AARON
BEN JACOB HA-KOHEN OF LUNEL (end of 13th and first half of 14th century),
ProvenLal scholar.
Despite his name, he was probably not from Lunel but from Narbonne, where his
forefathers lived. Aaron authored Orhot Hayyim,
a compilation
of halakhot taken verbatim from
earlier halakhic works sometimes without indicating the source
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica ]
ABBAI,
MEIR BEN EZEKIEL IBN (1480-after 1540), kabbalist of the generation of Spanish
exiles. The details of his life are not known. Apparently he lived in Turkey
and possibly died in Erez Israel. He
wrote three books dealing with the principal problems of Kabbalah. They are: Tola'at Ya'akov, relating to the issues
in the prayers; Derekh Emunah, an
explanation of the doctrine of the sefirot
in the form of questions and answers; and Avodat
ha-Kodesh, on the entire doctrine of the Kabbalah, in four simple parts.
The last is entitled Marot Elohim,
the most comprehensive and organized summary of the doctrine of the Kabbalah
prior to the Safed period.
[Gershom
Scholem]
ABRAHAM
BEN NATHAN HA-YARHI (c. 1155-1215), ProvenLal talmudic
scholar. He was born at Avignon and he studied with the scholars of Lunel.
Abraham wandered through many countries, and during his travels Abraham made a
point of "observing the customs of every country and every city" and
he recorded various customs, particularly concerning prayer and other synagogue
usages, in a book which he called Manhig
Olam known popularly as Sefer
ha-Manhig. This work is the first book of minhagim written in Europe; its explicit purpose was to show that there is
a halakhic basis for every minhag. Abraham also wrote a commentary to Massekhet Kallah Rabbati and Mahazik ha-Bedek on the laws of ritual slaughtering and
forbidden foods (lost).
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ABUDARHAM,
DAVID BEN JOSEPH (14th century), liturgical commentator in Spain, author of Sefer Abudarham, written in 1340 in
Seville. Abudaraham commented on the prayers in great detail and traced the
variations in custom in different countries. He included a commentary on the
Haggadah, rules of intercalation, the
order of weekly pentateuchal readings and haftarot for the entire year, and calendrical and astronomical tables.
Abudarham appended to his book rules governing benedictions, dividing them into
nine sections, along with their interpretation and explanation. Abudarham also
wrote a commentary on liturgy for the Day of Atonement ascribed to Yose b.
Yose, as well as on other liturgical poems, published under the title of Tashlum Abudarham.
[Zvi Avneri/Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ADRET,
SOLOMON BEN ABRAHAM (known from his initials as RaShBa; c. 1235-c. 1310),
Spanish rabbi and one of the foremost Jewish scholars of his time, whose
influence has remained to this day. Questions were addressed to Adret from all
parts of the Jewish world; the communities gathered his responsa into special
collections and kept them as a source of guidance. Altogether Adret wrote
thousands of responsa (3,500 have been printed).
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ALDABI,
MEIR BEN ISAAC (c.1310- c.1360) religious philospher, with strong leanings
toward the Kabbalah.Born in Toledo, he moved to Jerusalem, where in 1360, he
finished his long contemplated work, Shevilei
Emunah. Shevilei Emunah, "Paths
of Faith", was designed to show how Greek philosopers (especially Plato
and Aristotle) derived the essentials of their knowledge from Jewish sources.
He traced the various subjects back to their Jewish influences.
[Meir Hillel
Ben-Shammai}
ALFASI,
ISAAC BEN JACOB (known as Rif; 1013-1103), author of the most important code
prior to the Mishneh Torah of
Maimonides, bringing the geonic period to a close. Alfasi dedicated his life to
the study of the Talmud and its dissemination among the masses. Long before he
came to Spain, his intellectual stand was decided and he was not influenced by
the cultural life of Spain.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ALGAZI,
ISRAEL JACOB BEN YOM TOV (1680-1756), halakhic scholar and kabbalist. Algazi
copied and published Hemdat Yamim
with many of his own glosses; he authored Emet
le-Ya'akov on the laws of Torah scrolls;
Ara de-Rabbanan reprinted with Judah Ayyash's commentary; Afra de-Ara, a methodology for Talmud
and codes; Hug ha-Arez on the laws od
Purim; Ne'ot Ya'akov; Kehillat Ya'akov;
Shalmei Zibbur and Shalmei Hagigah
on the laws of prayers and blessings.
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
AMRAM
BEN SHESHNA (Amram Gaon; d. c. 875), gaon
of Sura noted for his responsa and the oldest surviving order of prayer.
The precise period during which he served in the gaonate is uncertain; however
it is clear from one of his responsa that by 858 he was already acting in that
capacity. The Seder R. Amram is the oldest order of Jewish
prayers extant. It contains the text of the prayers for the entire year, as
well as the laws and customs pertaining to the different prayers. Amram was the
first to compose a systematic arrangement including prayers for the whole
annual cycle as well as the pertinent laws. Amram's sources, in addition to the
Talmud, were the works of the geonim and the rites of the Babylonian yeshivot.
The Seder enjoyed a very wide
circulation and was extensively quoted by the leading scholars of Spain,
Provence, France, and Germany. It served as the basis for later orders of
service, such as Siddur Rashi, Mahzor Vitry, and especially the liturgy of countries
which came under Babylonian influence.
[Tovia
Preschel]
ANAV,
ZEDEKIAH BEN ABRAHAM (13th century), Italian talmudist; author of the
compendium, Shibbolei ha-Leket
("The Gleaned Ears"), The Shibbolei
ha-Leket is a major halakhic compendium on the liturgy (with copious
explanations of individual prayers, and a complete commentary on the Passover Haggadah and the laws regarding the
Sabbath, holidays, and fasts). A second work by Zedekiah, mistakenly thought by
some to be a continuation of the first, is the Sefer Issur ve-Hetter ("Book of Prohibitions and
Permissions"). This work deals with the dietary laws and with the laws of
oaths, marriage and divorce, menstruating women, judges and witnesses, commerce
(including partnership, loans, and usury), and inheritance.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ASHKENAZI,
ZEVI, (known as the Hakham Zevi; 1660-1718), rabbi and halakhist. Ashkenazi's
chief work is his collection of responsa Hakham Zevi; questions were addressed
to him from all parts of Europe dealing in particular with problems which arose
from the condition of the Jews in various countries. He published glosses to
tge Turei Zahav on the Hoshen Mishpat and his son published his responsa and
novellae under the title Divrei Meshullam.
