873); "Sha'are Orali," on Hag-
gadahand Midrash (ib. 1886); "Orim Gedolim," on
Halakah (ib. 1887); "Nod shel Dema'ot," eulogies
or funeral sermons {ib. 1891); "Or Shib'at ha-
Yamim" (ib. 1896); "Orah we-Simhah" (with a
preface explaining Zionism from the Orthodox point
of view ; ib. 1898) ; " Or Hadash'al Ziyyoh," a refu-
tation of the arguments which are advanced by the
ultra-Orthodox against Zionism (ib. 1903).
Bibliography : Berdyczewski, in Ozar ha-Sifrut, ii. 238-234 ;

Rubinstein, in Jewish Morning Journal, Feb. i and 5, 1904 ;

Solfolov, Sefer ZiKkarim,m. 108-109, Warsaw, 1890; Zeitlin,

Bibl. Post-Mendels. p. 304.

E. 0. P. Wl.

REINES, MOSES : Russian scholar and author ;
born at Lida (where his father, R. Isaac Jacob Reines,
was rabbi) in 1870 ; died there March 7, 1891. Moses
Reines was the author of: " Ruah ha-Zeman," mate-
rial for the history of Jewish culture in Russia (pub-
lished in "Ozar ha-Sifrut," vol. ii.); "NezahYis-
rael," on the persistence of the Jewish people, the
colonization of Palestine, etc. (Cracow, 1890) ; " Ak-
sanyut shel Torah," material for a history of the
yeshibot in Russia (ib. 1890); "Dor wa-Hakamaw,"
part i. , twelve biographies of modern Jewish scholars
(ib. 1890).

Bibliography : Ha-Asif, vi. 143 ; Zeitlin, Bibl. Post-Mendels.
p. 304.

H. R. A. S. W.

BEINOWITZ, JACOB (REB YANKELE) :
Member of the London bet din ; born at Wilkowisk,
Poland, in 1818; died in London May 17, 1893. At
twenty -eight years of age he was appointed rabbi
in his native town, and held the office for thirty
years. In 1876 he accepted the position of preacher
to the Talmud Torah in London ; and, attracting the
attention of Chief Rabbi N. M. Adler by his learn-
ing and labors in the East End, he became a mem-
ber of the London bet din.

" Reb Yankele " is believed to have been the orig-
inal of " Reb Shemuel " in Israel Zangwill's " Chil-
dren of the Ghetto."
Bibliography ; Jew. Chron. and Jeiv. World, May 19, 1803.

J. G. L.

369

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Keines
Eeland

REISCHER, JACOB B. JOSEPH (ealltil also '
Jacob Back) : Austrian rabbi ; born at Prague ; died
at Jlctz Feb. 1733. lie was the sou of II. Joseph,
author of "Gib'ot 'Olara," aud a pupil of R. Simon
Spira of Prague, who gave him iu marriage tlie
(laughter of liis son Benjamin Wolf. Reischer was
(layyan at Prague, wlienee he was called to the
1 aljbiuate of Rzeszow iu Galicia, deriving his name
Iveiseher from that city, which is l<nown as Reische
among the Jews. He was subsequently called to
the rabbinate of Anspach, and then occupied a sim-
ilar position at Worms, from 1713 to 1719, when he
went to Metz, officiating there until his death.

Reischer was the a\ithor of the following works:
"!Minhat Ya'akob" (Prague, 1G89 et seq.), commen-
tary on the "Torat ha-Hattat " of Moses Isserles,
with many refutations and ampliflcatious; "Torat
lia-Shelaniim," commentary on the Yoreh De'ah,
llilkot "Niddah," and
on the " Kontres ha-
Sefekot" of Shabbe-
thai lia-Kohen, with an
appendi.x containing
eighteen responsa on
various subjects (print-
ed as the second part of
the ■' Minhat Ya'akob, "
ib. 1089 f< seq.); "Hok
Ya'akob," commenta
ry on Oral; Ha3ryim,
Hilkot "Pesaii," first
printed with the Shul-
han 'Aruk, Orah Hay-
yim (Des.sau, 1696) ;
"Soletle-Minhah," sup-
plements to the "Min-
hat Ya'akob " and the
"Torat ha-Shelamim,"
first printed with the
" Hok Ya'akob " (ih.
1696); "'lyyun Ya'a
kob" (Wilmersdorf,
1729), commentary on
the "'En Ya'akob";
"Shebut Ya'akob," re-
sponsa and decisions in
three parts; part i.
(Halle, 1709), with the

appendix "Pe'er Ya'akob," containing novelle on
1lie treatises Berakot, Baba Kamma, and Gittin ; part
ii. (Offenbach, 1719), treatises on the rules "miggo"
and "sefek sefeka"; part iii. (Metz, 1789), contain-
ing also his "Lo Hibbit Awen be- Ya'akob," a reply
to the attacks of contemporary rabbis upon his
"Minhat Ya'akob" and "Torat lia-Shelamim."
BiBUOGKAPiiY: Carmoly, In Jost's^)H!o!en, 1840, p. 96; Furst,

BM. JtwLill. 14S-U9: AzuVdUSlismha-OedoUm, s.v. Jacob

Bach; Stelnschnelder, Vnt. Dodl. cols. 1248-135(J ; Fuenn,

Keneset Yisrael, pp. 575-571).

8. J- ■''■ L-

REITLINGER, FREDERICK : French ju-
rist ; born at lehenhausen, Bavaria, June 18, 1836.
He attended the Saint Anna College at Augsburg.
After having pursued Talmudical studies under
Abraham Geiger at Breslau, he studied law at the
universities of Munich and Heidelberg, where he
obtained his degrees. For several years Reitlinger
X.— 24

ideaded in ciiminal cases, aud acquired great re-
nown in Germany.

In 1866 he went to Paris, and, having obtained an
audience with the French emperor, JNapoleon III.,
was requested by him to write a book upon coop-
erative societies. The book was published tliesame
year under the title "Les Societes Cooperatives en
AUemagne et le Projet de Loi Prangais"; and on
account of that work Napoleon granted Reitlinger
what is called the "grande naturalisation," which
may be obtained, after one j'car's residence, in con-
sideration of some important services rendered to
France. Reitlinger established himself as an at-
t(n-ncy in Paris in 18G7, and soon became celebrated
for his remarkable ability. He was chosen by Jules
Favre to be one of his secretaries ; and he .stood in
high esteem with President Grevy. During the
Franco-Prussian war (1870-71) the Government of
National Defense sent

i HllillllliMii H III « I H'lW II HI W III l[ «IIWifWllilll!HlllillillHPIir>''

AdndU Roland.

Rtitlmger as special
d( legate to England
Old Austria; and to
I u]> out this mission
111 h 111 to escape from
1' Ills m a balloon. He
wrote a picturesque
nan itive of his voyage
111 a book entitled " Une
^Iission Diplomatique
( n Octobre, 1870"
(Pans 1899).

Reitlinger was the
hist to make known
in Fiance Schulze-De-
litzsch s system of self-
help, and his above-
cited book upon coop-
ciative societies is still
luthoiitative on that
sub]( ct Reitlinger is
ui ofhcfrof the Legion
ot Honor.
s S. Man.

RELAND, ADRI-
AN Dutch Chris-
ti ui Hebraist and Ori-
ent ilist , born at Ryp,
near Alkmaar, Hol-
land, July 17, 1670; died at Utrecht Feb. 5, 1718.
He became professor at Harderwyk in 1699, but re-
signed his appointment in the same year for the
chair of Oriental languages at Utrecht. He studied
Hebrew and rabbinies at Amsterdam.

Reland'spublicatioiiswere; " AnalectaRabbinica"
(Utrecht, 1702) ; " Disserlationes Quinque de Numniis
Veterum Ilebueorum" (ib. 1709); and an introduc-
tion to Alting's Hebrew grammar, together with an
edition of the Book of Ruth with a rabbinical com-
mentary ((i. 1710). In his miseellaneous collection
of dissertations he dealt with many topics of inter-
est, as the Samaritans, Persian words in the Talmud,
etc. His chief works of Jewish interest, however,
were his " Antiquitates Sacra; Veterum Hebiieorum "
{ih. 1708), which went through no less than five edi-
tiims, and his "Palajstina ex Monumentis Veteribus
Illustrata," which waspubhshed in 1714 at Utrecht.

Aeli^iose Wocheuschrift
Rembrandt

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

370

with eleven maps, and at Nuremberg in 1716. Botli
these worlis were for a long time the standartl au-
thorities on their respective subjects.

Bibliography : Biooraphie Universelle, ; Herzog-Hauck,
lieal-Encyc.
T.. J.

RELIGIOSE "WOCHENSCHRIFT FtfB,
GOTTGLAUBIGE GEMtJTHEB. See Peri

ODICAIiS.

REMAINDERS AND REVERSIONS: In

Anglo-American law the owner of property (espe-
cially of land) may and often does grant or devise it
to one person for years o^ for life, and then to other
persons forever, or consecutively to several persons
for life. The estates or interests thus given to take
effect after the first are known as "remainders " ;
but if tlio grantor or devisor does not exhaust his
entire estate, the interest not disposed of remains in
him and his h(;irs, and this is known as a "rever-
sion." These words are unknown to the Jewish
law ; but the estates or interests which they desig-
nate might arise under it to a limited extent.

It has been shown in the article on Alienation
AN'D Acquisition that "the owner of land may
sell or give it for a term of years [free of rent] or
he may sell or give its produce for a number of
years " ; and the difference between the two forms
of grant has also been shown there. There seems to
be no objection to a gift for life, though a sale of a
life-estate might have been drawn into question, as
a chance bargain. Here then is a reversion remain-
ing in the original owner and his heirs.

Maimonides ("Yad,." Mekirah, xxiii., based on a
short remark [B. B. 148a] in the Talmud), shows
how such an estate may be given also in one or more
fruit-trees, or in a dove-cot (the grantee for years
having the broods), or in a beehive, or in ewes or cows
(the grantee enjoying the fleeces and the lambs or
calves), notwithstanding the objection that this dis-
position of the unborn fledglings, the unmade honey
or wax, etc., looks like the grant of tilings not in
existence, which is contrary to Talmudio principles.

Perhaps the reversiimer under some circum-
stances— e.g., where, having given away only the
produce, he retains some kind of possession — might
sell his reversion ; and it seems that he can always
make a gift thereof " mortis causa " (which is simply
what would in modern law be called a bequest by
will); and in this way there might be created a re-
mainder in fee after the particular estate for life or
for years; but certainly there can be no successive
life-estates, no " remainder for life, " because to create
this tliere must be the grant of something not yet in
existence; and this runs counter to first principles.

w. B. L. N. D.

REMAK (MOSES BEN JACOB CORDO-
VEBO) : Rabbi of Safed and cabalist; hornin 1,')22;
died June 25, 1570. He belonged to a Spanish fam-
ily, probably of Cordova, whence his name "Cor-
dovero." After having studied rabbinical literature
under the guidance of Joseph Caro, Cordovero at
the age of twenty was initiated by his brother-in-law
Solomon Alkabiz into the mysteries of the Cabala,
in which he soon became a recognized authority.
A profound thinker, and well versed in Judseo-
Arabic philosophy, Cordovero devoted his activity

to speculative, strictl}' metaphysical Cabala (nP2p
n'JVy), find kept aloof from the wonder-working or
practical Cabala (n'CVO JT^Zp) which was just then
being propagated at Safed by Isaac Luria, in whose
circle of followers he moved.

In a series of works (see below), the most impor-
tant of which is that entitled "Pardes Riminonim,"
Cordovero endeavored to elucidate all the tenets of
the Cabala, such as the doctrines of the sefirot,
emanation, the divine names, the im-
His port and significance of the alphabet,

System. etc. Quite original is Cordovero's
conception of the Deity set forth by
him in his "Shi'ur Komah." It is surprisingly
identical with that taught later by Spinoza and
there can be no doubt that the Dutch philosopher-
alluded to Cordovero when, in answer to the ques-
tion addressed to him by his friend Oldenburg oa
the origin of his theory, he referred to an old Jew-
ish philosopher ("Epistola," pp. 21, 22). In descri-
bing the relation of God to His creatures CordoverO'
expresses himself in the following terms:

" And the H oly One— blessed be He ! —shines in the ten seOrot
of the world ol emanation, in the ten sefirot of the world of
creation, and in the ten heavenly spheres. In investigating
this subject the reader will find : that we all proceed from Him,
and are comprised in Him ; that our life is Interwoven with
His; that He is the existence of all beings; that the inferior
beings, such as vegetables and animals, which serve us as nour-
ishment, are not outside of Him ; in short, he will discover that
all is one revolving wheel, which ascends and descends— all is
one, and nothing is separated from Him " ("Shi'ur Komah," ch-
xxii.).

But what relation can there be between the infi-
nite, eternal, and necessary being and the corporeal,
compounded world ? Then, again, if nothing exists
outside of God, how is the existence of the universe-
to be explained? Its creation at a certain definite
time presupposes a change of mind on

Relation the part of God ; and this is inadmis-

of Finite sible, for it is not possible to ascribe
and to Him any change or alteration.

Infinite. These problems Cordovero endeavorsi
to solve in the "Pardes Himmonim."
The question how could the finite and corporeal
proceed from God, who is infinite and incorporeal,
is explained by him by the doctrine of concentra-
tion of the divine light, through which the finite,
which has no real existence of itself, appeared
as existent. From the concentration of the divine
light proceeded by a successive emanation the ten
sefirot or the dynamic tools, through which all
change takes place ("Sha'ar 'Azamot we-Kelim,"
iv.). Great development is given in the "Pardes"'
to the question of the divine attributes. CordoverO'
not only adopts the Aristotelian principle that in
God thinker, thinking, and the object thought of
are absolutely united, but he posits an essential dif-
ference between God's mode of thinking and that
of man.

" God's knowledge," says Cordovero, " is different from that,
of the creature, since in the case of. the latter knowledge and
the thing known are distinct, thus leading to subjects which are
again separate from him. This is described by the three ex'-
pressions— cogitation, the cogitator, and the subject of cogltar
tion. Now, the Creator is Himself Knowledge, the Knower, and
the object known. His knowledge does not consist in the fact,
that He directs His thoughts to things without Him, since in
comprehending and knowing Himself He comprehends and
knows everything that exists. There is nothing which is nol;

371

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beligiose Wochenschrift
Bembraudt

united to Him, and which He does not And in His own sub-
stiince. He is the archetype of all exlstlnff things, and all things
are in Him in their purest and most perfect form ; so that the
perfection of the creatures consists in the support whereby they
are united to the primary source of His existence, and they sink
down and fall from that perfect and lofty position in proportion
to their separation from Him " (" Pardes Rimmonim," 55a).

The "'Pardes Rimmonim " consists of tliirteen
gates or sections, subdivided into cliapters. It was
first published at Cracow in 1591. A resume of it
was published, under the title "'Asis Rimmonim,"
by Samuel Gallico; and commentaries on some
parts of it were written by Mcnahem A^.ariah da
Fano, Mordecai Prszybram, and Isaiah Horowitz.
The original worlc was partly translated into Latin
by Bartolocci ("Biblia Rabbinica," iv. 331 eiseq.), by
Joseph Ciantes (in " De Sanctissima Trinitate Con-
tra Juda^os," Rome, 1664), by Athanasius Kircher
(Rome, 1652-54), and by Knorr von Roscnroth (in
"Kabbala Denudata," Sulzbach, 1677).

Otlier works of Cordovero are : " OrNe'erab " (Ven-
ice, 1587; Cracow, 1647; Plirth, 1710), an introduc-
tion to the Cabala; "SeferGerushin" (Venice, 1543),
cabalistic reflections and comments on ninety-nine
passages of the Bible ; " Tomer Deborah " (Venice,
1588), an ethical treatise; "Zibhe Shelamim " (Lub-
lin, 1613), cabalistic commentary on the prayers for
Rosh ha-Shanah and the " 'Abodah " of the Day of
Atonement; "Tikkun Keri'at Sheraa' " (Prague,
1615), on the Shema' ; " Tikkun Lei Shebu'ot we-Ho-
sha'na Rabbah" (n.d.), prayers for the nights of Pen-
tecost and HosHA'N.A. Rabbati; " Perush ha-Teflllah "
(n.d., n.p.), cabalistic commentary on the prayers.

The unpublished works of Cordovero are : " Eli-
mah Rabba"; "Shi'ur Komah" (MS. Benzion, No.
18) ; " Sefer Or Yakar " ; " Perush Sefer Yezirah " ;
"Perush 'al Megillat Ekah " ; "Perush 'al ha-
Torah"; "Perush 'al Shir ha-Shirim " ; "Be-Saba
Ta'ama"; " Henezu ha-Rimmonim " ; "Mebakkesh
Adonai"; and "Tetillah le-Mosheh."

Bibliography: De Rossi, XXzionario (German transl.), p. 87;
Fiirst, Bihl. Jud. i. 187; Steinschneider, Cat. Bod,!, col. 1793;
Glnsburg, Tfte Kalihalah, p. 132; Finn, Sephardi.m. p. 307;
Undo, The Jewx in Spain, p. 359 ; Jost, Gesch. des Juden-
thurm und Seiner Selden, lii. 137 et sea.; Gratz, Gesch. ix.
iU; Zunz, Z. G. p. 294; idem. Die Munalstaue, p. 35;
David Kahana, in Ha-Shiloah, 1897, p. 90.

.J. I. Br.

REMAK, ERNST JULIUS : German physi-
cian; born at Berlin May 36, 1849; son of Robert
Remak. He received his education at the univer-
sities of Breslau, Berlin, Wlirzburg, Strasburg, and
Heidelberg, and obtained the degree of M.D. in 1870 ;
he took part in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.
After serving as assistant in the department for
nervous diseases at the Charite Hospital, Berlin,
from 1873 to 1875 he established himself as a neu-
ropath in the German capital, where Jie becatne
privat-docent in 1877, and professor in 1893.'

Remak has contributed more than fifty essays
to the professional journals, and is the author pf:
"Grundriss der Elektrodiagnostik und Elektrothe-
rapie f iir Praktische Aerzte," Vienna, 1895; "Neuri-
tis und Polyneuritis," in Nothnagel's "Handbuch
der Speziellen Pathologie und Therapie," iJ. 1900.

Bibliography: Pagel, Bing. Lex.
s.

1865. He studied medicine at the University of
Berlin, graduated in 1838, and settled in the Prus-
sian capital. From 1843 he was assistant at the
pathological department of the university, and in
1847 received the "venia legendi" from his alma
mater. He was the first Jewish privat-docent in
Prussia. In 1859 ho became assistant professor.

Remak contributed several important works to
medical science, especially on the construction of
nerve-tissue and on the treatment of its diseases.
Among his many essa3'S on this subject may be
mentioned: "Vorlaufige Mittlieilung Mikrosko-
pischer Beobachtungen ilber den Inneren Bau der
Cerebrospinalnerveu," in Muller's " Archiv," 1836;
"Ueber die Zweitelhafto Phmmerbewegung an den
Nerven," ib. 1841; "Ueber den Inhalt der Nerven-
primitivrOhre," i/>. 1845; "Ueber Bxtracellulare
Entstehung Thierischer Zellen und uber die Ver-
mehrung Derselben Dureh Theilung," ib. 1853;
" Ueber Methodische Elektrisirung Gelahmter Mus-
keln," Berlin, 1855; " Galvanotherapie der Nerven-
und Muskelkrankheiten," ib. 1858 (translated into
French by Morpain, 1860) ; " Ueber die Embryo-
logische Grundlage der Zellenlehre," in MUller'a
"Archiv," 1863.

Bibliography : Pagel, Blog. Lex.
s.

F. T. H.

REMAK, ROBERT : German physician ; born
at Posen July 36, 1815; died at Kissingen Aug. 39,

REMBRANDT (REMBRANDT HAR-
MENSZOON VAN RYN) : Dutch painter; born
at Leyden July 15, 1606 or 1607 ; died at Amsterdam
Oct. 8, 1669. He was a contemporary of Manasseh
ben Israel, with whom he was on terms of intimate
friendship and whose portrait he painted in 1645
and etched in 1654. In 1655 he etched four small
illustrations for Manas-
seh's " Piedro Gloriosa o de
la Estatua de Nebuchad-
nezzar" (Amsterdam,
1655). The plates, which
are jDreserved in the Brit-
ish Museum, represent
Nebuchadnezzar's dream,
the visions of Ezekiel, Ja-
cob's dream, and the com-
bat between David and
Goliath.

For a long time Rem-
brandt lived in Breedstraat
in Amsterdam, near the
Jewish quarter ; and there
he collected the types and
models which he used for
his , paintings of Biblical
subjects and of the Jewish
life of his time. As the
earliest existing portraits of Jews and as the work
of one of the greatest portrait-painters of all time
they are both artistically and anthropologically im-
portant. Following is a list of Rembrandt's works
of Jewish interest, with the dates (approximate or
actual) of the paintings and the galleries or collec-
tions in which they are to be found (the works are
enumerated in Biblical-historical sequence) :

Old Testament anp Apocryphal Subjects.
(1) Abraham Entertaining the Angels (1636). St. Petersburg,
Hermitage. (2) Abraham Receiving the Angels (1638), Vienna,

Jewish Beggar.

(From an etching by Rembrandt.)

1635 : Charles T. Vli kub' Collection, New Yorli.

Iti4ti ; pLuyal Ciallery, Berlin.

1643-45 : The Hermitat^e, St. Petersburg.

163,>-36: Buckingham Palace, London.

Portraits of Sevknteentii-Century Jews by Rembrandt.

(Reproduced by permlaaion from Bodt, " The Complete Works of Rembrandt." Cop\ richt by Charles Sedeluieyer, PnrU.)

1057 ; National Galk^ry, London,

16ao : Duke ol Devon^hirB's Collection, Chatawortti.

163o: Hampton Court Palace.

lUiil: Iluduir Kalni's Collectiou, Paris.

Portraits of Setenteenth-Oentuet Jews by Rembrandt.

(Reproduced by permissiuD from Bode, " The Complete Works of Rembrandt." Copyright by Cliarlca Sedelmeyer, Parte.)

Rembrandt
Remnant of Israel

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

374

Sehr)Qb(irn-BuL'hIieim (iallery. (o) The Disniissal of Hagar
(lfj4(l), London, Victoria and Albert Museum. (4) Ttie Dismissal
of Hagar (11)50), England, Earl of Denbigh's collection, Newn-
ham Paddox. (o) Abraham's Sacrillce (1035), St. Petersburg,
Hermitage, (fi) Abraham's SacriBoe (163ti), Munich, Pinaco-
thek. (7) Rebeliah and Eliezer (1634), Vienna, Schonborn-
Buchheim Gallery. (8) Isaac Blessing Jacob (1036), England,
Earl of Brownlow's collection, Helton House, Grantham. (9)
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1627), Berlin, Royal Gallery.
(Ill) Jacob Seeing Jotseph's Bloody Coat (16.5(1), London, Earl ot
Derliy's collection. (U) Joseph's Two Brothers Showing the
Bloody Coat to Jacob (1650) , St. Petersburg, Hermitage. (12) Jo-
seph's Dream (1(333), Amsterdatn, six collection. (13) Joseph
Accused by Potiphar's Wife ( 1 6;>t) . (14) Joseph Accused by Poti-
phar's Wife (165o),St. Petersburg, Hermitage. (15) Joseph Ac-
cused by Potiphar's Wile (ia53), Berlin, Royal Gallery. (16) Jacob
Blessing the Sons of Joseph (16561, Cassel, Museum. (17) The
Finding of Moses (1635), Philadelphia, John G. Johnson's col-
lection. (18) Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law (1659),
Berlin, Royal Gallery. (19) Samson's Wedding (1638), Dresden,
Royal Gallery. (20) Samson and Delilah (IffiiO), Cassel, Mu-
seum. (2l)8anisMn Threatening His Fa(her-ln-Law (1630), Ber-

ing His Father'sSight (1636), Brussels, Due d'Aremberg's collec-
tion. (43) The Angel Raphael and Tobias (1637), Pans, Louvre.

Subjects from Jewish Life (in Cukonological Sequence).

(44) Portrait of a Young Jew (1632), Vanas, Sweden, Count
AVachtmeister's collection. (45) Suppliant Before a Priest (1634),
France, Bonnat Museum, Bayonne. (46) Rabbi with a White
Turban (1(J35), England, Duke ot Devonshire's collection. Chats-
worth. (47) Rabbi in High Turban(lKij), London, Earl of Derby's
collection, Derby House. (48) Rabbi in Fur Cloak (1635), London,
King ot England, Buckingham Palace. (49) Rabbi in a Wide
Cap (1635), New York, Charles T. Yerkes' collection. (.50) liahbl
with a Flat Cap (1635), England, Royal Gallery, Hampton t^ourt
Palace. (51) Rabbi in a Broad Cap (1643), Paris, John Poige's
collection. (52) Rabbi at a Study-Table (1642), Budapest, Na-
tional Gallery. (.53) Head ot Elderly Jew in Small Cap (1643),
St. Petersburg, Hermitage. (34) Babbi Seated, with Stick ju
Hand (1645), St. Petersburg, Hermitage. (.55) Rabbi Se:ite(],
with a Gold Chain and Broad-Brimmed Cap (1645), Berlin, Itnyal
Gallery. (56) Rabbi Seated, with Cane and Gold Chain (1645),
Dresden, Royal (Jallery. (57) Head of a Jew with Scanty Brown
Beard and a Dark Ciiii (1045), London, Cnrl of Ellcsinerc's col-

iNTEUioi; OF A Synagogue at Am.stehdam.

(Fr..m an etcliing by Rembranilt.)

lin. Royal Gallery. (23) Samson Captured by the Philistines
(162.S), Berlin, Emperor of Germany's collection. (33) The
Blinding of Samson (1635), Vienna, Schonborn-Buchheiin Gal-
lery. (34) The Sacriflce of Maiinaji (1(141), Dresden, Royal (ial-
lery. (35) David Playing the Harp Before Saul (1630), Frank-
fort-on-the-Main, Stiidel Institut. (26) David Playing the Harp
Before Saul (1665), The Hague, A. Bredius' collection. (27) The
Reconciliation Between David and Absalom (1642), St. Peters-
burg, Hermitage. (28) Bath-sheba at the Bath (10.54), Paris,
Louvre. (29) Bath-sheba After the Bath (1643), The Hague,
Baron Steengracht van DinveiiwoorOr:'"s collection. (30) Ahasu-
eriis and Haman at Esther's F'cast (1611(1), Moscow, Ruiniantzon'
Jloseuiii. (31) Haman Begging for Mercy Before E.sther (1065),
Bucharest, King of Rumania's collection. (33) Fall of Haman
(1(J65), St. Petersburg, Hermitage. (33) Jeremiah Mourning the
Destruction of Jerusalem (1630), St. Petersburg, Count Sergei
Stroganoil's collection. (34) Feast ot Belshazzar (1034), England,
Earl of Derby's collection, Knowsley House. (35) Daniel's Dream
(16.5U), Berlin, Royal Gallery. (.36) Susanna at the Bath (1647),
Paris, Louvre. (37)Susannaatthe Bath (1637), The Hague, Royal
(iallery. (38) Susanna and the Elders (1047), Berlin, Royal Gal-
lery. (39) The Head ot Susanna (1047), Paris, Leon Bonnafs
collection. (40) Tobit and His Wife (16.50), England, Sir Fred-
erick Cook's collection, Richmond. (41) Tobit Discovers His
Wife's Theft (10451, Berlin, Royal Gallery. (42) Tobias Restor-

lection, Bridgewaterhouse. (58) Head of Elderly Jew in a Fur
Cap (1045), Paris, Louvre. (.59) Bust ot a Bearded Jew (1646),
England, Earl Cowper's collection, Panshanger. (60) Head ot
a Young Jew in Skull-Cap (1040), Berlin, Royal Gallery. (01)
J ewi.sh Doctor (Ephraim Hezekiah Bueno; see Jew. Encvc.
lii. 432). (Ii3) Head of a Young Jew with a Red Beard (10.55),
Philadelphia, John G. Johnson's collection. (03) Rabbi with
Black Beard (16.37), Londim, National Gallery. (64) Blind Jew
(10.57), Amsterdam, Royal Gallery. ((i5) Young Rabbi with
Black Skull-Cap (1061), Paris, Rudolf Kahn's collection.

Tlie following subjects painted liy I'cmbnindt
are known only in engravings:

(00) Jewish Merchant. (67) Jewish Priest, engraved by Van
Bergim. (08) Rabbi, engraved by G. F. Schmidt, Reedel, and
Wright. (00) Rabbi, engraved by w. Baillie. (70) Rablii, en-
graved by Cooper, in the collection ot the Duke ot Buckingham.
(71) Manasseh ben Israel at the Age ot Thirty-five, painted in
164.5, engiaved by J. G. Hertel. (73) Jewish Merchant (a copy
of that in St. Petersburg), the so-called " Manasseh ben Israel "
in the Si'hleissheim Gallery, engraved by Kellerhoven. (73) Jew
(mezzotint), engraved by J. Stolker. (74) Abraham. (75) Lot.
(76) Jacob. (77 and 78) Elisha.

Well known, also, is a picture called the "Jewish

375

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kembrandt
Bemuant of Israel

Bride," in the Rijksmuseum at Amslerdam, Hol-
land; but tills woi-k does not sliow any Jewish
characteristics, and has received its popular name
■without reason. Another picture {also called by
the same title), in the Lichtonstein collection at Vi-
enna, is generally accepted as a portrait of Rem-
brandt's sister (1632). A portrait of Rembrandt's
father, entitled "Philo, the Jew," is in the Ferdi-
nandeum at Innsbruck (1630).

BtBi.iOGEAPHY: Graetz, Hint. v. 38-39; Adler, A Homage to
Menasseh hen Imasl, in Transactimts of the Jewixh His-
torical S<tciety tif Eiiijhmd, 1893-94 ; Kayserling, Menaase
lien Israel : Sein Lehen und Wirken, in Jahrhuch filrdie
Gescli. der Juden und dcs Judenthums, ii. 105, Lelpsic, 1881 ;
Idem, Bihl. Esp.-Port.-Jud. p. 70, s.v. Menaaseh hen Israel ;
Bode, Studien zur Oesch. der Holliindischen Malerel,
Brunswick, 1883 ; idem. The Complete Worlss of Remhrandt,
I'aris, 189B; Rovinskl, i'CEuiire 6i-ave de Remhrandt, St.
Petersburg, 1900 ; Ciielopedia of Painters and Paintings,
New Yorls, 1892 ; Lucien Wolf, Menasseh hen IsraeVs Mission
to Oliver Cromwell, London, 1901 (in which both of Rem-
brandt's pictures ol Mauasseh are reproduced) .
D. F. T. H.

REMENYI, EDTJAE.D : Hungarian violinist ;
born in Eged, Hungary, 1830; died at New York,
May 15, 1898. He studied under Bohm at the
Vienna Conservatorium from 1843 to 1845. Ban-
ished from Austria for participation in the Hun-
garian Revolution of 1848, he went to the United
States, -where for five years he led the life of an
itinerant player. After his return to Europe in
1858 he sojourned for a time at Weimar, where he
received the benefit of Liszt's instruction. In 1854
he became solo violinist to Queen Victoria. He ob-
tained his amnesty in 1860 and returned to Hungary,
being soon afterward appointed soloist to the em-
peror Francis Joseph. In 1865 he made a brilliant
tour through France, Germany, Belgium, and Hol-
land. From 1871 to 1877 he was in Paris, whence
two years later ho proceeded to London and then
to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. A
concert tour round the world was undertaken by
him in 1886, in the course of which he visited Japan,
China, Cochin-China, and the Cape of Good Hope.

Remenyi made numerous transcriptions of piano-
forte pieces, such as Chopin's waltzes, polonaises,
and mazurkas, and pieces by Bach, Schubert, and
others, all of which were published under the title of
"Nouvelle Ecole du Violon." His best original
composition is his violin concerto.

BinLioREAPHY : Baker, Biop. Diet, of Musicians ; Eiemann,
Musik-Lexikon ; Pallas Lexicon.
s. J. So.

REMNANT OF ISRAEL ("she'erit Yisrael"
or "she'ar"): Concept of frequent occurrence in the
utterances of the Prophets, and closely interwoven
in their peculiar construction of Israel's history and
destiny. The idea is indicated in the name of Isa-
iah's son Shear-jashub (Isa. vii. 3). Israel, steeped
in sin and disloyal to Ynwii, will be severely chas-
tised. The hostile nations, indeed, are the execu-
tioners of a deep, divine plan (comp. Isa. x. 5).
Many, even the greater part, of Israel will fall or be

carried away. The remnant will bo

View saved and will return (Isa. x. 20, 21).

of Isaiah. In Isaiah's faith the impregnability of

Jerusalem and the indestructibility of
Israel are unshakable and fundamental elements.
His doctrine of the remnant is, in (he main.

centered in them (Isa. x. £3, where the better read-
ing would be IDJJ mn' DK; for if, or since, "Yiiwii
is with thee, O Israel," as the sand by the sea will
be Shear-jashub, the remnant that will repent and
be saved). This remnant will no longer rely upon
alliances with the surrounding nations, but upon
Yhwii (Isa. X. 20).

The process by which this remnant is separated is
likened to the gathering of grapes or the shaking of
an olive-tree, the result being that some of the fruit
is left. But though those who survive will be few
in number, they shall be "called holy" (Isa. iv. 3,
xvii. 6).

Isaiah's contemporary Micah (if the passages
really belong to him; they have the appearance of
being the utterances of later .ipocalyptic seers) pro-
claims the same doctrine. Exiled Israel will still
have a remnant free to influence, for good or evil,
its surroundings , and this remnant will be gathered
again (Micah ii. 13, v. 6, 7).

Zephaniah (during the reign of Josiah) apparently
Identifies this renuiant with the "meek " of the land.
It has found a refuge and lueans of escape on the
great and terrible day of judgment, and to it is
promised the rulership of the Philistine coast-dis-
tricts (Zeph. ii. 3, 7). This remnant " of the house of
Judah" will be visited by Yiiwii, and their captiv-
ity will return. This " remnant of Yn wii's people "
will also despoil discomfited Amnion and Moab.
In Zeph. ii. 9 this "she'erit" interchanges with
" jetcr goy " in the second half. In the third chap-
ter of Zephaniah, which, however, bears every in-
dication of being post-exilic, the remnant of Israel,
"a poor and needy people" (Hebr.), is described as
not committing iniquity, as speaking only the truth,
and as living in blissful pastoral peace and security.

Jeremiah makes most elaborate use of the theory.
The prophet foresees that Judah is doomed to cap-
tivity ; but he is equally certain that a remnant will
survive. This remnant will have to endure much.
It will be gleaned as thoroughly as

Applica- a vine (Jer. vi. 9). It is described

tion by as "the remnant of my flock," and
Jeremiah, is promised restoration and increase
(Jer. xxiii. 3). This remnant is the
subject of a most fervent, but jubilant, prayer for
succor (Jer. xxxi. 7). The remnant is the people of
God (ib.). Jeremiah employs the plirase also in the
sense of "those that escaped deportation " (Jer. xlii.
15, 19).

Ezekiel is moved by the signs of destruction to
ask whether "the remnant" of Israel will not be
spared (Ezek. ix. 8. xi. 13). The context shows
that for Ezekiel the phrase has the value of a tech-
nical term connoting the congregation of Israel, the
exiles ; and in Haggai it has the same force, denoting
the common people, the congregation, as distinct
from the princes and priests (Hag. i. 13, ii. 3).

This congregation, or remnant, of Israel, accord-
ing to the critical school, is identical with the loyal
Hasidim (the "meek," the "poor") so often referred
to in the Psalms, the martyrs during the Maccabeau
rebellion, the "servants of Yiiwii," who, when the
Maccabean princes proved false, remained true to
their God. Many of the passages attributed to
Isaiah, Zephaniah, and Micah are assigned by the

Benan
Bepentance

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

376

critics to unknown writers of post-exilic and Macca-
bean times (comp. Duhm," "Jesaia," 2d ed., p. 75,
GOttingen, 1902).

The phrase "remnant of Israel" ("she'erit Yis-
rael ") has come to be a favorite name for Jewisli
congregations, as in the case of the oldest congre-
gation in New York.

J. E. G. H.

KENAN, JOSEPH ERNEST (commonly
known as Ernest Renan) : French Semitic scholar
and thinker ; born at Treguier Feb. 23, 1833 ; died
at Paris Oct. 2, 1892. Destined for the priesthood,
he felt in 1842, after the study of German philos-
ophy and Semitic philology, that he was no longer
able to continue his training for that office. His
" Histoire Generale des Langues Semitiques," pub-
lished in 1855, founded his reputation as an Orien-
talist, and especially attracted attention by his view
that the Semitic peoples have a natural bent toward
monotheism. A voyage to Syria (1861), undertaken
for scientific purposes, prepared the way for his
" Vie de Jesus " (1863), in which, almost for the first
time, a purely historical treatment was applied to
the subject. This led to his suspension and final
rejection from his professorship of Hebrew in the
Coll6ge de France, in which he was succeeded hy S.
Munk.

Kenan's "Vie de Jesus" was the first volume of a
history of Christianity down to the time of Marcus
Aurelius, which occupied his attention up to 1878.
He had in the meantime been restored (1870) by the
republic to his Hebrew professorship, and he de-
voted himself for the rest of his life to a history of
the people of Israel in five volumes, the last two,
published posthumously, bringing it down to the
common era and thus connecting it with his other
series. In his history he adopted Ewald's views of
the sources of the Pentateuch, and regarded the
Prophets somewhat as sublime socialists. In addi-
tion, Renan published translations of Job (1859),
Canticles (1860). and Ecclesiastes (1882). His " Mis-
sion de Phenicie " (1874) is a valuable contribution
to the history of Phenician civilization ; and he was
practically the founder of the "Corpus Inscrip-
tionum Semiticarum," for which he edited the first
volume, on Phenician inscriptions. Further, he
edited the sections on the French rabbis contributed
to the "Histoire Litteraire de la France" (vols,
xxviii., xxxi.)by A. Neubauer, and made use of the
latter's Talmudic knowledge both in his "Vie de
Jesus " and in the subsequent volumes of his his-
tory, being the first savant to do so. In 1883 Renan
delivered in Paris two discourses, on " Le Judaisme
Comme Race et Comme Religion " and "Le Juda-
isme ct le Christianisme " respectively ; he contrib-
uted also to the "Revue des Etudes Juives."

BIBLIOGRAPHT : J. Jacobs, In ^cn<J«mi/, Oct. 5,1893; M.Darm-
steter. Life nf Ernest Benan, London, 1896 ; Levy, La Syna-
gnque et M. Benan (a reply to tbe Viti de Jesus), Luneville,
1863.
T. J.

RENT; REPAIRS. See Landlord and
Tenant.

REPENTANCE (Hebr. "teshubah"): The
noun occurs only in post-Biblical literature, but it is

derived from the vocabulary of the Bible. Maimon-
ides' dictum, "All the prophets preach repentance"
("Yad," Teshubah, vii. 5), echoes the opinion of
Talmudic authority (Ber. 34b).— Biblical Data : In
Biblical as well as post-BibUcal literature repentance
is postulated as the indispensable condition on
which the salvation and redemption of the people
of Israel, as well as of every individual man, de-
pend (Gen. iv. 7; Lev. iv., v. ; Deut. iv. 30, xxx. 2;
I Kings viii. 33, 48; Hoseaxiv. 2; Jer. iii. 12, xxxi.
18, xxxvi. 3; Ezek. xviii. 30-33; Isa. liv. 23, Iv.
6-10; Joel ii. 13; Jonah ii. 10).

The full meaning of repentance, according to Jew-
ish doctrine, is clearly indicated in the term "teshu-
bah " (lit. " return " ; from the verb
Scope and y\fi>)- This implies: (1) All transgres-
Eunction. sion and sin are the natural and inevi-
table consequence of man's straying
from God and His laws (comp. Deut. xi. 26-38; Isa.
i. 4; Jer. ii. 13, xvi. 11; Ezek. xviii. 30). (3) It is
man's destiny, and therefore his. duty, to be with
God as God is with him. (3) It is within the power
of every man to redeem himself from sin by reso-
lutely breaking away from it and turning to God,
whose loving-kindness is ever extended to the re-
turning sinner. " Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his tJioughts: and let him
return unto the Lord, and ho will have mercy upon
him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly par-
don" (Isa. Iv. 7; comp. Jer. iii. 13; Ezek. xviii. 32;
Joel ii. 13). (4) Because " there is not a just man
upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not " (Eccl.
vii. 20; I Kings viii. 46), every mortal stands in
need of this insistence on his "return" to God.

The Mosaic legislation distinguishes between of-
fenses against God and offenses against man. In
the first case the manifestation of re-
Manifesta- pentance consists in : (1) Confession of
tions of one's sin before God (Lev. v. 5 ; Num.
Re- V. 7), the essential part of which, ac-

pentance. cording to rabbinical interpretation
(Yoma 87b; Maimonides, I.e. i. 1), is
the solemn promise and firm resolve not to commit
the same sin again. (2) The offering of the legally
prescribed sacrifice (Lev. v. 1-30). Offenses against
man require, in addition to confession and sacrifice,
restitution in full of whatever has been wrongfully
obtained or withheld from one's fellow man, with
one-fifth of its value added thereto (Lev. v. 20-26).
If the wronged man has died, restitution must be
made to his heir; if he has no heir, it must be given
to the priest who officiates at the sacrifice made for
the remission of the sin (Num. v. 7-9).

Other manifestations of repentance mentioned in
the Bible are: pouring out water (I Sam. vii. 6; ac-
cording to the Targum symbolizing the pouring out
of one's heart before God; comp. Yer. Ta'an. 68d;
Midr. Teh. cxix. ; Lam. ii. 19); prayer (II Sam. xii.
16); self-affliction, as fasting, tearing the upper gar-
ment, and wearing sackcloth ; sitting and sleeping
on the ground (I Kings xxi. 27; Joel ii. 13; Jonah
iii. 5; Neh. ix. 1). 'The Prophets disparaged all
such outer manifestations of repentance, insisting
rather on a complete change of the sinner's mental
and spiritual attitude. They demanded a regenera-
tion of the heart, i.e., a determined turning from sin

377

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Benan
Sepentance

and returning to God by striving after righteousness.
" 0 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for tliou
hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words,

and return unto the Lord : say unto

Prophetic him, Take away all iniquity, and ac-

Con- cept us graciously : so will we render

ception. as bullocks the offerings of our

lips" (Hos. xiv. 1-3, Hebr.). "Rend
your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto
the Lord your God : for he is gracious and full of
compassion, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy,
and repenteth him of the evil" (Joel ii. 13, E. V.).
" Cast away from you all your transgressions where-
by ye have transgressed ; and make you a new heart
and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of
Israel?" (Ezek. xviii. 31; comp. Ps. li. and Jer.
xxiv. 7).

B,a1}biiiical View : All that the Bible teaches

of repentance has been greatly amplified in rabbin-
ical literature. Repentance is of paramount im-
portance to the existence of this world, so that it was
one of the seven provisions which God made before
the Creation (Pes. 54a ; Ned. 39b ; Gen. R. 1.). " The
Holy One, blessed be His name, said to Elijah, 'Be-
hold, the precious gift which I have bestowed on
my world : though a man sinneth again and again,
but returneth in penitence, I will receive him' ".
(Yer. Sanh. 28b). "Great is repentance: it brings
healing into the world " ; " it reaches to the throne
of God" (comp. Hos. xiv. 2, 5); "it brings redemp-
tion" (comp. Isa. lix. 20); "it prolongs man's life"
(comp. Ezek. xviii. 21; Yoma 86a, b). "Repent-
ance and works of charity are man's intercessors
before God's throne" (Shab. 82a). Sincere repent-
ance is equivalent to the rebuilding of the Temple,
the restoration of the altar, and the offering of all
the sacrifices (Pesik., ed. Ruber, xxv. 158; Lev. R.
vii. ; Sanh. 43b). Sincere repentance is manifested
when the same temptation to sin, imder the same
conditions, is ever after resolutely resisted (Yoma
86b ; " Yad, " Teshubah, ii. 1-2). " He that confesses
his sin and still clings to it is likened to a man that
holds in his hand a defiling object; though he bath-
eth in all the waters of the world he is not cleansed ;
but the moment he casteth the defiling object from
him a single bath will cleanse him, as it is said
(Prov. xxviii. 18) : ' Whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them [his sins] shall have mercy'" (Ta'an. 16a;
"Yad," I.e. ii. 3).

Repentance is the prerequisite of all atonement
(Yoma viii. 8 ; " Yad," I.e. i. 1). The Day of Atone-
ment derives its great significance only from the
fact that it is the culmination of the ten penitential

days with which the Jewish religious

Pre- year begins; and therefore it is of no

requisite avail without repentance (Yoma viii.

of Atone- 8 ; Sifra, Emor, xiv.). Though man

ment. ought to be penitent every day (Ab.

ii. 10; Shab. 153a), the first ten days
of every year are the acceptable time announced by
the prophet (Isa. Iv. 6): "Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near "
(R. H. 18a; "Yad," I.e. li. 6). Repentance and the
Day of Atonement absolve from sins against God ;
from sins against our fellow man they absolve only
when restitution has been made and the pardon of

the offended party has been obtained (Yoma 87a;
"Yad," I.e. li. 9).

No man need despair on account of his sins, for
every penitent sinner is graciously received by his
heavenly Father and forgiven. "The Holy One,
blessed be His name, said to Jeremiah : ' Go, tell
Israel that they return.' Jeremiah told them. Said
Israel : ' With what countenance shall we come be-
fore God? Are not these hills and mountains, on
which we served other gods, standing there? We
are overwhelmed with shame.' Jeremiah brought
back to God what they had said. Again God said
to Jeremiah : ' Go, tell them, if ye return to me, do
ye not return to your Father in heaven? As it is
said, " For I am a father to Israel, and Bphraim is
my first-born "'" (Jer. xxxi. 9; Pesik., ed. Buber,
xxv. 165). Nor is it ever too late, even on the
day of death, to return to God with sincere repent-
ance (Kid. 40b; "Yad," I.e. ii. 1), for "as the sea is
always open for every one who wishes to cleanse
himself, so are the gates of repentance always open
to the sinner" (Pesi^., ed. Buber, xxv. 157; Deut.
R. ii. ; Midr. Teh. Ixiii.), and the hand of God is
continually stretched out to receive him (Pes. 119a ;
Deut. R. ii.). Nay, the repentant sinner attains a
more exalted spiritual eminence than he who has
never sinned (Ber. 34b; "Yad," I.e. vii. 4). It is
therefore a grievous sin to taunt the repentant sin-
ner by recalling his former sinful ways (B. M. 58b ;
"Yad," i.e. vii. 8).

BiBLiOGRAPnT : Malmonides, Yad, Teshubah ; Hamburger,
B. B. T. i. 201, ii. 96 ; Bacher, Ag. Index, s.i). Busse (Rana) .
K. M. SCHL.

In Biblical Hebrew the idea of repentance is rep-
resented by two verbs — "shub" (to return) and
"niham" (to feel sorrow; comp. Job xlii. 6, "I . . .
repent in dust and ashes," and Joel ii. 14, "he will
return and repent ") — but by no substantive. The
underlying idea has been adequately expressed in
Greek by /ierdvoia, a word which denotes " change of
mind and heart." The idea, however, is peculiarly
Jewish, so much so that its ethical force is lost in
the Christian dogma of the atoning Christ (see the
note of Franz Delitzsch quoted by Montefiore in "J.
Q. R." xvi. 212). In fact, where Paulinism speaks of
a " saving grace " of God through Christ (see Saul
OF Tabstjs), Judaism emphasizes the redeeming
power of teshubah, which is nothing else than man's

self-redemption from the thraldom of

Power of sin. Wisdom says, "Evil pursueth

Teshubah. sinners" (Prov. xiii. 21); Prophecy

says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall
die " (Ezek. xviii. 20) ; but the Holy One, blessed be
He, says, "Let the sinner repent and he will be par-
doned" (Yer. Mak. ii. 31d; Pesik. 158a).

The entire history of mankind is accordingly
viewed by the Rabbis in the light of repentance.
" God waits for every sinner, be he as wicked as
Pharaoh, until he repents" (Ex. R. ix. 9, xii. 1); He
waits also for the heathen nations (Cant. R. v. 16 ;
Weber's " Jildische Theologie " [p. 67] misrepresents
the facts). God waited before He destroyed the
generation of the Flood, the generation of the build-
ers of the Tower of Babel, the men of Sodom, and the
Egyptians, giving them time to repent (Mek., Beshal-
lab, Shirah, 5; Gen. R. xxxii. 10, xxxviii. 13, xlix. 10-

Sepeutance
Kepresentatlve Themes

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

378

11 ; Wisdom xii. 10-20). So God sent Abraham to
lead the lieatheu world to repcntaBce (Gen. R. xxx.
5): and the Messiah, according to one rabbi, is called
"Hadrak" because he shall lead all mankind to re-
pent of their sins before God (Cant. vii. 5, with
reference to Zech. ix. 1).

" All the prophets were preachers of repentance ''
(comp. Jer. iv. 1 ; Isa. Iv. 6), " but Hosea was most
emphatic and persuasive" (Pesik. K. 44). Noah
preached repentance to the generation of the Flood
(Sanh. 108a), and in I he Sibyllines (i. 125-281) he is
especially represented as "the preacher of repent-
ance " (K'/piif fierdvoia;) to the corrupt lieathen world.
Possibl}' the Greek and the Latin versions of Ben Sira
(xli V. 16) have preserved the original form. " Enoch
was a teacher of repentance to the

Preachers heathen " (comp. Wisdom iv. 10), al-
of Re- though Philo ("De Abrahamo," § 3)

pentance. speaks of him as "a type of repent-
ant sinner who changed -from a w.orse
to a better mode of life" (comp. Gen. R. xxv.). A
similar tradition, preserved only in Christianized and
Mdhammedanized forms (Vita Ad* et Evk, ii. 15-
22; Koran, surali vii. 57-76), regarded all the pred-
ecessors and successors of Noah as preachers of
repentance to their generations. Mfises also preached
repentance, promising the people redemption upon
the condition that they would repent (Philo, "De
Execrationibns," §§8-9; Pesik. 11. 44, with reference
to Dent, xxx. 2-3; comp. Lekah Tob ad loc).

All the great sinners in the Bible are presented in
the Haggadah as types of repentancfi. Not Adam,
who tried to cover his transgressions
Great (Gen. ill. 12) and did not forthwith re-
Types of pent, but Cain, who confessed and for-
Re- sook his evil way (Gen. iv. 13-16); not

pentance. Saul, who tried to cover his sin (I Sam.
XV. 14), but David, who confessed and
forsook sin (II Sam. xii. 13), obtained mercy (Midr.
' Teh. c, with reference to Prov. xxviii. 13). Cain
the transgressor was made " a sign " for repentant
sinners (Gen. R. xxii.), and through him his father,
Adam, learned of the efficient power of repentance
(Midr: Teh. I.e. ; comp. Wisdom x. 1). Thus Adam
is described as a great penitent, devoting himself
for weeks, together with Eve, to fasting and doing
penance in the waters of Gibon, Tigris, or Jordan
(PirkeR. El. xx. ; "Vita Adoe et Eva;, vii. 6-8). Ishmael
likewise was repentant (B. B. 16b; Gen. R. xxx.).

Other types of repentance for the haggadist were:
Reuben (Pesik. 1.59b; Gen. R. Ixxxii. 12, Ixxxiv.
18; comp. Shab. 55b; Test. Patr., Reuben, 1); Achan
(.Tosh. vii. 1-20), who showed repentants the way
by confession (Lev. R., with reference to Ps. 1. 23);
David, who by his repentance has become a teacher
and witness to all repentant sinners ('Ab. 2arah 4b-
5a ; Midr. Teh. xl. 2, li. 3 ; Tanna debe Eliyahu R.
ii.). Ahab is a type of repentance (Yer. Sanh. x.
28b; Pesik. 160b); Manasseh is depicted in tlie oldest
Midrash as the typical penitent sinner. Especially
significant are his words in the Prayer of Manasses:
"Thou, O Lord, . . . hast promised repentance and
forgiveness to them that have sinned against Thee,
. that they may be saved " ; not " to the just, as
to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not
sinned against Thee; but . . unto me that am a

sinner" (Yer. Sanh. I.e.- Sanh. 108a, b; Pesik. 162a;
see Dn>ASCALiA; M.^xasseii). Yokaniah (Pesik.
162-163; Lev. R. x. 5) and Josiah (Shab. 56b) were
repentant sinners. God endeavored to persuade Jero-
boam I. to repent, but he refused to do so (Sanh.
101a). However, heathen like Balaam repented
(Num. R. XX. 15); Rahab the harlot became a peni-
tent sinner(Tanna debe Eliyahu Zuta xxii.); and the
men of Nineveh became types of repentance (Pesik.
161a). God forgave the people of Israel the sin of
the golden calf only that they might teach the
world repentance ('Ab. Zarah 4b).

The tannaitic period also had, in Eleazar ben
Durdaia, the type of a penitent sinner wliose sin and
repentance became an object of popular legend
('Ab. Zarah 17b). In the amoraic period such types
were furnished by Resh Lakish (Pirke R. El. xliii.),
by Abba, the father of R. Jeremiah b. Abba, and b}'
the exilarch 'Ukban b. Nehemiah (Shab. 55b).

All are encouraged by God to repent excepting him
who sins with the intention of rei^euting afterward
(Yoma viii. 9; comp. Amon), or him who persists in
his wickedness (Yoma 86b; Ex. R. xi. 2-3; Midr.
Teh. i., end). Repentance is esijecially useless for
him who by his teaching and example

Nature of has caused others to sin (Ab. v. 26;
Be- Sanh. 107b); hence the heavenly voice,

pentance. "All ye backsliding children repent,
except Aher" (Elishab. Abuyah ; Hag.
15a). Gehazi was not allowed to repent (Sotah 47a).
As long as man lives he may repent, but there is
no repentance after death, only submissive accept-
ance of God's punitive justice (Eccl. R. i. 15, vii.
15; Pirke R. El. xliii.; Ruth R. i. 17; Shab. 32a;
'Er. 19a; Yalk., Isa. xxvi. 2). Wherefore R. Elie-
zer said: "Repent one day before death" (Ab. ii.
10) — that is, every day (Shab. 153a; Eccl. R. ix. 8,
where the parable of the wise and foolish servants
by R. Johanan b. Zakkai is given in illustration).
The righteous reijent for every sin they have com-
mitted (Ex. R. xxiii. 3); the disciple of the wise re-
pents every night for his sin (Ber. 19a; Hag. 75a);
so Israel is expected to repent in time in order
to inherit the future life (Ex, R. xxiii. U). Tlie
heathen, as a rule, do not repent (Pesik. 156a, b;
comp. 'Ab. Zarah 3a). "As long as the people are
sin-laden they can not be God's children ; only when
they have repented have they in reality become His
children " (Sifre, Num. 112, with reference to Dent,
xxxiii. 5; comp. Sifre, Deut. 308).

The sinners who have repented are raised and
placed among God's hosts (Yalk., Ps. xlv.). Re-
pentance is not an outward act, as Weber ("Jlidische
Theologie," p. 261) endeavors to represent it, but an
inner cleansing of the heart (Pesik. 161b). It must
be perfectly sincere, true contrition, coupled with
shame and self-reproach, and confession (Ber. 12b;
Hag. 5a; Sanh. 43; PesH:. R. 83; Yer. Ta'an. ii.
65). A striking picture of such repentance is given
by Eleazar b. Durdai'a ('Ab. Zarali 17a). In the
same sense repentance is described in Psalms of
Solomon, ix. 6-7, and is dwelt upon in Wisdom xi.
23; xii. 10, 19; Book of Jubilees, v. 17. It is well
analyzed by Philo, in " De Execrationibus," § 8, as a
feeling of shame and self-reproach which leads to a
frank and sincere confession and a change of heart

379

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Repentance
Representative Themes

and of conduct. " Through it Israel shall be accepted
by God their Father and be gathered again from all
quarters of the globe, the glory of God marching be-
fore them " (comp. Sanh. 97b ; Tobit xiii. (i, xiv. 6).

It is interesting to observe that the call for repent-
ance which was manifested in Essene circles by
bathing in water (see Gen. R. ii. H ;
In Judaic Yer. Ta'an. ii. 65d; comp. Adam's
Chris- penitence, mentioned above) is voiced

tianity. in the synoptic Gospels and through-
out Judaic Christianity (Matt. iii. 2,
iv. 17; Mark i. 15); in the fourth Gospel and
throughout the Pauline writings repentance is
superseded by rebirth in faith. In the Catholic
Church contrition, confession, and satisfaction be-
come parts of the sacramental act of "poenitentia,"
whereas the Protestant churches follow the Paul-
ine teachings pure and simple (see Herzog-Hauck,
"Real-Encyc." s.v. "Husse").

Repentance occupies a very prominent position in

all the ethical writings of the Middle Ages. Bahya

ibn Pakuda devotes a special section to it in his

"Jiobot ha-Lebabot" — the "seventh gate," called

"Gate of Repentance." Maimonides devotes the

last section of "Sefer ha-^Iadda' " and the first book

of his " Yad ha-Hazakah " to the " Rules of Teshu-

bali." Isaac Aboab, in his "Menorat ha-Ma'or,"

has eighteen cliapters concerning repentance. No

less elaborate are the more mystic writers on the

same subject: Eleazar of Worms, in his "Rokeah ";

Isaiah Horwitz, in his "Shene Luhot ha-Berit " ;

Eli.iah de Vidas, in his "Reshit Hokmah " ; and

others. Some of these chapters were frequently if

not regularly read by the pious every year, before

or during the penitential day, to prepare the heart

for the great Atonement Day.

Bibliography: Boussst, Iteliginn des Judenthums, pp.368
et scq.\ Claude Monteflore, Bahhinlc Coneepti/ms of Re-
pentance. In J. Q. R. xvl. 209-S57 ; Weber, JUMsche Theo-
logies Index. \^

BEPHAIM, VALE OF (D'-KSI pDP) : Fertile
plain in Judah ; the scene of David's battles with the
Philistines (Isa. xvii. 5; II Sam. v.' 18 etseg., xxiii.
13). According to II Samuel (I.e.), it must have
been in the vicinity of iieth-lehem. The boundary-
line between Judah and Benjamin ran across a hill
at its northern end (Josh. xv. 8, xviii, 16 [R. V.];
hence it must have been situated to the west or
southwest of Jerusalem and in the vicinity of Baal-
perazim (II Sam. v. 20). Eusebius erroneously
places it north of Jerusalem (" Onomasticon," p. 288),
while Josephus more correctly locates it between
Jerusalem and Beth-lehem(" Ant." vii. ]2,§4). Since
the sixteenth century the plain Al-Bak'ah, which lies
southwest of Jerusalem, and the eastern part of
which is crossed by the road leading from Jerusalem
to Beth-lehem, has been identified, with entire proba-
bility, with the plain of Rephaim. The eastern
edge of this vale, sloping toward the west, forms
the watershed between the Jordan and the Mediter-
ranean. It is drained through the Rose Valley
(Wadi al-Ward). It extends southward from the
valley of Hinnom to the mountain of the monastery
Mar Elyas, a distance of about one hour, and is ap-
proximately half as wide. The German colony
Rephaim is now settled there.

E. G. n.

I. Be.

REPHIDIM : Place on the edge of the desert of
Sin, where the children of Israel encamped after
crossing that desert. The people suffered there from
lack of water; they complained, and Moses smote
water from the rock. Moses named the place " Mas-
sali and Meribah " (Ex. xvii. 1-7). In the parallel
account. Num. xxi., the place where this occurred
is not Rephidim, but Kadesh. At Rephidim Ama-
lek attacked Israel from behind. Modern research
(Ebers, Leprius, and others) places it in the north-
western part of the Wadi Firan. According to
Robinson ("Researches," i. 179), Rephidim is in the
narrow gorge of Al-Watiyyah in the great Wady
al-Shaikh.

J. S. O.

BEPIjEVIN. See Alienation and Acquisi-
tion.

REPRESENTATIVE THEMES: Anticipa-
ting in some measure the modern use of the leitmo-
tif, the cantors of the synagogues, as soon as tlie
traditional material of their chants was fixed (by the
beginning of the sixteenth century), introduced
and extended the practise of turning the attention
of the worshipers to a sentiment connected with an-
other service, to a passage in the ritual of another
day, or to the approach of a sacred occasion, by the
qiiotationof a snatch of melody from the traditional
music of such occasion. In the Sephardic tradition
the practise has chiefly proceeded in the direction of
quoting melodies from one service in the course of
another. For example, in the Additional Service of
theNEW-YEAii the prayer "Ila-Yora Harat '01am,"
which is chanted after the brief sounding of the
SiioFAU has proclaimed the close of each of the three
sections of the service, is sung first to the melody
(see Niggdn) of Shofet Kol ha-Arez, the spe-
cial hymn in the earlier part of the morning serv-
ice of the day; the second time to the melody of
Adonai Bekol Shofak, which hymn precedes the
sounding of the complete sequence of sliofar-calls
that follow the reading of the Law; and the third
and last time to the melody of "Leshoni Bouanta,"
the Geshem hymn which is to be again heard on the
eighth day of Tabernacles, at the close of the series
of autumn festivals. Other examples of the Sephar-
dic practise of melodic quotation have been noted
in connection with Adon 'Oi.am; En Kelohenu;
Kaddish; Odeka; Yigdal.

The use of representative themes by the cantors
of the Ashkenazim is far wider and more varied.
Certain melodies have come to bo traditionally re-
garded as typical of days and seasons. Such melo-
dies are substituted for the usual final strain of a
Kaddish, or are chanted to the words which actually
allude to a coming sacred celebration, or are substi-
tuted on tlie Sabbath within a festival for the airs
employed during the course of the year or on other
special occasions. The melodies customarily util-
ized by the present generation as representative
themes are enumerated under IIallel and Mi-Ka-
MOKAH, and their use is there explained (comp. also
Geshem and Kaddish). How shorter extracts
from a melody associated with another text are used
to turn the thought to the sentiment of that text
has been shown under Az Suesii Me'ot and Kol

NiDRE.

Beptiles
Kestraiuts

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

380

The Polish school of hazzanim has developed a
further use of the leitmotif, more nearly correspond-
ing to its function in the modern orchestra, and
has employed short typical phrases, associated with
the Atonement services especially, in varying com-
bination, particularly with reference to the conclu-
sion of a musical sentence, in order to graduate, with
the progress of the fast-day itself, the shade of devo-
tional expression between humiliation, resignation,
hope, and confidence. The transcription of the
shorter hymn-tunes given imder Ne'ilah will afford
some indication of the manner in which this object is
attained. The general idea is but an application
of that modal feeling underlying synagogal music
since the days of the Temple, which has consistently
prompted the esthetic association of some definite
species of song with each peculiar occasion (see
CANTiLLATioisr ; Music, Synagogal).

A. F. L. C.

KEPTIIiES (" remes," " sherez ") : In the Biblical
account of creation the "creeping things "are di-
vided into the " moving " creatures of the sea (Gen.
i. 20) and "everything that creepetli upon the
ground " (Gen. i. 25). As a group parallel to the
" beasts " and the " fowls of the air " they are indi-
cated by the word " remes " in Gen. vi. 7 and else-
where.

The Talmud uses, for the amphibia and small ani-
mals, the generic terms " rehesh " (moving things),
" sherez " (creeping things), and " shekez " (things
which arouse disgust; Hul. 10a, 126b; Nid. 21a).
But small mammals also, as the weasel, mouse,
hedgehog, and mole, are sometimes comprised under
the word "sherez " (comp. Shab. 107a et seg.). Mai-
monides (" Yad," Ma'akalot Asurot, ii., g§ 12 et se(j.)
makes the followingdistinction : " Sherez ha-mayim "
are creatures not belonging to the fish tribe, but yet
living in the water (leeches, seals, etc.); "romes 'al
ha-arez " are the parasitic organisms which arise
from the decomposition of foreign substances (intes-
tinal worms, dung-beetles, etc.); while "shore? 'al
ha-arez " are the creatures produced by the " genera-
tio propagativa." All reptiles are poisonous, but
only the snake is deadly ('Ab. Zarah 31b). A
characteristic common to all creeping things is that
the white -and the yolk in their eggs are not sepa-
rated' (Hul. 64a). See also Abomination ; Ckeep-
iNG Things.
Bibliography: Tristram, Ifot. Hist. p. 345 ; Lewysohn, Zoolo-

0ie des Talmufhi, pp. 4, 218.

E. G. II. I. M. C.

RESCISSION. See Judgment.

BESH (1) : Twentieth letter of tlie Hebrew
alphabet, perhaps so called because the shape of the
letter in the Phenician alphabet (see Alphabet) re-
sembles the form of a head (Hebr. " rosh "; Aramaic,
" resh " ). In pronunciation it is a palatal liquid sub-
stantially identical with the English "r." It is al-
lied to fj and J, and sometimes interchanges with
them (thus, in later Old Testament books " Nebu-
chadnezzar " is found instead of the proper form,
"Nebuchadrezzar"). It is occasionally employed
to form quadriliterals from triliterals; hut it has no
other formative use. In Aramaic it sometimes rep-
resents the resolution of a dagesh forte, as in pt^DIT

for ptfST. With rare exceptions it does not receive
dagesh forte. As a numeral, it has, in later times,
the value 200.
T. I. Br.

BESH GAL0TA. See Exilarch.

BESH KALLAH : The highest olficer, except
the president, in the academies of Sura and Pumbe-
dita. In each of the two schools there were seven
"reshe Uallah," who sat in the first row (called "da-
rakamma "), facing the gaon. According to the ex-
planation of Nathan ha-Babli, they were called
" reshe kallah " because each of them was set above
ten members of the Great Sanhedrin, ■which was
modeled on that of Jerusalem. But the term is
really derived from the so-called "kallah" months
(Adar to Elul), since it was their duty in the first three
weeks of each of these montlis to explain to the stu-
dents the subjects which the gaon had selected for
his lectures during the following half-year. On the
installation of an exilarch a resh kallah read from
the Bible immediately after a new resh galuta, and
a resh kallah on his death was succeeded by his son,
even if the latter was still a minor. In the year 935
a blind resh kallah restored peace between the ex-
ilarch David b. Zakkai and the gaon Kohen Zedek.
Bar Mar Rab Samuel and Mar Bab Amram, both
relatives of Sherira, arc given the title of resh kallah.
The liturgical prayer "Yekum Purkan," dating
from that time, mentions these officials. Their
names occur in the beginning of every geonic re-
sponsum, together with those of the " haberim " and
the " allufim. " Rashi explains the word " kallah " in
his commentary on Berakot 6b (comp. Kallah).

Bibliography : Nathan ha-Babli, in Neubauer, M. J. C. ii. 87 ;
Weiss, Dnr, iv. 3, 1211, 137, 328; Gratz, OejieU. iv. 293, v. 132;
Letter ot Sherira, in Neubauer, Anecdota, i. 40.
w. B. S. O.

BESH LAKISH. See Simeon ben Lakish.

BESIDENCE. See Domicil.

BESPONSA. See She'elot tj-Teshubot.

BESPONSES : The congregational answers to
the utterances of the officiant. These were origi-
nally what the responses to the benedictions of those
private individuals who are called to the reading of
the Law still remain — mere loud acclaims. But
with the introduction of the four-part choir in the
early nineteenth century some set form of response
became necessary. The "singer" and "bass," who
had previously been employed to accompany the
Hazzan with a vocal pbligato, had usually re-
peated " Baruk Hu u-Baruk Shemo " (comp. Baruk
Siie-Amak) and "Amen" to the melody a moment
before chanted by the soloist, even as they echoed
his song, or imitated it at other intervals, in the
course of the passages which were not benedictions.

Traditional material for these particular responses
was accordingly indicated ; but not for others, such
as those in the Kaddish or " Ken Yelii Razon " in
the priestly blessing. In the former case these " me-
shorerim " (vocal accompanists ; see Music, Syna-
gogal) had also certainly joined in; but tlie melo-
dies chanted were by no means so generally adhered
to as those of the prayers which closed with a bene-
diction, the motives of which had been anciently

381

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Reptiles
Restraints

accepted as traditional by all the congregations
following each rite. Consequently, save only in
responses such as the " Yehe Shemeh Rabba " on
the penitential evenings, when the melody of the
preceding prayers was continued in the Kaddish, or
on other such occasions when the congregants at
large chanted along with the cantor, as is still so
frequently the practise among the Sephardim, no
general line for the structure and detail of the choral
responses had been indicated.

It was here that great service was rendered by
Sulzer, who set down such responses as tradition
suggested, and first adequately provided a complete
corpus of choral refrains, by composing the lacking
numbers himself. The rationale of this corpus has
disappeared In the Reform synagogues, where the
service is no longer entirely intoned by a precentor ;
but it still permeates the devotions of the Conserva-
tive congregations, and its influence is felt even
in the choirless synagogues of small communities.
Where, however, of recent years the reaction to-
ward the resuscitation of older and more character-
istic traditional melodies for choral rendering has
been evident, the new responses framed by Sulzer
and his school, which perceptibly exhale the Neo-
Catholic flavor of much of their music, have often
been replaced by phrases built up, like the old re-
sponses to the benedictions, on the material afforded
by the Hazzanut. In this reversion to antique
color, anticipating the more recent corresponding
advocacy of the older music of the Catholic Church
by its ecclesiastical heads, Louis Lbwandowski is
a chief figure.

The great collection of responses, given in their
liturgical uosition, in A. Baer's "Ba'al Tetillah, oder
der Praktisehe Vorbeter" (G5teborg, 1877, and
Frankfort, 1883), is exhaustive as regards the con-
gi-egational tradition and its modern practise among
the Ashkenazim. The harmonized choral responses
of the same rite are collected in Cohen and Davis'
" Voice of Prayer and Praise " (London, 1899), with
almost equal fulness, in seventy -one numbers, sixty-
one of which are based on the traditional intona-
tions of the preohoral period. The responses of the
Sephardim remain to be published.

A. F. L. C.

RESPONSES TO BENEDICTIONS: Any
portion of the liturgy which begins with the words
"Blessed be Thon, OLord"("Barukattah Adonai"),
or which ends with an abstract of itself introduced
by these words, or wJjich both begins and ends thus,
is known as a benediction (" berakah "). When it
is read aloud by a leader, for instance, at public serv-
ice at which ten or more men are met, or when grace
is said wliere three or more men have eaten to-
gether, or even where the master of the house pro-
nounces the sanctification (" Kiddusli ") of Sabbath or
of a festival before his wife and children, the congre-
gation or company answers " Amen " at the end of
each benediction. The meaning of this word is
" true " or " truly " ; but its use in the Greek of the
New Testament indicates that at this early age it
was deemed to be technical and untranslatable.

The origin of this sort of response can be traced
back to the double " Amen " at the end of the first,
second, and third books of Psalms; e.g., "Blessed be

the Lord forever. Amen and Amen." The Mishnah
(Ber. viii. 8) fully recognizes an established custom
when it warns the faithful that while they may
boldly say "Amen," thus giving assent to any bera-
kah pronounced by an Israelite, they must not so
respond to the benediction of a Samaritan unless they
have heard every word of it. A Babylonian teacher
(Ber. 45a) warns those who respond not to cry out
" Amen " louder than the leader has recited the
benediction; for the Psalmist says (xxxiv. 4 [A. V.
3]), "Magnify tlie Lord with me."

After the third benediction in grace after meal,
tlie word "Amen" is spoken by those who recite
the benediction along with it (Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah
Hayyim, 188, 1). This custom originated as a hint
to working men eating at the master's table, that
they might leave without staying for the less obli-
gatory fourth benediction (see Ber. 46a). In the
Temple, however, when a benediction was pro-
nounced, the response, on the authority, it is claimed,
of Nell. ix. 5, was "Blessed be the name of His
glorious kingdom forever and ever," as related
in Yer. Ber. ix. 5, and repeated thence in Berti-
noro's commentary.

It is the present usage (though one unsupported
by anything in the Talmud or the codes, or in any
of the older works on the liturgy), when the leader
has pronounced the words "Blessed be Thou, O
Lord," for the bystanders to chime in with "Blessed
be He and blessed be His name " (" Baruk hu u-baruk
shemo "). Sulzer and other masters of modern syn-
agogal music have phrased this response for their
choirs. The advocates of this custom base its prac-
tise on Deut. xxxii. 3 — " When I call on the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness to our God " ;
the Sifre {ad loe.) makes this verse the authority
for other well-known responses, but not for this.
The opponents of the custom point out that its
origin is not only cabalistic, but that it was de-
vised by the followers of Shabbethai Zebi in his
honor, the letters of the words in question having
the same numerical value (814) as the name of the
false Messiah. See Amen.

A. L. N. D.

RESTRAINT OF PERSONS. See Duress.

RESTRAINTS ON ALIENATION : Re-
straints on the power to sell or encumber land are
known to many systems of jurisprudence. The in-
stitution of the year of jubilee (see Sabbatical
Year), as set forth in Lev. xxv. 8-38, is the most
rigid restraint upon the free disposition of land. It
applied to the Holy Land only, and in its full force
to farming and grazing land solely ; for houses within
a walled city, if sold by the owner, could be redeemed
only within a year. After the lapse of a year the sale
became absolute. Houses in the open country or in
villages were redeemable forever, and reverted in
the year of jubilee to the former owner. The houses
in the cities allotted to the Levites and priests were
also inalienable, as they were the only Jieritage of
the Levites.

The weighty sentence in the above-cited passage
is: "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for
the land is mine " (verse 33). However, the Talmud
in one place surmises that a sale of land for a term

Besurrection

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

382

of sixty years would have been valid even vphile the
institution of the jubilee was still in force (B. M.
7'Ja); but this is only a surmise, as the jubilee had
not been observed at any time during the second
commonwealth. Indeed, to sell for a term reaching
for ever so short a time beyond the next year of ju-
bilee is as much a violation of the letter of tlie law
as an absolute sale.

According to the Talmud, the institution fell into
disuse many years before the destruction of the
First Temple, though instances of the purchase of
land by the nearest agnate of the inheriting owner
are certainly found as late as Jeremiah (Jer. xxxii.
6-25), in full accord with the rules laid down in Lev.

XXV.

Land, either in Palestine or elsewhere, may be
freely sold by the owner without any regard to the
law in Leviticus; only persons less than twenty
years old are not competent to sell inherited land
(Git. 65a) nor make a gift "mortis causa" of such
lands (see Infancy). But restraints upon aliena-
tion such as are so often contrived by English and
American conveyancers in wills and marriage settle-
ments for the purpose of tying up an estate in the
donor's or testator's family are wholly unknown to
the Talmud jurisprudence. As has been shown
under Alienation, a conveyance can restrict the
title only so far as to give a life-estate to the first
taker, but can not create after such life-estate either
a vested or a contingent remainder. Moreover, after
the life of the taker the estate must revert to the
grantor and his heirs.

E. c. L. N. D.

BESTJRKECTION.— Biblical Data : Like all
ancient peoples, the early Hebrews believed that the
dead go down into the underworld and live there a
colorless existence (comp. Isa. xiv. 15-19; Bzek.
xxxii. 21-30). Only an occasional person, and lie
an especially fortunate one, like Enoch or Elijali,
could escape from Sheol, and these were taken to
heaven to the abode of Yiiwii, where they became
angels (comp. Slavonic Enoch, xxii.). In the Book
of Job first the longing for a, resurrection is ex-
pressed (xiv. 13-15), and then, if the Masoretic
text may be trusted, a passing conviction that
such a resurrection will occur (xix. 25, 26). The
older Hebrew conception of life regarded the nation
so entirely as a unit that no individual mortality or
immortalit}' was considered. Jeremiah (xxxi. 29)
and Ezekiel (xviii.) had contended that the individ-
ual was the moral unit, and Job's hopes are based
on this idea.

A different view, which made a resurrection un-
necessary, was held by the authors of Ps. xlix. and
Ixxiii., who believed that at death only the wicked
went to Sheol and that the souls of the righteous
went directly to God. This, too, seems based on
views analogous to those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
and probably was not widely held. In the long run
the old national point of view asserted itself in the
form of Messianic hopes. These gave rise to a be-
lief in a resurrection in order that more might share
in the glory of the Messianic kingdom. This hope
first finds expression in Isa. xxvi. 19, a passage
which Cheyne dates about 334 B.C. The hope was
cherished for faithful Israelites. In Dan. xii. 1-4

(about 165 B.C.) a resurrection of "many . . . that
sleep in the dust" is looked forward to. This res-
urrection included both righteous and wicked, for
some will awake to everlasting life, others to
"shame and everlasting contempt."

In Extra-Canonical Apocalypses : In the

earliest part of the Ethiopia Book of Enoch (i.-
xxxvi.) there is a great advance on the conceptions
of Daniel, although the book is of earlier date. Ch.
xxii. contains an elaborate description of Sheol,
telling how it is divided into four "parts, two of
which receive two classes of righteous; the others,
two classes of wicked. Of these, three classes are
to experience a resurrection. One class of the wicked
has been already judged and has received its pun-
ishment. In II Maccabees the belief that all Israel-
ites will be resurrected finds expression (comp. vi. 26,
vii. 9-86, and xiv. 46). In the next Enoch apocalypse
(Ethiopic Enoch, Ixxxiii.-xc), composed a few years
after Daniel, it was thought that only the righteous
Israelites would experience a resurrection. Tliat
was to be a bodily resurrection, and the body was to
be subsequently transformed. This writer realized
that the earth was not a fit place for Yiiwii's perma-
nent kingdom, and so the conception of a heavenly
Jerusalem appears, of which the earthly Jerusalem
city is the prototype.

Against these views some of the later psalmists
uttered a protest, declaring that a resurrection was
impossible (comp. Ps. Ixxxviii. 10, 'cxv. 17). In
spite of this protest, however, the idea persisted.
The next Enoch apocalypse (Ethiopic Enoch, xci.-
civ.) looked for a resurrection of the righteous, but
as spirits only, without a body (comp. ciii. 8, 4). A
later Enoch apocalypse (Ethiopic Enoch, xxxvii.-
Ixx.) expresses the conviction that both the right-
eous and the wicked will be raised (comp. 11 1, 3;
Ixii. 15, 16), and that the spirits of the righteous will
be clothed in a body of glory and light.

The author of the Slavonic Book of Enoch (Book
of the Secrets of Enoch, xxii. 8-10) believed in a
resurrection of spirits, without a body. He never-
theless believed in a spiritual body, for he describes
the righteous as clothed in the glory of God. The
authors of.the Book of Jubilees and the Assumptio
Mosis believed in a resurrection of the spirit only,
without a body (comp. Jubilees, xxiii. 31 et al., and
Assumptio Mosis, x. 9).

All these believed that the soul would sleep in
Sheol till the judgment, but several Alexandrian
writers about the beginning of the common era
held, like Ps. xlix. and Ixxiii., that the spirits of the
righteous entered on a blessed immortality immedi-
ately at death. This Avas the view of the author of
the Wisdom of Solomon (iii. 1-4; iv. 7, 10, ei al.), of
Philo, and of IV Maccabees. Finally, the scope of
the resurrection, which in previous writers had been
limited to Israel, was extended in the Apocalypse
of Baruch and in II Esdras to include all mankind
(comp. Baruch, xlix.-li. 4; II Esd. vii. 32-87).

Bibliography : Charles, A Critical History nf the Dnctrine
nf a Future Life in Israel, in Judaism, and in Chr1^lia)i-
itii, London, 1899.
E. c. G. A. B.

Resurrection is asserted in all the Apocryphal
writings of Pharisaic origin (comp. II Mace. vii. 9-

383

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Besurrection

36, xii. 43-44), where arguments against Sadducean
Israel are presented (Book of Jubilees, xxiii. 30;
Test. Patr., Judah, 35; Zebulun, 10; Benjamin, 10;
Vita Adre et Evas, xiil. ; Slbyllines, ii. 85; Enoch,
li. 1-3; Apoc. Baruoh, xxx. 1-5, l.-li. ; II Esd. vii.
3a; Psalms of Solomon, iii. 16, xiv. 13), and in the
Hellenistic writings (see Wisdom iii. 1-9, iv. 7, v.
16, vi. 20; IV Mace. ix. 8; xiii. 16; xv. 2; xvii. 5,
18: xviii. 23). Immortality of the soul takes the
place of bodily resurrection. Rabbinical arguments
in favor of resurrection are given in Sanh. 90b-93b,
from promises made to the dead (Ex. iv. 4; Deut.
xi. 9 [comp. Mark xii. 18]; Num. xviii. 28; Deut.
iv. 4, xxxi. 16, xxxii. 39), and from similar expres-
sions in which the future tense is applied to tiie
future life (Ex. xv. 1; Deut. xxxiii. 6; Josh. viii.
30; Ps. Ixxxiv. 5 [A. V. 4] ; Isa. Iii. 8); also in Hul.
143a, from promised rewards (Deut. v. 16, xxii. 17),
which so frequently are not fulfilled during this life
(Ber. 16b; Gen. R. xx. 36). Arguments are drawn
from the grain of wheat (Sanh. 90b; comp. 1 Cor.
XV. 35-38), from historical parallels— the miracles
of revival wrought by Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel
(Lev. R. xxvii. 4) — and from a necessary conception
of divine justice, body and soul not being in a position
to be held to account for their doings in life unless,
like the blind and the lame man in the parable, they
are again brought together as they were before
(Sifre, Deut. 106; Sanh. 91a, with reference to Ps.
1.4).

The Sadducees denied the resurrection (Josephus,
"Ant." xviii. 1, § 4; idem, " B. J." ii. 8, § 14; Acts
xxiii. 8; Sanh. 90b; Ab. R. N. v.). All the more
emphatically did the Pharisees enunciate in the lit-
urgy (Shemoneh 'Esreh, 3d benediction ; Ber. v. 2)
their belief in resurrection as one of their funda-
menlal convictions (Sanh. x. 1; comp. Ahot iv. 22;
Sotah ix. 15).

Both the Pharisees and the Essenes believed in
the resurrection of the body, Josephus' philosophical
construction of their belief to suit the taste of his
Roman readers notwithstanding (see "B. J." ii. 8,
§ 11; "Ant." xviii. 1, § 5; compare these with the
genuine source of Josephus, in Hippolytus' "Refu-
tatio Ha;resium," ed. Duncker Schneidewin, ix. 27,
29, where the original avaarnmf [= "resurrection "]
casts a strange light upon Josephus' mode of han-
dling texts). According to the Rabbis, Job and Esau
denied resurrection (B. B. 16a, b). Whosoever de-
nies resurrection will have no share in it (Sanh. 90b).
The resurrection will be achieved by. God, who alone
holds the key to it (Ta'an. 2a; Sanh'. 113a). At the
same time the elect ones, among these first of all the
Messiah and Elijah, but also the righteous in gen-
eral, shall aid in raising the dead (Pirke R. El.
xxxii. ; Sotah ix. 15; Sliir ha-Shirira Zufa, vii. ; Pes.
68a; comp. "Bundahis," xxx. 17).

By means of the " dew of resurrection " (see Dew)

the dead will be aroused from their sleep (Yer. Ber.

V. 9b ; Ta'an. i. 63d, with reference to

Universal Isa. xxvi.l9; Hag. 12b, with reference

or Na- to Ps. Ixviii. 10 [A. V. 9]). As to the

tional. question. Who will be raised from

death ? the answers given vary greatly

in rabbinical literature. According to R. Simai (Sifre,

Deut. 306) and R. Hiyya bar Abba (Gen. R. xiii. 4;

comp. Lev. R. xiii. 3), resurrection awaits only the
Israelites; according to E. Abbahu, only the just
(Ta'an. 7a); some mention especially the martyrs
(Yalk. ii. 431, after Tanhuma). R. Abbahu and R.
Eleazar confine resurrection to those that die in the
Holy Land; others extend it to such as die outside
of Palestine (Ket. Ilia). Aocordingto R. .Jonathan
(Pirke R. El. xxxiv.), the resurrection will be uni-
versal, but after judgment the wicked will die a
second death and forever, whereas the just will be
granted life everlasting (comp. Yalk. ii. 438, 499).
The same difference of view prevails also among the
New Testament writers ; at times only " the resur-
rection of the just" is spoken of (Luke xiv. 14, xx.
35); at other times "the resurrection of the dead "
in general is mentioned (John v. 29; Acts xxiv. 15;
Rev. XX. 45).

As a matter of fact, resurrection formed part of

the Messianic hope (Isa. xxiv. 19; Dan. xii. 2;

Enoch, XXV. 5, li. 1, xc. 33; Jubilees,

Part of the xxiii, 30). Especially were those that

Messianic died as martyrs in the cause of the
Hope. Law expected to share in the future
glory of Israel (II Mace. vii. 6, 9, 23;
Yiilk. to Isa. xxvi. 19; Midr. Teh. xvii. 14; Sibyl-
lines, ii. 8.5). The very term used to express the
idea of sharing in the future life is "to inherit the
land" (Kid. i. 10; Matt. v. 5, after Ps. xxxvii. 11;
Sanh. xi. 1, with reference to Isa. Ix. 31). The res-
urrection, therefore, was believed to take place
solely in the Holy Land (Pesik. R. i., after Ps.
cxvi. 9 ["the land of the living," that is, "the land
where the dead live again"]; or Gen. R. Ixxiv. ;
Yer. Ket. xii. 35b, with reference to Isa. xiii. 5
["He giveth breath to the people upon it," that
is, upon the H0I3' Land only]). .Jerusalem alone is
the city of which the dead shall blossom forth like
grass (Ket. 111b, after Ps. Ixxii. 16). Those that are
buried elsewhere will therefore be compelled to
creep through cavities in the earth until thej- reach
the Holy Land (Pesik. R. I.e., with references to
Ezek. xxxvii. 13; Ket. Ilia).

The trumpet blown to gather the tribes of Israel

(Isa. xxvii. 13) will also rouse the dead (Ber. 15b;

Targ. Yer. to Ex. xx. 15; II Esd. iv.

Day of 23; comp. I Cor. xv. 52; I Thess. iv.

Judgement 16; see Enoch, x. 12 etseq., xxv. 4 et
Precedes seg., xiv. 3, xc. 35, xci. 11, xcviii. 13;

Messianic Test. Patr., Simeon, 61; Judah, 25;
Era. Zebulun, 10; Benjamin, 10). The na-

tions, together with their guardian
angels and stars, shall be cast into Gehenna (Enoch,
xc. 34-35). According to R. Eleazar of Modi'im,
to the angelic princes of the seventy-two nations
who will protest because, though it has sinned
like the rest, God favors Israel, God will answer,
"Let each nation go through the fire together with
its guardian deity " ; then all the nations will be
consumed in common with their deities, who can
not shield tliem, but Israel will be saved by its God
(Cant. R. ii. 1; comp. Tan., Shofetim, cd. Buber,
end, after Isa. Ixvi. 14, Ps. xxiii. 4, and Micah iv.
5). Another view is that the glare of the sun will
lest the heathen's loyalty to the Law they promised
to observe, and they will be cast into the eternal fire
('Ab. Zarah).

Besurrection
Retaliation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

384

The conception of God entering Hades to save
Israel from Gehenna gave rise to the Christian con-
ception of the Messiah descending into Hades to
reclaim liis own among those who are imprisoned
there (Test. Patr., Benjamin; Sibyllines, i. 377, viii.
310; Yalk. ii. 359; Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 50 [comp.
I Peter iii. 19] ; Ascensio Isaice, iv. 21, with refer-
ence to Isa. ix. 16, lii.-liii. ; see Epstein, " Bereshit
Rabbati," 1888, p. 31). The sole end of the judg-
ment of the heathen is, according to 11. Eleazar of
Modi'ira (Mck., Beshallah, 'Amalek), the establish-
ment of the kingdom of God. " When the Messiah
appears on the roof of the Temple announcing Israel's
redemption, the light emanating from him shall
cause the nations to fall prostrate before him ; and
Satan himself will shudder, for the Messiah will
cast him into Gehenna, and death and sorrow shall
flee forever" (Pesik. R. 36; Sibyllines, ii. 167, iii.
46-72).

As in the course of time the national hope with
its national resurrection and final day of judgment
no longer satisfied the intellect and
Resurrec- human sentiment, the resurrection as-
tion TJni- sumed a more universal and cosmic
versal. character. It was declared to be solely
the act of God, who alone possesses
the key that will unlock the tombs (Ber. 15b). " As
all men are born and die, so will they rise again,"
says Eleazar ha-Kappar (Abot iv. 22). It was be-
lieved that resurrection would occur at the close of
the Messianic era (Enoch, xcviii. 10, ciii. 8, civ. 5).
This is particularly emphasized in II Esd. vii. 26-
36: "Death will befall the Messiah, after his 400
years' reign, and all mankind and the world will
lapse into primeval silence for seven days, after
which the renewed earth will give forth its dead,
and God will judge the world and assign the evil-
doers to the fire of hell and the righteous to para-
dise, which Is on the opposite side." Also, accord-
ing to Syriac Apoc. Baruch (xxx. 1-5 ; l.-lii. ; oxxxv.
15), the resurrection will take place after the Messiah
has " returned to heaven " and will include all men,
the righteous to meet their reward, and the wicked
to meet their eternal doom. This lasting doom is
called " second death " (Targ. Deut. xxxiii. 6 ; Targ.
Isa. xiv. 19; xxii. 14; Ixv. 6, 15, 19; Jer. Ii. 39;
Rev. XX. 6, 14).

Nor is the wrath of the last judgment believed
any longer to be brought upon the heathen solely
as such. All evil-doers who have bias-
Not the phemed God and His Law, or acted
Heathen, unrighteously, will meet with their
but the punishment (Tos. Sanh. xiii. ; Midr.
Wicked Teh. vi. 1, ix. 15). It became a mat-
Perish, ter of dispute between the older school,
represented by the Shammaite R. Elie-
zer, and the Hillelites, represented by R. Joshua,
whether or not the righteous among the heathen
have a share iu the future woi'ld, the former inter-
preting the verse, " The wicked shall return to Sheol,
even all the Gentiles that forget God " (Ps. ix. 18
[R. V. 17]), as condemning as wicked among the Jews
and the Gentiles such as have forgotten God; the
latter interpreting the verse as consigning to Sheol
only such Gentifes as have actually forgotten God
(Tos. Sanh. xiii. 2). The doctrine "All Israelites

have a share in the world to come " (Sanh. xi. 1),
based upon Isa. Ix. 21 (Hebr.), "Thy people all of
them righteous shall inherit the land," is therefore
identical with the Pharisaic teaching as stated by
.losephus ("Ant." xviii. 1, § 3; "B. J." ii. 8, § 14),
that the righteous will rise to share in the eternal
bliss. It is as deniers of the fundamentals of relig-
ion that heathen, Samaritans, and heretics are ex-
cluded from future salvation (Tos. Sanh. xiii. ; Pirke
R. Bl. xxxviii. ; Midr. Teh. xi, 5). Regarding the
plurality of opinions in favor of the salvation of
righteous non-Jews, and tlie opinions of those who
adhere to the national view, see Zunz, "Z. G." pp.
371-389. Related to the older, exclusive view also
is the idea that the Abrahamie covenant releases
the Israelites from the fire of Gehenna (Gen. R.
xlviii. ; Midr. Teh. vii. 1 ; 'Er. 19a).

At first, it seems, resurrection was regarded as a
miraculous boon granted only to the righteous (see
Test. Patr., Simeon, 6; Levi, 18; Judah, 25; Zebu-
lun, 10; Vita Adie et Evse, 13; comp. Luke xiv. 14,
XX. 36). Afterward it came to be regarded as an
act of God connected with the last judgment, and
therefore universal resurrection of the dead became
a doctrine, as expressed in the second benediction of
the Shemoneh 'Esreh (D'nDn n"nn; Sifre, Deut.
329 ; Sanh. 92b).

In Syriac Apoc. Baruch, xlix.-li. a description is
given of thp manner in which the righteous at the
resurrection are transformed into angels shining like
the stars, who behold the beauty of the heavenly
" hayyot " beneath God's throne, whereas the wicked
assume the horrible asi^ect of the pit of torture be-
low. Whether or not the body at the resurrection
undergoes the same process of growth as in the
womb at the time of birth is a matter of dispute be-
tween the Hillelites and the Shammaites (Gen. R.
xiv. ; Lev. R. xiv.).

In regard to the state of the soul separated from
the body by death,- -whether it is supposed to dwell
in heaven, or in some sort of dove-cot or a colum-
barium (= " guf ") in Hades (Syriac Apoc. Baruch,
xxx. 2; II Esd. iv. 35, 41; vii. '32, 80, 101), see Im-
mortality OF THE Soul.

The belief in resurrection is expressed on all occa-
sions in the Jewish liturgy; e.g., in the morning
prayer Elohai Neshamah, in the Shemoneh 'Esreh,
and in the funeral services. Maimonides made it the
last of his thirteen articles of belief: "I firmly be-
lieve that there will take place a revival of the dead
at a time which will please the Creator,

Jewish blessed be His name." Saadiaalso, in

Creed or his "Emunot we-De'ot" (following
Not? Sanh. x. 1), declared the belief in res-
urrection to be fundamental. Hasdai
Crescas, on the other hand, declared it to be a spe-
cific doctrine of Judaism, but not one of the funda-
mental teachings, Avhich viewis taken also by Joseph
Albo in his "'Ikkarim" (i., iv. 35-41, xxiii.). The
chief difficulty, as pointed out by the latter author,
is to find out what the. resurrection belief actually
implied or comprised, since the ancient rabbis them-
selves differed as to whether resurrection was to be
universal, or the privilege of the .Jewish people
only, or of the righteous only. This again depends
on the question whether it was to form part of the

385

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kesurrection
Ketaliation

Messianic redemption of Israel, or wlietliev it was to
uslier in tlie last judgment. Saadia sees in the be-
lief in resurrection a national hope, and endeavors to
reconcile it with reason by comparing it with other
miraculous events in nature and history recorded in
the Bible. Maimonides and Albo in their commen-
tary on Sanli. x. 1, Kimhi in his commentary on
Ps. i. 5, Isaac Aboab in his "Menorat ha-Ma'or"
(iii. 4, 1), and Bahya ben Asher in his commentary
ou Gen. xxiii.. extend resurrection to the j-ighteous
onl)'. On the other hand, Isaac Abravanel in his
"Ma'yene Yeshu'ah '' (ii. 9) concedes it to all Israel;
Mauasseh ben Israel, in his "Nislimat Hayyim" (i.
3, 8), and others, to all men. Maimonides, however
{see his commentary, I.e., and "Yad," Teslmbah,
viii.), took the resurrection figuratively, and substi-
tuted for it immortality of the soul, as he stated at
length in his " Ma'amar Tehiy yat ha-Metim " ; Judah
ha-Levi also, in his " Cuzari," took resurrection fig-
uratively (i. 115, iii. 30-21).

The belief in resurrection is beautifully expressed
in the old Morning Benediction, taken from Ber.
eOb : " O God, tlie soul which Thou hast set within
me is pure. Thou hast fashioned it; Thou hast
breathed it into me, and Thou dost keep it within
me and wilt take it from me and restore it to me in
time to come. As long as it is within me I will give
homage to Thee, O divine Master, Lord of all spirits,
who givest back the soul to dead bodies." This
benediction, for which the simpler form is given in
Y''er. Ber. iv. 7d, Pesilj. R. 40; and Midr. Teh. xvii. :
"Blessed' be Thou who revivest the dead" — re-
cited after awakening from the night's sleep —throws
liglit upon the whole conception of resurrection.
Just as the soul was believed to leave the body in
sleep and return at the reawakening, so was the
soul, after having left the body in death, to return
to " those that sleep in the dust " at the time of the
great reawakening.

In modern times the belief in resurrection has
been greatly shaken by natural philosophy, and the
question has been raised by the Reform rabbis and
in rabbinical conferences (see Geiger, "Jild. Zeit."
vii. 346) whether the old liturgical formulas express-
ing the belief in resurrection should not be so
changed as to give clear expression to the hope of
immortality of the soul instead. This was done in
all the American Reform prayer-books. At the rab-
binical conference held at Philadelphia it was ex-
pressly declared that the belief in resurrection of the
body has no foundation in Judaism, and tliat the
belief in the immortality of the soul should take its
place in the liturgy. See Conpehences, Rabbin-
ical; Pkatek -Books; Reform Judaism.
Bibliography : Hamburger, B. B. T. s.v. Auferstehung und
Wiederhelebung der Tndten ; ib. s.v. BeUhunq der Todten;
SchOrer, Oesch. 11. 3, 547-5.51 ; Volz, Jildische Eschatoloaie ;
Weber, JildUche Theologie, Index.
E. C. K.

RETALIATION, or LEX TALIONIS : In

the early period of all systems of law the redress of
wrongs takes precedence over the enforcement of
contract rights, and a rough sense of justice de-
mands the infliction of the same loss and pain on the
aggressor as he has inflicted on his victim. Hence
the prominence of the "lex talionis" in ancient law.
The law of Israel is no exception : in its oldest form
X.— 35

it included the "lex talionis," the law of "measure
for measure " (this is only the literal translation
of " middah ke-neged middah ") ; and the popular
thouglit, as reflected in Talmudic sayings, imagined
that God punishes nations and men with sufferings
nearly identical with those which tliey have sinfully
inflicted upon others (Sanh. 90a). The principle
that "with what measure ye mete it shall be
measured unto you " is solemnly asserted to under-
lie the divine law (see Sotah i. 7, where it is applied
to all the details of the ordeal of the suspected
wife).

The Pentateuch does not contain the oldest sys-
tem of Semitic laws, which is found in the jurispru-
dence of Babylon, mainly as laid down in the Code
of Hammurabi. The instances given in this code
of the rule of " measure for measure " go far beyond
the " eye for an eye " of the Mosaic code, even when
the latter is taken in its most literal sense. Thus,
where a man strikes a pregnant free-born woman so
as to cause her death through miscarriage (comp. the
case put in Ex. xxi. 23-33), under that old Baby-
lonian code (§ 310) the daughter of the assailant
should be put to death. Again, when through the
carelessness of the builder a house falls and the
owner's son is struck and killed in the ruins, the
builder's son should be put to death. This extrava-
gant application of the "measure for measure" law
is made impossible in Israel by Deut. xxiv. 16 —
" Fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the
fathers. "

According to Ex. xxi., the owner of an ox that
gores a " son " or a " daughter " {i.e., a freeman or a
freewoman), provided it has previously been shown
to him that the ox was "wont to push with his
horns in time past," should be put to death, though
he may save himself by paying a ransom; this is
a clear survival of the old idea of retaliation. A
dim memory of the extravagances of the "lex
talionis" in the old common law of the Semites
seems to have long survived in the Jewish mind.
Hence the rather humorous story told by an amora
(Sanh. 109b) about the gross perversion of justice
on the part of four wicked judges of Sodom
shortly before its destruction by fire from heaven,
which story Chamisso has rendered freely into Ger-
man verse in his "Urtheil des Sohemjaka," trans-
planting it from the city on the Dead Sea to the
steppes of Muscovy. Under the head of Assault
and Battery it has been shown that the mean-
ing given by the Jewish sages (B. K. viii. 1) to
the Scriptural " eye for an eye " is not necessarily
a latter-day modification of the savagery of the
Mosaic text; for wergild was known among all
nations at a very early stage of culture, and the
very prohibition of Scripture, " ye shall not take a
ransom for the soul of the murderer," is a clear in-
timation that a payment in money was the ordinary
redress for bodily injuries, and that this kind of re-
dress was considered appropriate for all injuries not
resulting in death.

It does not appear that in this matter the Sad-
ducees adhered to the letter of the Law, for among
the many disputes recorded in the Mishnah be-
tween Pharisees and Sadducees, such as that in

R6thy

Reuben ben Hayyim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

383

Tad. iv. 6, no allusion is found to such a broad dif-
ference in the form of redress allowed for bodily in-
juries, a matter of much importance and of fre-
quent occurrence. There is a vague report that the
followers of Boethus, a sect going beyond the Sad-
ducees in their divergence from the traditions,
taught a literal enforcement of the rule, "an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth," but it does not appear
that this sect was ever in power and able to give
effect to its theories. On the other hand, while a
ransom in money in place of the " eye " or " tooth "
of the assailant is quite compatible with the Scrip-
tural law of assault and battery, taken as a whole,
it is not so clear that the natural construction of this
law would not demand the bodily infliction of the
penalty, according to the written words, whenever
the guilty party is unable or unwilling to pay the
ransom. In one case the law requites " measure for
measure " — not according to what has been actual-
ly done, but according to what was intended, or
" plotted " (see Alibi for the law of retaliation in the
case of " plotting witnesses "). Tiie rabbinical tra-
dition narrows very much the Scriptural law as
found in Deuteronomy ; but this, in its turn, falls
very far short of the severity and wide scope of the
Babylonian law. The latter not only visits with
death as a malignant slanderer one who wilfully,
though unsuccessfully, accuses another of sorcer}',
or of any other capital crime, but even one who
claims goods as having been stolen from him with-
out being able to produce witnesses to his ownership
(Code of Hammurabi, §§ 1-3, 11).
B. c. L. N. D.

R:6THT, MOB.IZ : Hungarian mathematician ;
born at Nagy-K5r6s Nov. 3, 1846; educated at
Budapest and Vienna, and at the universities of
Gattingen and Heidelberg. He was professor of
mathematics and theoretic physics at the University
of Klausenburg from 1874 to 1886, when he was
called to the School of Technology in Budapest.
Since 1891 he has lectured there on analytic me-
chanics.

In 1878 Rethy became a member of the Hun-
garian Academy of Sciences, which commissioned
him to edit Bolyai's " Tentamen " (1897). He has
also contributed a number of articles to the tech-
nical periodicals.

Bibliography : Palkts Lex.

s. L. V.

BEUBEN.— Biblical Data : Eldest son of Ja-
cob (Gen. xlvi. 8, xlix. 9) by Leah (ib. xxix. 32), to
whom he once carried mandrakes which he had
found in a field during the wheat harvest (ib. xxx.
14). He wronged his father by his conduct with the
latter's concubine Bilhah {ib. xxxv. 32), and in pun-
ishment his rights as first-born (ib. xlix. 3) were
transferred to the children of Joseph (I Chron. v. 1).
"When his other brothers planned to kill Joseph,
Reuben tried to save him : secretly intending to
rescue Joseph later and to restore him to his father,
he advised his brothers to throw him into a pit in-
stead of putting him to death outright. They acted
on Reuben's suggestion, and the latter was therefore
much distressed, when he came to the pit, to find that
the boy was not there (Gen. xxxvii. 19-22, 29-30).

Upon Jacob's refusal to allow Benjamin to go to
Egypt with his brothers, Reuben offered two of his
own four sons (ib. xlvi. 9; Ex. vi. 14) as a pledge,
agreeing that they should be killed if he did not
bring Benjamin back (Gen. xlii. 37).

B. 0. J. Z. L.

In Rabbinical and Apocryplial Literature :

Reuben was born on the fourteenth day of the ninth
month (Kislew) in the year 3123 after the Creation
(Book of Jubilees, xxviii. 11; Midr. Tadshe viii., in
Epstein, " Mi-Iiladmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," p. xxii.,
Vienna, 1887). His name was Interpreted to mean
"behold the splendid son! " (p IKT). since Leah re-
ferred to him with these words (Gen. R. Ixxi. 4), al-
though, according to another interpretation, she
thus implied a distinction between her first-born and
Esau, the eldest son of her father-in-law (Ber. 7b).
The mandrakes which Reuben brought home at the
time of the wheat harvest (see above) were Hef-
ker; otherwise he would not have taken them
(Sanh. 99b). He carried them to his mother with-
out tasting them, because of his reverence for her
(Gen. R. Ixxii. 2). While some scholars interpreted
the passage Gen. xxxv. 23 literally (Shab. 55b; Gen.
R. xcviii. 7; comp. Test. Patr., Reuben, 3), others
endeavored to explain away the wrong which Reu-
ben committed against his father, by saying that he
did not dishonor Bilhah, but that he merely es-
poused his mother's cause (Shab. 55b), since after
Rachel's death Jacob sought to give the precedence
to the handmaid Bilhah, as he had formerly pre-
ferred her mistress. Reuben, who would not coun-
tenance this, removed Bilhah's bed from the place
where Jacob wished to have it (Gen. R. I.e.). In
consequence of this sin Reuben lost both his birth-
right and his claims to the priesthood and the crown,
since the birthright would have given his children
the prospect of becoming priests and kings (Gen. R.
xcviii. 5, xcix. 6). He lamented his act, however,
and showed contrition immediately. Thus he was
the first penitent (Gen. R. Ixxxii. 13, Ixxxiv. 18) ;
and in consideration of his remorse he became
the ancestor of the prophet Hosea, who exhorted
Israel to turn to the Lord (Hos. xiv. 3; Gen. R.
Ixxxiv. 18).

Reuben did penance in secret meditation, and he
chastened himself by frequent abstinence from meat
and wine (Test. Patr., Reuben, end; comp. Gen. R.
I.e.). When, however, Judah confessed his sin and
justified Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 36), Reuben publicly
acknowledged his own fault (Tan., Wayesheb, ed.
Buber, p. 94b), lest his other brothers might be sus-
pected (Sotah 7b). In reward for this penitence and
voluntary confession he was granted life in the fu-
ture world.

The first cities of refuge were located in the ter-
ritory of Reuben's descendants, since he had taken
the first steps in saving Joseph by counseling his
brothers not to kill him (Mak. 10a; Gen. R. I.e.).
Reuben was not present when his brothers took
Joseph out of the pit and sold him, because he had
to serve his father on that day, and could not leave
the house, of which he was obliged to take charge
(Gen. R. Ixxxiv. 14). When his work was finished,
however, he hastened to the pasture, and was very
angry when he did not find Joseph ; for as the eld-

387

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

R^thy

Reuben ben Hayyim

est of the brothers he felt hunself responsible for his
safety (ib.). In Egypt Reuben was the patriarch
of the brothers, this right of rulership being trans-
ferred after his death to Simon and then to Levi
(Num. R. xiii. 10). lie died at the age of 135 years
(Midr. Tadshe I.e.; "Sefer ha-Yasliar," section
"Shemot," ed. princeps, p. 121a; Test. Patr., Reu-
ben, 1, beginning), and his body was put into a cof-
fin and given to his cliildren, who carried it with
them in the exodus from Egypt and interred it in
Palestine ("Sefer ha-Yashar,"^.c. ; Test. Patr., Reu-
ben, 7, end).

w. B. J. Z. L.

REUBEN, TRIBE OF: Tribe of Israel, de-
scended from Reuben, Jacob's first-born son, through
Reuben's four sons, Hanoch, Phallu or Pallu, Hez-
ron, and Carmi (Gen. xlvi. 9 and elsewhere), fathers
of the four clans of the tribe. At the time of the
Exodus the tribe counted 46, 500 males above twenty
years of age (Num. i. 20-31, ii. 11), which number
was reduced to 43,730 by the plague with which the
Israelites were punished for their worship of Baal-
peor {ib. xxvi. 7). During the wanderings of the
Israelites in the wilderness, the position of the Reu-
benites was on the south side of the Tabernacle.
The tribe, headed by its prince Elizur ben Shedeur
and having on either side the tribes of Simeon and
Gad, was the chief of the whole southern camp, so
that the latter was called " the camp of Reuben " (ib.
ii. 10). At the time of marching, the host of the
Reubenites was required to start second, after that
of the Judahites (ib. ii. 16). At the dedication of the
altar the prince of the Reubenites brought his offer-
ing on the fourth day (ib. vii. 30 et seq.).

A noteworthy event with regard to the Reuben-
ites was the connection of certain members of that
tribe, namely, Dathan and Abiram of the family of
Pallu and of On, the son of Peleth, with Korah in his
rebellion against Moses (ib. xvl. 1 et passim). The
Reubenites are recorded as the possessors of a large
quantity of cattle, on account of which they asked
Moses to station them on the east of the Jordan,
where was ample pasturage. Moses granted their
request after having obtained their promise that
they would help the other tribes in the conquest of
the land west of the Jordan (ib. xxxii. 1 ei seq.).

As to their territory, two main accounts are given:
(1) in Num. xxxii. 37-38 it is stated that the Reu-
benites " built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kir-
Their jathaim, Nebo, Baal-meon, and Shib-
Territory. mah," the names of which cities were
changed ; while (2) a fuller account is
given in Josh. xiii. 15 et seq., according to which the
border of Reuben's territory was "from Aroer that
is on the bank of the River Arnon . . . and all the
plain of Medeba." In this second list of cities Ele-
aleh and Nebo are omitted, but a great number of ad-
ditional cities Is mentioned, among which are Dibon
and Bamoth-baal. It is further stated that their ter-
ritory included all the cities of the plain and all the
kingdom of Sihon, king of the Aniorites. On the
west side, the Jordan was the boundary of their ter-
ritory. There is a discrepancy between these two
accounts, inasmuch as in the first (Num. xxxii. 34)
Dibon is said to have been built by the Gadites.
Besides, Aroer also was a Gadite city (ib.), which

shows that the territory of the Reubenites was en-
closed in that of the Gadites.

In I Chron. v. 8 it is stated that Reubenites of the
Joel family lived at Aroer in the time of Jotham,
King of Judah, but in verse 12 of the same chapter
a Gadite family named Joel is mentioned. The
Reubenites as well as their neighbors, the chi Idren
of Gad and the half -tribe of Manasseh, fulfilled their
promise to help the other tribes in the

Help to conquest of the land west of the Jor-

Build dan (Josh. iv. 13, xxii. 1 et seq.). The

the Great Reubenites participated in building

Altar. the " great altar to see to " (ib. xxii. 10

et seq.). After the conquest the tribe

of Reuben is generally associated with that of Gad,

which was more important.

During the period of the Judges the tribe of Reu-
ben is not represented by any judge. It is blamed
by Deborah for having abstained from taking part
in the war with Sisera (Judges v. 15-16). On the
other hand, it is indirectly indicated as having par-
ticipated in the war with theBenjamites (ib. xix. 29
et seq.). In the time of Saul the Reubenites are sta-
ted to have made war with the Hagarites, who fell
by their hand (I Chron. v. 10). In verses 18 et seq. of
the same chapter, however, the war with and the
victory over the Hagarites are ascribed to Reuben
and his neighbors. After the assassination of Ish-
bosheth the Reubenites joined all the other tribes
in proclaiming David king of all Israel. The num-
ber of the armed men sent jointly by the eastern two
and one-half tribes to Hebron on this occasion is stated
to have been 120,000 (ib. xii. 37). Afterward David
appointed 2,700 Levites of the Hebron family as
ecclesiastical and civil chiefs over the same tribes
(ib. xxvi. 31-32). The prince of the Reubenites in his
reign was Eliezer, son of Zikri (jJ. xxvii. 16). Among
David's mighty men was a Reubenite, Adina, son
of Shiza, chief of thirty warriors (ib. xi. 42).

Later the Reubenites are mentioned onlj' twice —
in II Kings x. 33, where their countr}"- is said to have
been ravaged by Hazael, King of Syria; and in I
Chron. v. 6, 18-22, where it is recorded that they,
like their neighbors, dwelt east of the Jordan till
they were carried away into captivity by Tiglath-
pileser, their chief at that time being Beerah, son of
Baal of the Joel family.

B. c. M. Sel.

REUBEN DAVID TEBELE BEN EZE-
KIEL: Polish Talmudist and printer of the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries. His name is gen-
erally followed by the word xasita ("Troppau"?).
In 1608 he edited at Lublin the " Yen ha-Rekah "
of Eleazar of Worms, to which he added notes of
his own. The name " Reuben " is missing in his
signature. From 1626 to 1628 he worked as cor-
rector of the Hanau edition of Joseph Caro's Shul-
han 'Aruk. He was the author of " Shib'im Tema-
rim " (Cracow, 1626), a seventy-fold interpretation
of Prov. xiv. 23.
BiBLiosRAPHT : Stelnschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 2139.

J. M. Sel.

REUBEN BEN HAYYIM: Provenpal Tal-
mudist ; flourished abou t the middle of the thirteen th
century; brother of the liturgical poet Abraham ben

Seuben ben Hoshke
Heuchlin

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

388

Hayyim. Reuben, who lived at Naibonne, was a
pupil of Isaac ha-Kohen of that city, and teacher of
Menahem Me'iri. The latter praises him as a great
Talmudist ; and Isaac of Lattes calls him " a trained
philosophical thinker." His nephew Levi of Ville-
franche quotes in his name some jihilosophical ex-
planations of the Haggadah that are mentioned also
in Azariah del Rossi's " Me'or 'Enayim " (Geiger, in
" He-Haluz," ii. 14). Reuben was the author of the
"Seferha-Tamid."

Bibliography: Azulai, Shew, ha^Gedolim. il. 155; Michael,
Or ha^Havuim, No. 573; Renan-Neubauer, Les Bobbins
FraiiQais, p. 629; Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 421.
E. c. A. Pe.

REUBEN BEN HOSHKE. See Hoshke.

REUBEN HA-SEFARDI: Reputed author of
" Kelimmat ha-Goyim, " a work which attacks Chris-
tianity, probably written by Profiat Duran (Etodi)
in 1349. The assumption is that the " Kelimmat ha-
Goyira " is the same as the " Sefer ha-Kelimmah "
mentioned by Joseph b. Shem-Tob, and that this is
Identical with the " Sefer ha-Kelimmah " by Reuben
ha-Sefardi mentioned in Moses Botarel's commentary
on "Sefer Yezirah" (end of mishnah 3, ch. i.); but
there is no doubt of the correctness of Zunz's view
that " Reuben ha-Sefardi " and his " Sefer ha-Kelim-
mah " as well as the other work ascribed to him,
"Sefer ha-Shulhan," are all fictitious names, in-
vented like many others by Botarel.

Bibliography: Furst, Bibl. Jucl. lil. 179; Ozerot Hayyim
MS. No. 341, and p. 346, note ; Zunz, O. V. p. i08 ; Neubauer,
Cat. Boai. Heltr. MSS. Nos. 2153-2155; Geiger, Kobez Wilt-
kuhim, pp. 4, 6, 22, Breslau, 1844 ; Benjacob, Ozar hd-Sefa-
rim, p. 241.
E. C. P. Wr.

REUBEN BEN STROBILUS : Jew of the

second century c.e. ; eminent both as a scholar and
for the part he took in the affairs of his time. From
references to the religious persecutions which he
endeavored to terminate it would appear that he be-
came prominent during the time of Hadrian, when
the government had forbidden the observance of the
Sabbath and of circumcision as well as the use of
women's baths (Me'i. 17a). Reuben ben Strobilus
apparently went to Rome and associated with the
Romans, wearing his hair in their fashion that he
might not be recognized as a Jew. He craftily
represented that to permit the Jews to live in con-
formity with their own laws was the best way to re-
duce their numbers, since they became poor through
not working on the Sabbath, weakened themselves
by circumcision, and impaired their fertility by
avoiding their wives at certain times. These results
being desired by the authorities, the prohibitions
were repealed, but when it became known that the
adviser was a Jew the restrictions were reenforced
(Me'i. 17a).

At another time Reuben is found in conversation
with a philosopher at Tiberias on a certain Sabbath,
when Reuben expressed the opinion that the most
despicable man on earth is he who denies his Creator,
and that the moral laws of the Decalogue are trans-
gressed only by one who denies their Author (Tosef.,
Shebu. ill. 6). Another saying of his concerns the
nature of sin (M. K. 18b; Ab. R. N., text B, xxxv.).

Two of the sons of Reuben ben Strobilus were
pupils of R. Judah the Patriarch ; they were con-
demned to death, perhaps at the command of the

government, and R. Judah advised them to flee to
the south (Yer. Kil. 33c). One of his sons may have
been the Eutolemus b. Reuben who is described as
being in favor with the government (Sotah 49b ; B.
K. 83a).

Bibliography : Krauss, Lehnwdrter, li. 121 (concerning the
name "Strobilus") ; Gratz, Gesch. 3cl ed., iv. 191; Bacher,
Ag. Tan. il. 383.
S. S. Kr.

REUBENI, DAVID: Arab adventurer; born
about 1490 in central Arabia, in Khaibar, as he him-
self stated ; died in Llerena, Spain, after 1535. He
left Khaibar Dec. 8, 1533, and went to Nubia in
Egypt, where he claimed to be a descendant of Mo-
hammed, while to the Jews he spoke of large Jew-
ish kingdoms in the East, possibly referring to the
so-called "Jewish realm " at Cochin, which had just
attracted attention owing to the Portuguese con-
quest of Goa. He traveled in Palestine in the spring
of 1533, and went to Venice, by way of Alexandria,
in Feb., 1534. Here he claimed to have amission
from the Jews of the East to the pope, and inter-
ested a Jewish painter named Moses, and Felice, a
Jewish merchant ; they provided him with means to
travel to Rome, which he reached in the same month,
entering the city on a white horse. He obtained
an audience with Cardinal Giulio and Pope Clement
VII. To the latter he told a tale of a Jewish king-
dom ruled over by his brother Joseph In Arabia,
where the sons of IMoses dwelt near the fabled Sam-
bation River. He brought letters from Portuguese
captains confirming his statements, and the Portu-
guese minister, Miguel da Silva, reported to his
court the possible utility of Reubeni's mission in
obtaining allies in the struggle of the Portuguese
against Salim I., who had seized Egypt in 1531 and
diverted the spice-trade. Reubenl was provided by
Benvenida Abravanel, wife of Samuel Abravanel,
and the heirs of Jehiel of Pisa with means for going
to Almeiria, .the residence of King John III. of
Portugal, which he reached Nov., 1535, who at first
promised him a force of eight ships and 4,000 cannon.
But the king, who was at that time engaged in perse-
cuting the Neo-Christians, found it difllcult to enter
into an alliance with the Jewish king, though for a
time djuring the negotiations he refrained from inter-
fering with the Maranos.

Reubeni's striking appearance — a swarthy dwarf
in Oriental costume — and Messianic predictions at-
tracted the attention of Diego Pires, a Marano youth
of noble birth, who took the name of Solomon
MoLKO. Jewish ambassadors from the Barbary
States visited Reubeni at the Portuguese court, and
much excitement followed among the Maranos, some
of whom even ventured to rise in arms near Bada-
joz. This appears to have opened the eyes of the
Portuguese authorities to the dangers inherent in
Reubeni's mission. Reubeni then went to Avignon
to bring his cause before the papal court, and af-
terward to Milan, where he again met Molko, who
had meanwhile traveled to the East and had made
Messianic claims. In Milan the two adventurers
quarreled, Reubeni going to Venice, where the Senate
appointed a commission to inquire whether his proj-
ect for obtaining assistance from the Jews in the
East in its plans of conquest were practicable. He

389

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beuben ben Hoshke
Beuchlin

received, however, a hint to leave Venice, and, join-
ing once more with Solomon Molko, traveled witli
streaming banner to Bologna and Ratisbon (Regens-
burg) to meet the Emperor Charles V. and to ofEer
him the alliance of the Jews of the East against the
Turks. In Ratisbon they met Josel of Rosheim,
who warned them against arousing the suspicions
of the emperor and raising the Jewish question
in the empire. They nevertheless persisted, and
were put in chains and taken by the emperor to
Mantua, where both Molko and Reubeni were exam-
ined and the former was condemned to death by
burning, Dec, 1532. Reubeni' was carried to Spain
and placed in the Inquisition at Llerena, where
probably he died, as nothing more is heard of him,
though " a Jew who came from India to Portugal "
is reported by Herculano to have been burned at an
auto da f e at Evora, 1541 (see Jew. Encyc. vi. 598b,
s.v. Inql'isition, also Evoba). His diary still exists
in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (a copy at Breslaii
also) ; parts of it have been published by Qratz in the
third edition of his " Geschiohte der Juden " (vol.
ix.), and the whole by Neubauer, in "M. J. C." ii.
Bibliography : Gratz, Gesch. Ix. 238, 250, 255, 533-548. j

REtrCHLIN, JOHANN VON (Grecized as
Capnio) : German humanist ; born Feb. 23, 1455,
at Pforzheim; died June 30, 1523, at Liebenzell,
near Hirschau, "Wilrttemberg. He studied at the uni-
versities of Freiburg, Paris, and Basel (1475-78).
After having served the Duke of Wilrttemberg as
companion, judge, and ambassador (1481-96) he was
appointed councilor by the Duke of Baden (1496-99),
and, returning to Wttrttemberg in 1499, he again be-
came judge at Tubingen, which position he resigned
in 1513. From 1519 to 1531 he was professor of
Greek and Hebrew at the University at Ingolstadt ;
and from 1531 till his death he held a similar chair
at the University of Tttbingen.

Reuchlin, who was one of the leaders of the Ger-
man humanists, introduced the study of Greek and
especially of Hebrew into western Europe, and was
with Luther, Melanchthon, Erasmus, and Hutten
among the promoters of the Reformation, although
he declared himself against the movement in 1530.

During his second visit to Rome (1490) Reuchlin
became acquainted with Pico di Mirandola at Flor-
ence, and, learning from him about the Cabala, he
became interested in Hebrew ; but not till 1493 could
he find an opportunity to learn that
Studies language; his teacher was the em-
Hebrew, peror's physician, Jacob Loans. From
that time he became an ardent student
of Hebrew, having for a second teacher Obadiah of
Sforno, during his third stay in Rome (1497-99).
His researches into the language of the Bible led
Reuchlin to study the Talmud and the Cabala also.
Pfeffbukokn, a baptized Jew from Cologne and
a follower of the Dominican friars, had succeeded in
1509 in obtaining from the emperor Maximilian of
Germany an order for the destruction of all Hebrew
books found in the possession of the Jews of Co-
logne and Frankfort. The Jews appealed, and
Reuchlin was asked in 1510 to give his opinion upon
the case. Reuchlin's report was favorable to the
Jews. He divided the Jewish literature into seven

classes, in one of them being the Old Testament;
and, judfging these classes singly, he arrived at the
conclusion that the Talmud, the cabalistic book the
Zohar, the commentaries of Rashi, the Kimhis, Ibn
Ezra, Gersonides, Nahmanides, etc., should not be
burned, as they were useful for theology and science,
and no heresy was contained in them; but books
which contained blaspliemies against Jesus, such as
the " Toledot Yeshu, " he considered ought to be des-
troyed. Furthermore, the Jews, being as such un-
der the protection of the German empire, could not
be accused of heresy against Christianity. The em-
peror rescinded his edict of destruction on May 23,
1510. The rescission being mainly a result of Reuch-
lin's report, a prolonged conflict between him and
the Dominicans followed, into which the whole
scientific world of Europe was drawn.

Dispute The humanists were on the side of
with Pfef- Reuchlin, whilethoclericals, especially

ferkorn. the universities of Louvain, Cologne,

Erfurt, Mayence, and Paris, were with

the Dominicans. Pfefierkorn published in 1511 his

" Handspiegel, " attacking Reuchlin, who answered

it with his " Augeuspiegel " (Pforzheim, 1511).

The University of Cologne, under the influence
of the Dominican prior Jacob van Hoogstraten,
published in 1512 in Cologne " Articuli sive Proposi-
tiones de Judaico Favore." Reuchlin accepted the
challenge from the university and wrote " Defensio
Reuchlini Contra Calumniatores Sues Colonienses "
(Tilbingen, 1513) ; he was answered in turn by the
professor of classical literature of the University of
Cologne, Ortuin de Graes (Gratius), in "Proenota-
menta Contra Omnem Male volentiam " (n.d.), and re-
plied in another work, entitled " Clarorum Virorum
Epistolse Latina3, Grsecse et Hebraicse Variis Tem-
poribus Missile ad J. Reuchlinum " (Tubingen, 1514;
2 vols., Hagenau, 1519). Following the examplfe of
the German university, the Sorbonne also condemned
the " Augenspiegel." The subject was brought be-
fore the Paris university by the confessor of King
Louis XII. , Petit Guillaume Haguinet, the same cleric
who in 1520 created at the Sorbonne a chair for He-
brew, to be held by Christian scholars.

The prior Hoogstraten ordered Reuchlin to ap-
pear before the Dominican court at Mayence in 1513
to defend himself against the accusation of heresy,
based upon the " Augenspiegel " ; but the hearing
was suspended by order of Archbishop Uriel von
Gemmingen of Cologne, who in 1509 had been ap-
pointed by Maximilian a commissioner to investigate
Pf efferkorn's accusation. The controversy came, by
order of the pope, before the Bishop of Speyer, who
in 1514 decided in favor of Reuchlin. The Domini-
cans appealed to Pope Leo X., and for six years the
case remained undecided. In the meantime the
"Epistolse Obscurorum Virorum ad Ortuinum Gra-
tium " appeared anonymously in Ha-
The genau (?) in 1515 and 1516, and in

"Aug'en- Basel 1517, Reuchlin disclaiming the

Spiegel" authorship. The matter was brought
Con- before the Lateran Council at its ses-

demned. sion of 1516, which decided in favor of

Reuchlin. But the decision was again

set aside, and finally, in 1520, the matter was decided

against Reuchlin by Leo X., who condemned the

Eenel
Sevelation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

390

" Augenspiegel." This decision was influenced by
political reasons, the King of France and Em-
peror Charles IV. of Germany siding with the Do-
minicans against the spread of the Reformation in
Germany.

Reucblin was the first scholar to introduce Hebrew
into the curriculum of the university. He taught
it before he became professor at Ingolstadt and Tu-
bingen. Among his pupils may be mentioned:
Melanchthon, Christopher Schilling of Lucerne, John
Oecolampadius, John Cellarius, and Bartholomaus
Csesar.

Reuchlin's works on subjects of specifically Jew-
ish interest are: (1) "De Verbo Miriflco" (Basel,
1494), upon the Cabala. Baruchias, a Jewish sage;
Capnion, a Christian scholar ; and a Greek philoso-
pher have a discussion, the outcome of which is a
declaration of the supremacy of Jewish wisdom and
of the Hebrew language. (2) "Rudimenta Hebra-
ica " (Pforzheim, 1506). As the first Hebrew gram-
mar written by a Christian its many faults may .well
be overlooked. It gives only the rudiments of He-
brew pronunciation and a very imperfect vocabulary.
(3) " De Arte Cabalistica " (Hagenau, 1517). (4) " De
Accentibus et Orthographia Hebraorum Libri Tres "
{ib. 1518). This grammar is far superior to the one
which appeared in 1506, and shows the result of the
thorough studies of the author.

See also Grabs, Ortdin de; Hoogstraten,
Jacob van; Humanists; Huttkn, Ulrich von;
Loans, Jacob b. Jeiiibl; Pfepfbrkorn, Johann.

Bibliography: Gratz, Oesch. vol. ix., passim: L. Gelger, Jo-
hann Beuchlin, Lelpsic, 1871 ; Horowitz, Zur Bwgraphie
itnd Korrespondenz J. Reuchlin's, Vienna, 1877 ; Schaff-
Herzog, Encyc.
D. F. T. H.

RETJEL. See Jethro.

REUSS, EDUARD WILHELM : Protestant
theologian; born in Strasburg JulylS, 1804r died
there April 15, 1891. He studied Oriental languages
with Gesenius at Halle, and with Silvestre de Sacy
at Paris ; and became professor at bis native city in
1 834. He claimed that in his opening lectures on the
Old Testament lie put forward the hypothesis,. later
advocated by Graf and Wellhausen, that the Priestly
Code and the second Elohist were the latest strata in
the Pentateuch. He published a complete French
translation of the Bible (1874-88) In sixteen volumes,
with an elaborate introduction and notes (after his
death published in German), and composed a "Ge-
schichte der Heiligen Schriften des Alten Testa-
ments" (1881), which for some time was the best
work on the subject.

Bibliography : La O-rande Encyclopedie.

T. J-

REVAI, S16B : Hungarian deputy ; born at
Eperies in 1860; educated at the universities of
Budapest and Leipsic. In 1880 he entered the'pub-
lishing-house which his father had founded in 1869
under the firm name of Revai Brothers; and since
tliat time he has rendered great service to popular
education In Hungary. Prom 1880 to 1885 he edited
the periodical " Regeny vilag " (World of Romance) ;
and it was largely through his efforts that "Die
Oesterreichisch-Ungarische Monarchic in Wort und
Bild " was published in 1885 under the patronage

of the crown prince Rudolph. Revai introduced
book-canvassing into Hungary, and was instrumen-
tal in securing 20,000 subscribers to the great Hun-
garian "Pallas Nagy Lexicon." An edition of the
collected works of Moritz Jokai in 100 volumes, one
of the finest products of his press, gained the " Grand
Prix " at the Paris Exposition of 1900. In 1901 Revai
was returned to the Hungarian Parliament by the
district of Szek.

Bibliography: Pallas Lex.; Sturm, Oraz&agvUlesi Alma-
nack, 1901-6.
S. L. V.

REVELATION (BOOK OF) : The last book
in the New Testament canon, yet in fact one of the
oldest; probably the only Judseo-Christian work
which has survived the Paulinian transformation of
the Church. The introductory verse betrays the
complicated character of the whole work. It pre-
sents the book as a "Revelation which God gave
... to show unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass," and at the same time as a
revelation of Jesus Christ to "bis servant John."
According to recent investigations, the latter part
was interpolated by the compiler, who worked the
two sections of the book — the main apocalypse (cb.
iv.-xxi. 6) and the letters to the "seven churches"
(i.-iii. and close of xxli.) — into one so as to make
the whole appear as emanating from John, the seer
of the isle of Patmos in Asia Minor (see i, 9, xxii.
8), known otherwise as John the Presbyter. The
anti-Paulinian character of the letters to the seven
churches and the ainti-Roman character of the apoc-
alyptic section liave been a source of great embar-
rassment, especially to Protestant the-

Jewish. ologians, ever since the dayspf Luther ;

Origin. but the apocalypse has become espe-
cially important to Jewish students
since it has been discovered by Viscber (see bibli-
ography) that the main apocalypse actually belongs
to Jewish apocalyptic literature.

The Letters to the Seven Churches : The
first part (i. 4-iii. 22) contains a vision by Jolin,
who is told by Jesus to send a letter to the seven
aftgels of the seven churches in Asia (founded by
Paul and his associates), rebuking them for the lib-
ertinism that has taken bold of many " who pass as
Jews, but show by their blasphemy and licentious-
ness that they are of the synagogue of Satan " (ii. 9,
iii. 9, Greek). These seven churches were those of
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Tbyatira, Sardis, Phil-
adelphia, and Laodicea. Owing to their heathen
associations many of their members bad lapsed
into pagan or semipagan views and practises, under
the influence of heretic leaders. Of these one is
singled out by the name of Nicolaites (ii. 6, 15;
comp. Acts vi. 5), called also Balaam (ii. 14, DV J)?3
= " Nicolaos "), because, like Balaam, be seduced the
people to Idolatry and fornication by his false proph-
ecies and witchcraft (Num. xxv. 1 ; xxxi. 8, 16).
Another singled out was a woman, probably a
prophetess, called Jezebel (ii. 20) on account of
her idolatrous practises (I Kings xviii. 19, xxi. 25).
Evidently the seed sown hy Paul and his associates,
who in their antinomian Gnosticism boasted of hav-
ing penetrated " the deep things of God " (I Cor. ii.
10), had borne evil fruit, so that the seer of Patmos

991

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beuel
Bevelatiou

calls these heretics "false apostles and liars" (ii. 3),
and their teachings " the depths of Satan " (ii. 34).

How much local cults, as that of Esculapius in
Pergamos ("Satan's seat"; ii. 13), had to do with
these heresies it is difficult to say ; certain it is that
many were " polluted " by pagan practises (ii. 13,
26; iii. 4). All the more severely does the seer con-
demn the Pauline teaching as " the teaching of Ba-
laam" (comp. II Peter ii. 15; Jude 11; Sanh. 106b;
Git. 57a ; see Balaam). On the other hand, Jesus,
through John, promises to the poor, the meek, and
the patient toilers of the churches who refuse to
partake of the meals of the pagans that "they shall
eat of the tree of life " in paradise (ii. 3, 7) ; to those
who are to suffer from the pagan powers that they
shall, as true " athletes " of this world, be given the
"crown of life" (ii. 10); to him "that overcometh"
in the contest (comp. the rabbinical term, " zokeh ")
will be given a lot or mark ("goral") bearing the
Ineffable Name, and he shall "eat of the hidden
manna" (ii. 17; comp. Tan., Beshallah, ed. Buber,
p. 31; Hag. 13b; Apoc. Baruch, xxix. 8; Sibyl-
lines, ii. 848) ; or, like the Messiah, he will " rule
them [the heathen] with a rod of iron " and be given
the crown of glory (ii. 36-38; the "morning star,"
taken from xxii. 16, if it is not the error of a
copyist); those who "have not defiled their gar-
ments" "shall be clothed in white raiment," and
their names shall be written in the book of life and
proclaimed before God and His angels (iii. 4-5) ; while
those who stand the test of Satan's trials shall
be spared in the great Messianic time of trial and
become pillars in the temple of the "new Jerusa-
lem "■ (iii. 10-13, Greek), or shall partake of the Mes-
sianic banquet, sitting by (scarcely " in ") the seat of
Jesus (iii. 31).

Obviously, the writer of these visionary letters to
the seven churches of Asia was in his own estima-
tion a Jew, while believing in Jesus as the risen
Messiah. He beheld him in his vision
Jevyisli as "the faithful witness" (martyr)
Point of who is next to God, " who is, was, and
View will be " (" come " is the emendation

of Writer, of the late compiler), his seven angelic
spirits Standing " before his throne " (i.
4-5) ; "-the Son of man " grasping seven stars in his
right hand, vfhile out of his mouth came a sharp
two-edged sword (i. 13-16; ii. 1, 13 [taken from the
apocalypse, xiv. 14]; iii. 1); who "holds the keys
of hell and of death " (i. 18) ; who is " the holy and
true one" that "holds the key of David" (iii. 7,
with reference to Isa. xxii. 23) ; who is called also
" the beginning of the creation of God " (iii. 14).
However, the identification of " him who was dead
and became alive again " with God, who is the First
and the Last, the ever-living Almighty (i. 17 ; comp.
i. 8 and ii. 8), is the work of tlie late compiler. The
close of the visionary letters is found at xxii. 16,
where Jesus is represented as saying, " I am the root
and the offspring of David " (comp. Isa. xi. 1, 10),
"the bright and morning star" (after Num. xxiv.
17 and [probably] Ps. ex. 3 ; comp. LXX.). To find
in these chapters traces of a persecution of the early
Christians by the Jews, as do most modern exegetes,
is absurdly illogical. On the contrary, the writer
condemns the anti-Jewish attitude of the Pauline

churches; the document is tlierefore of great his-
torical value. It is important in this connection to
note the Hebraisms of the whole of this part of the
book, which prove that the writer or— if he himself
originally wrote Hebrew or Aramaic — the translator
could neitlier write nor speak Greek correctly. As
to the relation of this to the apocalypse which
follows see below.

The Main Apocalypse : The succeeding part
(iv.-xx. 8) contains several Jewish apocalypses
worked into one, so altered, interpolated, and re-
modeled as to impress the reader as the work of the
author of the letters to the seven churches. In the
following the attempt is made to acquaint the reader
with the contents of the two original Jewish apoca-
lypses, as far as they can be restored, tJie Christian
interpolations and alterations being put aside.

First Jewish Apocalypse : After the introductory
verses, part of i. 1, 8 (" I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was and will be [" will come " is a
Christian alteration], the Almighty ") and part of i.
12-19, the apocalyptic seer describes (iv. 1 et seg.)
Iiow he was carried up by the spirit (with the an-
gel's word, "Come down hither," compare the ex-
pression " Yorede Merkabali "), and how he saw " a
throne set in heaven and One sitting on the throne,"
after the manner of Ezek. i. 36-38. " Round about
the throne were twenty-four seats, and upon these
I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white
raiment, and they had golden crowns on their
heads": obviously heavenly representations of the
twenty-four classes of priests serving in the Temple
(Ta'an. iv. 2; I Chron. xxiv. 7-18; Josephus,
"Ant." vii. 14, § 7; comp., however, Gunkel,
"SchSpfung und Chaos," pp. 303-308, and Isa.
xxiv. 23 [Bousset]). After a description of the
four "hayyot," taken from Ezek. i. 5-10, 18 and
combined with that of the serapliim in Isa. vi. 2-3,
the text continues, "They rest not day and night,'
saying. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts
[■KavTOKp&Tup, translated " Almighty " in A. V. ;
comp. Amos iv. 13], who was, is, and shall be"
(Greek text, " is to come "). And when the hayyot
give glory and honor and praise to Him who sits on
the tlirone. Him who lives forever and ever ("he
ha-'olamin "), the twenty-four elders prostrate them-
selves and, laying down their crowns, say, " Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power, for Thou hast created all things, and by
Thy will they have been created."

Ch. V. : The seer then describes how he saw at the
right hand of God a scroll written within and with-
out and sealed with seven seals (it was customary
for the last will to be sealed with seven seals and
opened by seven witnesses; see Huschke, "Das
Buch mit den Sieben Siegeln," 1860; Zahn, "Ein-
leitung in das Neue Testament," ii. 691), which none
in heaven, on earth, or beneath the earth was found
worthy to open until one of the twenty -four elders
pointed out that "the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, had merited to open the book and
loose its seven seals." Then the lion (the Christian
reviser rather awkwardly substituted "the slain
lamb ") suddenly appeared, with seven horns and

I seven eyes, standing between the throne and the

Bevelation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

392

four hayyot and the twenty-fouv elders; and he
stepped forth and took the scroll while the hayyot
and the elders prostrated themselves before him,
saying, " Thou art worthy to take the book and open
the seals thereof; for ..." The remainder has
been worked over by the Christian reviser.

Ch. vi. 1-13: At the opening of the first seal by
the Messiah the seer hears the thunder-call of one of
the four hayyot, and sees a white horse appear, with
a rider holding a bow (representing, probably. Pes-
tilence) ; at the opening of the second seal, a red
horse, with a rider armed with a great sword (repre-
senting War); at the opening of the third seal, a
black horse, with a rider holding a pair of balances
to weigh flour, bread having become scarce (signi-
fying Famine); at the opening of the fourth seal, a
" pale " liorse, the rider thereof being Death. These
four are to destroy the fourth part of the earth by
the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.
What plague is ushered in at the opening of the
fifth seal is no longer stated ; apparently it is perse-
cution of the saints, as the text continues: "I saw
under the altar the souls of them that were slain for
the word of God, and lor the testimony they gave "
(as martyrs ; see Kiddush ha-Shem). " And they
cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth." And white
robes were given them, and they were told to rest
for a while until the number of the martyrs was
full (comp. Apocalypse of Baruch, xxx. 3; IV Esd.
iv. 36).

After this the seer beholds a great multitude of
people of every land and language, both Jews and
proselytes, also arrayed in white robes, standing be-
fore the throne ; and he is told that, " having under-
gone great tribulation, they have made their robes
white by the blood of the martyrs" (of course, not
"of the lamb," as the Christian reviser has it); and
that now they serve God in the heavenly temple
day and night, and the Shekinah dwells with them
(vii. 9-17, which part is misplaced).

Ch. vi. 13-17: At the opening of the sixth seal
"the birth-throes of the Messianic time " appear, as
depicted in Joel iii. 3-4; Isa. ii. 10, xxiv., xxxiv. 4;
and Hosea x. 8. Fear of the great day of God's
wrath (Mai. iii. 3) and of the wrath of His anointed
(Ps. ii. 13) seizes the whole world.

Ch. viii. 1-13: The opening of the seventh seal

forms the climax. The awful catastrophe is marked

by " silence in heaven about the space

Opening' of of half an hour." The four angels

the that hold the winds at the four cor-

Seventh. ners of the earth are told to check the
Seal. blowing of the winds on land, on
sea, and on the trees until an angel
has sealed upon the forehead, with the seal of the
living God, the 144,000 servants of God, that is,
13,000 of each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Dan as
idolater is excluded, and Levi takes his place along
with the two sons of Joseph), in order to guard them
against the impending destruction (vii. 1-8). The
seven trumpets of the seven angels before God usher
in seven great calamities: the first four involve a
world conflagration (" mabbul shel esh ") that burns
up the third part of the land and dries up a third

part of the sea and the rivers, and an eclipse of sun,
moon, and stars (viii. 2-13; comp. Sibyllines, iii.
80-90, 540) ; the remaining three, who are an-
nounced by an angel flying through the midst of
heaven (viii. 13), bring even greater woes ; first the
torment of locusts, described in all its fierceness in
the apocalyptic chapters of Joel (i. 6, ii. 3-9), coming
forth from the abyss over which the angel Abaddon
(Destruction; comp. Job xxviii. 33; comp. "Zefoni,"
Joel, ii. 30; Suk. 53a) alone has power (ix. 1-13);
secondly, the letting loose from the banks of the Eu-
phrates of the four kings (D'^iiD; not "angels,"
Cax^D), with numberless hosts of wild Parthian
horsemen wearing breastplates of fire and brimstone,
and riding on horses that have heads of lions and
tails of serpents, and out of whose mouths come
fire, smoke, and brimstone (comp. Nahum ii. 4-5,
iii. 3). As with the former plagues, a third part of
mankind is killed ; they were prepared for this task
from the beginning of the world. "And yet,"
closes the seer, " the rest of the men which were not
killed repented not, b,ut continued to worship
demons, idols of gold and silver, bronze, stone, and
wood, practise witchcraft, and commit murders, for-
nications, and thefts" (ix. 13-31; see Sibyllines, ii.
355-363, iv. 31-34; and compare the four kings of
the mighty hosts upon the banks of the Euphrates
in the Midrash of Simeon ben Yohai, in Jellinek,
"B. H."iii. 81).

The tlnrd and last wo, announced in xi. 14 (x.-xi.
13 interrupts the connection), is no longer given
in what follows xi. 15a; for the Christian reviser
changed the text which originally described the last
judgment passed upon the non-repentant people,
"the kingdoms of this world/' and instead speaks
of their having " become kingdoms of Christ. " Only
verse 18, telling of "the wrath of God that has
come upon the nations that shall be destroyed as
they have destroj^ed the land," contains traces of
the former contents of the chapter ; although pos-
sibly part of xiv. 1-5, referring to the 144,000
of Israel who had been saved, and the proclama-
tion to all the nations to "fear God and worship
Him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the fountains
of water," "for the hour of- His judgment has
come" (xiv. 6-7), formed part of the original Jew-
ish apocalypse; also xi. 16-18, the song of praise by
the twenty-four elders before God and the vision of
the reappearance of the Ark of the Covenant (xi.
19; comp. Yoma 53b, 54a).

In all probability this apocalypse was written be-
fore the destruction of Jerusalem, at a time of per-
secution, when many Jews died as martyrs, though
many others yielded ; hence only 13,000 of each tribe
are to be selected.

The Second Jewish Apocalypse : Far more power-
ful, and expressive of intense hatred of Rome, the
Babel-like destroyer of Judea, is the second Jewish
apocalypse, or series of apocalypses, written during
the siege and after the destruction of Jerusalem, and
contained in ch. x. 2-xi. 13, xii. 1-xiii. 18, and xiv.
6-xxii. 6. After the manner of Ezek. ii. 8-iii. 3, the
writer represents his vision as having been received
in the form of a book, which he is to eat with its
bitter contents. In imitation of Ezek. xl. 3 and
Zeoh. ii. 5-6, the angel gives him a measuring-rod

393

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kevelation.

that lie may measure the site of the Temple and
the altar, which is to remain intact, while the rest
of the Holy City is doomed to be trodden under
foot by the Gentiles (the Roman soldiers) for forty-
two months (Dan. vii. 35, viii. 14, xii. 7). He is then
told that during this time there shall be two prophets,
witnesses of the Lord (Moses and Elijah), who shall
again manifest their power of restraining the heavens
from giving rain (I Kings xvii. 1), of turning the water
into blood, and of striking the land with plagues
(Ex. vii.-x.); and whosoever shall attempt to hurt
them will be devoured by fire from their mouths (II
Kings i. 10). But they will finally fall victims to the
beast that ascends out of the abyss to make war
upon them. After their dead bodies have been lying
tor three and a half days in the streets of the Holy
City, which shall have become a Sodom and Gomor-
rah, and the people of all tongues and of all nations
have looked upon them and rejoiced at the death
of the prophets that had chastised them (by their
preaching of repentance), refusing to
Xloses give them burial, God's spirit will
and again imbue them with life, and they

Elijah, will, to the astonishment of the peo-
ple, rise and ascend to heaven ; and in
the same hour a great earthquake will cause the
death of 7, 000 people (xi. 1-13). Of this eschatolog-
ical feature no trace is found in rabbinical sources,
except the appearance of Moses and the Messiah dur-
ing the war of Gog and Magog (Targ. Yer. Ex. xii.
43). Possibly this is the older form of the legend of
the Messiah ben Ephraim or ben Joseph being slain
by Gog and Magog, based onZech. xii. 10-11 (comp.
Jellinek, "B. H." iii. 80).

Then follows (xiii. 1, 13a, 5b, 10) the description
of the beast (after Dan. vii. 4-7; comp. vii. 8, xi.
36). It bears (in " Augustus Divus ") the name of
blasphemy, and its mouth speaks blasphemy against
God and His Shekinah on earth and in heaven (i. 5-6,
misunderstood by the Christian translator). It has
power over all nations and tongues, and over all
those whose names are not written in the book of
life (the awkward addition " of the lamb " betrays
the Christian hand) from the foundation of the
world, and it makes war upon the "saints" (the
Jewish people, as in Daniel). For forty-two months
(the three and a half years of Daniel) will its power
last, trying the patience of the saints.

But then (xiv. 6-7) an angel in the midst of heaven
announces good tidings to the people on the earth,
saying, " Fear God, and give glory to Him ; for the
hour of His judgment is come : and worship Him
that made heaven, and earth, and the sea." Here
follows (xv. 5-xvi. 31) the vision of the seven angels
coming out of the Temple with " seven golden vials
full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever and
ever." The first angel pours out his vial upon the
earth and there falls an evil and grievous sore
(comp. Ex. ix. 8) upon the men who
Vision of bear the mark of the beast and wor-
ths Seven ship his image (an allusion to the cult
Plagues, of the emperors and to the Roman
coins). The second angel pours out
his vial (comp. Ex. vii. 19) on the sea, which turns
into blood, so that all living things therein die. The
third pours out his vial upon the rivers, and they

become blood, the angel of the waters praising the
j ustice of God (" ziddulj ha-din "), which makes those
drink blood who have shed that of the saints and
prophets. The fourth pours out his vial upon the
sun, which becomes a fire to scorch the people who
blaspheme and repent not. The fifth pours out his
vial upon the seat of the beast (Rome), and its em-
pire becomes full of darkness ; yet the people repent
not. The sixth pours out his vial upon the great
Euphrates (comp. Sanh. 98a), and it is dried up, so
as to prepare the way for the kings of the East (the
Parthians) to gather in Armageddon ('Ir Magdiel,
symbolic name for Rome ; xvi. 13-15 is an interpola-
tion ; see Targ. Yer. to Gen. xxxvi. 43; Pirke R. El.
xxxviii. ; Gen. R. Ixxxiii.). The seventh pours out
his vial into the air and causes an earthquake which
splits the great city (Rome) into three parts, and the
cities of the nations fall, and islands and mountains
are removed, and Babylon (Rome) takes from the
hand of God the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath
(comp. Jer. xxv. 15).

In cli. xvii.-xix., in imitation of Isaiah's and Eze-

kiel's vision of Tyre (Isa. xxiii. 17; Ezek. xxvii.-

xxviii.), the apocalyptic writer then proceeds to

dwell on the judgment held over the

Rome great harlot that sits upon the many

the Great waters, with whom the kings of the

Harlot. earth have committed fornication, and
with the wiije of whose fornication
the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
He then sees in the wilderness "a woman sitting
upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blas-
phemy [idolatry] and having [seven heads and] ten
horns [comp. Dan. vii. 7], herself arrayed in purple
and scarlet and decked with gold and precious
stones, and holding in her hand a golden cup full
of the filthiness of her fornication " (the picture is
taken probably from' the Syrian representations of
Astarte riding on a lion with a cup of destiny in her
hand). Greatly astonished at this sight, he learns
from the interpreting angel (verses 5-14 and 16 are
later insertions which anticipate the interpretation)
that " the many waters " are the many nations given
into the power of the beast, and that the woman is,
the great city (of Rome) which reigneth over the
kings of the earth.

Then he beholds (xviii. 1-8) one of the glorious
angels descending from heaven, and crying out (in
the words of the ancient seers — Isa. xxi. 9, xxiv. 11-
18), "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and has
become the habitation of demons," for all the na-
tions have drunk of the glowing wine of her forni-
cation, and the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her (Isa. xxiii. 17; Jer. xxv. 15,
37). " Go out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues "
(Jer. li. 6, 9) ; " for her sins have reached unto heaven,
and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Ps.
cxxxvii. 8; Jer. 1. 15, 39). In rhythmic sentences,
taken from the Bible, the voice is heard saying:
" Fill her -cup double of what she offered you, and
give her as much torment and grief as she has had
glory and pleasure." All that is said of Babel (Isa.
xlvii. 7-9; Jer. 1. 33-34) is applied to her; and Eze-
kiel's lamentation over the fall of Tyre (xxvi. 16-
xxvii. 36) is repeated by the kings of tlie earth over

Sevelation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

394

the fall of Babylon (Rome). "Alas, alas, Babylon
the great, mighty city ! in one hour is thy judgment
come! " is the refrain (xviii. 10, 19). The rhythmic
form in which the whole is composed indicates a
Hebrew author, whereas the Christian interpolations
always spoil both context and rhythm.

Finally (xviii. 21-24), an angel casts a large stone
into the sea (comp. Jer. li. 63-64), saying, "Thus
shall Babylon be cast down forever and no longer
be found " ; her musicians shall no longer be heard
in her (comp, Ezek. xxvi. 14); nor shall any crafts-
man be seen ; nor shall " the sound of a millstone "
or " the voice of bridegroom and bride be perceived " ;
nor shall " the light of a candle " shine in her (comp.
Jer. XXV. 10).

In order to understand the relation between the

prophecy concerning the beast and Rome and the

visions of the dragon and the Messiah

The Beast, (the Christian " lamb ") which precede

the and follow, it is necessary to bear in

Dragon, mind that since the days of Pompey

and the Rome was in the eyes of the Jewish

Messiah, apocalyptic writers the fourth beast

in the Daniel apocalypse (see Dan. vii.

7), the last " wicked kingdom " whose end is to usher

in the Messiauic kingdom (Cant. R. ii. 12; Gen. R.

xliv. 20; Lev. R. xiii. ; Midr. Teh. Ps. Ixxx. 14; see

Romulus). Rome was found to be alluded to in

Ps. Ixxx. 14 (A. V. 13), in the words ly'D n^tn

{" the boar out of the wood "), the letter j; being

written above the others so as to make the word

^D"l (" Rome ") stand out in transposed order (comp.

Enoch, Ixxxix. 12, where Esau is spoken of as " the

black wild boar ").

The identification of Rome with Babylon is found
also in the Jewish Sibyllines, v. 159, and the identifi-
cation with Tyre in Ex. R. ix. 13— facts which indi-
cate the lines of Jewish apocalyptic tradition. " The
wild beast of the reeds" (Ps. Ixviii. 31 [R. V. 30])
has also been identified with Rome (see Midr. Teh.
Ps. Ixviii. [ed. Buber, p. 15]). But in order to ac-
count for the delay of the Messiah, who was to " slay
the wicked by the breath of his mouth " (Isa. xi. 4),
a cosmic power in the shape of an Ahrimanic animal,
the dragon, was introduced as the arch-enemy plot-
ting the destruction of the Messiah, the Antichrist
who with his hosts hinders the redemption ("me'ak-
keb et ha-ge'ullah"; Sanh. 97b; Nid. 13b; comp.
il Thess. ii. 6-7). To this end the author used a
mythological story (xiii. 1-6), borrowed from Baby-
lonia, as Gunkel {I.e. pp. 379-398) claims, from the
ApoUonic myth, as Dieterich ("Abraxas," 1891, pp.
117-122) thinks, or from Egypt., as Bousset suggests.
He sees (xii. 1-6) Zion in the garb of "a woman
clothed with the sun, the moon beneath her feet, and
twelve stars on the crown of her head," while about
to give birth to a child destined to " rule all nations
with a rod of iron" (Ps. ii. 9), pursued by a seven-
headed dragon ; the child (the future Messiah) is car-
ried up to the throne of God (that is, he is hidden),
and she flees to the wilderness, where a place is pre-
pared for her by God to be nourished in for 1,260
days (three and a half years ; comp. xi. 8, xiii. 5,
and Dan. vii. 8, xi. 25). Compare with this the Tal-
mudic legend of the Messiah babe carried off by the
storm (Yer. Ber. il. 5a). Here follows a similar story

from another hand (xii. 7-15), telling of a battle
raging in heaven between Michael, the " Synegor "
(= " pleading angel ") of Israel (Midr. Teh. Ps. xx.),
and Satan, the "Kategor" (= "Accuser"), which
ends in the casting down of the old serpent with
his hosts — a victory brought about by the merit of
the Jewish martyrs, which silenced the Accuser.

It was thereafter, says the second version, that
the woman (Israel) was pursued by the serpent;
but she was carried by a great eagle into a safe place
in the wilderness, where she was nourished for "a
time, two times, and a half time " (three and a half
years; comp. Dan. vii. 25); "and when the dragon
cast forth a flood of water to drown her, the earth
opened her mouth to swallow the water." Finally,
unable to slay the woman with her Messiah babe,
the dragon made war with the remnant of her seed,
the pious ones " who observe the commandments of
God."

The prophecy concerning Rome seems to have

received many interpolations and alterations at the

hands of Jewish and Christian compilers. Both

"the second beast, the false prophet who aids in

the worship of the image of the emperor (xiii. 11-

17), and the interpretation of the seven

Interpola- heads (xvii. 8-11) are later insertions.

tions. The number 666 (iDp Jlli; xiii. 18),

also, is scarcely genuine, inasmuch as

the number 256 represents both the beast and the

man (^D1"l and nj) as stated in the apocalypse. For

the second beast, called Beliar, comp. Sibyllines, ii.

167, 210 ; iii. 63-90.

The story of the Messiah hidden with God in
heaven is continued in xiv. 6-20, a passage which
has but few traces of the Christian compiler's hand.
Announcement (not of " good tidings ") is made to
the nations: "Fear God the Creator, for the hour of
His judgment is come" (xiv. 6-7). Then "the Son
of man coming on the cloud " (comp. Dan. vii. 13)
appears, a golden crown on his head and a sharp
sickle in his hand, and a voice calling forth from
within the Temple, " Thrust in thy sickle and reap,
for the harvest of the earth is come " ; " Tread ye the
clusters of the vine of the earth, for the grapes are
ripe " (comp. Joel iv. 13) ; and he " thrust the sickle,
and gathered the clusters of the vine of the earth
and cast them into the wine-press of the wrath of
God" (comp. Isa. Ixiii. 1-6); and as the wine-press
was trodden, outside the city (comp. Zech. xiv. 4),
there came blood out of the wine-press, reaching
even to the bridles of the horses, for the space of
1,600 furlongs (comp. Enoch, xciv. 9, xcix. 6, c. 3).

The same scene is depicted in ch. xix. 11, 16
(also altered by the Christian compiler), where the
seer beholds " upon a white horse " him who is " to
j udge and to make war " ; his eyes are a flame of Are,
and on his (triple ?) crown the Ineffable Name is
written; he is clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood (Isa. Ixiii. 3), and his name is. . . . Heavenly
hosts follow him on white horses, and out of his
mouth goes a sharp sword with which he shall
smite the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of
iron (comp. Ps. ii. 9) and tread the wine-press of the
wrath of the Lord of Hosts (Isa. Ixxiii. 6) ; and on
his vesture and thigh is written, "King of Kings
and Lord of Lords." The closing scene Is described

SOS

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Revelation

in xix. 17-18, 21 : A voice (" of an angel standing in
the sun "—certainly not genuine) calls, in the words
of Ezek. xxxix. 17-20, all the fowls and beasts to-
gether for the great sacrifice (" supper ") of God, at
-which they are to eat " the flesh of kings, of cap-
tains, and mighty men, of horses and of those who
ride on them, and the flesh of all men both free and
bond, small and great, . . . and the fowls were
filled with their flesh. "

Then the writer dwells, in ch. xx. 1-5, on the
judgment passed in heaven upon the dragon, Satan,
the primeval serpent, who is, Hke Azazel in Enoch,
bound and cast into the abyss, there to be shut up
for a thousand years, the seventh millennium which
the Messiah shall pass together with the elect ones.
Here the original apocalypse probably told of the
resurrection of the "saints who had died in the
Lord " (xiv. 13), and of the triumphal song they
sang at the union of the Messiah, the bridegroom,
and the daughter of Zion, the bride (xv. 2-4, xix.
1-8).

After the lapse of the seventh millennium (comp.

"Bundahis," xxix, 8) the old serpent is again let

loose to deceive the nations of the

Gog and earth, and the numberless hosts of

Magog. Gog and Magog beleaguer the Holy
City. Then Satan is cast forever into
Gehenna (comp. ib.), and "seats of judgment"
(Dan. vii.) are set for all the dead who rise to be
judged (xx. 7-15). Then all whose names are not
written in the book of life are cast into the lake of
fire. "All the cowardly and faithless ones who
yield to abominable rites, murderers, whoremongers,
sorcerers, idolaters, and liars, shall meet the second
death" (comp. Targ. Yer. to Deut. xxxiii. 6) "and
be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone" (xxi. 8). There shall be "a new heaven
and a new earth " (Isa. Ixv. 17) ; the old ones shall
disappear, and God's Shekinah shall be with men :
they shall be God's people, and "He shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more sorrow or pain " (comp. Enoch, xc. 29 ; IV
Esd. vii. 26; Apoc. Baruch, iv. 3, xxxii. 2; Hag.
12b; Ta'an. 5a).

Then (xxi. 9-27) in place of the old the seer be-
holds the new Jerusalem come down from heaven,
prepared "as a bride adorned for her husband " (Isa.
Ixi. 10), in all the glory and splendor described in
Isa. liv. 11-12, Ixii. 6, with the twelve gates men-
tioned by Ezek. xlviii. 31-35, for the twelve tribes
of Israel. The twelve foundation-stones (the twelve
names of the Apostles merely betray the Christian
reviser's hand) are to be of precious stones, corre-
sponding to the twelve on the high priest's breast-
plate (comp. Ezek. xxxix. 10), the twelve gates,
of twelve pearls; and the city with its streets, of
pure gold, transparent as crystal (the same dreams
of a golden Jerusalem with gates of pearls and
precious stones are indulged in by the Habbis ; see
B. B. 75a). Ko temple shall be there, as the Lord
of Hosts will be its temple (comp. Ezek. xl. 35).
The words "and the Lamb" (xxi. 22), "and the
Lamb is the light thereof " (xxi. 23 ; comp. xxii. 5,
taken from Isa. Ix. 19) are Christian interpolations.
"Verses 24-27 are taken from Isa. Ix. 2, 11 ; Hi. 1
(comp. Ezek. xliv. 9), only so modified as to avoid

the mention of "the night," while, instead of the
passage concerning "the uncircumcised," it is said
that " whosoever worketh abomination and falsehood
may not enter; only they who are written in the
book of life."

Finally, the seer beholds (xxii. 1-5) a crystal-like
river of water flow forth from tlie throne of God
(comp. Ezek. xlvii. 12 and Sanh. 100a,
The where the river is said to issue from

Throne of the Holy of Holies). Jewish Gnostics
God. (Hag. 14b) also spoke of the white mar-
ble throne and the " waters " surround-
ing it, exactly as " the sea of glass " near " the white
throne " is described in Rev. iv. 6, xx. 11. On either
side of the river he sees the tree of life (Enoch, xxv.
4-6) " bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit every montb, and its leaves are for the healing
of the nations." "There shall be no more curse"
(comp. Zech. xiv. 11, Din), for the Servants of
the Lord "shall see His face" (comp. Isa. xl. 5),
and they shall reign for ever and ever " (comp. Dan.
vii. 27).

The whole apocalypse, of which xxii. 10-15 is the
conclusion, is, like the shorter one which precedes
it, in every part and feature (except where altered
by the Christian compiler) thoroughly Jewish in
spirit and conception, as was fully recognized by
Mommsen ("Ramische Gesch." v. 520-523). It pre-
sents the development of the whole eschatological
drama according to the Jewish view. It is Hebrew
in composition and style, and bears traces of having
originally been written in Hebrew, as is shown by
the words ok^vt; (tabernacle; xxi. 3) for nj'3t5';
D''3X^D (angels) mistaken for D'^ai'D (Kings; ix.
14); iviKTjaev (has conquered) for nOt (is worthy);
and others. The two apocalypses appear to
have been, like that in Matt, xxiv., or like the
Epistle of James and the Testament of the
Twelve Patriarchs, in the possession of Essenes
who joined the Judseo-Christian Church after the
destruction of the Temple (comp. Rev. xxi. 22,
showing that the author did not believe in the fu-
ture restoration of the Temple). Hence it was easy
for a member of the early Church to adapt the whole
to tlie Christian view by substituting or inserting
frequently, but not always skilfully and consist-
ently, "the Lamb" for "the Messiah," and by occa-
sionally changing or adding entire paragraphs (v.
9-14; vii. 9-10; xi. 82; xiv. 2-5; xvi. 15; xix. 7-10;
XX. 6; xxi. 3; xxii. 7-10, 16-17, 20).

Possibly the seer of Patmos when writing the let-
ters to the seven churches, or one of his disciples
when sending them out, had these apocalypses be-
fore him and incorporated them into his work. This
fact would account for the striking similarities in
expression between the first three chapters and the
remainder. Attention has been called also to the
fact that the name " The Word of God " given to
the Messiah by the Christian writer in Rev. xix.
13 corresponds exactly to the " Logos " of the Gospel
of John i. 1 and " the Lamb " of John i. 29. To this
may be added the conception of the Antichrist,
dwelt upon alike in Revelation and in I John ii. 18,
iv. 3, and II John 7. Owing to these and other
similarities John the Presbyter, author of the let-
ters to the seven churches and perhaps of the Sec-

Kevelation

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

396

ond and Third Epistles of Jolin (see introductory
verses), was identiiied with John the Apostle, the
assumed author of the Fourth Gospel. Under his
name these books passed into the canon, notwith-
standing the fact that the views held by the writer
of the Book of Revelation differed widely from
those expressed in the Gospel and in the Epistles.
The Epistles are, like the Gospel, Pauline in spirit
and written for Pauline churches ; the Book of Rev-
elation remains, under its Christian cloak, a Jewish
document.

Bibliography : Bousset, Die Oferibarung Johannis, G6t-
tlngen, 1896 (written from an apologetic point ol view and
without lamillarity with the rabbinical sources); H. Gunkel,
ScMpfung und Chaos, 1895, pp. 379-398 ; P. Schmiat, An-
merkungen ilher die KompoHtionder Offenbarung Johan-
nis; E. Vlscher, Die Ofenba/rung Johannis., Lelpslc, 1886;
Fr. Spitta, Die Offenbarung des Johannis, Halle, 1889;
Weiss, Die Offenbarung des Johannis, ein Beitrag zur
Literatur- M»d Beligionsgesch. GBttlngen, 1904 ; J. Well-
hausen, Shizzen und Vorarbeiten, 1899, iv. 215-23i.
T. K.

REVEIiATION : Term used in two senses in
Jewish theology; it either denotes (1) what in rab-
binical language is called "Gilluy Shekinah," a
manifestation of God by some wondrous act of His
which overawes man and impresses him with what
he sees, hears, or otherwise perceives of His glorious
presence ; or it denotes (3) a manifestation of His will
through oracular words, signs, statutes, or laws.

1 . The original Biblical terms used for the former
were " mar'eh " ( = " sight" ; see Geiger, " Urschrif t, "
p. 340), and " mahazeh " (Gen. xv. 1. ; Num. xxiv.
4), "hazon," or "hizzayon " (= "vision "). The fact
that God revealed Himself to man Is given in the
Bible as a simple, indisputable fact ; only occasion-
ally is the state of mind of the persons seeing or
hearing Him described. He speaks
Mani- with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen. iii.
festations 9-19) ; with Cain (iv. 9-15) ; with Noah

of God. (vi. 13, vii. 1, viii. 15) and his sons
(ix. 1, 8); with Abraham (xii. 1; xvi.
4, 7, 13 ; xvii. 1, 3, 15), to whom He appears in com-
pany with manlike angels (xviii. 1). He appears
in a dream to Abimelech, speaking, to him on behalf
of Abraham (xx. 3, 6) ; to Isaac (xxiv. 34) ; to Laban
on account of Jacob (xxxi. 34) ; to Jacob (xxviii. 13,
XXX. 11, xlvi. 3) "in visions of the night."

The first revelation Moses had of God at the burn-
ing bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to
look " at Him (Ex. iii. 3, 6) ; so the first revelation
Samuel had in a dream is called " the vision " ; after-
ward God was frequently " seen " at Shiloh (I Sam.
iii. 15, 31, Hebr.). Isaiah's first revelation was also
a sight of God (Isa. vi. 1-5) ; Amos had his visions
(Amos vii. 1, 4 ; viii. 1 ; ix. 1) ; and so with Jeremiah
(Jer. i. 11, 13), Ezekiel (Ezek. i. 1 et aeq., viii. 1-3),
and Zechariah (Zech. i., vi.), and, in fact, with all
"seers," as they called themselves. The heathen
Balaam also boasted of being one who saw "the
vision of the Almighty" (Num. .xxiv. 4). Most
vividly does Eliphaz describe such a revelation:
"In thoughts from the vision of the night, when
deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me,
and trembling ... a spirit passed before my face ;
the hair of my flesh stood up. ■ He stood still, but
I could not discern his appearance; a figure was
before mine eyes, a whispering voice I heard"

(Job iv. 13-16, Hebr.). The Pentateuch, however,
lays special stress on the fact that, while to other
prophets God made Himself known in a vision,
speaking to them in a dream. He spoke with Mo-
ses "mouth to mouth," "as a man would speak
with his neighbor," in clear sight and not in rid-
dles (Num. xii. 6-8; comp. Ex. xxxiii. 11; Deut.
xxxiv. 10). It was owing to this close and con-
stant communion with God (Ex. xxiv. 15-18;
xxxiii. 8-11, 38-35) that Moses became for all time
His " faithful servant " and mouthpiece, though once
Aaron and his sons and the seventy elders also be-
held God (Ex. xxiv. 10-11).

