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SENIOR, ABRAHAM – Court rabbi of Castile, and royal tax-farmer-in-chief; born in Segovia in the early part of the fifteenth century; a near relative of the influential Andreas de Cabrera. On account of his wealth, intelligence, and aristocratic...
SENIOR, PHOEBUS BEN JACOB ABIGDOR – Talmudic scholar and author; lived in thefirst half of the eighteenth century. He wrote a commentary on the six orders of the Mishnah, entitled "Melo Kaf Naḥat," in which he collected explanations from Rashi, Maimonides,...
SENLIS – Chief town of an arrondissement of the department of the Oise, France, and a noted health and pleasure resort. It possessed Jewish inhabitants apparently as early as the twelfth century; for Odon, Bishop of Cambrai from 1105 to...
SENNACHERIB – King of Assyria, 705-681 B.C.; son and successor of Sargon. His reign was a warlike one, yet it was marked by grandeur in architecture and art. Almost immediately after his accession to the throne Sennacherib was obliged to...
SENS – Chief town of an arrondissement of the department of the Yonne, France. Jews were among its inhabitants as early as the sixth century, residing in the Rues de la Juiverie, de la Petite-Juiverie, and de la Synagogue, and having...
SENSES, THE FIVE – The Philosophers. According to the Aristotelian psychology, the human soul possesses, besides the rational and nutritive faculties, that of perceiving external objects, through the medium of bodily organs which are adapted to...
SENTENCE – See Judgment.
SEPHARDIM – Descendants of the Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal and who settled in southern France, Italy, North Africa, Turkey, Asia Minor, Holland, England, North and South America, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Hungary....
SEPPHORIS – City in Palestine which derived its name from the fact that it was perched like a bird on a high mountain. It is first mentioned by Josephus, who records ("Ant." xiii. 12, § 5) that Ptolemy Lathyrus vainly endeavored to conquer...
SEPTUAGINT – See Bible Translations.
SEPULVEDA – City in the bishopric of Segovia, Spain, inhabited by Jews as early as the eleventh century. Its old laws contained a paragraph (No. 71) to the effect that if a Jew had intercourse with a Christian woman, he should be condemned...
SEQUIRA, ISAAC HENRIQUE – English physician; born at Lisbon 1738; died in London Nov., 1816. He came of a medical family, his grandfather, father, and two uncles having all been physicians. He was instructed in general literature and philosophy by the...
SERAH – Daughter of Asher, son of Jacob. She is counted among the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from Canaan to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 17), and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by Moses in the...
SERAIAH – 1. A scribe, and one of the officials under David (II Sam. viii. 17; comp. xx. 25, where he appears under the name Sheva). In I Kings iv. 3 his sons, Elihoreph and Ahiah, occupy the position of their father (here called Shisha),...
SERAPHIM – Vision of Isaiah. Class of heavenly beings, mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in a vision of the prophet Isaiah (vi. 2 et seq.). Isaiah saw several seraphim, their exact number not being given, standing before the throne...
SEREBSZCZYZNA – Land-tax imposed upon the inhabitants of Lithuania and Russia in the Middle Ages, and deriving its name from the fact that it had to be paid all in silver. Originally Russia had to pay the "serebszczyzna" to the Tatars, and...
SERENE (SERENUS) – Pseudo-Messiah of the beginning of the eighth century; a native of Syria. The name is a Latin form of , which is found in a responsum of Naṭronai Gaon ("Sha'are Ẓedeḳ," p. 24a, b). Gregorius bar Hebræus ("Chronicon Syriacum,"...
SERPENT – The following terms are used in the Old Testament to denote serpents of one kind or another: (1) "naḥash," the generic and most frequently used term; (2) "peten" (asp or adder; Deut. xxxii. 33; Isa. xi. 8; et al.), perhaps...
SERRAGLIO DEGLI EBREI – See Ghetto.
SERRE – See Dauphiné
SERVANT – See Master and Servant.
SERVANT OF GOD – Title of honor given to various persons or groups of persons; namely, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Deut. ix. 27; comp. Ps. cv. 6, 42), Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 5; Josh. i. 1; I Chron. vi. 49; II Chron. xxiv. 9; Neh. x. 29; Dan. ix. 11),...
SERVI CAMERÆ – See Kammerknechtschaft.
SERVI, FLAMINIO EPHRAIM – Italian rabbi; born at Pitigliano, Tuscany, Dec. 24, 1841; died at Casale-Monferrato Jan. 23, 1904. He received his education in his native town, at Padua, and at the rabbinical school and the University of Florence. He became...
SERVIA – Kingdom of southeastern Europe; until 1876 a vassal state of Turkey. The history of the Jews of the country is almost identical with that of Belgrade and of Nish, its two oldest communities. There was no regularly organized...

