PALÁGYI, MELCHIOR – Hungarian writer; born at Paks Dec. 26, 1859. He received his primary instruction from his father, and then attended the lyceums at Temesvar and Kassa. In 1877 he went to the School of Technology at Budapest, where he passed his...
PALE OF SETTLEMENT – A portion of Russia in which Jews are allowed to reside. Unlike other Russian subjects, the Jewish inhabitants do not generally possess the natural right of every citizen to live unrestrictedly in any place in the empire....
PALENCIA – Capital of the province of Palencia, Spain, situated between Burgos and Valladolid. A large and wealthy Jewish community settled here as early as the eleventh century. The first ghetto, called "Juderia Vieja," "the Old Jewry,"...
PALEOGRAPHY – Greek and Latin Inscriptions: Besides a certain number of pagan inscriptions mentioning Jewish affairs, about 500 texts referring directly to persons professing the Jewish religion are known. These have been found throughout the...
PALERMO – Capital of the island of Sicily; situated on the northern coast. Its Jewish community dates from the Roman period. Under Gregory the Great (d. 604), when it is first mentioned, it is already in possession of a synagogue and a...
PALESTINE – The Name. The portion of Syria which was formerly the possession of the Israelites. It includes the whole of the country between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean as well as the country immediately to the east of the...
PALESTINE, HOLINESS OF – The sacredness of Palestine in the esteem of the Jews is partly accounted for by the fact that it was the cradle and sepulcher of their Patriarchs and their "Promised Land." Moreover, many of the Mosaic laws could apply to...
PALESTINE, LAWS AND CUSTOMS RELATING TO – Special laws, operative only in the Holy Land, are called "miẓwot ha-teluyot ba-areẓ," and may be classified as follows: (1) Laws that were in force at the time of the Temple ("bi-zeman habayit") and in connection with the...
PALESTINIAN TALMUD – See Talmud.
PALEY, JOHN – American journalist; born Feb. 6, 1871, at Radoszkowice, government of Wilna, Russia. After receiving the usual education, he attended the Talmudical colleges of Minsk, Volosin, and Libau. In 1889 he emigrated to New York,where...
PALGRAVE (COHEN), SIR FRANCIS – English historian; born in London July, 1788; died there July 6, 1861; son of Meyer Cohen, a member of the London Stock Exchange. He was an infant prodigy. At the age of eight he made a translation of Homer's "Battle of the...
PALITSCHINETZKI, JOSEPH HIRSH – Biblical scholar; born 1805; died at Berdychev Feb. 27, 1886. He was instructor in the Bible in the rabbinical seminary at Jitomir until its close, and was an assiduous student throughout his life. Palitschinetzki was the author...
PALM – An evergreen tree growing in tropical climates in a dry atmosphere. The term for it, common to the Aramaic, Ethiopic, and Hebrew, is "tamar" ( ). The Arabic "tamr" means more particularly the fruit of the date-palm. The Aramaic...
PALMA – Capital of the Spanish island of Majorca. As early as the Moorish period Jews were living in Almudayna, the most populous part of the city, which was surrounded by walls and contained the "Castell dels Jueus," the Jews' castle....
PALMYRA – Latin name of a city in a well-watered oasis of the Syrian desert, five days' journey from the Euphrates, between three and four days from Thapsakus, and three days from Aleppo. Palmyra was situated on the highway leading from...
PALTI – Name borne by two persons mentioned in the Old Testament; probably an abbreviation, or corruption, of Paltiel. 1. Son of Raphu, of the tribe of Benjamin; one of the twelve spies (Num. xiii. 9). 2. Second husband of Michal,...
PALTIEL – Vizier to the Egyptian califs Al-Mu'izz and 'Abd al-Manṣur; lived in the second half of the tenth century. The Chronicle of Ahimaaz ben Paltiel, the only source for the history of this personage, makes Paltiel, by his mother,...
PALṬIYA (PELAṬYA) OF NAWEH – Palestinian haggadist of the third century. He is cited but once, as author of a derashah. The haggadists consider the phraseology of Eccl. i. 4 peculiar, unless the expression "The earth abideth for ever" implies the perpetuity...
PALṬOI B. ABAYI – Gaon of Pumbedita from 842 to 858. He was the first of a series of prominent geonim at that academy, the influence of which he extended to such a degree that the exilarch was obliged to go to Pumbedita if he wished to convene a...
PAMIERS – One of the principal towns of the department of Ariège, France. A Jewish community existed here in the twelfth century. In 1256 Maurin II., Abbot of St. Antoine, granted protection to the Jew Bonio, son of Beslinenga, in...
PAMPLONA – Capital and oldest city of the kingdom of Navarra, Spain. Next to Tudela, it possessed the most important Jewish community. The Jewry was situated in the Navarreria, the oldest quarter of the city. When Navarra came under the...
PAN, TAUBE – Judæo-German authoress of the sixteenth century; lived in the Prague ghetto at the time of Mordecai Meisel; daughter of R. Moses Löb Pizker, and wife of R. Jacob Pan. Like many poets of this period, she published religious and...
PANAMA – See South and Central America.
PANEAS – See Cæsarea Philippi.
PANET, EZEKIEL – Hungarian rabbi; born 1783 at Bielitz, Silesia; died Nisan 20, 1845, at Karlsburg, Transylvania. He studied in the yeshibah of Leipnik, Moravia, under Rabbi Baruch Fränkel, and then went to Prague, where Chief Rabbi Samuel...