Still some more wondrous and imposing act of
revelation was deemed necessary by God " to make
Israel believe in Moses " for all time ; therefore all
the people were assembled around Mount Sinai " to
hear the Ten Words spoken by Him from heaven,"
while at the same time His presence
The was manifested to them in a sight

Bevelation which made them tremble in awe be-
on Sinai, fore Him(Ex. xix. 9-xx. 33; Deut. iv.
10-v. 23, Hebr.). Through the Sinai
assembly (" ma'amad har Sinai ") the whole people
became witnesses to the divine revelation, and at the
same time were pledged to observe all the laws
which God afterward gave them through Moses.
This accounts for the prominence given in Scrip-
ture (Neh. ix. 13) and in the liturgy (Tamid v. 1,
and the New -Year's musaf, " Shofarot ") to the Sinai
revelation.

Judah ha-Levi, accordingly, is in full accord with
the spirit of Judaism when he declares the revela-
tion on Sinai to be the great historical fact upon
which the Jewish faith, as far as it is a truth re-
vealed, rests ("Cuzari,"i. 35, 87, 97; iv. 11); and
this is also the rabbinical view. "The Lord ap-
peared to the people of Israel on Sinai face to face
in order to pledge them for all generations to come
to remain true to Him and worship no other God."
The Lord spoke with every single Israelite on Sinai,
so that each heard Him say, " I am the Lord thy
God " ; as it is said, " the Lord spoke with you face
to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire "
(Deut. V. 4). He appeared to them in differing
aspects (" panim " = " countenance ") — now with a
stern and now with a mild face, corresponding to the
varying relations and attitudes of men and times
(Peaik. R. 20-31; Mek., Beshallah, Shirah, 3). As
a matter of fact and in contrast to all other de-
scriptions of God's appearances to man, which at a
later stage were taken figuratively (Mek., Yitro, 3-4)
or which called for so f eric alterations (Geiger, " Ur-
schrif t," pp. 337-343), or in which "the glory of
God" was substituted for His presence (Ex. xl. 34;
Lev. ix. 23; Num. xiv. 31), the actuality of the the-
ophany at Sinai was always accentuated, even by
Maimonides ("Moreh," ii. 33).

The essential feature of revelation accordingly

consists, exactly as in prophecy, in the fact that it is

not a merely psychological process in

Nature of which the human imagination or men-

Bevelation. tal faculty constitutes the main factor,

but that man is but the instrument

upon which a superhuman force exerts its power,

and the more lucidly this superhuman force enters

397

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bevelation

human consciousness as an active personality, that
is, the more of itself the divine mind imparts to the
susceptible human mind, the higher v/U\ be the de-
gree of the revealed trutli. As all the beginnings
of religion point back to the cliild-age of man, when
the imaginative and emotional powers predominate
over reason, so revelation comes to man like a flash
from a higher world, taking hold of him with an
overwhelming force, so as not merely to make him
the recipient of some new trutli that stirs his Iieart
to the core, but to make him, with his childlilte per-
ception, see the power that imparts the truth to
him. How the finite soul can come into touch with
the Infinite Mind, or, vice versa, how Deity can
reacli the chosen individual, remains a mystery, as
in every realm of human endeavor the work of
genius is a mystery for which the vestiges of
Divine Providence in history oSer parallels but no
explanation.

At any rate, the Scriptural records and the results
of the study of comparative religion alike testify to
the gradual unfolding of the divine powers in man
by means of revelation ; yet of all nations the Jew-
ish alone rose with the claim of having received the
words of the living God and Ruler of the Universe
as a revelation for all times and all generations of
men. Jiist as there are different degrees of proph-
ecy among individuals, the highest degree having
been attained by Moses (Maimonides, "Yad," Ye-
sode ha-Torah, vii. 2-6; idem, "Moreh," ii. 45), so
there have been different degrees of prophetic capaci-
ties making for a divine revelation among the vari-
ous races and nations. The Jewish race, which has
given rise to successive generations of prophets as
no other people in the world has done, has been en-
dowed with peculiar religious powers that fitted it
for the divine revelation.

With reference to Judah ha-Levi, who declares
Israel to be "the heart among the nations" ("Cu-
zari," ii. 36), Geiger declares ("Jud. Zeit." ii. 193)
revelation to be "an illumination of the Jewish
genius by the Divine Mind, which caused the whole
people to come nearer to the everlasting truth than
any other. Judaism is not a religion given by one
man : Israel's God is not called the God of Moses,
or of Isaiah, but of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that
is, of the fathers of the nation, who imparted the
deep powers of religious intuition and inspiration to
all the seers, singers, and teachers, the framersof the
Jewish religion."

The Rabbis say that until the erection of the
Tabernacle in the wilderness all nations had pro-
phetic revelations from God; but from that time
forward Israel alone was the privileged recipient of
the divine truth; only exceptionally did heathen
seers like Balaam attain prophetic powers, and at best
they had only prophetic dreams (Lev. R. i. 13-13).
According to R. Eliezer, each person among the
Israelites, including even the least intelligent bond-
woman, saw God's glory at the Red Sea in clearer
form than did, afterward, prophets of the stamp of
Ezekiel ; wherefore they burst forth into the song,
"This is my God" (Mek., I.e., with reference to Ex.
XV. 3). When asked by a Samaritan to explain how
the words of God " Do not I fill heaven and earth? "
(Jer. xxiii. 24) could be reconciled with the words

spoken to Moses, " I will meet with thee, and . . .
commune with thee . . . from between the two
cherubims" (Ex. xxv. 33), R. Meir made his inter-
locutor look into two mirrors of different shapes and
sizes, saj'ing, "Behold, your own figure appears
diflEerently because the mirrors reflect it differently ;
how much more must the glory of God be mirrored
differently by different human minds?" (Gen. R.
iv. 3). The difference between Moses' capacity of
beholding God and that of other prophets is stated
in the following manner: the former saw as in a
clear-cut and translucent mirror; the others as in a
complex mirror (" seven times reflected ") or dark
glass (Lev. R. i. 14; comp. Suk. 45b ["The right-
eous in the future world see through a translucent
mirror "] and I Cor. xiii. 13 ; II Cor. iii. 18).

2. Revelation, in the sense of a manifestation of
the will of the Deity, is identical with "debar
Yhwh " (the word of the Lord) or " Torah " (the
Law or the Teaching). This, however, denotes
a psychological process of a somewhat different
order, as it points back to the primitive helief in
oracles, signs, and dreams (see Urim and Thummim)
which waited for the interpretation of either priest
or seer (comp. I Sam. xxv. 6, LXX., and II Sam.
xvi. 23: "The Lord did not answer him [Saul]
either by dreams or by urim and thummim "). How
far this mode of ascertaining the will
Torah. as of God was originally identical with
Revelation, the " torah " of the priest (see Smend,
" Lehrbuch der Alttestamentlichen Re-
ligionsgeschichte," 1893, p. 35, with especial refer-
ence to Deut. xxxiii. 8-10) can not be discussed
here.

The Deuteronomic law still recognizes as legiti-
mate the use of dreams and signs for the ascertain-
ing of the divine will, but makes it dependent upon
its monotheistic character (Deut. xiii. 3-6; comp.
Jer. xxxiii. 38). In the course of time the various
"torot"(" divine instructions," the ordinances given
by God to Moses and those given at times also to
Aaron, the latter forming parts of the so-called
Priestly Code) were united in the "Book of the
Law " (" Sefer ha-Torah "). From the time of Ezra
both the written Law and its extensive interpreta-
tion, which, while being developed in the course of
time, was, as traditional oral Law, ascribed to Moses
as having been received by him from God on Mount
Sinai, were regarded by the Pharisees as divine
revelation (" Torat Blohim " = " the Law of God " ;
Neh. viii. 8; Meg. 3a). The rabbinical view that
every letter of the whole Pentateuch was written by
Moses at the dictation of God, and that the rules of
interpretation of the Law, at least as far as it has
practical (halakic) application to life, were received
by him directly from God on Sinai, became a fixed
dogmatic belief, upon the acceptance of which de-
pended future life (Sanh. 99a, based upon Num. xv.
31 ; Sifre, Num. 113). This is expressed (Sanh. x.
1) by the rabbinical phrase "Torah min ha-sha-
mayim " (the Torah is from heaven). Whether " To-
rah " has not frequently a far broader and deeper
meaning in the prophetic and other inspired books —
denoting rather the universal law of human conduct,
the law of God as far as it is written upon the heart
of man in order to render him a true son of God — is

Eevengre
Kheinhold

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

398

a question at issue between Orthodoxy and Reform
(see Reform Judaism; Torah). Regarding the
divine character of inspired writers not belonging to
the house of Israel see Inspiration.

Bibliography : Frlediander, The Jewish ReliQton, pp. 46-49,
194-301, London, 1891 : Gelger, JIW. Zeit. li. 185 ; Hamburger,
R. B. T. s.Y. Offenbarung; Pbillppson, Die Israelitieche
Beliiiioruilehre, 1. 39-95,

REVENGE. See Vengeance.

REVERE, GIUSEPPE : Italian dramatist and
humorist; born at Triest in 1813; died Nov. 33,
1889. He was destined by his parents for a com-
mercial career, but soon abandoned it to pursue lit-
erary and philosophical studies at Milan. He stud-
ied German, Greek, and Hebrew also. Revere
wrote several historical plays, among which were
"Lorenzino de' Medici" (1839); "Piagnoni e Ar-
rabbiati " ; " Sampiero di Bastelica " ; and " Marchese
di Bcdinar." In 1848 he took part in a conspiracy
of the followers of Mazziui at Venice, and in con-
sequence was banished by the dictator Manin.
Subsequently he joined the forces defending Rome,
and later went to Piedmont. He formed a close
friendship with many noted patriots, and took an
active part in their political efforts. He contrib-
uted a number of articles, patriotic iu tone, to
"La Concordia." Suspected of conspiring with
the republicans, he was again banished to Susa, by
Azeglio, a minister who afterward became his friend.
At Susa he wrote the "Bozzetti Alpini," published
in the "Rivista Contemporanea." Then he went to
Genoa on business, and while there wrote his work
"Marine e Paesi," in prose. He was also the author
of: "Narrazioni Storiche"; "Sdegni ed Affetti,"
poems (written 1845); "Nuovi Sonetti" (1846);
"Marengo" (1847); and several other volumes of
poems, as follows: "Nemesii" (1851); "In Morte
di Giuseppe Lyons " (1853) ; "Persone ed Ombre"
(1862); "Osiride" (1879); "Sgoccioli" (1881);
"Trucioli" (1884). He was at one time editor of
the " Bolletino Consolare " at Rome.

Bibliography : Gubernatis, Dizionario Biografico, s.v.; JVu-
ova AnUilngia, 1899, vol. 81, p. 33.
s. U. C.

REVERTS, ADMISSION OF : The rabbin-
ical law takes notice of apostates (" mumarim " ; the
popular name " meshummadim " is of somewhat
modern origin) ; and apostasy is treated as the sum
of all iniquities. But the person guilty of apostasy
docs not cease to be an Israelite. He may repent
and return to his former good standing ; " for there
is a place where the repentant sinner stands, which
the perfectly righteous can not reach."

On this subject Maimonides (" Yad," Teshubah,
iii.) is quite explicit. He enumerates twenty-four
classes of grave sinners, among them those who
deny the divine source of the Torah ; those who,
like Zadok (the supposed first head of the Sadducees)
and Boethus, deny the oral law ; those who, like the
Christian and the Moslem, assert that God has abro-
gated the Torah and has established another re-
ligion ; and finally those who act as informers against
Israelites and deliver them over to the Gentiles for
spoliation and death. But he concludes with the
words: " Any one of all these, should he die without

repentance, has no share in the world to come ; but
if he has turned away from his wickedness, and dies-
while repentant, then he is among the inheritors of
the world to come; for nothing can stand before the
force of repentance. Even one who has for all his-
days denied the fundamentals, but turns at the last,
has his sliare in the world to come." He quotes the
Scripture (Isa. Ivii. 19, Hebr.): "Peace, peace to the
near and to the far, saith the Lord; and I will heal
him." "Hence," he says, "we should receive all
the wicked, even apostates and the like, who turn
back in repentance, whether openly or secretly";
quoting Jer. iii. 14, Hebr. : " Return, return, ye back-
sliding sons."

The question whether an apostate returning se-
cretly to the old faith is to be received, dates back to
a dispute among the early sages, those of the gen-
eration of R. Meir ('Ab. Zarah 7a, b; Bek. 81a).
Meir would not receive them back at all; another
disputant, only upon a public recantation; while
two others held that even he who returns in secret
should be received ; and this most liberal view is
approved by the amoraim who pass upon this dis-
pute in the two Talmudic passages of the Talmud
which have been cited above.

The manner of accepting the penitent back into
the fold is not discussed by Maimonides, nor by the
Shulhan 'Aruk. The reason is plain: both Chris-
tians and Mohammedans, especially the former,
dealt very harshly with relapse into Judaism, pun-
ishing it with death as a matter of course. Hence
a secret return was generally deemed most prudent ;
and the reception of the " revert " could not be very
formal.

w. B. L. N. D.

REVISED VERSION. See Bible Transla-
tion.
REVISTA ISRAELITA. See Periodicals.

REVUE DES ETUDES JUIVES : French
quarterly, founded July, 1880, at Paris by the Sooi-
ete des Etudes Juives, and published under the edi-
torship of Isidore Lobb and after his death (June
3, 1893) under that of Israel Levi. Like the "Jew-
ish Quarterly Review," this periodical is devoted to
scientific research and to the printing of unpub-
lished texts concerning Judaism, among others doc-
uments relative to the history of the Erench Jews.
Nearly every number contains also a special bibli-
ographical section devoted to reviews of current
works on Judaism.

The "Revue" is arranged in volumes, two of
which contain the records for the year. Each of these
volumes consists of two numbers. Among the con-
tributors to the " Revue des Etudes Juives " may be
mentioned : W. Bacher, Arsfine and James Darme-
steter, Joseph and Hartwig Derenbourg, Joseph
Halevy, Israel Levi, Isidore Loeb, Zadoc Kahn, M.
Kayserling, D. Kaufmann, N. Porges, S. Poznan-
ski, and Moise Schwab. The most prolific contrib-
utor was Isidore Loeb himself, who, besides his bibli-
ograpiiical reviews, enriched this periodical with a
great many articles of varied contents. Of partic.
ular interest are a series of articles by Joseph IDeren-
bourg on Biblical studies and another series of rab-
binical miscellanies, among them the glosses of Abu

399

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Beveng'e
Bheiuhold

Zakarij'a ibn Bal'am on Isaiah (Arabic text and
Frencli translation). Of no less interest are J. Pla-
levy's"Recherches Bibliques,"a series of articles on
Biblical archeology containing also the Assyrian
texts of the correspondence between the Asiatic
rulers and the Egyptian kings Amenophis III. and
Amenophis IV. Among Israel Levi's articles spe-
cial mention may be made of those on Jewish legends
found la Talmudic literature, with references to non-
Jewish sources. Finally, Molse Schwab published
many Hebrew inscriptions and documents relative
to the history of the French Jews.
s. 51. Sel.

BEVXJE ISRAilLITE. See Periodicals.

REVUE ORIENTALE : A periodical issued in
Brussels at irregular intervals. It was published in
the French language and was devoted to Jewish
science. It was founded and edited by Eliakim
Cak.moly, who was also the author of most of the
articles which appeared in its three volumes (vol. i.,
Brussels, 1841; vol. ii., ib. 1842; vol. iii., ib. 1843-
1844). A prospectus of the " Revue " is jDrinted at the
beginning of the last volume; it states that the suc-
cess of the publication exceeded all expectations,
and that almost all the articles that appeared in
the preceding two volumes were reproduced in
German, English, Dutch, and other languages, not
only in journals, but also in books. Several of Car-
moly 's works, like his " Histoii-e des Medecins Juifs "
and his " Vocabulaire de la Geographic Rabbinique
en France," first appeared in the "Revue Orientale,"
where there appeared also his essays on the history
of the Jews in Belgium, in Italy, and in Poland, and
numerous biographies of eminent Jews.

Bibliography: Furst, Bibl. Jud. 1. 144-145; Jew. Encto.
iii. 580.
H. K. P. Wl.

BEWBELL, JEAN FBANgOIS : Alsatian
deputy of the French National Assembly from 1789
to 1791, and its president in the latter year; born
at Colmar Oct. 8, 1747 ; died there Nov. 33, 1807.
When the question of the emancipation of the Jews
was discussed (Dec. 23-24, 1789), Rewbell, although
a republican of the most advanced type, opposed
conjointly with Abbe Maury, Bishop La Fare of
Nancy, and the Bishop of Clermont the motion in
favor of emancipation offered by Clermont-Tonnerre
and supported by Robespierre, Duport, Barnave,
and Mirabeau. He spoke against the Jews, main-
taining that it would be dangerous to grant com-
plete rights of citizenship to those residing in Alsace,
against whom there was such a deep-rooted hatred
among the population. He again in vain opposed
the motion made by Duport ; and on Sept. 27, 1791,
the Assembly declared the Jews to be citizens of
France.

Kewbell's character was not above reproach,
and he was once indicted for obtaining money by
exactions. He remained a steadfast republican,
retiring from political life after the coup d'etat of
1799.

Bibliography: Gratz, Geseh.xL 209, 220, Leipslc, 1870; Kahn,
Les Julfs de Paris, i., cb. ill., v., passim, Paris, 1898.
D S. Man.

REZIN : Last king of the Damascene dynasty ;
slain in 733 B.C. With Pekah, King of Israel, he
planned a campaign against Ahaz, King of Judah
(784; II Kings xvi. 5; Isa. vii. 1-8). The two kings
feared Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria; but before
attacking him they endeavored to win Ahaz over to
their side, and on his refusal to join them, they at-
tempted to force him into the coalition. Ahaz ap-
pealed to Tiglath-pileser for aid, accompanying his
appeal with rich presents (II Chron. xxviii. 16 et
seq. ; II Kings xvi. 7-9). The Assyrian king, who
was then in the northern part of his kingdom, im-
mediately marched to the assistance of Ahaz, while
Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel withdrew
to their fortresses. Tiglath-pileser captured Damas-
cus, conquered sixteen districts with 591 towns, and
finally took the city, which became part of a Syrian
province; Rezin himself was killed (II Kings xvi. 9).

According to modern investigations, the Damas-
cene dynasty, which was in contact with Israel and
Judah during the entire time of its existence, was
as follows:

(1) Razon (c. 950 B.C.), the founder of the dynasty,
son of Eliadah, and contemporary of Solomon (I
Kings xi. 23); (2) Ben-hadad I. (=Bir-'idiri; 885-
844), contemporary of Ahab of Israel and Asa of
Judah (I Kings xx. ; II Kings viii. 7-9) ; (8) Hazael
(844-804), contemporary of Joram of Israel and
Ahaziah of Judah (II Kings viii. 28) ; (4) Ben-hadad
II. (= Marl; 804?-744?), contemporary of Joash
of Israel and Amaziah of Judah (II Kings xiii. 24) ;

(5) Tab-el? (?-743?), father of Rezin (Winckler,
" Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen," pp. 74-75);

(6) Rezin (743?-732), contemporary of Pekah of
Israel and Ahaz of Judah (II Kings xvi. 5-6, 9).

The sons of Rezin are mentioned among the
Nethinim in Ezra ii. 48 and Neh. vii. 50. See Bbn-
Hadad; Hazael.

Bibliography : Schrader, K. A.. T. pp. 55, 56 et seg., 58, 59,
135, 263, 265, 268.

E. G. H. S. 0.

BHEINHOIiD, HTTGO: German sculptor;
born March 26, 1853, at Oberlahnstein, Prussia;
died at Berlin Oct. 2, 1900. At the age of sixteen,
after having passed through the gymnasium at Co-
blenz, he entered upon a mercantile career. A resi-
dence of four years in San Francisco, U. S. A., quali-
fied him to establish in Hamburg an exporting and
importing business. After the death of his wife
(1882) he retired to Berlin, where he devoted himself
to scientific and philosophical studies at the univer-
sity. In 1886 he entered the atelier of the sculptor
Kruse; in 1888 he became a pupil at the Berlin
Academy of Arts.

Rheinhold's first production as a sculptor, ex-
hibited at the Berlin Art Exhibition of 1895, at-
tracted general attention by its originality. A chim-
panzee holds in one hand a human skull, which he
contemplates with droll pensiveness. His other
hand supports his chin, while with one of his feet he
holds a compass. Many copies in bronze of this
work were made. But the work which permanently
established his reputation as an artist was the figure
"Am Wege" (1896), representing an unfortunate
young woman with a child at her breast. His next
undertaking was the Alfred Nobel monument.

Rhinoceros
Sibkas

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

400

The feeling aroused in liis mind by the venomous
attacljs of anti-Semitism are expressed in his " Die
Kampfcr." Among his later productions are the
"Schnitterin," and a bust of his mother, of Prof. B.
Frankel, of Ludwig Bamberger, and of Col. M. von
Egidy.

Rheinhold was for many years one of the leading
spirits of the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund,
of •which he acted as treasurer.

Bibliography: MUtheilungen vom Deiitsclv-Israelitischen
Oemeindeb%mde, No. 54 ; Willielm F6rster, GedUchtnissrede ;
A.llg. Zeit. des Jud. IxiY., No. 41 (Supplement) .
S. S. Mak.

RHINOCEROS. See Unicokn.

RHODE ISLAND : One of the original thirteen
states of the American Union. The settlement
of Jews in the state dates back to 1658 (see New-
pokt). In addition to the community in Newport,
the state has a growing community in Providence,
with four congregations, an Associated Hebrew
Charities (whicli includes twenty-six societies), a
Hebrew Educational Alliance, a Young Men's He-
brew Association, and other organizations. Woon-
socket ha^ a congregation, founded in 1893, and
various philanthropic societies, and Pavsrtucket also
has a Jewish congregation. The Jewish population
of Khode Island, including Newport, is estimated at
3,500, the total population of the state being 438, 556.

RHODES : Turkish island in the JEgean Sea,
and the largest in the Sporades group. This island
has successively borne different names, finally pre-
serving that of 'Fddov. The Bible knew it under the
name pn. In Gen. x. 4 the word D'JTIT occurs, in
I Chron. i. 7 D^Jin (see "Encyc. Bibl." and Has-
tings, "Diet. Bible," «.ii. "Dodanim"). To-day
Rhodes, its capital city, is the chief place in the vi-
layet of the islands of the Ottoman Archipelago.
The island has a total population of 30,000, and of
these there are about 4,000 Jews in the town and
some in the neighboring villages.

Gedaliah ibn Yahya states that Rhodes was built
by a king of Argolis in the time of the patriarch
Jacob (" Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah," p. 77a). In 656 a
Jew of Emesa, a Syrian city (modern Homs), bought
the debris of the famous Colossus of Rhodes, which
had been destroyed by an earthquake in 383 B.C.
He conveyed this debris to Loryma, now Marma-
ritza, twenty-seven miles from Rhodes.

The Jews were established in Rhodes in remotest
times. They are mentioned in I Mace. x. 15, 33 as
dwelling there in 140 B.C. Benjamin of Tudela re-
lates that he found 500 of tliem there, and Rottiers
says that the Jews who fled from Spain on account of
persecution left Tarragona in 1280 and established
themselves in Rhodes, which then was held by the
Saracens ("Inscriptions et Monuments de Rhodes,"
Brussels, 1830).

At jSIalona, a village seven miles from the capital,
there exists to-day a street named "Evriaki," which
is so called from a Jewish settlement there. This
settlement was established before the Knights of St.
John arrived at Rhodes (1309), when the Jews occu-
pied the same district in which they live to-day.

When the walls of the city were repaired by the
Knights of St. John, they gave the name "Jews'
Wall " to that part which encircled the Jewish quar-
ter. Under the knights' rule the Jews
Under th.e were not always fortunate. Accord-
Knights ing to Lacroix, D' Aubusson, the grand
Hos- master of the island, ordered the Jews'
pitalers. houses to be razed that the material of
which they had been built might be
used for the reconstruction of tlie Jews' Wall, which
later was bombarded by Messih Pasha, the Ottoman
commander. Elijah Capsali, in his chronicle (ed.
Lattes, Padua, 1869), says that after defeating the
Turks D'Aubusson ordered the Jews to embrace
Christianity. Some accepted baptism, others pre-
ferred death, while still others consented to be sold
into slavery and were released only after the con-
quest of the island by Sulaiman. On Jan. 9, 1503,
D'Aubusson decreed the expulsion of the Jews
from Rhodes, under the pretext that they were cor-
rupting the morals of the young, but owing to the
death of the grand master the decree was not com-
pletely enforced ; nevertheless the Jews of Cos were
exiled to Nice. Under the grand master Frederic
Caretto, Salim I. sent to Rhodes a Jewish physician,
Libertus Cominto, to obtain a map of the island.
The physician is said to have succeeded in his task,
but he was caught and executed. Some historians
claim that he v.'as a convert to Christianity. Under
the last grand master, Williers, of the island of
Adam, the Jews were allowed to live in peace. On
several occasions he visited the Jewish houses and
synagogues.

According to Rottiers, some Jews who were exiled
under D'Aubusson accompanied as sutlers the Turk-
ish army which besieged the citj^ and captured the
island. According to a tradition related as fact by
certain historians, especially Baudin, the Jews took
part in the war against the Turks. Under the. lead-
ership of Simeon Granada, a battalion of 250 Jews
was formed, and became known as the "Jewish
phalanx." Bilioti, referring to the part taken by
the Jews in the struggle against tlie Turks, says that ■
the Jews were those that had been converted in the
time of D'Aubusson and had displayed great valor
in the Italian bastion. Plorentin Bernard Carli, who
witnessed the siege, says that under Turkish order
from two to three thousand Jews filled up with sand-
bags the ditch before the Italian position. WJien
the Turks occupied Rhodes the converted Jews ab-
jured the Christian religion and returned to their
ancient belief. Probably Florentin here refers to
the Jewish sutlers who accompanied the Turkish
army, for the Jews who were within the castle could
not have held any communication with the enemy.
While some historians claim that the fall of
Rhodes was due to the treachery of Libertus Co-
minto, others aflirm that the real traitor was Knight
d'Amaral, whose treason had been discovered by the
Jewess Rachel, wife of Simeon Granada.

Some historians claim also that the Jews, afraid of
Turkish rule, left tlie island and went to Italy.
Others assert that they preferred to remain on the
island and enjoy the bounty of the sultan. This
statement may be true in so far as it concerns the
Jews who had fought on the side of the Christians,

401

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bhiuoceros
Bibkas

■n-hereas the former statement maj^ refer to the Jews
-n-ho accompauied the Turkish army. Beujumin
Poutremoli relates that Sulaimau knew the utility of
the Jews and brought a dozen families from Salonica,
He granted them a tirraan guaranteeing freedom from
taxation for twenty years, and decreeing that each
family be provided with a house free of expense.
Under this lirman they were also permitted to mine
sulfur, to traverse Mohammedan territory with their
dead, to wail as they traveled along the road, and
to purchase at ordinary prices food killed according
to llie ritual law.

From. this date imtil 1075 there are no data of the
political history of the Jews of Rhodes, but from
1675 they are repeatedly mentioned in government
ordinances.

In 1837 a fearful pestilence spread over the island,
and, acting on the advice of the grand rabbi, pait of
the inhabitants fled to the village Can-
In th.e dilli, which thenceforward became a
Nineteenth. Jewish settlement. Among the vic-

Century. tims-of the scourge there were only
ten Jews. In 1840 an accusation of
ritual murder was made against the Jews of Rhodes.
On the eve of Purim the governor, Yusuf Pasha,
at the instigation of the Greek clergy and the Euro-
pean consuls, blockaded the Jewish quarter, ar-
rested the chief rabbi, Jacob Israel, and the chief
men, and imprisoned them. But on Nov. 6, owing
to the efforts of Count Camondo, Cremieux, and
JNIonteflore, a firman was obtained from the sultan
which declared all accusations of ritual murder null
and void. It should be mentioned that tlu'ee Jews
and three Christians were taken from Rhodes to
Constantinople for trial, and that there the inno-
cence of the Jews was established.

In 1851 much suffering was caused by an earth-
quake. The community sent Rabbi Rahamim
Franco to Egypt and to Europe to receive funds for
Telief, and he collected more than 40,000 francs
(about §8,000). In 1855a part of the Jewish quarter
suffered damage through the explosion of gunpow-
der, and in 1863 a lire which destroyed the market
paralyzed the trade of the Jews. In 1880, while
some Jewish merchants who traded in the island of
Cassos were returning to Rhodes to celebrate Pass-
over, the vessel bj"^ which tiiey were being conveyed
was captured by pirates, and the Jews were despoiled
and held as guides; but subsequently, at the in-
stance of the governor of Rhodes, they were rescued
and the pirates were seized.

The Jews of Rhodes support two large syna-
gogues, the Great Sj'nagogue, which was destroyed
by artillery in 1440, rebuilt by permission of Pope
Sixtus IV. in recognition of Jewish services during
the siege of the city, destroyed again during a later
siege, and rebuilt by Rabbi Samuel Amato; and
Shalom Synagogue, built in 1593 by Raphael Mar-
gola. There are also two smaller synagogues — the
Synagogue C.amondo, so called in honor of Count
Abraham de Camondo, who built it ; and the Tikkun
Hazot — and two batte midrashot. The commerce
of the island is controlled by the Jews, among whom
there are also many boatmen and porters. The Jews
are on good terms with their neighbors.

There are two schools, one for boys and one for
X.— 36

girls; also several Talmud Torahs. There Is a
steady migration to Asia.

Among the rabbis of Rhodes may be mentioned :
Hayyim ben Menahem Algazi, in the seven-
teenth century; Moses Israel, author of "Mas'at
jMosheh" (Constantinople, 1734); Ezra Malki;
Moses ben Elijah Israel, author of "Mosheh
Yedabber" (Constantinople, 1827); and Jedidiah
ben Samuel Turski, in tlie eighteenth century,
lii the nineteenth century three rabbis of the Israel
family distinguished themselves as authors: Judah
b. Moses b. Elijah, and Jacob and Bahamim
Judah (1834-91). The present rabbi (1905) is Mo-
ses Judah Franco. Prominent in public life is
especially the Menasche family, one of whose mem-
bers, Boaz Menasche Effendi, is a judge of the court
of appeals.

Bibliography : Shalshelct ha-Kahhalali, pp. 77. 78 ; Harkavy,
Neicaufyefundene Helnilische Bihelhandncliriftcn, St. Pe-
tursburg, pp. 24, 25-27 ; Rottiers, Inscriptirms et MonumeiUs
de RlKideK, Brussels, ISliO ; Lacroix, ies lies de la Grece, pp.
172, 207 ; Bonhours, L'Hintnire de Pierre d'Auhunsmi, pp.
200 et neq.: Itine.ralre d'un Chevalier de St. Jean de Jeru-
salem a Rhodes, pii. 106-107.
D. A. Ga.

RI. See Isaac b. Samuel.

E.IBA. See Isaac ben Ashek ha-Levi.

RIBASH. See Isaac ben Sheshet Babfat.

BIBEATTVIIiLi;. See Rappoltsweiler.

RIBEIRO, JOAO PIITTO : Portuguese schol-
ar; curator of the royal archives in Torre do Tombe,
at Lisbon; died in that city Aug. 11, 1649. He
was the author of a work defending tlie Maranos,
entitled "Discurso si es Util, y Justo, Desterrar de
los Reinos de Portugal a los Christiauos-Nuevos,
Convencidos do Judaismo por el Tribunal de S. Offi-
cio, y Reconciliados por el con Sus Pamilias, y
Aquellos Contra los Quales ay Prueba Sastante para
Destierro." It is still in manuscript.

Bibliography : Barbosa Machado, Bihllotheca Lusitana, ii.
722, iv. 189; Kayserlinff, Biljl. Esp.-Port.-Jud. p. 117.
J. M. K.

RIBKAS or RIBKES (="son of Rcbekah"),
MOSES BEN ZEBI NAPHTALI HIIBSCH
SOFEB: Russian Talmudist; diedat Wilriain 1671
or 1673. He was a member of a Prague family, but
settled early in life at Wilua. In 1C55, in conse-
quence of the war between Poland and Russia, he
was compelled to flee from the city, leaving all his
property behind. He then settled at Amsterdam,
and owing to his great Talraudical knowledge was
befriended by Saul Morteira and Isaac Aboab. On
the reestablishmtnt of peace between Poland and
Russia, Ribkas returned to Wilua, where his affairs
seem to have prospered. At his death he bequeathed
a great part of his fortune to charitable institutions
which are still administered by his descendants.

While at Amsterdam Ribkas was charged with the
revision of the proofs of a new edition of the Shul-
han 'Aruk, which was being prepared in the print-
ing-office of Proops. This new edition (Amsterdam,
1061-67) was provided by Ribkas with ' marginal
notes of his own, entitled "Be'erha-Golah," in which
he gives the sources of the halakot, besides short
comments. In addition to this work, which has al-
waj^s been reprinted in the margins of the Shulhan

Biblah
Ricchi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

402

'Aruk, Ribkas left in manuscript "Kelale ha-
Hora'ab," giving the final decisions in regard to
halakot, and "Keli lia-Golah," a commentary on the
Mishnah.

BiBi.TOBRAPHY: Steinsclineiaer, Cat. Bndl. col. 1984; Fuenn,
j^iruah Ne'tmanah, p. 91 ; Gabriel Polak, In HorKarmel,
vll. 15.
E. c. I. Br.

SIBLAH (n^3l) : Town in the country of Ha-
math. It is now an insignificant hamlet, known as
Riblah, in the Baka'ah, the broad valley between
the two ranges of Lebanon and Hermon, and on the
eastern shore of Nahr el-'Asi (Orontes), thirty-five
miles ■ northeast of Baalbek. Its position on the
banks of a mountain stream, in the center of a vast
and fertile plain, and close to the road leading from
Egypt and Palestine to Babylon, rendered it a fre-
quent resting-place for the armies of the Egyp-
tian and Babylonian kings. It was at Riblah that
Pharaoh-nechoh, after liaving defeated Josiah at
Megiddo, put the latter's successor, Jchoaliaz, in
"bands" that he might not reign in Jerusalem (II
Kings xxiii. 33). It was at Riblah also that Nebu-
chadnezzar established his headquarters when his
army besieged Jerusalem (586 B.C.), and it was here
that Zedekiah was brought before him for judg-
ment (II Kings XXV. 6 et seg., 20-31 ; Jer. xxxix. 5-6 ;
lii. 9e<«c<7., 26-27).

Most modern expounders (Ewald, Smend, Cornill,
and others) read "Riblah" instead of the Mascretic
"Diblatali" (the accusative of "Diblah") in Ezek.
vi. 14. The location of Diblah is unknown. In
Num. xxxiv. 11 a place named "Ha-Riblah" (with
the article) is mentioned among the villages form-
ing the borders of tlie Promised Land. But as this
Riblah is situated on tlie eastern boundary it can
not be identical with Riblah in Hamath. It is dif-
ficult to determine the location of the Riblah men-
tioned in this passage.

J. J. Z. L.

BICABDO, DAVID : Englisli political econo-
mist and publicist; born in London Ajjril 19, 1772;

died Sept. 11, 1833.
Tlie Ricardo family
removed from Italy
to Holland in the be-
ginning of the eight-
eenth century or, per-
haps, earlier, and its
members appear to
have become digni-
fied and substantial
members of the Jew-
ish community of Am-
sterdam. Two gener-
ations later, with the
drift of trade and
finance from Holland
to England, a branch
of the family went
from Amsterdam to
Loudon. Of David
Ricardo's father, Abraham Ricardo, it is said
that he went on a visit to England when young,
and, preferring it to his own country, became natu-
ralized and settled there. He entered the stock ex-

David Elcardo.

change, amassed a fortune, and acquired considerable
influence both as a man of affairs and as a member
of the Anglo-Jewish community. He married and
became the father of a large family, of which David
was the third child.

David's early education was sound and practical.
His father, from the outset, designed him for a finan-
cial career. As a young boy David was sent to a
school in Holland, where he remained for two years.
Upon returning to England he continued to enjoy
the benefit of a common-school educa-
Early tiou until the age of fourteen, when his
Training, father began to employ him in stock-
exchange business. As a youtli he
appears to have given evidence of those mental
quahties which in fruition distinguished his later
intellectual life — a taste for abstract and general
reasoning, an insistence upon final analysis, an in-
dependence and vigor of thouglit, and a firm ad-
herence to positive opinions combined with a sin-
gular candor and openness to conviction.

Soon after the attainment of his majority young
Ricardo married Priscilla Anne Wilkinson, a non-
Jewess, and whether in consequence of this step or
in general reaction against the rigid orthodoxy of
his father's religious belief and practise, a rupture
occurred between father and son extending even to
business afia'irs. McCuUoch states that young Ri-
cardo actually seceded from the Jewish faith, but
there is no evidence of any formal apostasy, and
it is more reasonable to hold that virtual alienation
resulted from marriage outside of the Jewish faitli
and tliat the severance of family ties followed. Ri-
cardo must, however, as a member of Parliament,
have taken the oath of allegiance on the true faith
of a Christian.

Thrown in the main upon his own resources, Ri-
cardo soon displayed exceptional capacity in practi-
cal finance. In a few years lie had established him-
self securely, and he rose steadily thereafter no less in
wealth than in the estimation of his associates and
in commanding influence in financial affairs. In so
far as urgent business affairs afforded leisure, Ri-
cardo's interest seems at first to have been held by
mathematics, chemistry, geology, and mineralogy.
He was one of tlie original members of the Geolog-
ical Society, and fitted up a laboratory and made a
collection of minerals. But McCulloch declares that
he never entered warmly into the study of these
sciences, and that he abandoned them entirely as
soon as his attention was directed to the more con-
genial study of political economy.

Although the sensational events wliich led up to
and followed the bank restriction of 1797, as well as
the ordinary transactions of his every-day life on the
stock excliange, can not have failed to interest
Ricardo in general financial principles, yet tlie de-
termining impulse to economic speculation is said to
have come from acquaintance with Adam Smith's
" Wealth of Nations " in 1799. From the time when
this work began to exert an influence upon him eco-
nomic inquiries became the avocation of his life.

Ricardo's debut as an economic writer took the
modest form of an unsigned paper, on the bullion
controversy, contributed to the " Morning Chronicle"
in 1809 and soon tliereaftcir expanded into a clear

403

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Biblah
Blcchl

and forcible pamphlet. It led to Intimacy wltb
James Mill and to friendship with Malthus andBen-
tham, and upon the incorporation of its substance
into the Bullion Report of 1810 established Ricardo
as an authoritative and convincing exponent of
monetary principles.

The corn-law controversies of 1813-15 brought
Ricardo again conspicuously to tlie fore, first as a
pamphleteer advocate of free-trade principles, in
opposition to the protectionist leanings of Malthus,
and thereafter as an exponent of a systematic theory
of economic distribution and fiscal in-

"Princi- cidence. Closer intimacy with James
pies of Mill, active discussions with Malthus

Political and Trower, and retirement from tlie
Economy." stock exchange to the tranquil ease
of a Gloucestershire country-place in
1814, all tended to broaden the rajige of his economic
thought, and cuhninated logically in the publication
of his " Principles of Political Economy and Taxa-
tion " in 1817. Thenceforth until his death in 1833
Ricardo remained the dominant figure in English
economic circles. As early as 1831 McCulloch
could declare that the Ricarrlian theories — " the new
political economy " as Malthus termed them — were
assented to by "all the best economists in the
country."

In 1819 Ricardo entered the House of Commons as
member for Portarlington, an Irish pocket borough,
and thereafter parliamentary issues shared with ;
economic studies the prime interests of his public
life. In the House his activities, both on the floor
and In committee, were important as well as charac-
teristic. Formal parliamentary duties were supple-
mented by participation in current affairs, such as
Robert Owen's schemes, and contemporary propo-
sals for savings-banks and old-age pensions. In all
of these Ricardo's sole concern was the public wel-
fare. Professor Ritchie has said that perhaps no
modern writer or speaker engaged in so many po-
lemics and discussions as Ricardo, and yet so com-
pletely eliminated the element of self. Ricardo was
cut off in his prime, after a short illness, on Sept. 11,
1883. He is buried by tlie little chapel in Harden-
huish Park, near Chippenham, in Wiltshire. An
engraving from a portrait which was painted by J.
Phillips- was publislied in quarto size and is prefixed
in reduced size to McCulloch's edition of Ricardo's
works.

However friends and critics may differ as to the
validity of Ricardo's specific doctrines, there is little
doubt as to his service in establishing the concept
of political economy as a body of abstract uniform-
ities dealing with the phenomena of wealth. His
data may have been inadequate, his method in part
defective, and hisconclu.sions sometimes misleading ;
but his inestimable service was in definitively con-
verting economic speculation from detached inquiry
■or specific theorization to an organically related
body of general principles. So far
Founder of Ricardo is to be regarded as the true
Economic founder of the science of political econ-

Science. omy. With respect to particular prin-
ciples— the theory of metallic money,
the laws of fiscal incidence, the scheme of economic
distribution — Ricardo's contributions were impor-

tant and in many respects enduring, but it is in the
larger influence of concept and purpose that the
clearest explanation of his intellectual dominance is
to be found.

There is no evidence in Ricardo's life of any par-
ticular interest in Jewish religious or communal af-
fairs. He maintained cordial relations with the
younger members of his family— some of-whom also
seceded from the Jewish faith — and when on a pleas-
ure visit to Amsterdam in 182a he sought out some
of his Dutch kinsfolk, including the poet J. da Costa.
While a member of the House of Commons he lost
no occasion to speak in favor of.religious toleration,
and when in 1823 Isaac Lyon Goldsmid wrote thank-
ing him for such an expression, he wrote in reply:
"It appears to me a disgrace to the age we live in,
that many of the inhabitants of this cmmtry are still
suffering under disabilities, imposed on them in less
enlightened times. The Jews have most reason to
complain, for they are frequently reproached with
following callings which are the natural effects of
the political degradation in which they are kept. I
can not help thinking that the time is approaching
when these ill-founded prejudices against men on
account of their religious opinions will disappear,
and I should be happy if I could be an humble in-
strument in accelerating their fall."

Bibliography: Ricardo's principal writings were collected
ana edited, with a bloRraphlcal sketcli, by McCulloch in. 1846,
■ and have since been reprinted. The Prinelples (/f Pnlitical
Ecnnnmy and' Taxation vias reprmted and carelu 11 V edited
by Prof. E. C. K. fionner in 1891, with a useful blblidgmphy.
The Letters to the Morning Chronicle im the " Hiqh Price
of Oold" were reprinted by J. H. Hollander in 190-t. His
Letters to Malthus were brought to light and edited by J.
Bonar in 1887, the Letters to MeCulln'cli by J; H. Hollander
in 1895, and thfe Letters to Hutches ' Trower by J. Bonar
and J. H. Hollander in 1899. The memoir in the A nnual
Biofiraphy and Obitvani for IS^i and the sketch prefixed to
McCulloch's Works are the only important contemporary
accounts of Eicardo's life. Leslie Stephen conlributed a
clear and intelligent sketch to the Diet. Nat. Biog, (vol.
xlviii.). Professor Ritchie has a brief account in' Palgrave's
Dictionary of Political Economy, with a particularly serv-
iceable list of Ricardo's writings. Professor' Gonner con-
tributed to the same work a lucid exposition of Ricardo's
thought and influence.
J. J. H. Ho.

BICCHI (RAPHAEL), IMMANUEL HAY
BEN ABRAHAM : Italian rabbi, cabalist, and
poet; born at Ferrara 1688 (1693, according to Jelli-
nek in "Orient, Lit." vii. 232); killed near Cento
Feb. 25, 1743. About two years after Ricchi's birth
his father removed to Rovigo, where he died four
years later. Ricchi, thus left an orphan, was brought
up by his maternal uncle Jedidiah Rabbino, and
later by his cousin and brother-in-law, the son of
the latter. After having studied Talmud under
Nathan Pinkerle, rabbi of Alessandria della Paglia,
Ricchi became tutor in the houses of several wealthy
Jews. He was thus successively employed at GO-
ritz, Piorenzuola, Finale in Modena, and Venice;
in the last-named place he opened a school. He
then went to Triest, where he was ordained rabbi in
1717 by Hillel Ashkenazi, rabbi of Canea, after
which he was invited to the rabbinate of Gbrz.

Owing to his great love for cabalistic studies and
to his ascetic tendencies, Ricchi resolved to settle
in Palestine. He arrived at Safed in 1718, and dur-
ing his stay there of two years he occupied himself
with the study of the works of Isaac Luria and Hay-
yim Vital. Ho was also reordaiued rabbi by Hay-

Sicchi
£ice

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

404

yim Abiilafia. In 1720 an epidemic broke out in
Palestine, and Ricclii ^vas conipelled to return to
Europe. On tlie voyage lie and all his
Settles fellow passengers were captured by
in pirates and brought to Tripolitza,

Palestine, whence, through the efl'orts of Abra-
ham Halfon, Ricchi and his family were
allowed to return to Italy. He then occupied the
rabbinate of Florence till 1738, in which year he re-
moved to Leghorn, where for twelve years he en-
gaged in business as a merchant. He spent twenty
months in travel, visiting Smyrna, Salonica, Con-
stantinople, Amsterdam, and London, and in 1735
set out again for Palestine, spending two years at
Aleppo and three at Jerusalem. In 1741 he re-
turned to Leghorn, and in 1743, while traveling in
Italy for the purpose of selling his works, he was
killed by robbers, who buried his body by the shore
of the Reno. Six days later some Modena Jews dis-
covered the remains and brought them to Cento for
burial.

Ricchi was the author of the following works
(enumerated here in the chronological order of their
composition): (1) "Ma'asehHosheb" (Venice, 1716),
a treatise on the construction of the Tabernacle and
its vessels, in the form of a compendium of the an-
cient texts on the same subject, together with his
commentary. The work is followed by a Hebrew
poem on the letters I'^nnN. (3) "Hon 'Ashir"
(Amsterdam, 1731), a commentary on the Mishnah,
followed by a poem, set to music, on Sabbath, cir-
cumcision, and phylacteries. (3) "Hosheb Maha-
shabot " {ib. 1732), haggadic novellas on the Bible and
Talmud, together with treatises on the measure-
ments of the MiKWEii and on other geometrical sub-
jects. (-1) "Mishnat Hasidim " (ib. 1737; see below).
(5) "YosherLebab" (a. 1737), cabalis-
His tic interpretations of Biblical and Tal-

Works. mudic passages. (0) " HazehZiyyon "
(Leghorn, 1743), cabalistic commen-
tary on the Psalms. (7) "Adderet Eliyahu " (ib.
1743), commentary on the difficult passages and ex-
pressions of the Mishnah and Gemara, in two parts,
the second of which is entitled "Me Niddah," and
deals solely with the treatise Niddah. This treatise
is followed by: (r7) twenty -four responsa; {'i) "Sofe
'Anabim," novella;; and (c) "Porpera'ot la-Hok-
mah," riddles and poems, among the latter being
six religious liymns. composed for different occa-
sions. A respousum of Ricchi's on the modulation
of the priests' blessing is to be found in Nehemiah
b. Baruch's "Meziz u-Meliz " (Venice. 1713). His
"Makkat Bakkiirot." strictures on Phinehas Hai
Piatelli's "Tosefet Bikkure Kazir," is as yet unpub-
lished.

Ricchi's most important work is the above-cited
" Mishnat Hasidim," a cabalistic work begun in 1736
at Leghorn. Like the Mislinah, it is arranged in
<irders ("sedarim"), which are divided into treatises
( 'niassektot") and subdivided into chapters ("pera-
l.iim "), the names of the six Mishnah orders being
taken in a cabalistic sense. But the chief divisions
of the work are three, termed "maftehot," besides
theintroductionentitled"'01am Katon'" (= "micro-
cosmos"), in which Ricclii endravois to popularize
the Cabala. The first main division is the "Maf-

teah ha-'Olamot," in which the worlds are treated.
It contains: (1) the order of Zera'im, treating of
the cabalistic cosmology and of meta-
His phj'sics, and divided into seven mas-

" Mishnat sektot and eighteen chapters; (3) the
Hasidim." order Kodashim, treating of the realm
of emanation (" 'olam ha-azilut"),
which is ^tyled"the holy of holies," and contain-
ing twenty ma.ssektot and seventy-eight chapters;
(3) the order Tohorqt, treating of the three other
realms, naiuely, those of creative ideas ("beri'ah "),
creative formations ("yezirah"), and creative matter
("'asiyali"), and divided into nine massektot and
twent}' -seven chapters; and (4) the order Nezikin,
treating of the demons and " kelifot," and divided
into six massektot and seventeen chapters. The
second main division, entitled " Mafteah ha-Nesha-
mot," contains the order Nashim, treating of
souls, in twelve massektot and forty-eight chapters.
The third main division, entitled "Mafteah ha-
Kawwanot," contains the order Mo'ed, divided
into fifty-eight massektot and 371 chapters, and
treating of the Kawwanaii. It will be seen that
the number of massektot in this work is 113, corre-
sponding to the numerical value of the sacred name
p3>; and the number of chapters 547, equal to the
uumerieal value of Ricchi's name, 'p'T TI ^N130V.
plus twelve, the number of its letters. The sources
for this work besides the Zohar are mostly Isaac
Luria's and Hayyim Vital's writings, of which the
" Sefer ha-Gilgulim," " Kanfe Yonah," and " Shulhan
' Aruk " may be particularly mentioned. Ricchi
drew also from other cabalists. The "'Olam Ka-
ton " was separately edited by Eliezer b. Moses,
with a commentary of his own, entitled "Derek ha-
Melek" (Dyhernfurth, 1753).

BtBLIORRAPHY : Furst, Bihl. Jud. iil. 136 et segr.; JellinPk, in
Onent, Lit. vii. 232; Landshutli, 'Ammiide }ia-'Ahiii!ah,pp.
302-303; Leninsohiu ia Ha-Kavmel.m. 370. 378; Nepl-(ihi-
rondi, Tolediit Oedole Yisracl, p. 289; Steinschneider. Cat.
B(}dl.cQ\s. 105.1-1(66; F. H. Wetstein, in Ho-MoflCfi''. xxxili..
No. 19; WuDderbar, in Orient, Lit. viil. 193 et seq.; J. M.
Zunz, in Ha-Ncsher, vi. 71, 7-t, 78.
js. c. M. Sel^

BICCIO, PAULO (Latin, Paulus Bicius):

Jewish convert to Christianity in the first half of
the sixteenth century. He was a native of Ger-
many, and after his conversion became professor of
philosophy in the University of Pavia; subse-
quently he was physician to Emperor Maximilian I.
Riocio was inclined to astrology and the Cabala, and
had a controversj' with Johann Eckabout the exist-
ence of life on the stellar bodies. Erasmus thought
very highly of Riccio, who defended him and his
followers against the attacksof Stephen the Presby-
ter. Like most converts from Judaism, Riccio at-
tempted to convince the Jews of the truth of the
Gospels. He, moreover, advised the Christian na-
tions to unite against the Turks, who were at that
time the terror of Europe.

Riecio was a prolific writer and, as Gratz says,
"turned to good account the small amount of Jew-
ish knowledge which he bi'ought with him to Chris-
tianity." His best-known work is his " De Porta
Lucis R. Josephi Gecatilia " (Augsburg, 1516), which
is a free translation of a part of the cabalistic work
"Sha'are Orah " by Joseph Gikatili.a. Jerome
Riccio (Hieronymus Bicius), Paulo's son, sent a

405

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bicchi
Kice

copy of this work to Rcuclilin, wlio utilized it iu the
composition of his "De Arte Cabbaiistica."

Riccio relates that he was ordered by Emperor
Maximilian to prepare a Latin translation of the
Talmud. All that has come down of it are the
translations of the tractates Berakot, Sanhedrin, and
Makkot (Augsburg, 1519), which are the earliest
Latin renderings of the Mishnah known to bibliog-
raphers. The most important of his other works is
"Do CKlesti Agricultura," a large religio-philosopb-
ical work in four parts, dedicated to Emperor Chailes
V. and to his brother P'erdinand (Augsburg, 1541 ;
2d ed., Basel, 1597). His "Upuscula Varia," which
contains a treatise on the (313 commandments, a
religio-philosophical and controversial work aiming
to demonstrate to the Jews the truths of Christian-
ity, and an introduction to the Cabala followed by
a compilation of its rules and dogmas, went through
four editions (Pa via, 1510; Augsburg, 1515; ib.
1541; and Basel, 1597). Riccio wrote besides these
works about ten others, all in Latin, on various re-
ligious, philosophical, and cabalistic subjects, which
appeared iu Augsburg in 1546 and were reprinted
in Basel in 1597.

Bibliography : Adams, History nf the Jews, p. 2S6, London,
1840; Blsc'hoir, Kritiache Gesch'ieMc der Thalmud-Veher-
setznnge}!, pp. 34, 43, 44. Frankfort-on-the-Malii, 1899; Furst,
Bihl. Jud. ii. 41, iii. 1.55; Ginsburer, Massoret Jia~Massoret,
p. 9, London, 1867; Gratz, Oeseh. Ix. 173 et seq.: Mictielsen,
Israel und die Kirche, pp. 87 et seq., Hamburg, 1869.
K. P. "Wl

BICE, ABRAHAM: American Talmudist and
rabbi; born 1800 at Gagsheim, near VViirzburg,
Bavaria; died in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 29, 1862. As
a young student he was placed in the care of Rabbi
Abraham Bing of Wtirzburg, by whom he was or-
dained rabbi ; he after-
^f^iC'A^'Miiii ward studied under

Rabbi Wolf Hambur-
ger. In 1840 he emi-
grated to America, and
was called as the first
rabbi of Congregation
Nidche Israel at Balti-
more. He lield this
position until 1849,
when he resigned and
became a merchant.
About this time he
founded a small con-
gregation, of which he
officiated gratuitously
as rabbi and reader of
the Torah. He lived
in retirement until
1862, when he was again induced to accept the posi-
tion of rabbi to the Baltimore Hebrew Congrega-
tion; but he filled the position for a short time
only, his death occurring in the fall of the same
year.

Rice usually delivered liis sermons in German,
later occasionally in English also. He was a rabbi
of the old school, known throughout the United
States and Germany as a learned Talmudist, and was
recognized as an authority in ritual matters. He
was an uncompromising opponent of Reform.
In 1845 he established a Hebrew school, one of

Abraham Rice.

the earliest in the United States, and in the same year
ho opposed the retention of piyyutim in tlie prayers.
About this time he urged "upon the Jews of the
United States the great importance of selecting a
spiritual chief or bet din, for the purpose of regu-
lating all our spiritual aftairs, etc. ; . . „ it is surely
necessary to prevent the uninitiated from giving
their crude decisions, which are but too well calcu-
lated to do permanent injury to our faith" (lettei-
in "Occident," ii. 599). A few of Rice's sermons
were published in the "Occident," and a large num-
ber remain in manuscript. He had a great and last-
ing influence on the Jewish community of Balti-
more; and it was to his teaching and liis life that
the Baltimore Jewry owes its reputation for Ortho-
doxy. See Jew. Encyc. ii. 479b, s.v. Baltimore.

BiBLiOGEAPHY : Occideiit, XX. 142, 424 ; Guttmacher, History
of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, p. 65.

A. H. Fr.

RICE, ISAAC LEOPOLD : American lawyer,
author, and chess-player; born Feb. 22, 1850, at
Wachenheim in the Rhenish Palatinate. When six
years of age he was taken by his mother to the
United States. Rice was educated at the Central
High School in Philadelphia, and from 1866 to 1869
studied literature and music in Paris. While there
ho acted as correspondent for the Philadelphia
"Evening Bulletin." On his return to America he
settled in New York, where he acquired consider-
able fame as a music teacher. In 1880 he graduated
(LL.B.) from the law school of Columbia College.
Later, at the same college, he became lectui-er in the
school of political scienee (1882-83) and instructor iu
the law school (1885-86). He practised law until 1889.

Prom 1884 to 1893 Rice was active in railway mat-
ters, either as counsel or as director, and for a time
was foreign representative in London of the Phila-
delphia and Reading Railroad. In 1885 lie founded
the "Forum" magazine, becoming the first president
of the Forum Publishing Company, which position
he still (1905) occupies. In 1893 he interested him-
self in electrical matters and became connected with
the Electric Storage Battery Company, of which,
in 1897, he was chosen jDresident. Rice was also the
founder of the electric-automobile and electric-boat
(including the submarine boat) industries in Amer-
ica; and he organized on a large scale the casein
business of the United States. In 1902 Bates Col-
lege conferred on him the honorary degree of
LL.D.

Rice is a prominent figure in the American chess
world. He has been president of the Manhattan
Che.ss Club, and has presented for competition sev-
eral trophies, including the one that is competed for
annually by cable by the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, representing England, and those of
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, in the
United States. In 1S95 lie discovered a variation of
the Kioseritzky gambit, which has been named the
" Rice Gambit " (see Jew. Encyc. i v. 20b, s.ii. Chess).
The books published by Rice include; "What Is
Music?" (New York, 1875), which was supple-
mented by "How the Geometrical Lines Have Their
Counterparts in Mnsic " {ib. 1880). The latter work
was subsequently made part of the "Humboldt Li-

Kice
Kichmond

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

406

brai-y of Science.'' He has also contributed a large
number of articles to tlie "Century," "Forum," and
"North American Review."

Bibliography: Who's Who in AmeHca, 1903-5.

A. A. P.

BICE, JOSEPH MAYER : American physi-
cian and editor; born May 27, 1857, at Philadelphia,
Pa. He was educated at the public schools of Phila-
delphia and New York, at the College of the City
of New York, and at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, New York (M.D. 1881). From 1881 to
1883 he was resident physician at Mount Sinai Hos-
pital, New York, and from 1885 to 1886 house phy-
sician at the Montetiore Home in the same city.

In 1888 Rice abandoned the practise of medicine
to devote himself to the study and working out of
some practical problems in education, especially
with regard to his original idea that a system of
education might be based on the inductive principle.
To Ihis end he studied psychology and pedagogics
in the universities of Jena and Leipsic, and on his
return to the United States personally examined
about 125,000 children in schools of all kinds. He
is still continuing his researches. The I'esulls bf his
investigations appeared in the "Forum "(Dec, 1896;
Jan., Feb., April, and June, 1897), of which maga-
zine Rice has been the editor since May, 1897. He
is the author of "The Public School System of the
United States" (New York, 1893) and "The Ra-
tional Spelling-Book " {ib. 1898) as well as of many
articles on educational subjects in various journals.

Bibliography : Who's Wlio in America, Wti ; Nalinnal
Cue. of Biofiraphij.

A. A. P.

MCHARDSON, SIR BENJAMIN WARD :

English physician and friend of the Jews; born at
Somersby 1828; died in London Nov. 21, 1896. He
received his degree of M.D. in 1854, and became an
active member of the British IMedical Association.
He was knighted in 1893.

Partly by descent and partly by Intellectual sym-
pathy and early Biblical training, Richardson was
connected with Jewish interests, and was imbued
with Jewish ideals which found their expression in
various ways. In his historical romance " The Son
of a Star" (1888), based on the life of Bar Kokba, he
evinced an extensive knowledge of Jewish history
and literature of the second century. His admira-
tion for Maimonides led him to base his last work
on the life of the rabbi-physician. ' But it was chiefly
as a medical author that he labored to promote Jew-
ish ideals. In particular he recognized and advo-
cated the sanitary value of the dietary laws. He
seized every public opportunity of defending the
practises and ideals of the Jews; and was a fre-
quent lecturer before Jewi-sh literary societies.

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. Not. 27, 1S96; The Times (Lon-
donl , Nov. 23, 1896 ; Diet. National Biography, Supplement.

J. Q. L.

BICHETTI, JOSEPH SHALIT BEN ELI-
EZER : Rabbi of the second half of the seven-
teenth century ; born in Safed, whence he removed
to Italy. He was the author of "Sefcr Hokmat ha-
Mishkan," or " Iggeret Meleket ha-Mishkan," on the

purposes of the Tabernacle (published with his edi-
tion of "Iggeret Mesapperet Yihusta de-Zaddike
de-'Ar'a de-Yisrael," on the sacred cities of Pal-
estine; Mantua, 1676). He edited "Hibbur ha-
Ma'asiyyot weha-Midrashot weha-Haggadot," a
collection of tales and legends from the Talmud
and the Midrash (Verona, 1647), and "Seder iMish-
meretha-Hodesh," a ritual for the day of new moon
(Venice, 1661).
s. U. C.

BICHMAN, JULIA: American educator; born
in New York city Oct. 13, 1855. She was educated
in the public schools of New York and at the Nor-
mal College, and did postgraduate work at New
York University. From 1884 to 1903 she was prin-
cipal of public school No. 77, and in the latter year
was appointed a district superintendent of schools,
being the first woman to be chosen to such an of-
fice in New York city. She was a pioneer in many
school-reform movements, particularly in regard to
special training for mentally enfeebled children ;
and has written on educational subjects in the
"Educational Review," "School Journal," "School
Work," etc.

Julia Richman has held many positions in the
Jewish community, having been president of the
Young Ladies' Charitable Union (1876-81), first
woman director of the Hebrew Free School Associa-
tion (1885-1900), first president of the Young Wom-
en's Hebrew Association (1887-90), director of the
Educational Alliance (since 1893), chairman of the
committee on religious school-work of the Council
of Jewish Women (1893-99), member of the educa-
tional council of the Jewish Chautauqua Society
(1889-98), and founder and editor of "Helpful
Thoughts." An article by her on the Jewish Sun-
day-school in the United States appeared in the
"Jewish Quarterly Review " for July, 1900.

BICHMOND : Capital of Virginia, and, during
the Civil war, of the Confederate States of America.
By 1785 it had a Jewish community of over a
dozen families, of Spanish-Portuguese descent. In
1791 a Sephardic congregation was organized, called
K. K. Beth Shalome. Its roster contained the names
of twenty-nine heads of families, prominent among
which were the Isaacs, Cohens, Mordecais, Levys,
and Judahs. This congregation re-
Beth, mained the representative Jewish or-
Shalome. ganization till the outbreak of the
Civil war. After the war it became
weakened by deaths and removals. In 1898, after
one hundred and seven years of corporate existence,
its few surviving members joined the Congregation
Beth Ahabah in p, body, and Beth Shalome ceased to
exist. The first place of worship the Congregation
Beth Shalome had was a room in a house owned by
one of its members, on Nineteenth street. It then
built a small brick synagogue on the corner of Nine-
teenth and Main streets, and later a handsome struc-
ture on Mayo street, where it worshiped for over
three-quarters of a century. Its pulpit had been
occupied successively by Isaac H. Judah, Jacques
J. Lyons, Isaac Leeser, Isaac Mendes de Sola, Henry
S. Jacobs, and George Jacobs.

407

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bice
Blchmond

At the very beginning of tlie nineteenth century
German Jews began to arrive in Richmond, singly
or in small groups. They affiliated
Beth for a while with K. K. Beth Shalome.
Ahabah. But in 1839 they organized a hebra —
the Hebra Ahabat Yisrael, which, two
years later, was changed Into the Congregation
K. K. Beth Ahabah. This congregation first wor-
^iped in a room on Marshall street, between Fifth
and Sixth streets, which was consecrated May 15,
1841. The first minister, called to its pulpit in 1846,
was the Rev. M. J. Michelbacher of Philadelphia.
In 1848 the congregation built its first synagogue, on
Eleventh street, between Marshall and Clay streets,
and this was followed by a second building, on the
same site, dedicated Sept., 1880. The growth of the
congregation necessitating a larger synagogue, a
new one was dedicated in 1904, in West Franklin
street, between Lombardy and Harrison streets.
The ministers of Beth Ahabah have been M. J.
Michelbacher (1846 - 67), J. Wechsler (1867 - 69),
A. S. Bettelheim
(1869-75), A.
Hoffman (1876-
1878), A. Harris
(1878-91), and
the present
(1905) incum-
bent, Edward
N. Calisch (since
1891 ; born at
Toledo, Ohio,
June 33, 1865;
B.A., Univer-
sity of Cincin-
nati ; rabbinical
diploma, He-
brew Union Col-
lege ;M. A., Uni-
versity of Vir-
ginia), who has
published a
"Child's Bible"
and a " Book of
Prayer," as well as some essays and poems, and has
been prominently identified witli the circuit-preach-
ing work of the Union of American Hebrew Con-
gregations.

At the close of the Civil war, owing to differences

arising in the readjustment of the congregation's

affairs, a number of members seceded

Beth El from Beth Ahabah, formed a new
and Kene- congregation, and called it Beth El.
seth Israel. From 1867 to 1871 Dr. A. L. Mayer
occupied its pulpit. Upon his depar-
ture the differences were adjusted, the members re-
turned to Beth Ahabah, and Beth El ceased to exist.

In 1856 an Orthodox Polish congregation, Kene-
seth Israel, was organized. It built, and still wor-
ships in, a synagogue in Mayo street. It has con-
sistently maintained its Orthodox standard, and its
spiritual guides have been "l.iazzanim," and not
preachers. Among them were N. Brinn, L. Jacobi,
J. Berg, A. N. Coleman, H. Block, M. J. Brill, L.
Harfield, J. Sapir, I. Koplowitz, E. Phillips; the
present incumbent is J. Lesser..

Synagogue at Rlcbmond, Va.

(From a photograph.)

The wave of Russian immigration, which began
in 1881, reached Richmond, and in 1886 a Russian
congregation was organized and called the Sir Moses
Montetioro congregation. It first worshiped in a
room in East Main street, but in 1887 obtained pos-
session of the synagogue of K. K. Beth Shalome, on
Mayo street, where it now worships. Among its
leaders have been Rabbis Alperin, Gordon, Newel,
Nutokoff, Jaeger, Grafman, and Cohen. In addition
to the foregoing congregations there are a few " min-
yanim," which meet only during the chief holy days.
The Hebrew Home tor the Aged and Infirm, char-
tered in 1891, has at the present time six' beneficia-
ries, who are maintained in the homes of private fam-
ilies. The Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent
Other Society was reorganized in 1866. The
Organiza- Ladies' Hebrew Memorial Association,
tions. organized in 1866, for the care of the
graves of Jewish soldiers, holds a
memorial service annually on the third Wednesday in
Maj'. The Jefferson Club (social and literary) is the

result of the con-
solidation in
1892 of the Mer-
cantile Club and
the Jefferson
Literary and So-
cial Circle.

The first Jew-
isli cemetery in
Riclimond was a
plot of ground
on East Frank-
lin street, be-
tween Nine-
teenth and
Twentieth
streets, deeded
by Isaiah Isaac,
in 1791, to the
Jews of Rich-
mond. In 1816
Benj am in
Wolfe, a mem-
ber of the city council, secured from the city a
grant of land known as Shockhoe Hill, on the
northern edge of the eity. This land was given
to K. K. Beth Shalome, and was used jointly
by it and Beth Ahabah. It is now the sole pos-
session of Beth Ahabah. Some of the bodies in
the old cemetery in East Franklin street were re-
interred in the new one. A handsome mortuary
chapel was built in the cemetery in 1898, in which
all funeral services are conducted. Congregation
Keneseth Israel has a section adjoining the general
Oakwood Cemetery and known as Oakwood He-
brew Cemetery. It was purchased in 1866. The Sir
Moses Montefiore congregation has a plot of ground
four miles east of the city, on the National Road.

The Jews of Richmond have been
Jews prominent in public service both in
in Public war and in peace. Many of them
Service, fought in the Civil war. In civic life
also they have served with credi t. Ben-
jamin Wolfe was a member of the city council in
1816; Jacob Ezekiel served in the council prioi

Kicius
Kies

THE JEAVISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

408

to 1860. Otlier members of the city council have
been; JI. L. Straus, Julius Straus, Joseph Waller-
stein, Jliirx GuDst, S. L. Bloomberg (president of
the council), and Clifford Weil. Marx Gunst is at
present (1905) vice-president of the board of alder-
men and Charles Hutzler of the School Board.
Isaac Held is deputy treasurer of the city. William
Lovenstein served twelve years as state senator.
L. Z. Jlorris was one of the most eificient presidents
tlie chamber of commerce has had.

Tlie public-school system was established in Rich-
mond in 1870. Before that time each congregation
had its own parochial school, that of Beth Ahabah
being a particularly excellent institution, attended
bj' Christian children as well as Jewish. When the
school system was about to be established, Beth
Ahabah volunteered to discontinue its school and
place its schoolrooms, rent free, at the disposal of
the city until proper school buildings could be built.
The offer was accepted, and the first public school
of Riclimond was conducted in the rooms of a Jew-
ish synagogue.

In commercial life the Jews are engaged in manu-
facture and in the jobbing and retail trades, being
especially prominent in the shoe and in the dry-
goods business. The Jewish population of Rich-
mond approximates 3,500, the total population be-
ing 85,050.

Bibliography : PuhUcations Am. Jew. Hist. Soc. No. 4, pp.
22-24; Hist, of Cnngredatinn Beth Ahabah (published on
Its sixtieth anniversary, 1901).

BICITJS, ATJGUSTINTJS : Jewish convert to

Christianity and astronomer of the fifteenth century.

He was a disciple of Abraham Zacuto, and wrote a

work on the motion of the eighth sphere, a Latin

translation of which appeared at Paris in 1521. He

quotes Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Hiyya, and other

Jewish authors, and mentions the epoch 1477.

Bibliography; Stelnschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. ZltT-ZUS.

J.
BIDBAZ (WILLOWSKI), JACOB DAVID
B. ZEEB (known also as the Slutsker Rav) :
Russian rabbi and commentator; born Feb. 7, 1845,
in Kobrin, government of Grodno, Russia. He was
successively rabbi at Izballin (1868), Bobruisk (1876),
Wilna (1881), Polotsk (1883), Vilkomiv (1887)', and
Slutsk (1890-1900). In the last-mentioned place
he organized a yeshibah, in 1896, over which he
took general supervision, appointing R. Isaac Zal-
mon Meltzer as principal. Ridbaz is the author
of "Migdal Dawid," Talmudic novella, Babli and
Yerushalmi (Wilna, 1874); "Hauah Dawid," novel-
ise on the treatise Hallah (ib. 1876) ; and " Teshubot
ha-Ridbaz " {ib. 1881). But his principal work is em-
bodied in bis commentaries on the Talmud Yeru-
shalmi, entitled "Hiddushe Ridbaz " and "Tosafot
ha-Rid " (Piotrkow, 1899-1900). The former is a sim-
ple commentary on passages not satisfactorily ex-
plained by other commentators; the latter is more
critical, and is written in the style of the Tosafot.
Ridbaz freely used a copy of the Jerusalem Talmud
which the Wilna Gaon had annotated. After study-
ing the Jerusalem Talmud for thirty years and work-
ing steadily on his commentaries for seventeen years,
Ridbaz began the publication of an edition of the

Yerushalmi which included, besides his own, all the
commentaries incorporated in former editions. The
subscription fund being exhausted before the fourth
section, Nezikin, was completed, Ridbaz was per-
suaded to go to America (1900), where he succeeded
in securing subscriptions for many sets of the work.
Returning to Russia, he dedicated the section Nezi-
kin to his American patrons. The second time Rid-
baz went to America he dropped his former name
of Willowsld and assumed the name of Ridbaz
{= "Rabbi Jacob David ben Zeeb ").

The United Orthodox Rabbis of America, at their
annual meeting in Philadelphia, Aug. 16-19, 1903,
elected Ridbaz as the "zekan ha-rabbanim" (elder
rabbi), and on Sept. 8, 1903, he was elected chief
rabbi of the Russian-American congregations in
Chicago. He endeavored to introduce order into
the religious services of his congregations, but met
obstruction and opposition on the part of a former
rabbi, Zebi Simon Album, and his followers; not
being able to withstand the persistent opposition,
Ridbaz resigned his position ten months later. He
next published "Nimmu^e Ridbaz, " a homiletical
commentary on Genesis and Exodus (Chicago, 1904).
This caused Rabbi Album to rejoin with "Debar
Emet " {ib. 1904), in rebuttal of the allegations by
Ridbaz. Album was in turn attacked by P. Ge-
wirtzman in a pamphlet entitled "Aken Noda' ha-
Dabar," in defense of Ridbaz.

After resigning his rabbinate Ridbaz traveled
extensively through the United States, lecturing and
preaching. On returning to New York he endeav-
ored to establish a yeshibah on the European model,
but found little encouragement. In 1905 Ridbaz
left America for the Holy Land, where he intends
to spend the remainder of his life.

Bibliography: Hebrew Standard, Dec. 14, 1900; Elsenstadt.
Hahme Tisrael be-Ameriha, pp. 38-40, .New York, 1S93 ;
Ameriean Jewish Tear Book. 56B5 (1995), p. 323; -Zeeb
Kaplan, 'Edut be-Ya'ahob, Warsaw, 1904.
A ■ J. D. E.

BIDDLE : Among the ancients, as witness the
story of ffidipus and the Sphinx, a riddle was a
more serious matter than in modern times, more in
the nature of a wager than of an amusement. Sam-
son's riddle to the Philistines (Judges xiv. 14) was
of this kind, thougli it has been suggested that his
own name is a key to the thing which brings forth
sweetness out of the lion. It would appear that
some of the proverbs in which sets of three and of
four objects are mentioned (e.g., xxx. 15 et seq.) were
originally in the form of riddles. In Ezekiel (xvii.
1-10) there is actually a symbolic riddle, in which
the King of Babylon is compared to an eagle.

Riddles appear to have been a favorite table amuse-
ment with the early Hebre «•, Sirach referring to them
as such. Many of them centered around the visit of
the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, whose wisdom
she tested chiefly by propounding riddles. Three
of these are recorded in the second Targum to Esther
(i. 3), and no less than nineteen are given in a Yemen
manuscript published by S. Schechterin "Folklore "
(i. 349-358). Most of these riddles are simply Bible
questions, some not of a very edifying character.
The two that are genuine riddles are: "Without
movement while living, it moves when its head is
cut off," and "Produced from, the ground, man pro-

409

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bicius
Bies

duces it, while its food is the fruit of the ground."
The answer to the former is, "a tree, which, when
Its top is removed, can be made into a moving ship " ;
the answer to the latter is, "a wick."

In the Talmud itself riddles frequently occur;
take as an instance tlie one from Kinnim (end):
"What animal has one voice living
Talmudic and seven voices dead? " The answer
Riddles, is, " the ibis, from whose carcass sev-
en different musical instruments are
made." The Talmud contains even a poetical rid-
dle, the answer to which has never been definitely
settled. It is as follows:

" High from heav'n her eye looks down,
Constant strlle excites her frown ;
Winged beings shun her sight,
She puts the youth to instant flight.
The aged, too, her looks do scout ;
Oh ! oh ! the fugitive cries out.
And by her snares whoe'er is lured
Can never of his sin be cured " (Yer. M. K. iii. 1).

One of the stories relating to the connection of Ju-
dah the Patriarch with Marcus Aurelius is an enacted
riddle. The emperor sent a messenger to ask the
sage how he should till his empty treasury. Judah
simply went into his garden, uprooted the old
plants, and planted young ones in their stead. The
emperor understood, and dismissed his old coimciloi's
and appointed more youthful ones, who, it is to be
supposed, jjaid him for the appointments (Gen. R.
Ixvii.). "Two are better than three, for the one
disappears never to return " (Shab. 152a). In other
words, "Two legs are better than two with a staff,
for youth never returns. " This is another form of the
celebrated riddle of the Sphinx. It is again utilized
in an enigmatic excuse made by Simeon ben Halafta
for not calling upon Rabbi: "Rocks become high
[he was becoming old] ; the near are at a distance [his
eves had grown dim] ; two are turned into three [he
needed a staff to walk] " (Shab. 162b).

Similarly, a request for a couple of chickens for
breakfast was put in the following form : " Give the
coals an orange color, let the glimmer of gold appear
like an expanse of heaven, and prepare me two her-
alds of the darkness " ('Er. 53b).

In medieval times many of the poets, those of

Spain in particular, wrote riddles in verse. Thus

Moses ibn Ezra asked, " What is the sister of the

sun, though made for the night? The fire causes

her tears to fall, and when she is near dying thej'

cut olf her head." The answer is, "a

Th.e taper." Abraham ibn Ezra wrote rid-

Hedieval dies on gi-ammatical formulas, espe-

Poets. cially on the vocalic consonants, and

one on the letters " mem " and " nun. "

Judah ha-Levi wrote several riddles, of which that

of the needle may serve as an example:

" What is it that's blind with an eye in its head.
But the race of mankind its use can not spare ;
Spends all its life In clothing the dead,
But always itself is naked and bare ? "

Al-Harizi lias a most elaborate riddle on the ant
and the flea, while Emanutl of Rome gives in his
poem a pedantic riddle, the answer to which is
" matter. " The curious riddle given at the end of the
Haggadah is an additional instance of the popu-
larity of this form of amusement among Jews. It

has never been determined whether this riddle was
originally Jewish or German.

Bibliography: A. Wiinsche, Die RClthselwet^heit hei den
Hcbrilcrn, Leipslc, 1883; Ahrabams, Jemish Lifeinthe Mid-
d}e Ages, pp. 384-38,5; LOw, Die Lehenmlter in der JU-
dinchen Litcrafw, 'pp. 346-349; several riddles collected in
fialicla and given in Am Urquell, vol. vi.

J.
RIEGEB, PAUL: German rabbi and historian;
born at Dresden July 4, 1870. He was educated at
Dresden and at the universities of lireslau (Ph.D.
1894) and Berlin. At Breslau he studied also at the
Jewish Theological Seminary and at Berhn at the
Lehranstalt fUr die Wissenschaft des Judenthums.
His graduating thesis, at Breslau, was entitled " Ver-
such einer Teclinologie und Terminologie derHand-
werke in der Mischnah." Rieger was rabbi at Pots-
dam from 1896 to 1902, when he was called to the
rabbinate of the Israelitische Tempelgemeinde at
Hamburg. In association with H. Vogelslein he
wrote "Geschichte der Juden in Rom" (2 vols.,
Berlin, 1895-96). He wrote also, besides contribu-
tions to various Journals, a small pamphlet entitled
"Hillel und Jesus" (Hamburg, 1904).
s. H. V.

RIEMANN, SOLOMON: Traveler of the
nineteenth century; died at Vienna about 1873. He
was for a time a rich merchant, having made large
investments in Siam ; but during the war of the Eng-
lish in that country all his property was seized by
the British government, and he became financially
ruined. He then traveled through Asia, Africa, and
the greater part of Europe, until he finally settled
in Vienna, where, receiving financial aid from Adolf
Jellinek, he was enabled to devote his time to i-e-
cording the experiences of his travels. He died
suddenly before finishing the work. As Riemann
wrote without system and in an almost unintelligi-
ble style, his manuscript "was rearranged, indeed
completely rewritten, by the traveler and Hebrew
writer Wolf Schur, who published it with many ad-
ditions of his own under the title "Mas'ot Shelo-
moh," Vienna, 1884.

BiBLiOGRAPHT : Winter and Wiinsche, Die JUdische Litlera-

tur, iii. 858; Schur, Mascot ShelomoJi, p. 3.

s. I. War.

RIES, ELIAS ELKAN : American electrical
engineer; born at Randegg, Baden, Germany, Jan.
16, 1862. When only three years of age he was
taken by his parents to America. He received his
education at the public schools of Baltimore and
New York, attending also lectures at Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore. In 1876 he became a tele-
graph-operator and removed to New York, being
employed by the Edison Company and other elec-
trical concerns. Returning to Baltimore in 1884, he
developed some of his own inventions in electrical
signaling, and organized (1891) the Ries Electric
Specialty Company. Since 1896 he has resided in
New York city.

Ries has invented improvements in the telephone,
the telegraph, and in other electric apparatus, such
as electric lamps, track-rail welding machinery,
motor-controllers, 'etc., for which inventions he has
secured about 150 patents. He has also contributed
articles to the scientific and technical journals.
BiELiOGRAPHT : American Jewish Year Hook, 1905, s.v.

A. F. T. H.

Slesser
Bleti

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

410

RIESSER, GABRIEL : German advocate of
the emancipation of the Jews; born at Hamburg
April 2, 1806; "died there April 22, 18(i3; youngest
son of Lazarus Jacob Riksser. For a few years
Riesser's family lived in Lubeck, but it returned to
Hamburg in 1816. Educated at the Johanneum ot
his native city and at the universities of Kiel and
Heidelberg, where he studied law, Riesser sought to
become privat-docent at the latter university, but,
being a Jew, was refused the " venia legendi " by
the government. He then lived in Frankfort-on-
the-Main, Heidelberg, and other cities of southern
Germany, and returned to Hamburg in 1830. There
he was refused, as a Jew, admittance to the bar.

Riesser now became the leading advocate of the
emancipation of the Jews in Germany. In 1830 ap-
peared in Altonahis "Ueber die Stellungder Beken-
ner des Mosaiscbeu Glaubens in Deutschluud '' (2d
ed., 1831). Although the
same subject had been
thoroughly discussed
shortly before by Twes-
ten and by Borne, Ries-
ser's essay was well re-
ceived. He did not speak
of the oppression of Jews
alone, but compared it
with the oppression of
the burghers by the no-
bility, of the negroes by
the whites, etc., and asked
for full emancipation.
In his introduction to
the book he declares it
to be " an effort to induce
important men — social
and spiritual leaders — to
pay more attention to this
undertaking, to rouse la-
tent forces for it, to stim-
ulate those who should
be interested in it, to stir
up philanthropists of all
confessions and beliefs,
and finally to demonstrate
the neces.sity for the good-
will aud the power of
single individuals to be

united for a common purpose." The Protestant
theologian Paulus in Heidelberg answered him
in his "Die Jiidische Nationalabsonderung nach
Urspnmg, Folgen oder Besserungsraitteln " (Heidel-
berg, 1830), and proposed that the Jews, to become
good German citizens, should be baptized. Riesser
defended his position in his " Vcrtheidigung der
BLirgerlichen Gleichstellung der Juden Gegen die
Einwilrfe des Herrn Dr. Paulus," Altona, 1831.
The pamphlet was the work of a few days, written
under the direct influence of Paulus' essay, and
gives in an appendix the most important answers
which Napoleon had received in regard to the ques-
tions put to the Sanhedrin ccmvoked in 1806. In
his "Borne und die Juden " (Altenburg, 1832) Ries-
ser did "not intend to defend BSrue against the ac-
cusations of Dr. Eduard Meyer, but the Jews against
Meyer's insinuations."

Gabriel Blesser.

The July Revolution in France in 1880 found an
echo in Germany, and Riesser established in 1832 in
Altona his journal " Der Jude, Periodische Blatter
flir Religion und Gewissensfreiheit," in which he
again fought for emancipation. The announcement
said: "A time which is full of events, fuller of
hopes, needs alert organs for the quickly changing
contents; and such organs are found
His "Der in the periodical press. " Maayexcel-
Jude." lent essays were written for this peri-
odical by the leading men of the time ;
but the best came from the pen of its editor. Some
of them were printed separately, e.g., " Kritische Be-
leuchtung der Neucsten Standischen Verhandlungeu
liber die Emancipation der Juden," Altona, 1832.
While Bavaria, Hanover, and Hesse had passed, or
intended to pass, favorable laws relating to the
Jews, Baden had refused to do so; and Riesser at-
tacked the Landtag of Ba-
den for this attitude. The
" Denkschrift an die Hohe
Badische Standeversamm-
lung, Eingereicht von
Badischen BUrgern Israe-
litischer Religion zur Be-
grlindung Hirer Petition
um VoUige Burgerliche
Gleichstellung, vora 30
JuH, 1833," written by
Riesser, was published in
Heidelberg in 1833; and
" Betrachtungen liber die
VerhaltnissederJudisohen
Unterthanen in der Preus-
sischen Monarchic," a re-
print from his paper, ap-
jicared at Altona in 1834.

In the same year a pe-
tition, drafted by Riesser,
was presented to the Sen-
ate of Hamburg, asking
for the Jews of that city
the rights of citizenship;
but the populace strongly
opposed the proposed re-
form, This petition also
appeared separately as
" Denkschrift iiber die
Blirgerlichen Verhaltnisse der Hamburgischen Is-
raeliten" (Hamburg, 1834). An important essay
bearing on this subject was Riesser's "Die Verhand-
lungen des Englischen Parlaments im Jahre 1833
iiber die Emancipation der Juden," Altona, 1834.

The title of Riesser's journal was changed in 1835
to "Der Jude, ein Journal fiir Gewissensfreiheit."
Prom this change it is evident that Riesser had given
up tlie theological section; indeed, he says in his
announcement: "The ' Israel itische Predigt- und
Scliulmagazin ' of Dr. Ludwig Philippson and the
' Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift fiir Jiidische Theo-
logie ' of Abraham Geiger have made part of my
journal unnecessary. "Der Jude" appeared for
only two more years.

In 1834 Riesser received from the "Israelitische
Bilrger Badens," in acknowledgment of the inter-
est lie had taken in emancipation, a painting, by

411

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Biesser
Kleti

Oppenheim of Frankfort-on-tlie-Main, representing
the return from the German War of Liberation of a
Jewish soldier, wliose face is seamed with scars, and
who wears the decorations received for service. In
1836 Riesser left his native town and settled in Bock-
enheim, near Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he pub-
lished his "Jlidische Briefe," Berlin, 1840-43. In
1843 he returned to Hamburg and was admitted to
the bar there.

The year 1848 brought changes in German}-,

among them greater liberty for the Jews. Riesser

was elected to the German Parliament

Member of (" Vor-Parlament ") of Frankfort, from

the the district of Lauenburg. He be-

German longed to the liberals, and was one of
Par- the vice-presidents of the assembly.

liament. On every possible occasion he spoke
for his coreligionists. He was a
member of the deputation sent by the Parliament
to offer the crown of Germany to Frederick William
IV. In 1850 he was elected to the German Parlia-
ment sitting at Erfurt, this time from Hamburg.
When the body was dissolved, in 1850, Riesser re-
turned to Hamburg. During the following years he
traveled, spending much time in the United States;
and he published his views and impressions of the
country in the "Preussische Jahrbilcher." In 1859
a new upper court was established in Hamburg, and
Riesser was appointed one of its judges ("Ober-
gerichtsrath "), which position he held until his
death. From 1860 to 1863 he was vice-president of
the Blirgerschaft.

BiBLTOGRAPHY : N. Frankfurter, Denkrede auf Dr. Oahriel
Biesser. Hamburg, 186;j; Berthold Auerbach, Beim Tnde
Riesser^s, in Deutsche BUltter. 1863, No. ]8; idem, in Gnlle-.
vie der jLusgezeichnetsten Israeliten Aller Jalirhunderte.

§art iii., p. 5, Stuttgart, 1884; Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1863, pp.
99-304 et passim; 1864, p. 465; 1867, pp. 346-365; Isler, Oa-
hriel Riesser^s Deheii. In vol, 1. of Gesammclte Schriflen.
2d ed., Frankfort-on-tbe-Main, 1871.
s. F. T. H.

RIESSER, LAZARUS JACOB: German
rabbi ; born 1763 in the valley of Riess (hence the
name " Riesser ") ; died March 7, 1838, at Hamburg ;
father of Gabriel Riesser. In the " Zeker Zaddik "
Riesser calls himself " Bliezer, son of Jacob Katzen-
ellenbogen," rabbi of Ottingen-Wallerstein. Owing
to his great erudition as a Talmudist and his keen
intellect Riesser was chosen as son-in-law by Raphael
b. Jekuthiel Silsskind ha-Kohen, the incumbent of
the rabbinate of Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbeck. He
resided in Altona, where he held the office of secre-
tary to the bet din. His Hebrew style may be des-
ignated as classic.

When, owing to disagreements with the Danish
government, Kohen resigned his post (1799), Riesser
lost his office and went with his father-in-law to
Hamburg. There he entered business life, meeting
with little success. In his leisure hours he wrote
the biography of his father-in-law in elegant He-
brew, under the title "Ma'alele Ish"; this, together
with two sermons by Raphael Kohen, was published
under the title "Zeker Zaddi^ " (Altona, 1805).
When, in 1813, Hamburg was blockaded by the
Russians Riesser removed to Liibeck. Riesser went
back to Hamburg in 1816.

Riesser's correspondence with his son Gabriel,
comprising twenty letters covering the period from

May 7, 1824, to Feb. 23, 1838, have been published
by Islor in " Gabriel Riesser's Leben," i. 36-61. The
Heimann I. Michael collection, now in the Bodleian
Library, Oxford, contains some manuscripts by
Riesser.

Bibliography : Isler, Oahriel Riesser's Leben. in vol. i. of Oe-
sammelte Schiijten, Leipsic and Fraukfort-on-tbe-Main,
J867; Gelger's jlld. Zeit. vii. 232; Zeker Zaddik, Altoua,
1803.
S. E. SCHR.

RIETI : Italian family, deriving its name from
the city of Rieti in the Pontifical States. Members
of it are found at Rieti as early as the end of the
fourteenth century ; then in Rome, Sienna, Bologna,
Mantua, and many other Italian cities. The oldest
members known are Isaac Rieti or Maestro Gaio,
father of Moses Rieti, and Abraham ben Isaac
Rieti (1415; Magazin, i. 37). Michael ben Judah
di Rieti, a physician, lived at Terni between 1469
and 1473, and Solomon ben Moses di Rieti, an-
other physician, at Rome in 1510. Still another
physician, a member of this family, Asahel Ra-
phael Rieti, a grandson of Moses, is known to
have lived in Bologna in 1556, with his three sons,
Elia, Isaac, and Hananiah Eliakim Rieti. Ish-
mael Rieti, a relative of Jehiel of Pisa, resided in
Sienna, where he extended hospitality to the false
Messiah, David Reubeni, although without display-
ing the singular enthusiasm shown in his cause by all
the other members of Jehiel's family. He refused
Reubeni any considerable financial assistance, and
on this account was bitterly censured in the latter's
diary. He, however, was teacher of the nephews of
Iramanuel ben Isaac de Lattes, who held him in great
veneration. At Sienna Ishmael was the boat also of
Johanan ben Joseph Treves. He devoted himself
to works of piety, in which he was followed by his
son Moses Rieti. On the occasion of a movement
inimical to the Jews of Empoli, Tuscany, when the
monks in their sermons forbade the Christians to
have any intercourse with the Jews or to render
them any service on their Sabbath, Moses ben Ish-
mael provided the necessary funds to send a dele-
gate to Rome to obtain a papal decree in favor of
his Empoli coreligionists.

Rabbi Simon da Rieti of Rome was one of the
Hebrew deputies who attended one of the meet-
ings of the Index Commission convened by Cardi-
nal Delia Rovere, Aug. 7, 1590, when the censorship
of the Talmud was discussed. In the beginning of
the seventeenth century Joseph ben Shabbethai
Elhanan Rieti, a nephew of Ishmael, was rabbi
of Sienna. He is known as the copyist of a manu-
script in 1603, and as one of the indorsers of a deci-
sion of the Roman rabbi Eliezcr Mazliah ben Abra-
ham di Viterbo (1605-6). Eliezer ben Isaac Rieti
is known as the author of two works, "Luah Ma-
mare 'En Yisrael " (Venice, 1612; Amsterdam, 1684),
an alphabetical index to the "'En Yisrael" of Jacob
Habib, and "ICelale ha-Talmud," which remains
unpublished (MS. Michael). His contemporary
Hezekiah ben Gabriel ben Samuel Rieti pub-
lished in the " Tuscan " (Italian) language a trans-
lation of Proverbs, with a Hebrew text, and a dedica-
tory letter addressed to Isaiah Massarani ; it bears
the title of "Mishle Shelomoh 'im Ha'ataljat Italkit"
(Venice, 1617). A certain Isaac ben Moses Rieti

Kieti
Kigra

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

413

is mentioned in the "Luah Iia-Payyetanim " by S.
D. Luzzatto.

Herewitli is given tlie genealogical tree of those
members of t!ie Kieti family whose relationshiij
may be traced acc6rding to Vogelstein and Rieger,
"Gesch. der Juden in Rom," ii. 74:

Isaac

Moses

Isaac

Asabel Raphael

EUa

I
Isaac
(1587)

Hananiah Eliakim
(1594-1620)

Elbanan Jedidiah
(1612)

Ismael
(1539)

David Naphtali
(1618)

Moses

I
Elhanan Jedidiah

SUabbethai Elhanan

Joseph .
(IBOa-B)

I I .1

Bezaleel Isaac Henahem Jacob Baruk

(b. KU) (b. 1618) (b. 1620)

CiBLTOGRAPHY : Isaac de Lattes. ReS2:)onsa, p. 123 ; Kaufmann,
in R. E. J. xxvi. 9()-91 ; Mortara, Catalogo^ p. 43 ; idem, hi-
dke, p. 54; Mem, In Steinschneider, Hehr. BiW. v. 98; Muse,
V. 331 ; Nepi-Ghirondi, Tolednt Oednle YisriMl, p. 46 ; Mash-
hit MiUiamiit, p. 92a, Venice, 1606 ; Steinschneider, Cat. Bncll.
cols. 9Ki-964 ; idem, Jewish Literature, pp. 219-223 ; idem,
Hehr. Bllil. v. 21, xix. 14 ; Vogelstein and Eieger, Qesch. cler
Juden in Rnm, li. 70 (note 2), 74, 135, 136, 180, 264.

Hananiah. Eliakim Rieti : Italian rabbi;
born at Bologna about 1(360; died in Mantua be-
fore 1626. He lived some time in Mantua, and in
1604 settled at Luzzara. lie wrote "Mekiz Red u-
mim" (Mantua, 1648), religious songs and poems,
especially for the morning of Hosha'ana Rabbah,
which were published by his son David Naph-
tali Rieti, with a preface by the author, and " Min-
hat Hananyah," poems for all feast- and fast-days
(MS. Michael, now in Oxford). ' Some of these
poems were printed in the " Ayj'elet ha-Shahar " of
Mordecai Jare (Mantua, 1612). Other, unpublished
writings of Rieti are: novellae to some Talmudical
treatises; "Sedeli Lebanon," responsa; "Sedeh Tap-
puhim," miscellaneous writings; "TeSllah Keza-
rah," a short prayer.

Bibliography: Landsbuth, ^Ammude ha-'Ahndah, p. 65;

Steinschneider, Jcwixh Literature, pp. 242 et sec/.; Vogelstein

and Rieger, Qesch. der Juden in Horn, li. 74 ; Zunz, Z.Q.,

p. 423.

Moses hen Isaac (Maestro Gaio) da Rieti :
Italian rabbi, physician, and poet; born at Rieti
in July, 1388. He lost his father at an early age,
and later left his native place, residing success-
ively in different cities of the Pontifical States.
In 1436 he was in Perugia. Some time afterward
lie founded a school at Narni. During the pontifi-
cate of Eugenius IV. he removed to Rome, and was
appointed chief rabbi of the Jewish community of
that city. Pius II. gave him leave to practise

medicine even among Christians, and appointed
him his body- physician. Rieti successfully main-
tained a religious controversy in Rome with a
Christian theologian who has been identified vpith
both Roberto of Lecceand the Florentine Grannozzo
Maiiotti. He is believed to have died at Rome some
time after 1460. Hecertainly outlived bis wife, who
died at the age of seventy and to whom he had been'
married fifty-two years.

From his youth Rieti devoted himself to the study
of the Talmud and of Hebrew literature in general.
He was also an earnest student of medicine, natural
science, and philosophy, and a connoisseur of Italian
literature. The fame acquired by Dante through
the ■' Divina Comraedia " led Rieti to enrich Hebrew
literature with a similar work. He conceived the
idea of so doing as early as 1409; but it was not
until seven years later that he began the work, to
which he gave the title " Mikdash Me'at " (see Ezek.
xi. 16), and which was in two parts. Part i., en-
titled "Ulam," is divided into five cantos, the fii-st
of which begins with an invocation to the Almighty
and unfolds the plan, contents, and divisions of the
work. The remainder of this part of the work is
devoted to an exposition of the religious and philo-
sophical opinions of the author, and treats of the
thirteen articles of faith, of Cabala, ph3'sios, and
mathematics, the written and the oral law, the indi-
vidual branches of science and of their scope and
usefulness, also of Aristotle and his writings, of the
" Isagoge " of Porphyry, and, finallj^ of the " Catego-
ries " of Aristotle.

In the second part of the " Mikdash " the author de-
scribes a symbolical journey through^ the realm of
blessed spirits. Passing through the celestial syna-
gogue, he arrives at the temple of prayer, and thence
reaches the city of God, symbolizing the Scriptures,
and the ships of the soul, the Mislmahand Talmud.
Tie passes in review the teachers of the Talmud, the
Geonim, and the later great luminaries of Hebrew
learning. To this last part Rieti appends numerous
historical and literary notes, which often have scien-
tific value.

Rieti endeavors in this work to give a resume
of science and pliilosophy, of Judaism and all its
literary history ; but, lacking sufficient power and
lofty inspiration, his production has little artistic
merit. He frequently discusses dry and heavy
points of doctrine, or loses himself in useless pueril-
ity. He seldom rises to the truly artistic conception
of his design, or expresses it in a manner which can
merit the term poetic. What he lacks in inspira-
tion however, is partly compensated by his en-
thusiasm and love for the subject which he treats.
This, together with the beauty and grace of his dic-
tion and the flowing harmony of the hendecasyl-
labic verse in which it is written, combined with the
merit of having introduced Dante's terza-rima to
replace the long and tedious single rime of Hebrew-
Spanish poetry, secures to Rieti's work a permanent
position in Hebrew literature.

"Mikdash Me'at" is incomplete; but it seems that
only a small part of it is missing. The work exists
in a large number of manuscripts, the first complete
edition of which was that by Jacob Goldenthal of
Vienna (1851), printed at the expense of the Vienna

413

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bieti
Big a

Academy of Science. At first only a part was pub-
lislied (part ii., canto ii., "Me'on lia-Slio'alim,"
wliicli lias been introduced into the liturgy). Of this
part the following Italian translations exist: (1) by
Eliezer Mazliah b. Abraham Cohen, Venice, c. 1585;
(2) by Deborali Ascarelli, ib. 1601 ; (3) by Sam\iel di
Castelnuovo, ib. 1609; (4 and 5) in Oxford MSS.
■1988a and 2578, 10. There is also one Italian transla-
tion of the " Ulam " in the Munich MS. 556.

Ilieti was the author also of: "Iggeret Ya'ar Leba-
non," a religio-philosophical reflection, in the antique
form of the " melizah," on the importance of the or-
namentation and furnishings of the Temple. This
work may have been written prior to the"Mikdash
Me'at " ; indeed, if one excepts an elegy on the
death of bis wife, it is safe to state that in the sec-
ond half of his life be abandoned poetry and de-
voted liimself entirely to philosophy and apologetics.
In these fields be produced the following works: (1)
notes to the commentary of Averroes (Ibn- Roshd)
on the " Isagoge ad Logicam " by Porphyry, trans-
lated by Anatoli; (2) commentary on the "Apho-
Tisms " of Hippocrates; (3) marginal notes to the
commentary of Moses Narboni on the "Kawwanot
Im-Filusufim'-'of Al-Ghazali^ (4) philosophical and
jjliysical aphorisms ; (5) answers to questions per-
taining to logic; (6) a religio-philosophical work,
written in Italian with Hebrew characters, and par-
tially preserved in a Leyden manuscript (Scaliger
MS. 10, 1) ; of an apologetic tendency, it was perhaps
written after the controversy which Rieti had sus-
tained in Rome, and is in three parts; (1) popular
exposition of natural philosophy, according to Aris-
totle ; (2) of God, and how the human soul places
itself at His disposition; (3) history of the Jews
till the writer's own time.

BiBLiOfiRAPHY : Berliner, Ge.<ich. (Jer Judevin Rom, il. part i.,
121 ; Cannoly, in Orient, 1841, p. 235 : uiem. in Jost's Aimalen,
1..i5. (i'J: DelBaIzo, Pa&sie di Mille Autiiri Intnrno a Dante,
iii. 413-434 ; Delitzsch, Zur GescU. der Jlldisclien Poesie, pp.
.50, 145 ; Dukes, in Kobak's Jesclmrun, ii. 59 : (iedaliah ibn Yah-
ya, Shalshelet tia^^abhalah, p. 49a ; (ioldentbal. Die Neuer-
WdVhenen Handschriftliclien HehrUisclien Werlte, pp. 37-
.*8, Vienna, 1851 ; idem, II Dante Ehreo, Vienna, 1851 : Gratz,
Gcscli. 2(1 ed., viii. 143 et ."seo.; Lasinio, in Etniria, 1852, pp.
(•=; et seg.; Karpeles, Gesch. der JUdischen Literatur, pp.
715 et seq.; Keggio, in Bikkure Tio-'Htim, Ix. 14 : Stelnschnei-
<ler, Jeunsh Literature, p. 849 ; idem, in Bwmarotti, 1876,
pp 117 et seq.: idem, in Virchow's Archiv, xl. 95 el seq.; Vo-
aelsteiu and Rieger, Oench. der Juden in Rnm, ii. 12, 16, 68
ct KCQ., 2Ur-'2l^ ; Zunz, Literaturgesch. pp. 524 et seg.; idem,
in Geiger's Zeitmhrift, ii. 331 et .seg.
B. '-'• C.

BIF. See Alfasi, Isaac ben Jacob.
RIGA: Capital of the government of Livonia,
Russia ; situated on the River Dlina, about 6 miles
from its mouth.

Jews are first mentioned in the public documents
of Livonia of 1560. In the negotiations between the
city and King Sigismund August of Poland in that
year it was stipulated that he should provide liis
soldiers with abundant supplies, with tlie under-
standing, however, that in the provisioning of the
troops "the malicious Jewish people " should be
entirely precluded from contracting (Bieneniann,
" Briefe und Urkunden," iv. 123). In the negotia-
tions of the following year concerning the annexa-
tion of Riga to Poland the wish was expressed that
Jews should not be admitted into Livonia as into the
other provinces under the Polish crown, "so that
they may not besmirch or injure the citizens with

their unchristian usury and business transactions,
and that they may not establish customs duties and
other burdens " {ib. v. 88). As a result of this ex-
pressed wish, the treaty of annexation of Nov. 28,
1561, contained a paragraph excluding Jews from
trading and from leasing customs duties in Livonia.
This treaty, however, did not specifically prohibit
Jews from residing in Riga, so that they continued
to dwell there, as elsewhere in Livonia, in consider-
able numbers.

The annexation of Riga to Poland was accom-
plished in the year 1581 ; and there date from this pe-
riod numerous complaints made by the Christian in-
habitants of Riga to the Polish crown concerning the
injurious commercial activity of the Jews. An entire
series of enactments was passed in the reign of Sig-
ismund III. (1587-1632), aiming at the exclusion of
the Jews, the Dutch, the Scotch, the English, etc.,
from the whole of Livonia. An act of May 31,
1593, states: "we also desire that our city of
Riga shall, as heretofore and also for all time to
come, be exempt from the sojourn or residence of
Jews." On the failure of this decree to produce the
desired results, further representations were made;
and finally, in May, 1596, the city of Riga secured
a royal decree wherein all officials, chiefs, and rural
nobility were forbidden to trade with the Jews and
other foreigners. This decree also proving ineffec-
tual, the town council of Riga found itself obliged to
send (Jan. 25, 1597) a special commissioner to "War-
saw to make vigorous representations at court con-
cerning the subject. A further enactment of exclu-
sion followed, Jan. 7, 1598; but it likewise remained
ineffective, and a more stringent decree was issued
March 26, 1599. The war and the troublous times
which now ensued distracted attention from tlie
Jews ; but when conditions became somewhat more
tranquil the complaints against them were renewed,
and it appears therefrom that during the war the
Jews had managed better than formerly to advance
their interests.

In the instructions of the city council of Riga to its
delegates at Warsaw (1611), the latter were told to
advocate the enactment of legislation aiming at the
exclusion of Jewish and Scotch pedlers from the
country districts. In 1612 the King of Poland is-
sued an order whicli actually led to the arrest of
some Jews and provoked the complaints of Prince
Radziwill. The latter in 1611 had requested the
city council of Riga to exempt the Jews of Birzhi
from the poll-tax imposed on every Jewish arrival
in Riga. The council replied, through its delegates
at Warsaw, that the collection of this tax was an
ancient practise. Notwithstanding various restrict-
ive ordinances, the Jews were permitted to remain
in the -city, at least temporarily. The name of the
Jewish merchant Affras Racbmaelovich (Aphras-
chus Rachmailowicz) occurs in the municipal rec-
ords of 1595-97, where he is mentioned together with
other Jews in connection with the trade in potash
and other forest products.

In the treaty which was made with Sweden in 1621,
Gustavus Adolphus confirmed the rights of the cit-
izens of Riga, inserting in that document the words
"and no Jews or strangers shall be allowed to
sojourn in the country to the detriment of the

Kig'a

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

414

burghers." During the Swedish period (1631-1710)
the intolerant attitude of the Protestant Church
held out no encouragement to Jewish settlers.

The Jewish physician and philosopher Joseph
Solomon Delmedigo of Crete, on his way to Lithu-
ania, where he was to become private physician to
Prince Radziwill, remained for some time in Livo-
nia, and wrote in 1633 to a learned friend in Troki
that he was "in a country cut off from Jewish learn-
ing." Jews continued to sojourn in Livonia, de-
scending the Dilna in barks and returning when their
commercial undertakings had been completed. The
records covering the period of Polish domination
■were destroyed in the lire at Riga in 1674, and little
information is accessible concerning this period. In
1645 twenty Jews were arrested on the charge of
having illegally bought furs directly from Musco-
vite merchants, but the accusation vyas proved to be
false, and they were released.

In order to control the movements of the Jewish

traders, the city council decided to establish for

the accommodation of Jews a separate inn, the fii'st

mention of which occurs in 1645. In 1663 Jiirgen

Sutter petitioned for the assignment

Jewish to him of a site for a Jewish inn, the
Inns. old one having been pulled down in
order to make room for the city walls.
In 1666 an ordinance was passed by the city of Riga
wherein Jews were prohibited to lodge anywhere
save at the Jewish inn ; and all Jewish traders were
required to submit to the city officials a list of their
merchandise. It was the duty of the innkeeper to
see that the Jews remained in the inn at night, and
to notify the burgomaster if any of them fiiiled to
do so. The price of rooms was set at 10 marks per
week. The inn served also as a storage wareliouse
for liquors brought to the city by Jewish and Russian
merchants; and excise payments were made there.
This -would seem to indicate that the liiga import
trade in liquors was largely in the hands of the
Jews. This regulation vpas undoubtedly a souice
of much annoyance to the Jewish traders. In 1667
they petitioned for permission to lodge near the
city, and to remain in it overnight in case of neces-
sity. The city council was apparently inclined to
make some concessions, as it offered to remove the
inn nearer to the city, and it even overlooked an
occasional sojourn overnight in Riga. The Jews,
however, still made complaints concerning the un-
satisfactory lodging, as well as concerning the inn-
keeper's high-handed treatment, e.g., in 1671 and
1678 against Jiirgen Greve. In 1685 the inn was
again removed, its site being needed for new fortifi-
cations. During the war in 1700 and 1701 the suburb
in which the Jewish inn had stood was destroyed in
the siege and the operations that marked the begin-
ning of a period of more than twenty years during
which the Jews were not compelled to live in a
specifically Jewish inn.

In the preparation for the siege in 1709 the vice-
governor ordered that "Jews and other suspicious
people should be advised to leave in good time. " In
the middle of September of that year the govern-
ment ordered that no Jew should be permitted to
enter the city, still less to stay there overnight. Ex-
ception was made in favor of David Isaakovich, who

was involved in an important lawsuit; yet even
lie was not permitted to spend the night in the
city.

Notwithstanding the prohibitive decree of 1709 a
number of Jews besides David Isaakovich are met
with in Riga about this time. Thus on Sept. 18,
1710, Naphtali Hirsch Israel made an application to
the city council for permission to reside in Riga
with his family, in order to collect his delits, and
also because of his inability to return to his birth-
place, Wilna, where he would be subject to perse-
cution by the local clergy on account of a law-
suit. The council permitted him- to
Under dwell in the city -for a considerable

Russian length of time; and in 1715 a patent
Rule. was granted to him by Field-Marshal
Menshikov, in recognition of his serv-
ices as agent of the czar, conferring on him, together
with his family and dependents, the light of I'esi-
dence in Riga. In 1719 Naphtali Hirsch Israel acted
as bondsman for a coreligionist, who was thus en-
abled to leave the prison for the holy days. This fact
indicates that theie was some sort of a religious or-
ganization among the Jews of Riga.

In 1723 the merchants of the great gild complained
that the Jews, who had recently increased in
number, were engaging in trade t0:the injury of the
citizens; and, in order to be rid of them, they pro-
posed that a special quarter should be assigned to
them in the suburbs. In 1723 the butchers' gild
complained of the competition of the Jews. . These
complaints finally led the courts to decree the re-
establishment of the Jewish inn. The site of the
former one had been utilized by the Russian govern-
ment for a shipyard;- the privilege of establishing
a new inn was given to apoble named Schroder and
liis heirs for a term of fifty j-ears; and on Nov. 17,
1734, on the completion of the building, the city
council ordered all the Jews to take up their quar-
ters there within four weeks from that date. This
enactment involved arbitrary measures by the city
authorities; for instance, Zundel, son of the above-
mentioned Naphtali Hirsch Israel, attempted to
evade the compulsory measure, basing his claims
on the special privileges which had been accorded
to his deceased father. The council did not, how-
ever, accept his plea. Owing to the machinations
of Schroder, even those Jews who remained in their
boats or rafts were made to pay a half-gulden Albert
to the " Jews' host " (ordinances of Nov. 19 and
Dec. 15, 1725).

Only a Hamburg Jew, Isaac Marcus Solomon,
was permitted to dwell outside the inn. This per-
mission was due to his position as jeweler to the
Duke of Holstein, son-in-law of the czar, and to tlip
fact that he was a favorite of tlie imperial vice-
chancellor Baron Ostermann. From the records of
a lawsuit with other jewelers of Riga, who wished
to expel him from the city, it appears that Solo-
mon's grandfather had established the business ip
Riga: this shows that even under
Isaac Swedish rule Jews had possessed the
Solomon, right to engage in the jewelry trade.
Solomon succeeded in maintaining his
right to remain in Riga ; and Ostermann is said to
have remarked that all the other jewelers of Rigs:

415

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kigra

together did not pay in a year as much customs duty
as did this Jew. In 1729 and 1731 the jewelers of
Riga made further attempts to have Solomon ex-
pelled, but without success.

The ukase of April 26, 1727, expelling the Jews
from the Ukraine and various Russian cities, rendered
more acute the position of the Riga Jews also. In
consequence of this decree the governor of Livo-
nia ordered all Jews residing in Riga, including
Isaac Marcus Solomon of Hamburg, Zundel Hirscli
Israel of Wilna, and Solomon Samson of Holland, to
leave the city within a few days. The latter three,
however, through powerful influences, established
their right to remain in Riga. In Dec, 1728, there
were only nineteen Jewish families in the city.
The number was largely augmented in the months
of May and June by Jews who descended the DUna
in boats and on rafts.

The position of the Jews of Riga became worse in
the reign of Empress Elizabeth and with the fall of
their protector Ostermann ; and the rigorous meas-
ures directed against them ceased only with the ac-
cession to the throne of Catherine II. Extant docu-
ments prove, however, that the Jews were granted
a burial-plot in 1725, and that religious services
were held in the Jewish inn. The legal status of
the Jews of Riga at the beginning of Elizabeth's
reign is defined in the following communication
made by the council of Riga to the magistracy of
KOnigsberg at the latter's request:

" Jewish families are not permitted to reside in Kiga perma-
nently; and there are no regular ' protected ' Jews ["Schutz-
juden"]. Exception Is occasionally made In the case of those
in whose behalf intercession is made, e.g., in that of Marcus
Solomon, who, however, resides in the suburbs, and must make
arrangements accordingly with the Jews' host. All Jews com-
ing here for business must take up their abode in the ' Juden-
herberge,' and have not the right to reside within the city wall.
The Jews may sell their goods only to citizens of Elga, and must
also make their purchases from the latter. General trading is
permitted to them only during fairs. The right of sojourn in
Riga is limited according to conditions. In accordance with an
old custom all Jews entering Riga must pay the burgomaster
for safe-conduct " (see Leibzoll).

Curiously enough, after the ukase of Elizabeth
of Dec. 2, 1742, was promulgated, the city council
of Riga, in its session of Jan. 6, 1743, expressed the
fear that if this decree were rigidly enforced the com-
merce of Riga with Poland would be seriously in-
jured. It was therefore resolved to make represent-
ations in the matter to Lacy, the governor-general
(see Fkiedrichstadt).

It is amusing to note how, when their trade inter-
ests were imperiled, the Jew-baiters of Riga quickly
found it expedient to beg for the re-
Importance turnof the Jews. Special agents were
of Jewish sent to St. Petersburg with instruc-
Trade. tions to recommend that the Jews be
allowed to visit Riga with their boats,
since they had otherwise threatened to conduct their
export trade through other channels. In fact, they
had already established a new trade route by way
of Borisov to Memel and KOnigsberg. The fear was
expressed that the entire timber trade would be under-
mined, and that the imperial customs would be very
seriously affected. The efforts of the Riga burgh-
ers, however, were not crowned with success. Their
representations elicited the famous reply ascribed to

Elizabeth : " I desire no material gain from the ene-
mies of Christ. "

On March 30, 1748, eighteen Jews were expelled
from Dorpat, Livonia. Nevertiieless, Isaac Marcus
Solomon is met with in Riga in 1744, when the gov-
ernor-general granted him permission to remain in
the city for a further period of eight days. When,
in Feb., 1744, the children and servant of the Jew
David were expelled from the town, the only Jew
left in Riga was Moses Meyer, who was allowed to
remain because of his connection with a case before
the Senate. For the following twenty years there is
no record of Jews in the city.

In 1764 Alderman Schick was sent to St. Peters-
burg to apply for the abrogation of the decree pro-
hibiting Jews from residing in Riga. He stated in
his application that the trade of Riga with Poland
had declined year by year, while that of the ports
of Courland, Windau, and Libau and of the Prussian
ports of Merael and KOnigsberg had increased very
considerably. He therefore asked that Jews be al-
lowed to visit Riga for trading purposes, since there
was no danger of their securing permanent residence
there owing to the rights granted to
Right of thecityinl593, 1597, and 1621. After
Residence an interval of twenty-four years, with
Granted the accession to the -tlirone of Cath-
1764. erine II., who favored the importa-
tion of colonists, especially to South
Russia, Jewish merchants were again permitted to
live in Riga (see Jew. ENcyo. iii. 625b, s.v. Cather-
ine II.).

The privilege of erecting another inn for Jews
was awarded by the city council (Dec. 15, 1764) to
one Bencken, a Christian citizen; and an order was
issued to the iniiahitants (Jan. 14, 1765) forbidding
them to allow Jews to lodge in their houses. The
complaints of the Jews concerning this restriction
were of no avail. Exception was made by Gov-
ernor-General Browne only in favor of the privileged
Jews David Bamberger, Moses Aaron, and Levi
Wolf, whose respective households consisted of
thirteen, six, and seventeen persons. Another Jew
mentioned at this time was Benjamin Baehr, agent
of the Polish-Lithuanian and Courland Jews, in
whose behalf he petitioned the empress, complain-
ing of their maltreatment by the Riga authorities.
The petition was succes.sful only to the extent that
the empress ordered the abolition of the safe-conduct
tax (June 3, 1765). Under the new imperial policy
Jews were now permitted to visit Riga and the rest
of Livonia for business purposes, and to remain for
a continuous period of six weeks, so that the Riga
authorities could no longer expel them at pleasure.
In the summer of 1770, when the plague broke out
in Podolia, the Jews were summarily expelled from
Riga on three days' notice, and were not allowed to
return until the following year. Exceptions were
again made, however, in the case of the privileged
New-Russian Jews.

It was not until 1780 that Go vernor-General Browne
addressed a communication to the office of the gov-
ernor-general of New Russia inquiring whether the
New-Russian Jews Levi Wolf, David Bamberger,
Moses Aaron, Zundel Hirsh, Aaron Noah, Aaron
Hirsh, Levin Moses, and Jacob Gabriel were wanted

Kigra

THE JE'WISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

416

there, and whether they should be sent thither, as
they were without purpose in Kiga, and did not
pay any crown taxes. " The reply, dated Aug., 1780,
stated that as they did not belong to the merchant
gild of New Russia, they were not wanted there.'
Thereupon the governor-general sent to the city
council a list of forty-three Jews who were to be
deported across the frontier within fourteen daj's.
As regards the other privileged Jews, whose names
did not appear on the list, he made representations
in their behalf to the Senate. The privileged Jews
must have remained in Riga ; for there is a record of
;i quarrel at that time between David Levi Bam-
berger and Aaron Hirsh concerning their relation to
the Jewish community and the synagogue.

In Oct., 1783, another quarrel broke out concern-
ing the appointment of syuagogal ofBcers. The
representatives of the privileged community of the
protected Jews were at that time Samuel Salomon
and Jacob Wolff. The New-Russian and Polish
Jews doing business in Riga applied to the governor-
general for the removal of these representatives be-
cause of their alleged inexperience in religious prac-
tise. The complaints against them were that they
opened the synagogue too late in the

Internal day; that they had monopolized the
Dis- supply of "etrogim" (paradise-ap-
sensions. pies) ; that they did not permit singers
from other cities to sing in the syna-
gogue ; that the person charged with watching over
kasher matters drank non-kasher wine; and that
• those charged with the maintenance of order came
drunk to the synagogue, etc. The court decided
(Oct. 31, 1783) that the two parties should choose
one president for the entire community. The jew-
eler Salomon Pasakh, a privileged Jew, was ac-
cordingly elected on Nov. 20, and his election
was confirmed by the district court. He, with the
aid of two learned Jews, was given the right to ad-
judge all minor matters, more serious affairs being
i-eferred to the district court. The disputes between
the two parties did not, however, cease.

By a treaty concluded between Russia and Cour-
land May 10, 1788, the district of Schlock, with
Dubbeln and Mayorenhoff, was annexed to Livonia.
Catherine II., by a ukase of Feb. 4, 1785, converted
the village of Schlock into a town; and to encourage
commerce, permission was given to all free Russians
and foreigners, without distinction of race or religion,
to settle there and to register as burghers or mer-
chants. Although the Jews were not specifically
mentioned in this manifesto, it is known that Cath-
erine wished especially to find a place for the Jews
of Courland (see Russia). In consequence many
Jews settled in Schlock, which was near Riga, and
many of the protected Jews in Riga thus became
citizens of Schlock. All other Jews were ordered to
leave Riga within six months.

By an ordinance of July 5, 1788, and in accord-
ance with a special imperial order, fifteen Jewish
families were allowed to reside in Riga. Most of
them were the descendants of the privileged Jews
who were living in Riga in 1764. Owing to the
abuse of the privilege allowing each family to em-
ploy one tutor, it was ordered that only one
teacher be retained for the entire community, and

that the others be expelled. Schlock Jews who had
established themselves in Riga permanently were
oi'dered to remain in the city not more than eight
days at a time.

Prom a census made by the city council on April
2.'), 1811, it appears that the Jews in Riga at that
time were the following: 1 privileged Jew; 35
Schlock merchants ; 394 Schlock burghers ; 133 Cour-
land Jews; 145 Lithuanian Jews; 13 foreigners; 80
of unknown origin; in all, 736. From tliat year
until 1837 there was a constant struggle on the part
of the Riga Jews, especially those from Schlock, to
secure more privileges for themselves, while the
city council on the other hand aimed to reduce their
number. When a committee of ministers, in response
to an application by the city council, considered the
question of the reduction, the decision was reached
on the opinion of INIarquis Paulucci, then governor-
general of the city, that the old regulations were
sufficient for the purjiose.

The ordinance of April 13, 1835, changed the
status of the Jews of Riga. Up to that time the
Jews residing in Riga and Schlock, like those of
Courland, were permitted to remain there with their
families. The local administration, not being in
sympathy with the new regulations, deferred the
publication of them until Nov. 15, and was rebuked
for the delay by the Senate. An imperial ordinance
of Dec. 17, 1841, defined the status of Jews domiciled
in Riga as follows:

1. Jews who have practically secured permanent abode in

Riga are to be allowed to re^ster in that city
Ordinance and to reside there, without acquirinf?, how-
of 1841. ever, burgher rights or the right to possess
real property.

2. Henceforth Jews from other governments and from the
town of Schlock are prohibited from moving to Riga and resi-
ding there.

3. Jews remaining In Riga in accordance with this ordinance
are to wear the German dress.

4. The question of the rights of the Jews to engage in trade
is to be included in the general consideration of the commercial
life of Riga.

Under the provisions of this law 517 persons (256
males and 261 females) were transferred from
Schlock to Riga. They included Ezekiel Berko-
witz, a merchant of the second gild, and Nathan
Abraham Scheinessohn, Phoebus Ilyisch, and Elias
(Eduai'd) Nachmann, three merchants of the third
gild. The city council of Riga petitioned for the
withdrawal of the privilege of residing in the city
from all except the fifteen families of protected Jews
and their descendants. The Senate replied (Nov. 27,
1845) that the matter had been determined by the
law of Dec. 17, 1841 ; the right of permanent resi-
dence was to be granted to those Jews
Restricted who hud lived in Riga since 1834.

Bight of According to the census of Schlock
Permanent for 1834 there were in all 409 such
Residence. Jews. By the law of 1841 the rights
(1) to purchase real estate and (3) to
become burghers of Riga were, as shown above,
withheld from the Jews. The former was granted
by a decision of the imperial council of May 13, 1858;
the latter right is still denied them.

The tradition concerning the ancient discriminations
against the Jews made it difficult for the Christians
of Riga to reconcile themselves to the broader rights

417

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Big'a

granted to the former. lu various ways the Jewish
arrivals continued to suffer from tlie almost liered-
itary prejudices; and they owed much in regard to
the amelioration of their condition to Prince Alex-
ander Suvorov, who was governor-general of Riga
from 1848 until 1861. Notwithstanding the opposi-
tion of the burghers, the Jews with Suvorov's sup-
port succeeded, in 1850, in securing permission to
"build a synagogue in the part of the city called
"Moscow" suburbs. The ordinance prohibiting
Jews from living withiii the city walls became in-
operative with tlie removal of the walls themselves
in 1858. In 1868 the Jewish community laid the

In 1864 a Jewish school was established by Wolf
ha-Koheu Kaplan, who was instrumental in se-
curing better treatment for the Lithuanian Jews
residing in Biga. In 1873 A. Pumpyanski became
rabbi of Riga ; and in 1876 Adolph Bhelich was
appointed principal of the Jewish school, remaining
in that position until 1896.

Riga, being situated outside the Pale of Settle-
ment, possesses special laws concerning its Jewish
inhabitants. Thus, according to the Russian code
of laws (Mysh, "Rukovodstvo," etc., p. 383), the
Jews of Riga may own real estate in the city, al-
though they do not enjoy the right of citizenship.

Synagogue at Eioa, Rossia.

(From a photograph.)

corner-stone of the new synagogue on Bahnhoff-
strasse, and the building was dedicated in Aug. , 1871.
Since 1875 the Jews of Riga have come under the
influences making for the Russification of the Baltic
provinces ; and many of them have learned to speak
Russian. Throughout the latter lialf of the nine-
teenth century they made liberal provisions with re-
gai'd to the education of their children.
Lilienthal Rabbi Max Lilienthal came to the
at Riga, city in 1839 as principal of the newly
established Jewish school, which was
■opened Jan. 15, 1840. On Lilienthal's removal to
St. Petersburg, his position as principal was taken
l)y Ruben Wunderbar. In 1843 Abraham Neumann
succeeded Lilienthal in the rabbinate, officiating for
more than twenty years, and contributing much to
the spread of culture among the Jews of the city.
X.— 27

The older Jewish families of Riga, the so-called
privileged "citizens of Schlock," who once were
active in communal affairs, are now in the back-
ground. The more intelligent portion
Special of the community is made up of Cour-
Legislative land Jews, who began to settle in Riga
Position, in great numbei-s in the second half of
the nineteenth century. They have
been successful in commercial undertakings, and,
like the German Jews, are well educated. They are
the leaders in the Jewish community. A third class
comprises the Lithuanian and White-Russian set-
tlers, mostly merchants and artisans. The White-
Russian Jews are for the most part Hasidim, and are
prominent in the lumber and export trades. They
live in accordance with their own Hasidic traditions,
and have their own synagogues.

Sig'a

Rig'ht and Iieft

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

418

With the abolition of the Kahal (1893) the con-
trol of the affairs of the community was transferred
to the city administration. The latter manages the
Jewish rabbinic schools and fiscal affairs, and only in
special cases are experts from among the Jews con-
sulted. Thus the Jewish community of Riga is
governed by a city council which has not a single
Jew among its aldermen. Among the charitable in-
stitutions may be mentioned the society for the
prevention of pauperism known as Friends of the
Poor; a burial society, free kitchen, free library, etc.

Among the first Orthodox rabbis of the community
was Aaron ben Elhanan (c. 1840). He was succeeded
by his son-in-law Jacob Elias Rivlin. The present
incumbent is Moses Shapiro, son-in-law of Isaac of
Slonim. Besides Lilienthal, the rabbis
Rabbis and and preachers who were recognized
Prominent by the government have been Abra-
Men. ham Neumann (1843-63), Reichman
(1869-73), A. Pumpyanski (1873-98),
S. Pucher (1893-98), and the present incumbent. Dr.
Michelsohn. Teachers: Ma,\ Lilienthal (1839-41), R.
Wunderbar (1841-50), Lipmau Hurwitz (1843-48),
Wolf Kaplan (1853-88), A. Luria (1884-89), H.
Mendelsohn (1856-63 and 1878-92), Adolph Bhrlioh
(1876-96). When Paul I. established in Riga the
cen.sorship of Hebrew books (1799) J. L. Elkan was
appointed the first censor. He was followed in
the office by Moses Hezekiel and B. D. Lewy.

Among the prominent members of the kahal of
Riga maybe mentioned: N. H. Scheinessolm (1837);
Benjamin Nach man (1837) ; M. H. Tietzner; P. M.
Berkowitz; S. B. Bloch(1865); P. Keilman (b. 1829;
graduated from tlie University of Dorpat in 1854
and served in the military hospitals during the
Crimean war, and from 1861 to 1881 as factory phy-
sician ; received from the government the title of
councilor of state, and was appointed adviser on
Jewish affairs by the governor-general of Riga;
died 1903); Moses Hirsh Brainin (1823-64; was made
an honorary citizen of Riga ; died in St. Petersburg
1870); his grandson S. Bkainin (1889-93); and Da-
vid Stern (1892).

Prominent as bankers or merchants have been
Robert Hirschfeld (1842), Dr. Naohman, Phoeb^usll-
yisch, Joseph Mayer, I. Eliasberg, M. Kalmeyer,
Itzig Birkhahn, Leon Schalit, David Schwartzbort,
Wolf Luntz, and Loeb Lipschiltz. Among men of
letters are found Robert Ilyisch, for many years
feuilletonist of the " St. Petersburger Herold " ; L.
Bebnstamm, the sculptor; S. Freidus, of the New
York Public Library ; the physician Jacob Brainin,
a graduate of the University of Kharkof who has
practised in Riga since 1894 ; Sosnitz, who lived there
from 1857 to 1885; and the Hebrew writer Tavyev,
from 1894 to 1905, now residing at Wilna.

A branch of the Society for the Promotion of Cul-
ture Among the Jews of Russia was established in
Riga in 1900. In the society's report for 1903 it is
stated that the amount spent in Riga in that year
for educational purposes was 66,000 rubles. Part of
this sum was divided among the Jewish elementary
school for boys, the night-school for artisans, the
model hadarim, and the Sabbath reading-school for
artisans. Other portions of the fund were employed
to aid Jewish students at high and professional

schools, and in support of the Jewish agricultural
colony near Riga.

The following table gives the vital statistics of
the Jewish community of Riga for 1883 and from
1892 to 1903 inclusive:

Births.

Mar-
riages.

Deaths.

Jews.

Total.

Jews.

Total.

Year.

5
S

S
3

1883...

498

.881

3,283

2,995

143

1,429

203

158

3,fi7R

2.313

1893...

;«5

81 IH

3,054

2,661

114

1,471

181

2,,523

2.187

1893...

83H

393

3,104

2,957

1,673

175

128

2,829

3,.511

1894...

388

3W.5

3,066

2,981

1,837

14(1

128

2,884

3,13B

189.i...

37K

387

3,289

3,192

114

2,144

164

126

2,710

3„503

1896...

3i)ti

3,5H

8,798

8,714

114

3,280

1,13

8,4,59

3,074

1897...

HH3

39((

4,38.5

4,043

1V4

2,588

181

131

3,404

3,964

1898...

■tv>

810

4,786

4,879

165

2,803

163

121

3,226

2,654

1899...

■M\

8119

5,077

4,707

193

3,109

183

3,882

3,348

19U0...

;«7

5,315

4,934

195

3,113

168

143

8,972

3,284

1901...

:S7+

8K7

5,399

5,000

180

3,134

173

178

3,953

3,613

1903...

87.5

873

5,368

5,060

198

3,116

168

3,497

3,951

1903...

3B5

353

5,104

5,024

161

3,044

175

125

3,659

3,35(>

In 1897 the Jews of Riga numbered about 30,700
in a total population of about 256,197.

Bibliography : Buchholtz, Gei^ch. der Juden in Riga, Riga,
1899; Kysh, Bukovndstvn K Bunskim Zakotiam o Tevre-
yalih, St. Petersburg, 1898 ; Wunderbar, Oesch. der Juden
in Liv-, Est-, und Kurland, Mitau, 18.53 ; Vosktwd, 1885,
passim ; Chteniya v Ohschestvije Istorii i Drcvnostei Rossi-
skikh, 1866,1.133; Adolph Ehrllch, Entwickelungsgeschichte
der Tsraelitischen Oemeindesehule zu Riga, St. Petersburg,
1894.
H. K. J. G. L.

RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN : The in-
herent power of the sovereign or state to take pri-
vate property, generally land, for public use, espe-
cially for a highway, with or without compensation.
The Mishnah says of the king in mentioning his pow-
ers : " He leads tlie army in a voluntary war decreed
by the Court of Seventy-one, and strikes out to make
a highway for himself; and they do not hinder liim;
and the king's highway has no limit; and all the
people take booty," etc. (Sanh. ii. 3). The refer-
ence in these last words to the incidents of war
shows that only military roads were meant, not roads
leading to the king's palace or garden. Maimon-
ides (" Yad, " Melakim, v. 3) adds after " no limit "
the words "but according to what is needful, and
he does not alter the direction of his lines to avoid
this man's field, or that man's vineyard, but goes
straight ahead."

As shown under Right of Way, a baraita fixes
the width of highways between city and city, etc.,
as varying from eight to thirty-two cubits. 'The Im-
plication is that to obtain these highways the pub-
lic has a right to condemn for the purpose strips of
privately owned land. But the mode of procedure
is not indicated in the Talmud ; and later authori-
ties, of course, do not discuss it, as the laying out
of roads had then passed beyond the power and ju-
risdiction of the Jews.

It is not likely that the custom of allowing the
state or a city community to condemn land for any
other purpose than that of a highway ever prevailed
in Israel — e.g., for public buildings, for King David
set the precedent against such an action when he

419

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Big'ht and Left

bought by private aiTangement the thrashing-floor
of Aravnah tlie Jebusite as a building-plot for the
Tabernacle; or for the palace or pleasure-grounds
of the king, for Elijah's stern rebuke against King
Ahab for the latter's method of acquiring Nabotli's
vineyard stood out too strongly in men's memory
as the highest testimony to the sacredness of private
property in land. In short, the right of eminent do-
main vpas very closely limited.

E. c. L. N. D.

RIGHT AND LEFT.— Biblical Data : The
right side of things is recognized in many ways as
better than the left. The south and north sides of
the earth are distinguished as " yamin " (right) and
"sem'ol" (left; Job xxiii. 9), the right being the
sunnier, brighter side, and the left the bleak and
dark side, ill-omened and unlucky, where evil gen-
erates. "Out of the north an evil shall break forth
upon all the inhabitants of the land " (Jer. i. 14).
The right side, or right limb, of a person receives
special prominence; the place of honor is at his
right. " Upon thy right hand did stand the queen "
(Ps. xlv. 9). Solomon placed a seat of honor for his
mother, the queen, on his right side (I Kings ii. 19).
The right eye was the most important and most vital
member of the body. Nahash the Ammonite, as a
reproach upon all Israel, purposed putting out
the right eye of all men in Jabesh-gilead (I Sam.
xi. 2). The prophet predicted, "Wo to the idol
shepherd that leaveth the flock! . his right eye
shall be utterly darkened " (Zech. xi. 17). The priest
in purifying the leper put some of the blood of the
sacrifice on the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his
right hand, and the great toe of his right foot;
he also used his right finger to sprinkle the oil
before the altar (Lev. xiv. 14, 16), and received as
his share of the peace-ofEering the right shoulder
(Lev. vii. 32).

Jacob showed the significance of using the right
hand in blessing by placing it on the head of Ephra-
im, whose tribe was thereby destined
In Jacob's to become the greater nation, though
Blessing. Manasseh was older in years (Gen.
xlviii. 17-19). " Right " is a synonym
for "goodness" and "brightness," and "left" for
" badness, " " awkwardness, " and " clumsiness. " " A
wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's
heart at his left" (Eccl. x. 2). The right hand is
associated with the idea of majesty: "Thy right
hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power" (Ex.
XV. 6). Numerous other Biblical passages may be
cited in illustration of this idea. The right hand
was raised when an oath was administered or taken
(Isa. Ixii. 8), and sometimes both right and left hands
(Dan. xii. 7). The signet was worn on the right hand
(Jer. xxii. 24). Ezekiel, to expiate the sins of
Israel, lay on his left side 390 days, and at the expi-
ration of that term he lay forty days on his right side
in penance for the sins of Judah ; each day repre-
senting one year of their wickedness (Ezek. iv. 4-6).
Rashi explains that Israel, or the Ten Tribes, were
situated to the left of Judah, their capital city being
Samaria: "Thine elder sister is Samaria, she and
her daughters that dwell at thy left hand " (Ezek.
xvi. 46).

The warrior held the bow in his left hand and the

arrows in his right (Ezek. xxxix. 3). Ehud, the
Benjamite judge, used his left hand to thrust the dag-
ger into the body of Eglon, King of Moab, thereby
avoiding suspicion and rendering parrying diffi-
cult (Judges iii. 16-21). The Benjamites were all
excellent marksmen — " left-handed ; every one could
sling stones at an hair's breadth and not miss. " The
name " Ben Yamin " (= " son of the right hand ") is
probably a euphemism. Targum Jonathan, how-
ever, translates "ifter yad yemin" (left-handed) as
"open-handed," that is, ambidextrous, as it is evi-
dent that the Benjamites were armed with bows
and could use both the right hand and the left hand
in shooting arrows from a bow (I Chron. xii. 2),
Cant. ii. 6 refers to the lover: "His left hand is
under my head, and his right hand doth embrace
me."

"Yad " means the right hand and "zeroa' " the left
hand when botli terms occur in the same sentence
in the Bible (Naz. 3b, and see Rashi ad loo.).

In Rabbinical Literature : In performing

the Temple ceremonies the general rule is that
" every turn must be made to the right of the way "
(Yoma 16b). One of the priestly disqualifications is
left-handedness (Maimonides, "Yad," Bi'at ha-Mik-
dash, ix. 5). The officiating priest who is required
to take a handful of flour in connection with the
meal-offering or frankincense does it with his right
hand (Zeb. i. 3). The table was put on the north
side of the Tabernacle, or the Temple, and the can-
dlestick on the south side, opposite the table, the
table being thus to the right and the menorah to
the left of the Shekinah, which rested on the west
side; just as people usually place the lamp at the
left to give free play to the right hand (Cant. R. ii.
17, with reference to Ex. xxvi, 8,5).

Hamzah is performed with the right hand on the
right foot (Yeb. xii. 3), while some authorities in
the case of a left-footed person require a separate
halizah for the left foot (Shulhan 'Aruk, Eben
ha-'Ezer, 169, 35). The test of left-
In Ceremo- footedness is made by commanding
nial. the person to walk straight ahead
and noting which foot he starts with
("Ginnat Weradim," responsum No. 9). The phy-
lactery is placed on the left arm so that the right
hand may wind the leather straps ("rezu'ah"). R.
Ashi says that in Ex. xiii. 16, the word "yadekah "
(thy hand), with the superfluous "he," means "yad
kehah " (the weak [i.e., left] hand ; Men. 37a). Ac-
cording to the cabalists, the reason for placing the
phylacteries on the left arm is that it is nearer to the
heart, which is bound to the service of God. A
person who is left-handed may wear the phylactery
on his right arm; but if ambidextrous, he must
place it on the left (ib.).

The LuLAB is held in the right hand and the
Etrog in the left. A curious error appears to have
been made regarding the supposed reference in the
Midrash to the custom of holding the lulab in the
right hand. Citing Ps. xvi. 11, "At thy right hand
there are pleasures forevermore " ("nezah" = "tri-
umph," "victory"), R. Abbahu explains that the
lulab is referred to (Yalk., Ps. 670; comp. Ex. R.
xviii. 5; Kohut, "Aruch Completum,"i. 342, ii. 57).
Nevertheless the custom might be explained by sup-

Bigrht and Left

Eight and Righteousness

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

420

posing that the lulab is lield in the right hand be-
cause it is more important than the etrog.

Commenting on the passage "I saw the Lord
sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing by him on his right hand and on his left"
(I Kings xxii. 19), the Midrash asks, "Is there a
right and left above? " and answers, " But there were
defenders on the right and accusers on the left"
(Tan., Ex. xvii.).

The angel Michael, on the right, is more in favor
of Israel tlian Gabriel, who is on the left. Samael
(from "sem'ol" = "left") is on the left, outside, as
the antagonist of Israel (see Kohut,
In Angel- "Ueber die Judlsche Angelologie," pp.
ology. 30,57). Tbe "yezer-tob" (angel whose
influence is toward the good) is on the
right side, and the " yezer ha-ra' " (angel whose in-
fluence is toward wickedness) is on the left of every
person.

Etiquette commands that the most prominent
person sit or walk in the center, the next in rank at
his right hand, and the third in rank on the left
('Er. 54b). The bride is placed on the riglit side of
the groom, under the canopy. In the lavatory the
left hand is used to keep the right free from un-
cleanness (Ber. 49a).

In the Cabala right and left fill important sym-
bolic roles, as the " sitra di-yemiua " (right side) and
" sitra di-sem'ala " (left side). According to the Zo-
har. Eve represented the left side of Adam and
she was bound up in the flame of the Law (see Fire).
The Torah is the right and the oral law the left (Zohar,
Bereshit, p. 48b). This world is the right, and the
world to come the left. It is curious that in Cabala
the left side represents a higher and more developed
state. It is said that Alexander the Great found a
country where all the inhabitants were left-handed,
and that they endeavored to convince him that
greater honor is due to the left hand because it is
nearer the heart ; hence in greeting they shook hands
with the left hand (" Erke ha-Kinnuyim," s.v. [iKDB')-

Isaac Baer Levinsohn translated into classical He-
brew Benjamin Franklin's " A Petition from the Left
Hand," complaining of discrimination on the part
of the teachers and claiming equal rights with his
sister, the right hand ("Shorashe Lebanon," pp.
257-358, Wilna, 1841).

J. J. D. E.

BIGHT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS : Render-
ings given in the English versions of the Hebrew
root " zadak " and its derivatives " zaddik, " " zedek, "
"zedakah." The use of " righteous " as a transla-
tion for "yashar" (=" upright") is less frequent.
"Just," "justice," "justify" also occur as equiva-
lents for these Hebrew terms.

The original implications of the root " zadak" are
involved in doubt. To be "hard," "even," and
"straight" (said of roads, for instance) has been
suggested as the primitive physical idea. More ac-
ceptable is the explanation that the

Original root-notion conveyed is that a thing,

Significa- man, or even God, is what it, or he,

tion. should be, that is, "normal," "fit."

That conception may, without much

difficulty, be recovered from some of the applications

of the terms in the Bible. "Weights and measures

are called "zedek" ("just" or "right"; Deut. xxv.
15; Lev. xix. 36; Job xxxi. 6; Ezek. xlv. 10).
Paths are "zedek," tliat is, as they should be, easy
to travel (Ps. xxiii. 3). So with offerings, when
brought in the proper manner and at the right time
(Deut. xxxiii. 19; Ps. iv. 6 [A. V. 5], li. 31 [A. V.
19]). When a king or judge is as he should be he
is "just" (Lev. xix. 15; Deut. i. 16; Prov. xxxi. 9).
When speech is as it should be it is "truthful"
(comp. P.S. lii.). The outcome of the battle being
favorable, it is called " zedakah " (= " victor}' " ;
Judges V. 11). To justify oneself, or another, is
also expressed by the root, as it really means to
prove oneself, or another, to be innocent of a charge,
or in the right (that is, as one should be ; Job ix. 15,
20; xi.2; xiii. 18; Isa. xliii. 9; Ps. cxliii. 2). In
many of the passages in which the root has this
physical implication an ethical element may be dis-
covered. " Right " weights may be also " righteous "
weights. The battle may be looked upon as a sort
of divine ordeal, and hence the issue may be said to
be " righteous " (= " zedakah " ; see Schwally, " Der
Heilige Krieg im Alten Israel," p. 8). In the Song
of Deborah — one of the oldest literary compositions
— this implication is not absent from the word, em-
ployed in the plural in connection with Yhwh
(Judges V. 11). So in its earliest use, among He-
brews, the term " righteousness " seems to have had
a moral intention.

In the collection of legal decisions ("mishpatim")
constituting the Book of the Covenant, " zaddik "
appears as a juridical, technical term (= "the party
[to a suit] that is in the right " ; Ex. xxiii. 7), It is
noteworthy that the feminine of "zaddik" is not
found, the verb being used to express the idea in the
case of the woman being in the right (Gen. xxxviii.
36) ; the " hif'il " is used to declare one " not guilty,"
or as having substantiated his claim (Ex. xxiii. 7;
II Sara. XV. 4). The man who makes such a right-
ful plea is "zaddik" (Isa. v. 23; Prov. xvii. 15; et
al.). In this use, too, a clear ethical note may be
detected. To declare him "right" who is in the
right is certainly a moral act ; the judge who decides
in favor of the right is righteous. Even the relig-
ious element underlies this use. God is the judge.
To have a suit is to seek out ("daraah") Yhwh
{i.e., to inquire of Yhwh). The judgment is an
ordeal. The winner of the suit, the man found in-
nocent, is by the verdict proved to be righteous in
the sight of Yhwh.

But it is in the early prophecies that the ethical
aspect of righteousness Is forcibly accentuated.
Used by Amos in the forensic sense, " righteousness "
and "justice" are urged as higher and
Use by the nobler and more pleasing in the sight
Prophets, of Yhwh than ritual religiousness (ii.
6 ; V. 12, 23). " Social righteousness "
alone will save Israel. The fate of the personally
guilty and the personally innocent alike is involved
in that of the whole people. This social righteous-
ness, then, may be said to be in the eyes of this
prophet a religious service.

Hosea marks another step in the evolution of the
concept of righteousness. He would have right-
eousness potentialized by " hesed " (love, or mercy).
Social justice as a matter merely of outward con-

421

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kig'ht and Left

Bight and BiKhteousuess

(.luct, and manifest only in public adjustments of
institutions and conditions, will not bring about tlie
rejuvenescence of tlie nation. Inner repentance,
spiritual consideration of one's neighbor and brother,
yielding love, not mechanical justice alone, arc the
components of righteousness (vi. 1-4, x. 12).

Isaiah proceeds along the lines indicated by his
predecessors. " Justice, " or " righteousness, " is solic-
itude for the weak and helpless (i. 16 et seg., 27; x.
2). This righteousness is true religion ; Israel is
expected to be devoted to it. The moral order of
the world is founded in such righteousness, which
metes out strict justice (v. 7, xxviii. 17, xxix. 13).
This justice, inherent in God's supreme providence,
will bring about the salvation of the Remnant of
IsuAEL (vii. 9). Isaiah looks forward to the coming
of a time when Jerusalem, no longer enslaved to
mere ritual piety while steeped in injustice, will be
called "the fortress of righteousness" (i. 26, Hebr.).

Jeremiah's understanding of righteousness is virtu-
ally the same as Isaiah's (see Jer. xxii. 3, which seems
to embody his ideas of what it embraces, though
the term is not used). He looks forward to the re-
establishing of the Davidic kingdom under " a right-
eous branch," a ruler who will do justice and who
will deserve the name "Yhwii our Righteousness"
(xxiii. 5 et seg., Hebr.). Jeremiah's faith in the
righteous character of God's government was sorely
put to the test both by his own personal experience
and by the conditions prevailing in his own day.
Yet he acknowledges that Yhwh is in the right
("zaddik "), though he can not forego asking why
the wicked prosper (xii. 1). Yhwh is a "righteous
judge," probing the motives of human conduct
(xi. 20). In Deut. xvi. 20 the pursuit of righteous-
ness is solemnly inculcated. " Right-

"Riglit- eous"in these prophetic passages is
ecus" synonymous with "moral." He de-
Syn- serves the designation who not only

cnymous refrains from wrong-doing but is
with strenuous in his efforts to establish
"Moral." right. To suffer wrong to be done to
another is almost equivalent to doing
it. Hence the righteous endeavor to see that the
weak, the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed
secure their rights. The conception that the right-
eousness of God also involves positive activity in be-
half of right, liot mere abstinence from wrong-doing,
is accentuated. The moral law is so administered
that j ustice will be done.

In the lives of the " righteous " whose names and
characters both have been preserved in the national
history these qualities were dominant. Noah was " a
righteous" man in his generation. He was spared
while the wicked perished (Gen. vi. 9, vii. 1). If
there had been righteous ones in Sodom they would
not have sliared the fate of the city. Abraham was
warned of the impending catastrophe because it was
certain that he would teach his descendants " to do
judgment and righteousness "(Gen. xviii. 19, 28-25).
Abraham's trust in Ynwn is reckoned unto him " for
righteousness" (Gen. xv. 6; a statement which, how-
ever obscure, certainly does not bear out the con-
struction put on it by Christian theologians, from St.
Paul to the present, as little as does Hab. ii. 4— "the
righteous shall live by his faith " [Hebr.]).

In Habakkuk "' the righteous " has taken on an
entirely new meaning. It stands for Israel as repre-
sented by the "pious," the "meek," the "poor," the
"remnant." Israel will not be disturbed by the
seeming falsification of its trust and confidence in-
volved in the actual conditions of the day. For the
moment Babylon, the "unrighteous," may be victo-
rious; but ultimately the righteousness of God's
government will be manifest in the victory of the
"righteous." This application of "righteous" is
common in exilic and jjost-exilic writings (comp.
Isa. xxvi. 10). In (Deutero) Isa. xlii. 6 the " servant
of Yhwh" (Hebr.) is this righteous one; indeed, the
" righteousness " of God is manifested in the advent
of Cyrus (Isa. xhv. 28). God supports His messen-
gers " with the right hand " of His " righteousness "
(Isa. xli. 10) — that is, He will insure their triumph.
This "righteousness," which is the victorious pur-
pose of God's providence, is not conditioned or ex-
pressed by ritual practises. The contrary is the
case. The people who believe that they have done
right (Isa. Iviii. 2) are told that fasting is inopera-
tive, that justice and love are the contents of right-
eousness. Righteousness in this sense is the recur-
ring refrain of the second Isaiah's preaching. The
remnant of Israel, having suffered, has been purified
and purged of its sins. Its triumph, therefore, will
establish God's righteousness, for the triumph of the
wicked (i.e., Babylon) is unthinkable in view of the
moral order of things (Isa. xlvii. 6, li. 1-7, lii. 3-5).
With the Exile the individualization of right-
eousness begins to be recognizable in
Individu- Hebrew thought. The accountability
alization of man for his conduct is phrased most
of Right- strongly by writers of this period (Jer.
eousness xxxi. 39-30; Ezek. xviii. 2-4). In
After Ezekiel, a few instances excepted (xvi.
the Exile. 52, xxiii. 45, xlv. 9-10), "righteous"
and " righteousness " express the relig-
ious relation of individuals to God (xiii. 22, xiv. 14,
XYui. 5 et seg.). The plural of " zedakah " (if the
text is correct) connotes good deeds pi-oceeding from
one's religious character (iii. 20, xviii. 24, xxxiii. 18).
The content of this righteousness is preponderatingly
ethical, not ritual. The Book of Job approaches the
problem of God's righteousness from a new point of
view. The suffering of the righteous is its theme
as it is that of other Biblical passages (Mai. iii. IS-
IS; Ps. xxxvii., xxxix., xlix., Ixxiii.). That sin
and suffering are corresponding terms of one equa-
tion is the thesis defended by Job's friends; but
Job will not accept it; conscious of his rectitude,
he rebels against it. He challenges the Almighty to
meet him in a regular judicial proceeding. The
book states the problem, but furnishes no answer
(see Job, Book of ; Optimism and Pessimism). It
must, however, be noted that the terms for right-
eousness are often used in the Book of Job in a
technical, juridical sense, namely, for " being right "
(in reference to a pleader). In the otlier Wisdom
books (Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) the "righteous,"
contrasted with the "wicked," are ethically normal
individuals. Righteousness is the supreme moral
category. On the whole, the contention of these
books is that the righteous are sure to reap rewards
while the wicked are as certain to be punished.

Big'ht and Bi^hteousness

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

422

though Ecclesiastes is not consistent in the exposi-
tion of the doctrine of retribution.

In the Book of Psalms " the righteous " more fre-
quently represents a party than individuals—" the
meek," "the lowly"; that is, the faithful who, in
spite of persecution, cling to God's law. In the
Maccabean age these became the " Assidaioi " (the
Hasidim). Their triumphs are sung and their vir-
tues and faith are extolled. Their righteousness is
both social and personal (comp. Ps. vii., xviii., xxv.,
xxxii., xxxiii., xxxvii., xli., Ixiv., xcvii., cvi., cix. ;
see Godliness).

But as the Pharisaic synagogue grew in influence,
and legalism struck deeper roots, the righteous came
to be identified not with the ideal citizen of Zion pic-
tured in Ps. XV., but with him whose "delight is in
the law," described in the prologue to the book — Ps.
i. The Law and its observance became an integral
part of Jewish righteousness, though by no means
to the degree and in the soulless manner assumed
by non-Jewish writers, who delight to describe how
ritualism and literalism first outweiglied mere moral
considerations and then ignored them altogether.
See NoMiSM.

In the Apocrypha righteousness is ascribed to God
as a quality of His judgments and as manifesting
itself in the course of human history (II Mace. i.
34-25). As the Righteous Judge He grants victory
to the faithful and courageous, whose faith in God's
righteousness, in fact, inspires their courage (II
Maco. viii. 13). God, as the Righteous
In tlie Judge, metes out condign punishment

Apocry- to evil-doers (Azariah's prayer, add.
pha. to Dan. i.). As evidences of human
righteousness the virtues of loyalty to
truth and one's oath are adduced (I Mace. vii. 18).
The Patriarchs, as sinless, are held to have been per-
fectly righteous (see Prayer of Manasses). Idolatry
and righteousness are represented as incompatible
(Ep. Jer. verse 73). In the Wisdom of Solomon (ii.)
the skeptics are unmasked as the " unrighteous " ; and
unrighteousness leads to death (i. 16), while right-
eousness leads to life. In Ecclus. (Sirach) xxxi. 8 the
rich man who has resisted the temptations which
beset the getting of wealth is characterized as right-
eous. It is plain that the man whom Sirach regards
as deserving to be called " righteous " is one whose
morality is above reproach, whatever may be his
loyalty to ritual observances (see ib. vi., vii.); and
as for the self-righteousness which is imputed to
Judaism it is sufiicient to refer to vii. 5 of the same
book, where the Hebrew text preserves the tech-
nical word " hiztaddek " (to brazenly proclaim one-
self as a righteous man).

In the Psalms of Solomon righteousness designates
fidelity to the Law (xiv. 3). But this Law demands
obedience to the fundamental principles of morality
as strenuously as compliance with ritual precepts.
The Sadducees are inveighed against as unrighteous.
From the vehemence of the denunciations the con-
clusion has been drawn that in the minds of the
Pharisaic authors laxity in ritual piety constituted
the essence of wickedness; but the Sadducees' anti-
national concessions to Rome were much more pro-
vocative than their indifference to the ritual. More-
over, it must be remembered that the Psalms of

Solomon, like the Gospels, are partizan pamphlets,
in which the shortcomings of opponents are exag-
gerated. Righteousness as interpreted by the Phari-
saic synagogue embraced moral considerations as
well as ritualistic,

This appears also from the rabbinical sources.

Rabbinical theology is never systematic. This must

be kept in mind, as well as the fact

Rabbinical that many of the rabbinical conclu-

View. sions are mere homiletic applications

of texts, illustrating the exegetical

dexterity of their authors rather than a fixed dogma

of the Synagogue. This is true of the rabbinical

observation that at any given period never less than

thirty righteous are found in the world, for whose

sake the world escapes destruction (Tan., Wayera,

13, where this conclusion is derived from the gema-
tria of n'iT [= 30]). Another passage has it that
one righteous man insures the preservation of the
world (Yoma 38b). The righteous are regarded as
being inspired by the "holy spirit" (Tan., Wa5'ehi,

14, where the context clearly shows that the state-
ment is not dogmatic, but homiletic). The Slieki-
nah rests upon them (Gen. R. Ixxxvi.). In fact,
before sin entered into the world the Shekinah was
permane;itly dwelling on earth. When Adam lapsed
it rose, and it continued to rise to ever greater
distances, proportionate always to the increase of
sin among men. But it was gradually brought
back to earth by the righteousness of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kehath, Amram, and Moses
(Cant. R. iii. 11). The Patriarchs and the great
heroes of Bible days are considered to have been
perfectly righteous (Sifre 72b; Yalk. i. 94; Gen. R.
Ixiii., xc. ; Meg. 13b; Sanh. 107a; Shab. 56a; et al).

Righteousness is dependent upon man's free
choice. All its future conditions are predetermined
by God at the very conception of the child, its
character alone excepted (Tan., Pekude). The con-
quest of the "yezer ha-ra' " (i.e., of the inclination
toward immorality) marks the righteous (Eccl.
R. iv. 15; Gen. R. Ixvii. ; comp. Yoma 39a). In
this contention the ethical implications of the rab-
binical interpretation of righteousness are patent.
The righteous man is godlike (see Godliness) ; that
is, he is desirous of reflecting the attributes of God
(Sotah 14a; Pesik. 57a). The state of sin is not in-
herited. Men might, live in perfect righteousness
without " tasting sin " (Eccl. R. i. 8 ; Shab. 55b).
Children are born sinless (Eccl. R. iii. 2; Lev. R.
vii.). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Yalk. i. 36, 106),
and Elijah (Lev. R. xxvii.), among others, are men-
tioned as having gone through life without yielding
to the 3'ezer ha-ra'.

Still, most men are not so strong. Hence the race
is divided into three categories: (1) "zaddikim"
(the righteous); (2) "benunim" (the indifferent);
and (3) " resha'im " (evil-doers). The first and third
groups again are divided into " perfect " and " ordi-
nary " righteous and evil-doers (" zad-
Three dikimgemurim," "resha'im gemurim,"
Classes of and mere " zaddikim " or " resha'im " ;
Men. Ber. 61b). Theflrstareunderthedomin-
ion of the " yezer ha-tob " (the inclina-
tion to do good), the third under that of the yezer ha-
ra'. Class two is now in the first group and anon

423

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sight and Bigrhteousness

in the third group. But finally only the lirst and
the third condition are recognized. After death
men are judged either as "zaddikim" or as "resha-
'im." The ungodly are not buried with the right-
eous (Sanh. 47a), The benunim are respited from
Rosh ha-Shanah to Yom lia-K^ippurim. If they do a
good deed in the meantime, they are ranged with the
righteous; if they commit an evil deed, they are
ranked as imgodly {R. H. 16a). They are like trees
that bear no fruit (Tan., Emor, 17).

The "zaddik gamur" is he who, like Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, fulfils the whole Torah
from alef to taw (Shab. 55a; comp. Alpha and
Omega). Of this orderwere Michael, Azariah, and
Hananiah (Ta'an. 18b). It is not necessarily to be
assumed that such truly rigliteous ones were alto-
gether without blame. They may have committed
minor transgressions (" 'aberot kallot " ; Sifre 138a).
These are written in the Book of Life on Rosh ha-
Shanah (R. H. 16b). They behold the Shekinah in
a clear mirror (Suk. 45b). They do not change,
while the ordinary zaddikim are exposed to lapses.

The utterly unrighteous, or the "heavily" un-
righteous ("rasha' hamur"), are distinct from the
" slightly " unrighteous ("rasha' kal"; Sanh. 47a).
The former receive recompense at once for whatever
slight good they may do, but are destined to ever-
lasting perdition. Esau is an example (Gen. R.
Ixxxii.), as are Balaam (Tan., Balak,

Tlie TTn- 10), those symbolized by the bad figs
righteous, in Jeremiah's basket (Jer. xxiv. ; 'Er.
31b), and others. Yet even a rasha'
gamur may repent and appear before his death as
a zaddik gamur (Ezek. xxxiii. 13; Num. R. x. ; Ex.
R. XV.).

Man is judged according to the dominant charac-
ter of his intentions and deeds (Kid. 40b). If the
majority of them are righteous he is accounted a
zaddik ; but if they are otherwise, or if even a few
partake of the nature of gross crimes and immorali-
ties, he is adjudged a rasha' (see Sifre 51b). Far
from encouraging self-righteousness, rabbinical
theology warns each to regard himself as part good
and part bad, and then to determine his own rank by
adding to his good deeds (Kid. 40a). Intention and
the underlying motive are decisive for the quality
of an act in a good man, while a good deed done
by an ungodly man is reckoned in his favor, what-
ever may liave been its motive (Kid. 39b). Yet jt
is certainly unwarrantable to twist these largely ex-
egetical fancies of the Rabbis into proofs of rigid dog-
matic positions. The good act is considered a " miz-
wah," a divine command; but still the spiritual ele-
• ment of righteousness is not ignored. Calculations
of reward and penalty are declared to be contrary
to God's intentions (Deut. R. vi.). The Rabbis as-
sume that reward will be a necessary consequence
of a good deed, and punishment that of an evil
deed. Yet this causal relation is apprehended as
being involved in God's grace (Tan., Ethannen, 3);
even Abraham could not do without God's grace
(Gen. R. Ix.).

This thought underlies also the Talmudic-rabbin-
ical concept of "zekut." "Zakai," a term designa-
ting the innocent, or guiltless, the contrary of "hay-
yab," the guilty party in a suit, gradually assumed

the meaning of "zaddik." The zekut, therefore,
primarily, is one's righteousness. But the "right-
eousness of the fathers" ("zekut

Idea of abot"),orofa"righteousman,"iscred-

" Zekut." ited with the effect of helping others
and their descendants, though those
so benefited have no claim, through their own merit,
to the benefit. In strict justice, each should be
judged according to his merits. But God's mercy
permits man to be judged by the sum total of all
the goodness which exists in the world in an age, in
a family. As, owing to the righteous, the sum of
goodness is sufficient, the less good is granted more
than his due. The technical term used in this con-
nection is " ma'aleh 'al" (hif'i lof " 'alah "), meaning
"to tax in favor of" (see Weber, "Jlldische Theolo-
gie," pp. 390 et seq,; Weber, however, misappre-
hends the whole matter and twists it into a theolog-
ical system with a strong note of Pauline dogmatics).
The solidarity of the race is basic to the notion, not
the idea of God's justice as exacting, measuring,
calculating; for God's grace and mercy are involved
in the conception ("middat ha-rahamim ").

As human righteousness is a reflection of God's,
it includes necessarily love for others. This con-
sideration has so strongly influenced the Jewish mind
that the word " zedakah " (righteousness) has as-
sumed the meaning of "alms," "char-
Identified ity." "Gemilut hasadim" (philan-
with. thropy in its widest sense) is another

Charity, expression of the righteous man's inner

life (Tan., Mishpatim, -9; Lev. R.

xxvii. ; Tan., Emor, 5 [illustrated by Moses]; Tan.,

Ki Tabo, 1 ; comp. Eccl. R. vi. 6; Tan., Wayakhel, 1).

Why the righteous suffer is one of the problems
the Rabbis attemprt'to solve. The perfectly right-
eous do not suffer; the leas perfect do (Ber. 7a).
Under the law of solidarity the latter often suffer
for the sins of others, and therefore save others from
suffering (Ex. R. xliii. ; Pesilj. 154a). Where the
nature of suffering is individual, it is assumed to be
a punishment for some slight transgression with a
view to insure to the righteous a fuller reward in
the world to come (Pesik. 161a; Hor. 10b). Or it
may be probationary, and as such a signal manifes-
tation of divine favor (Sanh. 101b; Shab. 53b;
Ta'an. 11a; Gen. R. xxxiii.). The death of the
righteous works atonement for tlieir people (Tan.,
Ahare Mot, 7 ; M. K. 38a). God allows the right-
eous man time to repent and to attain his full meas-
ure of good deeds before He sends deatli (Eccl. R.
V. 11). The most truly righteous either escape
death altogether {e.g. , Elijah ; Enoch), or it meets
them as a kiss imprinted on their lips by God, as
with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Mirinm
(B. B. 17a; Yalk. i. 43). Death for the righteous is
also a release from the struggle with the inclination
to do wrong (Gen. R. ix.). Dead, they still live
(Ber. 18a). They are like pearls, which retain their
preciousness wherever they are (Meg. 15a).

The coming of the righteous into the world is a
boon to it ; their departure therefrom a loss (Sanh.
113a). The ungodly are sentenced to stay in Ge-
henna twelve months; then they are released at
the intercession of the righteous (Yalk. Shim'oni,
to Mai. 593). In Gan 'Eden, God will dance with

Kight of Way
Bime

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

424

the righteous (Ta'an. 31a) ; there they -will sing God's
praise (Ex. R. vii,). Resurrection is reserved for
the righteous alone (Gen. R. xiii. ; Ta'an. 7a). In
" tlie world to be " the righteous sit with crowns on
their heads and delight in the radiancy of the Shpki-
nah (Ber. 17a). Tliey partalie of Leviathan (Pesik.
188b; B. B. 74b). Their crowns are
Fate of the those that were worn at Sinai (Sanh.
Rigliteous. 111b; Sliab. 88a). Tlie niriDE^ i!2^
of Ps. xvi. 11 is read niDDB' JfaB*
(" seven "), and is taken to refer to the seven classes
of righteous that enjoy God's glory (Sifre 67a).

The "righteous" are often identified with Israel,
and the "ungodly " with the heathen, non-Israelites
(Tan., Bemidbar, 19; Lev. R. xiii. 1). But this
should not be taken as a general rule. The non-
Israelites of whom the Rabbis had knowledge were
Romans, whose cruelty and profligacy made " non-
Israelite " and " ungodly " exchangeable terms.
Still, righteous ones are found among " the nations "
(e.g., Noah, Jethro; see Proselyte), and these
righteous will have a share in the kingdom to come
(Tos. Sanh. xiii.).

Thus righteousness was not a privilege of the
Jew ; it was rather an obligation. As Judaism does
not teach original sin its views on righteousness
have no relation to the doctrine of justification (see
Atonement). The Jewish prayer-book, the depos-
itory of the faith of Israel, contains as a part of the
morning liturgy: "Lord of all the worlds, not in
reliance upon our righteous deeds do we lay our
supplications before Thee, but trusting in Thy mani-
fold mercies." This summarizes the doctrine of
the Synagogue upon the subject. Righteousness is
a duty which brings no privileges. Self-righteous-
ness is not the key-note of Israel's confession. Sim-
ply as descendants of Abraham is it incumbent upon
Israel to proclaim the Shema'. The modern Jewish
connotation of righteousness carries an ethical (both
personal and social), not a liturgical emphasis.

E. G. H.

RIGHT OF WAY : The law in general distin-
guishes between the right of private way (that is,
A's right to pass over a certain strip of B's land) and
that of public way (the right of evel'ybody to pass
over a strip of land which may or may not be pri-
vate property otherwise) ; and the Hebrew law
recognizes a third and broader right of way, that
referring to the king's highway or to the way to the
grave.

Under Sale op Land cases are stated in which
the sale of part of the vendor's land does or does not
confer on the purchaser a right of way over the
residue. But the law recognizes generally the
" right of way from necessity " ; that is, where one
man's property is surrounded by that of another,
the former is entitled to means of access and egress.
Assuming this principle, the Mishnah (B. B. vi. 5,
6) says:

" He who owns a cistern inside of another man's house, should
go in and come out at the usual hour when men come and go ;
he can not bring his beasts in and water them at the cistern, but
he must draw the water and give them drink outside the house ;
and each of the two owners must malte for himself a key [to the
cistern]. He who has a garden within that of another should
go in and come out at the usual hour when men come and go ;
he has no right to bring produce-buyers inside, nor to pass over

into another field [but only to the highway] . The outside oWner
may sow the path [so as to have marks of ownership]. If the
outside owner has by agreement given [to the insider] a path
on the side, the inside owner may pass in and out when he
chooses, and may take merchants in to buy : yet he may not
pass from his garden to another field ; and neither party may
put seed in the path."

In the absence of an agreement to the contrary
the width of a private way is four cubits {ib. 7), this
width being deemed sufficient for an ass with his
load (B. B. 100a).

A public way is acquired by usage. Mere walk-
ing forward and backward across the strip is not
enough : there must be some oocu-
Public pancy by " the many " (" ha-rabbim "),
Way. such as treading the soil down into a
hard road, or artificially leveling it.
No particular length of time is mentioned for ma-
turing the public right. Where the owner of vine-
yards leaves a vacant strip between fences, he gives
an implied permission to walk on it, and as soon as
the public begins to do so the strip stands dedi-
cated as a highway. When a highway is once ac-
quired by the public, the owner can not resume ex-
clusive rights ; hence should he, with the intention
of retaking a public way running over the middle
of his field, dedicate a strip on one side of it, the
public will have a right to the use of both ways.

According to the Mishnah (I.e.), a public way
should be sixteen cubits in width ; but a baraita dis-
tinguishes thus: a way from one city to another
should be eight cubits in width ; a way for the many
(probably, one on which people from several cities
meet, a trunk-road) should have a width of sixteen
cubits; and the road running to the cities of refuge
thirty-two cubits (see Deut. xix. 3). The streets of
a city are public highways and as such a part of the
public domain (see Domain, Public).

The king's highway, that is, the way which he
has the right to lay out for the use of his army, is
not limited in width ("has no measure " ; B. B. vi. 7;
Sanh. ii. 4), and he may, to open the road, tear down
fences and other obstructions.