[Yehoshua
Horowitz]
ARISTEAS,
LETTER OF, Jewish-Alexandrian literary composition written by an anonymous Jew,
in the form of a letter allegedly written to his brother Philocrates by
Aristeas, a Greek in the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.E.). The
letter, based on a legend about the Septuagint current in Alexandria by the
third century B.C.E., is more a historical romance than an accurate account.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
BE'ER
SHEVA, Rabbi Issachar Dov ben Israel Lazar Parnass Eilenburg (1550- 1623) was
born in Posen, Poland. He wrote responsa and commentaries on the Talmud and Be'er Sheva, a work that contains
responsa and interpretations of the Talmud.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan University]
BEN
DAVID OF POSQUI'RES (known as
Rabad, i.e., Rabbi Abraham Ben David; c.
1125-1198); talmudic authority in Provence. Abraham was born in Narbonne, and
died in PosquiIres. A man of
many literary achievements, he wrote a criticism of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, earning himself the title
ba'al hassagot, and a treatise (Issur Mashehu) on an important problem
of Jewish ritual law.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
BEN
ISH HAI (Joseph Hayyim Ben Elijah Al-Hakam; 1833 or 1835- 1909), Baghdad rabbi
who was renowned as a great halakhic authority who institued many takkanot. He
wrote: Ben Ish Hai, homilies blended
with halakhah and Kabbalah; Ben Yehoyada,
five volumes of commentaries to the aggadic portions of the Talmud; and Rav Pe'alim, responsa. He also authored approximately 200 piyyutim
and pizmonim, many of which are incorporated into the liturgy of Baghdad Jewry.
[Abraham David]
BENJAMIN
(Ben Jonah) OF TUDELA (second half of 12th century), the greatest medieval
Jewish traveler. Nothing whatsoever is known about him except that which
emerges from his famous Sefer ha-Massa'ot
(Book of Travels). The object of his journey is unknown, though it has been
suggested that he was a gem-merchant-he more than once shows an interest in the
coral trade. His Book of Travels,
largely impersonal, was based on the materials which the author noted down in
the course of his travels. There is no general account of the Mediterranean
world or of the Middle East in this period which approaches that of Benjamin of
Tudela in importance, whether for Jewish or for general history; he indicates
the distances between the various towns he visited, tells who stood at the head
of the Jewish communities, who were the most notable scholars, gives the number
of Jews he found in each place,and notes economic conditions.
[Cecil Roth]
BENJAMIN
ZE'EV BEN MATTATHIAS OF ARTA (early 16th century), dayyan and halakhist. Rabbi
Benjamin ben Mattathias lived in Greece and later moved to Venice. As a result
of his lenient decisions on an agunah, Benjamin Ze'ev was severely criticized.
Controversy over his halkhic decisions spread from Arta to Italy, and some of
his views are still considered controversial. He replied in his work Shut Benjamin Ze'ev, containing 450
legal decisions. His responsa contain important material about Jewish life in
Turkey, Greece and the Balkans, as well as material on the Marranos.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan University]
BEN
SIRA, WISDOM OF (also called Ecclesiasticus),
a work of the Apocrypha. The greater part of the work consists of poetic forms
of maxims, similar to those found in Proverbs. Ben Sira was a younger
contemporary of the high priest Simeon, who lived at the beginning of the third
century B.C.E. The book was translated into Greek by Ben Sira's grandson.
[Malka Hillel
Shulewitz]
DARKEI
NOAM, written by Rabbi Mordecai Ben R. Judah Ha-levi, is a collection of
responsa on all four turim. Mordecai was the av beit din in Mizrayim in his
day.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
DAVID
BEN LEVI OF NARBONNE (Mikhtam le-David; latter half of the 13th century),
scholar in Provence. His few published responsa, Teshuvot Hakhmei Provence,
show his importance as an authority. His work Mikhtam le-David, has been
published on berakhot, Rosh Hashanah, Megillah, extracts on Yoma, Sukkah, Moed
Katan, Pesahim and Bezah.
[Israel Moses
ta-Shma]
DURA-EUROPOS,
ancient city on the Euphrates. The city existed in Assyrian times and was
reestablished in about 300 B.C.E. by Seleucus I Nicator, serving as a transfer
post where goods brought up the river from India were put on camels and carried
to Palmyra and the Mediterranean. The synagogue at Dura-Europos, discovered in
1932, was found in a remarkable state of preservation, particularly the
paintings.
[Erwin
Ramsdell Goodenough/ Michael Avi-Yonah]
ECCLESIASTES
RABBAH (Kohelet Rabbah), aggadic
Midrash on the book of Ecclesiastes, called "Midrash
Kohelet" in the editio princeps.
(On the term "Rabbah," see Ruth Rabbah).
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
EDELS,
SAMUEL ELIEZER BEN JUDAH HA-LEVI (known as MaHaRShA-Morenu Ha-Rav Shemu'el Adels; 1555-1631), one of
the foremost Talmud commentators. Born in Cracow, he moved to Posen in his
youth. In his Hiddushei Halakhot, one of the classical works of talmudic
literature, included in almost every edition of the Talmud, he explains the
talmudic text with profundity and ingenuity.
His work Sha'arei Hokhmah, on aggadah and homiletics, is extant in many manuscripts.
[Shmuel
Ashkenazi]
ELEAZAR
BEN JUDAH OF WORMS (known as Roke'ah ;c. 1165-c. 1230), the last major scholar
of the Hasidei
Ashkenaz movement. . Eleazar's halakhic book Sefer ha-Roke'ah followed the tradition of halakhic
works of the tosafists of northern France and Germany, but Eleazar also
includes recommended minhagim in his
work, material which is not strictly halakhic. Eleazar wrote many piyyutim. However, a reliable record of
them has not yet been compiled. His major theological work was Sodei Razayya ("Secrets of
Secrets").
[Joseph Dan]
ELIEZER
BEN NATHAN OF MAINZ (known as RaBaN=Rabbi
Eliezer Ben Nathan; c. 1090-c.
1170), one of "the elders of Mainz" and a leading rabbinic authority
in Germany in the 12th century. His great work (Sefer ha-Raban) which he called Even ha-Ezer ("Stone of Help") contains responsa and various
extracts and halakhic rulings following the order of the talmudic tractates. Zafnat Pa'ne'ah
("Revealer
of Secrets") is ascribed to Eliezer as is Even ha-Roshah, which is merely a compilation from "Hilkhot Dinin" in the Sefer ha-Raban. Eliezer was the first
commentator on piyyut in Germany; his
commentary encompassed the entire mahzor, the
complete siddur for Sabbaths and
weekdays, the Haggadah, and Pirkei Avot.
[Israel Moses
Ta-Shma]
ELIJAH
BEN SOLOMON ZALMAN (the "Vilna Gaon" or "Elijah Gaon"; acronym
Ha-GRA = Ha-Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu; 1720-1797), one of the
greatest spiritual and intellectual leaders of Jewry in modern times. Amongst
his most major works, he wrote a commentary to the Shulhan Arukh, Ayil Meshullash, a commentary on practically all the books of
Scripture and to several of the books of the Mishnah. He also wrote
commentaries and glosses on the tannaitic Midrashim-Mekhilta (1844), Sifra (1911), Sifrei (1866)-on various parts of the Tosefta, on the Jerusalem
Talmud, on the whole of the Babylonian Talmud, and on the aggadot of the Talmud. Among his commentaries on the sources of the
Kabbalah are: a commentary to the Sefer
Yezirah (Grodno,
1806), the Sifra de-Zeni'uta (Vilna
and Grodno, 1820), the Zohar (Vilna, 1810), the Tikkunei ha-Zohar (1867), the Ra'aya
Meheimna (1858), and the Sefer
ha-Bahir (1883). Many attempts have been made to collate his teachings and
sayings. The most reliable such collection is Ma'aseh Rav (Zolkiew, 1808, and many more editions) by Issachar Ber
of Vilna.
[Samuel
Kalman Mirsky]
EMDEN,
JACOB (pen name Yavez; derived from
Ya'akov Ben Zevi; 1697-1776), rabbi, halakhic
authority, kabbalist, and anti-Shabbatean polemicist. His important halakhic
works are: Lehem Shamayim, on the Mishnah; a letter of criticism
against R. Ezekiel Katzenellenbogen, rabbi of Altona; responsa, She'elat Yavez, Mor u-Kezi'ah, on the Shulhan Arukh, OH.
In addition, he published an important edition of the prayer book (whose
parts had different names) with a valuable commentary (1745-48).
[Moshe
Shraga Samet]
ENOCH
(Heb. KvnH).
In
Jewish apocryphal literature of the Second Temple period similar motifs to
those of Enmeduranna are connected with Enoch (seventh in Seth's line). It is
therefore probable that the similarity between the later legends about Enoch
and the figure of the Babylonian legendary king can be explained by the fact
that Genesis preserves a partly expurgated narrative about Enoch and that some
of the original mythological motifs continued to exist in oral tradition until
they reached their present form in Jewish pseudepigrapha and medieval legends
and mystical literature.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
FLEISCHER,
JUDAH LOEB (Leopold, Lipot; 1886-1955), Hungarian scholar. Fleischer was born
in Ersekujvar and founded a religious elementary school in Temesvar in 1918. He
taught in Ersekujvar and directed it until it was closed by the Communist
regime in 1948. He wrote scholarly articles on Abraham ibn Ezra, particularly
the Bible commentaries, which appeared from 1912 onward in Ha-Zofeh
le-Hokhmat
Yisrael, Sinai, and other journals. Among his editions of Abraham ibn Ezra
are: Sefer ha-Ta'amim (1951), Sefer ha-Me'orot (1933), Sefer ha-Olam (1937), and Ibn Ezra le-Sefer Shemot (1926). Some of
his important works remain in manuscript.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
FREIMANN,
JACOB (1866-1937) German rabbi, scholar and editor.Freimann's scholarly
interest was medieval rabbinic literature. Particularly important in this field
are his editions of Joseph b. Moses' Leket
Yosher, Nathan b. Judah's Sefer
Mahkim and Ma'aseh ha-Ge'onim.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
FREEHOF,
SOLOMON BENNETT (1892-1990), U.S. Reform rabbi and scholar. Freehof was
professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College. Freehof guided the publication Union Prayer Book (1940-45) and the Union Home Prayer Book (1951), both of
which stressed relevance to modern life and the inclusion of contemporary
material in the service. He wrote: Stormers
of Heaven (1931); The Book of Psalms:
A Commentary (1938); Modern Jewish
Preaching (1941); The Small
Sanctuary: Judaism in the Prayer Book (1942); In the House of the Lord (1942); Reform Jewish Practice and its Rabbinic Background (1944); Preface to Scripture (1950); The Responsa Literature (1955); The Book of Job: A Commentary (1958); Recent Reform Responsa (1963); A Treasury of Responsa (1963); and Current Reform Responsa (1969).
[Hillel
Halkin]
GENIZAH,
CAIRO The Genizah from Fostat (Old Cairo), rediscovered mainly by Solomon
Schechter.The Cairo Genizah was found in the attic of the Ezra Synagogue, whose
worshipers had preserved ancient Palestinian customs, and in which Maimonides,
his son Abraham, and other great scholars had taught. Over the years several
books and periodicals were devoted particularly to the publication of genizah
fragments from various fields, like Ginzei
Schechter (3 vols., 1928), and Ginzei
Kedem (4 vols., 1922-30). Recent years have witnessed the appearance of
certain books that begin to summarize the vast body of material found in the genizah. Among these are: Rav Nissim Gaon (1965) and Ba-Merkazim u-va-Tefuzot (1965) by S. Abramson; and the anthology Shirim Hadashim min ha-Genizah (1966) by H. Schirmann (see S.
Shaked, A Tentative Bibliography of
Genizah Documents (1964).
[Abraham
Meir Habermann]
GINSBERG,
HAROLD LOUIS (1903-1990) U.S. Bible scholar and Semitist. Born in Montreal
(Canada), Ginsberg studied at the University of London, then went to the United
States in 1936, where, from 1941, he was professor of Bible at the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, New York. While the bulk of his publications in the
biblical field are philological-word studies, text restorations, and
exegesis-he also elucidated problems of biblical history religion. Ginsberg
made contributions to Aramaic linguistics, and was a pioneer in the
interpretation of Ugaritic texts and their application to the Bible. His
Semitistic and exegetical skills are combined luminously throughout his work.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
GOLDSCHMIDT,
ERNST DANIEL (1895-1972), librarian and scholar of Jewish liturgy. Goldschmidt
was born in Koenigshuette (now Chorzow, Poland). His critical editions of
various Passover Haggadot became very
popular and inn 1959 his edition of Maimonides' prayer text appeared; it was
followed by Siddur Tefillat Yisrael
(two rites) in 1964; Selihot according to both the Lithuanian and Polish rites in 1965; Kinot (liturgy for the Ninth of Av,
Polish rite) in 1968; S. D. Luzzatto's introduction to his edition of the Mahzor Roma was reissued by Goldschmidt (1966)
with notes and an essay on the Roman rite. His edition of the High Holiday mahzor (1970), which
is a compendium of all the Ashkenazi rites, is of particular importance.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
HABSHUSH, HAYYIM (Hayyim b. Yahya b. Salim Alfityhi; d. 1899), Yemenite writer. Habshush is known for his book Masot Habshush ("The
Travels of Habshush"),
a description of his travels with HalMvy, written at
Glaser's request about 20 years after the journey. The importance of the book
lies not only in its content, but also in its language, a combination of the
popular Arabic dialect of Sana and literary Hebrew. Habshush is also the author of "Halikhot Teiman," episodes in
the history of Yemenite Jewry between 1668 and 1817, published under the title "Korot Yisrael be-Teiman."
[Yehuda
Ratzaby]
HA-ELEF
LECHA SHLOMO, Rabbi Solomon ben Judah Aaron Kluger ( 1785-1869) Born in poland,
Kluger served as rabbi in Brod for fifty years. He left thousands of responsa
and hundreds of books, most of which are still unpublished.
[Responsa Bar
Ilan University]
HAHN,
JOSEPH YUSPA BEN PHINEHAS SELIGMANN (1570- 1637), German rabbi and author. Hahn
is best known for hisYosif Omez, a
work that deals mainly with the laws and customs of the Jewish calendar and
liturgy. It is a valuable source book for the history of the contemporary
Frankfort Jewish community
[Alexander
Tobias]
HALAKHOT
EREZ ISRAEL MIN HA-GENIZAH, edited by Mordecai Margulies, is a publication of
the halakhot of Erez Israel in the times of the Gaonim. The halakhot shed light
on the style and history of Gaonic authors.
[Margulies,
Mordecai BM729 P3 M35]
HALAKHOT
GEDOLOT The Halakhot Gedolot gives a
systematic and comprehensive summary of all the talmudic laws. The intorduction
to the work is in two parts, the one comprising aggadic statements in praise of
the Torah and its students; the other enumerating, for the first time, the 613
commandments mentioned in the Talmud (Mak. 23b). The authorship and date of the
Halakhot Gedolot have been the
subject of many studies and given rise to conflicting views. The work has been
variously ascribed to Sherira Gaon, Hai Gaon, by the scholars of Spain and
Provence to Simeon Kayyara and to Yehudai Gaon by those of northern France and
Germany.
[Yehoshua
Horowitz]
HASIDIM,
SEFER, major work in the field of ethics, produced by the Jews of medieval
Germany. It comprises the ethical teachings of the Hasidei Ashkenaz movement in
the 12th and early 13th centuries. Tradition attributes the entire Sefer Hasidim to Rabbi Judah he-Hasid of
Regensburg (d. 1217), but scholars debate the origin and development of the
work.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
HAYYIM PALTIEL
BEN JACOB (late 13th-early 14th century), German talmudic scholar. Hayyim
Paltiel's chief importance lies in his Sefer
ha-Minhagim, which contains the customs for the whole year, referring to
benedictions, prayers, and festivals, according to the Ashkenazi rite. Hayyim Paltiel thus emerges as one of
the first authors of the Minhagim books,
which gained wide popularity in 14th-century Germany and which laid the
foundation for the spread of the version known in essence as nosah Ashkenaz ("the Ashkenazi rite"). It
is probable that he is identical with the Hayyim Paltiel
whose biblical explanations are extensively quoted in a still unpublished
manuscript of a Bible commentary by a 14th-century French scholar.
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
HEIDENHEIM,
WOLF (Benjamin Ze'ev; 1757-1832), Hebrew grammarian, masoretic scholar,
exegete, and commentator on the liturgy who was born in Heidenheim, Germany. He
published Abraham ibn Ezra's grammatical work Moznayim, with commentary and notes; a nine-volume edition of the
mahzor, Sefer Kerovot (Roedelheim,
1800-02), which went through numerous printings. His other works in the field
of liturgy include a small edition of the daily prayers, Sefat Emet (Roedelheim, 1806); a larger prayer book, Safah Berurah (1825); the ritual for
Passover eve (Roedelheim, 1822-23); for Purim (1825); for the month of Av
(1826); for the night of Shavu'ot and Hoshana Rabba (1830); and penitential
prayers (Roedelheim, 1823). In the edition of the prayer book Siddur li-Venei Yisrael (1831), which
presented his translation in German letters for the first time. Heidenheim also
made major contributions to the field of masoretic studies. He published the Mishpetei ha-Te'amim (Roedelheim, 1808)
on biblical accents; and an edition of the Pentateuch in four different forms,
all containing material important to the masoretic text and commentaries, as
well as the editions of medieval masoretic texts.
[Sefton D.
Temkin]
HEINEMANN,
JOSEPH (1915-1978), scholar of Talmud and liturgy. Born in Munich, Heinemann was ordained rabbi and moved to England
in 1939. In 1949 he settled in Israel, where he became lecturer in Talmud at
Bar Ilan University and in 1967 senior lecturer in Hebrew literature at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Heinemann published studies on Jewish prayers
and on talmudic teachings. He was Encyclopaedia
Judaica departmental editor of Midrash and Aggadah.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
IBN
HABIB, MOSES BEN SHEM TOV (15th
century), philosopher, grammarian, and Hebrew poet. His Perah Shoshan, a work in Hebrew grammer that was based
on logic was completed in Naples in 1484. His Marpe Lashon, in which he summarized the principles of Hebrew
grammar, was published together with his Darkhei
No'am, a study of prosody. He prefaces the list of meters with a detailed
introduction on the nature of poetry and its forms. He wrote a commentary to
the Behinat Olam of Jedaiah ha-Penini Bedersi
(Constantinople, 1520?).
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
JACOB
BEN ASHER (1270?-1340), halakhic authority. Jacob was the son of Asher b.
Jehiel (the Rosh), under whom he studied. His first halakhic work, Sefer ha-Remazim, in which he gave the
halakhic rulings deduced from his father's work, Ha-Asheri, was followed by his major work, the Arba'ah Turim, as a result of which, he is commonly referred to as
"the Ba'al ha-Turim." Jacob also wrote a comprehensive commentary on
the Pentateuch, containing the best expositions of the peshat ("literal meaning") by earlier Bible commentators,
such as Saadiah Gaon, Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, David Kimhi, and others, in particular
abstracting "the straightforward explanations" from the commentary of
Nahmanides and
disregarding the kabbalistic ones, since "my soul has not entered its
secret" (cf. Gen. 49:6).
[Ephraim
Kupfer]
JOSEPHUS
FLAVIUS (c. 38- after 100 C.E.), Jewish historian and one of the chief representatives
of Jewish-Hellenistic literature. Josephus shares all the defects that
characterized contemporary and earlier historians. Nonetheless, he occupies a
place of prime importance also as a historian, an importance which is greatly
increased because his work is the only surviving source and without it little
would have been known of the history of the Second Temple nor would have it
been possible to write such a history. His works include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, the Life, and Against Apion.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
JUDAH BEN BARZILLAI
("ha-Nasi") , AL-BARGELONI (late 11th and early 12th century), rabbi
of Barcelona. Judah's works consist mostly of codes which were highly regarded
in their time, but most of them were subsequently lost. Quotations from them by
other authors show that they embraced all the halakha which applied in
practice. His works are: Sefer ha-Ittim,
dealing with Sabbath and festivals in the Jewish calendar; Yihus She'er Basar, on marriage and personal law; Sefer ha-Din, on civil law, and a
commentary on Sefer Yezirah (Berlin, 1885).
