Israel Abrahams

“ SYNAGOGUE, UNITED, an organization of London Jews, founded, with the sanction of an act of parliament, in 1870. It is confined, in its direct work, to the metropolis, but it exercises, indirectly, considerable influence over the Jews of the British Empire. It is governed by an elected council representing the constituent congregations. In religious and ritual matters it is under the jurisdiction of the chief rabbi, who is, to a certain extent, recognized throughout the empire. ”

“ The river Sambatyon is 200 yds. broad, about as far as a bowshot. It is full of sand and stones, but without water; the stones make a great noise like the waves of the sea and a stormy wind, so that in the night the noise is heard at a distance of half a day's journey. There are sources of water which collect themselves in one pool, out of which they water the fields. There are fish in it, and all kinds of clean birds fly round it. And this river of stone and sand rolls during the six working days and rests on the Sabbath day. ”

“ His learning and character raised him to a position of high respect among the Jewries of Europe, though Spain and the East were long outside the range of his influence. As was said of him soon after his death: “ His lips were the seat of wisdom, and thanks to him the Law, which he examined and interpreted, has come to life again.” ”

“ Even more important was Rashi's commentary on the Talmud, which became so acknowledged as the definitive interpretation that Rashi is cited simply under the epithet of “ the Commentator.” It is no exaggeration to assert that the modern world owes its power to understand the Talmud to Rashi. In this field the “Commentator” is supreme. He practically edited the text of the Talmud besides explaining it, and the Talmud is never printed without Rashi's commentary on the margin. An important feature of Rashi's commentaries is the frequency of French translations of words. ”

“ Most cases of conversion to Judaism at the present time are for purposes of marriage, and emale proselytes are more numerous than male. Female proselytes are admitted after the total immersion in a ritual bath, though in some Reformed congregations this rite is omitted. Proselytes are still not allowed, in Orthodox circles, to become the wives of reputed descendants of the priestly families, but otherwise marriage with proselytes is altogether equal to marriage between born Jews. ”

“ RITUAL MURDER, a general term for human sacrifice in connexion with religious ceremonies. False accusations as to the practice of ritual murder by Jews and Christians have often been made. “The Christians of the second and third centuries suffered severely under them” (Strack) . Justin Martyr (150–160) in his Second Apology (ch. 12) vigorously defends the Christian community against this charge; Octavius, Minucius Felix, Tertullian, Origen and other Church Fathers all refer to the subject and indignantly repudiate the atrocious libel that the Eucharist involved human sacrifice. ”

“ In the Diaspora admission of converts may have been made easy, circumcision being sometimes omitted, but the conditions became gradually more severe, until they reached their present form. It is thought that the Hadrianic persecution led to this change. The Jews seem to have suffered during the war from the treachery of half-hearted friends. Again, many who had become converts to Judaism afterwards joined the new Christian communities. Moreover, in the middle ages, it was not lawful for the Jews to admit proselytes. ”

“ Though not a philosopher, he was drawn into the controversy that arose over the scholastic method of Maimonides (q.v.) . He endeavoured to steer a middle course between the worshippers and the excommunicators of Maimonides, but he did not succeed in healing the breach. His homiletic books, Epistle on Sanctity (Iggereth ha-qodesh) and Law of Man (Tarath ha-Adam) , which deal respectively with the sanctity of marriage and the solemnity of death, are full of intense spirituality, while at the same time treating of ritual customs—a combination which shows essential Rabbinism at its best. ”

“ EINHORN, DAVID (1809–1879) , leader of the Jewish reform movement in the United States of America, was born in Bavaria. He was a supporter of the principles of Abraham Geiger (q.v.) , and while still in Germany advocated the introduction of prayers in the vernacular, the exclusion of nationalistic hopes from the synagogue service, and other ritual modifications. In 1855 he migrated to America, where he became the acknowledged leader of reform, and laid the foundation of the régime under which the mass of American Jews (excepting the newly arrived Russians) now worship. ”

“ Smolenskin was the first to dissociate Messianic ideals from theological concomitants. Smolenskin's literary fame is due to his Hebrew novels. He may be termed the Jewish Thackeray. In style and method his work resembles that of the English novelist. There is little doubt but that Smolenskin, had he written in any language but Hebrew, would be regarded as one of the great novelists of the 19th century. Of his novels only the best need be named here. A Wanderer on the Path of Life (Ha-to'eh be-darkhe ha-Hayim) is the story of an orphan, Joseph, who passes through every phase of Ghetto life ”

“ It is not easy to decide as to his exact attitude towards Judaism. That he refused to accept the current rabbinical views is certain, though the Talmud cites his legal decisions. Most authorities believe that he was a Gnostic; but while it is certain that he was not a Christian, it is possible that he was simply a Sadducee, and thus an opponent not of Judaism but of Pharisaism. ”

“ The differences which affected social life most deeply were those relating to Sabbath observance and the forbidden degrees of marriage, the Qaraites not recognizing any distinction between relationships of consanguinity and those of affinity, while in their zeal to avoid all risk of infringement of the sacredness of the day of rest they prohibited the burning of any light at all in their houses from sunset to sunset. ”

“ IBN TIBBON, a family of Jewish translators, who flourished in Provence in the 12th and 13th centuries. They all made original contributions to philosophical and scientific literature, but their permanent fame is based on their translations. Between them they rendered into Hebrew all the chief Jewish writings of the middle ages. These Hebrew translations were, in their turn, rendered into Latin (by Buxtorf and others) and in this form the works of Jewish authors found their way into the learned circles of Europe. ”

“ RASHBAM (1085–1174) , Jewish scholar, so called from the initials of his full name, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, was a leading member of the French school of Biblical exegesis. He was a grandson of Rashi (q.v.) , but differed in his method of interpretation. He wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch and some other parts of the Scriptures. Rashbam adopts a natural (as distinct from a homiletical and traditional) method; thus (in agreement with the modern school) Rashbam (on Gen. i. 5) maintained that the day began at dawn and not from the previous sunset (as later Jewish custom assumed) . ”

“ The controversies as to the rule of faith which so deeply divided the Christian Church in the 16th century gave to this obscure sect an illusory and passing importance, the Catholics frequently hurling the epithet Karaei, in token of contempt, at the Protestants, who in their turn willingly accepted it as sufficiently descriptive of their attitude towards Scripture. The Qaraites never have been numerous; in 1904 their total number was estimated at 12,000, 10,000 being found in Russia: the present community in Jerusalem numbers only a few families. ”

“ The term tanna is used in the Talmud of those teachers who flourished in the first two centuries of the Christian era. The lannaim from the date of the destruction of the Temple may be grouped: (1) 70-100, representative name Johanan ben Zaqqai (q.v.) ; (2) 100-130, representative name Aqiba {q.v.) ; (3) 130-160, representative name Judah the Prince, compiler of the Mishnah. The successors of the lannaim were called 'amor aim (see 'Amora) . ”

“ Threatened with excommunication by the Rabbis of Jerusalem, Sabbatai returned to Smyrna (autumn of 1665) . Here he was received with wild enthusiasm, and the masses were carried beyond all bounds. With delirious joy the Jews of Smyrna—men, women and children—fell down and worshipped. They prepared for the return. Men left their work to make ready for the start. They fasted, they rejoiced ”

“ The place is now deserted; its cemetery was the seat of Firkowitsch’s notorious forgeries (inscriptions of 1st century) , by which he sought to establish a fabulous antiquity for his sect. According to Strack (A. Firkowitsch u. seine Entdeckungen, 1876) the oldest tombstones do not go back beyond the 14th century. The modern Qaraites are generally, well spoken of for their honesty, perseverance and simple habits of life; they are gradually approximating to the Rabbanites, with whom, in some places, they are on terms of social intimacy. ”

“ Sachs is best remembered for his work on Hebrew poetry, Religiöse Poesie der Juden in Spanien (1845) ; his more ambitious critical work (Beiträge zur Sprach- und Alterthumsforschung, 2 vols., 1852–1854) is of less lasting value. His poetical gifts he turned to admirable account in his translation of the Festival Prayers (Mahzor, 9 vols., 1855) , a new feature of which was the metrical rendering of the medieval Hebrew hymns. ”

“ The English versions often render the word by “stranger,” but though distinguished from the home-born ‛ezrah (=one rising from the soil) , the person denominated ger became the equal of the native Israelite, and, when the meaning of ger passed from a mainly civil to a religious connotation, enjoyed many rights. ”

“ His master was executed by Hadrian, and Simon’s anti-Roman sentiments led to his own condemnation by Varus c. 161 A.D. (according to Graetz) . He escaped this doom and dwelt for some years in a cavern. Emerging from concealment, Simon settled in Tiberias and in other Galilean cities. He acquired a reputation as a worker of miracles, and on this ground was sent to Rome as an envoy, where (legend tells) he exercised from the emperor’s daughter a demon who had obligingly entered the lady to enable Simon to effect his miracle. ”

“ This book raised Zunz to the supreme position among Jewish scholars. In 1840 he was appointed director of a Lehrerseminar, a post which relieved him from pecuniary troubles. In 1845 appeared his Zur Geschichte und Literatur, in which he threw light on the literary and social history of the Jews. Zunz was always interested in politics, and in 1848 addressed many public meetings. In 1850 he resigned his headship of the Teachers' Seminary, and was awarded a pension. ”

“ Ultimately he and his followers were permitted to migrate to Palestine. They erected a synagogue in Jerusalem which continued to be maintained until the time of the Crusades. From this centre the sect diffused itself thinly over Syria, spread into Egypt, and ultimately reached S.E. Europe.
Anan, who is said to have died in A.D. 765, was the author of a commentary on the Pentateuch and other works in Talmudic Hebrew and Arabic. Most of these are lost, and we are thus left chiefly dependent on the hostile indications of opponents. His code was recovered in Egypt by the Qaraite Moses b. ”

“ Wise also organized various general assemblies of rabbis, and in 1889 established the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He was the first to introduce family pews in synagogues, and in many other ways “occidentalized” Jewish worship. ”

“ In this commentary Qaro shows an astounding mastery over the Talmud and the legalistic literature of the middle ages. He felt called upon to systematize the laws and customs of Judaism in face of the disintegration caused by the Spanish expulsion. ”

“ Nöldeke (Beiträge zur Geschichte des Alexanderromans, 48) has shown that the Sambatyon appears in one version of the Alexander Legend. Kaswini, the author of the Arab Cosmography, also refers to the Sambatyon. So does Prester John in his letter addressed to the emperor Frederick; in his account it is the violence of the current of sand and stone that prevents the Lost Tribes from reuniting. It is unnecessary to summarize. the various embellishments of the legend; in one version the river attains a width of 17 m. and throws stones as high as a house. ”

“ Yet many continued to believe in him, as he from time to time attempted to resume his role. In 1676 he died in obscurity in Albania. 'A sect of Sabbataeans—the Dormeh of Salonica—survived him, and for many a long year the controversy for and against his claims left an echo in Jewish life. ”

“ Friedmann, while inspired with regard for tradition, dealt with the Rabbinic texts on modern scientific methods, and rendered conspicuous service to the critical investigation of the Midrash and to the history of early homilies. ”

“ Orthodox in practice and feeling, his critical treatment of the rabbinic literature prepared the way for the scientific investigations of the 19th century. As a teacher he was one of the first to discriminate between the various strata in rabbinic records ”