SENIOR, ABRAHAM – Court rabbi of Castile, and royal tax-farmer-in-chief; born in Segovia in the early part of the fifteenth century; a near relative of the influential Andreas de Cabrera. On account of his wealth, intelligence, and aristocratic...

SENIOR, PHOEBUS BEN JACOB ABIGDOR – Talmudic scholar and author; lived in thefirst half of the eighteenth century. He wrote a commentary on the six orders of the Mishnah, entitled "Melo Kaf Naḥat," in which he collected explanations from Rashi, Maimonides,...

SENLIS – Chief town of an arrondissement of the department of the Oise, France, and a noted health and pleasure resort. It possessed Jewish inhabitants apparently as early as the twelfth century; for Odon, Bishop of Cambrai from 1105 to...

SENNACHERIB – King of Assyria, 705-681 B.C.; son and successor of Sargon. His reign was a warlike one, yet it was marked by grandeur in architecture and art. Almost immediately after his accession to the throne Sennacherib was obliged to...

SENS – Chief town of an arrondissement of the department of the Yonne, France. Jews were among its inhabitants as early as the sixth century, residing in the Rues de la Juiverie, de la Petite-Juiverie, and de la Synagogue, and having...

SENSES, THE FIVE – The Philosophers. According to the Aristotelian psychology, the human soul possesses, besides the rational and nutritive faculties, that of perceiving external objects, through the medium of bodily organs which are adapted to...

SENTENCE – See Judgment.

SEPHARDIM – Descendants of the Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal and who settled in southern France, Italy, North Africa, Turkey, Asia Minor, Holland, England, North and South America, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Hungary....

SEPPHORIS – City in Palestine which derived its name from the fact that it was perched like a bird on a high mountain. It is first mentioned by Josephus, who records ("Ant." xiii. 12, § 5) that Ptolemy Lathyrus vainly endeavored to conquer...

SEPTUAGINT – See Bible Translations.

SEPULVEDA – City in the bishopric of Segovia, Spain, inhabited by Jews as early as the eleventh century. Its old laws contained a paragraph (No. 71) to the effect that if a Jew had intercourse with a Christian woman, he should be condemned...

SEQUIRA, ISAAC HENRIQUE – English physician; born at Lisbon 1738; died in London Nov., 1816. He came of a medical family, his grandfather, father, and two uncles having all been physicians. He was instructed in general literature and philosophy by the...

SERAH – Daughter of Asher, son of Jacob. She is counted among the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from Canaan to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 17), and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by Moses in the...

SERAIAH – 1. A scribe, and one of the officials under David (II Sam. viii. 17; comp. xx. 25, where he appears under the name Sheva). In I Kings iv. 3 his sons, Elihoreph and Ahiah, occupy the position of their father (here called Shisha),...

SERAPHIM – Vision of Isaiah. Class of heavenly beings, mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in a vision of the prophet Isaiah (vi. 2 et seq.). Isaiah saw several seraphim, their exact number not being given, standing before the throne...

SEREBSZCZYZNA – Land-tax imposed upon the inhabitants of Lithuania and Russia in the Middle Ages, and deriving its name from the fact that it had to be paid all in silver. Originally Russia had to pay the "serebszczyzna" to the Tatars, and...

SERENE (SERENUS) – Pseudo-Messiah of the beginning of the eighth century; a native of Syria. The name is a Latin form of , which is found in a responsum of Naṭronai Gaon ("Sha'are Ẓedeḳ," p. 24a, b). Gregorius bar Hebræus ("Chronicon Syriacum,"...

SERPENT – The following terms are used in the Old Testament to denote serpents of one kind or another: (1) "naḥash," the generic and most frequently used term; (2) "peten" (asp or adder; Deut. xxxii. 33; Isa. xi. 8; et al.), perhaps...

SERRAGLIO DEGLI EBREI – See Ghetto.

SERRE – See Dauphiné

SERVANT – See Master and Servant.

SERVANT OF GOD – Title of honor given to various persons or groups of persons; namely, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Deut. ix. 27; comp. Ps. cv. 6, 42), Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 5; Josh. i. 1; I Chron. vi. 49; II Chron. xxiv. 9; Neh. x. 29; Dan. ix. 11),...

SERVI CAMERÆ – See Kammerknechtschaft.

SERVI, FLAMINIO EPHRAIM – Italian rabbi; born at Pitigliano, Tuscany, Dec. 24, 1841; died at Casale-Monferrato Jan. 23, 1904. He received his education in his native town, at Padua, and at the rabbinical school and the University of Florence. He became...

SERVIA – Kingdom of southeastern Europe; until 1876 a vassal state of Turkey. The history of the Jews of the country is almost identical with that of Belgrade and of Nish, its two oldest communities. There was no regularly organized...