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
JUDAH
BEN YAKAR (d. between 1201 and 1218), talmudist and kabbalist, teacher of Nahmanides. Judah was born in Provence. In
his lifetime Judah was famous for two large works. One was a commentary on the
Jerusalem Talmud and was one of the earliest systematic commentaries on it. His
other work is the Ma'yan Gannim, a
rational commentary on the liturgy and blessings, though the esoteric element
is by no means absent; his aim in this work was to show the scriptural and
rabbinic versions and sources of the prayers and to detail the various laws
connected with them.
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
KANAH,
BOOK OF, a kabbalistic work probably written in Spain during the 14th century.
The author was deeply impressed by the Zohar. The Sefer ha-Kanah is written in the form of a commentary on the
mitzvot, with the author's own mystical interpretation added to each one. The
author claims to belong to the family of the great mishnaic teacher, R. Nehunya
ha-Kanah, whom many kabbalists identified as the author of the first
kabbalistic classic, Sefer Ha-Bahir
[Joseph Dan]
KETER
SHEM TOV, written by Rabbi Aaron Ben Rabbi Zevi Ha-Kohen of Afta.
[Yulis]
KLAUSNER,
ABRAHAM (d. 1407/8), Austrian talmudist. Amongst other accomplishments, his
reputation rests primarily upon his Sefer
ha-Minhagim. The Sefer ha-Minhagim
is the first extant work in the field of local religious customs, to which
insufficient attention was paid by the posekim until this time.
[David Tamar].
KOL
BO an anonymous work containing both halakhic rulings and explanations of halakhot, arranged in accordance with
the subject matter. The book was written at the end of the 13th or the
beginning of the 14th century. The book is chiefly based upon Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, combined with and having
additions from the rulings of the scholars of Germany, France, and Provence.
[Shlomoh
Zalman Havlin]
KOL
MEVASSER, written by Rabbi Meshulam Rath, who was born in 1875 in Poland.
rath's responsa dealt with many problems of the fledgling state of Israelin its
early years.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan]
LANDAU,
EZEKIEL BEN JUDAH (1713-1793), halakhic authority of the 18th century, known as
the Noda bi-Yhudah. Landow was born in Opatow, Poland. He was one of the
greatest writers of responsa in his time. His Noda bi-Yhudah contains some 860
responses. The most important of his other books are: Ziyyun le-Nefesh Hayyah which is on the tractates Pesahim, Brakhot
and Bezah; Dagul me-Revavah on the
Shulhan Arukh; Derushei ha-Zelah; and
Ahavat Ziyyon which are sermons and addresses.
[Meir Lamed]
LANDAU,
JACOB (known for Agur; 15th century), born in Germany, is well known for his
two works, Hazon and Ha-Agur. Ha-Agur, an anthology and summation of German-Jewish scholarship
concerning the laws of Orah Hayim and Yoreh De'ah, is distinguished by a
discriminating interweaving of varied material taken from a large number of
sources. Sefer Ha-Agur contains a
wealth of information on the teaching of the German scholars of the 14th and
15th centuries and was widely known among scholars and students alike.
[Israel Moses
Ta-Shma]
LEKAT
YOSHAR, authored by Joseph Ben Moses (1423-1490?), talmudist and author. His
work is a collection of the minhagim and halakhic decisions of his principal
teacher, the Baal Terumas HaDashen, Rabbi Israel Isserlein. The work is
significant because of the many new responsa of contemporary scholars which are
cited and because of its great value for the history of the Jews and scholars
of Germany.
[Yedidya A.
Dinari]
LEVUSHI
MORDECAI, written by Rabbi Mordecai leib Ben Rabbi Naftali Winkler, is a
compilation of sha'alot and teshuvot dealing with the practical halakhot on the
Shulhan Arukh.
[Yulis]
LURIA,
ISAAC BEN SOLOMON (1534-1572), kabbalist, referred to as Ha-Ari (y"rah; "the [sacred] lion"). Traditions concerning
Luria's youth, his stay in Egypt, and his introduction to Kabbalah are shrouded
in legend, and the true facts are difficult to distinguish. Luria collaborated
with the latter in writing halakhic works such as the Shitah Mekubbezet on tractate Zevahim, which according to Hayyim Joseph
David Azulai was burned in Izmir in 1735. Their annotations of some of Isaac
Alfasi's works were printed in Tummat
Yesharim (Venice, 1622).
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
LURIA,
SOLOMON BEN JEHIEL (?1510-1574), posek and talmudic commentator (known as
Rashal or Maharshal = Morenu ha-Rav
Shelomo Luria). Few biographical details are known of him. He was probably
born in Poznan (Poland). Luria was unique for his time in the complete
independence he showed in halakhic ruling and in the critical method which he
employed.
He wrote on the liturgy, Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, the Turim, the Semag, Rashi's
biblical commentary, and other works. Luria wrote the Yam shel Shelomo on the Talmud, Hokhmat Shelomo, glosses on the text of the Talmud
together with short comments, Ammudei
Shelomo, namely expositions of the Semag,
Yeri'ot Shelomo which were glosses
and expositions of Rashi's Bible commentary and glosses to Elijah Mizrahi's supercommentary to it, Ateret Shelomo, a commentary on the Sha'arei Dura; and responsa. Luria also wrote a commentary to
the Grace after Meals (Venice, 1603); to the Sabbath Zemirot (Lublin, 1596); expositions of scriptural verses; a
critique of Abraham ibn Ezra's Pentateuch commentary; and other works.
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
MAHZOR
VITRY, halakhic-liturgical composition by Simhah b. Samuel of Vitry, France. Mahzor Vitry belongs to the group of
works from the school of Rashi (e.g. the Pardes,
Sefer ha-Orah, Siddur Rashi) which are based upon Rashi's rulings and
usuages, but which are expanded with additions from other authorities,
sometimes even discussing and criticizing their views, in order to defend
Rashi. The purpose of the work is to give the halakhic rulings of the liturgy
for the whole cycle of the year, weekdays, Sabbaths, and festivals, and connect
them with the accepted formula of the prayers.
[Ernst Daniel
Goldschmidt]
MAHZOR,
WORMS, consists of two unrelated volumes, which were kept together in the Worms
Synagogue from 1578. Neither volume was intended for the community of Worms,
since they both contain piyyutim and prayers which are not included in the
Worms rite
[Bezalel
Narkiss]
MAIMONIDES,
MOSES (Moses ben Maimon; known in rabbinical literature as "Rambam";
from the acronym Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon; 1135-1204), rabbinic authority,
codifier, philosopher, and royal physician.His writngs include the Guide of the Perplexed, the Mishneh Torah, Iggeret Teiman and his Ma'amar
Tehiyyat ha-Metim.Maimonides
made various changes in liturgical custom, the most radical of which was the
abolition of the repetition of the Amidah
in the interests of decorum.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
MANN,
JACOB (1888-1940), scholar of the Genizah
period and of the Jews under the Fatimids, and particularly of the Genizah fragments.He published learned
papers, including his excellent series, "The Responsa of the Babylonian
Geonim as a Source of Jewish History" (in JQR, 7 (1916/17); 11 (1920/21)).
The field in which he was later to distinguish himself as a great scholar was Genizah research. Mann for the first
time undertook to collect and explain all the documents from the period
preceding the Crusades to the fall of the Fatimids. His book, The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the
Fatimid Caliphs (2 vols., 1920-22; printed with introd. by S. D. Goitein,
1970), was a masterpiece sui generis.
. His second major work, Texts and
Studies in Jewish History and Literature (2 vols., 1931-35, repr. 1970),
contains various documents concerning European Jewry and Geonica and texts
elucidating the history of the Karaites in the Near East and in Eastern Europe.
[Eliyahu
Ashtor]
MEDINA,
SHMUEL DE, halakhic scholar and communal leader, was born in Salonica,
Turkey. Shmuel's halakhic decisions
were in great demand, and numberous inquiries were sent to him. He lived to see his responsa published
during his lifetime as Piskei R' Shmuel
de Madina. After his death, the responsa were published by his son as She'eilos UTeshuvos Maharashdam, and
they were organized according to the order of the Tur. In addition to the responsa, which included
close to one thousand decisions, thirty of his sermons were published under the
title Ben Shmuel.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
MEIRI,
MENAHEM BEN SOLOMON (1249-1316), Provencal scholar and commentator of the
Talmud. Meiri was born in Perpignan where he spent his whole life. Meiri's
chief work is the gigantic Beit
ha-Behirah on the Talmud. Meiri wrote Magen
Avot (ed. by I. Last, 1909) to uphold the customs of Provence in general
and Perpignan in particular, against those of Spain.
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
MENAHEM
BEN AARON IBN ZERAH (c.
1310-1385), codifier. Menahem was born in Estella, Navarre, where his father
had settled after leaving his native France, on the expulsion of the Jews in
1306.Menahem compiled his Zeidah
la-Derekh, a code of laws dealing in the main with the laws concerning the
daily way of life. Menahem gives much information about the different customs
of the Jews of Spain, France, and Germany, as well as of various communities.
[Shlomo
Eidelberg]
MERKABAH
MYSTICISM (Ma'aseh Merkavah), the name given to the first chapter of Ezekiel;
the term was used by the rabbis to designate the complex of speculations,
homilies and visions connected with the Throne of Glory and the chariot which
bears it and all that is embodied in this divine world. Merkabah mysticism was
a discipline surrounded by a special holiness and a special danger, as the
rabbis sought to conceal this topic of study.
[Gershom
Scholem]
MICHTAM
LE-DAVID, Rabbi David Samuel ben Jacob Pardo (1718-1780) was born in Venice and
served as rabbi in various Balkan
communities. He authored a commentary on the Mishnah, Shoshanim Le-David; Chasdei David, a commentary on the Tosefta; Sifrei de-Vei Rav, a commentary on the
Sifrei; and a book of responsa, Michtam Le-David.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan University]
MIDRASH
TEHILLIM (Aggadot Tehillim; Midrash Psalms; Shoher Tov) an aggadic Midrash on
the Psalms, called Aggadot Tehillim and Shoher Tov. The Midrash embraces most
of the Psalms. Despite the lack of uniformity in this Midrash, its fragmentary
nature on the one hand and the many additions to it on the other, it has
retained many fine qualities and is one of the most beautiful in aggadic
literature.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
MIZRAHI,
ELIJAH (c. 1450- 1526), rabbinical authority, the greatest of the rabbis of the
Ottoman Empire of his time. He wrote commentaries on both religious and secular
works. His main activity was in the writing and teaching of both halakhah and
general knowledge, but his main fame rests upon his crowning achievement, his
supercommentary to Rashi, a fact which he himself states. The only other
rabbinic work of Mizrahi is his novellae on the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol.
[Joseph
Hacker]
MOELLIN,
JACOB BEN MOSES (?1360- 1427), usually referred to as Maharil (Morenu ha-Rav
Jacob ha-Levi) and also as Mahari Moellin), the foremost talmudist of his
generation and head of he Jewish community of Germany, Austria, and Bohemia.
His known works are Minhagei Maharil
(Sefer Maharil) and Responsa, some copied and arranged by Eleazar b. Jacob.
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
NATHAN
BEN RABBI JUDAH, author of Sefer Mahkim,
a work that deals with the order of the tefillot and minhagim for the shaliah
zibbur.
[Sarai HaElef
z7070 k23 78]
NATHAN
HA-BAVLI ("the Babylonian"; middle of the second century C.E.),
tanna. Nathan came from Babylon. He is said to be the author of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan and of the 49
hermeneutical rules of Rabbi Nathan. It is said of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and
Rabbi Nathan that they constituted "the conclusion of the Mishnah,"
making them the last outstanding scholars of the tannaitic period.
[David Joseph
Bornstein]
NATRONAI
BAR HILAI (ninth cent.), Gaon of Sura
from 853 to 858. Natronai's father Hilai, who died in 797, was also gaon of Sura. One of the most prolific
writers of responsa among the geonim of the ninth century, Natronai always
replied in the language in which he was addressed, whether Hebrew, Aramaic, or
Arabic. His responsa deal largely with matters pertaining to liturgy, and his
responsum to a query from the Lucena community as to how to fulfill the
rabbinic dictum to recite 100 benedictions daily, constitutes the nucleus of
the Jewish prayer book.
[Meir
Havazelet]
NUMBERS
RABBAH, aggadic Midrash to the Book of Numbers, also called Va-Yedabber Rabbah in medieval
literature. (For the name "Rabbah" see Ruth Rabbah).
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
OSHRY,
EFROIM, authored Sheilos Utshuvas
MeMa'makim, responsa from the Holocaust.
[Yulis]
PE'ULAT
TZADIK, Rabbi Yihya ben Yoseph Tzalach,was
a halachik authority in the 18th century in Yemen. he wrote Chelek
Ha-Dikduk on grammer and mesorah in the Bible; Etz Hayyim on the Yemenite
prayerbook; and Shoshanat Hamelekh on Orah Hayyim.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan]
PIRKEI
RABBENU HA-KODOSH an aggadic Midrash to the Book of Genesis.
