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NICHOLAS OF DAMASCUS (NICOLAUS DAMASCENUS) – Greek historian and philosopher; friend of King Herod the Great; born at Damascus, where his father, Antipater, filled high offices and was greatly respected (Suidas, s.v. Ἄντίπατρος); died at Rome. Being the heir to his...
NICODEMUS – Prominent member of the Sanhedrin, and a man of wealth; lived in Jerusalem in the first century C.E. He is mentioned in John iii. 1-21, vii. 50, xix. 39. In the first of these passages he is represented as "a ruler of the Jews"...
NICODEMUS (NAḲDIMON) BEN GORION – Lived at Jerusalem in the first century C.E.; the wealthiest and most respected member of the peace party during the revolution in the reign of Vespasian. Ta'anit 19b relates that during a pilgrimage he engaged twelve cisterns...
NICOLAUS DE CUSA – See Cusa, Nicolaus de.
NICOPOLIS – Early History. City of Bulgaria, situated on the right bank of the Danube, 160 kilometers southeast of Widdin. The settlement of Jews in Nicopolis was most likely contemporaneous with the foundation of the city by the emperor...
NIDDAH – State of Uncleanness. A treatise in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and both Talmuds. In the Mishnah it stands seventh in the order Ṭohorot, but in the editions of the Talmud first, and is divided into ten chapters, containing...
NIDDIN – See Excommunication.
NIEBLA – One of the oldest towns of Spain, situated 12 miles west of Seville and to the east of Huelva. It was one of the earliest Jewish settlements in Spain, having been inhabited by Jews in the days of the Visigoths. When Alfonso VI....
NIEDERLÄNDER, ABRAHAM BEN EPHRAIM – Austrian mathematician of the sixteenth century; scribe of R. Judah Löw ben Bezaleel (MaHaRaL) of Prague. He was the author of a mathematical work entitled "Berit Abraham" (Prague, 1609), which was based for the most part on...
NIEROP, AHASVERUS SAMUEL VAN – Dutch jurist; born at Hoorn Jan. 24, 1813; died at Amsterdam May 15, 1878. He studied law at the Amsterdam Athenæum, took the degree of doctor of laws at Leyden in 1839, established himself as a lawyer at Amsterdam, and soon...
NIEROP, FREDERIK SALOMON VAN – Dutch economist; born at Amsterdam March 6, 1844. He took his degree as doctor of law at Leyden in 1866, established himself as a lawyer at Amsterdam, and in 1871 became director of the Amsterdamsche Bank. Since 1879 he has been...
NIETO, DAVID – Haham of the Sephardic community in London; born at Venice 1654; died in London Jan. 10, 1728. He first practised as a physician and officiated as a Jewish preacher at Leghorn, Italy. There he wrote in Italian a work entitled...
NIETO, ISAAC – Haham of the Portuguese congregation Sha'are Shamaim, Bevis Marks, London; born 1702; died at London 1774; son of David Nieto. He was officially appointed as "ḥakam ha-shalem" in 1733, but gave up the post in 1741 and went...
NIEUWE ISRAELIETISCHES WEEKBLAD – See Periodicals.
NIGGUN – A Neo-Hebraic noun formed from the "pi'el" of the verb = "to play strings," "make music"; hence meaning generally "tune," "melody." In the rubrics of the Maḥzor of the northern uses "be-niggun N." heads a piyyuṭ with the...
NIGHT – The period between sunset and sunrise (see Calendar; Day). The older Biblical term for the whole day was "yom wa-lailah" or "yomam wa-layelah." Later "'ereb wa-boḳer" was used (Dan. viii. 14). Corresponding with it is νυχθήμερον...
NIGRIN (NEGRIN), MOSES – Cabalist; lived in Safed early in the sixteenth century; a contemporary of Moses di Trani. He is chiefly known as a commentator, and was the author of notes on Jonah Gerondi's ethical work "Sefer ha-Yir'ah," and on the same...
NIGRIN (NEGRIN), SIMON (SOLOMON) – Author; lived in Jerusalem in the early part of the seventeenth century; a grandnephew of Moses Nigrin. He is the supposed author of "Derush 'al ha-Tefillah" (Dyhernfurth, 1732), homiletic explanations of the important prayers,...
NIJNI-NOVGOROD (NIZHNI-NOVGOROD) – Russian city; capital of the government of the same name; famed for its fairs, which are held annually. It is without the Pale of Settlement. The regulations of 1835 permitted, for the first time, the temporary residence in...
NIḲḲUR – See Porging.
NIKOLAIEF (NIKOLAYEV) – Russian Black Sea port and naval station, in the government of Kherson; founded in 1784; now an important commercial center. Jews began to settle in Nikolaief soon after the partition of Poland, but in 1829 their residence there...
NIKOLSBURG – A Street in the Nikolsburg Ghetto.(From a photograph.)Town in southern Moravia. The settlement of the Jews in Nikolsburg dates probably from 1420, when, after the expulsion from the neighboring province of Lower Austria,...
NILE – The great river of Egypt; frequently referred to in the Bible. The Authorized Version everywhere renders the word employed, "ye'or," by "river." "Ye'or" has no Semitic etymology (as, e.g., Lagarde and Fr. Delitzsch have...
NÎMES – Early History. Chief town of the department of Gard, France. Jews were settled here in very remote times. Hilderic, Count of Nîmes, gave a favorable reception to a certain number of Jews who were driven out of Spain in 672 by...
NIMROD – Biblical Data: Son of Cush and grandson of Ham; his name has become proverbial as that of a mighty hunter. His "kingdom" comprised Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Sinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod...