The way to the grave also " has no measure " (B.
B. vi. 7) ; that is, those who carry or follow the bier
may, when they find it necessary, go to the right or
left, so as to reach the place for burial without need-
less delay. But while they have not, like the com-,
mander of troops in the field, the right to tear down
fences (they must climb over them), they may tread
on fields and meadows.

No one should throw stones from his private land

into the highway, nor should any one tunnel OT"dig

cisterns or cellars under it; but one

Mis- may, for the benefit of the public, dig

oellaneous a cistern in the highway.

Corollaries. One whose house or other building

abuts on the highway may not erect

over it balconies or projecting stories, unless they

be high enough to allow a camel with its rider to

pass below; nor of such a size as to darken the

highway. Where one buys a court of which the

balconies or projecting stories are by prescription

("haza^ah") over the public way, he may rebuild

them when they fall down. Where a tree leans over

the highway the owner must trim it, to leave room

for a camel and rider to pass under its branches.

425

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Right of Way
Bime

It is iinlawful to leave wetted clay for any length
of time on the highway, or to maUe bricks on it;
but mortar for building a house may be left by the
side of it. "Where one prepares stones for a build-
ing, ho may not let them lie on tlie highway for an
iudefluite time, but should use them at once.
Whoever acts against these rules is liable for
the full damage aiising from his act (the words
rendered "highway "are "reslnit ha-rabbim," i.«,,
" public domain "). 8ee B. K. 50b ; B. B. ii. 13 ; iii.
8, 60a; also Shulhan 'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat, § 417.

The Talmud does not indicate any procedure by
which the commonwealth may expropriate the
owners of land in order to acquire public highways;
nor does it prescribe any form of dedication for
roads and streets.

Bibliography : Maimonides, Yacl. Mekirah, ch. i., xxl.; Shul-
han 'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat, 192.
E. c. L. N. D.

RIGOTZ, MOSES. See Concordance, Tal-

MtlDICAL.

BIME : The early Hebrews have been credited
with the knowledge and use of rime. Judah Pro-
vencal, according to Azariah dei Rossi ("Me'or
'Enayim," v.), considered Hebrew poetry the mother
of all other poetries, so that in adopting the poetic
forms of other peoples the Jews received back from
them what they had given long before. Samuel
Archevolti ("'Arugat ha-Bosem," xxxii. 113, Ven-
ice, 1603) argues that rime and meter existed in the
Old Testament, but were not fully developed ; while
Moses ibn Habib assumes their use in extra-Biblical
Hebrew poetry contemporaneous with the Bible,
basing this view upon the rimed epitaph of the al-
leged general of King Amaziah, for which see Jew.
Encyc. i. 487b. Of modern writers who attribute
an important part to rime in the composition of the
Old Testament maybe mentioned E. Reuss ("Die
Gesch. derHeiligenSchriftendes Alten Testaments,"
§ 13-5, Brunswick, 1881 ; comp. also Herzog-Plitt,
" Real-Encyc. " v. 678 ; and B. Kautzsch, " Die Poesie
und Poetischen Biicherdes Alten Testaments, " p. 8,
Tubingen and Leipsic, 1903).

It is, however, generally agreed that rime, i.e.,
the correspondence in sound of word-endings, did
not attain in the Old Testament the
In the Old importance of a formal principle of
Testament, poetry, or of a device of style in gen-
eral. The agreement in terminal
sounds of parallel lines (as in Gen. iv. 33; Ex. xv. 3;
Dent, xxxii. 3, 6; Judges xiv. 18, xvi. 34; I Sam.
xviii. 7; Isa. xxvi. 21; Ps. ii. 3, vi. 3, viii. 5; Prov,
V. 15 ; Job X. 10, 17) can not be considered as an or-
ganic element of composition, as it is the result of
grammatical congruence and, besides, through any
lengthy poem the assonances are not introduced
with consistency (not even in Lam. v.). Cases in
which the rime extends to stem-syllables (as Gen.
i. 3; Josh. viii. 13; II Sam. xxii. 8; Isa. xxiv, 4) are
few and far between and, with rare exceptions (Ps.
Iv. 8; Prov. iv. 6, xxii. 10; Job xxviii. 16), do not
stand at the end of corresponding lines.

But those rimes that are found in the Old Testa-
ment show the adaptability of Hebrew to this
device; and the parallelism of clauses in Old Testa-
ment elevated diction must have suggested the use

of parallelism of sound, or rime, when once had been
awakened through contact with other literatures the
sense of the beauty and necessity of externally
marking oflE thought-complexes into symmetrical
groups.

AVhat has been said of the Old Testament is in

substance applicable to the compositions of the Tal-

raudic period also. The few rimed

In Tal- rules, proverbial phrases, and incanta-

mudic and tions scattered through the Talmud

Post- (Ber. 44b, 61a, 63a; Ket. 63b; Pes.

Talmudic 114a; etc.) do not justify the supposi-

Times. tion of intentional use of the rime (IT.
Brody, in his edition of Immanuel
Francis' "Metek Sefatayim," p. 33, Cracow, 1893).
None of the portions of the liturgy quoted or indi-
cated in the Talmud (Ber. 4b, lib, 28b, 39a, 59b; R.
H. 33a; Yoma 87b; Pes. 116a, b; etc.), nor any of
the few lyric pieces preserved in it (Suk. 51b, 53a;
M. K. 35b; Ta'an. 31a; Ket. 104a), has even the
flectional rime.

The sphere in which rime first appears as an es-
sential element is that of the liturgical productions
of the geonic period. As inaugurators of it are gen-
erally considered Yannai and especially his disciple
Eleazarha-Kalir (comp. S. D. Luzzatto in his "Mobe
le-Mahz(ir ke-Minhag Bene Roma," p. 8, Leghorn,
1856; Graetz, "Hist, of the Jews," iii. 116, Phila-
delphia, 1903). In Babylonia the first to employ
rime were Saadia Gaon (892-943), in his poem on
the letters of the Torah, and his Azhakot and
agenda, and Hal Gaon (939-1038), in his "Musar
Haskel." In Italy the new form of poetry was first
adopted by Shabbethal ben Abraham Donnolo
(913-983) in the prologue to his "Tahkemoni,"
and by Nathan ben Jehiel, author of the " 'Aruk "
(11th cent.). Of the Africans may be mentioned
Dunash b. Labrat (10th cent.) and Rabbenu Nissim
(11th cent.). In Spain Samuel ha-Nagid (993-
1055) introduced rime into non-liturgical poetry also,
as in his "Ben Mishle." In the Franco-German
school Gershon, the "Light of the Captivity"
(960-1040), and Rashi (1040-1104) sanctioned it by
use. Owing to the influence of Arabic poetry and
the weight of Kalir's example, and facilitated by
the identity of the suffixes in Hebrew, the use of
rime spread rapidly, extending even to titles and
prefaces of books ; and it has remained the dominant
form of Hebrew poetry to the present day. Rime-lex-
icons were compiled for the benefit of verse-makers,
examples of which are: "Sharshot Gablut" by Sol-
omon di Oliveira (Amsterdam, 1665); "Sefer Yad
Haruzim " by Gerson Hefez (Venice, 1705) ; " Imre
No'ash" by Solomon b. Meshullam Dafisa; and
"Clavis Poeseos Saoraj," etc., by Hieronymus Avia-
nus (Leipsic, 1687).

The Hebrew term for rime is "haruz " (properly,

"string" of pearls [Cant. i. 10] or of other things

[Hul. 95b]; in a transferred sense.

Prosody of Yer. Hag. ii. 8; Lev. R. xvi. 4; etc.).

the Rime. It is first used in this sense by Gabirol

(1031-58). Abraham ibn Ezra (1093-

1167) apphes it to the entire verse (comp. D. Rosin,

"Reime und Gediclite des Abraham ibn Esra,"i. 13,

Breslau, 1887-89), and Dunash (in his "Le-Doresh

ha-Hokmot") to poetry as opposed to prose. As

'Rime
Kindfleisch

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

426

the rime is ratlier for the ear than for the eye, — ;-
rimes with "^, ^~ with ~~', i with^~; and so
also of consonants, D with f; the former letter,
liowever, does not rime with v or t»>, nor does 3 with
n and 3, or 3 with p, etc. Ibn Ezra, in his com-
mentary on Eccl. V. 1, censures Kalir among other
reasons for riming {< with J), 2 witli 1, " 'osher " with
" 'asser," etc. (comp. also "Bilckuro lia-'Ittim," pp.
97, 105, 119, Vienna, 1829).

The rime is called: (1) " 'Ober," thatis, " passable,"
"admissible," when only the vowels and final letters
of the riming words are identical : "na with nonj ;
^iD^ with "iiE>. This, as also the flectional rime, is
found in proverbs and rules, in prayers, and in other
rimed prose. Thus Ibn Ezra has the epigram:

ni^i niDna inn.T Sn

{2) "Ra'uy" = "correct," "perfect,'' when the initial
consonants also of the last syllables are identical :
HDS with lOE'. This is the most usual form of
rime, especially in the piyyutim. (3) "Meshubbah,"
when the initial consonants of the penult also are
identical: D'"I3J with Cl^K'. Judahal-Harizi some-
times has a perfect assonance of the riming words:
e.g., |>3"IDP witli •f'BE'n'l, etc. The rime is faulty where
one of the riming words has the accent
Classifica- on the last syllable ("mi-lera' "), the
tion. other on the penult ("mi-le'el "): D'D

witli D"n- If both words are accented
on the penult the rime must extend to both of the
last vowels.

The repetition of the whole word was admissible
only at the end of strophes, chiefly in Biblical
phrases. It is also found in the piyyutim of the
Franco-German school, which was in general far be-
hind the Spanish in the use of rime. So in the
piyyut "Melek ba-Mishpat" for Rosh ha-Shanah,
" Akashtah Kesel " for Shemini Azeret, " Az Rob
ISTissim," ascribed to Yannai, in the Seder, etc.

A poem is called "kashur" = "bound," when the
rime occurs only at the close of the verse-lines (the
"soger"); "hazuy " = "halved," when also the hemi-
stichs rime; and "mehullak " = "divided," "cut
up, " when each line rimes in itself and with its paral-
lel line, as in the following example from Gabirol :

.inn-i '\2i(^ ,D'ir"iin 'V;! .n^u'in 'cnSi .a^ir^in '"inn

Cognate to this latter inner rime is the so-called
•echo rime, in which the terminal rimes reecho, as it
were, the preceding word (a kind of epanastrophe).
It was favored in the elegy, e.g., in that of Joseph
b. Solomon ibn Yal.iya on Solomon b. Adret (begin-
ning of the 14th cent.):

a''ia D'-)rx -\'-^ nn.^i •lE'in, etc.

It was also affected by the great Palestinian payye-
tan Samuel Nagara (16th cent.).

The employment of a play upon words is found
in the homonymous poems, called by the Arabic
name "tajnis," in Hebrew "shir nizmad" (Al-

Harizi, "Tahkemoni," 33), or, more appropriately,
"shir shittufe ha-millot." The lines close with

words identical in sound, but of diflfer-

Play upon ent, sometimes opposite, meaning.

"Words. Moses ibn Ezra (1070-1138) especially

developed this device in his "Sefer
'Anak," or "Tarshish" (comp. Tobias Lewenstein,
" Prolegomena zu Moses ibn Esra's ' Buch des Taj-
nis, ' " Halle, 1893) :

I'ptn ny. >'u.n m ycirj 'riN -imn Sip dn

T'ci Y^yJ-

.1-h? S

y unp-i nnti'-i piD i-iai n^tj;

" When the voice ol the turtle, O friend, Is heard then the vin-
tage season is arrived.
Leave oil quarreling 1 Drink and cry, ' Down with every ty-
rant ! ' " —Lewenstein, ib. p. 71.

The correspondence of the rimes within the
strophe is as varied in Hebrew as in other languages.
The scheme "aa," "bb," etc. ("haruzim mehub-
barim "), is the simplest one. In the liturgical poems
the rime usually changes after four lines. But
sometimes one and the same rime runs through a
whole poem, as in some of the "hosha'not," "kinot,"
etc. In the azharot a single rime is carried on
through hundreds of lines. Thus the azharot of the
Karaite Judah b. Elijah (16th cent.) consists of 612
lines, all ending in "-rim," and Judah Gibber's
poem "Miuhat Yehudah " (16th cent.) is composed
of 1,612 verses with the same termination. In the
non-liturgical poetry such rime is illustrated in the
diwans of Al-Harizi and Immanuel the Roman
(1270-1330; conip. also "J. Q. R." x. 431). Alter-
nate rimes ("haruzim meshullabim"), "abab,"eto.,
unknown in the European literatures before the
twelfth century, were used in Hebrew poetry as
early as the ninth. Rime enclosed within another
("haruzim nifradim"), "abba," and many other ar-
rangements are employed by one and the same poet.

What may be termed a poem with composite
strophes is one in which the first three lines of each
strophe have a common rime, while the fourth
lines, consisting usually of Biblical phrases, have a
different rime ; this is exemplified in the poem of
twelve strophes by Abraham ibn Ezra, of which the
first two are as follows :

<JN-I3 in Sn
UN in iDNi
ijNn; nS 1^
.ini D-iNH

nDTC?-i nsji?
.in-S^ i;;;>p

BiBLioGRAPHV : In addition to the works referred to in the ar-
ticle, J. L. Benzeb, Talmiul Lashnn 'Ibri, § 378; L M. Casa-
nowicz. Paronomasia in the Old Testament, pp. 8. 33, Bos-
ton, 1894 ; Anania Coen, Sefer Buah Ifadashah, pp. 1-31,
ReRgio, 1822; Franz Delltzsch. Zur 'Gefteh. der JUdischen
Poesie, vom ^hsc?ilu.s.s der Heiligen Schriften Alien Bun-
des hix auf die Neueste Zeit, pp. 8, 126, 132, 137, Leipsic, 1836 ;
L. Dukes, Nahal ^edumim, p. 11 ; idem, in Der Orient, Iv.,
cols. ;^5^, 519;'vil., col. 466; S. L. Gordon, Turat ha-Safrut.
p. 117, Warsaw, 1903 ; David Kautmann, in Zeit. fllr Hehr.
Bibl. i. 33, Berlin, 189B ; Ed. KOnig, StiliKtih, Bhetorik, Po-
eWfe in Bezug anf die Biblische Litteratur Kompara-
tlvisch DarqeiStellt, pp. 286, 329,35.5, Leipsic. 1900 ; A. Neu-
bauer, Meleket ha-Shir, pp. 6, 18 ; Poznanskl, Beitrdge zur
Oesch. der Hebr. Sprachwisnenschaft, 1894. i. 3.5; J. G.
Sommer, Bibliiche Abhandlungen, p. 85, Bonn, 1846 : Stein-
schnelder, JUdische Litteratur, ifl Ersch and Gruher, Encyc.

427

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bime
Bindfleisch

section il., part 37, p. 432 (English transl., Jewish Literature
Srnm the 8th to the ISth Centurj/, p. 151, London, ia")6 ; He-
brew, Safnit i'lsracl, p. 319, Warsaw, 1897); J. G. Wenricb,
De Poesens Hehraicm A Iquc Arabicw Indole Commentatio,
p. 243, Lelpsic, 1843 ; Zunz, S. P. p. 86, Berlin, 1855.
T. I. M. C.

'RIULINI : Italian town situated on the Adriatic,
about 28 miles east-southeast of Forli. It is noted
as tjie place where Gershon Soncino produced a
number of works In the period 1521 to 1526. Here
he printed the third and rarest edition of the " Sid-
dur Romagna" (1521), Joseph Albo's '"Ikkarim"
(1522), Bahya on the Pentateuch (1524-26), and
Rashi's commentary (1526) as well as the " Agur "
of Jacob b. Judah Landau (for a complete list see
Soncino).

Bibliography : Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 3055.

RIMMON (pOI = " pomegranate ") : 1 . Town of
the tribe of Zebulun, on the northeast frontier (Josh,
xix. 13, R. v.); the Septuagint renders it, more cor-
rectly, " Rimonah. " Probably it is identical with the
Lc vite city of Rimmon (R. V. "' Riinraono " ; I Ohron.
vi. 77), which was given to the children of Merari,
and which, misspelled "Dimnah," is probably re-
ferred to in Josh. xxi. 35. It would, in the latter
case, correspond to the present Al-Rummanah, on
the southern edge of the plain of Al-Battof, about
10 kilometers north of Nazareth, where traces of old
buildings are found.

2. Sela' ha-Kiinnion : Place, in the desert east
of the territory of Benjamin, where 600 defeated Ben-
jamites found refuge (" the rock Rimmon " ; Judges
XX. 47, xxi. 13). It corresponds, perhaps, to the
present village of Rimman, mentioned by Eusebius,
and lying 18 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem.

3. En-rimmon : City of Judah, referred to in
Neh. xi. 29. It is mentioned also in Josh, x v. 32, xix.
7 (R. v.), and I Chron. iv. 32, as is shown by the Sep-
tuagint readings "Eromoth" and "Eremmon" and
by the " Erembon " of the " Onomasticon " of Euse-
bius, although in these passages the Hebrew text
mentions Ain and Rimmon separately. According
to Josh. XV. 32, the city was included in the terri-
tory of Judah, although Josh. xix. 7 places it in that
of Simeon. In Zech. xiv. 10 it is designated, under
the name of "Rimmon, "as the southern limit of the
mountain district. According to Eusebius, the city
lay sixteen Roman miles south of Eleutheropolis
(Baet Jibrin) ; it is represented, therefore, by the
modern Al-Ramamin, 27 kilometers southeast of Baet
Jibrin.

4. Rimmon-parez : One of the encampments of
the Israelites during the journey in the desert (Num.
xxxiii. 19 et seg.).

E. G. n. I- Be.

RIMOS (REMOS), MOSES : Physician, poet,
and martyr; born at Palma, Majorca, about 1406;
died at Palermo 1430. He was a relative of the
Moses Riinos who was known by the name " El Per-
gaminero " = " the parchment manufacturer," and
who, in 1391, was baptized in Palma, assuming the
name "Raimund Bartholomeu." According to
Zunz, Moses Rimos was also a grandson of the Moses
Rimos who, as is authoritatively known, was at
Rome in 1371, where he purchased manuscripts from
the Zarfatl family and others. It can not be accu-

rately determined whether the grandfather or the
grandson wrote the undated letter and laudatory
poem sent to Benjamin ben Mordecai in Rome, in
which the author, who was living at Terracina as a
private tutor, with a salary of sixty ducats a year,
at great length displayed his knowledge of philoso-
phy and expressed his longing for home.

The Moses Rimos of the present article was famil-
iar with philosophical writings, and mastered sev-
eral languages. He left his home while still young ;
went to Italy, where, presumably for the sake of his
education, he lived at Rome; and finally settled in
Palermo, where he practised medicine. Accused of
having poisoned a Christian patient, he was impris-
oned and sentenced to death. He preferred to die at
the hand of the hangman rather than submit to
baptism, which had been offered him as a means of
saving his life. He was buried by the city walls of
Palermo. Shortly before his death he wrote a met-
rical poem which shows great similarity to the
laudatory poem written to Benjamin ben Mordecai.
In it he enumerates all his attainments, literary and
otherwise. He wrote also an epithalamium and a
liturgical poem.

Bibliography : D. Kaufmann, Dan Sendschreiben des Moses
Bimos, In Steinschneider Festschrift, pp. 327 et seg., Hebrew
section, pp.113 et seq.; Steinschneider, in He-Haluf, It. 66 et
seq.; Vogelsteln and Rleger. Gesch. der Judeii in Bom, i. 453
et seq.; Zunz, Literaturgesch. p. 533, and Supplement, p. 46 ;
Kayserling, Gesch. der Juden in Spmtien, 1. 169.
s. M. K.

RIN'DFLEISCH : German nobleman of Rotting-
en, Pranconia; persecutor of the Jews in the thir-
teenth centurj'. During the civil war waged be-
tween Adolph of Nassau and Albrecht of Austria,
claimants for the imperial crown of Germany,
bloody persecutions of the Jews broke out. A re-
port was spread that the Jewish inhabitants of the
little town of ROttingen had desecrated a host.
Rindfleisch, a nobleman of that place, pretending
to have received a mission from heaven to avenge
this desecration and to exterminate "the accursed
race of the Jews," gathered a mob around him and
burned the Jews of RSttingen at the stake (April
20, 1298). Under his leadership the mob went from
town to town, killing all the Jews that fell into their
power, save those who accepted Christianity. The
great community of Wiirzburg was entirely annihi-
lated (July 24).

The Jews of Nuremberg sought refuge in the
fortress. Being attacked, they defended themselves,
but, although assisted by humane Christian citizens,
they were overpowered and butchered (Aug. 1).
Among the victims was Mordecai ben Hillel, a
pupil of Jehiel ben Asher, with his wife and chil-
dren. In Bavaria the congregations of Ratisbon
and Augsburg — ^and they alone — escaped the
slaughter, owing to the protection granted them by
the magistrates.

The persecutions spread from Pranconia and Ba-
varia to Austria, and within six months about 120
congregations, numbering 100,000 Jews, were swept
away. The end of the civil war, following the death
of Adolph of Nassau, terminated these persecutions
and delivered the Jews from further fear.

bibliography: Griitz, Gesch. vli. 353 et seq., Lelpsic, 1873;
Jost, Gesch. vU. 255, Berlin, 1837.
D. S. Man.

King
Rings

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

42&

RING, MAX : German novelist, lyric poet, and
dramatist; born Aug. 4, 1817, at Zauditz, Silesia;
died March 28, 1901, at Berlin. He first attended
the Jewisli parochial school at Gleiwitz, and at the
age of eight revealed his superior poetic gilts in the
poem entitled " Der Judenkirchhof."

Ring next attended the gymnasium at Oppeln,
Silesia, and later the universities of Breslau and
Berlin. Graduating as M.U. in 1840, he began the
practise of medicine at Gleiwitz. Upon the outbreak
of an epidemic of typhoid in Upper Silesia, Ring
found an opportunity not only to exercise his skill as
a physician, but also to describe effectively in verse
the unspeakable suffering and misery prevailing
at that time among the people of the province.
Although most of his writings were suppressed by
the censor, the poem addressed to the king in behalf
of the sufferers was afterward published.

In 1848 Ring removed to Breslau, and thenceforth
devoted himself assiduously to literature also. At
the request of the publisher J. U. Kern, he wrote
his first novel, "Breslau und Berlin," which became
the inspiration of Gutzkow's masterpiece, "Die
Ritter vom Geiste," and brought the author into
contact with such literary celebrities as Berthold
Auerbach, Robert Giseke, and Theodor Muudt.

Ring achieved his first success as a dramatist in
the comedy " Unsere Ereunde, " and his second, in
the drama "Ein Deutsches Konigshaus." He was
also a very active contributor to the " Gartenlaube, "
and, from 1863 to 1865, when that pubhcation was
prohibited in Prussia, he conducted a separate
edition of it in Berlin, under the title "Der Volks-
garten." In 1856 he married Elvira Heymann,
daughter of the publisher Karl Heymann, and in
1862 discontinued his medical practise in order to
devote himself to literature exclusively.

The following are a few of the principal novels
and romances written by Ring in the course of a
literary activity extending over fifty years: "Die
Kinder Gottes, " Breslau, 1852 ; " Der Qrosse Kurf urst
und der Schoppenmeister," ib. 1852; "Verirrt und
Erlost," 3 vols., Gotha, 1855; "Rosenkreuzer und
lUuminaten," 4 vols., Berlin, 1861; "Das Haus
HiHel," 1879; "Berliner Kinder," 3 vols., Berlin,
1883. In addition to these he vfrote many miscella-
neous works, including: "John Milton und Seine
Zeit," Prankfort-on-the-Main, 1857; "Berhner Le-
ben, Kulturstudien," Leipsic, 1882; "Die Deutsche
Kaiserstadt Berlin," 3 vols., Leipsic, 1883-84; "Das
Buch der Hohenzollern," ib. 1888; besides a book of
poems, some of which are on Jewish subjects.

BiBLroGRAPiiY : yieyera Knnversafinvx-Lexihnn; Brockhaus
Knnve,rsatlnns-Le,xikon ; New Yorker Bevue, April, 1901.
s. J. So.

RINGS : Finger-rings, like rings for the ears and
the nose, were used as ornaments by the Jews as
early as the Biblical period (Ex. xxxv. 22, etc.),
while seal-rings {Gen. xxxviii. 18, 35, etc.) and
rings as signs of the highest dignity were likewise
known at that time (ib. xli. 42, etc.). Neither the
Bible nor the Talmud, however, speaks of the ring
as symbolic of marriage. In the Talmudlc period
the formalities of betrothal, which ceremony was
regarded as the beginning of marriage, resembled
those of the first part of the modern engagement,

Old Betrothal Elng.

the bridegroom giving the bride money, some article
of value, or a document, saying at the time ; " Be
thou hallowed unto me through. ..." About the
seventh or eighth century, however, when two of
the three mishnaic methods of obtaining a wife had
become obsolete, the use of a ring as a symbol of
marriage began to be frequent, probably earlier ia
Palestine than in Babylonia on account of the Roman
influence exerted in the former. The betrothal wasi
then differentiated from
the wedding; and the
ceremonies constituting
marriage, which had
hitherto been performed
at two different times,
were now celebrated on
the wedding-day, some
time after the betrothal.
The chief ceremony of
marriage was the pla-
cing by the bridegroom of a ring on tlie middle-
finger of the right hand of the bride, the accom-
panying invocation being "Be thou hallowed [be-
trothed] to me through this ring, ac-
Ring as cording to the laws of Moses and Is-
Symbol of rael." The fact that the Jews (like-
Marriage the Romans) did not exchange rings,
by and that one was given only by the-

Purchase. bridegroom to the bride, is explained
by the circumstance that the ring was.
used as a symbol for the marriage by purchase, which
was doubtless once customary among all races.

The wedding-ring, according to R. Tam, was a.
simple golden circlet without stones, although rings-
of silver or of cheaper metal were permissible if the
bride was informed of the fact. In sporadic in-
stances, however, mention is made of a wedding-
ring of gold with pearls and even of one with false
stones (Vogelstein and Rieger, " Gesch. der Juden in
Rom," ii. 304 et seq.). Jewish women were not ia
the habit of wearing their wedding-
rings, most of which were of an
enormous size, while a few were un-
usually small (see fig. 1); in either
case the size, as well as the orna-
mentation, which was usually very
prominent, prevented them from be-
ing worn. The rings even served
occasionally as bouquet -holders, myrtle-branches-
being inserted in them at weddings.

A large number of such wedding-rings have been
preserved ("Cat. Anglo-Jew. Hist. Exb." Nos. 1822-
1831, 1949-1963), although only a very
few are older than the sixteenth cen-
tury, and not one can be assigned to-
a date earlier than the thirteenth cen-
tury. In the earliest examples the
hoop is frequently formed of two
cherubim and is ci'owned by a model of the Temple
at Jerusalem, resembling that on the forged coin
of Solomon (see fig. above). In other cases this-
representation assumes rather the shape of a syna-
gogue with a small tower (see figs. 6, 9, 14, 19),
on which sometimes is perched a weathercock.
Others, again, display only a hoop more or less richly
decorated with rosettes, lion-heads, and the like (see

So-called Coin of
Solomon.

Examples

of
Wedding-
Rings.

Jkwisii UiNca.

I, 5, lfl-13, 15-18. 3(V35, 3H, In the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 2-4. 0-9, 20. 27, In the collection of Allicrt Wolf, Diesilen.

U, from Riicklin, "Schmuckbuch." 19, from Luthmer, "Gold und Sjlber."

Bingrs

Biva di Trento

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

430

figs. 1, 8, 13, 22), occasionally, however, bearing a
small shield at the top. Especially costly specimens
show a party-colored enamel decoration. The rings
bear, almost without exception, an inscription, either
engraved or in relief, around the hoop (see fig. 24),
reading ^<^J 31D3 (see fig. 6) on the earliest speci-
mens, but on the later ones 3113 isTD or t2"», an ex-
pression of felicitation which did not come into use
until the fifteenth century (Berliner, "Aus dem
Leben der Deutschen Juden im Mittelalter," p. 49).
Most of these wedding-rings were made at Venice
(Rucldin, " Schmuckbuch ") and hence were proba-
bly produced by Jews, since, according to Lecky
("Rationalism in Europe," ii. 237, note 2), many of
the Venetian goldsmiths who practised the art of
carving were of that race.

Although Jewish women might not adorn them-
selves with their wedding-rings, they were recom-
pensed on the Purim following the marriage, when
their friends presented them with rings, clothes,
and monej'; and, according to Leon of Modena, it
occasionally happened that later in the marriage
ceremony itself the bridegroom put a ring on the
bride's finger, while he pronounced a formula of be-
trothal. The bridegroom frequently received gifts
also; and in Germany it was customary for the pro-
spective father-in-law to present him with a ring
shortly before the wedding.

Other specifically Jewish rings are those intended
for seals, which represent the seven-branched candle-
stick engraved in stone and which
Other bear the inscription bv ^3 p''i'ini'

Rings. nacj'. These rings, which were to re-
mind the women of one of their chief
duties, the lighting of the Sabbath lamps, were in
use early in the Middle Ages, as is shown by the
fact that such a ring was found in Mecklenburg to-
gether with Anglo-Saxon coins and Arabic dirhems
(Donath, "Gescli. der Juden in Mecklenburg," p.
78). In Poland, where the Christiau inhabitants laid
great stress on the wearing of rings, it was not until
the reign of Sigismund Augustus (1506-48) that the
Jews, after long debates in the Reichstag, were al-
lowed to wear such adornments. These had to be
inscribed with the words "Sabbation" or "Jerusa-
lem," which, according to Lelewel, was intended
to remind the Jews of the wrath of God and of the
punishment for their sins (Sternberg, "Gesch. der
Juden in Polen," p. 146).

At a later period rings bearing the name of God
were used as amulets. When a fondness for wear-
ing rings became too pronounced, the rabbis or con-
gregations Interfered. Thus, for example, the rab-
binical convention at Bologna in 1416 decreed that
no man might wear more than one and no woman
more than three rings (Vogelstein and Rieger, I.e. i.
337), while the Frankfort sumptuary regulation of
171.'5 enacted that " young girls may wear no rings
whatever " (Schudt, " Jlidische Merckwurdigkeiten, "
iv. 3, 99).

BiBLiOGRAPHT : Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages,
London, 1896 ; Hamburger, i?. iJ.T. HI.; Hofmann, Ueberden
Verlobungs- und Trauring.
A. A. W.

RINTEIi, MOSES: Australian rabbi; born
in Edinburgh 1823; died at Melbourne, Victoria,

1880; son of Myer Rintel, Hebraist and Talmud-
ical scholar. For some years Moses Rintel acted
as reader to the Brighton synagogue; in 1844 he
went to Sydney; and in 1849 he was elected min-
ister of the East Melbourne Congregation. In Syd-
ney he established the Sydney Hebrew Academy,
founded in 1856 the Uuited Jewish Friends' Benefit
Society, and helped to establish a duly constituted
bet din. In 1857 Rintel resigned his office in Mel-
bourne, and another place of worship was established
under the title of "Mikveh Israel Melbourne Syna-
gogue." Tliis synagogue was opened in 1860; and
Rintel officiated at the new place of worship for
some time without remuneration. He acted also,
on the nomination of Chief Rabbi N. M. Adler, as
chief of the bet din. lie was a steadfast upholder of
Orthodox Judaism and was widely esteemed in the
Australian colonies. He published two sermons,
one on Yom Kippur (Melbourne, 1859), which are
among the earliest Jewish publications in the Aus-
tralian colonies.

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. July 9 and 30, 1880 ; Heaton, Aus-
tralian Diet, of Dates ; Brit. Mus. Cat. s.v.
J. G. L.

BIPARIAN OWNERS: There being but little
river navigation in the Holy Land, the Mishnah says
nothing as to the rights and duties of landowners
along the river-bank, except in reference to irriga-
tion. It teaches (Git. v. 8) that for the sake of
peace the upper riparian owners are allowed to draw
water from such canals before those who have their
lands lower down. The principle is formulated
again in a slightly different form in the Babylonian
Gemara (B. M. 108a) in connection with rules govern-
ing the dwellers on the Euphrates and its tributaries.
In that country there was much river navigation ; the
boats being generally drawn by men walking along
the shore and dragging the craft by means of long
ropes (B. M. 107b, 1 08a). A law was laid down by the
Rabbis for the Jews along the river, most probably
in conformity with the Persian law of the Sassanid
dynasty, to this effect: On both banks of the river,
in the interest of navigation, all trees wei'e to be cut
down, with or without the owner's consent, and if
needs be without notice to him, over a strip suffi-
ciently wide to make room for the "shoulders" of
the boatmen who dragged at the ropes. No mention
is made of draft-animals, though such may have
been employed at times.

Bibliography: Shuihan 'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat, liO, 3;
417, i.
B. c. L. N. D.

RiaUETTI, JOSEPH SHALLIT BEN ELI-
EZER : Scholar of the seventeenth century. He
spent his youth at Saf ed, and subsequently settled at
Verona. There in 1646 he published Gerondi's book
"Yihus ha-Zaddikim." He then published at Am-
sterdam a map of Palestine under the title "Hokmat
ha-Mishkan" or "Iggeret Meleket ha-Mishkan."
In 1676 he went to Mantua, where he was busy with
a second edition of his "Yihus," which was subse-
quently published in that city.

Bibliography : Zunz, in Itinerarn of B. Benjamin of Tu-
dela, ii. 288. § 109, s.v., London, 1841 ; Stelnschneider, Cat.
Bodl. p. 1536 ; Benjacob, Ozar ha^Sefarim, p. 190.
S. ■ S. O.

431

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Biugrs

Biva dl Trento

RISHONIM (lit. "the first," or "the elders"):
Name applied to the authorities who lived before
the one who quotes them. The designation is found
in the Talmud, where it is generally used in the
sense of "predecessor," or "ancestor" (Shab. 112b;
Ber. 30a ; Tamid 28a). In later rabbinical literature
the name is applied only to the rabbinical authori-
ties preceding the Shulhan 'Aruk, while all the au-
thorities since and including the Shulhan 'Aruk are
called " aharonim " (later ones). See Ahaeonim.

s, ' ' J. Z. L.

RITES. See Custom.

RITTANGEL, JOHANN STEPHANtJS :

German controversial writer; born at Forscheim,
near Bamberg; died at KBnigsberg 1653. It is
stated that he was born a Jew, became converted to
Roman Catholicism, then became a Calvinist, and
lastly joined the Lutheran Church. He became pro-
fessor of Oriental languages at KSnigsberg, and
issued a number of translations of Hebrew works :
one of the " Sefer Yezirah, " 1643 ; one of the Passover
Haggadiih, 1644, published also in his "Libra Veri-
tatis " (Franeker, 1698) ; and one of the earliest trans-
lations of Jewish prayers, under the title "Hoch-
feyerliche Sollennitaeten, Gebethe und CoUecten
Anstatt der Opfer, Nebst Andern Ceremonien so von
der Jildisclien Kirchen.am Ersten Neuen-Jahrs-Tag
Gebetet und Abgehandelt Werden Mtissen," KOnigs-
berg, 1653. His posthumous work "Bilibra Verita-
tis " was written to substantiate the claim that the
Targums prove the doctrine of the Trinity. This
is also the subject of his "Veritas Religionis Chris-
tiana; " (Franeker, 1699).

Bibliography: Eose, Biographical Dictionary, 1850, s.v.;
Steinschnelder, Cat. Bodl. cols. 2146-2148.
T. J.

BITTER, IMMANUEL HEINRICH : Ger-
man rabbi; born March 13, 1835, in Ratibor,
Prussian Silesia ; died July 9, 1890, in Johannisbad,
Bohemia. While studying at the gymnasium of his
native town he received his Talmudic instruction
under Rabbi Loewe. At the University of Breslau
classical philology and history formed his special
studies (Ph.D. 1849). During an audience with the
Cultusminister von Raumer in 1851, the latter gave
the young candidate to understand that only bap-
tism could entitle him to an appointment as pro-
fessor at a college. Ritter thereupon accepted a
position as teacher of religion and reader at the Ber-
lin Reform congregation, becoming later assistant to
the senior preacher of the temple, Samuel Holdheim.
His first ten sermons were published as "Kanzel-
vortrage aus dem Gotteshause der Jiidischen Re-
formgemeinde" (Berlin, 1856), which placed him at
once among the foremost Jewish preachers of his
time. In 1859 his "Beleuchtung der Wagner'schen
Schrift," published against "Das Judenthum und
der Staat" by Wagner, member of the Prussian
Diet, created a stir. Ritter's principal work was his
"Geschichte der JQdischen Reform," in four parts
(Berlin, 1858-1903): L " Mendelssohn und Lessing."
II. " David Friedlander." IIL "Samuel Holdheim."
IV. " Die JUdische Reform gemeinde in Berlin " (ed-
ited by S. Samuel, rabbi in Ussen). In the first part
Eitter demonstrates that Moses Mendelssohn's lack

of understanding of historical criticism concerning
Judaism was one of the main reasons why his own
children and many of his friends became apostates
from the religion of their fathers. He further shows
that Lessing had a better conception of Judaism
than Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn's false view of
revelation, a view whicli identifies Judaism with
legalism, makes him a representative of conserv-
atism and even of retrogression.

In 1858 a rupture between Ritter and the admin-
istration of the congregation occurred, when he and
his colleague Dr. Gustav Gotthbil scut in their
resignations, because the officers of the congregation
interfered witli the freedom of the pulpit. But the
storm passed away, and after Holdheim's death
(1860) Ritter was chosen his successor.

Ritter's collection of " Weihe-Reden und Pre-
digten " (Berlin, 1875) is chiefly devoted to the Jew-
ish festivals. He also edited a volume of Holdheim's
posthumous sermons, "Fest- und Gelegenheits-
reden " (Berlin, 1869), and translated for Kirchman's
historical-political library Thomas Buckle's " History
of Civilization in England" (Berlin) and Lecky's
"History of Rationalism in Europe" (3d ed., Hei-
delberg, 1885) into German. Ritter was one of the
leading spirits in the Society for the Freedom of
the School, which was formed in 1869.

Bibliography : M. Levin, Fentt^clirift zum 50. Jdhrigen Be-
Ktehen Oer JUdischen Beformgemcindc in Berlin, Berlin,
1893; S. Samuel, Z»»e JUdlschc Befomwemeinde in Berlin,
Berlin, 1902.
S. E. SCHR.

RITTER, JTJLITJS : German physician and au-
thor ; born in Berlin Oct. 4, 1863 ; son of Immaniiel
H. Ritter. He received his degree of M.D. from the
University of Berlin in 1887, and is at present (1905)
chief physician at the Institute for Invalid Children
and at the Bacteriological Laboratory in that city.
In 1893 Ritter announced his discovery of the bacil-
lus of whooping-cough, and in 1893 and 1896 pub-
lished the results of his continued investigations and
the detailed confirmation of his original discovery.
His second important group of articles dealt with
diphtheria and the therapeutics of the curative
serum, and was preceded in 1898 by the extensive
work " Aetiologie und Behaudlung der Diphtheric."
Finally he published articles on scrofula and the
treatment of scrofulous children, and an address be-
fore the Congress for Internal Medicine, held at Ber-
lin in June, 1897. S.

RITUAL. See Cbkemonies and the Cbhk-.
MONIAL Law; Liturgy.

RITTJAIi MURDER. See Blood Accusation.

RIVA DI TRENTO : Small town on the Lake
of Guarda, under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Trent. Christoforo Madruz, Cardinal of Trent and
Archbishop of Brixen, granted in 1S58 the privilege
of printing Hebrew books to Joseph Ottolengo, a
German rabbi and school -director, then living at
Cremona. The actual printer was Jacob Marcaria, a
local physician. After his deatli in 1563 the activity
of the press of Riva di Trento ceased. Altogether
thirty-four works were puWished in the period 1558
to 1563, most of them bearing the coat of arms of
Cardinal Madruz. The first Hebrew book printed
at Riva was the " Halakot " of Alfasi in three folio

Rivera
Rivkln

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

432

volumes; and the general tendency of the press was
to produce halakic works, as the "Mordekai," the
novelise of Rabbi Nissim, and two editions of the
Mishnah. Besides these, two editions of the Penta-
teuch were issued, one with the Five Megillot and
the other with the Targura and Rasbi. The print
was of an exceptionally clear type; and the fact
that all the books were produced under the patron-
age of a cardinal of the Church is very significant.

Bibliography : E. Carmoly, Annalcn der Hebrdischen Ty-
pixtraphie in Biva di Trento, 2(1 ed., Frankfort-on-the-Maln,
1868.

RIVEBA : Spanish Jewish family that appears
in American history at an early date. The family
seems to have come from Seville, Spain, though
some members of it have been traced to Portugal ;
many were settled in Mexico hefore the middle of
the seventeenth century. In connection with the
trial of Gabriel de Granada by the Inquisition in
IMexico (1642-45) there appear, as "accomplices" in
the observance of the law of Moses and as Judaizing
heretics. Dona Maria, Dona Catalina, Clara, Mar-
garita, Isabel, and Dona Blanca de Rivera, all of
whom seem to have been natives of Seville. An-
other person mentioned in the same connection is
Diego Lopez Rivera, a native of Portugal. The
name Is frequently written "Ribera."

Abraham Rodrig'ues de Rivera : The first
bearer of the name " Rivera " in that region of North
America now known as the United States ; born in
Spain; died in Newport, R. I., 1765. His family,
even while still resident in Europe, was closely
related to the Lopez family, afterward intimately
associated with the history of Newport. In fact,
he was a brother-in-law of Diego Jose Lopez
of Lisbon, the father of Aaron Lopez ; and Moses
Lopez, a son of Diego, married Abraham's daugh-
ter Rebecca. Abraham Rivera was twice mar-
ried in Europe; by his first wife he had a son,
by the second a son and a daughter. With his
family he went to America early in the eighteenth
centurj', settling at New York. According to Ma-
rano custom, a remarriage took place in that city,
and the first names of the entire family were
changed. The original names are unknown, but
those assumed were Abraham (by the father), Isaac
and Jacob (by the sons), and Rebecca (by the
daughter).

As early as 1726 Abraham Rodrigues was enrolled
as a freeman of the city of New York, being desig-
nated as a merchant. He took an interest also in
the congregation of that city, his name appearing in
the minutes of 1739. He was naturalized in 1740.
After the death of his second wife he married a lady
named Lucena. After her death he and his entire
family removed from New York to Newport.

Jacob Rodrigues Rivera: Merchant; born
about 1717; died at Newport Feb. 18, 1789; son of
Abraham Rodrigues. He accompanied his father to
New York when a mere child. Entering upon a
mercantile career, he went to Curasao, where he
married into the Pimentel family. With his wife
he returned to New York, where was born his
daughter Sarah, who subsequently married Aaron
Lopez. Rivera was naturalized in New York in

1746, removing to Newport about 1748, where he
soon became one of the leading merchants. He in-
troduced the sperm-oil industry in America, which
soon became one of the principal sources of New-
port's prosperity. Jacob owned extensive sper-
maceti factories, and was a large importer of manu-
factured goods. He was a public-spirited citizen,
and his name figures in connection with the Red-
wood Library as early as 1758 ; he appears as one
of the organizers of a Hebrew club at Newport in
1761. An observant Jew, he was one of the three
who, in 1759, purchased the land upon which the
Newport synagogue was erected.

Owing to reverses, he was obliged to compromise
with his creditors so as to obtain a release from liis
debts. Later on, however, he again prospered, and
a story is told of his inviting his creditors to dine
with him, when each creditor found under his plate
the amount of his claim, with interest. In 1773 he
was named one of the trustees of the Jewish ceme-
tery at Savannah, Ga. Both he and his wife appear
in the diary of Ezra Stiles. When the Revolution
broke out, Rivera espoused the Colonial cause, and
was among those who, in 1777, removed to Leices-
fer, Mass., where he remained until 1783. His stay
there is referred to by Emory Washburn in his his-
tory of the place. He finally returned to Newpoit,
where his integrity and benevolence wore univer-
sally esteemed. Jacob's fortune at the time of his
death exceeded $100,000. The monument over his
grave in the old cemetery at Newport may still be
seen. His son Abraham, died in New York, leav-
ing an only son, named Aaron Rivera, who settled
in Wilmington.

BiBLiOGEAPHT: Trial of Oahriel de Granada, in Publ. Am.
Jew. Hist. Soc. vii.; Max J. Kohler, ib. il. 103-106: vi. 73-
74, 103 ; A. P. Mendes, in Rhode Island Historical Register,
Oct., 1885, p. 81 ; G. C. Mason, iJeminiscemces of Newport, p.
58 ; Emory Washburn, History of Leicester, pp. 123-124, Bos-
ton, 1860 ; Daly, SettleTnent of the Jews in North America,
pp. 70-79, New York, 1893 ; Markens, Tlie Hebrews in Amer-
ica, pp. 36-37, New York, 1888.
A. L. Htj.

RIVISTA ISRAELITICA. See Peiuodicals.

RIVKIN, MIRON DAVIDOVICH: Russian
writer ; born in Vitebsk in 1869. His father, who
was employed as clerk in the police department,
was a Talmudist of no mean ability. Rivkin ob-
tained his early education in the heder, where he
showed marked ability in acquiring a knowledge of
the Old Testament and of the Talmud. In 1881 he
entered the government Jewish school in Vilija, and
in 1884 the Jewish Teachers' Institute in Wilna. In
the institute he led a studious life and became famil-
iar with Russian history and literature. Graduating
in 1889, he was appointed instructor in the govern-
ment Jewish school atVolozhin, and was transferred
in 1891 to Molodejno and in 1895 to Minsk. In 1897
he left the government service and accepted the
position of instructor in the Jewish schools of St.
Petersburg.

Rivkin's first literary efforts date from his student
days in Wilna. While in the institute he wrote a long
poem entitled "Dorothea Mendelssohn," and also a
historical play in verse entitled "John Hyrcanus."
His sketches, "Poslyedniye Gody Volozhinskavo
Yeshibota," appeared in the " Voskhod" in 1895, and

D:in iTTip -lift

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(From the Siilzlierfrtr collectirm in the Jewish Theological Seminarj- of America, Nuw York.)

X,— 28

Kizba
Bobbery

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

434

a series of feuilletons signed " Makar " were contrib-
uted by him in 1897 to the same journal. In 1898
he published in "Ruskoe Bogatstvo" the sketch
"Nad Salnoi Svyeclikoi " ; and in 1900 he published
a collection of sketches entitled "V Dukhotye."
He is at present (1905) a contributor to the "Bu-
dushchnost."
11. R. J. G. L.

RIZFAH : Daughter of Aiah and concubine of
Saul. After Saul's death Kizpah, with the other
■women of his harem (comp. II Sam. iii. 13), re-
mained with his son and successor, Ish-bosheth, but
Abner, the general of Saul, took possession of Riz-
pah, thus indicating his intention of seizing the
throne (comp. II Sam. xii. 11, xvi. 22; I Kings ii.
23). The account as given in II Sam. iii. 7 ei seq.
implies the same piirpose on the part of Abner by
assigning his conduct as the reason for his breacli
with Ish-bosheth, while bis act was construed by
David as overt rebellion. Rizpah is again men-
tioned in the account of the revenge taken by the
Gibeonites on Saul. David had delivered to them
Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Riz-
pah had borne to Said, together with five of Saul's
grandsons, all of whom the Gibeonites killed and
left unburied as a prey to the wild beasts. Rizpah
thereupon spread sackcloth upon a rocit, and kept
watch over the bodies, keeping away the birds and
beasts of prey. David was so touched by this display
of maternal love that he had their remains buried to-
gether in the family sepulcher (11 Sam. xxi. 8-14).

E. G. ir. I. Be.

ROADS : In primitive times the chief use of
roads in Palestine was to aSord communication
with markets. Later on roads were used for military
purposes, for the movement of troops and commis-
sariat. Of the three great trading countries of the
Biblical world— Egypt, Babylonia, and Arabia — Pal-
estine had on the whole least relations with Arabia,
though its frankincense was doubtless brought to
the central shrines from time to time by the great
caravan route, which still passes from Damascus to
the holy places of Arabia, and which. is known in
modern times as the " Pilgrim Road." Owing, how-
ever, to the Arabian desert, which could be trav-
ersed only by this route, Palestine was a necessary
link between the two great pow6rs of the Biblical
world — Egypt and Assyria — but because of the un-
settled state of the country and the more fortu-
nate location of Damascus, this city, rather than
Jerusalem or Samaria, was the central mart toward
which traffic tended. In the world of the Old Tes-
tament it may fairly have been said, "All roadsload
to Damascus." The four chief roads to Damascus
which led through the Holy Land were :

(1) The coast route, known as "the way of the
land of the Philistines" (Ex. xiii. 17), running
through Gaza, Ashdod, Dor, Accho, and Tyre. At
the last-named city this road took a sharp curve
inland to Dan and thence ran to Damascus.

(3) The route which branched off from the first
at Ashdod and, skirting the foot of the Shefelah,
went to Antipatris and Accho, while a branch line
from Csesarea crossed it and ran to Cana, Tiberias,
and thence to Damascus.

(3) The route from Beersheba to Damascus/ This
route went through Hebron, Jerusalem, Beth-el, and
Shechem, and, crossing the Jordan at Bethshean,
followed the river to the Sea of Galilee, thence run-
ning northeastward to Damascus.

(4) Finally, the route from Arabia, which touched
Kir Moab, Ataroth, Pleshbon, and Rabbath Am-
raon, and afterward traversed the plain of Gilead
until it joined the Shechem-Bethsliean route (see
No. 3).

Of these four great roads of the Palestine of the
Bible, the one most used was that along the sea-
shore, by which Sargon marched to attack Egypt
and Sennacherib to attack Judea.

These roads were connected by crossroads, run-
ning mostly east and west. Eirst there was the
Gaza-Sheba-Kir Moab road, skirting the southern
shore of the Dead Sea. Gaza was connected with
Jerusalem through Eleutheropolis, from which a
branch led through Hebron to £n-gedi. At Jeru-
salem there -was a junction of several roads. The
chief road to the seashore was through Eramaus,
Modin, Lydda, and Joppa. Prom Joppa a cross-
country route .led through Lydda, Modin, Beth-
el, and Jericho to Heshbon, while a similar road
much farther north went from Accho to Sepphoris,
crossing the Jordan near Gadara, and connecting
two eastern highwa3fs (bej'ond Palestine) that led to
Damascus. Similarly, a road from Shechem led
through Samaria into the second road north.

These are the main highways and crossroads of
Palestine, though there are innumerable paths.
How far these were made roads and how far they
were merely natural paths, resorted to for their com-
parative easiness of access, it is somewhat difficult
to say. The regular Hebrew name for road, " derek, "
implies merely a trodden path through suitable
passes in the hills or along level valleys. Yet
Mesha, the King of Moab, speaks of making roads.
Mention is made of leveling and of removing stones
from the road (Isa. xliii. 19), filling holes, and re-
ducing declivities (Isa. Ivii. 10, Ixii. 10). No bridges
are mentioned, the rapid and narrow streams of the
Holy Land being easily fordable. Josephus de-
clares that Solomon paid attention to road-making
("Ant." iii. 7, g 3). There may be some truth in
this, as he was the first to introduce chariots, which
could not use the ordinary roads. Reference is made
to a tax for keeping roads in repair in Persian times
(Ezra iv. 13-20, vii. 24). The value of roads was
early recognized ; they were an evidence of civili-
zation (Ps. cvii. 4-7; Jer. ii. 6). The "road" or
" way " or " path of life " was a common simile among
Israel's teachers, and the great catechism of later Ju-
daism was called the " Two Paths " (see Didache).

Bibliography : Buhl, In Hastings, Diet. Bible (supplementary
vol.); Guthe, In Kurzes BibelwOrterbuch, s.v. Wege.
E. C. . J.

ROBBERY (^ra or rh^i) : In law the taking of
the movable property of another under constraint of
force or fear; in the Bible the word is sometimes ap'
plied to the forcible taking of land or of slaves. From
the penalty for robbery (at least under certain condi-
tions), as prescribed in Lev. v. 20, 36 (A. V. vi. 1-7),
the punishment of stripes is excluded. In this pas-
sage, as interpreted by the sages, an oath is imposed

KOAD SYSTEM

PALESTINE

SCALE OF MILES

DAMASCUS

Robbery
Bobbio

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

436

upon one charged with that of robbery or certain
other offenses against property, and a penalty for per-
jury is added to that for robbery If he afterward con-
fesses. Yet the penalty seems wholly inadequate :
the guilty party shall restore that which he took by
robberj-, and add the fifth part to it; moreover, he
shall bring his guilt-oilering of a ram without blem-
ish; and then he shall be forgiven. Oppression
(" 'oshok ") is both here and in Lev. xix. 13 named
together with robbery; this is committed where
one who has lawfully come into possession of his
neiglibor's goods withholds them unlawfully from
the rightful owner.

The jVlishnah and the Gemara deal with the rob-
ber even less severely than Scripture, the reason
probably being that, when speaking
In. the of the robber, the sages had not in

Talmud, mind the avowed bandit, but rather
the publican or some other tool of the
Romans, who by abusing his power stripped his
fellow Israelites of their goods. It was the policy
of the sages not to drive such men, when they hap-
pened to submit to their judgment, into open hos-
tility, nor to discourage their return to a more patri-
otic course of life (B. K. 94a). Among robbers was
reckoned (at least in so far as he was compelled
to restore possession before he could enforce liis
claims) one who without judicial sanction seized the
goods of a debtor (Sliebu. vii. 2) ; also one who cut
fruits or plants from land which was unlawfully in
his possession (Suk. 30a). Leniency toward the rob-
ber was especially marked in the days of Judah the
Patriarch, it being declared: "When a robber re-
pents and voluntarily offers to pay for the things
that he has taken, and which he can not restore in
kind, it is better not to accept the money from him "
(B. K. I.e.). However, some of the medieval stand-
ards regard this practise as only temporary, not as
an institution (see Joseph Caro, Commentary on
Maimonides' "Yad," Gezelah, i. 13; idem, Shulhan
'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat). It is curious how Mai-
monides himself (I.e. V. 9) couples tribute-takers and
bandits (D't3D7) as men who are presumed to have
acquired all their means by robbery, that is, by ta-
king things imlawfully.

The sages introduced into the question of robbery
an element which greatly modifies the rights and
duties of those claiming goods taken, namely, the
despair ("yi'ush") of the owner; i.e., his giving up
the hope of recovering his own. What constitutes
such despair or abandonment is rather vaguely de-
fined; at any rate the burden of proof is on him
who alleges such "yi'ush." Another element is
change in the form of the article taken so that it
loses its name or identity (B. K. ix. 1), as in the
case of wood made into implements, or wool into
garments.

The laws of robbery are set forth (aside from ,

those already mentioned) by Maimonides {I.e. i.-v.)

substantially as follows: Robbery, that is, taking

by force, is forbidden by the Torah, no

In matter what the value of the object,

the Codes, and whether it belongs to an Israelite

or to an idolater. The robber is bound

to return the object itself (Lev. v. 23). When it is

changed or lost, he pays the price, whether he con-

fesses or is condemned upon the evidence of wit-
nesses. Where one has taken a beam and built it
into a house, he should, according to the letter of
the Torah, tear down the whole structure, if neces-
sary; but the sages have ordained that, to avoid
such a great loss, he may pay the price of the beam.
If, however, the beam has been made part of a
" sukkah " (booth for the Feast of Sukkot), it should
be returned after the feast; and so in like cases.
Though to take a thing worth less than a perutah d
cent) is sinful, the law of restoration can not be ap-
plied in such a case. Where one has taken a thing
by force in a settled country, he may not, unless
with the consent of the owner, return it in the desert ;
it remains at the robber's risk till he brings it to a
settled region. Where one has taken money, but
has repaid it in his account with the person robbed,
or has put it into the hitter's purse (containing other
money) even without the latter's knowledge, he has
cleared himself of guilt.

When an object forcibly taken has not been
changed in form, though the owner may have de-
spaired of its return, after the robber's death his
sous must return it. But if changed, though the
owner has not despaired, it is acquired by the rob-
ber, and the latter pays the amount at which it was
valued at the time of the robbery ; for the text says
"he shall return the thing which he has robbed,"
which means " the thing in the state in which it was
when taken." The sages, to encourage repentance,
have ordained that if the thing taken increases in
value after being despaired of by the owner, the rob-
ber is entitled to the increase, which must be paid
to him when he returns the object. This refers to a
sheep covered witli a new fleece of wool, or to a
cow becoming big with calf, or the like, but not to
an increase in the market price. But if the cow has
calved, or the sheep has been shorn before the owner
despaired, then, according to the prevailing opinion
(B. K. 95), the calf or fleece, though it was an accre-
tion after the robbery, must be I'estored to the owner,
or its value paid to him. On the other hand, where
the increase in value arises through the work and
outlay of the robber, e.g., where he has fattened an
animal, the robbed party, on restoration, must reim-
burse him for the increase in value.

According to some authorities, the despair of the
owner, or the sale or gift by the robber to a third
party, confers ownership on the last-named, and the
owner can then demand only compensation in money
from the robber; but this ruling is disputed.

What constitutes a change? When one takes a
bar of metal and coins it no change is involved ; for
the coin may be melted into a bar again. But if
coins or vessels are taken and melted
Change in into bars, this is a change; for if the
the Object bars are minted or wrought again into

Taken. coins or vessels, such coins or vessels
would be new ones. If boards are
taken and framed into a box, which can be reduced
to boards by withdrawing the nails or screws,
there is no change; but if a tree or logs be cut up
into planks or boards, there is a change. So also
a change results from the sawing of a plank into
boards, or from taking wool and dyeing or carding
and bleaching it, or from taking cloth and cutting

437

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Robbery
BiObbio

it, up and sewing it into garments; for in each case
the object is known by a new name.

Where forcible possession is taken of a piece of
laud the disseizor can give no better title than he
has himself ; and though the land has been sold " a
thousand times " it goes back to the true owner
without outlay on his part even for improvements
(B. K. I.e.), the last holder having no recourse ex-
cept on the warranty of his vendor.

According to Maimonides, one who buys stolen
goods from a man known to be a thief is bound to
restore them to the true owner in like manner as
land. When a lamb grows into a ram, or a calf into
an ox, the robber pays only its value at the time of
taking, and this though the owner had not aban-
doned the hope of recovery. Whei'e an implement
is broken while with the robber, he should pay the
value of the implement at the time when he took it ;
but the owner may. If he chooses, claim the broken
pieces and the difference in mon^y.

As a rule, in all cases in which the article can not

be returned the robber pays the value which it bore

at the time of the robbery (B. K. ix.

Value Be- 1). If, however, the market value of

turnable. the article has risen, and the robber

wilfully destroys or consumes or sells

it, he must pay the increased value, as, save for his

new wrongful act, he might have restored it ; this

is not the case, however, if the object was lost or

destroyed by accident. If the article has diminished

in market value, the robber must pay the first and

higher price, whether it was lost through his fault

or not.

Where a number of small articles have been taken,
only the price at which the whole lot might be
bought need be paid as compensation, not the retail
price obtainable by selling each article by itself;
and this rule applies as against all damage-feasors.

Where a work-animal in the hands of the robber
-becomes worthless through age or through an incur-
able disease, or where wine has turned into vinegar,
or fruits have altogether rotted, he must pay the
original value, as for a broken vessel; but when
animals are affected with a curable disease, or fruits
are only slightly touched by rot, or coins are de-
clared not current in one country but are still good
elsewhere, the robber may return them as they arc.

If a man lias wrongfully taken hold of a work-
animal, and has ridden or put a burden on it, or has
plowed or thrashed with it, and then returns it with-
out damage to the owner, though his act is sinful
and forbidden, he is not bound to pay anything.
If, however, a man makes a habit of thus obtaining
the use of other men's beasts, he is mulcted, ev«n
outside the Holy Land, and made to pay the injured
party for the benefit he has derived or for the hire
of the beast. Where one takes hold of his neigh-
bor's bondman and employs him, but without pre-
venting him from doing all of his master's work, he
is not liable for compensation. Where one takes
possession of another's boat and uses it on a trip,
the wear and tear, if the boat is not kept for hire,
is assessed against him who takes it ; but if it is kept
for hire the owner has the option between the regu-
lar hire and the charge for wear and tear. Where one
takes up his abode in the court of his neighbor with-

out the latter's consent he can not be charged with
rent if the court is not kept for renting; but if it
is, he must pay rent. The discussion of such wrong-
doings in connection with robbery recalls the "fur-
tum usus " of the Roman law.

Maimonides takes advantage of the law of robbery
to make some nice distinctions between the lawful
and the arbitrary acts of a king. Liv-
Kobbery ing in Mohammedan countries, he
by Kings, knew no king whose lawmaking power
was circumscribed by the necessary
consent of a parliament; yet he distinguishes be-
tween acts done under the genei'al laws by which
the king (meaning a Gentile ruler) imposes taxes, or
threatens confiscation, and edicts by which he takes
the property of one man or of a number of men at
his mere whim or pleasure. A forcible taking under
the law and in conformity with it changes the title
to land ; and the Jewish court must respect tlie new
ownership. But a taking under a tyrannical com-
mand is no better than robbery ; and so, a fortiori, is
the taking without the king's authority by a royal
officer. But the same author makes one allowance
in favor of absolutism : when the king disgraces a
courtier (" servant ") and takes his property from
him, even without any pretense at legality, the act is
binding; for such, he says, is the custom of all
kings.

When the robber dies, and the object of the rob-
bery is not available, either because he has given it
to ills sons for consumption after abandonment (if
before they would be liable for consuming it), or
because he has lost or sold it, the sons are liable
only as for a debt of the father ; that is, under the
old law, if the father has left assets in land, and,
under the later law, if he has left either real or per-
sonal assets.

The Biblical provision that when a robber has
under oath denied taking an object, and afterward re-
pents and confesses, he must return to the owner the
thing taken with one-fifth in value added before he
can receive divine forgiveness, may, as later inter-
preted, become a serious, though only a self-imposed,
punishment for an act of robbery ; for this return
must, as the Mishnah declares, be made to the owner
in person, no matter at what distance — " even though
the thing be only worth a perutah, and the owner be
in Media " (B. K. ix. 5). But in an ordinary case,
where the court adjudges a return, a delivery to the
proper officer of the court is sufficient.

According to the maxim, well known to the com-
mon law, " Omnia preesumuntur contra spoliatorem,"
the Talmudic law gives certain advantages, mainly
in the admission to the decisory oath, to the original
owner as opposed to any party against whom wit-
nesses are found to testify that he has seized goods
without the owner's consent, or that he has entered
the latter's house without his knowledge in order to
make a seizure. The rules as to this point are stated
concisely in Pjioceddre in Civil Causes.

Bibliography : ShuXhan 'AruK Hoshen Mishpat, 359-377.

E. c. L. N. D.

BOBBIO, MORDECAI : Talmudist of the sev-
enteenth century ; lived probably in northern Italy.
Under the title " Shemen ha-Mor " he wrote responsa

Kobert
Boder

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

488

to the four ritual codices, with au appendix consist-
ing of "exhortations" to his son (Leghorn, 1793).

Bibliography : Zedner, Cat. Hehr. Bonks Brit. Mus. p. 658 ;
Benjacob, Ozar /la-Sefarim, p. 595.
E. C. ■ S. 0.

ROBERT OF BURT ST. EDMUNDS: Al-
leged martyr of a blood accusation at Bury St. Ed-
munds, Suffolk, England, in 1181. No details are
known of the circumstances under which lie was
created a martyr; but the expulsion of the Jews
from Bury St. Edmunds ten years later was doubt-
less connected with the accusation.

Bibliography: Jacobs, Jews of Anqevin Eniiland, p. 75.

J.
ROBERT, RAHEL. See Levin, Rahel.

ROBLES, ANTONIO RODRIftUES DA:

English Marano merchant and shipper; born at
Fundao, Portugal, about 1620. It is probable that
he was one of the Neo-Christians who attempted to
reestablish the Spanish dominion in 1641 (Kayser-
ling, "Geschichte der Juden in Portugal," p. 307).
He settled in London and was connected with the
West Indian trade. In 1656, during the war between
England and Sp&in, two of his ships, "The Two
Brothers" and "The Tobias," were seized and he
himself was arrested on the ground that he was a
Spaniard. On the advice of his coreligionists in
London, Robles boldly claimed indemnity on the
plea that he was not of the Spanish but of "the
Jewish nation," and that he had come to England to
shelter himself from the tyranny of Spain. He,
however, admitted having attended mass in Lon-
don; and the commissioners, on inquiring into the
case, were doubtful as to his nation or religion, but
declared that the balance of testimony was in favor
of the fact that he was a Jew born in Portugal.
The Privy Council ordered his release; and thence-
forth there was no reason for any Jew in England
to deny his race or religion.

Bibliography: L. Wolf, in Tr. Jew. Hist. Sue. Eng. 1. 60-66,
77-86.

ROCAMORA, ISAAC (VICENTE) DE :

Spanish monk, physician, and poet; born about
1600 of Marano parents at Valencia; died April 8,
1684, at Amsterdam. Educated for the Church, he
became a Dominican monk (assuming the name
" Vicente de Rocamora ") and confessor to the In-
fanta Maria of Spain, subsequently Empress of
Austria, who honored him greatly. In 1643 he
openly adopted Judaism, taking the name of Isaac.
He studied medicine, and then settled in Amsterdam,
where he engaged in the active practise of his pro-
fession. He became physician to and director of
several philanthropic societies in that city, among
them the Maskil el Dal and Abi Yetomim.

Rocamora was one of the judges of the academy
of poetry, Los Sitibundos, founded by Manuel de
Belmonte ; but none of his poetical works, either in
Spanish or in Latin, has been preserved. His son
Solomoii de Rocamora also was a physician in
Amsterdam.

bibliography: De Barrios, BKlacion de his Poetas, p. 60;
Kayserlins, Sephardim, pp. 291 et seq.; idem, Bibl. Esp.-
Piyrt.-Jud. p. 94 : Gratz, Oeseh. x. 195.
8. M. K.

ROCHESTER : Capital of Monroe county, and
the third city in size in the state of New York.
According to the latest census (1900) it has 162,608
inhabitants, among whom, it is estimated, the Jews
number about 5,000.

Although a few Jews lived in Rochester as early
as 1840, the history of the Jewish community does
not begin until 1848. In that year twelve young
men, all natives of Germany, most of them still un-
married, united to hold services on the high festi-
vals, and for this purpose met at the residence of
one of them, at the corner of Clinton street and
Clinton place. Their names were Joseph Wile,
Samuel Marks, Joseph Katz, Gabriel Wile, Me3'er
Rothschild, Henry Levi, Jacob Altman, Joseph
Altman, A. Adler, Elias Wolff, Abram Wein-
berg, and Jacob Gans. On Oct. 8, 1848, the day
after the Day of Atonement, they met at the same
place and formed the Congregation Berith Kodesh.
For six months services were held at the same resi-
dence, until in April, 1849, a hall was rented for the
purpose of divine worship. This hall was situated
on the third floor of 2 Front street, corner of Main
street. In the year 1856 a building formerly a Bap-
tist church was purchased on St. Paul street. This
building was adapted to the needs of the congrega-
tion and used until the year 1894. In the meantime
the congregation had grown very rapidly, and
had long felt the want of a more spacious edifice.
Accordingly in 1893 the present magnificent temple
was erected, and was dedicated June 1, 1894; it was
designed by Leon Stern, a member of the congrega-
tion, and built on the corner of Gibbs and Grove
streets, at a cost of §130,000. It is one of the finest
of the buildings devoted to public worship in the
city.

The first rabbi of Berith Kodesh congregation was

Marcus Tuska. He was succeeded by Dr. Isaac

Mayer (from 1856 to 1859). Dr. Aaron

Rabbis. Ginsburg served from 1863 to 1868.
After an intermission of two years and
six months the present rabbi. Dr. Max Landsberg,
was elected on Dec. 26, 1870. He entered upon his
functions in March, 1871, and has filled the position
ever since.

Until 1881 Berith Kodesh was the only Jewish
congregation in Rochester, with the exception of
Bz Raanon, founded in 1870 by a few members who
had seceded from the older congregation on account
of its introduction of family pews. But they all
returned, and Ez Raanon was dissolved In 1883
and its building on Hyde Park sold for the erection
of residences. Since then a number of Russian con-
gregations have been organized under the names
of Bet Yisrael, Bet ha-Keneset he-Hadash, Bene
Dawid, Wa'ad ha-Kolel, and the Congregation of
Tailors.

The Men's Benevolent Society, connected with

Congregation Berith Kodesh, was formed in 1850,

and the Jewish Women's Aid Society

PMlan- in 1865. In 1882, in consequence of
thropic In- the influx of Russian Jews driven by
stitutions. persecution from their native land, the
relief societies were combined into the
United Jewish Charities, which are conducted on
modern scientific principles.

439

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bobert
BSder

The Jewish Orphan Asyhim Society of Rochester
was founded in 1877, and in the year 1879, together
with similar societies in Buffalo and Syracuse, or-
ganized the Jewisli Orphan Asylum Association of
Western New York. This association, which num-
bers 560 members, maintains an orphan asylum for
the three cities; it is located on St. Paul street,
Eochester. The building- and grounds are valued
at §15,000, and the sinking-fund of the association
amounts to about $60,000. At present (1905) there
are twenty-four children in the asylum.

A Social Settlement was founded in Rochester in
1900, and it owns a building on Bacjen street. While
it is almost entirely maintained by the Jewish resi-
dents, its work for the neighborhood is entirely non-
sectarian, and its benefits are appreciated by all,
irrespective of creed or race.

The orders of B'nai B'rith, Free Sons of. Israel,
Kesher shel Barzel, and Sons of Israel have one
lodge each, and the order of B'rith Abraham has
two lodges.

The Jews of Rochester liave filled many public
positions of trust. Among them Simon Hays has
been president of the Common Council, and Marcus
Michaels and Isaac Wile have served as school com-
missioners.

A. M. Lan.

RODELHEim : Prussian town near Frankfort-
on-the-Main. A Jewish community existed there
probably as early as the middle of the thirteenth
century, for it appears from the muiiicipal archives
that the legal status of the Jews was determined as
early as the year 1390. The town is especially note-
worthy for its Jewish printing-presses. Carl Reich
owne(l a press in the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, publishing among other works Y. Zamosc's
" Hedwat Ya'akob " (1751), Samuel Friedberg's " Bir-
kat ha-Hodesh " (1753), and Meir Levi of Zolkiev's
" Miksheh Zahab " (1757). Moses b. Jacob Levi was
a typesetter there. At the beginning of the nine-
teenth century the city became still more noteworthy
through the Orientalische und Occidentalische Buch-
druckerel established by Wolf Heidenheim and Ba-
ruch Bashwitz. The most important works printed
by them were : " Sefer ha-Kerobot " (1800) ; " Mebo
ha-Lashan" (1806); "Mishpete ha-Tamim" (1808);
five editions of the Pentateuch (1818-21) ; and " Seder
Tish'ah be-Ab, Yeme ha-Purim," together with the
Haggadah (1832-26).

The town has a total population of 6,492, of whom
130 are Jews (1905). The Jewish institutions in-
clude the May 'sche Hospital, for all confessions, and
a hospital for Jews who are bachelors or widowers.

Bibliography: Steinschneider and Cassel, JUdinche Typn-
gra\iMe, In Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section li., part 28,
p. 81, and notes 97, 98, 99 ; Carmol.y, in Mittheilungen des
Vereins fUr Gesch. und Alterthum in Frankfurt-am-
Main, 11. 346 et seq.; Statistischea Jahrbuch, 1903.

J. s. o.

RODENBEE.G, JXTI-IUS : German poet and
author; born at Rodenberg, Hesse, June 26, 1881.
He studied law at the universities of Heidelberg,
GOttingen, Berlin, and Marburg, but soon abandoned
jurisprudence for literature. In 1851 appeared in
Bremen his first poem, "Bornr5schen," which was
soon followed by many others. From 1855 to 1862
he traveled, visiting Great Britain, Belgium, Hol-

Julius Rodenberg.

land, Denmark, Italy, and Switzerland. In 1859
he settled in Berlin, where he still (1905) resides.

Prom 1867 to 1874 he was coeditor with Dohm of the
" Salon f ilr Litteratur, Kunst und Gesellschaft" ; and
in the latter year he founded the " Deutsche Rund-
schau." In 1897 he received the title "Professor."
Rodenberg is a prolific writer. Of his works may
be mentioned: "Lieder,"
Hanover, 1854; "Pariser
Bilderbuch," Brunswick,
1856; "Kleine Wander-
chronik," Hanover, 1858;
"Ein Herbst in Wales,"
ib. 1857; "Die Insel der
Seligen," Berlin, 1860;
" All tagsleben in London, "
ib. 1860; "Die Ilarfe von
Erin," ib. 1861; "Tag und
Nacht in London, " aJ. 1863 ;
" Lieder und Gedichte,"*.
1863 (6th ed., 1901); "Stu-
dienreisen in En gland,"
Leipsic, 1873; "Belgien
und die Belgier," Berlin,
1881; "Bilder aus deni
Berliner Lebon," ib. 1885 (3d ed,, 1891); " Unter
den Linden," ib. 1888; "Franz Dingelstedt," ib.
1891; and "Erinnerungen aus der Jugendzeit," ei.
1899.

His novels include: "Die StrassensSngeriu von
London," Berlin, 1863; "Die Neue Slindflut," ii.
1865; " Von GottesGnaden,"«. 1870; "DieGraudi-
diers," Stuttgart, 1879 (2d ed., 1881), a story of the
Franco-Prussian war; "Herrn Schellbogens Aben-
teuer," Berlin, 1890; " Klostermanns Grundstuck,"
ib. 1890 (3d ed., 1892).

Bibliography : Meyers Knnversations-Lexikon ; Brockhaus
Konve/rsatinns-Lexiknn ; Eegina Neisser, In Ally. Zeit. des
Jud. 1901, pp. 296 et seq.
s. F. T. H.

BODEB,, ANTON. See Rado, Anton.

BODEB, MABTIN: German composer and
conductor ; born in Berlin April 7, 1851 ; died at
Boston, Mass., June 7, 1895; studied at the KOnig-
licheHochschulefiirMusikin his native city. Prom
1873 to 1880 Roder was chorus-master at the Teatro
dal Verme, Milan, and in 1875 founded the Societa
del Quartetto Corale. He also conducted opera at
various places, as Bologna and Turin, and even in
the Azores. From 1880 to 1887 he taught singing
in Berlin, for a part of the time at the Scharwenka
Conservatorium ; for the next five years he was pro-
fessor at the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin ;
and in 1893 lie went to America to take charge of the
vocal department in the New England Conservatory
at Boston.

Roder was a very scholarly musician, and his
compositions evidence both versatility and marked
ability. Among them are: three operas, one of
which, entitled "Vera," was performed at the Ham-
burg Stadttheater in 1881 ; two symphonic poems,
" Azorenfahrt " and "Leonore"; the overture "At-
tila " ; and a trio in F minor. His writings include :
" Ueber den Stand der Oeffentlichen Musikpflege in
Italien " (in "Samiplung Musikalischer VortrSge"),
Leipsic, 1881; "Studi Critici Raccolti," Milan, 1881;

Bodkinson
lloedelsheim

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

440

and "Dal Taccuino di un Direttnre di Orchestra,"
1881 (German ed., " Aus dem Tagebuch eines Wan-
dernden Kapellmeisters," Leipsic, 1882). ROderalso
contributed articles to the " Gazzetta Musicale "
under the pseudonym "Raro Miedtner. "

Bibliography : Hiemann, Musih-LexiHnti, 1900; Baker, Biog.
Diet, of Musicians.
s. A. P.

RODKINSON, MICHAEL LEVI. SeePEUM-
KiN, Israel Dob (Bar).

RODOSTO (Turkish, Tekfur-Dag; formerly
called Bisanthe and Rhcedestus) : Port of Tur-
key in Europe on the Sea of Marmora, 78 miles west
of Constantinople. The city bad a Jewish commu-
nity as early as the twelfth century; for in 1173
Benjamin of Tudela found 400 Jews there, among
whom were the noted rabbis Moses, Abijah, and
Jacob. The community has remained undisturbed
for centuries, but it has not attained any great
importance. In the seventeenth century Rodosto
possessed a celebrated thaumaturge, R. Isaac ben
Sahl, author of a curious manuscript in Judeeo-
Spanish entitled "Sefer Segullot," which treats of
divination, chiromancy, suggestion, and similar top-
ics; and another native of Rodosto, Judah Grazi-
ani (1838-93), carried on the work of his predeces-
sor, the belief in demons and malevolent spirits still
being a characteristic of the people. Epitaphs in
the local cemetery mark the tombs of the cliief rabbis
Nissim Moses Pinzi (1736) and Zebi Nathan, while
in the same cemetery are the graves of the chief
rabbis of the nineteeuth century, Rahamim Graziani,
Hayyim Elijah Finzi, and Jacob Finzi.

The Jews of Rodosto to-day (1905) number about
2,800 in a total population of 35,000. They possess
a synagogue (rabbi, Yom-Tob Cordova), an oratory,
a school for boys with an attendance of 150, and an
apprenticeship committee supported by the Alliance
Israelite Universelle. The community is badly or-
ganized, however, and is considerably in debt as
compared with the other Jewish settlements in
Turkey.

Bibliography : Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary ; Franco, Lcs
Sciences Mystiques chez les Juifs (V Orient, I'aris. 1900.
D. M, Pr.

BODRIGO DE CASTEL-BRANCO, JUAN.

See Juan Rodkigo db Castei.-Branca.

RODRIGTJES, HIPPOLYTE : Prencli banker
and writer; born at Bordeaux in 1812; died at Paris
1898. He was a son of Isaac Rodrigues-Hen-
riques, head of a great banking-house in Bordeaux.
In his "Papiers de Pamille," published in 1893,
Rodrigues relates the following family tradition:
The families of Gradis and Rodrigues emigrated
from Palestine at the time of the insurrection of Bar
Kokba, settled in Portugal, and later in Spain,
under the dominion of the Moors. After being
driven from their homes by the Inquisition they
took refuge in Bordeaux. Members of the Gradis
family performed such signal services in the navy
under Louis XV. and XVI. that the patent of nobil-
ity was offered to them by Louis XVI. This, how-
ever, was refused, as they declined to take an oath
upon the Gospel as the statutes prescribed.

Rodrigues was educated in Paris, and early
showed a marked taste for literature. At the ago

of eighteen he began writing a romance entitled
"Christiern;-" the subject of which embraces the en-
tire history of the French Revolution. In 1840 he
became a stock-broker on the Paris Bourse, but after
a brilliant cai-eer retired in 1855, and gave his undi-
vided attention to study and literary work. He
was a member of the Societe des Gens de Lettres
and of the Societe des Compositeurs.

Rodrigues was a prolific writer. The following
is a partial list of his works : •' Les Trois Pilles de la
Bible" (1865-67); "LesOrigines du Sermon de la
Montague" (1867); "La Justice de Dieu " (1868);
" Histoire des Premiers Chretiens: Le Roi des Juifs "
(1869) ; " Saint-Pierre " (1871) ; " David Rizzio "(grand
opera, words and music, 1873-77) ; " Histoire des Se-
conds Chretiens: Saint-Paul" (1875); "Apologues
du Talmud" (in verse, 1879-88); "Romances sans
Paroles " (for the piano, 1889) ; " Papiers de Pamille "
(1898); "Histoire du Peche Originel " (1896); "Les
Origines du Peche Originel " (1897).
Bibliography: Hippolyte Rodrifcues, Popiers de Familh, 1893.

S. J. Ka.

RODRIGTJES, OLINDE : French economist
and reformer ; born at Bordeaux Oct. 16, 1794 ; died
at Paris Dec. 26, 1850. He was a pupil of the Ecole
Normale Superieure, where he made a specialty of
mathematical studies ; later he became assistant pro-
fessor at the Ecole Polytechnique. In 1828 he made
the acquaintance of Saint-Simon, who converted him
to his doctrines. Ou the day of his leader's funeral
Rodrigues assembled the former's disciples to con-
sider the project of founding a journal to be based
on Saint-Simon's principles. The publication was
launched imder the title "Le Producteur," and Ro-
drigues was its editor during 1825-26. In 1829
he succeeded, with the assistance of his brother
Engine, in turning the followers of Saint-Simon's
principles into a sect, but in the same year he sur-
rendered the leadership to Bazard and Enfantin.
About the close of 1831 Rodrigues had a rupture with
Enfantin, on account of certain theories held by the
latter on the propriety of the family having pub-
lished two volumes of the works of Saint-Simon. In
1832 Rodrigues engaged in banking and brokerage.
He was also concerned in the building of the Saint-
Germain and Orleans Railroad, the first railroad put
in active operation in France.

In 1841 he published the "Poesies Sociales des
Ouvriers," to show the middle classes the liberality
of ideas of the proletariat. In 1848 he supported
the republic, and strongly advocated the rights of
the working men. His later years were occupied in
consolidating the mutual-aid societies, and in pre-
paring the material for a biography of Saint-Simon,
which was edited and publislied by Hubbard in
1857. A pamphlet entitled "Maria Stella," directed
against Louis Philippe, has been attributed to Ro-
drigues, but without foundation. He was the author
of " Opinions Litteraires, Philosophiques, et Poli-
tiques de Saint-Simon " (1825). He published also,
as "Paroles d'un Mort," a parable by Saint-Simon.

Bibliography: Georges Weill, UEcole Saint-Simonienne,

1896.

s. J. Ka.

RODRIGUEZ : In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries many persons bearing the surname Rodri-

441

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bodkinsou
Boedelsheim

guez were condemned by the Inquisition to death at
the stalie or to lifelong imprisonment on the ground
that tliey were " Judaizantes" or secret confessors of
Judaism. Miguel Rodriguez and his wife, Isabel
Nunez Alvarez, the owners of a synagogue situated
in tlie Callede los Infantes, Madrid, In which the secret
Jews held their services, together with lieonor Ro-
driguez and her husband, Hernan Baez (Vaez),
were publicly burned In Madrid July 4, 1633.
At the great auto da fe held in Madrid June 30,
1680, Catalina Rodriguez, called "la" Paquiua,"
■who had died in the prison of the Inquisition at S.
Jago de Compostella at the age of seventy, was
burned in effigy; and on Nov. 30, 1731, Maria
Rodriguez, ninety j'ears old, and lier daughter, both
of Granada, were led to the stake in that city. In
Cuenca a whole family named Rodriguez, husband,
wife, and several sous and daughters, were con-
demned to lifelong imprisonment, June 39, 1733.
The same fate befell the following : a Julian Rodri-
guez in Cuenca on Nov. 33, 1733; another Julian Ro-
driguez, likewise of Cuenca, who was a book-dealer
of Madrid, on Feb. 20, 1734, in Madrid ; Gabriel
Rodriguez and his wife, also of Cuenca, on March
13, 1734, in Valladolid; Juan or Samuel Ro-
driguez of Bordeaux, aged fifty-one, who was
a writing-teacher in Hornachos, Estremadura, im-
prisoned in 1783; Juan Rodriguez of Bayonne,
resident in Antequera, in 1735; and the business
woman Isabel Rodriguez of Constantine, In 1726 ;
and many others.

BIBI.TOGRAPMT : InqulslUon documents; Kayserling, Sepliar-
dim^ pp. 202 et seg.; Idem, EinFeiertag in Madrid, p. 34.

Abraham Hayyim Rodriguez : Rabbi in Leg-
horn about 1750. He was the teacher of Malachi
ha-Kohen, and was highly praised by Azulai and
honored as a cabalist by J. Pacifico in an elegy.
Rodriguez left many legal decisions, forty-seven of
which, dealing with subjects of the four ritual
codes, were published after his death by his daugh-
ter (the widow of the learned Hayyim Hezekiah
Fernandez Africano) under the title " Orah la-Zad-
dik " (Leghorn, 1780). The first decision, entitled
"Orah Mishor," based upon the ritual codex Yoreh
De'ah, called forth the "Sifte Dal" of an anony-
mous writer, in response to which Rodriguez wrote
fifty-eight counter-observations entitled " Teshubot
Hen Hen." Tliese are printed together with the
above-mentioned "Orah la-Zaddik."

Bibliography : Nepi-Ghlrondl, Toledot Gednle Yisrad, p. 19 ;
Roest, Cat. Rosenthal. Bibl. Supplement, p. 375, No. 1922 ;
Furst, Bibl. Jud. lii. 162.

Alonso Rodriguez : Spanish physician of tlie
fifteenth century ; born in Seville. He lived at Sa-
ragossa, where, together with Alonso de Rivera of
Cordova, also a physician in Saragossa, he was
burned at the stake March 13, 1488.
Bibliography: Rios, Hist. iii. 616.

David Coliea Rodriguez : Hakam in Amster-
dam ; author of a sermon in Spanish, " Sermon
Moral, Pregado Neste K. K. de Tahnud Torah 27
Menahem, 5480 "(= Sept. 1, 1730), Amsterdam, 1730.
Bibliography : B. E. J. xxvil. 121.

Henrico Rodriguez : Portuguese physician and
Marano ; friend of Rodrigo de Castro. He settled in

Hamburg before 1594, and left it a few years later
on account of the plague.

Bibliography : Kayserling, Oesch. der Judenin Portuoal, p.
279 ; Grunwald, Purtugi&sengrUber, p. 121.

Manuel Rodriguez : Marano and poet. At first
he was an Augustinian monk, and later he became
a tutor at Antwerp. He was the author of the
drama " Herodes Saeviens " (Antwerp, 1636) and of
a Latin ode on the physician Emanuel Gomez in
Antwerp {ib. 1643).

Bibliography : Barbosa Machado, Biblioteca LusUana, iil.
355 ; Kayserling, Sephardim, p. 209.

Raphael Rodriguez : Hakam in Amsterdam ;
son of Judah Rodriguez. He was the author of a
funeral (Jissertation, "Sermao Funeral as Deplora-
veis Memorias de Benjamin Levi de Vittoria " (Am-
sterdam, 1719).
Bibliography; Kayserling, Bibl. Esp.-Pnrt.-Jud. p. -94.

Samuel Levi Rodriguez : Spanish poet in Leg-
horn ; died 1688. Daniel Levi de Barrios gives some
of his poems and bemoans his death.

Bibliography : D. L. de Barrios, Tnrah Or, p. 47; idem, Au-
mento de Israel, p. 20; Kayserling, Sephardim, p. 283.
J. M. K.

ROE : Rendering in the Authorized Version of
the Hebrew '3S, which is sometimes translated also
"roebuck" and "wild roe," and occasionally in the
Revised Version "gazel." The roe is mentioned
as an animal permitted as food (Deut. xiv. 5); and
it was furnished for Solomon's table (I Kings iv.
23). Its swiftness, gentleness, and grace are often
alluded to (II Sam. ii. 18; Prov. vi. 5; Cant. ii. 9, v.
17). The feminine form " zibyah " (Aramaic, " ta-
bita ") was used as a proper name (II Kings.
xii. 3, "Zibiah"; Acts xi. 36, "Tabitha"). The
Authorized Version renders "ya'alah" (Prov. v. 19)
also by "roe," and "'ofer" (Cant. iv. 5, vii. 3) by
"young roe." Of the Oervidce the Oazella dorcasia
the most abundant of all large game in Palestine.

In the Talmud the Hebrew " zebi " and " ayyal "
are the generic terms for all species of Cermdm, so
that it is impossible to determine which is meant in
each case. In some passages, however, the roe
seems specifically intended: e.g., H^l- 133a, where
reference is made to the mating of the goat with
tlie zebi ; ib. 59b, a reference to the zebi with un-
branched horns, the roe having as a rule only one
branch on its antler, and sometimes none at all; Kil.
i. 6, whei'e the similarities between the goat and the
zebi are enumerated. In the same passage the
" ya'el " is said to resemble the hart. The Antilope
dorcas is perliaps mentioned under the name KfV
D1313 = "goat of Kerkus" (Hul. 59b). See Goat;
Haut; Unicokn.

Btbliooraphy : Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 127 ; Lewysohn, Z. T.
pp. 113, 126.
S. I. M. C.

ROEBUCK. See Hart; Roe.

ROEDELSHEIM, EliEAZAR StTSSMANIT
B. ISAAC : Dutch scholar, probably of German
descent; lived in the first half of tlie eigliteenth
century. He was the author of the following works :
"Mohar Yisrael," comprising a Hebrew grammar
and a Dutch-Hebrew and Hebrew-Dutcli dictionary,
with an Aramaic-Dutch dictionary as an appendix.

Koest
Komaner

THE JEWISH E]SrCYCLOPEDIA

442

Amsterdam, 1711, 1T44; "Maggishe Miuliuh " (1728-
1739), a German translation of the Bible; "Mikra
jMeforasli " (1749), a German translation of the Penta-
teuch. He edited " Nizzahon," a Hebrew translation
of " Der Ji'idische Theriak " of Solomon Zebi Hirsch
of Aufhauseu (a polemical tract directed against the
anti-Jewish convert Buenz).

Bibliography: Steinschneider, Cat. Botil. col. 958 ; Benjacob,
Ozar lia-Sefarim, pp. 305,368; Vaenu, Keneset I'isroci, s.v.;
rUrst, Bihl. Jud. ill. 46.
T. S. O.

BOEST, MEYER (MARCUS) : Dutch bibli-
ographer; bornat Amsterdam 1821; died there 1890.
Becoming connected with a firm of booksellers, he
acquired a taste for bibliographical studies, and as
a result published in 1837 "Catalogue de Livres
Orientaux."' Roest's best-known work is the " Cata-
log der Hebraica und Judaica aus der L. Rosenthal-
'schen Bibliothek" (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1875).
After Baron Rosenthal presented his collection to
the Amsterdam Library, Hoest was appointed cus-
todian of it. He contributed to various Jewish
periodicals, such as the Dutch "Spectator" and the
"Taalkindig Magazin," and edited the " Israelitische
Letterbode " for several years.

BlBLIOGR.iPHy : Jew. Chron. Jan. 3, 1891, p. U.

ROFE, DANIEL B. SAMUEL B. DANIEL
HA-DAYYAN : Italian physician of the four-
t<ienth and fifteenth centuries; lived at Pisa and
Perugia. He' devoted mn'ch time to the' study of
the Arabic writers on medicine, especially Ibn Sina.
His " Eben Pinnah " (Paris MSS. No. 307) was copied
for him by Abraham ibn Karshef, who refers at the
end to the merits of Daniel Rofe and his father.

Bibliography : Carmoly, HM. dcs Medecins Juifs. p. 133,
Brussels, 1844; Mortara, Indice, p. 19; Mosfe, Antologia Is-
raelitica, iii. 24; Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 265.
S. S. O.

ROFE, DANIEL B. SOLOMON: Italian phy-
sician and scholar of the fifteenth century; born at
Fano. References to him occur under date of 1430,
1448, and 1470. He was the author of: a super-
commentary on Ibn Ezra, which work was formerly
in the possession of S. D. Luzzatto; marginal glosses
on Kimhi's commentaries on Amos, Micah, and
Isaiah, formerly in the possession of De Rossi ; a sup-
plement to Solomon b. Moses' "Apology"; a syn-
opsis of Ibn Ezra's commentary on Genesis, with
notes, under the' title " Ha-Gersa ha-Aheret " ; and
an account of his journey to Crete in 1473.

Bibliography: Luzzatto, In Kerem Hemed,m. m.iv.m-,
Carmoly, Hist, des Medeciiij< Juifs. pp. 132-133, Brussels,
1844; Zunz, (?. S. 1. 176, § 61 ; Fuenn, Keneaet Yvirael, p. ^5.
8. S- O-

ROHLING, AUGUST: Catholic theologian
and anti-Semitic author; born in 1839 at Neuen-
kirchen, province of Hanover, Prussia. He studied
at :Munster and Paris, and became professor suc-
cessively at Mlinster, Milwaukee(Wis.), and Prague,
retiring in 1901. He is still (1905) canon of the
Cathedral of Prague. Not prominent as a scholar
in his specialty, which is Hebrew archeology, he
has distinguished himself in an unenviable way by
his ]ioleraics against Protestantism and Judaism.
Of his anti-Jewish works "Der Talmudjude"

(Mlinster, 1871, and often reprinted) has become a
standard work for anti-Semitic authors and jour-
nalists, although it is merely an abstract of the
"Entdecktes Judenthum" of Eisen.mengek, and
even as such very faulty. The book first appeared,
at the time when Bismarck inaugurated his anti-
Catholic legislation, as a retort to the attacks made
by the liberal journals on the dogma of infallibility
and on the Jesuitic text-books of morals, it being
usual for the anti-liberals to pretend that all liberal
newspapers were controlled by Jews. The book was
veryextensively quoted by the Catholic press and cre-
ated quite a hterature, but it did not become a political
force until the appearance of anti-Semitism, and es-
pecially until the Tisza-Eszlar trial in 1883, when
Franz Delitzscii defended Judaism against the at-
tacks of Rohling. At the same time Josef S. Bloch
wrote articles in which he accused Rohling of igno-
rance and of forgery of the texts. Rohling sued
Bloch for libel, but withdrew the suit at the last
moment. Later on he greeted the appearance
of Zionism as the solution of the Jewish ques-
tion, and lately he has written a pamphlet against
Gildemann's "Das Judenthum in Seinen Grund-
zligen," etc.

Those of Rohling's works which concern the Jews
are, in addition to " Der Talmudjude " : " Kateehis-
mus des 19. Jahrhunderts filr Juden und Protestan-
ten," Mayence, 1878; "Franz Delitzsch und die Ju-
denfrage," Prague, 1881; "Fiinf Briefe tiber den
Talmudismus und das Blutritual der Juden,"
ib: 1881 ; " Die Polemik und das Menschenopfer
des Rabbinismus," Paderborn, 1883; "Die Ehre
Israels: Neue Briefe an die Juden," Prague, 1889;
"Auf nach Zion," ib. 1901; and "Das Judenthum
nach Neurabbinischer Darstellung der Hochfinanz
Israels," Munich, 1903.

Of the very large polemical literature against
Rohling the oldest work is Kroner's " Entstelltes,
Unwahres und Erfundenes in dem Talmudjuden
Professor Dr. August Rohling's," Mtlnster, 1871.
Distinguished by sound scholarship and by a digni-
fied tone are the two pamphlets of Delitzsch, " Roh-
ling's Talmudjude Beleuchtet" (Leipsic, 1881)'and
" Schachmatt den Blutlilgnern Rohling und Justus"
(3d ed., Brlangen, 1883).

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Ottuv Slovnik Naucnii, xxi. 895, Prague, 1904 ;
Oesterreichische Wnchennehrift, passim; Mitthetlunyendes
Vereinn zur BehUmpfung den Antisemitismiis, passim. The
origin ot Der Talrmtfljude is narrated in AIJ^. Zeit. des Jud.
1871, p. 674 ; and valuable material on the lawsuits in which
Rohling became involved by his polemical writings is found
in Joseph Kopp, Zur Judenfrage nach den Ahten des Prn-
zesses RnhMng-Blnch, Leipsic, 1886, and in the Jadische
Presse, 1903, No. 46.
s. D.

RO'IM. See Pastoueeaux.

ROMAN, JACOB BEN ISAAC IBN BA-
KODA : Bibliographer and writer, of Spanish de-
scent ; born at Constantinople about 1570 ; died at
Jerusalem in 1650. He was possessed of great
knowledge; according to Conforte he knew the
whole of the Mishnah by heart, and he was well
acquainted with the rest of Jewish literature; he
furthermore could speak Arabic, and understood
Turkish and Latin. The anonymous author of
"Horbot Yerushalayim " CVenice, 1636) reports (p.
5b) that Roman when on his way to Jerusalem in

448

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

noest
Komaner

1625 was made prisoner, together with other Jews,
by Mohammecl ibn Farukh and. was subsequently
ransomed ; but it is not certain that he was on liis
way to Jerusalem at that date.

Through his friend the physician Leon Aryeh Ju-
dah Siaa, Roman became acquainted with Anton
Leger (who was born in Piedmont, and was for some
time chaplain of the Dutch embassy at Constanti-
nople, and afterward professor of Oriental languages
at Geneva) and by him was recommended to Johan-
nes Buxtorf the younger in Basel. Buxtorf made use
of Roman's bibliographical knowledge and owed to
him the whole appendix to his father's " Bibliotheca
Eabbinica," which he edited. He entered into cor-
respondence with Roman, which, however, soon
came to an end; the two letters of Roman which
have been preserved were published in full in the
"Revue des Etudes Juives" (viii. 87-94).

For several decades the need of a Hebrew printing-
press had been felt in the Orient. At Constantino-
ple, in the last years of the sixteenth century, there
was no Jewish press; nor was there one in Salonica
in the first half of the seventeenth century. Roman,
as he wrote to Buxtorf on June 20, 1634, conceived
the plan of reestablishing a Hebrew press in Con-
stantinople. He wished then to print Maimonides'
"Moreh Nebukim " in three languages, the Arabic
text with Hebrew letters — the Turks would not al-
low Arabic type to be used — and the Hebrew and
Latin translations, all arranged in three columns. He
intended also to publish the, "Cuzari" and Bahya's
"Hobot ha-Lebabot," with a Latin translation bj'his.
friend Leon Siaa. The project of the Hebrew print-
ing-press was never realized, nor did Roman publish
any of the mentioned works ; even the translation of
Buxtorf 's "Tiberias, " which he begali, and of which
he had already sent a specimen to Buxtorf, was not
printed, if, indeed, it was ever finished.

Roman composed a Hebrew prosody, entitled
"Mozene Mishkal," in which he tried to give exam-
ples of 1,348 meters; also an Arabic-Turkish and an
Arabic-Hebrew dictionary, the latter of which was
finished Oct. 11, 1629 (the autograph copy isin the
Bibliothfeque Nationale at Paris). He translated va-
rious works of Jonah ibn Janah from Arabic into
Hebrew. None of his works appeared in print.
Roman owned many manuscripts which were bought
by Buxtorf for the agent of Cardinal Richelieu.
Most of the manuscripts which Roman mentioned
in his letters to the professor at Basel are now in the
BibliothSque Nationale, Paris. On several of them
it is expressly stated that they were in the posses-
sion of Jacob Roman.

BiBLiOGKAPHT : Conforte, Kore -ha-Dorot p. 49a; Carmoly,
Bevm Orientale, ii. 347 ; Zunz, Z. O. pp. 233 et »eq. ; Stein-
schneider. Cat. Bodl. p. 1254, No. 5008; idem, Z. D. M. O. ix.
810; Idem, JJebr. Uebers. p. 377, where 1634 should be read
Instead of 1643 ; B. E. J. viil. 85 et seg.; Cat. Paris, Nos. 749,
893, 910 et seg., 1277 ef seg.
D. M- K.

KOMANELLI, SAMUEL AARON: Neo-
Hebrew poet; born at Mantua Sept. 19, 1757; died
at Casale Monferrato Oct. 17, 1814. A man of great
gifts but unsteady in his habits, Romanelli began to
travel early in life. He went first to Morocco,
where he spent four years. He has described his
experiences there in a work which has become very

popular (see below). Returning to Europe, he lived
successively in Berlin (1791), Vienna (1793), London
(1799), and Lille (France), going back to his native
country about 1800. The last years of his life were
spent in Casale, where he died suddenly of apo-
plexy.

Romanelli supported himself by teaching and by
writing Hebrew and Italian poems for weddings,
patriotic feasts, and similar occasions; but, being
erratic and a scoffer of religion, he made very
many enemies, and always lived in great poverty.
Besides his Hebrew poems, he wrote translations,
especially of the prayer-book, from Hebrew into
Italian and from Italian into Hebrew. Notable
among his translations from Italian are those of
Metastasio's melodrama " Themistocles " and Maf-
fei's tragedy "Merope " ; the latter has been edited
by Weikert, a Benedictine monk (Rome, 1908, 3d ed.
1904), while the former is still in manuscript. For
the names in the original Romanelli gives Hebrew
substitutes, as Merab for Merope, Palti for Polifonte,
etc. The Hebrew version, while not literally fol-
lowing the original, is not only poetical, but also a
faithful rendering.

Of Romanelh's works maybe mentioned: "Ha-
Kolot Yehdalun" or "Mishpat Shalom" (Berlin,
1791), a Hebrew melodrama in honor of a wedding;
"Massa' ba-'Arab " (ij. 1792), a description of his
travels in the Barbary States, several times reprinted,
and translated into English by Schiller-Szinessy
(Cambridge, 1887); "Ruah Nakon " (Berlin, 1792), a
philosophic poem; " 'Alot ha-Minhah" or "Heber
ha-Me'ushshar " (Vienna, 1793), a poem in honor of
the wedding of L. Hertz and Charlotte Arnstein, in
Italian and Hebrew ; " Grammatica Ragionata Itali-
anaed Ebraica," Triest, 1799: an Italian translation
of parts of the Hephardic ritual (n.p., 1802); "Zim-
rat 'Arizira " (Mantua, 1807), hymns in honor of Na-
poleon ; " Mahazeh Shaddai " (ih. 1808), Hebrew and
Italian poems ; a poetical translation of that part of
the Yom Kippur service which describes the office
of the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Ales-
sandria, 1808) ; "Tappuah Zahab" (Vienna, c. 1810),
an epos fj-om Greek mythology ; a Hebrew hymn on
Emperor Francis of Austria and Iris brother Arch-
duke Carl (n.d., n.p.). A great number of poems,
a Hebrew grammar, a text-book on "shehitah," and
translations from the English and other languages
are still in manuscript. Ludwig Geiger believes
Romanelli to be the Italian Jew highly spoken of as a
translator of German classics into Italian and rec-
ommended by F. L. W. Meyer to Wieland ; but this
is not at all probable ("Allg. Zeit. des Jud." 1903,
pp. 9-11, 132).

BIBLIOORAPHY : Delia Torre, In Ben Chananja, v. 26-28; II
Ves^ln Israelttico. 1878, pp. 15, 151-152, and 1882, p. 88;
Stelnschneider, Die Ttalienische Literatur der Juden, Index,
Franklort-on-the-Maln, 1901 ; Weikert, preface to his edition
of Romanelli's Merab ; Winter and Wiinsche, Die JUdische
lAtteratur, 111. 463.
s. D.

ROIMCANER, BENJAMIN ZEEB WOLF
BEN SAMUEL : Rabbi and preacher in the sev-
enteenth and eighteenth centuries. He officiated as
darshan in Semigrod, and later in Dessau, and in his
old age lived at Metz.

Romaner was the author of "'Ir Binyamin," a

Romaniu
Borne

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

444

work in two parts on the liaggadot of the two Tal-

mudim (part i., Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1698; part

li., Furth, 1722).

Bibliography: Stelnschneider, Cat. Bndl. col. 793; Azulal,
Shem ha-GedoUm, s.t.; Micliael, Or ha-Hayuim, No. 278;
Benjacob, Ozar ha^Sefarim, p. 440, Nos. 346-347.

s. J. Z. L.

ROMANIN, SAMUEL : Italian historian ; born
at Triest in 1808; died at Venice Sept. 9, 1861.
Having at an early age lost his parents, who died
in poor circumstances, Romanin found himself head
of the family, with which in 1821 he removed to
Venice, where he secured a position as tutor of
French and German in a private family. His first
literary attempt was a translation into Italian of the
well-known historical works of Joseph von Ham-
merPurgstall, under the titles "Impero Osmano"
and " Deir Origine, Potenza e Caduta degli Assas-
sini " ; the latter was published in 1828. This was
soon followed by a rendering into prose of the
German poem " Tunisiade " by Archbishop Ladis-
laus Pyrker (formerly Patriarch of Venice).

From 1842 to 1844 Romanin's first great original
work was published in three volumes under the title
of " La Storia dei Popoli Europei dopo la Decadeuza
deir Impero Romano. " In 1847 Romanin, who mean-
while had become professor of history in one of the
colleges of Venice, began his history of Venice, of
which the first volume appeared in 1853. At the
time of his death the whole work was completed
in manuscript; the third part of the ninth volume
brings the history down to the year 1789.

Romanin was a thorough master of the German
and French languages and literatures. He was also
an accomplished Hebrew and Aramaic scholar, and
many Talmudic legends were translated by him into
the Italian.

BiBLiOGKAPHY : La Grande Encvclopedie, ». 28; Archimo
Storico Italiann, vol. xiv., 2d series.
B. J. Go.

ROMANO ELIANO, SALOMO. See Bap-

TiSTA, Giovanni Salomo Romano Eliano.

ROMANO, LEONE ( JTJDAH B. MOSES B.
DANIEL B. MOSES B. JEKUTHIEL or R.
YEHTTDAH HA - FILOSOF) : Italian scholar ;
born at Rome 1292; died there after 1350. Romano
was a friend of the naturalist Benjamin b. Judah,
together with whom he was the center of learn-
ing of the Roman community. He was a gifted
thinker, a fine Latiuist, and well versed in scholastic
philosophy. By his writings and his translations of
philosophical works he sought to make Christian
scientific literature accessible to the Jews; he was
also an energetic teacher. "He hjad many pupils:
he drained the sea of ignorance, and illuminated the
darkness of exile," says his cousin Immanuel b.
Solomon, who, although many years older, had be-
come his assiduous pupil.

Romano set himself to translate the more impor-
tant philosophical works of medieval literature. By
1328 he had completed the "Liber de Causis,"
ascribed to Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas' " Trea-
tise on Ideas." He then translated Averroes' com-
mentary on Aristotle, and works by Albertus Mag-
nus, ^gidius of Colonna, and Angelo da Camerino.
He apparently translated passages that appealed to

him, and from these compiled a book, with notes.
He wrote also a Hebrew -Italian glossary of philo-
sophical terms, with philosophical comments, ex-
plaining in this way the most important prayers,
and passages from the Bible, especially the stoi-y of
the Creation. He wrote, besides, a commentaiy
on Maimonides' "Sefer ha-Madda'," under the title
" Ben Porat," and a work on the theory of prophecy.
Romano's works were frequently transcribed, and
many copies are still extant.

He was highly esteemed by Chi'istians, and is
quoted by them as "Leone de Sere Daniel." King
Robert of Naples called him to his court, and him-
self studied under the Italian scholar.

Bibliography: Steinschneiaer, Giuda Romano, Bome, 1870;
Idem, Hebr. JJebers. §§ 300 et seg.: Vo(?elsteln and Rieger,
Gesch. der Juden in Bom. 1. 440 ; Gildemann, Gesch. 11. 128.
Q. L B.

ROMBERG, MORITZ HEINRICH : German
physician; born at Meiningen, Saxony, Nov. 11,
1795 ; died in Berlin June 16, 1873. He graduated
as doctor of medicine from the University of Berlin
in 1817, and after a short stay in Vienna settled in
the German capital in the following year. In 1820
he was appointed physician to the poor, and in 1830
was admitted to the university as privat-docent in
medicine, lecturing on special pathology and thera-
peutics. During the cholera epidemics of 1831 and
1837 he was in charge of one of the hospitals in
Berlin. The subjects of his lectures included, after
1834, examinations of the heart and lungs. In 1838
he became assistant professor, and in 1840 took
charge of the university dispensary. In 1845 he
was elected professor, and resigned his position
as physician to the poor. In 1851 he received the
title " Geheime Medizinalrath " ; and in 1867, 'after
celebrating his jubilee as doctor, he retired into pri-
vate life.

Romberg published many essays, especially in
Caspar's " Wochenschrift " (of which journal he was
one of the editors from 1838), in Rust's " Handbuch
der Chirurgie," in Schmidt's " Jahrbuch fiir Prak-
tische Medizin," in Horn's " Archlv," etc.

He was the translator of Bell's work on physiol-
ogy under the title " Physiologische und Patholo-
gische Untersuchungen des Nervensystems," Berlin,
1832 (2d ed., ib. 1836), and author of " Lehrbuch der
Nervenkrankheiten," ib. 1840-46 (3d ed. 1853-55;
of the 4th edition only vol. i. was published, in
1857). In 1820 he translated Marshal's " The Mor-
bid Anatomy of the Brain," and in 1828 Albertini's
"Opuscula."

Romberg's specialty was neuropathy. In this
field he did much to advance the knowledge of dis-
eases and their treatment. His "Lehrbuch der
Nervenkrankheiten " gave for the first time a sys-
tematic review of nervous maladies.

Bibliography : Hirsch, Biog. Lex.; Pagel, Biog. Lex.
s. F. T. H.

ROME : Capital in ancient times of the Roman
republic and empire ; in modern times, of the papal
dominions and of the kingdom of Italy. Jews have
lived in Rome for over 2,000 years, longer than in
any other European city. They originally went there
from Alexandria, drawn by the lively commercial in-
tercourse between those two cities. They may even

445

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bomanin
Borne

have established a community tliere as early as the
second pre-Christian century, for in the year 139 B.C.
the pretor Hispanus issued a decree expelling all
Jews who were not Italian citizens.
Early During the last decades of the second
Settlement century B.C., after the war between

in Borne, the Hasmonean brothers on one side
and Caesar and Pompey on the other,
the Jewish community in Eome grew very rapidly.
The Jews who were taken to Rome as prisoners were
either ransomed by their coreligionists or set free by
their Roman masters, who found their peculiar cus-
tom obnoxious. They settled as traders on the right
bank of the Tiber, and thus originated the Jewish
quarter in Rome.

The Jews identified themselves with Roman poli-
tics and exerted at times some influence at public
meetings (Cicero, "Pro Placco," ch. Ixvi.). They
maintained constant commercial relations with Pal-
estine and paid the Temple tax in Jerusalem ; for
this reason they were greatly interested in the pro-
ceedings of Flaccus (see Diaspoha ; Fiscus Juda-
icus). Caasar, on account of the assistance which
the Jews had rendered him in his war with Pompey,
showed his gratitude toward the Roman Jews by
permitting tiiem to hold public devotional exercises,
otherwise not allowed in the city. Synagogues ex-
isted in Rome as early as the time of Augustus, as
is evidenced by an enactment declaring their invio-
lability. The Jews were f\irther favored in connec-
tion with the distribution of grain, for when the ap-
portionment occurred on the Sabbath their share was
reserved for them until the day following.

The Jewish deputation which petitioned for the
deposition of the royal house of the Idumeans was
joined by 8,000 Jewish residents of Rome. Sev-
eral Romans adopted Jewish customs, and some, as
the rhetor Cilicius of Kalakte, a friend of Dionysius
of Halicarnassus, even embraced Judaism (Mijller,
"Fragmenta Historicorum Groecorum," iii. 331).
The reign of Tiberius (until the removal of his min-
ister Sejanus) was fraught with misfortune for the
Jews. When the cult of Isis was driven out of
Rome (19 o.b.) the Jews also were expelled, because
a Roman lady who inclined toward

Expelled Judaism had been deceived by Jewish
Under swindlers. The synagogues were

Tiberius, closed, the vessels burned, and 4,000
Jewish youths were sent upon mili-
tary service to Sardinia. After tlie death of Sejanus
<31) the emperor allowed the Jews to return.

The emperor Claudius was not unfavorably dis-
posed toward the Roman Jews in the beginning of
his reign, but in 49-50, in consequence of dissensions
among them regarding the advent of the Messiah,
they were forbidden to hold religious services. The
leaders in the controversy, and many others of the
Jewish citizens, left the city. A considerable num-
iDer of Roman Jews who had become Christians
received the apostle Paul in Puteoli (6!) and
Rome with due formalities (with regard, however,
to Peter's sojourn in Rome, compare Jellinek, "B.
H." iii. 60 et seq., and GUdemann, " Gesch." ii. 44 et
seg.). Under Nero the Jews of Rome had a compar-
atively peaceful time, owing to the favorable atti-
tude of the empress Poppsea Sabina ; but this was fol-

lowed by the terrible wars and the conquest of Judea
under the emperors Vespasian and Titus. Judaism
at Rome was now put on the footing of a privileged
religion, instead of its- adherents being treated as a
separate nation, and the fiscus Judaicus was now
levied for the benefit of the temple of Jupiter Capito-
linus. A " procurator ad capitularia JudiEorum ''
was empowered to collect this tax, and only those who
had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it.
After the war the Jewish community in Rome in-
creased rapidly; among the prominent Jews resident
there at that time, besides Josephus, King Agrippa,
and his sister Berenice, are said to have been members
of the four families from which the De Rossi, the De-
gli Adolescentoli, the De Pomis, and the
Prominent Degli Piatelli families are descended.
Families. The pressure of taxation rendered the
condition of the Jews very unfavora-
ble under Vespasian and Titus ; and it grew worse
through the increasing number of those who aban-
doned, or professed to abandon, Judaism to escape
the payment of taxes. These defections at last be-
came so numerous that the emperor Domitian, in the
beginning of the tenth decade, found it necessary to
adopt stringent measures. Every suspect was exam-
ined individually, and if the suspicions entertained
were confirmed he was severely punished (Dio Cas-
sius, Ixxvii. 2). Among those sentenced to death
or banishment for various reasons were the empe-
ror's nephew Flavins Clemens and his wife Domi-
tilla. Rabbis Gamaliel, Joshua, Eleazar, and Akiba
preached in the synagogues in Rome during their
brief stay, and engaged in disputes with the Judaeo-
Christians.

The Jews do not appear to have been afEected by
the severe decrees issued by Hadrian after the Jewish
uprising. At this time there lived in Rome Theudas,
who assisted in maintaining the teachers in Palestine
and reintroduced the preparation of the paschal
lamb among the Jewish communities of Rome.
During a diplomatic visit which R. Simeon ben
Yohai and R. Eleazar b. Jose made to Rome in the
second century they preached in the synagogues
upon halakic subjects, and they maintained intimate
relations with R. Mattithiah ben Heresh, the founder
of the Jewish seminary in Rome, himself from Pales-
tine. . Until the death of the last of the Antoninus,
Commodus, the Jews suffered as much from the mis-
fortunes that befell Rome as formerly they had bene-
fited by its growth ; especially severe in their effects
upon the Jews were the famine, the flood, and the
conflagration under Antoninus Pius and Marcus
Aurelius. Under Commodus they suffered the con-
sequences of a fire caused by an earthquake.

In 204 Septimius Severus issued an order against
conversion either to Judaism or to Christianity. On
the other hand, the edicts of Severus and Caracalla
confirmed all native-born Jews in their rights; they
might even fill government offices while adhering
to their faith. Judaism became a privileged relig-
ion ("religio licita"). The condition of the Jews
remained much the same under Elagabalus ; Alex-
ander Severus treated them so favorably that he was
called derisively "archisynagogus."

A new era began with the reign of Constantine
(3ia). This emperor, as soon as he had defeated his

Kome

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

446

adversary Maxcntius. npeiily embraced Cliristian-
ity. The iustitutious of tlie Roman Jews were not
molested, but they were theneetorth regarded as citi-
zens of the second class, as were the pagans. Of
greater importance, however, was
the prohibition against circumcising
slaves. Constantino issued a decree
forbidding marriage between Jews
and Christians and making tlio viola-
)f this order punisliable with death. In the

Under the
Christian
Emperors.

tiou

edicts issued by bim the Jews are for the first time
referred to as a "shameful " or "bestial" sect, "con-
temptible and perverse" ("secta nefaria" or "fera-
lia" ; "turpes"; "perversi"). Another turning-point
in the history of the Roman Jewry came when the
emperor Julian (the Apostate) ascended the throne.
Though not inclining toward Judaism, he regarded
it as superior to Christianity, and one of his first
acts was to abolish the liscus Judaicus, which had
then existed for 300 years, thereby placing the Jews
on an ecjual footing wilh other citizens. Jiilian'.s

were obliged to submit their case to a Roman court;
and Jews were not allowed toenter tlie slate cliurch
merely to escape material liabilities. On April 22,
404, lionorius i-ssued an edict in which he declared
Jews and Samaritans >uifit for military service; at
the same time, at the request of tlie Roman Jews,
he revoked the order forbidding the collection of
money for the support of the patriarchal house.

Tlie bishops in Rome in the meanwhile betrayed
little anti-Jewish feeling. In the fifth century Pope
Gelasius especially evinced a very unprejudiced
spirit toward the Jews; among his immediate asso-
ciates was Telesinus, the first Jew mentioned in a
papal document, who, together with his family, was
greatly favored by the bishop.

Theodoric the Great (493-52(3) showed himself very
just toward the Jews. It is true that the former edicts
against them remained in force and that they were
not allowed to build any new synagogues in Rome;
yet he held to the principle that no man ought to be
forced to accept another religion against his convic-

Entraxce to Ancient Jewish Cataccmbs at Rome.

(From fto old ilrawing.)

successor, Valeiitiuian, freed the sj'nagogues from the
obligation of ({uartering soldiers; this, however, re-
sulted in Bishop Philaster visiting Rome during
his annual tour of inspection (middle of 4th cent.),
when he preached in public and won several converts
to the Christian faith. Emperor Gratian revoked
(382) the decree releasing the Jews from filling the
olBoe of decurion (see DiASPOR.i).

During the reign of Maximus (383-88), who
courted the favor of the Christians, a tumult broke
out against the Jews, one of their synagogues being
totally destroyed (387). Ma.ximus ordered the syna-
gogue rebuilt at tlie expcn.se of the state, but he
was defeated and slain by Theodosiiis. before his
order could be carried out. The rule of Theodosius
was not an unfavorable one for the Jews, inasmuch
as they were placed under the protection of the civil
law, and the poorer ones among them were ex-
empted from service among the "uavicularii," a
body on which devolved the provisioning of the capi-
tal. On the other hand, two laws were enacted by
lionorius which made it compulsory for the Jews to
fill communal offices. In civil cases in which the
Jewish disputants failed to reach an agreement they

tion. In the same spirit he granted to the .Jews cer-
tain privileges which placed them on an equal foot-
ing with the Romans and the Goths. During Theo-
doric's reign a terrible uprising took place in Rome,
when some slaves who had murilered their Jewish
masters, and who had been punished by the author-
ities, gained the sympathy of the mob, v.'hich at-
tacked the Jews and set fire to a synagogue. The
leaders of the disturbance were severely punished at
the order of the emperor. There are also reports
about a dissension between the Samaritans and the
Christians, the former claLuiing a house which be-
longed to the latter. After tlie death of Theodoric
war broke out anew in which the Jews sided with
the Goths, who, however, were defeated.

From the latter ])art of the sixth century the
popes were the real lords of Rome, and the Jews in

the city, as well as in the whole coun-

Under try, were dependent on their attitude.

the Early Gregory I. (.590-604) showed himself

Popes. very just and mild toward them; be

forbade the enactment of any unjust
laws against them and decidedly opposed compul-
sory baptism. The following words appear for the

Rome

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

448

first time in a luttiT ^yritt^'n by liim : "Just as tlic
Jews in their communities may not be allowed any
lil)erties beyond the measure allotted them by law,
so must they, on the other hand, suffer uo violation
of their rights" ("S. Gregorii EplstuUi," viii. 25, ed,
Jligue). These words afterward beeamo the Magna
Cliarta of the Jews (see Popes). In spite of the se-
verity with which the pope proceeded against the
slave-trade of the Jews — he even ordered that the
slaves be taken from them by force — he was un-
able to abolish it. This was due to the fact that
several of the Roman Jews who tralTicUed in slaves
managed to evade the edicts by bribes and pre-
tendeil baptism. During the reign of tliis pope the
Roman Jews especially did much to assist their
coreligionists in southern France and in Greece.

The centuries immediately following were dark
and troulilous ones for the Jews of Rome. The em-
Iienir Ludwig II. (855-75) is said to have issued an
edict in 855 ordering all Italian Jews to leave the

ctirred, whicli some Greeks maintained was caused
by a desecration of a picture of Jesus by the Jews
in their synagogue. For that reason Benedict VIII.
sentenced to death some Jews who had been pointed
out as the chief offenders.

At this time the Pierleoni family, the founder of
which was a Jew, began to come into prominence ; in
the war between pope and emperor it sided with the
former, and for a short time a member
of the family held the papal office. Of
the popes of the eleventh century spe-
cial mention should be made of Nich-
olas II., who condemned the perse-
cutions of the Jews, and who on several occasions
expressed himself against compulsory baptism. Ac-
cording to a ceremonial instituted by Otto III., Jews
and Christians were obliged to attend the entry into
the city of a pope or an emperor, singing laudatory
hymns; it is known that Pope Paschal II., Emperor
Henry V. , and Cali.xtusII. were thus received in Rome

The

Pierleoni

Family.

TUK FLATEA Jl/D^A OF THE OLD (j IIETTU AT ROME.
(From a photofp'aph.)

country before the 1st of October in that year.
This order, liowcvcr, was not carried into effect.
A decade later the Bishop of Orta attempted to in-
troduce a special Jewish dress, which, however, was
forbidden by Pope Nicholas I. As to the reign of
Pope John XII., sometimes called Octavian (955-
904), and the coronation of Otto the Great see " Yo-
.sijipon,'' cd, Breithaupt, vi. 30.

Inuring the following three hundred years the
prosperity of the Roman Jews greatly increased, and
is especially conspicuous when compared witli the
experiences of their coreligionists throughout the
world during the same period. From the Cresccn-
tians and Tnsculans on the throne of St. Peter they
suffered comparatively little. In 1007 Jacob ben
Jekuthiel went to Rome from Lorraine; he men-
tions a "bet din " which he found there, the presi-
dent of which bore the title of "nasi." About
fifteen yeais later (1021) a Jewish persecution took
place in Rome. A violent earthquake had oc-

by them. The last-named issued a bull promising
protection for the Jews, and this bull began with
the introductory words of the edict issued by Greg-
ory I., "Sicut JuiUeis non."

Of the rabbis and teachers of the Roman conunu-
nity tiiere exists only an incomplete list. Among
the latter the most famous was Nathan ben Jehiel,
who in 1088 established a ritual bath in Rome, and
who, with his Ijrother Abraham, erected a syna-
gogue, which was completed in 1101.
Internal As the importance of the popes in the
Affairs ; Christian world had increased with the
Visit of growth of German influence, the Ro-
Abraliaiu man congregation had come to occupy
ibn Ezra, an honored position in the Jewish
world, and questions were addressed
toil even from Paris (Lnzzatto, "Bet ha-Ozar,"i. 57
etseq.). After the death of Honorius II., Cardinal
Pierleoni a.scended the papal throne as Anacletus II.
In the struggle whicli ensued between him and his ri-

449

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Komo

v:il IiiiKucnt II., the JevvsofRomi! sided with Anaele-
t us. Heruuid of Cl;iirv!ui.\ urged against Pieiieoiii iiis
Jewish desceul ; tlie pcipe was aecused also of liaviiig
been a.ssisted by tlio Jews in robbing the C'hurcli and
in realizing the value of the stolen goods. His sue-
eessor, Innocentll. , did not renew the proteetive Inill
of Cali.xtus II., nor did he curtail the rights of the
Jews. It was during his reign and during the
reigus of his immediate successors that Abi'aham
ibn Ezra sojourned in Home (until 1144) ; his pres-
ence in the city gave a new impetus to study, and
the foremost men of the city, as Joab ben Solomon
and Meuahem ben Moses, attached themselves to
him, the group thus formed being termed by con-
temporary schol-
ars " the wise
men of Rome "
(" Sefer ha-Ya-
shar," p. 549;
"Or Zarua'," ii.
53; Zunz, "Li-
teraturgesch. "
p. 163).

Alexander III.
occupied a jie-
culiar position
t o w a I'd t h e
Jews. When
pressed for mon-
ey he was very
favorably dis-
posed toward
lliem, and Ben-
jamin of Tudela
tells how con-
tented the Jews
were under him.
He had even a
Jewish financial
agent(adescend-
ant of Jacob Je-
hiel), Avho filled
his oflice very
satisfactorily ; to
him was proba-
bly due the fact
that the protect-
ive bull was re-
newed. But the

pope showed himself in a different light at the
Third Lateran Council, in 1179. He denounced es-
pecially, though in vain, the employment by Jews
of Christian servants, and he prescribed severe sen-
lences for nurses who entered the service of Jews.
It was not allowed to repair the synagogues as long
as they were not actually in danger of collapsing.
Converts to Christianity might not be disinherited.
To the most prominent representatives of the Roman
Jewry at this period belonged, besides Jehiel, his
cousins Daniel Joab and IVIenalieni hen Judah; with
the latter the Frenchman Joseph ben Pilat main-
tained a correspondence. At the head of the com-
nuinit.y stood Judah ben Moses.

Innocent III., at the Fourtli Lateran Council, in
1215, enacted that Jews and Mohannnedans should
-wear Badges, that they should not be permitted to
X.— 39

Arch of Dctavian, tlje Kntrance to tlie Old (Jhetto at Itoiiie. Church of St. AnRclo,
Where Jews Were Compelled to Attend Baptismal Sermons (in background).

(From a pliotogr.'\[ih.)

hold p\iblicoltices, and that they should sign a (piit-
elaim foi' the interest on the loiins furnished tlie Cru-
saders. Innocent's successoi-, Ilouoiius HI. (1216-
1227), tore down the new synagogues
Innocent in Rome, The ])ontiticate of Cregory
III. and IX. greatly alfected the Jewish com-
Greg-ory munity. His early decisions gave evi-
IX. <lenee of a deep haticd of the Jews;

but he was reminded hy a Jewish am-
bassador from France that there were Christians in
heathen countries, and it was this consideration, per-
haps, that led him to issue (AjniH, 1333) a bull pro-
tecting the Jews. It seems that about this time a
fast-day Avas instituted in Rome, for which occasion

Bejaniin hen
Abraham Anam
a n (1 M OSes
ben Ahrahain
wrote some ele-
gies (" Kobcz 'al
Ya.l,"iv. (i, 17).
A J e AN' i s h
source ("Codex
Angelinus,"p.7)
i-elates that in
the reign of In-
nocent IV. the
Jews, in conse-
quence of a
di'onght whieli
affected the
whole distilct of
Rome, were com-
pelled to u,se im-
ported tomatoes
onSukkot. Dur-
ing the reign of
Alexander IV.
(1254-61) Jew-
ish names again
appear in offi-
cial documents,
after an interval
of 750 years.
On Feb. 1, 1355,
a papal oider
was i .s s u e d
granting certain
commercial
privileges to a Jewish merchant named Sabhatinus
jMuseus Salaman, who is mentioned as the b\i.siness
associate of several Romans, and who stood in
commercial relations with the Vatican; the priv-
ileges pertained to trading in the Papal States
and in Sicily. The period following the death of
Frederick II., when Germany was without an em-
peror, saw the rise of the Flagellants, wdiose activity
was not without its influence on Judaism, especially
upon the community of Rome, which thought that
the Messianic time was at liiind (" IMonatsschrift,"
xxxix. 239). These ideas gathered strength during
tlic disturbances which attended the senatorial elec-
tions in Rome, in consequence of which Vni^i Alex-
ander HI. had been forced to leave the city forever.
A fire that broke out, in the Jewish quarter, the
Ttastevere, on Sept. 36, 1268, destroyed one of the

•J-

Home

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

450

oldest synagogues and twenty-one Torah scrolls.
On acoount of the large sums of money tlie Jews
had loaned him, Charles of Anjoufelt himself under
obligation to protect the Jews from the in j ustice done
them by Urban IV., Alexander's successor, who had
issued (July 26, 1267) a bull, "Turbato Corde," ex-
tending the powers of the Inquisition. About this
time, it appears, a tumult occurred in Rome which
resulted in the destruction of the entire Jewish cem-
etery, and which has been recorded by Benjamin
ben Abraham in his elegy "]EJ>d TTii '3 '^ n'lN
(" Kobe? 'al Yad," iv. 24). In 1272 Gregory X. con-
firmed the bull granting protection to the Jews, to
which was added the clause that Christians should
not be allowed to give testimony in Jewish law-
suits. It also insisted on the absurdity of the blood
accusation. Pope Nicholas III., in a bull issued
ivlay 7, 1278, encouraged the Inquisition to proceed
against converts. During the reign of this pope,
Bonjudah (Bongoda or Biongoda) of Montpellier
stayed for some time at Rome as special ambassador
(Zuuz, "Z. G." pp. 461, 465, 519; Neubauer, in " R.
E. J." ix. 56); singularly enough, the date of his
death, Aug. 22, 1280, is mentioned in the Zohar (Jel-
linek, "B. H." ill. 27 et seq.). The

Jewish presence of the impostor Abraham
Visitors to ben Samuel Abulafla, whom the pope
Rome. endeavored to convert, had no influ-
ence upon the Roman Jews. A deci-
sion with regard to a ritual question, the only one
made in Rome in this early period and handed down,
was rendered during the reign of this pope (Ber-
liner, "Peletat Soferim," p. 9).

The pontificate of Nicholas IV. was of great im-
portance to the Jews of Rome. When he found,
through his physician Isaac ben Mordecai (Maestro
Ga.io), that the clergy of Rome treated tlie Jews
with cruelty, violated their rights, and deprived
them of their property, he interfered. The position
which this physician occupied secured him great
respect within his own community, and he used his
influence to introduce the study of Maimonides in
Rome. When the Maimonidean controversy broke
out in France, the Roman community took such a
lively interest in it that they sent R. Simhah to
France to procure a copy of Maimonides' commen-
tary on the Mishnah. When Maimonides' grandson
died, in 1299, the community sent a letter of condo-
lence to Maimonides' son Abraham.

In the meantime Boniface VIII. had been elected
pope (1294) ; and at the very outset of his pontificate
lie showed the scorn with which he regarded the Jews.
When the lafter appeared to do him homage they
presented him with a scroll of the Torah as a mark
of honor; but the pope immediately

Boniface handed it back to them with expres-
VIII. sious of aversion to the Jewish relig-
ion. This was the first sign of a reign
of terror. Informers were encouraged, and great
numbers of Jews were denounced to the Inquisition
by unknown accusers. In one instance the rabbi
of the community was burned at the stake under an
accusation which would have involved the whole
community had he not taken it entirely upon him-
self. Two elegies by unknown authors commemo-
rate this martyr ("Kobe? 'al Yad," iv. 30 «< seq.).

During the pontificate of Boniface VIII. the Jews
were placed under the jurisdiction of the merchant
gilds. Boniface was succeeded by Benedict XI.
(1303) and Clement V. (1305); the last-named trans-
ferred his residence to France.

The bulls issued in 1309, 1345, and 1402 (April 15)
indicate in which parts of the city the Jews lived
at these dates. Their quarter extended from the Pi-
azza Giudea to the Piazza dei Savelli, and included
the entire Vuga Juda;orum (Jews' street) and the
Platea Judreorum (Jews' square) as far as the Platea
in Templo Judaiorum (Jewish Temple Place), from
which their street ran as far as the
The Roman palace of Lucretius Cecchus de lo Mas-
Ghetto, tro. Some resided in that part of Rome
known as the Regio Ripa, but the
greater number lived in the district of Trastevere,
with the Porta Judasorum. The whole district inhab-
ited by them was called the "Convicinum." The
principal synagogue was situated in the neighbor-
hood of the Church of St. Thomas, while most of the
Jewish physicians lived in the Trastevere district,
where the public medical and grammar schools were
situated. On Feb. 8, 1310, the Senate granted the
Jews a special privilege, whose provisions, however,
are not known.

About two years later, on May 7, 1313, the em-
peror Henry VII., hailed by all as the deliverer of
Italy, made his entry into Rome. Illustrations de-
picting his reception by the Jews are preserved in
the " Codex Balduini Trevirensis " (published by the
Konigliche Preussische Staatsarchiv, with text by
Irmer, pp. 80 et seq., Berlin, 1881). On Henry's re-
turn from his coronation in the Lat-
Reoeivethe eran Basilica, on June 29, he was pre-
Emperor sented with a scroll of the Law by a
Henry VII. delegation of Jews which had gone to
meet him. Before his departure the
emperor imposed a " coronation-tax " upon the whole
city, but it was paid only by the Jews. The Jews
of Rome were so wealthy that the financiers Benia-
mino Diodati and Abraham and AUencio Moyse,
with their associates, were able to furnish 15,000'
florins to the town of Montefiascone, which had to
pay this sum to the city of Orvieto. In consideration
of this, Orvieto admitted the Jews as full citizens and
as representatives of the professions and the arts.

The important events of the years 1320-21 are
narrated in three Jewish sources (see " Shebet Yehu-
dah," xiv. 37; Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." vii.
115; Neubauer, "Cat.' Bodl. Hebr. MSS." 448, 1
[Todros ben Isaac's novelloe on Nazir]). According-
to all three sources a persecution took place in the
summer of 1321, during the pontificate of John
XXII. , who ruled in Avignon. According to the
first source it was instigated by Sanga, the pope's
sister ; she may, however, be identical with Sanctia,
the wife of Robert of Naples. On June 18, 1321,
the Jews sent a delegation to the pope, and on the
same day a general fast was ordered. In Avignon
the head of the delegation {possibly a descendant of
the Bet-El family, and probably identical with the
poet Joab) denied the charges that were made;
yet the pope ordered the burning of the Talmud
in Rome. The most Influential and wealthy mem-
bers of the community endeavored to prevent the

451

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rome

execution of this oi'dcv, but witlioiU avail ; llic Tul-
miul was publicly burned on the Feast of Shabu'ot,
1332. Not satisfied with this, tlio mob began a riot,
during which K. Samuel (the fatlier-in-law of the
poet Imnianuelof Rome) and others were nuirdercd;
the scenes enacted have been recorded by Immanuel
in one of his poems (see " Monatsschrift," 1873, pp.
376 ct scq.).

The entry into Rome on .Ian. 7, 1338, of Louis
the Bavarian preceded a levy on tlie city of a con-
tribution of 30,000 gold florins, one-third of which
was paid by the Jews.

lu the fourteenth and the first lialf of the fifteenth
century poetry raid philosophy flourished in the
community. Intercourse between Jewish and Chris-
tian scholars was, as a rule, unrestricted, and the
Jews were gen-
erally protected
t h r o u g h 0 u t
Roman terri-
tory. This, how-
ever, did not pre-
vent bitter re-
ligions disputa-
ions from taking
place, which
tended to e.xcite
mutual animos-
ity. A Jewish
source relates
that an earth-
q u a k e a n d a
famine occurred
in 1338 (•' Codex
Breslaner Semi-
nar, " 1 X V i i .
390b). In 1345
the principal
Jewish quarter
was visited by
a disastrous
flood.

The Jews had
hitherto taken
little part in gov-
ernmental affairs, but with the appearance of Cola
Rienzi their attitude changed. Rienzi, tlie son of
the mistress of an inn, had been born
Connection in the part of the city behind the syna-
■with Cola gogne near the Church of St. Thomas,
Rienzi. and had succeeded in raising himself
to the dignit}' of senator. When he
found that he could no longer withstand the attacks of
Colonna, he confiscated the property of the wealthy
Romans, as well as that of the .lews. On this ac-
count, and because the Jews were left out of con-
sideration when civic rights were granted to the Ital-
ians, part of his Jewish adherents left him. When
Rienzi was hard pressed by his adversary Count Pi-
pino, it was a Jew who rang the alarm-bell to sum-
mon aid for him. Tlie .lews played no part in Ri-
enzi's subsequent reelection as senator and tribune,
nor did tliey have anything to do with his death ;
they were, however, compelled publicly to burn his
corpse.

At the time of the Black Death in 1340, the Jews of

The " Five tfyua^a^i^aieb "

(From a )i

Rome were spai'cd the ravages of the plague. About
this time city statutes were established which regu-
lated the Jewish taxes as well as prescribed the cos-
tume which the Jews might wear; protection was
granted them against extortions on the pai't of
city officials and the heads of the gilds. During the
brief pontificate of Gregory XL, who made Rome
again the seat of papal administration, the city was
visited by a plague, which formed the subject of a .
piyyut by R. Solomon ("Codex Breslaner Seminar, "
Ixvii. 386b). Boniface IX., wlio was elected in
1389, appointed two Jews, Angelo and Saloraone de
Sabalduchio, as his body-physicians. On April 15,
1402, he issued a bull which reduced to a minimum
the power of the Inquisition. The favors thus
shown the Roman connnunity tempted thither many

of the Jews ex-
iled from France
in 1394. The
willof Menahem
ben Nathan of
Rimini, who left
five old Bologna
reals for the im-
p r (5 v e m e n t of
the coast at Ri-
mini and for the
restoration of
the walls of
Rome, evidences
tlie attachment
of the Jews of
Rome to their
city (Berliner,
" H a - M e d a b -
ber," 1881, p.
47). When the
succeeding
pope. Innocent
VII., on his en-
tiy into Rome,
was given a
scroll of the
Law by a Jew-
ish deputation
he returned it over his left shoulder as a formal
expression of scorn; and this custom, derived per-
haps from Boniface, became theuce-
Keturn of forth part of the ceremony of liomage.
the Scroll Innocent VII. confirmed the physician
at the Elijah Sabbati, however, in his rights
Pope's Re- of Roman citizenship, granting him
ception. and his relatives exemption from all
taxation and releasing them from the
obligation of wearing the badge.

During the stay of Ladislaus, King of Naples
(1375-1414), in Rome, after the death of Gregory XII. ,
a Jewish physician named Moses was murdered.
Anotlier Jewish physician by the name of Helia was
accused of the murder, and convicted and punished.
The subsequent floods and famines resulted in a meet-
ing at Bologna of the most prominent Jewish leaders
of Italy, who there resolved to collect money as an in-
surance against further disasters and in order to send
a delegation to the new pope, Martin V. Among the
signatures to this resolution appear the names of

of the (lid (jijettu at ilumu,

hotofjraph.)

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

452

jMeiialiem ben !Mesliullam Rofe iiiul Benjiimiu beu
]Moses, tlie lenders of the Jewish community iu Rome.

Soon after liis accession iMartin V. confirmed tlie
Roman Jews in all the privileges and lil)erties
given by the charter of Calixtus II., " Sicut JiuUtis
Dou," taking the Jews under his own fatherly pro-
tection. He also abolished compulsory baptism and
forbade the desecration of sj^nagogues. Personally,
lie was on friendly terms with the Jews, and he al-
lowed the scholar Aaron ben Gershon Abulrabi to
lecture in the Vatican on the cherubim. Another
scholar, Eliah Qiudea, was appointed physician to
the pope, remaining iu that [lositiou until the hit-
ter's death. The Roman Jews iu this reign sent
Kabbi Elijah, accompanied by the young scholar
Elliauan, to Jerusalem to secure further information
of a reported ri-
sing of the Ten
Tribes ("J. Q.
R."iv. rm). Es-
pecially note-
Avdi'tliv is the
bull of Feb. 14,
1429, by which
Pope Martin
placed the Jews
under the juris-
diction of the
civil la w , al-
lowed them to
f r e r\ u en t the
public schools,
and exempted
Jewish trades-
men from wear-
ing the badge.

jiartin's suc-
cessor, Eugeuius
IV. (1431-47),
had a different
inlluence on the
history of the
R 1 1 m a n J e w s .
His first bull, is-
•s u e d F e b . 8 ,
1433, forbids the
beating of the
Jews on their
holy days, lev}'-

ing of special taxes, disinterment of Jewish corpses,
resort to violence at the collecting of taxes, and unau-
thorized killing of Jews ; but his bull of the latter part
of 1442, which probably he was led to issue by the
Council of Basel, stands in strong contrast to this. In
the bull of 1442, whiclicomprisesforty-

BuU of two articles, he forbids the Jews to
Eug-enius study civil law or to engage in liandi-
IV., 1442. crafts; healsoorderstheabolitionof the
Jewish cinirts. This hull was enforced
with sncli rigor that several Jews left the Roman
territory and settled in jNIautua, by permission of
Francisco Gonzaga. However, the leaders of sev-
eral Roman congregations met in Tivoli and in Ra-
venna, and by the speedy collection of enormous
sums of money they succeeded in having this hull
withdrawn, though the clause which taxed the

Roman community to the amount of 1,000 scudi re-
mained in force. But the community was so im-
poverished that, at the instance of Moses ben Isaac,
later physician to Pius II., petitions for monetary
as.sistance were sent to other Italian communities.
The stringent measures adopted by this pope would
have been modified by his successor, Nicholas V.,
whose disposition was milder, had it not been for
the inciting speeches of John Capistrano, which
created such a state of unrest in Rome that the Jews
were compelled to barricade themselves in their
houses. A disputation between John Capistrano
and (me Gamaliel (probably identical with Gamaliel
ben Moses, who sold books in Rome in 1433) led to
the bajitizing of the latter with forty other Jews.
When in 1453 a money crisis occurred in Rome, old,

forgotten law-
suits were resur-
rected, and the
Jews were ob-
liged to appeal
for assistance to
the pope, who
canceled all jiro-
ceedings.

The anti-Jew-
i.sh bulls of Ca-
lixtus IV. and
the genero.sity of
Pius II. failed
to affect the
J e w s to a n y
great extent, be-
cause b 0 t h
these popes
were to6 com-
pletely preoccu-
]iied in watching
the progress of
the Turks. For
the amusement
of the people
Paul II. intro-
duced foot-races
iluriug the car-
nival week,
with costly man-
tles as prizes; on
one day the. Jews
were compelled to join in the sport, arrayed in their
red cloaks. They appear to have enjoyed taking
part in the games, although they had
The to pay a "race-tax" of 1,100 florins;

Carnival the sports, however, were jirobably
Races. abolished shortly after, for in 14(i8 a
plague that carried off fifty victims a
day raged in Rome, and two years later a flood
brought new disaster upon the city. Sixtus IV. did
not altogether support the Inquisition, which a
neophyte, Guillelmus Siculus of Rome, had stirred
to action against the Jews because the latter were
said to maintain constant and intimate communica-
tion with the Maranos. When the pope had ordered
the collection of the so-called "twentieths," a tax
which had been laid upon the Jews, he permitted
the latter to continue the lending of money at the

ui.' at llume.

453

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Borne

usual rate of interest. During tlie reign of this pope
the city was again visited by a flood, wliich was
followed by an epidemic of a disease for which a
Jew of Regno discovered a remedy.

The Jews had hitherto paid homage to the popes at
Monte Giordano, but on the accession of Innocent
VIII. a new place was selected for them near Engels-
burg, because the Roman populace had come to
regard the occasion as an opportunity to insult and
deride the Jews. Innocent VIII. issued (July, 1487)
a severe bull against the Maranos, not only against
those in Spain, but also, and especially,

Action against those who had removed to

Against Rome ; and shortly after the issuance
Maranos. of this bull eight Maranos were im-
prisoned in Rome by the pope. The
manner of the Roman Jews toward the Maranos
was reserved ; the latter considered themselves su-
perior to the Roman Jews, who, on tJieir part, re-
sented the competition of the newcomers ; in addi-
tion, the papal bull had filled the Roman Jews with
apprehensions. The death,of this pope is connected
with the legend that a Jewish physician (the quack
in Lenau's " Savanarola ") had drawn blood from
three ten-year-old children for injection into the
veins of the pope ; the bleeding was said to have
caused the death of the children, but failed to save
the pope's life (Infessura [Eccard II. 2005, Tom-
masiui, pp. 21!) et seq.]).

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain took place
during the pontificate of Alexander VI., and was
the indirect cause of a change in the old Jewish
commimity in Rome. The Roman Jews appealed
to the pope with a gift of 1,000 ducats, requesting
him to refuse the fugitives admission into Roman
territory. This so incensed the pope that he fined
them yOO ducats. The inflow of fugitives increased
until it became necessary to erect a new synagogue
(the fourth), which, after a short time, became the
leading synagogue in Roman Jewry. Its first rabbi
was an exile from Provence, the physician Bonet
de Lattes (Jacob ben Immanuel Provencal). The
treatment of the Maranos by Pope Alexander was
highly praiseworthy ; although a Spanish delegation
requested their expulsion, and in spite of the fact
that they suffered from an infectious disease, he
permitted them to live peacefully outside the Porta
Oppia; and when -a delegation of Portuguese Mara-
nos arrived at Rome to complain of tlie Portuguese
government, although the pope ordered 280 Ma-
ranos to be imprisoned, he did not proceed against
them with much severity.

Three floods about tliis time, following one another
in close succession, brought great suffering upon the
community; this was augmented by the entry into
Rome of Charles VIII., whose soldiers committed
such terrible excesses in the Jewish quarter that
Charles at length found it necessary as a warning
to erect a gallows in the Platea Judoeorum. By
order of Charles the Jews wore for their protection
white crosses sewed on the shoulders of their man-
tles. The games introduced by Paul II. were re-
instituted under Alexander VI. Another, not unim-
portant addition to the Roman community was
caused by the inflow of exiles from Naples and of
ransomed Jewish prisoners from the Barbary States,

who had obtained permission from Julius II. (1503-
1513) to settle in Rome. Several of these took part
in the foot-races held in Rome a few days before the
death of Julius. A description of these games is
given in a poem by Jacob de Pomis.

During the reign of Julius II. 's successor, Leo X.
(1513-22), the Roman Jews enjoyed uninterrupted
quiet, so much so that they inquired in Jerusalem if
the advent of the Messiah were not drawing near.
Especially noteworthy is the fact that Leo gave the
Jews permission to establish a printing-office. It
was opened in the house of Joan Giacomo Fagiotde
Montecchio, but it existed only three months.
Leo also requested the J«ws to fu-rnish hini with a
copy of the Talmud. During the next pontificate,
that of Hadrian VI. (1522-23), the city was visited
by a pestilence which carried ofC 28,000 victims ; an
anti-Jewish riot also occurred during his reign, four
Jews being murdered on the Piazza Giudea.

Clement VII. (1523-34), whom Joseph ben David
Yehaf, in his commentary on the Five Megillot (p.
41b, Bologna, 1538), calls "the favorer of Israel,"
displayed particular interest in the internal aifairs
of the Jewish community, which had been divided
into contending parties. Within the community
there existed no authority that could settle these
quarrels, and an invitation to go to Rome was there-
fore issued to Daniel ben Isaac of Pisa, who was
highly esteemed by the pope. With twenty of the
wealthiest members of the community, Daniel ben
Isaac began the work of reform. A new Jewish
organization was established, governed by a board
of sixty directors (this organization existed up to
the nineteenth century). In a docu-
The Com- ment dated Dec. 13, 1524, the pope

munity signified his approval of this arrange-
Org'anized ment. The old law governing the
1524. slaughtering of animals for food had
been revived in 1523 ; according to it
the Jews were allowed to sell only live cattle, they
were not permitted to slaughter in the Christian
abattoirs or in the presence of Christians, nor were
Chi'istians permitted to purchftse slaughtered cat-
tle from Jews. When David Reubeni and his fol-
lower Solomou Molko came to Rome, Clement VII.
not only offered them protection, but provided
them with letters of recommendation. While in
Rome Reubeni lived in the houses of Cardinal
^gidius, R. Joseph Ashkenazi and R. Raphael,
Joseph Zarfati, the physician Moses Abudarham,
and Isaac Abudarham. After his successful audi-
ence with the pope the Jewish community hailed
him with great enthusiasm, and Yom-Tob ha-Levi
assigned him a new residence. Reubeni, however,
aroused some suspicion among various members of
the community, resulting in the formation of two
parties which remained at variance with each other
until David left the city, in March, 1525; at his de-
parture he was escorted by thirty of the most prom-
inent Jews in Rome.

This era of prosperity was broken by severe trials.
In 1527 the Spanish-German army of Charles IV.
advanced against Rome, and on May 6 entered the
citj'. Then began a butchery which lasted for three
weeks, when it was succeeded by a pestilence which
in the course of two or three months removed 100,000

Rome

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

454

people. During tlio pilluge Elijuli ben AslierLevita,
"the Gerniau," and Cardinal ^iigidiode Viterbo lost
(heir libraries, tbe books being used by the soldiery
us fuel. Although the Jews were aceustd of having
purchased at ridicidously low prices the costliest
plunder, thcj' were obliged to borrow money at the
nexl levy of taxes. In the course of the following
years some members of the Jewish connniinitj' of
Rome became prominent in connection with the
wrangles which Henry VIII. of England had with
Kome aboiit his divorce from Catheiiiie of Aragon.
Among these
were Rabbi and
" JIagi.ster arti-
umet medicinic"
Ilelias (Ilalfon),
the convert Dom
Marco Raphael,
and Jacob Jlau-
tino, who had
been influential
in eruslnng Solo-
mon ilOLKO.
The attitude of
Clement toward
the last-named,
as well as toward
the other Llara-
Dos, was verj'
friendly, and it
was due to his
mildness that the
Jewish commu-
nity of Rome
only four years
later had almost
quite recovered
fiom the effects
of the disaster.
Still more fa-
vored were the
Jews by Paul
III. (ir?U-r,0),
who for that
reason liad to en-
dure such op-
probrious epi-
thets as "Sado-
let " and " Lelio
secundo Curio,"
applied to him
by Alexander
Farnese. Paul
permitted all the
.Jews who had
been banished from Naples, as well as those coming
from Palestine and Africa, to .settle in Rome. He
abolished the passion-plays in the Colosseum, at
which Jews had often been murdered, and ho granted
permission (154.y) to Antonio Blailao, Isaac ben Im-
manuel de Lattes, and Benjamin ben Joseph Arig-
nano to establish a Hebrew printing-press in Rome.
On the other hand, the pope was compelled to sanc-
tion (1.543) the establishment by Johannes Calvus of
tlie monte di ]iieta, which, the i)apal bull declared,
was instituted in order to make the Jewish usurers

Ark ol the Law in (lie Syn:

(Troui a p

take up handicrafts. This event marked the be-
ginning of an era of reaction for the licmian Jews,
which .set in under the papacy of Julius HI. (1550-
1555), wlio, however, imposed a tax of do more
than ten gold ducats on each of tbe 115 synagogues
ill (he Papal Stales. This tax was to be applied
toward the maintenance of the Casa dei Ncotiti in
lionie.

During .lulius' reign the monk C;ornelio of ilon-
talciuo, who liad become a convert to Judaism, was
burned at the stalvc (Sept. 4, 1550). Three years later

a quarrel broke
out between the
t w o II e b r e w
printing-houses
in Venice, those
of Bragadiuiand
Giustiniani; the
wrangle went so
far that both
parties c o m -
plained to the
pope and de-
nounced the Tal-
mud. The Sa-
cred College
declared against
the Talmud, and
as a result it was
publicly burned
by papal edict
of Atig. 13, 15.53;
the burning took
place on the day
of the Jewish
New-Year festi-
val, in the month
following, on
the Campo di
Flore. Shortly
afterward other
Hebrew books
were con-
demned, but
were saved by
the intercession
of R. Michael
ben I.saac, Jo-
seph ben Obadi-
ah di Arignano
and R. Joseph de
Arli. On June
21, 1554, four-
teen rabbis met

1 11 F E U 11 A R A.

and adopted resolutions concerning the printing of
books and on other matters.

The reign of the succeeding pope, Marcellus II.
(1555), although of only twenty days' duration, is
of importance for the history of the Jews of Rome.
A Spaniard, Siilim, had murdered his ward so that
he might inherit the child's fortune, nailed the
corpse to a cross, and left it in the Campo Santo.
Suspicion at once fell upon the Jews, and the Pope
and people were enraged. Cardinal Alexander Far-
nese then spread the report that the child had been

(.Irjs Tuuiplus ut L^uuiu

ihylo^^raph.)

455

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Borne

canonized, whereupon the people flocked to see it,
and a physician recognized it. The result was that
Sulim was convicted and hanged. In spite of this
the convert Hananeel di Foligno incited the mob
against the Jews ; he was, however, challenged to a
disputation with the rabhis and defeated (Joseph
ha-Kohen, "'Emek ha-Baka," od. Letteris, pp. 114
etseq.; "R. E. J." iv. 88). With the accession of
Paul IV. (1555-59) to the papal throne, favorable
conditions for the Roman Jews came to an end.

Pope Paul provided their ghetto with
Paul IV. entrance and exit, ordered them to

wear the yellow cap and hood, for-
bade trading in rags, and prohibited also the em-
ployment by Christians of Jewish physicians. Dur-
ing his rigorous reign, David Ascoli, the author of
a Latin apology, was imprisoned, and the Jews'
offer of 40,000 scudi for the revocation of this order
was rejected. This pope finally abolished the cus-
tom of the Jews paying homage to the popes. On
July 26, 1555, all the Jews were herded into one
street ; and two months later this street was enclosed
hy walls, for which the Jews wore compelled to
pay 100 scudi (Oct. 3). All synagogues, except
two, were condemned, and the Jews were forced to
sell all their property that was situated outside the
walls. In spite of the low prices paid, this sale
brought 500,000 crowns. On March 23, 1556 the
pope issued an edict according to which the Jews
were required to pay taxes for the synagogues that
had been closed. Some relief came, however, when
the Jews (Aug. 22, 1556) were permitted to engage
in all handicrafts, with the exception of those con-
nected with the line arts.

Soon a great calamity befell the city, when Duke
Alva of Spain, at the head of a powerful army,
marched against the Papal States. No one was
permitted to leave the city, and the Jews were put
to work on the fortifications. To this were added
the inflammatory speeches of the apostate Vittorio
Elliano, Joseph Moro and the Jew Josue del Cantori,
which resulted in the confiscation, on May 1, 1557,
of all Hebrew books. The apostate Andrea del
Monte found in the Ashkenazic synagogue a com-
mentary by Iljn Ezra, whereupon the synagogue
was closed and the congregation sentenced to pay
a fine of 1,000 scudi. The synagogue remained
closed for nine months, and this proved the death-
blow of the German congregations. On Sept. 15,
1557, a flood placed the entire ghetto under water.
Paul IV. was exceedingly harsh in his treatment of
the Maranos, whom he, on April 30, 1556, ordered
to be burned at the stake in Ancona. As soon as
Paul was dead his monument was torn down, the
palace attacked, the officials maltreated, and the
gates of the ghetto battered down ; a Jew, to the
delight of the populace, placed his own yellow
cap on the top of the shattered monument. Jewish
history likens this pope to Haman (irt3N''t3 = IDn :
Joseph ha-Kohen, I.e. p. 117).

Paul's successor, Pius IV. (1559-66), was the very
antithesis of him. His first act was to see to it that
the waters of the Tiber were diverted ; for this the
Jews were especially thankful, as the ghetto was
most exposed to floods. Inabullissued Aug. 8, 1561,
he revoked almost all his predecessor's enactments ;

the dwellings of the Jews were restricted to the
ghetto, but not their places of business, which they
might establish in any part of the city. They were
allowed also to associate with Christians. Accord-
ing to the decision of the consistory of Treves, of
March 24, 1564, the Talmud might again be printed,
although under a different name. Pope Pius V.
(1566-72) not only renewed the bulls

Pius V. of Pius IV., but expelled the Jews
from the Papal States, with the ex-
ception of those of Rome and Ancona. In spite of
his hatred of the Jews ,he allowed them to engage
in the jeweler's trade; ho also enlarged the ghetto
by tearing down two churches, but in order that
they might not be profaned by their Jewish sur-
roundings.

The accession of Gregory XIII. (1573-85) was cel-
ebrated in a poem by Judah Saltemos; Gregory
proved himself more friendly toward the Jews. The
whole of the year 1572 was spent in the mustering
of troops. The ghetto was attacked during the
Passover festival by the troops assembled in Rome,
who, however, were repulsed by the Jews. The
pope therefore ordered the soldiers to leave the
city. In spite of this the Jews found it necessary
to establish a patrol (Sept. 21, 1573) to guard the
ghetto against the mob. The hatred of the mob is
shown by the fact that during tho carnival, when
Jews were compelled to run naked for a prize, they
were bespattered with mud. On Jan. 10, 1577,
the pope approved the organization established by
Clement VII., and the community was taxed ac-
cording to the incomes of its members (" per aes et
libram "). On Sept. 1, 1577, the pope issued a de-
cree that on every Sabbath the Jews should attend
conversionist sermons. The first preacher was Jose-
phus Flofentia; the second, and more important,
was the apostate Joseph Zarfati of Fez, whose sei--
mous were made famous by his thorough knowl-
edge of rabbinical literatui'e (see Zarfati). A sec-
ond bull, Sept. 1, 1584, ordered that these sermons
should be attended by at least 100 men and 50 wom-
en. The result of these sermons was that several
Jews submitted to baptism, among them being a
wealthy Jew named Samuel Corcos. The sermons
of Domenico Gerosolomitano, who succeeded Joseph
Zarfati, are extant in Hebrew and Itahan.

The first bull which actually affected the inner
affairs of the ghetto was issued June 1, 1581; it
granted to the Inquisition the right to proceed
against the Jews in cases of blasphemy, demon-
worship, and heresy ; and as a result Joseph Sanalbo,
a convert to Judaism, was burned at the stake in
1583 (27tli of Shobat). Abtalion ben Mordecai of
Modena held, in 1581, at Rome, a disputation in
Latin in the presence of the pope, the result of
which was that the law regarding the confiscation
of tho Talmud was repealed. Under the next pope,
Sixtus V. (1585-90), the Jews enjoyed comparative
immunity from injustice. The order was given that
they were in no way to bo molested,
Sixtus V. and on several occasions the pope
ordered the whipping of Christians
who had insulted the Jews during the carnival.
In this pontiticale the Severus arch-candlesticks
were discovered. The bull of Dec. 18, 1585, had for

Rome

THE JEWISH EKCYCLOPEDIA

456

rfome tlie especial provision tliut (lie tax of a twcn-
tietli vigesima sbuiild be abolished, and a poll-tax of
twelve ginli be levied instead. Tlie objectionable
customs of the carnival -were also done away with.
In 1587, under the leadership of the treasurer Isaac
ben Solomon Corcos, walls were erected about the
Jewish cemeterj'. At this time the business of the
ghetto ]irospereil as it had never done before, espe-

Rabbi's C'bair in tbe Synup"<:i^a dus Teuitjios at ItuuiL',

(From II ph.itier;ip^.)

cially after t!io silk industry was introduced into the
Papal States by the advice of Magino di Gabriele of
Veiiicr, lo whiiiu the pope for this reason granted
sexeial jirixilcgcs. The ghetto itself "was enlarged
in toys in consequence of the steady influx of Jews;
and on Sept. 4, l.'JSO, separate pri.sons for Jews anil
jiriests were erecteil.

In order to enable the Jews to ]iay their conununal
debt, which had increased to 18,000 scudi, Clement
VIII. (1592-1GU5) granted them 214 shares of 100
scudi each in themontedi pieta; in return the Jews
made the pojie a present of 3,075 scudi. In his bull
of Feb. 28, 1592, Clement was especially strict in
prohibiting the Jews from associating or doing busi-
ness with Christians and converts. Another bull
of Fcl). 25, 1593, ordered the expulsion of the Jews
from the entire papal territory, with the exception

of Konic, Ancona, and Avignon ; and on March 3
following all Talmudic works were given over to
the Inquisition to be burned ; the destruction took
place on the Piazza San Pietro Jan. 14, 1601. On
Dec. IS, 1599, the pope issued a brief admonishing
the chamberlain to take measures against any in-
crease in tlie size of the Jewish community. When,
in the jubilee year 1600, the Jews were ordered to
give up their beds for the use of the pilgrims, it was
found that there were only eighty blankets in the
ghetto; consequently the Jews had to pay 317 scudi
instead.

Of special importance to the community was
the ghetto regidation of June 18, 1603, wliich gave
precise instructions as to when the gates of the
ghetto might be opened and how long they might
be kept open. Exceptions were, however, made to
meet extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances.
An order of Jan. 4, 1604, prescribed that the Jews
should ixij' a yearly tax of 800 scudi for those who
had lieen expelled. Among the man}' oppressive acts
of tlie Inipiisition was the seizure of R. Joshua As-
caredi, his wife, and four children ; the children were
baptized, and the rabbi and his wife were set free
after having been imprisoned for forty-three days.

Pope Paul V. renewed all the anti-Jewish bulls

issued l)j' his predecessors. He dealt a death-blow

to Jewish civil jurisdiction by ordering

Paul V. that henceforth Jewish lawsuits might
be brought only before the governor.
Paul established a well on the Piazza del Tempio
and permitted the Jews to lead water from this
«ill into the ghetto. On Aug. 13, 1620, the Jews,
ttirough li. Hezekiah Manoah Corcos, petitioned the
pope to issue an order that Jews who had been im-
prisoned for debt by Christians should be cared for
at the expense of the latter. On Jan. 11, 1621, the
rota issueil a proclamation, consisting of thirty-nine
articles, favorable to the Jews.

The condition of the Jews improved neilher under
Gregory XV. nor under Urban VIlI. The latter
ordered the community to pay to Leonardo Masse-
rano, a convert to Cliristianity who had written a
book against Judaism, annually for five years, until
1684, the sum of 1,300 scudi. When Odvardo of
Parma, on Oct. 13, 1641, invaded the Papal States,
the Jewish taxes were iiicrea.sed to 150,000 scudi, and
this sum was never refunded to the community.
Compulsory baptisms also became more frequent;
thus the pope bad tbe two children of the Jew Fullo
Serotiuo seized and baptized; on account of this a
revolt broke out in the ghetto, and )>recautionary
measures had to be taken (May 28, 1639).

Tlie pontificate of Innocent X. (1644-55) would
have been more tolerable bad it not been for a terri-
ble famine, which lasted for years and made it nec-
essary for the Jews to borrow 160,000 scudi fnmi
tlie monte di pieta, for which they paid 4^ per cent
interest. An account of the pestilence during the
reign of Alexander VII. (1655-67) has been given by
the Roman author Jacob Zabalon, in his ''Ozar ha-
Ilayyim " (Venice, 1683). The spread of the disease
through Jewish pedlers was generally feared, for
which reason the ghetto was closed. Nevertheless,
the first case within the ghetto occurred three months
after the first appearance of the plague, in the latter

457

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kome

part of October, 165G. and it ended there earlier than
elsewliere (Aug. 38, 1657). Witliin tlie ghetto the
pestilence elainicd 800 victims. Two cardinals vis-
ited the ghetto twice daily to see to the needs of the
cunmuiuity and to the isolation of the sick. Lazaret-
tos were established ; they were divided into three
dejiartincnts, in charge of the physicians Ilananiah
dr Sliidigliano, Gabriel Lariccia, and Isaac Zalialon.
The last-named, as well as other rabbis, preached
every Sabbath from an open window, because the
prayer-houses were closed. Thirty of the sixt}'
conununal leaders were selected to keep up comnui-
nication with the outer world. These tliirty sur-
vived the plague, and a yearly service was held in
the synagogue on the Hanukkah festival to com-
luemorate their good fortune. The expenditures (if
the community during the plague amounted to 40,-
000 scudi, and therefore the pope lowered to 4 per
cent the rate of interest on the Jewish loan from the
monle di piela. The sufferings caused by the
plague, and by the famine which raged from 165G
to 1G57, have been narrated by Elijah Recanati (Zunz,
"S. P." p. 440). On account of an overtlow of the
Tiber, on Nov. 5, 1600, by which part of tiie ghetto
was destroyed, the pope permitted the erection of
an additional gate opposite the Cluci Palace. In
the same year the sixty leaders drafted a set of reg-
ulations in regard to the passion for finery, and puli-
lislied them on the gates of the ghetto. The same
body issued, in May, 1667, an edict regulating the
property assessment of the individual members of
the community.

The compulsory participation of the Jews in the
foot-races was abolislied by Clement IX. (Jlay,
1668), but the Jews were recpiired to pay an annual
tax of 300 scudi instead. In addition, the leader of
the Jewish community, on the ilay of the carnival,
gave the commander of the Caporiones a present.
Tlie Sliabbethaian Nathan Ghazali, who arrived in
Rome in 1608, wasexpelle<lat the request of the com-
munity. During the reign of Innocent XL an olll-
cial armed with a staff attended tlie
Con- couversionist sermons to compel the

versionist audience to listen. Clement forbade
Sermons, tlie establishment in Rome of Jewish
Ijanking- houses. Compulsory bap-
tisms took place under Innocent XL (1676-89), not-
withstanding his emiihatically expressed belief that
"one might lead, but not drag, a man into the house
of God." Under Innocent's successors the Jewish
community again attained to some degree of pros-
perity, especially under Innocent XII. (1691-1700)
and Clement XL (1700-30). Nevertheless, many
compulsory baptisms took place under the last-
named pope, and a blood accusation was made. The
accusation was disproved by R. Tranguiko Vita
Corcos in a book written in Italian and translated
into Juda'o-German; the translation appeared in
Fiirth in 1706 (Roest, "Cat. Rosenthal. Bibl." i. 55).
Clement put an end to the carnival processions, a
feature of which had been the presence of 100 Jews
mounted on donkeys, with the rabbi at the head of
the procession and facing taihvard.

L'nder Innocent XIII. (1720-24) and Benedict
XIII. (1734-30), who renewed all the anti-Jewish
bulls issued by Paul IV. and Pius V., the Jews were

assisted by the Inquisition, which did not permit any
interference in their business aifairs. Of the many
interdictions which were issued by Clement XII.
(1730-40) special mention should be made of the
repetition of an order forbidding Jews to in.scribe
any epitaphs on their tombs. This order had orig-
inated as early as the time of Pius V. On i\Iay 28,
1731, all Hebrew books found in the Papal States
were confiscated. On Oct. 24, 1736, the death pen-
alty was inllictcd on two Jews who liad been caught
breaking into houses in the ghetto. Baptisms of
Jews took place in Rome Jan. 18, 1733 ; Oct. 19,
1737; and Oct. 25, 1737.
A period of comparative peace for the coinniu-

Kabbi's C'balr ot tbe Sixteenth Century in a Synagogue at Rome.

(From a photoeraph.)

nity began under Benedict XIV. (1740-58), who is-
sued three bulls regulating the ijiiestion of compul-
sory baptism. When the rumor was
In the si)read tliat prohibited books were
Eighteenth being smuggled into Rome hidden in
Century, bundles of cloth the pope ordered
(April, 1753) a confiscation of books,
which was carried out. During the reign of this
pope a delegate from the Jewish community in Po-
land, Eliakini ben Asher Selig, journeyed to Rome

Rome

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

458

ill (irdur (o refute a Ijhiod accusiilidD , the decisinii
of tlie pope was hi J'avur of tlie Jews.

As soou as Gaugauelli hail ascended the pajial
throne as Clement XIV. he dissolved the order (if
the Jesuits and freed tiie Jewish community from
external jurisdiction and from the control of the In-
quisition, lie, as well as his successor Pius VI.
(1775-1800), endeavored to promote Jewish trade
and industry, until a reaction set in wlien the rest
of llie world adopted a polic}' of liberalism. The
Jews were again forbidden to leave their ghelto,
and were even prohibited from erecting monuments
on their graves. In 1784 tliree Jews were murdered
in tlie public streets, and two Jewisli children were
forcibly baptized. I'lic Uonian communitv tlicre-

Cliair of Elijah in a SynaRogue at Rome.

(From a photograph.)

fore found it necessary to confer with the other
European communities regarding metliods of pre-
venting such forcible conversions.