In the Oxford manuscript (see below) the book is called Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, while in the Middle Ages it was cited under
the names Tanna devei Eliyahu and Huppat Eliyahu; the name Aggadat Bereshit first appearing in the first printed edition.
[Moshe
David Herr]
PIRKOI
BEN BABOI (eighth-ninth century), talmudic scholar of the geonic era and author
of a polemical halakhic work. A pupil of Abba, who was a pupil of Yehudai, a Gaon of Sura, Pirkoi notes that it was
only because of their teaching and tradition that he presumed to write to the
scholars of Kairouan.Pirkoi became renowned through his work Iggeret, which reflects his aspiration
to make the Babylonian Talmud the authoritative code for world Jewry.
[Josef
Horovitz]
RAV
PE'ALIM, Rabbi Joseph Hayyim ben Elijah Al-Hakam. For more information, see
"BEN ISH HAI".
RUTH
RABBAH (Midrash Ruth), aggadic Midrash on the Book of Ruth, the product of
Palestinian amoraim. Ruth Rabbah is an
exegetical Midrash which expounds the Book of Ruth chapter by chapter, verse by
verse, and sometimes, word by word.
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SAADIAH
(Ben Joseph) GAON (882-942), greatest scholar and author of the geonic period
and important leader of Babylonian Jewry. He was considered one of the greatest
authorities in the field of fixing the calendar. He also wrote a philosophic
work, Emunot ve-De'ot ("Beliefs
and Opinions"), and a second version of Sefer ha-Galui, with a long introduction in Arabic and an Arabic
commentary on the original.
[Abraham
Solomon Halkin]
SALIH,
YAHYA BEN JOSEPH (known as Mahariz; c. 1715), Yemenite scholar; av beit din and
rabbi of San'a. He wrote: Zevah Todah,
novellae on the Shulhan Arukh Yoreh De'ah;
Sha'arei Kedusha, a summary of Zevah Todah in the form of legal decisions; Helek ha-Dikduk, biblical masorah,
with musical cantillation and punctuation;
Sha'arei Torah, the laws of niddah, which was written in the native tongue,
Arabic; Ez Hayim, a commentary on the
Tiklal, the siddur of the year- long prayers;
Pe'ullat Zaddik, responsa and legal novellae on the four Turim; Me'il Katan, a commentary on the
Shenei Luhot ha-Brit of R. Isaiah Horowitz;
and Orah la-Hayyim, a collection of
Midrashim on three megillot.
[Yehuda
Ratzaby]
SAR
SHALOM BEN BOAZ (d. c. 859 or 864 C.E.), Gaon of Sura from 838 to 848. He was
the most prolific writer of responsa of his time, dealing with issues
pertaining to prayer, benedictions and reading of the Torah. Many of his
opinions are quoted in the Seder Amram Gaon.
[Meir
Havazelet]
SATANOW,
ISAAC (1732- 1804), Hebrew writer, born in Satanov, Poland. His books include Sefer Ha-Shorashim, a Hebrew-German
dictionary, a numer of books of liturgy,
Tefillah mi-Kol ha-Shana al Pi Kelalei ha-Dikduk, Haggadah Shel Pesah; and Selihot; as well as Mishlei Asaf and Zemirot Asaf,
collections of proverbs in imitation of
the Book of Proverbs. In his book, Iggeret
Beit Tefillah, he categorized the language of the prayers.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SEFER
HA-HILUKKIM, a work compiled in Erez Israel in the eighth century.This text
deals with variations in customs between te People of the East and of Israel.
This early work summarizes some scores of major differences between the customs
of Erez Israel and Babylon actually in force, and seems to refer to the customs
of Bablonian Jews living in Erez Israel who preserved the customs of their country of origin.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SEREKH
HA-YAHAD ("The Sectarian Document" or "The Rule of the
Community") (abbr. 1QS), one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in the spring
of 1947 near Qumran.The designation "Manual of Discipline" was coined
by American scholars.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SHABBETAI
ZEVI (1626-1676), the central
figure of Shabbateanism, the messianic movement called after him.The central
and unifying factor behind the Shabbatean movement was of a religious nature,
particularly to the new Kabbalah which went out from Safed, especially in its
Lurianic forms, wedded striking concepts to messianic ideas.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SIFREI
DEBEI RASHI, a title for the greater literature Rashi authored, from
commentaries on the Talmud to responsa, are represented in the following works:
Sefer ha-Pardes, Sefer ha-Orah, Siddur
Rashi, Mahzor Vitry, Likkutei ha-Pardes, Sefer Issur ve-Hetter, and
approximately 350 of Rashi's responsa.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SINGER,
SIMEON (1848-1906), English rabbi. He edited and translated into English the Authorised Daily Prayer Book, first
published in 1890 and known since as "Singer's Prayer Book." He was progressive
in his religious views: he allowed Herzl to first explain his idea for a Jewish
state to Anglo-Jewry in his house.
[Vivian
David Lipman]
SOFER,
MOSES (known as Hatam Sofer; 1762-1839), rabbi, halakhic authority, and leader
of Orthodox Jewry. He is known for his struggle against the Reform movement.
From this struggle which, as a result of his direction, ended in partial
success, Sofer emerged as the recognized leader of Orthodoxy, a status which
remained until the end of his life. Another matter in which he wielded great
influence was through his voluminous writing.
During his lifetime, hardly anything was published. Immediately after
his death, however, the family began to publish his writings. They comprise
seven volumes of responsa, sermons, novellae on the Talmud, commentaries on the
Torah, letters, poems, and a diary.
They all bear the imprint of his Orthodox trend.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
SOFERIM
(Heb. Myrpvs), one of the
minor tractates printed in the Talmud editions at the end of the order of Nezikin. Most scholars regard the work
as of Palestinian origin, though it is generally dated about the middle of the
eighth century. In various matters the regulations of Soferim are accepted in practice as against the Talmud, e.g.,
reading Exodus 32:11-14, 34:1-10 on fasts (17:7), whereas the Mishnah
prescribes "the Curses and Blessings" (Lev. 26:3-end).
[Harry
Freedman]
SOLOMON
BEN SAMSON (11th century), scholar of Worms, a contemporary of Rashi's
teachers. Statements of his are found among various works of the school of
Rashi, such as Shibbolei ha-Leket ,Sefer
ha-Pardes, and Sefer ha-Roke'ah. He was also one of the first of the commentators on piyyut in Germany.
[Israel
Moses Ta-Shma]
SOLOMON,
WISDOM OF (or, "the wisdom of all the good precepts"), an apocryphal
work attributed to Solomon. As far as the language is concerned, a conscious
effort is made to imitate biblical style, including parallelism, but
construction of the sentences is Greek and is polished.
[Yehoshua M. Grintz]
SONG
OF SONGS RABBAH aggadic Midrash on the Song of Songs, the product of
Palestinian amoraim. It is an exegetical Midrash wich expounds the Song of
Songs consecutively, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and sometimes word by
word. Song of Songs Rabbah drew from
tannaitic literature, the Jerusalem Talmud, Genesis Rabbah, and Leviticus
Rabbah, as well as Pesikta de-Rav Kahana.
[Moshe David
Herr]
SYNAGOGUE,
THE GREAT (Knesset ha-Gedolah) is an institution that belongs to the Persian
period. Of their enactments, they introduced the Shemoneh Esreh, the form of
the liturgy, established the festivsl of Purim, and were active in the
cannonization of Scripture and in the field of masoretic studies.
[Daniel
Sperber]
TARGUM
YERUSHALMI known for it attempt to go even further in avoiding
anthropomorphisms than do Onkelos and the Targum Jonathan to the Prophets.
[Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
TASHBETZ
KATAN, was written by Rabbi Samson Ben Tzaddok, who lived in Germany during the
13th and 14th centuries. This work contains 590 rulings of Rabbi Meir of
Rothenberg. it was first printed in 1556 and is an extremely important source
for the halakhic rulings of Ashkenazic Rishonim.
[Responsa
Project Bar Ilan]
TA-SHMA,
ISRAEL MOSES, M.A. Rabbi; Editorial staff, Encyclopaedia Hebraica, Jerusalem.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
THANKSGIVING
PSALMS common designation for one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was bought in
Jerusalem in 1947 by Eleazar Lipa Sukenik who, from the contents, designated
the scroll Hodayot (Heb. Tvydvh).
Scientifically its registration is 1 QH (Cave 1, Qumran, Hodayot). The substance is thanks to God for the salvation and
kindness He has bestowed upon mankind.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
TYRNAU,
ISAAC (end of 14th century) Austrian rabbi and compiler of a book of
minhagim.Basing himself largely on his teacher, Abraham Klausner, he set down
customs and codes of conduct for the whole year, and they were subsequently
adopted in most communities in Austria, Hungary, and Styria. Tyrnau's goal was
to create a common minhag as it had been lost due to the effects of the Black
Death.
[Shmuel
Ashkenazi]
WALDENBERG,
ELIEZER JUDAH (1912- ), rabbi. Born in
Jerusalem, Rabbi Waldenberg is the suthor of the multivolume series of responsa
entitled Ziz Eliezer dealing with
actual problems of life in Israel and abraod, and has published several other
books on questions of halakha.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
WANNEH,
ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM (known as Mahariv; mid- 17th century), Yemenite kabbalist. He
authored a commentary on the Yemenite prayer book which is based on the plain
and homiletic meanings and the Kaalah, which he entitled Pa'amon Zahav ve-Rimmon. His other works include a commentary on
Maimonides' laws of ritual slaughter and the forbidden foods; Rakhev Elohim, an explanation on the
subjects of the sefirot and the Divine chariot; Tikkun Seder Hashkamat ha-Keri'ah be-Laylah; Bat Melekh; Mevasser Tov,
which appears o deal with the Messiah and Redemption.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
WAR
SCROLL, manuscript comprising 18 columns found among the manuscripts in Qumran
Cave The work contains prescriptions
for the eschatological warfare, lasting 40 years, which will end with the
extermination of wickedness (embodied in the "sons of darkness") and
the triumph of righteousness (embodied in the sons of light).
[Frederick
Fyvie Bruce]
WEISS,
ISAAC JACOB (author of Minhat Yizhak, 1902-
), rabbinical scholar. Born in Dolina, Poland. His first halakhic work, Divrei Yizhak, appeared in 1941. From
1955, successive volumes of his responsa (Minhat Yizhak) began to appear, and a
six-volume edition was published in Jerusalem. In 1968, Weiss was appointed
head of the bet din of the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi community (Edah Haredit) of
Jerusalem.
[Alexander
Carlebach]
WIEDER,
NAPHTALI, scholar and author, published among other works, The Formation of Jewish Liturgy in the East and West.
[Yulis]
WERDYGER,
JACOB ISRAEL author of Tzlusa Deabrahm
a siddur in the neusah of Rabbi Abraham Landa Av Beis Din of Tzekanov, Poland.
[Siddur
Tefilah Tzlusa Deabraham]
YEKUTIAL
BEN RABBI YEHIEL, author of Sefer
Ha-Tanya, collects halakhic decisions and minhagim that arise throughout
the year in an abridged form. His work is an abridged version of the Shveili Ha-leket from Zedkiah Ben Rabbi
Abraham.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
YESHOUT
JACOB, author Rabbi Jacob Zeb Ben Rabbi Z. of Liza, discusses the halakhot of
zizit and tefillin.
[Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
YOSEF,
OVADIAH (1920- ), Israel
rabbi. Yosef was born in Baghdad. In 1947 he was elected head of the bet din of Cairo and deputy chief rabbi
of Egypt. A prolific writer of halakhic works, Ovadiah published his first
work, Yabbi'a Omer, on themes in
tractate Horayot. He also wrote Hazon Ovadyah (1952), on the Passover Haggadah.and Yacheva Daas on halakah.
[Itzhak
Alfassi]
ZEDKIAH
BEN ABRAHAM OF ANAVIM, authored the Shveili
Ha-Leket. This work is a compilation of the relevant laws and minhagim to
the Tur O"H until the halakhot of lulav.
Editorial
Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]
ZEMAH, JACOB BEN HAYYIM (d. after 1665), kabbalist and
physician.His many work include introductions to and glosses on various
works; Zohar ha-Raki'a, a commentary
on sayings of Sifra di-Zeni'uta, and the Idra of
the Zohar; Zer Zahav, an explanation
of every item in the Orah Hayyim section of
the Shulhan Arukh
according to the Zohar and the Lurianic Kabbalah; Lehem
min ha-Shamayim, a compilation of Lurianic customs of which the printed
version differs from the manuscripts; Nagid
u-Mezavveh, an important
anthology of Lurianic customs which served as the basis for Shulhan Arukh shel ha-Ari, Due to frequent republication,
many customs of Luria became widely familiar; Zemah
Zaddik, kabbalistic homilies; Kol
ba-Ramah, a commentary on the Idras.
[Moshe
Hallamish]
ZOHAR
("The Book of Splendor") is the central work in the literature of the
Kabbalah. In its literary form, the Zohar is a collection of several books or
section which include short midrashic statements, longer homilies, and
discussions on many topics. The greater part of them purport to be the
utterances of the tanna Simeon Bar Yohai and his close companions.
[Gershom
Scholem]