NICHOLAS OF DAMASCUS (NICOLAUS DAMASCENUS) – Greek historian and philosopher; friend of King Herod the Great; born at Damascus, where his father, Antipater, filled high offices and was greatly respected (Suidas, s.v. Ἄντίπατρος); died at Rome. Being the heir to his...

NICODEMUS – Prominent member of the Sanhedrin, and a man of wealth; lived in Jerusalem in the first century C.E. He is mentioned in John iii. 1-21, vii. 50, xix. 39. In the first of these passages he is represented as "a ruler of the Jews"...

NICODEMUS (NAḲDIMON) BEN GORION – Lived at Jerusalem in the first century C.E.; the wealthiest and most respected member of the peace party during the revolution in the reign of Vespasian. Ta'anit 19b relates that during a pilgrimage he engaged twelve cisterns...

NICOLAUS DE CUSA – See Cusa, Nicolaus de.

NICOPOLIS – Early History. City of Bulgaria, situated on the right bank of the Danube, 160 kilometers southeast of Widdin. The settlement of Jews in Nicopolis was most likely contemporaneous with the foundation of the city by the emperor...

NIDDAH – State of Uncleanness. A treatise in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and both Talmuds. In the Mishnah it stands seventh in the order Ṭohorot, but in the editions of the Talmud first, and is divided into ten chapters, containing...

NIDDIN – See Excommunication.

NIEBLA – One of the oldest towns of Spain, situated 12 miles west of Seville and to the east of Huelva. It was one of the earliest Jewish settlements in Spain, having been inhabited by Jews in the days of the Visigoths. When Alfonso VI....

NIEDERLÄNDER, ABRAHAM BEN EPHRAIM – Austrian mathematician of the sixteenth century; scribe of R. Judah Löw ben Bezaleel (MaHaRaL) of Prague. He was the author of a mathematical work entitled "Berit Abraham" (Prague, 1609), which was based for the most part on...

NIEROP, AHASVERUS SAMUEL VAN – Dutch jurist; born at Hoorn Jan. 24, 1813; died at Amsterdam May 15, 1878. He studied law at the Amsterdam Athenæum, took the degree of doctor of laws at Leyden in 1839, established himself as a lawyer at Amsterdam, and soon...

NIEROP, FREDERIK SALOMON VAN – Dutch economist; born at Amsterdam March 6, 1844. He took his degree as doctor of law at Leyden in 1866, established himself as a lawyer at Amsterdam, and in 1871 became director of the Amsterdamsche Bank. Since 1879 he has been...

NIETO, DAVID – Haham of the Sephardic community in London; born at Venice 1654; died in London Jan. 10, 1728. He first practised as a physician and officiated as a Jewish preacher at Leghorn, Italy. There he wrote in Italian a work entitled...

NIETO, ISAAC – Haham of the Portuguese congregation Sha'are Shamaim, Bevis Marks, London; born 1702; died at London 1774; son of David Nieto. He was officially appointed as "ḥakam ha-shalem" in 1733, but gave up the post in 1741 and went...

NIEUWE ISRAELIETISCHES WEEKBLAD – See Periodicals.

NIGGUN – A Neo-Hebraic noun formed from the "pi'el" of the verb = "to play strings," "make music"; hence meaning generally "tune," "melody." In the rubrics of the Maḥzor of the northern uses "be-niggun N." heads a piyyuṭ with the...

NIGHT – The period between sunset and sunrise (see Calendar; Day). The older Biblical term for the whole day was "yom wa-lailah" or "yomam wa-layelah." Later "'ereb wa-boḳer" was used (Dan. viii. 14). Corresponding with it is νυχθήμερον...

NIGRIN (NEGRIN), MOSES – Cabalist; lived in Safed early in the sixteenth century; a contemporary of Moses di Trani. He is chiefly known as a commentator, and was the author of notes on Jonah Gerondi's ethical work "Sefer ha-Yir'ah," and on the same...

NIGRIN (NEGRIN), SIMON (SOLOMON) – Author; lived in Jerusalem in the early part of the seventeenth century; a grandnephew of Moses Nigrin. He is the supposed author of "Derush 'al ha-Tefillah" (Dyhernfurth, 1732), homiletic explanations of the important prayers,...

NIJNI-NOVGOROD (NIZHNI-NOVGOROD) – Russian city; capital of the government of the same name; famed for its fairs, which are held annually. It is without the Pale of Settlement. The regulations of 1835 permitted, for the first time, the temporary residence in...

NIḲḲUR – See Porging.

NIKOLAIEF (NIKOLAYEV) – Russian Black Sea port and naval station, in the government of Kherson; founded in 1784; now an important commercial center. Jews began to settle in Nikolaief soon after the partition of Poland, but in 1829 their residence there...

NIKOLSBURG – A Street in the Nikolsburg Ghetto.(From a photograph.)Town in southern Moravia. The settlement of the Jews in Nikolsburg dates probably from 1420, when, after the expulsion from the neighboring province of Lower Austria,...

NILE – The great river of Egypt; frequently referred to in the Bible. The Authorized Version everywhere renders the word employed, "ye'or," by "river." "Ye'or" has no Semitic etymology (as, e.g., Lagarde and Fr. Delitzsch have...

NÎMES – Early History. Chief town of the department of Gard, France. Jews were settled here in very remote times. Hilderic, Count of Nîmes, gave a favorable reception to a certain number of Jews who were driven out of Spain in 672 by...

NIMROD – Biblical Data: Son of Cush and grandson of Ham; his name has become proverbial as that of a mighty hunter. His "kingdom" comprised Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Sinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod...