JewishEncyclopedia.com

ALMS – A word derived from the Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (mercifulness), used by Greek-speaking Jews to denote almost exclusively the offering of charity to the needy, from a feeling of both compassion and righteousness (ẓedaḳah). (See LXX. on...
ALMUG – See Algum.
ALNAHARWANAI – A Hebrew scholar of the gaonic period; probably of Nehardea. He is the author of a rimed alphabetical treatise in Hebrew on the Jewish calendar, printed in "Kerem Ḥemed," part ix. This poem is interesting for the light it throws...
ALNAKIF, ISAAC BEN JOSEPH – Liturgical poet of the thirteenth century (in Spain?), who composed a zulat (liturgical poem between the Shema' and 'Amidah) for the Passover service (see Zunz, "Literaturgesch." p. 504; "Jew. Quart. Rev." xi. 310). W....
ALNAQUA – An important family of Spanish Jews, the first mention of whom occurs late in the twelfth century. In Hebrew the name is written or . It is the same as or , though Steinschneider seems to be of a different opinion. In modern...
ALNUCAWI, EPHRAIM – See Alnaqua, Ephraim.
ALOES – Translation of , occurring four times in the Old Testament (Num. xxiv. 6, Ps. xlv. 8, Prov. vii. 17, Cant. iv. 14), and of ἀλόη in the New(John, xix. 39). In all these passages, with the exception of the first, it signifies a...
ALONZO DE LA CALLE – See America, Discovery of.
ALONZO DE CARTAGENA – Marano; born in Burgos, Spain, in 1385. Alonzo, together with his father, Salomon ha-Levi, or Paul de Burgos, and his brothers and sisters, was baptized in 1391. Having devoted himself to the study of philosophy and the Law,...
ALONZO DE HERRERA – Cabalist, philosopher. See Herrera, Alonzo de.
ALPALAS (ALFALAS), MOSES – A Jewish preacher at Salonica about the middle of the sixteenth century. Of his many homiletic and theological writings, there have appeared in print, "WayaḲhel Mosheh" (And Moses Collected), a collection of sermons (Venice,...
ALPHA – The Greek name for Aleph was, according to the older tradition of R. Ishmael (SheḲalim, iii. 2; compare Aleph), used as a mark for the first of the shekel boxes in the Temple. According to Men. ix. 1-6, Alpha designated the...
ALPHA AND OMEGA – An expression found in several places in the Revelation of John (xxi. 6, xxii. 13, i. 8), a book which is to-day almost universally recognized by New Testament scholars of the critical school as derived from an originally Jewish...
ALPHABET, THE HEBREW – Origin of Alphabet. The characters of the Hebrew Alphabet are derived from the so-called Phenician or Old Semitic letters, to which almost all systems of letters now in use, even the Roman, can be traced. But this latter is in...
ALPHABETUM SIRACIDIS – See Ben Sira, Alphabet of.
ALPRON, JACOB – Italian translator; died Dec. 22, 1622. He adapted and translated into Italian Benjamin ben Abraham of Solnik's "Miẓwot Nashim" (Precepts for Women) for the use of Jewish women in Italy. The translation became very popular and...
AL-RABI IBN ABU AL-ḤUḲAIḲ – Jewish poet of the Banu al-Nadhir in Medina, who flourished shortly before the Hegira (622). His family was in possession of the fort Al-Kammus, situated near Khaibar. Like most of the Medina Jews, he took part in the quarrels...
ALROY – A pseudo-Messiah who lived about 1160; born at Amadia in Kurdistan. He became thoroughly proficient in Biblical and Talmudic knowledge, studying under Ḥisdai, the Prince of the Exile, and under Ali, the head of the Academy in...
ALSACE – Traces of Early Settlements. A German territory which, together with Lorraine, forms a Reichsland, or imperial territory. It lies between the River Rhine and the Vosges Mountains. The precise date when Jews settled in this and...
AL-SAMERI – The man who made the golden calf in the wilderness.See Sameri.
ALSARI, JACOB – Teacher of Hebrew and grammarian, who for eighteen years lectured in Hebrew in Zerkowo, Prussian Poland, near the Russian frontier. His son Joseph, born in Zerkowo in 1805, claims to have translated the family name into German,...
ALSARI, JOSEPH – See Fürst, Julius.
ALSHECH – Rabbi in Safed, Palestine, in the second half of the sixteenth century, and son of Ḥayyim Alshech. He was a disciple of R. Joseph Caro, author of the "ShulḦan 'Aruk"; and his own disciples included the cabalist R. Ḥayyim Vidal....
AL-TABBAN, LEVI B. JACOB IBN – Grammarian and poet, flourished at Saragossa in the beginning of the twelfth century. He was the friend and elder contemporary of Judah ha-Levi, who probably was governed more by affection than by critical judgment, when he...
AL-TABIB, ABRAHAM – Spanish physician who lived in Castile in the first half of the fourteenth century. He was the contemporary of Abraham ibn Zarzal, the physician of Don Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile. He wrote a supercommentary to Abraham ibn...

ALMS – A word derived from the Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (mercifulness), used by Greek-speaking Jews to denote almost exclusively the offering of charity to the needy, from a feeling of both compassion and righteousness (ẓedaḳah). (See LXX. on...

ALMUG – See Algum.

ALNAHARWANAI – A Hebrew scholar of the gaonic period; probably of Nehardea. He is the author of a rimed alphabetical treatise in Hebrew on the Jewish calendar, printed in "Kerem Ḥemed," part ix. This poem is interesting for the light it throws...

ALNAKIF, ISAAC BEN JOSEPH – Liturgical poet of the thirteenth century (in Spain?), who composed a zulat (liturgical poem between the Shema' and 'Amidah) for the Passover service (see Zunz, "Literaturgesch." p. 504; "Jew. Quart. Rev." xi. 310). W....

ALNAQUA – An important family of Spanish Jews, the first mention of whom occurs late in the twelfth century. In Hebrew the name is written or . It is the same as or , though Steinschneider seems to be of a different opinion. In modern...

ALNUCAWI, EPHRAIM – See Alnaqua, Ephraim.

ALOES – Translation of , occurring four times in the Old Testament (Num. xxiv. 6, Ps. xlv. 8, Prov. vii. 17, Cant. iv. 14), and of ἀλόη in the New(John, xix. 39). In all these passages, with the exception of the first, it signifies a...

ALONZO DE LA CALLE – See America, Discovery of.

ALONZO DE CARTAGENA – Marano; born in Burgos, Spain, in 1385. Alonzo, together with his father, Salomon ha-Levi, or Paul de Burgos, and his brothers and sisters, was baptized in 1391. Having devoted himself to the study of philosophy and the Law,...

ALONZO DE HERRERA – Cabalist, philosopher. See Herrera, Alonzo de.

ALPALAS (ALFALAS), MOSES – A Jewish preacher at Salonica about the middle of the sixteenth century. Of his many homiletic and theological writings, there have appeared in print, "WayaḲhel Mosheh" (And Moses Collected), a collection of sermons (Venice,...

ALPHA – The Greek name for Aleph was, according to the older tradition of R. Ishmael (SheḲalim, iii. 2; compare Aleph), used as a mark for the first of the shekel boxes in the Temple. According to Men. ix. 1-6, Alpha designated the...

ALPHA AND OMEGA – An expression found in several places in the Revelation of John (xxi. 6, xxii. 13, i. 8), a book which is to-day almost universally recognized by New Testament scholars of the critical school as derived from an originally Jewish...

ALPHABET, THE HEBREW – Origin of Alphabet. The characters of the Hebrew Alphabet are derived from the so-called Phenician or Old Semitic letters, to which almost all systems of letters now in use, even the Roman, can be traced. But this latter is in...

ALPHABETUM SIRACIDIS – See Ben Sira, Alphabet of.

ALPRON, JACOB – Italian translator; died Dec. 22, 1622. He adapted and translated into Italian Benjamin ben Abraham of Solnik's "Miẓwot Nashim" (Precepts for Women) for the use of Jewish women in Italy. The translation became very popular and...

AL-RABI IBN ABU AL-ḤUḲAIḲ – Jewish poet of the Banu al-Nadhir in Medina, who flourished shortly before the Hegira (622). His family was in possession of the fort Al-Kammus, situated near Khaibar. Like most of the Medina Jews, he took part in the quarrels...

ALROY – A pseudo-Messiah who lived about 1160; born at Amadia in Kurdistan. He became thoroughly proficient in Biblical and Talmudic knowledge, studying under Ḥisdai, the Prince of the Exile, and under Ali, the head of the Academy in...

ALSACE – Traces of Early Settlements. A German territory which, together with Lorraine, forms a Reichsland, or imperial territory. It lies between the River Rhine and the Vosges Mountains. The precise date when Jews settled in this and...

AL-SAMERI – The man who made the golden calf in the wilderness.See Sameri.

ALSARI, JACOB – Teacher of Hebrew and grammarian, who for eighteen years lectured in Hebrew in Zerkowo, Prussian Poland, near the Russian frontier. His son Joseph, born in Zerkowo in 1805, claims to have translated the family name into German,...

ALSARI, JOSEPH – See Fürst, Julius.

ALSHECH – Rabbi in Safed, Palestine, in the second half of the sixteenth century, and son of Ḥayyim Alshech. He was a disciple of R. Joseph Caro, author of the "ShulḦan 'Aruk"; and his own disciples included the cabalist R. Ḥayyim Vidal....

AL-TABBAN, LEVI B. JACOB IBN – Grammarian and poet, flourished at Saragossa in the beginning of the twelfth century. He was the friend and elder contemporary of Judah ha-Levi, who probably was governed more by affection than by critical judgment, when he...

AL-TABIB, ABRAHAM – Spanish physician who lived in Castile in the first half of the fourteenth century. He was the contemporary of Abraham ibn Zarzal, the physician of Don Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile. He wrote a supercommentary to Abraham ibn...