Toward the end of tlie eighteenth century the
Italian and Roman rabbis were accused of having
made varionsreligiouschanges, whereupon K. Judali
Leon of Rome, in the names of his brother rabbis,
published an apology entitled "iliktebe ha-Rab-
banim Asher be-'Are Italya "( Carmoly, in "Revue
Orientale," iii. 171). The condition of the Roman
Jews changed suddenly when General Berthier en-
tered Rome on Feb. 15, 1798. Five
Entry of days later the pope left Rome, and
the French, the Jews were declared free citizens;
they at once laid aside the Jewish garb,
and, to the accompaniment of music, planted a "tree
of liberty " in front of the synagogue. Several arti-
cles talven from the Vatican were purchased by the
Jews, but were at once destroyed. "When the Na-

tional Guard was established (Maieli 14) the Je«s
were at first prevented from joining it; but slmilly
afferward tlie Jew Baralfael was appointed a major
and several other Jews were enrolled in tlie ranks.
On one occasion the Jews had to pay, at a few lionrs'
notice, 150,000 scudi in coin, and 150,000 in bank-
notes, besides delivering great quantities of various
articles. On July 10, in tlie same year, the Jew
Ezekiel Morpurgo was ajipointed a senator. Wlien
the Neapolitans invaded Rome, they put an end to
the French government, and inqiosed ncAV taxes on
the Jews.

The mantle of the pontilicate fell next upon Pius
VII. (1800-23), who in every ])o.ssible way endcav-
cu'ed to improve the reduced financial condition of
the Jews. On June 10, 1809, tlie pope was compelled
to leave Rome for live 3'ears; tlie Jews were again
])roelaimed Roman citizens, and tlie ghetto was al-
lowed to remain open. On June 4, 1811, the first
Itoinan consistory Was constituted under tlie regime
of Napoleon; its leaders were R. Leone di Leone,
Giuseppe Samuel Benigno, and tlie citizens Vitale de
Tivoli, Aliram Vita Modiglani, and Sabbato Alatri.
Shortly afterward, however, with the fall of Napo-
leon, the Castle of Saint Angelo was returned to tlie
pope, and tlie gates of the ghetto were closed. The
Inquisition was reintroduced, Jewish trading privi-
leges were limited to the ghetto, and the Jews'
franchise was revoked. Conditions became still
worse under Leo XII. (1823-29) and

In the Pins VIII. (1829-31), when all the me-
Nineteenth dieval edicts and bulls were renewed.

Century. After tlie death of Leo XII. the Jew'S,

mad witii rage, tore down the ghetto

gates; this, however, did not tend to improve their

condition; they were even compelled to listen again

to conversionist sermons.

Although Gregory XV^I. (1831-4fi) was greatly in-
debted to the Jewish house of Rothschild, and in
sjiite of the intercession of the Austrian government,
the ghetto gates were reereeted during his reign.
This po|)e demanded also of the community a copy
of the Torali in evidence of allegiance ; the commu-
nity gave liim instead a different scroll written in
Hebrew and ornamented with costly pictures, for
which they had paid 10,000 francs.

The epidemic of cholera which raged in Rome
in 1837 intiieted comparatively little loss upon the
Jews. In 1839 the pope, at the request of Baron
.James de Rothscliild, presented the community with
a building to be used as a trade-school for boys. The
election of Pius IX. to tlie papal throne in 1846 was
an auspicious event for the Jews. Upon his acces-
sion he distributed 300 scudi among the poor of tlio
ghetto, and he showed his humane feelings during
the Tiber floods of Dec. 10 and 12, 1846," when he
sent relief to the Jewish quarter first of all. On Oct.
1, 1847, the carnival festival was finally abolished,
and in May of tlie same year the Jews were granted
permission to live outside the ghetto. The conver-
sionist sermons were discontinued.

A complete reconciliation between the general
populace and the Jews was, however, first effected
on July 15, 1847, through the eloquence of Cieeru-
acchio. On April 17, 1848, the work of removing
the ghetto walls began, by the order of the pope.

,459

TPIE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Borne

Shortly after a mob again rose against the Jews,
who, however, successfully defended themselves.
The revolution of 1848 progressed so rapidly that by
the end of that year the pope was compelled to leave
Eome. On Feb. 9, 1849, the "Assemblea" pro-
claimed the full civic equality of the Jews. Tlie
new government did not endure very long, however,
for on June 30 the city was retaken ; and the pope
had hardly reached Rome before tJie old regime was
restored. In Oct., 1849, the houses of all Roman
Jews were searched because their owners were sus-
pected of having Church property in their posses-
sion. Ornaments which bore no satisfactory marks
of ownership, including even such as belonged to
the synagogue, were not returned to them. Com-
pulsory baptisms took place, as in Sinigaglia and
Ancona. The Mortaka Case aroused attention in
1859. The financial difficulties of the Roman com-
munity became so desperate that it had to apply for
aid to other European communities (" AUg. Zeit. des
Jud." 1860, 1870; "Wertheimer, "Jahrbuch," 1860-
1861). Even in the sixties coercive baptisms oc-
curred in large numbers. In 1866 the final revolu-
tion broke out ; Garibaldi was soon defeated, but in
1870 the victorious Victor Emanuel entered Rome,
and the definitive overthrow of the secular power
of the papacy was effected.

Until the first century c.E. the Jewish settlement
in Rome occupied the Trastevere section of the city ;
and the part before the Porta Portese was known up
to the seventeenth century as the "Jews' field."
During the reign of Domitian a new
The Jewish. Jewish quarter was established on the

Quarter Via Appia, outside the Porta Capena,
and Syna- and this soon became the most densely

gogues. inhabited Jewish district in Rome ; a
reasonable estimate of the number of
Jews in Rome during the empire would give at least
40,000. This large population rendered several syn-
agogues necessary which were called Trpoaevxv- Ten
of these old congregations are known as those re-
spectively of Augustus, Agrippa, Campus Martins,
the "Subura, the Carcaresians, tlie Hebrews, the
Rhodians, the Elseanians, Volumnius, and Severus.
The two first-named date from the reign of Au-
gustus. The management of the separate congre-
gations was in the hands of archons, whose duty
it was to see to all the details of administration.
The "gerusiarch" presided over the college of ar-
chons ; independent of this college stood the archi-
synagogue, who was the highest official, and one of
whose chief duties was to preach in the synagogue
on Sabbaths. A subordinate office was that of the
imr/ptTriQ (nDJ3n JHI). who had charge of juridical
affairs. In time these minor offices became heredi-
tary, thereby assuming an aristocratic tendency.
Higher positions within the community were occu-
pied by the paftl3iv6c: (possibly identical with 1J31),
the /laffr/riig aoipuv (= Q^n T'O'pn). and the ypa/ifia-evg
<="iaiD). The exact locations of only three syna-
gogues are known: the oldest synagogue, situated
in the Trastevere quarter, near tlie present Church
of St. Cecilia ; the synagogue of the Subura, situated
in the neighborhood of the Esquiline, outside the
Pomerium ; and a synagogue outside the Porta Ca-
pena, near the sacred grove of Egcria. A seminary

also existed as early as the first pre-Christian cen-
tury (Philo, "De Virtutibus et Legatio ad Caium,"
ed. Mangey, ii. 568).

There were at that time a Jewish court of jus-
tice, a ritual bath, and catacombs. One of these
catacombs was discovered by Bosio in 1602, but all
knowledge of this has been since lost. Up to the _
present time, however, four others have been dis-
covered, all of which are situated on the Via Appia.
These catacombs each contain two cubicula, deco-
rated with artistic paintings. The oldest inscription
met with in the catacombs is of the second pre-Chris-
tian century. Besides individual tombs there were
family vaults, and the great age of these may be
surmised from the family names which appear on
them, as Julii, Claudii, Flavii. To a certain o.\tent
the inscriptions reveal the callings

Jewish whicli the Jews pursued. The greater
Catacombs, part were engaged in business; several
were money-brokers; the handicrafts
were well represented, and there appear to have
been many artists and mechanics among them.
There were also Jewish actors, of wliom Aiityros,
during the reign of Nero, and Faustina, in the time
of Marcus Anrelius, are known, as well as several
contemporaries of Martial. The number of Jewish
slaves was very considerable. The Jews distin-
guished themselves by their devotion to their homes
and families, their industry, and their frugality. An
exception to this is furnished by the sons of Herod
and their descendants, who are known to have been
spendthrifts. The women occupied a very honora-
ble position ; young girls were married between
thirteen and fifteen years of age. Religious cere-
monials, the Sabbaths, the feasts and fast-days, and
the dietary laws were strictly observed.

The only custom which was in opposition to an-
cient Jewish ideas was the use on tombstones of ani-
mal and human figures. The language in ordinary
use was at first Greek and later Latin, these lan-
guages being used also in the Sabbath services.
Whether the Jews really were zealous in making-
proselytes can not be ascertained, but it is known
that many Romans, often large numbers togetlier,
embraced Judaism, which generally resulted in per-
secutions. Those who embraced Judaism were either
semi-converts (lycn ^"Ij = -deoctjizl^ or ceftufievoi)
or proselytes (pnvn ''^J). Not even the downfall of
the Jewish state diminished the number of conver-
sions that were made ; still only the names of a few
converts have been preserved. These include
Pulvia, the wife of Saturninus, senator during the
reign of Tiberius; Poppaea, Nero's wife, who was a
dsoasjiri ; Pomponia Grsecina, who was accused (58)
of practising religious ceremonies unauthorized by
the state; Beturia Paulina, converted at the age of
seventy (perhaps identical with the Talmudic Beku-
rit orBerusia; Gratz, "Gesch." iv. 102); and Chry-
sis (3d cent.). Among the male converts the most
noteworthy were Agrippa, son of Fuscus of Phenon,
and ^milius Valensius.

The Christians at this time constituted merely a
sect of Judaism, and the complete separation of the
two creeds occurred at a much later period. Not
until the second century did the Christians visit the
synagogue with tlie purpose of holding disputa-

Rorae

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

460

tions with the Jews aftur service. Ollierwise, Jew-
ish customs aad ceremonies were uulvnown to the
Romuns, and not a single one among their most
famous autliors has given even an approximately
correct representation of Judaism. Of fantastic

accounts tlie following may be men-
Notice tioned: Justinus (" Epitomu," x.x.wi.
by Pag-au 2), Taeitns ("Hist." v. 2-5). Plutarch
Authors. (■• De Lside," .\xxi.), Strabo ("Geo-

graphia," xvi. 235 ei seq.), Cicero ("De
Proviuciis." V. 10; "Pro Flacco,"' Ix. et .«<■?.). See
Ci,.\ssic.\L Writers. Jewish hatred of Rome dates
from tlie de-
struction of Je-
ni.salem. Kome
was regarded as
" t li c fourth
beast" in Dan-
iel's vision, and
was given the
name of "Ha-
zir " (the swine;
Zunz, "G. S."
iii. 221 ; Baelier,
i 11 ■■ .Md nat s-
.<!clirift,"1871, p.
226). The "uni-
corns " of Isa.
xxxiv. 7) are re-
ferred to the Ro-
mans (D'DXI =
D"rOni, and tlie
" Dumali"of Isa.
xxi. 11 is applied
til Pi(.me (XC'D

r^}:}\-\ = Ncn

NOn; ('ii. Yei.
'I'u'an. Ixiv. 10a).
jMen tiiin m list
also lie made of
the legend con-
cerning Titus.

^N i t h t h e
downfall (if pa-
ganism and the
growth (if the
Christian relig-
ion the status of
the Roman Jews
underwent a
chanLie. They
began to leave
I li e T ra s t e -
vere quarter and
to settle on the

leftbanlc nf tlii' Tilier. and Ihe Pons Fabrieius at
last came to lie known as tlie Pons JiuUeornm. The
Jewish population decreased in the same proportion
as the general population. The organization of tlie
community changed but little. At ils head stood
theni^jn C'NI, to wliiim were inferior in rank the
nOJ^n ''L"t<l. the latter being known also as "patri-
archs" and " presbyters" (D'JpT). These ofliciated
also as "didascali " (D''JD")). I" the Justinian no-
vella; the}' are called also Np-|2 ''C''"!, while tlie sem-
inary is called nyin n"n- <tu account of the gen-

A Niwik ill tbe I

(Fro:nL«ii(ioiii. ■' Nc

eral lack of knowledge of Hebrew the ollicc of
prayer-leader (nDJ3n tTn) gradually increased in im-
portance. The rh'2 'Cn or nn'C" ''L"NT
Justinian rendereil decisions in all religious mat-
Con- lers.
stitution. The Jews were no longer citizens, but
constituted, in common with Saxons,
Franks, and Friesians, a "schola peregrinorum " or
"society of foreigners." They enjoyed full relig-
ious libertj', in return for which they assumed all a
citizen's duties toward the state ; minor offices also
were open to them. Only the synagogues were ex-
empt from the
duty of quarter-
ing soliliers.
The trade in
slaves consti-
tuted the main
source of liveli-
hood f o r the
Roman Jews,
a u d d e c r e e s
against this traf-
hc were issued
m 335, 336, 339,
3S4, 415, 417,
423, 438, and 743.
Education was
mainly religions
in character,
most stress be-
ing laid upon
a knowledge of
the Bible. " The
liturgy under-
went practically
no changes. In
case of a death
ill the connnu-
nity the mourn-
ers' first meal
consisted of len-
tils ; at such
religious cere-
monies as cir-
cumcision and
betrothal, ten
witnesses were
required. The
term D13pi131D

meaning "god-
father," origina-
ted probably in
Rome, and the
idea associaliiig tlif life beyond with a heavenly
feast, in which all the virtuous share, found its
origin there also (.see Jellinek, "B. II." v. 45 et xeq.).
The same may be said concerning the legend of the
Jlessianic war.

The Roman Jews were scorned and insulted by
both pagans and Christians, and Claudius Rutilius
Numantius calls them "a people which performs
shameful operations on new-born children." Chris-
tianity strictly forbade compul.sory baptisms, but it
inflicted the severest punishments upon those who

lid Cljiltd al It.iuie.

,v Talcs u£ Ancient Rome.")

461

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kome

fell away I'voin llir Cliuicli after Ihcv had been ba])-
ti/.eil. In spite of tliis the relations between (Iliris-
tiaus and Jews in Rome seems to liave been in-
timate, and iintiltlio latter parlof the eigbtli century
many of tlie former observed tbc Jewish Sabbath.
Gradually, Cliristianity began to assail Judaism;
this tendency became especially manifest in disputa-
tions. The first of these disputations is said to have
been held in lionie between Pope Sylvester (314-

IJome bet^ome more abundant. Business and indus-
try were zealou.sly pursued, and the prosperity of the
community increased apace, but its members num-
bered only one thousand. The Jews still inhabited
in part the Trasteverc quarter, a fire which des-
troyed twenty-one Torah scrolls being reported as
having taken place in the synagogue there in 1268.
Another grou]i of Jews lived in the uoi tlieastern
part of the city, wheie a "Mons Juda'orum" still

KUA Via, Ro.Mii:.

(The Large Door to the Kight I.ed to the Old Talmud Torah.;

(Erom a photograph.)

836) and the Jew Noah ; another is known to have
taken place between Theophilus and a Jew named
Simon. The famous legend concerning Peter, which
attril)utes to him the authorship of the Sabbath-
prayer ("Nishmat") and of the prayer for the Day
of Atonement ("Etan Tehillah"), originated in
Rome.

From the eleventh century till into the fourteenth,
the sources for the internal history of the Jews of

existed in the thirteenth centuiy. Besides the old
synagogue in the Trastevere there were several
others: that in the Riolle della Regola; that erected
in 1101 b}' Nathan ben Jehiel and his brother
Abraham; the Bozecchi Synagogue, which was
built in the thirteenth century ; the synagogue of R.
Joab, built in the fourteenth century; and the Gal-
lican synagogue, probably built by French Jews.
Very little is known concerning the organization

Rome

THE JEWLSH ENCYCLOPEDIA

462

of tlie community at this period. At tlie bead of
jurispi'udence stood the "judex" (|"T); anotlieroffl-
cial was the "strator," who possibly was ideiitieal
with the Djna. The prayer-leader was called ]tn-
The Jews were free from taxation, but whenever
the pope entered tlie cily they were required to do
hiiu homage and present liim wilh two pounds of
( innamou and one pound of pepper. The antago-
nism between Jews and Christians was not very deep,
and although few iutermaiTiages occurred, the popes
olteu complained of sexual intercourse between
Ihciu. Disputations were often held, but these led to
no definite results; and they were generally brought
aliout by the Jews
themselves. A com-
parison between jio-
lemieal writings of
this period — as, for
example, between
tliose of Solomon lien
Jloses and those of
the Dominicans — at
once shows the su-
periority of the Jew-
ish disputants.

The educational
system of this jieriod
was higlily devel-
oped; the knowledge
of Talmud, Bible,
and religious practise
had attained a hi.gh
degree of exeellence ;
grammar, however,
appears to have been
somewhat neglected.
Jla the ma tics and
]iliilosophy were as-
siduousi}' cultivated,
and the study of med-
icine was greatly fa-
vored. A more fre-
quent interchange of
coriespondence took
place between the
scholars of Rome and
of other European
cities. It appears
tliat the Jews were
well represented in
mercantile and Unan-

cial circles also. Their export trade was very con-
siderable, while the clothing and dyeing industries
were equally flourishing; a number of Jews were
engaged also in agricultural jjursuits. The wealth-
iest among the Jews imitated the Italian nobility,
not mercl}' with regard to their mode of living, but
also by adopting tlie roles of Mtccenates, thereby
stimulating scientific pursuits among Jews.

Among the prominent Jewish physicians of the
Ihirtcenth and fourteenth centuries the following
may be mentioned: Benjamin and Abraham ben
Jehiel Anaw and their descendants, wlio bore the
additional name Ha-Rofc; Maestro Ga jo; Zerahiah
ben Isaac; Moses ben Benjamin ; MenahemAnaw;
Nathan of Cento, his son Selonie, and his nephew

An Entrance to tlie (iln

(From a clruwi

Samuel; Immanuel ben Solomon; Judah ben ]5en-
janiin.

Among the foremost writers of this period were:
Kaloiiynuis ben Jekuthiel ben Levi Zarfati (1330) ;
Judah ben Benjamin Anaw(1247); Benjamin ben
Abraham Anaw (13G0); Jehiel ben Daniel (1205);
Solomon Jedidiah ben Moses (1373); Jehiel ben Jeku-
thiel ben Benjamin Rofe (1284); Abraham ben Joab
and Benjamin ben Joab (1284); Sabbai ben j\bitti-
thiah(1285); Solomon ben Zedckiah (1288) ; Yom-
Tob ha-Kohen (1390) ; Solomon ben Jehiel ben Abra-
ham (1292); JIoscs ha-Rofe ben Benjamin (1292);
Jonathan ben Abiezer (1394); Mishael (1299) ; Moses

ben Joseph (1302);
Moses ben Hayyini
(1304); and Paola,"tljo
daughter of Abiahani
ben Joab (1288).

It was considered
fashionable to write
verses, and tljc art
of poetr\', therefore,
foimd followers also
among the Roman
Jews ("Mahbcret,"
xiii. 101a). The
Jews' mode of living
was in keeping with
the prosperity of
their ail'airs, and their
city dwellings were
comfortable and
I'ooniy. The attire of
tlie men consisted of
k n e e - p a n t a 1 o o n s
(D'DJ3D), stockings
reaching to the knee
'D^pIC Tin), a laced
girdle (t3J3X with
D'^TIS). a tunic-like
coat (llID) thrown
over the shoulders,
shoes of leather or
cloth (ni^'a:N), and
a broad-brimmed hat
(van, nSL''); in cold
weather gloves were
worn (■'D3N11J). The
color of the dress was
either gray or yellow.
The women wore as
an outer garment the DJina, made from cloth of
variegated colors, provided with a long train, and
held together with a girdle; on the street they
wore a veil. The wealthy wore diamonds in the
hair.

The popular games or amusements included:
"even and uneven," ninepins, ball, marbles, dice,
and chess. The Purim festival was celebrated by
the burning of an effigy representing Haman. The
Rejoicing of the Law was observed with festivities,
and the bridegroom of the Law expended large sums
of money forsocial ))urposes. Weddings and circum-
cisions took place in the synagogue, the former even
(m Sabbaths. The dead were arrayed in linen gar-
ments and buried on the day of death ; the tomb-

tt(. at. Ruini-, Aljoiit ISSIJ.

ig by L. Haght.)

463

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Borne

stones were iuscribed only with the name of the de-
ceased and the date of death.

Religious life centered in the synagogue; the haz-
zan was the prayer-leader and was highly respected.
German prayer-leaders often officiated in Roman
synagogues and were known as mityD. Regarding
the sermons preached in the synagogue nothing
further is known than that those on the Sabbath
before Easter were protracted for hours, sometimes
lasting until late in the afternoon. On the Ninth of
Ab the Torah was not placed upon the table, but
was taken to the farthest corner of the synagogue
by one who held it in his hands and read aloud from
it standing. The liturgy had not reached its final
form at this period, and disputes often took place
within the community concerning the admission of
various prayers.

The legends that originated at this period had

reference not only to ancient places and palaces,

but also to the Jewish pope ; several of these are

extant in various versions, and all are

Legends indicative of the longing of the Jews
and for full liberty, and of their sorrow

Traditions, over their sad condition. Many fam-
ilies trace their genealogy back to
these early times. The most ijrominent of these
are: Degli Mausi, Piatelli, or Umani (D^uy); Fauci-
relli (Dnyj); Dc Rossi (a'DHN); De Pomis Qd
Q^niann); De Ceprano (CJinoS); De Buscchio
Cp'SU); De Cento (TIKDn). Mention should be
made also of that branch of the Anaw family called

Sk n'3 or nDJ3n p.

The history of the fourteenth and fifteentli cen-
turies gives evidence of a still more progressive civ-
ilization. With regard to the educational system,
the child, as soon as it left the elementary school,
devoted its time either to learning a trade or to the
study of science. The latter study embraced four
branches : natural science, medicine, philosophy, and
poetry. The study of the sciences was, however,
overshadowed by the rise of mysticism in the foui'-
teenth century. Nevertheless, the "songs of the
scholars of Rome " are often mentioned. The chief
industries of the Jews were the manufacture of silk
and clothing; but their most important occupation
was the management of financial transactions. The
ever-increasing percentage of usury charged for
loans tended still further to estrange" the Jews from
the Christians. The former were, however, gener-
ally protected, and even foreign Jews who went to
Rome on business were given safe-conducts. Men-
tion should also be made of the butcher's calling.
The Jewish shambles were at that time situated on
the Piazza Macello. Roman Jews, when traveling
abroad, were granted ten days' exemption from the
wearing of the Jewish dress, and Jew-
Authors of ishphysicianswerelikewiseexempted.
th.e Of famous authors who flourished at

Fourteenth. Rome in this period the following are
Century, worthy of special mention : Moses ben
Hayyim; Judah; Menahem Zemah
ben Abraham Rofe ; Jehlel ben Solomon ben Joab ;
Joseph ben David of Rome ; and several members of
the Bethel family.

The dress worn by the Roman Jews resembled
that worn by the Germans of the same period. As

a distinguishing feature all male Jews were obliged
to wear a red domino, and all women the so-called
"quaruelli." In spite of this, a tendency to luxury
in dress, as well as extravagance at entertainments
and religious ceremonies, developed in Rome to such
an extent that a rabbinical conference in Bologna
found it necessary to adopt stringent measures
against it; these measures have special reference to
bridal processions. Besides the games already men-
tioned the niX^3t3 DJ? pinX, a kind of backgam-
mon, and card -playing were known in Rom-e at (his
time; the last-named, however, was permitted only
when visiting the sick. Music was not cultivated at
all, and Christian musicians were employed ; even at
mourning festivals it was necessary to hire Christian
female mourners. The language in common use was
Italian; fragments of Hebrew-Italian dictionaries of
this period have been found not only of the Bible and
the Prophets, but even of the "Moreh Nebukim."

The enjoyment of comparative peace and the
study of philosophy and the natural sciences re-
sulted in some neglect in visiting the synagogue.
At the same time there was a decided increase of
superstition. Transgressions of the laws were of
daily occurrence ; in order to check these, D^JIDD were
appointed, with authority to inflict severe punish-
ment on any law-breaker whom they seized. At the
head of the community stood a committee (D1"1133),
consisting of ten members. There were, besides, cer-
tain Jewish police officers, possibly identical with the
above-mentioned D'JIDO. Tliese oflBcers were en-
trusted with the task of collecting the taxes of the
Roman Church. All administrative officials were
exempted from wearing the Jewish mantle. The two
main synagogues were known b)' the narnes nDJ3
"n nXT and ^3'nn nDJ3. The official taxes were as
follows: (1) l.lbO gulden as a contribution to the
games; (2) 10 gulden (gold) to the "consul merca-
torum"; (3) the "decima" (tithes) tribute levied by
the pope — 1| ducats per thousand for incomes larger
than 1,000 ducats; 1 ducat per thousand for incomes
between 500 and 100 ducats; and i ducat per thou-
sand on incomes below 100 ducats.

The Jews of Rome were full citizens and were
under the jurisdiction of the Capitoline Curia. Offi-
cials were severely punished for insulting the Jews
or for bringing suits against them on Sabbaths or
festivals. Severe punishment was also ijrescribed
for any one who molested the Jews on public high-
ways or waterways^^But how far the laws were
carried out itoidiftfcult to say.

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the
period of decline in Jewish learning. Only phi-
losophy and medicine were diligently studied. The
following Jewish physicians of this period are
known: Jacob Mantino (who was decent at the
medical college) ; R. Judah di Ascola
Physicians (1524); Elijah ben Abraham (1536);
of the Fif- Judah ben Jehiel and Solomon ben
teenth and Jehiel (1539); Zerahin ben Matti-
Sixteenth tliiah and Moses iia-Levi ibn Abi
Centuries. ri3B' (1538); Joseph ben Abraham;
Samuel ben Abraham ; Jekuthiel ben
Isaac and Moses ben Isaac (1539); Joseph ben Abra-
ham (1540-50); Eliezer and Menahem ben Shabbe-
thai de Nola, and Moses ben Obadiah (1543) ; Mor-

Home

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

464

deoai ben Michael (1544); Maestro David (1545);
Banich beu .ludah and jMesliuUam ben Abraham
(1549); Judah ben Isaac; Moses; Jehiel ben Solo-
mon; Moses bar Joseph de Monto Poizio; Meslml-
1am ben Abraham and Joseph ben Abraham (1550).

The famous writers of this period inelnde: Moses
Rieti ; Elijah Levita; the physician Judali ben Ben-
jamin; Astruc Crescas Kalonj'mus; Daniel ben
Abraham de Castro ; jMoses benEliakim; Menahem
ben Mordecai; Zemah ben David; Abraham bar
Mordecai; Hayyim beu Samuel; and Joseph ben
Elijah Hakim. The converts Franciscus Paruas,
Paulus Evulius, and Fabius Pamugi altained fame
in tliis period as copyists of Hebrew manuscripts.
Later, liome, in common with other Italian cities,
had its own Helirew printing establishments, but
none of these en-
joyed any very
long existence.
A Hebrew print-
ing-press was es-
tablished in 1518
by the sons of
Abigdorha-Levi
Leuiatori(nvpn),
but neither this
nor one estab-
lished in 1545 by
Antonio Bladao
and Isaac ben
Immanuel de
Lattes existed
tor any length
of time. A third
one was founded
later (15T8) by
Francesco Za-
netti. The busi-
ness of money-
1 ('. n d i n g i n -
creased during
t li i s p e r i od ;
IJome hail thirty
Jewish bankers.
Not until the es-
tablishment of
t h e m 0 n t e d i
pieta were they

confronted with any competition. The tailoring
ti'ade emplo_yed a very large numljer of Jews, who
were especially famous for making the so-called
" Romanesciue " garments. The trade in drugs like-
wise was increasing among them.

In this period Jewish mu.sieians appeared, for the
first time in Roman history; Juan Maria and Jacomo
Sanseeondo were especially famous. The singer
Abramo dell 'Arpa and the dancing-master Gugli-
elmo Ebreo Pesarese also established reputations in
Rome as artists of merit. In spite of the many
papal decrees and edicts, rehitions between Jews
and Cln-istians remained friendly, and the social
])Osition of the Jewish community was made easier
lj_y the apjjointment of a cardinal-vicaras supervisor
of communal affairs in place of a clerical magistrate.
Everj' male Jew over five had to wear a j'cllow
badge on his Ijreast, and every Jewess, two blue

New S.vnagoffue at Rome, Erected on the Site of the Old Ghetto.

(From a photograph.)

Stripes in her veil. Pope Alexander VI. substituted
for the yellow badge a disk made of cord, and Leo
X. introduced a badge made from red cloth. In
addition to his red mantle, every Jew had to wear a
straw-colored biretta. Besides the "decima"-tax
and the contribution to the games, a
Taxation. " vigesima "-tax of 1,000 scudi annu-
ally was levied; in 1533 it was, how-
ever, reduced to 300 scudi. Of the income of 2,100
scudi which the Jews derived from their slaugliter-
house they were recpiired to pay the sum of 700
scudi into the papal treasury.

With regard to the internal affairs of tlie conunu-
nity, the Roman Jews were divided into Italians and
Ultramontaues; and of the sixty meudjcrs of the
"Congrega," or representative body of the commu-

nitj' thirty -five
were Italians
and twenty-five
Ultramontanes.
The authority of
these representa-
tives within the
coumituiity was
most extensive,
and their de-
cisions, when
approved by the
cardinal - vicar,
had the force
of law. At their
head stood the
two eamerlingi
(Cnnn), one an
Italian and the
othrr an Ultra-
montane, and
under tliese
were the two
collectors of
alms (D^DJnD),
one Italian and
one Ultramon-
tane. To see
that decrees
were properly
obeyed, five
"ditensori dci
of whom were
The protocols

capitoli " were appointed, three
Italians and two Ultramontanes.
of the proceedings were kept by the second rabl)i
and signed by the communal secretary (-|2')D
XnD). The oldest extant records of this kind date
from the year 1536. The number of synagogues at
this period was eleven, of which only ten are known
])y name: (1) Keneset Yir'at Adonai; (2) Keneset
ha-Hekal ; (3) Keneset Arba'ah Rashim ; (4) Kene-
set ha-Sha'ar; (5) Keneset Katalani ; (0) Keneset
Kastiliani ; (7) Keneset Aragonini ; (8) Keneset Zi-
ziliani; (9) Keneset Zarfatiyim ; (10) Keneset Ash-
kenazim. Divine services in Rome were held ac-
cording to four dillerent rituals — Spanish, Italian,
Frencli, and German. The sermons were preached
from the tribune (nD''3) in Italian, which language
was used also for tlie prayers. Of tombstones da-
ting from this period, only one (of 1543) has been

465

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rome

pri'scTved. Jewish religions ceremonies were uot
strictly observed, aud the niorul standard was low.
Tluis, during Alexander's reigu flity Jewesses were
burned at the stake tor leading immoral lives.

With thewalling-in of the ghetto under Paul IV.,
in the sixteenth century, the status of the Jewish
community underwent a sad change. The original
name of the ghetto was Serraglio delli Hebrei; this
in 1502 was changed to Ghectns. At first it had
five gates, to which three more were add(!d later.
The number of houses in the ghetto in the seven-
teenth century was 130, divided between two large
and six small streets. Opposite the main gate was
erected a tall cross bearing in Hebrew characters the
inscription: "I have spread out my hands all the

the child was .sent to the elementary school, and
thereafter it frecjuented the Talmud Torah, where
extracts from Maimonidcs' " Mishneh
Inner Life Torah "constituted the best education-
in the Six- al material. As regards social matters,
teenth and strict rules were laid down as to the

Seven- gifts that might be exchanged at
teenth Cen- festivals, and as to those that might

turies. be presented to a bride by the bride-
groom, by filends, and by relatives.
At a festival the music had to be provided by Jews,
and only biscuits, bread, and wine might be served
as refreshments. No one might give his daughter in
marriage to a stranger without the express permis-
sion of the ralibi and the congregation. The cus-

I.NTERIOR OV TilK NEW SYNAGOGUE AT ROME.
(From a photot^rapb.)

day unto a rebellious people" (Isa. Ixv. 2). As the
ghetto covered a space of only one square kilometer
and was inhabited by at least 10,000 people, its at-
mosphere was always unwholesome. The commu-
nity looked after the cleaning of the streets and
often levied high taxes for that purpose, but fre-
(|uent overflowings of the Tiber would deposit the
liver's filth in the streets and prevent their being
kept clean. Of the original eleven synagogues only
five remained. In addition to the old cemetery in
the Trastevere the community had two others on the
northern slope of Mons Aventiuus. On account of
frequent violations of the tombstones, it became
customary to keep them in the dwellings.

During this period but little attention was paid
to educational matters. When five years of age
X.— 30

torn of taking a second wife in addition to the first
when the latter was childless was permitted up to
the eighteenth centur}^ In spite of the prohibitions
of the congregation the luxury displayed in dress
was very great; the women even wore rings on
all their lingers. Coffee, tea, and tobacco were
soon introduced into the ghetto, and it was even
found necessary to discuss whether grace should be
said over anj^ of these articles (N. Segre, in "Pahad
Yizhak," p. C3a). There were also strict rules with
reference to funeral ceremonies, and the coffin of a
prominent man was decorated differently from that
of an ordinary peison. Religious superstition in-
creased, and so did the literature of the ritual ;
"ma'amadot" and "aslimoiot ha-boker" were com-
posed and were recited daily before sunrise in the

Kome

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.

466

synagogues, where they were listened to with great
devoutness. A sermon was preached either every
Sabbatli or every second Sabbath. Each sermon con-
sisted of a Biblical text and its exposition ; otherwise
it was generally shallow and related chiefly to mor-
als. The Sabbath was celebrated in a strict and
austere manner.

The administration of the affairs of the commu-
nity was in the hands of the " fattori del ghetto " ;
their office was a very ungrateful one, as its holders
were liable to be called to account and punished
severely for acts which they had no authority to
prevent. Seventy-five of these officials who held
office between 1551 and 1605 are enumerated by
Vogelstein and Rieger (" Gesch. der Juden in Rom,"
ii. 313-313). In addition to other duties the fattori
were required to revise and print the "Capitoli-
Ordini " every five years. All elections for offices of
honor within the community were held on the 17th
of Tammuz, and persons who were elected were in-
stalled in office on the Sabbath following the Ninth
of Ab.

The more the community suffered under papal
oppression the more its tendency to charity increased,
and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there
were in Rome forty-four charitable societies (see
Vogelstein and Rieger, ib. ii. 315-318, whei'e they are
enumerated). Jewish converts were made, as a rule,
not among the members of the congregations, but
rather among the rabble which at all times infests
the capital of the ■^orld. The conversionist sermons,
which were held first in the Church of S. Trinita
degli Pelligrini, and later in that of S. Sabina, on the
whole produced no results.

The main Jewish industries at this period were
tailoring, retail trading, the goldsmith industrj', sad-
dlery, carpentering, and fishing. The trade in sec-
ond-hand clothing was particidarly active, while
the money-lending business died out completely,
and the community became greatly impoverished.
The study of medicine also decreased, although the
names of sixteen Jewish physicians and surgeons
of this period are known (Vogelstein and Rieger, ib.
ii. 326). The Jews were under the jurisdiction of
the cardinal-vloar : in civil cases, under the court of
the vicarate; in criminal cases, under the Sacra
Consulta ; and in commercial cases, under the mer-
cantile court. Unjust taxation contributed more
than anything else to the stagnation and impoverish-
ment of the community ; new taxes were added al-
most daily, and they grew to such an extent that in
1683 the total debt of the community amounted to
261,036.72 scudi.

Following are lists of the known rabbis, scholars,
and poets of Rome :

Kabbis : Moses Nasi, Abraham ben Shabbethai, Shabbethal
ben Mo.ses (11th cent.).

Solomon ben Abraham, Ezra ben Mattlthiah, Menahem ben
Judah (13tb cent.).

Leonte (Judah) ben Moses, Abraham ben Jehiel Anaw, Shab-
bethai ben Solomon, Meir ben Moses, Judah ben Benjamin n^v\
Benjamin ben Abraham Anaw, Zedeklah ben Abraham Anaw
(ISthcent.).

Azriel ben Hayyim Trabotta, Pethahiah Jare ben Baruch,
Joseph ha-Levi, Solomon de Treve<i Zarlati (15th cent.).

Israel ben Jehiel Ashtenazi, Shabbethai ben Mordecai, Maz-
liah ben Joseph, Michael ben Shabbethai, Abraham ben Aaron
de Scaazoccho, Solomon ben David Corcos, Isaac ben Immanuei
de Lattes. Solomon ben Shemaiah, David Falkon, Shabbethai

ben Joseph Oalabrese, Isaac ben Solomon, Shabbethai ben
Joseph, Michael ben Isaac, Joseph ben Obadiah, Elijah ben
Joseph dl Nola, Baruch ben Joab di Fes Fiori, Isaac ha-Kohen
ben Abraham, Ellezer Mazliah ha^Kohen, Isaac ben Judah, Moses
ben Immanuei Lattes, Isaac ha-Kohen ben Abraham Ashkenazi,
Hamul Eliezer Mazliah ben Abraham (Kith cent.).

Samuel ben Moses de Castel Nuovo, Hananeel Sforno, Abra-
ham de Cammeo, Raphael Hezeklah Manoah Corcos, Shab-
bethai b. Mordecai Panzieri, Judah ben Isaac Menaghen, Vito
(Hayyim) Menaghen, Raphael de Lattes (17th cent.)

Jacob Jeshurun Lopez, Shabbethai ben David de Segni, Abra-
ham ben Jacob Anaw, Mazliah di Castro, Mahallalel ModigUano
(18th cent.).

Judah Leon di Leone, Jacob Fasani, Israel Moses ben Eliezer
Hazan, Samuel Toscano (M.D.), Laudadio Co8n, AbramoTos-
cano (M.D.), Sabatino Scazzochio (19th cent.).

Vittore Castiglione (20th cent.).

Scholars : Cseclliusof Calacte (1st cent. B.C.).

Fluvius Josephus (1st cent. c.e.).

Theudas, Pelation, Matthias ben Heresh (3d cent.).

Hiyya bar Abba (3d cent.).

Abba bar Zemena (4th cent.).

Yiram ol Magdiel (9th cent.).

Jehiel ben Abraham, Joab Anaw (11th cent.).

Nathan ben Jehiel, Moses ben Menahem, Benjamin ben Joab
(12th cent.).

Solomon ben Shabbethai, Benjamin ben Moses, Mordecai ben
Benjamin, Daniel (father of Jehiel Sofer), Joab (grandfather of
Paola), Isaac of Camerino, Nathan ben Menahem, Mattathiah
ben Shabbethai, Benjamin ben Solomon, Jehiel ben Benjamin
Anaw, Zedekiah ben Benjamin Anaw, Lewi, Slmbah, David,
Moses ben David, Moses ben Abraham, Benjamin ben Judah,
Benjamin ben Joab Nakdan, Joab ben Solomon, Jekuthiel ben
Jehiel Rofe, Moses ben Hayyim, Moses Rofe ben Benjamin,
Benjamin ben Judah, Judah Leone Romano, Nathan ben Eliezer
(1279-83) , Zerahiah ben Isaac Gracian, Solomon ben Moses de
Rossi (13th cent.).

Moses ben Judah de FanciuUe, Moses ben Shabbethai, Moses
ben Jekuthiel (14th cent.).

Moses ben Isaac de Rieti, Flavins (Rairanndus) Mithridates
(loth cent.).

Obadiah ben Jacob Sfomi, Mordecai ben Moses Galante,
Elijah ben Asher ha-Levl, Isaac ha-Kohen ben Hayyim, Jacob
Mantino of Tortosa, Amatus Lusitanus, David de Pomis, Jehiel
ha-Kohen ben Moses (16th cent.).

Tranquillo Vita Corcos, Shabbethai Ambron (17th cent.).

Poets : Rome was for a time a "nest of singing birds"' ;
among the best known were : Solomon ben Judah (9th cent.).

Shabbethai ben Moses, Moses ben Shabbethai, Kalonymus ben
Shabbethai (11th cent.).

Daniel ben Jehiel, Abraham ben Jehiel, Judah ben Menahem,
Leonte ben Abraham, Benjamin ben Abraham, Nathan ben
Zedekiah (12th cent.).

Moses ha-Sofer ben Benjamin, Moses ben Abraham Anaw,
Jehiel ben Jekuthiel, Moses ben Joseph, Solomon ben Moses
Jedidiah, Solomon ben Moses ben Joseph, Abraham ben Joab,
Solomon ben Moses (13th cent.).

Immanuei ben Solomon, Judah Siciliano, Solomon (14th
cent.).

Joab ben Nathan, Daniel ben Judah (15th cent.).

Deborah Ascarelli (16th cent.).

A new era dawned for the Jews of Rome when
Victor Immanuei ascended the throne of Italy, and
the secular power of the papacy came to an end.
At the close of the seventies the ghetto began to
fall, but the poorer among its inhabitants left it re-
luctantly, because the rents were too high in other
parts of the city. To ameliorate this poverty the
Society, di Fratellana per 11 Progresso degli Israeliti

Poveri was formed ; its first president

Recent was M. Rava (1876-79), who was suc-

Condition. ceeded by M. Alatri. The latter held

the office until 1883, when he was suc-
ceeded by Tranquillo Ascarelli. In 1881 the com-
munity was reorganized, although it took two years
before the statutes were enacted and duly sanctioned
by the king. Two years later the ghetto was alto-
gether in ruins. The Talmud Torah also was reor-
ganized, Dr. Bhrenrcich being appointed its princi-

467

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Borne
Bdua

pal. After his daatli (1890) Angelo Povnari became
his successor. Vittore Castiglione, formerly of
Triest, has been chief rabbi siuce 1904. Castiglione
is a prolific writer both in Italian and in Hebrew ;
he has recently begun to publish an Italian transla-
tion of the Mishnah.

Besides the five old congregations, which are uni-
ted under one roof, and in which bolli the Italian and
the Spanish rituals are followed, the community has
a magnificent temple on the Esquiline (built in 1889),
and the " New Temple," erected iu 1901. Rome has
(1905) a total population of 403,000, of whom more
tlian 7,000 are Jews.

Bibliography: Griltz, Ge«c7i. passim; Mommsen, BflmfecJie
Oeschichle, vol. 1., passim ; Schiirer, Oesch. vol. il.; Victor
Scliulze, Untergany des Oriechisch-Blimischeii Heiden-
thums., Jena, 1S87; Winter, Stellung der Sdaven bei den
Juden, Halle, 1886; Mansi, Concilia, vlii., ix., x.; Giide-
mana, Geseh. vol. 11.; Gregorius, Gesch. der Stadt Rom ini
Mlttelalter; Stern, Urkllndliche BeitrUge zur Stellung
der Pilpste zu den Juden ; Berliner, Gesch. der Juden in
Rom, Berlin, 1893 ; Vogelsteln and Eieger, Oesch. der Juden
in Bom ; Berliner, Aii.s den Lctzten Tagen des Rl'imischen
Ghetto, Berlin, 1888; Statuti delV Univerfdtd Israelitica fii
Roma, 1885; Hudson,^ History of the Jews in Borne, Lon-
don, 1884 ; 11 Vcssillo Israelitico, xlvl. 50-51 ; Jewish Com-
ment, Oct., 1901 ; Schechter, Studies in Judaism, 1895.
J. S. O.

• Typography: A numbor of Incunabula,

Nos. 13-23 and 24, not dated, but probably printed
before 1480, have never had their locality determined ;
but, considering that Rome was the first place in
Italj"^ where any printing was done, it has been con-
jectured that these works were all published at
Rome and that possibly they may be earlier than the
Rashi, the first dated Hebrew print. One of the
printers' names was Benjamin of Rome, which seems
to confirm this suggestion. Among the books thus
printed was the 'Aruk, the greatest Hebrew work
produced at Rome.

The earliest prints with the locality Rome actually
determined are of 1518, when Elijah Levita's "Sefer
ha-Bahur " and " Sefer ha-Harkabah " were published
by Faccioti de Montetchio, the Hebrew printing
being done by three brothers, Isaac, Yom-Tob, and
Jacob ben Abigdor. Six years later a Hebrew book
was printed by one Antonio Bladao, who later, in
the forties of the same century, printed three rab-
binical works. In 1578 Francesco Zanetti, of the
Venetian family of that name, printed various parts
of the Bible at Rome. Lastly, the Congregation de
Propaganda Fide published at Rome in 1683 the
"Derek Emunah" of Julio Morossini, a conversion-
ist work.

Bibliography: Steinschneider, Jildische Tupographie, m
Ersch and Gruber, B)ncMC. section ii., part 28, pp. 43-63;
idem, Cat. Bodl. col. 3102.

J ■

BOMI, DANIEL B. JEHIEL : Scholar and
poet of the tenth and eleventh centuries; probably
a brother of R. Nathan, author of tlie '"Aruk."
He wrote a commentary on the treatise Zera'im and
a "yozer" in twenty -two verses for the Sabbath
Hanukkah, in which he recounts the Antiochus story
(MS. De Rossi No. 959). The forms he uses are
those of the old payyetanim. See Hanukkah.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Zunz, Z. a. pp. 163, 649; Rapoport, ToUdotde-
R ivatan, beginninK and note 2; Landshutli, Ammudehd-
'Ahndah, p. 61, Berlin, 1857 ; Fuenn, Keneset Twrael, pp.

S. o.

ROMI, JOSEPH: Name by which Joseph b.
Judah Hamiz, a pupil of Leon of Modena, is erro-
neously known. He was the author of " Belli Hamiz "
(seelsa. xxx. 24), for which Modena claims he wrote
an introduction ; the work is not otherwise known.
Perhaps he was the author also of " Yode'e Binah,"
a work which Azulai mentions having seen in a
partly burned and illegible condition. Romi wrote
a commentary to Zohar Genesis, which was con-
tinued by Moses Zacuto. In 1663 he edited at
Venice the Zohar Hadasli.

Bibliography: Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 1451-52; Eeg-
gio, Behinat ha-Kiabbalah, p. xii., Goritz, 1852; Vogelstein-
Ilieger, 'Gesch. der Juden in Bom, ii. 266.
D. L E.

BOMM : Family of printers and publishers of
Hebrew books in Wilna. The family formerly lived
in Grodno, where the book-dealer Baruch. b. Jo-
seph Romm established a printing-olflce in 1789.
The Romm Hebrew printing-oflice was the first in
Lithuania, and its authorization by King Stanislaus
August was considered an important event. In 1799
Baruch removed to Wilna, where he died April 29,
1803. The business was inherited by his son Meu-
ahem Man Romm, who in 1835 began, in partner-
ship with Simhah Zimel of Grodno, the crowning
effort of a Jewish printer's career — the publication
of a new edition of the Talmud. The first volumes
of that edition bear the imprin t " Wilna and Grodno " ;
the later volumes have that of Wilna only ; but the
work was really done in Ozar, neai;,Grodno.

Menahem Romm died Oct. 13, 1841, and was suc-
ceeded by his only son, Joseph Reuben Romm,
under wliom the printing-house was formally es-
tablished in Wilna in 1847, although the report of a
conflagration ("Allg. Zeit.des Jud." 1840, No. 20)
proves that it had even previously been of considerable
size and importance. He died Feb. 28, 1858, and
left three sons, David, Hayyim Jacob (d. Aug.
80, 1869), and Menahem Gabriel. David, who
was the head of the firm, died suddenly March 9,
1860, while on his way from St. Petersburg, where
he had obtained a practical monopoly of the Hebrew
printing and publishing business in Russia. After
his death the monopoly was broken, and numerous
printing establishments sprang up in various parts
of the empire. In 1863 the present firm name,
"Witwe und Brlider Romm," was adopted; and the
house has maintained its position as the foremost
Jewish publishing concern in Russia, if not in the
world. Deborah Romm, David's widow, took an
active interest in the firm's affairs until her death on
Dec. 3, 1903. Three of her sons reside in New York.

The Russian Hebraist Mordecai (Marcus) Plungian
was corrector in Romm's printing-office from 1869
to 1873.

Bibliography: Steinschneider, Hebr. BiM. 11. 58; iil. 22; iv.
50, 126, 153 (Benjacob's list) ; AljMrit Dabar, note at the end
ot the treatise Niddah of the latest edition ol the Babylonian
Talmud, Wilna, 1897.
J. P. Wi.

RONA, JOSEPH : Hungarian sculptor ; born
at Lovas Bereny Feb. 1, 1861. He was destined by
his parents for a mercantile career, and studied at
Kecskemet and Budapest; but he soon became a
pupil in the studio of a sculptor, where he was
obliged to do the most menial work, although lie

B6na
Boot

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

468

was able to spend liis nights copying sculptures.
Receiving a state scliolarsliip, Rona went to Vienna,
where he studied for three years with Prof. Helmer;
and in 1883 he entered the school of Zumbusch as
royal stipendiary. In 1885 lie gained the Roman
prize at Berlin with his " St. Sebastian " and " Olym-
pic Victory." After working for a time in Rome
he went to Paris, and in 1886 he settled iu Bu-
dapest.

Rona's most noteworthy works are; the statue
commemorative of the War of Independence, at
Ofen ; the busts on the Lustspieltheater, Budapest ;
the mausoleum of Gen. Klapka; the equestrian
statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy, in front of the
castle of Ofen ; and the statues of Louis Kossuth at
Miskolcz, and Nikolaus Zrinyi at Budapest.
BiBLiOGRAPnY : Pallas Lex.

s. L. V.

RbNA, SAMUEL: Hungarian dermatologist;
bora at Halas April 1, 1857; educated at Budapest.
He was appointed assistant to Prof. Kaposi at
Vienna in 1881, and was assistant at the Rukos Hos-
pital, Budapest, from 1882 to 1885. In the follow-
ing year he with several associates founded a public
dispensary for the sick, reserving for himself the
section for syiDhilitic diseases. He then traveled
through Europe, studying at the principal clinics, and
iu 1889 was appointed lecturer and in 1893 depart-
mental physician at the city hospital of Budapest,
being made professor six years later..

Rona's principal works are: "Adat a Korpazo
Horglob Tanahoz " (1883), on pityriasis rubra ; " Der-
matitis Exfoliativa " (1886) ; " Lichen Planus " (1888) ;
"Lichen Scrophulosorum Infantum" (1888); "A
Prurigo Lenyege es Gyogyitasa " (1892), on the
nature and cure of prurigo.

Bibliography: Pallas Lrx.
s. L. V.

RONSBXTRG, BEZALEL B. JOEL : Bohe-
mian Talmudist and rabbi; born 1760; died Sept.
25, 1820, in Prague, where he was dayyan and head
of the yeshibah. Zacharias Frankel was one of his
pupils.

Ronsburg was the author of " Horah Gaber "
(Prague, 1802), commentary on the treatise Hora-
yot, and " Ma'aseh Rab " (ib. 1823), marginal notes on
the Talmud, reprinted in the Prague (1830-32) edi-
tion of the Talmud and in several later ones. Under
the title "Sedeh Zoflm," in the Prague (1839-46)
edition of the Talmud, are printed Ronsburg's notes
to the " Halakot " of Asher b. Jehiel ; and the same
are reprinted in Romra's Wilna edition. The fol-
lowiug works by Ronsburg remain in manuscript :
"Pithe Niddah," novelise, and "Sihat HuHin."

At the official naming of the Jews, Ronsburg (the
name is derived from Rousperg, a city in Bohemia,
and is pronounced "Roushborg") took the name
Daniel Bezaleel Rosenbaum, the initials "3'-|
standing for both surnames; he continued to be
known, however, as Ronsburg.

Bibliography: Kisch, In Mnnatsschrift, xlv. 220; Zedner,
Cat. Hehr. J3onks Brit. Mus. under the erroneous spelling
Rendsburg ; Furst, Blhl. Jud. iii. 129, s.v. Banschliurg.
E. C. L, G.

ROOT : The fundamental or elementary part of
a word. So far as is known no Hebrew equivalent

of the term "root " vtfas used with a philological ap-
plication by the teachers of the Talmud. It is true
that they disputed about the radical meaning of
"shaha|," dividing it into the elements "shah " and
"hat," and that they even played upon the word
"'ikker" (Gen. xlix. 6; see Hul. 27a; and comp. A.
Berliner, " Beitrage zur Hebraischen Grammatik in
Talmud," etc., 1879, p. 31, and especially Zemah
Rabbiner, "Beitrage zur Hebraischen Synonymik in
Talmud," 1899, pp. ix. etseq.); but a clear concep-
tion of " 'ikkar, " the Aramaic synonym of " shoresh "
(root), as denoting the fundamental element of other
linguistic forms, was by no means shown. Menahem
ben Saruk, however, spoke of "letters which be-
long to the fundamental form ['' yesod "]," and Hay-
yuj had a conception of root-letters when he argued
against Menahem's opinion that the "asl" of the
form "wa-tofehu" (I Sam. xxviii. 24) is the letter
S(seeM. Jastrow, Jr. 's, ed. of Hayyuj's Arabic trea-
tise " The Weak and Germinative Verbs in Hebrew

. . by Hayyug," p. 2, Leyden, 1897).

More important is the question in what the oldest
scholars considered the Hebrew roots to consist.
Menahem found them in those letters of a verb
which are preserved iu all its modifications; but
Hayyu] opposed to this the important theory that
no Hebrew verb consists of less than three letters (B.
Drachman, "Die Stellung und Bedeutung des Je-
huda Chajjug in der Geschichte der Hebraischen
Grammatik," \). 44, Breslau, 1885), and this trilit-
eral form was called " root " until modern times.

Investigation did not end here, however. For

various reasons it began to be recognized that trilit-

eralism did not represent the original

Biliteral state of the Hebrew language. For
Roots. example, forms were found like "gal-
gal" (to roll, revolve; Jer. li. 25;
comp. Ed. KOnig, " Oomparativ-Historisches Lehr-
gebaude der Hebraischen Sprache," i. 350, 372, 378),
showing that the biliteral ~>i was an adequate sub-
stitute in the language for the triliteral Ij^J. The
same is the case with ptOPtD (="hurl"; Isa. xxii.
17), which is related to ^3113 (see Konig, I.e. i. 500).
Furthermore the relationship in meaning among
many triliteral verbs could not long remain un-
noticed. Traces of the consciousness of this rela-
tionship possibly occur even in the Old Testament
itself, as is shown by the fact that the name "Noah,"
which comes from the root ni3, is explained by
"yenahamenu," a form of the root Dnj (Gen. v. 29).
This is so remarkable that it was commented upon
even in Bereshit Rabbah, ad loe. (A. Berliner, I.e.
p. 32). The same consciousness lay behind the
connection of words related in meaning, like "ya-
dush," "adosh," etc. (Isa. xxviii. 28; comp. Jer. viii.
13, xlviii. 9a; Zepb. i. 2), or "te'or" and " 'eryah "
(Hab. iii. 9). That such relationship exists in the
case of many triliteral verbs can be plainly seen in
a comparison of the following groups of examples ;
Don and hTV (Gen. xxx. 39,41; xxxi. 10; Ps. li. 7),
both denoting originally " to be warm " ; ftJJ and
tyi (comp. tj)ij, Isa. xxxiii. 19), "to be strong";
{J'B'K (Isa. xlvi. 8), ^^^ (,Ier. 1. 15), and 'B'V or orig-
inally 'E^l, "support," as is shown by the words
" yesh " and " tushiyyah " ; xe»j and the Ethiopic
"wase'a," "to lift up"; TD' (originally 1D1) and

469

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bona
Koot

HID, whose fundamental meaning is "to sit" (comp,
ti'T and crn); DHJ. "to groan," and HDH, "to roar";
5)11 (from wliicli is derived "terufah," denoting
■■ liealing ") and NS"1. Tlie natural conclusion from
a comparison of such groups of roots is that their
logical relationship rests upon the two consonants
which are common to all.

But verbs in which no weak letter occurs also
show that two of their consonants are fundamen-
tal ones ; and a proof of this is the variable posi-
tion of the third consonant, as is seen from a com-
parison of lU (Arabic, "jazar") and fij (Arabic,
" jaraz "), whose radical meaning is "to cut." The
Arabic " katt " = " cut " and the Assyrian " Ijitti "
find their common elements in t3p (Ezok. xvi. 47)
= "section, small quantity," in the accusative, "for
a small thing." t3p is found also in 3t3p = "cut
down, root out," in f]Dp = " pluck off," in ^tOp
= "cut down, kill," and in jDp, in which last the
meaning " cut off, shortened " has been developed
into the conception "small." These proofs have
been developed by Hebrew grammarians with vary-
ing degrees of distinctness, Gesenius having ex-
pressed them with exceptional clearness in his
"Lehrgebaude," 1817, pp. 183-185.

The linguistic forms, then, which, as the first ex-
pressions of conceptions, contain the rudiments of
the more developed forms, are called " roots " ; and
it is not too great an assumption to say that such
roots form the basis of all real words in the Hebrew
language. One can neither speak with Friedrich
Delitzsch of triliteral roots in the Semitic languages,
nor doubt with Kautzsch ("Grammatik," 37th ed.,
1902, § 30g) that all Hebrew verbs can be traced
back to the biliteral form, i.e., roots.

That biliteral verbs, however, were ever really
in use is not probable, assuredly not certain. The
above-mentioned fact that pj, for example, was re-
duplicated to form pjpj does not prove
Triliteral that the biliteral pj was ever actually
Roots. in use, as Philippi believed ("Morgen-
landische Eorschungen," etc., p. 96).
The two consonants J and ") were, it is true, suffi-
cient to express the idea of " to roll " when they
formed part of a certain combination ; but it does
not follow that they expressed such an idea when
they stood alone. Moreover, it is found that all
the verbal and nominal forms of the Hebrew lan-
guage are built up on a triliteral foundation. This
triliteral basis is shown, for example, even in such
forms as !iap ( = " they surrounded ") ; for if the 3 of
this form were not doubled in pronunciation the
preceding "a" would have been lengthened. Fur-
thermore, nouns like 2X (" father ") show in their in-
flection, as in the status constructus ''3K, that they
correspond to a triliteral verb. That the expression
of verbal concepts by three consonants was a very
old characteristic of Semitic languages has been re-
cently affirmed by the Egyptologist Erman in the
following words: " Triliteralism was already well
developed when the Egyptian separated from the
Semitic languages " (" Sitzungsberichte der Berliner
Academic," 1900, pp. 333, 350).

The triliteral embodiment of a verbal concept is
called "stem" or, more exactly, "basal stem," to

distinguish it from other verb-stem^ (as "niph-
'al," etc.) which are built upon it. Moreover,
David Kimhi at the beginning of his " Miklol "
designated the three consonants of the verbal stem
"kal " as " the fundamental letters."

The third consonant, which lengthens the bilit-
eral form into the basal stem, may best be called
"root-determinative," in imitation of a term used in
Indo-Germanic grammar. It may be either a repe-
tition of the second consonant (e.g. , in 330), or one
of the sounds articulated in an adjoining part of the
vocal cavity («.(/., in "nahan" and "lakah"), or a
sound which is half vowel and half consonant (e.g.,
in 3K'1 = 3C'' ; Dip ; I^J - ■ ''^J), or an unstable spiritus
lenis (e.g., in XVD), or, finally, a sound which is
weak only in comparison with the other two conso-
nants, as is seen in the above-mentioned verbs 3tOp,
fltjp, etc. As to the position of the root-determina-
tive, it may stand in the first, second, or third place,
as the examples already given show. Nevertheless
its position is not wholly independent of certain
laws. The first or second consonant of the stem
may not be a repetition of one of the two root
sounds. Exceptions, as in TINB'K' (Ezek. xxxix.
2), etc., are secondary formations ; the form cited,
for example, has come from NB»xti'(all the examples
may be found in Konig, I.e. ii. 463). Identity of
the first and third consonants of the stem, however,
has not been so carefully avoided (comp. |JJ, K'^jy;
KOnig, I.e.), because this indirect recurrence of the
same sound was less difficult for the articulatoi-y
organs. Moreover, the three stem consonants show
an interesting mutual relation in respect to quality.
When, for example, tODp, nn3. and T\y are consid-
ered it is seen that the three soimds in each stenr
agree in degree of strength : all three are either em-
phatic, surd, or sonant. All sounds which can stand
together in the root-stem of a Sen'iitic verb are called
compatible.

Quadriliteral stems originate in the following
ways : (a) The ordinary doubling of the middle con-
sonant to express a greater degree of in-
Q,uadrilit- tensity in the action in question (comp.
eral Roots. "kittel,"etc.) is often replaced by the
insertion of a vowel (comp. 331D) or
of a liquid consonant (DD13V Ps. Ixxx. 14; 5^3130,
I Chron. XV. 27; etc.). (b) For a similar purpose the
following consonants of the stem may be repeated :
the third (comp. DDlp, p5)"l). the first and third (S^i,
ipip, etc), the second and third (D'NVXS = "descend-
ants," derived from KV\ etc.), or the first after the
second (Ci'ni. etc. ; see the list of rarer intensive
stems in Konig, I.e. i. 683; ii. 379, 399 et seq.). (c)
Other quadriliteral stems, to express the cause of an
action, were formed by prefixing one of the follow-
ing four related sounds: n (Tl^Jin, Hos. xi. 3);
D (Dvi'D, Lev. xi. 23) ; the spiritus asper (ij^DpH,
etc.); or the spiritus lenis (D'3t;'S, Jer. xxv. 3;
comp. Konig, I.e. ii. 380, 401 et seq.). (d) Quadri-
literal stems formed by prefixing a 3 or fl (comp.
^DpJ and pDpnn) have a reflexive meaning, the J
probably being connected with the "n"of "anokJ,"
etc., thus expressing the reflex effect of the action
on the subject. The same object was gained in other
forms by prefixing fl, which recalls the fl of nnx,

Koquemartine
Rose

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

470

etc. (Kouig-, I.e. ii. 383). It is, moreover, an interest-
ing fact that the Semitic languages vary in regard
to tlie number of their pluriliterals and that the
formation of sucli stems has increased in the younger
branches of the family. The old Hebrew shows
comparatively few pluriliterals, while the post-
Biblical Hebrew presents a large number of newly
created examples (llillel, " Die Nominalbildung in
der Mischna-Sprache," 1891, p. 36). Old Syriac has
a considerable number; but modern Syriac far sur-
passes it in this regard (NOldeke, " Qrammatik der
Neusyrischeu Spraclie," pp. lOQetseq., 256 et seq.).

Bibliography : Friedrich Phlllppl, Der Grvndstamm des
Starken Vcrlmms im Semitischenund Sein VerhUltniss zur
Wurzd, in MorgenUlndifiche F.. 'schungen, 1875. pp. 69-i06 ;
Friedrich Delltzsch, Studien Uher Indogermanvicli-Semi-
tische Wurzelverwandtschaft,lS~3; J.BaTtb, Die Nomi-
nnlbilflung in den Semitlschen Spraclien, 1891, pp. 1 et seq.
Other references and arguments may be lound in E. Konig,
Cnmparatlv-HMorUches Lehrgebdude der HebrUischen
Spraehe, 1895, li. 369-374, 463.
T. B. K.

ROaUEMARTINE, DAVID: French schol-
ar; a native of Roquemartine; flourished in the
fourteenth century. He was the author of "Zekut
Adam," giving an allegorical interpretation of the
Biblical narrative of the sin of Adam, which, accord-
ing to the author, is not to be understood literally.
A part of this work, which is still extant in manu-
script (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No.
2233, 2c, Giinzburg collection), was published in
"Yen Lebanon " (Paris, 1866) by Jehiel Brill, with
notes by Senior Sachs, who shows that the "Zekut
Adam" was used by Isaac Abravanel in his com-
mentary. Roquemartine was the author of two
other works which also are extant in manuscript:
(1) a commentary on Isa. liii., and (3) a commentary
on Hag. ii. (Neubauer, I.e. No. 2232, 2a, b).

Bibliography: Carmoly, in Ha^Lebanon, 1., No. 9; Gross,
Gallia Judalea, p. 63i ; Fuenn, Keneset Fisraei, p. 257.
E. c. I. Be.

BOSALES, JACOB HEBR^US (IMMAN-
UEIi BOCARRO FRANCES Y ROSALES) :

Physician, mathematician, astrologer, and poet;
born in 1588 or, according to some, in 1593, at Lis-
bon; died either at Florence or at Leghorn in 1662
or 1668 ; son of the Marano physician Fernando Bo-
carro. On completing his medical and mathemat-
ical studies at the University of Montpellier, he re-
turned to his native country, where he soon acquired
a reputation as a ph3'sician, among his patients being
the Duke of Bragan(;a and the Archbishop of
Braga. In 1625 he went to Rome, where he devoted
himself to mathematics and astrology, and entered
into friendly relations with Galileo Galilei, who en-
couraged the "learned astrologer," as he styled Ro-
sales, to undertake a work on astrology. Resales
then lived for some time at Amsterdam, where he
openly avowed Judaism, taking the name of Jacob.
Some time before 1632 he went to Hamburg. In
July, 1647, he was appointed " Comes Palatinus " by
Emperor Ferdinand III. He then returned to Am-
sterdam, and subsequently went to Italy,' where he
died.

Rosales published the following works : " Tratado
das Cometas Que Aparecerao em Novembro pas. de
1618" (Lisbon, 1619); "Status Astrologicus sive
Anacephaloeosis da Monarchia Lusitana," a Portu-

guese poem in 131 (133) octaves, dedicated to King
Philip III. of Spain and other princes (ib. 1634; 2d
ed., with Latin translation, Hamburg, 1644); "Luz
Pequena Lunar: Explica^ao de Primeiro Anacepha-
laeosis, Impr. em Lisboa 1624 " (Rome, 1626) ; " Pocu-
lum Poetioum," in praise of his friend Zacuto, printed
in the latter's "De Medicorum Principum Historiti"
(Amsterdam, 1629 ei seq.); "Brindis Nupcial e Eg-
Idga Panegyrica Representada dos Senhores Isach
e Sara Abas " (Hamburg, 1632) ; " Regnum Astroruin
Reformatum" {ib. 1644), on astronomy; "Foetus
Astrologici Libri Tres " {ib. 1644), Latin poem in
170 hexameters, appended to the "Status Astrolo-
gicus " ; " Armatura Medica, sive Modus Addis-
cendi Medicinam," in vol. ii. of Zacuto's collected
works (Lyons, 1644). Rosales wrote also " ETrof
^orjTMov sive Carmen Intellectuale," in Latin in
nine sections, and " Paneg3'ricus in Laudem Ex-
imii . . . Viri Menasseh ben Israel " (Amsterdam,
1639), in honor of Manasseh b. Israel's "De Termino
VitoB"; and an ode and epigram (Hamburg, 1633)
in Portuguese in praise of Moses Abudiente's
grammar. A work by Rosales entitled " Verdadera
Composicion del Mundo Mathematico e Philoso-
phico " is said to be extant in manuscript.

Bibliography: Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. iil. 528, 878; iv. 872, 947;
Barbosa Machado, Bihliotheea Lusitana, 1. 691, iii. 196 ; Fel-
genhauer, Bonun Nuneium, p. 91 ; Manasseh b. Isniel, ed.
Well, p. Ixxx.; De Rossi-Hamberger, Hist. Wlirterb. pp. 279
et seq.; Carmoly, Les MMeexns Juifs, p. 177 ; R. Landau,
OeseTi . der JUdisehe7i Aertzte, p. 113, Beriln, 1895 ; Kayserling,
Sephardim, pp. 209 et seq. (where Rosales is in some refer-
ences confounded with Immanuel Frances, as also in Fiirst,
Bihl. Jud. iil. 160); idem, Oeseh. der Juden in Portugal,
pp. 299 et seq.; Idem, Bibl. Esp.-Port.-Jud. pp. 95 et seq.; R.
Flnkenstein, Dichter und Aerzte, p. 88, Berlin, 1864.
J. M. K.

ROSANES : Family, originally from Rosas, a
Spanish seaport. Members of it emigrated to Por-
tugal at the end of the fifteenth century, and others
settled later in Turkey, Auistria, and Russia. It
may be that "Rosales," the name of a family of
which Immanuel Frances y Rosales (see Rosales,
Jacob) was a member, is merely a corruption of " Ro-
sanes. " The family has produced prominent rabbis ;
and the best-known members are the following:

Abraham Rosanes I. (called also Abraham
the Elder) : Turkish Talmudist ; lived at Constan-
tinople in the seventeenth century. He had a liter-
ary controversy with Moses b. Nissim Benveniste ;
and some of his responsa are to be found in Samuel
Primo's " Kehunnat '01am." Acording to Azulai,
he wrote strictures on Abraham Piece's "Giddule
Terumah."

Abraham Rosanes II. : Chief rabbi of Con-
stantinople about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury ; died at Jerusalem at an advanced age. A re-
sponsum of his is to be found in Isaac Rapoport's
"Batte Keliunnah" (i.), and he wrote also prefaces
to several rabbinical works.

Abraham Abele ben Zebi Hirsch Rosanes :
Preacher of Minsk, Russia ; died there Dec. 33, 1827.
He w-as a preacher of great oratorical talent, and was
the author of "Zikron Abraham," a commentary on
the Pesah Haggadah (published with the text,
Wilna, 1859), and of " Mahazeh Abraham " (ib. 1863),
a work on ethics. According to the preface to the
former work, Abraham Abele left five other works.
None of these has been published.

471

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

KooLuemartiue
Bose

Atraham ben Israel Kosanes : Bulgarian
scholar ; bora at Ilustchuk 1S38 ; died there 1879.
In 1867 ho made a voyage to Palestine ; and his ac-
count of that country, written in Judseo-Spauish,
was translated into Hebrew by Meualiem Farhi and
published in "Ha-Maggid"(xi., No. S8-xii., No. 34)
under the title "Mas'ot ha-Abbir." Rosanes was
the founder of a Jewish school in his native place,
which he endowed with a valuable library.

Judah. Rosanes : Rabbi of Constantinople ; died
there at an advanced age April 13, 1737; son-in-law
of Abraham Rosanes I. His teachers m Talmud
and rabbinics were Samuel ha-Levi and Joseph di
Trani. On account of his knowledge of Arabic and
Turkish he was appointed by the government, chief
rabbi ("'hakara bashi") of the Ottoman empire.

Judah took a very active part in condemning and
denouncing the Shabbethaians ; and he was one of
the signers of an appeal to the German communi-
ties to oppose the movement (comp. Jacob Emden,
"Torat ha-Kena'ot," Lemberg, 1870). He wrote:
<1) "Parashat Derakim" (Constantinople, 1727), a
work containing twenty-six homiletic treatises on
various subjects. It is followed by a pamphlet en-
titled (2) " Derek Mizwoteka," a treatise on the 618
•commandments, based on tlie treatises on the same
subject by Maimonides and others. (3) "Mishneh
la-Melek " (ib. 1731), glosses and comments on Mai-
monides' " Yad ha-Hazakah " ; later It was printed
together with the " Yad " (Jessnitz, 1739-40). Sev-
■eral works bear approbations ("haskamot") by
Judah Rosanes, among others Joseph Almosnino's
"'Edut bi-Yehosef."

Zebi Hirsch Kosanes ben Issacliar Berush. :
Oalician rabbi; born in 1733; died at Lemberg Nov.
S>, 1804 ; grandson of Jacob Joshua, author of " Pene
Yehoshua'." Zebi Hirsch was first rabbi at Bol-
<?how, a small town near Lemberg; and in 1787 he
was appointed chief rabbi of the latter place, where
his wife, Judith, managed a printing establishment.
He wrote " Tesha' Shittot " (Lemberg, 1800), novellas
and dissertations on nine Talmudic subjects, to-
gether "with some novelise by his father. Some of
his own novelise are to be found also in the marginal
notes to the Talmud entitled "Pilpula Harifta."
He gave approbations for a great number of rabbin-
ical works.
Bibliography : Azulai, Shem lia^Gednlim, I., s.v. ^hraham

Rosanes and Judah Bosanes ; Buber, Anshe Shem, p. 198 ;

Eisenstadt, Babhan e Minsk, p. 26, Wllna, 1899 ; Fuenn, Kcne-

set Yisrad, pp. 63, 291, 420; Furst, Bihl. Jud. ili. 167-168.
S. M. Skl.

KOSANES, JACOB : German mathematician ;
born Aug. 16, 1842, at Brody, Galicia. He received
a common-school education in his native town and
became a clerk in a mercantile house in Breslau,
whither he had removed in 1858. Preparing him-
self for the university, he commenced the study of
•chemistry in 1860, and mathematics and physics in
1862. After receiving his Ph.D. degree from Bres-
lau University in 1865, he continued his studies
in Berlin, and returned to Breslau, where he became
privat-docent in mathematics in 1870, assistant pro-
fessor in 1873, and professor in 1876. In 1897 he
received the title "Geheime Regierungsrat," and in
1903 was elected "rector magnificus" of his alma
mater.

Among Rosanes' many essays may be mentioned:
"Das einem Kegelschnitt Umschriebene und einem
Andern Eingeschriebene Polygon," in Crelle's " Jour-
nal fur die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik"
(Berlin), Ixiv. ; " Dreiecke in Perspectiver Lage," in
"Mathematische Annalen," ii. ; "System von Ke-
gelschnitten," iJ. vi. ; "EinTrincip.der Zuordnuug
Algebriiischer Pormen," in Crelle's" Journal, "Ixxvi. ;
" Linearabhitngige Punktsysteme," ib. Ixxxviii. ;
" Abhangige Punktsysteme und Reciproke Ver-
wandtschaften Zweier Ebenen," ib. xcv. He is, be-
sides, the author of " Die Neuesten Untersuchungen
in BetrefT Unserer Anschauungen vom Raume,"
Breslau, 1871.

Bibliography: Poggendorff, Bingraphisch-Literarwches
HandwOrterbuch, iii. 2, Leipsic, 1898.
s. F. T. H.

KOSE I This flower is not mentioned in the Bible,
and the earliest reference to it occurs in Ecclus.
(Sirach) xxiv. 14. It is mentioned in the Mishnah
and the later Apocrypha, while in the Targum and
with many subsequent exegetes it takes the place of
the Lily in Canticles. The rose is apparently men-
tioned also in Ecclus. (Sirach) xxxix. 13 and 1. 8,
although the presumptive Hebrew read probably
IB'IC (lily) in both passages. In Wisdom ii. 8, on
the other hand, there is an unmistakable allusion to
roses; and in III Mace. vii. 17 the Egyptian city of
Ptolemais is described as "rose-bearing," while the
phrase " led as the rose " occurs in Enoch, Ixxxii. 16 ;
cvi. 3, 10; and the Christian passage II Esd. ii. 19
mentions the rose and the lily together.

The rose grows wild in Palestine and Syria, its
principal varieties being Mosa plimnicia, Boiss. ; Roaa
canina, Linn, (throughout the mountains), and its
variety Rosa collina, Boiss. ; Bosa glutinosa, S. and
Sm., Rosa dumetorum, Thuill., Rosa Thureti, Burnat
and Gremli (these in Lebanon and the last-named
also in Hermon) ; Rosa lutea, Mill. (Amanus) ; Rosa
dumetorum, var. Schergiana, Boiss. (Antilebanon) ;
and Rosa arabica, Crep. (Sinai) ; while the chief culti-
vated variety is Rosa sulpUurea, Ait. (Post, " Flora
of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai," p. 308; BornraUlIer,
" Zur Kenntnis der Flora von Syrien und Palastina,"
1898, p. 46).

According to an old mishnaic tradition, there was
at Jerusalem, where no other garden is said to have
been allowed, a rose-bed dating from the time of the
ancient prophets (Ma'as. ii. 5; Neg. vi. 625, 15; B.
K. 82b), but it is significant that the rose is not men-
tioned among the perfumes which were imported
from India at a very early time. The rose, like the
myrtle, however, formed part of the bridegroom's
garland (Yer. Sotah xv. 322, 5). The Mishnah con-
tains, furthermore, halakic regulations concerning
the rose (Sheb. vii. 6 ; Yer. 87b) and the oil which
was extracted from the preserved flower (Sheb. vii.
7). The oil was used by the upper classes instead
of common oil (Shab. xiv. 4), and was no rarity at
Sura (Shab. 11 lb). It is mentioned in a haggadah,
which says that as asses' fat in oil of roses receives
perfume but loses it again, so Hagar and Ishmael
became renegades after they left the presence of
Abraham ("Agadat Bereshit," ed. Buber, p. 74).
The Talmudic "mishhali kebishah" consisted, ac-
cording to a geonic tradition, of roses and violets

TLose
Roseubacher

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

472

preserved in sesame-oil ; ami a number of other cos-
metic and medicinal preparations and confections of
roses are mentioned, including rose-water, the favor-
ite perfume of the East, and comfits of roses and
honey or sugar.

There was no special eulogy for the rose ; and it
became a moot question whether it should be con-
sidered a perfumed wood or a perfumed fruit. Hai
Gaon, Maimonides, and others inclined to the for-
mer view, while many of the casuists held the
latter.

In post-Biblical Hebrew poetry and in the Hagga-

dah the rose is scarcely mentioned, although there is

a haggadic reminiscence in the Syriac statement that

roses had no thorns before the fall of man (" Book

of the Bee," xviii. 8). Proverbs men-

In tioning this flower also are compara-

Rabbinical tively rare ; but it is said that " youth

Iiiterature. is a garland of roses, but age a crown

of thorns" (Dukes, "RabbinischeBlu-

menlese," No. 333), while an erroneous variant of

a well-known apothegm declares that "Poverty

becomes Israel as a red rose does a white horse "

(Hag. 9b). In a figurative sense " rose " is used in

the Talmud of the membrane of the iungs or their

medial lobes.

Medicinal powers were long ascribed to this
flower. Maimonides frequently used rose-water and
other rose preparations in his dietetics ; and similar
use of the rose was made by Mel'r Aldabi and Men-
aliem ibn Zerah in the fourteentli century. Tobias
Cohen includes in his pharmacopoeia (148c, 153b)
red, white, and yellow roses, and the dog-rose.

Symbolically the rose is associated with paradise ;
for the dawn is the reflection of the roses of heaven,
as the sunset glow reflects the flames of hell (B.
B. 84a). Bight hundred of these flowers adorn the
tent of each pious man in heaven (" Gau 'Eden,"
p. 25, in "'B. H." v. 42). A Persian satrap to whom
Kaba brought a gift sat up to his neck in roses (or,
according to Rashi, in a bath of rose-water), attended
by odalisks, and asked, "Have ye aught like this
in paradise?" ('Ab. Zarah 65a). According to a
medieval legend, finally, R. L8w, a famous cabalist
of Prague and a favorite of the emperor Rudolph
II. , died of the perfume of a rose, which form Death
had assumed, since he could not gain access to the
sage in any other way.

The " rose of Jericho " is not a rose, but the crucifer
Anastatica Hierochuntina, Linn., or the composite
Odontospermum pygmmum (DC), Benth. and Hook.
(Asteriscus pygmceus, Coss. and Dur).

J. I. L5.

ROSi, ARNOLD JOSEF : Rumanian violin-
ist; born at Jassy Oct. 24, 1868. He began his
musical studies at the age of seven, and at ten en-
tered the first class in violin at the Vienna Conserva-
torium, receiving instruction from Karl Heissler. In
1881 he made his first appearance, at a concert of the
Vienna Piiilharmonic Society, in Goldmark's vio-
lin concerto, and shortly thereafter received an en-
gagement as solo violinist and leader of the orches-
tra at the Hoftheater. In the following year he
founded the now famous Rose Quartet, which has
played in nearly every important city of Austria
and German}'. In 1888 Rose made successful tours

through Rumania and Germany, and in the same
year was appointed concert-master at the Bayreuth
festivals.

BiBLioGRAPnY : Ehrllch, Celebrated Violinists, pp. 180, 181 ;
Riemann, Musih-Lexikan.
S. J. So.

ROSEBERY, HANNAH, COUNTESS OF:

English social leader and philanthropist; born in
London July 27, 1851 ; died at Dalmeny Park, Scot-
land, Nov. 19, 1890; only daughter and heiress of
Baron Meyer de Rothschild. Like her mother.
Baroness Juliana de Rothschild, she was very active
in philanthropic undertakings. In 1878 she married
the Earl of Rosebery, but, notwithstanding this
union, remained a Jewess, was a member of the
Central Synagogue, London, and took a deep inter-
est in the concerns of the community. She made
Lansdowne House the focus of social Liberalism,
and was an important element in the organization
of the Liberal party.

Lady Rosebery was especially attached to the In-
stitution for the Oral Instruction of the Deaf and
Dumb, and also associated herself with the move-
ment for promoting a better system of nursing.
She was appointed by the queen president for Scot-
land of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for
Nurses, and was also resident of the Scottish Home
Industries Association. She took much interest in
the condition of working girls and founded the
Club tor Jewish Working Girls in Whiteohapel.
She left two sons and two daughters; she was
buried in the Willesden Jewish Cemetery.

Bibliography: Jew. Chrrm. Not. 21 and 28, 1890; London
newspapers ot Nov. 20, 189U.
J. G. L.

ROSELLO (RTJSCELLI), MORDECAI RA-
PHAEL BEN JACOB : Scholar and liturgical
poet of the first half of the sixteenth century; born
in Barcelona, where his family occupied a promi-
nent position. In the course of his travels he reached
Naples, and when in 1541 the Jews were expelled
from that city, he went to Avignon. He subse-
quently stayed for some years in Rome, where in
1549 he finished a work, still extant in manuscript,
entitled "Sha'are Hayyim," treating of the Ten
Sefirot. In 1550 he was at Perrara. Ho wrote an
elegy ("kinah") on the martyrdom of the priest
Eleazar in the days of the Maccabees ; the elegy has
been included in the ritual of Carpentras.

Bibliography : Vogelstein and Rieger, QescU. &er Juden in
Rom, li. 102 ; Ziinz, Nachtrag zur Literatun/escli. p. 49.
B. J. Z. L.

ROSEN, JOSEPH B. ISAAC: Ab bet din and,
subsequently, rabbi in Russia; born in the first
half of the nineteenth century at Horodok, near
Pin.sk ; died Jan. 12, 1885 (Tebet 25). His father des-
tined him for a commercial career, but the youth
preferred to study, and, although obliged to pursue
his researches by himself, he made such rapid prog-
ress that at an early age he was appointed ab bet din
in his native city. This offlce he continued to fill
down to 1864. He was acting rabbi at Telz from
1864 to 1873, when he was called to the rabbinate
of Slonim, where he remained till his death. He
published two large works, " 'Edut bi-Yehosef,"

473

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rose
Kosenbacher

novellas on tlie Shulhan 'AruU, Yoreh De'ali (Wilna),
and "Pornt Yosef," sermons for the Sabbath (ib.).

Bibliography: Hrt-^»if, 1885, il. 761 ; Walden, SJiem /lo-Gc-
doUm he-Haclash, ii. 58a.
E- C. S. 0.

ROSEN, MATHIAS: Polish banker and mem-
ber of the council of state ; born at Warsaw 1804 ;
died there 1865. In 1846 he succeeded to his father's
banking business. On account of his eminent serv-
ices to the community, he was elected in 1862 mem-
ber of the council of state of AVarsaw, and was
entrusted in the following year by Grand Duke Con-
stantino with a commission to study the moral, in-
dustrial, and agricultural conditions of the Alsatian
Jews.

BiBLiOGEAPHT : Orgelbrand, Eneyklnpeclia Pnwxzechiia, xlii.
29, Warsaw, 1902 : Arch. Isr. 1863, p. 87 ; The Israelite, 1863,
ix.. No. 38.
H. R. A. S. W.

ROSENATJ, MILTON JOSEPH: American
physician; born at Philadelphia Jan. 1, 1869; edu-
cated at the University of Pennsylvania (M.D. 1889).
For more than a year he acted as intern at Blockley
Hospital, and then entered the Marine Hospital Serv-
ice. In 1893 lie attended courses at Berlin and Vi-
enna, and in 1893 was made, on account of a cholera
epidemic in Europe, sanitary attache to the United
States consulates at Hamburg and Antwerp. Tie-
turning to the United States, he served as quarantine
officer at the port of San Francisco from 1895 to
1898, and in 1899 established upon original lines
quarantine regulations for the island of Cuba. In
1900 he was appointed director of the hygienic labo-
ratory of the Marine Hospital Service at Washing-
ton, D. C, in which capacity he is still (1905) serv-
ing. In 1900 he was a delegate to the Thirteenth
International Congress of Medicine and Surgery at
Paris, and in the same year he attended courses
in that city and in Vienna. In 1901 he was ap-
pointed sanitary expert to the Second Pan-Amer-
ican Congress, held in the City of Mexico ; and in
the same year lie became professor of bacteriology at
the Washington Postgraduate Medical School.

Rosenau has written, among other works, the fol-
lowing : " Formalin Disinfection of Baggage With-
out Apparatus," Washington, D. C, 1900; " Vitabil-
ity of the Bacillus Pestis," ib. 1901; "Course in
Pathology and Bacteriology," 8 J. 190a; "Disinfec-
tions and Disinfectants," Philadelphia, 1903; (with
E. Francis) "Experimental Studies in Yellow Fever
and Malaria," Washington, 1904.

A. F. T. H.

BOSENAXT, WILLIAM : American rabbi ;
born at Wollstein, Germany, May 30, 1865. He at-
tended successively the gymnasium of Hirschberg
(Silesia), the public schools of Philadelphia, the Uni-
versity of Cincinnati (B.A. 1888), Hebrew Union
College (rabbinical diploma, 1889), and Johns Hop-
kins University (Ph.D. 1900). Rosenau was rabbi
of Temple Israel, Omaha, Neb., from 1889 to 1892,
when he became rabbi of Congregation Oheb Sha-
lom, Baltimore, Md. In 1896 and 1897 he was sec-
ond vice-president of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis ; and since 1908 he has been corre-
sponding secretary of that body. Rosenau has been
attached to the faculty of Johns Hopkins University

as instructor in rabbinica (1898-1903), as fellow in
the department of Semitics (1900-3), and (since 1903)
as associate in rabbinica. From 1900 to 1903 he was
a member of the Baltimore board of education.

Rosenau has contributed to the American Jewish
press, and was for four years associate editor of
"The Jewish Comment." He is the author of : "Sem-
itic Studies in Colleges" (1896); "Hebraisms in the
Authorized Version of the Bible " (1903) ; and " Jew-
ish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs " (Balti-
more, 1903).

Bibliography: American Jewish Year Book, 1904.
A. I. G. D.

BOSENBACH, HYMAN POLLOCK : Amer-
ican journalist; born at Philadelphia Sept. 10, 1858;
died there March 4, 1892. He was connected with
the "Public Ledger" and other papers. In 1883 he
published a work entitled "The Jews of Philadel-
phia Prior to 1800, "one of the earliest contributions
to American Jewish history (H. S. Morals, "The
Jews of Philadelphia," pp. 342-343). A.

BOSENBACH, OTTOMAB EBNST FE-
LIX: German physician; born Jan. 4, 1851, at
Krappitz, Silesia, where his father, Samuel Rosen-
bach, practised medicine. He received his education
at the universities of Berlin and Breslau (M.D. 1874).
His studies were interrupted by the Franco-Prus-
sian war, in which he took an active part as a vol-
unteer. From 1874 to 1877 he was assistant at the
medical hospital and dispensary of the University of
Jena; in 1878 he was appointed assistant at the Al-
lerheiligen-Hospital at Breslau, and became privat-
docent at the university of that city; in 1887 he be-
came chief of the medical department of the hospital,
which position he resigned in 1893; and in 1888 he
was appointed assistant professor. In 1896 lie re-
signed his professorship and removed to Berlin,
where he has since practised.

Rosenbach has written many essays for the med-
ical journals, and is one of the collaborators on
Eulenburg's " Realencyclopadie der Gesammten
Heilkunde " (all three editions) and on Nothnagel's
" Spezielle Pathologic und Therapie." Of his works
may be mentioned: "Studien i'lber den Nervus
Vagus," Berlin, 1877; "Grundlagen, Aufgaben und
Grenzen der Therapie," Vienna, 1891; "Die Ent-
stehung und Hygienische Behandlung der Bleich-
suoht," Leipsic, 1893; "Die Grundlagen der Lehre
vom Kreislauf," Vienna, 1894; "Die Seekrankheit
als Typus der Kinetosen," ib. 1896; "Die Krank-
heiten des Herzons und Ihre Behandlung," Berlin
and Leipsic, 1897; "Grundriss der Pathologic und
Therapie der Herzkrankheiten," Berlin, 1899; and
"Arzt Contra Bacteriologe," Vienna, 1903 (trans-
lated into English by Achille Rose, New York,
1904).

Bibliography: Pagel, Bioa. Lex.

F. T. H.

BOSENBACHEB, ARNOLD : Austrian law-
yer and communal worker ; born in Prague April 4,
1840; educated at the gymnasium and the university
of his native city (LL.D., July, 1863). While at the
university he continued his study of the Bible and
rabbinical literature. Since 1873 he has been active

Bosenbaum
Bosenfeld

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

474

in tlio adiniuistratiou of the Jewish commuaity of
Prague, being made a trustee in that year, vioe-pres-
iflent in 1885, and president in 1887. In 1897 lie was
made president of the Union of Bohemian Jewisli
Congregations, and in 1898 vice-president of the
Union of Austrian Jews. In 1861 he began a contest
for the degree of doctor of canon law, whicli tlien
was denied to Jews in Austria. While not success-
ful in his own case, his elforts led to the removal of
the restrictions in 1870. In 1863 he entered the law
department of the treasury as "Pinanz-Procuratur,"
being the lirsj Jew in Austria to hold a position in that
department. He resigned in 1869 to devote himself
to the practise of the law, in which he is still (1905)
engaged. Rosenbacher is likewise a Hebrew scholar,
s. D.

ROSENBAUM, DANIEL BEZALEL. See

RoNSBURG, Bezalel b. Joel.

ROSENBERG, ABRAHAM HA YYIM : Rus-
sian-American writer; born at Pinsk, Russia, Oct.
17, 1838 ; a descendant of the Jaffe family. Educated
at home and at the rabbinical seminary of Jitomir,
Russia, he became in 1873 chief rabbi of the district
of Pinsk, and was called in 1888 to fill a similar
position in the district of Nikolaief. At the same
time he taught Jewish history and religion to the
Jewish pupils at the g3'nmasium of Nikolaief. In
1891 he emigrated to the United States and settled
in the city of New York.

Rosenberg is the author of: "Ge Hizzayon," in
"Ha-Meliz," 1867-68, and the translator of "Tri-
deuski Evrei," a novel by O. Derry which appeared
in the "Evreiskij^aZapiski," 1881; "Hatan Damim,"
in "'Ha-'Ibri," New York, 1893, a novel of Russian
Jewish life ; and a cyclopedia of the Bible, of which
two volumes have appeared under the title " Ozar
ha-Shemot."

BiBLiOfiRAPHY : Hahme Yi»raelbe-Ameriha,W03; American
Jeicish Year Bank, 5863.
A. F. T. H.

ROSENBERG, ALBERT: German physician;
born Sept. 17, 1856, at Sohloppe, West Prussia;
educated at the University of Berlin (M.D. 1880).
Of his essays may be mentioned: "Die Behand-
lung der Kehlkopftuberkulose"; "Die Intuba-
tion des Kehlkopfes"; "Ueber Verengerungen des
Kehlkopfes und der Luftrohre " ; " Die Geschwillste
des Zungengrundes " ; " Ueber Mandelsteine "; " Der
Wert der X Strahlen fiir die Laryngologie" ; and
"Ueber Nasenbluten." He has summed up most
of the results of his practise in his manual " Die
Krankheiten der Mundhohle, des Rachens, und des
Kehlkopfes," Berlin, 1893 (3d ed., 1899). S.

ROSENBERG, JULIUS: Hungarian deputy;
born at Kis-Czell Sept. 13, 1856; educated at Stein-
araanger and Raab, later studying law at Buda-
pest (LL.D. 1877), where he was admitted to the bar
in 1880. Recognized, even before his graduation,
as an authority on maritime law, he was elected
a member of the board of directors of the Adria
Steamship Company, contributing much in this posi-
tion to the industrial development of the country.
In 1893 he was returned by the district of Nemet-
U j var to the Hungarian Parliament, where, botli as a
member and as secretary of the committee on polit-

ical economy, he took an active part in framing the
laws which were drafted by that committee, besides
reporting on commercial treaties with foreign na-
tions.

Rosenberg fought a duel with Count Stephan
Batthyanyi in 1885 and killed his opponent. His
wife is a daughter of Consul Don Teixeira de Mattos.

Bibliography : Sturm, OrszaggyUUsi Almanacli, 1897.
s. L. V.

ROSENBERG, MORITZ. See Rott, Moritz.

ROSENBLATT, JOSEF MICHEL : Austrian
barrister; born March 20, 1853, at Cracow, Galicia,
in which city he received his education, graduating
from the university in 1876. After having passed
his state examination in 1880, he settled in his native
city as a counselor at law. In 1877 he became lec-
turer in jurisprudence at the university; in 1884,
assistant professor of that subject; and in 1893,
professor. He is also a member of the board of ex-
aminers in jurisprudence.

Rosenblatt has taken an active part in Jewish af-
fairs, having been president of the Cracow commu-
nity and of the Austrian branch of the Alliance Israel-
ite Universelle, and a member of the Baron Hirsch
Fund for Galicia. He is also an alderman of the
city of Cracow.

He is the author of : "OUdziale w Przestepstwie,"
Warsaw, 1874; ''Ueber Strafenconcurrenz," Teseh-
en, 1877; " Ueber Hexenprocesse in Polen," Warsaw,
1883; "Wyklad Procesu Karnego," Cracow, 1883,
a handbook of procedure in criminal cases; and
"Ueber die Revision im Strafprocesse," Cracow,
1903.

s. F. T. H.

ROSENBLATT, MORDECAI BEN MEN-
AHEM (known also as Der Butener Zaddik) :

Russian rabbi; born at Autopoli, government of
Grodno, on the 3d of ly yar, 1837. After having stud-
ied under Isaac Hirsch, rabbi of Semyatich, lie mar-
ried, at the age of fourteen, a girl from his native
town. In 1856 Rosenblatt went to Pinsk, where he
studied rabbinics, and four years later he returned
to his native town. There he was appointed assist-
ant to Phinehas Michael, and both of them devoted
themselves to the study of Cabala and to practical
Hasidism. In 1870 Rosenblatt became rabbi of
Buten, government of Grodno, where, by his ascetic
life, he acquired renown as a zaddik and miracle-
worker. People fiocked to him from near and
from far— Jews and even Christian noblemen— to
ask his advice and secure his blessing. In 1887 he
was invited to tlie rabbinate of Korelitz, govern-
ment of Minsk, and four years later to that of Osh-
myani, government of Wilna. Since 1904 he has
officiated as rabbi of Slonim. Rosenblatt is the au-
thor of "Hadrat Mordekal" (Wilna, 1899), a work
containing responsa, pilpulim, and homilies. Some
of his responsa are to be found in Joseph Rosen's
" Porat Yosef," and many of his works are still un-
published.
s. B. Ei.

ROSENDALE, SIMON W. : American law-
yer; born at Albany, N. Y., June 33, 1843; gradu-
ated from Bane Academy, Vermont. He was ad-

475

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bosenbaum.
Bosenfeld

mitted to the bar in 1868, iind shortly thereafter
became assistant district attornej'of Albany county.
In 1868 he was elected recorder of Albany, which
judicial position he lield for four years. In 1881 he
entered into partnership with Rufns W. Peckham
(later associate justice of the United States Supreme
Court), and when the latter was elected to the state
bench, Rosendale. continued his law practise with
Albert Hessberg. For several terms Rosendale was
corporation counsel of Albany ; and in 1892 he was
elected attorney-general of New York state. Theo-
dore Roosevelt, when governor of that state, ap-
pointed him (1899) a state commissioner of charities,
in which honorary position he has since served, de-
voting much time to its duties.

Rosendale has always manifested a keen interest
in Jewish matters, not only in the community in
which he has lived, but throughout the country.
He was active for a long time in the affairs of the
Order of B'nai B'rith, and for ten years was presi-
dent of its court of appeals. He was for a number
of years a member of the executive board of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and fi'e-
quently attended its conventions as a delegate.
He has likewise been a trustee of the Albany con-
gregation. He acted as chairman of the conven-
tion called in Philadelphia in 1888, at which the
Jewish Publication Society of America was organ-
ized, and has served as a vice-president of the latter
and of the American Jewish Historical Society.
He is, besides, president of the board of trustees of
Union University, president of the Albany Medi-
cal College, a director of the National Commercial
Bank of Albany, a trustee of the National Savings
Bank (of which institution he has been president),
and a director of the Commerce Fire Insurance
Company. He has been governor of the Albany
City Hospital, and is connected with many other
charitable and business organizations.

Rosendale is the author of "The Involution of
Wampum as Currency."

A. G. H. C.

ROSENFELD, JACOB : Russian journalist
and publisher ; born in Austria 1839 ; died in Minsk,
Russia, 1885. His parents emigrated to Russia,
where he received his education at the gymnasium,
and he afterward attended the law department of the
University of Kiev, from which he was graduated as
attorney at law. He practised in St. Petersburg,
and wrote articles for the " St. Petersburgskiya Vye-
domosti" and for other Russian papers. The ex-
cesses against Jews in South Russia in 1881 made
a strong impression upon Rosenfeld, as upon many
other educated Russian Jews. From that time he
was an ardent nationalist. Jn the same year he
purchased the "Razsvyet,"a Jewish periodical in
the Russian language, of which he had been coed-
itor together with G. I. Bogrow. This paper then
became the organ of nationalism and of the Palestin-
ian movement; but it could not exist long, for in
1883 Rosenfeld was compelled by material difficul-
ties to stop the publishing of his paper. He set-
tled in Minsk, where he returned to the practise

of law.

S, IIu.

ROSENFELD, LEOPOLD : Danish composer ;
born in Copenhagen July 31, 1849. He was origi-
nally destined for a mercantile career, and spent six
years in a counting-house; but his love for music
manifested itself so markedly that his father allowed
him to follow his natural bent. He studied at
the Copenhagen Conservatory of Music for three
years (1873 to 1875), where he devoted himself espe-
cially to composition. In 1881 he obtained a schol-
arship which enabled him to travel abroad; and in
1889 he received the title of professor.

Rosenfeld has composed many pieces for the
piano, ahd moi'e than thirty booklets of songs with
Danish and German texts. Of his compositions for
orchestra "Henrikog Else" (Copenhagen, 1885) was
received with great favor. He has written an aid
to instriTction in singing, entitled "Om Textsang"
(ib. 1887), and has contributed a number of articles
to Danish, German, and English musical journals.

Bibliography : C. F. Bricka, Dansh Biograflali Lexicon.
B. F. C.

ROSENFELD, MORDECAI JONAH: Ga-

lician author of Hebrew books; born at Dynow,
near Przemysl, Galicia, Oct. 31, 1797; died at Sos-
nica June 5, 1885. When but seven years old he
went to Przemysl and thence to Brody, where he
studied the Talmud and Hebrew and German.
About the year 1830 he became shohet at Sosniea,
and remained there for the rest of his life. Rosenfeld
was the author of: '"EnBohen" (Przemysl, 1873),
a commentary on "Behinat '01am"; "Or Karoh"
{ib. 1873), a commentary on "Or ha-Hayyim" by J.
Yabez, witli an appendix on the origin of the Cab-
ala; "Job," with commentary (" Kenaf Renanim ")
and philological notes ("Hokah Milhm " ; Lemberg,'
1875). In addition to these works he contributed
articles to such periodicals as " Ha-Maggid " and
"Ha-'Ibri." The most important of these was "Neti-
nah la-Kohen," strictures on "Netinah la-Ger " by
N. Adler.

BiBi.Ior.RAPiiY : Ozar ha^Sifrut, i. 131 et acq.; Zeitlin, BWl.
Hchy. p. 314 ; Lippe, Amf lia-Mazkir, 1. -tOO, Vienna, 1881.
u. K. A. S. W.

ROSENFELD, MORRIS: Yiddish poet; born
at Boksha, government of Suwalki, Russian Poland,
Dec. 38, 1863; educated at Boksha, Suwalki, and
Warsaw. He worked as a tailor in New York and
London and as a diamond-cutter in Amsterdam, and
settled in New York in 1886, since which year he has
been connected with the editorial staffs of several
leading Jewish papers. At present (1905) he is edi-
tor of the "New Yorker Morgenblatt." In 1904 he
published a weekly entitled "Der Ashmedai." He
was also the publisher and editor of a quarterly
journal of literature (printed in Yiddish) entitled
" Jewish Annals." He was a delegate to the Fourth
Zionist Congress at London in 1900, and gave read-
ings at Harvard University in 1898, Chicago Uni-
versity in 1900, and Wellesley and Radclifle colleges
in 1903,

Rosenfeld is the author of " Die Glocke " (New
York, 1888), poems of a revolutionary character;
later the author bought and destroyed all obtainable
copies of this book. He wrote also "Die Blumen-
kette" {ib. 1890) and "Das Lieder Buch" {ib. 1897;

Bosenfeld
Kosenthal

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

478

English transl. by Leo Wiener, "Songs from the
Ghetto," Boston, 1899; German transl. by Berthold
Feivel, Berlin, and by E. A. Fisbin, Milwaukee,
Wis., 1899; Rumanian transl. by M. Rusu, Jassy,
1899; Polish transl. by J. Feldman, Vienna, 1903;
Hungarian transl. by A. Kiss, Budapest; Bohemian
transl. by J. Delilicky, Prague). His poems were
published, under the title "Gesammelte Lieder," in
New York in 1904.

Bibliography : American Jewish Year Book, 1904-5.
A. F. T. H,

BOSENFELD, SAMSON WOLF: German
rabbi; born at Markt Uhlfeld, Bavaria, Jan. 4, 1780;
died at Bamberg ]\Iay 13, 1863. At the age of thir-
teen he entered the yeshibah at Filrth, and for six
years he studied rabbinics tliere. In 1808 he was
elected rabbi of Uhlfeld. He accepted no salary or
emoluments. For many years he held also the post
of president of the congregation. He introduced
reforms in house and sj'nagogue, and established a
school in which he shared the labor of the teachers.
In 1819 a beautiful synagogue was dedicated con-
cerning which he published a pamphlet, " Dielsrael-
itische Tempelhalle, oder die Neue Synagoge in
Uhlfeld, Ihre Entstehung, Einiichtung und Einwei-
hung, Nebst den Drei Dabei Gehaltenen Reden." He
preached in German at a time when other Bavarian
rabbis could neither I'ead nor write the vernacular.

In consequence of the law of June 10, 1813, which
made the "Schutzjuden" citizens of Bavaria, and
which demanded that the rabbi should have a uni-
versity training, Rosenfeld submitted to a new ex-
amination. In 1836 he was elected rabbi of Bam-
berg, which post he held until his death. He took
an active part in the work for the emancipation of
the Bavarian Jews, and wi'ote a number of pam-
phlets on this subject (see Jew. Encyc. ii. 604b).

Rosenfeld edited " Stunden der Andacht flir Is-
raeliten " (4 vols., Dinkelsbilhl, 1834; 3d ed., 3 vols.,
ib. 1838). Selections therefrom in Hebrew by M.
Bendelsohn of Grodno appeared at Wilna in 18.')4
under the title "Hegyon ha-'Ittim," In 1835 and
1836 Rosenfeld published the weekly "Das FLill-
horn."

Bibliography : I. Klein, In MonalssehrlfU 1863, pp. 201-214 ;
S. Kramer, In Aetiawa, 1866, pp. 15-33 ; Fiirst, Bibl. Jud. iii.
169.
s. S. Man.

ROSENFELD, SYDNEY : American dram-
atist; born in Richmond, Va., Oct. 26, 1855; edu-
cated in the public schools of Richmond and New
York.

When the publication of "Puck" was decided on,
Rosenfeld was appointed Its editor, but he eventually
turned his attention to dramatic work. Among the
plays he has produced the following deserve men-
tion: "A Possible Case"; "Imagination"; "The
CI ub Friend ";" The Politician " ; " A Man of Ideas " ;
"A House of Cards." Rosenfeld was joint author
of " The Senator. " He has also created several oper-
ettas and musical extravaganzas, of which the fol-
lowing are the most noteworthy: "The Lady or
the Tiger"; " The Mocking-Bird " ; "The Passing
Show"; "The Giddy Throng"; "The King's Car-
nival " ; and " The Hall of Fame. "

As an adapter Rosenfeld has produced a number

of plays, the chief among tliein being "The White
Horse Tavern," "The Black Hussar," "The Two
Escutcheons," "Prince Methusalem," and "Nanon."

As secretary of the National Art Theatre Society,
Rosenfeld was one of the leaders in an eiJort to se-
cure an American national theater. In this work he
was ably assisted by his wife (nee Genie Holtz-
meyer Johnson), who organized and presided over
the Woman's Auxiliary, which was one of the most
important factors uf the National Art Theatre Soci-
ety. At present (1905) Rosenfeld is president and
managing director of the Century Theatre Company.

A. F. H. V.

BOSENHAIN, GEORGE : German mathema-
tician; born June 10, 1816, at Konigsberg, Prussia;
died there May 14, 1887. He was privat-docent at
the University of Breslau from 1844 to 1848, and
then at that of Vienna, where he began to lecture
in 1851 ; and in 1857 he was appointed associate
professor at Konigsberg. He won fame for himself
by his work "Sur les Fonctions de Deux Variables
ot a Quatre Periodes, Qui Sont les Inverses des In-
tegrales Ultraelliptiqucs de la Premifire Classe,"
which was awarded the chief prize for mathematics
at the Paris Academy in 1846 (" Memoires des Sa-
vants," etc., 1851, ix.). He proved the existence of
the Abel functions defined by Jacobi (GOpel succeed-
ing independently in tlie same operation). This
step from the Jacobi functions of one variable to
those of two variables was most important for the
development of mathematics.

s. S. G.

ROSENHAIN, JAKOB ( JAOaTJES) : Ger-
man pianist; born at Mannheim Dec. 37, 1813; died
at Baden-Baden March 31, 1894. A one-act piece of
his entitled " Der Besuch im Irrenhauses " was very
successfully produced at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
Dec. 39, 1834, and was frequently repeated, notably
at Weimar under the leadership of Hummel. His
second opera, "Liswenna," was less fortunate. In
1887 Rosenhain went to London. On his return he
settled in Paris, where, in conjunction with J. B.
Cramer, he established a school of pianoforte-play-
ing. Upon the completion of his third opera, " Vo-
lage et Jaloux," which was produced at Baden,
Aug. 3, 1863, Rosenhain permanentl}' retired from
the operatic stage in order to devote himself more
exclusively to instrumental mu.sic.

Among his principal compositions in this field may
be mentioned: symphony in G minor; symphony
in F minor; symphony, "Ira Friihling." His
brother Eduard. (Gei'man pianist and teacher; born
at Mannheim Nov. 18, 1818; died at Frankfort-on-
the-Main Sept. 6, 1861) published a serenade for cello
and piano.

Bibliography : Grove, Diet. o/ Mufdcand Mtisicianf! ; Schil-
ling, Universal Lexikon der Tonkunst ; Mendel, MusilM-
linehes Conversations-Lexiknn.
8. J. So.

ROSENHAUPT, MORITZ : German cantor;
born at Offenbach on the Glan, Rhenish Prussia,
March 14, 1841, where liis father was rabbi and
teacher; died at Nuremberg Nov. 16, 1900. Rosen-
haupt commenced his studies under Cantor L5we
at Strasburg, and continued them under Salomon
Sulzer in Vienna. Ho then became cantor and

477

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Boseufeld
Boseuthal

teacher at Kochem on the Mosel, and in 1864 was
called to a similar position at Speyer, where two
well-known musicians became his teachers— Pro-
fessor Wiss and the choir-leader Benz, who taught
liim theory and counterpoint. In 1881 he succeeded
Josef Singer (who had been called to Vienna) as
cantor at Nuremberg.

Roseuhaupt is the author of "Shire Ohel Ya'a-
Ijob," synagogal songs (part i., Speyer; parts ii.
and iii., Nuremberg). He set the Forty-second
Psalm to music as a concerto, wrote a number of
Hebrew songs, and composed various secular pieces,
overtures, serenades for orchestra, etc.

s. J. F.

BOSENMXJIiliER, ERNST FRIEDRICH

KARL : Cliristian Orientalist and theologian ; born
Dec. 10, 1768, at Hesselberg; died at Leipsic Sept.
17, 1835. He studied at Erlangen, Giessen, and
Leipsio under his father, and became assistant pro-
fessor of Arabic at the university of the last-named
city in 1796. He devoted a large part of his life to
Ms "Scholia in VetusTestamentum," in twenty -four
parts (Leipsio, 1788-1835), which formed the basis
of most of the exegetical work on the Old Testa-
ment in the nineteenth century. He published in
five parts an abridgment of this colossal collection
(ih. 1835). Besides this his "Bibliographisches
llandbuch," in four parts (Gottingeri, 1800), was one
of the earliest introductions to the Old Testament ;
and his "Handbuch der Biblischen Alterthums-
kunde " (Leipsic, 1831) was a systematic summary of
the material contained in his "Scholia." Further, he
published editionsof Bochart's " Hierozoicon " (1796),
with notes by himself, and of Lowth's "Prselec-
tiones" (Leipsic, 1815), and brought out a pocket
edition of the Hebrew Bible (Halle, 1833), besides
writing a preface to Hahn's edition of 1830.

BiBLioREAPHT : BtograpMe Universelle, ; Herzog-Plitt, Beal-
Encyc.
T. J.

ROSENROTH, BARON VON (CHRISTIAN
KNORR) : Christian Hebraist; bornat Alt-Randen,
in Silesia, July 15, 1631. After having completed
his studies in the universities of Wittenberg and
Leipsic, he traveled through Holland, France, and
England. On his return he settled at Sulzbach and
devoted himself to the study of Oriental languages,
especially Hebrew, the rudiments of which he had
acquired while abroad. Later he became a diligent
student of the Cabala, in which he believed to find
proofs of the doctrines of Christianity. In his
opinion the " Adam Kadmon " of the cabalists is
Jesus, and the three highest sefirot represent the
Trinity. Rosenroth intended to make a Latin trans-
lation of the Zohar and the "Tikkunim," and he
published as preliminary studies the first two vol-
umes of his " Kabbala Denudata, sive Doctrina He-
breeorum Transcendentalis et Metaphysica Atque
Theologia" (Sulzbach, 1677-78). They contain a
cabalistic nomenclature, the "Idra Rabbah" and
"Idra Zuta" and the "Sifra di-Zeni'uta," cabalistic
essays of Naphtali Herz and Jacob Elhanan, etc. Ro-
senroth published two other volumes under the title
" Kabbala Denudata " (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1684),
containing the "Sha'ar ha-Shamayim" of Abraham

Cohen de Herrera and several of the writings of
Isaac Luria.

Bibliography : Wolf, Bihi. Hebr. ill. 979 ; Fflrst, Blbl. Jud.
ii. 170 ; Gratz, Gesch. x. 267.

D. I. Br.

ROSENSOHN, MOSES: Russian Hebraist;
born in the first quarter of the nineteenth century
at Wilna, where he lived all his life in affluent cir-
cumstances, lie died there in 1896. Rosensolm
wrote a number of works, of which the following
may be mentioned: " 'Ezah we-Tushiyah," sug-
gestions for reforms in Judaism (Wilna, 1870):
" Shelom Ahim, " cosmopolitanism and universalism
of the Mosaic religion (Wilna, 1870); "Dibre Sha-
lom," a defense of the Cabala (in three volumes;
Wilna, 1880, 1883, 1883). Rosensohn was suspected
of strong leanings toward Christianity, and was
therefore shunned by the Orthodox Russian Jews.

Bibliography : Lilienblum, in Zeaerbaum's lynhelet, St. Pe-
tersburg, 1888 ; Zeitlin, Bibl. Hcbr. \ Paperna, in Ha-McUz,
1899, No. 39.
II. E. I. War.

ROSENSTEIN, SAMUEL SIEGMTJND :

German physician; born at Berlin Feb. 30, 1833;
son of Rabbi Elhanan Rosenstein, and grandson of
Rabbi Rosenstein of Bonn. He studied philosophy,
and, later, medicine at the University of Berlin, grad-
uating as M.D. in 1854. From 1856 to 1858 he was
assistant at the general hospital at Danzig. He es-
tablished himself aa a physician in Berlin in 1858,
and received from the university there the "venia
legend! " in 1864. In 1866 he was elected professor
of medicine at the University of GrSningen, and in
1873 at that of Leyden, which latter position he still
(1905) holds. In 1898 he received the degree of
LL.D. from the University of Edinburgh.

Rosenstein is the author of "Die Pathologic und
Therapie der Nierenkrankheiten," Berlin, 1863 (4th
ed. 1894), and has contributed to Ziemssen's "Hand-
buch der Allgemeinen Therapie" the section on dis-
eases of the heart.

Bibliography : Hlrscb, Bing. Lex.; Pagel, Bing. Lex.
s. F. T. H.

ROSENTHAL : One of several families of that
name flourishing in Russia. The ancestor of this
particular family was Solomon of Wirballen (a town
on the Prussian frontier), who came from Skud and
was surnamed "Skudski." He was prominent as a
financier, and he is recorded to have been one of the
court Jews of Frederick the Great of Prussia. His
son David of Yashiuovka married a sister of Leiser
(Eliezer) Rosenthal of Yashinovka, and, in accord-
ance with the practise common at the time, assumed
her family name. Their issue was : Moses, the father
of Leon, Schemariah, Solomon, Wolf, and Yote;
Loeb, the father of Solomon (d. Krementchug, 1885),
Marcus (d. there 1896), Anna, wife of Herman Ro-
BBNTHAL. and Fanny, wife of L. Jacobovich ; Abra-
ham of Pinsk; and Gedaliah of Grodno (d. 1898).
One of Schemariah Rosenthal's daughters married
Albert Soloweitschik, formerly director of the Sibe-
rian Bank of St. Petersburg; the other daughter is
married to Dr. S. Brainin of New York.

Leiser Rosenthal was the father of Simeon Rosen-
thal, who died in Berlin, and of Nisseu Rosenthal,

Boseuthal

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

478

BiBLIOGKAPIIY I

1890.
U. K.

who was a prominent citizen of Wilna in the first
half of the nineteenth century (sec Lilienthal, "My
Travels in Russia," in "The Israelite," vol. ii., No.
17, p. 138).

Abelman, Zikroii Yehudah, p. i.x., Wilna,
P. Wi.

ROSENTHAL, DAVID: Polish physician;
born 1808 at Tarnogrod, Lublin; died 1889. His
father was district physician of Zamoisk and on the
staff of the Polish array. David studied medicine
at Vienna, and in 1831 was sent to Hungary and
Transylvania, where the cholera was raging. In 1834
he received the degree of M.D., and in 1836 became
physician in ordinary at the Jewish hospital, War-
saw, where he afterward held the post of chief phy-
sician (1844-79). Simultaneously (1849-62) he was
the students' physician at the Institution of Agricul-
ture and Forestry in Marymont, a suburb of War-
saw, and from 1859 professor of hygiene at the same
institution.

Rosenthal published a description of the species
of typhus which prevailed in 1847 and which was
later known as "recurrent fever " ; he wrote also " 0
Nosaciznie u Ludzi " (on glanders), Warsaw, 1849.

Bibliography: S. Orgelbrand, Encyhlopedja Powszechna,
xiii. 30-31.
H. K. M. R.

ROSENTHAL, DAVID AUGTJSTTJS : Gei-
man physician and author ; bom at Neisse, in Silesia,
in the year 1813; died at Breslau March 39, 1875.
He was educated at the University of Breslau, whence
lie was graduated M.D. In 1851 he embraced Ro-
man Catholicism, and set about to improve the tone
of the Catholic press and the condition of the Cath-
olics of Silesia. Rosenthal distinguished himself
also as an author. He began his literary career in
1863 by editing the poetical works of the Catholic
mystic " Angelus Silesius," better known as Johanu
Scheffler. Between the years 1869 and 1873 he pub-
lished his " Convertitenbilder aus dem Neunzehnten
Jahrhundert" (4 vols., Schafthauscn), or biograph-
ical sketches of Jews and Protestants who had em-
braced the Roman Catholic faith during the nine-
teenth century. This work was arranged according
to countries. A supplement of the entire work
is found in the last volume. The "Convertiten-
bilder," which went through several editions, is a
very important contribution to the history of the
Church in the nineteenth century, and supplements
De le Roi's work, "Geschichfe der Evangelischcn
Juden-Mission," which treats only of the Jews who
joined the Protestant Church.

Btbliographt : Literariftchcr Handweiser fiir das Kathn-
lische Deut^chland^ Miinstev, 1878, p. 120; Pick, In McClio-
tock and Strong, Cyc. s.v.
s. B. P.

ROSENTHAL, EDUARD : German jurist;
born Sept. 6, 1853, at Wiirzburg. He studied at
Wlirzburg, Heidelberg, and Berhn (LL.D., Wiirz-
burg, 1878). In 1880 he established himself as
privat-docent at the University of Jena, where he
was appointed assistant professor in 1883, and full
professor of public law and the history of German
law in 1896. His works include: "Die Rechtsfolgen
des Ehebruchs nach Canonischem und Deutschem

Rccht,"1880; " Beiti-age zur Deutschen Stadtrechts-
geschichte," 1883, Nos. i., ii. ; " Die BehOrdenorgani-
sation Kaiser Ferdinands I. " 1887 ; " Geschichte des
Gerichtswesens und der Verwaltungsorganisatiou
Baierns," 1889, vol. i. ; "Internationales Eisenbahn-
Irachtrecht," 1894. He has also contributed vari-
ous articles to Conrad's "liandwOrterbuch der
Staatswissenschaften." S. •

ROSENTHAL, ELIEZER (LAZAR) : Ger-
man bibliographer and owner of a famous collection
of books at Hanover ; born April 13, 1794, at Na-
sielsk, in the government of Plock, Russia; died
Aug. 7, 1868, at Hanover. His library became
known in Germany as early as the first half of the
nineteenth century, and was considered to be the
largest Hebi-ew library in that country. He com-
posed a bibliographical work, entitled "Yodea'
Sefer," which comprises 3,530 numbers, and deals
with works which appeared not later than 1857. M.
Roest, who took the library to Amsterdam, was
commissioned by Rosenthal's son to catalogue the
Hebrew part. 'This catalogue appeared in two vol-
nmes (Amsterdam, 1875); in the second volume
Rosenthal's work mentioned above is printed com-
plete as an appendix. The library now forms a
part of the Amsterdam University Library.

Bibliography : M. Eoest, in the preface to Cat. Rosenthal.
Bib}.; Zuuz, Z. G. p. 244.
S. S. O.

ROSENTHAL, FERDINAND : German
rabbi; born at Kenesc, Hungary, Nov. 10, 1839;
educated at several Talmud Torahs, the gymnasium
at Vienna, and the universities of Leipsioand Berlin
(Ph. D. and Rabbi 1866). In 1867 he became rabbi
at Beuthen, Upper Silesia, whence he was called to
Breslau in 1887, where he is still (1905) officiating.

Rosenthal, besides contributing to the periodical
press, is the author of : " Das Erste MakkabSerbuch, "
Leipsic, 1867 ; " Die Erlasse Ca;sars und die Senatus-
consulte in Josephus," etc., Breslau, 1879; "Vier
Apokryphische Biioher aus der Zeit und Schule R.
Akiba's," Leipsic, 1885.

s. F. T. H.

ROSENTHAL, HARRY LOUIS : English ex-
egete; born about 1860 at Vladislavov (Neustadt-
Schirwindt), Poland. In 1869 he accompanied his
mother and sisters to Manchester, England, where
he was educated. Returning to Vladislavov in
1878, he studied Hebrew, and then entered upon a
business career. He is the author of " Sod Kedo-
shim," commentary on the prophecies of Daniel
(Manchester, 1895). J.

ROSENTHAL, HERMAN: American author,
editor, and librarian; born at Friedrichstadt, prov-
ince of Courland, Russia, Oct. 6, 1843 ; educated at
Bauske and Jacobstadt, graduating in 1859. In this
year he translated into German several of Nekras-
sov's poems. In 1869 he engaged in the printing
trade at Krementchug, and in 1870 he published a
collection of poems, "Gedichte." In the Russo-
Turkish war he served in the Russian Red Cross
Society and received the society's medal for dis-
tinguished service (1877-78). Returning to his
craft as master-printer, he pursued it in Smyela,

479

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Koseuthal

government of Kiev, and in the citj' of Kiev un-
til 1881. He produced a humorous story, "Die
Wunderliclie Kur," in 1872, and later assisted in
the founding of "Zarya" (Dawn), a daily paper,
the first number of which appeared at Kiev in
1878. At this time Rosenthal was elected corre-
sponding member of the St. Petersburg Society
for the Promotion of Culture Among the Russian
Jews.

Interested in the condition of his oppressed core-
ligionists, Rosenthal sailed for the United States in
1881 for the purpose of founding there agricultural
colonies to be settled by Russian Jewish immigrants.
During 1881-83 he succeeded in establishing colo-
nies in Louisiana and South Dakota. He also took
a prominent part in the administration of the Wood-
bine (N. J.) colony in 1891. During 1887 and 1888
Rosenthal engaged in the book-trade, but gave up
this occupation on being appointed chief statistician
of the Edison General Electric Company, a post that
he held for three years. In 1892 he went to the Far
East, whither he was sent by the Great Northern
Railroad Company to investigate the economic con-
ditions and trade of China, Korea, and Japan, on
which he published a report (St. Paul, 1893). On
his return he was elected seci-etary of the German-
American Reform Union, New York city, and a
member of the press bureau of the Committee of
Seventy. In 1894 he was appointed chief of the
discharging department of the Immigration Bu-
reau, Ellis Island, New York, an olBce he occupied
two years ; and in 1898 he accepted the post of chief
of the Slavonic department. New York Public Li-
brary (Astor branch), a position he still (1905) re-
tains. He joined the editorial board of The Jewish
Encyclopedia as chief of the Russian department
in Dec, 1900.

Rosenthal has been prominently connected with
Hebrew literature and with the development of the
Haskalah movement in Russia. He contributed
(1859-67) to "Ha-Meliz" and other Hebrew peri-
odicals, and corresponded with Reifmann, Leon
Gordon, Zweifel, Zederbaum, Fuenn, and other He-
brew scholars. In the United States he edited
and published, together with A. Rosenberg, the He-
brew monthly " Ha-Modia' le-Hodashim " (1901 ). In
1894 Rosenthal founded the society " Ohole Shem,"
of which he is still president.

Rosenthal translated into German verse "Eccle-
siastes" ("Worte des Sammlers"), New York, 1885,
3d ed. 1893, and the "Song of Songs" ("Lied der
Lieder"), 1893, and, into English, a work by Hugo
Ganz, "The Land of Riddles," New York, 1905.

His eldest son, Max Rosentlial, born at Krc:
mentchug, government of Poltava, Russia, June 6,
1865, was educated for the medical profession at the
universities of Bern, Berlin, and Leipsic(M.D. 1887).
In 1888 he became house surgeon at St. Mark's Hos-
pital, New York city, and for two years he was
senior resident physician at the Montefiore Home.
At present (1905) he is gynecologist at the German
Dispensary and attending gynecologist at the Syden-
ham Hospital. His other son, George D. Rosen-
tlial, born 1869, is manager of the Edison General
Electric Company, at St. Louis.

A. F. H. V.

ROSEIfTHAL, ISIDOR : German physiolo-
gist; born at Labischin, near Bromberg, Posen, July
16,1836; died in 1904. Graduating as M.D. from the
University of Berlin in 1859, he became assistant in
the physiological institute and received the " venia
legendi" in 1863. In 1867 he was appointed assist-
ant professor, and in 1873 was elected professor, of
physiology in the University of Erlangen.

Rosenthal wrote many essays, and was the au-
thor of : " Die Athembewegungen und Ihre Bezie-
Imngen zum Nervus Vagus," Berlin, 1863; "Elek-
tricitatslehre fiir Medioincr," ib. 1863 (3d ed., with
Bernhardt, 1882); "Zur Kenntniss der Warmeregu-
lirung bei den Warmblutigen Thieren," Erlangen,
1872; "Allgemeiue Physiologic der Muskeln und
Nerven," Leipsic, 1878 (3d ed. 1898); "Bier und
Branntwein inlhren Beziehungen zur Volksgesund-
heitspflege," Berlin, 1881 (2d ed. 1898); and " Vorle-
sungen liber Oeffentliche und Private Gesundheits-
pflege," Erlangen, 1887 (2d ed. 1890). He was a
collaborator on Hermann's "Lehrbuch der Physio-
logic," for the subjects treating of innervation and
motion, of respiration, and of animal heat, and was
editor of the " Biologisches Centralblatt."

Bibliography: Meyers Konversations - Lenlmn ; Pagel,
Biog. Lex.
s. F. T. H.

ROSENTHAL, JACOB: Polish physician;
born at Warsaw ; son of David Rosenthal ; studied
medicine at Berlin and Warsaw. In 1870 he be-
came physician in ordinary to the Jewish Hospital,
Warsaw, devoting himself to gynecology. Owing
to his efforts a section for the diseases of women
was established in 1894; and this department has
been directed by him up to the present time (1905).
In " Historyi Szpitali w Krel Polskiem," a history of
the hospitals in the kingdom of Poland, edited by
Girsztow in 1870, Rosenthal published a description
of the Warsaw Jewish hospital. Further, he trans-
lated Bock's "Buch vom Gesunden und Kranken
Menschen " (1872), and published a medical hand-
book for women, entitled "Paradnik Lekarski dla
Kobiet" (1874). Since 1895 he has published in the
periodicals several reviews of Polish medical litera-
ture.

Bibliography: S. Orgelbrand, Encyhlopedja Powszechna,
xiii. 31.
H. K. M. R.

ROSENTHAL, JOSEPH : Russo-Jewish schol-
ar; born at Suwalki, in the government of the same
name in Russian Poland, Feb. 14, 1844. He began
the study of the Talmud and commentaries at an
early age without the aid of a teacher, and at the
same time devoted himself to the study of difEerent
languages and sciences. In the nineties he settled
at Warsaw, where he is now practising law.

Rosenthal began his literary career in 1866 by
contributing philological articles to "Ha-Maggid."
Since then he has written for such Hebrew peri-
odicals as "Ha-Lebanon," "Ha-Karrael," "Ha-
Meliz, " and others, writing on topics of the day as
well as on Jewish science. The most important of
his contributions are an article on the religious
system of the "Sefer Yezirah," in "Keneset Yis-
rael" (1887), and some articles in "Ha-Eshkol,"
a Hebrew encyclopedia (1887-88). He wrote also

Kosenthal
Eosenzweig-

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

480

some ruspoiisa, one of which was published in
•' Dibre Mosheh " by R. Moses of Namoset ; and
"Derek Emunah,"four essays on religious philoso-
phy (Warsaw, 1894). Rosenthal is noted as a chess-
player, and won the first prize at the Druzgenik
tournament in 1885.

Bibliography : Sefer Zikkarnn, p. 106, Warsaw, 1889 ; ZeitUn,
Bihl. Hehr. p. 317, Leipsic, 1891-95.

n. K. A. S. W.

ROSENTHAL, JULIUS: American lawyer;
born in Liedolsheim, grand duchy of Baden, Ger-
many, Sept. 17, 1838. He was educated at the ly-
ceum at Rastadt and the universities of Heidelberg
and Freiburg. In 1854 he enugrated to the United
States and settled in Chicago. There he found em-
ployment in the bank of R. K. Swift until 1858;
but, having studied law, he was admitted to the bar
in 1860, and gave special attention to probate and
real-estate practise.

Rosenthal served as public administrator of Cook
county, 1859-84; was director of the first Public
Library Board, 1873-75; librarian of the Chicago
Law Institute twenty-five years, and president of the
same, 1878-80 ; secretary of the first State Board of
Law-Examiners, 1897-99; member of the Chicago,
State, and American Bar associations ; and secretary
of the first Fremont Cluh, 1856.

Rosenthal has been a director of the Chicago Re-
lief and Aid Society, German Relief Society, United
Hebrew Relief Association, Jewish Training School,
and German Altenheim, and was one of the founders
of Sinai congregation. He has also been a generous
conti-ibutor to the Hebrew Union College library.

Jlarried in 1856 to Jette Wolf, he has as issue
two sons, James and Lessing', both of whom are
lawyers in Chicago.

CIBLIOGEAPIIY : Pritcbard's IlUnnis nf To-Day, p. 73.
A. J. Sto.

KOSENTHAL, LEON (JUDAH LOB B.
MOSES HA-LEVI) : Russian financier, pliilap-
thropist, and communal worker; bornin WilnaNov.
16, 1817; died in Locarno, Switzerland, June 19,
1887. His father was a progressive, scholarly mer-
chant whoso house was one of the rallying-points of
the Haskalah movement earl}'- in the nineteentl)
century. Young Rosenthal received a liberal edu-
cation; married very early, according to the custom
of those times in Lithuania; and lived several years
with his father-in-law, Samuel Joel Neumark, in
Brest-Litovsk. He then entered the service of the
Glinzburg family, and, after becoming their business
associate, settled in St. Petersburg about 1850. He
later engaged in extensive enterprises on his own
account and became one of the leading bankers and
financiers in the Russian capital.

Rosenthal remained throughout his busy life an
ardent admirer of Hebrew literature and an active
worker for the spread of secular knowledge among
the Jews of Russia. He corresponded with many
of the best-known Maskilim and assisted a large
number of authors and students. The extent of
his benefactions, both public and private, was very
great; but the crowning glory of his work in behalf
of the Jews was the foundation, in 1863, of the
Hebrat Marbe Haskalah, a society for the promotion

of knowledge among the Jews in Russia, of which
he was the treasurer and the ruling spirit from the
time of its establishment until his death. His " Tole-
dot Hebrat Marbe Haskalah be-Yisrael be-Erez
Russia" (vol. i., St. Petersburg, 1885; vol. ii., ib.
1890) contains the records and correspondence of
the society. At the beginning of the second vol-
ume, which was printed posthumously, is an excel-
lent biographical sketch of the author written by
J. L. Kautor.

Bibliography: Gunzig, Tiilednt Fabius Mleaes. pp. 26-28,
Cracow, 1890 (reprint from Ozar ha-Sifrut. ili.); Keiieact
Yisrael (year-book), ill. 151-ir)3, Warsaw, 1887; Hii-Meliz,
vlii., No. 21 ; Ha-Shahar, v. IMo.
U. E. P. Wl.

ROSENTHAL, MARKUS. See Rozsavolgyi
(Rosenthal), Mahkhs.

ROSENTHAL, MAX : American painter and
engraver; born at Turek, near Kalisz, Russian Po-
land, Nov. 33, 1833. He studied at Berlin under
Karl Harnisch, and at Paris under Martin Thur-
wanger, whom he accompanied to the United States
in 1849. Settling in Philadelphia, he studied at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and introduced
the use of chromolithography. When the Civil
war broke out he followed the Army of tlie Potomac
as ofiicial illustrator for the United States Military
Commission. In 1873 he invented the sand-blast
process of engraving pattei'ns on glass. Rosenthal
has received many prizes and diplomas. He has
etched more than five hundred portraits, a collection
of which is preserved in the Smithsonian Institution
at Washington. He illustrated Longfellow's "Build-
ing of the Ship," "Legend of Rabbi ben Levi," etc.
His latest painting is "Jesus at Prayer." His son
Albert Rosenth.al, also an artist, born in Phila-
delphia Jan. 30, 1863, was educated at Philadelphia
and Paris, and settled in the former city.

Bjbliography: American Jevmh Year Book, 5665 (1904-5).
A. F. T. H.

ROSENTHAL, MORITZ : Austrian physi-
cian ; born at Grosswardein, Hungary, 1833; died in
Vienna Dec. 30, 1889. Educated at the University
of Vienna (M.D. 1858), he became in 1863 privat-
dooent and in 1875 assistant professor of neurology.

Besides about seventy essays, he wrote several
works, of which may be mentioned : " Ueber Stot-
tern," 1861; "Ueber Hirntumoren," 1863 (3d ed.
1870); "Ueber Scheintodt," 1872; "Handbuch der
Elektrotherapie," 1873; "Klinik der Nervenkrank-
heiten," 1875 (translated into French, English, Ital-
ian, and Russian); "Cervicale Paraplegic," 1876;
" Rindencentren des Menschenhirns," 1878; "Mye-
litis und Tabes nach Lues," 1881; "Diagnose und
Therapie der Magenkrankheiten," 1882.

Bibliography : Pagel, Bios. Lex.
s. P. T. H.

ROSENTHAL, MORITZ: Austrian pianist;
born at Lemberg 1863; studied successively under
Galath, Mikuli, and Raphael Joseffy. In 1875 the
family removed to Vienna, where at the age of four-
teen Rosenthal gave his first jiublic concert, the
program embracing selections from Beethoven,
Chopin (concerto in F minor), Mendelssohn, and
Liszt ("AuBord d'une Source " and"Campanella").

481

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Boseuthal

This concert was so successful that Rosenthal de-
cided to undertake a series of concert tours, the first
of which led him to Bucliaiest, where he was ap-
pointed Rumanian court pianist

Prom 1876 to 1878 Rosenthal studied under Liszt,
and during the following six years devoted himself
to scientific studies as well as music, attending the
University of Vienna. In 1883 he reappeared in
publio. In 1887 and in 1896 he visited America.

In collaboration with L. Schytte, Rosenthal has
published a work entitled "Technical Studies for
the Highest Degree of Development."

Bibliography: Musikalisches TVnchenNatt, xxii. 517, 518,
531, 532; Baker, Biocr. Diet, of Jlfiisic and Mufilcians.
s. J. So.

ROSENTHAI., SAMUEL: Cliess- master;
born 1838 in Suvcalki, Russian Poland; died in Paris
Sept. 35, 1902. After the last Polish revolution he
fled to Paris (1864), where he devoted himself to a
study of the game, and became so rapidly ijroflcient
in it that after the lapse of a year he won the first
prize in a tournament held at the Cafe de la Re-
gence, Paris. In the Tournier du Prix de I'Empe-
reur, held in the same city in 1867, he won 18 games
and lost 6, and at the International Masters' Tour-
nament at Baden in 1870 he won 13 and lost 7,
In 1873 he won fourth prize in the Vienna Interna-
tional Tournament. In a memorable match with
Zuckertort at the St. George's Chess Club, London,
in 1880, he lost 7, won 1, and drew 11 games. At
the London Tournament of 1888 lie was awarded
the brilliancy prize for a game with Steinitz.

In Paris Rosenthal founded the Cercle des Echecs,
at which he gave exhibitions of blindfold play. He
contributed chess articles to " La Revue des Jeux
et des Arts" and "La Strategic," and edited a vol-
ume on the Paris Tournament of 1900.

Bibliography : Meyers Knnvertiatkms-Lexihon^ s.v.; The
New Tork Times, Sept. 30, 1902.
H. It. A. p.

BOSENTHAIi, SOLOMON: Hungarian schol-
ar; born in Moor, Hungary, June 13, 1764; died
at Pesth April 8, 1845. His father, Naphtali Ro-
senthal, was a personal friend of Moses Mendels-
sohn in his youth. Rosenthal's teachers were Mor-
decai Benet, later chief rabbi of Moravia, and Me'ir
Barby, head of the Presburg yeshibah. For a time
Rosenthal engaged in commerce in his native place,
devoting himself in his leisure to Jewish hteratnre.
He contributed to " Ha-Meassef , " "Orient," and
"Zion," besides maintaining a literary correspond-
ence with Hartwig Wessely and Isaac Euchel. In
1819 he removed to Pesth.

Rosenthal was the author of "Bet Awen " (Ofen,
1839), in which he attacked Creizenach, Luzzatto,
and Reggio ; and he published the " Ari Nohem " of
Leo da Modcna, for which he wrote a preface and
notes. He left in manuscript a fragmentary Hebrew
translation of Mendelssohn's "Phadon."

bibliography: Ignatz Reich, Beth El, 11. 334 ; Alexander
Biichler, Das Centenarium S. J. L- BapoporVs.va Blocli s
Oesterreichisclie vrnchensehrifU 1890; idem, Hwtoni of the
Jews in Budapest [in nungimaa).
g A. Bu.

ROSENTHAL, TOBY EDWARD : American
artist; born at New Haven, Conn., March 15, 1848.
X.-31

Ho received a public-school education at San Fran-
cisco, whither his family had removed in 1855, and
studied art under Fortunate Arviola in the same
citj- in 1864. In 1865 he went to Munich, where he
studied under Piloty at the Royal Academy until
1876, when he returned to San Francisco.

Rosenthal has received medals from the exposi-
tions at Munich (1870 and 1883) and Philadelphia
(1876). Of his pictures the following, most of which
have been exhibited in Europe, deserve mention:
"Love's Last Offering"; "Spring, Joy, and Sorrow,"
1868; "Morning Prayers in Bach's Family," 1870
(now in the museum at Leipsic); "Out of the Fry-
ing-Pan into the Fire"; "The Dancing Lesson,"
1871; "Elaine," 1874; "Young Monk in Refectory,"
1875; "Forbidden Longings"; "Who Laughs Last
Laughs Best"; "Girls' Boarding-School Alarmed,"
1877; "A Mother's Prayer," 1881; "Empty Place,"
1883; "Trial of Constance de Beverley, "1883; "De-
parture from the Family," 1885.

A. P. T. H.

ROSENTHAL-BONIN, HUGO : German au-
thor; born at Berlin Oct. 14, 1840; died at Stuttgart
April 7, 1897. After having studied natural science
at the universities of Berlin and Paris, he traveled
through the south of Em-ope, the United States of
America, and Japan. He went to Switzerland in
1871, butremoved in the following year to Stuttgart
and collaborated on"Ueber Land und Meer." In
1889 he was appointed editor of "Voin Pels zum
Meer," and retired in 1894.

Rosenthal-Bonin was a prolific writer. Of his
works may be mentioned : " Der Heiratsdamra
und Anderes," Stuttgart, 1876; and " Unterirdisch
Feuer," Leipsic, 1879 (both of these collections of
short stories have been translated into many Euro-
pean languages); "Der Bernsteinsucher," Leipsic,
1880; "Der Diamant-Schleifer," Stuttgart, 1881;
"Das Gold des Orion," ib. 1883; " Die TierbSndi-
gerin," ib. 1884; "Das Haus mit den Zwei Eingang-
en," ib. 1886; "Die Tochter des Kapitans," ib. 1888;
"Der Student von Salamanca," iJ. 1891; "Erzahl-
ungen des Schiffsarztes," ib. 1892.

s. P. T. II.

ROSENZWEIG, ADOLF: German rabbi ;
born Oct. 20, 1850, at Turdossin, Hungary. He
studied at the gymnasium at Budapest and at the
rabbinical seminary of Presburg. After graduation
he went to Berlin, where he studied philosophy and
Oriental languages and literatures at the university,
and theology at the Hochschule f lir die Wissenschaft
des Judenturas. On Oct. 20, 1874, he entered upon
the rabbinate of Pasewalk, whence he was called to
Birnbaum, Posen. In 1879 he went to Teplitz, Bo-
hemia, and in 1887 he accepted a rabbinate at Berlin.

Rosenzweig has published the following works:
" Zur Einleitung in die Bilcher Esra und Nehemia "
(Berlin, 1875); "Zum Hundcrtsten Geburtstage des
Nathan der Weise" (Posen, 1878); "Das Jabrhun-
dert nach dem Babylonischen Exile mit Besonderer
Rilcksiohtauf die Religiose Entwicklungdes Juden-
tums" (Berlin, 1885); "KUnstlerund Jugendbilder"
(Neuhaus, 1886); "Der Politische und Religiose
Character des Josephus Flavins" (Berlin, 1889);
"Jerusalem und Csesarea" {ib. 1890); "Das Auge in

Rosenzweig
Kosh ha-Shanah

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

482

Bibel imd Talmud" {ib. 1892); "Geselligkeit und
Geselligkeitsfreuden in Bibel imd Talmud " {ib.
1895) ; " Kleidung und Schmuck im Biblischen und
Talmudischen Sohrifttum " {ib. 1905). S.

KOSENZWEIG, GEB.SON : Russian-American
editor, author, and poet ; born at Byelostok, Russia,
April, 1861. He received bis education in the Jew-
ish schools of Berlin, Ciracow, and in Byelostok and
other cities of Russia, and conducted a Hebrew
school in Suwalki, Russia. In 1888 he emigrated to
the United States, and, settling in New York city,
became joint editor of the "Jewish Daily News,"
"Jewish Gazette," and "Jewish World," which
position he held until 1905. He has contributed to
the leading Hebrew papers of the world, his wri-
tings being mainly in classical Hebrew. He edited
and published "Ha-'Ibri" (The Hebrew), a weekh'-,
from 1891 to 1898, and "Kadimah" (Forward), "a
monthly, from 1898 to 1903, both in New York city.

Rosenzweig is the author of " Alasseket Amerika "
(1891), a satire which became and is still very pop-
ular, portions thereof having been translated and
printed in the " Sun " and other leading New York
papers. It is written in the style of the Talmud,
and is considered a masterpiece of satire and humor.
He has published also " Shirim u-Meshalim " (New
York, 1893), a volume of poetry; "Hamishshah
we- Alef " (ib. 1903 ; now being reprinted in Russia) ;
1,005 original epigrams and poems in Hebrew;
and "Mi-Zimrat ha-Arez," American national songs
translated into Hebrew and set to the original music.

A. F. T. H.

BOSEWAIiD, JULIE EICHBERG: American
prima donna; fourth daughter of Moritz Bichberg,
cantor in Stuttgart; born in that city March 7,
1847. After finishing the course of instruction at the
Stuttgart Conservatorium, Julie joined her sister,
Mrs. Weiller, in Baltimore, in 1864, and two years
later she was married to Jacob Rosewald, violinist
and conductor. She returned to Europe in 1870, and
continued her vocal studies under Marongelli, Mara,
and Viardot-Garcia. Her career as prima donna
began, in 1875, with the Kellogg Opera Company.
Going to Europe a second time, in 1877, she filled
engagements at Nuremberg, Mayence, Stuttgart,
Cologne, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Dresden. In 1880
the Abbott Company engaged Mrs. Rosewald as
prima donna, and her husband as conductor. This
engagement lasted until 1884, when she took up
her residence permanently in San Francisco, and
became a popular teacher of singing, her success in
preparing pupils for church choirs, the concert hall,
and the operatic stage being largely due to her thor-
ough knowledge of the anatomy and physiology
of the throat; she has often been called the Mar-
chesi of the West. For ten years, while living in
San Francisco, she was a member of the choir of
Temple Emanu-El, singing and reciting, in place of
a cantor, the parts of the service usually sung and re-
cited by that functionary — the only instance known
in which a woman has led the services in a synagogue.
From 1894 to 1902 she was professor of singing at
Mills College Conservatory of Music. Her memory
for music is almost prodigious. She is known to have
memorized a leading role in one night, and her

repertoire includes one hundred and twenty-five
operas, in thirty of which she appeared, ou one oc-
casion, during seven consecutive weeks. Mrs. Rose-
wald has won fame for pure and brilliant vocaliza-
tion, versatility, cultivated method, and no less for
piquant and artistic acting. Impaired health com-
pelled her, in 1903, to retire from professional life.

Bibliography : M. Kayserling, Die JMischen Frauen in der
Geschiehte, Literatur. und KunsU 1879, P- 327; Nabida
Remy, Das Jadische Weib, n.d., pp. 259-260.
A. H. S.

ROSEWATEB, ANDREW: American en-
gineer; born in Bohemia Oct. 31, 1848, When very
young he removed with his family to the United
States, settling in Cleveland, where he was educated
at the public schools. In 1864 he joined the en-
gineer corps of the Union Pacific Railway; in 1868
he settled in Omaha, where he was for the following
two years assistant city engineer, being appointed
city engineer in 1870. In 1876 he became manager
and editor of "The Omaha Bee," and from 1878 to

1880 he was engineer in charge of the construction of
the Omaha and Northwestern Railway. In 1880 and

1881 he was engineer of the Omaha Water-Works
Company, and then became for the second time city
engineer of Omaha, holding this position until 1837.
In 1891 he was appointed president of the electrical
subway commission of Washington, serving as such
until 1893. Since 1897 he has held (for the third
time) the position of city engineer of Omaha; he
has also been president of the board of public works
in the same city, and has held positions as consult-
ing and designing engineer for sewerage for twenty-
five cities.

Bibliography : American Jewish Year Book, 1905, s.v.
A. F. T. H.

BOSEWATER, EDWARD : American editor
and newspaper proprietor; born atBukovan, in Bo-
hemia, in 1841. He was educated at the high school
of Prague, where he remained until he attained his
thirteenth year, when he emigrated to the United
States and there studied telegraphy. In 1858 he
obtained his first position as a telegraph operator
and held this position until the outbreak of the
Civil war, when he enlisted, and joined the United
States Military Telegraph Corps, being in active
service during 1862-63. In the latter year he re-
signed and went to Omaha as manager of the Pacific
Telegraph Company. During his sojourn in that
city he took part in politics and was elected mem-
ber of the legislature of Nebraska in 1871. In the
same year he founded "The Omaha Bee," a news-
paper which he has edited from its first appearance.
In 1892 Rosewater was chosen to represent his state
as member of the Republican National Committee,
and in 1896 became member of the advisory board
of the National Committee, being reelected to that
office in 1900 and 1904. Rosewater was appointed a
member of the United States Mint Commission in
1896 and representative of the United States at the
Universal Postal Congress held at Washington in
1897. In the latter year he was elected vice-presi-
dent of that congress. Awake to the interests of
his adopted city, Rosewater was the projector of the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition held at Omaha in 1898,
and was elected member of the executive committee

483

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Boseuzweig-
Bosh ba-Shanah

in charge of publicity and promotion. In 1901 he
received a large number of votes in the Nebraska leg-
islature as a candidate for the United States senate.

A- F. H. V.

ROSEWATEB, VICTOR: American editor
and economist; born in Omaha, Neb., 1871; son of
Edward Rosewater; educated in Columbia Uni-
versity, New York (A.M. 1892; Ph.D. 1893). Rose-
water was fellow in political science at Columbia
University during the year 1892-98. He entered
journalism by joining the staff of " The Omaha Bee "
in 1898, becoming managing editor of that paper two
years later. In 1896 he was appointed regent of the
Nebraska State University. In 1893 he produced
"Special Assessments: A Study in Municipal Fi-
nance," and subsequently contributed to " Palgrave's
Dictionary of Political Economy," to "Historic
Towns' of the Western States," and to the "New
Encyclopa'dia Britannica" (1903). Rosewater is a
member of several national associations and societies,
and of the Republican state and executive commit-
tees of Nebraska.

A. F. H. V.

ROSH. See Ashee ben Jehiel.

ROSH HA-SHANAH. See New- Year.

ROSH HA-SHANAH : Eighth treatise of the
order Mo'ed ; it contains (1) the most important rules
concerning the calendar year together with a de-
scription of the inauguration of the months by the
nasi and ab bet din ; (2) laws on the form and use of
the shofar and on the service during the Rosh ha-
Shanah feast.

The old numerical Mishnah commences with an
account of the four beginnings of the religious and
the civil year (i. 1); it speaks of the four judgment-
days of the pilgrim festivals and Rosh ha-Sha-
nah (i. 2); of the six months in which
Contents, the messengers of the Sanhedrin an-
nounce the month (i. 3) ; of the two
months the beginnings of which witnesses announce
to the Sanhedrin even on the Sabbath (i. 4), and
even if the moon is visible to every one (i. 5); Ga-
maliel even sent on the Sabbath for forty pairs of
■vVitnessesfrom a distance (i. 6) ; when father and son
(who as relatives may otherwise not witness to-
gether) behold the new moon they must set out
for the bet din (i. 7), since they do not absolutely
belong to those that are legally unfit for this pur-
pose (i. 8). The weak and sick are borne on litters,
and are protected against the attacks of the Sad-
ducees ; they must be provided with food, for wit-
nesses are bound to journey even on the Sabbath
(i. 9). Others went along to identify the unknown
(ii. 1). In olden times bonfire-signals on the moun-
tains announced to all as far as Babylon that the
month had been sanctified. The custom of having
witnesses and messengers was introduced after the
Sadducees had attempted to practise deception (ii.
2, 3, 4).

The large court called "Bet Ya'azek " was the as-
sembly-place for the witnesses (ii. 5); bountiful re-
pasts awaited them, and dispensations from the Law
were granted to them(ii. 6); the first pair of witnesses
was questioned separately concerning the appearance
of the moon, and other witnesses cursorily (ii. 7).

Then the ab bet din called out to a large assembly,
"Sanctified! " all the people crying out aloud after
him (ii. 8). Gamaliel II. had repi-esentations of the
moon which he showed to the witnesses. Once there
arose a dispute between him and Joshua regarding
the Tishri moon ; the latter, in obedience to the nasi,
came on foot to Jamnia on the day which he had
calculated to be the Day of Atonement, and the two
scholars made peace (iii.). There were various ob-
stacles to the sanctification of the months, as when
time was lacking for the ceremony, or when there
were no witnesses present before the bet din. In
the first case the following day became the new
moon; in the second case the bet din alone per-
formed the sanctification.

The Mishnah treats also of the shofar (iii. 2) ; the

horn of the cow may not be used (iii. 3) ; the form of

the trumpet for Rosh ha-Shanah, the

The fast-day, and Yobel is determined

Shofar. (iii. 5); injuries to the shofar and the
remedies are indicated (iii. 6); in times
of danger the people that pray assemble in pits and
caves (iii. 7) ; they pass the house of worship only on
the outside while the trumpets sound (iii. 8); they
are exhorted to be firm by being reminded of Moses'
uplifted hands in the war with the Amalekites. In
such times the deaf-mutes, insane, and children are
legally unfit for blowing the trumpets.

Even if the festival fell on the Sabbath, Johanan
ben Zakkai had the trumpets blown at Jamnia, while
at one time this was done only in the Temple and the
surrounding places (iv. 1); he also fixed the lulab
outside of the Temple for seven days, and forbade
the eating of new grain on the second day of Pass-
over (iv. 2); he extended the time for examining
witnesses until the evening, and had them come to
Jamnia even in the absence of the ab bet din (iv. 3).
The Mishnah then treats of the order of the prayers
(iv. 4), of the succession of the Malkuyot, Zikronot,
and Shoferot, of the Bible sentences concerning the
kingdom of God, Providence, and the trumpet-call
of the future (iv. 5), and of the leader in prayer and
his relation to the teki'ah (iv. 0); descriptions of the
festival are given in reference to the shofar (iv. 7);
then follows tbe order of the traditional trumpet-
sounds (iv. 8) ; and remarks on the duties of the
leader in prayer and of the congregation close the
treatise (iv. 9).

Curious as is the order of subjects followed in
this treatise, in which several mishnaic sources
have been combined, the Tosefta follows it, add-
ing comments that form the basis
The of the Gemara in both Talmuds.

Tosefta. The contents of the Mislmah with
the corresponding sections of the
Tosefta are as follows: General calendar for the
year, i. 1-4 = Tosef, i. 1-13. Regulations concerning
the months' witnesses, i. 5-ii. 1 (connecting witli
i. 4) = Tosef. i. 15-ii. 1 (abbreviated). Historical
matter regarding fire-signals and messengers and
their reception on the Sabbath, ii. 2-6 = Tosef.
ii. 2 (abbreviated). The continuation of the laws
of ii. 1 concerning witnesses (ii. 7, 8), and the ques-
tioning of witnesses, and the sanctification of the
months are entirely lacking in the Tosefta. His-
torical data concerning Gamaliel and the dispute

Bosh 'S'eshibah
Kossi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

484

with Joshua, ii. 8-9 = Tosef. ii. 3 (a mere final
sentence). Continuation of tlie laws of ii. 7 con-
cerning witnesses, iii. 1 = Tosef. ill. 1, 3. Regula-
tions regarding the sliofar and its use, iii. 2-5 = To-
sef. iii. 3-6a. Haggadic sentence on devotion = To-
sef. iii. 6b. Final remarks on the shofar and on its
obligations, iii. 6-end = Tosef. iv. 1. Ordinances of
Jobauan ben Zakkai concerning Eosh lia-Shanah and
the Sabbath, and other matters = Tosef. iv. 2. Order
of worship, iv. 5-end = Tosef. iv. 4-end. Mishnah
ii. 7 seems to have been transposed according to
Tosef. iv. 3, but it belongs there according to its
contents.

In ciuoting many of Gamaliel's ordinances the
Mishnah emphasizes the authority of the patriarchal
house by recounting the dispute between the patri-
arch and his deputy Joshua and showing how the
latter was forced to yield. The Tosefta omits the
ordinances of Gamaliel and of Johanan ben Zakkai,
and the dispute of the two leaders of the school-
house, nor does it mention anything of the power of
any tannaitic dignitary ; the Tosefta is here a product
of the time of the Amoraim. The dignity of the nasi
is not emphasized, because acumen and scholarship
prevailed in the schoolhouse, and there was no de-
sire to let old precedences (see 'Eduyot) come to the
fore again. Even the Mishnah contains some ad-
ditions from the time of the Amoraim (see, for ex-
ample, iv. 2, where a gap must be filled from the
Tosefta).

Bibliography : M. Eawicz, Bnah Hashana (transl.), Frank-
fort - on - the - Main, 188B; J. H. Gumrain, Bnsh Hashana
(Tlieolngisclie Studien), pp. 31-74, 179-200, Utrecht, 1890;
Zuckermann, Materialien zum Entwurf der AltjUdischen
Zeitrechnung, Breslau, 1883; Eosenthal, Ueher den Zu-
sammenhang der Misehna, i. 26-28, 70-71 ; Scheinin, Die,
Hcliule in Jamnia, Lelpsic, 1879.
w. B. L. A. R.

BOSH YESHIBAH. See Yeshibaii.
ROSIN, DAVID : German theologian ; born at
Rosenberg, Silesia, May 27, 1823; died at Breslau
Dec. 31, 1894. Having received his early instruction
from his father, who was a teacher in his native
town, he attended the yeshibah of Kempen, of Mys-
lowitz (under David Deutsch), and of Prague (under
Rapoport) ; but, wishing to receive a regular school
education, he went to Breslau, where he entered the
gymnasium, and graduated in 1846. He continued
his studies at the universities of Berlin and Halle
(Ph.D. 1851) and passed his examination as teacher
for the gymnasium. Returning to Berlin, he taught
in various private schools, until Michael Sachs, with
whom he was always on terms of intimate friend-
ship, appointed him principal of the religious school
which had been opened in that city in 1854. At the
same time Rosin gave religious instruction to the
students of the Jewish normal school. In 1866 he
was appointed ]M. Joel's successor as professor of
homiletics, exegetical literature, and Midrash at the.
rabbinical seminary in Breslau, which position he
held till his death.

Rosin was the author of: " Abschiedswort: Be-
richte iiber die Jiidische Religion sschule," Berlin,
1866; "Ein Compendium der Jiidischen Gesetzes-
kunde aus dem 14. Jahrhundert," Breslau, 1871 (on
the " Safer ha-Hinnuk ") ; "Ethik des Maimonides,"
ib. 1876; "Samuel ben Meir als Schrifterklarer," ih.
1880; "Relme undGedichte des Abraham ibnEsra,"

in 5 parts, ib. 1885-94 (Ibn Ezra's poems with vo-
calized text and German transl. in rime). He edited
Michael Sachs' sermons (2 vols., Berlin, 1867), and
Samuel ben Melr's commentary on the Pentateuch,
with a Hebrew introduction, Breslau, 1881. An
essay of Rosin's on the philosophy of Abraham ibn
Ezra was edited after his death by his devoted pupil
David Kaufmann and published in the "Monats-
schrift "(vols, xlii.-xliii.), to which magazine Rosin
occasionally contributed.

While not a voluminous writer and original
thinker. Rosin did his literary work with an exem-
plary accuracy of detail and in perfect sympathy
with his subject. To his numerous disciples he was
a kind friend and adviser. In his religious attitude
he was strictly conservative, a true disciple of Michael
Sachs (whose admirer he was) ; and he was at the
same time broad-minded and tolerant of the opinions
of others. His only son, Heinrich Rosin, is professor
of medicine at the University of Berlin. Another
Heinrich Rosin, professor in the law department
of the University of Preiburg-ini-Breisgau, is his
nephew.

BIBLIOGKAPHT : Deborah, June 1.5, 1893, and Jan. 24, 1895 ;
Allg. Zeit. des Jud. June 2, 1893, and Jan. 11, 1895 ; Jahres-
herieht des JUdisch-Theologischen Seminars FrUnhelscher
Stiftung, Breslau, 1895; Brann, Oeseh. des JUdisclien Tlien-
logischen Seminwrs in Breslau, pp. 98-99, 115, Breslau, 1904.
s. D.

ROSIN, HEINRICH: German jurist; born at
Breslau Sept. 14, 1855. In 1880 he established him-
self as privat-docent in the law department of the
Breslau University, but, receiving a call from the
University of Freiburg as assistant professor three
years later, he accepted it, and subsequently was
promoted to a full professorship in the same insti-
tution.

Among the works of Rosin are the following:
"Der BegrilT der Schwertmagen in den Rechts-
bilchern des Mittelalters" (Breslau, 1877); "Die
Formvorschriften fiir die Verausserungsgeschafte
der Frauen nach Langobardischem Recht" (1880);
" Das Polizeiverordnungsrecht in Preussen " (1882) ;
" Das Recht der OeSentlichen Genossenschaft " (Frei-
burg, 1886) ; " Das Recht der Arbeitsversicherung "
(Berlin, 1892-93); "Minoritatenvertretung und Pro-
portionalwahlen " (1892) ; " Grundzuge einer Allge-
meinen Staatslehre nach den Politischen Reden and
Schriftstiicken des Fiirsten Bismarck" (Munich,
1898).

Bibliography: Meyers Knnversations-Lexilwn (new edi-
tion).
s. J. Go.

ROSIN, HEINRICH : German physician ; born
at Berlin Aug. 28, 1868 ; son of David Rosin. He
studied at Breslau and Freiburg (M.D. 1887), and
in 1888 became assistant to Rosenbach at the Aller-
heiligen Hospital. In 1893 he went to Berlin as as-
sistant to Senator at the general dispensary, and in
1896 was admitted to the medical faculty of the
Berlin University as privat-docent. He received
the title of professor in 1902 ; and in the same year
he opened a private dispensary.

Rosin is a prolific writer. He has contributed
about 100 essays, especially on clinical medicine,
chemical medicine, and microscopy, to the pro-
fessional journals. He is a collaborator on Eu-
lenburg's " Realencyclopadie der Gesammten

485

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bosh 7eshiliab
Rossi

Heilkunde," " Encyclopadische Jahrbncher der
Gesammten Heilkunde," Draselie's "Bibliotliek
Mediciuischer Wissenscliaften," Liebreich's "Bq-
cyclopadie der Therapie," etc. He has published,
with Ehrlich, Weigert, Krause, and Mosse, the
"Encyclopiidie der Mikroseopischen Technik."

Rosin is a member of the Verein flir Jlidische Ge-
schichte und Literatur, and has evinced an active
interest in the Jev^^ish affairs of the German capital.

s. F. T. H.

ROSNOSKY, ISAAC: American merchant and
communal worker ; born at WoUstein, Prussia, Nov.
6, 1846; sou of Henry and Zelda Rosnosky. He
went to Boston, Mass., as a boy and engaged in
business. He was elected to the Boston common
council as a Democrat in 1878, and as an Independ-
ent in 1879. He served in the Massachusetts House
of Representatives in 1880 and from 1891 to 1894,
being the first Jew to be elected to either branch of
the legislature. Twice he was a delegate to na-
tional Democratic conventions ; and he served as a
commissioner to the World's Fair. It was largely
through his efforts that the Carney (Catholic) Hos-
pital fund of §10,000 was raised.

Rosnosky has been for the last twenty -three j'ears
(since 1882) president of Temple Ohabei Shalom,
the oldest Hebrew congregation in Boston. He is
a member of the Association of Past Presidents of
the I. O. B. B.
Bibliography : Solomon Schlndler, Israelites in Boston, iii.

A. J. Leb.

BOSSI, AZABIAH BEN MOSES DEI:

Italian physician and scholar; born at Mantua in
1513 or 1514; died in 1578. He was descended from
an old Jewish family which, according to a tradi-
tion, was brought by Titus from Jerusalem. Com-
bining an insatiable desire for learning with re-
markable mental power, Dei Rossi early in life
became exceptionally proficient in Hebrew, Latin,
and Italian literature. He studied simultaneously
medicine, archeology, history, Greek and Roman
antiquities, and Christian ecclesiastical history.
When about the age of thirty he married and settled
for a time at Ferrara. Later he is found at Ancona,
Bologna, Sabbionetta, and again at Ferrara. In 1571
a terrible earthquake visited the last-named city and
caused the death of about 200 persons. The house
in which Dei Rossi lived was partly destroyed ; but
it happened that at the moment he

Earth- and his wife were in their daughter's
quake at room, which remained uninjured.

Ferrara, During the disturbances consequent
1571. upon the earthquake Dei Rossi lived
in an outlying village, where he was
thrown into association with a Christian scholar,
who asked him if there existed a Hebrew translation
of the " Letter of Aristeas." Dei Rossi answered in
the negative, but in twenty days he prepared the
desired translation, which he entitled "Hadrat Ze-
kcnim." His account of the earthquake, written
shortly after, is entitled " Kol Elohim " ; he regarded
the earthquake as a visitation of God, and not
merely as a natural phenomenon.

Dei Rossi's great work, "Me'or 'Enayim " (Man-
tua, 1573-75; Berlin, 1794; Vienna, 1829; Wilna,
1863-66), includes the two works already mentioned

and a third er titled "Imre Binah." The latter is
divided into four parts ; the first part contains a sur-
vey of the Jewish race at the time of the Second
Temple, narrates the origin of the Septuagint, points
out the contradictions between some of the beliefs
of the Talmudists and the proved results of scien-
tific research, records the origin of the Jewish col-
onics in Alexandria and Cyrene, chronicles the wars
of Bar Kokba against the Romans,
His "Me'or etc. Dei Rossi quotes from the wri-
'Enayim." tings of Philo, whose orthodoxy he
questions. Ho criticizes him for hav-
ing allegorized Biblical narratives of facts, and
points out that the Alexandrian philosopher never
gives the traditional interpretation of the Biblical
text.

In the second part Dei Rossi criticizes a number
of the assertions of the Talmudists (many of his
criticisms being repeated by later commentators), and
gives explanations of various haggadic passages
which can not bo taken literally (as, for instance,
the haggadah which attributes the death of Titus
to a gnat which entered his brain while he was re-
turning to Rome). The third part is devoted to a
study of Jewish chronology and translations from
the writings of Philo, Josephus, and others, with
commentaries. The fourth part deals with Jewish
archeology, describing the shapes of the priestly
garments and the glory of the Second Temple, and
giving the history of Queen Helen and her two
sons.

It is greatly to Dei Rossi's credit that he followed
scientific methods of inquiry ini his work and did
not rely upon tradition. But this way of dealing
with subjects which the multitude reverenced as
sacred called forth many criticisms on the part of
his contemporaries. Prominent among his critics
were Moses Provencal of Mantua (to
Attitude of whom Dei Rossi had submitted his
His work in manuscript), Isaac Finzi of

Contempo- Pesaro, and David Provenpal, who
raries. endeavored to defend Philo. Dei
Rossi appended to some copies of the
"Me'or 'Enayim" an answer to the criticisms of
Moses Provencal, and a dissertation entitled " Zedek
'Olamim," in which latter he refuted the arguments
of Isaac Finzi. Later he wrote a special work en-
titled " Mazref lia-Kesef " (published by Filipowski
at Edinburgh, 1854, and included by Zunz in the
Wilna edition of the " Me'or "), in which he defended
his"Yeme '01am" against its critics. Dei Rossi,
however, had to contend not only with impartial
critics, but with the attacks of fanatics who consid-
ered his "Me'or 'Enayim " as a heretical work. Jo-
seph Caro commissioned Blisha Gallico to draw up
a decree to be distributed among all Jews, ordering
that the " Me'or 'Enayim " be burned. But, Joseph
Caro dying before it was ready for him to sign, the
decree Was not promulgated, and the rabbis of Man-
tua contented themselves with forbidding the read-
ing of the work by Jews under twenty-five years of
age.

The "Me'or 'Enayim " attracted the attention of
many Christian Hebraists, who translated parts of
it into Latin : Bartolocci translated oh. ix. and xxii.,
in his " Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica " ; Bochart,

Bossi
Rostof

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

486

cli. xvi. and xxi., in his " Hierozoicon " (Leyden,
1713); Buxtorf, ch. ix., xlii., and lix., in his "Trac-
tatus de Antiquitate Punctorum" (Basel, 1648);
idem, ch. 1. and Ix., in his translation of the "Cu-
zari " {ib. 1660) ; idem, ch. Ivi. and Iviii., in his " Dis-
sertatio de Letteris Hebraicis " (ib. 1662) ; Hottinger,
cli. Ivi., in his "Cippi Hebrsei" (Heidelberg, 1662);
Meyer, ch. viii., xiv., and xix., in his version of the
"Seder '01am" (Amsterdam, 1699); Morin, ch. iii.,
v., vii., viii., ix., xix., xx., and xlviii., in his "Ex-
ercitationes Biblica " (Paris, 1638); Van Dale, ch. ix.,
in liis "Dissertatio Super Aristeam" (Amsterdam,
1708); Voisin, ch. ii., viii.,xv., xvi., xxii., xlv., li.,
Ivi. , 1 vii. , and lix . , in his edition of Ray mund Martin's
"PugioFidei" (Paris, 1651); Voorst, ch. xxiii., xxv.,
xxxiii., and xxxv., in his translation of the "Zemah
Dawid " (Leyden, 1644). Ch. xvi. has been trans-
lated into English by Raphall ("Hebrew Review
and Magazine," ii. 170), and ch. Ix. by Bishop
Lowth, in the introduction to his translation of
Isaiah (London, 1835).

Dei Rossi was the author of a collection of poems
(Venice, n.d.), among which are several of a litur-
gical character.

BiBLiOfiRAPHT: De Rossi, Di'zionarw), p. 280 ; Z\mz, In Kerem
Hemed, v. 131-138, vii. 119-134; Rapoport, ih. v. 159-162;
Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 747 ; Jost, Oesch. des Juden-
thums und Seiner Seklen, iii. 123; Gratz, Oesch. ix. 405 et
seq.', Zunz, Literaturgesch. p. 417; Ginsburf?, Levita^s Mas-
snreth ha-Mannoreth, p. 52.
J. I. Br.

ROSSI, GIOVANNI BERNARDO DE : Ital-
ian Cliristian Hebraist; born Oct. 25, 1742, in Castel-
nuovo; died in Parma March, 1831. He studied
in Ivrea and Turin. In Oct., 1769, he was appointed
professor of Oriental languages at the University
of Parma, where he spent the rest of his life. His
inaugural lecture on the causes of the neglect of
Hebrew study was published in 1769 at Turin. De
Ros.si devoted himself to three chief lines of inves-
tigation—typographical, bibliographical, and text-
critical. Influenced by the example of Kennieott,
he determined on the collection of the variant read-
ings of the Old Testament, and for that purpose col-
lected a large number of manuscripts and old prints.
In order to determine their bibliographical position
he undertook a critical study of the annals of He-
brew typography, beginning with a special prelim-
inary disquisition in 1776, and dealing with the
presses of Ferrara (Parma, 1780), Sabbionetta (Er-
langen, 1783), and, later, Cremona (Parma, 1808),
as preparatory to liis two great works, " Annales
Hebrieo-Typographici " (Parma, 1795, sec. xv.)and
"Annales Hebrseo-Typographici ab 1501 ad 1540"
(Parma, 1799). This formed the foundation of his
serious study of the early history of Hebrew print-
ing (see iNCtTNABULA). In connection with this
work he drew up a " Dizionario Storico degli Autori
Ebrei e delle Loro Opere " (Parma, 1803 ; German
translation by Hamberger, Leipsic, 1839), in which
he summed up in alphabetical order the bibliograph-
ical notices contained in Wolf, and, among other
things, fixed the year of Rashi's birth; and he also
published a catalogue of his own manuscripts (1803)
and books (1812). All these studies were in a measure
preparatory and subsidiary to his " Varite Lectiones
Veteris Testamenti" (Parma, 1784-88), still the most

complete collection of variants of the Hebrew text
of the Old Testament. In order to compile it he
visited all the chief libraries of Italy, and through its
compilation he obtained the knighthood of St. George
at the court of Parma and seductive offers from
Pavia, Madrid, and Rome. As examples of the use
of his work he issued a specimen of the Targum
on Esther (Rome, 1783; 3d ed., revised, Tilbingen,
1783). He was also interested in the polemics of
Judaism and Christianity, and wrote on this subject
his " Delia Vana Aspettazione degli Ebrei del Loro
Re Messia" (Parma, 1773), which he defended in a
pamphlet two years later; and he further published
a list of antichristian writers, " Bibliotheca Judaica
Antichristiana " (Parma, 1800). A select Hebrew
lexicon, in which ho utilized Parhon's work (Parma,
1805), and an introduction to Hebrew (ib. 1815) con-
clude the list of those of his works which are of
special Jewish interest.

Bibliography : JVuova Enciclopedia Italmna ; Steinschnei-
der, Cat. Bodl. s.v.
T. J.

ROSSI, MOSES BEN JEKTJTHIEL DE : Ro-
man rabbi of the fourteenth century. Between 1373
and 1390 he wrote a compendium of Jewish rites,
entitled "Sefer ha-Tadir," which he intended to
serve as a manual both for daily use and for the
synagogue. This work lacks depth of thought and
originality, and has therefore had little influence on
or consideration from the Poskim. It is full of the
prejudices and superstitions of the age, treating of
astrology, prophecies, the interpretation of dreams,
and similar subjects. Its chief importance lies in
the fact that the author does not confine himself to
the mere ritual laws, but introduces also maxims
of morality, homilies, philosophical questions, and
hygienic precepts. The second portion is a collec-
tion of treatises and responsa of the author and of
other scholars. In addition to the " Sefer ha-Tadir,"
IVIoses ben Jekuthiel is the author of a hymn for
the use of synagogues, commencing " Meshok na El
Hasdeka."

Bibliography: Dukes, in Orient, 1849, x. 488; Giidemann,
Gesch. ii. 195 ; Steinschneider, Hebr. Bihl. 1863, p. 93, note
2; Vo)teIstein and Rleger, Gesch. der Juden in ttom.i. 4.51;
Zunz, S. P. p. 510.
S. U. C.

ROSSI, SOLOMON: Rabbi and composer;
lived in Mantua during the latter part of the six-
teenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century.
He came from an old Mantua family in which the
traditional belief had been preserved that its ances-
tors had been taken as prisoners to Rome under
Titus and Vespasian. In 1587 Rossi was engaged
as musician and singer at the ducal court of Vin-
cenze I. of Mantua, where his sister Europa was em-
ployed as a singer. That Rossi stood in high favor
at this court is evidenced by the fact that he was
allowed to appear in public without the yellow
badge which other Mantua Jews were at that time
obliged to wear.

Rossi was a skilled contrapuntist, and he worked
assiduously to compose synagogal music with which
the old sacred melodies of Zion might be harmoni-
ously combined. His "Ha-Shirim Asher li-8helo-
moh " (Venice, 1622) gives evidence of the success
he attained ; and it has been said that Leon of Mo-

487

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bossi
Bostof

DENA and other Italian rabbis were influenced by
Rossi -w lien they issued their letter (1605) authorizing
the introduction into the synagogue of mensurate
and polyphonic music.

Rossi's other compositions comprised chiefly re-
ligious poems, hymns, and madrigals ; he wrote also
a musical drama entitled "Maddalena." Several of
his poems were dedicated to persons of princely
rank. It is likely that Hossi in 1613 was the leader
of !i Jewish band of singers, and likewise of a the-
atrical company.

BIBLIOORAPHT : S. Naumbourg, Ha^ShirimAsherli-Shelnmoh.
Cantiqnes de Salnmon BosH, Hebreo, Paris, 1877; Adolph
Kobut, BerlXhmte I/raelitische MUnner und Frauen. p. 81 ;
Ed. Blrnbaum, JUdische MuMker am Hofe von Mantua
15ia-ms, Vienna, 1893.
D. F. C.

ROSSIENA (ROSSIENY) : District city in the
government of Kovno, Russia. It had a prosperous
Jewish community in the first half of the nineteenth
century, and was a center of Haskalaii, or pro-
gressive ideas, when Abraham Mapu lived there
(1837-44). He lovingly recalls the time when he
met kindred spirits like Senior Sachs, Shapiro,
Emanuel Soloweitschik, and Marcus Wolpert in tlie
house of Abraham Wolfsohn (letter appended to vol.
ii. of "'Ayit Zabua'," partly translated by Rebecca
Altmanin "The First Hebrew Novel," in "TheNew
Era Illustrated Magazine," Dec, 1904). But most
of the men who were animated by progressive ideas
left Rossiena for more promising fields of activity in
larger cities, and a fire whicli almost totally des-
troyed the city in 1865 and the hard times which
followed the brief period of revival in the first part
of the reign of Alexander II. contributed to the city's
decline. In 1866 Rossiena possessed 10,579 inhab-
itants, of whom 8,390 were Jews. A visitor to the
city in 1875 ("Ha-Shahar," vi. 79) found there but
little of its former prosperity and culture. By 1897
the entire population had dwindled to 7,455, " mostly
Jews." The chief articles of commerce are wood
and grain for export; but the grain-export business
of Russia has been almost totally ruined by the latest
commercial treaties between Russia and Germany,
and the condition of the Jewish grain-dealers is now
worse than ever.

The following have held the rabbinate of Rossiena:
Nathan Nate Rabinowitz (c. 1775); Nathan's son
Dob Bar Rabinowitz ; Moses Zeitlin (c. 1845) ; Abra-
ham Abele JafiEe (" of Rossiena and district " ; 1872) ;
Alexander Moses Lapidoth (b. Feb. 37, 1819; a pupil
of Isi-ael Lipkin [Salanter] and formerly rabbi of
Yanova; has held office since about 1880). The best
known of the modern Hebrew scholars who were
brought up in Rossiena is probably Aryeh LOb Gor-
don (born in Kelmy 1844; now a resident of Wilna),
author of " Mishpete ha-Lashon 'Ibrit " (Wilna, 1874),
on Hebrew grammar, and several minor works.

The district of Rossiena, exclusive of tlie city, had
in 1897 a total population of 231,731, of whom 17,000
were Jews.
BiBLIOfiBAPHY: BTaimn, Ahrdham Mavu. pp. 38, «, Plotr-

kow, 1900: Entzildnpedicheshi Slnvar, s.v.; Efrati, Zmr we-

Dorahaw p 64, Wilna, 1889 ; EisenstadU Dor Bahhanaw we-

Soferaw'v. 37, Warsaw, 1895; Ha-Maygid, 11. 43.

n. R. P- Wi.

ROSTOCK. See Mecklenborg.

EOSTOF : Russian fortified commercial and man-
ufacturing town on the Don ; formerly in the gov-
ernment of Yekaterinoslaf ; since 1888 included in
the district of the Don Cossacks. Jews settled there
about 1827, and their number grew with the city's
increasing importance as a commercial center. A
large synagogue and a bet ha-midrash were erected
in 1842; the foundations of a new bet ha-midrash
were laid in 1863 ; and the synagogue Po'ale Zedelc
was founded in 1886. In the days of the liberal
Alexander II. the Jews had several of their own
representatives in the city council, and eleven Jews
were included in the commission which Mayor
Baikov appointed in 1868 to investigate the needs of
the city and propose the necessary improvements.
In 1866 the Jews numbered 3,343 in a total popula-
tion of about 39, 000. In the following twenty years
the city's population increased to more than 100,000,
and the Jews, who helped to develop its enormous
export trade in grain, increased to nearly 14,000.
These prosperous conditions, however, did not con-
tinue through the reign of Alexander III. An
anti-Jewish riot broke out there May 10 (33), 1883,
in which three Jews were injured and property val-
ued at 70,000 rubles was destroyed. Nearly two
years passed before twenty -seven of the rioters were
brought to trial, and then all were acquitted (see
"Ha-Meliz," 1885, No. 84).

When the towns of Rostof and Taganrog (the latter
had about 300 Jewish families) were to be ceded to
the district of the Don Cossacks, to which even Jews
who were privileged to reside in all other parts of
the Russian empire were not admitted, a commission
which was appointed by the minister of war decided
to expel the Jews from both towns. The Jewish
inhabitants were panic-stricken, and it was rumored
that a large number of them applied for baptism
(see " Jtidisches Volksblatt," pp. 466, 483, St. Peters-
burg, 1886). But Jacob Poliakov of Taganrog, on
the advice of tlie hetraan Sviatopolk-Mirski of the
Don Cossacks (uncle of a later minister of the inte-
rior), induced representative Christian residents to
inform the government that the towns would suffer
irreparable loss by the expulsion of the Jews. It
was finally decided that those Jews who lived there
might remain, but that no more might be permitted
to settle in either town. The material condition of
Rostof was not improved by the change, for, although
the population Continued to increase (it was 119,889
in 1897), its trade and the importance of its great an-
nual fair diminished. A large part of the popula-
tion of Rostof consists of Armenians, who live on
friendly terms with the Jews and frequently enter
into business partnerships with them.

Shrage Feiwel Gniesin, a graduate of the rabbin-
ical school of Wilna, became the government rabbi
of Rostof in 1863 and remained such until 1889, when
he was succeeded by Dr. Jampolsky, who later was
succeeded by Lifshitz. R. Zlotkin was for a long
time the OrtJiodox rabbi. Wolkenstein was pres-
ident of the Jewish community for several decades,
and held also the office of Danish consul. Jacob
Ter, the Yiddish playwright, who finally removed
to New York, was secretary of the community from
1880 to 1890. Zebi ha-Kohen Schereschewsky (b.
Pinsk, 1840) lives in Rostof(1905) as a bookseller, and

Rota
Rothenburgr

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

488

is the only well-known AEaskil and Hebrew scholar
of the town. A Rostover Handwerker UnterstiU-
zungsverein, composed of former residents of Ros-
tof, exists in New York.

Bibliography: Ba-MHiz, 11. 233, 237; ill. 205, 426; Encyc.
Brit.; SemenoT, Oeogra)lche«ho-Statisticheshi SUivar.
II. E. P. Wl.

BOTA. See B.^dge.

ROTH, MORITZ : Swiss physician ; born at
Basel Dec. 35, 1839; educated at the universities of
Wiirzburg, GOttingen, Berlin, and Basel (M.D.
1864). In 1866 he became privat-docent at the Uni-
versity of Basel, and in 1868 at that of Greifswald.
In 1872 he was appointed assistant professor at Basel,
and in 1874 professor of pathology and pathological
anatomy, which position he resigned in 1898.

Roth has contributed many essays to the medical
journals of Switzerland and Germany, and is the
author of " Andreas Vesalius Bruxellensis," Berlin,
1892.
Bibliography : Pagel, BUig. Lex.

s. F.. T. H.

BOTH, PHILIPP : German violoncellist ; born
at Tarnowitz, Upper Silesia, Oct. 25, 1853; died at
Berlin June 9, 1898. He studied under Wilhelm Mul-
ler, and from 1876 to 1878 under Robert Hausmann at
the Konigliche Hochschule f lir Musik, Berlin. He
published a violoncello method and a work entitled
"Filhrer Durch die Violoncell-Litteratur." In 1890
he established the Freie Musikalische Vereinigung
in Berlin, and assumed the directorship of its pub-
lication, the "Berliner Signale."
Bibliography : Rlemann, Musih-Lexikon.

s. J. So.

ROTH, "WILHELM : Austrian rliinologist ;
born at Kluckno, Hungary, Oct. 10, 1848. He re-
ceived his education at the gymnasium at Eperies,
Hungary, and at the University of Vienna (M.D.
1873). Establishing himself in Vienna, he became in
1885 privat-docent at the university of that city.

Roth has invented a drop-syringe for the larynx
and several instruments for the nose, e.g., a mirror,
an inhalation apparatus, and an electrical lamp, as
well as a medicine-carrier. Besides many articles
in the medical journals he is the author of: "Die
ChronischeRachenentzilndung," Vienna, 1883. He
has also collaborated on the " Therapeutisches Lexi-
con" and the " Diagnostisches Lexicon."

s. E. T. H.

ROTHENBTTRG : Town of Middle Franconia,
Bavaria, situated on the Tauber, 41 miles west of
Nuremberg. Jews must have been settled there as
early as the beginning of the twelfth century, since
a Jew of Rotlienburg is mentioned in a Wl'irzburg
document of 1119 (Aronius, "Regesten," p. 100).
There are also isolated notices concerning Jews in
Rothenburg and dating from the end of the twelfth
and from the thirteenth century. Thus, in the year
1180 the Jew Samuel Biscoph of Rothenburg bought
from Count Eckard a place adjoining the foundation
of St. Killian, for which he was to pay
Early to the church 8 pounds of wax annu-

Mention. ally on St. Killian 's day (July 8 ; Aro-
nius, I.e. pp. 133-185); and in 1251
King Conrad IV., for 3,000 marks in silver, mort-
gaged the town of Rothenburg, with the Jews in it

("Rothenburgum et Judeeos"), to Gottfried of Hoh-
enlohe, to cover the many expenses which the latter
had incurred by being in the king's service (H. Bress-
lau, in "Hebr. Bibl." x. 129; Wiener, "Regesten,"
p. 8, No. 41).

In the middle of the fourteenth century Rothen-
burg again became the possession of a stranger,
when the emperor Charles IV. bestowed the whole
town, together with the Jewish school, cemetery,
and houses, on Bishop Albrecht of Hohenlohe, at
Wiirzburg, and at the same time released the magis-
trates of the city from any oaths or obligations
which bound them to protect the Jews. But the
town, which at that time was in a
TJnder the condition of growing prosperity, due

Bishops, in part to the Jews, was not disposed
to permit the latter to be systematic-
ally oppressed by the bishop and taken before the
ecclesiastical courts. Consequently complaint was
made to Charles IV., who invited the bishop, with
both Christian and Jewish representatives of Rothen-
burg, to a council at Nuremberg. Before that took
place, however, the city released itself from its con-
nection with the bishop ; on Sept. 30, 1353, the Jews
came again under the jurisdiction of the town coun-
cil, and from that time on were not claimed by the
emperor. Nevertheless they were required to pay
certain taxes directly to the king ; and Opperppbn-
NiG receipts for the years 1393, 1394, and 1395 have
been preserved, given to Rothenburg Jews in the
time of the emperor Wenzel by the latter's favorite
Borziwoy of Swynar. The Jews appear to have
paid other taxes besides this, for two of the re-
ceipts designate the sums received as "Jew taxes."
The opferpfennig from Rothenburg alone amounted
to 75 gulden in 1409, under the emperor Rupert. It
was still collected in Rothenburg under Sigismund,
but when Emperor Maximilian I. also demanded it
(Sept. 17, 1504) the Jews refused to pay it, in which
refusal they were upheld by the city. After this
the payment of the opferpfennig by the Jews of
Rothenburg is no longer mentioned.

At the time of the Black Death there originated
in Rothenburg the so-called Shepherd Brotherhood's
day, which was celebrated annually with great pomp
on Aug. 37, in memory of the escape of the town from
poisoning by the Jews. The story runs that an
"otherwise simple '' shepherd stated before the mag-
istrates that he had seen the well Hertrech, at the
upper Galgenthiirlein, poisoned, and that he had
overheard a conversation on the subject carried on
by Jews in Hebrew, and wished to save the town.
On the strength of this charge the burghers were
warned not to draw water from the well in ques-
tion, and the "Jews of the town and vicinity who
had not already fled were thrown into prison and
tortured.

If a Jew desired to be admitted to the city, he had
first to make out an application bearing his signa-
ture in Hebrew, and present It to the council,
in return for which he received from the latter a
permit with the municipal seal affixed. These per-
mits were for permanent settlement as well as for
temporarj' residence. In especially difficult cases
the council gave aid to its Jewisii burghers. Thus,
in the dispute which Master Mendel of Pappenheira,

489

TPIE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bota
Kothenburg:

for unknown reasons, had with the Nuremberg
Jewish burghers Isaac and Feyfelin, Mendel having
put the burghers under the ban (1383), it was de-
cided that each of the parties concerned should ad-
vance 1,000 gulden, and that the victor in the dis-
pute should take the whole sura.

According to Bensen ("Beschreibung und Gesch.
der Stadt Rotheuburg," p. 521) and Merz (" Rothen-
burg in Alter und Neuer Zeit," p. 93), the Jews
were banished from Rothenburg in 1397 and were
denied admission to the town until 1404. At the
time of banishment the council sold the synagogue
and Jewish dance-hall for 2,000 gulden to the
burgher Peter Creglinger, who built on the site of
the synagogue a chapel to the Virgin.

In 1414 the knight Erkinger of Sausheim was en-
trusted witli the collection of certain money (comp.
Keller, "ZurGesch. derBesteueruugder JudenDurch
Kaiser Sigismund und Konig Albreoht
Exactions II. " in Geiger's " Zeitschrift f Ur Gesch.
in 1414. der Juden in Deutschland," iii. pp.
301-336). On his arrival the council
arrested all Jews in the town, including among
them strangers temporarily in Rothenburg on busi-
ness. Archbishop John of Mayence interposed- in
vain on their behalf; they were all kept under ar-
rest until they had paid the required sum of 2,000
gulden, for which Sigismund himself signed the re-
ceipt (Oct. 8, 1414). In order to raise the money
they borrowed from the town council, binding
themselves to pay it back in weekly instalments.

The Jews of Rothenburg were especially oppressed
by the small princes. Thus on May 2, 1422, Bishop
John of Wiirzburg issued an order to the pastor of
Rothenburg which made the following demands
upon the council: (1) the Jews were to be prohibited
from practising usury ; (2) they were to wear on the
breast a cloth badge, of red or other color, one span
long and one wide, so that they might be distin-
guished from Christians; (3) a Christian might
neither rent nor sella house to a Jew ; (4) a Christian
might not serve a Jew for hire ; (5) debts due from
Christians to Jews were to be paid to the bishop ; (6)
other moneys and treasures were to fall to the council.
The council demanding an extension of the time
allowed before the order should come into force, the
bishop granted until July 7, 1422. In the meantime
the king came to Nuremberg, and since at that time
he was himself planning to tax the Jews the decree
of the bishop was revoked. Nevertheless, the reg-
ulation in regard to wearing distinctive signs ap-
pears to have been enforced, for in 1511 the Jews
asked the council how the new badges should be
made.

Another extraordinary imperial tax was imposed
in 1433, when the Rothenburg Jews had to pay Sig-
ismund a coronation-tax of 200 gulden, in return for
which, on April 14, 1434, they received an imperial
privilege releasing them from all taxes for ten years.

Maximilian was the first emperor to interfere in
Jewish affairs, the occasion being the general assem-
bly summoned by the Frankfort Jews, on Nov. 6,
1509, in order to secure harmony in decisions. The
assembly met with little success, principally through
the ostentatious reserve of the Rothenburg dele-
gates, who at tlie request of the Augsburg Jews were

urged even by the emperor to act in concert with their
fellows, but with no effect. About eight years later
the Rothenburg Jews themselves had occasion to
appeal to the emperor, when (1517) a demand was
made upon the council of Rothenburg by the robber-
knight Klaus Wolgemuth that the Jews should be
compelled to pay him a certain sum of money.
Thereupon the Jews received a privi-

Privilege lege from the emperor (July 7, 1517)

of 1517. permitting them to refuse to submit
to such extortions. But in spite of
privileges they could not prevent the council from
voting, on Nov. 7, 1519, a decree of banishment. It
is remarkable, however, that according to the records
they were banished at their own request, repeated
by the " Schulklopfer " Michel only a few days be-
fore the passing of the decree. When the emperor
asked the reason for the request the council an-
swered that the preachers, especially Dr. Teutsohlin,
had stirred up the people against the Jews, that the
council could not protect them, and that when stones
were thrown at the Jews the latter had asked to be
formally banislied.

The truth of this, however, does not appear to be
proved, lor from another record it is learned that
the Jews complained of Teutschlin's activity and
petitioned the council not to listen to his invectives
and not to banish them. When the decree of ban-
ishment was issued they received the
Expulsion right to collect any money due them,

of 1520. witliout interest. But the people, not
satisfied with this, went to the jurist
Dr. Steinmetz for advice, who, although very re-
served, allowed interest already paid to the Jews to
be deducted from the principal. Before the time set
for their departure the synagogue was plundered of
all its treasures. On Jan. 8, 1520, there were only
six families left in the town ; these left Feb. 2, fol-
lowing. Up to 1526 individual Jews endeavored to
gain admittance to the town, but without success,
and it was not until the nineteenth century that Jews
were again found in Rothenburg. The synagogue,
the school, and the cemetery were confiscated by the
city. The synagogue was transformed into a chapel,
but was destroyed in 1525 by the Reformers. The
place where the cemetery was situated is still known
as the Jewish burying-ground.

As elsewhere in Germany, the occupation of the

Rothenburg Jews was usury. There was a " Will-

kilrbuch " in Rothenburg dating back as early as

the thirteenth century. The follow-

Loan- ing paragraphs from it are especially

Making:, noteworthy : " Loans may be made not
only upon pledges but also upon given
surety, if the burgher first pledges himself to pay."
"The rate of interest is not expressly regulated."
"It a Jew has not -renewed his claim for a debt in
the official register within two years, the debt shall
be considered canceled under all circumstances."
The activity of the money-lending business is indi-
cated by the records of the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury, when six Rothenburg Jews alone had 6,281
gulden and 70 pounds outstanding.

Among the names of persons of especial note in
connection with the history of Rothenburg are those
of the physician Joseph Oeringer, MeIe of Roth-

Rothenburgr
Rothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

490

ENBrRG, the already-nieutioned Master Muudtl of
Pappcuhfim, Jlastei' Israel of Nuremberg (settled in
Kotheuburg in 14U6), and K. Jacob (wlio in 1457
was apjiointed rabl)inical overseer in Wurzbnrg at
the coniniand of Bislioji Conrad).

Biiu.KiGRAPnY: Aronlus. 1-lcticslrii ; Kiibut, Gexchichte der
i)i K/Kc/ifii Juik'ii, pp. lilli, 444, 44li ct scq. ; SulMd, Martiirii-
I'lfliniii ; BensfU, llcf^clircihtiim uii't h'txch. <lfi' Slitilt Utttli-
I ithnra, p. 27, RoItlenbll^^^ l.^-li ; Mt^r/.. liitthiuliurti in
AUi r uiiil Xeiirr ZiH. 2a eil., Ansbarh, ISHl ; H. Bresshui, in
lit'iLrer's Zcitsi.iirifl flir Ucsdi. dcrjuden in DcutKcidiind,
lil. 3Ul-33li, iv. 1-7.
J. S. O.

ROTHENBURG, ELIAKIM GOTT-
SCHALK. Sri: Ei.iakim Gottsc iialk of lioTii-
ENnriii^.

ROTHENBURG, MOSES BEN MORDECAI
StrSSKIND: German rabbi; born about 1665;
dird at Altnua Jan. 13, 1713. He was successively
rabbi of Tykoczin, Brest-Litovsk, and Altona. In
the last-mentioned town he at first shared the rab-
binate with Zebi Hirsch Ashkenazi (Hakam Zebi) ;
but from 1710, when the latter left Altona, Kotlicn-
burg was sole rabbi. Some of his novelise were
published bj- his widoAv in his father's responsa
(Amsterdam, 1747).

Biui.ioc.RAi'MY : Dembitzer, Kelilnt To^, i.92b; Emden, 3Je-
ijdliit .Sf'/Vr, p. 22; FHinstein, '//■ TtltiiUtJi. "p. 2S ; Hurwitz,
Belliihut 'Ir. p. H: Wittkower, .lijtuldKt l^rmliini, p. 2«4.
E. C. ■ B. Fit.

ROTHSCHILD : Celebrated family of flnan-
cirrs. I hi' Fuuuer.'^ of the nineteentli century, deri-
ving its name from the .sign of a red shield borne by

Tbe Ituthscbild

' Staiimibaus," Fraiikfurt-ou-tbt.>Main.

(From a photograph. )

the house No. 148 in the Judenga.sse of Frankfort -
on-the-Main. This house is mentioned in the "Ju-
denstadtigkeit " of 1619, at whieh date its ntimber

was 69. Curiously enougli, it at (ii'st bore tlie sign
of a green shield ("Zum CTriinen Schild "). It was
restored in 1886, and, though not in its original loca-
tion, it still remains in posses.sion of the Rothschikls
as a kind of family mu.seum and memorial.

Tlio earliest notice of a member of the family, given
in the burial records of Frankfort, is that of Moses
Kotlischild (b. c. lootJ), wdiose daughter Esther died
in 1608. Members of the same family are mentioned
at Worms in the seventeenth century as rabbis
(Lewysohn, "Seehzig Epitaphien zu Worms").
One of tlie.se, Mendel Rotlischild, was for several
years preacher in Prague, then rabbi of Bamberg, and
tinall}^ rablji of Worms for fourteen years.

Tlie first Rolhscliild of any prominence was one
Amschel Moses Rothschild, a small mercliaut
and nione)'-cliaiigrr at Frankfort-on-tlie-Main ; but
till' founder of the hou.se was his son Mayer Am-
schel Rothschild, born in that city aliout 1743.
When a boy Mayer used to be sent to
Mayer exchange money for use in his father's
Amschel liauking business; and lie thereby de-
Roths- velopcd an interest in coins whicli was
child. botli iiractical and scientific. He was
at one time destined for tlie rabbinate,
and studied for that purpose in Flirth. He .soon
clianged his career, however, and took a post in the
Oppenheim banking-house in Hanover. About 1760
he started in business for himself in liis native city,
in the house of his father,
who was then dead. He
married, Aug. 39, 1770,
Glittele Schnapper, who
lived to see her sons at
the head of European
finance. Mayer was a
general agent and bank-
er, and traded also in
works of art and curios.
In the latter connection
lie became an agent of
William IX., Landgrave
of Hesse-Cassel, who on
his father's death in 1785
had inherited the largest
private fortune in Eu-
rope, derived mainly from the hire of troojis to the
British government for the putting down of the
Revolution in tlie United States.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild had become acquainted
with the crown prince in 1775, but does not seem
to liave done much business with him till toward
tlie end of the next decade. He changed some
English gold for him in 1789, and in 1794 took as
much as £150,000 worth, but not alone, having as-
sociated with him no less than six other bullion-
lirokers of Frankfort. It was only toward the
end of 1798 that he had sufficient credit with the
prince to undertake single-handed any large quan-
tity of gold brokerage. From 1800 to 1806 the land-
grave placed with Rothschild 1,750,000 tlialer,
mostly at 4 per cent, part of it to be invested in
Frankfort town loans, part in Danish loans. In 1801
he became the landgrave's conit agent.

^Meanwhile his third son. Nathan Mayer Roths-
child (Ijorn at Frankfort Sept. 16, 1777), had settled

Mayer Amschel Eutbsdilld.

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Rothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

494

in EnglaiHl iinilcr soracT\'li;it rcinarkalile circuiii-
stancfs, as related by himself to Sir Thomas Buxton.
The firm dealt in Manchester goods, and, having been
treated somewhat cavalierly by a commercial trav-
eler, Nathan at a moment's notice settled in Man-
chester (1798) with a credit of £20,000, npon which
he earned no less than £40,000 during the following
seven years by buying raw material and dj'es, hav-
ing the goods made up to his own order, and selling
them abroad, thus making a triple profit. He be-
came naturalised as a British subject Juno 13, 1S04,
and in 180.5 went to London, establishing himself at
tirst in St. Helen's place and afterward in New
Cnurt, St. Swithin's lane, still the ofTice of the firm,
lie married shortly afterward a sister-in-law of Bloses
ilontefiore, thus coming into as.sociatinn with the
heads of the Sephardic community, then i-ulin:,' tlie
financial world of London
through their couuectinn
with Amsterdam. Owing
to Napoleon's seizure of
Holland in 1803, the lead-
ers of the anti-Napoleonic
league chose Frankfort as
a financial center wherc-
frora to obtain the sinews
of war. After the battle
of Jena in 1806 the Land-
grave of Hesse-Cassel fled
to Denmark, where he had
already deposited much
of his Avealth through the
agency of ]Mayer Amschel
I^othsehild, leaving in the
hands of the latter specie
ami works of art of the
valueof £600,000. Accord-
ing to legend, these were
hidden away in wine-
easks, and, escaping the
search of Napoleon's sol-
diers when they entered
Fi'ankfort, were restored
intact in the same casks in
1814, when the elector ic-

turned to his electorate (see Marlxit, "3Iemoirs. "
1801, i 310-311). The facts are somewhat less ro-
mantic, and more businesslike. Roths-
Natlian child, so far from being in danger, was
Mayer on such good terms with Napoleon's
Roths- nominee. Prince Dalberg, that he had
child. been made in 1810 a member of the
Electoral College of Darmstadt. The
elector's money had been sent to Nathan in London,
who in 1808 utilized it to purcha.se £800,000 worth
of gold from the East India Company, knowing that
it would be needed for Wellington's Peninsular
campaign. He luade no less than four profits on
this: (1) on the sale of Wellington's paper, (2) on
the sale of the gold to Wellington, (3) on its repur-
cliase, and (4) on forwarding it to Portugal. This
was the beginning of the great fortunes of the
house, and its early transactions may be divided
into three stages, in each of which Nathan was the
guiding spirit; namely, (l)from 1808 to 181.5, mainly
the transmission of bullion from England to the

[i;ul Mayer lldth;

Continent for the use of the British armies and for
subventions to the allies; (3) from 1816 to 1818,
"bearing " operations on the stock exchange on the
loans needed for the reconstruction of Europe after
Napoleon's downfall ; and (3) from 1818 to 1848, the
undertaking of loans and of refunding operations,
which were henceforth to be the chief enterprises
of the house. g

(1) As regards the first stage, the deidlis in b'-HO
of both Sir Francis Barin!| and Abraham Goldsmid
left Nathan Mayer IJothschild without a formidable
competitor in the London bullion market ; audit has
been calculated that.iiiigland forwarded to the Con-
tinent through him in the three years 1813 to 1815
no less than £15,000,000 sterling, while in the latter
year up to tlie battle of Waterloo he forwarded in a
simihir maiiuei- £1,000,000 per month. lie had a
pigeon-post between Eng-
land and the Continent
which brought him early
information of all impor-
tant events. While the
liattle of Waterloo was in
progress his agent Bo-
werth awaited the result at
O.stend , and was the first to
bring the news to London.
This was on the morning
of June 20, two daj-s after
the battle, when Roths-
eliild immediately trans-
mitted the intelligence
to the government; this
shows that the tradition
that he gained largely by
keeping the news secret
is entirely mythical. In
many instances Rothschild
found it unnecessary to
transmit English money
to the Continent, as the
foreign governments fre-
quently preferred to have
their loans reinvested for
them in English consols.
It was mainly in connection with this movement in
buUicm that the remarkable plan was adopted of hav-
ing one of the Bothschild brothers in each of the chief
capitals; but it is a mistake to believe that this ar-
rangement was due to the foresight of Mayer Amschel .
James, the youngest of the brothers,
was not established in Paris till 1813,
the year of Mayer Amschel's death,
and then secretly for the purpose of
collecting French coin to forward to
Wellington for his advance through southern
France; the firm of Rothschild Frires was not
founded in Paris till 1817 ; Karl did not go to
Naples till 1831; and Salomon went to Berlin in 1815
to arrange for payments through London to Berlin
to the Englishman Herries. It was evidently Nathan
who made these arrangements.

(3) The great sums needed by France and the
allies after the Waterloo period were at first not
supplied bjr the Rothschilds at all, though undoubt-
edly the large movements of bullion which were

Disijersion

of the

Brothers.

495

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bothschild

required for these loans were negotiated tlirough
tliem, as it is reclioned that from 1814 to 1823 no less
than £18,000,000 sterling was transferred by them
to the Continent, and it was for this reason that the
brothers were raised to the Austrian nobility (Sept.
29, 1822; Nathan never assumed the title, though ho
acted as Austrian consul-general). But the loans
themselves were made by the banking-house of
Baring, which was connected with the tirm of Hope
in Amsterdam and with that of Ouvrard in Paris,
for a Iqpg time tlie chief rival in Paris of the Roths-
childs. The profits on these issues were enormous.
The French loan of 1816 of 350,000,000 francs yielded
10 per cent; and the Austrian loan of 50,000,000
gulden in 1815 yielded 9 per cent.

(3) As early as Feb. 5, 1817, the Rothschilds had
taken up a Prussian loan of 1,500,000 gulden at 5
per cent ; and by the end of tlie following year the
brothers in their collective capacity were reported
to be the richest firm in Europe, though they had
not conducted any of the great loans of the prece-
ding three years. Bhrenberg, therefore, thinks that
they must have gained their fortune
Foreign by speculating in the loans issued
Xioaiis. under the auspices of the Barings,
probably by "bearing" operations
which were so successful that they forced the gov-
ernments concerned to allow the Rothschilds to
participate in any future loans.

1817.
1818.
]819.
1820.
1820.
1821.
1821.
1821.
1822.
1822.
1822
1822.
1823.
1823.
1823.
1824.
1824.
1825.
1825.

1829.
1829.
1830.
1831.
1831.
1832.
1834.
1834.
1834.
1835.
1837.

1840. . . .
1840. . . .
1842. . . .
1843....
1845. . . .
1845....
1847. . . .
1847. . . .
1847....
1848....
1848. . . .
1848-51.

Country.

rrussia .

Great Britain

Austria (Lottery Loan)

Naples . .
Sicily . . .
Prussia .
Russia...

Naples.. .
Austria .

France

Brazil

Naples

Grand Duchy of Hesse.,
Brazil

Hesse-HomburK

Hohenzollem-Hecliingen.

Prussia

Belgium

Papal States

Belgium

Austria

Greece

Grand Duchy of Hesse . . . ,

Great Britain

Duchy of Nassau

Austria

Duchy of Lucca

Baden

Austria

Duchy of Lucca

Papal States

Baden

Irish Famine Loan

France

Hanover

Baden

Bavaria

Hesse (four loans)

1,600,000
£5.000,000
£12,000,000
48,000,000
20,800,000
37,500,000
16,000,000

4,.50O,000
£3,500,000
£3,500,000
£6,500,000
20,000,000
£2,500,000
25,000,000
23,000,000
£3,200,000
£2,500,000

6,500,000
£2,000,000

£800,000
25,000,000

1,750,000
260,000
£4,500,000
50,000,000
16,000,000
£2,000,000
25,000,000
66,000.000

2.500,000
£15,000,000

2,600,000
30,000,000

1,050,000

5,000,000
40,000,000

1,120,000

2,160,000

14.000.000

£10,000.000

250.000,000

3,600,000

2.500,000
22,000,000

6,500,000

gulden,
gulden,
ducats.

ducats.

gulden,
francs.

gulden.

francs.

gulden,
francs,
gulden.

gulden.

francs,
gulden.

francs,
thaler,
gulden.

The above is a list of the loans issued by the

Rothschilds during the years 1817 to 1848, as far
as these can be definitely ascertained: they make a
total of $654,847,200 (£130,969,440).

The profits on these loans were at first very great.
Salomon Rothschild in 18^declared that the bi'oth-
ers in that year made 6,000,000 gulden, probably on
the two Austrian loans, i.e., about 10 percent. But
others were by no means so remunerative. No less
than £500,000 was lost in attempting to support
Lord Bexley's refunding schemes; and the French
refunding operation of 1823 from 5's to 3's, though
originally suggested by Nathan, was equally unre-
munerative, causing a loss, it is said, of 3,000,000
francs. Nor were the Rothschilds always success-
ful in obtaining the issue of loans. In 1834, despite
their competition, a syndicate of the Foulds, Op-
penheims, and others obtained the Sardinian loan ;
but the Rothschilds adopted their usual "bearing"
policy, with the result that the next papal loan was
financed by them. The Pereires were equally inim-
ical to the Rothschilds, and successfully competed
with them for Russian railway contracts.

While the early history of the firm was dominated

by the influence of Nathan, after the year 1830 the

youngest brother, James, came to the front, and the

Paris house gained that predominance in French

finance which it still retains, whereas

Baron throughout the nineteenth century

James. thei'e was concealed but very effective
rivalry between the Barings and the
Rothschilds in London . Baron James had befriended
and assisted Louis Philippe before he came to the
throne in 1830, and was the medium through which
that astute monarch conducted his stock-exchange
operations till his overthrow in 1848. In return
Baron James obtained in 1846 the concession for the
Great Northern Railway Company of Prance, hav-
ing 300,000 shares, each of the value of 300 francs.
His position in the social world of Paris is described
by Balzac under the guise of "Baron Nucingen."
In the year 1848 the Paiis house was reckoned to be
worth 600,000,000 francs as against 362,000,000
francs held by all the other Paris bankers. Mean-
while the Vienna branch obtained a similar conces-
sion for the Austrian Northern Railway (Nordbahn).
Baron Salomon had also acquii'ed f I'om the Austrian
government the Idra quicksilver-mine ; and in 1832
the Almaden mines in Spain also came under the
control of the Rothschilds, who tlius obtained a
monopoly of that metal. The Austrian firm later
owned, in conjunction with the biothers Wilhelm
and David von Gutmann, mines and iron-works at
Witkowitz, Moravia. In the early stages of its ex-
istence the Austrian house did a large money-lending
business with the mediatized and impoverished
nobility of the Austrian empire, loans to the amount
of no less than 24,521,000 gulden being on record.

There is little to be said about the Naples house,
established in 1821 and discontinued in 1861 at the
fall of the Bourbon dynasty.

Apart from railroads and mines the Rothschilds
have rarely been interested in industrial develop-
ments, though the Londo'n house is still rated as " N.
M. Rothschild and Sons, merchants." At one time
they took up general insurance, and founded in
1824, with Sir Moses Montefiore, the Alliance In-

Rothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

496

suranoe Companj' as a sort of rival to Lloyd's.
Only receutly has the firin agaiu turued its attention
to mines, under tlie influence of Lord Rothscliild,
tlie interests of the London hotise in the Uio Tinto
copper-niiuesand the De Beers diamond-mines being
considerable. Similarly the tirm has large interests
in the oil-wells of Baku, Russia, thus becoming the
chief competitor of the Standard Oil Companj'.

With the fall of Louis Philippe (1848) the hege-
mony of the various Rothschild firms agaiu reverted
10 London. Baron Lionel, thougii his attention
\v as d i \' c r t e d
considerably
from finance to
politics by tln'
struggle for the
emancipation of
the Jews, gained
considerable
prestige by his
repeated elec-
tion as repre-
.sentative of the
city of London;
and the London
firm was instru-
mental during
his leadership of
it in financing no
less than eight-
een government
loans, including
the Irish Famine
Loan, one of
£15,000,000 to
the English gov-
ernment in 1856,
the ,£5,000,000
Turkish loan of
1858, several re-
funding opera-
tions for the
United States,
and national
loans to the Rus-
sian govern-
ment. He de-
clined, however,
to take up the
Russian loan of
1861, owing to
his disapproval
of the action of the Russian government toward
Poland.

After ]\Iaycr Amschcl's deatli the Fiankfort firm,
wljich for many years, especially between 1850 and
1870, was of great importance, was until about 1855
under the guidance of Baron Amschel Mayer von
Rothschild, and upon his death came under the joint
management of the brothers Baron Mayer Karl and
Baron Wilhelm (universally known in Germany as
"Baron Willy")- Theformer wasamanof high eid-
ture and great ability, a lover of art and literature,
but somewhat of a misanthrope, owing, it is said,
partly to the fact that seven daughters were born to
him but no son. Baron Mayer Kail became a mem-

))er of the Prussian Ilerrenliairs (House of Peeis) in
1870, and thereafter paid little attention to biisincss
affairs, leaving these to his brother Baron Wilhelm.
The latter was a very religious man, of ratlier nariow
views, under whom the importance of the Frankfort
firm rapidly declined. It was liipiidaled after his
death in 1901.

The Rothschilds were not, however, without com-
petitors in the issue of public loans. Other Jewish
families — the Lazards, Sterns, Speyers, and Selig-
nians— adopted the Rothschild plan of establishing

local branches in
European capi-
tals, each headed
b}^ a brother,
and after 1848
the governments
of Europeadopt-
ed the plan of
throwing loans
open to the pub-
lic instead of re-
sorting to one or
two banking
firms like the
Rothscliilds. In
this way the
Sterns secured
the chief Por-
tuguese loans,
while a number
of smaller Jew-
ish firms began
to combine their
resources and
form limited li-
ability compa-
nies like the C;re-
dit Mobilier, the
DresdenerBank,
and the Deutsche
Reichsbank of
Berhn.

The relative
importance of
the Rothschilds
diminislied con-
siderably in the
second half of
the nineteenth
century. Having
been ill advised
as to their American policy, they invested largely
in Confederate bonds and lost heavily. This
appears to have disgusted them with American
finance, which they left severely alone for many
years, thus losing the opportunities afforded by the
great financial expansion of the United States in
the last decades of the nineteenth century. With
the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71) the Rothschilds
again came into financial prominence. The}' ar-
ranged with Bleichroder for the payment to Ger-
man}' of the indemnity of five milliard francs; in
1875 the London house advanced the British gov-
ernment £4,080,000 for Suez Canal shares, upon
which the Rothschilds were reported to have made

497

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kothschlld

£100,000; and in 1884 tliey loaned the Egyptian
government £1,000,000.

IMeanwliile tl\e Nationalist and Reactionary parties
in Prance desired to counterbalance tlie " Semitic "
influence of tlie Rotliscliilds by establisliing a bank-
ing concern -wbicli should be essentially Catholic.
Accordingly in 1876 the Union Generale was founded
with a capital of 4,000,000 francs, increased to 25,-
000,000 francs in 1878 under the direc-
The tionof a certain Bontoux. After vari-

TJnion ous vicissitudes, graphically described
Generale. by Zola iu his novel "L' Argent," the
Union failed, and brought many of
the Catholic nobility of France to ruin, leaving the
Rothschilds still more absolutely the undisputed
leaders of Prench finance, but leaving also a legacy
of hatred which had much influence on the growth
of the anti-Semitic movement in Prance. Something
analogous occurred in England when the century-
long competition of the Barings and the Rothschilds
culminated in the failure of the former in 1893 ; but
in this case the Rothschilds came to the rescue of
their rivals and prevented a universal financial catas-
trophe. It is a somewhat curious sequel to the at-
tempt to set up a Catholic competitor to the Roths-
childs that at the present time the latter are the
guardians of the papal treasure.

Of recent years the Rothschilds have consistently
refused to have anything to do with loans to Russia,
owing to the anti-Jewish legislation of that empire,
though on one occasion the members of the Paris
house joined in a loan to demonstrate their patriotism
as Prenchmen.

The remarkable success of the Rothschilds, which
has now lasted exactly a century, has been due in
the first place to the financial genius of Nathan
Mayer Rothschild, and secondly in large measure to
the settlement of the five brothers in the European
capitals, which enabled them to issue loans simulta-
neously. In the early and later stages the London
house was the' base of operations; but during the
reign of Louis Philippe the Paris house appears to
have directed undertakings. The business princi-
ples on which the Rothschilds acted were the unified
policy of the five, later four, and finally three firms ;
their determination never to deal with unsuccessful
persons ; their use of the surest information and the
most reliable instruments; and prompt action after
obtaining such Information. They did not aim at
excessive profits, nor did they put "all their eggs in
one basket"; they drew back in time if an enter-
prise was not promising, selling quickly, if necessary
even at a loss, on the principle that the first loss is
the best ; and they were almost the first to make use
of journalistic methods to arouse the interest of the
public in their loans. They have, however, consist-
ently kept the secret of their own operations. The
original five brothers were shrewd business men,
but all were equally uncultured (Karl
As Philan- Mayer writes of a " kondract " he had
thropists made). Their descendants, however,
and Art have been among the great patrons of
Patrons, art throughout western Europe, the
collections of Barons Amschel, James,
and Perdinand being especially noteworthy. They
have created quite a school of Jewish dealers in art,
X.-33

whose chief customers they have been (Duveen, C.
Davis, Spitzer, and Wertheimer).

The services of the Rothschilds in the cause of
philanthropy have been equally marked. Special
hospitals have been founded by them for all creeds
at Jerusalem, Vienna, Paris, and Loudon ; the Jews'
Pree School of the last-named city is supported al-
most entirely by Lord Rothschild at an estimated
annual cost of £1,'5,000. In London and Paris they
have established workmen's dwellings on a large
scale and on an economic and commercial basis ; and
their private charities are very large. The founder
of the house, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, held the
curious theory that if a beggar thanked him, the
charitable transaction was concluded, whereas if he
received no thanks. Heaven owed him some recom-
pense for his charity. Consequently, it was his cus.-
tom to thrust a coin into the hand of a beggar, and
to hnrr}' away before the latter could express his
gratitude.

In addition, some of the members of the family
have evinced an interest in Jewish literature. Baron
James in Paris was the founder of the Societe de.s
Etudes Juives; Baron Wilhelm of Prankfort was a
zealous collector of Hebrew incunabula, which are
now in the Prankfort town library; and almost all
great Jewish literary undertakings have been sub-
ventioned by one or other branch of the firm.

Hitherto the pedigree of the Rothschild family
has been traced only as far as Amschel, the father
of Maj'er Amschel Rothschild; but, owing to the
recent publication of the tombstone inscriptions of
Prankfort-on-the-Main by Horpvitz ("Inschriften
von Prankfort "), it is now possible to trace it back
with a high degree of probability four generations
further, as far as Moses Rothschild,' who' was born
about the middle of the sixteenth century. There
is little doubt that all the Rothschilds form one fam-
ily, as is shown by the similarity of first names ; this
would account for the somewhat unusual name of
Kalman (brother of Mayer Amschel), and would
give some hint as to the use of " Jacob " as the name
of Mayer Amschel's youngest son, since the younger
son of the uncle after whom he was named was also
called Jacob. It is also seen that the rabbinic part
of the family left Prankfort early in the seventeentli
century, and is not related in a direct line with the
more worldly portion.

The number of marriages between cousins in the
later history of tlie family is remarkable, especially
in the second and third generations after the five
brothers had gone to five different capitals. Alto-
gether of fifty -eight marriages contracted by the de-
scendants of Mayer Amschel Rothschild to date
(1905), no less than twenty-nine, or exactly one-half,
liave been between first cousins. It is noteworthy
that these marriages as a rule have been fertile, which
is what is anticipated by biological science ; but sev-
eral, of the unions have resulted in daughters only,
which is also anthropologically significant.

In the first names adopted there has been a restric-
tion in choice in the early generations, causing a
considerable amount of confusion between the many
Charlottes, Louises, Karls, and Nathans. As a rule,
the son has adopted the father's name as a second
name, which has enabled a distinction to be made ;

Rothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

498

and the same plan has with less suitability been
followed in the case of the daughters. The family
tree is found on pages 491-493.

BiBLiotiRAPHT : Das Jfnits Rothschild, Seine Gcschichte und
Ocsehilfte, Prague, 1»57 ; Reeves, The Rothschilds, London,
1887 ; Bcherb, Oesch. das Jiauses KothscMUt, Berlin, 1893 ;
A. EbrenbePK, In Deutsche Rundschau, 1303-4; Diet. Na-
tional Biography; VfurzhSLOh, Biooraphisches Lcxikon, s.
v.; A. Kohut, /fidischcJiertthmtfteiteTi: Horovltz, Msc?irt/t-
en von Frankfort; Levvysohn, Sechzig Epilaphien zu
Worms.

J.
The following notices of members of the family
are arranged in alphabetical order:

Albert (Anselm) Salomon von Rothschild,
Freiherr : Head of the Austrian branch of S. M.
V. Rothschild und Sohne ; horn at Vienna Oct. 29,
1844; youngest son of Anselm von Rothschild. He
was educated at the gymnasium of Vienna and the
University of Bonn; entered the banliing-house of
Behrend at Hamburg ; and then traveled extensively.
He succeeded his father as head of the Vienna
branch iu 1874. In 1876 he married Karoline Bet-
tina, daughter of Baron Alphonse Rothschild (b. at
Paris Feb. 15, 1858; d. at Vienna March 24, 1892),
in memory of whom he erected the Bettina Frauen-
spital. He takes especial interest in the orphan
asj'lum and foundations for Jewish artists and musi-
cians in Vienna.

s. F. T. H.

Alphonse, Baron de Rothschild : Second son
of Baron James Mayer de Rothschild ; born at Paris
Feb. 1, 1827. The sou of Austrian parents, he be-
came naturalized in France in 1848. He received a
careful education and was employed at an early age
by his father in the
management of the
Chcmin de Fer du
Nord. In 1854 he be-
came head of the
French house, and in
the same year was
made one of the gov-
ernors of the Bank of
France. In 1869 he
became president of
the board of directors
of the Chemin de Fer
du Nord, also presi-
dent of the Central
Consistory of the Is-
raelites of France, to
which he had be-
, longed as early as 1851

as delegate of the Jewish community of Bordeaux.
When the Franco-Prussian war ended disastrously
for the French republic. Baron Alphonse became the
head of the syndicate of French bankers which
guaranteed the payment of the indemnity of five
milliard francs by France to Germany. It was espe-
cially through his ability that France was enabled
to pay the indemnity within a very short time.

He further directed the important work of estab-
lishing a fund, chiefly in German bonds, to avoid
the expense of converting bills into German currency
when remitting them to the German government,
thus saving a great amount to the French govern-
ment.

Baron Alphonse de Eothschild.

As to Baron Alplionse's connection with the Suez
Canal transactions, opinions differ. He and Charles
de Lesseps were commissioned to effect a harmoni-
zation of the French and the English interests. It
is a fact that the management of the canal changed
hands in 1883, and that England is now actually in
possession.

At present the baron is especially interested in im-
portant electric and petroleum undertakings. He
has presented over 600 pictures to the Museum of
Paris ; and in 1895 he succeeded Emile Perrin as hon-
orary member of the Paris Academy of Fine Arts.
The Chateau of Ferrifires-cn-Brie (department of
Seine-et-Marne) is his property. The German staff
was installed there at the commencement of the siege
of Paris. There also Jules Favre, on behalf of the
French government, conducted the unsuccessful
peace negotiations with Prince Bismarck.

The charitable and benevolent institutions of all
creeds have been enriched by gifts from the firm of
Rothschild Brothers. Each year as winter ap-
proaches, Barons Alphonse, Gustave, and Edmond
donate 100,000 francs for distribution among the
poor of the twenty arrondissements of Paris. They
are the founders of sixty annual stipends for the
benefit of young persons wishing to enter the higher
commercial schools. On June 27, 1904, the three
Barons Rothschild notified TrouUot, minister of
commerce, of their intention to donate the sum of
10,000,000 francs, to be employed in the erection of
inexpensive dwelling-houses, and for the general
furtherance of plans for ameliorating the condition
of the working classes.

In 1857 Alphonse married Leonora, daughter of
Baron Lionel de Rothschild of London. His only
son, Edouard (b. Feb. 24, 1868), fought a duel
during the excitement caused by the revision of the
Dreyfus case.

Bibliography: Curlnler, Diet. JVat. ii. 356; La Grande En-
cyclopedic.
8. F. T. II.— J. Ka.

Amschel Mayer von Rothschild, Freiherr :

Eldest son of Mayer Amschel Rothschild and, after
the death of his father, senior member of the family
and head of- the Frankfort branch ; born at Frank-
fort-on-the-Main June 13, 1773; died there Dee. 6,
1855. The Emperor of Austria knighted him in
1815 and made him a " Freiherr " iu 1822. In 1820
he was appointed Bavarian consul iu Frankfort with
the title of court banker.

Amschel Mayer was very Orthodox and actively
supported the Conservative party in Judaism. He
took great interest in the history of his race, and
when in 1840 many cloisters were sequestered in
Spain, he directed his agent to secure all documents
of interest to the Jews. He was besides a collector
of paintings, coins, and metal-work.

Amschel Mayer left no children, but was suc-
ceeded in business by two sons of his brother Karl,
the founder of the Naples branch.

Bibliography-: (Anonymous) Pas Haus Rothschild, i. 173-
205, Prague and Leipsic, 1857.

Anselm von Rothschild, Freiherr : Austrian
banker; bornatFrankfort-on-the-Main Jan. 29, 1803;
died at Ober-D5bling, near Vienna, July 27, 1874;
only son of Salomon Mayer von Rothschild. While

499

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bothschild

his father and uncles had received their education
and training in tlie paternal home, he was sent, in
1820, to the University of Berlin. Two years later
he entered the Paris house of the Rothschilds, spend-
ing some time there as well as at Berlin, Copen-
hagen, Brussels, and The Hague. From 1848 he
assisted, his uncle Amschel Mayer in Frankfort, and
after the death of his father, removed to Vienna
(1855), where he continued to conduct the Austrian
house of the Rothschilds till his death.

In 1861 Anselm was appointed a life member of
the Austrian House of Lords. In 1869 he founded
a Jewish hospital in Vienna. Pie was an enthusiastic
collector of paintings and other objects of art.

In 1826 Anselm married his niece Charlotte Nathan
Rothschild, daughter of Nathan Mayer Rothschild
of London. He left three sons, Nathan, Ferdi-
nand, and Albert Salomon. Nathan (b. Oct. 26,
1836) is a sportsman, traveling much, especially on
the Mediterranean ; he has not taken any active
interest in the Rothschild business. He has pub-
lished "Skizzen aus dem Silden." Anselm had
also three daughters: Julie, married Adolf Karl
von Rothschild ; Mathilde, married Wilhelm Karl
von Rothschild (both of the Naples branch); and
Iiuise, who became the wife of Baron Fran-
chetti.

Bibliography : Von Scherb, Gesch. des Houses Rothschild,
Berlin, 1892.
s. F. T. H.

Anthony de Rothschild, Sir: Born at New
Court, London, 1810; died at Woolston, near South-
ampton, Jan. 3, 1876 ; second son of Nathan Mayer
Rothschild. Entering his father's banking business,
he became a prominent member of the firm. He
lived the life of a country gentleman, which did not,
however, prevent him becoming the main represent-
ative of the family in the London Jewish commu-
nity. As president of the Jews' Free School he was
unwearied in his efforts to promote the good man-
agement of that institution. He assisted at the es-
tablishment of the United Synagogue, and became
its president. For a short time he was president also
of the Jews' Hospital. In 1846 he was created a
baronet of the United Kingdom, with special re-
mainder, failing his own male issue, to the sons of
his elder brother. Baron Lionel de Rothschild. He
was also a baron of the Austrian empire, and was
made Austrian consul-general in London in 1858.

Sir Anthony was prominently connected with
numerous mercantile bodies, notably the Alliance
Life and Fire Assurance Company, of which he was
a director. In 1840 Sir Anthony married Louisa,
daughter of Abraham Montefiore ; he had two
daughters, who survived him.

Bibliography : Jew. Chrnn. and Jew. World, Jan. 7, 1876 ;
The Times (London), Jan. 5, 10, and 11, 1876; Morais, ilmi-
nertt Israelites of the Nineteenth Centura, s.v., Philadel-
phia, 1880. p .j-

Arthur de Rothschild, Baron : Born at Paris
March 28, 1851 ; died at Monte Carlo 1903 ; son of Na-
thaniel Rothschild of London. He was the author
of: "Notice sur I'Origine du Prix Uniforme de la
Taxe de Lettres et sur la Creation des Timbres de
Poste en Angleterre," Paris, 1871 ; and " Histoire de la

Poste aux Lettres," ib. 1873. Baron Arthur was in-
terested in yachting, and for several years was vice-
president of the Union des Yachts Pran^ais.

Bibliogkaphy: La Grande Encyclopedie.
s. J. Ka.

Charlotte de Rothschild, Baroness : Born at

Naples 1819 ; died at Gunnesbury Park, Aoton, near
London, March 13, 1884 ; daughter of Baron Karl
von Rothschild. In 1836 she married her cousin
Baron Lionel de Rothschild. She took the deepest
interest in politics and was of the greatest sai'vice
to her husband in his parliamentary career.

In 1859 the baroness established an Invalids'
Kitchen at Bishopsgate, London, and in Nov., 1859,
founded the Home for Aged Incurables, both of
which institutions as well as several other charities
were entirely supported by her. In 1867 she became
president of the Ladies' Benevolent Loan and Visit-
ing Society. She founded also the Emigration Soci-
ety. Her labors in connection with the Jews' Free
School were far-reaching; she even composed as
readings for the school " Addresses to Young Chil-
dren." In memory of her daughter, she established
"Evelina Prizes" at all the Jewish elementary
schools and at Jews' College.

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. and Jew. World, March li, 1881.
J. G. L.

Constance de Rothschild (Lady Battersea) :

Authoress and communal worker ; eldest daughter
of Sir Anthony de Rothschild ; born in London 1847.
In 1877 she married Cyril Flower, who was created
first Baron Battersea in 1892. In conjunction with
her sister Annie (the Honorable Mrs. Eliot Yorke)
she published, in 1870, " The History and Literature
of the Israelites According to the Old Testament
and the Apocrypha, " an adaptation, for the young, of
the Biblical narrative. The work was reijublished
in 1872, in an abridged form, for the use of schools.
Lady Battersea has since contributed occasionally to
magazines, dealing descriptively with the ceremo-
nial and ritual she witnessed in her father's house.
She has taken a great interest in the Jewish Associ-
ation for the Protection of Girls and Women, of
which she is vice-president and secretary ; and she
has been intimately associated with other depart-
ments of Jewish social work in London.

Bibliography: Jewish Year Book, 5665 (1904-5).

J. J. DE H.

Edmond de Rothschild, Baron: Born at
Paris Aug. 19, 1845. He is associated with his
brothers Alphonse and Gustave in the French house
of the Rothschilds. He is known in the Jewish
world as the founder of the Agricultural Colo-
nies IN Palestine, at present under the adminis-
tration of the Jewish Colonization Association. In
1877 he married Adelaide, daughter of Wilhelm Karl
Rothschild of Frankfort-on-the-Main, by whom he
has three children: James Edmond Armand (b.
Dec. 18, 1878; M.A., Cambridge), Maurice (b. May
19, 1881), and Myriam.

Baron Edmond is a great lover of the arts and a
collector of paintings. His wife is president of
the patronage committee of the Comite de Bienfai-
sance, and foundress and vice-president of the Home

nothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

500

Israelite Fran^ais, which assists youug Jewisli girls
to find situations in the trades, the industrial arts, as
teaeliers, etc.

6. J. Ka.

Ferdinand de Botliscliild, Baron : English
politician and art connoisseur ; born in Paris 1839 ;
died at Wallesdon Manor? England, Dec. 17, 1898;
second son of Freiherr Anselm von Kothschild. He
was educated in Vienna, and settled in England in
1860. In 18d5 he married his cousin Evelina de
Kothschild, sister of Lord Rothschild. She died in
the following year, and in her memory he built and
largely supported the Evelina Hospital for Sick
Children.

Baron Ferdinand was fond of country life and
had the ordinary tastes of a country gentleman.
He hunted, and bred fat stock ; he made Wallesdon
a model village ; and he was fond of yachting. In
1883 he held the office of liigh sheriff of Buckingham-
shire, and was also justice of the peace and deputy
lieutenant for the county. In 1885, when Lord
Rothschild was created a peer. Baron Ferdinand
succeeded as a Liberal to his seat for Aylesbury ;
but in the following November the borough was
disfranchised, and he was returned for the newly
created division of Aylesbury, which constituency
he continued to represent as a Liberal Unionist until
his death. At Wallesdon the baron had the honor
of entertaining the Queen of England on May 14,
1890 ; and the emperor Frederick of Germany and
the Shah of Persia were likewise reckoned among
his guests. The baron was a freemason, and in 1892
was one of the founders of the Ferdinand de Roths-
child Lodge, of which he was installed master.

As a collector of works of art, Baron Ferdinand
held one of the first places in his generation. The
Manor itself was one of the most celebrated homes
In England, its staircases, copied from those of the
Chateau Chenonceaux, being specially noteworthy.

Baron Ferdinand rendered valuable services in
various capacities to the Jewish community. From
1868 to 1875 he was treasurer of the Board of Guard-
ians ; in 1868 he laid the foundation-stone of the North
London Synagogue; in 1870 he became warden of
the Central Synagogue ; and at the Stepney Jewish
Schools he founded a " Baron Ferdinand de Roths-
child Technical Scholarship." He was a man of
wide culture and strong literary sympathies. The
result of some of his studies he gave to the public
in the form of lectures to working men, in articles
in the "Nineteenth Century," and in a work (Lon-
don, 1896) entitled " Personal Characters from French
History. " At his death he bequeathed to the British
Museum some of the rare art treasures of Walles-
don Manor, a gift amounting in value to about
.£100,000.
BIBLIOORAPHT : Jew. Chrnn. and Jew. World, Dec. 23, 1898 ;

T/ic Times (London), Dec. 19, 1898.

J. G. L.

Gustave de Kothschild, Baron : Born Feb.
17, 1829; consul-general for Austria-Hungary, di-
rector of the Chemin de Fer du Nord and the Paris-
Lyons and Mediterranean Railway; member of the
board of directors of the Rothschild Hospital and
Hospice; president of the Jewish Consistory of
Paris (of which he has been a member since 1856),

and also of the committee of consistorial schools;
chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

In 18C6 he founded a Hebrew primary school
known as " The Gustave de Rothschild School. " On
the anniversary of the deatli of his daughter. Baron-
ess Emanuel Leonina, in 1898, he established twenty
annuities of 000 francs each, to be distributed among
aged Jews of either sex.

In 1859 Baron Gustave married Cecilie Anspach.
Issue, five children: Robert (b. Jan. 19, 1880),
civil and mining engineer; Lucie, wife of Baron
Lambert, president of the Central Hebrew Consis-
tory of Belgium, and representative of the firm of
Rothschild Brothers at Brussels; Aline, wife of Sir
Edward Sassoon, M.P., of London; and Juliette,
wife of Baron Emanuel Leonina, civil engineer.

The Baroness Gustave de Rothschild is president
of the ladies' committee of inspection of the Hebrew
schools of Paris. In 1877 she established a clothing
club, for the distribution of garments, medicines,
etc., among the Jewish children attending the con-
sistorial and parochial schools.

Bibliography: L^on Kabn, HMoiredes EcoJes Communales
et ConftlstoriaUs de Paris, 1884.
s. J. Ka.

Hannah Rothschild. See Rosebeky, Hannah,

CotJKTESS OF.

Henri de Rothschild, Baron : French phy-
sician; born at Paris July 26, 1873; son of James
Edward Rothschild of London. After a careful
education he traveled extensively and then, return-
ing to Paris, studied medicine, graduating as M.D.
in 1898. Establishing himself as a physician in his
native city, he founded a dispensary for the treat-
ment of diseases of children.

Rothschild is the author of several books on his
travels ("Notes Scandinaves," "Notes Africaines,"
"Souvenirs d'Espagne," etc.), and of the following
medical works: "Quelques Observations sur 1' Ali-
mentation du Nouveau-Ne et de I'Emploi Raisonne
du Lait Sterilise," Paris, 1897; "Notes sur I'Hygi&ne
et la Protection de I'Enfance dans les Principales
Capitales de I'Europe," ib. 1897; "L'AUaitement
Mixte et I'Allaitement Artificiel," ib. 1898. He has
also collaborated on several professional journals,
besides editing unpublished letters of Jean Jacques
Rousseau, with a preface and notes : " Lettres In-
edites de Jean-Jacques Rousseau."

Bibliography : Curinier, Diet. Nat. i. 178.

s. F. T. H.

James Edouard de Rothschild, Baron : Born
at Paris Oct. 28, 1844; died there Oct. 25, 1881. He
was one of the founders and the first president of
the Societe des Etudes Juives and the founder of the
Societe des Anciens Textes Praugais. He is the author
of "Introduction au Mystfere du Vieil Testament."

Baron James' widow is directress of the Hospital
of Berck-sur-Mer ; and his daughter Jane, wife of
Baron Leonino, is the foundress of the Orphanage
of Boulogne-sur-Seine.
BiBLiOGBAPjiY : Zadoc Kahn, Souvenirs et Regrets, 1898.

James Mayer de Rothschild, Baron : Born
at Frankfort-on-the-Main May 15, 1792; died at
Paris Nov. 15, 1868. He founded in 1812 the Paris
banking-house known under the firm name of Roths-

501

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Eothsohild

Baiuu Juiiies Mayer de Ruths-
cliild.

child Fi'C-i\'s. Ill ISO'3 ho w;is aiiiHiiiUcd Cdiisiil-
geiieml to Aiistvia-lluiigary. He ucgotiated the
French hians oi 1830 iiiid 1834, and in return for liis
services was created by Louis Philippe grand officer
of the Legion of Honor, of which he had been a
chevalier since 1833, He took a very important part
in tlie buiUling of the Saint-Germain Kaih'oad, one
of tlie most important roads in the north of France.
The baron was ever active in the interests of his
coreliuionists. By his fearless iuterveutiou he fre-
quently averted cruel
persecutions of the
Jews, and caused the
repeal of unjust and
burdensome laws di-
rected against them.
On April T, 18r,'2, lie
made over to the Cen-
tral Consistory of Paris
a hospital in the Hue
Picpus, Paris, built on
a site having an area
of about 16,000 square
meters, on condition
that the establi.shuient
should Ije reserved in
perpetnilj' as a ref-
uge for sick and
aged Jews. He was
besides a noted ]iatron of Hebrew letters.

The baron's wife, Betty (d. in Paris Sept., 1886),
was foiuidress of the Hospital for Incurables, which
s!je endowed with an annual revenue of 800 francs for
each of its seventy beds. Tlie Salomon and Caroline
de Rothschild (Jrphanage, in Paris (opened June 3,
1874), wholly devoted to the care of Jewish orphans
of eitlier se.\", is another testimony to her charitJ^
She, moreover, left 600,000 francs to the public
charities, for the assistance of poor laborers in
paying tlieir rents.

r.iBUOGRAPHY: Zacloc Kahn, Sermons ef AUncutiinif, 3d
series, Ib'Ji; idem, SimvciUis ct Rcrjrets, 189S.
s. J. K\.

Karl Mayer von Rothschild, Freiherr : Born
at Frank fort-on-the-ilain April 24, 1788; died at
Naples March 10, 18o5; fourth son of Mayer Am-
schel Rothschild and head of the Italian braneli.
Fioni 1831 he lived in Naples and Frankfort and
became banker to tlie kingdoms of Sicily, Sardinia,
and Naples, of the Papal States, and of the duchies
of Parma and Tuscauy. He was made a " Freiherr "
by the crown of Austria in 1833 and consul-general
of Sicily at Frankfort in 1829. His wife, Adelheid
Herz, was a society leader aud a well-kn(jwii iiliilun-
thr<iiiist.

Karl ,AIayer left four sons— 3L\ti;i! K.u:l, Adolf
Karl, Wii,ii7;i,>r K\nh. and Alexander— and one
(laiiniiter, all of whom married members of the
Rothseliild family. Adolf Karl (b. at Frankfort
May 31, 1833) succeeded his fatlier.

BiniiofiR\riTV: Drif: Haii.i 7?<-rf;i.tf/ii7./, ii. in rt seq., rrague
and I.eipsie, IS.")! ; Reeves, The Buthschild.^, v\<- ~'3 et sty.,
Ij.nddii, )SS7. ^ ^ jj

Leopold de Rothschild : Anglo-Jewish com-
munal worker and sportsman; liorn Nov. 33, 1845;

tliird son of Baron Lionel de Rotlischikl, and brother
of Lord Rothschild. He was educated at Trinity
College, Cambridge, England, and is a deputy lieu-
tenant, a justice of the peace, and commander of the
Royal Victorian Order (1905).

Rothschild is an active worker in the Anglo-Jew-
ish community, being vice-president of the Anglo-
Jewish Association, a member of the council of the
United Synagogue aud of the Jewish Board of
Deputies, chairman of the Jewfsh Emigration Soci-
ety, one of the treasurers of the Loudon Jewish
Board of Guardians, and a member of the board of
management of the Central Synagogue, London.

Rothschild is a sportsman, and -an intimate friend
of the King of England. His horse St. xVuiant in
1904 won the English Derby.

(TR,\riiv

I, Li.lUlnl

Jewiflk
will.

London, 1901; WIki's

I. L. B.

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild, Baron : Corn
at London Nov. 23, 1806; died there June 3, 1879;
eldest son of Baron Natlian Mayer de Rothschild.
After passing some time as a student at Gottingcn
he was initiated into the business transactions of the
firm under his father's ilirectiou. In 1836 he suc-
ceeded the latter in
the direction of the
English house of
Rotlischild, the man-
agement of most of
the operations and
negotiations of . the
firm being entrusted
to him. He had three
brothers, but tliej' de-
ferred implicitly to
him. His was the
guiding mind ; and
while he lived the
center of the finance
of the world may be
said to have been his
oltiee in New Court.
In 1S47 he negotia-
ted the Irish Famine

Loan ; in 1854 he raised £16,000,000 for the English
government to meet tlie expenses of the Crimean
war; and for twenty years he acted as the agent of

the Russian government;. He had a

Financial large share in the successful funding

Career. of the United States national debt;

provided the funds for the immediate
purchase of the Suez Caual shares; and managed
the business of the group of bankers who guaran-
teed to the German empire the permanence of the
exchanges, thus facilitating tlie payment of the
French indemnity at the close of the Franeo-Prus-
siau war. He was a director of the Alliance Insur-
ance Company, and of the Lombardo Venetian Rail-
way, in which he lield a large interest; and the
Chemin de Fer du Nord of France owed its construc-
tion chiefly to his foresight and activity. He act-
ively cooperated with the Vienna branch of his tirm
in directing the finances of the Austrian empire;
and the Egyptian loan of £8,500,000 was contracted
by his hou.se.

ei ;\alli.ui de Roths-
eliild.

Kothschild

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

502

Baron Lionel was the leader of the Jewish com-
munity in England for upward of thirty years. He
was a member of the Board of Deputies, of which
he had been elected president in April, 1855, but de-
clined to serve ; he was for a long period president
of the Great Synagogue ; he laid the
As a foundation-stone of the Central Syna-
Communal gogue (1869), and was for some time

Worker, on the council of the United Syna-
gogue. In 1843 he cooperated with
Sir Moses Montefiore in the latter's efforts to amelio-
rate the condition of the Russian and Polish Jews;
and an appeal from him on behalf of the Rumanian
Jews was read at the Berlin Congress of 1878.

Baron Lionel's political career was chiefly memo-
rable for the conspicuous part he took in the strug-
gle for Jewisli emancipation. At the general election
in July, 1847, he was elected member of Parliament
in the Liberal interest for the city of London, with
Lord John Russell and two other members. Parlia-
ment that year met early, and Lord John Russell,
then prime minister, brought in a bill, which was
passed by a large majority in the House of Com-
mons, affirming the eligibility of Jews to all func-
tions and offices to which Roman Catholics were ad-
mitted by law. The bill was repeatedly rejected
in Ihe House of Lords. Gladstone and Disraeli
were among those who voted with the Whigs, the
latter appealing to the House to discard the super-
stitions of the Dark Ages, and to perform a great
act of national justice.

In the meantime Baron Lionel was elected to Par-
liament again and again. In 1849 ho had been a
member for two sessions without having taken the
oath, when he accepted the Chilteru Hundreds and
a new writ was issued for the city of London. He
was again returned, and continued to be a member
without taking the oath "on the true faith of a
Christian " ; but being again returned in succeeding
parliaments, lie accepted the Chiltern Hundreds a
second time, in 1857. On July 33 a writ was again
issued for tlie city of London, and he was returned
for the fifth lime. At length, in 1858, the Jews'
Disabilities Bill passed, and its princi-

Becoines pie was extended by a further act,
T"irst Jew- passed two years later. Baron Lionel
ish. Member was the first Jew who took the

of Par- amended form of oath (July 36, 1858).

liament. In commemoration of the event several
scholarships were founded at schools
and colleges by subscription and otherwise. Baron
Lionel continued to sit for the city of London, with
the exception of a short interval, till 1874, when he
shared in the general Liberal defeat.

Baron Lionel was tlie friend and counselor of the
23rince consort, and held intimate relations with
Disraeli, the prime minister, whose Sidonia in
■" Coningsby " is an idealized portrait of him.

In his pliilanthropic endeavors the baron was
greaXXy assisted by Baroness de Rothschild, who
was his almoner, especially in the organization of
the Jews' Free School, which was raised by their
joint efforts from squalor to a condition of compar-
ative refinement. It was said of the baron that
more than a tithe of his great income was apphed
in charitable works.

Baron Lionel married in 1836 Charlotte, daughter
of Baron Karl von Rothschild of Naples, who sur-
vived him. He was succeeded by Nathan Meyer
Rothschild, M.P., his eldest son, and left two
other sons, Alfred de Rothschild and Leopold
de Rothschild, and a daughter, Leonora (m. 1857
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild of Paris). The death
in 1866 of his daughter Evelina (m. Baron Ferdi-
nand de Rothschild) was a blow from which Baron
Lionel never entirely recovered.

BiBLioORAPHY : Eeeves, T?ie HothscMIds, London, 1887; Jew.
Chron. June 6, 1879; Jew. WiyrU, Juae 6,4879; The Times
(London), June 4, 5, 12, and 20, 1879; The Montefiore Dia-
ries, 1890 ; Morais, Eminent Israelites of the Ifineteenth
Century, s.v.; Diet. National Biography.

Lionel Walter Rothschild : Naturalist, com-
munal worker, and politician ; born in London Feb.
8, 1868; eldest son of Lord Rothschild. He was
educated at Bonn and later at Magdalen College,
Cambridge. In 1899 he was returned to Parliament
for the Aylesbury division of Buckinghamshire, the
seat previously held by his uncle, Baron Ferdinand
de Rothschild. For this constituency he was again
returned in the Conservative interest in Oct., 1900.
He is greatly interested in natural history, and has
built in Tring Park a museum containing many
rare specimens, to replenish which he has sent ex-
peditions to the remotest corners of the earth.

Rothschild is member of the council of the United
Synagogue, of the Board of Deputies, of the Jewish
Board of Guardians, and of the committee of the
Jews' Free School, and treasurer^f the Jewish In-
dustrial School. He has published "Avifauna of
Laysan," and is editor of "Novitates Zoologicae,"
issued at the Zoological Museum, Tring.

Bibliography : Jew. Chron. Sept. 28, 1900.

G. L.

Mayer Amsehel Rothschild. See p. 490.

Mayer Karl von Rothschild, Freiherr : Ger-
man banker ; born at Frankfort-on-the-Main Aug. 5,
1830; died there Oct. 16, 1886; eldest son of Karl
Mayer von Rothschild of Naples. He lived with his
parents until 1S37. During the following two years
he studied at the University of Gottingen, and in
1839 at that of Berhn. In 1840 he returned to
Naples, and joined in 1843 the Frankfort house, of
which he became the head in 1855, when his cousin
Anselm succeeded liis father in Vienna. Until Mayer
Karl's death he presided over the Frankfort estab-
lishment. In 1867 he was elected a member of the
North German Reichstag, which position he held
until 1870, when he was appointed a life member of
the Prussian House of Lords. He was philanthropic
and a collector of works of art.

In 1843 Mayer Karl married Louise, daugliter of
Nathan Mayer von Rothschild of London, and left
as issue five daughters.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Vou Scherl), Geseh. des Hauses Rothsehild,
Berlin, 1893.
S. F. T. H.

Mayer Nathan de Rothschild, Baron: Eng-
lish financier and sportsman ; born in London June 39,
1818; died there Feb. 6, 1874; fourth son of Nathan
Mayer Rothschild. He-was educated at Trinity Col-
lege, Cambridge, and became a member of the firm
of N. M. Rothschild & Sons, in which house he at
one time took an active interest. He held a seat

503

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Eothschild

in railiuineiit, being fleeted member for Ilytlie on
several sueeessive occasions, and was a steady ad-
herent of the Liberal party.

In 1857 Rothschild acquired land in Buckingham-
shire and commenced building his mansion of Ment-
more, which was soon celebrated alike for its hos-
pitality and works of art. In the neighboring ham-
let of Grafton he set up his stud-farm, where he
bred many famous horses. He was a popular mem-
ber of the Jockey Club. He thrice won the One
Thousand Guineas stakes and twice the Goodwood
Cup. In 1871 he won the Derby, the One Thousand
Guineas, the Oaks, the St. Leger, and the Cesare-
witch ; and that year ^as called " the Baron's year, "

Uothscliild married in 1850 his first cousin Juliana,

eldest daughter of Isaac Cohen, and left as issue

one daughter, who married Lord Rosebery.

BiBLionRAPMY : Jew. Chron. and Jew. WnrJd, Feb. 13, IRTl;
Tlie 'limes (London), Feb. 7, 11, and 12, IHTl.

J. G. L,

Nathan Mayer Rothschild. See p, 490,

Nathan (Nathaniel) Meyer Rothschild,
liOrd : Son of Baron Lionel Nathan do Rothschild;
the present (1905) head of the English house of
Rothschild ; born in London Nov. 8, 1840, He was
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where as
a student he was one of the associates of the present
King of England, with whom he has since remained

on terms of intimacy.
Politically a Liberal
(now a Liberal Union-
ist), he sat in Parlia-
ment from 1865 to
1885 as the member
for Aylesbury. He
had inherited his
English baronetcy
from his uncle in 1876
and the Au.strian bar-
ony from his father
in 1879; in 1885 he
was raised to the
peerage, and, as Bar-
on Rothschild, was
the first Jew to take
his seat in the House
of Lords, an event
which was regarded
as completing the emancipation of the English Jews.
Lord Rothschild has been continuously reappointed
lord-lieutenant of the county of Buckingham. In
1902 he was made a privy councilor, and in the same
year the knight grand cross of the Royal Victorian
Order was conferred upon him.

In 1889 he became a member of a parliamentary
commission appointed to report on the congestion in
the population of London. He urged the London
Jewish community to unite on what was known as
the "East End Scheme," a plan for improving the
spiritual and social life of Jewish East London.
Though Lord Rothschild offered £30,000 toward the
expenses, the plan Avas vigorously opposed by Sir
Samuel Montagu and others, and nothing came of
it o-xcept the annual free services f(u' the Jewish
masses held on New-Year's Day and the Day of

Lord Ilutbschild.

Atonement, which Lord Rothschild regulaily at-
tends.

Lord Rothschild is a governor of the Bank of
England and a jiresiding ollicer of many great cor-
porations. In 1903 he was appointed a member of
the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration, an
oHIce that brought him in touch with the late Theo-
dor Herzl, whose East-African project he indorsed.
He offered positive and outspoken resistance to the
bills proposed in Parliament for the restriction of
alien immigration. He has always been a liberal
contributor to funds for the relief of the persecuted
in Russia and elsewhere; he is a supporter and an
ofticer of most of the communal charities, and a
dispenser of private charity on a large scale, and is'
especially interested in the Jews' Free School, of
which he is president and which owes its position to
his benefactions. He holds the communal offices of
president of the United Synagogue and warden of
the Great Synagogue (the most typically Orthodox
English synagogue in London), and is regarded as
the lay head of the Jewish community of England.
.A,s a social worker his most notable success has
been as a founder of the Four Per Cent Industrial
Dwellings Co.

BnsLiOGRAPHY: Jeieinli Tear Donk, inot-.'
.J.

(.")(5iK).

J. DE H.

Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, Freiherr :
Avistrian banker; born at Frankfort-on-the-Main
Sept. 9, 1774; died at Paris July 38, 1855; second
sou of Mayer Amsehel Rothschild, head of the Vi-
enna branch of the Rothschild house. Salomon spent
most of his time in his native city^ until 1816, w hen
he removed to Vienna, becoming interested in all the
great financial undertakings of the Austrian empire.
He became the financial originator of the Kaiser
Ferdinands Nordbahn, which was inaugurated in
1836. Among the other enterprises in w hich he was
interested may^ be mentioned: the Austrian state
loans of 1823, 1839, and 1843 ; the coal-mines of Wit-
kowitz; and the asphalt lake of Dalmatia.

Salomon Mayer received the honorarj' freedom of
the cities of Vienna and Brunu ; he was knighted
in 1815 by the crown of Austria ; and in 1822 he was
created a "Freiherr." He acquired for his family
extensive landed properties, among them Oderberg,
Hultschin, and Schillersdorf.

Salomon Mayer died while on a visit to Paris ; he
left two children: Betty, who married her uncle
Baron James de Rothschild of Paris, and a son, An-
selm, who succeeded him in business.

Bibliography: Letterls, Lehenshihl clcn Vercn'igten Fyei-
lierni Salumdn v. Bothschihl (in Hebrew, with German
title), Vienna, 18.5.5; Keeves, Tlie, Ri)th>icliihk, pp, S73 et sei/.,
London, 1887; Von Sclierb, CVcsc/i. des lianscs BotlisehiU,
Berlin, 18(12.

Wilhelm Karl von Rothschild, Freiherr :
German banker; born atFrankfort-on-the-J\Iain IMay
16, 1828 ; died there .Ian. 25, 1901 ; son of Karl ]\layer
von Rothschild of Naples. With his brother Mayer
Karl he became joint head of tlie Frankfort house
in 1855, and he was sole head from the time of his
brother's decease (1886). He niarried Mathilde,
daughter of Anselm Rothschild of Vicuna, and left
two daughters.

As' neither Wilhelm Karl nor his brother Mayer

Eothsohild
H6zsav61g:yi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

504

left a male heir, the Frankfort branch of the house
of Rothschild was discontinued (July 1, 19U1).

Bibliography: Von Scherb, Gescft. des Hauses Rothschild,
Berlin, 1892.
s. F. T. H.

ROTHSCHILD, DAVID: German rabbi and
author; boru at Hamm, Westphaha, Nov. 16, 1816;
died at Aachen Jan. 28, 1892. After completing his
studies he became preacher in his native town. In
1850 he was called as rabbi to Aacheu, and in 1863
to Alzey, Hesse. Rothschild was a follower of Re-
form Judaism. He wrote: "Der Eld der Juden:
Eine Kritische Beleuchtuug vom Jiidisch-Theolo-
gischen Standpunkt," Brilon, 1847; " Die Psalmen in
Uebersetzungen, Betrachtungen und Gebet," Bonn,
1850; "Gebetbuch naoh dem Ritusder Israelitischen
Gemeinde zu Aachen," Aachen, 1853; "Dei' Syna-
gogale Cultus in Historisch-Kritischer Entwick-
lung, Popular Dargestellt," Alzey, 1870; "Spinoza:
Zur Rechttertigung Seiner Philosophic und Zeit, "
Leipsic, 1877.

s. M. K.

ROTHSCHILD, MENAHEM MENDEL
(BACHARACH, ASHKENAZI) : German rab-
bi; born in Frankfort-on-the-Main about 1650; died
in AVorms Oct., 1731. He was the grandson of
Isaac, head of the Frankfort community and progen-
itor of the Rothschild famil}', and the son of Solo-
mon, "Landesrabbiner " of Wiirzburg and Fried-
berg, to whose name he adds sometimes the sur-
name Rothschild and sometimes that of Bacharach.
JMenahem was for several years a preacher in Prague.
In 1686 he was chosen " Landesrabbiner " of Bam-
berg, in succession to Mordecai Llpschitz, and was
at tlie same time made rabbi of Bayreuth and of
Baiersdorf. He remained in Bamberg until 1718,
when he accepted a similar position in Hesse. After
a short stay there, he became rabbi of the old com-
munity of Worms, where he remained until his
death. Like many rabbis of his time, he appears
to have been a man of considerable wealth. He is
known to have had two daughters, one of whom
died in Bamberg. He was succeeded in that city
by Closes Broda (d. 1741), who later became also his
successor in AVorms.

Bibliography; Eckstein, Gesch. der Juden ini Bhemaligeii
Flirsthidhum Bamherg, Index, Bamberg, 1898.
E. c. P. Wl.

ROTT (ROSENBERG), MORITZ : Austrian
actor, nephew of the composer Ignaz Moscheles;
born at Prague Sept. 17, 1797; died in Berlin 1860.
He was the leading actor of his time, and was the
favorite of the Prussian public and the king. He
was destined by liis parents for a commercial life,
but forsook it for the stage, making his debut in
Vienna in 1817 as Earl Moor in Schiller's "Die
Riluber." His success was instantaneous and was
repeated in Kaschau, Eperies, Batfeld, Lemberg,
Olmiitz, aud Linz. In 1821 he became the leading
actor at the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna, remain-
ing there until 1829, when he went to the Hof thea-
ter, Leipsic, as stage-manager. WJiile connected
with the latter theater he starred at Budapest,
BrUnn, Gratz, Prague, Breslau, Presburg, Lemberg,
Vienna (Hoftheater), and Hanover. In 1832 he be-
gan a life engagement at the Hoftheater, Berlin. In

1840 he held a special engagement at the Hofburg-
theater. Vicuna, and, seven years later, in Prague.

Rett's best roles were: Faust, Brutus, Kreon,
Jason, Ilamld, Vasa, Wallenstein, Giitz i)on Berlich-
ingen, Franz and Earl Moor, Sliylock, Hugo (in
"Schuld"), Eoderich (Calderon's "Leben ein
Traum"), Jaromir (Grillparzer's " Ahnfrau "), and
Mcinait (" Menschenhass und Reue ").

Bibliography : JUdischcr Plutarch, 1848, pp. 230-228.
s. E. Ms.

ROTJELLE. See Badge.

ROUEN (Hebrew, [Nn, "JXn, ^DJiNDDin, and
more rarely DITl) : Ancient capital of Normandy,
and now the administrative center of the depart-
ment of Seine-Inferieure; situated on the right bank
of the Seine. The settlement of Jews in the city
dates in all probability from the Roman period. The
first document, however, concerning the community
contains an account in Hebrew of a terrible perse-
cution which the Jews of Rouen and of other locali-
ties experienced at the beginning of the eleventh
century. Therein it is said that Robert the Pious
having concerted with his vassals to destroy all the
Jews on their lands who would not accept baptism,
many were put to death or killed themselves.
Among the martyrs was the learned Rabbi Senior.
An influential and highly esteemed man in Rouen,
Jacob ben Jekuthiel, went to Rome to invoke for his
coreligionists the protection of the pope; aud the
pontiff sent a high dignitary to put a stop to the
persecution (Berliner's "Magaziu," ill. ; "OzarTob,"
pp. 46-48).

In 1066 numerous Jews of Rouen emigrated to
England-, having been induced to settle there by
Wilham the Conqueror, who, while still in Nor-
mandy, had always protected them. His son, Will-
iam Rufus, showed himself no less favorably in-
clined toward them. On a complaint of the Jews of
Rouen to the effect that many of their coreligionists
had been forced to embrace Christianity, William
Rufus not only allowed the converted to return ta
their old faith, but himself actually jiersuaded some
of them to do so.

In 1096 the Rouen community was totally des-
troyed by the Crusaders. It seems, however, that
it was reestablished shortly after, although there is
no official document showing the further presence
of Jews at Rouen before 1204. In that year a Rouen
Jew named Brunius, son of Bonentia, was author-
ized to live at the Chtiteletin Paris. In 1217 Philip
Augustus imposed upon the Jews of Normandy a
heavy tax, to which the community of Rouen con-
tributed 595 livres. This relatively small sum shows
that at that time the Rouen Jews were neither nu-
merous nor rich ; while, according to an official doc-
ument of 1299, the personal taxes of only one Jew
of Rouen, a certain Samuel Viole, amounted to 1,200
livres yearly. A certain Calot of Rouen figures in
the registers of the Jewish imposts for the years
1296 to 1300 as the financial intermediary between
his coreligionists and Philip the Fair. In an official
document of 1297 Calot is said to have been chosen
umpire in a dispute between Philip and his brother
Charles, Count of Valois, concerning the property of
some Jews. On the banishment of the Jews from

505

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bothschild
Rozsavolg'yi

Prance, in 1306, Pliilip presented the Jewish quarter
to the municipality, which established there a vegeta-
b\Q market. This quarter, in which Mai'anos settled
in great numbers, still bears the name "Rue des
Juifs." After the Revolution Jews began to settle
at Rouen ; and a community was gradually formed
which became in 1876 a rabbinate. The sole incum-
bent of the office has been Benjamin Cahen.

^'i1V?r9'*'!J"">'=,2fM°S- Les Juifs dans le Moi/enAge,w-
Ul-142 Pans, 183i : Jost, Gesch. (ier Israeliten. v. 106 ; Stein-

s- I. Bk.

ROXJSSILLON (tvlj^l) : Province of ancient
France, now forming the department of Pyrenees-
Orientales. Jews settled there in the early part of
the thirteenth century, and formed congregations
at Perpignan, Collioure, Ceret, MlUas, Hie, Puig-
cerda. Bine, Tliuir, Toreilles, Clayra, Salses, Le
Boulou, and Villefranche-de-Conflueut. In the last-
named city, about 1250, was born Levi ben Abra-
ham BEN Hayyim, known for his part in the struggle
between the partizans of philosophical studies and
the adherents of Orthodox Judaism (1303-6). In
1228 King James I. forbade the Jews to hold any
public office, or to employ Christian servants in their
houses, while they were likewise prohibited from
taking as monthly interest more than four deniers
per livre of silver, or in a year more than one-sixth
of tlie sum loaned.

In 1270 James of Aragon confirmed the franchise
granted by the king, his father, to "all Jews dwell-
ing at Perpignan, Confluent, and Cerdagne, and all
others dependent on their collection," or contribu-
tion, and in 1823 his sou Sancho exempted them
from wearing the wheel while traveling. Accord-
ing to the "Cereinonieux," Pedro IV. authorized the
Jews of Perpignan to enter France for commercial
purposes in 1372; and in 1377 he gave letters of
safe-conduct to foreign Jews who asked permission
to visit Roussillon and Cerdagne. Don Martin,
Duke of Montblanc, who succeeded his brother
John I. in 1396, took severe measures against Chris-
tians who maltreated Jews, and frequently dis-
avowed the actions of priests and monks who
preached against them. In 1398 he commanded the
governor of the two counties, under penalty of a fine
of 1,000 gold florins, to establish at Perpignan a
"carteria, " or depot of standard weights and meas-
ures, so that every Jew might be enabled to verify the
value of his goods and protect himself against fraud.
In 1415 Ferdinand I. of Aragon forbade the Jews to
receive in pawn any object belonging to the Church,
or to practise medicine, surgery, or pharmacy among
Christians, who in their turn were prohibited from
receiving bread, meat, or any other kind of food
from Jews. In case of violation of this law, a Jew
was to be flogged in the public streets and squares,
while a Christian was to be fined 50 sous for each
infraction. In 1417 Alfonso IV. withdrew the Jews
from the jurisdiction of their governors, the bailiff
of Perpignan and the provost of Roussillon, and
placed them under a royal procurator, who was
charged with the administration of the province.
Nor was the king less energetic in his measures
against the Inquisitors, who had brought terror into

the communities of the two counties, and who were
prohibited by him from interference with the Jews
except in certain special cases; while two years later
he forbade his officials to enforce the wearing of the
wheel, under pain of a fine of 1,000 florins.

In 1493 a number of Jews, driven from Spain by
Ferdinand and Isabella, sought refuge in Roussillon
and Cerdagne, but in the following year they were
expelled with all their coreligionists, and were for-
bidden ever to return, under penalty of death and
confiscation of their property.

Bieuograpiiy: Carmoly, ia France Israelite, p. 46; Gross,
Oallia Judaica, pp. 199,437,632; Henry, Hfototre de Rous-
sillon. 1. 205, il. 20Ket seq.; Renan-Neubauer, Les Rahhins
Fran^ais, p. 628; R. E. J. xv. 19; xvi. J, 170.
G. S. K.

ROWE, LEO S. : American economist; born in
McGregor, Iowa, Sept. 17, 1871. He entered the
Arts Department of the University of Pennsylvania
in 1887, but later transferred to the Department of
Finance and Economy (Wharton School), and re-
ceived the degree of Ph.B. in 1890. Then as a fel-
low of the Wharton School with the privilege of
foreign study, he spent two years in Germany, and
took the doctor's degree at the University of Ilalle in
1893. After this he spent one year in France and
one year in Italy and England. In 1894 he was ap-
pointed lecturer in public law at the University of
Pennsylvania, in 1895 was made instructor, in 1897
assistant professor, and in May, 1904, was advanced
to a full professorship of political science. In .June,
1900, he was appointed by President McKinley a
member of the Commission to Revise and Compile
the Laws of Porto Rico. At the expiration of the
term of this commission Professor Rowe was ap-
pointed chairman of the Insular Code Commission.
In 1902 he was elected president of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science.

Professor Rowe has published the following vol-
umes : " Report of the United States Commission to
Revise the Laws of Porto Rico," with Judge Dal}'
and the Hon, Juan Hermandez-Lopcz (2 vols. , Wash-
ington, 1901); "Report of the Insular Code Com-
mission," with Hon. J. M. Keedy and Hon. Juan
Hermandez-Lopez (4 vols., Porto Rico, 1902); "The
United States and Porto Rico" (New York, 1904).
He has also contributed many essays and papers on
economics, political science, and public law to the
leading periodicals of the United States.

A. J. H. Ho.

Il6zSAVOLGYI (ROSENTHAL), MAR-
KXJS : Hungarian composer; born at Balassa-Gyar-
math 1787; died at Pesth Jan. 23, 1848. Having a
native love for music, he went at the age of eleven
to Vienna to study, and thence to Presburg and
Prague. Attracted by the beauty of the Magyar
songs, he composed works based on the national
music, and became the most popular violinist in the
first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1812 he
was appointed conductor of the orchestra at the
German Theater in Pesth, and in 1824 was made a
regular salaried member of the Philharmonic Society
of the county of Veszprim, the name "Rosenthal "
being publicly Magyarized to "Rozsavolgyi" on
the occasion of his election. He gave several of-
ficial concerts during the coronation ceremonies at

Bozsay
Kubinstein

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

506

Presburg in 1825 ; and in 1835 lie appeared at the
Court Opera House in Vienna. Two years later, at
the opening of the new National Theater of Pesth,
the Hungarian Orchestra of that city played a work
composed by him for the occasion, and he subse-
quently became a regular member of that orchestra.
The famous Gipsy musicians Patikarus, Sarkbzi,
Farkas, and others were pupils of RozsavOlgyi.
After Iiis death the poet Petofl sang his praises in a
long poem, reproaching the Hungarian people for
permitting the last years of the artist to be clouded
by financial difficulties.

Bibliography : Reich, Beth-El, i. 25, Budapest, 1878.
s. L. V.

ROZSAY, JOSEPH : Hungarian physician ;
born at Lackenbach March 15, 1815 ; died at Buda-
pest May 19; 1885. Educated at Nagy-Kanizsa,
Szombathely, Pesth, and Vienna (M.D.), he began in
1843 to practise medicine at Pesth ; and five years
later the Hungarian government appointed him head
physician of a military hospital, making him chief
physician of the house of detention and poorhouse
of Pestli in the following year. He was decorated
with the gold medal for art and science in 1858, and
received the cross of the Order of Francis Joseph in
1866, having been elected a member of the Hunga-
rian Academy of Sciences two years previously. He
was elevated to the Hungarian nobility with the
name "Murakozi."

Rozsay's works, all written in Hungarian, are as
follows : " On the Mur-Island from the Point of
View of Medical Topography and Natural History "
(1840); "On Education, with Special Reference to
the Jews, of Hungary" (1848); "On the Effect of
Sulfuric Ether " ; " On Apoplexy and Pneumonia in
Old Age " ; " On Intestinal Diseases " ; " On the Heat
of Marienbad " (1860) ; " On Jewish Physicians in the
Middle Ages " (1862) ; " On Physiological Changes of
the Organs of Respiration " (1863) ; " On Senility "
(1865); and "On Etiology of Typhus" (1866). In
1848 he published the first Hungarian Jewish annual,
with a calendar.

Rozsay contributed much to the emancipation of
the Jews in Hungary, founding for this purpose the
society Magyarito Egylet and the society Izraelita
Magyar Egylet, becoming president of the latter in
1861. In 1863 he reorganized the Jewish Hospital,
Budapest, and placed it in the foremost rank of such
institutions.

BiBLiOGKAPiiY : EeicS, Beth-El, ii. 35i.

L. V.

RUBIN, MARCUS : Danish statistician and
author; born in Copenhagen March 5, 1854. He
studied at the university of his native city (B.A.
1871), and then took up the study of national econ-
omy. In 1874 he passed the requisite examination
and was appointed secretary to a committee on com-
merce ; and as a result of his labors a statistical bu-
reau was established in Copenhagen, whose chief he
became in 1883. Together with H. Westergaard he
compiled the two statistical works " Unders5gelser
over Landbobefolkningen's Dbdelighed'" and "^g-
teskabsstatistik " (1886-90), the latter of which was
translated into German (Berlin, 1893). In 1893
Rubin published "1807-14. Studier over KjSben-

havn's og Danmark's Historie," which work was
supplemented in 1895 by a second volume, entitled
" Frederik VI. 's Tid " ; for this comprehensive work
he was awarded the prize founded by L. N. Hvidt
(one of the city fathers of Copenhagen) for the best
work on the history of Copenhagen during the first
half of the nineteenth century. Rubin did more than
any of his predecessors to place the statistical bureau
of Denmark on a level with the foremost institutions
of the kind in other countries. Since 1903 he has
been "Generaltolddirektor."

'Bibliography : C. F. Brlcka, Dansk Biografisk Lexicon.
S. P. C.

RUBIN, SOLOMON: Galician Neo-Hebrew au-
thor; born in Dolina, Galicia, April 3, 1833. He
was educated for the rabbinate, but, being attracted
by Haskalaii and modern learning, he entered upon
a business career which lasted about five years.
This proving unsuccessful, he went to Lcmberg,
where he studied bookkeeping at a technical insti-
tute, and also acquired a knowledge of German,
French, and Italian, After serving two years in the
Austrian army he attempted to establish himself in
Lemberg as a teacher ; but persecution due to his
liberal views made his position untenable, and lie
went to Rumania, at that time a very favorable field
for active and enterprising Galician Jews. He se-
cured a good position in a commercial establishment
in Galatz, which enabled him to devote his evenings
to his favorite studies.

In 1859 Rubin returned to Galicia and became
principal of a school for Jewish boys in Bolechow.
He went to Russia in 1863, where he was engaged as
a private tutor in a wealthy Jewish family of Os-
trog, Volliynia, with which he went to Vienna in
1865. In the Austrian capital he became acquainted
with Peter Smolenskin, who was then in despair
owing to the difllculty of continuing the publication
of "Ha-Shahar." Rubin promised him to write a
complete work for that publication every year ; and
he kept his promise even after his personal rela-
tions with Smolenskin had become somewhat
strained. The years 1870 and 1871 were spent by
Rubin as a private tutor in Naples, Italy, and from
1873 to 1878 he lived in the same capacity in the
household of Jacob Poliakov in Taganrog, Russia.
He then returned to Vienna, whence in 1895 he re-
moved to Cracow, where he still (1905) resides.

Rubin is one of the most prolific of Neo-Hebrew
writers and one of the most enthusiastic and per-
sistent champions of haskalah. Most of his literary
labors are directed against superstitious customs and
beliefs: but his method is unique among writers of
his class ; for he neither ridicules such customs and
beliefs, nor does he preach against them, but pro-
ceeds in a quasi-scientific manner to adduce proof
that similar superstitions prevailed or are still pre-
vailing among those who have attained to only a
very low plane of culture. He objectively describes,
or rather compiles descriptions of, superstitious
practises among savages and barbarians, and some-
times only alludes, as if incidentally (mostly in foot-
notes), to the equivalent follies among fanatical
Jews. He has published about twenty-five works
with this object in view, two of which, the "Ma'ase

507

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rrfzsay

Rubinstein

Ta'atuyim " (Vienna, 1887) and the " Yesod Mistere
ha-' Akkum avc-SoJ Hokniat ha-Kabbalah " (ib. 1888),
have appeared in German translations also, the first
as " Geschiclite dcs Aberglaubens " (transl, b.y I.
Stern, Leipsic, 1888) and tlie second as " Ileidentluini
uiulKabbala" (Vienna, 1892). A bibliograpliy of
his works and of tlie more important of liis many ar-
ticles in periodicals will lie found in Zcitlin, "Bibl.
Post-JIendels." ,v.r.

Knbin is an ardent admirer of tlie system and per-
sonality of iSpinoza; and he has written much to
prove the close relation between Spinozism and Ju-
daism. Among his earliest literary productions are
ii compendium of Spinoza'swritings, entitled '' 3Ioreh
Ncliukim he-Hadash " (Vi-
enna, 1856-57), and " Te-
shubah Xizzahat" (Leni-
lierg, 1859), a refutation
of S. D. Luzzatto's at-
tacks on Spinoza. Ru-
Ijin's essay in German,
" Spinoza und Maimon-
ides, ciu Psycliologiscli-
Pliilosophisches Antithe-
ton," won for the author
the title of doctor of
philosophy from the
University of Gottingcn.
Later in life Rubin re-
turned to Ills favorite
philosopher and brought
out " Heker Eloali 'im
Torat ha-Adam,"a He-
brew translation of Spi-
noza's "Ethics," with
notes and an introduc-
tion. This is Rubin's
most important contribu-
tion to Neo -Hebrew lit-
erature. Among his la-
test works are "Yalkut
Slielomoh" (Cracow,
189C), consisting of ten
essays, and "Segulot ha-
Zenial.iini wc-Ototam"
(German title, " Symbolik
1898).

der

Autnn (Irigoryevicli Ruliinstfin
Pllauzeu " ; ib.

Ish 'Ihri (pseudonym

, in Aliifisaf.

pp.

AVi.

Birii,iof;r,.\Piir
i's:i-3i N I.

n. I!-

RUBINSTEIN, ANTON GRIGORYE-
VICH : Russian pianist and composer; born Nov.
10 (28), 1829, in the village of Wechwotynctz (Vikh-
vatinetz), near Jassy, Bessarabia; died at Peterhof,
near St. Petersburg, Nov. 20, 1894; brother of Nik-
olai (Nicholas) Rubinstein. His parents were Jews
who embraced the Greek-Orthodo.\ religion, proba-
bly a few years after Anton's birth ; the entire fam-
ily removed to Moscow in 1834, where his father
established a pencil-factory. Anton, the fourth of
six children, received a good education from his
mother (Katherina Khristoforovna, nee Lowenstein),
and from her he also took his first piano-lessons.
At the age of seven he commenced to study under
A. I. Villoing, the leading piano-teacher in Moscow.
The latter taught him gratuitously from his eighth

to his thirteenth year. In his reminiscences Rubin-
stein refers gratefully to Villoing.

In 1839 Rubinstein gave his first public concert, in
the Petrovski Park at Moscow, and in 1841 he gave,
under Villoing's personal direction, a series of con-
certs in Germany, Holland, Scandi-
His Early navia, and France. While in Paris he
Debut. visited Chopin, who left a deep im-
pression on Rubinstein. Somewhat
later he met Liszt, then the musical idol of Europe.
The latter was so carried away by tlie boy 'splaying
that he took him in his arms and declared that he
would make him his heir in art. Rubinstein visited
London also (1842), where he won the admiration of
Moscheles, and met Men-
delssohn at a private con-
cert given before Queen
Victoria,

(Jn his return to Rus-
sia in 1843 Rubinstein
was invited to the AVinter
Palace, where he was pre-
sented to the imperial
family. Emperor Nicho-
las I. treated him kindly,
ami, embracing him, jo-
kingly addiessed him as
"your E.xcellcncy." Ru-
binstein's public concerts
in the Russian capital
met with signal success;
and the income from
tlieiu went to meet the
needs of his parents, who
were then in pecuniar}'
dilliculties.

In 1844 he accompa-
nied his mother and his
lirolher Nikolai to Ber-
lin, where, on the advice
of jM e n d e 1 s s o h n and
Meyerbeer, he studied
composition under Dehn,
and also studied under
Marks.
His mother was compelled in 1846 to return to
Moscow, his father having died and left his busi-
ness affairs in a confused state. In order to preserve
her husband's good name Katherina Khristoforovna
paid all his debts. She was thus left penniless and
was compelled to become a music-teacher in a pri-
vate school in iloscow. She died in Odessa in 1891.
Left to his own re.souroes, young Rubinstein went to
Vienna (1846), hoping to secure Liszt's support in
his work. Liszt received him cordially, but refused
him intmetary aid, .since, as he said, every able man
should accomplish his aims without help. L"n-
daunted by the difficulties confronting him, Rubin-
stein began to compose, supporting himself mean-
while by giving lessons. For about a
His Friend- year and a half he was even in want,
ship until Liszt, remembering his young

with. Liszt, colleague, visited him in his poor
lodgings and took steps toward pro-
curing for him a permanent source of income. Tlie
two remained warm friends until Liszt's death. In

Rubinstein
Kufina

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

508

1847 Rubinsteiuwent back to Berlin, and at the out-
break of the Revolution of 1848 he returned, on
Dehn's advice, to St. Petersburg.

Xt St. Petersburg, Rubinstein received the patron-
age of the grand duchess Helena Pavlovna, and his
musical reputation was thereby established. His
opera " Dmitri Donskoi " appeared on the imperial
stage iu 1Sj3, and his " Sibirskije Ochotnikie " in
1833.

In 1854 Rubinstein made another concert -tour

through Europe ; in 1858 he was appointed court

pianist; and in 1859 he was made di-

Director of rector of the Imperial Russian Musical

th.e Society, which he had been instru-

Russian. mental iu founding. The conserva-

Musical tories of St. Petersburg and Moscow

Society, had their origin in this society; and
under the instruction of Anton and
Nikolai Rubinstein there graduated many talented
musicians, among them Tchaikowsky and jNIadame
Essipic. The great services rendered by Rubinstein
in the advancement of music in Russia were recog-
nized by the czar, who decorated him with the Vladi-
mir Order. In 1865 Rubinstein married Vera de
Tschikouanov, a maid of honor at the Russian court,
who bore him three children. He toured Europe in
1867-70; and in 1876 he resigned the directorship of
the Couservatorium.

In 1872 and 1873 Rubinstein, accompanied by
Henri Veniavski, professor of the violin at the Gon-
servatorium of Brussels, made a professional tour of
America; and in 1885 and 1886 he gave a series of
concerts in Europe, which were arranged to bring
out the historical development of musical literature
and marked an important epoch in the history of
music. These concerts were given in the cities of St.
Petersburg, Moscow, Vienna, Berlin, London, Paris,
and Leipsic. He resumed the directorship of the
Couservatorium from 1887 till 1890, and then lived
successively in Berlin and Dresden. Rubinstein's
professional jubilee was celebrated in 1889.

Rubinstein won his laurels as a pianist rather than
as a composer. His technique was above criticism,
and his interpretation of familiar selections highly
original and sympathetic; but his compositions,
while lyrical in feeling, lacked dramatic effect. His
works embraced every form of comijosition — songs,
chamber-music, operas, etc. — but few of them have
attained to the popularity of his " Persian Songs "
and "Ocean Symphony." He wrote in all 119 com-
positions exclusive of operas and of a
His Com- considerable number of minor pieces
positions, for the piano. Among his more promi-
nent works should be mentioned;
"Ivan the Terrible," "Don Quixote," and "Faust,"
" character pictures " for orchestra ; " Antony and
Cleopatra"; "Rossiya" (written for the Moscow
Exposition of 1882); "Paradise Lost," "The Tower
of Babel," "Closes," and "Christ," sacred operas;
"Sulamith"; 13 operas, viz., "Dmitri Donskoi,"
"Khadzhi Abrek," "The Siberian Hunters," "Tora-
ka the Pool," "Demon," "Feramors," "Merchant
Kalashnikov," "The Children of the Steppes," "The
Maccabeans," "Nero," "The Parrot," "With the
Outlaws, " " Goryusha " ; and the ballet " The Grape-
vine."

BiBHOGKAPHY : Anton Rubinstein, .li(f"6io(;rap7i)/, published
by Semevski, St. Petersburg, 1889 ; Mimika i Yeya Predsta-
vUcU, lb. 1891; Kavos-Dekbtyareva, Antnn Griaori/evich
BuhimteUi ; Naumann, Illnstrierte MusikURSChiclUe ; Na-
bUjitilaM. March, 1895; M. A. Davidov, Vosimminaniya.
A. O. Rufci7i.sterimf, St. Petersburg, 1899; Buker. Biograph-
ical Diet, iif Musicianx, New York, 1900; Grove, Diet, of
Music and Musicians; London and New York, 1889.
H. K. J. G. L.

RTJBIN'STEIN', ISAAC: Austrian deputy;
born at Czernowitz in 1805 ; died at Ischl Sept. 1,
1878. He was a member of the town council and
vice-president of the Czernowitz chamber of com-
merce and industry, which he represented in the
Austrian Reichsrath from 1873 to 1878. He was
actively interested iu philanthropic work and held
many honorary offices in his commimity.
s. E. J.

RUBINSTEIN, JOSEF: Russian pianist and
composer; born at Staro-Constantiuov Feb. 8, 1847;
died by his own hand at Lucerne Sept. 15, 1884.
He was a pupil of Hellmesberger, Dachs, and Liszt,
and a friend and ardent admirer of Wagner, from
whose drama "Ring des Nil)elungen" he made ex-
cellent pianoforte transcriptions. In 1869 the grand
duchess Helena of Russia appointed Rubinstein
"Kammerpianist." Three years later he visited
Wagner at Triebschen, and went with him to Bay-
reuth, where he attended tlie piano rehearsals of the
"Ring des Nibelungen." In 1880 he gave in Berlin
a series of lectures on the " Wohltemperierte Kla-
vier" which gained him considerable renown.
Rubinstein was the author of several song- and piano-
compositions, and a number of articles appeared in
the "Bayreuther Blatter" over his signature, in
which Schumann and Brahms were attacked in a
very offensive and vindictive manner. The.se arti-
cles, which are believed by some to have emanated
from a more famous pen, obtained for Rubinstein a
rather unenviable notoriety.

Bibliography : Grove, Dictionani nf Music and Musicians,
vol. ill., S.U.; Theo. Baker, Bintjrapliical Dictionary of Mu-
sicians; Meyers Konversations-Lexikon.
H. II. F. C.

RUBINSTEIN, NIKOLAI (NICHOLAS):

Russian pianist; born in Moscow June 2, 1835; died
in Paris March 23, 1881 ; brother of Anton Rubin-
stein. He received his early instruction from his
mother, by whom he and his brother were taken to
Berlin in 1844, There he studied pianoforte under
Kullak and composition under Dehn until 1846, when
his father's illne.?s pecessitated his mother's return
to Moscow ; she took Nikolai with her.

In 1859 Rubinstein founded the Moscow Musical
Society, under the auspices of which the Moscow
Conservatorium was established iu 1864. Of the
latter institution he was the director till his deatli.
In 1861 Rubinstein visited England, and in 1878
Paris, where he conducted four orchestral concerts
consisting entirely of Russian music. These con-
certs took place at the exposition then being held
at the French capital. Subsequently he returned to
St. Peter.sburg and gave annual concerts there.

Rubinstein's powers as a virtuoso were remarka-
ble, but his fame was overshadowed by that of his
brother Anton. The latter, however, frequently
declared that he considered Nikolai to be a better
pianist than himself.

509

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rubinstein
Kufiua

Among the more important of Rubinstein's com-
positions were : mazurkas 1 and 3 (op. 11); bolero
(op. 13); tarantello (op. 14); and polonaise, "Scfiue
de Bal " (op. 17).

Bibliography: Grove, Diet, nf MukIc and Musicians; Rie-
mann, Mio>!ik-Le.rikiiii ; Baker, Biog. Diet, of Musicians,
New York, 1900; Meners Konverautions-Lexilton.
"• E. A. P.

RUBINSTEIN, SUSANNA: Austrian psy-
chologist; born at Czernowitz, Bukowina, Sept. 20,
1847, She was the daughter of an Austrian deputy.
In 1870 slie entered the University of Prague, and
subsequently studied at Leipsic, Vienna, and Bern
(Ph.D. 1874). Her works are as follows : " Psycholo-
gisch-Aesthetischo Essays," Heidelberg, 1878-84;
"Aus dor Innenwelt," Leipsic, 1888, psychological
studies; "'Zur Natur der Bewegungen," ib. 1890;
"Auf Dunklem Grunde," ib. 1893; "Ein Indivi-
duahstischer Pessimist," ib. 1894; "Eine Trias von
Willensmetaphysikern," ib. 1890; " Psychologisch-
Aesthetische Fragmente," ib. 1903.

Bibliography : S. Pataky, Deutsches Schriftstellerinnenlexi-
kon ; Meyers Konvenaiious-Lexikon.
s. E. N.

RUBO, ERNST TBAUGOTT : German jurist;
born at Berlin July 8, 1834; died there March,
1895. Educated at the University of Heidelberg
(LL.D. 1857), he was admitted to the bar in 1859.
In 1861 he was appointed judge in Berlin, and in
1862 became privat-docent, and later professor, at
the university of that city.

Of Bubo's works may be mentioned "Zur Lehre
von der Verlaumdung," Berlin, 1861, and "Ueber
den Sogenannten Zeugnisszwang," ib. 1878.

Rubo assisted in drafting the military law-code
of the German empire, and he contributed several
essa3'S to the "Gerichtssaal," Goldammer's " Archiv
filr Strafrecht," and Gruchot's "Beitrage."

Bibliography : Stler-Somlo, in Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1895, p. 146.
s. P. T. H.

RUBO, JULIUS: German jurist; born at Hal -
berstadt June9, 1794; died at Berlin March 18, 1866.
He attended the gymnasium in Halberstadt, and,
after serving as a volunteer in the war with Napo-
leon, he studied jurisprudence at the universities of
GOttingen and Berlin, obtaining his degree in 1817.
A war of pamphlets which raged about that time
affords evidence of the fact that he had won repute
as a legal scholar. One Th. Grupp maintained that
none but Christian jurists should be honored with
the degree of doctor of jurisprudence ; in a reply in
Kamptz's " Jahrbiicher " (xv. 486) Grupp was asked
whether he seriously proposed to withhold the right
to compete for this dignity from the coreligionists
of Rubo, who had recently won it with so much
credit. But his academic reputation availed Rubo
little when he strove to establish a practise succes-
sively in Hamburg, Holstein, and Brunswick; and,
seeing that the practise of law was closed to him on
account of his religion, he settled at Halle as privat-
docent.

The legislation of 1833, however, declaring Jews
Ineligible for academic positions, deprived Rubo of
his office, and he went to Berlin to seek a liveli-
hood in literary work. His first production was
" Versuch einer Erklarung der Fragmente Lex II,

III, IV, LXXXV, Digest de Verborum Obliga-
tionibus (45, 1), ilber die Theilbarkeit und Uutheil-
barkeit der Obligationen nach der Grundsatzen des
RSmischen Rochts" (Berlin, 1833). In 1824 he was
appointed " Syndikus " of the Jewish congregation
in Berlin, which position he held for twenty-five
years. It was during his tenure of this position
that he wrote "DieRechtsverhilltnisseder Jftdischen
Gemeinden in Denjcnigen Landestheilen des Preus-
sisohen Staates, in Welchen das Edict vom 11 Miirz,
1812, zur AnwendungKommt. Eine Beantwortung
von 11 Pragen, mit Besonderer Riicksicht auf die
Jlidische Gemeinde in Berlin " (ib. 1844). In 1849 a
newly elected board of directors suddenly removed
him from office. He immediately began legal pro-
ceedings, which, after a number of years, ended in
his reinstatement,

Rubo contributed to Zunz's " Zeitsclirift " a review
of Lips' " Staatsbiirgerrecht der Juden." He co-
operated actively in the founding of the Wissen-
schaftliche Institut established by the Verein fur
Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden.

Bibliography: L. Gelger, Oescli. der Juden in Berlin, p. 296;
LebrecM, in Vossische Zeitung, May 5, 1866.
s. M. Co.

RUEFF, JULES : French merchant and ship-
owner; born at Paris Feb. 16, 1854, At an early
age he turned his attention to colonial affairs and
navigation. In 1873 he went to Indo-China, and
became one of the pioneers of French influence in
that country. Later, he became president of the
"Societe Franco-Afrioaine," which established the
first commercial counting-housesin Abyssinia, among
others that at Jibuti. He is the originator of the plan
for the railroad of Saigon-Mytlio, in Cochin-China,
and the founder and present (1905) general director
of the "Messageries Fluviales de Cochin-chine,"
which greatly facilitated the spread of French
trade in Indo-China by the route of Mekong. One
of the company's vessels took part in the mili-
tary expedition that forced the pass of Meinam.
Jules Rueil was also of great assistance to the
French government in organizing its vai'ious colo-
nial expositions. Since 1900 lie has been adminis-
trator of dockyards at Saint-Nazaire, the greatest
of their kind in France. He was made commander
of the Legion of Honor in 1900.

Bibliography: Curiuier, Dictionnaire National des Con-
temporains, 1901.
S. J. Ka.

RUFINA : Smyrna Jewess; lived about the
third century of the common era. Her name has
been perpetuated in a Smyruiot Greek inscription
which is unusually important for a knowledge of
the Jewish culture of the period. Translated, the
text in question reads as follows ;

" The Jewess KuQna, ruler of tbe synagogue, built this tomb
for her freedmen and her slaves. None other has the right to
bury a body here. If, however, any one shall have the hardi-
hood to do so, he must pay 1,500 denarii into the holy treasury
and 1,000 denarii to the Jewish people. A copy of this inscrip-
tion has been deposited in the archives."

This is the only instance, so far as is known, in
which the office of ruler of the synagogue was held
by a woman; and it is evident that Ruflna was
very wealthy, since she was able to provide so hand-

Eufus

Kules of R. Ishmael

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

510

somely for slaves and household dependents. The
act itself and the penalty for violation of the tomb
are wholly in keeping with the customs of the time,
and differ in no way from similar cases in the life of
the pagan Greeks.

Bibliography : S. Reinach, in li. E. J. vll. 161-168; Schurer,
G'fsc/i. 3ded., lil. 11.
s. S. Kr.

RtrrUS : Roman general in the first century of
the common era. In the battles after Herod's death
the Romans were assisted against the Jews by the
3,000 '*men of Sebaste,"the tlowerof the royal army
and a troop which afterward became famous. The
cavalry in this body was led by Rufus (Josephus,
"B. J." ii. 3, § 4), while the infantry was under the
command of Gratus. Rufus and Gratus maintained
their resistance until the legate Varus appeared in
Jerusalem with reenforcements {ib. 5, § 3 ; comp.
idem, "Ant." xvii. 10, § 3).

s. S. Kr.

RUFUS ANNIUS. See Annius Rufus.

RUFUS, TINEIUS (written also Tinnius) :
Governor of Judea in the first century of the com-
mon era. Jerome, on Zech. viii. 16, has " T. Annius
Rufus," and the editor, Vallarsi, conjectures that the
full praenomen is " Tyrannius," a name which would
correspond to the D1J11D DISIT of Jewish tradition.
Rufus was governor at the time of the outbreak
of the Bar Kokba war (Euscbius, "Hist. Eccl." iv.
6, § 1; idem, "Chronicon," ed. Schoene, ii. 166).
The course of this struggle is described under Bar
Kokba ; it is, therefore, only necessary to mention
here the fact that Rufus took a prominent part
in the conflict, as appears from the works of Euse-
bius. He was unable, however, to withstand the
vigorous onslaught of the Jews, so that Publicius
Marcellus, the governor of Syria, and later Julius
Severus, the most prominent Roman general of the
time, had to be sent against them.

Rufus is not mentioned again until the suppres-
sion of the insurrection, when it is said (Eusebius,
"Hist. Eccl." iv. 6, § t) that on the plea of martial
law he cleared the land of the Jews of its inhabitants.
An insult to Judaism which left a deep impression
on the minds of the survivors was the plowing up of
the Temple mount, which is expressly designated as
the deed of Rufus (Ta'an.iv. 6; comp. BaraitaTa'an.
29a; Jerome on Zech. viii. 19: "aratum templum
in ignominiam gentis oppressEe a T. Annio Rufo ").

The severe religious persecutions by Hadrian are
for the most part to be laid to the charge of Rufus,
including the cruel decree that the bodies of those
who fell in battle might not be buried for a long
time (Yer. Ta'an. 69a), and the bitter pursuit and
merciless execution of Jewish teachers of the Law,
of which tradition speaks. Jewish literature por-
trays Rufus as one of the bitterest enemies of the
race, and often means Rufus when it names his
master Hadrian; for it was not the emperor far
away in Rome, but the governor in Palestine, who
was guilty of these acts of cruelty.

Legend tells of religious conversations between
Rabbi Akiba and Rufus. The wife of Rufus also
came within the charmed circle of that great son of
Israel, and tradition relates that she became a con-
vert to Judaism (Rashi on, Ned. 50b).

BTBLIOGRAPUY : Griltz, Oesch. 3i ed., Iv. 139, 1.54. Concerning
Ruins' wile: Grfi,tz, in Mnnatsxclirift. 1884, xxxiii. 36;
ScbOrer, Gench. Sd ed., i. 847, 687-689 : Prompofjrapliia Im-
perii Romanl, lii. 331, No. 188. Rabbinical sources are
given in Krauss, LehnwOrler, ii. 259.
S. S. Kr.

RUHS, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH : Ger-
man historian and anti-Jewish writer; born at
Greifswald March 1, 1781 ; died at Florence Feb. 1,
1820. As professor of history at the universities of
(:ireifswald, Gottingen (1801-9), and Berlin (1810-
1830), and as historiographer -of the Prussian state, he
wrote a number of works, especially on the history
and literature of the northern countries of Europe.

When, after the downfall of Napoleon I., the
question of the emancipation of the Jews was agi-
tated in Germany, Rllhs took his stand among those
who opposed the granting to them of political and
civil rights, and wrote in the "Zeitschrift fUr die
Neueste Geschichte, Vijlker- und Staatenkunde " lor
1815 an article entitled " Ueber die Anspriiche der
Juden an das Deutsche Biirgerrecht " (printed as a
separate pamphlet, Berlin, 1816). In this article he
argues that the Jews, being a scattered nation form-
ing a separate state administered by an aristocracy
(the Rabbis), are not qualified for citizenship, which
requires unity of sentiment, of language, and of
faith. Forcible means should not be used against
the Jews ; but their growth should be checked, and
they should be won for Christianity. He repeats all
the reproaches heaped upon the Jews during the
Middle Ages, and asserts that by their own faults
they provoked the persecutions of the dark ages.
In an appendix treating of the history of the Jews
in Spain he demonstrates that the privileges which
they obtained in that country caused their sufferings
and final expulsion.

This article, followed by his " Rechte des Chris-
tenthums und des Deutschen Volks Gegen die An-
sprftche der Juden und Ihrer Verfechter" (Berlin,
1816), exercised a gi-eat influence in Germany, and
called forth similar writings by Jakob P. Fries and
others. Against them August Kramer of Ratisbon
and Johann Ludwig Ewald of Carlsruhe pleaded
in defense of the Jews.

BiBLiofiRAPHY : Attge.meine Deutsche Biograplde. xxix. 624
ct seq.; Gratz, Oesch. xl. 330 et seq., 342-347; Jost, Cultur-
yeschichte, i. 49 et seq., 68-67.
D. S. Man.

RULE, GOLDEN. See Golden Rule.

RULES OF ELIEZER B. JOSE HA-GE-
LILI, THE THIRTT-TWO : Rules laid down
by R. Eliezer b. Josb ha-Gelili for haggadic
exegesis, many of them being applied also to hala-
kic interpretation.

1. Ribbuy (extension): The particles "et,"
" gam, " and " af , " which are superfluous, indicate that
something which is not explicitly stated must be
regarded as included in the passage under consider-
ation, or that some teaching is implied thereby.

3. Mi'ut (limitation): The particles "ak," "rak,"
and "min" indicate that something implied by the
concept under consideration must be excluded in a
specific case.

3. Ribbuy ahar ribbuy (extension after ex-
tension): When one extension follows another it in-
dicates that more must be regarded as implied.

511

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bufus

Hules of K. Ishmael

4. Mi'ut ahar mi'ut (limitation after limita-
tion) : A double limitation indicates that more is to
be omitted.

5. Kal wa-homer meforash : " Argumentum a
minori ad majus," or vice versa, and expressly so
characterized in the text.

6. Kal wa-homer satum : " Argumentum a
minori ad majus," or vice versa, but only implied,
not explicitly declared to be one in the text. This
and the preceding rule are contained in the Rut.es
OF Hii.LEL, No. 1. Rules 7 and 8 are identical with
Rules 3 and 3 of Hillel.

9. Derek kezarah. : Abbreviation is sometimes
used in the text when the subject of discussion is
self-explanatory.

10. Dabar shehu shanuy (repeated expres-
sion) : Repetition implies a special meaning.

11. Siddur she-nehlak : "Where in the text a
clause or sentence not logically divisible is divided
by the punctuation, the proper order and the divi-
sion of the verses must be restored according to the
logical connection.

12. Anything introduced as a comparison to illus-
trate and explain something else, itself receives in
this way a better explanation and elucidation.

18. When the general is followed by the particu-
lar, the latter is specific to the former and merely
defines it more exactly (comp. Rules of Hillel,
No. 5).

14. Something important is compared with some-
thing unimportant to elucidate it and render it more
readily intelligible.

15. Same as Rule 13 of R. Ishmael.

16. DalDar meyuhad bi-mekomo : An expres-
sion which occurs in only one passage can be ex-
plained only by the context. This must have been
the original meaning of the rule, although another
explanation is given in the examples cited in the
baraita.

17. A point which is not clearly explained in the
main passage may be better elucidated in another
passage.

18. A statement with regard to a part may imply
the whole.

19. A statement concerning one thing may hold
good with regard to another as well.

20. A statement concerning one thing may apply
only to something else.

21. If one object is compared to two other objects,
the best part of both the latter forms the tertium
quid of comparison.

22. A passage may be supplemented and ex-
plained by a parallel passage.

23. A passage serves to elucidate and supplement
Its parallel passage.

24. When the specific implied in the general is
especially excepted from the general, it serves
to emphasize some property characterizing the
specific.

25. The specific implied in the general is fre-
quently excepted from the general to elucidate some
other specific property, and to develop some special
teaching concerning it.

26. Maslial (parable).

37. Mi-ma'al :, Interpretation through the pre-
ceding.

28. Mi-neged : Interpretation through the oppo-
site.

29. Gematria : Interpretation according to the
numerical value of the letters. See Gematria.

30. Notarikon : Interpretation by dividing a
word into two or more parts. See Notahikon.

31. Postposition of the precedent. Many phrases
which follow must be regarded as properly prece-
ding, and must be interpreted accordingly in exegesis.

32. Many portions of the Bible refer to an earlier
period than do the sections which precede them, and
vice versa.

These thirty-two rules are united in the so-called
Baraita of R. Eliezer b. Jose ha-Gelili (see BAiiAiTA
OF THE Thikty-Two Rules). In the introduction
to the Midrash ha-Gadol (ed. Schechter, Cambridge,
1902), where this baraita is given, it contains thirty-
three rules. Rule 29 being divided into three, and
Rule 27 ("Mi-ma'al") being omitted. With regard
to these rules see also Talmud — Hermeneutics.

w. u. J. Z. L.

RULES OF HILLEL, THE SEVEN" : Rules
given to the sons of Bathyra by Hillel I. as the
chief guides for the interpretation of the Scriptures
and for the deduction of laws from them (Tosel,
Sanh. vii. ; the introduction to the Sifra, ed. Weiss,
p. 3a, end; Ab. R. N. xxxvii.).

They are as follows:

1. Kal (kol) wa-homer: "Argumentum a mi-
nori ad majus" or "a majori ad minus"; corre-
sponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.

2. Gezerah shawah : Argument from analogy.
Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms
are subject, however much they differ in other re-
spects, to identical definitions and applications.

3. Binyan ab mi-katub ehad : Application of
a provision found in one passage only to passages
which are related to the first in content but do not
contain the provision in question.

4. Binyan a'b mi-shene ketubim : The same
as the preceding, except that the provision is gen-
eralized from two Biblical passages.

5. Kelal u-Perat and Perat u-kelal : Defi-
nition of the general by the particular, and of the
particular by the general.

6. Ka-yoze bo mi-makom aher : Similarity in
content to another Scriptural passage.

7. Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano : Interpreta-
tion deduced from the context.

Concerning the origin and development of these
rules, as well as their susceptibility of logical proof,
see Talmud — Hermeneutics.

w. B. J. Z. L.

RTJLES OF R. ISHMAEL, THE THIR-
TEEN: Thirteen rules compiled by Rabbi Ishmael
B. Elisha for the elucidation of the Torah and for
making halakic deductions from it. They .are,
strictly speaking, mere amplifications of the seven
Rules of Hillelj and are collected in the Bara-
ita OF R. Ishmael, forming the introduction to the
Sifra and reading as follows:

1. Kal wa-homer : Identical with the first rule
of Hillel.

2. Gezerah shawah : Identical with the second
rule of Hillel.

Eiilf
Rumania

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

512

3. Binyan ab : Rules deduced from a single pas-
sage of Scripture and rules deduced from two pas-
sages. This rule is a combination of the third and
fourth rules of Hillel.

4. Kelal u-Perat : The general and the par-
ticular.

5. u-Perat u-kelal : The particular and the
general.

6. Kelal u-Perat u-kelal : The general, the
l^articular, and the general.

7. The general which requires elucidation by the
particular, and the particular which requires eluci-
dation by the general.

8. The particular implied in the general and ex-
cepted from it for pedagogic purposes elucidates
the general as well as the particular.

9. The particular Implied in the general and ex-
cepted from it on account of the special regulation
which corresponds in concept to the general, is thus
isolated to decrease rather than to inci'ease the rigid-
ity of its application.

10. Tlie particular implied in the general and ex-
cepted from it on account of some other special reg-
ulation which does not correspond in concept to the
general, is thus isolated either to decrease or to in-
crease the rigidity of its application.

11. The particular implied in the general and ex-
cepted from it on account of a new and reversed de-
cision can be referred to the general only in case the
passage under consideration makes an explicit ref-
erence to it.

12. Deduction from the context.

13. When two Biblical passages contradict each
other the contradiction in question must be solved
by reference to a third passage.

Rules seven to eleven are formed by a subdivision
of the iifth rule of Hillel; rule twelve corresponds
to the seventh rule of Hillel, but is amplified in
certain particulars; rule thirteen does not occur
in Hillel, while, on the other hand, the sixth rule of
Hillel is omitted by Ishmael. With regard to the
rules and their application in general see also Tal-
mud— Hermenbutics.

Bibliography : In addition to the works on Talmudlc method-
ology, see (Euvre.'i Completes de Sandla, ix. 73-83 (com-
mentary of Saadla on the thirteen rules), xxUl.-xxxili., Paris,
1897.
w. B. J. Z. L.

'KUliF, ISAAC: German rabbi and author;
born Feb. 10, 1834, in Holzhausen, near Marburg in
Hessen; died at Bonn Sept. 19, 1902. He was edu-
cated at the universities of Marburg and Rostock
(Ph.D. 1865). When thirty-one years old he ac-
cepted a call as rabbi from the community of the
district synagogue of Memel. While in this office
he took great interest in the condition of his op-
pressed brethren in Russia, and thus created for him-
self a wide sphere of activity. In 1898, after thirty-
three years of service, lie resigned and retired as
professor emeritus to Bonn. Rlilf was the author
of: "Meine Reise nach Kowno" (1869); "Der Ein-
heitsgedanke als EundamentalbegrifE," etc. (1880);
" Drei Tage in Jildisch-Russland " (1882) ; " Aruchas
Bas-Ammi" (1883); " Wissenschaf t des Weltgedan-
kens" and " Wissenschaf t der Gedankenwelt, Sys-
tem einer Neuen Metaphysik " (3 vols., 1888); " Wis-
senschaf t der Kraf telnheit " (1893); "Das Erbrecht

als Erbilbel " (1893) ; " Wissenschaf t der Geistesein-
heit" (1898); " Wissenschaft der Gotteseinheit "
(1908). Prom 1873 until his departure from Memel,
Rlilf was editor-in-chief of the "Memeler Dampf-
boot, "a daily political journal. He wrote also for
various Jewish papers.

RUMANIA : Kingdom of southern Europe. If
the assertions of Rumanian historians are to be ac-
cepted, Jews lived in Rumania for a considerable
time before the advent of the hordes of Roman con-
victs brought by Emperor Trajan for the purpose
of populating the fertile country of the Dacians,
which he had desolated, after bis bloody conquest.
Decebalus, King of the Dacians, accorded to the
Jews of Talmaci special privileges which they did
not enjoy in other places of Dacia, although they
had the right of residence everywhere. A decree of
the Roman emperor (397) granted protection to the
Dacian Jews and their synagogues ("Cod. Tlieod.
de Jud." xvi. 8). At the Roman invasion Jews fol-
lowed the army of occupation as purveyors and in-
terpreters. In the eighth century it
Invasion of is said that an armed force of Jews
the from southern Russia, presumably the

Chazars. Chazars, entered both Moldavia and
Wallachia and united with the Jews
who were already living there; and "for a number
of years the Jewish religion reigned supreme in the
country."

After about 400 years, during which nothing is
heard of Jews in Rumania, it is related that when
the principality of Berlad was established, which
included Little Halitz (Galatz) and Tecuci, Jews
lived there and were active!}' engaged in commerce.
When Radu Negru crossed the Carpathian Moun-
tains (1390) in search of a new country he was fol-
lowed by a number of Jews, who assisted him in the
establishment of his rule over Rumania, and who set-
tled in various towns in which Jewish communities
were already in existence. In 1349, when the Mol-
davian principality was founded, the ruling prince
invited traders from Poland to settle in bis do-
mains, offering them special privileges; and many
Jews responded to the invitation. When Roman I.
(1391-94) founded the city to which be gave bis
name Jews were among the first settlers; and their
houses were the finest in the new capital. Roman
exempted the Jews from military service, in lieu of
which they had to pay three lowenthaler for each
person.

In Wallachia, under Vlad Tzepesh (1456-62), the
Jews were the greatest sufferers from the cruelty of
that tyrant. In Moldavia, Stephen Voda (1457-1504)
was a more humane ruler, and the Jews were
treated by him with consideration. Isaac ben Ben-
jamin Shor of Jassy was appointed-steward by this
prince, being subsequently advanced to the rank
of "logofet" (chancellor); and be continued to hold
this honorable position under Bogdan Voda (1504-
1517), the son and successor of Stephen.

At this time both principalities came under the
suzerainty of Turkey, and a number of Spanish Jews
living in Constantinople migrated to Wallachia,
while Jews from Poland and Germany settled in
Moldavia. Although the Jews took an Important

613

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Eiilf
Bumauia

part in the Turkish government, the Rumanian
princes did not much heed this faxit and continued to
harass them in their respective principalities. Ste-
phen the Younger (1532) deprived tlie
Under Jewish merchants of almost all the

Turkish, rights given.to them by liis two prede-
Suze- cessors ; and despite the fact that Peter

rainty. Raresli was assisted in the recovery of
his throne, and was afforded pecu-
niary aid, by a Jewess, the contidante of the sultan's
mother, his first step when he took up the reins of
government (1541) was to rob the Jewish traders in
a most dastardly manner. Alexander Lapushneanu
(1552-Cl) cruelly treated the Jews until he was de-
throned by Jacob Heraclides, a Greek, who was
lenient to his Jewish subjects. When Lapushneanu
returned to his throne, however, he did not renew
his persecutions.

During the first short reign of Peter the Lame
(1574-79) the Jews of Moldavia suffered under heavy
taxation and were'otherwise ill-treated until he
was dethroned. In 1583 he succeeded in regaining
his rule over the country with the help of the Jew-
ish physician Benveniste, who was a friend of
the influential Solomon Ashkenazi ; and the last-
named then exerted his influence with the prince in
favor of his coreligionists. In Wallachia, Prince
Alexander Mircea (1567-77) engaged as his private
secretary and counselor the talented Issjiah ben Jo-
seph, who used his great influence in behalf of the
Jews. In 1573 Isaiah was dismissed, owing to the
intrigues of jealous courtiers; but otherwise he was
unmolested. He went to Moldavia, where he entered
the service of Prince Ivan the Terrible. Through the
efforts of Solomon Ashkenazi, Emanuel Aaron was
placed on the throne of Moldavia. Although of
Hebrew descent, he was very cruel to the Jews.
The entire Jewish community of Bucharest was ex-
terminated; and by Aaron's orders nineteen Jews
of Jassy were brought before him and, without any
process of law, decapitated. Almost all the Jews
had to leave Wallachia; and those that remained
in Moldavia were delivered from the inhuman op-
pression of Aaron only when he was deposed and
replaced by Jeremiah Movila.

It was late in the seventeenth century before Jews
could once more enter Wallachia and reside there
in security. In Moldavia, Vasili Lupul (1634-53)
treated the Jews with consideration until the appear-
ance of the Cossacks (1648), who marched against
the Poles and who, while crossing Rumania, killed
many Jews. Another massacre by the Cossacks oc-
curred in 1653, when they came to Jassy to claim
Yasili Lupul's daughter for Timush, the son of
Chmielnicki.

The first blood accusation in Rumania was made
April 5, 1710. The Jews of Neamtz, Moldavia,
were charged with having killed a Christian child
for ritual purposes. The instigator was a baptized
Jew who had helped to carry the body of a child,
murdered by Christians, into the courtyard of the
synagogue. On the next day five Jews were killed,
many were maimed, and every Jewish house v.-as
pillaged, while the representatives of tiie com-
munity were imprisoned and tortured. Meiinwhile
some influential Jews appealed to the prince at
X.—3-d

Jassy, who ordered an investigation, the result being
that the prisoners were liberated, and the guilty per-
sons discovered and severely dealt with.

This was the first time that the Rumanian clergy
participated in Jew-baiting, and they were the only
persons who declared that they were not convinced of
the innocence of the Jews as regards the accusation
of ritual murder. It was due to the clergy's con-
tinued manifestations of animosity against the Jews
that in 1714 a similar charge was brought against
the Jews of the city of Roman. There a Christian
girl, a servant in a Jewish family, had been abduct-
ed by some Roman Catholics and strangled. The
crime was immediately laid at the door of the Jews.
Every Jewish house was plundered; two prominent
Jews were hanged; and probably every Jew in the
city would have been killed had not the real crimi-
nals been opportunely discovered.

The Wallachian prince Stephen Cantaouzene
(1714-16) mulcted the Jews at every possible op-
portunity and ill-treated them outrageously. This
state of affairs lasted until his successor, Nicholas
Mavrocordatos (1716-30), came into power. He
invited Jewish bankers and merchants into the
country, and accorded to the entire Jewish com-
munity many valuable privileges.

The most baneful influence on the condition of the
Jewish inhabitants of Moldavia was exercised dur-
ing the reign of John Mavrocordatos
Under John (1744-47). He was a profligate char-

Mavro- acter who sacrificed many Jewish
cordatos. women to his evil desires. A Jewish
farmer in the district of Suchava, in
whose house he had indulged in the most unnatural
orgies, preferred charges against the prince before the
sultan, whereupon John Mavrocordatos had his ac-
cuser hanged. This act at last aroused the sultan's
Mohammedan representative in Moldavia ; and the
prince paid the penalty with the loss of his throne.

Under the subsequent Moldavian and Wallachi-
an princes, the Jews of both principalities enjoyed
many liberties until the arrival of Ephraim, jDatri-
aroh of Jerusalem. The last-named at once com-
menced a bitter arraignment of the Jews, which
ended in riots and the demolition of the newly
erected synagogue at Bucharest.

During the Russo-Turkish war (1769-74) the
Jews of Rumania had to endure great hardships.
They were massacred and robbed in almost every
town and village in the countr}'. When peace was
at last restored both princes, Alexander Mavrocor-
datos of Moldavia and Nicholas Mavrogheniof Wal-
lachia, pledged their special protection to the Jews,
whose condition remained favorable until 1787,
when the Janizaries on one side and the Russians
on the other invaded Rumania and
During' the vied with each other in butchering the

E.USS0- Jews.

Turkish Freed from these foreign foes, the

War, 1769- Rumanians themselves embittered the
1'7'74. lives of the Jews. Jewish children
were seized and forcibly baptized.
The ritual - murder accusation became epidemic.
One made at Galatz in 1797 led to exceptionally
severe results. The Jews were attacked by a large
mob, driven from their homes, robbed, and waylaid

Humania

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

514

on the streets; many were killed outright; some
were forced into the Danube and drowned ; others
who took refuge in the synagogue were burned to
death in the building; and only a few escaped, to
whom an old priest gave protection in his church.

In 1806 war was renewed between Russia and
Turkey. The invasion of the Russians into Rumania
was, as usual, attended by massacres of the Jews.
The Kalmucks, a hoixle of irregular Turkish soldiers,
who appeared at Bucharest in 1812, became a terror
to the unfortunate Jews. They passed daily through
the streets inhabited bj' the latter, spitted children
on Iheir lances, and, in the presence of their parents,
roasted them alive and devoured them. Before
the Revolution of 1848, which swept over Rumania
also, many restrictive laws against the Jews had
been enacted; but although they entailed consider-
able sufferiug, they were never strictly enforced.
During the time of the revolutionary upheaval the
Jews participated in the movement in various ways.
Daniel Rosenthal, the painter, distinguished him-
self in the cause of liberty, and paid for his activity
with his life.

After the close of the Crimean war the struggle
for the union of the two principalities began. The
Jews were sought after by both parties, Unionists
and anti-Unionists, each of which promised them
full equality ; and proclamations to this effect were
issued (1857-58).

From the beginning of the reign of Alexander
Cuza (1859-66), the first ruler of the united prin-
cipalities, the Jews became a prominent factor in
the politics of the country. In 1864 the prince,
owing to difficulties between his government and
the general assembly, dissolved the latter and, in
order to gain popularity with the masses, decided
to submit a draft of a constitution granting uni-
versal suffrage. lie purposed creating two cham-
bers (of senators and deputies respectively), to ex-
tend the franchise to all citizens, and to emancipate
the peasants from forced labor, expecting thus to
nullify the influence of the boyars, whose enmity
he had already incurred beyond hope of reconcilia-
tion, and at the same time to win financial support
from both the Jews and the Armenians. It appears
that after all the prince was very modest in his
demands; for his aids, when they met
Negotia- the representatives of the Jews and
tions with, the Armenians, asked for only 40,000
Alexander galbeni (about §90,000) from the two
Cuza. groups. The xirmenians discussed
the matter with the Jews, but they
were not able to come to a satisfactory agreement
in the matter.

Meanwhile the prince was pressing in his demands.
It is claimed that one rich Armenian decided to ad-
vance the necessary amount of money, while the
Jews quarrelled about the method of assessment.
The rich Jews, for some reason or other, refused to
advance the money ; and the middle classes main-
tained that it would be simply money thrown
away, since they could see no benefits in political
rights. The more devout even insisted that such
rights would only interfere with the exercise of their
religion. Cuza, on being informed that the Jews
hesitated to pay their share, inserted in his draft

of a constitution a clause excluding from the right
of suffrage all who did not profess Christianity.

When Charles von Ilohenzollern succeeded Cuza
(1866), the first spectacle that confronted him in the
capital was a riot against the Jews. A draft of a
constitution was then submitted by the govern-
ment. Article 6 of which declared that " religion is no
obstacle to citizenship"; but, "with regard to the
Jews, a special law will have to be framed in order
to regulate their admission to naturalization and
also to civil rights." On June 30, 1866, the great
synagogue at Bucharest was desecrated and demol-
ished. Many Jews were lieaten, maimed, and
robbed. As a result, Article 6 was withdrawn and
Article 7 was added, which latter read that "only
such aliens as are of the Christian faith may obtain
citizenship."

.lohn Bratianu, nominally Liberal, the first anti-
Semite of the modern type in Rumania, was then
called to the premiership. Charles was very timid,
and dared not interfere in national affairs. Bratianu
thus gained absolute power; and his first step was
to ransack the archives of the country for ancient
decrees against the Jews and to apply them with
merciless rigor. The Jews were then driven from
the rural communities, and many of those who were
dwellers in towns were declared vagrants and,
under the provisions of certain old decrees, were
expelled from the country. A number

Persecu- of such Jews who proved their Ru-

tion by manian birth were forced across the
Bratianu. Danube, and, when Turkey refused to
receive them, were thrown into the
river and drowned. Almost every country in Eu-
rope was shocked at these barbarities. The Ru-
manian government was warned by the -powers;
and Bratianu was subsequently dismissed from
office.

However, when the Conservatives came into
power they treated the Jews no less harshly. After
some time the Liberals again secured the ascendency,
and Bratianu resumed the leadership. He was an
unscrupulous diplomat, and understood how to
allay the wrath of the other European countries.
Meanwhile the situation in the Balkans became
threatening. The Turks in Bulgaria attacked the
Christians, and the Russo-Turkish war was ap-
proaching. This war was concluded by the treaty
of Berlin (1878), which stipulated (Article 44) that
the Jews of Rumania should receive full citizen-
ship. After many exciting scenes at home and
diplomatic negotiations abroad, the Rumanian gov-
ernment at last agreed to aljrogate Article 7 of
its constitution; but instead thereof, it declared that
"the naturalization of aliens not under foreign pro-
tection should in every individual case be decided
by Parliament."

A show of compliance with the treaty of Berlin
being necessary, 883 Jews, participants in the war
of 1877 against Turkey, were naturalized in a body
by a vote of both chambers. Fifty-seven persons
voted upon as individuals were naturalized in 1880 ;
6, in 1881; 2, in 1882; 2, in 1883; and 18, from 1886
to 1900; in all, 85 .lews in twenty-one years, 27 of
whom in the meantime died. Besides this eva-
sion of her treaty obligations, Rumania, after the

515

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kumania

Berlin treat}', began a systematic persecution of tlie
Jews, wliicli was relaxed only when the government
was in need of Jewish money. As soon as a loan
from Jewish bankers in other countries had been ob-
tained, the Jews were once more driven from the
rural communities and small towns. Various laws
were passed until the pursuit of all vocations fol-
lowed by the Jews was made dependent on the pos-
session of political rights, which only Rumanians
might exercise. Even against the Jewish working
men laws were enacted which forced more than 40
per cent of them into idleness.

Similar laws were passed in regard to the liberal
professions, affecting Jewish lawyers, physicians,
pliarmacists, veterinarians, etc. The most mali-
cious law was one enacted in 1893, which deprived
Jewish children of the right to be
Excluded educated in tlie public schools. This
from law provided that the children of for-
Education. cigners might be received only after
those of citizens had been provided
for, and that they should, moreover, pay exorbitant
tuition-fejs. In 1898 anotlier law was passed, ex-
cluding the Jews from the secondary schools and
the universities.

Meanwhile the government was very active in ex-
pelling Jews from the country. This was in accord-
ance with the law of 1881, which permitted the "ex-
pulsion of objectionable aliens." The authorities
commenced with the expulsion of Dr. M. Caster,
Dr. E. Scbwarzfeld, and other Jews of note who had
dared to protest against the cruel treatment accorded
by the government to their coreligionists; then
journalists, rabbis, merchants, artisans, and even
common laborers fell victims to such proscriptions.
The Oath More Judaico iu its most disgraceful
form was exacted by the courts, and was only
abolished (in 1904) in consequence of unfavorable
comments in the French press. In 1892, when the
United States addressed a note to the signatory
powers of the Berlin treaty, it was bitterly assailed
by the Rumanian press. The government, however,
was somewhat frightened; and after some time a
ministerial council was called and the question dis-
cussed. As a result the Rumanian government
issued some pamphlets in French, reiterating its
accusations against the Jews and mantaining that
whatever pei'secution they had endured they had
fully deserved in consequence of their exploitation
of the rural population.

The emigration of Rumanian Jews on a larger
scale commenced soon after 1878; and it has contin-
ued to the present day (1905). It is admitted that
at least 70 per cent would leave the country at
any time if the necessary traveling expen.ses were
furnished. There are no official statistics of emi-
gration; but it is safe to place the minimum
number of Jewish emigrants from 1898 to 1904 at
70,000.

According to tlie official statistics of 1878. there
were then 218,304 Jews in Rumania. The excess ot
births over deaths from 1878 to 1894
Statistics, being 70,408, the number of Jews at
the end of 1894 ought to have been
288,712. But the census of December in that year
showed only 243,225, or 45,487 less than the number

expected. In 1904 it was estimated that the num-
ber of Jews who were living in Rumania did not
exceed 250,000.

The administration of Jewish communal affairs in
Rumania differs very little from that in southern
Russia; and it has remained in almost the same state
from time immemorial. There is the "gabella"
(meat-lax), from which the rabbis and synagogues
are supported, as wellastheJewishhospitals, Hebrew
free schools, etc. In religious life Hasidism has the
greatest number of followers; indeed, it is claimed
that the cradle of Hasidism rested on Rumanian soil.
There Ba'al Shem-Tob, the founder of the sect,
expounded his doctrines; and his descendants are
now represented by the Friedmann family, various
members of which have taken up their abode in the
townlet of Buhush.

In the old graveyards of Jassy, Botushani, and
other towns of Moldavia, tombstones indicate the
resting-places of well-known rabbinical authors.
Nathan (Nata) Hannover, rabbi at Fokshani at the
beginning of tlie seventeenth century,
Kabtois and was the author of "Yewen Mezulah,"
Savants, a valuable account of the persecutions
of the Jews during his lifetime. Julius
Barasch is probably the most interesting Jew in
the history of Rumanian literature. He was the
first to introduce Western thought into that lit-
erature; and it is justly claimed that he taught
the Rumanians how to employ in their own lan-
guage a graceful style previously unknown to them.
Hillel Kahane of Botushani wrote a laborious work
in Hebrew on physical geography. Wolf Zbarzer
and M. T. Rabener distinguished themselves in He-
brew poetry by their easy and I'legant style. Baron
Waldberg and D. Wexler contributed largely to
modern Hebrew literature; and j\I. Brauenstein is a
fluent and prolific Hebrew publicist.

M. Caster, haham of the Portuguese .lewisli com-
munity of London, is the author of a standard work,
in the Rumanian vernacular, on Rumanian litera-
ture ; M. Scbwarzfeld, a prolific writer on the his-
tory of the Jews in Rumania; Lazar Shaineanu, a
Rumanian philologist whose works have won prizes
offered by the Rumanian Academy ; and Heimann
Tiktin, the most celebrated Rumanian grammarian.
The last two have recently become converted to
Christianity.

Ronetti Roman is undoubtedly the greatest of
all Rumanian poets; his poem "Radu " is the high-
est poetic achievement in Rumanian literature,
and of equal merit is his drama "Manasse," on the
problem of Jewish apostasy, which evoked admi-
ration and praise from the critics generally. A
Gorman poet who was born in Rumania is Marco
Brociner. Solomon Schechter, discoverer of tlie He-
brew Ben Sira, and now president of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America, was born at Fok-
shani, and received his early instruction at the bet
ha-midrash there.

Among communal workers deserving of especial
mention are Adolf Stern of Bucharest and Karpel
Lippe of Jassy. The latter is also an author of
works on Jewish subjects.

See B'naiB'rith; Jewish Colonization Asso-
ciation ; Peixotto, Benjamin Franklin ; United

Kumania
Kussell

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

516

States. For Jewish Rumanian periodicals see Jew-
ish ENCYCLOPEDrA, ix. 608b, s. v. Periodicals, and
the list given at end of that article.

Bibliography: A. S. Laiirian, Istnria Romdnil/>r; Hurmu-
zaki, DoeumenU Privitore la IstuHa Eomdnilor ; Hasdeii,
ToJeranta in Bomania; Dumitru Bolintineanu, Viata lul
Ctiza Vnchi ; E. Schwarzfeld, The Jews in Boumania, in
A^meHcan JeuHsli Year Book; M. Schwarzf eld, in ^ mianil
Pentrti Israelitzi ; M. Beck, Revista Israelita: A. D. Xeno-
pol, Les Roumains au Mayen Age ; Engel, Die Oesch. der
Walachei ; idem. Die Gesch. der Muldau.
D. D. M. II.

The history of Rumanian legislation against the
Jews during the nineteenth century is one of the
most remarkable in all the annals of Jewish perse-
cution. It culminated in the Artisan Bill of March
16, 1903, which was intended to prevent Jews earn-
ing their livelihood by any form of handicraft or
trade, and against which Secretary Hay protested in
a ministerial note to the Rumanian government (Aug.
11, 1902), pointing out the tendency of such legisla-
tion to produce an abnormal stream of emigration to
the United States. The following resume of en-
actments includes most of the measures adopted
during the century :

18C3. Alexander Monize ol Moldavia forbids Jews to rent farms
(" American Jewish Year Book," 1901, p. 48).

180i, May 18. Alexander Moronzi of Moldavia forbids Jews to
buy farm products (Loeb, " La Situation des Israelites
en Turquie, en Serbia et en Roumanie," p. 212, Paris,
1877 [hereafter cited as "Loeb"]).

1817. " Code Cahmachi," section 1430, forbids Jews of Rumania
to acquire real property (Loeb, p. 213).

By 1818. Code of John Caradja of W^allachia repeats the Church
laws against allowing Jews to be witnesses against
Christians ("Am. Jew. Year Book," 1901, p. .50).

By 1819. Code of Kallimachor of Moldavia gives civil rights to
Jews, who, however, may not own land (" Am. Jew.
Year Book," 1901, p. 50).

1831. Fundamental law of Moldavia, ch. iii., section 94, orders
all Jews and their occupations to be registered ; Jews
not .of proved usefulness are to be expelled ; others of
same class shall not be allowed to enter (Loeb, p. 314).

1839, March 11. Tax of tiO piasters per annum placed on Jews
of Moldavia (Loeb, p. 215).

1850, Dec. 13. No Jew allowed to enter Rumania unless possessed

of 5,000 piasters and of known occupation (Loeb, p. 316).

1851, May 5. Appointment of commission of vagabondage at

Jassy to determine right of entry of foreign Jews (Loeb,
p. 216).

1861, June 17. Circular of Rumanian ministry, preventing Jews
from being innkeepers in rural districts (Loeb, p. 217).

1864, April 13. Communal law of Rumania permits only those
Jews to be naturalized who (1) have reached the grade
of non-commissioned oDBcers in the army, (2) or have
passed through college, (3) or have a recognized foreign
degree, (4) orhavefounded a factory (Loeb, pp. 107-108).

1864, Dec. 4. Jews excluded from being advocates (Loeb, p. 124) .

1864, Dec. 7. Elementary education of all children between the
ages of eight and twelve (Sincerus, " Les Juifs en Rou-
manie " [hereafter cited as " Sincerus "]).

1866, April 14. Ghika, Rumanian minister of interior, permits
Jews already settled in rural districts to keep farms till
leases run out, but they must not renew them (Loeb,
p. 218).

1868, March. Law submitted to chamber preventing Jews from
holding land, settling in the country, selling food, keep-
ing inns, holding public office, trading without special
permits. Jews already settled in rural districts were to
be driven therefrom. This was withdrawn April 5, in
fear of the intervention of the powers (Loeb, pp. 169,
311-312).

1868, June 23. All Rumanians forced to serve in army, " but not
strangers" (Loeb, p. 109); therefore Jews who served
were for this purpose regarded as Rumanians.

1868, Dec. 37. Jews excluded from medical profession in Ruma-

nia (Loeb, p. 124). Clause omitted in decree of June,
1871.

1869, Jan. 15. Jews not allowed to be tax-farmers in rural com-

munes (Loeb, p. 112).

1869, July. Note of M. Cogalniceano to French consul at Bucha-
rest refuses to consider Jews as Rumanians (Loeb, p.
102).

1869, Oct. Extra tax put on kasher meat at Roman and Focsan
(Loeb, p. 127).

1869, Oct. 25. Jews prevented from being apothecaries in Ru-

mania, except where there are no Rumanian apotheca-
ries (Loeb, p. 125; Sincerus, p. 102).

1870, Nov. 10. Servian Jews obliged to serve in army (Loeb,

p. 57).

1872, Feb. 15. All dealers in tobacco in Rumania must be Ru-

manians" (Loeb, p. 120).

1873, April 1. Law forbidding Jews to sell spirituous liquors in

rural districts (Loeb, p. 188). A license may be given
only to an elector (Sincerus, p. 19).

1873, Aug. 4 and Sept. 5. Chief physicians of sanitary districts

must be "Rumanians" (Sincerus, p. 103).

1874, June 8-20. Sanitary code restricts office of chief physician

of districts and hospitals to Rumanians. No pharmacy
may be opened without special permit of minister of in-
terior. Directors of pharmacies may be "strangers"
up to 1878 ; after that, only in case there is no Ruma-
nian pharmacy. New pharmacies may be opened only
by Rumanians (Sincerus, p. 103) .
1876. Revised military law of Rumania declares " strangers "
liable to military service unless they can prove them-
selves to be of another nationality (Loeb, p. 109) .

1879, Oct. 21. Rumanian Senate passes law stating that distinc-

tions of religion shall not be a bar to civil or political
rights, but that "strangers" may obtain naturalization
only by special law on individual demand and after
ten years' residence (Act VII. of Constitution ; Sincerus,
pp. 3-4).

1880, June 6. The directors and auditors of the National Bank

of Rumania must be Rumanians (Sincerus, p. 77).

1881, March 18. Law of expulsion passed, authorizing minister

of interior to expel, or order from place to place, with-
out giving reason, any stranger likely to disturb public
tranquillity (Sincerus, p. 146). COriginally intended
against Nihilists after murder of czar, but afterward
applied to Jews.)

1881, July 16. Law promulgated declaring that all " agents de
change" or "courtiers de merchandise" must be Ru-
manians or naturalized, except in the ports (where there
are Christian " strangers ") (Sincerus, p. 45).

1881, Oct. 21. Ministerial council extends the law excluding
Jews from sale of liquors in rural districts, to cities and
towns included in such districts (Sincerus, pp. 22-23).

1881, Nov. 11. All "strangers" in Rumania required to obtain

a permit of residence before they may pass from place
to place (Sincerus, p. 163).

1883, Feb. 26. Jews forbidden to be custom-house olHcers (Sin-

cerus, p. 53).

1882, Nov. 3. Rumanian Senate passes law declaring all " in-

habitants " liable to military service, except subjects of
alien states (Sincerus, p. 35). See above, June 23, 1868.

1884, Jan. 31. Rumanian Senate decides that " strangers " have

no right of petition to Parliament (Sincerus, p. 197) .

1884, March 19. Law passed prohibiting hawkers from trading

in rural districts (Sincerus, p. 65).

1885, April 15. Pharmacy law permits minister of interior to

close any pharmacy not under direction of a recognized
person; pharmacies may he acquired only by Ruma-
nians or by naturalized citizens ; permission to employ
" strangers " extended to 1886 (Sincerus, p. 104) .

1886, March 13. Electors of chambers of commerce must be per-

sons having political rights (Sincerus, p. 75).
1886, June 16. Druggists must be Rumanians or naturalized
citizens (Sincerus, p. 84).

1886, Dec. 7. Account-books must be kept in Rumanian or in a

modern European language (Sincerus, p. 81) . (The ob-
ject was to keep out Yiddish.)

1887, Feb. 28. All employees of the " regie " must be Ruma-

nians or naturaUzed (Sincerus, p. 29) .
1887, April 28. Farmers of taxes in Rumania must be persons

capable of being public officers (Sincerus, p. 89).
1887, May 22. Majority of administrators of private companies

must he Rumanians (Sincerus, p. 78).
1887, May 24. Five years after the foundation of a factory two-
thirds of its workmen must be Rumanians (Sincerus,

p. 94).
1887, Aug. 4. Ministerial circular orders preference to be given

to children of Rumanians in the order of admission to

public schools (Sincerus, p. 123) .

517

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Rumania
Bussell

1889. Of 1,307 permits issued to hawkers only 136 went to Jews ;
ot tbese only 6 were held in Wallaohia (Slncerus, p. 70).

1893, Aug. 31. Retired Jewish soldiers are not allowed to serve

as rural gendarmes (Sincerus, p. 40) .

1S93, April 21. Professional education permitted to " strangers "
only when places are available and on payment ot fees.
The number of " strangers " on the roll of such an edu-
cational institution must not exceed one-flfth of the
total roll, and these may not compete for scholarships.
" Strangers " are not admitted at all to schools of agri-
cultme (Sincerus, p. 138).

1693, May 30. Rumanian Senate passes law giving preference
to children of Rumanians in elementary public schools,
and placing a tax on children of " strangers " admitted
(Sincerus, p. 139). 'Jliis tax amounted to 15 francs for
rural, and 30 for urban, schools (.lb. 137).

189:3, June 36. Royal decree declaring all functionaries in the
sanitary service must be Rumanians, except In rural
districts. " Stranger " invalids may be admitted to free
public iospitals only on payment of fees, and they may
not in any case occupy more than 10 per cent ot the beds.
A "stranger" may be taken as an apprentice by an
apothecary only where there is a Rumanian apprentice
(Sinceru3, pp. 106, 110, 115).

1894, Jan. 36. Farmers may be represented in law-courts by

their stewards, if the latter be Rumanians, not Jews
(Sincerus, p. 44) .

1895, May 33. Students la the military hospitals, and army doc-

tors must be either Rumanians or naturalized citizens
(Sincerus, p. 117) .

1896, April 13. Jews may not act as intermediaries at the cus-

toms in Rumania (Sincerus, p. 54).

1896, June. A ministerial order declares that letters on school
business (excuses for absence, etc.) need not be
stamped, except In the case of "strangers"; only chil-
dren of "strangers" are required to pay entrance-fees
at examinations (Sincerus, p. 130) .

1896, June 36. Ministerial order instructs rural council that
permission to remain in a rural district may be revoked
at any moment (Sincerus, p. 185) .

1898, April 4. Law permitting secondary instruction of chil-
dren of "strangers" only where places are available
and on payment of fees, though to Rumanians tuition
is tree (Sincerus, p. 133).

1898, Oct. Admission to public schools in Rumania refused to

11,300 Jewish children (Sincerus) .

1899, Feb. 18. Only Rumanians henceforth admitted as em-

ployees on state railways (Sincerus, p. 97).

1899, Oct. 31. Ministerial order closes private J«wlsh schools in

Rumania on Sundays (Sincerus, p. 141).

1900. Number of Jewish children in elementary public schools

in Rumania reduced to 6^ per cent; in secondary
schools from lOH per cent (in 1895) to 7)^ per cent
(Sincerus, p. 133).

1900, Feb. 37. Ministerial circular orders pupils to receive in-
struction in Jewish private schools with heads un-
covered (Sincerus, p. 143).

1900, March 38. On private railways, 60 per cent of the em-
ployees must be Rumanians (Sincerus, p. 99).

1900, April 17. Ministerial circular orders Jewish private
schools to be open on Saturdays (Sincerus, p. 143) .

1902, March 16. Artisans' bill requires special authorization
from the authorities to carry on any trade, only to he
obtained by "strangers," i.e., Jews, on production of
foreign passports, and proof that in their " respective
countries " reciprocal rights are accorded to Rumanians
(" Am. Jew. Year Book," 1903-3, p. 30) . -

KUMSCH, ISAAC MOSES : Russian teacher
and Hebrew author ; born in the village of Zezemer,
government of Wilna, April 6, 1822 ; died in 1894. At
the age of nine he went to Wilna, where he studied
the Talmud in the yeshibah of his brother Joseph
Eurasch, and then in that of R. Mordecai Melzer.
Subsequently he studied the Bible and Hebrew gram-
mar secretly and acquired a knowledge of German
and other secular subjects; but his plan of going to
Germany to obtain a scientific education was frus-
trated by the persecutions to which he was subjected
by his relatives because of his love for study. When
in 1853 the Russian government opened public

schools for Jewish children in the government of
Wilna, he, together with his friend Judah LSb
Gordon, was appointed a teacher in the school of
Ponevyezli.

Rumsch was the author of the following works:
" Kur 'Oni " (Wilna, 1861 ; printed at the expense of
the Russian government), a free Hebrew translation
of " Robinson Crusoe " from the German of Rauch ;
"Kin'at Sifre Kodesh" {ib. 1873), critical glosses on
L. Mandelstamm's Russian translation of the Psalms,
together with notes on some of them; "Shillumat
Resha'ira," a story of Jewish life, and "Hatikat
Bad" a Hebrew novel (ib. 1875); "Megillat Ester
ha-Sheniyah " {ib. 1883), a historical novel of Esther
or Esterka, the favorite of the Polish king Casimir
the Great, in Hebrew based on the German ; and
"Bat Hayil," a historical novel of Jewish life in
Spain in the fourteenth century, freely translated
from Philippson and published in "Ha-Asif," 1889,
V. 1-47. He contributed also many articles to " Ha-
Karmel" and "Ha-Meliz," and left in manuscript
some Hebrew stories and notes on the Bible.

Bibliography : Sokolow, Sefer Zikkaron, s.v., Warsaw, 1890 ;
Zeitlin, Bibl. Pont-MendeU. p. 324.
H. R. J. Z. L.

BUNKEL, SOLOMON ZALMAN : Rabbi of

Mayeuce and afterward of Worms ; died before 1436.
Runkel was a cabalist, as is shown by his work " Ha-
tan Damim " (Pragtie, 1605), which contains a caba-
listic commentary on the Pentateuch according to
gematria and notarikon, besides collectanea of ritual
laws for circumcision, wedding ceremonies, etc.
Runkel did not finish the commentary, which was
completed by Isaac ha-Kohen, son-in-law of R. Liwa
of Prague.

Bibliography : Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 203, No. 879 ;
Fiirst, Bibl. Jud. ill. 181 ; Steinschneider, Cat. Bndl. col. 3389.
s. M. Sel.

RUSSELL, HENRY : English composer and
singer; born at Sheerness Dec. 34, 1813; died in
London Dec. 7, 1900. He appeared in infancy in
Christmas pantomimes, and later learned singing
from Bellini in Italy in 1825, and counterpoint from
Donizetti. He settled in Rochester, N. Y., in 1843 as
teacher of the pianoforte, having appeared as Elvino
in "La Sonnambula" in Philadelphia in 1839. For
years he traveled in America, giving monologue
entertainments of his own compositions. He was
also engaged for the concerts of oratorio and phil-
harmonic societies.

On his return to Europe Russel appeared in enter-
tainments in many cities iu Great Britain and Ireland
and repeated his American- success. Finally he re-
tired from the concert-room and settled in London as
an opulent money-lenderand bill-broker. Eight hun-
dred songs have come from his prolific pen, of which
no less than 760 have been published. Although
the 800 together brought to the author only £400,
Russell made a fortune by singing his songs; In
three seasons in- America he realized from this source
§50,000, which was, however, entirely lost through
the failure of a New York bank.

His songs include: "Ivy Green," "Cheer, Boys,
Cheer," " A Life on the Ocean Wave," " I'm Afloat,"
"Some Love to Roam," and "To the West, to the
West, to the Land of the Free " (said to have largely
influenced emigration to the United States).

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

518

Russell was twice married. His first wife, who
was uot of the Jewish faith, was a daughter of
Lloyd, the banker; his second was Miss DeLara, of
a Jewish family. He was buried according to the
rites of the Christian Church.

Bibuography: Jaw. Chrnn. Oct. 9, 1891, and Dec. 14, 1900;
PciqAe (if the I'erincl; Lonaon newspapers o£ Dec. 8, 1900;
Jew. Tear Book, 5659, p. 20.5.
J. G. L.

RUSSIA.— History : [Much of the history of
the Jews of Russia having already appeared under
the headings Alexander, Armenia, Caucasus,
Cossacks, etc., the present article has been framed
so as' to include only those facts which are necessary
to supplement the data given in those articles.]
In some of the territorj' included within the limits
of the present Russian empire Jewish inhabitants
were to be found in the very remote past; Ar-
menian and Georgian historians record that after
the destruction of the First Temple (587 B.C.) Nebu-
chadnezzar deported numbers of Jewish captives to
Armenia and to the Caucasus. These exiles were
joined later by coreligionists from Media and Judea.
Some members of these early colonies, notably the
Ba&ratuni, became prominent in local political life.
Tlie Bagratuni family stood high in the councils of
the Armenian government until the fourth century
of the present era; but religious pressure finally
compelled its members to adopt Christianity. Ac-
cording to tradition, another influential Jewish fam-
ily, the Amatuni, came to Armenia in the reign of
Artashes (85-127 C.E.). At the end of the fourth
century there were Armenian cities possessing Jew-
ish populations ranging from 10,000 to 30,000.
The Jews were subjected to great suffering when the
Persians invaded Armenia, most of the cities being
destroyed, and many of the Jews being led into cap-
tivity (360-370).

Jews had lived in Georgia also since the destruc-
tion of the First Temple. The ruler of Mzchet as-
signed them a place for settlement on the River
Zanav. This localit}' was subsequently named
"Kerk," meaning "tribute," on account of the taxes
imposed upon the Jews. After the captvu'e of
Jerusalem by Vespasian (70 c.e.) other Jewish exiles
joined their coreligionists at Mzchet (see Jew.
Enoyc. ii. 117b, s.ii. Armenia, and ib. iii. 628, s.i).
Caucasus).

Monuments consisting of marble slabs bearing
Greek inscriptions, and preserved in the Hermitage,
St. Petersburg, and in the museum at Feodosia
(Kaffa), show that Jews lived in the Crimea and along
the entire eastern coast of the Black Sea at the begin-
ning of the common era, and that they possessed
well-organized communities with synagogues. They
were then already Hellenized, bearing such Greek
names as Hermis, Dionisiodorus, and Heracles. In
the reign of Julius the Isaurian (175-210) the name
" Volamiros " was common among the Jews of the
Crimea. This was the origin of the Russian name
" Vladimir. " Most of the Greek inscriptions relate
to the liberation of slaves who in obedience to relig-
ious vows had been dedicated to the Synagogue.
The entire Jewish community thus became the
guardian of these liberated slaves.

The presence of well-organized Jewish communi-

ties in that region serves to prove that Jews lived
there a long time before the common era, and
supports the statement of Strabo (b.
Early in Pontus 63 B.C.) that it is not easy to
Period. find in the inhabited world a place
without Jewish inhabitants. Philo
Judajus also remarks that the Jews populated nu-
merous cities on the continent and the islands of
Europe and Asia. Beginning with the second half
of the second century the Crimean inscriptions are
exclusively in Hebrew, instead of in Greek as they
formerly were, which goes to show that the first Jew-
ish settlers in the Crimea were not from western
Europe, but were Bosporian and Asiatic Jews. Of
such inscriptions about 120 are unquestionably
genuine; and these cover the period 157 to 1773
(see Jew. Ekcyc. iii. 329b, s.ij. Bosporus; also
Crimea; Kaffa; Kertch).

Jews from the Crimea moved eastward and north-
ward and became the founders of Jewish communi-
ties along the shores of the Caspian Sea and of the
lower Volga (see Atel), carrying with them a civil-
ization more advanced than that of the native tribes
among which they settled. Under their influence
Bulan, the " chaghan " of the Chazars, and the
ruling classes of Chazaria adopted Judaism in 731
or 740. The spread of Judaism among the Chazars
rendered the entire region of the lower Don, the
Volga, and the Dnieper especiallj' attractive to Jew-
ish settlers (see Jew. Encyc. iv. 1, s.v. Cuazars).
After the overthrow of the Chazarian kingdom by
Swyatoslaw (969), Jews in large numbers fled to the
Crimea, the Caucasus, and the Russian principality
of Kiev, formerly a part of the Chazar territory.
There is even a tradition (unsupported, however, by
sufficient documentary evidence) that the city of
Kiev was founded by the Chazars. Mention is made,
in Russian chronicles of the year 987, of Chazarian
Jews who came to Prince Vladimir desiring to con-
vert him to Judaism. In the eleventh and twelfth
centuries the Jews occupied in Kiev a separate
quarter, called the Jewish town (" Zhidy "), the
gates leading to which were known as the Jew-
ish gates (" Zhidovskiye vorota "). At this time
Jews are found also in northeastern Russia, in
the domains of Prince Andrei Bogoltubski (1169-
1174).

From the writings of Ilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev
in the first half of the eleventh century, it appears
that the local Jewish community possessed very
considerable influence. It is also evident that that
author's familiarity with Jewish matters was gained
by personal contact with Jews, and that he found it
necessary to combat the spread of Judaism. In 1321
Kiev, Volhynia, and Podolia were conquered by the
Lithuanian grand duke Gedimin, who granted the
Jewish inhabitants of these territories the same
rights that were enjoyed by his Jewish subjects in
Lithuania. These rights were subsequently am-
plified by the well-known charter of Witold in
1388, under which the Jews of Kiev and of other
Russian principalities were accorded full citizenship,
not a few of them serving in the body-guards of the
Russian princes.

Jews lived in Lithuania and Poland as early as
the tenth century, having come from South Russia,

519

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kussia

from Germany, and from other -west-Enropeau
covintries. See Russia: Poland.

Documentary evidence as to the presence of Jews
in Muscovite Kussia is first found in the clironicles
of 1471. The Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan III.
(1463-1505) was the first Muscovite prince to abolish
the feudal organization and to establish a centralized
government. The independent towns of Novgorod
and Psliov alone remained unannexed to Russia.
Novgorod, which was a member of tlie Hanseatic
League, was frequently visited by foreign mer-
chants, who thus helped to introduce Western ideas
among the Russian jseople. The grand duke Ivan
was eagerly watching events in Nov-
Muscovite gorod, where opposing political parties

Russia. struggled for supremacy. One of these
parties strongly favored annexation to
the spiritual center of Greek-Orthodoxy, while the
other, disapproving the growing religious formalism
and ceremonial, attempted to lead the Russians to-
ward the more progressive forms of western Europe.
Tliis political and religious imrest prepared a favor-
able soil for religious heresy. In 1470 the people of
Novgorod invoked the aid of Prince Michael Olel-
kovich, brothfer of the viceroy of Kiev, in their
struggle with Moscow. He brought with him the
learned Jew Skliariyah, who converted the priest
Dionis to Judaism (see Aleksbi; Ivan III., Vas-
silivich; JuDAizme Heresy).

The Judaizing sect rapidly gained adherents and
spread to Moscow, where it won the support of in-
fluential men standing near to the grand duke. Ivan
himself was favorably disposed toward the new re-
ligious movement, and for political reasons made
no attempt to suppress it. It was with evident re-
luctance that he yielded to the appeal of the Bishop
of Novgorod and the Metropolitan of Moscow to
punish the offenders and to check the spread of the
heresy. Very probably Ivan attempted to strengthen
his influence in Lithuania with the aid of Michael
Olelkovlch and Skliariyah (see Lithuania). There
may have been some connection between the expul-
sion of the Jews from Lithuania by Alexander in
1495 and Ivan's attitude toward the Judaizing her-
esy. It is known that, although the Jews were
readmitted in 1503, stern measures against the Ju-
daizers were not taken until 1504. At any rate it is
evident from many sources that Ivan attempted to
further his schemes of conquest in Lithuania as well
as in the Crimea by gaining the support of the Jews.
Panov comes to the conclusion (" Yeres Zhidovstvu-
yushchikh," in "Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnavo
Prosvyescheniya," 1876) that Skhariyah (Zacharias)
of Kiev and Zacharias Guizolfi were one and the
same person — a deduction which has very little jus-
tification, as may be seen from the facts set forth in
the article Guizolfi.

Ivan's dealings with the Jews were not limited,
however, to the two Zachariases. There is docu-
mentary evidence that the grand duke corresponded
with the Jew Khozei Kokos. He instructed the
ambassador Beklemishev in 1474 to convey his greet-
ings to Kokos, and in a message to the latter re-
quested him to use his Influence with the Crimean
khan Mengli-Girel to induce that ruler to send not
merely his assertions of friendship, but a formal

treaty with Ivan. The grand duke also asked Kokos
to assist his agents as theretofore, for which aid he
promised due compensation ; and he explained that
the presents then forwarded to Kokos were of less
value than they might have been "because the am-
bassador was unable to carry much baggage." The
grand duke further requested Kokos to abstain
from the use of Hebrew script in his correspond-
ence, and to employ instead Russian or Tatar char-
acters. The last request shows that on previous
occasions letters in Hebi'ew had been received and
translated at the Muscovite court. Other documents
show that Kokos conducted negotiations relating to
the marriage of the heir to the Muscovite throne
with the daughter of the Prince of Mangujj ; and in
1486 the Russian ambassador was instructed to in-
form Kokos that, shoiild his services prove as ac-
ceptable as theretofore, he would be rewarded by the
grand duke " with palaces, amethysts, and fine
pearls."

The grand duke's invitation to Zacharias Guizolfi
to reside in Moscow indicates that no restrictions
existed with regard to the residence in that city of
wealthy and influential Jews. The execution of the
Jewish court physician Leo (or Leon) did not affect
Ivan's attitude toward the Jews; for in his subse-
quent correspondence (up to 1500) he still urged
Guizolfi to settle in Moscow.

It is known that in the reign of Vasili Ivanovieh
IV. (1505-33) the Jews were held in ill repute mainly
on account of the Judaizing heresy. While there is
proof that Lithuanian Jewish merchants carried on
trade with and visited Moscow and Smolensk, their
transactions were made possible only by the lax en-
forcement of the restrictive regulations concerning
the Jews; the grand duke's special ambassador
to Rome, Dmitri Gerasimov, whose mission it was
to establish a union between the Greek-Ortho-
dox and the Roman Catholic churches (1526), re-
marked to the historian Paolo Giovio, " We abhor
the Jews and do not allow them to enter Russia."

Muscovite treatment of the Jews became harsher
in the reign of Ivan IV., the Tekiiibf.e (1533-84).
Apart from the savage instincts of the czar, from
which all of his subjects suffered, he vented upon
the Jews his religious fanaticism and hatred, which
were strengthened by the hostile attitude of the
Catholic Church toward the Jews of western Europe.
In his conquest of Polotsk, Ivan IV. ordered that all
Jews who should decline to adopt Christianity
should be drowned in the Dlina. In the period of
thirty years which intervened between the death of
Ivan IV. and the accession of the first Romanof,
Jews were connected more or less intimately with
political events in the history of the Muscovite king-
dom. Thus mention is made of Jews among the
followers of the usurper Grishka Otrepyev. There
Is even a tradition that he himself was of Jewish
origin.

The Russian chronicler who describes the times
of the first pseudo-Demetrius (see" Regesty,"i. 338)
states that the Muscovite kingdom was overrun with
foreign heretics, Lithuanians, Poles, and Jews to
such an extent that there were scarcely any native
Russians to be seen (1605).

In the reign of the first Romanof, Michael Peodoro-

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

520

vicli (1613-45), certain enactments placed the Jews
on an equality witli tlie Litlmanians, Germans, Ta-
tars, and Circassians, all nationalities being treated
in a spirit of tolerance. In a message
The of Oct. 9, 1634, to the governor of

Romanofs. Great Perm, the czar ordered the re-
lease of certain Lithuanian prisoners
(Germans, Jews, Tatars, and Circassians), who were
to be permitted to return to their fatherlands or to
remain in Russia, as they might decide.

Pour years later (1638) the czar in his congratu-
latory message to the King of Poland displayed a
changed attitude toward the Jews. He instructed
his representatives at the Polish court to propose
that Polish merchants should be prohibited from
bringing into Russia certain mercliandise, " and that
Jews be forbidden to enter Russia at all" (see Aakon
M.\RKO•s^CH OF WiLX a). This attitude was undoubt-
edly inspired by purely religious motives; and the
czar's message indicates that, notwithstanding the
persecution of the Jews in Russia, they still entered
the country for purposes of trade. On the whole,
it is quite certain that there was no fixed policy in
the treatment of the Jews by Michael's government,
and that orders and decrees were frequently issued
as special occasions required.

In the code of 1649, under Michael's successor,
Alexis (Aleksei) Mikhailovich (1645-76) the attitude
of the government tov.'ard the Jews was more clearly
defined. This code contains no general direct lim-
itations of the rights of the Jews then hving in
Russia, aud where in exceptional cases such limita-
tions are made they concern religious matters and
foreign Jews only. The document furnishes strong
proof that the former restrictions upon the Jews were
inspired by religious intolerance, and that the expres-
sion of such intolerance was officially avoided in the
written code. It may be inferred from the decrees
issued subsequently to the code that the Jews had
access to all the towns of Russia, including Moscow.
By the tirst of these decrees, the ukase of July 30,
1654, the establishment of turnpikes was ordered so
that all persons going to Moscow might be ex-
amined: "and such persons as shall prove to be
from Mstisla viand other frontier cities, Lithuanians,
Catholics, nonconformists, Jews, Tatars, and various
unchristian people, all shall be admitted to Moscow."
This enactment, later incorporated into the legal
code, shows that the Jews were not singled out from
the other peoples, and that they were subject to
the general laws. On special occasions, however,
decrees unfavorable to them were issued, as, for in-
stance, in the case of the expulsion of the Jews
from MoGHiLEF in 1654.

The ukase of IMarch 7, 1655, ordering the transfer
of "Lithuanians and Jews" from Kaluga to Nijni-
Novgorod, provided for their proper protection and
for the payment to them of a liberal allowance for
traveling expenses. Moreover, article ii. of the
treaty of Andru.sov (1667), agreeing upon an armis-
tice between Russia and Poland for a period of thir-
teen years and six months, provided that all Jews
who so desired and who had not become converts to
Christianity should be allowed by the czar to return
to Polish territory, taking with them their wives,
children, and possessions, and that those preferring

to remain in Russia should be accorded the requisite
permission.

The Ukrainian writer Joannikl Golyatovski, in
his work" ]\[essiaPravdivy" (1676), attacked the Jews
with the intention of prejudicing the czar against
them. Kostomarov, in commenting on this fact, states
that, notwithstanding the disinclination of the Great
Russians to admit the Jews to their country, the lat-
ter found their way to Moscow, usually concealing
their racial and religious affiliations. It is worthy
of note here that there were at that time in Moscow
a considerable number of baptized Jews in the mon-
asteries, especially in the Voskresenski monastery,
concerning whom Archbishop Nikkon wrote to
Alexis complaining that they " had again begun to
practise their old Jewish religion, and to demoralize
the young monks." It may be seen from the facts
presented here and in the articles Alexis Mikhailo-
vich and Gaden that in this reign the Jews of Mos-
cow had increased both in numbers and in influence.
Alexis' son and successor, Feodor Alekseyevich
(1676-83), stipulated in his treaty (1678) with King
John Sobieski of Poland that all Polish merchants,
excepting those of the Jewish faith, should be al-
lowed to visit Moscow (" Polnoye Sobraniye Zako-
nov,"i. 148).

The Russian documents thus far accessible do not
permit a definite conclusion as to the attitude of
Peter the Great (1683-1735) toward his Jewish sub-
jects. The Russian historian Solovyev, who was
himself not without prejudice toward
Under the Jews, points out ("Istoriya Ros-
Peter the sii," vol. xv.) that when Peter invi-
Great. ted talented foreigners to Russia, he
invariably excepted Jews. No docu-
mentary evidence in proof of this -assertion is, how-
ever, furnished. Peter's edict of April 16, 1703,
which Solevyev cites, contains no reference to the
Jews; and the historian's assertion is evidently
based on Nartov's anecdote concerning Peter's so-
journ in Holland (1698). "When petitioned by th&
Jews of Amsterdam, through his old friend Burgo-
master Witsen, for the admission of their coreligion-
ists to Russia, Peter is reported to have replied, "The
time has not yet come for a union of the Jews and
the Russians." Nartov also cites Peter as having
stated that he would rather call to Russia Moham-
medans or heathen than Jews, who are "tricksters,
and cheats. " Nartov adds that Peter remarked to the
Jewish delegation petitioning for the right to trade
in Great Russia : " You imagine that the Jews are so
shrewd as to be able to gain advantage over the
Christian merchants ; but I assure you that my peo-
ple are more cunning even than the Jews, and will
not permit themselves to be deceived."

On the other hand, the selection of Baron Shafi-
rov, a baptized Jew, as chancellor of the empire,,
and the confidence shown in him, as well as the ad-
vancement by Peter of Dewier, supposedly the son
of a Portuguese Jewish barber, indicate that the
czar personally had no race prejudices, and that he
discouraged supersrition in the Greek-Orthodox
Church. Nevertheless he found it expedient 1o
leave unchanged the religious legislation framed
by his father, Aleksei, which contained many restric-
tions of the rights of non-Christian subjects of the

5S1

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kussia

empire. In a document of the pinkes of Mstislavl,
government of Moghilef, it is stated ;

" . . . Our children stillto be born should tellthe coming gen-
erations that our first deliverer never forsook us. And it all men
were to write, they could not record all the miracles that were
vouch.safed to us [until now]. For even now. on Thursday, the
28th of Elul, 5468, there came the Ocesar, called the Czar of Mos-
cow, named Peter Alekseyevich— may his fame grow great !—
with all his forces, agreat and numerous army ; and robbers and
assassins from among his people attacked us without his knowl-
edge, and blood came near being spilled. Andlf God our Master
had not inspired the czar to come pereonally to our synagogue,
blood would surely have flowed. It was only through the help
of (i od that the czar saved us and revenged us, and ordered that
thirteen of those men be immediately hanged, and there was
peace again."

Tliis incident does not necessarily sliow, liowever,
tliat Peter was a steadfast friend of tlie Jews (Du"b-
now, in "Vosldiod," 1889, pp. 1-3, 177).

Active measures against the Jews, especially those
living in the Ukraine, were inaugurated by Peter's
successor, Catherine I. (1725-37). On March 25,
1727, the empress issued a ukase prohibiting the leas-
ing of inns and customs duties to Jews in Smolensk,
and ordering the deportation beyond the frontier of
Baruch Leibov and those associated with him. On
May 7 of the same year another edict was promul-
gated ordering the expulsion of the Jews from
Russia :

" The Jews, both male and female, who are living in Ukraine
and other Russian towns are to be immediately deported beyond
the frontier, and must not henceforth be allowed to enter Eussia
under any circumstances. The requisite measures to prevent
this must be taken in all places. In removing the said Jews
care should be taken to prevent their carrying out of Russia
gold ducats or any similar Russian coins. If such should be
found in. their possession, they should be exchanged for copper."

In signing this decree Catherine was apparently
prompted by purely religious motives. She was
strongly influenced by her religious advisers, nota-
bly by Feofan Prokopovich, elder of the Holy
Synod. Prokopovich also secured ,the cooperation
of jNlenshikov, who may have been provoked against
the Jews by his quarrel witli Shatirov. It was
Menshikov who prohibited the election of Jews as
general or military elders in Little Russia. The
Ukrainians soon found that the removal of the Jew-
ish merchants from among them resulted in great
economic injury to the country, and their hetman,
Apostol, petitioned the Senate for a revocation of
this drastic law (1728).

Under Peter II. (1727-30) and Anna Ivanovna
(1730-40) the strict measures against the Jews wore at
first somewhat relaxed. Toward the end of Anna's
rule Jewish religious influences became more mani-
fest. It was in her reign that the above-mentioned
Baruch Leibov and the naval captain Voznitzyn were
burned at the stake (July 15, 1738), the former for
proselytizing, the latter for apostasy. By a decree
of July 32, 1739, Anna ordered the expulsion of the
Jews from Little Russia; and on Aug. 29 of the
same year she issued another decree forbidding
Jews to own or lease inns or other property in that
territory. It was also in her reign and in the subse-
quent reign of Elizabeth Petrovna that the Jews of
Lithuania and Ukraine suffered from the excesses of
the Haidamacks.

Elizabeth (1741-63), the daughter of Peter the
Great, was especially harsh in enforcing anti-Jewish

legislation. In her edict expelling the Jews from
Little Russia she stated that "no other fruit may be
expected from the haters of Christ the Savior's name
than extreme injuiy to our faithful subjects. " When
the Senate, urged by the Little-Russian Cossacks
and the merchants of Riga, decided to recommend
to the empress a more liberal treatment of the Jews,
in view of the great losses that would otherwise
result to the two countries and to the imperial tieas-
ury, Elizabeth wrote on the margin of the report:
"I will not derive any protit from the enemies of
Christ " (1742). Having discovered that her court
physician Sanchez was an adherent of the Jewish
rehgion, Elizabeth, notwithstanding the esteem in
which he was held, summarily ordered him to re-
sign from the Academy of Sciences and to give up his
court practise (1748). The mathematician Leonhard
Euler, who was also a member of the Academy of
Sciences, wrote from Berlin: "I doubt much
whether such strange procedures can add to the
glory of the Academy of Sciences." It should be
added, however, that the fanatical empress perse-
cuted the Mohammedans as well. In 1743 she des-
troyed 418 of the 536 mosques in the government of
Kazan.

A broader conception of the rights of the Jews
obtained under Catherine II. (1762-96). For while
the empress, though talented and liberal in her per-
sonal views, was careful not to antagonize the prej-
udices of the Greek-Orthodox clergy, and still found
it inexpedient to abolish entirely tlie time-honored
discriminations against the Jews that
Catherine had become a part of the imperial
II. policy of the Romanofs, she neverthe-

less found it necessary to concede some-
thing to the spirit of the times. For this reason,
and recognizing also the useful services that the
Jewish merchants might render to the commerce of
the empire, she encouraged a less stringent applica-
tion of the existing laws. Thus, in spite of the
protests of the merchants of Riga, she directed
Governor-General Browne of Livonia to allow the
temporary sojourn in Riga of a party of Jews, who
ostensibly had the intention of settling in the new
Russian provinces (1765) ; and in 1769 Jews were
permitted to settle in these provinces on equal terms
with the other foreigners who had been invited to
develop that uninhabited region. About this time
occurred the first partition of Poland, resulting in
the annexation to Russia of the White-Russian terri-
tory (1773), with its vast Jevpish population.

The edict of Catherine, as promulgated by Gov-
ernor-General Chernyshov, contained the following
passage relating to the Jews :

" Religious liberty and inviolability of property are hereby
granted to all subjects of Russia, and certainly to the Jews also ;
for the humanitarian principles of her Majesty do not permit
the exclusion of the Jews alone from the favors shown to all, so
long as they, Uke faithful subjects, continue to emploj them-
selves as hitherto in commerce and handicrafts, each according
to bis vocation."

Notwithstanding the promise of Chernyshov
(1772) that the White-Russian Jews would be allowed
to enjoy all the rights and privileges thitherto
granted to them, they continued to suffer from the
oppression of the local administrations. In 1784 the
Jews of White Russia petitioned the empress for the

Kussla

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

522

amelioration of their condition. Tliey pointed out
that, having lived for generations in villages on the
estates of the landlords, they had established dis-
tilleries, breweries, etc., at great cost, and that the
landlords had been pleased to lease various revenues
to them. The governor-general had now prohibited
the landlords from making any leases to them, so that
they were in danger of becoming impoverished. By
an imperial order the White-Russian Jews -were eli-
gible for election to municipal oftices, but they had
never been elected in practise, and were thus de-
prived of legal safeguards. They were at a further
disadvantage because of their ignorance of the Rus-
sian language. They therefore asked for represen-
tation in the courts, particularly in
Petition of cases between Jews and Christians,
the White- and that purely Jewish and relig-

Kussian ious affairs should be tried in Jewish
Jews. courtsaccording to Jewish law. They
petitioned further for proper pvo-
tection in the observance of their religion in ac-
cordance with the promises made to them. In
some towns and villages Jews had built houses
under a special arrangement with the landlords con-
cerning the ground-rents; now the landlords had in
some Instances raised the rents without warning, and
the Jews had in consequence been compelled to
abandon their houses. They therefore asked that
the rents be maintained as theretofore, or that at
least a few years of grace be given them to enable
them to make the necessary arrangements for re-
moving to other places. In some towns, to make
room for squares and to facilitate the more modern
arrangement of the city streets, dwellings and othei'
buildings had been torn down without compensation
to the Jewish owners. Jews belonging to villages
and townlets had been compelled by the authorities
to build houses in the cities, and were thus brought
to the verge of ruin.

After due consideration of this petition by the
Senate, a ukase was issued (May 7, 1786) allowing
landlords again to lease their distilleries and inns to
Jews, and permitting the election of Jews to the
courts, the merchant gilds, the magistracy, and the
city councils. The request for special Jewish courts
was not granted, though religious matters were
placed under the jurisdiction of the rabbis and the
Mahals. Questions as to alleged extortionate rent-
charges and damages sustained by the removal of
buildings owned by Jews were left for adjustment
to the local authorities. The petition of the Jews
for protection in the exercise of their religion was
granted.

Soon after the issue of this ukase White-Russian
Jews came in larger numbers to Moscow, thus
arousing the opposition of the merchants of that citJ^
The latter applied to the militarj' commander of
Moscow (Feb., 1790) for the exclusion of the Jews,
who, it was claimed, were undermining the pros-
perity of the merchants by selling goods below the
standard price. Other stereotyped accusations were
likewise made. From this application (preserved in
Vorontzov's "Archives") it is evident that the Mos-
cow merchants, whose usual business motto was " He
who does not deceive makes no sales," were alarmed
at the competition of the Jews; and, knowing that

the tolerant empress would not countenance discrim-
ination on religious grounds, they stated that they
were free from religious prejudice and merely sought
to protect their business interests. That they suc-
ceeded in their efforts is evident from t)ie decision
of the imperial council of Oct. 7, 1790, and from the
ukase of the empress of Dec. 23, 1791, by which
Jews were forbidden to register in the Moscow mer-
chant gild.

Notwithstanding Catherine's liberal ideas, the per-
plexing Jewish question in Russia originated at the
time of the first partition of Poland. H. R.

The tragic events in the life of Paul I. (1790-

1801), as, for instance, the dethroning and the death

by violence of his father, Pelor HI.,

Paul I. and the subsequent attempts of his
mother, Catherine II., to deprive him
of the right of succession, made a serious impression
upon him ; and his reign was one of the darkest pe-
riods in the history of Rnssia. Nevertheless, his
stormy reign was a propitious period for the Jews,
toward whom Paul's attitude was one of tolerance
and kindly regard. This is partly evidenced by the
contemporary legislation, which consisted of only a
few enactments. On the advice of his confidant.
Baron Heiking, he granted the privilege of citizen-
ship to the Jews of Codkland, and gave them also
municipal rights — a very important concession, as
until then the Jews of Courland had been denied
such privileges. But of even more importance is
the fact that Paul I. opposed the expulsion of the
Jews from the towns. Thus he jjrohibited their
expulsion from Kamenetz-Podolsk and f]'om Kiev.
About this time (1796) the Senate without the em-
peror's knowledge enacted a law calling for a double
payment for the gild license b}' the Jewish mer-
chants. As to the decree of 1797 included in the
legal code and imposing double taxation on the
Jews, it is erroneoasly ascribed to Paul I. Such
a decree was issued under Catherine II. in 1794,
and although, in virtue thereof, the Jews continued
to pay double taxes under Paul, he did not re-
enact it.

Paul's attitude toward the Jews and the part
played by hira in their historical life were of greater
signiiioance than may appear from his legislative
measures. This is shown by contemporary official
regulations not incorporated in the legal code.

In 1799 Senator Derzhavin, a Russian poet, was
sent to White Russia commissioned to investigatd
the complaints of the Jewish inhabitants of Shklov
against its owner. General Zorich. At about the
same time one of the White-Russian courts was in-
vestigating a blood accusation against the Jews;
and Derzhavin, who hated them as "the enemies of
Christ " and wished also to help Zorich, proposed to
Paul I. that the testimony of Jewish witnesses should
not be accepted until the Jews proved that they
were innocent of the accusation brought against
them. This proposal, had it been accepted, would
have been disastrous to the Russian Jews, for they
would have been denied the right to testify at
every trial of this nature, and the general effect
would have been to depiive the Jewish population of
the right of citizenship. Paul I., however, notified
Derzhavin that when a case was once before a court

623

THE JEWISH -ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

it was not necessary to coufuse it with questions
concerning Jewisli witnesses. .

Still more important was the solution of the ques-
tion involving the attitude of the government toward
the Jewish schism that concerned the Jews of Rus-
sia and led to the formation of the sect of Hasidim.
Under Paul the antagonism of the Hasidim toward
their opponents became violent. The
The two parties began to make false accu-

Hasidim. sations against each other to the gov-
ernment. The honored representative
of the Hasidim, Zahnan BoruUhovich, was arrested
and taken to St. Petersburg. According to the state-
ment of his opponents, he has been guilty of active
participation in an attempt to injure the government.
Zalman succeeded, however, in proving his inno-
cence, and at the same time in placing the Hasi-
dim in a favorable light. He was released, and or-
ders were issued directing that Hasidism be tolerated
and that its adherents be left unmolested. Subse-
quently Zalman's enemies again succeeded in bring-
ing about his imprisonment, but on the accession to
the throne of Alexander I. he was liberated, and the
sect was again declared deserving of toleration. These
incidents resulted in again confining the religious
controversy to the Jews themselves, and in lessening
somewhat the aggressiveness of the antagonism.

Paul I. opposed the attempts of the Christian com-
munities to expel, under the authority of old Polish
privileges, the Jews from the cities. By his order the
dispute between the Christians and Jews of Kovno,
which had continued for many decades, was settled.
He decreed that the Jews be allowed to remain in
the city, and that no obstacles be placed in their
way while in the pursuit of their trades or handi-
crafts. Consequent upon this there followed other
decrees prohibiting the expulsion of the Jews from
Kiev and Kamenetz-Podolsk. After the death of
Paul I. the Christians of Kovno again petitioned for
the expulsion of the Jews, but in view of Paul's
decree their petition was not granted. During his
reign, and apparently at his instance, the Senate be-
gan to collect material for comprehensive legislation
concerning the Jews. His untimely death, however,
prevented the immediate realization of his project,
which was only completed under Alexander I.

In addition to the general censorship restrictions
to which Russian literature was subjected in the
reign of Paul, there was established a censorship for
Jewish books. It had its center in Riga. Leon El-
kan was appointed senior censor and was given two
assistants, all being placed under the general Rus-
sian censorship committee in Riga. Paul I. was con-
stantly informed of the reports of the censors on the
books condemned, and thereby was able to take
measures to strengthen the laws relating to objec-
tionable books.

n. H. *

The early years of the reign of Alexander I. (1801-

1835) were marked by the prevalence of liberal ideas

and by attempts at liberal legislation.

Alexander As the pupil of Laharpe and the ad-

I. mirer of Rousseau, the young monarch

was at first inclined to apply their

teachings to practical government. The broader

spirit in Russian legislation for the empire at large

affected favorably the condition of its Jewish sub-
jects also.

After the publication of the senatorial decree of
Dec. 9, 1802, concerning the eligibility of Jews to
municipal offices to the extent of one-third of the
total number of such offices, the representatives of
the Christian inhabitants of the city of Wilna ap-
plied (Feb. 1, 1803) to the chancellor of the empire,
Count Vorontzov, for the repeal of this enactment,
on the ground of its conflict with their ancient Lith-
uanian privileges. A similar spirit was manifested
in many other towns of Russia.

Despite the hostility of the Christian merchants,
the commencement of the political emancipation of
the Jews may be said to have begun with the enact-
ment of 1804. The administrative departments,
however, either deliberately or unconsciously over-
looked the true purpose of this law, and made no
sincere attempt to further the solution of the Jewish
question by ameliorating the economic condition of
the Jews themselves. It was the purpose of the
enactment to encourage in the first place the spread
of modern education among the Jewish masses, to
hasten their Russification, and to lead tliem to agri-
cultural pursuits. Unfortunately those entrusted
with the enforcement of these measures were not
guided merely by motives of humanity and justice;
and they endeavored to spread forcible baptism
among the Jews. In consequence of this attitude
the Jewish masses became suspicious of the govern-
ment and its measures; and the latter could not
therefore be carried out successfully (see Alexan-
der I., Pavlovich; Israelite-Chkistians).

, H. R.

The reign of Nicholas I., Pavlovich (born 1796;
reigned 1835 to 1855), whose oppressive rule fell as
a pall on the Russian people, was one of constant
affliction for his Jewish subjects also. Of the legal
enactments concerning the Jews framed in Russia
from 1649 until 1881, no less than six hundred, or
one-half, belong to the period em-
Nicholas I. braced by the reign of Nicholas I.
These laws were drafted almost en-
tirely under the immediate supervision of the em-
peror. His attitude toward the Jews was marked,
on the one hand, by a hati'ed of their faith and by
persistent attempts to convert them to Christianity ;
on the other hand, by mistrust of them, which orig-
inated in the conviction that they, or at least the
bulk of them, formed a fanatical, criminal asso-
ciation, which found in religion a support for its
evil deeds. There is no doubt that the Jews then
concentrated in the Pale of Settlement, and
separated from the Christians by a series of legal re-
strictions and subject to the Kaiial administration
sanctioned by the government, lived a religious na-
tional life, narrow and marked by ignorance and
fanaticism. Added to this was the extreme poverty
of those within the Pale, which to some extent de-
moralized the outlawed Jewish population. But
this unfortunate condition was not due to the exac-
tions of their faith, and was only made worse by the
measures now adopted. The system of limitations re-
lating to the Jews which had developed in preceding
reigns, and which considered them, because they
were non-Christians, as the natural exploiters of

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

524

Christians, assumed under Nicholas I. peculiarly pro-
nounced characteristics. In fact, the legislation of
Nicholas I. relating to the Jews treated the follow-
ing problems; First, according to the
Anti- sense of one official document, "to
Jewish diminish tlie number of Jews in the
Policy. empire," which meant to convert as
many of them to Christianity as pos-
sible. Secondly, to reeducate the Jews in such a
manner as to deprive them of their individuality ;
that is, of their specific, religious, and national char-
acter. Thirdly, to render the Jewish population
harmless to the Christians both economically and
morally. The last two problems proved impossible
of solution by the government mainly because it
resorted to violent measures. In order to weaken
the economic influence of the Jews, and to remove
them from their religious and national isolation, it
would have been necessary to scatter them by giv-
ing them an opportunity of settling in a vast region
sparsely inhabited. Fearing, however, that even
small groups of Jews would prove economically
stronger than the ignorant, stolid people, most of
whom were still serfs; and fearing also that the Jews
would exert an ethical or even a religious influence
on the Russians, the government refrained from
encouraging more intimate relations between Jews
and Christians, and reconcentrated the former, thus
strengthening (heir isolation. Only by sudden
and violent measures did the government ever re-
move a part of the Jewish population from its sur-
roundings.

In order to encourage conversion to Christianity
the government resorted to various measures, the
most important among them being the endowing of
baptized Jews with all the rights accorded to Chris-
tians of the same rank. There were
Con- also other auxiliary measures. For
versionist instance, baptized Jews were ex-
Measures, empted from the payment of taxes for
three years ; murderers and other crim-
inals who adopted Christianity were shown compar-
atively greater leniency than they otherwise would
have received. But measures were also taken for
compulsory conversion to Christianity. There is no
doubt that it was in virtue of this consideration that
the Jews, who until 1837 had paid a specified sum
for relief from conscription, as was done also by the
Russian merchant class, were called upon in that
year to appear for personal service in the army.
This regiilation was framed ostensibly for the more
equitable distribution of military burdens among
all the citizens, but, as a matter of fact, the govern-
ment was actuated by a desiie to detach from Jew-
ish society, by the aid of military service, a large
number of Jews, and to transplant them elsewhere
on Russian soil so as to deprive them of their Jewish
traits, and, where practicable, also to baptize them.
The conditions of the service under Nicholas were
such that transfers of this kind could be made with
impunity. Conscription, notwithstanding the fact
that exemption had been purchased, continued for
twenty-five years, the ages of the recruits ranging
from twelve to twenty -five. (For its effect on chil-
dren see the article Cantonists.) Special oppress-
ive conditions of conscription were devised for the

Jews in order to increase the number of Jewish sol-
diers. The Jews were compelled to furnish ten con-
scripts per thousand of their popula-
Conscription tion, while the Christians had to fur-
Measures, nish only seven recruits ^ moreover,
the Jews were obliged to fiirnish con-
scripts for every conscription term, while the Chris-
tians were exempted at certain intervals. The Jews
were furthermore made to furnish conscripts for ar-
rears in the payment of taxes, one conscript for every
one thousand rubles. Subsequently these extra re-
cruits were taken as a mere fine for arrears without
discharging the indebtedness thereby. This led to
terrible suffering. For lack of able-bodied men
(many fled, fearing the miseries of war and com-
pulsory baptism) the Jewish communities, repre-
sented by the kahals, were unable to furnisli such
an excessive number of recruits; and yet for every
conscript that was not furnished at the proper time
two new conscripts were demanded. Thus it be-
came necessary to recruit cripples, invalids, and old
men, who were placed in the auxiliary companies;
at times even members of the kahal were impressed
into service, notwithstanding their advanced years.
The sole supporters of families were also taken, and,
finally, boys only eight years old. In spite of all
these measures, however, the conscription arrears
were on the increase. In order to remedy the short-
age, the Jewish communities were permitted in 1853
to seize within their own district all the Jews who
had no jjassports and belonged to other Jewish
communities, and to enroll them in their own quota
of recruits. The heads of families, whatever their
standing, had the right to seize sm;li Jews and to
deliver them to the authorities as substitutes for
themselves or for members of their families. Among
other objects the government thereby intended to
rid itself of those Jews whom the kahals refused
to supply with passports in order to avoid the in-
crease of tax and conscription arrears.

This measure was followed by the wide-spread
persecution and capture of Jews who had no pass-
ports and who were known as "poi-
Th.e " Poi- maniki." Furthermore, in localities
maniki." where recruits were needed, the feo-
called " lovcbiki " (catchers) began to
seize even Jews possessing passports. Passports
were stolen and destroyed, and the " poimaniki "
were impressed into service without being able to
secure redress. It was no longer safe for any man to
leave his house. From motives of selfishness the
local authorities encouraged this traffic in human
beings. Children were made the special object of
raids. They were torn by force or taken by cun-
ning from the arms of their mothers in open day-
light, and sold as having no passports. Nicholas I.
himself was eager to increase the number of Jewish
"cantonists." It happened, at times, that he per-
mitted Jews to remain in localities from- which they
had been ordered to depart, on condition that they
mac^e cantonists of their sons, born or to be born.

The school reforms initiated by Nicholas I. were in
their fundamental tendency similar to his military re-
forms. The education of Jewish children and youth
at that time had a distinct religious and national
character. This was caused largely by the con-

625

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

ditious of contemporary civic life, ivliicli discouraged
intimate relations between Jews and Christians.
The way to general enlightenment could have been
paved most easily by the curtailment of the Jews'
disabilities and by the improvement of their social
condition. But Nicholas I. was, on the whole, not
a friend of enlightenment or of civic tolerance, and
his final consent to the initiation of school reforms
was prompted, there is reason to believe, by a secret
liope of the conversion of the Jews. Be this as it
may, the school reform was directed under his influ-
cuce with the view of forcing the reeducation of
the growing generation of Jews in religious alfairs.
The reforms were outlined by the minister of public
instruction, Uvarov, who was, apparently, a real
friend of tiie Jews, and who found an able assistant
in a German Jew, Max Lilienthal. The govern-
ment established the so-called " government schools"
of the first and second class, and for this purpose u,se
■was made of special Jewish funds and not of the
general funds, notwithstanding the
Edu- fact that the Jews paid their share of

cational all the general taxes. According to a
Policy. program previously worked out, in-
struction in the Talmud was to be in-
cluded, but was to be nominal only, and was to be
ultimatelj' discontinued, as, in the opinion of the gov-
ci'nmeut, it tended to foster various evils. In Wilna
and Jitomir two rabbinical schools for the training of
teachers and rabbis were established. The schools
were placed in charge of Christian principals, who
were in most cases coarse and uneducated, and who
were instructed to inculcate in the students a spirit
contrary to the teachings of the Jewish faith.
About the same time the persecution of the Jewish
popular teachers (" melammedim "), who had been
in charge of Jewish education for generations, was
initiated. While it is true that the government
schools had served the useful purpose of imparting
to the Jewish masses a general education, j'et they
had failed to achieve the success that had been ex-
pected of them. The harsh methods, referred to
above, created distrust and anxiety in the minds of
the Jewish people, who were never made aware of
the government's intentions. Moreover, certain laws
were enacted simultaneously witli the opening of the
schools, and also later, that likewise awakened fear
among the Jews. They ruthlessly forbade the ob-
servance of habits and customs made sacred by an-
tiquity, but which were unimportant in themselves,
and in the course of time would perhaps naturally
have fallen into disuse. For the legislation on Jew-
ish garments see the article Costume.

As an educational measure, the government of
Nicholas I. attempted to direct the Jews into agri-
cultural pursuits. This wise undertaking had its
origin in the preceding reign, but a.ssumed consid-
erable practical importance under Nicholas I. Farm-
ers were granted various privileges in the payment
of taxes, and they and their descendants were freed
from military service for a period of fifty years.
Unfortunately, the severity subsequently displayed
considerably reduced the number of would-be agri-
culturists. The enforcement of regulations for tlie
proper management of the farms was entrusted to
discharged non-commissioned officers, persons not at

all fitted for the supervision of Jewish colonies.
Besides, the Jews were forbidden to hire Christians
to work for them. In 1844, however, these oppress-
ive measures were repealed, and in 1853 new and
broader provisions were enacted tor indllfeing the
Jews to take up agriculture on a larger scale.

Although the government made efforts to " reedu-
cate " the Jews, placing a number of them in Rus-
sian environments, and although it introduced Rus-
sian influence among the young generation of Jews,
also by forcible means, j-et, fearing them, it pro-
vided likewise for the separation of the Jews from
the Christians, unmindful of the fact that this segre-
gation counteracted all its other enactments. To
isolate the Jews, numbers of them were expelled,
under various pretexts, from villages, towns, and en-
tire provinces, though at intervals the measures of
expulsion were relaxed. In 1843 the Jews were
ordered from the 50-verst boundary-zone abutting
Prussia and Austria, ostensibly because they were
suspected of engaging in contraband trade (see
below, S.1). Rural Communities). The enforcement
of these measures gave ample opportunity for abuse
and oppression, and led to a gradual economic ruin
of the Jews, the great bulk of whom were already
greatly impoverished. Apart from
Expulsions general causes, tlieir economic condi-
and tion had steadily been growing worse

Special because they had been compelled to
Taxation, pay double taxes from 1794 to 1817,
and when these double taxes were
abolished they were replaced by special Jewish
taxes. To bo sure, the law stated that these taxes
were imposed for the maintenance of good order and
for the strengthening of the charitable work within
the Jewish communities; nevertheless, the govern-
ment did not turn over to the Jews for their own
needs all of the moneys collected, a considerable
part remaining in the hands of the government.

The abolition of the kahal (1844) ma}' perhaps be
considered as the most advantageous and most use-
ful measure of the reign of Nicholas I. This popu-
lar elective institution Jiad served in its time a useful
purjaose in Poland, where it protected
Abolition the Jews from the surrounding hostile
of and turbulent classes. Also in Russia

the Kahal. the kahal repeatedly fought in the de-
fense of Jewish interests, but the relig-
ious dissensions which broke out within Russian
Jewry transfoi'med the kahal into an arena of party
strife and internal conflict. The kahals utilized the
tax assessments and other prerogatives as instruments
by which they might persecute their enemies. These
aijuses paralyzed the beneficent activities of the
kahal, transformed it into a bugbear for the popu-
lace, and deprived it of all semblance of authority in
the eyes of the government. In the days of Nicho-
las I. it had already lost the character of a represent-
ative body, and had degenerated into an institution
concerned merely with the contribution of the Jewish
taxes to the imperial treasury. The government
strengthened the power of the kahal in order to se-
cure a more uniform collection of taxes and a more
uniform conscription among the Jews. The in-
creased power brought with it new abuses. To its
old weapons the kahal added a new one — oonscrip-

Hussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

526

tion. This period coincided with that of the awa-
kened desire among the Jews for western-European
education, particularly for tlie study of German.
The fanatical leaders of the kahal persecuted those
imbued with the new ideas, and thus retarded con-
siderably the new culture movement.

But the abolition of the kahal had also its negative
side. When in the following reigus the condition
of the Jews was improved, they no longer possessed
the representative institution which might have
served them a useful purpose in securing certain
reforms. With the abolition of the kahal there was
also lost that bond of union among the Jews that
was indispensable to them in the defense of their
common interests as a distinct portion of the city
population. Most of the Jews lived in the cities,
and almost all of them belonged lo the burgher or
merchant class ; but while at that time city gilds
and merchant and artisan gilds enjoyed a certain
degree of self-government in administrative, eco-
nomic, and judicial matters, the rights of the Jews
in so far as this was concerned had been limited
even before the accession of jSTicholas I., and he im-
posed still greater restrictions. There was a rule
that even in places where the Jewish population
was quantitatively greater than the Christian, the
Jews could participate in local self-government only
to the extent of one-third of the total number of
votes. Moreover, the holding of certain positions
was not open to them. Thus, being without jjroper
representation, they could not protect their in-
terests, and hence municipal and general duties
were imposed on them in undue proportion. They
were entirely excluded fi'om participation in jury
service, even in the commercial courts. In some
towns in which the merchant class was entirely com-
posed of Jews, Christian blacksmiths were selected
as members of the court, and they decided the com-
mercial disputes of the Jews. All this naturally
lowered the Jews in the esteem of their neighbors
and estranged them from the Christians.

iSTotwithstanding his enmity toward the Jews
Nicholas I. assumed the role of protector when the
Blood Accusation was brought against those of
Velizh. Believing at first in the truth of the accu-
sation, he treated the accused with great severity ;
but when it became clear to him that the accusation
was false lie condemned the irregular proceedings
of the investigating commission, and it thus became
possible to vindicate all the accused. Many of the
decrees of limitation promulgated under Nicholas I.
are still (1905) in force.

H. K. *

A new era of hope and of partial realization came
to the Jews of Russia with the accession to the
throne of Alexander II., Nikolaievich (1855-81).
The disastrous results of the Crimean war had de-
monstrated theuntitness of the government machine
and of the existing legislation to cope with the needs

of the day. Reforms became neces-
Alexander sary, and some were introduced.
II. Favors Nevertheless, limited as was the ap-
th.e Jews, plication of these reforms, the effect

was remarkable. Aside from the laws
themselves, Russian society manifested a more
tolerant attitude toward the Jews, contributing

thereby to their rapid Russification and to the spread
of secular learning among them. Unfortunately
this movement was soon crossed by two opposing
currents in Ru.s.sian life — Nihilism and Panslavism.
These resulted in bringing about a less tolerant senti-
ment toward the Jews, but this was through no fault
of Alexander II., whom Lord Beaconsfield desig-
nated as " the most benevolent prince that ever ruled
in Russia" (see Alexander II., Nikolaievich).

The reign of Alexander III. (1881-94) marks an
era not only of reaction, but of return to medieval
methods (see Alexander III., Alexandrovich).
During this reign a commission, under the chairman-
ship of Count Pahlen, was entrusted with the in-
vestigation of the Jewish question ; and its findings
were rather favorable to the Jews. One of the
members of the commission, Demidov, Prince of
San-Donato, even advocated the abolition of the
Pale of Settlement and the granting of equal rights
to the Jews. However, the May Laws, introduced
by Ignatiev in 1882 as a temporary measure until
the completion of the investigations by the Pahlen
commission, had disastrous consequences. Alex-
ander III. continued to be guided in his attitude
toward the Jews by the procurator of the Holy

Synod, Pobiedonostzev, who was np-

Keaction- pointed procurator-general in 1880,

ary and who is reported to have stated

Attitude of that one-third of the Jews in Russia

Alexander would be forced to emigrate, another

III. third would be compelled to acoejit

baptism, and the remainder would be
brought to the verge of starvation. Pobiedonos-
tzev's program maintained that absolutism and
Greek-Orthodoxy were the mainstays of the empire,
since they were sanctioned by God and founded on
historical antecedents. He thus secured the ap-
proval of Alexander III. in the enforcement of des-
potic measures not against the Jews only, but also
against Catholics, Lutherans, and Armenians.

Restrictions limiting the number of Jewish stu-
dents in high schools and universities (1887), the
exclusiou of Jews from appointment or election as
membeas of city councils or boards of aldermen, and
the discharge of Jewish employees from railroads
and steamshii3 lines, and even from certain institu-
tions, as hospitals (although partly supported by
Jews), were among the civil disabilities; and ob-
stacles were raised also to the exercise of the Jewish
religion. The violence of minor officials increased,
and the situation was rendered more critical by the
conversion of many towns and townlets into villages,
and by the expulsion of the Jews therefrom. The
districts of Rostov and Taganrog, which had formed
a part of the Pale, were included in the military dis-
trict of the Don, their Jewish inhabitants being sum-
marily expelled (1889). A large number of Jewish
mechanics was expelled from St. Petersburg be-
tween 1888 and 1890. Eariy in 1891, with the ap-
pointment of Grand Duke Sergius (assassinated
1905) as governor-general of Moscow, the banish-
ment of the Jews from that city was determined
upon. The intention of the administration was kept
secret until the first and second days of Passover, a
time deemed convenient by the police for entrap-
ping a great number of Jews. It is estimated that

527

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

by June 14, 1892, 14,000 Jewish artisans had been
banished from Moscow. Being unable to find pur-
chasers for their household effects, the exiles fre-
quently left them behind ; and many debts remained
uncollected. The inhumanity and brutality with
which this banishment was carried out find an anal-
ogy onlyin the dark history of Spain(see Jew. Bncyc.
ix. 41a, s.v. Moscow). Similar expulsions occurred
in Tula, Novgorod, Kaluga, Ryazan, Biga, etc.
Foreign Jews in great numbers were expelled from
the country, and especially from South Russia.
Many families were ordered to leave Riga and Libau
in 1893 ; and in the same year all the Jewish resi-
dents of Yalta were directed to leave that city.

Bad as were 'the economic conditions within the
Pale before these expulsions, they became indescriba-
bly worse after its population had been augmented
by thousands of impoverished refugees from the in-
terior of Russia. The struggle for mere existence
became so fierce that the poor often worked for
fifteen, eighteen, or even twenty hours a day and
were able to afEord no better food than bread and
water. A large portion of the proletariat lived in a
condition of scmistarvation. In an article in the
"Journal du Nord " for 1893 (Errera, "Les Juifs
Russes," pp. 120-121) it was stated: "There are in
Russia only 10,000 to 15,000 Jews who possess any
certain means of existence. As to the masses, they
possess nothing ; and they are far poorer than the
Christian populace, whoat any rate own some land."
The prevailing ignorance in foreign countries con-
cerning these terrible conditions was due largely to
the suppression by the censorship of any mention
in the Russian newspapers of the brutal acts of the
police. But isolated notices which found their way
into tlM3 foreign press created a wave of indignation
throughout Europe, and forced even Pobiedonostzev
to make apologetic explanations. In an interview
with Arnold White he declared that "everybody
was sorry for the brutality of the chief of police in
Moscow." Itis well known, however, that the latter
ofllcial merely carried out the instructions of Grand
Duke Sergius, who himself applied in practise
Pobiedonostzev's teachings. Speaking of these, the
historian Mommsen said (Nov. 1, 1903): "Is it not
possible to arrest the decay of a greatly vaunted
civilization, the suicide of Russia? . . But we.
may still hope that the statesmen of a great empire
and the sovereign arbiter of Europe may no longer
be dominated by the blind action of a resuscitated
Torquemada."

As a result of this medieval policy the various fac-
tions in the Russian Jewry united for the purposes of
national self-defense. Committees were organized
throughout Russia and in other countries for the relief
of the oppressed Jews. Considerable numbers of the
more enterprising of the latter sought relief in emi-
gration, with the result that during the last two dec-
ades of the nineteenth century more than 1,000,000
Jews left Russia, the greater part of whom went to
the United States of America, while smaller numbers
emigrated to Palestine, South America, and South
Africa. Another movement directly traceable to
the repressive legislation in Russia was the growth
of nationalism among the Russian Jews, resulting
in agricultural colonization in Palestine, and in the

organization of Zionist societies (see Agricdltitbai-
CoLOHiBS ; Alexander III., Alexandhovicii ; Ig-
NATiBV ; May Laws ; Moscow).

The hopes which the Jews of Russia reposed in
Nicholas II., the pusillanimous heir of Alexander
III., were not justified by the events subsequent to
liis accession (Nov. 1, 1894). The oppressive treat-
ment of the Jews by Alexander III. at least left
no room for misunderstanding as to his real in-
tentions. The policy of Nicholas II., while no less
.oppressive, was more evasive. Where the legal
discriminations against the Jews were
Nicholas somewhat relaxed, as in the discon-
II. tinuance of expulsion from the inte-

rior provinces, or in the more liberal
application of the 50-verst boundary law, such re-
laxation was due to utilitarian motives rather than
to those of justice. Some influence in this direction
was undoubtedly exerted by the petitions of many
Christian merchants and farmers of Astrakhan;
Tambov, Borisoglyebsk, Tzaritzyn, etc., who saw
economic ruin in the removal of the Jews. On the
other hand, additional heavy burdens were imposed
by Nicholas' government on the Jews of Russia.
The establishment of tlie government liquor monop-
oly (1896) deprived thousands of Jewish families of
a livelihood. For ethical reasons the lea'ding Jews
of Russia were pleased to see their coreligionists elim-
inated from the retail liquor-trade ; yet it was felt
that in the execution of the law a more equitable
treatment should have been accorded to the Jewish
tavern-keepers. In the same year further restrict-
ive measures were introduced concerning the right
of residence of Jewish students at the University of
Moscow, and an order was issued prohibiting the
employment of Jews in the construction of the
Siberian Railroad. The number of Jewish women
eligible for admission to the medical school of St.
Petersburg was limited to three per cent of the total
number of students; and to the newly established
school for engineers at Moscow no Jews were ad-
mitted. An ordinance was likewise' issued prohibit-
ing the employment of the Hebrew .language or the
Yiddish dialect by Jewish merchants in their busi-
ness accounts ; and in 1899 new restrictions were im-
posed on those Jewish merchants of Moscow who by
law had hitherto been exempt from certain disabil-
ities as members of the first merchant gild.

A blood accusation with its usual sequence— an
anti-Jewish riot— was brought against the Jews of
Irkutsk in 1896. In Feb., 1897, an anti-Jewish riot
occurred in Shpola, government of Kiev, resulting
in the destruction of much Jewish property. An
anti-Jewish riot occurred also in Kantakuzov, gov-
ernment of Kherson, and a blood accusation in the
government of Vladimir; in 1899 a number of anti-
.lewish riots occurred in Nikolaief and elsewhere in
South Russia, and in the following year the Jews
suffered from additional riots and blood accusations.
As a result the Jewish masses were ruined, and their
pitiable condition was intensified by famine which
spread in Bessarabia and in Kherson.

The economic crisis that culminated in 1899 brought
great distress upon many Jewish communities in
South Russia, but the Jewish Colonization Associa-
tion took energetic measures to send timely help to

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

528

the needy. It is to the credit of the wealthier of the
Russian Jews that they responded immediately to
appeals for aid, and in this manner greatly alleviated
the misery. Jewish charity manifested itself also in
that year in the establishment of loan associations,
model schools, and cheap lodging-houses for the poor.
Furthermore, commercial and technical schools were
founded in many cities of the Pale.

In 1899 seventy Jewish families which had lived
in Nijni-Novgorod under temporary permits were
expelled, as were also sixty-five pavers from the
city of Kiev on the ground that they were not pur-
suing their calling. The admission of Jews to uni-
versities and to other educational institutions was
made increasingly difficult. In 1903

Riots at notorious expulsions occurred in Kiev,

Kishinef the Caucasus, and Moscow. A de-
and Homel. structive anti-Jewish riot was allowed
to take place in Kishinef through the
connivance of the local authorities, who wer©,encour^
aged by Minister of the Interior von Plehve (assassin-
ated 1904) ; and in September of the same year a simi-
lar riot occurred at Homel. In that year also an
ordinance was issued prohibiting the holding of Zion-
ist meetings. All these measures of oppression were
carried out by the government (as was admitted by
Von Plehve to the Zionist leader. Dr. Herzl) because
of the participation of Jewish youth in the socialistic
movement.

The riots at Kishinef and Homel and the general
economic depression gave an impetus to Jewish emi-
gration from Kussia, whicJi was almost doubled
within a j'ear. Matters were made still worse by
the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war in Feb.,
1904, when about 30,000 Jews were included in
the regiments sent to the Far East. Especially
great was the number of Jewish physicians ordered
to the front, a number largely disj^roportionate to
the Jewish population. The general discontent
caused by the organization of the military reserves
found expression in outbreaks against the govern-
ment, and in anti-Jewish riots which, added to the
grave economic crisis, brought thousands of Jewish
families to the verge of starvation.

A ray of hope appeared to the Russian Jews on
the appointment of the liberal ministei'. Prince Svy-
atopolk-Mirski, to succeed Von Plehve. In his
promise of general reforms they saw the ameliora-
tion of their sad condition ; but their hopes, with
those of all Russia, were shattered by the stern events
of Jan. 23, 1905, when hundreds of workmen were
killed or wounded in St. Petersburg. In the struggle
for a more liberal form of government now in prog-
ress (1905) the Jews naturally are on the side of the
Liberals.

The intelligent portion of Russian society, for-
merly more or less influenced by the anti-Semitic
crusade of the " Novoy e Vremya, " " Svyet, " etc. , has
come to recognize that the Jews are not to blame for
the economic plight of Russia, and that the Rus.sians
themselves, more than others, have been the vic-
tims of a corrupt bureaucratic regime. Prominent
writers hke Count Leo Tolstoi, Maxim Gorki, and
Korolenko have protested against the organized
anti-Semitic movement as a menace not only to the
Jews, but to civilization itself. On the other hand.

there is a portion of the uneducated Russian people
among which the systematic preaching against the

Jews has taken a firm hold. Thus

Conditions the stock exchange of Kursk resolved

in 1905. to exclude Jews from membership,

as did the Bessarabian horticultural
society, although the minister of agriculture had
accorded his praise to the model viticulture practised
by the Jews of Bessarabia. A similar resolution
of exclusion was passed by the Odessa shoemakers'
association. Jewish pupils of the Libau com-
mercial school who were brought by the director
on a scientific excursion to Moscow wei-e not per-
mitted to enter the city. This and various other
particularly cruel discriminations against the Jews
in Moscow wei'e largely' due to the attitude which
was taken by the governor-general. Grand Duke
Sergius. Minor ofiicials interpreted the law to suit
their own convenience, and continued in their course
even- after th-e Senate had reversed many of their
decisions. The legal proceedings in the cases arising
out of the Homel riots were a travesty of justice,
and were marked by vain attempts on the part of
the judiciary 1o justify the course of the adminis-
tration and to throw the blame for existing condi-
tions on the Jews. The lawyers engaged to defend
the Jews were so disgusted by the insults and re-
strictions to which they were subjected by the court
that they withdrew in a body, leaving the accused
without counsel.

The great evils of the reactionary regime of Alex-
ander III., and of the rule of Nicholas II., inflicting,
as they have done, untold suffering on the Jews of
Russia, have not been without some compensation.
On the one hand, the avowed intention of the reac-
tionary officials to make the Jew the scapegoat for
all the governmental corruption and economic back-
wardness of Russia has led to anti-Jewish demonstra-
tions and endless extortion, to the almost comjilete
destruction of respect for the law, to the impover-
ishment of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish
families, to extensive baptism, practically compul-
sory, and to wide-sjaread emigration. On the other
hand, the government measures have driven a great
number of Jews to seek employment in the handi-
crafts and as agricultural laborers on farms, have
compelled Jewish manufacturers to establish and
develop new industries on a scale unprecedented
within the Pale, and have created among the Jews of
Russia an awakening national consciousness which
finds expression in broader self-education, in the es-
tablishment of literary societies and reading-circles,
in the growth of Zionism, and in the determination
to carry on an organized propaganda for the moral,
mental, and physical uplifting of the Jewish masses.

Bibliography : Archengraficlieski Sbornik Doliumentnv,
etc.. Izckmm/ pri ViJravleniiWilenslmvo Uchdmavn Oltni-
yn,, 1867-90; Bershadski, Litnvskiye Kerrei, St. Petersburg,
1883; Dagau, L' Oppression des Juifs dans VEuriipe Orieiv-
tale, Paris, 1903; Dubnow, I'cvreinltaya Istoriya, Odessa,
1896-97 ; Errera, Les Ju!fs Busses, Brussels, 1893 ; Frederic,
The New Emdus, New York, 1892; Gradovskl, Torrjimiva
i Druqijia Prava Trvrciiev v Enssii, vol. i., St. Petersburg,
1887; Griitz, Gcsch. (Hel)rew transl. by S. P. Rabbinowltz) ;
Karamsin, Istoriya Gosudarstva RonsUlcam, ib. 1818-20;
Kostomarov, Russlsaya IsUiriya v Zhiznenpisaniyakh, etc.,
ih. 1892-96; Levanda. Polny Khronnloaicheski Shornik
Zakonav, etc., ih. 1874; Mvsh, Btikovodstvo K RiissMm
Zakonamo Yevreynkh,2ae&., ih. 1898; Orshanski, Russkne
ZakonodoteUtvn n Tevreyakh, lb. 1877; Regesty. vol. i., lb.;
Bussko-YevreislnA.rkliiv,fols.i.-m.,ib.; Solovyev, Istoriya

529

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kussia

Rossti s Dj-emieiskikh Vremion, Moscow, 1863-75 ; Vosklwd,
1881-1905. Bibliographies of works relating to the Jews In
Russia have been compiled by Mezhov ( Biblioffrafiva Yev-
reixkavo Vopriisa v Bossii. 1855-75), and more completely
by the Society for the Promotion of Culture Among the Jews
of Russia, under the supervision of A. Landau, editor of Von-
khnd, under the title Sistematicheski Ukazatel Literatury
0 Yevreyakh na Bitsskom Yazyktie, 1708-1889, St. Peters-
burg, 1893; Stelnschneider, Hebr. BiU. vol. xlv., Berlin,
1874.

H. R.

Census Statistics : The first Russian census

that is based on reliable sources is that of 1897.
The Jewish population took a great interest in the
taking of this census, because all legislative matters
relating to the Jews had previously been based on
unreliable statistics, the number of Jews had been
overestimated, and, therefore, the Jewish population
had often been overburdened with taxes and other
state duties. The census of 1897 included the whole
of the Russian territory except Finland, Bokhara,
and Khiva.

According to this census, the total population of
Russia in 1897 was 136,368,827. This number In-
cluded 5,189,401 Jews, or 4.13 per cent. The as-
certaining of this single fact concerning the Jewish
population was of great importance for the interests
of the Jews. On the basis of these figures there
have appeared in the Jewish as well as in the gen-
eral press many articles which show clearly that
according to their numerical proportion to tiie gen-
eral population the Jews pay heavier taxes and
duties than they should. The same condition pre-
vails with regard to the military service. There is
in Russia an entire series of special legislation di-
rected against the Jews and based on the sup-
position that they try to avoid military service ; as a
consequence the measures taken against them are
quite abnormal. A specimen of this special legis-
lation Is the fine of 300 rubles imposed on the rela-

tives, from the nearest to the most distant, of any
one who has avoided military service. This heavy
fine has ruined many hundred Jewish families be-
cause, in order to levy the fine, the government
officials were compelled to sell the property of the
Jews at auction. Sometimes the household goods,
including the most necessary articles, were sold by
the auctioneer. The result of the census showed
that the suppositions regarding the military service
of the Jews were entirely unfounded. In 1901, for
instance, 303,897 persons were called to military
service, of whom 17,412, or 5.73 per cent, were Jews.
According to law, however, only 12,550 Jews were
liable to military service; that is, it would have
been necessary for the Jews to furnish Only 4.13 per
cent Instead of 5.73 per cent. From this it is
evident that the Jewish population not only was
not trying to avoid military service, but actually
furnished 4,863 soldiers more than law and duty
required.

The distribution of the 5,189,401 Jews through-
out Russian territory is quite uneven. For admin-
istrative purposes the Russian empire is divided into
eight large territories: (1) European Russia, with
fifty governments; (3) Poland, with ten govern-
ments; (3) Caucasus, with eleven governments ; (4)
Siberia, with nine governments; (5) Central Asia,
with nine governments; (6) Finland; (7) Bokhara;
(8) Khiva.

The greater part of the Russian Jews lives in the
Pale of Settlement, which occupies only one-twenty-
third of the general territory. The proportion of
the Jevpish population to the Christian in this Pale
is 11.46 per cent, while outside of the Pale it is only
0.38 per cent. The percentage of Jews living with-
in the Pale is 93.93, as against 6.07 per cent who
live outside the Pale.

European Russia,
Outside of the Jewish Pale of Settlement.

Governments.

I. North Russia.

Archangel

Kazan

Kostroma

Novgorod

Olonetz

Perm

Pskov

St. Petersburg

Ufa

Vologda

Vyatka

Totals

II. Central Russia.

Kaluga

Kursk

Moscow

Nljnl-Novgorod

Orel

Penza

Ryazan

Saratov

Simbirsk

Smolensk

Tambov

Tula

Carried forward,
X.— 34

152
,179
461
,338
201
,129
,113
,462
355
242
394

22,026

94.T
!,252
5,437
1,390

353
,079
,768
329
,711
,258
,605

25,615

Jewish Population.

Female.

100

1,107

369

1,402

202

890

3,341

9,808

340

183

423

18,165

536
1,889
3,312
1,283
2,770

207

468
1,274

242
4,785

905
1,045

18,716

Total.

252

2,286

830

4,740

403

2,019

6,454

21,270

695

425

817

40,191

1,481
4,141
8,749
2,673
6,258

560
1,547
3,042

571

10,496

2,163

2,650

44,331

Total
Population.

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

346,536
2,176,424
1,389,812
1,367,022

364,156
2,993,562
1,122,152
2,109,463
2,196,642
1.341,785
3,032,552

18,440,106

1,132,843
2,371,213
2,427,415
1,584,774
2,039,808
1,470,968
1,803,617
2,406,919
1,527,481
1,525,629
2,683,059
1,422,291

22,396,017

.11
.06
.035
.11
.07
..58
1.01
.03
.03
.03

.13
.17
.36
.12
.31
.04
.09
.13
.04

.19

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

530

EuiioPBAN Russia,
Outside ol the Jewish Pale of Settlement— (Contireueti).

Jewish Population.

Total
Population,

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

Governments.

Male.

Female.

Total.

23,615
756
693
985

18,716
640
474
661

44,331
1,396
1,167
1,646

32,396,017
1,769,443
1,515,693
1.071,579

Tver

.08

Vladimir

.09

.15

Totals

38,049

1,637
7,847
7,531
1,009
1,293
1,418

20,491

1,.536
7,593
6,194
994
1,208
1,262

48,540

3,173
15,440
13,725
2,093
2,501
2,680

26,752,733

1,003,543
3,563,754
3,493,367
1,600,.500
3,748,876
3,581,253

.18

III. Southeast Russia.

.31

Don Territorv

.69

.55

.13

.09

Voronezh

.11

Totals

IV. Baltic Provinces.

Courland

20,825

23,327

909

14,703

18,787

25,986

487

13,951

39,612

49,313

1,396

28,654

12,939,292

673,.308

418,817

1,299,523

.31
7.33

.33

Livonia

3.24

38,939

40,424

79,363

3,390,648

3.33

Pale

109,839

97,867

207,706

60,523,778

0.34

Pale op Settlement.

Jewish Population.

Total
Population.

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

Governments.

Male.

Female.

Total.

I. Northwest Russia.

134,126
101,390
163,457
96,686
83,238
98,443

142,748
110.940
175,200
104,615
92,440
106,818

276,874
212,230
338,657
201,301
175,678
203,261

1,602,681
1,548,410
2,147.911
1,688,573
1,489,228
1.591,207

17.28

13.71

Minsk

15.77

11.92

Vitebsk

11.80

12.90

677,240

55,091
307,245
177,458

55,337
193,059

732,761

.59,.539
220,618
189,139

56,080
204,713

1,410,001

114,630
437,86:3
366,.597
111,417
397.773

10,068,010

2,298,834
8,.5,59,481
3,018,551
2,780,424
2,987,970

14.00

II. Southwest Russia.

4.99

12.03

Podolia

13.15

4.02

13.31

688,190

H0,.573
33,880

ia5,900
51,327

730,089

11.5,064
33,245

171.382
49,409

1,418,379

235,637
66,125
337.282
100,736

14,645,360

1,936,393
1,448,973
3,738,933
3,113,384

9.70

III. South Russia.

11.63

4.57

12 33

4.77

361,680

34,915
40,044
44,483
74,357

109.497
2.3,769
.5.5,160
28.468
.59,656

169,978

368,100

37,424
42,383
46,429
79..371

112,802
26,704
58,117
30,340
62.714

179,965

729,780

73,339
82.427
90,912
1.53,728
223,299
50,473
113,377
58,808
133,370
349,943

8,337,673

842,398

761,689

579,300

1,159,273

1,404,031

5.53,084

81.5,062

582,696

772,386

1,931,168

8.86

IV. Poland (Territory of Vistula).

8.59

10.83

15 69

13 26

15 83

Plopk fPlotzkl

9 13

13 89

10 09

18 12

Totals

640,327

676,349

1,316,.576

9.401,097

14 01

2,367,437

2,507,199

4,874,636

42,352,039

1146

From 12^ to U% From U% to lO'fc From 11% up

Poltava

4.02^

Podolia

12.15*

Taurida

1.57^

Klierson

12.32*

YekatLTinosIav

1.77i

Wilna

12.90*

Chernigov

i.991

Volhynia

13.3li

Kalisz

8.59,t

Kovno

13.71*

Flock

9.13i

Radoiri

13.89*

Suwaiki

10.09;!

Loinza

15.09*

Klflce

I0.S2;4

Mlnslc

15.775-

Bessarabia

ll.OoJ

Piotrliow

15.83*

Vitebsli:

11.80 :S

Syedlitz

15.84*

Mogliilef

11.92 ;<

Grodno

17.28*

Kiev

12.03:<

Warsaw

18.12*

25" Li-'iiKltiKl^ E;iHt frfim Ort^-.inyjrli 3ff -^ J^ A C K

Map of Western Russia Showing the Jewish Pale of Settlement.

Hussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

532

Caucasus.

Governments.

Jewish Population.

Male.

Baku

Black Sea Territory

Daghestan

Elizabeth pol

Erwan

Kars

Kuban

Kutais

Stavropol

Territory ot Tersk .
Tiflis

Totals

32,001

Female.

6,040

5,610

587

467

5,256

4,594

993

1,031

1,197

876

1,118

2,453

3,343

4,703

4,199

717

574

4,272

2,848

4,666

3,838

26,470

Total.

11,650
1,054
9,850
2,033
2,073
1.208
4,796
8,902
1,391
7,130
8,504

58,471

Total
Population.

836,806

57,478

571,381

878,185

829,550

290,654

1.919,397

1,057,243

873,805

932,341

1,054,250

9,291,090

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

1.41
1.83
1.72
.23
.23
.43
.25
.84
.15
.76
.81

.6:j

Central Asia.

Governments.

Jewish Population.

Total
Population.

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

AkmoHnsk

Ferghana

Samarcand

Semipalatinsk..
Semiryechensk,

Syrdarian

Torgay .',

Transcaspian . .
'Ural

Totals

811

1,366

3,a53

156

153

1,646

669

317
903

2,027
146
126

1,131
22
240

1,638
2,269
4,.379
302
279
2,777

128

7,259

5,470

12,739

682,429
1,.575,869
859,123
686,909
990,211
1,466,249
4,-)3,691
380,323
645,590

7,740,394

.24
.14
.51
.04
.03
.19
.02
.24
.02

Siberia.

Jewish Population.

Total
Population.

Percentage

of Jews to Total

Population.

Governments.

Male.

Female.

Total.

231
1,441
4,396
80
1,241
3,852
3,934

391
2,917

163

150

3,843

1,212

3,844

3,616

306

2,813

394
1,591
8,339

127
2,453
7,696
7,.550

697
5,730

120,306

233,336

514,203

28,113

1,434,483

1,928,257

637,777

209,607

570,579

.33

1.60

.45

.17

.40

Transhaikal (Ohitai

1 18

Yakutsk

.26

1.00

18,483

15,994

34,477

5,666,6,59

57,743

47,934

105,677

33,698,143

From the foregoing figures the following conclu-
sions maybe drawn: (1) That there is scarcely a
single province in Russia without a Jewish popula-
tion. The Jews are to be found even in the steppes
of Astrakhan, among the Kalmucks
Density of and Kirghiz, on the island of Sakhalin,
the Jewish, and even in the out-of-the-way terri-
Popula- tory of Yakutsk. (3) That only in the
tion. farthest north is the Jewish popula-
tion very small, as for instance in the
government of Archangel. In the governments
of Vyatka, Vologda, and Olonetz there are no

Jews whatever ; but of the 592 districts (" uyezdy ")
in European Russia only 17 are without any Jewish
population. In the Asiatic governments the pro-
portion is greater, as there 18 districts out of 176
have no Jewish population. In the Pale of Settle-
ment proper — consisting of Poland, Lithuania, Vol-
hynia, Kiev, Bessarabia, Podolia, and Odessa — the
Jewish population varies from 10 to 15 per cent;
in the immigration region — also a part of the Pale,
and consisting of the governments of Poltava, Cher-
nigov, Yekaterinoslav, Crimea, and Kherson (except
Odessa) — from 4 to 5 per cent ; and in the rest of

633

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

Russia, from 0.03 to 0.5 per cent. In the immi-
gration district the Jews, settled at the end of the
eighteenth century in great numbers, and constant
immigration followed from the formerly Polish gov-
ernments.

It is Interesting to note the proportion of sexes
among the Jewish and non-Jewish population of
Russia. The following table shows the percentage
of females to the male population in the Pale of Set-
tlement:

Territory.

Among .Tews.

In the Total
Population.

108.2
106.1
101.8
105.6

101.5

In Southwest Russia

101 5

93.9

99 5

Conditions directly the opposite of this arc found
in the interior of Russia. Outside of the Pale of
Settlement to every hundred males there are the fol-
lowing numbers of females:

Territory.

Among Jews.

In the Total
Population.

82.4
73.1
99,2
103.8
82.7
86.5
75.4

106 5

Central Russia

110 5

100.4

Baltic Provinces

106 2

901

Siberia

94.3

Middle Asia

85 8

This difference may be explained by the fact that
the emigration from the Pale into tlie interior of
Russia naturally brings more, men than women,
owing to the peculiar conditions existing there,
while the emigration to America, Africa, etc., con-
sists chiefly of whole families.

BiBLroGRAPiiy : Sbnrnilt Matcriahw oh Eknnnmicheslcnm
Pnlnzhetni Yevreyev v RossiU vol. i., St. Petersburg, 1904;
B. Goldberg, in JUdische Stofisti/c, Berlin, 1903.
H. E. J. G. L.

CENSUS OF 1897.

I.— Population of the Governments of the Pale of
Settlement.

Governments.

Male.

Female.

Total.

■sg

III
Sots

-3

Bessarabia

Chernigov

110,.573
.55,091
134,126
16.5,9m
207,245
101,290
163,457
96,686
177,458
55,337
33,880
83,238
193,059
98,443
51,327

115,064

59,539

142,748

171,382

220,618

110,940

175,200

104,615

189,139

,56,080

32,245

92,440

204,713

106,818

49,409

225,637
114,630
276,874
337,282
427,863
212,230
3138,657
201,301
366,597
111,417
66,125
175,678
397,772
20.5,261
100,736

96.09
92.52
93.96
96.80
93.93
91.30
93.29
92.42
93.82
98.67

105.07
90.04
94.30
92,15

103.88

11.90
4.99
17.28

Kherson

Kiev

12.32
12.03

13.71

Minsk

15.77

Moghilef

11.92
13.15

4,02

Taurida

4.57

Vitebsk . ...

11.80

Volhynia

13.31
12,90

Yekaterinoslav .

4.77

Totals

1,727,110

1,830,950

3,558,060

94.32

10.79

II.— Population of the Governments of Eussian Poland.

Governments.

Male,

Female.

Total.

Percentage of

Jews to General

Populatiofi.

34,915
40,044
44,483
74,3.57

109,497
23,769
55,160
28,468
59,656

169,978

87,424
42,383
46,429
79,371

112,802
26,704
68,117
30,340
62,714

179,965

72,339

82,427

90,912

153,728

222,299

50,473

113,277

58,808

122,370

349,943

93,29
94.48
95.80
93.68
97.06
89.00
94.91
93.85
95.12
94.45

8 59

Klelce

Lomza

Lublin

Piotrkow

Plock (Plotzk)

Radom

Suwalki

Syedlitz

Warsaw

10.83
15.69
13.26
15.83
9.13
13.89
10.09
15.84
18.12

Totals

Totals, Table I.

640,327
1,727,110

676,249
1,830,950

1,316,576
3,5,58,060

94.68
94.32

14.01
10.79

Totals of the
whole Pale of
Settlement ..

2,367,437

2,507,199

4,874,636

94.42

11.51

III.— Population op European Russia (Outside of the
Pale).

Governments.

Male.

Female,

Total.

a a

a: o

ill

Archangel

Astrakhan ....

Courland

District of Cos-
sacks of Don.

Esthonia

Kaluga

Kazan

Kharkov

Kostroma

Kursk

Livonia

Moscow

Nl]ni-Nov-
gorod

Novgorod

Olonetz

Orel

152

1,637

23,327

7,847
909
945

1,179

7,531
461

2,252
14,703

5,437

1,390

3,.338

201

3,488

1,099

353

1,129

'3,113

1,079

11,463

1,293

1,768

329

6,711

1,258

1,603

7.56

355

693

243

1,418

394

985

100

l,-536

25,986

7,593
487
636

1,107

6,194
369

1.889
13,951

3,312

1,283

1,402

202

2,770

994

207

890

3,341

468

9,808

1,208

1,274

242

4,785

905

1,045

640

340

474

183

1,262

• 433

661

252
3,173
49,313

15,440
1,396
1,481
2.386

13,735

830

4,141

28,654
8,749

• 2,673
4,740

403
6,258
3,093

660
3,019
6,454
1,547
21,370
2,501
3,043

571

10,496

2,163

2,650

1,396

593
1,167

425
2,680

817
1,646

1.53.00
106.51
89.76

103.34
186.65
176.30
106.50
121.58
124.93
119.21
105.33
164.16

108.34
238.08

99.50
125.92
110.56
170.53
126.85

93.17
230.55
116.86
107.03
138.77
135.96
119.35
139.00
114.33
118.13
104.41
146.20
133.24
104.11

93.14
149.03

.08

.31

7.33

.60
.33
.13
,11

.55
.06
.17
2.24
.36

.12
.35
.11
31

Orenburg

Penza

.13

.04
07

Pskov

Ryazan

St. Petersburg

Samara

Saratov

Simbirsk

Smolensk

Tambov

Tula

.09
1.01
.09
.13
.04
.69
.08
19

Ufa

Vladimir

Vologda

Voronezh

Vyatka

Yaroslav

.09
.0.5
.11
.03
10.15

Totals

Totals of the
whole Pale of
Settlement. . .

109,839
2,367,437

97,867
3.507,199

207,706
4,874,636

113.12
94.43

.34
11.51

Grand totals in
European
Russia

Outside of the
Pale (includ-
ing Siberia,
etc.)

2,477,276
.• 168,747

2,605,066
146,018

5,082,343
314,766

95.23

115.38

4.03
37

Grand totals in
the empire...

2,636,184

2,653,217

5,189,401

95.58

4.1S

H. R.

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

534

■SM8r-noN

•moi

I-O^i-t-C^^rH^iOa w

?3,-^t-r^'M^-7J■^:^cs:cco^'M

■smar-noN

•SAiaf

: : :" g

•TOOl

■sjiaf-uoN

"sAiar

•mox

■sji8f-noN

: :'-"-^S3

OOrH ■ t- ;-H CO Ol CO to in -* CO «5

SS^i^;:

•S.U8C

'SMaf-uoi^

•SA\9f

•l^^ox

■BM3f-aoN:

•SMar-noH

t-co(Mt-(x:ooooM50i— co'oooa

t-cO'^oiO"*iot-<raocom^!»-^

fc-inQO"t*Hr:-m«i<;if;-^i<cD.-icoa)i.O
c^ i-H si w i-i(j5 55 .-( oi — I 1-1 (M

COi-Ht-mMcOUO .lOMO^i-li-H

:§ :"?}'

i-H 1— I WC^i

O-*t-c0t-'M00J^g?iffl^H,-(Qt5M
CG£-0^03010gOOiSOt-WW-aj

•rH •->:*< CD T-(0(Mt-N

^C0CDr-l'*COr-lr-(>-l"<li

•Bjiiar-tioN

iCKSCDi-IOSt-OJOSSOCOCO'^lOJ-rS
(Mi-H-(CO'#i— (COt-T-H-^COrH— ^i-l-*

•[^lox

•SM8f-U0N

,COCO»SIt-'^^i-llOiO«Di-<CO'-t
: 0*C0 O « rH

J<CO»cSl-^t-CO'^COMOOCOO

C5— •oosoC'^oaDspgs-*«rHco«

5S38i

•TOox

•Sjnaf-noN

•sM3r

■D3,-IOO«CC-H-H-,JH

a PiJ O

Statistics op Jewish Colonies in the Govern-
ments.*

Governments.

No.ol
Settle-
ments.

No. of
Families.

Population.

Land In
Deciatines.

H
4
14
22
23
15
26
76
13
28
18
32
17

1,0-24
107
261

3,304
477
216
883
824
6.52-
193
991
373

1,416

5,466
&53
1,811
.34,395
3,231
1,604
5,762
5,838
3,279
1,235
5,(H)3
2,414
8,389

3,300

Cheruigov

Grodno

1,280
3,.583
42,839

Kiev

2,813

2,049

Minsk

6,601

5,343

Podolia

3,191

Vitebsk

1,914
5,551

Wilna

4,392

Yekaterinoslav

17,6.50

Totals

301

10,721

68,9.59

100,107

* See also Agricultural Colonies i.\ Russia.

H. R.

Artisans : In the Pale of Settlement : In the

middle of the nineteenth century the Russian govern-
ment, realizing the usefulness of the Jewisli arti-
sans, issued a ul^ase (June 28, 1865) permitting them
to reside anywhere in the empire. This edict, how-
ever, did not ameliorate to any great extent the con-
dition of the Jewish artisans crowded together
within the Pale ; for its indefinite character afforded
many opportunities for abuse in its execution by the
local administrations. Hence only a comparatively
small number of artisans dared to avail themselves
of the opportunity to settle in the interior, the
territory being strange to them. Moreover, they
had to take into consideration the fact that their
children, when grown, would be returned to the
Pale if they failed to follow some handicraft, and
that they themselves, when prevented by sickness or
other disability from pursuing their vocations, might
be expelled from the places in which they had set-
tled, even though they liad lived there for decades.
It is not surprising, therefore, to find that only 2
per cent of the Jewish artisans in the Pale and in
Poland availed themselves of the pro-
Congestion visions of the new law. On the other
of hand, the "Temporary Regulations"

Artisans (May Laws) of 1882, which caused the
Within the removal en masse of Jews from vil-
Pale. lagesinto towns and townlets, contrib-
uted still further to the congestion of
artisans within the Pale. Neither the emigration
to America nor the growth of manufactures im-
proved the condition of the Jewish artisans, since the
emigration of the latter was not sufficiently exten-
sive, and since many manufacturing establishments
were closed to Jewish employees because they would
not work on Saturdays or on Jewish holy days.

The number of Jewish artisans in the twenty-five
governments of the Pale of Settlement and Poland
in 1898 was 500,986, or 13.3 per cent of the Jewish
population of that territory. This is a very higli
percentage considering that in Germany artisans form
only from 6 to 7 per cent of the entire population.
The proportion of Jewish artisans to the entire Jew-
ish population varies in the different portions of
AVestern Russia. The lowest percentage is that of
Western Poland, namely, 9.9 per cent ; the highest, of
Lithuania, namely, 14.8 per cent. In the govern-

535

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kussaa

ment of Warsaw it is only 7.5 per cent; in Suwallu
8.7 per cent; in Grodno 18.5 percent; in Tauricla
and Radom 20 per cent. On an average, in tlie
twenty-flve governments of Western Russia one-
tenth to oneflftli of tlie Jews are engaged in handi-
crafts.

The following table shows the proportion of Jew-
ish artisans to the total Jewish population in the
fifteen governments of the Pale of Settlement, ac-
cording to statistics of 1887 collected by a govern-
ment committee, and those of 1898 gathered by the
Jewish Colonization Association:

Statistics op Jewish Artisans in the Pale of
Settlement in 1887 and 1898.

1887

1898

Governments.

.a .3
Oh

ogs

O M

1,1 1

PhS S

Bessarabia

Chernigov

Grodno

Kherson

Kiev

136,053
57,339
155,149
197,338
194,471
2.52,492
215,013
155,732
304,955
49,208
34,940
115,116
290,962
192,988
52,600

18,193
7,315
34,442
17,573
23,321
21,275
30,875
14,969
37,080
5,909
5,264
14,534
28,167
27,660
6,932

13.4
12.8
22.2

8.9
12.0

8.4
14.4

9.6
12.2
12,0
15.1
12.6

9.7
14.3
13.2

173,641
71,357
243,556
230,669
269,305
200,133
250,578
178,714
319,691
76,541
36,091
146,612
241,512
193,461
71,086

20,976
11,063
44,829
24,782
43,386
23,525
35,.587
25,849
40,621
8,815
7,466
23,473
36,964
26,240
8,039

12.1
15.5
18.5
10.8
16 1

11 8

14 2

MoKhilef

Podolia

Poltava

Tauiida

Vitebsk

Volhvnla

Wllna

14.5
12.7
11.5
20.0
16.1
15.3
13.6

Tekaterinoslav.

11.2

Markedly large increases are shown for the gov-
ernments of Kovno, Moghilef, Taurida, and Vol-

Jewisli artisans, or 61 per cent of the total; and in
1903 in that of Vitebsk the total number of master
artisans was 3,820, of whom 72 per cent were Jews.
It thus becomes clear that, with the scarcity of artisans
among t)ie peasant class, and the growing demand
in the villages for cheap manufactured articles, the
Jews are important factors in the economic life of
Western Russia.

The 500,986 Jewish artisans in Western Russia in
1898were distributed as follows: Lithuania, 94,594;
Poland, 119,371; South Russia, 61,363; Southwest
Russia, 140,849; and White Russia, 84,909.

In White Russia 55 per cent of all the Jewish arti-
sans lived in the cities of Vitebsk, Dunaburg
(D vinsk), and Polotsk. In the government of Poltava
57 per cent lived in the cities of Poltava, Kremen-
tchug, and Kobyliaki; and in that of Kherson 77
per cent lived in Odessa, Kherson, and Yelizavet-
grad. This disproportionate number of Jewish ar-
tisans in cities with large Jewish populations was
due to the economic and legal disabilities of the Jews
in the Pale of Settlement. The percentage of Jew-
ish artisans in the different trades in the Pale and in
Poland was as follows :

Boot-making, shoe-making, etc 17.0

Building and ceramics 6.3

Carpentry, cablnet^maklng, etc 9.9

Chemicals 0.7

Clothing, etc 38.7

Food preparations 11.6

Metal-working, high grade 4.1

Metal-working, low grade 5.7

Paper-making, paper-box making, etc 2.3

Weaving, spinning, rope-making, etc 3.7

It is thus seen that one-half of the Jewish artisans
within the Pale are engaged in tlie manufacture of
clothing and foot-wear.

The distribution of Jewish artisans within the Pale
and Poland according to trades is as follows:

Trades.

Twenty-
flve Gov-
ernments.

Lithuania.

White
Russia.

Southwest
Russia.

South
Russia.

Western
Poland.

Eastern
Poland.

Bakers

4.6
1.2
3.1
1.4
4.4
6.0
3.2
2.3
2.4
6.5
1.2
1.3
1.1
1.1
2.2
1.6
1.0
3.8

14.4
1.5

19.1
1.4
1.2
1.0
1.7

6.3
1.2
3.2
1.1
4.8
5.2
2.0
3.9
2.2
7.3
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.6
4.0
1.9
0.8
3.2

13.9
3.0

13.8
2.1
1.5
08
2.7

4.3
0.9
4.3
1.3
4.3
7.9
2.8
3.1
2.0
8.5
1.5
1.2
1.3
1.1
3.2
1.4
0.7
3.4

16.7
1.5

14.5
1.4
1.3
0.8
0.7

3.2
1.2
4.0
1.7
4.4
7.3
4.1
2.0
2.5

•5.9
1.1
1.6
0.9
1.6
2.1
1.3
1.2
4.3

13.6
1.1

19.7
1.6
1.4
0.9
0.5

2.8
1.1
3.4
1.8
3.1
5.8
4.7
1.3
3.4
7.5
1.5
1.2
3.3
1.2
0.7
2.8
1.7
2.8

13.2
0.8

21.4
0.2
1.6
1.7
0.03

5.6
1.5
0.7
1.5
4.6
3.8
2.8
0.6
3.5
3.7
0.7
1.3
0.5
0.9
0.5
1.3
0.9
4.7

14.4
1.2

87.7
1.1
0.3
1.1
6.1

1 5

1.7

1 2

5.5

4.3

2.7

2.6

1.5

6.3

1.0

1.5

1.4

0.7

2.2

1.7

0.7

4.1

17.5

0.7

20.7

1.5

0.8

0.9

0.3

hynia. The proportion of Jewish to non-Jewish arti-
sans may be illustrated as follows: in 1880 there
were in the government of Moghilef 5,509 master
artisans, among whom were 4,290 Jews, or 78 per
cent; in 1897 in that of Grodno there were 26,515

It will be noticed that with the exception of Po-
land the distribution is tolerably uniform. Most of
the Jewisli weavers are concentrated in AVeslern
Poland and Lithuania.
The following table shows the classification of

liiussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

536

the Jewish artisans in the twenty-live governments
of the Pale and of Poland as masters, assistants, and
apprentices, with the percentages in each class:

in Poland is 250 to 300 rubles per annum; of shoe-
makers, 150 to 250 rubles. Seamstresses earn on the
average not more than 100 rubles; lacemakers,

Territory.

Masters.

Assistants.

Apprentices.

Total.

Percentage

Masters.

Percentage

of
Assistants.

Percentage

of
Apprentices.

.55,980
2.5,420
38,234
28,258
69,.583
41,921

18,393
13,380
17,121
20,062
46,395
25,177

20,221
10,748
14,468
12,943
24,871
17,811

• 94,.594
49,548
69,823
61,263

140,849
84,909

59
51
54
46
.50
50

19
25
24
33
33
30

Poland, Eastern

South Russia...

21
17

259,396

140,628

101,063

600,986

Here Lithuania shows the greatest proportion of
masters {'jd per cent) ; South Russia, the smallest
(46 per cent). The small number of assistants in
Lithuania indicates a greater amount of poverty
among the master-workmen there.

The Jewish women engaged in the various trades
■within the Pale are distributed as follows:

Territory.

Number.

Percentage of

Total Jewish

Artisans.

Lithuania ,

Poland, Eastern

16,7.54
7,263
7,671

^8,581

15',040

18
14

South Russia

The trades followed by them are shown in the
table below :

about 45 rubles, because the demand for lace lasts
only a short season. The highest wages, from 8 to 12
rubles a week, are earned by embroid-
Wages of erers. Conditions are somewhat bet-
Artisans, ter in South Russia, where some of
the Jewish artisans earn from 400 to
1,000 rubles per annum. As a rule, throughout the
Pale the incomes of the Jewish artisans arc insuf-
ficient for the proper support of their families-
Thousands lead a hand-to-mouth existence and are
compelled to seek the aid of charitj'. In 1900 in
Odessa 1,427 Jewish artisans lived in extreme pov-
erty and amid indescribable insanitary surround-
ings. These conditions can be improved only by
the dispersion of the artisans throughout the empire
or by their more extensive removal to other countries.
In the Interior of Russia : Statistics concerning the
Jewish artisans in the governments of the interior
of Rus^a, outside the Pale, are derived from reports
of the artisan gilds to the Ministry of the luterioi' in

Territory.

Dress-
makers.

Seam-
stresses.

Milliners.

Stocking-
Makers.

Cigarette-
Makers.

Glovers.

Other
Trades.

Total.

6,860
3.104
2,594
4,596
8.2&5
7,180

2,799
1,851
2,833
1,605
5,798
2,445

523
295
S79
792
1,147
678

2,566

249

268

535

1,191

1,091

630
37
33
153
484
363

101
173
34
28
89
39

3,275
1,554
1,330
1,072
4,239
3,250

16 754

7,263

7,671
8,581

21,233

15,046

Totals

32,619

17,331

4,014

5,700

1,700

464

14,720

76,548

The Jewish artisans learn their trades in the old-
fashioned way, the appreciation of the importance
of technical training being of recent growth only.
The trade - schools and evening -schools recently
opened in Pinsk, Byelostok, Warsaw, etc., are over-
crowded and altogether inadequate for present
needs. In general it may be said that
Trade- the state of Jewish handicrafts in the

Schools. Pale at present is like that of German
handicrafts at the beginning of the
nineteenth century. At the same time, in the large
cities, where there is a growing demand for articles
of better workmanship, the Jews furnish the best
tailors, shoemakers, joiners, watchmakers, etc.

Owing to keen competition, and the unfavor-
able conditions of credit and of the market, whereby
money-lenders and middlemen receive a large part
of the profits, the income of the Jewish toilers is
vei'y small. The average income of Jewish tailors

1893. The table on page 537, giving data concern-
ing the Jewish artisans in the fifteen more important
governments, is based on these reports.

In the enactment of 1804 the necessity was recog-
nized of granting to Jewish artisans the right of
residence in governments outside the Pale; but the
complicated formalities, the lack of familiarity with
the life of interior Russia, the inadequate means of
communication, and ignorance of the
Legal Russian language prevented the bulk
Position, of the Polish-Lithuanian Jewish arti-
sans fi-om taking advantage of this
Ijermission. Individuals possessing enterprise and
courage, however, found opportunities in the in-
terior governments, where they not only became
prosperous, but were the means of establishing the
reputation of the Jewish artisan. Jewish distillers
especially were in demand among the Russian estate-
owners. Accordingly, the laws of 1819 and of 1827

537

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

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h- 53 (M (M 'M

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CO CO CO CSCJ
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CO L-- 't' J-
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C<!QCOQCO
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&■ > S S J=i cd ;
^ •* o o c c a
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a
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Sussla

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

538

granted Jewish distillers the right to live anywhere
in the interior of Russia, and in Irkutsk, Siberia,
also.

By the ukase of 183i3, limitations were imposed
upon the rights of Jewish artisans in the interior.
Thereupon the military governor of Astrakhan
requested permission to retain forty-nine Jewish
artisans on the ground of their usefulness (Sec-
ond Complete Code, vol. x.. No. 8481); but his
request was not granted. On the other hand, a
request of the viceroy of the Caucasus that Jewish
artisans might be allowed to remain in that ter-

24,020 belonging to non-Jews, or 7.5 per cent of the
latter. The greater number of these were located
in St. Petersburg. In the government of Pskov,
as against 667 non-Jewish workshops there were
308 Jewish ones, or 31.58 per cent of the total.
In the government of Smolensk the numbers were
1,135 non -Jewish workshops and 347 Jewish (23.5
percent); Orel had 11.53 per cent, and Kursk 10.9
per cent.

The distribution of Jewish artisans as compared
with non-Jews among the various trades is of im-
portance, and is illustrated in the following table:

Building and ceramics

Cabinet-making and wooden ware

Cbemlcals

Clothing, etc

Food preparation

Gloves and leather goods

Metal-work (high grade)

Metal-work {low grade)

Paper-making, etc

Weaving, spinning, rope-making.

Totals

In the Filteen Governments.

40
54
27
003
70
175
352
156
117
42

1,935

2.1
3.3
1.3

46.6
3.6
9.1

18.2
S.l
6.0
2.2

100

1,495

2,6.57

124

6,034

2,950

4,580

1,812

2,479

723

727

23,580

Pnfl

6.3
11.3

0.5
25.6
13.5
19.4

7.7
10.5

8.1

3.1

100

1,535
2,711

151
6,936
3,030
4,755
2,164
3,635

839

25,515

2.6
1.9

17.8

13.0
2.3
3.7

16.3
5.9

13.9
5.4

In the Government of Vitebsk.

^ o

187

163

749

206

400

135

158

9.0
7.H
0.8

36.0
9.9

19.2
6.5
7.6
3.9
0.8

100

76
152

70
86
286
22
83
3
33

9.4

18.8

8.7
10.6
35.4

3.7
10.2

0.2

4.0

100

263
3)5

157
340
63

71.1
23.7
100.0
91.4
70.5
58.3
85.9
65.8
96.8
66.6

ritory was acceded to. It should be added that the
viceroy pointed out that the Jews, being the only
tailors, shoemakers, etc., there, were Indispensable
to the garrisons. These utilitarian motives made it
possible as early as the fourth decade of the nine-
teenth century for Jewish artisans to settle in Tula,
Voronezh (Voronej), Saratov, and other Great-Rus-
sian governments. As stated above, the Russian
government in 1865 found it expedient for economic
reasons (law of June 28, 1865) to permit Jewish ar-
tisans freely to settle in the interior of Russia and to
remain there as long as they continued to follow their
vocations.

This enactment, however, did not allow the Jew-
ish artisans to register in the local communities, and it
permitted them to remain there only with temporary
passports, This dependence on their native com-
munities, and the extortion practised in this con-
nection hy the local administrations made it impos-
sible for the Jewish artisans of the Pale to emigrate
in large numbers to the governments of the interior.
Nevertheless from that time until 1881 permission
was granted to 683 Jewish artisans to open work-
shops, as follows: in the government of St. Peters-
burg, 187; Smolensk, 143;. Pskov, 108; Orel, 66;
Kursk, 33; Voronezh, 6; Saratov, 25; Moscow, 24;
etc. The riots of 1881 and the May Laws of 1883
compelled many of these to abandon their new
homes. Large numbers emigrated to Western Rus-
sia and to America. From 1881 to 1887, workshops
were established by 479 Jewish families in the fifteen
governments. From 1887 to 1893 no less than 779
such workshops were established by Jews in the
governments of the interior. According to the re-
ports of 1893, there were in the fifteen governments
of the interior 1,948 Jewish workshops, as against

This account does not include trades outside of
those above classified. It will be seen that the Jews
are most numerous in tailoring, clothing, etc. (902) ;
but among the Christian artisans also tailoring pre-
dominates (6,034). While the non-Jewish tailors
form only 35.6 per cent of the total of non-Jews, the
Jewish tailors form 46.6 of the total number of Jews.
Another occupation in which Jews are prominent is
high-grade metal-work, but in metal-work of the
lower grade they are not numerous. Paper-making,
bookbinding, and paper-box making also employ
many Jews of the interioi-.

Besides artisans there are in the fifteen govern-
ments of the Pale and in the ten governments of
Poland about 105,000 Jewish day-laborers, or about
3 per cent of the whole Jewish population of that re-
gion. Ivan S. Blioch, in his pamphlet on the moral
conditions of the population in the Jewish Pale of
Russia (see Jkw. Encyc. ill. 251a), gives the per-
centage of Jewish day-laborers to the whole Jewish
population as 6.2. This may be explained by the
fact that Blioch had in view not only the common
day-laborers but also those who work in factories or
are occupied in peddling and as middlemen.

Bibliography; Sbomik Materialnv nb EkonnmicJiesknm
Polnzenii Yevreyev v RnssM (published by the Jewish Colo-
nization Association), St. Petersburg, 1904.
H. R. V. R.

Charities : Statistics of the Passover charities

in 1,300 Russian towns show that 133,855 families
applied for relief in 1898. They were distributed
as follows, the figures in parentheses, following
provinces, representing the percentage of pauper
families to the total of Jewish families: Kalisz,
Warsaw, Syedlltz, Plock, Lomza, Suwalkl (14);
Taurida (16) ; Vitebsk, Moghilef, Minsk, Volhynia,

539

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Brussia

Chernigov (17); Podolia, Kiev, Poltava, Yel<ateri-
noslav, Kherson, Bessarabia (20) ; Lublin, Radom,
Kielce, Piotrlcow, Kovno, Wilna, Grodno (22).
This gives an average of 18.8, which is 7 per cent
of the total urban population of Russia.

The following table is given for purposes of com-
parison :

Country.

Year of
Investigation.

Percentage of
Jewish Poor

to Total
Population.

Austria-Hungary,

1892
1892
1892
1893
1892
188.5
1896
1890

1 0

F!'anee

4 7

Holland

5 4

Sweden

5 5

Germany

3 4

2 9

TJnited States

0 H

lu Germany the proportion of poor in cities with
a population of from 10,000 to 20,000 was 4.93, from
20,000 to 50,000 was 5.53, from 50,000 to 100,000 was
€.31, over 100,000 was 6.9; in Hamburg it was 9.66;
and in Paris (1883), 7.5.

In 1898 the Fuel Charities reported 59,468 families
applying for relief — 8 per cent of the total number
of Jewish families in the territory covered by the
report: Northwest, 14,203 families; Southwest, 20,-
920; New Russia, 15,311; other districts, 9,034.

SrS

sl =

City.

fl**5j 3

City.

IS|g

S;i«

|3iM

(1. <0

di S

"-3

Wilna

37.7
30.9
29.5

28.7
27.8
26 7

Kovno

25 8

Dvinsk

Yetaterinoslav

Ktierson

25.4

22.8

Nikolaief

19.7

Minsk

17.2

Krementchug

Yelizavetgrad

Kishinef

14.9

26.7

In the territory covered by the report of the Fuel
Charities, then, from 25 to 37.7 per cent of the pop-
ulation are paupers.

The number of destitute Jewish families increased,
according to statistics, from 85,183 in 1894 to 108,-
922 in 1898 ; even this is far below the
Increase actual number, as many towns gave
of only partial reports. Many thousands

Pauperism, of "reticents" shrink from open char-
ity, and inmates of asylums are not in-
cluded. The increase during these four years was
distributed as follows :

Division.

Per

Cent.

Division.

Per
Cent.

South 39.9 Northwest 26.3

Southwest 32.5 Poland 21.3

Provinofi.

Per
Cent.

Syedlitz 46.8

Chernigov 46.1

Piotrkow 42.3

Bessarabia 42.0

Tekaterinoslav 41.9

Kherson 39.6

Volhynia 39.4

Province.

Per
Cent.

Podolia 38.2

Moghilef 38.1

Kielce 35.7

Kovno. 33.3

Vitebsk 31.6

Taurida 29.2

Suwalki 27.9

Province.

Per
Cent.

Radom 17.5

Minsk 17.3

Lublin 15.5

Plock 13.3

Warsaw 0.7

Per

Cent.

Poltava 26.0

I.omza 25.7

Wilna 25.5

Grodno 20.8

Kiev 20.2

Kalisz 18.8

General business depression, the development of
railroads and banking, and the expulsion of the Jews
from villages and from the 50-verst frontier-belt ac-
count for this increase.

Loan-funds on which no interest is charged are
organized to help artisans and small traders to carry
on their business independently of the
Loan As- usurer. These funds are usually de-
sociations. rived from contributions or bequests,
as well as from membership dues ran-
ging from 25 copecks to 3 rubles annually. The
number of loan associations is as follows:

Division.

Northwest 205

Southwest 50

Division.

South 71

Poland 350

In the separate provinces of Northwest Russia there
are:

Province.

Kovno 47

Grodno 44

Wilna 36

In the other sections of Western Russia there are :

Province.

Minsk 27

Vitebsk 13

Province.

Suwalki 16

Chernigov 14

Kalisz 13

Syedlitz 1

Kielce 2

Province.

Lublin 2

Warsaw 4

Plock 4

Kherson 4

Number of Loan Associations, with Their
Annual Incomes.

Srt

Nortbwest

57
5
2

70
18

23
8
3

South

Poland

The loans generally range from 5 to 15 rubles.
Such small amounts are usually secured by pledges,
which are sometimes returned even in case of non-
payment. In some associations the amounts loaned
are higher. In 1898 the transactions of the associa-
tion in Poniewicz, whose capital was 3,402 rubles,
amounted to 8,581 rubles. Loans of 100 rubles or
more are secured by a note and two indorsements.
The Volkovisk association loans as much as 50 rubles
at a time.

Most of these associations are unincorporated and
are managed by one or several trustees. The Grodno
association is incorporated, with a capital stock of
7,000 rubles (in 1900). From 1893 to 1900 its loans
ranged from 3.86 to 4.47 rubles. The security ac-
cepted is personalty. Even in this model association
from one-fifth to one-fourth of the amount loaned
remains unpaid. The Warsaw loan-bank advances
small amounts without interest, taking pledges as

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

540

security. lu 1901 the number of persons thus ac-
commodated reached 6,671; the loans aggregated
76,063 rubles; 105 unredeemed pledges were sold.

A number of charity boards appropriate a part of
their funds for benevolent loans, managed by an
auxiliary board, as in the case of the Society Linat
ha-Zedels: of Byelostok. In 1901 the society appro-
priated 1,300 rubles for this purpose. It advances
small loans to artisans and traders for terms not ex-
ceeding six months, and charges 0.5 per cent per
month to defray expenses. Only easily stored mov-
ables are accepted as securit}'.

In about 36 cities 50 loan and savings associations
of the Schulze-Delitsch and Reifersen type have
been organized. Shares are from 10 to 25 rubles
each. The membership, from 1,000 to 3,000, largely
consists of small Jewish traders and artisans. Loans
must not exceed eight times the amount of a mem-
ber's share. The interest charged on loans is from
9 per cent to 13 per cent. The largest associations
are in Wilna (230,000 rubles capital stock), AVarsaw
(300,000 rubles capital stock), Kishinef (70,000 rubles
capital stock), and Grodno (38,000 rubles capital
stock).

There are 126 homes and houses of shelter for
transient poor in the larger cities; 6 per cent of them
are in Southwest Russia. They are maintained
chiefly by appropriations from the meat-tax, seldom
by private contributions. The largest of these are
in Wilna, Minsk, Berdychev, Krementchug, Odessa,
Yelizavetgrad, and Warsaw. The home in Kremen-
tchug has 455 inmates and shelters from 3,000 to 4,000
transients annually. There are besides 100 shelter-
in g-homes, called "hekdeshim," in the small towns
of the 35 provinces of Western Russia, especially in
the provinces of Grodno, Wilna, Suwalki, Lomza,
and Plock (in which there are 96 of these homes).
The transient poor are crowded into small, unfur-
nished, and very unsanitary rooms, where they stay
as long as they desire. The Hekdesh shelters are
supported by membership dues and small contribu-
tions.

In the small towns within the Pale the destitute
poor are fed chiefly by private households; the
regular institutions for this form of relief are shown
in the following table:

NuMBKR OF Institutions.

«-l

. lO

.a M

■ ^

sv.

C N

•"■cn

7
1

7
1
2

4
1
1

Four of these institutions supply Jewish soldiers
with kasher food, and most of them are supported
by members' dues. The largest of these is the cheap
eating-house of Odessa, in which 400 dinners are
supplied daily at the rate of three cents per dinner.
About 30 per cent of these are free, being mostly
given to poor students.

There are 73 societies for supplying poor students
with clothing, 37 in Northwest Russia, 5 in South-
west Russia, 8 in South Russia, and 33 in Poland.
In the following provinces there are 37 such soci-
eties:

Average
Province. Societies. Expense :

Rubles.

Wilna 5 67

Kovno 6 408

Grodno 6 319

Vitebsk 4 217

Minsk 10 IW

Moghilef 6 126

The number of medical committees and hospitals
within the Pale is large, and is distributed as fol-
lows :

Division. coStees. ^o^P"^'"-

Northwest 349 29

Southwest Ill 18

South 32 16

Poland 173 ^9

Totals 665 113

The medical committees are confined to small towns.
They arrange with the local physician for treat-
ing the poor; often they send patients to health re-
sorts or to cities where they can secure better treat-
ment, meeting a part or the whole of the cost of
treatment. Members take turns in nursing the sick.
The annual income of 134 of the committees is over
500 rubles each ; of 43, over 1,000 rubles; of a few,
over 5,000 rubles — all derived from members' dues.
The hospitals and free dispensaries are chiefly in the
larger cities. The income of most of them does not
exceed 10,000 rubles. The exceptions are the Jew-
ish hospitals of Warsav/ (116,000 rubles) and of Kiev
(60,000 rubles). The Vilkomir (Kovno government)
hospital owns a drug-store, the public bath, the
meat-market, and the slaughter-house, the Income
from which helps to maintain the hospital. Most of
the other hospitals are supported by appropriations
from the meat-tax in addition to members' and other
dues; they accommodate generally from 15 to 30
resident patients, preferably Jews living in the
town, and treat large numbers of visiting patients.
Non-Jews and non-residents are admitted when there
is room.

To help poor brides there are 51 societies in small
towns in Western Russia. Their incomes, from 50
to 400 rubles annually in most cases, are derived from
collections made every Friday. Five rubles is the
maximum sum given to one bride. There are 486
charitable societies of a general type within the
Pale. The following table shows the amounts, in
rubles, annually expended by these societies, together
with their distribution :

Divisions.

.500.

500 to
1,000.

1,000 to
5,000.

Over
5,000.

Total.

Northwest

90
47
10
13

13
6
4
3

5
3
2

137

South

Of these, 75 receive appropriations from the meat-
tax ; the rest are supported by members' dues. Be-

541

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kussia

sides these, 89 " societies for helping the poor " were
called into existence by a special ministerial circular.
These societies are distributed as follows: North-
west, 37 ; Southwest, 4 ; South, 39 ; Poland, 6 ; out-
side the Pale, 3. They give pecuniary assistance
chiefly, but frequently they do the work of the
special charities, aifording medical help, paying
funeral expenses, distributing books, maintaining
free dining-rooms, and nursing the sick.

The charters granted to some societies permit
the investing of money in loans, the opening of co-
operative stores, and the industrial education of
orphans and poor children. The two wealthiest
societies are those in Lodz (annual income 35,935
rubles) and Yekaterinoslav (50,352 rubles). The
societies are well organized, and they are modifying
profoundly the economic condition of the Jewish
poor. The society of Khotin (Bessarabia) is typical
in this respect. Since 1898 it has absorbed all the
local charities, the poor-house, the cheap dining-
room, and medical relief. It has undertaken the

Number op Jewish Families Which Applied fob
CuARiTY AT Passover from 1894 to 1898.

Governments.

1894.

1895.

1896.

1897.

1898.

Northwestern Terri-
tory.
Wilna

6,439
5,559
5,695
3,658
5,923
3,725

6,730
5,831
5,793
3,676
5,977
2,908

6,500
6,163
6,006
3,696
6,308
3,220

7,646
6,619
6,261
4,311
6,507
3,437

8,082
7,414

Kovno

6,878

4,814

minsk

6,946

Moffhilef

3,763

29,999

1,591
2,770
6,724
5,461
7,127

30,915

1,657
2,857
6,976
5,951
7,646

31,893

1,779
3,075
7,245
6,575

8,284

34,681

3,003
3,258
7,526
7,320
9,161

37,897

Southwestern Terri-
tory.

2,324

3,490

Kiev

8,081

7,614

Podolia

9,848

23,673

515
2,873

784
4,076

25,087

566
3,02,5

840
4,423

26,958

622
3,308

873
4,705

29,268

612
3,835

907
5,084

31,357

Southern Territory.
Yekaterinoslav

731
4,012

1,008

5,788

Totals

8,248

8,854

9,.5Q6

10,438

11,539

Totals within Pale
of Settlement...

61,930

64,856

68,357

74,387

80,793

Poland.
Warsaw

6,715
1,394
2,117
1,890
3,136
4,396
1,635
1,659
8i6
673

6,779
1,475
2,099
1,734
2,063
4,440
1,737
1,722
850
704

7,120
1,541
3,192
1,985
3,112
4,.563
1,811
1,819
891
755

7,199
1,639
2,190
2,093
2,268
4,787
1,986
1,875
915
767

7,166
1,656

Piotrkow

3,012

K^elce

3,293

2,513

Lublin

5,177

Svedlitz

2,401

2,086

Plock (Plotzk)

Suwalki

964
861

Totals

23,361

23,603

24,769

25,719

28,129

Totals in Western
Russia, inclu-
aing Pale ot Set-

85,181

88,459

93,126

100,106

108,922

care of orphans and poor children and organized
model heders. It supplies the poor with unleav-
ened bread at Passover and makes an arrangement

with the bakers in accordance with which the latter
deliver ma??ot at a reduced price to those who are
deserving.

BiBLiOfiKAPHY : Sbnrnik Matertalov ob Ekonomicheskom
Polozhenii Yevreyev v Bossii, vol. il., St. Petersburg, 1904.
H. H. V. R.

Education : A systematic and organized at-
tempt was made by the Russian government in 1840
to raise the intellectual and moral condition of its
Jewish subjects by the establishment of modern
Jewish schools. In accordance with this idea com-
mittees were called for from the six chief cities
within the Pale of Settlement, whose task it was to
formulate plans for the secular education of the
Jews of Russia. These committees gave an impetus
to the movement for culture among the Jews them-
selves, and aroused the interest of the ministry of
public instruction, at the head of which was Count
Uvarov. However, even before Uvarov's day, there
had been various attempts at encouraging general
education among the Russian Jews. The celebrated
"Enactments" of 1804 paid some attention to the
matter and provided for the admission of Jewish
students to the general educational institutions of
the empire. These provisions are marked by a hu-
manitarian and tolerant spirit, and state that no
attempts should be made to lead away from their
religion Jewish children obtaining their education
in the schools, and that those Jews who obtained the
customary university education in medicine, sur-
gery, physics, mathematics, or other branches of
learning should be granted the proper degrees on
equal terms with other subjects of
Degrees. Russia. By the law of 1811 Jewish
students who had completed their uni-
versity studies were exempted from the head-tax.
But notwithstanding these provisions the few Jew-
ish students who attempted to avail themselves of
the privileges were discriminated against. Thus
Simon Levin Wolf, who in 1816 completed the full
course at the University of Dorpat, petitioned for
permission to take his examinations for the degree
of doctor of jurisprudence, but was informed by the
faculty that as a Jew he could not be given such
permission. When the case was referred to the
ministers this decision was contirmed. Again, in
1836 a Jewish doctor, Joseph Bertensohn, apj^lied
to the ministry of the interior for appointment to a
government position. The minister of the interior
presented the matter to the committee of ministers,
and the sanction of the czar was obtained for an
appointment, but "in the Western provinces only."

Such were the difficulties encountered by Jewish
youth in that day. In addition, the Jews of the old
school regarded with decided hostility all attempts
on the part of their sons to obtain a secular education,
while the latter had to contend with deep-seated
prejudices among the wealthier classes of Christian
society. Among the Jews themselves narrowness
and intolerance were most intense, before the forties
of the nineteenth century, in the Northwestern prov-
inces, while a more liberal spirit prevailed in the
Southwestern provinces.

Odessa was especially distinguished for its liber-
ality, and to its community belongs the credit of
having established the first modei'n Jewish school in

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

543

Russia. This school was founded in 1826 through
the initiative of Jacob Nathansohn, Leon Landau,
II. Herzenstein, and Joseph Schwefelbevg, and was
supported by the Jewish oommunitj'. It originally
contained four classes, in which, besides specific-
ally Jewish subjects, mathematics, calligraphy, Rus-
sian, and German were taught. The school was
under the management of a director and school board
whose appointment had to be sanctioned by the
governor-general of New Russia. The first school
board consisted of Dr. Rosenblum,

Schools. David Friedman, Behr Bernstein, and
Solomon Gurovich, and the first di-
rector was a German Jew, Sittenfeldt. With one
exception the instructors were all Jews, either Aus-
trian or German, and the text-books used were all
German; even Karamzin's history of Russia was
used in the German translation of JafEe. The ex-
penses of the school were provided for by an initial
appropriation of 9,000 rubles and an annual appro-
priation of 7,600 rubles for maintenance.

The number of pupils at the beginning was 308,
and in the following year the number increased to
such an extent that the first appropriations were
found inadequate ; additional funds were provided
by a special tax on kasher meat, imposed by order
of Count Pahlen, the governor- general. Odessa was
thus the first city in which the meat-tax was col-
lected, its introduction elsewhere not taking place
until 1844. Even in Odessa, which possessed at
that time probably the most enlightened Jewish com-
munity in Russia, the establishment of the school
created much bitter feeling in Orthodox circles,
where it was feared that it would prove a menace to
Orthodox Judaism. The Jews of Odessa even peti-
tioned Count Pahlen against the project, claiming
that there was no necessity for such an institution,
that the local Hebrew schools were sufficient for
Jewish subjects, and that German and Russian
could be acquired in the lyceum. The reply of
Count Pahlen, who had grown impatient with the
refractory members of the community, caused the
latter to relinquish their opposition. On the death of
the first director, Sittenfeldt, in 1828, Basilius Stern
was appointed, and retained the position for many
years.

Following the example of Odessa the Jewish com-
munity of Kishinef established a school, which it
placed under the direction of Dr. Goldenthal. In
1838 a similar school was founded in Riga under
the direction of Dr. Lilienthal. The curriculum of
the Riga school as outlined by its founders included,
among other subjects, reading, penmanship, gram-
mar, and history (Russian). The principal, accord-
ing to the program, was to be an alien of Jewish
faith, " educated in the spirit of true learning." Ac-
cording to an official report of July 18, 1840, the
school prospered.

With the exception of these schools, whose estab-
lishment was largely due to foreign influence, the
Jews of Russia were almost strangers to European
education. The old organization of the kahal, the
respect for tradition and ancient custom, as well as
poverty, ignorance, and prejudice, made it very dif-
ficult to establish an effective educational system.
Before the forties the Jewish population of the

Northwestern provinces insisted on strict interpre-
tation of the Talmud and clo.se adherence to the
dogmas of religion, while the Jews in the South-
western provinces, from the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, had leaned toward a liberal inter-
pretation of the religious laws. Between these was
a numerically small party advocating European edu-
cation, which found it necessary to hide its inclina-
tions and was compelled to peruse non-Jewish
books in cellars or attics to escape detection.

Secret societies were formed among j'oung men
for the promotion of the work of enlightenment.
At the head of one of these organizations was an
alien named Dr. Rothenberg, who labored with great
enthusiasm for the cause. Russian society, unac-
quainted with the aspii-ations of these Jewish young
men, took little interest in them; this explains why
the best Jews of that time were educated in the
German spirit and studied German literature, while
things Russian were unfamiliar to them.

According to Lilienthal, the idea of improving
the condition of the Russian Jews by educating
them in a modern spirit originated with the czar
himself, and an earnest attempt to carry out this
idea was made by Count Uvarov, then minister of
public instruetion. He worked out the first plan
for the establishment of special Jew-
Count ish schools and presented it to Em-
Tlvarov's peror Nicholas I. (June 22, 1842). His

Report. report, remarkable for its breadth of
view, states that " radical reforms are
imperative for the education of the growing gener-
ation of Russian Jews." He shows that the repress-
ive measures against the Jews in many European
countries had failed to achieve any beneficial results,
and then points out tlie excellent effects of the hu-
manitarian measures adopted since the beginning of
the nineteenth century. His suggestions were ap-
proved by Nicholas, who wrote on the margin of
the report, "These deductions are correct." The
czar requested his ministers to acquaint themselves
with the condition of the Jews in order to make
possible the enactment of proper laws. To facili-
tate the work committees were appointed in prov-
inces where Jews were permitted to live. These
committees were to render reports, and it was on
the basis of these reports that Uvarov worked out
his project. He commissioned Dr. Lilienthal to visit
the various centers of Jewish settlement in the Pale,
determine the attitude of the Jews toward the pro-
posed measures, and allay existing suspicion as to
the intentions of the government. From the cir-
cular letter issued by Count Uvarov for this pur-
pose it is evident that the Jewish masses regarded
with animosity the establishment of the Jewish
schools in Odessa, Kishinef, and Riga, and believed
that the promoters of these schools intended to lead
the Jewish youth away from Judaism. Suspicions
of this nature were not without some show of reason ;
indeed, they were partly justified by the meas-
ures taken during the latter part of Alexander I. 's
reign and by the attitude of Nicholas I. toward the
Cantonists.

Count Uvarov 's plan for the establishment of
Jewish schools was substantially as follows: The
schools were to be divided into two classes— higher

543

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

and lower. The higher wore to be established in the
cities and were to contain the equivalent of the first
four or five grades of a classical gymnasium. These
schools could, if necessary, be modified to serve as
preparatory schools for middle orliigher institutions
of learning. The lower schools were to be established
in district towns and were ultimately to replace the
Jewish private schools. For the carrying out of the
plans of the government Uvarov proposed a com-
mittee of rabbis and scholars, whose appointment
was to be approved by the governors of their respect-
ive provinces and who were to be known as the
" Commission for the Education of the Jews of Rus-
sia." This plan was approved by the czar, who
added in his own handwriting, "I approve of it on
condition that the commission shall consist of no
more than four rabbis, one from each of the pi'ovinces
in which Jews are permitted to reside."

Lilienthal occupied liimself worliing out the de-
tails of organization, corresponding with foreign
Jews in order to determine how many teachers could

be secured for the projected schools,
Wilna. and visiting in person some of the

larger cities. On going to Wilna lie
soon became convinced that he would meet very
serious opposition there. The Jews of that city im-
pressed him as "familiar with Talmudicand rabbin-
ical loi'c, but very ignorant of other learning and
without much linowledgeof the modern branches of
science; full of prejudice and narrow-mindedness,
and steeped in wild, absurd Hasidism which passes
all understanding." But after much effort Lilien-
thal succeeded in convincing the leaders of the com-
munity tliat the school would not be a menace to
their religion, whereupon an annual sum of 5,100
rubles was promised by them toward the support of
the institution. Lilienthal was then invited to Minsk
by the rabbis and the Ijahal, but met there a very
determined opposition. The objectors claimed that
without equal rights education for the Jew would
be a misfortune — -words that are proved to have
been almost prophetic.

Returning to Wilna, Lilienthal found that the op-
position there had gained strength during his ab-
sence. Tlie commimity withdrew its promise and
exerted Itself to discredit Lilienthal's efforts. The
minority in favor of modern education made mat-
ters worse by its belligerent attitude. Lilienthal
left Wilna greatly disheartened and rendered his re-
port to Count Uvarov. Notwithstanding the dis-
couraging results of the first tour, Lilienthal was
again sent out, encouraged at the beginning of the
second journey by tlie friendly attitude of the Jews
of Berdychev. This time his efforts proved more
successful. He met few difficulties in the Baltic
Provinces, where the Jews were to some extent ac-
quainted with modern schools. Lilienthal sent a
circular letter to the communities of the Western
provinces, wherein he clearly showed their true in-
terests and the danger of narrow opposition ; this
undoubtedly produced a deep impression. He was
awaited impatiently in Berdychev, and his message
was received there with great entlwjsiasm. Similar
receptions were accorded him in South Russia.
New Russia was prepared for modern schools.
There Lilienthal was received joyously, and was

pleasantly surprised at the advance already made
by the Jews of Odessa in matters educational. He
was warmly received also in Kherson and Kishinef.
On his return to St. Petersburg, Lilienthal took part
in the sessions of the rabbinical commission as the
representative of the government. The commission
consisted of Voronchenko (chairman), Dukst-Duk-
shinski (reooi-ding secretary), Lilienthal (government
representative), Kusnetzov (secretary), and Rabbi
Isaac ben Haytim op Volozhin, Mendel Shneer-
sohn, rabbi of Luybavich, Bezaleel Stern, director
of the Odessa school, and Israel Halperin, a banker
of Berdychev.

The schools established according to Uvarov 's
plans did not meet with the expected success. On
the one liand there was a scarcity of competent in-
structors. It was Lilienthal's expectation that
foreign Jews would be appointed as instructors, and
ho had practically engaged about 200 of them for
the proposed work. The authorities decided, how-
ever, to employ only natives, believing that enough
Jewish instructors could be found in Russia itself.
There was no difficulty in securing Christian princi-
pals for the schools ; and for the classes in genei'al
subjects (Russian, geography, arithmetic, etc.) in-
structors from the non-Jewish schools were ap-
pointed. Jt was not easy, however, to find suitable
teachers of Jewish subjects and of German, and ap-
pointments were made from among persons not fully
competent for their task. Considerable difficulty
was encountered in the teaching of
Difficulties German. Professor Mukhlinski, who
of the visited, at the instance of the ministry

TJvarov of public instruction, the Jewish

Schools, schools of Western Russia, wrote in
1851 that "the Jews of the Western
provinces complain of the slight progress of their
children in the German language, and for this reason
it would be advisable to have in the schools spe-
cially qualified teachers of this language, as the in-
fluence of the German language in the education of
the Jews may prove to be of great importance."
The " learned Jew " M, Bbrlin, assigned to the gov-
ernor-general of the provinces of Smolensk, Vi-
tebsk, and Moghilef, made a tour of inspection in
1854 among some of the Jewish schools, the result
of which was a written Avarning to a number of the
teachers and principals that their duties were being
very unsatisfactorily discharged.

The situation of the instructors in the Jewish
schools was not an enviable one. The salaries paid
were for that time rather high— 850 rubles a year
to the principals and 235 rubles to the instructors.
Nevertheless, since the money for the purpose was
derived from the candle-tax, the authorities often de-
layed payment for months, thus leaving the teach-
ers almost destitute.

Beside these difficulties there was the animosity of
the Jewish population, which regarded the instruct-
ors as traitors to their religion, and, fearing them
as representatives of the government, was always
ready to express its enmity toward them. For
instance, the in-structors and their children were not
subject to military service; yet the Jewish com-
munities vented their spite by presenting to the
authorities the names of the relatives of the in-

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

544

structors. When these relatives were missing tlie
instructors, according to law, were held responsible
for concealing their whereabouts and were thus
subjected to much annoyance.

As to pupils in the Jewish schools, it appears
that few were sent voluntarily by their parents or
guardians. The organization of a school usually
began with the arrival of the Christian principal,
whose duty it was to enroll students. For this
purpose he applied to the Jewish community, sta-
ting that it was absolutely necessary to create a st>i-
dent body. The community, being in fear of the
administrative authorities, acted in precisely the
same spirit that it displayed in the matter of military
service. Orphans, artisans' children, and beggars
were forced by the influential members of the com-
munity into constituting the school contingent;
the school was recruited, in fact, from the very
dregs of the Jewish population; at times parents
were paid for sending their children to the school.
The community took care to secure only the mini-
mum number of pupils necessary to give the school
the semblance of an educational institution. Thus
in one citj', where there was, according to official
statistics, a Jewish population of 10,000, there were,
in 1853, only 27 pupils in the Jewish school; in
Vitebsk, in 1849, there were only 13; in Jan., 1851,
only 19; and 50 in the November (following.

But even these figures do not betray the exact
condition of affairs. A principal would have been
embarrassed, for instance, had he been compelled
to report that his school, with three teachers, had
often less than ten students. For this reason he
would report as being in attendance even those who
had left during the year. For example, in one
school twenty-three pupils were reported on the rolls,
though as a matter of fact fifteen of them had left
during the term. In another school most of the stu-
dents who had entered during the pre-
Expedients ceding year appeared in the report of
of the the current year, though most of them
Principals, were marked in the class register as
having left "on account of poverty."
The irregular attendance led to many attempts at
improvement. Thus Professor Mukhlinski sug-
gested that " there should he at every Jewish school
a Jewish attendant who could be sent after pupils
that failed to report " ; and in 1855 the principals of
the Jewish schools in the government of Minsk were
ordered to see that the Jewish teachers visited tlie
dwellings of the pupils and reported the causes that
led to their absence. The school authorities usually
asci-ibed all absences either to poverty or sickness ;
indeed, there is no doubt that poverty was responsi-
ble in part, since, as already stated, most of the
pupils came from the poorest homes.

The program of instruction in the schools pro-
vided for sixteen lessons of one and a half hours each
in the week. Of these lessons seven were devoted
to religious instruction, two to Hebrew, four to
Russian and penmanship, two to arithmetic, and one
to German. Before and after the lessons prayers
were said in Russian and Hebrew. The schools
were ordered by the higher authorities to omit cer-
tain passages from the Hebrew books. For instance,
in 1854, when the school authorities of the government

of Minsk replaced the Shulhan 'Aruk with the Hayye
Adam, they pointed out the passages to be omitted
from the latter. In 1853 the same authorities ordered
that the teaching of the Mishnah should be discon-
tinued. These changes and omissions were un-
doubtedly due to the suspicion entertained by the
government that the Hebrew books contained state-
ments, expressed or implied, directed against the
civil government or against Christianity. Notwith-
standing tlie fact that in some places the population
consisted almost exclusively of Hasidim, the ministry
of public instruction made obligatory upon the
schools the use of the Ashkenazic prayer-book with
its German translation. Of the text-books era-
ployed, several were prepared by Leon Mandel-
stanim, including Hebrew, German, and Russian
grammars.

The evident failure of the Jewish government
schools convinced the government after some j'ears
that a reorganization of these schools was desirable.
At the suggestion of several of the governors of the
South-Russian provinces the ministry of public in-
struction took the problem under consideration.
The question was raised whether these schools should
be abolished as useless. After a thorough investi-
gation covering a period of eight months the special
agent submitted his report to the governor-general
of New Russia and the superintendent of instruction
in the Odessa district. The report declared that these
schools, while requiring reorganization, should not
be abolished entirely, and that the main defects in the
existing organization were due to an inadequate
knowledge of the Russian language on the part of
the children admitted and to the unsympathetic and
severe methods of the Christian principals, who
usually possessed but little pedagogic training. Be-
sides, the pupils who came from the hadarim were
not accustomed to school discipline,

Failure and capable teachers would not re-
Rec- main long in positions affording a sal-

ognized. ary of only 225 rubles per annum. As
a result, the number of hadarim had
increased rather than decreased since the establish-
ment of the schools ; the more so since the principals
of the Jewish schools, to whom was given the super-
vision of the melammedim, often furnished the latter
with certificates on personal and illegal grounds. An
instance of the increase of the hadarim is afforded in
the case of Kishinef, where there were 100 in 1864.

The following recommendations were made in the
report of the special agent to the governor-general :
(1) The schools should be reorganized so as to make
those of the first class preparatory for entrance to
the classical gymnasium ; those of the second class
should be provided with a more practical curriculum,
so that pupils might be to some extent better pre-
pared for life if obliged to discontinue their studies
before graduation. (2) Elementary classes for the
younger children should be instituted, thus doing
away with the necessity for the hedcr. (3) As
principals of such schools should be appointed only
such as had completed their studies in a rabbinical
school or in some higher institution of learning.
(4) Sufficient money for the purchase of books and
other school materials should be allowed to every
poor pupil. The remuneration of the Jewish teach-

546

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussla

ers should be increased, and principals should be
chosen from among them. (5) It should be made
obliijatnry upon teachers and principals to serve at
least five years in one place. (6) The melammedim
should be placed under the supervision of the school
administrations, and hadarim should be allowed only
in those places where schools did not exist. The
report pointed out also that the reorganization should
be of such a character as not to lead the parents to
think that the main purpose of the school was to
discourage the religious and national S3'mpathles of
their children. " The abolition of these schools, " said
Count Kotzebu, "would drive the Jews back into
their fanaticism and isolation. It is necessary to
make of the Jews useful citizens, and I see no other
means for achieving this than their education."

Artzlmovich, the superintendent of public instruc-
tion of the Odessa district, came to a somewhat dif-
ferent conclusion, as is shown in his report to the
minister of public instruction. He dwelt on the
suggestion of Dr. Shwabacher, then rabbi of Odessa,
to found rabbinical seminaries ; he recommended the
•establishment of such a seminary in Odessa and the
appointment of Dr. Shwabacher as its director, the
funds for its support to be derived from special Jew-
ish taxes. He further suggested transferring one of
the rabbinical schools of Western Russia to Odessa,
where there was less prejudice and more intelligence
among the Jewish population, where the many edu-
cated Jews — doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc. — would
exert a beneficial influence upon the students, and
where there were many Jewish children who had
obtained the desired preliminary edu-
Artzimo- cation in the general schools. Thus
Ticli's Rec- In the Second Gymnasium at Odessa,
ommenda- in 1863, there were 115 Jews; in the
tions. woman's gymnasium 36 Jewish girls;
in the commercial school 89 Jews;
while the number of students in the specially Jewish
schools was steadily decreasing. In 1863 there were
in the first-class Jewish government schools of
Odessa 316 pupils; in 1863 and 1864, 300 pupils; and
in Jan., 1865, only 260 pupils. In the second-class
school there were 114 in 1862, 135 in 1863, and only
45 in 1864.

The suggestion for the establishment of rabbinical
seminaries did not receive support from the govern-
ment, and the plan was still unrealized twenty -five
years later, whto the Society for the Promotion of
Culture Among the Jews of Russia again raised the
question of establishing a seminary in Odessa.

In April, 1866, General Zeleuoi, then secretary of
the imperial estates, pointed out in a report that
the great obstacle to the success of the Jewish agri-
cultural colonies in South Russia was the extreme
religious fanaticism of the colonists, and that the
surest means of removing it would be to abolish
the system which permitted the teach-
Education ing of children at home. In conse-
in the quence, Marcus Gurovich, an educated
Agricul- Jew, was commissioned to inspect the
tural Jewish colonies and outline practi-

Colonies. cable school reforms. Gurovich sug-
gested that in the schools to be opened
the melammedim should be retained as Instructors
in Hebrew, lest changes of too radical a nature
X.— 35

should excite the prejudices of the colonists. His
plan provided for the establishment of two-class
schools with a teaching staff of two melammedim and
one secular teacher. In the larger colonies a two-
room school should be opened, one room for gen-
eral subjects, as Bible, Hebrew, German, Russian,
arithmetic, and penmanship, and the other for com-
plementary studies, as geography, Russian history,
drawing, aad agriculture. The secular instructor
should be paid by the government, while the me-
lammedim should receive payment from the parents
according to agreement.

The minister of public instruction adopted this
plan with slight modifications, excluding German
as unnecessary, and increasing the attention given
to the Russian language. He agreed with Guro-
vich that great care should be exercised in effecting
the proposed changes. Official inertia caused the
execution of the proposed measures to be delayed
until 1868, when the communities in the various
colonies offered to supply the money necessary to
carry on the work of instruction provided funds
were advanced to them for the initial outlay. In
that year there were opened in the ten colonies
twelve schools (ten for boys, and two for girls), the
maintenance of which was undertaken by the re-
spective communities. In recognition of his services
the ribbon of the Order of St. Stanislaus (3d degree)
was conferred upon Gurovich, with a purse of 500
rubies.

The benevolent efforts of the government during
the reigns of Nicholas I. and Alexander II. gradually
but surely effected important changes in the attitude
of the Russian Jews toward modern education.
Thousands of Jewish families settled outside of the
Pale, became familiar with the Russian
Good Ef- language and customs, lost some of
fects of the their narrowness, and no longer kept

Govern- their children from attending non-

ment's Jewish educational institutions. The
Attitude, classical gymnasiums and universities
soon came to have more than a mere
sprinkling of Jewish students, and, while in the
smaller towns within the Pale secular education was
still regarded by the masses with extreme disfavor,
the educated and progressive elements of Jewish
society in the larger towns constantly gained in
strength and importance.

With the reactionary reign of Alexander III. the
liberal interpretation of the existing laws was aban-
doned, and new regulations were passed concerning
the attendance of Jewish students in the middle and
higher schools. In 1887 a regulation was put in
force according to which only 3 to 6 per cent of the
students in any gymnasium or university might
be Jews. Naturally, while outside the Pale the
Jews are comparatively few and the vacancies ex-
isting in these institutions are not always filled,
the number of Jews in towns within the Pale
who wish to enter is greater than the number of
vacancies. Thus higher education is difficult ^,10
attain for most of the Jewish youth. The very
strict interpretation of tliis law makes matters still
worse. - It appears that there is a determination on
the part of the authorities to reduce the number
of Jewish students to a minimum. Many Jew-

Sussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

546

isli students graduating from the middle schools
with honors are not permitted to enter the uni-
versities, the reason alleged being lack
Later Atti- of vacancies. In the entire province
tude of Wilna, e.g., there were in a certain
of the Gov- j'ear only three or four vacancies.

ernment. The result is that those who have
the means go to schools or univer-
sities in Germany, France, or Switzerland.

The lower general schools, while nominally open
to Jewish children, are not always accessible to
them. The city and district schools admit Jewish
students on an equal footing with the others, yet
the regulation, issued by the ministry of public in-
struction in 1901, which requires Jewish students to
do written work on Saturday, virtually excludes the
children of Orthodox Jews. In Lubny, government
of Poltava, there had been twelve Jewish students in
the district school, but after the enforcement of the
new regulfition only one remained. The same is
true of mi^ny other places. Many of the lower
schools even refuse to receive Jewish children, claim-
ing that there are no vacancies. The Jewish com-
munities are thus obliged to provide for the ele-
mentary education of theiif children, and as a result
the Jewish schools are indispensable.

The specifically Jewish schools in Russia to-day
maybe divided into three classes: (1) government
schools, (3) communal schools, (3) private schools.
The first class comprises the schools established in
the forties and described above, and the teachers'
seminary at Wilna. The government schools founded
in 1844 were reorganized in 1873. The minister of
public instruction pointed out at that time that
, these schools were to be regarded as
Spe- temporary and were to be abolished

cifically when "the Jews begin to send their

Jewish children to the general schools." Ap-

Schools. parently it was not suspected at that
time that ultimately the general schools
would be closed to most Jewish students. The Jew-
ish elementary schools are divided into one- and
two-class schools, each having a preparatory class.
The full course extends over six years. The in-
structors are usually graduates of the Wilna Jewish
seminary, but in case of necessity appointments are
made from among Christians familiar with Judffio-
German. . These schools are not popular with the
Jewish masses because too little time is devoted to
Jewish subjects ; nevertheless they are well attended
where other schools are lacking.

The Jewish private schools usually ofEer a two- or
three-year course, but in a few cases a four-year
course. Of twenty-four lessons every week, four at
the most are devoted to teaching'Jewish religion. In
most cases the time devoted to Jewish sub j ects is much
less, being mrely sufficient for more than the study of
the prayers and of Biblical history. The teachers in
private schools are poorly paid — ontheaverage, from
300 to 400 rubles annually for instructing from tliirty
to forty students. In many instances the expenses
of- the private schools do not exceed the income.

In addition to these schools there are the Talmud
Torahs and the hadarim. The Talmud Torah came
into existence owing to the necessity of caring for
orphans. Being unable to maintain orphan asylums.

the community had to content itself with sheltering
the orphans through the day. The children were
fed, clothed, and taught. The instruction usually
consisted in the reading of Hebrew and the study of
the prayers, the Bible, and other religious books.
The Talmud Torahs are still maintained for the
poorer classes and are under the direct supervision
of the elders of the community. As a rule the
teaching is irregular and without system. Not-
withstanding the great interest of the masses in the
Talmud Torah and their conscientious contributions,
they have little voice in its management ; the leaders
of the community usually conduct it according to
their own ideas. Moreover, the in-

Talmud come of the average Talmud Torah
Torahs and rarely exceeds from 400 to 500 rubles
Hadarim. annually, and with such small means
but little can be accomplished. The
methods in vogue in the heder are generally fol-
lowed, and the children are scarcely less ignorant
when they leave the Talmud Torah than they were
on entering. There are some exceptions, however,
in which the Talmud Torahs are conducted according
to modern pedagogic principles. Usually, people
who can afford to send their children elsewhere dO'
not send them to the Talmud Torah.

The heder, which is a type of school evolved .
during many generations of religious isolation, is.
a purely religious school. The so-called " model "
heder is the more modern type, in which an attempt,
is made to include secular subjects. In 1875 a law
was passed which prohibited the- heder. to admii.
those who were not graduates of a rabbinical school
or of a middle-class school. This law failed to
achieve its purpose because of the slight remunera-
tion offered by the heder — often not more than 100'
rubles a year ; persons who had obtained an educa-
tion in a rabbinical or middle-class school were not.
tempted to apply for positions. The government,
realizing the futility of the regulation, passed a new
law in 1893, which allows any one who so desires to-
conduct a heder on payment of an annual tax of
three rubles.

The heder as an institution is intimately connected
with the life of the Jewish masses, and it will take
many years and much effort to replace it with mod-
ern Hebrew schools. The heder transforms healthy
children into sickly and nervous ones, and it has.
been said with much truth that the physical degen-
eration nf the Jewish masses is due in part to the
baneful influence of this class of schools. The heder-
is usually conducted in the home of the melammed,
and often in the family living-room. The melammed
usually attends to one or two children at a time,
while the rest repeat theirlessons aloud. The heder
contains children of all ages, rendering system im-
possible; its sessions are carried on for six days,
in the week, during the entire day. There is no
summer vacation for the Jewish boy, and most of
his time is spent in the heder. The model heder
is more cleanly, and has the appearance of a prop-
erly furnished schoolroom, ifnfortunatelj', the
model heder is not met with very frequently.

A better conception of the old heder and the old
Talmud Torah maybe obtained from the following,
taken from the " Voskhod " : "Our hadarim, " writes-

547

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

BuBsia

a correspondent from Zvenigorodka, government of
Kiev, " with their melammeUim, represent a copy in
miniature of the medieval Inquisition applied to
children. There are no rules and no system. . . .
Our Talmud Torah makes a still sadder picture. . . .
Its program consists of cold, hunger, corporal pun-
ishment, and Hebrew reading." Another corre-
spondent, from Vitebsk, writes: "Our Talmud
Torahs are filthy rooms, crowded from nine in the
morning until nine in the evening with pale, starved
children. These remain in this contaminated at-
mosphere for twelve hours at a time and see only
their bent, exhausted teachers. . . . Most of them
are clad in rags; some of them are almost naked. . . .
Their faces are pale and sickly, and their bodies
are evidently not strong. In parties of twenty or
thirty, and at times more, they all repeat some lesson
aloud after their instructor. He who has not lis-
tened to the almost absurd commentaries of the
ignorant melammed can not even imagine how little
the children gain from such instruction." These
quotations might be multiplied indefinitely. Those
given are, however, sufficient to show how the Jew-
ish masses within the Pale of Settlement obtain their
heder education.

Bibliography: Budxischnost, 1903, iii. 172; Voskhnd, 1893,
xlil. 100 ; 1894, Ix. 1 ; YemreisM Yezhegodnik, pp. 156, 350,
St. Petersburg, 1903; Sovremennvye Bansko-Yevreiskiiie
Dyeyateli, p. 53, Odessa, 1899; K Istm-ii Obrazovaniya
Busskikh Yevreyev ; M. G. MarguUes, Yevreiskaya BibUo-
teha, 1. 134, St. Petersburg, 1881 ; Bucbholz, Gesch. der Ju-
den in Riga ; Die Juden in Bmslamd (edited by August
Scholtz), p. 102, Berlin, 1900: Lemer Yevrei v Novnrosis-
kom Kraye, pp. 5, 34, 198, 218, 235, Odessa, 1901.
H. -R. J. G. L.

Emigration : The extensive emigration of

Jews from eastern Europe, where a large Jewish
population has concentrated within the last cen-
tury, forms a very significant phenomenon of Jew-
ish life during the last two decades, and is full of
meaning for the entire Jewish people. This emi-
gration has been directed to different regions;
namely, North America, England, South Africa,
Palestine, Argentina, and Australia. There is no
doubt, however, that the main stream has been di-
rected to the United States, and in consequence the
Jewisli population of that country, which until the
eighth decade of the nineteenth century was but
small, is now about 1,500,000 persons.

The study of this subject presents very consider-
able diflflculties. Russian official statistics afford no
information, while the registration at certain foreign
ports gives the countries from which the immigrants
come, but not their nationality or re-
Sources liglon. Though data of Eussian emi-
of gration through all the German ports

Informa- and through Antwerp are available,
tion. it would seem that during certain
years more Immigrants from Russia
entered the United States alone than had passed
through all these ports together; nevertheless a not
inconsiderable number of emigrants proceed from
Antwerp and Germany to Argentina, Brazil, and
South Africa. It becomes necessary, therefore, to
seek the desired information in the immigration
statistics of the country wliich is the principal des-
tination of the immigrants, namely, the United
States. These statistics, which have been kept since

1820, and which are absolutely reliable, are for the
purposes of this article, however, not entirely satis-
factory; for up to the year 1898 immigrants were
classified only according to the countries from which
they came, and not according to race and religion as
well. Since the year 1898-99, however, this addi-
tional information has been registered, so that it is
now possible to determine the extent and character
of Jewish emigration to the North-American con-
tinent. Moreover, competent authorities agree that
until the ninth decade of the nineteenth century
the Immigrants from Russia (excluding Poland and
Finland) were, with the exception of some thousands
of Mennonites, almost exclusively Jews. Of recent
years the Russian Immigrants have Included a con-
siderable number of Lithuanians and Germans ; but
for the year 1903-4 two-thirds of the immigrants
from Russia (exclusive of Poland and Finland) were
Jews. The following table shows the total immigra-
tion into the United States, and that from Russia,
beginning with the year 1870-71:

Immigration to the United States.

Year.

1870-1871
1871-1872
1872-1873
1873-1874
1874-1875
1875-1876
1876-1877
1877-1878
1878-1879
1879-1880
1880-1881
1881-1883
1882-1883
1883-1884
1884-1885
1885-1886
1886^1887

Total

Russian

Immi-

grants.

321,350

1,005

404,806

1,311

453,803

3,490

313,339

7,477

237,498

4,369

169,986

6,787

141,857

3,370

138,469

4,316

177,826

3,784

457,357

5,278

^9,431

8,193

788,992

17,497

518,.592

6,907

395,346

15,122

334,303

16,603

490,109

17,309

546,889

28,944

Year.

1887-1888 ,
1888-1889.
1889-1890.
1890-1891.
1891-1892.

1893-1894.
1894-1895.
1895-1896.
1896-1897.

1898-1899.
1899-1900.
1900-1901.
1901-1903.
1903-1903.
1903-1904.

Total
Immi-
grants.

444.427
444,427
455,302
580,319
479,663
439,730
285,631
258,536
343,267
230,832
239,299
311,715
448,572
487,918
648,743
857,046
813,870

Russian
Immi-
grants.

31,356
31,«89
33,147
42,195
76,417
35,626
36,735
33,232
45,137
23,750
27,331
34,275
87,011
37,660
37,846
47,689
77,544

Tlie data concerning the total immigration have
been purposely given, inasmuch as immigration to
any countiy is influenced mainly by two factors.
It depends, in the first place, on the advantages to,
be obtained in the new country, and in the second
upon the forces tending to send the emigrants
from the old. In years of industrial prosperity,
when there is a great demand for labor, immigration
increases rapidly, and during an Industrial crisis it
decreases proportionately. It is but natural that the
general causes influencing the economic life of the
United States should modify the extent of Russian
Immigration. Of still greater Influence in the case of
Russian Jews are the forces which
Jews drive the Jewish population from the
Driven Pale of Settlement. An examination
from the of the foregoing table shows that there
Pale. have been two distinct waves in Rus-
sian immigration. The first was not
great, the maximum intensity being attained in
1873-74, when there were 7,477 arrivals in the United
States. This was a time of prosperity in that
country. After the crisis which led to a decrease la
the total immigration, an Increase is again apparent
in 1879-80; and the figures gradually rise until
1881-83, when the high-water mark of 788,992 in

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

548

the total immigration is readied. This is accom-
panied by a similar increase in tlie immigration from
Kussia, tlie arrivals in the latter j'ear numbering
17,497, an Increase over the preceding year of more
than 100 per cent. In this rapid increase are seen
evidences of the results of the well-kno^'n events
of the early eighties in Russia— the anti-Jewish
riots, the ministry of Count Ignatiev, and the pass-
ing of the "Temporary Regulations" (May Laws).
AVith the resignation of Ignatiev (June 12, 1882) the
number of immigrants from Russia decreased to
6,907; but in 1883-84 it again rose, to 15,123. Since
that time emigration from Russia to the United States
has steadily grown.

It is evident that within the Pale of Settlement
chronic conditions had arisen which drove its pop-
ulation to other countries. These conditions were
no less than an economic crisis in the life of the
Jewish population, intimately connected with the
legal limitations and particularly with
Effect of the rigid application of the "Tempo-
the "Tern- rary Regulations." In 1891-92 the

porary gradually growing Jewish immigra-
Regula- tion took another bound upward, from

tions." 42,195 to 76,417. This was the year of
the expulsion of the Jews from Mos-
cow by order of the fanatical Grand Duke Sergius,
and of theii' extensive removal from the interior of
the country and from the villages. After this the
number of immigrants from Russia diminished
until 1896-97, when the minimum of 22,750 was
reached. A summary of the figui'es in the f sregoing
table by decades since 1870 shows tliat during the
first decade there annually entered the United States
an average of 4,108 Russian immigrants; during the
second decade, 20,686 ; and during the third, 38,058.
For further statistical data see Migeation ; United
States.

H. R. L. Wy.

Iiegislation : With the expulsion of the Jews

by the czarina Elizabeth Petrovna (Dec. 2, 1742)
the Jewish problem in Russia was apparently
solved ; but on the partition of Poland, Russia re-
ceived the territory now known as " White Russia,"
and other provinces having a large Jewish popula-
tion. The people of these regions were granted all
rights " without distinction of faith or natlonalitj' "
(Feb. 26, 1785). But even as early as the reign of
Catherine II. this decree was not strictly observed,
and afterward the Jews were subjected to various
acts of special legislation, the origin of which may
be ascribed to several motives: (1) The Religious
Motim : The conversion of a Jew to Christianity frees
liim from all restrictions. The only impediment to
the enjoyment of equal rights by Jews is their relig-
ion (Senate decisions, 1889, § 25). (2) The Economic
Mutine : To protect the native population from so-
called Jewish exploitation. (3) The Fiscal Motive :
Tlie fear that Jews might engage in contraband
trade. This caused restrictive measures to be passed
against them, and led, for instance, to their removal
from the western boundaries to a circle 50 versts
distant. (4) To Seduce the Population : The permis-
sion to establish a Jewish colonization association
for the emigration of the Jews. Jews leaving Rus-
sia with permits to colonize elsewhere are considered

(Rules, Jlay 8, 1892) to have abandoned Russia for-
ever. (5) The Assimilation Motive: Jews are for-
bidden to wear clothes different from those woi-n by
the rest of the population ; Jewesses are forbidden
to sliave their heads (ukase, March 31, 1836).

On Oct. 19, 1881, the commission which had been
appointed to report on the subject of Jewish affairs,
having completed a project for Jewish registration,
was discharged, and in its place a committee was
formed for the examination of the material collected
by the local commissions on the Jewish question.
This conftnittee was placed under the chairmanship
of Assistant Minister of the Interior Gotovtzev.
When the committee was summoned the following
persons took part in the proceedings: I. N. Dur-
novo, the Prince of Tzertelev, and Professors An-
dreyevski, Grigoiyev, and Bestyuzhev • Ryumin.
Shortly afterward this committee was merged in a
high- commission appointed to examine into the
operation of the laws affecting the Jews. Its first
chairman was Makov, the minister of the interior,
who served till Jiis death in 1883, and was succeeded
by Count K. N. Palilen. This commission was dis-
continued Nov. 17, 1888.

The existing laws affecting Jews will be found in
articles 953-989, 992, 993, 1004, of volume ix. of the
Code (ed. 1876); articles 11-25, 157-165, 289-291, of
volume xi., part 1 (ed. 1890); and articles 700-705,
1060-1096, 1135-1139, of volume xi., part 1.

Following is a suminary of the special legislation
concerning the Jews of Russia :

I. legislation on SnMivlsion : This concerned the
sepaiating of Jews into three classes: («) Karaites;
(b) foreign Jews ; (c) Polish Jews. As regards {a) :
The czarina Catherine II., in the year 1795, sug-
gested to the governor-general of Voznesensk and
Taurida that certain regions of these districts be as-
signed to the Karaites. From that time additional
rights were granted them until 1863, when it was
declared that the Karaites "enjoy all the rights ac-
corded to Russian subjects."

At first all foreign Jews (J) were allowed to reside
in Russia within the Pale of Settlement. In 1834,
however, this privilege was restricted, and now only
the following are allowed to live within the Pale:
rabbis, sent for by the government ; physicians for
the army or navy ; manufacturers intending to es-
tablish factories (not distilleries); mechanics for
Jewish factories. Foreign Jews not having right of
residence may not own real property in the Pale;
and if they inherit an}', it must be sold within six
months of the notification of the inheritance. The
right of residence and freedom to engage in any
occupation were granted to Polish Jews (c) under
certain restrictions until 1862, but they were not
permitted to own real estate. Though on May 24,
1862, they were granted full rights. In recent years
restrictive measures have been revived.

II. Legislation Concerning Eeligions and Commnnal
Organizations : Within the Pale, Jews may have one
bet ha-midrash to every thirty dwellings and one syn-
agogue to every eighty. Without the Pale, a permit
to establish a bet ha-midrash or a synagogue must
first be obtained from the ministry of the interior
(Dec. 25, 1867). Regular attendants at a synagogue
constitute a praying community and may elect their

549

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

own ecclesiastic government, whicli consists of one
man learned in the ritual, an elder, and a treas-
urer, the local rabbis being ex-offlcio members.
Jews in every locality are organized into a tax-
able community, which may elect its own tax-
collector and assistants, the latter being also as-
sessors.

In 1843 a Jewish commission was appointed to
solve certain religious problems. Prom this was
developed a rabbinical commission which was at-
tached to the ministry of the interior (June 24,
1848) ; its purpose was to sanction b}' religious au-
thority reforms contemplated by the government.
Sessions of the commission were held in 1852, 1857,
1861, 1879, and 1893.

III. Legislation Begarding tlie Pale of Settlement :
For conditions within the Palo sec Pale of Settle-
ment.

As regards Jews without the Pale, i.e., those en-
joying the right to live in isolated localities, the fol-
lowing legislation was enacted: (1) Only those Jews
who had been registered prior to April 18, 1835,
were permitted to reside in Courland and in the
suburb Slilok Lievland. (3) In Nikolaief and Sebas-
topol Jews were granted residential rights on Dec.
23, 1791, but were expelled Nov. 20, 1829, notwith-
standing the governor-general's intercession. In
1859 it was again found useful to grant them per-
manent residence in those cities. (3) In the city of
Kiev, on June 23, 1794, Jews were permitted to en-
gage in business; they were expelled in 1827, but
on Dec. 11, 1861, Jews of the first and the sec-
ond mercantile gilds (at present the permission
is extended only to those of the first gild) were
granted permanent residence in the districts of
Lybedskaya and Ploskaya. (4) By the Senate deci-
sions of 1888 tiie native mountain Jews of the Cau-
casus enjoy the same rights as the native Caucasians
(No. 10). (5) In Turkestan the name "native," ac-
cording to article 262 of the Turkestan Code, ap-
plies also to old Jewish settlers and their progeny
(May 23, 1889). (6) In Siberia, Jewish agricultural
colonies were established at Tobolsk and Omsk in
1835. Emigration thither was stopped in 1857, and
measures were taken to diminish the number of
Jews there. At present domicil in Siberia is permit-
ted to banished Jewish settlers and their children.

IV. legislation Concerning Temporary Sojourn : The
following classes of Jews may remain temporarily
outside the Pale : heirs, for the purpose of receiving
legacies; litigants before the courts of justice; mer-
chants ; and bidders on contracts. These may remain
six weeks, with a possible extension to two months.
Carriers are allowed two weeks ; a merchant of the
first gild, six months; one of the second gild, two
months; and learned Jews attached to the staffs of
the governors, during their term of service. Those
having no rights are deported.

V. legislation Concerning the Eight to Acquire or
lease Property : During the nineteenth century the
Russian government, wishing to interest the Jews
in agriculture, issued various rules to facilitate their
acquisition or renting of land. This encouragement
continued during the reign of Nicholas I. Wherever
they were allowed permanent residence Jews could
acquire all kinds of realty, except inhabited estates.

At present (1905), however, they are forbidden to
acquire, liold trader mortgage, or lease realty in any
of the following localities: (1) Outside the citiesand
towns within the Pale. (2) In nine of the western
provinces of the Pale, (3) On a strip 50 versts wide
along the western border, when not registered there.
(4) In the provinces of Courland, Donarmy, Pin-
land, Kuban, Lievland, Akmolinsk, Semipalalinsk,
Semirechinsk, Terek, and Ural.

VI. Legislation Concerning Commercial and Industrial
Eights : Jews within the Pale may join mercantile
gilds and engage unrestrictedly in business and
manufactures. Jewish artisans and laborers may
join trade corporations (" tzekh ") even outside the
Pale; within the Pale, Jews form their own corpora-
tions (Rules, 1853). Pirst-gild merchants in the Pale
may import or export goods through Christians.
Restrictions imposed on manufacturers may be re-
moved by government purveyors of their products.

Jews, where allowed temporary residence, may
neither sell goods at home nor peddle them, under
penalty of confiscation of the goods or of deporta-
tion of the person offering them for sale. This law
is now applied even to Jews having common right
of residence (Decisions, "Criminals Cassations De-
partment ;e. if f?. -ii)' etc.

VII. legislation Concerning Education : (1) General
histitutionn: The laws of 1835 expressed the princi-
ple that Jewish children might be received into all
schools. In 1886 and 1887 the number of Jewish
students in secondary and higher institutions was
restricted within the Pale to 10 per cent, elsewhere
except in St. Petersburg and Moscow to 5 per cent,
and in those cities to 3 per cent. To some schools
Jews are not admitted. (3) Oovernment Selioolsfor
Jews : On Nov. 13, 1844, a decree ordered the es-
tablishment of primary and secondary schools for
Jewish children, and rabbinical schools for the
training of teachers and rabbis. On March 16, 1873,
it was decreed that: {a) the rabbinical schools in
Wilua and Jitomir be changed into institutes for
Jewish teachers; (J) the grammar schools be closed;
(e) the Jewish primary schools be retained only where
the number of general schools was insufficient. At
present only the teachers' institute in Wilna and a
few primai'v schools remain. (3) Private Schools:
In 1856 rules were issued for the supervision of the
private education of Jewish children. Teachers
were compelled to procure certificates, and were re-
stricted as to subjects and the methods of teaching.
Since 1893 teachers' certificates have been issued for
one year only, for a fee of from one to three dollars.

VIII. legislation Concerning the Eight to Hold Office :
(1) State Serrice : In 1835 the state service was open
to Jew s without the Pale holding the doctor's degree
and possessing a testimonial from the minister of
education and a permit from the czar. To these
were added in 1836 and 1838 Jews living within the
Pale who held similar credentials, and on Nov. 28,
1861, all Jews with academic degrees were included,
without restriction of residence. These privileges
were extended in 1865, 1866, and 1867, somewhat
restrictedly , to physicians not having academic titles.
At present the rights above mentioned are prac-
tically void. In 1883 the number of Jewish phy-
sicians and nurses in tlie army was limited to 5 per

Sussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

550

cent. (2) Communal Service: {a) In the ante-re-
form institutions. Jewish municipal representa-
tives, limited to one-third of the council, were elected
(1839) by their respective communities. Jews are
chgible to no other municipal offices, (i) In the
new institutions (Jan. 1, 1864). The Jewish elective
rights, which at first were unrestricted, were sus-
pended on June 13, 1890, and regulations ordering
the preparation of a list of eligible Jews from which
the councilmen might elect a number (not exceeding
one-tenth of the whole council) to the chamber, was
substituted on June 11, 1892. (e) As jurors, Jews
are elected in proportion to tlie population. They
may not be foremen, nor may they try cases of in-
fraction of the ecclesiastical laws. (3) In the Ai'my:
Jewish privates or volunteers may not be granted
commissions nor be admitted to the military schools
(1887). They may not direct military bands, nor be
assigned to quarantine, frontier, navy, or gendar-
merie service, nor to service in Warsaw or Caucasia.

IX. Legislation Concerning the Practise of law:
The code of Nov. 20, 1864, puts no limitation on the
practise of law by the Jews. The regulations of
Nov. 8, 1884, and April 10, 1890, make the admis-
sion of Jews to attorneyship dependent on a permit
from the minister of justice. This, however, has
never been granted.

X. Legislation Concerning Military Duty : Until 1827
Jews, instead of performing military 'duty,- had to
pay a money - tax. On Aug. 26, 1827, personal
military duty on the part of Jews was introduced,
the ages of recruits being from twelve to twenty-
five years, and the rate ten from each thousand
males per annum (at this time the non-Jewish rate
was seven per thousand every second year). On
Aug. 26, 1856, Jews were granted equal rights with
other citizens as regards military duty. The mili-
tary code of Jan. 1, 1864, contains no special rules
for Jews. Later, orders were issued (Feb. 3, 1876)
that unfit recruits be replaced by their healthy
coreligionists ; (May 9, 1878) that any shortage in a
precinct be supplied by the drafting of those exempt
from duty in such precinct; and (April 12, 1886)
that the transfer of Jews from one recruiting pre-
cinct to another be restricted. The family of a Jew
who evaded service was liable to a fine of 300 rubles,
and a reward of "50 rubles was offered for his capture.
The number of Jewish recruits drafted during the
period embraced within the years 1874 to 1892 (ex-
cepting 1883, for which no reliable figures are ob-
tainable) was 173,434.

XI. Legislation Concerning the Jewish Oath : The
chief peculiarity of the Jewish oath is that it implies
distrust of the person who is taking it and assumes
that he will swear falsely. The person swears that
he will testify or act not vrith mental reservation
nor according to any secret meaning of the oath
taken, but in accordance with the intention of those
administering it. Imprecations and renunciations
of the Jewish faith in case the oath is violated are
eliminated from the oath as at present administered.

H. n. M. My.

XII. Legislation Concerning Special Taxation : The
Double Tax: By the decree of 1794 the Jews were
ordered to pay double taxes for the privilege of
engaging in handicrafts or commercial enterprises.

Those already engaged in such enterprises were
given the alternative of leaving Russia after the ex-
piration of three years, during which period, how-
ever, tlie double taxes on their respective occupa-
tions were to be paid. In 1799, when the Jews of
Courland were granted the right of permanent resi-
dence, this decree was reaffirmed, but modified in
favor of those of the Courland Jews who were too
poor to pay the double tax for three years, and they
were immediately sent across the frontier. In 1800
this modification was abolished, and persons too
poor to pay the double tax were to set to work in
tlie government smelting-works.

The double tax was retained in the regulations
of 1804, exceptions being made in favor of Jewish
farmers, factory -hands, and artisans. At this time
the government promised to take proper measures
to place the Je-ws on the same level as other subjects,
"when all the Jews engaged in agriculture, manu-
factures, and commerce will show tenacity of pur-
pose and diligence." This tax was imposed on both
sexes and thus made more burdensome.

After 1818 a decree was promulgated which de-
clared that "on account of the impoverished condi-
tion of the Jews" they should be required to pay
only a single tax ; but the government took harsh
measures in the collection of arrears. Thus, in 1830,
in order to collect them in the governments of Minsk,
Grodno, Wilna, and Podolia, the Jews were im-
pressed into military service with the provision that
each community furnishing recruits should be cred-
ited with 1,000 rubles for every recruit over twenty
years old and with 500 rubles for every recruit under
that age. This regulation was abolished in the
same year, revived in 1851, and finally abolished in
1857.

Another measure, passed in 1831, called for an
additional payment by Jewish merchants whenever
the amount paid by their Jewish townspeople was
insufficient. This was abolished in 1856.

A third measure, the purpose of which was to
provide for tax deficiencies and also to supply funds
for the education of the Jewish 3'-outh, originated
the basket-tax, the candle-tax, the tax on Jewish
garments, and the tax on Jewish printing establish-
ments. For details of the Basket-Tax see Jew.
Encyc. ii. 578b.

The Gandle-Tax : This tax is collected on candles
lighted by Jewesses on Saturday night. It was es-
tablished in 1844 and was intended exclusively for
the support of Jewish schools. It was at first sub-
ject to lease, but as this led to abuses the following
regulations were formulated in 1851, to be in force
for a period of three years: (1) The total amount to
be levied by candle-tax w-as 230, 000 rubles. This was
to be collected for three years beginning with 1853.
(2) This amount was to be apportioned annually by
the ministry of the interior. (3) Each community
was to subdivide its pro rata tax. (4) Each com-
munity was to be responsible for collecting its
proper share. (5) The tax was to be collected by
the elders and their assistants, and was to be re-
mitted to the city councils. (6) The elders, their
assistants, the members of the city councils, etc..
were to be held responsible to the government for
the fulfilment of their duties. (7) The ministry of

551

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

BuBsia

public instructiou was to inform the ministry of tlie
interior annually of the amount of the candle-tax
fund due from the various communities. (8) The
dates when the taxes should be remitted were to be
determined by the common consent of the two minis-
tries. (9) The ministry of the interior was to be en-
trusted with the carrying out of tlie details affecting
the distribution of the funds.

In accordance with a decree issued Dec. 34, 1858,
these rules are still in force.

The Tax on Jewish Qarments: For the legislation
on Jewish garments see the article Costume.

T7ie Tax on Jewish Printing Establishments : In
1845 the printing of Jewish books was confined to
two printing-houses; the privilege of printing was
sold at public auction to the highest bidder among
Jews in good standing. Moreover, a duty not to
exceed 1^ kopeks per printed sheet was imposed on
Jewish books brouglit from abroad, exception being
made in favor of those treating scientific subjects or
relating to the study of languages. As a result of
this tax the prices of books rose beyond the means
of the Jewish masses. The attention of Alexander
II. having been directed to this matter, he ordered
by a decree dated July 1, 1863, that the Jews should
be permitted to open establishments for the printing
of Jewish books exclusively, (1) in all places where
Jews were permitted to reside, and wherever the
ministry of public instruction might find it possible
and convenient to have special Jewish censors, and
(2) in St. Petersburg, the books to be sold to Jews
who enjoyed the right of residence in the capital.
These printing establishments were taxed to support
the Jewish schools — 30 rubles for each hand-press;
130 rubles for each small power printing-press ; and
340 rubles for each large power printing-press.

Bibliography : Sistematicheski Tlkazatel Literatury o Yev-
reyakhno Bimsknm Yazyke s 1708-1889, St. Petersburg, 1893 ;
V. O. Levanda Polay, Chronoligicheski Sbornik Zaknnnv i
Polozheni, Kasayushchikh»ua Yevreyev ot Ulozheni Czar-
ya Alexeya Mikhailovicha do 1873 Goda ; E. Levin, Srod
Uzakmeni o Yevreyakh s Bazyasneniyami, St. Petersburg,
1884 ; Prince N. N. Golitzyn, Moria Busskavo Zaknnndatel-
stva 0 Yevrefiakh, vol. i., ifi. 1886 ; N. D. Gradovski, T<yrgoviya
i Drugiya Prava Yevreyev v Bossii, ib. 1886 ; V. N. Niliitin,
Yevreyi Zemledyeltzy, ib. 1887 ; I. G. Orshanskl, Busskoye
ZakonodateMvo o YevreyakJi, lb. 1877 ; idem, Yevrei v
Rossi, ib. 1877; M. I. Mjsh, Bukovodstvo KBusskim Zako-
nam o Yevreyakh, lb. 1892 ; Demidov San-Donato, Yevreiski
Vapros V Bossii, ib. 1883 ; M. L. Peskovsky, Bokovoye Nedn-
razumyeniye : Yevreiski Voprns, Yevo Mirovaya Istoria i
Yestestvenni Put Bazryesheniyu, lb. 1891; Mysh, Rukovod-
stvn K BttssWm Zakonam o Yevreyakh, 2d ed., p. 433, St.
Petersburg, 1898. ^ _ .,

H. B. J. G. L.

The Jew in Russian, Literature : The ear-
liest treatment of the Jew in Russian literature is an
abstract one, the conception of his character being
founded on the ancient Church enmity. This con-
ception gives place but very gradually to a tolerant
attitude inspired by broader knowledge. Notwith-
standing the fact that certain relations with the
Jews were maintained by ancient Moscow, and that at
the end of the eighteenth century Russia included
among its subjects hundreds of thousands of Jews,
all the references to the Jews in Russian literature
up to the middle of the nineteenth century are
marked by intolerance and deep ignorance. The
oldest literature, which is religious and polemical in
character, is directed not so much against men as
against religion ; its purpose is to show the supe-

riority ot the New Testament "grace" to the Old
Testament "Law," and to expose from the dogmatic
standpoint the teachings of the Jewish religion.

The supposed social and ethical faults of the
Jews, brought to the front by medieval Europe,
are scarcely touched upon. Ancient Muscovy oc-
casionally expelled or slaughtered its Jews, not be-
cause they were usurers, nor because they exploited
the population, but on the ground that their ances-
tors crucified Jesus. This circumstance determined
the point of view of the literature, in which, until

its renaissance in the first half of the

First nineteenth centuiy, references to the

Attempts. Jews are exceedingly rare. It was

only in the reign of Nicholas I. , when
questions of Jewish life called with particular insist-
ence for the attention of the government, that Rus-
sian literature first created Jewish types and found
an expression for its conception of the Jews.

Notwithstanding the fact that these first attempts
to portray the Jews were made by the greatest of
contemporary writers, the descriptions do not indi-
cate an intimate acquaintance with Jewish life ; they
merely reproduce commonplace types, partly carica-
tures and partly repulsive monstrosities. Such are
the detestable poisoner in Pushkin's "Skupoi Rj't-
zar " ; the Jewish traitor and coward in the " Taras
Bulba," by Gogol; the professional Jewish spy in
young Lermontof's poem, "Sashka." Later on, in
a story entitled "Zhld," by the tolerant Turgenef,
there occurs an even more disgusting and impossible
Jewish spy, who barters his own daughter. Eco-
nomic and periodical literature, hampered by the
censorship and hardly able to maintain its exist-
ence, paid no attention to the Jews. But new
tendencies were already discernible, and the great
teacher of an entire generation of Russian human-
ists, the cultured Granovski, declared from- Ms chair
in the University of Moscow: "Two thousand
years of cruel suffering and affliction have erased at
last the bloody boundary-line separating the Jews
from humanity. The honor of this reconciliation,
which is becoming firmer from day to day, belongs
to our age. The civic status of the Jews is now
established in most of the European countries, and
even In the backward countries their condition is
improved, if not by law, then by enhghtenment."

At the outset of the civic regeneration of Russia,
the Russian Liberals readily agreed that it was
merely necessary for the Jews to adapt themselves
to the national culture in order to remove entirely
the last traces of the ancient enmity. No one sus-
pected at that time that for the proper solution of
the Jewish question it would be necessary to en-
lighten, not the Jews, but the nations surrounding
them. Then came the epoch of the " great reforms "
of Emperor Alexander II. With irresistible force
young Russia abolished her previous injustice and
resigned her traditional prejudices. The Jews, who
had freed themselves of the faults produced by
centuries of slavery and had surrendered everything
which isolated them from the great Russian family,
were entitled in the near future to become its full-
fledged members. A protest signed by all the
prominent writers was made against the use of the
word "Zhid." In Russian literature itself the Jew-

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

552

ish question had no separate place; it appeared
there only as a portion of a greater question con-
cerning the fundamental regeneration of Russian
life and Russian government. There was no bellig-
erent anti-Semitism. The weak and infrequent at-
tacks of the obscurantists were met by the recently
founded Jewish journals.

Worthy of note in this connection is the activity
of the pedagogue and surgeon N. I. Pirogov. To
the traditional ill-will exhibited toward the Jews he
opposed clear and convincing proofs of their worth
founded on his intimate acquaintance with the life
of the Jewish masses in Southwest Russia. In the
main, however, Russian literature still showed but
a slight and superficial knowledge of the economic
and spiritual life of the Jews. This
Alexander fact was realized, but there was no
II. one with the ability to remove the

reproach. In the early seventies the
mouthpiece of young and cultured Russia, the
monthly "Oteohestvenyya Zapiski," began to pub-
lish Grigori Bogrov's "Zapiski Yevreya," a story
of Russian- Jewish life. It acquainted educated
Russian society with a world new to it, so near and
yet so strange. The novel had a greater success
in Jewish than in Russian circles. In 1855 there
appeared in " Russki Vyestnik " O. Rabiuovich's
" Shtrafnoi. " In " Yevreskaya Biblioteka " Levanda
first published his artistic sketches of the life of Rus-
sian Polish Jews and of the kahal of the sixties of
the nineteenth century. The entire Russian litera-
ture of the seventies is stamped by a careless in-
difference toward the Jews.

In this epoch of "great reforms," inspired by gen-
eral political and progressive ideals, the Jews had
no active enemies, neither had they real friends.
They were not known, nor was it regarded as nec-
essary to know them. But a change was soon
brought about. The declining prosperity of the
peasantry led to a search for the cause of its pov-
ert\', unforeseen at the time of the liberation of the
serfs. The petty officials readily found it in the
activity of the village Jews. More intelligent, in-
dustrious, gifted, and temperate, they crowded out
the unstable representatives of the corrupt landlord
class from the various spheres of free labor. The
part played by Jews in revolutionary movements
was found to be considerable. The war with Tur-
key easily infected superficially cultured Russian
society with coarse nationalism. This prepared the
way for an outbreak of anti-Semitism, always near
the surface among the great mass of the people.
Its strongest exponent among the prominent writers
was Dostoyevski, who saw in the Jews only the most
modern vehicles of those liberal ideas which he had
constantly fought against. With the ingenuity
characteristic of him, he advocated the granting to
the Jews of full rights, on condition, however, that
this political equality should not make them stronger
than the native population— a condition which de-
prived his suggestion of any significance. The anti-
Russian activity of Lord Beaconsfield and several
lawsuits with Jewish military contractors afforded
considerable material for the agitators. The Rus-
sian press found a demand for anti-Semitism which
it actively supplied.

To this period belong the first success of the
newspaper "Novoye Vremya" and the beginning of
the active and successful anti-Jewish
Tlie "No- propaganda which this influential
voye paper has been carrying on for more
Vremya." than a quarter of a century. It was
joined by others less widely circulated :
the " Novorossiski Telegraph," published by Ozmi-
dov in Odessa; the "Kievlyanim," published by
Pikhno in Kiev; and the insignificant "Luch," in
St. Petersburg. The terrible violence of the South-
Russian " pogromy " (riots) and the reactionary reign
of Alexander III. plaoed the Liberal press at a dis-
advantage; lack of familiarity with Jewish life was
always one of its failings. It could not at once
assume a definite attitude toward this important
question, and protest with proper firmness and force
against the tragedy of the annihilation of an en-
tire people. It had previously been accustomed to
guard the nation against the discretionary measures
of the government ; but in this case common sense
showed that no policy could be suggested other
than a physical struggle of the authorities in behalf
of the Jews against the turbulent masses.

Still more important was the fact that the Jewish
populace appeared to the Russian Liberals not as
an industrial people, but exclusively as petty bour-
geois. Being accustomed to trust in popular opinion
and await the solution of political questions by con-
temporary popular movements, a portion of the
Russian Radicals was not loath to see in the Jewish
pogromy the beginning of such a popular move-
ment ; nor was it entirely free from the belief that
the pogromy were violent attempts of the masses to
throw off the burdens of exploitation. For this
reason the protests of the Russian writers against
the pogromy were, if not evasive, at least not suffi-
ciently courageous and sincere. The forceful ex-
ception was the voice of the great Russian satirist
and journalist Saltykov-Shchedrin. In an article
entitled "Yulskoye Vyeyaniye," published in the
most influential of the Russian progressive papers,
edited by himself, he expressed with splendid pas-
sion and pathos the deep significance and tragedy of
the suffering of the Jews and the absurdity of the ac-
cusations directed against them. With his custom-
ary penetration he described the real cause of anti-
Semitism and the soil on which it had developed,
appealing to his readers to make themselves ac-
quainted at first hand with Jewish life. When the
single appeal of Saltykov was sounded it was as
from a voice crying in the wilderness.

The entire reign of Alexander III. was an epoch
of anti-Semitic orgies, in the press, in society, and
above all in government circles. Enactments di-
rected not only against the economic welfare of the
Jews, but also against their participation in the
blessings of culture, followed one another rapidly.
The bringing of accusations against the Jews in the
anti-Semitic press was systematized. The "Novoye
Vremya," with its satellites, among
Alexander which the "Nablyudatel," edited by
III. Pyatkovski, was preeminent in un-

restrained attacks, stopped at nothing,
not even at methodically persistent accusations of
ritual murder. This met with but feeble resistance.

553

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

Reactionary feeling dominated not onlj' the govern-
ment, but a considerable portion of the Russian
people, and the refutations of the historian of the
Jews, S. A. Bershadski, of the statesman Demidov,
and of the journalists Chicherin and K. K. Arsenyev
were without avail.

Some time afterward the attention of society was
attracted by the attempts of two really influential
writers to defend the Jews. The attitude of the
philosopher V. S. Solovyev and of the writer V.
G. Korolenko was the more valuable because it was
not inspired by mere pity, but by the evident con-
sciousness of the fact that the suppression of anti-
Semitism is of great importance not only for the
Jews, but also for the Christians. For Solovyev
the Jewish question was a Christian one — namel}^
that of Christianizing the Aryan world, hitherto
Christian only in name. A deeply religious thinker
and a Hebrew scholar, he energetically rehabilitated
the Talmud and personally endeavored
The Jewish, wherever possible to influence the
Question a representatives of society and govern-
Christian ment. The humanitarian champion of
Question, everything outlawed and oppressed in
Russia, Korolenko attempted to in-
fluence Russian society not only by the artistic types
in his excellent stories, but also by articles on current
questions and by enthusiastic participation in every
social undei-taking aiming to improve the condition
of the Jews. In his "Yom Kippur" he showed
that even when seen through an anti-Semitic lens
the average Jew, witli-all his faults, is better than
the native Russian " Kulak " who exploits the village
population. "Skazanye o-Florye-Rimlyaninye,"
transporting the reader to the time of the Roman
sway over the Holy Land, depicts in living and at-
tractive colors the types of Jewish youth who would
not wait to conquer by submission. It was the in-
tention of the author to reply in this story to Tolstoi's
theory of non-resistance to evil, but the "Skazanye,"
addressed to the Jews, could have been taken also
as an appeal to their national consciousness. Two
voluminous, coarsely anti-Semitic novels that ap-
peared at this time— "Tiomny Put," by Kot-Mur-
lyka, and "Tma Yegipetskaya," by Vsevolod Kres-
tovski— met with no success.

Anton Chekhov, also, a native of South Russia,
devoted some time and attention to the Jews.
Highly talented, but with insufficiently developed
social temperament, he modified his attitude toward
the Jews according to the fluctuations in his social
sympathies. At first a collaborator on humorous
papers, he did not fall far short of clownish raillery.
After he had become connected with the " Novoye
Vremya" he presented, in two stories entitled
" Perakati-Pole " and "Tino," several more passable
though somewhat negative Jewish types; and
finally, in his " Step " (a'story ) and " Ivano v " (a com-
edy), published in the Liberal "Syeverny Vyestnik,"
he showed that he had had direct acquaintance with
the Jews and was capable of working his impres-
sions into lifelike images. But the general atti-
tude of Russian literature at that time toward the
Jews may be described as indefinite. Although ag-
gressive and defensive tendencies were distinctly
observable, neither were characterized by what is

most important, namely, insight into the essence of
Jewish life, a clear undei'standing thereof, and the
ability to ex press this understanding to others. New
restrictive enactments were met simply by objec-
tions— logical and sensible, it is true — on the part
of the Liberal press, while the violently vindictive
accusations of the anti-Semites were answered by a
few stories from Jewish life which showed that the
Jews also were human beings and were besides for
the most part poor and suffering — as much so as
their supposed victims.

This was the condition in which Russian literature
was found by the social moverpent of the nineties
of the nineteenth century. The reactionary policy
of the government became unbearable, even for the
patient Russian society. The most acute expression
of this reaction was the attitude of the government
and its press toward the Jews. Naturally this at-
tracted the attention of the progressive Russian ele-
ments, and the enlistment of their sympathies was
favored by the evidences of a growing consciousness
of responsibility on the part of the Jews, who, ceas-
ing to regard tlieir interests as identical with those
of general Russian progress, turned their attention to
the specific needs of their own people and began to
announce them boldly and persistently. This caused
certain modifications in the attitude of Russian lit-
erature toward the Jews. Its representatives real-
ized for the first time that the Jewish question called

for concentrated attention, that they

Importance had hitherto sinned by their indiffer-

of Solving' ence, and that they had thereby in-

the Jewish jured their own cause. They realized,

Q,uestion. even if not fully, that the solution of

the Jewish question was not only a
portion of their coming victory, but that in fact it
was a preliminary condition of that victory ; and the
mere number of active participants furnished by the
.lews in the final struggle for the complete liberation
of Russia showed that their emancipation would be
the greatest contribution to the successful conclu-
sion of the struggle. Sketches from Jewish life are
gradually occupying more space in Russian period-
icals. The misfortunes of the Jews are meeting with
greater sympathy among the more cultured Russians
than has been the case heretofore. Famine among
the Bessarabian Jews led to an appeal in "Po-
moshch," a literary annual, which appeal was sup-
ported by the most prominent Russian writers.

The coarsely anti-Semitic play of the converted
Jew Litvin, "Kontrabandisty," was received with
hisses by the Russian youth, both in the capital and
in the provinces. Finally, the tragedy of Kishinef
brought into existence an entire literature of indig-
nant protests, individual and collective, from the
most prominent representatives of Russian letters.
Among them should be mentioned Maxim Gorki,

always sympathetic to Jewish needs,

After the who gave a powerful description of

Kishinef the Nijni-Novgorod pogrom of 1882,

Affair. of which he was an eye-witness, and

who after the Kishinef horrors raised
a passionate protest against the exemption from
punishment of the moral instigators of the crime.
The romantically exaggerated figure of the pitiable
Jew in Gorki's " Artemi Kain " should be noted

Bussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

554

here. The more conscious attitude of the Russian
writers toward the Jews found weak expression in
the artistic literature. Among its most prominent
manifestations maybe noted the stories by Machtet;
"Zhid," by Potapenko; "Itzek-Shmul Briliant-
slichik," by Garin-Michailovski ; "Itzka i Bavidlia,"
by Yablonovski; "Nukhim," by Alexander Novi-
kov; "Poslednyaya Povyest Katzenbogena," by
Menshin Yakubovich ; " Kobylka v Puti " ; and
others. '

The Russian writers are seemingly attempting to
share with their readers those living and strong im-
pressions wliicli they themselves receive in their
infrequent meetings with the Jews. That they
are thus supplying a real demand is proved by the
success which has been gained among the Rus-
sian reading public by writers upon Jewish life.
At one time the artistic creations of the Jewish
belletristic writers found with ditHculty a place in
the Russian journals. The greatness of such wri-
ters as Levanda passed entirely unnoticed among
Russian readers, who were not acquainted with the
Jewish periodical press (in Russian). On the other
hand, the stories of Kogan-Naumov, Khin, Yush-
kevitch, Aiseman, and Khotimski found a place in
the general journals and considerable success in sep-
arate editions.

One of the most recent Russian productions from
Jewish life is "Yevrei," by Chirikov, a successful
attempt to put into dramatic setting not only the
daily life but also the spiritual tendencies of con-
temporary- Russian Jews. This attempt is quite
characteristic of the present-day attitude of Russian
Liberal literature, which has now separated itself
from the old abstract conceptions concerning the
Jews. It has become more careful and sympathetic
toward them. It has passed beyond the boundaries
of the old, obscure humanist apology, and describes
various groups and spiritual types among the Jews,
though to an insufficient extent; and it still lacks,
as formerly, a more exact acquaintance with Jewish
life and an understanding of Jewish psychology.
Russian literature, for all its outward nearness to the
Jews, notwithstanding the necessity of penetrating
into this but slightly explored world, and in spite of
the significant place Jews hold in Russian life, can
not show to the present day a single production from
Jewish life equal in pathos and tolerance to Lessing's
"Nathan the Wise," in power of description to
Gutzkov's "Uriel Acosta," in insight into Jewish
daily life to the works of Elizabeth Ozheshko. The
Jews have not yet found their poet in Russian liter-
ature.

H. E. A. Go.

Municipal Government : When at the first

partition of Poland the Jews of the region that was
ultimately known as White Russia became subjects
of the czarina, they were all registered in the towns
and neighboring villages. But they were not in-
cluded in the mass of the Christian urban population,
and their status remained the same as when they
lived in Poland. The kahals represented the Jews in
communal affairs, and were responsible to the gov-
ernment In all matters of taxation ; as a result the
Jews as individuals were isolated from the civic
and social life of their neighbors. But in 1780 the

Jews were given the right to register in merchant
gilds, and, in consequence, those of their number
who had not the capital necessary for legistration
in the merchant class, and who were also deprived
of the right to join other classes, became members
of the townfolk class. In this way the mass of the
Jewish population was included in its entirety in
the town population and also in the tradesman and
merchant class, and formed in many cities a quanti-
tatively predominant element.

The class of inhabitants engaged in manufactur-
ing and commerce at that time exerted a dominant
influence in the town life and in the rnunicipal gov-
ernment, and its representatives filled positions in
the magistracies and the town councils. Having
joined the merchants and townsmen, the White-
Russian Jews became subject to the urban class in-
stitutions (thus lessening the influence of the kahal),
and took part in municipal administration. The
ukase granting this right was issued by Cather-
ine II. in 1783. The Christians of White Russia,
accustomed to. seeing the Jews excluded from social
and political life under the Polish regime, opposed
their election. The Jews complained to the em-
press, and the Senate decided (1786) that Jews and
Christians should be elected to municipal offices in
proportion to the number of Jews and Christians
registered in the municipality. This decision was
applied also to other governments that were added,
at one time or another, to Russia from Poland.

Nevertheless, when Russian administration was
established in the governments of Volhynia and Po-
dolia the governor of these provinces prescribed that
the number of Jews serving in th& magis-tracies,
which according to law were composed of two
burgesses and four aldermen, should not exceed one-
third of the total number — more exactly that only
two of the aldermen might be Jews. This was the
beginning of the limitations of the electoral rights
of the Jews in Russia as a whole.

Under Paul I., on account of the reorganization
of the municipal administrations, the Jews of the
governments of Volhynia and Podolia were elected
to the magistracies to the number of one-half of the
entire number of councilmen. In 1802 the new gov-
ernor of these provinces requested the Senate to pre-
scribe that the Jews be elected to the city councils
only to the extent of one-third of the entire number
of councilors, and that the Christians and Jews elect
their representatives separately, and not jointly as
had been the custom until then. The Senate not
only granted this request, but also extended the new
regulation to all the governments where Jews lived,
even though no complaints had been made of the
supposedly injurious activity of the Jews in the
municipal administrations of the other governments.

The position of the Jews in the Lithuanian gov-
ernments was somewhat different. In 1802 they
were granted electoral rights, but the Christians of
several towns strongly opposed this concession, and
it was consequently revoked. On the other hand,
the Jews of the province of Byelostok received the
right, under a special law, to become members of
the magistracies without any limitation, and of the
city councils to the extent of one-half of the entire
number of councilmen ; but for some unknown rea-

555

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

son they were subsequently entirely excluded from
the magistracies, and in some cities from the town
councils also.

However, all these limiting regulations were local
in character. Keither the Regulations (Polozheniye)
of 1«04 nor the Code of Laws of 1833 mentions the
limitations in question, although both decree that
the Jewish representatives shall wear German or
Polish dress, and shall know one of three languages :
Russian, Polish, or German.

New enactments concerning the Jews were pro-
mulgated in 1835, and one of them contained among
others the following provision : " The Jewish town
classes may take part in the elections for municipal
offices, and any Jews knowing how to read and write
Russian may be elected as members of the city coun-
cils, town councils, and magistracies under the same
conditions as prevail in the election to these offices
of persons of other religious beliefs." In this man-
ner all of the limitations then in force were to be-
come void. The enactment was energetically op-
posed by Prince Dolgoruki, administrator at that
time of the governments of Lithuania, White Rus-
sia, and Minsk. He pointed out, among other mat-
ters, "that the election of Jews as presidents of the
boards of aldermen and as city mayors would hardly
be permissible since the president is the presiding
officer in the courts, and the city mayor, as the rep-
resentative of the entire municipality, is obliged at
the opening of the elections . . . to lead the towns-
people to church for religious service and is then ad-
mitted to take the oath " ; and that in general "the
election of Jews even as members of city magistra-
cies and town councils is in a manner inappropriate
to the decorum and sacredness of the courts, where
not infrequently the oath is taken with cross and
mirror; moreover, the judges should be drawn from
men whose integrity and uprightness could be
guaranteed at least by the morality instilled into
them by education and religious precepts."

While Prince Dolgoruki's representations as to
the limitation of the electoral rights of the Jews
were being considered in St. Petersburg, there ap-
peared an independent enactment (1836) limiting
the election of Jews in the western governments to
one-third of the total number of municipal officers.
Following this came a new law (1839), called into
being as a result of the representations of Prince
Dolgoruki, in accordance with which the Jews in
any western government nu'ght be represented in
municipal organizations to the extent of only one-
third the number of municipal officers, and only
Christians might act as chairmen. The Jews were
excluded from the positions of borough president,
city mayor, etc., and also from "municipal positions
which either are entirely reserved for Christians, or
by virtue of their duties could not with convenience
and propriety be entrusted to Jews." Aside from
membership in town councils and- magistracies the
Jews could be elected only as aldermen, as deputies
of house commissions, and to various other insig-
nificant positions. At the same time the election of
Jewish and Christian representatives was to be
carried out separately by the Jews and Christians.
This law led to even greater limitations in practical
application. The circumstance that, contrary to

law, the Jews were excluded from participation in
elections of Christians to positions reserved for
Christians alone, assumed a peculiar significance,
because through this interpretation of the law the
Jewish population was deprived of any influence in
the election of higher officials, and this could but
have an evil effect on the attitude of the latter
toward the Jews.

In this manner participation by Jews in the vari-
ous departments of the municipal government was
reduced to a minimum by the law of 1839, and yet,
when the kahal was abolished in 1844, these institu-
tions assumed a special significance for the Jews, as
they were entrusted with the administration of all
matters especially affecting the Jews.

The law of 1835, which placed Jews and Chris-
tians on an equality in electoral rights, was applica-
ble to the entire Jewish population of Russia, while
the subsequent restrictive laws of 1836 and 1889
were valid only in the western governments. Never-
theless, the statement that the laws of 1836 and of
1839 were intended only for the western govern-
ments was omitted from the code of laws published
in 1842, and it was probably due to this that the
same limitations were occasionally to be noted in
other governments. Thus, in Odessa the Jews par-
ticipated with the Christians in the election of the
city mayor. In 1857, at the instance of the gov-
ernor-general of New Russia, the Jews took part
with the Christians in the elections of the city of
Kishinef.

In general, the Jews of South Russia did not suf-
fer from the social ostracism that at one time was
carefully fostered in Poland. In the former region
greater respect was accorded them in civil life, and
the local authorities, made repeated representations,
to the higher government for Improvement in their
political condition. In 1857 Count Stroganov, the
governor-general of New Russia, applied to the min-
ister of the interior for broader electoral rights for
the Jews. He was guided in this instance not alone
by sentiments of justice toward them, but also by
the interests of the cities, which were made to suffer
because of the removal of Jews from certain posi-
tions and their replacement by persons altogether in-
competent and who were therefore not qualified
under the law to be entrusted with a share in the
municipal administration. In consequence of this
the governor of Kherson requested permission to
elect a Jew as mayor of Kherson in 1863.

The ministry of the interior began the framing of
new city regulations in 1863, and among these one of
the ministry of Valuyev prescribed that Jews might
be elected to the town council to the number of one-
half of the total members thereof, and that they
might also participate in the election of the city
mayor, although no Jew was eligible for that office.
But subsequently the new minister, Timashev, de-
creed that Jews might be elected to the town coun-
cil and town administration only to the number of
one-third of the total members of the elective body ;
and, notwithstanding opposition from the represent-
atives of the Imperial Bureau and of the ministry
of finances, this limitation was incorporated into the
law of July 11, 1870. A point was gained, however,
in that the Jews were now included in the general

Bussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

656

body of electors, and thus received power to influ-
ence tlie election of Christians.

The new regulations had hardly been in force for
twenty years when by sudden decision the Imperial
Council (Juljf 11, 1892) decreed that the Jews should
not take part in municipal elections, and that they
should be excluded from municipal administrative
positions and the management of separate depart-
ments of municipal finance and administration. In
otlier words, the Jews were excluded altogether
from the election of coimcilmen, of members of the
administration, and of the city mayor, and Avere
themselves no longer eligible for election to any of
the public offices mentioned above. They were per-
mitted to "assume the duties of councilmen" only
under the following conditions: The town admin-
istrations were to prepare lists of Jews who, were
they not Jews, might, according to the general regu-
lations, be elected to the post of councilman, and
from this list the commission on municipal affairs
was to appoint at its discretion councilmen, whose
number was to be determined by the minister of the
interior, but was not to exceed one-tenth of the
entire number of such officials. Under such con-
ditions the Jewish councilmen ceased to be actual
representatives of the Jewish population, and the
latter remained without representation. Many in-
stances might be cited to show the injurious effect
of this condition of things upon the interests of the
Jewish population.

At the beginning of the year 1904 the town coun-
cil of Odessa resolved to urge the admission of Jews
to municipal offices under the general regulations.
The outcome of this resolution is still unknown
(1905).

Bibliography : J. Hessen, Stranitza iz Istorii Ohschestven-
navn Samoupravleniya Yevreyev v RossiU in Voskhod^ 1903,
books 1. and ii.; 1904, books vii. and viii.

H. E. *

Periodicals, Russo-Jewish. : Russo-Jewish

journalism came into being on May 27, 1860, with
the appearance in Odessa of the weekly entitled
Razsvybt (see also Rabinovich, Osip Aarono-
vich). In the same year there began to appear in
Wilna, as a supplement to "'Ha-Karmel," articles in
the Russian language ; but these had no literary or
social significance.

From 1861 to 1863 the journal formerly known as
"Razsvyet" appeared under the new title "Sion,"
being edited by E. Soloveichik and L. Pinsker, later
the author of " Autoemancipation." Pinsker soon
gave place to N. Bernstein. "Sion," as compared
with the "Razsvyet, "restricted its publicistic activ-
ity, and devoted more space to questions of Jewish
learning and history. The editors hoped that by
familiarizing Russian society with both the his-
torical past and the contemporary life of the Jewish
people, they could render its attitude toward the
Jews, more friendly. The journal

The Anti- was therefore more conservative than
Semitic the " Razsvyet " had been ; and it

Press and aimed to discuss the Jewish question

"Sion." in an academic spirit. This, however,

proved impossible. The anti-Semitic

press by its irritating accusations compelled "Sinn "

to reply sharply, for it was only through this

hostile source that Russian society had learned to-
know of the Jewish question; but the censorship,
which left the other papers unrestrained, interfered
in the case of " Sion, " and the latter found it necessary
to terminate its activities. " Having met, " announced
the editors, "with peculiar difficulties in refuting
unfounded accusations brought against the Jews,
and the Jewish religion by certain Russian journals,
and also wishing to acquaint the pubhc with the
true spirit of the Jewish religion, the editors of
' Sion ' consider it their duty to discontinue its pub-
lication until they shall have obtained permission to
edit it with a broader program."

Apparently the reference to " a broader program "
was made for the purpose of concealing anothei-
cause for discontinuing the publication ; namely,
the lack of a sufficient number of subscribers. It is.
believed by some that the limited circulation of the
journal was due to the desire of the Jewish youth
for a general education, they having become indif-
ferent to the interests of Judaism. But the lack
of subscribers may be explained also by the fact
that a knowledge of Russian was restricted at
that time to a limited portion of the Jewish popula-
tion.

After the discontinuance of "Sion," the Jewish
community had for a period of seven years no pub-
lication of its own. In 1809 there appeared in
Odessa a weekly entitled " Den," under the editor-
ship of S. Orenstein, with M. G. Morgulis and I. G.
Orshanski as collaborators. The new journal di-
rected its attention mainly to the external relations
of the economic and social life of the Russian Jews.
Having found that their isolated position was.
due not to religious or national causes, but to
those of a civil, social, and economic nature, " Den "
pointed out those conditions under which it seemed
likely that the interests of the Jewish inhabitants,
would become identical with those of the rest of the
population, and the existing animosity of the Rus-
sians toward the Jews be thus overcome. These
conditions, however, could only be created under
circumstances legally favorable to Jewish life; in
other words, by civil emancipation. This naturally
called for certain concessions on the part of the Jews-
to the spirit of the times and to the
The "Den" general conditions of the life of the
and Bus- empire. "Den " advocated the Russi-
sification of fication of the Jews, their education
the Jews, in the Russian spirit, etc. ; but no
attempts were made ts undermine
the foundations of Jewish life. It fought with
equal courage against the anti-Semitic press and for
Jewish rights ; and this firmness led to its suppres-
sion. In 1871, when the anti-Jewish riots occurred
in Odessa, its publication ceased.

After the demise of "Den," St. Petersburg became
the center of Russo-Jewish journalism. From 1871
to 1873, with long intermissions, a dailj' paper en-
titled " Wyestnik Busskikh Yevreyev" and
edited by A. Zederbaum and A. Golden blum was
published in that city. It had no public significance.
In the year 1879 there appeared simultaneously at
St. Petersburg two weeklies, "Razsvyet" and
"Russki Yevrei." "Razsvyet" was published
from Aug., 1879, until Jan., 1883. The editors of

657

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

"Wyestnik Russkikh Yevreyev " were the nomi-
nal editors of " Razsvyet " also ; but those who were
more directly responsible for the cdi-
Journal- torial work on the latter journal were
istic Activ- M. S. Varshavski, N. M. Vilenkin,
ity in St. M. I. Kulisher, J. L. Rosenfeld, and

Peters- others. With No. 15 of the year 1880
burg. the editorship was transferred to the
writer Bngrof and to J. Rosenfeld, the
latter subsequently becoming sole editor. "Russki
Yevrei" was published from Aug., 1879, until Dec,
1884, under the editorship of L. J. Bermann and
<5. M. Rabinovich.

The advocacy of assimilation with the Russians
attained to considerable proportions in Russian
Jewry in the seventh decade of the nineteenth cen-
tury. It was believed that the Jewish question, if
indeed tliere really was one, was in reality only a
part of the general Russian i^roblem ; that the for-
tunes of the Jews would be modilied onlj' with a
•change in the fortunes of the Russian people ; and
that therefore it was necessary to work with the
latter in endeavoring to realize the common Russian
aims. It was at the same time considered advisa-
ble that the Jews should throw aside everytliing
specifically Jewish. This attitude caused indiffer-
ence on the part of educated Jews to the oppressive
legal and economic conditions of the Jewisli popu-
lation. The two journals arose in opposition to
this abnormal state of tilings. Both
The of them were representatives of mod-

" Russki ern assimilation. The "Russki Yev-

Yevrei" rei " undertook to facilitate a more in-
and Assim- timate acquaintance between the Jew-

ilation. ish and the Russian people — the same
aim that had inspired the " Razsvyet "
of 1860 and "Sion," with the difference that the
" Russki Yevrei " emphasized the fact that the Rus-
sian Jews, though not Russians, were Russian sub-
jects of Jewish faith. The journal proved the in-
justice of the accusations brought against the Jews.
While devoting a certain amount of space to ques-
tions of Jewish internal life, it did not denounce
Jewish shortcomings lest, by such self-criticism, it
should supply tlie enemies of the Jews with material
for further persecutions.

Tlie " Razsvyet " assumed a different attitude. As
the advocate of " Russo-Jewish needs and wants," it
dwelt more on the phenomena of Jewish e very-day
life. It courageously directed attention to its fail-
ings, and, anticipating no outside help, urged the
educated Jews to assume the work of self-improve-
ment. At the same time it pointed
The Second out that this work for the Jewish

" Raz- population would prove useful to the

svyet." world at large also. Apparently it
was not practicable at that time, ow-
ing to internal conditions, to urge specifically Jew-
isli woric, or perhaps the cooperation of tlie educated
Jews could not be counted upon. Tlie pogromy
which swept through Russia in 1881 gave birth to
the idea of nationalism ; and the " Razsvyet " was
soon transformed into an advocate of Zionism. It
terminated its existence a year or two later.

For the space of one year (1881-83) tliere was
published in Riga the monthly " Yevreiskiya

Zapiski," under the editorship of A. Pumpyauski.
It was of a historico-literary cliaractor. In 1884
there appeared in St. Petersburg seven numbers of
the monthly " Yevreiskoye Obozryeniye," edited
by L. O. Cantor.

A more kindly fate awaited the journal "Vos-
khod." It was founded in 1881 by A. E. Landau,
who from 1871 to 1880 had published eight volumes
under the general title " Yevreiskaya Biblio-
teka." Only monthly volumes were published in
1881, but from 1883 there appeared also the weekly
" Nedyelnaya Khronika Voskhoda." Volume
ix. of the "Yevreiskaya Biblioteka" appeared in
1901, and vol. x. (published by G. A. Landau, the
son of Adolph Landau) in 1903.

" Voskliod " was founded at the most unsettled
period of Jewish as well as of Russian life. It has
fought with unvarying courage for civil rights for
the Jews, and has at the same time fearlessly ex-
posed Jewisli national defects as well as the failings
of certain social groups. It has received many hard
blows, both from Jews and from non-Jews, but it has
survived to carry out its original program. At the
time when Jewish society was seized with fear and
despair, after the pogromy in the early eighties,
the " Voskhod " opposed the counsels of the " Raz-
svyet" and of individuals advocating emigration,
declaring itself against such a solution of the Jew-
ish question. At that time the Jews themselves
argued that the worse the condition of the Jews in
Russia, the better for the idea of the regeneration of
the nation on its own soil. The "Voskhod," how-
ever, declared that : " Its aim is to defend the inter-
ests of the Russian Jews, and to strive to make the
life of Jews in Russia possible and

Aims of bearable. With this purpose it will
the "Vos- defend and guard their rights, and at-

khod." tempt, in so far as lies in its power, to
effect an extension of these rights.
On the other hand, it will cooperate by all possible
means in the improvement of the inner life of the
Jews themselves and in the attainment of their so-
cial regeneration on Russian soil. " The " Voskhod "
continued to adhere to this policy. It defended the
rights of the Jews so vigorously and with such per-
sistence that it soon attracted the attention of tlie
government. On June 24, 1884, it received its first
warning for " permitting itself very frequently to
criticize insolently the existing laws and government
measures and to interpret falsely their meaning and
aims." It received a second warning on July 3,
1885, for continuing to criticize the laws adversely,
" spreading among the Jews the belief that the gov-
ernment and all classes of tlie Russian people
maintain toward them an attitude of merciless and
unreasoning harshness." Finally, in 1891 the jour-
nal was suspended for eight months.

As the only periodical in the field for about fifteen
years, the " Voskhod " was read by all the Jewish
social groups, and the number of its subscribers in-
creased from2,692in 1888 to 4,394 in 1898. In 1899,
while Landau was still living, tlie journal was trans-
ferred to other hands.

The significance of the " Voskhod " is not con-
fined to its publicistic activity. During Landau's
editorship there appeared in its pages a whole series

Bussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

558

of writings on Jewish life from the social, lit-
erary, and historical standpoints. Belletristic wri-
tings by Levanda, Ben-Ami, Yaro-
Its slievski, and otliers ; historical works

Publicistic by S. M. Dubnow and the Christian
Activity, jurist S. A. Bershadski; juridical and
publicistic papers by 51. Morgulis, M.
Kulisher, and M. Mysh; archeological and philo-
logical contributions by A. J. Harkavy ; poems by
S. Frug ; and translations into Russian of the lead-
ing works in foreign languages — all these, represent-
ing material of the greatest value, were published
in the " Voskhod."

Under the new management, with Q. S3'rkin as
editor, the journal has adhered to its original pro-
gram while adapting itself to the requirements of
the times. Devoting to the Zionist cause only so
much attention as is demanded by its impartial
attitude toward this movement, the
Its Im- "Voskhod" is nevertheless read by
partial the most enthusiastic adherents of
Attitude Zionism. As formerly, the journal is
Toward courageously outspoken in defense ot
Zionism, the rights of the Jews. It sounded a
mighty note of protest against the
Kishinef pogrom of 1903, and was punished therefor
by the government. Nos. 16 and 17 of the " Khro-
nika" (one of which contained an article by J. Brutz-
kus urging the Jews to armed defense) were confis-
cated. The publishers received two other warnings,
on April 38 and May 15, 1903, respectively. In 1904
the "Khronika" was suspended for six months for
a sharp criticism of the activity of the anti-Semitic
journal "Znamya " and of its friends in Russian so-
ciety. Besides Syrkin there are closely connected
with the " Voskhod " L. Zev, M. Trivus, and M.
Vinaver. Notwithstanding its high subscriijtion
price, 10 rubles, it has not less than 5,000 subscri-
bers. For the last two years it has offered as a sup-
plement the "History of the Jews," by S. M. Dub-
now. Recently the weekly numbers of the journal
have been named "Voskhod," and the monthly vol-
umes " Knizhki Voskhoda."

At the end of 1899 there appeared in St. Peters-
burg the weekly (with a volume of collected arti-
cles as annual supplement) entitled " Budusch-
nost," under the editorship of S. O. Gruzenberg,
who was for many years a contributor
The " Bu- to the "Voskhod." The journal was
duschnost" soon transformed into a Zionist organ,
a Zionist and this caused it to lose public sup-
Organ, port. It is, moreover, indifferently
supported by the Zionists. At first the
contributors were well-known writers, but one after
another these withdrew, and its editor, though an
old, experienced, and capable journalist, was unable
to maintain the paper at its original high level.

In 1903 there appeared in St. Petersburg the
"Yevreiskaya Semeinaya Biblioteka," a
monthly journal under the editorship of M. Ryvkin.
In the following year the title was changed to
"Yevreiskaya Zhizn," and the editorship was
undertaken by G. Sorin, with the collaboration of M.
M. Margolin and J. D. Brutzkus. The journal,
which is devoted to Zionism, at once gained popu-
larity, securing in the first year of its existence

about 7,000 subscribers — a circumstance explained
to a certain extent by the support of a Zionist or-
ganization and by the low subscription price, 4
rubles. As a supplement the journal offers a collec-
tion of Prug's poems.

Bibliography : L. Levanda, K Istorii Voznilsnveniya Per-
vavo Organa Russkflth Yevreyev, in Voskhod. 1881, vol. vi.;
S. M. Dubnow, O Smyeiiyc Napravleni, v Russho-Yevreishol
Zhurnaliatikiie, In Budv-^chnost^ 1899.
II. K. *

■ Rural Communities : AVishing to create im-
portant commercial centers, Catherine II. ordered, in
1782, that merchants and commoners no longer re-
side in rural communities to the detriment of the
peasants, but remove to the towns. This measure
was directed at the commercial classes, which in-
cluded the Jews ; and as they were without exceiJtion
registered among the merchants and tradespeople,
the regulation, which was only a partial limitation
for the Christians, became for the Jews a general legal
limitation, and was especially burdensome because
the great mass of them resided in rural communities.
Closely allied with the concentration movement
was the question of the distilling and sale of spirits.
As merchants and tradespeople the Jews of White
Russia were at that time forbidden by the local
authorities to distil spirits, to lease estates, or to man-
age rural industries, that is, to continue in those oc-
cupations by which the Jews, owing to peculiar his-
torical conditions, had earned their livelihood for a
period of years. This regulation was generally con-
sidered a restrictive measure directed against the
Jews, as before its enactment they had received the
same privileges as the merchants and trading classes.
But in 1786 the Senate repealed the regulations re-
garding leases and the distilling of spirits ; and in so
far as the question of residence in rural districts was
concerned, the Senate, knowing that the empress, for
important reasons .of economic policy, desired the
removal of the Jews to the towns, and knowing also
that the conditions prevailing in the towns did not
warrant peremptory removal, contented itself by ru-
ling that the Jews should not remove prematurely,
because it was uncertain whether they would find
work or dwellings in the towns. Nevertheless many
Jews were removed and thereby ruined.

Before long this question was revived. In 1795,
when Russian administration was being introduced
in the new governments annexed from
Kemoval Poland, viz., those of Minsk, Vol-
of Jews, hynia, and Podolia, the empress or-
dered that " efforts be made " to remove
the Jews to the towns so that they might engage there
in commerce and in handicrafts. She did not intend
to make the measure compulsory in character, yet
the governor-general of White Russia, who had re-
ceived a similar order concerning the Jews, sot one
year as the time-limit for their removal. But at the
time the sparsely populated cities were not adapted
to accommodate so groat an influx of new inhabit-
ants. Even then the towns contained many Jews,
who furnished a greater number of merchants and
artisans than was necessary. The order for the re-
moval of the Jews created apprehension also among
the estate-owners, to whom it meant pecuniary loss,
and for these reasons the governor-general ordered

559

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Russia

that only .Tews living in inns and villages situated
on main roads be forced to obey it. An extension of
time was also granted; but notwithstanding the fact
that the removals were not carried out on as large
a scale as was desired, such removals as did take
place 7iiaterially affected the prosperity of the Jews,
and much suffering and inconvenience was caused
thereby.

The question of the harm said to be caused by
Jews dwelling in rural districts, and the best means
of dealing with the subject, were matters referred for
consideration, by order of the Senate, to the local au-
thorities and to owners of estates situated in govern-
ments which liad a Jewish population. Neither the
authorities nor the owners found it desirable to re-
move all the Jews, who, moreover, they suggested
should be distributed over a larger area. These sug-
gestions were transmitted to the Senate, which was
at that time engaged in working out a general plan
for Jewish reform.

In 1801 a new regulation was passed ordering
merchants and tradesmen to remove to the cities.
The Jews of White Russia petitioned tlie Senate to
be allowed to remain in their old homes, and the
Senate granted their request. But in other govern-
ments no attempt was made to remove the Jews,
and the administration of the government of New
Russia went before the Senate to urge the non-
removal of Jews from the rural districts, as the ad-
ministration declared they caused no harm or dam-
age to the peasants.

In 1803 the project of Jewish reform was sub-
mitted to a committee composed of persons near to
the emperor, and, according to the regulations
worked out by it (1804), the Jews were
Committee to be deprived of the right of distil-
of 1803. ling spirits, of leasing estates, and
of residing in villages and hamlets.
A time-limit of three years was set for their removal.
This committee expressed itself as opposed to resort-
ing to stringent measures in dealing with the .Tews,
and explained that only dire necessity induced it to
forbid them to distil, to sell spirits, and to lease estates.

In connection with this prohibition the commit-
tee ordered the removal of all the Jews from the
rural districts, as under the proposed conditions
the greater part of the Jewish population would be
without moans of subsistence. The exclusion of the
Jews from the distilling industry and from lease-
holding was declared incompatible with justice
and with the requirements of life: the government
budget was based largely on the income from the tax
on spirits ; and the estate-owners also derived their
incomes almost exclusively from the proceeds of dis-
tillation. This condition of affairs was permitted to
continue in the former Polish governments for many
decades, and had led to the Jews, in virtue of peculiar
circumstances, serving during all that time as inter-
mediaries between the estate-owners and the peas-
ants; the Jews caused economic injury not as Jews
but as intermediaries, and thaf^without benefit to
themselves.

Count Gudovich, governor-general of Minsk, Po-
dolia, and Volhynia, stated that the tavern-keepers
had no daily bread for themselves nor for their fam-
ilies, " for they receive only a tenth or even a fif-

teenth part of the profits. " The governor of Lith-
uania stated that the taverns were in 'charge only of
women, as lack of means drove the men to otlier
work. Senator Derzhavin wrote that the Jewish
masses in White Russia were suffering from extreme
privation and poverty. The governor of Kiev re-
ported that the Jews not only were unable to pay
taxes but had no means of subsistence, whicli showed
very clearly that the Jews secured no profit for
themselves either from the distilling of spirits or
from the ownership of leases. Senator Derzhavin, in
a private letter written in 1800 to one of the legal
officers of the crown, dealt with the famine in
White Russia, which he officially ascribed to the
Jews; but he said also: "It is difficult to seri-
ously accuse any one without actually violating the
common principles of justice and fairness. The
peasants sell their grain to the Jews for spirits, and
therefore they do not have enough bread. The land-
lords do not prohibit drinking because they derive
their entire incomes from the sale of liquor; and
the Jews can not he held entirely to blame if they
take the last crust from tlie peasants for their own
sustenance."

Prom the evidence collected the committee reached
these conclusions; (1) The landlords made an excess-
ive quantity of distilled spirits in or-

Ita Gon- der to pay the heavy taxes with which

elusions, they were burdened, and to provide
for their living expenses. (2) The
Jews trafficked in spirits in order to be able to pay the
double taxes imposed upon them, and to keep from
starvation. Owing to the existing economic condi-
tions the Jews could not have foa-n-d -otlier means -ef
subsistence at that time. (3) The peasants in their
turn drank in order to forget the burdens of their
serfdom.

The committee, being powerless to improve the so-
cial and economic life of the peasants, decided to
pretend that the removal of the Jews to the towns
would result in such an improvement. Undoubt-
edly it realized the impossibility of carrying into
effect the measure proposed, for it involved the re-
moval of more than fifty thousand Jewish families.
Nevertheless steps were taken to enforce the removal,
and they were attended by extreme barbarity. Count
Kotchuboi, a member of the committee placed in
charge of the movement, learned what misery was
thereby caused iu some villages. Hundreds of fam-
ilies were left without shelter in the fields or on the
squares of near-by cities, as there were not sufficient
houses to accommodate them, and nothing was pro-
vided with which to feed them. The government
was unable to supply the necessary means or to grant
the tracts of land promised for the purpose of trans-
forming the former merchants into agriculturists.

The suffering was intense, and, to maintain the
prestige of the government, orders were given to
suspend the removals, ostensibly because Napoleon
had summoned a Jewish synod in Paris — a circum-
stance that, had not the order been suspended, might
have caused restlessness among the Jewish masses.
A new committee was organized for reviewing the
question, and Count Kotchubei Insisted on delay,
pointing out that only a part of the Jews could be
removed, and that enormous sums would be required

Bussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

560

by tlio government to cavry the measure into eSect;
for the poor Jews, under the existing economic
conditions, could not readily find
Removal other means of sustenance. The sub-
Postponed, joct was referred to a new commis-
sion composed of higher officials, and
later Senator AlexiefE was ordered by the emperor to
make a journey through localities having a Jewish
population, for the purpose of seeing whether im-
mediate removal was feasible. He was instructed
that if it was feasible he should order the governors
to effect it. If, however, he found it impracticable,
he was to report to the emperor the best means for
removing the Jews gradually. At this time per-
mission was given to the Jews to select delegates
to present to the senator their views on the question
of removal. The Jewish delegates petitioned for
the repeal of the enactment, and the senator de-
clared the removal impracticable ; but this did not
lead to a, solution of the matter, for the govern-
ment desired to maintain its prestige and did not
care to consider the repeal of this law, and set
itself to temporizing by postponing its enforce-
ment. On Oct. 19, 1807, a ukase was issued or-
dering gradual removal during a term of three
years. In consequence of this decree the expulsion
of Jews from the villages was resumed, and the suf-
fering inflicted thereby attracted the attention of
the new minister of the interior. Count Kurakin.
He reported to the emperor that the removal could
only be effected in the course of several decades.
Therefore, by decree of Dec. 39, 1809, the ukase was
rejaealed, and a few days later a new commission for
the investigation of the subject was appointed under
the chairmanship of Senator Popov. This commis-
sion continued its labors for three years. It made a
general and thorough investigation, and declared
in Its voluminous report that the exclusion of the
Jews from the manufacture of and traffic in spirits
would not decrease drunkenness among the peasants,
as the general social and economic conditions, and
not the Jews, were accountable therefor. The re-
moval of the Jews from the rural districts would
work injury to the peasantry from both the eco-
nomic and the commercial standpoint; their imme-
diate transformation into farmers was an impossi-
bility ; the overcrowding of the towns with an ex-
cess of poor would lead only to very distressing con-
sequences. Hence, the commission recommended
that the Jews be allowed to remain in their old
homes, and that they be permitted to continue their
vocations as theretofore. This report was not given
the foi'ce of a legal enactment, but as removals had
already been discontinued by order, the Jews were
permitted to enjoy a period of peace. This peace,
however, was not of long duration, for in 1821, in
consequence of representations from
Removal the military governor of Chernigov,
of 1821. which branded the Jews as specula-
tors, an order was issued calling for
their removal from the rural districts of that gov-
ernment. This measure was extended to the gov-
ernment of Poltava in 1832, and in the following
year to the governments of White Russia because
of a deficiency in foodstuffs there. In 1837 a partial
removal of tli£i Jews was begun in the rural districts

of the government of Grodno, and in 1830 a siinilar
one was enforced in the government of Kiev.

In 1835 a decree was issued ordering the suspen-
sion of the removals; but they were undertaken
again in 1843, when the Jews were excluded from the
military settlements of Kiev and Podolia.

All the removals in question were presumably
inspired by the supposed evil influence of the Jews
in increasing drunkenness among the peasants. But
there were also other reasons for the expulsion. For
instance, in 1885 the Jews were excluded from the
government of Astrakhan on the pretext that they
caused harm to the trade with Asia. The Jews in
the boundary -zone were expelled therefrom in order
to suppress contraband trade. Tbus in 1813 the Jews
living on the landed estates situated near the fron-
tier of the government of Volhj'nia were removed,
and in 1816 a decree was issued calling for the re-
moval ol the- Jews fron) the 5tJ-verst bovmdary-zone.
Under the decree the places where the Jews were
registered according to the census and where there
were organized kahals were exempt. This led
to removals from the government of Volbynia up
to the year 1821. Subsequently the Jews returned
to their old homes. However, in 1825 another decree
concerning the western • frontier governments an-
nounced that only those Jews who owned real prop-
erty should be allowed to remain within the 50-verst
zone. In 1839 this decree was extended to the ter-
ritory of Bessarabia. On April 20, 1843, an imperial
decree ordered that all the Jews living in the 50-
verst boundary-zone adjacent to Prussia and Austria
should be removed to the interior of the govern-
ments, the owners of houses being permitted to sell
them within two years provided they obeyed the law
without reservation. Later an extension of time was
granted, and the removal was not carried out in its
entirety ; nevertheless the policy of removal was far-
reaching and was continued for a term of years.

In addition to removal from villages and hamlets
there was also the removal from towns, but this was
conducted on a much smaller scale.
Removal lu this the Christians of Kovno took
from the initiative. They petitioned Em-
Towns, peror Paul I. in 1797 for the removal
of the Jews from their city on the
ground of ancient Polish privileges. The governor-
general of Lithuania, Count Ryepnin, declared,
however, that the Christians "did not themselves
know for what they were asking, and merely obeyed
their ancient antipathy and unwarranted envy of the
Jews," and that the removal of the Jews would
cause harm to the city ; therefore this petition was
not granted. PauM. ordered that the Jews be left
also in Kaminetz-Podolsk, whence it had been in-
tended •that they should be removed. Similarly, in
1801 he rejected the petition of the merchants of
Kiev for the exclusion of the Jews. Under Alexan-
der I. petitions of this kind were renewed, but un-
successfully. In 1803 the petition of the Christians
of Kovno and in 1810 a similar one from the Chris-
tians of Kiev were rejected. In all these petitions
the Christians were impelled by the desire of rid-
ding themselves of their competitors in commerce
and manufacture. In more recent times the agi-
tation for the exclusion of Jews from the towns

661

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

was resumed. In 1837 the Christians of Kiev liad
their wish granted and the Jews were expelled,
notwithstanding the fact that the local authorities
earnestly desired their retention. In 1839 expul-
sion from Nikolaief and Sebastopol was ordered, and
only those Jews who had served in the array or navy
were authorized to remain. However, in 1830 the
military governor of Nikolaief and Sebastopol, in
agreement with the sentiments of the city police ad-
ministration, the magistrates, and the city council,
applied to the ministry of the interior for the reten-
tion of the Jews, and pointed out that if they were
removed the city would be without artisans. This
application not being- granted, in 1833 the governor
applied for at least a postponement of the expulsion.
This was granted, at tirst for two years, and later for
another year ; but ultimately the Jews were expelled.
In this instance the government was apparently in-
fluenced by the military importance of the cities. In
1883 the Jews were expelled from Yalta (there only
remained those who were registered in the local
community), which was then excluded from the
Pale op Settlement, probably because the im-
perial family sojourned there during the summer
months. In accordance with the laws of 1891 and
1893 there were expelled from Moscow, within a
short time, all Jewish artisans, brewers, distillers,
and even soldiers who had served under Nicholas I.
for twenty-five years and who had enjoyed certain
privileges. Altogether there were expelled from
Moscow about 30,000 Jews.

Aside from these expulsions en masse, the removal
of separate groups of Jews and of individuals was
continued until very recently. The complicated en-
actments concerning the Pale or- Settlement, in
connection with the general disabilities of the Jews,
offer a wide field for unwarranted interpretation of
the written laws ; added to this there are at times
ignorance of the laws and, not infrequently, inten-
tional disregard of them on the part of those in sub-
ordinate authority. Finally, the change in family
relations, the change of occupation, and other cir-
cumstances often led to the expulsion of Jews.

On April 3, 1880 (under Alexander II.), the min-
ister of the interior suggested to the governors that
they should not expel the Jews who did not enjoy
right of residence in any given locality, but who were
already established there and engaged in commercial
undertakings, the destruction of which would ruin
not only the Jews but also the Christians who had en-
tered into business relations with them. In con-
nection with tliis it was ordered that no Jews should be
permitted to establish themselves in new localities
without having first secured permission to do so.
A document containing these orders was again sent
out in 1883. On Jan. 14, 1893, the order was re-
scinded, and the governors were commanded to en-
force, not later than Nov. 1, 1898, the expulsion of
the Jews directed by the law. Later the time was
extended to June 1, 1894 (persons who had attained
the age of seventy or more were exempted entirely).
For the reasons indicated above, the expulsion of
the Jews from various localities was thereafter
intermittently persisted in.

After the outbreak of the war with Japan orders
were issued by circular to discontinue the expulsions
X.— 36

temporarily. In Kiev the local authorities attempted
to expel the mother and the wife of a Jewish phy-
sician who had been sent to the scene of war, because
according to the strict interpretation of the law the
mother and wife could live in Kiev only with the
male head of the family.

Bibliography : M. Mysh, Borba PraviteMva s Piteinym
Promvslom Yevreyev v Selakh i Derevnyakh, to Voskhod,
1881, vols. vlit. and Ix.; J. I. Hessen, K Isinrii Vyseleniya
Yevreyeviz sel i Dereven, to VmMmO, 1903, vols. Iv. and v.;
Idem, IzpoWtikh Otgoloskov, m Voskhod, 1904, Nos. 14 and 15.
H. n. *

Poland* (Polish, "Polska"; German, "Po-

len '' ; Hebrew, |i^ia ; Russian, " Polsha ") : Former
powerful kingdom in north central Europe, com-
prising, until its first partition, in 1773, a territory
bounded by the Oder and the Warta on the west, by
the Carpathian Mountains and the Dniester on the
south, by the Dnieper on the east, and by the Dlina
on the north.

From the historical documents thus far available
it is difiicult to determine with certaint}' when the
first Jewish settlers arrived in Poland. Some Polish
writers, like Naruszewicz, are of the opinion that
Jews went to Poland in very early times, and that
they lived there before the introduction of Chris-
tianity (965) under Mieczyslaw I. Others, like Ja-
nicki, claim that authentic evidence as to the pres-
ence of Jews in Poland does not go further back
than the twelfth century, when, under Prince Miec-
zyslaw III. (1173-1309) and kings Casimir the Just
and Leshek the White (1194-1305), the Jews had
charge of the mints.

The Polish historian Maciejowski advances the
view ("Zydzi w Polsce," etc., p. 8) that "Jews were
present in Poland if not in the eighth century at
least in the ninth"; but on the other hand he ridi-
cules the statement of Leon Weil ("Orient," 1849,
p. 143), who, on the strength of certain documents,
relates the following : " Hard pressed by the Ger-
mans, the Jews sent to Poland (894) a delegation
composed of the most eloquent Spanish rabbis, in
order to petition the reigning prince, Leshek, for
the apportionment to them of a parcel of land in
Polish territory on which they might establish them-
selves and engage in agricultural pursuits and in
handicrafts and the liberal arts. No special territory
was assigned to them; but they were given permis-
sion to settle anywhere in the land, and to engage
in the occupations specified. Eleven

Jewish years later (905) the Jews were by
Charter of charter assured religious liberty, au-
905. tonomy in judicial matters, freedom
of trade, independence from the
Shlyakhta, or lesser nobles, and protection from the
attacks of hostile mobs. This charter was lost in
the Polish-German war of 1049."

Coins unearthed in 1873 in the Great-Polish village
of Glenbok show conclusively that in the reigns of
Mieczyslaw III,, Casimir, and Leshek the Jews were,
as stated above, in charge of the coinage in Great
and Little Poland. These coins bear emblems hav-

* Owtog to tlie recent disturbances In Eussia, the article Po-
land, which was assigned to a Russian collaborator and which
was to have appeared in its proper vocabulary pla«e, was not
received. The only other caption under which it could be
inserted is that under which it now appears.

Bussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

663

ing inscriptions of various characters; in some ex-
amples only the name of the king or prince being
given, as, for instance, "Prince Meshko," -while in
others the surname is added, as " Mcshek the Blessed "
or "the Just." Some of the coins, moreover, bear
inscriptions having no direct reference to Poland, to
the reigning princes, or even to the coin itself, but
referring to incidents of a purely Jewish character,
as, for instance, " Rejoice, Abraham, Isaac, and Ja-
cob"; " Abraham Duchs (D3n DX13N) and Abraham
Pech (nna)." Similar coins had been discovered
elsewhere several years earlier ; but, owing to their
peculiar inscriptions, doubts were expressed, even by
such a noted numismatist as Joachim Lelewel, as to
their being coins at all. Their true nature was re-
vealed only with the discovery of the Glenbok treas-
ure. All the inscriptions on the coins of the twelfth

on the strength of the charter of privileges granted
by Boleslaw of Kalisz to Jewish immigrants, for the
charter makes no mention of a Jewish community,
nor of the right of Jews to acquire landed property.
"The facts," says Bershadski, "made plain by the
grant of Premyslaw II. prove that the Jews were
ancient inhabitants of Poland, and that the charter
of Boleslaw of Kalisz, copied almost verbally from
the privileges of Ottocar of Bohemia, was merely a
written approval of relations that had become gradu-
ally established, and had received the sanction of
the people of the country."

Bershadski comes to the conclusion that as early
as the thirteenth century there existed in Poland a
number of Jewish communities, the most important
of which was that of Kalisz. Maximilian Gumplo-
vicz, however, hazards the conjecture that the word

Polish Coins with Jewish Insceiptions.

(From " Revue Numismatique.")

century are in Hebrew ; and they sufficiently prove
that at the time in question the Jews had already
established themselves in positions of trust and prom-
inence, and were contented with their lot.

"The Jewish coiners," says Bershadski, "might
have been people who came to the country only oc-
casionally, and for that special purpose." But
there is found among the few documents dating from
the second half of the thirteenth century a char-
ter issued by Premyslaw II., successor of Boleslaw
of Kalisz, confirming a previous grant of privileges
whereby the Jew Rupin, son of Yoshka, is per-
mitted to dispose of his inheritance,
Jewish a hill ("montem") situated near the
Coiners, boundary of his estate of Podgozhe.
It is difficult to assume that the ac-
quisition of real estate, its transmission by inherit-
ance, and its further cession to the "Jewish elders of
Kalisz and their entire community " were permitted

" Pech " on the Glenbok coins is the Chazarian
"Pech" or "Beck," meaning "viceroy of the Cha-
ghan" (see Jew. Encyc. iv. 5a, s.v. Chazaks), and
that the supposedly legendary King Abraham
Prochownik, who according to tradition ruled Po-
land for one day only, perhaps really existed in the
person of some Chazarian prince who was for a time
viceroy of Poland. Gumplovicz cites the Polish
writer Stronezynski (" Pieniadze Piastow," 2d ed,,
Warsaw, 1883), who thinks that the coins with He-
brew inscriptions belong to a period prior to the
introduction of Christianity. The Arab geogra-
phers of the ninth century relate that Jews of western
Europe who traveled to Chazaria came there by way
of the Slavonic countries and Poland (see Jew.
Enoyc. iv. 3a, s.v. Chazars).

It is not definitely known whether the first Jewish
arrivals in Poland were from the Chazarian coun-
tries in South Russia or from western Europe. The

563

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

first historian of the Jews of Poland, Ozacld, states
in hia " Kozpravva o Zydach i Karaitach " (1807) tliat
the earliest Jewish immigrants in Poland were of
German origin ; hut, as has been pointed out by
liersliadski and Dubnow, Czacki's work, however
conscientious and clear-sighted, can be regarded
only as a historical document, and not as a complete
history of the Polish Jews. Unfortunately, Czacki
■was followed blindly by Sternberg, Weil, and Graetz.
Though direct proof is absent, it is nevertheless
safe to assume from the documents at present
available that South Russia furnished the first Jew-
ish settlers in Poland (see Jew. Encyc. viii. 118,
s.e. Lithuania). It is known also that German
Jews traded In the Slavonic countries as early as the
reign of Charlemagne ; and some of them may have
established themselves in Poland.

Jews in the development of the commercial interests
of his country. The Jewish traveler Pethahiah
BEN Jacob ha-Laban visited Poland toward the end
of the twelfth century. At that time their position
in the numerous principalities had been securely es-
tablished. The Prince of Cracow, Mieczyslaw III.
(1173-1202), in his endeavor to establish law and
order in his domains, prohibited all violence against
the Jews, particularly attacks upon them by unruly
students. Boys guilty of such attacks, or their
parents, were made to pay fines as heavy as those
imposed for sacrilegious acts. Early in the thir-
teenth century Jews owned land in Polish Silesia.

The commercial relations between the Jewish
settlements in Poland and those in western Eu-
rope were not without effect in intellectual and re-
ligious matters. The Polish Jews, devoting their

Polish Coins with Jewish Insoriptidns.

(From " Revue Numismatique.")

The first actual mention, however, of Jews in the
Polish chronicles occurs under date of the eleventh
century. It appears that Jews were then living in
Gnesen, at that time the religious capital of the
Polish kingdom. Some of them were
Early Jew- wealthy, owning Christian , slaves ;
ish Slave- they even engaged in the slave-trade.

Traders, according to the custom of the times.

The pious Queen Judith, wife of the

Polish king Ladislaus Herman (d. 1085), spent large

sums of money in purchasing the fj'eedom of

Christian slaves owned by Jews.

The first extensive Jewish emigration from west-
ern Europe to Poland occurred at the time of the
First Crusade (1098). Under Bolesl aw III. , Khzy-
wousTY (1102-39), the Jews, encouraged by the tol-
erant regime of this wise ruler, settled throughout
Polish and Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev.
Boleslaw on his part recognized the utility of the

energies to commercial pursuits, were obliged, ac-
cording to the testimony of Eliezer of Bohemia, to
obtain their rabbis from Prance, Germany, and other
west-European countries, while the young Polish
Jews went abroad for the study of rabbinical and
other literature. Among the rabbinical scholars of
the twelfth century mention is made of Mordeoai of
Poland (Dubnow).

Prom the various sources it is evident that at this
time the Jews enjoyed undisturbed peace and pros-
perity in the many principalities into which the
country was then divided. In the interests of com-
merce the reigning princes extended protection
and special privileges to the Jewish settlers. With
the descent of the Tatars on Polish territory (1241)
the Jews in common with the other inhabitants suf-
fered severely. Cracow was pillaged and burned,
other towns were devastated, and hundreds of Jews
were carried into captivity. As the tide of invasion

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

664

receded the Jews returned to their old homes and oc-
cupations. They formed the middle class in a coun-
try where the general population
The Tatar consisted of landlords and peasants,
Invasion, and they were instrumental in pro-
moting the commercial interests of the
land. Money-lending and the farming of the differ-
ent government revenues, such as those from the salt-
mines, the customs, etc., were their most important
pursuits. The native population had not yet be-
come permeated with the religious intolerance of
western Europe, and lived at peace with the Jews.

This patriarchal order of things was gradually al-
tered by the Roman Church on the one hand, and
by the neighboring German states oii the other.
The emissaries of the Roman pontiffs came to Poland
in pursuance of a fixed policy ; and in their endeavors
to strengthen the influence of the Catholic Church
they spread teachings imbued with hatred toward the
followers of Judaism. At the same time Bolbslaw
v., Wbtydliwy (1328-79), encouraged the influx of
German colonists. He granted to them the Magde-
burg Rights (see Magdeburg Law), and by estab-
lishing them in the towns introduced there an ele-
ment which brought with it deep-seated prejudices
against the Jews. There were, however, among the
reigning princes determined protectors of the Jew-
ish inhabitants, who considered the presence of the
latter most desirable in so far as the economic de-
velopment of the country was concerned. Promi-
nent among such rulers was Boleslaw Pobozny of
Kalisz, King of Great Poland. With the consent of
the class representatives and higher officials he is-
sued in 1364 a charter which clearly defined the po-
sition of his Jewish subjects. This charter, which
subsequently formed the basis of Polish legislation
concerning the Jews, does not differ greatly from
that granted by Witold (1388) to the Jews of Lithu-
ania (for text of the latter charter see Jew. Encyc.
viii. 130, S.11. Lithuania).

In a critical review of L. Gumplovicz's work on
Polish-Jewish legislation, Levanda (in "Voskhod,"
1886, No. ix.) comes to the conclusion that Boles-
law's charter was meant to define unequivocally the
exact position that the Jews were to occupy in the
body politic throughoiit Poland's history. The
terms of the charter, marked by patriarchal sim-
plicity, show clearly that the Jews were regarded as
an association of money-lenders to whom a conces-
.oion was made to trade and to lend money on inter-
est, with the guaranty of religious freedom and of
the inviolability of person and property. They
were to circulate their capital and thus supply the
needs of the Christian population, and were to be al-
lowed to enjoy profits made through their business
operations. No mention occurs in the charter of
other business pursuits, handicrafts, or industries,
from which it may be inferi'ed that the Jews were to
engage in no other occupation thaa money-lending.
The term " privilegium " applied to the^ charter
shows that the latter was not a part of the general
laws, but an exception to their provisions. It opened
a wide gap between the Christian and the Jewish
population that was never closed. It placed the
latter in a position of isolation, owing to which
they were compelled to develop an internal organi-

zation of their own. This, however, served them in
good stead with regard to the defense of their com-
mercial interests and in the mastery of new forms
of commercial activity.

The charter dealt in detail with all sides of Jewish
life, particularly the relations of the Jews to their
Christian neighbors. The guiding principle in all
its provisions was justice, while national, racial, and
religious motives were entirely excluded. In order
to safeguard their persons and property, the Jews
were in some instances granted even greater privi-
leges than the Christians, who thus came to recog-
nize that the Jews were to be regarded as a people
with a civilization of their own and entitled to the
protection of the laws.

But while the temporal authorities endeavored to

regulate the relations of the Jews to the country at

large in accordance with its economic needs, the

clergy, inspired not by patriotism, but

Hostility by the attempts of the Roman Church

of the to establish its universal supremacy.

Church, used its influence toward separating
the Jews from the body politic, aiming
to exclude them, as people dangerous to the Church,
from Christian society, and to place them in the
position of a despised sect. In 1266 an ecumeijical
council was held at Breslau under the chairmanship
of the papal nuncio Guido. The council introduced
into the ecclesiastical statutes of Poland a number
of paragraphs directed against the Jews. In para-
graph 13 it is stated that "since Poland has but
lately joined the fold of the Christian Church it may
be apprehended that its Christian inhabitants will
the more easily yield to the prejudices and evil
habits of their Jewish neighbors, the establishment
of the Christian faith in the hearts of the believers
in these lands having been of such a recent date.
We therefore emphatically decree that Jews living
in the bishopric of Gnesen shall not dwell together
with Christians, but shall live separately in some
portion of their respective towns or villages. The
quarter in which the Jews reside shall be divided
from the section inhabited by the Christians by a
fence, wall, or ditch." The Jews were ordered to
dispose as quickly as possible of real estate owned
by them in the Christian quarters ; they were not to
appear on the streets during Church processions;
they were allowed to have only a single synagogue
in any one town ; and they were required to wear a
special cap to distinguish them from the Christians.
The latter were forbidden, under penalty of excom-
munication, to invite Jews to feasts or other enter-
tainments, and were forbidden also to buy meat or
other provisions from Jews, for fear of being poi-
soned. The council furthermore con-
The Badge firmed the regulations under which
Instituted. Jews were not allowed to keep Chris-
tian servants, to lease taxes or customs
duties, or to hold any public office. At the Coun-
cil of Ofen held in 1279 the wearing of a red badge
was prescribed for the Jews, and the foregoing pro-
visions were reaffirmed.

Though the Catholic clergy continued in this way
to sow the seed of religious hatred— which in time
bore a plentiful harvest — the temporal rulers were
not inclined to accept the edicts of the Church, and

565

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Russia

the Jews of Poland were for a long time left in the
enjoyment of their rights. Ladidaus Loltietek, who
ascended the Polish throne in 1319, endeavored to
establish a uniform legal code throughout the land.
By the general laws he assured to the Jews safety
and freedom and placed them on an equality with
the Christians. They dressed like the Christians,
wearing garments similar to those of the nobility,
and, like the latter, wore also gold chains and carried
swords. Ladislaus likewise framed laws for the lend-
ing of money to Christians. In 1334 Boleslaw is-
sued a charter of still greater significance. It was
much amplified by King Casimir III., tub Great
(1303-70), who was especially friendly to the Jews,
and whose reign is justly regarded as an era of great
prosperity for the Polish Jewry. His charter was
more favorable to the Jews than was Boleslaw 's, in
so far as it safeguarded some of their civil rights in
addition to their commercial privileges. This far-
seeing ruler sought to employ the town and rural
populations as checks upon the growing power of
the aristocracy. He regarded the Jews not simply
as an association of money-lenders, but as a part of
the nation, into which they were to be incorporated
for the formation of a homogeneous body politic.
For his attempts to uplift the masses, including the
Jews, Casimir was surnamed by his contemporaries
"king of the serfs and Jews." His charter for the
Jews provided among other things that any lawsuit
in ^yhich Jews were concerned might at their request
be brought before the king ; that they might not be
summoned before the ecclesiastical tribunals ; that
elders or way wodes had no right to exact special taxes
or contributions from them ; that the murder of a
Jew was to be punishable by death, whereas in
Boleslaw's charter the penalty had consisted merely
of a fine and confiscation of property. Apart from
these amplifications of Boleslaw's charter, Casimir
granted to the Jews the right of unrestricted resi-
dence and movement; and they were not obliged to
pay taxes other than those paid by the Christians.
They were permitted to lend money on farms and
other real property, and to rent or acquire lands
and estates (L. Gumplovicz, "Prawodawstwo," etc.,

p. 3^).

Most of the documents of the fourteenth century
treat of the Jews of Little Poland and especially of
those of Cracow. Notwithstanding its paucity the
material is ample to show the gradual growth of the
Jews in numbers and in wealth. Thus in 1304 men-
tion is made of the cession by Philip Pollack to Genez
Magdassen of one-half of the former's
Prosperity property on the Jewish street in
TTnder Cracow; in 1313 the Jew Michael

Casimir and his son Nathan purchased an
III. estate in the Jewish quarter from

the widow of the burgher Gilnther;
in 1335 the Jew Kozlina acquired from the burgher
Herman four houses near the Jewish cemetery;
in 1339 the widow of the Jew Rubin sold her
house to the burgher Johann Eomanich ; and in 1347
there occurs a reference to a Jewish quarter in the
suburb of Cracow (" vicus Judseorum"), with a syn-
agogue and a cemetery on the banks of the Rudava.
The cemetery had existed from the beginning of the
century. Prominent among the Jews of Cracow in

the latter half of this century was the leaseholder
Levko, who was under the direct jurisdiction of the
king. Levko leased the salt monopoly, and had ex-
clusive jurisdiction over the numerous laborers in the
salt-mines. He was regarded as the money-king of
his time; and his sons, who inherited his wealth,
frequently lent large sums to Queen Yadwiga and
also to Ladislaus Jagellon (see Casimir III).

Nevertheless, while for the greater part of Casi-
mir's reign the Jews of Poland, as has been seen,
enjoyed tranquillity, toward its close they were sub-
jected to persecution on account of the Black
Death. Massacres occurred at Kalisz, Cracow,
Glogau, and other Polish cities along the German
frontier, and it is estimated that 10,000 Jews were
killed. Compared with the pitiless destruction of
their coreligionists in western Europe, however, the
Polish Jews did not fare badly; and the Jewish
masses of Germany fled to the more hospitable lajid-s'
of Poland, where the interests of the laity still re-
mained more powerful than those of the Church.

But under Casimir's successor, Louis of Hungary
(1370-84), the complaint became general that justice
had disappeared from the land. An attempt was
made to deprive the Jews of the protection of the
laws. Guided mainly by religious motives, Louis
persecuted them, and threatened to expel those who
refused to accept Christianity. His short reign did
not suffice, however, to undo the beneficent work of
his predecessor; and it was not until the long reign
of the Lithuanian grand duke Ladislaus II. , Jagellon
(1386-1434), that the influence of the Church in civil
and national affairs increased, and the civic condition
of the Jews gradually became less favorable. Never-
theless, at the beginning of Ladislaus' reign the Jews
still enjoyed the full protection of the laws. Hube
cites a series of old documents from Posen, from
which it appears that in monetary transactions the
Jews of Great and Little Poland were protected by
the courts to such an extent that in cases of non-pay-
ment they might take possession of the real estate
of their Christian debtors. Thus in 1388 a verdict
was rendered in favor of the Jew Sabdai, whereby
his debtor was placed under arrest and was made to
pay the principal together with nine years' interest
upon it. In 1398 another debtor pledged himself to
transfer to his Jewish creditors half of a village with
all its revenues, excluding the manor and the land
belonging to it. In 1390 the Jew Daniel was placed
in possession of the estate of Kopashevo for a debt
of 40 marks ; and in the same year a debt of 20 marks
due to the above-mentioned Sabdai from the owner
of a certain estate was given preference over all
other obligations of the latter, and Sabdai was put
in possession of the estate.

Asa result of the marriage of Jagellon to Yadwiga,
daughter of Louis of Hungary, Lithuania was tem-
porarily united to the kingdom of Po-
Extensive land. Under his rule the first exten-

Persecu- sive persecutions of the Jews in Poland
tions in the were inaugurated. It was said that
Fourteenth the Jews of Posen had induced a poor

Century. Christian woman to steal from the

Dominican church three hosts, which

they desecrated, and that when the hosts began to

bleed, the Jews had thrown them into a ditch, where-

Kussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

566

upon various miracles occurred. Wlien informed of
this supposed desecration, tlie Bisliop of Posen or-
dered the Jews to answer the cliarges. Tlie woman
accused of stealing the hosts, the rabbi of Posen,
and thirteen elders of the Jewish community fell
victims to the superstitious rage of the people.
After long - continued torture on the rack they
were all burned slowly at the stake. In addi-
tion, a permanent fine was imposed on the Jews of
Posen, which they were required to pay annually
to the Dominican church. This fine was rigorously
collected until the eighteenth century. The perse-
cution of the Jews was due not only to religious
motives, but also to economic reasons, for they had
gained control of certain branches of commerce,
and the burghers, jealous of their success, desired to
rid themselves in one way or another of their objec-
tionable competitors.

The same motives were responsible for the riot of
Ckacow, instigated by the fanatical priest Bddek
in 1407. The first outbreak was suppressed by the
city magistrates; but it was renewed a few hours
later. A vast amount of property was destroyed ;
many Jews were killed; and their children were
baptized. In order to save their lives a number of
Jews accepted Christianity. The reform movement
of the Hussites intensified religious fanaticism ; and
the resulting reactionary measures spread to Poland.
The influential Polish archbishop Nicholas Tronba,
after his return from the Council of Kalisz (1420),
over which he had presided, induced the Polish
clergy to confirm all the anti-Jewish legislation
adopted at the councils of Breslau and Ofen, and
which thitherto had been but rarely carried into
effect. In addition to their previous disabilities, the
Jews were now compelled to paj' a tax for the ben-
efit of the churches in the precincts in which they
were residing, but " in which only Christians should
reside."

In 1433 King Ladislaus Jagellon issued an edict
forbidding the Jews to lend money on notes. In
his reign, as in the reign of his successor, Ladislaus
III., the ancient privileges of the Jews were almost
forgotten. The Jews vainly appealed to Jagellon
for the confirmation of their old charters. The
clergy successfully opposed the renewal of these
privileges on the ground that they were contrary to
the canonical regulations. In the achievement of this
purpose the rumor was even spread that the charter
claimed to have been granted to the Jews by Casi-
mir the Great was a forgery, inasmuch as a Catho-
lic ruler would never have granted full civil rights
to "unbelievers."

The machinations of the clergy were checked
somewhat by C asimir IV. , Jagellon (1447-93). He
readily renewed the charter granted to the Jews by
Casimir the Great, the original of which had been
d3stroyed in the fire that devastated Posen in
1447. To a Jewish deputation from the communi-
ties of Posen, Kalisz, Syeradza, Lenchich (Lenczyca),
Brest, and Wladislavov which applied to him for
the renewal of the charter, he said in his new grant :
" We desire that the Jews, whom we protect especi-
ally for the sake of our own interests and those of
the royal treasury, shall feel contented during our
prosperous reign." In confirming all previous

rights and privileges of the Jews — the freedom of
residence and trade, judicial and communal auton-
omy, the inviolability of person and
Charter of property, and protection against arbi-
Casimir IV. trary accusation and attacks — the chai'-
ter of Casimir IV. was a determined
protest against the canonical laws, which had been
but recently renewed for Poland by the Council of
Kalisz, and for the entire Catholic world by the Diet
of Basel. The charter, moreover, permitted more
intimate relations between Jews and Christians,
and freed the former from the jurisdiction of the
clerical courts. Strong opposition was created by
the king's liberal attitude toward the Jews, and
was voiced by the leaders of the clerical party. Car-
dinal Zbignyev Olesnicki, Archbishop of Cracow,
placed himself at the head of the opposition and
took the king sternly to task for his favors to the
Jews, which he claimed were "to the injury and in-
sult of the holy faith." "Do not think," he wrote
to the king in 1454, " that you are to decree what-
ever you please in matters of the Christian religion.
No man is so great or so powerful that he may not
be opposed in the cause of religion. Hence I beg
and implore your majesty to repeal the privileges
and rights in question." Joining forces with the
papal nuncio Capistrano, Olesnicki inaugurated a
vigorous campaign against the Jews and the Hus-
sites. The repeated appeals of the clergy, and the
defeat of the Polish troops by the Teutonic Knights
— ^which the clergy openly ascribed to the wrath of
God at Casimir's neglect of the interests of the
Church, and his friendly attitude toward the Jews
— finally induced the king to accede to the demands
which had been made. In 1454 the statute of Niesza-
wa was issued, which included the abolition of the
ancient privileges of the Jews "as contrary to divine
right and the law of the land." The triumph of the
clerical forces was soon felt by the Jewish inhab-
itants. The populace was encouraged to attack
them in many Polish cities; the Jews of Cracow
were again the greatest sufferers. In the spring of
1464 the Jewish quarters of the city were devastated
by a mob composed of monks, students, peasants,
and the minor nobles, who were then organizing a
new crusade against the Turks. More than thirty
Jews were killed, and many houses were destroyed.
Similar disorders occurred in Posen and elsewhere,
notwithstanding the fact that Casimir had fined the
Cracow magistrates for having failed to take strin-
gent measures for the suppression of the previous
riots.

The policy of the government toward the Jews of
Poland was not more tolerant under Casimir's sous
and successors, John Albert (1493-1501) and Alex-
ander Jagellon (1501-6). Jolm Albert frequently
found himself obliged to inquire into local disputes
between Jewish and Christian merchants. Thus in
1493 he adjusted the conflicting claims of the Jew-
ish merchants and the burghers of Lemberg con-
cerning the right to trade freely within the city.
On the whole, however, he was not friendly to the
Jews. The same may be said of Alexander Jagel-
lon, who had expelled the Jews from Lithuania in
1495 (see Lithuania). To some extent he was un-
doubtedly influenced in this measure by the expul-

567

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia

sion of the Jews from Spain (1492), which was re-
sponsible also for the increased persecution of the
Jews in Austria, Bohemia, and Germany, and thus

stimulated the Jewish emigration to

Importance Poland. For various reasons Alexan-

of der permitted the return of the Jews

the Polish, in 1503, and during the period immedi-

Jewry. ately preceding the Reformation the

number of Jewish exiles grow rapidly
on account of the anti-Jewish agitation in Germany.
Indeed, Poland became the recognized haven of ref-
uge for exiles from western Europe; and the result-
ing accession to the ranks of the Polish Jewry made
it the cultural and spiritual center of the Jewish
people. This, as has been suggested by Dubnow,
■was rendered possible by the following conditions :

" The Jewish population of Poland waa at that time greater
than that of any other European countr.y ; the Jews enjoyed an
«xtenslye communal autonomy based on special privileges ; they
were not confined In their economic life to purely subordinate
■occupations, as was true of their western coreligionists ; they
were not engaged solely in petty trade and money-lending, but
carried on also an Important export trade, leased government
revenues and large estates, and followed the handicrafts and, to
a certain extent, agriculture ; in the matter of residence they
were not restricted to ghettos, like their German brethren. All
these conditions contributed toward the evolution In Poland of
an independent Jewish civilization. Thanks to its social and
Judicial autonomy, Polish Jewish life was enabled to develop
freely along the lines of national and religious tradition. The
rabbi became not only the spiritual guide, but also a member of
the communal administration [Kahal], a civil Judge, and the
authoritative expounder of the Law. Eabbinism was not a dead
letter-Were, but a guiding religio-judicial system ; for the rabbis
adjudged civil as well as certain criminal caseS'On the basis of
Talmudlc legislation."

The Jews of Poland found themselves obliged to
make increased efforts to strengthen their social and
economic position, and to win the favor of the king
and of the nobility. The conflicts of the different
parties, of the merchants, the clergy, the lesser and
the higher nobility, enabled the Jews to hold their
own. The opposition of the Christian merchants
and of the clergy was counterbalanced by the sup-
port of the Shlyaklita, who derived certain economic
benefits from the activities of the Jews. By the
constitution of 1504, sanctioned by Alexander Ja-
gellon, the Shlyakhta Diets were given a voice in all
important national matters. On some occasions the
Jewish merchants, when pressed by the lesser nobles,
were afforded protection by the king, since they
"were an important source of royal revenue.

The most prosperous period in the life of the
Polish Jews began with the reign of Sigismund I.
(1506-48). In 1507 that king informed the authori-
ties of Lemberg that until further notice its Jewish

citizens, in view of losses sustained

Favorable by them, were to be left undisturbed

Reign of in the possession of all their ancient

Sigis- privileges (" Russko-Yevreiski Ar-

mund I. khiv," iii. 79). His generous treatment

of his physician, Jacob Isaac, whom
he made a member of the nobility in 1507, tes-
tifies to his liberal views. In the same year Sigis-
mund leased the customs revenues of Lubuchev to
the Jew Chaczko, exempting him from all taxes.
Similar exemptions from general or special taxes
were granted by the king to a number of other Jews.
In 1510 he reduced the taxes imposed upon the Jew-

ish commimity of Lemberg to 300 florins, in consid-
eration of their impoverished condition, and ap-
pointed as tax-collectors the Jews Solomon and
Baruch. In the following year he was called upon
to adjudicate in a case which illustrates the strained
relations between the Jews and Christians of that
city. The Jew Abraham was accused of sacrilege
and placed under arrest. The king ordered his re-
lease on May 1 with the stipulation that he should
either appear before the king's court on May 2 of
the following year or pay a penalty of 3,000 marks.
His bondsmen were the Jews Abraham Franczek of
Cracow, Isaac Jacob Franczek of Opoczno, Slioma
Swyathly, Oser, David and Michael Tabyc, and the
Lemberg Jews Israel, Judah, two named Solomon,
and Samuel. In the same year Sigismund exempted
the Jews of Lemberg from the payment of all
crown taxes for six years. In 1513 he leased to the
Lemberg Jew Judah, son of Solomon, the customs
revenues of Yaroslav for a term of four years.
On June 3 of the same year he appointed Abbaham
OF Bohemia prefect of the Jews of Great and Little
Poland; and on Aug. 6 following he appointed the
Kazimierz Jew Franczek as tax-collector for all the
provinces of Little Poland, excepting Cracow and
Kazimierz. In 1515 he adjudged an important suit
between the aldermen and the Jews of Lemberg
concerning the rights of the latter to carry on trade
in that city. The aldermen had complained that the
Jews had gained complete control of the trade, thus
rendering it impossible for the Christian merchants
to do business. Both parties submitted to the king
copies of their ancient charters of privileges, and
Sigismund decreed that the Jews, like the other mer-
chants of Lemberg, were entitled to trade in various
products throughout the country, but that they
might sell cloth in the cities and towns during fairs
only. The purchase of cattle by them was per-
mitted only to the extent of 3,000 head annually,
and then on the payment of a special duty.

In 1517 Sigismund confirmed the ancient privi-
leges of the Jews of Posen. In 1518 he ordered the
customs-collector of Posen not to exact from the
Jews larger duties on their wares than those col-
lected from the king's other subjects. In the same
year he confirmed the election for life of the rabbis
Moses and Mendel as judges over the Jews of Great
Poland. They were given the authority to decide
suits both individually and jointly; and the Jews
of Great Poland were required to recognize their
authority, and to pay a fine into the royal treasury
in case of failure to accept their deci-
Certain sions. In October of the same year
Jews Ad- the king admitted to Polish denizen-
mitted to ship the Bohemian Jews Jacob and
Denizen- Lazar, granting them the right of un-
ship, restricted residence and movement
throughout the kingdom. In 1519
Sigismund released the Jews of Great Poland, for a
period of three years, from the payment of any
crown taxes directly to the royal tax-collectors. He
decreed that instead five Jewish collectors should
be chosen, and a commission of eleven persons be
appointed for the apportionment of the total tax
of 300 florins among the several Jewish taxpayers,
due regard being had to the wealth of each, and

SusBia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

668

special reductions being provided in the case of
the poor. In the event of the death or impoverish-
ment of any of the taxpayers the collectors were
empowered to increase the taxes of the well-to-do,
in order that the poorer taxpayers might not be ex-
cessively burdened and that the total amount of the
tax might remain undiminished. This decree was
the result of complaints made by the Jews of Great
Poland against the abuses and oppressions of the
royal tax-collectors. The members of tlie commis-
sion appointed for this purpose were: Isaac of Mes-
eritz (Mezhirechye), Samson of Skwirzyna, Mendel
of Gnesen, Beniash of Obornik, Moses of Vlazlav,
Kalman of Pakosch, David of Brest-Kuyavsk, Sli-
oma of Lenchich, Abraham of Polotzk (formerly of
Sokhaczev), Uziel of Kalisz, and Solomon of Plonsk.
The tax-collectors appointed were: Samuel and
Beniash of Posen ; Mossel, the customs collector of
Inovlozlav ; Moses, the customs collector of Brest-
Kuyavsk ; and Jacob, a physician of Sokhaczev.

In the same year a quarrel arose between the
Bohemian and the Polish Jews in the community of
Cracow over the question whether there should be
one rabbi for tlie entire community or a separate
rabbi for each faction. The case was brouglit be-
fore the king, who decided (May 25, 1519) that, in
accordance with established custom, the community
should have two rabbis. Rabbi Peretz, wlio had
already held that position for two years, and Rabbi
Asher (son-in-law of Rachael), both of
Two Con- them experts in the Law, were pro-
gregations posed by the respective parties with
in Cracow, the consent of the entire community.
The king reserved the right, in case
Peretz declined to continue in the rabbinate, to ap-
point liis successor. Each rabbi was forbidden to
interfere in the affairs of the other, under a penalty
of 100 marks in silver payable into the royal treasury ;
and each member of the community was at liberty
to choose which congregation he would join. The
entire community was ordered, under a penalty for
disobedience, to pay to the rabbis the various fees
and other sources of income assigned to them by
ancient custom. This arrangement failed to adjust
the difficulties, as is seen from a subsequent decision
of the king (Nov. 5, 1519). A party of recently ar-
rived Bohemian Jews, headed by Rabbi Peretz,
wislied to crowd out from the synagogue belonging
to the Polish congregation the native part of the
community, headed by Rabbi Asher. This ancient
synagogue had been built by the Polish Jews and
kept in repair by them until the arrival of the Bohe-
mians. The king's second decision was more favor-
able to the native portion of the community, which
was left in permanent possession of the synagogue.
The followers of Rabbi Peretz were not permitted
to enter the edifice without the consent of Rabbi
Asher and his followers; and a penalty of 1,000
marks was imposed for infraction of this regulation.
The Bohemians were, moreover, precluded on pain
of a similar fine from inducing members of the native
community to join their synagogue; while Rabbi
Asher and his followers still retained the right to
admit any person at their discretion.

The commercial activity of the Jewish merchants
arrayed against them their Christian rivals of the

larger cities. The magistrates of Posen and Lem-
berg, in their opposition to the Jews, even went so
far as to propose a coalition against them (1521).
Tlie struggle was not always above board. In some
towns the populace was incited against the Jews,
and several riots occurred. Sigismund took meas-
ures to prevent the repetition of such disorders ; and
in the case of Cracow he warned the magistrates
that he would hold them responsible for any recur-
rence.

Sigismund 's protection of his Jewish favorites is
demonstrated by his letter of respite, Aug. 36, 1525, to
the Posen Jew Beniash, surnamed " Dlugi " (= " the
Tall"), an insolvent debtor, granting him an ex-
tension of time (until Feb. 21, 1537) wherein to
pay his liabilities. This letter was intended to en-
able Beniash to adjust his business affairs, which had
become involved owing in part to the large amount
of debts due to him from various persons, espe-
cially Christians. A subsequent letter extended the
royal protection to him for a further term of tliree
years, prohibited forcible collection of money from
him, and ordered that lie be assisted in the col-
lection of his debts. Any infringe-
Jewish. ment of the provisions of the letter
Favorites was to be regarded as lese-majesty.

of Sigis- Further, Beniash was made subject to
mund. the jurisdiction of the king and of
the way wode of Cracow. An especial
mark of favor was shown also to the Jew Lazar of
Brandenburg in a royal order dated Nov. 14, 1535,
and exempting him for life from payment of the taxes
imposed upon the other Jews of Cracow. In return
for this privilege he was to pay only the sum of three
florins annually. These favors were an acknowl-
edgment of services rendered at Venice in tlie inter-
ests of the royal treasury and to Jodoc Ludwig, the
king's ambassador there.

By an edict of June 14, 1530, the king exempted the
Jew Simon and his family of the new town of Cerczin
from subjection to any religious bans, and announced
that any rabbi or doctor of the kingdom issuing
an excommunication against them would be liable
to a fine of 100 marks. On July 30, 1533, the king
appointed Moses Pishel chief rabbi of the Polish syn-
agogue of Cracow in succession to Rabbi Asher ;
and Fishel, with all his property in Kazimierz,
was exempted for life from all taxes and duties,
both ordinary and extraordinary. On Aug. 8,
1541, Sigismund issued an edict whereby the Jews
of Great Poland were given the right to elect a
chief rabbi, "a doctor of Judaism," subject to con-
firmation by the king. The government officials were
forbidden to install in this office any person not pre-
viously elected thereto by the voluntary act of the
Jews themselves.

But while Sigismund himself was prompted by
feelings of justice, his courtiers endeavored to turn
to their personal advantage the conflicting interests
of the different classes. Sigismuud's second wife.
Queen Bona, sold government positions lor money ;
and her favorite, the waywode of Cracow, Peter
Kmita, accepted bribes from both sides, promising
to further the interests of each at the Diets and with
the king. In 1530 the Jewish question was the sub-
ject of heated discussions at the Diets. There were

569

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

BuBsia

some delegates who insisted on the just treatment
of the Jews. On the other hand, some went so far
as to demand the expulsion of the Jews from the
country, while still others wished to curtail their
commercial rights. The Diet of Piotrkow (1538)
elaborated a series of repressive measures against
the Jews, who were prohibited from engaging in
the collection of taxes and from leasing estates or
government revenues, "it being against God's law
that these people should hold honored positions
among the Christians. " The commercial pursuits of
the Jews in the cities were placed under the control
of the hostile magistrates, while in the villages Jews
were forbidden to trade at all. The Diet revived
also the medieval ecclesiastical law compelling the
Jews to wear a distinctive badge. In 1589 a Catho-
lic woman of Cracow, Katherine Zalyeshovska, was
burned at the stake for avowed leanings toward
Judaism, the populace being incited
Converts to against the Jews by various pam-
Judaism. phlets circulated among the people.
This and similar cases of conversion
to the Jewish faith were probably the result of the
secret societies which were established among the
Shlyakhta in 1530, and which owed their origin to
the religious reforms among the intelligent members
of Polish society on the advent of Lutheranism in
the German districts of Poland (see Dubnow in
"Voskhod,"May, 1895).

The influx of foreign Jews, particularly from Bo-
hemia, was probably responsible for a decree of Oct.
17, 1543, by which ordinance they were forbidden
to settle within the kingdom, and freedom of move-
ment was accorded only to such Bohemian Jews as
had already settled on crown or Shlyakhta lands.
An exception was allowed, however, in favor of the
cities of Cracow, Posen, and Lemberg. This decree,
issued at the request of the Jews themselves, was
promulgated before the death of Sigismund Jagel-
lon, and was not signed by Sigismund 11., Augustus,
as certain sources state.

Sigismund II., Augustus (1548-73) followed in the
main the tolerant policy of his father. He confirmed
the ancient privileges of the Polish Jews, and con-
siderably widened and strengthened the autonomy
of their communities. By a decree of Aug. 13, 1551,
the Jews of Great Poland were again granted permis-
sion to elect a chief rabbi, who was to act as judge
in all matters concerning their religious life. Jews
refusing to acknowledge his authority were to be
subject to a fine or to excommunication; and those
refusing to yield to the latter might be executed
after a report of the circumstances had been made
to the authorities. The property of the recalcitrants
was to be confiscated and turned into the crown
treasury. The chief rabbi was exempted from the
authority of the waywode and other officials, while
the latter were obliged to assist him in enforcing the
law among the Jews. In agreements concluded
(June 30 and Sept. 15, 1553) between the Jews of
Cracow and the Christian merchants of Kazimierz
and Stradom the signatures of the following promi-
nent Jews occur: Rabbi Moses; Jonas Abramo-
vich ; Israel Czarnij ; Simon, son-in-law of Moses ;
Samuel, son of Feit ; Moses Echlier ; Rabbi Esaias.;
Lazar, son-in-law of the widow Bona; and Rabbi

Alexander. In 1556 the king issued a decree de-
fining the judicial rights of the Jews of Lublin.
In a similar document issued in the same year the
conflicting claims of the Jewish and Christian mer-
chants of Posen were adjusted.

The favorable attitude of the king and of the
enlightened nobility could not prevent the growing
animosity against the Jews in certain
Under parts of the kingdom. The Reforma-
Sigismund tion movement stimulated an anti-
II. Jewish crusade by the Catholic clergy,

who preached vehemently against all
heretics — Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jews. In 1550
the papal nuncio Alois Lipomano, who had been
prominent as a persecutor of the Neo-Christians in
Portugal, was delegated to Cracow to strengthen
the Catholic spirit among the Polish nobility. He
warned the king of the evils resulting from his tol-
erant attitude toward the various non-believers in
the country. Seeing that the Polish nobles, among
whom the Reformation had already taken strong
root, paid but scant courtesy to his preachings, he
initiated a movement against the Tatars and the Jew-
ish inhabitants of Lithuania, whom he attempted to
convert to Catholicism (1555). Returning from
Wilna to Cracow in 1556 he inaugurated there a
crusade against the Jews. In the interests of this
crusade a rumor was spread among the populace to
the effect that a Christian woman of Sochaczow,
Dorotea Lazencka, had sold to the local Jews a host
which she had received at communion and which
they had pierced until blood began to flow from the
punctures. By order of the Bishop of Kholm three
Jews of Sochaczow and their "accomplice," Dorotea
Lazencka, were put in chains, and later sentenced
to death. When the king, who was at that time in
Wilna, learned of the matter, he sent to the burgo-
master of Sochaczow orders to stop the proceedings
until a thorough investigation could be made. The
bishop, however, presented a forged royal order for
the execution; and the supposed blasphemers were
burned at the stake a few days before the king's
deputy arrived (1557). Sigismund Augustus was
highly incensed at this sanguinary deed, the priine
mover in which was the nuncio Lipomano. " I am
horrified at the thought of this shameful crime," he
said, "and besides I do not wish to be regarded as
a fool who believes that blood may flow from a
pierced host." The Protestant no-
Host-Dese- bles, who could not conscientiously

oration bring themselves to believe in the ab-
Charges. surd medieval fable, took the part of
the Jews ; and numerous satires were
written against the nuncio and the bishop. Sigis-
mund pointed out that papal bulls had repeatedly
asserted that all such accusations were without any
foundation whatsoever ; and he decreed that hence-
forth any Jew accused of having committed a mur-
der for ritual purposes, or of having stolen a host,
should be brought before his own court during the
sessions of the Diet.

Notwithstanding this decree and the ridicule of
the reformers, clerical influences forced the enact-
ment of anti-Jewish laws at the Diets of 1562 and
1565. At this time the Jews found a defender in
Solomon ben Nathan Ashkenazi, who before his de-

Hussia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

570

parture for Turkey was the king's physician. Simon
Gunzburg, a wealtliy court Jew and a celebrated
architect, also defended the cause of his coreligion-
ists. In 1566 the Jew Benedict Levith was awarded
for a term of four years the monopoly of importing
Hebrew books and of selling them throughout the
country. At the request of the Jews the king per-
mitted (1567) Rabbi Isaac May to build a yeshibah
iu the suburb of Lublin. In 1571 the ciders of the
Jewish community of Posen were given the right to
expel from the city laAvless or immoral members of
the community, and even to sentence them to death.
The local way wode was at the same time forbidden to
oppose the execution of such sentences. The autono-
my tlius granted by Sigismund August to the Jews
in the matter of communal administration laid the
foundation for the power of the Kahal, which, as
has been pointed out by Dubnow, subsequently
brought to the Polish Jewrj' both great advantage
and considerable harm.

The officers of the kahal frequently made agree-
ments with the magistrates on the strength of which
the Jews were given the right, in return for certain
taxes, to trade freely and to own real estate within
the city limits. There were, however, some cities
like Syeradz and Vielun in which Jews were not
allowed even to reside. In 1659 Lithuania was
united to Poland; for the efEect of this union on
Jewish life in Poland see Jew. Encyc. viii. 136, s.«.
Lithuania.

The deathof Sigismund Augustus (1673) and the
termination therewith of the Jagellon dynasty ne-
cessitated the election of his successor by the elect-
ive body of the Shlyakhta. The neighboring states
were deeply interested in the matter, each hoping to
insure tlie choice of its own candidate. The pope
was eager to assure the election of a Catholic, lest
the influences of the Reformation should become
predominant in Poland. Catherine de Medici was
laboring energetically for the election of her son
Henry of Anjou. But in spite of all the intrigues at
the various courts, the deciding factor in the election
was the above-mentioned Solomon Ashkenazi, then
in charge of the foreign affaii's of Turkey. Henry
of Anjou was elected, which fact was of deep con-
cern to the liberal Poles and the Jews. Fortunately
this participator in the massacre of St. Bartholomew
secretly fled to France after a reign of a few months,
in order to succeed his deceased brother Charles IX.
on the French throne.

Stephen Bathori (1576-86) was now elected king
of Poland ; and he proved both a tolerant ruler and
a friend of the Jews. On Feb. 10, 1577, he sent
orders to the magistrate of Posen directing him to
prevent class conflicts, and to maintain order in the
city. His orders were, however, of no avail. Three
months after his manifesto a riot occurred in Posen,
for details of which see Jew. Escyc. ii. 596a, s.v.
Batiiohi, SxErHEN. Political and economic events
in the course of the sixteenth century
Under forced the Jews to establish a more

Stepken compact communal organization, and

Bathori. this separated them from the rest of the
urban population; indeed, although
with but few exceptions they did not live in sepa-
rate ghettos, they were nevertheless sufficiently iso-

lated from their Christian neighbors to be regarded
as strangers. They resided in the towns and cities,
but had little to do with municipal administration,
their own affairs being managed by the rabbis,
the elders, and the dayyanira or religious judges.
In the reign of Stephen Bathori they were at-
tacked by the Polish poet Sebastian Klenowicz
(1545-1603) in his works "Worek Judaszow "
(="The Bags of the Judas") and "Victoria Deo-
rum. " These conditions contributed to the strength-
ening of the kahal organizations. Conflicts and
disputes, however, became of frequent occurrence,
and led to the convocation of periodical rabbinical
congresses, which were the nucleus of the central
institution known in Poland, from the middle of
the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, as the Council op Fouk Lands. The meet-
ings were usually held during the fairs of Lublin ;
and the sphere of the activity of the council grad-
ually widened until it came to include not only judi-
cial but administrative and legislative functions
also. At times the regulations of the Polish govern-
ment were strengthened by the otHcial sanction of
the council. A notable instance of this occurred in
1587, when the council approved with great solem-
nity the well-known edict forbidding the Jews to
engage in the farming of government revenues and
of other sources of income, since " people eager for
gain and enrichment by means of extensive leases
might bring great danger to the many."

Yeshibot were established, under the direction of
the rabbis, in the more prominent communities.
Such schools were officially known as gymnasiums,
and their rabbi-principals as rectors. Important
yeshibot existed in Cracow, Posen, and other cities.
Jewish printing establishments came into existence
in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. In
1530 a Hebrew Pentateuch was printed in Cracow;
and at the end of the century the Jewish printing-
houses of that city and Lublin issued a large num-
ber of Jewish books, mainly of a religious character.
The growth of Talmudic scholarship in Poland was
coincident with the greater prosperity of the Polish
Jews; and because of their communal autonomy
educational development was wholly one-sided and
along Talmudic lines. Exceptions are recorded,
however, where Jewish youth sought secular in-
struction in the European universities. The learned
rabbis became not merely expounders of the Law,
but also spiritual advisers, teachers, judges, and
legislators ; and their authority compelled the com-
munal leaders to make themselves familiar with the
abstruse questions of Talmudic law. The Polish
Jewry found its views of life shaped by the spirit of
the Talmudic and rabbinical literature, whose influ-
ence was felt in the house, in the school, and in the
synagogue.

In the first half of the sixteenth century the seeds
of Talmudic learning liad been transplanted to Po-
land from Bohemia, particularly from the school
of Jacob PoLLAK, the creator of Pilpul. Shalom
Shachna (e. 1500-58), a pupil of PoUak, is counted
among the pioneers of Talmudic learning in Poland.
He lived and died in Lublin, where he was the head
of the yeshibah which produced the rabbinical ce-
lebrities of the following century. Shachna's son

571

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

IRuBsia

Israel became rabbi of Lublin on the death of liis
father, and Sliachna's pupil Moses Isserles (ReMA ;

1530-72) achieved an international rep-
Pioneers of utation among the Jews. His conlem-
Talmudic porary and correspondent Solomon
Learning. Lueia (1510-73) of Lublin also enjoyed

a wide reputation among his corelig-
ionists ; and the authority of both was recognized by
the Jews throughout Europe. Among the famous
pupils of Isserles should be mentioned David Gans
and Mordecai Jaffe, the latter of whom studied
also under Luria. Another distinguished rabbin-
ical scholar of that period was Eliezer b. Elijah
AsHKENAzi (1513-85) of Cracow. His "Ma'aae ha-
Shem " (Venice, 1583) is permeated with the spirit
of the moral philosophy of the Sephardic school,
"but is extremely mystical. At the end of the work
he attempts to forecast the coming of the Messiah in
1595, basing his calculations on the Book of Daniel.
Such Messianic dreams found a receptive soil in the
unsettled religious conditions of the time. The new
sect of Socinians or Unitarians, whicli denied tlie
Trinity and which, therefore, stood near to Juda-
ism, had among its leaders Simon Budny, the trans-
lator of the Bible into Polish, and tlie priest Martin
CzECHOwic. Heated religious disputations were
common, and Jewish scholars participated in them.
The Catholic reaction whicli with the aid of the
Jesuits and the Council of Trent spread throughout
Europe finally readied Poland. The Jesuits found
a powerful protector in Bathori's successor, Sigis-
mund HI. (1587-1633). Under his rule the " golden
freedom " of the Polish knighthood gradually van-
ished; government by the "liberum veto" under-
mined the authority of tlie Diet ; and the approach
of anarchy was thus hastened. However, the dying
spirit of the republic was still strong enough to
check somewhat the destructive power of Jesuitism,
which under an absolute monarchy would have led
to drastic anti-Jewish measures similar to those that
had been taken in Spain. Thus while the Catholic
clergy was the mainstay of the anti-Jewish forces,
the king remained at least in semblance the de-
fender of the Jews (see Jew. Encyc. viii. 137b, s.v.
Lithuania). False accusations of ritual murder
against the Jews recurred with growing frequency,
and assumed an "ominous inquisitional character."

The papal bulls and the ancient cliar-

Sigismund ters of privilege proved generally of

III. little avail as protection. In 1598 the

crown judges of Lublin condemned
three Jews to death for the supposed murder of a
Christian child whose body had been found in a
swamp near tlie village of "Voznika. The accused
were tortured on the rack and then quartered amid
impressive ceremonies at Lublin. The body of the
murdered child was placed in one of the monasteries
in Lublin and became an object of worship for the
populace. A polemical movement against the Jews
also was initiated by the clergy. The priest Moeczki
published in Cracow (1598) a, bitter denunciation of
the Jews under the title " Okrucienstwa Zydowskie "
(= "Jewish Atrocities"); and similar works were
published by Gubiczki (1603), by Wyeczlaw Grabow-
ski (" O Zydach w Koronie," 1611), and by the Polish
physician Sleshkowslii, who accused the Jewish phy-

sicians of systematically attempting to poison their
Catholic patients. The plague then raging in Po-
land was attributed by him to divine wrath at the
protection afforded to the Jews of the country (1633).
Most bitter of all in his tirades against the Jews was
the Polish writer Sebastian Mic/insld, author of
"Zwierciadlo Korony Polskie" (3d ed. 1618). A
pupil of the Jesuits, he collected in this boolc every
charge that was ever invented against the Jews by
fanatical superstition and popular malice. He in-
cited the Polish people, and especially the delegates
to the Diet, to treat the Jews as they had been
treated in Spain and elsewhere.

Ladislaus IV. (1633-48), though personally a toler-
ant ruler, could not check tlie bitter factional liatreds
of his subjects. In 1643 he permitted the Jews of
Cracow to engage freely in export trade, but with-
drew this permission two months later itr eom-
pliance with the demands of the Christian mer-
chants. Many of the Jews, thus restricted and
oppressed in the cities, moved to the villages and
became leaseholders of estates belonging to the
Shlyakhta, and engaged also in the liquor trade.
The powerful nobles as well as the high church
dignitaries leased their lands to them, and the
synod of Warsaw (1643) severely criticized some of
the bishops for thus placing the Jews over the Chris-
tian peasants. ThesynodofPosen indignantly com-
mented on the "audacity of the Jews " in trading in

the market-places on Christian holy
Blood Ac- days. Inl636 the Jews of Lublin had
cusationg. . been acquitted by the crown tribunal

of the charge of having- murdered a
Christian child for ritual purposes. The local clergy,
annoyed at the acquittal, invented another charge,
supported by "evidence." The Carmelite monk
Paul declared that Jews had lured him into a house,
had bled him with the aid of a German barber
named Schmidt (a Lutheran), and had collected his
blood in a dish, whispering meanwhile some prayer.
The tribunal accepted this accusation, and, after a
trial accompanied by torture on the rack, sentenced
one Jew, named Mark, to death. The Carmelites
liastened to make this case public in order to
strengthen tlie prejudice of the populace. The
Jew Mark is mentioned also on the fly-leaf of an
old prayer-book preserved in the synagogue of
Pinchov. The inscription speaks of " the martyrs
on this earth in the city of Lublin, in tlie year (5)396
= 1636." The martyr Mark is called here "the
learned Rabbi Mordecai, son of the sainted Rabbi
Mei'r." The pamphlet by the Carmelite monks re-
ferring to tliis case is entitled " Processus Causae Inter
Instigatorem Judicii Tribunalis Regni et Perfidium
Marcum Judaium Agitatre." This case is reported
also in the book of the priest Stefan Zuchowski,
published in 1713. Nine months after the revolting
judicial murder of Lublin a more horrible execution
took place in Cracow (1637). The details of this
case are not known ; but, from entries in the Pin-
chov prayer-book and the piukes of the burial so-
ciety of Cracow, it appears that seven Jews wei'e
executed ; namely, Rabbi Abraham ben Isaac, Jacob
b. David, Samuel b. Samuel, Elijah b. Judali, Ben-
jamin b. Shalom, Jacob b. Issachar, and Moses b.
Pliinehas. Zhukhowski makes no mention of this

Russia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

572

case. A similar case occurred in Lencliicli in 16B9
(see Jew. Encyc. viii. 128, s.v. Lithuania).

The hostility of their Christian neighbors reacted
on the inner life of the Polish Jews ; and the scholar
Delmedigo, who visited Poland and Lithuania in
1620, was struck by their indifferent and at times
hostile altitude toward secular learning. But, while
the intellectual field of the Jews was narrowed
equally with their social life, there was displayed
in both an unceasing activity inspired by Tal-

mudic precepts. The Talmud served

Study them as an encyclopedia of all knowl-

of the edge and for questions of every-

Talmud. day life, including abstract law, legal

decisions, both civil and criminal, re-
ligious legislation, theology, etc. It was diligently
studied; but the methods of study depended on the
social position of the student. The rabbis of higher
rank, those who took an active part in the kalial
administrations and who participated iu the Coun-
cil of Four Lands, paid most attention to the prac-
tical application of the Talmudic law. Chief among
them was Mordecai Jafpe (see Jew. Ekcyg. vii. 58),
who at the end of the sixteenth century frequently
presided at the meetings of the council. His suc-
cessor as rabbinical elder and president of the coun-
cil was Joshua ben Alexander ha-Kohen Falk, rabbi
of Lublin, and later director of the yeshibah at
Lemberg. Together with these should be mentioned :
Mel'r ben Gedaliah Lublin (d. 1616), authority in
rabbinical matters; Samuel Edels (d. 1631); and
Joel Sirkes (d. 1641). The Cabala had become
entrenched under the protection of Rabbinisra ; and
such scholars as Mordecai Jaife and Joel Sirkes de-
voted themselves to its studj'. The mystic specula-
tions of the cabalists prepared the ground for Sliab-
bethaianism, and the Jewish masses were rendered
even more receptive by the great disasters that over-
took the Jews of Poland about the middle of the
seventeenth century. Had the rabbis of that time
evinced a more active interest in worldly affairs, and
Iiad they taken warning from the ominous popular
unrest, they might in a measure have averted the
calamity of the Cossacks' uprising. It should be
stated, however, that the great catastrophe was due
not to the Jews themselves, but to the decay of the
entire system of which the Jews were but an in-
active part (see Jew. Encyc. iv. 283b, s.r. Cos-
sacks' Upkising).

The kingdom of Poland proper, which had hith-
erto suffered but little either from the Cossacks' up-
rising or from the invasion of the Russians, now be-
came the scene of terrible disturbances (1655-58).
King Charles X. of Sweden, at the head of his
victorious army, overran Poland ; and soon the
whole country, including the cities of Cracow and

Warsaw, wasin his hands. The Jews
Cossacks' of Great and Little Poland found
Uprising, themselves between two fires: those

of them who were spared by the
Swedes were attacked by the Poles, who accused
them of aiding the enemy. The Polish general
Stefan Czakniecki, in his flight from the Swedes,
devastated the whole country through which he
pa.ssed and treated the Jews without mercy. The
Polish partizan detachments treated the non-Polish

inhabitants with equal severity. Moreover, the
horrors of the war were aggravated by pestilence,
and the Jews of the districts of Kalisz, Cracow,
Posen, Piotrkow, and Lublin perished en masse by
the sword of the enemy and the plague. Certain
Jewish writers of the day were convinced that the
home and protection which the Jews had for a long
time enjoyed in Poland were lost to them forever.

Some of these apprehensions proved to be un-
founded. As soon as the disturbances had ceased,
the Jews began to return and to rebuild their des-
troyed homes; and while it is true that the Jewish
population of Poland liad decreased and become im-
poverished, it still was more numerous than that of
the Jewish colonies in western Europe. Poland re-
mained as hitherto the spiritual center of Judaism ;
and the remarkable vitality of the Jews manifested
itself in the fact that they in a comparatively short
time managed to recuperate from their terrible trials.

King John Casimir (1648-68) endeavored to com-
pensate the impovei'ished people for their sufferings
and losses, as is evidenced by a decree granting the
Jews of Ci'acow the rights of free trade (1661) ; and
similar privileges, together with temporary exemp-
tion from taxes, were granted to many other Jew-
ish communities, which had suffered most from the
Russo-Swedish invasion.

In spite of the spiritual poverty of the Jews of
Poland, some of them sought instruction at foreign
universities. Among the Polish physicians of the
time was Jac'ob, who studied medicine at Padua, and
came to Posen after the expulsion. of the Jews from
Vienna in 1670. He married the daughter of the
physician Moses Judah (Moizese Judko). In 1673
Moses Judah became the physician to the Jewish
comm\mity at a salary of 40 gold ducats ; he was
also one. of the elders of the Jewish community, and
defended its suits at the Diets. He was highly re-
spected by the nobility. His son, who also had stud-
ied medicine at Padua, succeeded him in )iis post,
and remained in Posen until 1736. The grammarian
Isaac ben Samuel ha-Lkvi lived for some time in
Posen, and died there in 1646. The pliilosopher Sol-
omon Ashkenazi of Posen and the mathematician
Elijah of Pinczow were prominent at the end of the
seventeenth century.

John Casimir's successor. King Michael Wisch-
neveczki (1669-73), also granted some privileges to
the Jews. This was partly due to the efforts of
Moses Markowitz, the representative of the Jewish
communities of Poland. The heroic king John
Sobiebki (1674-96) was in general very favorably
inclined toward the Jews ; but the Senate and the
nobility deprecated such friendliness toward "in-
fidels."

With the accession to the throne of the Saxon
dynasty the Jews completely lost the support of the
government. While it is true that Augustus II.,
THE Strong (1697-1733), and Augus-
Accession tus III. (1733-63) ofBcially confirmed
of at their coronations the Jewish char-

the Saxon ters, such formal declarations were in-
Dynasty. sufficient, owing to the disorders pre-
vailing in the kingdom, to guard the
already limited rights of the Jews against the hostile
elements. The government was anxious only to

573

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

BuBsia

collect from the Ijahals the taxes, which were con-
stantly being made heavier in spite of the fact that the
Jews had not yet recovered from the ruinous events
of the Cossaclis' uprising and the Svpedish invasion.
The Shlyakhta and the other classes of the urban
population were extremely hostile to the Jews. In
the larger cities, lil^e Posen and Cracow, quarrels
between the Christians and the Jewish inhabitants
were of frequent occurrence ; and they assumed a
very violent aspect. Based originally on economic
grounds, tliey were carried over into the religious
arena; and it was evident that the seeds which the
Jesuits had planted had finally borne fruit. Eccle-
siastical councils displayed great hatred toward the
Jews. Attacks on the latter by students, the so-
called "Schl\ler-Gelauf," became every-day occur-
rences in the large cities, the police regarding sucli
scholastic riots witli indifference. Indeed, lawless-
ness, violence, and disorder reigned supreme at that
time in Poland, marking the beginning of the down-
fall of the kingdom. In order, therefore, to protect
themselves against such occurrences, the Jewish
communities in many cities made annual_ contribu-
tions to the local Catholic schools.

Many miracle-workers made their appearance
among the Jews of Poland, prominent among whom
was Joel ben Isaac Heilprin, known also as "Ba'al
Shem I.," a believer in and practitioner of demon-
ology. These men added to the mental and morsrl
confusion of tlie Jewish masses. " There is no other
coimtry," says a writer of the seven-
Prevalence teenth century, " in which tlie Jews oc-

of Super- cupy themselves so much with mystic
stition. fantasies, devilism, talismans, and the
invocation of spirits, as in Poland."
Even famous rabbis of that time devoted themselves
to cabalistic practises. Special notoriety as a caba-
list was gained by Naphtali ben Isaac ha-Kohen,
whose belief in the power of a certain amulet led to
the destruction of almost the entire Jewish quarter
of Frankfort. The popular superstitions that had so
completely enveloped the Polish Jewry were the di-
rect cause of the Messianic movements that had be-
gun to agitate tlie Jewish world ; and although Shah-
bethai Zebi, hailed at first as the Messiah, lost a
large number of his followers on his conversion to
Mohammedanism, mysticism had become too deeply
rooted in the Jewish masses to be destroyed even by
this rude awakening. Shabbethaianism was suc-
ceeded by Frankism (see Jew. Encyc. v. 475, s.v.
Frank, Jaoob, and the Prankists). The era of
enlightenment which dawned for the Jews of Ger-
many with the coming of Moses Mendelssohn in the
second half of the eighteenth century was coincident
with that of the decay of the Polish Jewry.

The sufferings of the Polish Jews from external
enemies in times of war and from persecutions by
their Christian neighbors in times of peace served to
cement more strongly their internal life and stimu-
lated a more thorough organization for the common
protection. One of the proclamations of the Coun-
cil of Four Lands, issued in 1676, reads as follows :

"We have sinned grlevousl.T against the Almighty; the dis-
turbances increase from day to day. It is becoming more and
more difficult for us to live. Ourpeopleareconsideredasnaught
among other nations ; and it is wonderful, in view of all our
misfortunes, that we still exist. The only thing left for us to do

is to form ourselves Into a close union, following strictly the
commands of the Lord and the precepts of our venerable teachers
and guides."

This was followed by a series of paragraphs ordering
implicit obedience to the instructions of tlie kahals,
and forbidding the leasing of government taxes or
estates of the Shlyakhta and the formation of any
commercial companies with non-Jews, without the
consent of the Ijahals, " since such enterprises lead
to clashes with, and reproaches against the Jews by,
the Christian population. " It was also forbidden to
" transfer Jewish goods into strange hands " or to
appeal to the Polish authorities merely from a desire
to injure the interests of society or to create discord
or party conflicts in the communities. In this way
the power of the Ijahals became very pronounced;
and they were aided by the government, which
found it more convenient to deal with a few cen-
tralized bodies than with a multitude of individuals.
Each Ijahal was responsible to the government for
the action of its individual members, and was re-
quired also to collect the taxes (see Jew. Enctc. vii.
409, s.v. Kahal). In time, however, the kahals be-
gan to abuse the power entrusted to them, and fre-
quent complaints were heard against their oppress-
ive rule.

The decade from the Cossacks' uprising until
after the Swedish war (1648-58) left a deep and last-
ing impression not only on the social life of the
Polish-Lithuanian Jews, but on their spiritual life
as well. The mental level of the Jews gradually
sank. The Talmudic learning which Tip to that
period had been the common posses-
Period of sion of the majority of the people be-
Decadence. came accessible to a limited number of
students only, wliile the masses re-
mained in ignorance and superstition. The intellec-
tual activity even of the rabbis fell to a low level ;
for while it is true that there were still many promi-
nent rabbis in Poland who were men of great Tal-
mudic learning and secular knowledge, they did not
leave behind them any such great works as did their
predecessors — Solomon Luria, Isserles, Mordecai
Jaffe, and Mel'r of Lublin. In the very few works
that were produced there was noticeable an utter
lack of originality. Some rabbis busied themselves
with insignificant quibbles concerning religious
laws ; others wrote commentaries on different parts
of the Talmud in wliich hair-splitting arguments
were raised a-nd discussed; and at times these argu-
ments dealt with matters which were of no practical
moment. Aaron Samuel Kaidanovbe (1614-76),
who barely escaped with his life from the Cossacks
in 1648, wrote "Birkat ha-Zebati," a commentary on
the sacrifices and the abolished rituals of the Temple
of Jerusalem. Others, like Abraham Abelb Gom-
BiNBB in his "Magen Abraham," produced com-
mentaries on the Shulhan 'Aruk. Aside from so-
phistic argumentations these rabbis recognized no
branch of knowledge, either secular or theological.

Side by side with the scholastic writings of the
rabbis there flourished also a didactic literature.
Such were the productions of the preachers (" dar-
shanim ") who occupied prominent positions in the
synagogues or traveled from town to town. The
collections of contemporary sermons contain a con-

Russia
Kustchuk

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

574

gloraeration of haggadic and cabalistic sayings on
whicli in many cases are based entirely erroneous
interpretations of the Biblical text. These darsha-
nim cared little for the enliglitenment of their hear-
ers, and were Intent solely on making a brilliant dis-
play of their own erudition in theological matters.
Some preachersendeavored to inculcate in their people
an appreciation of the' practical Cabala. The works
of Isaac Luria and his school were at that time very
popular in Poland, and their teachings wore spread
among the people in the form of monstrous stories
concerning the future life, the terrible tortures in-
flicted on sinners, the transmigration of souls, etc.

Disorder and anarchy reigned supreme in Poland
during the second half of the eighteenth century,
from the accession to the throne of its last king,
Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1764-95). This
state of affairs was due to the haughty demeanor of
the nobility toward the lower classes. The neces-
sity for reform was, it is true, recognized by the
king and by many of the Polish people ; but Poland
was already in the grasp of Russia, and little could
be done in this direction. Jewish affairs were sadly
neglected, the government seeking merely the ex-
tortion of larger taxes ; thus the Diet which met at
Warsaw in 1764 for the discussion of measures of
reform considered the Jews only to the extent of
changing the tax system. Up to that time a poll-
tax had been imposed upon the total number of
Jews in Poland, the synod and Diet apportioning it

among the different kahals; but under

Reform the new sj'stem every individual Jew

Measures, was taxed two gulden, and every kabal

was responsible for payments by its
own members. The already oppressive tax bur-
den was increased by this "reform " ; and the central
autonomous government which the Jews had until
then enjoyed was overthrown. At that time the
Shlyakhta likewise were jealously guarding their
own interests ; and at the election of the king in 1764
they insisted that Jews should not be permitted to
manage any crown lands or to lease taxes or other
revenues of the kingdom. Again, in 1768 the Diet
revived -a law from the old constitution of 1538, to
the effect that Jews wishing to engage in any com-
mercial enterprise in the cities must obtain a permit
from the local magistracies. In many instances the
members of these were Christian merchants and
burghers, competitors of the Jews.

About this time, and as a direct consequence of
the disorganization of Poland, the disastrous incur-
sions of the brigand bands known as the Haidamacks
took place. The movement originated in Podolia
and in that part of the Ukraine which still belonged
to Poland. These and other internal disorders com-
bined to hasten the end of Poland as a kingdom.
In 1772 the outlying provinces were divided among

the three neighboring nations, Russia,

First Austria, and Prussia. Russia secured

Partition, a considerable part of the territory

now known as White Russia; Austria
obtained Galicia and a part of Podolia ; while Prus-
sia received Pomerania and the lands lying along
the lower Vistula. Jews were most numerous in the
territories that fell to the lot of Austria and Russia.
The permanent council established at the instance

of the Russian government (1777-88) served as the
highest administrative tribunal, and occupied itsel'
with the elaboration of a plan that would make
practicable the reorganization of Poland on a more
rational basis. The progressive elements in Polish
society recognized the urgency of popular educa-
tion as the very first step toward reform. In 177&
the Order of Jesus in Poland was abolished by Pope
Clement XIV., who thus freed Polish youth from the
demoralizing influences of Jesuitism. The famous
Edukacyjne Komisje (educational commission), es-
tablished in 1775, founded numerous new schools
and remodeled the old ones. One of the members of
the commission, Andrew Zamoiski, elaborated a
project for the reorganization of the social life of the
Jews (1778). The author demanded that the invio-
lability of their persons and property should be
guaranteed and that religious toleration should be to-
a certain extent granted them ; but he insisted that
Jews living in the cities should be separated from
the Christians, that those of them having no definite
occupation should be banished from the kingdom,
and that even those engaged in agriculture should
not be allowed to possess land. This shows how
deeply hatred of the Jew was rooted in the hearts of
the Polish nobility and how difficult it was for even
the best of them to consider the Jewish question
from an unbiased point of view. In 1786 certain
members of the Polish nobility conspired with the
Catholic clergy, the governor-general, and others,
and sent delegates to St. Petersburg with the object
of depriving the Jews of the right to farm taxes and
customs duties and to engage in distilling, brewing,
etc. It should be mentioned, however, that among
the clergy there were many who were friendly
to the Jews. At the Quadrennial Diet (1788-91)
the demand for reform grew stronger. Matheus.
BuTRYMOwicz, a deputy to the Diet, published in
1789 a pamphlet in which he strongly condemned
the lack of toleration, and advised that equality of
rights and citizenship should be granted to the Jews.
Tadeusz Czacki, the author and statesman, was.
even more liberal ; and in his well-known " Rozpra-
wa o Zydach," etc. (= " Discourse on the Jews"), he
advocated the establishment of separate institutions-
by the Jews for the management of their religious
affairs. In June, 1790, a special commission was ap-
pointed by the Diet to frame a measure for the reform
of the social life of the Jews. At the head of this-
commission was Ezerski, and Butrymowicz was
one of its members. Two projects were submitted :
one by Hugo Kollontai, and the other, as some sup-
pose, by King Stanislaus himself, of which the chief
feature was the recognition, in the national system
of government, of the civil and political equality of
the Jews. This was the only example in modern
Europe before the French Revolution of tolerance
and broad-mindedness in dealing with the Jewish
question. But all these proposed reforms were too

late. Through the intrigues and bri-
Tlie Second bery of Catherine II. the Confederation
and Third of Targowitza was formed, to which
Partitions, belonged the adherents of the old order

of things. A Russian army invaded
Poland, and soon after a Prussian one followed. A
second partition of Poland was made July 17,

575

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bussia
Bustchuk

1793, Russia taking a large part of White Russia,
half of Volhynla, all of Podolia, and the part of
the Ukraine 'which had previously been retained
by Poland, and Germany taking Great Poland
(Posen).

A general rising of the Poles took place in 1794.
Kosciusko was made dictator, and succeeded in
driving the Russians out of Warsaw. Dissensions,
however, arose among the Poles, and the Russians
and Prussians again entered Poland. Kosciusko
was decisively defeated at Maciejowice Oct. 10,
1794; Suvarof entered AVarsaw Nov. 8, and Polish
resistance came to an end. The Jews took an active
part in this last struggle of Poland for independence.
A certain Joselovich Beeek formed with the per-
mission of Kosciusko a regiment of light cavah-y
consisting entirely of Jews. This regiment accom-
plished many deeds of valor on the field of battle
and distinguished itself especially at the siege of
Warsaw, nearly all its members perishing In the de-
fense of Praga, the fortified suburb of the capital.

The third and final partition of Poland took place
in 1795. Russia acquired the whole of Lithuania
and Courland; Austria, the remainder of Galicia,
and Podolia, including Cracow ; Prussia, the rest of
Poland, including Warsaw, the capital ; and there-
with Poland ceased to exist as an independent
country. The great bulk of the Jewish population
was transferred to Russia, and thus became subjects
of that empire.

Bibliography : Berahadskl, Litovskie Tevrei, St. Peters-
burg, 1883 ;. idem, V Izgnanii, In Vnshhod, 1892; Czackl,
Rozprava a ZycUteh i Karaitach, Wilna, 1807 ; D. Fried-
lander, Ueber die Verbesserung der Israeliten im KOnig-
reich Polen, Berlin, 1819 ; Dubnow, in Vnskhod, 1895, 1. 135 ;
1900, ii., IT.; idem, Yevreishaya Istoria, vol. ii., 1897 (the chief
source of this article for the communal history of the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries); Hollaenderski, Les Isra-
elites de Polngne, Paris, 1846 ; Hube, Prawadaiostwo Polskie
lit Wieku. Warsaw, 1886 ; Kraushar, Historia Zydnw w Pol-
see, Warsaw, 1865-66 ; Lelevel, Histoire de Pologne, Paris,
1844 ; Lewanda, in Vnskhod, 1886, Ix.; Gritz, Oesch. 4th ed.,
and Hebrew translation by Eabbinowitz, passim ; L. Gum-
ploTlcz, Stanislawa Augusta Project Reform Zydnwstwa
Polskiegn, Cracow, 1875; MacieJowsW, Z)/d«i iv Piilsce,na
Rush Litwie, Warsaw, 1878 ; M. Gumplovlcz, Poezatki Re-
ligii Zydowskiej w Folsce, ib. 1903 ; Naruszewicz, Historya
Narodu Polskiego, ii. "ib. 1780 ; Pavlovich, in Tevreiskaya
Biblioteka, iv. 659, v. 89; 'Rmsko-Yevrei£kiArkM,v,yol.m.,
St. Petersburg, 1903 ; S. Bennet, The Constaney of Israel,
London, 1809 ; Stobbe, OescMchte der Juden in Deutschland,
1866; Schorr, in Voskhod, 1900 and 1901; Bloch, Die Gene-
ralprivUegien der Polnischen Judenschaft, Posen, 1891 ;
Feilchenfeld, Die Innere Gemeindeverfassung der Juden
in Polen, Posen, 1886. Much of the history of Poland has
already appeared in The Jewish Encyclopedia under the
captions indicated above by small capitals.

BtrSSKI YEVBEI. See Periodicals.

BtrSTCHtTK : City of Bulgaria, on the southern
bank of the Danube. It was founded by the Rus-
sians in 968, was occupied In turn by the Greeks
and the Bulgarians, and was finally captured by the
Turks under Bayazid I. in 1389. Jews are known
to have gone to Rustchuk for commercial purposes
from different points in the vicinity of the Danube
in the early part of the eighteenth century ; but they
did not take their families with them. The founda-
tion of the present Jewish community dates from
1792, when some natives of Belgrade, which city
had iDeen captured by Emperor Joseph II. of Aus-
tria In 1788 and retaken by the Turks in the follow-
ing year, sought refuge In Rustchuk to escape the
reprisals of the latter.

The first chief rabbi of the city was Abraham
Grazianl (1800-6), who drew up a code of regula-
tions and obtained the grant of a piece of land for
a cemetery, the community being placed under the
control of the rabbinate of Adrlanople. The Jews
of Rustchuk flourished commercially until the Con-
tinental blockade; but the sieges of 1807 and 1811
destroyed the prosperity of the community. The
Russians converted the synagogue into a stable for
their horses, and finally destroyed It by fire, the
memory of this catastrophe being perpetuated by
the Jews of the city in a popular song entitled,
after the Russian name of the war, " Za Vera " =:
"For Religion." By the time peace was declared,
almost the entire Hebrew community had removed
to Bucharest ; but some time later ten families of
refugees returned with several families from Nicop-
olis and with Graziani, the chief rabbi. Grazianl,
although he made some much-needed reforms, was
removed from offlre in 1814. His successors were
Solomon Capon (1814-20); Shabbethai Behar Abra-
ham (1832-35); Jacob Yom-Tob b. Abraham, called
Bairam (1835-46); Benjamin Pinto of Bosnia (1864);
Abraham Melammed (1869), the first rabbi of Rust-
chuk to bear the oflficial title "hakam bashl"; and
A. Salonicchio, the present (1905) incumbent.

The War of Greek Independence In 1828 drove
several thousand Mohammedan emigrants from Ru-
mania to Rustchuk ; and a Jewish resident named
Perez Alkalal generously provided the fugitives
witli all necessary supplies, receiving as a reward a
" berat " from Vali Pasha which exempted him per-
manently from all taxation. In 1837 and 1845 the
city was visited by the sultans Mahmud II. and
'Abd al-Majid respectively, and the Jewish congre-
gation was the object of the Imperial bounty.

The community of Rustchuk, which is the most
prosperous in Bulgaria, possesses an excellent li-
brary, which Is a legacy from Chief Rabbi Shab-
bethai Behar Abraham ; and the family of Rosanes
also has a library containing some rare works.
The first rabbinical author of the city was Elijah
Ventura, originally from Spalato, who wrote a
Hebrew work entitled " Kokeba di-Sheblt " ; the
above-mentioned Abraham Graziani composed the
"She'erit Ya'akob" ; while In the libraries are pre-
served several manuscript works of his successor,
Solomon Capon, among them the "Kontres 'al
Re'em." Abraham b. Israel Rosanes (Abir) pub-
lished in " Ha-Maggid " (1868) an account of his
travels in Palestine, while his son Solomon Israel
Rosanes, called "Tchelebon," is well known for the
researches in the history of the Oriental Jews pub-
lished by him In various periodicals, such as the
" Anuar Penetru Israeliti" (1888, xl.).

The city contains two synagogues: one large one,
and a smaller one called "Kahallah Kadosh Sha-
lom." It possesses also two schools, supported by
the Alliance Israelite Universelle, with an attendance
of 273 boys and 304 girls, as well as a Zionist soci-
ety, a hebra Ijaddisha, a chief rabbi, and a rabbin-
ical tribunal. There Is likewise a small Ashkenazic
community, which has an oratory of Its own. Every
ten years the interment of the contents of the Geni-
ZAH Is celebrated with great ceremony.
A Jewish press was established at Rustchuk in

Busticanus
Buth Babbah

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

576

1894; and two Judseo-Spanish papers, "La Albo-
rada" and "El Amigo," have been published there
for some time.

In 1904 the Jews of Rustchuk numbered 4,030
in a total population of 48,000. They are chiefly
engaged in commerce and banking.

Bibliography : Franco, Hist, des Israflite-i de VEmpire Ottn-
man, p. 213; Ha-Maggld, 1S&» ; Bulletin Annuel de V Alli-
ance Israelite Universelle, 1903; Revue des EcolesdeV Alli-
ance Israelite Universelle, Paris, 1901.
D. M. Fr.

RUSTICANTJS. See BEKTnoLD op Regbns-

BUKG.

RUTH, BOOK OF: The Book of Ruth, whicli
is poetically idyllic in character, although the nar-
rative is in the form of prose, contains an episode
from the period of the Judges. For this reason
it is placed in the Septuagint after the Book of
Judges ; and this order is followed in the Vulgate
and in the English translations. In the Hebrew
Bible, however, Ruth is found in the "Ketubim,"
or third part of the canon, where it stands next
after the Song of Solomon, being the second of the
Five Megillot. In Spanish manuscripts and in one
Bible of 1009 Ruth comes first (Buhl, "Canon of
the Old Testament," i., § 10; see Bible Canon).
This position, as will be noted more fully below,
probably accords better with the date of the book ;
for it was -written so long after the date of which its
story treats that many of the customs to which it
refers had become antiquated.

Biblical Data ; The book takes its name from

one of its characters, who, with her mother-in-law,
Naomi, shares the honor of being its heroine. The
story is as follows: Elimelech, a man of Bethle-
hem-judah, with his wife, Naomi, and his two sons,
Mahlon and Chilion, went in time of famine and
sojourned in the laud of Moab. There Elimelech
died, and the two sons married, Mahlon taking Ruth
as his wife, and Chilion taking Ophra — both women
of Moab, where both sons likewise died. In due
time Naomi heard that the famine in Judah had
passed, and determined to return thither. Ruth,
in spite of the dissuasion of Naomi, accompanied
her mother-in-law to Bethlehem, and cast in her
lot with the people of Judah. The two women
arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley
harvest. Naturally they were in a state of dire
poverty. Elimelech had had an inheritance of land
among his brethren, but, unless a Go'el, could
be found, Naomi would be compelled to sell it (in
Ruth iv. 3 rriJD should be pointed mab = " is going
to sell " ; comp. " Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xix. 145).
Elimelech had a prosperous relative in Bethlehem
whose name was Boaz, and who, like others, was en-
gaged in the harvest. Naomi sent Ruth to glean in
his fields, and, after he had spoken kindly to her
and shown her some favors, she, still acting upon
the advice of her mother-in-law, approached Boaz
at night and put herself in his power. Boaz was
attracted to her, but informed her that there was a
kinsman nearer than he who had the first right to
redeem the estate of Elimelech, and that it would
be necessary for this kinsman to renounce his right
before be (Boaz) could proceed in the matter. Ac-
cordingly he called this kinsman to the gate of the

city before the elders, and told him of the condition
of the wife and daughter-in-law of Elimelech, and
of his (the kinsman's) right to redeem the estate and
to marry Ruth. The kinsman declared that he did
not desire to do so, and drew off his shoe in token
that he had renounced his rights in favor of Boaz.
Boaz thereupon bought the estate from Naomi,
married Ruth, and became by her the father of
Obed, who in due time became the father of Jesse,
the father of King David.

B. 0. G. A. B.

• Critical View : It should be noted that iu the

narrative of the Book of Ruth there are several
points which are not quite clear. In certain parts,
as i. 12-14, the action seems to presuppose the exist-
ence of the levirate law (comp. Gen. xxxviii. and
Deut. XXV. 5 et seg.), while in other parts, as iv. 3 et
seg., the redemption of Elimelech's estate for his
widow seems to be the chief point in the discussion.
This seems to presuppose the extension to wives of
the law concerning the inheritance of daughters
(Num. xxxvi.). Again, from the general course of
the narrative one receives the impression that Boaz
is the Go'bIj ; but in iv. 13 et seg. the go'el seems to be
Obed (comp. Nowack, " Handkommentar zum Alten
Testament," p. 199, s.i>. "Riohter," "Ruth," etc.;
Bertholet, in " K. H. C."adloe.). Finally, if the levi-
rate law had been really fulfilled, Obed should have
been counted the son of Mahlon, the son of Elimelech,
whereas he is really called (iv. 31) the son of Boaz.

Bewer (in "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xix. 143 et
seg.) points out that four steps in the development
of the levirate are met with, in the Old Testament:
(1) the go'el need not be a brother, but may be
any kinsman of the deceased, as in Gen. xxxviii. ;
(3) he must be a brother (although this form is not
actually found, it is necessarily presupposed by the
following); (3) only such brothers as have lived
with the deceased are required to perfoim^e duties
of the levirate (comp. Deut. xxv^M^0l^; and (4)
no man is allowed to tak6his bM^^'s wife (Lev.
XX. 31). According to tlA^clas^cation, the form
of levirate in the Book of .Ruth is the oldest of all,
but here is encountered the difficulty that the de-
scribed form of purchase of -the estate of Naomi
does not at all accord with any form of levirate, but
with the law of Lev, xxv. 35 (Holiness Code, cited
hereafter as H). Bewer therefore concludes that
the levirate idea is not an original part of the Book
of Ruth, but that the work was first composed
on the basis of Lev. xxv. 25, and that it was after-
ward interpolated to some extent to ingraft upon it
the levirate idea. The phenomena of the book,
however, may quite plausibly be explained in an-
other way, as will be pointed out below.

According to Bewer the Book of Ruth is later than

H., i.e., it is post-exilic. This view of the date is

for other reasons held by many scholars {e.g.,

Kuenen, "Historische BUcherdes Alten Testaments,"

i., parts, p. 195; Cornill, "Einleitung,"

Date of p. 341; Nowack, I.e.; B'ertholet, I.e.;
Composi- and Kautzsch, " Literature of the Old
tion. Testament," p. 129). The days of the
Judges are referred to as a time far past
(i. 1), and even the law of Deut. xxv. 5 H seg. is re-
ferred to as a custom now obsolete (comp, Ruth iv.

577

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kusticanus
Buth Babbah

7); the language of the book contains several Ara-
maisms(e.(7., D*L"J NL"J, i. 4 ; i^C, ]i]l. i. 13; and Qip,
iv, 7) ; the interest in the genealogy of David (iv.
20 et i<eg.) is thought to indicate a date when David
had become tiie ideal of the nation; and tlie evident
interest of the author iu the marriage of an Israelite
with a Moabitess— an interest in sharp contrast to
the law of Deut. xxiii. 3 et seq. as well as the proce-
dure of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra ix., x., and Neh.
xiii. 23 et seq. )— indicates that the author of Ruth was
a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah and wrote the
book to show that their opposition to foreign mar-
riages was contrary to ancient and most honorable
precedent.

Although Driver ("Introduction," p. 427) urges
that the general beauty and purity of style of Ruth
indicate a pre-exilic date, holding that the Davidic
genealogy at the end is probably a later addition,
the post-exilic origin of Ruth seems to be confirmed
by its position among the "Ketubim," in the third
part of the canon. The view which makes it a
tract against the marriage policy of Ezra and Nehe-
miah seems most probable.

Bewer (I.e. xx. 205 et seq.) holds that the work

was written at that time and for that purpose, and

that in its original form, without any

Bewer's reference to the levirate, it was a more
Theory of effective weapon in the controversy
Inter- than it is now. His view is that some
polations. friend of Ezra added the levirate in-
terpolations in order to make it appear
that the foreign marriage of Boaz was not a prece-
dent for ordinary people, as the levirate compelled
him to act thus.

If the book was written at the date supposed, it
is clear from the law of H (Lev. xx. 21) that the
levirate had passed away. It is too much, there-
fore, to expect an absolutely clear and accurate ac-
count of its workings. That the writer should min-
gle its provisions with those of Lev. xxv., which
refer to the redemption of the estates of the poor,
would at this date be very natural. Confusion, too,
as to who the go'el actually was would also be nat-
ural. Bewer's theory of interpolations seems, ac-
cordingly, unnecessary. Cheyne's view ("Encyc.
Bibl." S.I).) that Elimelech was a Jerahmeelite, and
that he went to sojourn in the land of Missur, is one
of the curiosities of his Jerahmeel-Missur theory.

Bibliography : In addition to the works cited in the article,
Bleek, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, ed. Wellhausen,
1893 ; KBnig, Eiiileitu-ng, 1893 ; Strack, Einleitung, 4th ed.,
1895; Oettli, Buth, la Kurzgefasster Kommentar, 1889.
B. c. G. A. B.

RUTH RAEBAH (called also Midrash But) :
A haggadic and homiletic interpretation of the Book
of Ruth, which, like that of the four other scrolls
(" megillot "), is included in the Midrash Rabbot.
This midrash, divided into eight chapters or sections
(" parashiyyot "), covers the whole text of the Bib-
lical book, interpreting it verse by verse, now in its
literal, now in an allegorical, sense. The first chap-
ter terminates with Ruth i. 3 ; the second, with i. 17 ;
the third, with i. 21 ; the fourth, with ii. 9 ; the fifth,
with iii. 7; the sixth, with iii. 13; the seventh, with
iv. 15 ; and the eighth, comprising only two verses,
with i V. 19, verses 16 and 17 of ch. iv. being omitted.
Like Ekah Rabbati, the commentary proper on the
X.— 37

Book of Ruth is preceded by a long introduction
(" petihta "), which consists of several proems having
no connection with one another.

T^ie commentary itself, except in ch. i. and vii.,

where it follows directly upon the Biblical text, is

generally introduced by one or more

Introduc- proems. It is composed in the spirit
tion of the Palestinian haggadists, its main
and Proems, sources being the Jerusalem Talmud,
Bereshit Rabbah, Wayikra Rabbah,
and Ekah Rabbati. It would seem, moreover, that
its author was opposed to the Babylonian Tal-
mud ; for in his interpretation of iv. 7 — a passage
which is omitted in the printed editions — he dispar-
ages that work. It is true that parallel passages
are found in Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah, which this
midrash closely resembles as regards arrangement
and mode of interpretation, and in Kohelet Rabbah.
But as to the former, nothing proves that it is an-
terior to Ruth Rabbah, while the latter is recognized
by modern scholars to be posterior to this midrash.
It apparently contains no Babylonian haggadot, and,
although in i'. 3 (= ii. 4) it gives the haggadic inter-
pretation of I Ohron. iv. 23, which is also found
iu B. B. 91b, it may bo seen that the source in the
latter treatise is a baraita and not a Babylonian
haggadah. Thus Ruth Rabbah is one of the
earlier midrashim, composed about the same time
as or shortly after Shir haShirim Rabbah. Ac-
cording, to Zunz ("G. V." ed. Brilll, p. 377,
Prankfort-on-the-Main, 1893), Ruth Rabbah, as well
as Shir lia-Shirim Rabbah and Kohelet Rabbah, was
one of the sources of the Yelammedenu, Debarim
Rabbah, Pesikta Rabbati, and Shemot Rabbah, being
a medium between these midrashim and the older
haggadah (comp., however, Friedmann, introduc-
tion to his edition of the Pesikta Rabbati, p. 35).

Ruth Rabbah is specially interesting from a eul-
tural-Jiistorical point of view in that it endeavors to
throw light on the habits and conditions of the time
in wliich the incidents of the Book of Ruth took
place. Thus, interpreting the very
Examples first words of the book, " in the days
of when the judges judged " (Ruth i. 1),

Haggadah.. as " in the days when the people judged
their judges," the author wishes to
show that there was a time when the judges per-
verted their judgments so that they were held re-
sponsible by the people. But when was there such
a time, and who were those judges? According to
Rab, the judges were Barak and Deborah ; according
to R. Huna, Deborah, Barak, and Jael ; and accord-
ing to Joshua b. Levi, Ehud and Shamgar. The
famine is circumstantially described ; it was one of
the ten great famines which afflicted the entire
world.

Elimelech is represented in an unfavorable light,
his name being interpreted as meaning " one eager
for royalty." He left the land of Canaan not be-
cause he would himself suffer from the famine, but
because he was afraid that the people might apply
to him for help. In interpreting i. 14, the-author of
this midrash expresses his views with regard to
kissing. According to an anonymous authority,
kisses are permitted on three occasions only : (1) on
conferring a high office, as when Samuel kissed Saul

Kyssel

Saadia b. Joseph

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

578

(I Sam. X. 1) ; (3) at meetings, as iu the case of
Aaron kissing Moses (Ex. iv. 27); and (3) at part-
ing, as when Orpab kissed her motber-ln-law. Ac-
cording to R. Tanhuma, liissing is permitted also
to relatives, as when Jacob kissed Rachel (Gen. xxix.
11). Under other cu'cumstauces kissing is declared
indecent. Very graphic is the description of Ruth's
insistence on following Naomi (Rutin. 16-18), in that,
when her attention was directed by her mother-in-
law to the laws relating to proselytes, she accepted
them all.

Both Naomi and Ruth are described as righteous
women whose acts were charitable. The latter par-
ticularly is pointed out as being modest and of ex-
emplary manners (ii. 5). In his Interpretation of iii.
3 the author of the midrash shows the necessity of
honoring the Sabbath by wearing special garments.
It may be remarked that in iii. 13 there is a recension
of the story of Elisiia b. Abuyah, the main source
of which is Hag. 14b. The midrash terminates with
a statement to the effect that the Messiah is to de-
scend from Ruth through David.

With regard to lexical interpretations, in certain
cases the explanation of words is not contrary to
grammatical rules, but sometimes, as in all the other
midrashim, the interpretation is arbitrary. Thus,
while "Elimelech" is interpreted as composed of
" elai " and " melek " (= " to me belongs royalty " ;
comp. above), "Naomi" as "she whose acts are
agreeable," and "Orpah" (from "'oref" = "the
nape of the neck ") as " she who turned her back
[comp. Jer. ii. 37 and elsewhere] upon her mother-
in-law," " Wa-yehi " is interpreted as an exclamation
of sorrow ; and " Ruth " (derived from nXT = "' to

see ") as "she who saw or considered her mother-in-
law's words." For commentaries on and editions of
Ruth Rabbah see Ekah Rabbati, Esther Rabbah,
and KoHELET Rabbah.

Bibliography : Weiss, Dor, iii. 273-274, It. 209 ; Winter and
WUnsche, Die JlXdische Lttteratur, i. B32 et sea.; WUnsche,
Introduction to his German translation of Ruth Bahhah.
W. B. M. Sel.

RYSSEL, CARL VICTOR : German Protes-
tant theologian; born at Reinsberg, Saxony, Dec.
18, 1849 ; died at Zurich. March 3, 1905. Having
completed his theological and Oriental studies, he
commenced his academic career at the Leipsic Uni-
versity in 1878 and was appointed assistant profess-
or there in 1885. In 1889 he received a call to
Zurich as professor of Old Testament studies and
Oriental languages.

Ryssel, who was doctor of philosophy and theol-
ogy, was the author of: "Die Synonymades Wahren
und Guten in den Semitischen Spraohen," Leipaic,
1873; "De Eloliistae Pentateuchici Sermone," ib.
1878; "Untersuohungen (Iber die Textgestalt und
die Echtheit des Buches Micha : Ein Kritischer Com-
mentarzu Micha," 1887. He also prepared the third
edition of Filrst's "Hebraisches und Chaldaisches
HaudwOrterbuch liber das Alte Testament" (1876),
and, for the " Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch
zum Alten Testament," the second edition of "Ezra,
Nehemiah and Esther" (1884) and the third edition
of " Exodus-Leviticus " (1897); he also contributed
many articles to learned periodicals.

Bibliography : Holtzmann-ZflpHel, Lexikon fttr Tlimloqic
und Kirchenwesen.
T. B. P.

SAADIA : Biblical commentator, whose native
country and epoch can not be precisely determined.
Rapoport (in "Bikkure ha-'Ittim," ix. 34-35) was
the first to prove that the commentary on Daniel
which is ascribed to Saadia Gaon does not belong to
him, but to another Saadia. This scholar further
says that, owing to differences between that com-
mentary and the one on Chronicles (see Saadia b.
Nahmani), he can not affirm that both works belong
to the same author, although he does not feel justi-
fied in asserting to the contrary. Matthews proves
in " A Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah " (Ox-
ford, 1883) that the author of the latter commentary
is identical with Saadia, the author of the commen-
tary on Daniel.

In his commentary Saadia displayed a profound
knowledge of both Talmudim and of the Targum,
which latter he often quotes and explains. He was
acquainted with the works of earlier commentators,
whom he quotes under the general term " potcrim "
(=" interpreters ") or "anshe lebab" (="men of
understanding ") ; only once (commentary on Dan. vi.
15) he quotes by name a Mattifhiah Gaon. He very
often bases his interpretations on the interchange of
letters of the same class, as the "alef " and " 'ayin,"

"lamed " and " resh " ; also on the interchange of let-
ters -which occur near each other in various alpha-
betical combinations, as, for instance, the " alef " and
" taw " in the combination E>3 nx, or the " alef " and
" lamed " in the combination D3 PN. As is the
Talmudic method of interpretation, Saadia often
explains foreign nouns as well as Hebrew proper
names by resolving them into the syllables of which
they are constructed. It may be seen from his com-
mentary on Dan. vi. 19 and Ezra i. 9 that Saadia
knew Arabic well : possibly it was his mother tongue.
As to the time in which he lived, both Rapoport
and Matthews suppose that he flourished in the be-
ginning of the twelfth centurj'. The former further
supposes that he lived in Prance, that he was a con-
temporary of Yakar, and that Ibn Ezra may have
known his commentarj'. On the other hand, Porges
(in "Monatsschrlft," xxxlv. 63-73) concludes that he
lived at the end of the twelfth century, this conclu-
sion being based on the fact that Saadia, in his com-
mentary on Dan. viii. 9 et seq., refers to the conquest
of Jerusalem by the Mohammedans in which the
Christian churches were destroyed. Porges thinks,
this is a reference to the conquest of Jerusalem by
Saladin in 1187. Further, in the commentary on

579

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Byssel

Saadia b. Joseph

Dan. xi. 30 Saadia refers to the fact tliat the Lom-
bardians united afterward with the Romans to
wrench Jerusalem from the Moslems. Although
Saadia knew Arabic, Forges thinlts he at least re-
sided in Italy, as he mentions very often the Lom-
bardians and Romans, and speaks of the book
"Zerubbabel," which was written in Italy. Be-
sides, almost all the manuscripts of Saadia's com-
mentary on Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah were copied
in Italy. It may be added that in Joseph Kara's
commentary on Lam. iv. 6 there is a note by Moses
of Rome ; " Such is the interpretation of R. Saadia."
Poznanski (in "Ha-Goren," ii. 130 et seq.), however,
declares Forges' arguments doubtful; for the con-
quest of Jerusalem by the Moslems spoken of by
Saadia may be that achieved by Omar in 638, and by
"the Romans" Saadia may liave understood the
Byzantine empire. Nor is it likely, Poznanski
thinks, that Saadia, who spoke Arabic and who
knew the Karaite literature, lived in Italy. He
thinks that Saadia lived in northern Africa, where
even in the time of the Geonim works of various
contents as well as commentaries on the Bible had
been written.

Bibliography : Besides the sources mentioned in the article,
Bosin, in Monatsschrift, xxxii. 230 et seq.; Zunz, Z. G. p. 71.
w. B. J[. Sel.

SAADIA BEN ABBAHAH LONGO. See

LoNGO, Saadia ben Abraham.

SAADIA (SA'ID) B. DAVID AL-ADENI

(= "of Aden "): A man of culture living at Damas-
cus and Safed between 1473 and 1485. He was the
author of a commentary on some parts of Maimon-
ides' Yad ha-Hazakah, and copied tlie commen-
tary of an Arabian writer on the first philosophical
sections of that work. He also edited an Arabic
commentary on the Fentateucli, of which only frag-
ments are now extant, and composed philosophical
hymns in Arabic and Hebrew. In 1451 he copied at
Aden the dictionary of Tanhuma. Saadia b. David
circulated under liis own name and under the title
" Zakat al-Nuf us " a work of tlie Arabian writer
Ghazali on the views of the philosophers. An au-
tograph of this spurious worlc is extant in a defect-
ive manuscript in the St. Petersburg Library.

Another Saadia \>. David, surnamed Zarafah,
a Mauritanian, was the author of a responsum in
the manuscript "Zera 'Anashim," and of a poem,
printed in 1623, on Solomon Duran's "Heshek She-
lomoli. "

Bibuographt: Steinschneider, Hchr. Bihl. 1. 31, xx. 135;
Idem, iJeftr. Uefters. p. 29S ; jdem.ln Kayserllng'sBiblJothe/c
JUdischer Kamelredner, Supplement, ii. 35 et seq.; Azulai,
Shem ha-Oedolim, i. 76.
J. M. K.

SAADIA B. JOSEPH (Sa'id al-Fayyumi) :

Gaon of Sura and the founder of scientific activity

in Judaism ; born in Dilaz, Upper Egypt, 893 ; died

at Sura 943. The name "Saadia," which, so far as

is known, lie was the first to bear, is apparently an

artificial Hebrew equivalent of his Arabic name,

" Sa'id. " In an acrostic of the Hebrew introduction

to his first work, the "Agron," he calls himself

ClDV p Tyo; but later he wrote his name n'''IJ?D, or

in its fuller and punctuated foim !inns?p, as in the

"Sefer ha-Galui," while tlie form ^Kljio is given by

Moses ibn Ezra. Saadia's enemies spread malicious
stories, which probably had no basis in fact, regard-
ing liis origin ; and both Ben Me'ir and the pamphlets
referring to the controversy of Saadia with the exil-
arch allude to the low calling followed by his father,
and speak of his parent as a non-Jew. On the otlier
hand, Saadia in his polemic " Sefer ha-Galui " lays
stress upon his ancient Jewish lineage, claiming
that he belonged to the noble family of Shelah, the
son of Judah (I Cliron. iv. 21), and counting among
his ancestors Hanina b. Dosa, tlie famous ascetic of
the first century. Expression was given to this
claim by Saadia in calling his son Dosa. Nothing
is known, however, of the latter except his name.
Regarding Joseph, Saadia's father, a statement of
Ben Meir has been preserved to the effect that he
was compelled to leave Egypt and that he died in
Joppa, probably during Saadia's lengthy residence
in the Holy Land. The usual epithet of "Al-Fay-
yumi," represented in Hebrew by the similar geo-
graphical name "Fitomi" (comp. Ex. i. 11), refers
to Saadia's native place, the Fayum in Upper
Egypt ; and it is known, through his opponents
mentioned above, that he was born at Dilaz (Vpn),
a village there.

Nothing whatever is known of the youth and
education of Saadia; nor are his teachers named,
except that Mas'udi, a Mohammedan author who
died in 957, states that Saadia was a pupil of Abu
Kathir, with whom Mas'udi himself carried on a
disputation in Palestine. At all events he must
have acquired very extensive knowledge in early
life, as is shown b}' his writings. It
Early was in his twentieth year (913) that

Works. Saadia completed his first great work,
tlie Hebrew dictionary which he en-
titled "Agron." In his twenty-third year, accord-
ing to a verse contained in Abraham ibn Ezra's
"Yesod Mispar," he composed a polemical work
against Anan, thus apparently beginning the activ-
ity which was to prove so important in opposition
to Karaism and other heresies and in defense of tra-
ditional Judaism. In the same year he left Egypt
and went to settle permanently in Palestine, as he
states in a Hebrew letter (Schechter, "Saadyana,"
vii.) addressed at the beginning of his controversy
with Ben Meir to three of his pupils who liad re-
mained in Egypt. It was this discussion — a remark-
able dispute between the authorities of Palestine
and Babylonia concerning the calendar — -which first
revealed to public notice the full force of the energy
which characterized Saadia's nature and the fuU
depth of his knowledge, although he must even
before this time have become generally known
and been highly esteemed, not only on account of
these qualities, but also on account of his lit-
erary activity. He was in Aleppo and on his way
from the East when he learned of Ben Meir's reg-
ulation of the calendar, which was imperiling the
unity of Judaism. Thereupon he immediately ad-
dressed a warning to him, and in Babylon he
placed his knowledge and pen at the disposal of
the exilarch David b. Zakkai and of the scholars
of the academy, adding his own letters to those sent
by them to the communities of the Diaspora (933).
In Babylonia, furthermore, he wrote his " Sefer ha-

Saadia b. Joseph

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

580

Mo'adim," or "Book of Festivals," in which he re-
futed the assertions of Ben Meir regarding the cal-
endar, and probably helped much to avert from
the Jewish community the perils of schism.

This activity of Saadia's was liliewise doubtless
an important factor in the call to Sura which he re-
ceived in 938. He was made gaon by
Dispute the exilarch David b. Zakkai ; and the
with ancient academy, which had been
Ben Meir. founded by Rab, then entered upon a
new period of brilliancy. This first
gaon called from abroad, however, was not allowed
undisturbed activity. There were doubtless many
who viewed unwillingly a foreigner as the head of
the academy ; and even the mighty exilarch himself,
whom the aged Nissim Naharwani had vainly at-
tempted to dissuade from appointing Saadia, found,
after two brief years, that the personality of liis ap-
pointee was far different from that of the insignifi-
cant and servile geonim whom he had succeeded,
and who had officiated at the exilarch 's bidding. In
a probate case Saadia refused to sign a verdict of
the exilarch which he thought unjust, although Ko-
hen Zedek, gaon of Pumbedita, had subscribed to it.
When the son of the exilarch threatened Saadia with
"violence to secure his compliance, and was roughly
handled by Saadia's servant, open war broke out
between the exilarch and the gaon. Each excom-
municated the other, declaring that he deposed
his opponent from office; and David b. Zakkai ap-
pointed the utterly unimportant Joseph b. Jacob as
gaon of Sura, while Saadia conferred the exilarchate
on David's brother Hasan (Josiah; 930). Hasau
was forced to flee, and died in exile in Khorasan ;
but the strife which divided Babylonian Judaism
continued. Saadia was attacked by 'the exilarch
and by his chief adherent, the young but learned
Aaron ibn Sargado, in Hebrew pamphlets, fragments
of which show a degree of hatred on the part of the
exilarch and his iDartizans that did not shrink from
scandal. Saadia did not fail to reply. He wrote
both in Hebrew and in Arabic a work, now known
only from a few fragments, entitled
The "Safer "Seferha-Galui" (Arabic title, "Kilab
ha-Galui." al-Tarid"), in which he emphasized
with great but justifiable pride the
services which he had rendered, especially in his op-
position to heresy (see also Abraham ibu Daud in
Neubauer. "M. J. C." i. 166).

The seven years which Saadia spent in Bagdad,
far from the gaonate, did not interrupt his literary
activity. His principal philosophical work was
completed in 933 ; and four years later, through Ibn
Sargado's father-in-law, Bishr (-|B'3, Neubauer, I.e.
ii. 84, line 2 ; not iB'a, which Gratz transliterates as
"Kasser," and Steinschneider, "Die Arabische Lit-
teratur der Juden," p. 47, by "Kasher") ben Aaron,
the two enemies were reconciled. Saadia was rein-
stated in his office ; but he held it for only five years.
David b. Zakkai died before him (c. 940), being fol-
lowed a few months later by the exilarch's son
Judah, while David's young grandson was nobly
protected by Saadia as by a father. According to a
statement made by Abraham ibn Daud and doubt-
less derived from Saadia's son Dosa, Saadia him-
self died, as noted above, in 942, at the age of fifty,

of "black gall" (melancholia), repeated illnesses
having undermined his health.

After Philo, Saadia was the first great writer in
post-Biblical Judaism. Like Philo, he called Egypt
his fatherland; and as Philo had united the Hellenic
language and culture with the Jewish spirit, so the
language and civilization of the Mohammedan Arabs
gained a similar but far more lasting influence over
the history of Judaism through the writings of
Saadia. He was, moreover, almost entirely a crea-
tor and an innovator in the scientific fields in which
he labored, although much of his work, even that
which was written in Hebrew, is now known only
from citations. A complete edition of those of his
writings which have been preserved either in their
entirety or in fragments was begun
His Works, by Joseph Derenbourg in 1893 in hon-
or of the millenary of Saadia's birth.
Of this work, which is expected to fill ten volumes,
only five have thus far appeared (1893-99).

The following is a survey of Saadia's works ar-
ranged according to subject-matter:

Exegesis : Saadia translated into Arabic most, if
not all, of the Bible, adding an Arabic commentary,
altliough there is no citation from the books of
Chronicles. The translation of the Pentateuch is
contained in the Polyglot Bibles of Constantinople
(1546), Paris (1645), and London _(1657), and in an
edition for the Jews of Yemen (JNn or min "1)13,
Jerusalem, 1894-1901), as well as in the first volume
of Derenbourg's edition of Saadia's complete works.
A large fragment of the commentary on Exodus
exists also in manuscript (see Berliner's "Magazin,"
vii. 133). The translation of Isaiah was edited by
Paulus (1790-91), and with portions of the com-
mentaiy, by Derenbourg in his third volume. A
translation of and commentary on the Psalms have
been edited in the dissertation of Margulies(Breslau,
1884), and by others; selections were published by
Ewald in his "Beitrage zur Aeltesten Auslegung
und Spracherkliirung des Alten Testaments " (i.,
Stuttgart, 1844) ; and the introduction was translated
into German by J. Cohn (Berliner's "Magazin, " viii.
1-19, 61-91). A translation of Proverbs, together
with a commentary and an introduction thereto,
was edited by Derenbourg; and extracts have
been published by Bondi(1888), a detailed character-
ization being given by Heller (" R. B. J." xxxvii.).
Cohn likewise edited the translation of and com-
mentary on Job, a complete edition of which
was published by Bacher (in Derenbourg, " ffiu-
vres Complfitcs," v.); and extracts were published
by Ewald (I.e.). The translations of the Five Me-
gillot found in various manuscripts, and ascribed
therein to Saadia, are not genuine, though they are
probably based on his translation, the version of
Esther contained in them and printed in a siddur
of Yemen (Vienna, 1896) being, at all events, very
close to Saadia's rendering (see Poznanski in " Mo-
natsschrift," xlvi. 364). His translation of and a
portion of his commentary on Daniel are pre-
served in manuscript; but the Hebrew commen-
tary on Daniel which bears Saadia's name in the
rabbinical Bible was written by another Saadia,
who lived in the twelfth century (see Porges, ib.
xxxiv. 63-78) ; and the same statement holds true

581

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Saadia b. Joseph

■with regard to the commentary on Ezra edited under
Sasidia's name by Mathews (1883; see "Ha-6oren,"
ii. 72 et.seq.). Here likewise may be mentioned the
Arabic midrash on tlie Decalogue ascribed to Saadia
and frequently reprinted (see Steinschneider, I.e. p.
285; idem, "Hebr. Bibl." vii. 114; "J. Q. R." xii.
484). For the commentary on Canticles of which a
Hebrew translation was edited at Constantinople
(e. 1577) and which was attributed to Saadia see
Ewald and Dukes, "Beitrage," ii. 104-109; and for
a similar commentary on Ecclesiastcs (Hasiatyn,
1903) see Bacherin "Hebr. Bibl."ix. (1905).

Hebrew Linguistics: (1) " Agron," sofaras is
known, Saadia's first production. It is a double
dictionary, the two parts being arranged according
to the alphabetic order of initials and of final letters
respectively, and was intended to be used in versi-
fication, in which acrostics and rime were the
chief requisites. In a later edition Saadia added
the Arabic translation of each word, and also in-
cluded passages concerning various " memorable
subjects of the poets," naming the work in its new
form "Kitab al-Shi'r.'' The Arabic introduction to
the second edition and the Hebrew preface of the
first have been in great part preserved (see Har-
kavy, "Studien,"v. 39-59). (2) " Kutubal-Lughah,"
twelve "Books on Language," which are also des-
ignated as the twelve parts of a work entitled "The
Book on Language," in which, as the author himself
states in his"Sefer ha-Galui," he sought to explain
the " i' rab, " or the grammatical formation of the He-
brew language. Of this Hebrew grammar, which
is the oldest one known, fragments of greater or less
extent have been preserved, especially in Saadia's
commentary on the " Sefer Yezirah " and by Dunash
ben liabrat. (3) "Tafsir al-Sab'ina Lafzah," a list
of seventy (properly ninety) Hebrew (and Aramaic)
words which occur in the Bible only once or very
rarely, and whicli may be explained from traditional
literature, especially from the Neo-Hebraisms of the
-Mishnah. This small work has been frequently re-
printed.

Halakic Writings : (1) Short monographs, in
which individual problems of the Halakah are sys-
tematically presented. Of these Arabic treatises of
Saadia's little but the titles and extracts is known
(see Steinschneider, I.e. pp. 48 et seq.\ Poznanski,
" Orientalistische Literaturzeitung," 1904, col. 306),
and it is only in the "Kitab al-Mawarith" that
fragments of any length have survived ; these were
edited by Muller in the "(Euvres Completes," ix.
1-53. A book of rules for the shehitah is extant in
manuscript {ib. p. xxxvii.). (2) A commentary on
the thirteen rules of Rabbi Islimael, preserved only
in a Hebrew translation {ib. pp. 73-83). An Arabic
methodology of the Talmud is also mentioned,
by Azulai, as a work of Saadia under the title
"Kelale ha-Talmud " ("Shem ha-Gedolim," ii. 16).
(8) Responsa. With few exceptions these exist
only in Hebrew, some of them having been prob-
ably written in that language. About fifty have
been collected from the mass of geonic responsa by
J. Milller (I.e. ix. 87-143), who has also compiled
numerous citations from Saadia which bear on the
Halakah (J,b. pp. 145-173). On the " Book of Feasts "
see below. Saadia's interpretation, or more cor-

rectly translation, of the Mishnah into Arabic was
used in the twelfth century in Bagdad, according to
the traveler Pethahiah of Regensburg ; but no fur-
ther data are known concerning it.

Liturgy: (1) The "Siddur." Saadia's prayer-
book, hitherto known in detail only from the analysis
of Steinschneider ("Cat. Bodl." cols. 2203-2211,
supplemented by Neubauer in "Ben Chananja,"
1863-65), is called by its author ("Cat. Bodl." col.
1096) "Kitab Jawami' al-Salawat wal-Tasabih," or
" Book of Coiled ions of Prayers and Songs of
Praise." It contains the entire ritual for week-days,
Sabbaths, and festivals, with explanations in Arabic
and Saadia's own synagogal poetry (comp. Bondi,
"Der Siddur Saadia's," Frankfort -on- the -:i\[ain,
1904). (3) Of this synagogal poetry (comp. Stein-
schneider, Z.c. cols. 2311-2217; Zimz,"S.P."pp. 93-98,
668; Schechter, I.e. xvii.-xxv.) the most noteworthy
portions are the "Azharot" on the 613 command-
ments, which give the author's name as "Sa'id b.
Joseph " (see above), followed by the expression
" Alluf," thus showing that the poems were written
before he became gaon. They have been collected
by Rosenberg ("Kobez," pp. 26, 54, Berlin, 1876; see
also "CEuvres Completes," ix. 59-69; "J. Q. R." vi.
704; Schechter, I.e. xv.); and there are in addi-
tion the "'Abodah" (Rosenberg, I.e. pp. 10-17),
and the "Hosha'not" (designated in Saadia's "Sid-
dur" as the " Alfabatat"), a portion of the prayer-
book of Yemen (see "J. Q. R." xiv. 593), edited by
Kohut (in "Monatsschrift," xxxvii.). (3) In con-
nection with Saadia's liturgical poetry may be men-
tioned his poem on the number of the letters in the
Bible (see Derenbourg, "Manuel du Lecteur," pp.
139, 235), which has been incorrectly claimed for
another author (see Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl."
vii. 143, note 2).

Philosophy of Religion : (1) The " Kitab al-
Amanat wal-I'tikadat," or "Boole of the Articles of
Faith and Doctrines of Dogma, " the first systematic
presentation and philosophic foundation of the
dogmas of Judaism, completed in 933. This work
is better known under its Hebrew title, "Sefer
Emunot we-De'ot," as translated by Judah ibn Tib-
bon, his version having been first printed in Con-
stantinople in 1563 and frequently republished,
while the original was edited by S. Landauer (Ley-
den, 1880). Another translation, or rather para-
phrase, of the "Kitab al-Amanat," of uncertain au-
thorship, is contained in several manuscripts ; large
portions of this rendering were edited
The by Gollancz ("The Ethical Treatises

"Emunot of Berachyah," London, 1903; comp.
we- "Monatsschrift," xlvi. 536). Of the

De'ot." ten sections or " makalat " of the work,
the seventh, treating of the resurrec-
tion, is contained in two versions, the first of which,
the basis of the translation of Ibn Tibbon, has been
edited by Bacherin the "Steinschneider Festschrift,"
pp. 98-112, and the second by Landauer.

(3) "Tafsir Kitab al-Mabadi," an Arabic transla-
tion of and commentary on the "Sefer Yezirah,"
written while its author was still residing in Egypt
(or Palestine). The Arabic original was edited with
a French translation by Lambert (Paris, 1891). A
Hebrew translation exists in manuscript; but the

Saadia b. Joseph

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

582

Hebrew commentary on the " Sefer Yezirah " printed
under Saadia's name in 1563 is incorrectly ascribed
to him.

Polemical Writing's : (1-3) Refutations of Ka-
raite autliors, always designated by the name " Kitab
al-Rudd," or "Book of Refutation." These are di-
rected respectively against Anan, tlie founder of Ka-
raism (written in 915) ; against Ibn Saljawaih or Sa-
kuyah, an author of whom nothing more is known ;
and " against a bitter assailant " (" 'ala mutahamil
hayyum ") who had criticized the anthropomorphism
of the Talmudic Haggadah. These three works
are known only from scanty references to them in
other works ; that the third was written after 933, is
proved by one of the citations. (4) " Kitab al-Tam-
yiz " (in Hebrew, " Sefer ha-Hakkai'ah " or " Sefer
ha-JIibhan "), or "Book of Distinction," composed in
936, and Saadia's most extensive polemical work.
It was still cited in tlie twelfth century ; and a num-
ber of passages from it are given in a Biblical com-
mentary of Japheth ha-Levi ("J. Q. R."x. 345-353,
xiii. 656 et seq.). (5) There was perhaps a special
polemic of Saadia against Ben Zuta, though the
data regarding this controversy between that
Karaite scholar (who is otherwise unknown) and
Saadia, which is mentioned in Ibn Ezra's commen-
tary on the Pentateuch (comp. Jew. Encyc. v. 105),
are known only from the gaon's gloss on the Torah.
(6) A refutation directed against the rationalistic
Biblical critic Hiwi alBalkhi, whose views were re-
jected by the Karaites themselves; mentioned by
Saadia in the first section, p. 87, of his " Kitab al-
Amanat wal-I'tikadat." This work was written
probably in Hebrew; the third section of the "Ki-
tab al-Amanat wal-I'tikadat" doubtless contained
the refutation which Saadia directed against Hiwi
(comp. Jew. Encyc. vi. 439b). (7) "Kitab al-
Shara'i'," or "Book of the Commandments of
Religion," probably also polemical in content
(see Steinscliueider, "Die Arabische Litferatur der
Juden," pp. 50 et seq.). (8) "Kitab al-'Ibbur,"
or "Book of the Calendar," likewise apparently
containing polemics against Karaite Jews (see Pos-
nanski in "J. Q. R." x. 360). (9) "Sefer ha-Mo-
'adim," or "Book of Festivals," the Hebrew polemic
against Ben Mei'r which has been mentioned above.
It has, as the author himself states, the exter-
nal appearance of the Biblical text, being divided
into verses and pointed for vocalization and accent.
Several large fragments of it have been found in re-
cent times (Schechter, I.e. ji., iii., xlvii. ; Harkavy,
"Studien," v. 330; "R. E. J." xli. 335). (10)
"Sefer ha-Galui," also in Hebrew and in the same
Biblical style as the "Sefer ha-Mo'adim," being
an apologetic work directed against David b. Zak-
kai and his followers. The author himself added an
Arabic ti'anslation, commentary, and preface to his
work. The introduction has been preserved In
great part, and contains information regarding the
work itself, of which only a few fragments are now
extant (Schechter, I.e. 1.; Harkavy, I.e. p. 186; "R.
E. J." xl. 88). The book consisted of seven sections,
in the fourth of which Saadia spoke of his providen-
tial position as the leader of Israel, while in the
sixth and seventh he described the opposition which
he had to encounter, and enumerated those who had

been victorious over him. The second section con-
tained a chronology (Arabic, " ta'rikh ") of the Bib-
lical and Talmudic periods; this is plausibly iden-
tified with the " Kitab al-Ta'rikh " from which Judah
ibn Balaam, in his commentary on I Kings vi. 1,
cites a chronological statement regarding the date of
the Judges (Neubauer, "M. J. C." ii. 85; see also
"R. E. J." xlix. 398). (11) Dunash ben Labrat
cites a sentence of three Hebrew words in which
Saadia polemizes against the famous Masorite Aaron
ben Asher, although it Is not certain that this was
from a special work in which Saadia assailed his
contemporary, whom he probably knew personally.

If the fulness and versatility of Saadia's literary
labor, which represents the activity of thirty years,
many of which were full of unrest, are astonishing,
they are still more astonishing when one recalls that
he was a pioneer In the fields in which he toiled,
being, to employ a tannaitic phrase used by Abra-
ham ibn Ezra, "the first head of words in every
place " (" rosh ha-medabberim be-kol makom "). The
foremost object of his unwearied mental activ-
ity was the Bible; Indeed, his importance in his-
tory is due primarily to his establishment of a new
school of Biblical exegesis characterized by a ra-
tional investigation of the contents of the Bible and
a scientific knowledge of the language of the holy
text. The services of Saadia as a representative of
the " peshat " and as the creator of Hebrew philol-
ogy have been emphasized elsewhere (see Jew. En-
cyc. iil. 166, s.v. Bible Exegesis; ib. iv. 579, s.v.
Dictionaries; ib. vi. 69, s.v. Gua.\i.\i.\k). Here,
therefore, only a general summary of his exegetical
and philological activities is necessary.

Saadia's Arabic translation of the Bible is of im-
portance for the history of oivilization ; itself a
product of the Arabization of a large

Charac- portion of Judaism, It served for
teristics. centuries as a potent factor in the
impregnation of the Jewish spirit
with Arabic culture, so that, in this respect, it may
take Its place beside the Greek Bible-translation of
antiquity and the German translation of the Penta-
teuch by Moses Mendelssohn. As a means of popu-
lar religious enlightenment, Saadia's translation pre-
sented the Scriptures even to the unlearned in a
rational form which aimed at the greatest possible
degree of clearness and consistency. His system of
hermeneutlcs, furthermore, was not limited to the
exegesis of individual passages, but treated also each
book of the Bible as a whole, and showed the con-
nection of its various portions with one another.
As specimens may be cited the introduction to his
translation of the Pentateuch and his prefaces to the
Psalms, to Proverbs (which he called " The Book of
the Search after Wisdom "), and to Job (which he
termed the " Book of the Theodicy "), as well as his
concluding remarks on the Psalms and on the
speeches of Job and his friends. The minuteness
which, in the judgment of Ibn Ezra, characterized
the geonlc commentaries on the Bible must have been
especially marked in Saadia's Pentateuch commen-
tary, to which, according to a citation by Judah ben
Barzillai, a whole volume served as Introduction.
The commentary contained, as is stated in the au-
thor's own Introduction to his translation of the Pen-

683

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Saadia h. Joseph

tateucli, not only an exact interpretation of tlie text,
but also a refutation of the cavils which the heretics
raised against it. Further, it set forth the bases of the
commandments of reason and the characterization of
the commandments of revelation ; iu the case of the
former the author appealed to philosopliioal specula-
tion ; of the latter, naturally, to tradition. His exe-
getic application of the most diverse passages of
Holy Writ is conspicuously shown in that portion of
his commentary wliich treats of Ex. xxx. 11-16, and
which has been translated by Bacher in Winter and
WUnsche's " Jtldische Litteratur " (ii. 251). It must
be noted, however, that in many of his commentaries,
as on the Psalms and Job, Saadia restricted himself
to a very limited number of indispensable elucida-
tions, since in general the translation itself prop-
erly served as a commentary, so that it was called
"Tafsir."

Tlie position assigned to Saadia in the oldest list
of Hebrew grammarians, which is contained in the
introduction to Ibn Ezra's "Moznayim," has not
been challenged even by the latest historical inves-
tigations. Here, too, he was the first ; his grammat-
ical work, now lost, gave an inspiration to further
studies, which attained their most brilliant and last-
ing results in Spain, and he created in part the cate-
gories and rules along whose lines was developed
the grammatical study of the Hebrew language. His
dictionary, primitive and merely practical as it was,
became the foundation of Hebrew lexicography;
and the name "Agron" (literally, "collection"),
which he chose and doubtless created, was long used
as a designation for Hebrew lexicons, especially by
the Karaites. The very categories of rlietoric, as
they were found among the Arabs, were first ap-
plied by Saadia to the style of the Bible. He was
likewise one of the founders of comparative philol-
ogy, not only through his brief "Book of Seventy
Words," already mentioned, but especially through
his explanation of the Hebrew vocabulary by the
Arabic, particularly in the case of the favorite trans-
lation of Biblical words by Arabic terms having the
same sound.

Tlie influence of the spirit and language of the
Bible on Saadia is shown by his Hebrew writings.
In his introduction to the " Agron " and in his po-
lemics against Ben Meir and David b.

Hebrew Zakkai lie employs the method of
Style. presentation found in Biblical narra-
tive, as well as the external form of
division into verses. His models for this imitation
of Biblical form were, as he himself says, the Book
of Ben Sira, which he had in the Hebrew original,
and the Aramaic scroll of Antiochus. Even in his
choice of words Saadia endeavored to attain to Bib-
lical simplicity and purity of vocabulary; but the
stylistic artificiality, especially in the formation of
words, which long since had been set up as a diver-
gent ideal for the Hebraists of Saadia's time through
the influence of the synagogal poetry of Jose, Yan-
nai, and Kalir, impressed itself upon him, so tliat his
Hebrew writings form a curious mixture of Biblical
simplicity and payyetanic affectation. The same
statement holds good of his liturgical poetry, of
which Zunz ("S. P." p. 93) says tliat "he employs
in his religious poems both the most lucid style and

the most obscure ; being in the one a worshiper, in
the other a payyefan. " Saadia himself declares, in his
introduction to the " Sefer ha-Galui, " that he intended
to make his style the model for that of a school. To
the seven chapters of polemics in this work he planned
to add three of a general nature and referring to
the entire book ; he declares his intention, wiiich he
then proceeds to carry out, of analyzing, in these to a
certain extent "latent" chapters, the three stylistic
merits of Ills book, correctness of language, unity
of composition, and logical sequence of thought.
The first of these, a thorough mastery of Hebrew,
was extremely important for the nation, since the
predominant use of Arabic and Aramaic had caused
the people to forget its use. It is true that
the renaissance of Hebrew as a literary language
approaching as much as possible to the language of
the Bible first attained full potency in Spain a cen-
tury after Saadia; but this most noteworthy sign of
progress in the spiritual life of medieval Judaism
owes its first great inspiration to the powerful ex-
ample of the gaon. The important innovation of
the use of Arabic meters in Hebrew poetry was
due to Saadia in the sense that it was introduced by
his pupil Dunash ben Labrat, who showed his met-
rical compositions to his teacher and received praise
for them, although Saadia himself did not adopt
this new form of verse.

Of tlie halakic writings of Saadia only one has
been preserved in any degree of entirety ; bxit this
is sufficient to show that even here he blazed a new
path by arranging his material systematically and
by presenting his subject methodically. Herein
Saadia was the first precursor of Maimonides, whose
masterpiece was his systematic presentation of the
entire Halakah. In his division of the
His commandments of the Bible according

Responsa. to their subject-matter, Saadia like-
wise anticipated Maimonides, although
in tlie other division (introduced as early as Philo),
that according to the fundamental commandments
of the Decalogue, he apparently followed Karaite
models. In regard to Saadia's responsa and the
specimens of his halakic decisions and interpreta-
tions which have been preserved, Mliller, their col-
lector,, says: "As in his other writings, Saadia is
fond of stating the number of possibilities which may
arise in connection with a given subject. He draws
his proof first from the Bible, then from the Talmud,
and finally from reason ; his arguments are always
cogent; and his conclusions proceed from sound
judgment and sober spirit. . . . He often concludes
his responsa with words of warning and with quo-
tations from the Bible."

In his " Kitab al-Amanat wal-I'tikadat " (see
above) Saadia became the creator of the Jewish plii-
losophy of religion. His detanled introduction to
the work speaks of the reasons which led him to
compose it. His heart was grieved when he saw
the confusion concerning matters of religion which
prevailed among his contemporaries, finding an un-
intelligent belief and unenlightened views current
among those who professed Judaism, while those
who denied the faith triumphantly vaunted their
errors. Men were sunken in the sea of doubt and
overwhelmed by the waves of spiritual error, and

Saadia b. Joseph

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

584

there was none to lielp them; so that Saadia felt
himself called and in duty bound to save them from
their peril by strengthening the faithful in their
belief and by removing the fears of those who
were iu doubt. After a general presentation of
the causes of infidelity and the essence of belief,
Saadia describes tlie three natural
His sources of knowledge ; namely, the

Philosophy perceptions of the senses, the light
of of reason, and logical necessity, as

Religion, well as the fourth source of knowl-
edge possessed by those that fear God,
the ■' veritable revelation " contained in the Scrip-
tures. He shows that a belief in the teachings of
revelation does not exclude an independent search
for knowledge, but that speculation on religious
subjects rather endeavors to prove the truth of the
teachings received from the Prophets and to refute
attaclis upon revealed doctrine, which must be
raised by philosophic investigation to the plane of
actual knowledge.

In the scheme of his work Saadia closely followed
the rules of the Motazilites (the rationalistic dog-
matists of Islam, to whom he owed in part also his
thesis and arguments), adhering most frequently, as
Guttmann has shown, tu the Motazilite school of
Al-Jubbai. He followed the Motazilite Kalam,
especially in this respect, that in the first two sec-
tions he discussed the metaphysical problems of
the creation of the world (i.) and the unity of the
Creator (ii.), while in the following sections he treated
of the Jewish theory of revelation (iii.) and of the
doctrines of belief based upon divine justice, inclu-
ding obedience and disobedience (iv.), as well as merit
and demerit (v.). Closely connected with these sec-
tions are those which treat of the soul and of deatli
(vi.), andof the resurrection of the dead (vii.), which,
according to the author, forms part of the theory
of the Messianic redemption (viii.). The work con-
cludes with a section on the rewards and punish-
ments of the future life (ix.). The tenth section, on
the best mode of life for mankind in this world, must
be regarded as an appendix, since its admonitions
to moral conduct supplement the exhortations to
right thought and right belief contained in the main
body of the book.

The most important points contained in the indi-
vidual sections are as follows:

(i.) For the doctrine of the creation of the world
Saadia offers four proofs; three of these show the
influence of Aristotelian philosophy, which may be
traced also elsewhere in this author's writings.
After his speculation has led him to the conclusion
that the world was created ex nihilo, he proceeds to
state and refute the twelve theories of the origin
of the world. This part of the first section gives a
most interesting insight into Saadia's

Special knowledge of the Greek philosophers.

Views. which he probably derived from read-
ing Aristotle. At the end of the sec-
tion Saadia refutes certain objections to the Jewish
doctrine of Creation, especially those which proceed
from the concepts of time and space.

(ii.) The theory of God is prefaced by a develop-
ment of the view that human knowledge arises by
degrees from the merest sensuous impressions to the

most subtle concepts; so that the idea of the divine,
which transcends all other knowledge in subtlety,
is itself a proof of its verity. The concept of God
as a creator necessarily implies the attributes of life,
power, and knowledge. In like manner the con-
cept of the Creator demonstrates the unity of God.
For this view three direct and three indirect proofs
are offered by Saadia, the latter consisting iu de-
monstrating that dualism is absurd. The thesis
of the absolute unity of God is established by a
refutation of the Christian doctrine of the Trinit}',
which arises, in Saadia's opinion, from a misinter-
pretation, of the three attributes of God already
named — life, power, and knowledge. Connected
with the refutation of the dogma of the Trinity is
an outline of the various theories respecting the per-
son of Jesus which reveals an accurate knowledge
of Christian controversies. To render possible an
understanding of the monot.lieistic concept of God
in all its purity, and to fi'i'e the statements of the
Scriptures from their apparent contradictions of the
spirituality of the absolute idea of God, Saadia in-
terprets all the difficulties of the Bible which bear
upon this problem, using the scheme of the ten
Aristotelian categories, none of which, he shows,
may be applied to God. At the conclusion of this
.section the author pictures with deep religious feel-
ing the relation to the Deity sustained by the human
soul when permeated by the true knowledge of God.

(iii.) The divine commandments revealed in the
Holy Scriptures have been given to man by the
grace of God as a means to attain the highest bless-
edness. According to a classification borrowed by
Saadia from the Motazilites but based upon an
essentially Jewish view, the commandments are
divided into those of reason and of revelation, al-
though even the latter may be explained rationally,
as is shown by numerous examples. An excursus,
in which Saadia attacks the view of the Hindu sect
of the " Barahima " (Brahmans) to the effect that
man needs no prophets, introduces his account of
prophecy and his apology for the Prophets. This
is followed by theses on the essential content of the
Bible and the credibility of Biblical tradition, by a
detailed refutation of the Christian and Moham-
medan view that the Law revealed in Israel has been
abrogated, and by a polemic against a series of
Hiwi's objections to the authority of the Scriptures.

(iv.) The foundation of this section is the theory
of the freedom of the will and its reconciliation with
the omnipotence and omniscience of God. In its
opening portion Saadia postulates the anthropocen-
tric doctrine which regards man as the object of all
creation ; and at its close he explains under eight
headings those passages of the Bible which might
cause doubt regarding the freedom of the acts of
man.

(v.) Men fall into ten classes with regard to merit

and demerit, and their religious and moral bearings.

In his description of the first two, the

Contents of pious and the impious, Saadia devotes

the himself in the main to the problem of

"Emunot." the sufferings of the pious and the

good fortune of the impious, while the

description of the last class, that of the contrite,

leads him to detailed considerations, based upon the

585

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Saadia b. Josephi

Bible, of repentance, prayer, and other evidences
of human piety.

(vi.) His view on the soul is prefaced by a survey
of six other theories. He states the relation of the
soul to the body, the basis of their union, their co-
operation iu human activity, their coexistence or the
appointed term of life, their separation or death, and
the state of the soul after deatli. The section con-
cludes vf ith a refutation of the doctrine of metempsy-
chosis.

(vii.) Here Saadia refutes the objections made, on
the basis of nature, reason, and the Bible, to the
doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and pre-
sents the proof for it contained in tradition. He
then discusses ten questions bearing on this doc-
trine, which are of interest as "affording an insight
into popular views which then prevailed, and which,
despite their singularity, could not bo ignored even
by such a man as Saadia " (Guttmann).

(viii.) The teachings regarding Messianic redemp-
tion are based almost entirely on statements of the
Bible and the Talmud, the definite year of salva-
tion being fixed by an Interpretation of well-known
passages in the Book of Daniel. In the concluding
portion the author refutes those who assume that
the Messianic prophecies refer to the time of the
Second Temple; and he argues also against the
Christian doctrine of the Messiah.

(Ix.) Saadia demonstrates that the recompenses of
the world to come are proved by reason, the Bible,
and tradition, and answers various questions bear-
ing upon this subject.

(x.) The system of ethics contained in the appen-
dix is based for the most part on a description and
criticism of thirteen different objects of life, to which
Saadia adds his own counsels for rational and moral
living. He adds also that in the case of each of the
five senses only the concordant union of sensuous
impressions is beneficial, thus showing how great is
the need of a harmonious combination of the qualities
and the impulses of the soul of man. He concludes
with the statement that he intends his book only to
purify and ennoble the hearts of his readers.

In his commentary on the " Sefer Yezirah " Saadia
sought to render lucid and intelligible the content
of this mystical work by the light of philosophy and
other knowledge, especially by a system of Hebrew
phonology which he himself had founded. He did
not permit himself in this commentary
Relations to be influenced by the theological
to Mysti- speculations of the Kalam, which are
cism. so important in his main works; and
in his presentation of the theory of
creation he made a distinction between the Bible and
the book on which he commented, even omitting the
theory of the " Sefer Yezirah " regarding the crea-
tion of the world when he discussed the various views
on this subject in the first section of his "Kitab al-
Amanat wal-I'tikadat." From this it may be con-
cluded that he did not regard the " Sefer Yezirah "
—which he traces ultimately to the patriarch Abra-
ham—as a real source for a knowledge of the the-
ory of Judaism, although he evidently considered
the work worthy of deep study.

Of all Saadla's works his polemical writings, es-
pecially those against the Karaites, exercised the

greatest Immediate influence. As he himself de-
clared, Karaism had within a century and a half be-
come deeply rooted, while rabbinical Judaism, whose
official heads, the academies of Babylonia, had begun
to lose their importance, was in peril of being over-
whelmed by the propaganda of the Karaites and
even of suffering losses of increasing magnitude in
its material welfare through the extension of Ka-
raite doctrines. It was Saadia who, equipped with
comprehensive knowledge, a thorough secular train-
ing, and an extraordinary literary activity, waged
the battle against the foes of Jewish tradition, and
not only averted the perils which threatened it, but
also, by establishing the scientific study of the Bible
and of the Hebrew language, gave
Relations rabbinical Judaism the supremacy
to even in this special province of Kara-

Karaism. ism. If the Karaites made remarkable
contributions on these subjects during
the tenth and in the first half of the eleventh cen-
tury, their inspiration was due to Saadla's influence
and to the necessity of defending themselves against
his attacks ; so that his activity was epochal like-
wise even for Karaism.

Nor was Saadia without influence outside Jewish
circles. Abraham ibn Ezra, wilting on Gen. ii. 11,
states, probably on good authority, that Saadia
planned his translation of the Bible for Mohammed-
ans as well as for Jews, and that he used Arabic
script for this reason ; and Ibn Ezra accordingly ex-
plains the fact that Saadia translated even those ex-
pressions whose meaning was not known through
tradition, as being due to a desire that the Moham-
medan reader might not think the Bible contains
words which are unintelligible. Not only does
a noted Mohammedan author, Saadla's younger
contemporary, Mas'udi, give data of the gaon's
life, but another Arabic author of the second half
of the tenth century, Mohammed ibn Ishak al-
Nadim, gives, in his "Fihrist al-'Ulum," a list
of eleven of Saadia's writings. This list Includes,
according to the editions, which are sometimes
vague and partly corrupt, the translations of
Isaiah, the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, the trans-
lation of the Pentateuch, and the commentary
on the second half of Leviticus, besides the com-
mentary on the "Sefer Yezirah," the "Siddur," the
"Kitab ha-'Ibbur," the "Kitab al-Shara'i," and prob-
ably his great work on philosophy (" Kitab al-Ama-
nat " ; the list has iisriDK^S 3n3 instead of nns
riNJNDX^N ; see Hegenkamper, p. 27). It is, how-
ever, improbable that that author had seen all the
writings of Saadia himself; for he seems to owe his
knowledge of them to a Hebrew source or to the
oral communication of some Jew. No manuscript
of any of Saadia's works written in Arabic script
exists. The Florentine codex (dating from 1356),
containing a translation of the Pentateuch in Arabic
characters (see Kahle, "Die Arabischen Bibelilber-
setzungen," p. viii., Leipsic, 1904), is not the original
work of Saadia, but a revision thereof approaching
more closely to the Hebrew text.
Bibliography: Bapoport, Trilednt B. Sa'adj/nh Oann, in

Bihkure ho-'Ittim. 1828, Ix. 20-37; S. Munk. Notice sur R.

Saadia Oaon, Paris, 1838; Gelger, in his IFiss. Zeit.JUd.

Thenl. v. 267-316 : Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 2156-2324 ;

idem, I>ie Arabische lAtteratur der Juden, pp. 46-69

Saadia b. Joseph
Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

586

(comp. Kaufmann Oedenhbuch, pp. 144-168) ; Uratz, Oesch.
v.; Weiss, Dor, iv.; David Kotiii, JIMH D"1 nn'^in 'D, Cra-
cow, 1891 ; M. Friedlander, Life and Works nf Saadia, In
J. Q. B. V. 177-199 ; A. Harkavy, Leben und Wcrhe Saouiia's
Goon, i. (In Studien und Mittheilungen, v.), Berlin, 1891;
W. Engelkemper, De SaatJto Gaonis Vita, Bihlioi-um Ver-
sione, Hermencutica, Munster, 1897. On linguistics and exe-
gesis : Dukes, In Ewald and Dukes, BeitrUge zur Geschichte
der Aeliesten AusUgung, 11. 5-115; Bacher, Abraham ibn
Esra'n Einleitung zu Seinem Pentateucheammentar, Vien-
na, 1876 ; Idem, Die Anfllnge der Hehrdisehen Qramma^
tik, pp. 38-62, Lelpsle, 1895; idem, Die Bibelexegese der
JUdisehen BeligioiiitpMlosophen des Mittelalters vor Mai-
muni, 1893, pp. 1-44; idem, Leben und Werke des Abul-
walid, 1885, pp. 93-97 ; idem. In Winter and Wunsche, Die
Jttdisehe Litteratur, li. 138-141, 243-246; M. Wolff, Zur
Charakteristik der Bibelexegese Saadia^s, In Stade's Zeit-
sehrift, Iv. 225, v. 15 ; L. Bodenheimer, Das ParaphraUische
der Arabisehen Uebersetzung des Saadia, in Monats-
sehrift, Iv. 23-33 ; ScSmidl, Randbemerkungen zu Saadia's
Pentateuchilbersetzuny, ib. xlv.-xlvil.; A. Merx, Die Saad-
janische Vehersetzung des Hnhenlieds, 1882 (comp. Loevy
in Berliner's Magazin, x. 39-44; Bacher in Stade's Zeit-
schrift. Hi. 202-211); also the Introductions and notes to the
editions of Saadia's works mentioned in the body of this arti-
cle. On the Halakah : the introduction to the ninth volume
of the (Euvres Completes. On the philosophy ot religion :
In addition to the general works on this subject and its spe-
cial branches, J. Guttmann, Die ReUi)irm»philosophie des
Saadia, Gottingen, 1882 ; M. Schreiner, Der Kalam in der
Jlldisehen Litteratur, pp. 5-22, Berlin, 1895 (Thirteenth Re-
port of the Lehranstalt f (ir die Wissenschaft des Judenthums) ;
D. Kaufmann, Oeseli. der Attributenlehre, pp. 1t-90. On
polemics : H. J. Bornsteln, T'ND pi pNJ miyo '1 np?nc, pp.
19-189, Warsaw, 1904 ; A. Epstein, La Querelle au Sujet du
Calendrier, in B. B. J. xlii. 179-210, xUv. 2^1-236; S. Poz-
nanski, Tlie Anti-Karaite Writings of Saaliah Gaon, in
J.Q.R.x. 238-276 ; idem, Saadiah and Salomon b. Jeroham,
lb. vill. 684-691 ; A. Harkavy, Fragments of Anti^Karaite
Writings of Saadiah, lb. xlii. 655-668. On the Sefer ha-
Oalui : in addition to Harkavy, Studien und Mittheilungen,
v., Margollouth, Harkavy, and Bacher, in J. Q. B. xii. 502-554,
703-705; Bacher, in Expository Times, xl. .563. Various ge-
nlzah fragments referring to Saadia have been edited by
Schechter, under the title Saadyana, In J. Q. B. xv.-xvi.,
and also separately, Cambridge, 1903 (comp. Poznanski in
Stelnschnelder, Hebr. Bibl. vli. ) . Miscellaneous ; Poznanski,
in Monatssehrift, xxxlx., xii., xllv., xlvl.; Harkavy, in Ha-
Goren, 1. 89 et seq.

W. B.

SAADIA B. JOSEPH BEKOR SHOB. See

Bekoh Shor, Saadia.

SAADIA BEN MAIMON IBN DANAN.

See Ibn Danan.

SAADIA BEN NAHMANI : Liturgical poet
and perhaps also Biblical commentator; lived in
the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He was the
author of a piyjnit for the first " Ma'arib " of the
Feast of Tabernacles, beginning "Sukkat shalem
selah," and consisting of ten strophes of six lines
each; and Zunz thinks him to have written likewise
the pijT"t beginning " Elohekem dirshu " and re-
cited oh Sabbaths which fall on the first day of the
month. Saadia ben Nahmani is supposed by Hay-
yim Michael to be identical with the Saadia quoted
by Rashi as having personally spoken to him
<"Likkute ha-Pardes," Hilkot "Tish'ah be-Ab").

The supposition that Saadia was a Biblical com-
mentator is based on the fact that the commentary
on Chronicles, generally attributed to Rashi, was
discovered not to belong to the latter, as is men-
tioned in Tos. to Yoma9a, but to have been arranged
by the pupils of a certain R. Saadia. It has also
been proved that Saadia's commentary on Chronicles
was copied by his pupils in different localities, the
several copies, therefore, containing many variants.
Hayyim Michael holds that the Saadia in question
also may be identical with the subject of this article
.and likewise with the author of the commentary on
the "Sefer Yezirah," in ascribing which to Saadia
Oaon the printers, as was proved by Delmedigo
("Mazref la-Hokmah," p. 9b) and by Jacob Emden

("Mitpahat Sefarim,'' p. 4b), were in error. Tliis
commentary, too, was arranged by Saadia's pupils,
who in certain passages altered their master's words.
If the various identifications are correct, it may be
concluded, as appears from the many German words
found in these commentaries, that Saadia was a
native of Germany. The author of the commen-
tary indicates Kalonymus b. Judah as his maternal
uncle (commentary on II Chron. iv. 7, 17) and Ele-
azar b. Meshullam as his teacher (commentary on I
Chron. iv. 31, passim). He studied at Narbonne also,
under Isaac b. Samuel (ib. ix. 34, passim), which
accounts for the Erench words in his commentary.

BiBLIOGEAPHT: Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 416; Landshuth,
'Ammude ha-Abodah, p. 399; Michael, Or hOr-Hayylm,
No. 1146 ; Joseph Weiss, in Kerem Hemed, v. 232-244 ; Zunz,
Literaturgesch. p. 177e.
E. c. M. Sel.

SAALSCHUTZ, JOSEPH LEWIN : German
rabbi and archeologist ; born March 15, 1801, at
KOnigsberg, East Prussia; died there Aug. 33, 1863.
Having received his education at the gymnasium
and university of his native city (Ph.D. 1824), he
held several positions as rabbi and teacher at the
Israelitic communal schools of Berlin and Vienna.
Returning in 1835 to Konigsberg, he became rabbi
there, and in 1847 privat-docent in Hebrew arche-
ology at Konigsberg University.

In Hebrew archeology Saalschiltz was a pioneer
among the Jews. Among his works may be men-
tioned : " Von der Form der Hebraischen Poesie
Nebst einer Abhandlung liber die Musik der He-
brSer" (Konigsberg, 1835), reedited (ib. 1853) under
the title " Form und Geist der Biblisch-Hebraisohen
Poesie " ; " Geschichte und Wlirdigung der Musik bei
den Hebraern Nebst einem Anhang iiber die Hebra,i-
sche Orgel" (Berlin, 1830); "Gotteslehre" (Vienna,
1833), a book on the Jewish religion, formerly used
in many schools in Austria and Hungary; "For-
schungen im Gebiete der Hebraisch-Aegyptischen
Archaologie" (KOnigsberg, 1838); "Die VersShn-
ung der Confessionen, oder Judenthum und Christen-
thum in Ihrem Streit und Einklange " (ib. 1844) ;
" Vocabularium zum Hebraischen Gebetbuche, " with
supplement ; " Einleitung in die Hebraische Gramma-
tik " (ib. 1844). He also edited a new edition of Johann
David Michaelis' " Das MosaischeRechtmit Beruck-
sichtigung des Spatern Jiidischen " (Berlin, 1846-48),
in two parts: part i., on public law, is subdivided
into six parts ; and part ii. into three. Other works
by him are: "Das KOnigthum vom Israelitisch-Bi-
blischen Standpunkte " (1852); " Zur Geschichte der
Unsterblichkeitslehre bei den Hebraern" (1853);
" Archaologie der HebrSer " (Konigsberg, 1855-56),
in twelve parts: (1) dress, home, and food; (2) life
and industries ; (3) religion ; (4) art ; (5) literature ;
(G) science ; (7) customs ; (8) family ; (9) city law ;
(10) the administration of law; (11) priests and su-
perstitions ; (12) government (this book still remains
the only complete survey of the subject from a
Jewish standpoint) ; " Repetitionsbiichlein der Lsrae-
litischen Religion und Sittenlehre " ; and " Gebetbuch
der Synagoge " (1859).

Saalschlitz's son, Louis, is assistant professor of
mathematics at Konigsberg University (1905).

BiBUOGKAPHT : S. Carpin, in Allg. Zett. des Jud. Oct. 18, 1901.
s. p. T. H.

587

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Saadia b. Joseph
Sabbath

SAALSCHTJTZ, LOXTIS: German mathema-
tician; born at Kiinigsbeig, Prussia, Dec. 1, 1835;
son of Joseph Levin Saalschatz. From 1854 to 1860
he studied mathematics and physics at the univer-
sity of his native city, graduating as Ph.D. in 1861 :
Lis dissertation was "Ueber die Warmeverander-
ungen in den HOheren Erdsclnchten Unter dem Ein-
flussdes Nicht-periodischen Teraperaturwechsels an
<Jer Oberflaohe,"and was published in the "As-
tronomischo Nachrichten. " From 1861 to 1883 he
was teacher of raatliematics, mechanics, and engi-
neering at the Royal School of Mechanics, KOnigs-
berg. During the same period he lectured at the
university; and since 1875 he has been assistant
professor. For a number of years he has filled the
•office of president of the Jewish orphan asylum of
Konigsberg.

Saalschiitz is the author of : "Der Belastete Stab,''
Leipsic, 1880; "Vorlesungen Ueber die Bernouil-
lischen Zahlen," Berlin, 1893; and of a number of
treatises in the technical journals. S.

SABA (S3D) : A word derived from the root
2'D, " to be white, old "; used in the Talmud with
various meanings:

(a) It designates an old man or old woman in gen-
eral, as in the saying " an old man [" saba "] in the
iouse means ruin, but an old woman ["sabeta "] is a
treasure ; since the former is unfit for work, while
the latter helps in the house " ('Ar. 19a).

(J) Preceded by the demonstrative ("hai Saba"
= " that old man ") it was assumed to refer to the
prophet Elijah whenever the phrase occurs in either
Talmud; but this assumption was rejected by the
tosafists (Hul. 6a), and even before their time by
Hai Gaon in a responsum (ed. Harkavy, " Responsen
•der Geonim," p. 23).

(c) It is used also as an honorific title, so that
R. Huna and R. Hisda are called " the old men of
Sura," and R. Judah and R. 'Ena "the old men of
Pumbedita " (Sank. 17a).

(d) It was the name of R. Niha's father (Kil. ix. 1 ;
•comp. Frankel, " Introductio in Talmud Hierosoly-
mitura," p. 117a.

(e) It occurs in the phrase " sabe debe Atuna " =
" tlie wise men of Athens " (Giatz, " Jahresbericht des
Breslauer Seminars," 1884, p. 28).

BiBi.ioORAPHY : Kohut, Aruch CompUtum, s.v.; Levy, Neu-
hebr. WOrterb. s.v.
T. S. O.

SABA. See Sheba.

SABA, ABRAHAM. See Abraham Saba.

SABBATH (rUE'): The seventh day of the
week ; the day of rest.

Biblical Data : On the completion of His

creative work God blessed and hallowed the seventh
day as the Sabbath (Gen. ii. 1-3). The Decalogue
in Exodus (xx. 8) reverts to this fact as the reason
for the commandment to " remember " the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. The Sabbath is recognized in
the account of the gathering of the manna ; a double
portion was gathered on the previous day, and the
extra supply gathered for consumption on the Sab-
tath, when no manna descended, did not spoil (xvi.
22-30). The Sabbath is a sign between Yhwh and
Israel, an everlasting covenant (xxi. 13). Death or

excision (xxxi. 14, 15) was the penalty for its prof-
anation by work. An instance of this is afforded
by the case of the man who gathered sticks on the
Sabbath and was condemned to die by lapidation
(Num. XV. 33-36). Work is prohibited, even during
harvest-time (Ex. xxxiv. 21), and is declared to be a
profanation of the holy Sabbath ; and the kindling
of fire in the habitations is especially interdicted
(Ex. XXXV. 3).

In the Decalogue as contained in Deuteronomy
(v. 12 et seq.) the observance of the Sabbath is
again enjoined, but as a day of rest for the servants
as well as their masters, in commemoration of
Israel's redemption from Egyptian bondage. The
Sabbath heads the enumeration of the appointed
holy seasons (Lev. xxiii. 8). The Showbkead was
changed every Sabbath (Lev. xxiv. 8). The sacrifice
ordained for the Sabbath consisted of two he-lambs
of the first year, without blemish, and of two-tenths
of an ephahof fine flour for a meal-offering, mingled
with oil, and " the drink-offering thereof "; these con-
stituted the burnt offering, and were brought in ad-
dition to the continual burnt offering (Num. xxviii.
9, 10). The Sabbath is designated also as " Shab-
bat Shabbaton," as is the Day of Atonement (Lev.
xvi. 31), often with the added qualification of
"holy unto Yiiwn"(Ex. xvi. 23, xxxi. 1, xxxv. 2);
and it is set apai't for a holy convocation (Lev.
xxiii. 3).

From II Kings xi. 5 it appears that the royal
body-guard was changed every Sabbath. The Sab-
bath and the day of the New Moon were the favor-
ite occasions for consulting the Prophets (II Kings
iv. 23).

That the Sabbath was either improperly observed
or sometimes, perhaps, altogether ignored in the
time of the Prophets seems to be evi-
Non-Ob- denced by their writings. Amos cas-
servance tigates those that are impatient for the
by Some in passing of the Sabbath because it in-
Prophetic terferes with their usurious business
Times. (viii. 5). Isaiah is equally emphatic
in condemning his contemporaries for
their unworthy celebrations (i. 9). Jeremiah exhoits
his people to refrain from carrying burdens on the
Sabbath (xvii. 31 et seq.). Ezekiel describes the
laxness of the fathers, for the purpose of impressing
upon his auditors the importance of observing the
Sabbath, evidently neglected in his day (xx. 12, 16,
30, 31, 24; xxii. 8; xxiii. 38), In his scheme of re-
construction the hallowing of the Sabbath holds a
prominent place (xliv. 24, xlvi. 2* 3). According to
him the burnt offering for the Sabbath, provided by
the prince (xlv. 17), consisted of six lambs and a
ram, with an entire ephah of meal-offering and a
"hin " of oil to every ephah (xlvi. 4-5).

Isaiah conditions Israel's triumph on the observ-
ance of the Sabbath, which may not be set aside for
secular pursuits; its observance should be a delight
(Iviii. 13, 14). In his vision of Jerusalem's exalta-
tion the prophet predicts that from one Sabbath to
another all flesh will come to worship before Yhwh
(Ixvi. 23). The colonists under Nehemiah charged
themselves yearly with a third of a shekel to provide,
among other things, for the burnt offerings of the
Sabbaths (Neh. x, 32). Nevertheless Nehemiah took

Sabbatli

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

588

tliem to task for profaning the day (xiii. 16, 17), and
to prevent them from continuing to turn it into
a market-day he ordered the gates to be closed
and kept closed until the end of the Sabbath. This
measure, after a while, had the desired effect (x.
19 et seq.). Ps. xcii. is entitled "A Psalm or Song
for the Sabbath Day." As Hosea (i. 11) threatens
the cessation of the Sabbath and other feasts as a
punishment to disloyal Israel, so does the author of
Lamentations (ii. 6) lament that the Sabbath has
come to be forgotten in Zion.

In Apocrjrpha and Pseudepigrapha : Un-
der the stress of the Syrian persecution, faithful
compliance with the strictest interpretation of the
Sabbath commandment came to be regarded as a
sign of loyalty to God, especially since previously
the Sabbath had been habitually desecrated (I Mace,
i. 30). Many of the refugees in the mountains, thou-
sands in number, preferred to die rather than violate
the Sabbath by hurling stones upon their assailants
(I Mace. ii. ^^etaeq.). This made it necessary for
Mattathias to issue an imperative order that the
Jews, if attacked, should defend themselves (I Mace.
ii. 41). Nevertheless, II Mace. xv. 1 et seq. relates
that Nicanor planned the destruction of the Jews by
attacking them on the Sabbath-day, when he had
reason to believe they would not attempt to resist.
Though the Jews implored him to honor the "day
which had been dignified with holiness by the
Heavenly Ruler," he persisted, declaring that he
was ruler on earth. His expedition, however, failed.
A previous raid against Jerusalem on the Sabbath-
day, under Appolonius, had proved successful (II
Mace. V. 25, 26).

The Book of Jubilees calls the Sabbath the great
sign that work should be done during six days
and dropped on the seventh (ii. 17). The chief
orders of angels also were bidden to observe the
Sabbath with the Lord (ii. 18). In selecting Israel
as His chosen people, Yhwh purposed to make
them a Sabbath-observing people. Eating, drink-
ing, and blessing God are distinguishing features of
the Sabbath, besides cessation of work (ii. 21). The
Sabbath was given to Jacob and his seed that they
might forever remain " the blessed and holy ones of
the first testimony and law," as is the seventh day.
Labor thereon entails death, but its defilement leads
to violent death (ii. 25, 37). Among the acts pro-
hibited are included preparing food, drawing water,
and carrying burdens, however small, out of or into
the house, or from one house to another. The Sab-
bath was hallowed in heaven before it was ordained
for earth. Israel alone has the right to observe it
(ii. 38-31). Again, in ch. Iv., buying and selling,
making verbal agreements for future fulfilment,
and journeying are mentioned as among the acts
prohibited, as well as drawing water, carrying bur-
dens, and marital indulgences. Only work that is
necessary for the sacrificial Temple service is per-
mitted. Death shall.be the penalty for any one who
works, walks anj' distance, tills his land, kindles a
fire, loads a beast of burden, travels on a ship, beats
or kills any one, slaughters bird or beast, captures
in the chase any living creature, or even fasts or
wages war, on the Sabbath.

The archangel Michael instructs Seth (Vita Adae

et Ev£e, 43) not to mourn on the seventh day
(Kautzsoh, " Apokryphen," ii. 528).

In Post-Biblical Literature : Josephus, in

the main, follows the Biblical narrative, giving the
word "Sabbath" the meaning "rest" ("Ant."i. 1,
§ 1), and controverting the stupid etymology of the
name upheld by Apion, according to whom the Jews,
were forced to observe the Sabbath

In Jose- by the fact of their being afflicted with

phus and bubonic boils known in Egyptian by

the a word similar to the Hebrew word

Classical "sabbath" ("Contra Ap." ii., § 2).

Writers. Moreover, his descriptions of Sabbath
celebration do not differ from the Bib-
lical. That the beginning and end of the Sabbath
were announced by trumpet-blasts ("B. J." iv. 9,
§ 12) is shown by the Mishnah (Suk. v. 5).

Josephus makes much of the spread of Sabbath,
observance in non-Palestinian cities and among non-
Jews (" Contra Ap. " ii. , § 39 ; comp. Philo, " De Vita.
Moysis," ii. 137 [ed. Mangey]). That he does not
exaggerate is apparent from the comments of Ro-
man writers on the Jewish Sabbath. Horace, in his.
"Satires" (i. 9, 69), speaks of "tricesima Sabbata,"
which certainly does not refer to a Sabbath so num-
bered by the Jews. Juvenal ("Satires," xiv. 96-
106), Persius (v. 179-184), Martial (iv. 4, 7), and
Seneca (Augustine, "De Civitate Dei," vi. 11) also,
refer to the Sabbath. In the Maccabean struggle
the observance of the Sabbath came to have special
significance as distinguishing the faithful from the-
half-hearted; but Josephus confirms I Maoc. ii. 39-
41, where the faithful, under Mattathias, decided to-
resist if attacked on the Sabbath, and not to permit
themselves to bo destroyed for the sake of literal
obedience to the Sabbath law (comp. "Ant." xii. 6,
§ 2). He mentions instances in which the Jews were
taken advantage of on the Sabbath-day — for exf ■..-
pie, by Ptolemy Lagi ("Ant." xii. 1; xviii. 9, § 2).
Still, according to Josephus, the Jews carried on
offensive warfare on the Sabbath ("B. J." ii. 19,
§ 2). Titus was outwitted by the plea that it was
unlawful for Jews to treat of peace on the seventh
day {ib. iv. 3, § 3). Josephus also publishes decrees
exempting Jews from military service on the Sab-
bath, which exemption gave rise to persecutions
under Tiberiu4(" Ant." xiv. 10, §§ 12 et seq.). The
Essenes are referred to as very rigorous observers of
the Sabbath ("B. J." ii. 8, § 9).

In Philo an element of mysticism dominates the
interpretation of the Sabbath : the day was really
intended for God, a pait of whose divine happiness
it is to enjoy perfect rest and peace.
In Philo. "Hence the Sabbath, which means
' rest, ' is repeatedly said by Moses to
be the Sabbath of God, not of men, for the one en-
tity that rests is God." Divine rest, however, does
not mean inactivity, but unlabored energy ("De
Cherubim," § 26 [i. 154-155]). " Seven " being " the
image of God," the seventh day is a pattern of the
duty of philosophizing ("De Decalogo," 65 20 [ii. '
197]). The purpose of man's life being "to follow
God"("De Migratione Abrahami," § 23 [i. 456]),
the commandment was given for man to observe the
seventh day, ceasing from work, and devoting it to
philosophy, contemplation, and the Improvement of

58d

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

character (" De Decalogo," § 20 [ii. 197]). The Sab-
bath is the most appropriate day for instruction (" De
Septenario," § 6 [ii. 283]).

Aristobulus, a predecessor of Philo, wrote a trea-
tise on the Sabbatli, fragments of wliich are extant.
Following the Pythagoreans, he enlarges on the
marvelous potency of the number "seven," but
endeavors, like Philo after hira ("De Septenario,"
§1 6-7 [ii. 281-284]), to prove the observance of the
day to be both reasonable and profitable (Eusebius,
"Prteparatio Evangelica," xiii. 12, |§ 9-16). He as-
serts that even Homer and Hesiod observed the
Sabbath, citing lines from them and from Linus.
According to his understanding, tlie Sabbath was
primarily to be used for searching the Scriptures,
fostering the soul's powers, and striving after the
knowledge of truth. The Sabbath might be called
the first creation of the (higher) light, in which all
is revealed (comp. the benedictions preceding the
Shema' ; Herzfeld, "Gesch. des Volkes Jisrael," p.
478, Nordhausen, 1867).

These Alexandrian speculations partake of the

nature of haggadic homilies. In those of the Tan-

uaim and Amoraim similar strains are heard. The

Sabbath overshadowed every other

In the day (Pesik. R. 23), while Shammai

Talmud, began even on the first day of the
week to make provision for the proper
observance of the seventh day. It was Hillel who
recalled the dignity of other days (Bezah 16a). The
Sabbath is considered to be equivalent to the Abra-
hamitic covenant (Mek. 62b; Pesik. R. 23; Aga-
dat Bereshit, xvii.). Its observance forestalls the
threefold judgment — the Messianic sufferings, the
wars of Gog and Magog, and the final day of retri-
bution (Mek. 50b, 51a; comp. Shab. 118a). The
privilege of celebrating the three great pilgrim fes-
tivals is the reward for faithful Sabbath observance
(Mek. I.e.). The Sabbath is likened to wholesome
spices (Shab. 119a; Gen. R. xi. ; Jellinek, "B. Ht." i.
75). Whosoever keeps the Sabbath holy is pro-
tected against temptation to sin (Mek. 50b).

jNIost characteristic is the dialogue between Rufus
and Akiba concerning the two signs of the Covenant
— circumcision and the Sabbath (Sanh. 65b; Gen. R.
xi. ; Pesik. R. 23; Tan., Ki Tissa; Jellinek, "B.
H." i. 75). The will of God is alleged to be the sole
reason for the day's distinction. As proof that the
seventh day is the Sabbath the inability of the
necromancer to call a spirit from the River Samba-
tion, and the fact that the grave of Rufus' father
sends forth smoke during the six week-days, but
ceases to do so on the Sabbath, are adduced. Akiba
. meets the objection that God violates His own law
by sending wind and rain on the Sabbath with the
statement that the universe is God's private domain,
within which the proprietor is at liberty even on the
Sabbath. Moreover, God proved Himself to be a
Sabbath observer by interrupting the fall of manna
on that day. To observe the Sabbath is regarded as
equivalent to having originally instituted it (Mek.
104a, b).

The Sabbath expresses the intimacy between God
and Israel ; from the days of Creation this relation
has existed. Each week-day is associated with an-
other, the first with the second, and so on ; but the

Sabbath stands alone. In answer to its complaint at
being thus neglected, God explained that Israel is
its peculiar associate (Bezah 16a; Gen. R. xi.).
Man's fac: cakes on a new luster on the Sabbath.
The two great heavenly lights, the sun and the
moon, did not begin to lose their original brilliancy
until after the first Sabbath (Mek. 69b; Gen. R. xi.,
xii.). If all Israel were to observe two successive
Sabbaths as they should be observed, redemption
would ensue at once (Shab. 118b; comp. Yer. Ta'an.
64a); if even one Sabbath were rightly kept the
Messiah would appear (Shab. 118b). Simeon ben
Yohai regarded too much talking as inconsistent
with the proper celebration of the day (Yer. Shab.
15b); R. Ze'era reproved his pupils for committing
this fault (Shab. 119a, b). Those that observe
the Sabbath are ranked with those that give-
tithes and honor the Law ; their rewards are iden-
tical (Shab. 119a; Gen. R. xi. ; Pesik. R. 23). Two
angels, one good, the other evil, accompany every
Jew on Sabbath eve from the synagogue to the
house. If the Sabbath lamp is found hghted and
the table spread, the good angel prays that this
may be the case also on the following Sabbath, and
the evil angel is compelled to say " Amen " to this ;
but if no preparations for the Sabbath are seen, the
evil angel pronounces a curse, and the good angel
is compelled to say "Amen" (Shab. 119b).

The law of the Sabbath is equal to all the other
laws and commandments in the Torah (Yer. Ber.
3c; Yer. Ned. 38b; Ex. R. xxv.). The zizit is in-
tended to be a constant reminder of
Haggadic the Sabbath (Yer. Ber. 3c). " Queen "
References, and "bride "are two typical appella-
tions for the day (Shab. 119a; B. K.
32a, b ; Gen. R. x.) ; it is the signet on the ring (ib.).
A special soul ("neshamah yeterah ") is given to
man on the eve of the Sabbath, and leaves him
again at its close (Bezah 16a; Ta'an. 27b). Simeon
ben Lakish explains the repetition of the Sabbath
commandment by relating a parable of a father who
sent his son to a merchant with a bottle and some
money. The son broke the bottle and lost the
money, whereupon the father admonished him to be
more careful and gave him another bottle and some
more money. Hence comes the use of the word
IIDB' in Deuteronomy ("be careful"; Pesik. R. 23).
According to R. Simlai, the "remember" in Ex. xx.
8 indicates the duty of thinking of the Sabbath be-
fore, the " observe " in Deut. v. 12 that of keeping it
holy after, its advent (Pesik. R. 33). The Sabbath is
a precious pearl (Midr. Teh. to Pa. xcii., ed. Buber, p.
201a). The one day which belongs to God is, accord-
ing to Ps.cxxxix. 16, the Sabbath ; according to some
it is the Day of Atonement (Pesilj. R. 23; Tan., Be-
midbar, 20). The superior character of the seventh
day is marked by the circumstance that everything
connected with it is twofold : e.g., the double portions
of manna (Ex. xvi. 33) ; the two lambs (Num. xxviii.
9) ; the double menace in Ex. xxxi. 14 ; the repetition
of the Sabbath commandment (Ex. xx. 8 and Deut.
V. 12); the double title of Pa. xcii. — "mizmor" and
"shir" (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xcii., ed. Buber, p. 301b).

The Sabbath is a foretaste of the world to come
(Gen. R. xvii., xliv. ; Ber. 57b ["one-sixtieth of the
world to come "]). The example of the Creator is

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

590

cited to teach that all work, however important,
should cease as soon as the Sabbath approaches ; for
God was about to create bodies for the demons
whose souls He had fashioned when the Sabbath
came and prevented the execution of the intention
(Gen. R. vii.). The Patriarchs are said to have kept
the Sabbath even before the revelation on Sinai (Gen.
R. Ixxix. ; Tan., Naso, 33 [cd. Buber, p. 33a, b]).

According to the testimony of the Ilaggadah, the
Sabbath was looked upon, and observed as a day of
joy. Samuel ben Nahman declared that the Sab-
bath was intended to be a day of good cheer (Yer.
Shab. 15a; lliyya b. Abba in Pes. R. xxiii.). Fast-
ing was forbidden upon it (Ber. 31b), even up to noon
(Yer. Ta'an. 67a; Yer. Ned. 40d). Expenses incui-red
for a proper, joyful Sabbath celebration do not im-
poverish (Gen. R. xi.); on the contrary, riches are
the reward of those that enjoy the Sabbath (Shab.
118a). Hence the special blessing for the Sabbath
in Gen. ii. 3, to vouchsafe impunity to the weak
for excesses in eating and drinking committed in
honor of that day (Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." i.
111). Three meals were considered indispensable
(Shab. 118b). Of Hanina and Hoshaiah, disciples
of R. Johanan, it is reported that they occupied
themselves on Friday with the story of creation,
which miraculously enabled them to procure a fat-
tened calf for their Sabbatli meal (Sanh. 65b, 67b)
when they were too poor to prepare properly for
the day. Nothing should be eaten on Friday later
than the first hour after noon, in order that the Sab-
bath meal may be better enjoyed (Pes. 99b ; Tos. Ber.
V. 1 ; Yer. Pes. 87b). Change of garments was also
deemed essential to a proper observance ; white Sab-
bath garments are mentioned in Shab. 85b. Every
person should have at least two sets of garments, one
for week-days and another for the Sabbath (Yer.
Peah 31b) ; Ruth is referred to as an example (Ruth
R. iii. 3; Pes. R. xxxiii. ; Shab. 113b). The Jews
of Tiberias, who plead their poverty as a reason for
not being able to celebrate the day, are advised
to make some change in their dress
Dress. (ib.). To this refers also the proverb,
"Rather turn thy Sabbath into a pro-
fane day [in dress], than be dependent on the assist-
ance of others" (Pes. 113a). The myrtle was used
for purposes of decoration on the Sabbath (Shab.
33b). It was noticed with displeasure that Aha ben
Hanina wore mended sandals on the Sabbath (Shab.
il4a). The Sabbath was given to instructive ser-
mons and discourses (Yer. Sotah 16d ; Num. R. ix. ;
Deut. R. v.). To run to the bet ha-midrash on the
Sabbath to hear a discourse does not constitute
desecration (Ber. 6b). Rain on Friday is not wel-
come, as it interferes with Sabbath preparations,
while sunshine on the Sabbath is a divine boon to
the poor (Ta'an. 8b).

The Haggadah clearly shows that the Sabbath-
day was celebrated in a spirit of fervent joyfulness,
which was by no means intended to be repressed,
and which was not chilled or checked by the halakic
construction of the Sabbath commandments. The
Sabbath, indeed, was deserving of the designation
of " mattanah tobah " (a precious gift from on high ;
Shab. 10b).

E. G. H.

Critical View : The origin of the Sabbath, as

well as the true meaning of the name, is uncertain.
The earliest Biblical passages which mention it (Ex.
XX. 10, xxxiv. 21; Deut. v. 14; Amos viii. 5) pre-
suppose its previous existence, and analysis of all
the references to it in the canon makes it plain that
its observance was neither general nor altogether
spontaneous in either pre-exilic or post-exilic Israel.
It was probably originally connected in some man-
ner with the cult of the moon, as indeed is suggested
by the frequent mention of Sabbath and New-Moon
festivals in the same sentence (Isa. i. 13; Amos viii.
5; II Kings iv. 33). The old Semites
Probable worshiped the moon and the stars
Lunar (Hommel, "Der Gestirndienst der
Origin. Alten Araber "). Nomads and shep-
herds, they regarded the night as
benevolent, the day with its withering heat as malev-
olent. In this way the moon ("Sinai" = "moon
[" sin "] mountain ") became central in their jjan-
theon. The moon, however, has four phases in ap-
proximately 38 days, and it seemingly comes to a
standstill every seven days. Days on which the
deity rested were considered taboo, or ill-omened.
New work could not be begun, nor unfinished work
continued, on such da.ys. The original meaning of
"Shabbat" conveys this idea (the derivation from
"sheba' " is entirely untenable). If, as was done by
Prof. Sayce (in his Hibbert Lectures) and by Jastrow
(in " American Journal of Theology," April, 1898), it
can be identified in the form " shabbaton " with the
" Shabattum " of the Assyrian list of foreign words,
which is defined as " urn nuh libbi " = " day of pro-
pitiation" (Jensen, in "Sabbath-School Times,"
1893), it is a synonym for "'Azeret" and means
a day on which one's actions are restricted, because
tlie deity has to be propitiated. If, with Toy (in
"Jour. Bib. Lit." xviii. 194), it is assumed tliat the
signification is "rest," or "season of rest" (from the
verb " to rest," " to cease [from labor] " ; though " di-
vider " and " division of time " are likewise said to
have been the original significations; comp. also
Barth, "Nominalbildungen," and Lagarde, "Nomi-
nalbildung"), the day is so designated because, be-
ing taboo, it demands abstinence from work and other
occupations. The Sabbath depending, in Israel's
nomadic period, upon the observation of the phases
of the moon, it could not, according to this view,
be a fixed day. When the Israelites settled in the
land and became farmers, their new life would have
made it desirable that the Sabbath should come at
regular intervals, and the desired change would have
been made all the more easily as they had aband oned
the lunar religion.

Dissociated from the moon, the Sabbath developed
into a day of rest for the workers and animals on
the farnv(Deut. v. 14; Ex. xx. 10). Traces of the
old taboo are, however, still found. In Amos viii.
5 it is the fear of evil consequences that keeps
the impatient merchants from plying their wicked
trade. The multitude of sacrifices (Isa. i. 8 ; Hosea
ii. 11) on Sabbath and New Moon indicates the anxi-
ety on those particular days to propitiate the deity.
Closer contact with Assyro-Babylonians from the
eighth to the sixth pre-Christian century probably
revitalized the older idea of taboo. The assumption

591

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

llial llir llcbivws bonowi'd tho institiiljnii IVoiii llic
r>al>yl(iiuuiis, whicli was first SMu-j;cslc(l liy LiHz
("QiKvslioiics do llistiiria Suliliali "), is untt'iuiblc ;
ImiI. Ihat till' KxUr strengthened llie awe in ivliieh'
Hie day was held run m.t he denie,!. It haviii-
heeiiiiie a purely Sdeial inslilution, a day cd' rest tor
the farmers, the taboo element in eoursc^of time had
h>st its empliasis. Tlic Assyro-HabyUnnans may
liavo had similar days cd' abstinence or propilialion
(llic 7tli, I-lth, lOtli, 21st, and '.'Slh o( the monlli
I'^lnn, iiiid eontaet witli tlieni may iiax'e ser\i'd to
lend iheJewisli iSalibatli a inure auslei'c^ eharaeler.
Tlie Assyrian calendar seems to disclose an ell'oil.
to get rid of the movable Sabbath in favor of

the li\rd. llnl'lerthe twcnty-eigljlh

Assyrian day two days are intercalated as

Analogues, nen-nioiui days, the l!)tli day be-

eonii's the 4!1lli from the lH\n'iimini>'
"i Hie iie\t pi-eeedini;- moiilh, as in Ihe Feast ol'
Weeks, in enniieclion \vilh which the empliasis
on "eoniplele Sabhalhs" (■■sheba' Shabliot temi^
mot"; l.ev. wiii. l."".) is noteworthy. At ad events,
in Ihe I'rieslly Cmle, Sabbath violation is repre-

Ciuidtesllek t'snl in

;iliH llie SMl.lialli blu'lil.

s( nteil as entailinij; death (Num, .\v. i«-3G), The
pidliibitiou against Uindlin,g liic (Ex. xxxv. 3) prob-
ably rcfci's to producing (ire by the fire-drill or by
rubbing two sticUs together ; tins was tho crimo id'
the man put to death according to Num. xv. 33-3(1,
the "mcUoshcsh " (sec also Bezah iv. 7), tho presence
III' tire being considered, if the analogy with super-
stitious pra(d.ises elsewhere is decisive, a very graNc
sign of ilisreapect to the deity.

But Hebrew institutions are often in direct anlag
onisni to similar ones among thcAssyro-liabylonians.
The seventh davs in the P.aliylonian scheme Avcrc

days of ill omen. The prophets of the Exile laid es-
|H rial ( inph.Hsison the fact that the Sabbath isaday
of joy, as (lid those of the Assyi'ian period on tlie
I'll I i lily of the propitiating sacriliccs (Isa, i.). The
I'licslly Code could not ncuti-alizc this view. Its
I'igonms oliservance fcnuid acceptance only among
tlio "Nibdalim" (the Separatists; sec Neh. x. 31).
Every festival in the I'.iblieal scheme is associated
with a hislorieal event. The connection of the
Salibath with the Exodus, in Dent. v. l-J-lo, was al-
together vagnc; and to supply a more delinile lela-
tion to an event in Israel's history tlie Sabballi was
ileelareil to ha\-e li.ad an iniiMU-tant sigidlicance in
the desert when maiuia fell (Ex. xvi. 27 e/ neq.).
The Decalogue of Exodus supplies a theological
reason for tho observance of the day ; its jihraseology
rellccts that of Gen. ii. 1 et seq. Botli— this explana-
tion and the story in Genesis— are among the latest
additions to the Pentateuch.

lillil.imot.u'liv: In iiitiillion li> tlie iiliiiinlniil lileniluiv meii-
tliilH.il in llie l.liilietrnil.liie.siif llie Uible illcl Kiliiiries .see i''rieii-
Mi-h iliilni, llil- Silhlinl (ill .t//,ii ■I'isliiiiiriit. (Iiiirnslcili, l,s<):!
(llie hitesi (■ejitribiilleii; || iilieiinils In luinillels fnr llic liiiiiio).

E. G. II.
Historical and Leg-al : A compiu-ison be-
tween ridiliinical Sidibath legislation luid thodata of
Ihe Bible, ApociTpha, and Pseudepigi-apha must es-
tablish the fact tliat the Tidnuidical conception of
wliat is implied by Sabbath "rest,"
Evolution with tho pnicticid determination of
of Concep- what may and what may not be done
tion of on that day, is the issue of along pi-oc-
Sabbath ess of development. Even the com-
Rest. mandmcnt ("remember") in Exodus
pi-esupposcs the previous existence of
tho institution; indeed, tradition assumes that tho
Sabbatli law had been pi'oclaimcd at Mai'ah, before
tlie Sinaitic I'evclation (Uaslii on Ex. xv. ; Jlaimon-
ides, "Moreh," iii, 32; Sanh. fiOb). Tho rcstonuion
of Sabliathob.servancc in Ezi'a and Nehemiali's time
innosenseti-ansoended tlic Pentatetiehal ordinances.
By " no manner of labor " (Ex, xx. 10, llebi-.), as tho
Context sliows, were indicated domestic and agricnl-
liind occupations (eonip. B. K. v. 7). Tlie sjiecial
iiieiilion of plowing and harvesting, and probably
the direct prohibitiiui of kindling lire, tho explicit
mention of which tlic Rabbis attemiit to ex]ilain
away (Sliab. 70a), sug.n'cst tliat, in tlie main, lield-
and householil-work were (.■ovei'ed by the Biblical
idea of labor (Ex. xxxiv. 21, xxx\-. 3). Carrying of
lo;ids " in and out " can not be hold to be an oxcep-
linii (,lei-. xxii. 21-22). Probably .Jeremiah's ecu-
sure had reference to cai-rying tn market tlie yield
of tield and tariii, or Ihe aitielrs maunfaetured at
home (comp, Amos viii. 5). It is just tliis that
Nehcmiah deplores (Neh. xiii. l."i).

The JIaccaliean rebellion marks tho beginning
of an altogetlier dilfcrent conception of the term
"labor." The rigorists regiuded self-defeuso, even
against a mortal attack, as included iu the prohibi-
tion (.Tosephus, " Ant," xii, 6, §§ 2-3). Tho stricter
construction, then, must have boon devised among the
llasidim, JIatlathias reprosonting the bi'oader view.
That for a long time tlio question of what was per-
mitted in this dii'cction on the Sabbath remained
open is shown by a comparison of I JIaee. ix. 34,
43; II Maec, viii. 20; .Tosc])luis, "Ant." xii. 0, t^ 2;

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

592

xiii. 1, § 3; 8, § 4; xiv. 10, § 13; xviii. 9, § 3; idem,
"B. J." ii. 21, § 8; iv. 2, § 3; idem, "Contra Ap." i.
§ 23; Ta'an. 28b, 29a; 'Ar. lib. Rabbinical law
is still busy debating in Sliab. vi. 2, 4 whether
weapons may be carried on the Sabbath, and what
are weapons and what ornaments. Some latitude
is allowed soldiers in camp ('Er. i. 10; Dem. iii. 11),
and such as. had gone forth carrying arms on the
Sabbath to wage war were permitted to retain their
weapons even when returning on the Sabbath (Yer.
Shab. i. 8; 'Er. iv. 3; 15a; Maimonides, "Yad,"
Melakim, vi. 11, 13).

Freedom to move about is indispensable to mili-
tary operations ; but the interdict against marching,
walking, or riding established by the rabbinical law
rendered military ventures impossible on the Sab-
bath. In the time of Josephus this

Military interdict was known. He reports that
Ex- Jewish soldiers do not march on the

ceptions. Sabbath, their non-Jewish command-
ers respecting their religious scruples
("Ant." .xiv. 10, § 12; xviii. 3, § 5). The "Sabbath
way " (see 'Ertjb), limited to 2,000 ells, is fully rec-
ognized in the New Testament (comp. Acts i. 12).
The institution of this Sabbath way, or walk, clearly
shows a purpose to extend the established limits.
There were several calculations by which the limit of
distance was arrived at. In the injunction concern-
ing the gathering of manna (Ex. xvi. 29) the phrase-
ology used is, " Let no man go out of his place. " But
this noun "place" is used also in the law concerning
the cities of refuge (Ex. xxi. 13). In Num. xxxv.
26 the " limit " or border of the city is named, while
verses 4 and 5 of the same chapter give 2,000 ells as
its extent ('Er. 48a). Josh. iii. 4 also is considered,
2,000 ells being the interval that must be maintained
between the ark and the people. Whether this dis-
tance should be measured in a straight line in one
direction, or whether it should be taken from the
center of a circle, was open to argument. If the lat-
ter, freedom to move within a circle 4,000 ells in
diameter would result. This would certainly answer
the ordinary needs of the Sabbath walker ('Er. iv.
3, 5, 8 ; R. H. ii. 5). By another calculation, in which
the area of limitation is a square, with each side of
4,000 ells, even greater latitude is arrived at; move-
ment along the border-lines as well, as along the di-
agonal would be free ('Er. iv. 8; see Baneth, "Ein-
leitung zum Traktat Erubin ").

In reference to other Sabbath distances, the tradi-
tional four ells, so often found in specifications of
proportions and quantities, are given as the limit
(Yoma i. 3; Suk. i. 10; Ber. iii. 5; B. B. ii. 4, 5, 12).
Within the distance of four ells throwing was allowed
(Shab. xi. 3, 4). Only so much water might be
poured out on the Sabbath as four ells square of
ground would absorb ('Er. viii. 9, 10 ; for other in-
stances see 'Er. i. 2; iv. 1, 5; x. 4, 5). How these
four ells should be measured is also a matter of serious
inquiry ('Er. iv. 5, 6). Thus the Mishnah preserves
the evidence of a constantly active desire to relax
the rigor of probably Hasidean constructions. For
this purpose the legal fiction of the 'erub was re-
sorted to, creating constructively a new residence.
Perhaps, originally, huts were built (for instance,
the huts, 2,000 paces apart, for those that accom-

panied the scapegoat on Yom Kippur; Yoma vi. 4;
Bohu, "Der Sabbat im Alten Testamente," p. 72,
Qiiterslohe, 1903). Against this 'erub the Sad-
DUCEES (literalists) are reported to have protested
('Er. vi. 1, 2)., It is well known that the Samari-
tans withdrew freedom of movement almost entirely,
as did the Esseues ("B. J." ii. 8, § 9). The gloss to
R. II. ii. 5 is indicative of the exist-
Bestricted ence of similarly rigorous views among
Freedom of others. At first, in the case of an ob-
Movement. servation of the new moon on Sab-
bath, the witnesses were not permitted
to move about ; but later R. Gamaliel allowed them
the freedom of 2,000 ells in every direction. Such
laws as the one that he who has exceeded the
"tehum" (Sabbath distance) even by one ell may
not reenter point to the same conclusion ('Er. iv.
11). Traveling on a ship was not prohibited,
though even in this case the disposition at one time
was to require the traveler to remain on the ship
three days previous to sailing if the day of departure
was the Sabbath, circumstances, of course, necessi-
tating certain exceptions (Shab. 19a; "Seferha-Te-
rumah," quoted in "Shibbole ha-Leket," ed. Buber,
p. 41). A fictitious "shebitah" (acquisition of
domicil) helped to remove the rigoristic construc-
tion. During the voyage itself it sufficed, even for
the stricter interpreters, if the passenger informed
the captain of his desire that the ship should lay to
on the Sabbath. No responsibility rested upon him
if his desire were disregarded. On Sabbath, during
the voyage, the Jew might walk the whole length
of the ship even if her dimensions exceeded the
measure of the Sabbath way {ib.). Still, R. Joshua
and R. Akiba are remembered as having refrained,
while on a voyage, from walking farther than four
ells on shipboard on the Sabbath ('Er. iv. 1).

The fact that artificial "gezerot" (apprehensions
lest a forbidden act be done) are adduced to explain
the so-called "shebutim " (Bezah v. 2), i.e., acts that
ought to be omitted on Sabbath (for instance, climb-
ing a tree or riding on an animal), discloses a purpose
to relax the law. It is most probable that at one
time the acts classified under this name were not
proscribed. Only later practise prohibited them,
and when a less strict spirit began again to assert
itself, it was found that there was not sufficient war-
rant for the enforcement of the prohibition.

In the case of riding on the Sabbath this evolu-
tionary process is plain. The prohibition appears
to have been first promulgated during the Hasmo-
nean period. But riding, especially

Restric- on asses, was the usual mode of loco-
tions motion, and the injunction seems not
on Riding', to have been readily heeded. An in-
stance exists of a court that, desiring
to make an example, put an offender to death (Yeb.
90b; Sanh. 46a; Yer. Hag. ii. 1). Yet Elisha ben
Abuyah is reported to have ridden on horseback
within the limits of the Sabbath distance, R. Me'ir
following to hear him discourse on the Torah until
.the hoofs of the horse reminded him that he ought to
turn back, as he had. ridden the full length of the
distance permitted (Hag. 15a). While the names of
riders mentioned in the Talmud are mostly those
of apostates, yet the Talmud affords no justifica-

593

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

tion for the piohibitiou (sec Low, "Gesammelte
Schriften," iv. 305 tt seq.). Tlio Talmud ussiinics
tliat every living creature carries itself (Sliab. 94a);
lience the horse or ass does not carry a burden when
riddcu bj' a man ; and in older to find some basis for
the injunction, rabbinical writers allege the appre-
hension that the rider might cut a switch ou the
way with which to whip the horse, and tliereby be-
come a violator of tlic Sabbath (Shab. 153b; Slai-
mouides, " Yad," Sliabbat, xviii. 16-17; Tur Orah
Hayyim, 305). It was a rule not to sell or hire ani-
mals to non-Jews lest they be deprived of their Sab-
bath rest. The horse alone was excepted, since it
■would be used only for riding, whicii was not in
Talmtidic law a violation of the Sabbath ('Ab. Zarah
i. 6; 15a; Pes. iv. 3).

find a reason for this prohibition, but the multitude
of the explanations atlvanced— fear of mixing joys;
apprehensions that preparation for the wedding-feast
might lead to infraction of Sabbath laws; etc.—
shows the embarrassment of the later teachers (Ket.
i. 1). Except in the case of weddings, whicli were
forbidden, later practise was opposed to that of the
Samaritans (Ned. ii. 10, viii. 6).

The Puritan character of the rabbinical Sabbath is
shown in the aversion, dcducible from some laws,
to loud noises (instance Simeon ben Yohai's reproof
of his mother for loud talking), clapping of hands,
striking with a hammer, trumpet-calls, and music
(Low, I.e. ii. 355). While to some of the more ascetic
rabbis any loud demonstration of joy undoubtedly
approached irreverence and impiety, it may be noted

Sabbath Eve Ckee.mo.mes i.v a Germa.v Jkwisii Hi

(From Kircliner, " JUdiscliea Cerenic

IME OF THE ElGllTliE.STlI CE.VTURY.
Dial," 1726.)

Against

Kindling

Fire.

The prohibition against kindling a fire was rigor-
ously and literally observed by the Samaritans (Leo-
pold Wreschner, "Samaritanische Tra-
ditionen," p. 15; De Sacy, "Notices
et Ex traits," xii. 163, 176). The Sad-
ducees, as were later the Karaites,
were similarly convinced that light
and fire should not be found on Sabbath in the habi-
tations of the faithful (Geiger, "Nachgelassene
Schriften," vol. iii.). The purpose of rabbinico-
Pharisaic casuistry is to combat this ascelic literal-
ism. Hence its insistence on the lighting of the lamps
and its micrologic devices for keeping food warm;
it accommodated itself to the rigorism of the literal-
ists only so far as to avoid the creation of an open,
flaming fire (Shab. ii., iv.). Marital indulgence on
the Sabbath was regarded as a profanation by the
Samaritans (De Sacy, I.e.). This opinion prevailed
also in the earlier rigoristic period of Sabbath legis-
lation. Weddings were not permitted on the Sab-
bath (Bezah v. 2). Later casuistry endeavored to
X.— 38

that the minor reasons adduced in regard to music
(e.g., lest musicians might be tempted to make or
repair instruments, or the estimate of music as
"labor," not "art" [nOOn]) indicate that ascetic
tendencies had but little to do with the prohibition
of it. In the later post-Talmudical days non-Jew-
ish musicians were employed on the Sabbath.

But the employment of non-Jews to do what it
was not lawful foi' the Jew to do on the Sabbath

presented dithoilties. If they were

Employ- servants they might not work (Ex.

mentofthe xx.). By a legal fiction, however, the

"Goy."' presumption was established that in

reahty the non-Jew worked for him-
self (see "Shibbole ha-Leket," pp. Siet seq. : "Yad,"
l.o. vi.). Among the thirty-nine classes of forbidden
acts are also swimming, j\unping, dancing, holding
court (but comp. Sanli. 88b), performing the cere-
mony of halizah, setting aside as holy, vowing to
pay the value of things so set aside, putting under
the ban (a beast as devoted to the Temple), and

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

594

ccillecting tlie priest's portion or the titlies (Bezah
V. 2).

The Book of Jul)ilees reflects the earlier, more
rigid conception of llie Sabbath. Tlie acts enumer-
ated therein as forbidden are almost Identical with
those found in the jMishnah. Its temper is evidenced
by the fact that it makes death the penalty for vio-
lations. Jjater, flagellation was substituted for the
severer penalty.

In the llalakah the observance of the Sabbatli,
like any other Pentateuchal ordinance or statute,
is treated as a legal duty or debt laid upon the
Israelite, and the manner and measure in which this
duty must be diseliarged are legally fi.xed. Undoubt-
edly, in the case of the Sabbath as in that of other
institutions, the Halakah legalized and
Principle systematized customs of long stand-
of ing, endeavoring to connect them with

Halakah. Pentateuchal text and precedent. This
sy.steniatization resulted in the accen-
tualinn of limitations. Under the general precept
a number of siiecilie prescriptions were evolved.

acts are in themselves permissible, though they may
involve possible, though n(]t unavoidable, iufi-ac-
tions of the Sabbath law. Unless a previous inten-
tion was manifest to perform an act in a way that
would lead to incidental violation, this latter is not
to be taken into account. If, however, the secondary
violation is necessarily involved in the usually per-
missible act, even though no intention to violate the
Sabbath may be imputed, the perpetrator is guilty.
The existence of a good motive for doing a thing
that is prohibited does not exonerate the doer thereof.
For instance, extinguishing a light
Motive is forbidden; it is forbidden also to
Considered, extinguish it for the purpose of econ-
omizing oil. The motive, however,
is deeisiv(! in cases where one act was intended and
another of different scope is accidentally performed.
Where two men perform one piece of work (e.g.,
carry a beam) in common, biit each alone does less
than would render him liable, and it is within the
power of either to do it alone, both are cxcinjit.
But where tlie work exceeds the strength of each

Devices ior Keeping Watkr a.nd Food Warm on Sabbath.

{Trom Boden3(h.-it7., " KirLhliche Vcrfa^sung," 1748.)

Again, the principle of " a fence around the Law "
led to the enactment of precautionary regulations.
Still, rabbinical Sabbath legislation was by no means
altogether restrictive. In many instances its effect
was to broaden the scope of the Biblical law or its
literal interpretation (see 'Erub).

The subtleties which this legalism engendered are
illustrated by the first mi.shnah in Shabbat, which
analyzes the possibilities of Sabbath violation in
connection with carrying from one territory into
another, or in the passing of alms from the donor
within the house to the donee outside it.

Another example is furnished by the following
abstract of Maimonides' first chapter of Shabbat.
To rest from labor on the Sabbath (" shebitah ") is a
mandatory commandment. Transgression thereof,
however, violates both a positive and a negative
precept, as the Pentateuch enjoins rest as well as
prohibits work. The penalty for intentional viola-
tion by work is excision ("karet"); if there were
witnesses to the act and the legal warning ("ha-
tra'ah ") had been given, the penalty was stoning.
Unintentional desecration entails the bringing of the
prescribed sin-ofEering. The law analyzes and dis-
criminates among the various kinds of acts: some

alone, and it is necessary to do it together, both are
guilty. Work which destroys merely (" mekalkel ")
does not entail n penalty ; l3ut destruction prelim-
inary to building is forbidden.

With a view to more thoroughly safeguarding
the Sabbath against profanation an hour of the pre-
vious day (■' 'ereb Shabbat ") was added to it. This
was called "adding from the profane to the holy "
(Shulhau 'Aruk, Orah Ilayyim, 261, 2). The Pen-
tateuchal warrant for this was found in the use of
the definite article in Gen. i. ,81 (KtBTl, "the sixth
day") or in Ex. xx. 10 Oy'^CH, "the .seventh day " ;
see Gen. R. ix. ; Pesik. R. 23). Indeed, to a certain
extent Friday was included in the Sabbath legisla-
tion. Everybody was expected to rise very early
on that day in order to make the piu-chases neces-
sary for a worthy celebration of the Sabbath (Shab.
117b; Oral; Hayyim, 250); the greater the outlay
the greater the merit (Yer. Sanh. viii.
Friday 2). Personal participation in various
Prepara- preparations for the meals was recom-
tion. mended; indeed, many amono- the
most learned were remembered as hav-
ing proudly shared in such preparations (Shab. 119a;
Kid. 41a; Orah Hayyim, I.e.). According to one of

595

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

the ten ordinances of Ezra, Jewish women were ad-
vised to bake bread early on Friday to supply the
poor (B. I^. 8aa).

The details of the toilet, such as the dressing of hair
and paring of finger-nails, were attended to before
the advent of the Sabbath (Shab. 35b, 31a; Sanh.
95a ; Bezah 37b ; Orah Hayyim, 360). Workaday gar-
ments were exchanged for better Sabbath clothes
(Shab. 119a ; B. K. 33b ; Orah Hayyim, 363). While
it was still daylight the table was set (Shab. 119a;
Orah Hayyim, I.e.), and it became the custom to
cover the table with a white cloth (Tos. Pes. 100b,
s.i\ "She'en"); this was held to be in memory of the
manna, as was a certain favorite 'ereb Shabbat pie
consisting ox two layers of dough between which
the meat was placed ("mulai" is the name given by
MaHaRIL; Hilkot "Shabbat"). Two loaves of
bread, also in allusion to the manna, were to be on
the table (Shab. 117a; Ber. 39b; see Kiddush).
Near dusk the head of the family would inquire :
" Have you set aside the tithe, made the 'erub, and
separated the hallah ? " Upon receiving an affirma-
tive answer, he would say: "Then light the lamp "
(Orah Hayyim, 360).

According to the Mishnah (Shab. i. 3), a tailor
should not venture out near dusk with his needle
(stuck in his coat) ; nor a writer of books with his
pen; one should not read near the lamp, though
children might do so under the supervision of the
master. In fact, work was declared unpropitious
after "minhah" (construed to be the "minhah gedo-
lah," i.e., thirty minutes after noon; Pes. 51b; Orah
Hayyim, 351). Yet this applied only to work for
personal profit; such work as was styled "work
of heaven," i.e., work from a religious or some high,
altruistic motive, was permitted. Long walks away
from one's home on Friday were discountenanced
(Orah Hayyim, 349). Such work as could not be
finished before the beginning of the Sabbath, but
would "finish itself" during the Sabbath (as in the
case of flax put into an oven to bleach), might be
begun near dusk on 'ereb Shabbat (Orah Hayyim,
353). So was it lawful to put food intended for the
Sabbath where it would stay warm, though under
certain conditions and precautions (Shab. 18b, 38a ;
Tos. il., s. V. " Shakah Kederah " ; " Or Zarua'," s.v.
"'Ereb Shabbat," 9; "Shibbole ha-Le^iet," p. 44
[57] ; Orah Hayyim, 353, 354, 357-359).

The lighting of the lamp was considered an obli-
gation which had to be discharged before darkness
set in (Shab. 25b, 31a ; " Yad, " Shabbat, v. 1). This
duty could be deputed to a non-Jew (Orah Hayyim,
261), but so essential was the Sabbath light consid-
ered to a joyful celebration that one was advised to
beg for the oil if necessary ("Yad," I.e.). A bene-
diction was prescribed (Tos. Shab. 25b, s.v. " Hobah " ;
R. Tam, in "Sefer ha-Yashar," | 632; "Yad," I.e. ;
Ber. R. xi., Ixv. ; Pesik. R. 21). Men and women
alike were under this obligation, though its dis-
charge generally fell upon the women
The ("Yad," I.e. v. 3). Some rabbis de-

Sabtath manded that at least two lamps should

Lamp. be lighted, one to express the " zakor "

(remember) of Ex. xx., and the other

the " shamor " (observe) of Deut. v. (Shab. 33b). The

Sabbath meal might be eaten only where the lamp

was burning (Shab. 25b; Tos. ib., s.v. "Hadlakah ").
Explicit directions are given concerning the material
for the wick, the kind of oil that was lawful, the man-
ner of lighting the lamp, and how far one- might
profit from the light of the Sabbath lamp for reading
and other purposes (Shab. ii. 1 ; " Yad," I.e. v.). La-
ter authorities question whether lighting the lamp
marked the beginning of the Sabbath rest, or whether
Sabbath did not set in until after the prayers had
been recited and Kiddush performed (.see "Tania
Rabbati," ed. Warsaw, p. 36a). In Palestine the ap-
proach of the Sabbath was announced by six trumpet-
blasts, with an interval after each blast, to give
workers a succession of warnings to cease from their
labors (Orah Hayyim, 356 ; "Yad," I.e. v. 18 et seg.).
One of the solicitudes of rabbinical law was to
enforce the exceptional character of the Sabbath as
a day of rejoicing and good cheer; hence on Friday
no sumptuous repast was to be eaten, not even at a
wedding, in order that all might anticipate the Sab-
bath meal with avidity. Some of the pious even
went to the length of fasting during Friday in order
to whet their appetite (Orah Hayyim, 249). For
this reason, most of the people being hungry, the
service in the synagogue on the eve of Sabbath was
shortened; the reader, instead of reciting the tefil-
lah, gave an epitome of it (Ber. 31a, 39a). Ac-
cording to Shab. ii. 1, the "Bameh Madlikin " was
road (see " Sefer ha-Manhig " and " Kol Bo "). An-
other reason for abbreviating the service was that
evil spirits were said to roam about on this evening
in greater numbers than on other evenings (comp.
Rashi, "Sefer ha-Pardes " ; Pes. 112b). See KiB-

DUSH.

The Mishnah (Shab. vii. 2) enumerates thirty-
nine principal classes of pi'ohibited actions, these
" abot " (lit. " fathers " or " chief categories ") com-
prehending, when developed casuistically, a large
variety of " toledot " (lit. " offspring " or " de-
rivatives "). The number mentioned has been
I'ecognized as conventional even by Talmadists, the
list as given containing virtual duplications, while
certain kinds of work are clearly omitted (Shab. 74a).
The explanation is that whatever was
The Thir- done in the erection of the Tabernacle
ty-nine in the desert was classified as " princi-
Prohibited pal," even if this rendered certain du-
Acts. plications necessary (ib.). This num-
ber is derived from the phrase n?X
D'13Tn ("These are the words") in Ex. xxxv. 1
(Yer. Shab. 9b; Shab. 70a; Num. R. xviii. ; Tan.,
Korah), the numerical value of n^JK being 36; and
as " debarim " is plural it must signify at least " two, "
while the article prefixed indicates that it stands for
"three" (36 -|- 3 = 39). The misreading in Tan.,
If orah, where nip^'D (" beatings ") appears for niSsfiD
("labors"), discloses the true nature of the number.
"Forty," in Hebrew, denotes the extreme number
or quantity in the connection in which it is used ;
for instance, " forty " lashes means the utmost num-
ber of lashes that may be inflicted in any given case.
Hence, in order to remain within the limit, forty less
one was fixed upon as the greatest number of lashes
that might be inflicted upon the culprit. The mish-
nah in regard to the classes of prohibited actions
follows the precedent, and borrows the phraseology

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

596

("forty, less one") used in regard to flagellation.
See Sabbath Laws.

Maimonides (" Yad," Sliabbat, vii.) has the same
enumeration, though in different order and with
verbal changes, and with the substitution of "ruling
[the hide] with lines " for the " salting it " of the
Mishnah. According to Driver (Hastings, "Diet.
Bible," iv. 320, note f), Margoliouth (in "Exposi-
tor," Nov., 1900, pp. 336 et seq.) cites, from an un-
edited Persian manuscript of the eleventh century,
a catalogue of thirty-eight forbidden acts containing
many variants from the Mishnah. An examination
of the thirty-nine discloses that they comprise only
the agricultural and industrial occupations as known
in the mishnaic period (LOw, " Graphische Requisi-
ten," ii. 28). But these thirty -nine principals ex-
panded into 1,521 (=39x39) derivatives (Yer.
Shab. vii. 2); though even before E. Johanan b.
Nappaha and R. Simeon ben Lakish, after three and
a half years' study of the Sabbath laws, had made
this discovery, a mishnah in Hagigah (i. 8) had
characterized these amplifications as "mountains
suspended by a hair."

A few examples may serve to illustrate the method
and system of this expansion. The general princi-
ple being given that " knots shall not be tied or un-
tied," it was necessary to determine the kinds of
knots that were proscribed. This led to the dec-
claration that a camel-driver's or boatman's knot was
intended; or a knot that could not be untied with
one hand. Knots might be tied by a woman on
articles of dress, or in packing articles of food. A
pail might be fastened with a band, but not with a
rope. Micrological as all this seems at first glance,
closer inspection discloses the sound
TJnderly- underlying principle that work done
ing' Princi- on Sabbath to save labor on another
pie of day renders guilty. Permanent knots,

Prepara- says R. Judah, are prohibited (Mai-
tion. monides, "Yad," I.e. x., says "profes-
sional knots"; comp. Shab. Ilia,
112b). This is apparent also from the provision that
one may not, on tlie Sabbatli, prepare the couch for
the following evening (Shab. iii., xv.).

The things that might be saved from a conflagra-
tion constituted another solicitude of rabbinical Sab-
bath legislation. Sacred books, no matter in what
language they might be written, might be saved,
though on this point, and as to whether the books
of Christians, as containing the name of God, were
included, some controversies are reported (Shab.
xvi. 1, 115a). Non-Jews were invited to help in
such cases. Of course, it was not lawful to resort
to the usual method of putting out the fire if no life
were endangered ("Yad," i.e. xii. 3); but indirect
means inight be resorted to, such as covering with
a hide or making a barrier by piling up vessels (Shab.
xvi. 5).

But the injunction against carrying received the
greatest attention. Territories were classified under
four heads ("reshuyot"; Shab. 6a): (1) "Reshut
ha-yahid " : To this belonged an elevation ten spans
In height and four by four or more in width ; an
excavation ten spans deep and four or more in width ;
a space enclosed by four walls ten spans high and
four wide, no matter what its area, if intended for

dwelling purposes ; a city walled in and with gates
shut at night; or covered passages with three en-
closures, the fourth being a board; a house and
courtyard used for dwelling purposes ("Yad," i.e.
xiv. 1). (3) " Karmalit " : A heap from three to ten
spans in height and four by four in width ; a cor-
responding excavation or depression; an area en-
closed by four walls three to ten spans in height;
a corner adjoining the " reshut ha-rabbim " (the pub-
lic domain), with three walls on three sides and the
public reshut on the fourth (e.g., a covered pas-
sage without board or beam on the fourth side). (3)
The public domain: Deserts, towns, market-places,
and roads at least fifteen cubits wide. (4) " Makom
patur": A free, open space, i.e., a place less than
four by four spans in width and three or more spans
in height; what is less than three in height is con-
sidered the earth, so that thorn-bushes in the public
domain, if less than four by four in widtli, belong
to this class ("Yad," I.e.). For the effect of the
'Ekub see article.

Another consideration involved in this injunction
is as to what one may wear abroad on the Sabbath.
Arms, certain kinds of sandals, signet-rings in the
case of women, plain rings in that of
Sabbath the men (though women were cau-
Garb. tioned against wearing these orna-
ments at all), and many more things
in connection with the toilet, were under the ban
(see " Yad," I.e. xix.). Under certain conditions the
head-dress might be considered as a foi'm of build-
ing, and therefore proliibited on the Sabbath (Yer.
Shab. 12c, where plaiting is regarded as building).
Later literature on the toilet for the Sabbath is very
extensive, and historically valuable as showing mas-
culine and feminine customs of attire ("Shibbolo
ha-Leket," pp. 38 et seq.). It may be noted that in
decisions made in the Middle Ages it is assumed that
the Jews had at that time no regular reshut ha-
rabbim.

The cautions against wearing jewels and similar
ornaments were not inspired by Puritanical moods
or views. The Sabbath was always and essentially
a day of rejoicing. Hence fasting was forbidden,
even for half a. daj' (Ta'an. iii. 7; Yer. Ta'an. 67a;
Yer. Ned. 40d; Judith viii. 6). Mourning was in-
terrupted by the Sabbath (M. K- v. 3).

The technical term for suspensions of the Sabbath
is " dohin et ha-Shabbat " (push aside or set back
the Sabbath). For a higher duty, that of observing
the Sabbath was held in abeyance. A priest might
violate the Sabbath in the discharge
Suspen- of his sacerdotal work at the altar, or
sionsoftlie while performing the sacrificial rite.
Sabbath., oranyother function, assigned tohim.
For " en Shabbat ba-mik:dash " the Sab-
bath law is not applicable to the service in the Tem-
ple (Pes. 65a). Acts necessary for the Passover are
not affected by the prohibitions (Pes. vi. 1, 3). The
blowing of the shofar is permitted (R. H. iv. 1). A
Levite may tie a broken string on his instrument
while performing in the Temple ('Br. x. 13). Cir-
cumcision also takes precedence of tJie Sabbath,
thodgh whatever preparations for this rite can be
completed previously should not be left for the
Sabbath (Shab. xviii. 3, xix. 1-3). But wheneyer

597

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sab^atl

there was danger to life, or where a Jewish woman
was in the throes of childbirth, the Sabbath law was
set aside (Shab. xviii. 3). In the case of one dan-
gerouslj' sick, whatever was ordered by a competent
physician might be done regardless of the Sabbath ;
but it had to be done by pious and prominent Jews,
not by non-Jews ("Yad," I.e. ii. 1-3). It was for-
bidden to delay in such a case, for it was intended
that man should live by the Law, and not die
through it (Yoma 85a, b; Sanh. 74a; 'Ab. Zarah
2Tb, 54a; Mek., Ki Tissa). Water might be heated
and the lamps lighted. In accidents, too, every help
might be extended. Some restrictions were placed
on the choice of fluids to relieve toothache or of oint-
ments to relieve pain in the loins (Shab. xiv. 4). A
sprained member might not have cold water poured
over it, but it might be bathed in the usual way
(Shab. xxii. 6).

It was permissible to take animals to water, pro-
vided they carried no load ("Shibbole ha-Leket," p.
74, where it is explained that covers necessary for
the comfort of the animal are not considered a load).
Water might be drawn into a trough so that an
animal might go and drink of its own accord ('Br.
20b). If an animal has fallen into a well, it is pro-
vided with food until Sabbath Is over, if this is
possible; but if it is not, covers, cushions, and mat-
tresses are placed under it so that it may get out
without further aid ; the pain of the animal is suffi-
cient excuse ("za'ar ba'ale hayyim ") for this Sab-
bath violation. But the animal might not be drawn
out by men, a precaution taken in those cases where
animals had gone astray and had to be driven back
into the courtyard (" Yad," I.e. xxv. 26 ; Shab. 128b ;
B. M. 32b; Ex. xxiii. 5).

In view of the spirit of philanthropy that, as
Maimonides constantly asserts ("Yad," I.e. it. 3),
underlies the Law, it is difilcult to understand the
controversies with Jesus attributed to the Pharisees
in the New Testament. In Matt. xii. 1, Mark ii. 33,
Luke vi. 1, the disciples plucked and rubbed the ears
of corn and thus violated a rabbinical Sabbath ordi-
nance ("Yad," I.e. viii. 3; Yer. Shab. 10a; Shab. x.
7). But the defense of Jesus assumes that the dis-
ciples were in danger of dying of starvation; he
charges his critics with having neglected charity.
This must imply that they had not provided the
Sabbath meals for the poor (Peah viil. 7). Thus he
answers their charge with another. For the act of
liis disciples there was some excuse ; for their neg-
lect to provide the Sabbath meals there was none.

In the cases mentioned in Matt. xii. 11 and Luke
xiv. 5 the "drawing up" of the animal would be
an innovation, but the provision made by tlie rab-
binical law for the comfort and possible escape of
the animal is also a violation of the Sabbath. In
the instance of the blind man whose
New Tes- sight was restored (John ix. 6) the im-

tament portant point is not the fact that Jesus
Examples, broke the Sabbath law by kneading
(Sbab. xxiv. 3), for the provisions in
regard to pain in the eyes ("Yad," I.e. xxi. ; Yer.
Shab. xiv.) have no bearing on this case; the point
involved is rather the use of magic in the restoration
of sight (comp. Shab. 67a; Sanh. 101a). In all cures
effected by Jesus this was the matter at issue, not

the incidental violation of the Sabbath, which migln
be justified on the ground that life was in danger.

In John V. 2 et seq. the taking up of the bed woulc
constitute the violation. But possibly " bed " here is
a misreading for " staff " (" mittah " instead of " mat
teh "). A " lame " person may carry his crutch oi
staff (Orah Hayyim, 301). If, moreover, the reading
" bed " must be retained, for which there is a strong
presumption, another explanation may be advanced
" Take up thy bed " may be a misapprehension ol
the Aramaic "tol we-ze," the well-known formuU
for bidding one depart, "tol" being construed as
"picli up" (naturally, therefore, "thy couch"),
when in reality it means "pick thyself up," oi
"walk away." Jesus' saying that the "Sabbatt
was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath '
(Mark ii. 27) is a free translation of the Mekilta's
comment on Ex. xxxi. 13 — "The Sabbath is giver
over unto you, you are not delivered unto the Sab
bath."

A brief description of the Sabbath celebratior

under the rabbinical system may sliow that even

with all these minute constructions the day was s

bringer of unmixed jo}'. The prepa-

Sabbath rations for the Sabbath having beer
Cele- given in detail in a previous section,

bration. they need not be repeated here. A1
the conclusion of the services in the
synagogue with the orphans' "Kaddish," the at-
tendants hurried to their homes, where upon cross-
ing the threshold tliey recited the prayer, "Peace
be with ye, ye ministering angels," etc. (comp.
Shab. 119b, for the reason why the angels were
apostrophized). This prayer was preceded by the
greeting " Good Shabbat," which was also exchanged
on the way with passers-by ; it was followed by the
recital, on the part of the husband, of Prov. xxxi.
10 etseq., verses laudatory of the good housewife:
after which tlie younger membei's of the family were
blessed by their parents ; the elder sons having re-
ceived this benediction in the synagogue, where the
rabbi was wont to bless all the young people ol
the congregation. Everj' family had, as a rule, a
sti'anger as its guest, who had been to the synagogue
and had been invited to participate in the celebra-
tion of the Sabbath. Students ate at the table oi
their masters (Gudemann, "Gesch." iii. 102). The
meal on the eve of Sabbath began with the " Kid-
dush." The meal itself was sumptuous, fish being a
favorite dish (Abrahams, "Jewish Life in the Middle
Ages," p. 150). The tableware was often of the
finest and costliest ; there was hardly a family that
did not possess its gold or silver drinking-cup for the
" Kiddush " and an ornamental seven-branched lamp
for Friday night (Abrahams, I.e. p. 146). After the
meal, the Ashkenazim throughout the year, the
Sephardim only in winter and summer, sang the
"zemirot ha-Shabbat" (idem. I.e. pp. 133 et seq.).
This was followed by a grace containing a special
reference to the Sabbath, after which all retired.

On Sabbath the people slept longer than on week-
days (Orah Hayyim, 381 ; comp. Ex. xviii. 4, "in the
morning," with verse 9, "uba-yom ha-Shabbat,''
from which the inference is drawn tliat on week-days
one should rise early in the morning; on Sabbath,
when the day is well advanced). After rising and

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

598

repeating the usual morning prayers, tliey repaired
to the synagogue to recite the "sliaharit," ending
with " ab lia-rahamlm " ; after this the Torah roll
■was taken out and the proper "parashah" read, for
which seven men were called up to the pulpit.
"Kaddish" following, the "maftir" was called up,
special benedictions were recited, the

Sabbath Torah returned to the ark, and, finally,

Prayers, the " Musaf " pronounced. The serv-
ices ended, the second Sabbath meal
was commenced. Hands were washed and then the
blessing was recited over wine and bread. The meal
included the " shallet " (dish kept warm overnight in
the congregation's oven) and fruit. After this meal
" zemirot " were sung, and, grace being said, the next
hours were devoted to study or discourses on the
Law. Gilds ("hebrot") were sometimes organized
for this purpose (Abrahams, I.e. p. 337). The dis-
courses were often largely attended (see Maimonides'
letter in Abrahams, I.e. p. 336). The Rabbis regarded
the Sabbath as a befitting occasion to exhort their
congregations. The " elders " are bidden to do this
by a " takkanah " contained in " Hukke ha-Torah "
(published by Glidemann, I.e. i. 371), especially that
the Torah may again come to its own. People of
less serious mood would walk about, or be found
dancing or gossiping in the yard of the synagogue
(Abrahams, I.e. p. 381). 'Music was not regarded as
incompatible with the character of the day, and
Christian musicians often pla3'ed gratuitously (see
Mordecai on Bezah v, ; MaHaRIL, Hilkot "'Erube
Hazerot").

Chess was a recreation largely indulged in on Sab-
bath, the figures being made of silver in honor of the
da}'. Some of the rabbis stipulated that no money
should change hands at the play (Low, "Lebensal-
ter," p. 338). The Minhah service interrupted stud-
ies, but this prayer having been concluded, the dis-
cussions were resumed (Pirke Abot especially was
studied in the summer). After Minhah the third
meal, which, however, was much lighter than the
others, was served. The Sabbath concluded with
the " Habdalah."

The Sabbath was often a refreshing oasis in the
desert of persecution. Maimonides ("Moreh," ch.
ii. 31) assigns both repose of body and the symboh-
zation of God's existence as the reasons for its insti-
tution. Judah ha-Levi, a most scrupulous observer
of the Law, while emphasizing the joyful character
of the day, doubts that the Sabbath of the Chris-
tians and of the Mohammedans is as blessed as that of
the Jews (" Cuzari, " iii. 5, 9). His Sabbath hymns, as
those of Ibn Ezra and of many others, among them
being the " Lekah Dodi," attest the justice of Schech-
ter's words concerning the Sabbath ("J. Q. R." iii.
763): "Notwithstanding rabbinical micrology, the
Sabbath was a day of delight, whose coming was
looked for with fond anticipations, whose parting
was sped with grateful regrets."

In the synagogal services the joyous note alone was
heard. In fact, the life of the Jews is ample testi-
mony that the Sabbath under the Law was anything
but irksome, gloomy, and fatal to spirituality. Ka-
raitic literalism succeeded in turning the Sabbath
into a burden ; but rabbinical legalism, with its legal
Actions, avoided this. The injunction not to kindle

a fire might have worked hardship; but the institu-
tion of the Sabbath goy met the exigency, though
Meir Rothenburg and Solomon ben Adret scrupled
to avail themselves of this loophole. Even the pro-
visions regulating partnerships with and service of
non-Jews with reference to the Sabbath law may be
called legal fictions ; they are of an order of juridical
reasoning which is not foreign to modern English
and American courts. Rabbinical law accommo-
dated itself to the demands of life.
J. E. G. H.

Laws : The Sabbath, being the fundamental

and the most frequently recurring institution of
Judaism, naturally engaged the attention of the
Rabbis and of the codifiers to a very great extent.
The few scattered laws of the Bible pertaining to
the observance of this day grew into two large vol-
umes of the Talmud (Shabbat and 'Erubin), into
thirty-eight chapters of the code of Maimonides,
and into 175 sections of Caro's Shulhan 'Aruk. The
present article can deal only with the more impor-
tant laws, especially those having relation to the con-
ditions of modern life. These may be conveniently
treated under two headings: (1) laws prohibiting
the performance of any kind of work ; and (3) -those
enjoining the observance of certain religious acts
and ceremonies.

I. In both Decalogues is included the prohibition
against performing any work on the Sabbath-day.
In Ex. XX. 10 this prohibition is extended to all the
members of one's family (including male and teraiile

slaves), to one's cattle, and to "the

In the stranger that is within thy gates."

Decalogue. The same prohibition occurs in Deut.

V. 14, where details are added and
a philanthropic motive is assigned for th6 rest
to be given to the slave on that day. The trans-
gressor of this law incurs the death penalty (Ex.
xxxi. 15, xxxv. 3). No precise definition of the
term " work " is given in the Bible. Prom the ac-
count of the prohibition against gathering the
manna on the Sabbath, it appears that cooking and
baking were understood to be included under the
head of work (*. xvi. 33-37). The kindling of
lights is expressly prohibited (ib. xxxv. 3). From
Ex. xxxiv. 31 (comp. the parallel passage ib. xxiii.
13) it appears that plowing, sowing, and harvest-
ing also were included in this prohibition. It is re-
lated (Num. XV. 33-36) that a man who was found
gathering sticks on the Sabbath-day was, by divine
command, stoned to death. In the prophetic books
references are found to what was then regarded as
work. Amos (viii. 5) refers to the prohibition of
trading on the Sabbath. Jeremiah (xvii. 31, 38)
emphasizes this prohibition, and warns the people
against caiTying burdens or performing any kind of
work on the Sabbath-day. Nehemiah enters into a
covenant with the people not to buy of strangers
who bring their wares to the market on the Sabbath-
.day (Neh. x. 33); and when he finds this covenant
disregarded and sees the people doing all kinds of
work, as treading wine-presses, lading asses, and
carrying wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of bur-
dens, he remonstrates with the elders and closes the
gates of Jerusalem on tliat day, so that the mer-
chants have to remain outside the city (ib. xiii. 15-

590

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

SI). In other books of the Bible similar references
are made to the performance on the Sabbath-day of
what was considered work ; but nowhere is the term
" work " in relation to the Sabbath strictly defined
and circumscribed. The Rabbis, however, with
their love for legal precision, laid down strict rules'
for the Sabbath, always endeavoring to find a Scrip-
tural basis for their assertions.

The Mishnah (Shab. vii. 2) enumerates thirty-nine
classes (" abot " = " fathers ") of work prohibited on
the Sabbath. These are: sowing,
Classes of plowing, reaping, gathering into
Prohibited sheaves,'thrashing, winnowing, cleans-
Work, ing, grinding, sifting, kneading, and
baking; shearing, bleaching, beating,
and dyeing wool ; spinning, making a warp, making
two thrum-threads, weaving two threads, splitting
two threads, tying, untying, sewing two stitches,
tearing in order to sew two stitches; hunting deer,
slaughtering, skinning, and salting it (its hide), tan-
ning, scraping off the hair, cutting up (the hide);
writing two letters, erasing for the purpose of wri-
ting two letters; building, pulling down; extin-
guishing fire, kindling Are; beating with a ham-
mer; and carrying from one premise into another
(see Maimonides, "Yad," Shabbat, vii. 1). All of
these kinds of work were presumed by the Rabbis
to have been associated with the building of the
Tabernacle; and because the prohibition against
doing work on the Sabbath is found in close prox-
imity to tlie account of the erection of the Taber-
nacle (Ex. XXXV. 3, 3), they assumed that only that
was considered w'ork which was necessary to be
done in its construction (Shab. 73b, 96b). Each of
these thirty-nine classes comprises a number of
kinds of work which resemble it in some form or
other. The specific kinds of work comprised under
one head are called the "toladot" (children) of that
class. For instance, the class of plowing, which em-
braces such kinds of work as digging or making
canals, has for its toladot such labors as weeding or
the pruning of trees (Shab. 103a; "Yad," I.e. viii. 1).
Similarly, reaping, which implies all kinds of har-
vesting, whether of grain, vegetables, or fruit, has
for its toladot such acts as plucking fruit from a
tree, or tearing off grass or mold that has grown on
a box or a barrel, or cutting oil a flower (Shab. I.e. ;
"Yad," I.e. vii. 4, viii. 3).

There was no distinction in the punishment meted
out to the transgressor, whether he performed one
of the chief works (" abot ") or one of their toladot,
except as regards the sacrifice to be offered in case a
number of works coming under the same head were
performed unwittingly (" shogeg " ; "Yad," I.e. vii.
7, 8). In either case, if the work was done wittingly
(" mezid ") in the presence of two witnesses who had
warned the transgressor of the attendant penalty, the
punishment was stoning ; if there were no witnesses,
the p\mishment was " karet " ; and if the transgres-
sion was committed unwittingly, the transgressor
had to bring a sin-offering (" hattat " ; ib. i. 2).

Work on the Sabbath, in order to be punishable,
must be performed with the intention of doing this
particular work. If one threw a stone, intending to
strike a man or an animal, and the stone struck a
tree and broke one of its branches, or if one in-

tended to gather grapes and gathered dates, or vice
versa, there was no punishment (nSBTID n3XPD
min mON; Ker. 19a; " Yad," ^c. i.
Modiflca- 8-13). Thenecessary result of any ac-
tions as to lion is regarded as lying in the inten-

Punish.- lion of its author, whatever his avowed
ment. object may be. For instance, one who
cut off the head of a living bird in
order to give it to a child as a toy, was declared
to be liable to punishment, since the death of the
bird was a necessary consequence of the decapita-
tion (niD^ ^Nl n'B""l p'DB). Similarly, if a man blew
out a light, even though not for the purpose of be-
ing in darkness, but merely in order to save the oil
or the wick, he was liable to punishment (Shab. 39b,
93a; "Yad," I.e. i. 7; comp. RABaD adloc). If,
however, the result was not a necessary one, al though
it did occur in consequence of the action, there was
no punishment. If a man while walking on grass
tore some of the blades, he was noji liable to punish-
ment, since the tearing of the grass could not be
considered as anecessary consequence of the walking
thereon (Shab. g.^a; "Yad," I.e. i. 5, 6). The work,
in order to make the agent liable to punishment,
had to be such as would be of advantage to him. If
a man tore garments or set Are to objects with the
sole intention of destroying them, he was not liable
to punishment. If, however, he destroyed them
with a view to later improvement, as in tearing
down a house in order to rebuild it, punishment fol-
lowed (Shab. 105b; "Yad," I.e. i. 17, 18).

The laws relating to the Sabbath, in common with

the other ceremonial laAvs, are set aside in case of

danger to life (nj2D). Moreover, if such an occasion

for the violation of the laws arises, the work should

be done not by non-Jews or minors, but by adult

Jews or learned and pious rabbis, to

Exceptions show that while the laws of the Sab-

When bath are important, the preservation

Life Is in of life is still more so (Tosef., Shab.

Danger, xvi. 12; "Yad," I.e. ii. 3). In case of
dangerous illness about which physi-
cians disagree, if only one says that certain work
should be done in order to save the patient's life,
no question need be asked, and any one may per-
form such work. If a child is locked in a room and
there is danger that it will die of fright, the door
may be battered down in order to release it. It is
forbidden to hinder even the desecration of the Sab-
bath when a life is at stake ; " for the laws of the
Torah are not laws of vengeance against the world,
but laws of pity, mercy, and peace" ("Yad," I.e.
ii. 3).

Tlie regular work of the Temple service was not
interrupted on the Sabbath (see S.^ckificbs; Tem-
ple). Wars of defense might be waged on the Sab-
bath. Wars of offense were not to be begun during
the three days before Sabbath, but if begun earlier
they might be continued on that day (Shab. 19a;
"Yad," I.e. ii. 23-35).

The Rabbis, in their endeavor to insure the proper
observance of the Sabbath, prohibited a Jew from
ordering a non-Jew to do any kind of work for him
on the Sabbath-day ("shebut"). If, however, the
non-Jew performed some work for himself, withoiit
intending that the Jew should benefit by it, the Jew

Sabbath

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

600

might enjoy the product of such work. Thus the
Jew might use a light kindled by a non-Jew or
grass gathered by a non-Jew for his own benefit
(Shab. 19a, 132a; " Yad," I.e. vi.). The Jew might
even order the non-Jew to do certain work for him,
when such work was forbidden only by rabbinic
decree. Similarly, in case there was a sick person
who was not in danger of death, and in whose behalf
the Jew himself dared not violate the Sabbath, the
non- Jew might be instructed to do the work (" Yad, "
I.e. ii. 10). When a non-Jew was engaged by con-
tract to do a piece of work for a Jew, the Jew did
not need to inquire whether the non-
Sabbath. Jew worked on the Sabbath or not,
Work except when the work was to be per-
by Gentile formed openly and it was known that
for Jew. it was being done for the Jew. Thus,
if a non -Jew entered into an agree-
ment with a Jew to build him a house, the Jew had to
stipulate in the contract that the non-Jew should do
no work on that house on the Sabbath, unless it was
to be erected in a place where no Jews passed (ib. vi.
12-15). When a Jew and a non-Jew entered into
partnership, the Jew had to stipulate beforehand that
the non-Jew was to receive all the profits made on
the Sabbath and that the. Jew should take all the
profits made on some other day. If such a condi-
tion was not made, the Jew forfeited his share of the
profits made on the Sabbath ('Ab. Zarah 32a). Ac-
cording to a later opinion, when the partnership
was of such a nature that both partners worked to-
gether every day, the non-Jew might attend to the
work on the Sabbath and the Jew might take his
share of the aggregate profits (" habla'ah " ; R. Nis-
sim on Alfasi, 'Ab. Zarah i., end, s.v. " Umeha," and
Shab. xvi., end, s.B. " We- Yisrael " ; Shulhan 'Aruk,
Orah Hayyim, 245, 1, Isserles' gloss).

The Ralobis forbid also the handling on the Sab-
bath-day of objects that are " set aside " (" mukzeh ")
for work prohibited on that day. For instance, it is
forbidden to handle money, stones, boards, and ob-
jects not regarded as vessels {e.g., a candlestick in
which candles have burned, although they are now
extinguished, or a purse in which money has been
held, although now empty), since these objects were
" set aside " for service such as is not permitted on the
Sabbath. Vessels or other objects that ai-e used in
work prohibited on the Sabbath may not be han-
dled unless they are needed for an action that may
be performed. For instance, a hammer may be
handled if it is needed for the purpose of cracking
nuts, or if the place whereon it lies is needed ; but it
may not be handled for its own sake, e.g., to pro-
vide against its being stolen or damaged. It is also
forbidden to handle objects that came into their
present form of existence on the Sabbath (" nolad "),
as an egg laid, fruit that fell from a tree, or milk
milked by a non-Jew, on that day ("Yad," I.e. xxv.,
xxvi. ; Orah Hayyim, 308, 13).

Basing their action on the Scriptural passage, "If
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day . . . and shalt
honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words "
(Isa. Iviii. 18), the Rabbis forbid conversation about
ordinary matters of business ; also unnecessary ex-

ertion, as running, for any purpose not connected
with worship or study. Thus a man is forbidden
to examine his fields, to hire work-
Speaking men, to walk (even less than the for-
on Business bidden distance) from the town and
Matters wait on the way till sunset and then
Forbidden, proceed on his journey, to calculate,
to read business or even personal let-
ters, to speak of profane objects, and the like. It
is, however, permitted to speak or calculate about
matters pertaining to holy purposes or to communal
affairs, as the engaging of a teacher to teach one's
child religion or a trade, or to speculate about mat-
ters of congregational concern (Shab. 150a; "Yad,"
I.e. xxiv. ; Orah Hayyim, 306-307).

With regard to the laws relating to the prohibition
of the transportation of objects from one place-to
another on the Sabbath, the Rabbis distinguish
several kinds of premises, e.g., "I'eshut ha-yahid,"
premises belonging to an individual, measuring at
least four square handbreadths ( " tefahim "), and
surrounded by a fence at least ten handbreadths in
height; "reshut ha-rabbim," pubhc premises, as
streets, market-places, or thoroughfares, measuring
at least sixteen cubits in width; "karmelit," prem-
ises that can be considered neither as public nor as
private property, as fields that are not enclosed,
streams that are at least ten handbreadths deep and
four wide, the sides and corners of streets, or stands,
erected in front of stores and similar places. In the
reshut ha-rabbim and in the karmelit it is forbidden
to carry an object a distance of four cubits. In the
reshut ha-yahid transportation is permitted. The
main prohibition is against removing an object
from private property to public premises, or vice-
versa ("Yad," I.e. xiv.-xviii. ; Orah Hayyim, 345 et
seq.), the difficulties attending which may be over-
come by the institution of the 'Erub. The pro-
hibition of the transportation of objects from an en-
closed to an open place is extended also to the carry-
ing upon one's garments of objects which can not be
regarded as ornaments and which are not necessary
for one's health. An animal should not be permitted
to leave private premises with anything that may be
considered as a burden ("Yad," I.e. xix., xx. ; Orah
Hayyim, 301, 5).

The passage "let no man go out of his place on.

the seventh day " (Ex. xvi. 29) was interpreted by

the Rabbis as a prohibition against going beyond

the limits ("tehum") of the city in

Sabbath which one resides. However, the-

Journey limits of the city in this connection

Limited, were regarded as being 3,000 cubits.

beyond its actual limits. Thus it

was permitted to walk within the city, no matter

how large, and without the city 2,000 cubits on each

side, but not farther than that ("Yad," I.e. xxvii.,

xxviii. ; Orah Hayyim, 396 et seq. ; see Jew. Encyc.

V. 204, .?.■!). 'Erube Tehumin).

II. Prom the expression " Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy " (Ex. xx. 8), the Rabbis in-
ferred that the holiness of the Sabbath should be an-
nounced at its inception, and thus instituted the
KiDDUSH service, to be recited while holding a cup.
of wine. From the passage " and call the Sabbath,
a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable " (Isa. Iviii..

601

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath

13), they further inferred that one should endeavor
to provide for the Sabbath objects tliat delight the
soul of man, and to honor it in every way. It is an
obligation resting upon every Israelite to eat three
meals (according to some four meals; see Hidka)
during the Sabbath-day (Shab. 117b). For these
meals the best food that one is able to procure should
be prepared (ib. 118b). Even those able to enjoy
the best food every day of the week should arrange
for some cliange in the Sabbath meals, if it be only

in regard to the hours of eating. The

Provisions poor also should endeavor to provide

for better food for the Sabbath meals,

Sabbath even if it bo only an additional kind of

Joy. vegetable. One is warned, however,

against going to too great an expense
in providing for the Sabbath; especially is one
warned against soliciting charity for that purpose.
On this point the rabbinic maxim is "Make thy
Sabbath an ordinary daj' rather than render thyself
dependent on the charity of other men" {ib. 118a).
It is forbidden to eat a full meal on Friday after-
noon, so that one may enjoy one's Sabbath-eve meal
with grfeater relish (see Eve of Holidays). Every
Israelite, even though he may have many servants,
should himself engage in the preparation of the Sab-
bath meal. It is customary to have two loaves of
bread (" barches " ; comp. Jbw. Enctc. ii. 529) on tlie
table at each of the meals, symbolizing the double
portion of manna gathered by the'Israelites on Fri-
day in the wilderness (ib. 117b).

The honoring (" kibbud ") of the Sabbath consists
in wearing finer garments than usual, in being
bathed and shaven, and in showing reverence for
the day in every manner possible {ib. 25b). The
lighting of special lights bj' the housewife on Sab-
bath eve (see Lamp, Sabbath), the spreading of
a special table-cloth, the use of special dishes, may
be included under the same heading ("Yad," I.e.
XXX.; Orah Hayyim, 242, 249, 250, 260, 262 et
seq.).

The public worship on the Sabbath has many char-
acteristic features peculiar to the day. Before the
regular evening prayers on Friday night, the Sab-
bath is introduced ("^abbalat Shabbat") by the
chanting of Ps. xcv.-xcix. (the Sephardim omit
these) and xxix., "Lekah Dodi," and Ps. xcii.-xciii.
Some read also before the evening service the Song
of Solomon, selections from the Zohar, and some
cabalistic poems. The service proper is the same
as on week-days, except that the last blessing before
the 'Amidah is replaced by the two verses Ex.
xxxi. 16, 17. A change from the regular form is made
also at the end of the benediction "Hashkibenu "

(the changes made by tlie Sephardim
Sabbath, are greater than those made by the
Ritual. Ashkenzim). The 'Amidah itself, as

well as the 'Amidahs for the other
services of the Sabbath, contains only seven instead
of the nineteen blessings, the first three and the last
three of the latter being retained, while the middle
thirteen are replaced by one blessing varying in con-
tent in the different services of the day. Kiddush
is recited by the reader after tlie 'Amidah so that
even those who have no homes may hear this bless-
ing. In many synagogues the Mishnah of the sec-

ond chapter of the treatise Shabbat Is read before
Kiddush.

In the morning service the "Zemirot" are aug-
mented by the addition of Ps. xix., xxxiv., xc, xci.,
cxxxv., oxxxvi., xxxii., xcii., xciii., while Ps. c,
read on week-days at this point, is omitted (Sephar-
dim read Ps. xix., xxxiii., xxxiv., xc, xci., xcviii.,
cxxi., cxxii., cxxiii,, cxxiv., cxxxv., cxxxvi., and
then " Baruk She-Amar " followed by Ps. xcii. , xciii.).
After the Song of Moses, a special prayer, "Ni.sh-
mat," is used ; and in tJie " Ypzer," the first part (" Ha-
Me'ir ") is replaced b}^ three other selections (" Ha-Kol
Yoduka," "EI Adon,"and"LaEl Asher Shabbat").
The characteristic feature of the Sabbath-morning
service is the Reading from the Law. The taking
out of the scroll from the Ark and the replacing of it
are usually accompanied by the chanting of various
hymns and psalms. After the scroll is replaced the
MxjSAF prayer is recited.

Sabbath afternoon is usually spent by pious .Jews
in the study of various sacred subjects, each one
according to his knowledge and ability. It is not
an unusual sight on Sabbath afternoons to see the
bet ha-midrash full of people, some reading psalms,
others reading from the Scriptures the portion of the
week with various commentaries, others Studying
the haggadic portions of the Talmud, and others
again engaged in the study of the more difficult
portions of the Talmud and of the codes. These
studies are pursued by the people either singly or in
groups, each group liaving its leader or reader. In
some synagogues there is a permanent preacher
("maggid"), who delivers a homiletic address dur-
ing the afternoon ; in more modern synagogues the
address is delivered by the rabbi during the morn-
ing service after the scroll is replaced in the Ark.

The MiNHAH service begins with the reading of
"Ashre" (Ps. cxlv.) and "U'ba le-Ziyyon Go'el,"
after which the first section of the next week's por-
tion of the Law is read, when only three persons^ — a
kohen, a Levite, and a lay Israelite — ^are called up
to pronounce the blessing. After the
Sabbath- 'Amidah it is customary to read one of
Afternoon the chapters of the treatise Abot on

Service. summer Sabbaths and Ps. civ., cxx.-
cxxxiv. on winter Sabbaths. After
Minhah the last of the three prescribed meals (" sha-
losh se'uddot ") is partaken of, after which the people
again assemble in the synagogue to read psalms in
unison. Ps. cxix. is recited at dusk ; and Ps. cxliv.
and Ixviii. are sung just before the evening service.

In the prayers for the Sabbath-day all references
to sad events should be omitted. It is forbidden to
fast on the Sabbath, even for a part of the day (see
Fasting), or to lament or to supplicate for relief
when one is in distress. On visiting the sick on the
Sabbath one should say, " It is Sabbath ; we dare not
lament: healing will soon come; celebrate your Sab-
bath in peace " (Shab. 13a). Similarly, on visiting
mourners one should say, " It is Sabbath ; we dare
not console: consolation will soon come" (Oral;
Hayyim, 287, and "Ture Zahab" ad loc). Prayers
for the dead are read in some synagogues before the
scroll is replaced in the Ark, after which a general
prayer for the souls of Jewish martyrs of all genera-
tions (" ab ha-rahamim ") is recited. These prayers

Sabbath Leaves
Sabbath and Sunday

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

602

should be omitted "when there is present in the syn-
agogue a bridegroom or the father of a child that is
to 1)6 circumcised on that day, or when the day of
the approaching new moon is proclaimed, or on any
other joyous occasion (Orah Hayyira, 284, 7, Isser-
les' gloss).

The observance of the Sabbath in all its details is
bighly extolled in the rabbinic haggadah. If all
Israel observes two Sabbaths (or even one Sabbath ;
Lev. R. iii. 1) in all their details, it will imme-
-diately be redeemed from exile (Shab. 118b). The

SabbaLli is a costly present given by

Exaltation God to Israel {ib. 10b). The pleasures

of the of the Sabbath are one-sixtieth of the

Sabbath, delights of the world to come (Ber.

57b). He who honors the Sabbath
with the preparation of delightful things will re-
•ceive all that his heart desires: his portion will be
limitless, and his sins will be forgiven. He who
eats the three prescribed meals on the Sabbath will
be saved from the troubles of the Messianic age,
from the judgment of Gehenna, and from the wars
of Gog and Magog (Shab. 118a, b). Had the Israel-
ites observed the first Sabbath in all its details,
no nation or tongue could have prevailed against
them (ib. ; comp. ib. 87b; Tos. to Shab, s.v. "Kash-
er"). Maimonides concludes the chapters on the
laws of the Sabbath in his code with the following
paragraph :

" The institution of tlie Sabbath and the prohibition against
idolatry are each equal in importance to all the other laws of
the Torah [comp. Hul. 5a]. . . . The Sabbath is also a sign be-
tween the Holy One, blessed be He ! and us forever. There-
fore while he who transgresses all the other laws of the Torah
is regarded merely as one of the wicked ones of Israel, he who
publicly desecrates the Sabbath is placed on the same level with
the idolater. . . . Thus the prophet Isaiah says, ' Blessed is the
man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it ;
that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his
hand from doing any evil' [Isa. Ivi. 2]. Tradition plainly de-
clares that the reward of him who observes the Sabbath in all
its detaUs will be greater in this world than in the world to
come, as it is written, ' Then shalt thou delight thyself in the
Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for
the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it' " (.ib. Ivili. U; " Yad,"
I.e. XXX. 15; comp. Maimonides, " Moreh," ii. 31).

E. c. J. H. G.

SABBATH LEAVES. See Pbkiodicai.s.

SABBATH LIGHTS. See Lamp, Sabbath.

SABBATH-SCHOOLS (termed also Sunday-
Schools and Keligious Schools) : Among the
Jews the Sabbath-school or congregational religious
school is a product of the nineteenth century. True,
in past times every Jewish community of any size
had its school for the teaching of the young ; but
this was a day-school where the children received all
their instruction. Moreover, this school, or " heder "
as it was called, was a private enterprise of the
" melammed " or teacher, and was not a school insti-
tuted and supported as such by the congregation.
The distinction between secular and religious educa-
tion which became current in Jewry in the nine-
teenth cenfury was hardly known before the Men-
■delssohnian period. The only instruction that the
Jewish child had received was in the Hebrew dis-
■ciplines, Bible, Mishuah, Talmud, and the like.
The closing quarter of the eighteenth century wit-

nessed the establishment in Germany of schools for
Jewish children in which secular subjects were
taught in addition to the Hebrew branches. The
first of these schools in point of time was the Frei-
schule founded in Berlin in 1778 by David Fried-
lander and others. Similar schools were opened
during the next few decades in Breslau, Seesen,
Dessau, WolfenblUtel, Frankfort, Cassel, and Ham-
burg, and gradually throughout Germany and other
European countries in which the Jews were being
emancipated from medieval conditions. See Edu-
cation; Pedagogics.

The absolute separation of secular and religious
education through the medium of distinct schools
was first achieved in the United States. This was
due without doubt to the national policy of the
separation of church and state. The
In the public-school system, altogether sec-
United ular in its nature, was one of the re-
States, suits of this policy. If religious in-
struction was to be given at all to the
children of various denominations it had to be im-
parted in separate religious schools organized and
supported by these denominations. In the few cities
of the United States that contained Jewish congre-
gations before the fourth decade of the nineteenth
century the children received Hebrew instruction
either in a heder or from private teachers at home,
but the methods of the heder were too much at
variance with the American spirit to be continued
for any length of time after the Jewish child had
become thoroughly imbued with that spirit.

The fourth decade of the nineteenth century may
be regarded as the dividing-line between the old and
thenew religious educational methods in the United
States, as obtaining in the heder, on the one hand,
and in the Sabbath-school on the other, because it
was in the year 1838 that the first, Sunda3f-school
for Jewish children was established. This school
was founded in the city of Philadelphia by Rebecca
Gratz with the assistance of some ladies of the Mik-
veh Israel congregation. The school was intended
for any Jewish child of the city that desired to at-
tend, and was not therefore, strictly speakings a
congregational school: it was a free religious school,
and was conducted along the lines of Christian Sun-
day-schools. In the same year the Beth Elohim
congregation of Charleston, S. C, organized a Sun-
day-school ; and in the following year a similar in-
stitution was opened in Richmond, Va., by Congre-
gation Beth Shalome. A number of ladies of the
B'ne Israel congregation instituted another such
school in Cincinnati in 1842.

At that time there were not twenty congregations
in the country; but soon afterward a remarkable
congregational activity began which has continued
to the present day. New congregations were formed
constantly, and these almost invariably made provi-
sion for the religious instruction of the children in
their Sabbath-schools. At present this is so gener-
ally the case that the exception thereto proves the
rule. The sessions of these schools are usually held
on Sunday mornings, in some instances on Saturday
and Sunday mornings, in a few cases on Sunday
afternoons, and exceptionally on some week-day
afternoon. The subjects taught are Biblical and

603

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath Leaves
Sabbath and Sunday

post-Biblical Jewish history, religious and ethical
lessons, and Hebrew, the last-named subject being

optional in some schools, while in a
Subjects very few it is not taught at all. The
Taught, rabiii is generally superintendent of the

school ; and in small communities that
have no rabbi this olBce is filled by some interested
layman or woman. There are usually five graded
classes, the age of admission being lixed at eight
years, although some schools have introduced re-
cently a kindergarten class for younger children.
The pupils attend the school until they are con-
firmed; and many schools have post confirmation
classes composed of those who have been confirmed
and who retui-n to the school for further instruction
in religion and in Jewish history.

There is as yet neither unity nor uniformity
among the Jewish religious schools of the United
States. Each school is autonomous. In order to
promote a sentiment of union the Hebrew Sab-
bath-School Union of A.mekica was organized in
1886. At its meeting held in Chicago in Jan., 1905,
the union resolved to merge with the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations ; and the religious
educational work will henceforward be conducted
under the auspices of the congregational union
through a committee to be known as the Committee
on Religious Education. The Jewish Chautauqua
Society devotes a number of sessions of its summer
assembly to the consideration of the problems of re-
ligious education ; and the Council of Jewish Women
has . a standing committee on Sabbath - schools.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis gives a
place in its programs to papers treating of religious
pedagogics ; and several years ago a committee of
the conference prepared a curriculum for Jewish
Sabbath-schools. In quite a number of towns where
the Jewish communities are not large enough to form
congregations, religious schools have been organized,
mainly through the agency of the Hebrew Sabbath-
School Union. This body has attempted to gather
the statistics of the schools of the country ; but the
returns to date are far from complete. It is, how-
ever, safe to say that there is no city or town in the
country that contains a congregation where provi-
sion is not made for the religious education of the
young.

It appears likely that the first congregational re-
ligious school ("Religionsschule") in Germany was
that established by the Berlin Reform congregation
in 1847, although religious classes had previously
been conducted by Ludwig Philippson (in Magde-
burg), Abraham Geiger (in Hreslau), jind others.
The subjects taught were Bible, history, and religion.
Since then the religious school has become an adjunct

of all congregations in the larger com-
In Europe, munities of Prussia; and it is in the

strictest sense a congregational school.
The government exercises no manner of supervision
over or interference with the management of these
schools. The same is the case in Saxony. In the
other large German states— Baden, Bavaria, and
Wilrttemberg— there are no separate Jewish re-
ligious schools, moral instruction being imparted to
Jewish children in the public schools by the rabbi or
the Jewish teacher at certain hours set apart in the

curriculum for this instruction. The same holds true
of Austria. In Prance a similar course is pursued
in the lycees or secondary schools ; the children in
the confirmation classes, however, are twice a week
instructed in the synagogues by the rabbis.

Up to the year 1876 the Jewish children of Lon-
don received Hebrew instruction either privately
or in the so-called voluntary schools, i.e., Jewish
day-schools in which instruction was given in both
secular and religious subjects. The Jewish children,
however, who attended the board-schools were un-
provided with instruction in ]'eligious matters. To
remedy this defect the Jewish Association for the
DifEusion of Religious Knowledge (now the Jewish
Religious Education Board) established classes in He-
brew and rehgious knowledge at the board-school in
Old Castle street, Whiteehapel. Since then this or-
ganization has extended its activity, and has estab-
lished similar classes in various board-schools in the
metropolis. Different congregations, too, have re-
ligious classes corresponding to the Sabbath-schools
in the United States.

In one form or another, then, the religious educa-
tion of the Jewish child of to-day is provided for
either through the medium of separate religious
schools maintained by congregations, as is the case -
altogether in the United States and partly in Eng-
land, Germany, and Prance, or by means of instruc-
tion imparted in public schools at stated hours by
rabbis or Jewish teachers, as in Austria and partly
in England, Germany, and Prance. It may be
stated that the term "Sabbath-school," which has
been the designation mostly employed in the United
States, has fallen into disfavor, and that many re-
ligious educators advocate the use of the term " re-
ligious school " in its place.

J. D. P.

SABBATH AND SUNDAY : A brief consid-
eration is desirable as to why and when the keeping
of the seventh day as the Sabbath ceased among
Christian churches. That Jesus and his disciples
kept the seventh day, and without vital departures
from Pharisaic usages, is indisputable. The question
of Sabbath observance first became
Early acute under Paul, with the rise of the
Christian non- Jewish Christian communities.

Practise. The Pelrine, or Judceo-Christian, party
insisted on rigid adherence to the Jew-
ish law. It scorned the looser practises of the
converts from without Israel. To this Col. ii. 16 et
seq. has reference; Paul protests against judging
the piety of the neophytes " in meat, or in drink, or
in respect of a feast-day ... or a Sabbath-day "
(R. v.). He protests with greater bitterness in Gal.
iv. 9-11, where observance of days is denounced as
a return to the " weak and beggarly elements." In
Rom. xiv. .1 et seq. it is assumed that whether one
day or another is distinguished, or whether all are
regarded as equally sacred, is a matter of indiffer-
ence: ever}'' man must decide for himself. Thus
while the Petrine partizans continued to assemble
for worship on the Sabbath (Acts ii. I, iii. 1, et al.),
in non-Jewish Christian circles the fii-st day of
the ■ week came to be marked by longer worship
than usual and by collections of gifts (I Cor. xvi.
3; comp. Acts xx. 7). The name KvpiaKfi rjiiepa

Sabbath and Sunday
Sabbatical Year and Jubilee

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

604

(= "Lord's day ") first occurs in Rev. i. 10, where it
may mean the day of judgment (see Day of the
Lord) ; it is next found in Ignatius, " Ad Magnesi-
auos" (§ 9). Pliny testifies to the fact that the
Christians assembled on " a fixed day " (" stato die " ;
"EpistolaB," X. 96),

The author of the "Epistle of Barnabas" ad-
duces the occurrence of the Resurrection on the first
day as the reason for the observance of this " true
day " (xv.). In the meantime the attitude of the Ro-
man authorities had become intermittently hostile to
the Jews; and after the rebellion under Hadrian it
became a matter of vital importance for such as
were not Jews to avoid exposing themselves to sus-
picion (HuideUoper, "Judaism at Rome"). Tlie ob-
servance of the Sabbath was one of the most notice-
able,indications of Judaism. Hence, while in the first
Christian century more or less regard and tolerance
for the Jewish day were shown in Rome, even by
non-Jewish Christians, in the second centui-y the con-
trary became the rule (Justin Martyr, "Dial, cum
Tryph." ii., § 28). In the East, how-
Two Sab- ever, less opposition was shown to
batlis Kept Jewish institutions. Saturday and
in the Sunday both were celebrated by " ab-
Second staining from fasting and by standing-
Century, while praying" (Rheinwald, "Archa-
ologie," § 63). In the West, especially
where Roman influence dominated, Saturday was
turned into a fast-day (Huidekoper, ib. pp. 343-344).
The name "Sunday" is used for the first time by
Justin Martyr (" Apologies, " i. 67) in accommodation
to a Roman nomenclature, but with reference to the
circumstances that the light was created on the first
day (noticed also in the Midrasb ; Gen. R. iii. : " ten
crowns adorned the first day ") and that the "light
of the world " rose from the night of the grave on
the first day of the week. The Christians, accord-
ingly, were obliged to defend themselves against
the charge of worshiping the sun (Tertullian, " Apo-
logeticus," xvi.). The celebration of two days (by
the Judaeo-ChristiansV) is attested by Eusebius
(" Hist. Eccl." iii. 37) and by the " Apostolic Constitu-
tions," which advise the keeping of Saturday as a
memorial of the Creation, and of Sunday, the Lord's
day, in memory of the Resurrection (ii. 59).

Originally, then, Sunday and Sabbath were kept
sharply distinct. But, like the Jewish Sabbath,
Sunday was deemed not merely a holiday, but a
holy da3^■and hence fasting thereon was interdicted
(Tertullian, "De Corona Militis," § 3): Ease of
mind {svippoaiivi/, which corresponds to " nahat ruah " ;
" Epistle of Barnabas," I.e.) was the proper condition
for the day. One should not kneel at prayer (Ire-
naeus, " Fragm. de Paschate " ; " Apostolic Constitu-
tions," I.O.); the standing posture, being at first a
protest against mourning and ascetic rites (such as
were forbidden on the Jewish Sabbath), came to be
explained as suggestive of the Resurrection. Tertul-
lian would have all work cease on Sunday as interfer-
ing vdth the proper mental condition, preoccupation
and worry being incompatible with joy ("De Ora-
tione," xxiii.).

Down to the sixth century the solicitude of the
Church authorities was to prevent what they called
the " Judaizing " of the Sunday by the rigorous prohi-

bition of riding, cooking, etc. Even Constantino the
Great, when he enacted the first Sunday law in 321,
did not refer to Old Testament injunc-
First Sun- tions, but wished to have the day dis-
day Law, tinguishod and kept sacred merely as
321. the "Sun's day." This first decree was
supplemented by orders concerning
military exercise, but in general it affected only the
courts and the markets (Eusebius, " De Vita Con-
stantini," iv. 18-20, quoted in Herzog-Plitt, "Real-
Encyc." xiv. 439). Still, such decrees virtually
sanctioned the recognition of Sunday as the sole day
of rest, the "Sabbath," and thus consummated the
tendency that had been developing in the Christian
Church for nearly two centuries to substitute the
day of Jesus' resurrection for the Jewish Sabbath.
In thisway Sunday was given an anti-Jewish signifi-
cance in accordance with Paul's contention that the
Resurrection abrogated completely the old dispensa-
tion and the Law.

This aspect of Sunday has been emphasized, and
with considerable force, in the discussions more or
less continuously provoked in modern Jewry by
the increasing neglect of Sabbath observance in
the countries where the keeping of Sunday is so
strongly established in industrial and social custom
that the Jew has been practically compelled to fol-
low the general usage. A few leaders (Holdheim,
Samuel Hirsoh) proposed to apply to this problem
the principles of Reform followed in the readjust-
ment of other religious practises to changed con-
ditions. It is recognized that the Sabbath as the
symbol of the full content of Judaism is a funda-
mental institution ; but the argument has been ad-
vanced that astronomy discredits the assumption of
a universal cosmic seventh da}' (comp. Judah ha-
Levi, "Cuzari," ii. 20); and the notion of God's
"resting" on a certain day the beginning and end-
ing of which are determined by terrestrial phenom-
ena, is regarded as tinged with mythology. Six
days of labor are prescribed as clearly in the Sab-
bath law as is one day of rest; both must be relig-
iously observed, which is impossible

Jewish under prevailing conditions. Further-
Attitude more, the phraseology of the com-

Toward mandment does not fix the six days

Sunday, (the definite article is not prefixed to
D'D''); the definite article before "sev-
enth " implies merely that the day referred to is that
following any group of six consecutive days; the
phrase " the seventh day " is found also in the Pessah
law (Deut. xvi. 8), where it is evident that no fixed
day of the week is intended.

No obligation should be imposed that is impossi-
ble of fulfilment to the majority (B. B. 60b; Mai-
monides, "Yad," Mamrim, ii. 5). To the Sabbath
may be applied Ps. cxix. 136, in the sense often
given it (Ber. ix. 5; Yer. Ber. vii. 17; Git. 60a), for
now the Sabbath is "remembered," not "observed,"
just as Pesik. R. 23 asserts is the case with non-
Jews. The only consideration to be weighed is the
unity of Israel. If all or most Jews were to observe
Sabbath on the so-called first day in the manner in
which it should be observed, namely, by abstention
from work, the difficulty would be met without
loss to true religion. This in substance is the con-

605

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbath and Sunday
Sabbatical Year and Jubilee

tention of Samuel Hirscli and others. Whatever
may be the merits of the argument, it has liad no
practical result. Supplementary Sunday services
have been introduced in some congregations, but
the facts that Sunday, has an anti-Jewish implica-
tion and that in the past many allowed themselves
to be martyred for the honor of the Sabbath have
never failed to arouse both the indifferent and the
zealous.

J. E. G. II.

SABBATICAL YEAR AND JUBILEE:
The septennate or seventh year, during which the
land is to lie fallow, and the celebration of the fif-
tieth year after seven Sabbatical cycles. As regards
the latter, the Hebrew term "yobel" refers to the
blast of the shofar on the Day of Atonement an-
nouncing the jubilee year (conip. Q'^avn nilDIK' =
" trumpets of rams' horns " ; Josh. vi. 4), though Ibn
Ezra thinks it signifies the transfer of properties
(comp. SaV; Isa. xviii.7). So important was the law
regarding the jubilee that, like the Decalogue, it was
ascribed to the legislation on Mount Sinai (Lev. xxv.
1). It was to come into force after the Israelites
should be in possession of Palestine : " When ye come
into the land which I give you" (tb.). The law pro-
vides that one may cultivate his field and vineyard six
years, but-iiin the seventh year shall be ... a Sab-
bath for the Lord," during whicli one

Biblical shall neitke:5^8IWTior"reap as hitherto
In- for his private gain, but all members

junctions, of the community — the owner, his serv-
ants, and strangers — as vifell as do-
mestic and wild animals, shall share in consuming
the natural or spontaneous yield of the soil.

The fiftieth year, i.e., that following the last year
of seven Sabbatical cycles, is the jubilee; during it
the land regulations of the Sabbatical year are to be
observed, as is also the commandment " ye shall re-
turn every man unto his possession" {ib. verse 10),
indicating the compulsory restoration of hereditary
properties (except houses of laymen located in walled
cities) to the original owners or their legal heirs, and
the emancipation of all Hebrew servants whose term
of six years is unexpired or who refuse to leave
their masters when such term of service has expired
(Gen. xviii. 6; 'Ar. 33b; .see Josephus, " Ant." vi.
8, § 38).

The regulations of the Sabbatical year include
also the annulment of all monetary obligations be-
tween Israelites, the creditor being legally barred
from making any attempt to collect his debt (Deut.
XV. 1 et seq.). The law for the jubilee year has not
this provision.

Technically the Talmud distinguishes the Sabbat-
ical year for the release or quitclaim of loans as
"shemittah," more distinctly "shemittat kesaflm"
(money-release), in contradistinction to "shebi'it"
(seventh) or "shemittat karka'ot" (land-release).
There is this difference, however, that loans are not
annulled before the expiration (="the end") of
every seven years, as the Mosaic law {ib.) provides,
whereas the land-release, the shemittat karka'ot,
begins with the seventh year. The general term
for the Sabbatical cycle is " shabua' " = " septen-
nate " (Sanh. V. 1).

Several reasons are advanced for these laws : (1)

In the Cabala the number seven is a symbolic division
of time, and is sacred to God. The week of Creation
consisted of seven days, the last being the Sabbath.
The Feast of Weeks is so called because it occurs
seven weeks after Passover, the fiftieth

Reasons day being Pentecost. These days are
for Observ- parallel to the years of shemittah and
ance. yobel. The duration of the world is
7, 000 years, the seven thousandth year
being the millennium, the Great Sabbath of the
Lord (Sanh. 97a). (2) The physico-economic and
socialistic theories are that rest from labor is an abso-
lute necessity both for animal and for vegetable
life ; that continuous cultivation will eventually ruin
the land. The law of the Sabbatical year acts also as
a statute of limitation or a bankruptcy law for the
poor debtor, in discharging his liability for debts con-
tracted, and in enabling him to start life anew on an
equal footing with his neighbor, without the fear
that his future earnings will be seized by his former
creditors. The jubilee year was the year of libera-
tion of servants whose poverty had forced them
into employment by others. Similarly all property-
alienated for a money consideration t,o relieve pov-
erty, was to be returned to the original owners
without restoration of the amount which had been
advanced.

(3) The rabbinical view, however, is tliat these
laws were made to promote the idea of theocracy :
that one year in seven might be devoted "to the
Lord," as the weekly Sabbath is devoted to. rest
from manual labor and to the study of the Law. The
jubilee was instituted primarily to keep intact the
original allotment of the Holy Land among the
tribes, and to discountenance the idea of servitude to
men. " For unto me the children of Israel are serv-
ants ; they are my servants " (Lev. xxv. 55) ; and they
shall not be servants to servants, as God's bond has
the priority (Sifra, Behar Sinai, vii. 1). That the
main object was to keep intact each tribe's inher-
itance is evident from the fact that shemittah and
yobel were not inaugurated before the Holy Land had
been conquered and apportioned -among the tribes
and their families. The first shemittah year is said
to have occurred twenty-one years after the arrival of
the Hebrews in Palestine, and the first yobel thirty-
three years later (ib. i. 3). The j ubilee was proclaimed
"throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof " ; only when all the tribes were in possession
of Palestine was the jubilee ol:»erved, but not after
the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of
Manasseh had been exiled {ib. ii. 8) ; nor was it ob-
served during the existence of the Second Temple,
when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had been
assimilated (Sheb. x. 3; 'Ar. 33b). After the con-
quest of Samaria by Shalmaneser the jubilee was
observed nominally in the expectation of the return
of the tribes— according to some authorities, Jere-
miah brought them back {ih. 33a) — and till the final
exile by Nebuchadnezzar.

There is a difference of opinion in the Talmud as
to whether the jubilee year was included in or ex-
cluded from the forty -nine years of the seven cycles.
The majority of rabbis hold that the jubilee year
was an intercalation, and followed the seventh Sab-
batical year, making two fallow years in succession.

Sabbatical Year and Jubilee

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

606

After both bad passed, the next cycle began. They

adduce this theory from tlie plain words of the

Law to "hallow the fiftieth year,"

Fifty- and also from the assurance of God's
and Forty- promise of a yield in the sixth year
nine- sufficient for maintenance during the
Year Cy- following three years, "until the ninth
cles. year, until her fruits come in" (Lev.
XXV. 33), which, they say, refers to
the jubilee year. Judah ha-Nasi, however, con-
tends that the jubilee year was identical with the
seventh Sabbatical year (R. H. 9a; Git. 36a; comp.
Rashi ad loc). Tlie opinion of the Geonipi and of
later authorities generally prevails, that the jubilee,
when in force during the period of the First Tem-
ple, was intercalated, but that in the time of the
Second Temple, when the jubilee was observed only
"nominally," it coincided with the seventh Sab-
batical year. In post-exilic times the jubilee was
entirely ignored, though the strict observance of the
shemittah was steadily insisted upon. This, how-
ever, is only according to a rabbinical enactment
(Tos. to Git. 36a, s.i}. "Bizeman"), as by the Mosaic
law, according to R. Judah, shemittah is dependent
on the jubilee and ceases to exist when there is no
jubilee (Git. I.e. and Rashi ad loc).

That the Sabbatical year was observed during the
existence of the Second Temple is evident from the
history of the Maccabees (I Mace. vi. 51, 55). The
Mishnah includes in the examination of witnesses
questions as to dates, in giving which there must
be specified the Sabbatical year, the year, month,
week, day, and hour (Sanh. v. 1).

The area of the Holy Land over which the she-
mittah was in force included in the time of the First
Temple all the possessions of the Egyptian emigrants
(" 'Ole Mizrayim "), which territory extended south
to Gaza, east to the Euphrates, and north to the
Lebanon Mountains. Ammon and Moab in the
southeast were excluded. In the
Palestinian period of the Second Temple the area

Area of of the Babylon emigrants (" 'Ole Ba-
Shemittah. bel "), headed by Ezra, was restricted
to the territory west of the Jordan
and northward as far as Acre (Acoo). Tlie Rabbis
extended the shemittah to Syria, in order not to
tempt settlers of the Holy Land to emigrate thither
(Yad. iv. 3). The area of Palestine was divided
into three parts, Judea, Galilee, and the transjordan
districts, where shemittah existed in more or less
rigorous observance (see Sheb. ix. and Yer. ad loc).

The duration of the shemittah year was from au-
tumn to autumn, beginning with New-Year's Day ;
but as a precaution against any infringement of the
Law, the Rabbis extended the time and prohibited
sowing and planting thirty days before Rosh ha-
Shanah. Still later they prohibited tlie sowing of
grain from Passover, and the planting of trees from
Pentecost preceding the shemittah year, in order not
to derive any benefit from the fruits bearing in that
year (Sheb. i. 1, ii. 1). The extension of the time is
known as "'ereb shebi'it" (=" preceding the sev-
enth "). The penalty for non-observance of the
shemittah year is exile; for eating the fruits of the
seventh year (i.e., of the sixth year's growth),
pestilence (Abot v. 11, 12).

The rabbinical enactment extended the shemittat
Uesafimor money -release to countries other than- the
Holy Land, but confined the shemittat karka'ot or
land-release to Palestine within Ezra's boundary-
lines of occupation during the period of the Second
Temple. The money-release was obviously inde-
pendent of the Holy Land and was intended to free
from his debts the poor in every land, and at a cer-
tain period of time. On the other
Rabbinical hand, this bankruptcy law checked all
Ex- business enterprises which the Jews.

tensions ; were engaged in after tliey had large-
Bank- ly abandoned agricultural pursuits.

ruptcy. Hillel the Elder then amended the law
by his institution of the Pbosbul. In
addition to this subterfuge, there are various ex-
'ceptions which exclude the following debts from
the operation of shemittah: wages, merchandise
on credit, loans on pledges, a note guaranteed by
mortgage, one turned over to the bet din for col-
lection (according to the theory of the prosbul),
and one which stipulates that the debtor waives,
the shemittah defense as regards this particular note
(but he can not waive the law in general; Sheb. xi. ;,
Yer. ad loc ; Git, 36a, b, 37a).

The shemittat kesafim was undoubtedly intended
for the poor debtor, though the rich man also might
take advantage of the general law. The Mishnah,
however, plainly expresses the Rabbis' satisfaction
with the debtor who does not make use of the she-
mittah in order to be relieved of his obligations
(Sheb. X. 4). The Rabbis nevertheless desired that
" the law of the shemittah shall not be forgotten "
(Git. 36b).

Maimonides, in his responsa, rules that shemittah
is not operative against orphans, but that all other
debts are wiped out. Incidentally he says " the Sab-
batical year occurred last year " (1507 of the Seleuci-
dan era = 4956 of Creation = 1195 c.e. ; "Pe'erha-
Dor," No. 137, Amsterdam, 1765).

Apparently the Jews of Spain, in the thirteenth
century, did not observe the shemittat kesafim ; and
in Germany the Jews made use of the prosbul.
When Asher b. Jehiel (1250-1338) went to Spain he
was surprised at the violation of the law of shemit-
tah, finding that collection was exacted of notes,
that had passed many shemittahs without a prosbul
(Asheri, Responsa, rule 77, §§ 3, 4, 6). Neither
Jacob Asheri in liis Tur nor Joseph Caro in his
Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, mentions the shemit-
tat karka'ot and yobel (evidently considering the
law obsolete) ; but both of them refer to the shemit-
tat kesafim and prosbul (Hoshen Mishpat, § 67),
which they claim are operative both in and out of
Palestine. Moses Isserles adds, however, that the
majority of Jewish authorities in Germany are in-
different to or ignore the custom of the shemittah.
He dates the latest shemittah in the year 5337 (1567
C.B.), and says the next was to occur in 5334
(=1573c.E.),

Isserlein, in a responsum ("Terumat ha-Deshen,"
No. 304), explains the relaxation In the observance
in European countries as due to the fact that the
rabbinical extension was originally for the purpose
"that the law of shemittah may not be forgotten,"
and that it was apparently intended to apply to

607

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Sabbatical Tear and Jubilee

Palestine proper and its neighboring countries,

Babylon and Egypt, but not elsewhere. Joseph

Colon (Responsa, No. 92) decides that

Relaxation the shemittah defense is a very weak

in Ob- one; consequently a creditor is be-

servance. lieved without an oath -when he says
tliat he has lost the prosbul. He
rules, as regards the enforcement of the shemittat
kesafim, that the bet din sliould be guided by the
prevailing Jewish custom in the particular country.
The shemittat l^esafim is equally relaxed in Pal-
estine to-day. The principal reasons seem to have
been that the fixed date of payment, the guaranty at-
tached, and the terminology of the present-day notes
abrogate the law of shemittah. Tlie shemittat kar-
lia'ot, however, has been generally observed in Pal-
estine; and during the shemittah year the Jews of
the Holy Land eat only of the products grown in
the transjordanic districts (Schwartz, "Tebu'atha-
Arez," ed. Luncz, p. 20, Jerusalem, 1900).

Since the Zionist movement began to encourage
agriculture in Palestine, the observance of shemittah
has become a problem for solution. The leaders of
the movement, who had the interest of the colonists
at heart and feared that the shemittah might jeop-
ardize their existence, claimed that the law is now
obsolete. The Jewish periodicals, especially "Ha-
Meliz," strenuously objected to enforcing the law of
shemittah upon the colonists. When the shemittah
year 5649 (= 1888-89) approached, the question was
submitted to the chief rabbis in Eu-

Shemittali rope and Palestine. Eabbi Isaac El-
and hanan Spector was inclined to be
Palestinian lenient, and advocated a nominal sale

Colonists, of the land to a non-Jew and the em-
ployment of non-Jewish laborers dur-
ing shemittah. The Sephardic hakam bashi, Jacob
Saul Elyashar, concurred in this decision (see his
"Simhah la-Ish," p. 107). But the Ashkenazic rab-
bis in Jerusalem opposed any subterfuge, and issued
the following declaration :

" As the year of the shemittah, 5649, is drawing nigh, we in-
lorm our hrethren the colonists that, according to our religion,
they are not permitted to plow or sow or reap, or allow Gentiles
to perform these agricultural operations on their fields (except
such work as may he necessary to keep the trees in a healthy
state, which is legally permitted) . Inasmuch as the colonists
have hitherto endeavored to obey God's law, they will, we trust,
not violate this Biblical command. By order of the bet din of
the Ashkenazlm at Jerusalem. [Signed by the rabbis] J. L.
Diskin and Samuel Salant" (" Ha-?abazzelet," Oct. 26, 1888,
No. 6 ; " Jew. World," Nov. 16, 1888).

An appeal, signed by prominent Jews in Jerusa-
lem, for funds to enable the colonists to observe the
shemittah was directed to the Jews outside the Holy
Land. Dr. Hildesheim as president of the society Le-
ma'an Ziyyon, in Prankfort-on-the-Main, collected
donations for this purpose. Baron Edmond de Roths-
child, being informed by Rabbi Diskin that the
law of shemittah is valid, ordered the colonists under
his protection in Palestine to cease work during the
Sabbatical year.

The exact year of the shemittah is in dispute, and
different dates are given. According to Talmudic
calculations the entrance of the Israelites into Pales-
tine occurred in the year of Creation 3489, and 850
years, or seventeen jubilees, passed l)etween that

date and the destruction of the First Temple. The

first cycle commenced after the conquest of the land

and its distribution among the tribes,

Talmudic which occupied fourteen years, and

and the last jubilee occurred on the " tenth

Samaritan day of the month [Tishri], in the four-

Calcula- teenth year after that the city was

tion of smitten " (Ezek. xl. 1), which was the-
Jubilees. New- Year's Day of the jubilee ('Ab.
ZarahOb; 'Ar. llb-12b). Joshua cel-
ebrated the first jubilee, and died just before the
second (Seder '01am R. , ed. Ratner, xi. 24b-25b,
XXX. 69b, Wilna, 1895).

The Samaritans in their "Book of Joshua" date
the first month of the first Sabbatical cycle and of
the first jubilee cycle as beginning with the cross-
ing of the Jordan and the entrance of the Israelites
into their possession ; and they insist that the date-
was 2794 of Creation, according to the chronology
of the Torah " and the true reckoning known to the
sages since the Flood" ("Karme Shomeron," ed.
Raphael Kirchheim, § 15, p. 63, Frankfort-on-the-
Maiu, 1851). .

The First and the Second Temple, the Talmud says,
wei'e destroyed "on the closing of the Sabbatical
year" ("Moza'e Shebi'it"). The sixteenth jubilee
occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah, who
reigned thirty -one years; the remaining thirteen
years of his reign, together with the eleven years
of those of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin and the eleven
years of that of Zedekiah (II Kings xxv.), fix the
first exilic year as the thirty-sixth year of the jubilee
cycle, or the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin, or fourteen years from the destruction of
the Holy City ("Ar. and 'Ab. Zarah l.o. ; see Rashi
ad loe.).

The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years.
Ezra sanctified Palestine in the seventh year of the
second entrance, after the sixth year of Darius,
when the Temple was dedicated (Ezra vi. 15, 16;,
vii. 7). The first cycle of shemittah began with the
sanctification of Ezra. The Second Temple stood
420 years, and was destroyed, like the First, in
the 421st year, on the closing of the shemittah
('Ar. 13a). " •

The Talmud gives as a rule for finding the year of
shemittah to add one year and divide by seven the
number of years since the destruction of the Second
Temple, or to add 2 for every 100 years and divide
the sum by seven ('Ab. Zarah 9b). The difference-
among the Jewish authorities as to the

Various correct shemittah year is due to the
Dates. varied interpretation of the words-
" closing of shebi'it," as meaning either
the last year of the cycle or the year after the cycle ;
also as to the beginning of the exilic shemittah from-
the year when the destruction of the Temple occurred,
or from the year after. There is another version of
the Talmudic rule mentioned above, namely, to " add
two years to or deduct five years from " the number
of years since the destruction ('Ab. Zarah 9b).

Maimonides gives the date of a shemittah year
occurring in his time as the year 1107 from the de-
struction of the Temple, 1487 of the Seleucidan era,
4936 of Creation (= 1175 c.e. ; "Yad," Shemittah
we-Yobel, x. 4) ; i.e., he begins the cycle with the-

Sabbatical Tear and Jubilee
Sabeans

THE JEWISH EKCYCLOPEDIA

608

year following that of the destruction. Rashi's in-
terpretation is that the destruction occurred at tlie
"closing of shebi'it" (= "after the cycle had been
closed with the previous year "), and lie makes the
year in wliich the destruction occurred as the first
year of the new cycle. Rabbenu Tam agrees with
Rashi as to the date of tlie destruction, but djffers
from him in asserting that the shemiftah fell in the
year of the destruction, which was the " closing year
of the cycle." He fixes the shemittah at the time of
his writing as the year 5012 of Creation (— 1351 c.e. ;
Tos. to 'Ab. ZarahOb, s.». ^xn, end); this result agrees
with that of Maimonides, though it is reached by a
different method of calculation. Rabbenu Hananeel
claims that the closing of shebi'it — that is, shemittah
—was the year after the destruction of the Temple.
Tlie year of the shemittah was finally settled ac-
cording to the view of Maimonides, which agreed
with the most plausible interpretation of the correct
Talmudio text and also with the practise of the
oldest members of the Jewish communities in the
Orient by whom the sliemittah j^ears were observed.
Evidence to this effect was given at a conference
of rabbis called in Jerusalem, who concurred in
the opinion expressed by the rabbis from Safed,
Damascus, Salonica, and Constantinople fixing the
shemittah year of their time as 5313 = 1552 (Azkari,
"Sefer Hasidim," ed. Warsaw, 1879, p. 83).

Dates op Sabbatic^-L and Jubilee Years, Ac-
cording TO THE TaLMUDICAL CALCULATION.

Crossing of the Jordan

Conquest and allotment of
Palestine

First Sabbatical year

First jubilee year

Exile of the Ten Tribes

Destruction of the First Tem-
ple

Second entrance to Pales-
tine

.Seleucidan era commenced . . .

Destruction of the Second Tem-
ple

Exilic Sabbatical cycle com-
menced

Current Sabbatical year

Last Sabbatical year will be-
pin

Cabalistic jubilee will com-
mence

fHO

2503
2510
2553
3187

3408
3448

5665

6000

csJ H M

50
684

835

a> o ^

.Is

Cm mS
1

1836

B.C.

1371

1257
1250
1207
573

352
812

C.E.

69-70
1904-5

2238
2239

95. (

117.

127
135.5

449.2
497.

(50-
year
cycle)

13.34

16.35
(49-
year
cycle)
18.7
18.47

26.35

64.9

71.

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