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SMALL AND LARGE LETTERS – There are about 100 abnormal letters in the Masoretic text of the Bible—many of them in the Pentateuch—which were always copied by the scribes, and appear also in the printed editions. Among these letters are: the "waw ḳeṭi'a"...
SMOL VON DERENBURCH (SAMUEL OF DERENBURG) – Court banker to the archbishops of Magdeburg in the fourteenth century; died after Oct. 5, 1382. In some of his financial transactions he was assisted by two of his brothers, Marquard and Ephraim. On Nov. 28, 1347, Archbishop...
SMOLENSK – Capital of the government of Smolensk, Russia; situated on the Dnieper, 250 miles west-southwest of Moscow. Jews resided there as early as 1489, for a letter of that date from Grand Duke Ivan Vassilivich to King Casimir contains...
SMOLENSKIN, PETER (PEREZ) BEN MOSES) – At Moghilef and Odessa. Russian writer; born at Monastyrshchina, government of Moghilef, Feb. 25, 1842; died at Meran, Austria, Feb. 1, 1885. At the age of ten Smolenskin lost his father, and the support of the small family...
SMYRNA – Seaport of Asia Minor, in the Turkish vilayet of Aidin. The city had a Jewish population as early as the time of the martyrdom of Polycarp in the second century, although there is no further mention of Jews there until 1605,...
SNAIL – Rendering given in the English versions for "shabbelul," which occurs only in Ps. lviii. 9 (A. V. 8). An equivalent rendering is given bythe Targum and the Talmud; the Septuagint and Vulgate give "wax." The idea of melting away,...
SNEEZING – See Asusa.
SNOWMAN, ISAAC – English artist; born in London 1874; educated at the City of London School. In 1890 he entered the Royal Academy School, where he gained a free medal, and afterward a scholarship in the Institution of British Artists. He joined...
SOAVE, MOSES – Italian Hebraist; born in Venice March 28, 1820; died there Nov. 27, 1882. He supported himself as a private tutor in Venetian Jewish families, and collected a library containing many rare and valuable works. Two years before...
SOBERNHEIM, JOSEPH FRIEDRICH – German physician and author of medical works; born at Königsberg in 1803; died at Berlin Jan. 30, 1846. He published at Berlin, where he had settled as a physician, a number of medical treatises, of which the following is a list...
SOBIESKI, JOHN – See John Sobieski.
SOBORTEN – Town in Bohemia, whose community is probably one of the oldest in the province. The community of Soborten includes parts of the Teplitz, Dux, and Karlitz districts. The synagogue has a tower, with a clock, and two lamps...
SOBOTNIKI – A Russian rationalistic organization. See Subbotniki and Judaizing Heresy.
SOCIALISM – Theory of civil polity which advocates public collective ownership, production, and distribution. Jews have been prominently identified with the modern Socialist movement from its very inception. The small circle of the first...
SOCIÉTÉ DES ÉTUDES JUIVES – Society for the study of Jewish history and literature, and especially of the history and literature of the Jews of France; its headquarters are in Paris. It was founded in 1880, chiefly through the efforts of Baron James...
SOCIETIES, LEARNED – Nearly every Jewish community possessed, or still possesses, various societies aiming to propagate Jewish learning. There have been societies for the study of the Tahmud ("ḥebrah shas"), of the Mishnah ("ḥebrah mishnayot"), and...
SOCIETY OF AMERICAN CANTORS – Founded by Alois Kaiser in Baltimore, Md., May 14, 1895. Its object is the elevation of the cantor's profession, the furtherance of cohesion among its members, and the improvement of musical services in the synagogue. While its...
SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF CULTURE AMONG THE JEWS OF RUSSIA – Society founded at St. Petersburg in Dec., 1863, by some of the most prominent Russian Jews, e.g., Joseph Yozel Günzburg, who became president; his son Horace Günzburg, first vice-president; Rabbi A. Neumann, second...
SODOM – First city of Pentapolis, the others being Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar, all situated in the vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 3), either in the present plain of Sabkhah or farther north, in the southern Seccudes between the...
SOEIRA, SAMUEL ABRAVANEL – Son of Manasseh ben Israel (Abravanel Soeira being the maiden name of Manasseh's wife); born in Amsterdam 1625; died in London Sept., 1657. In l654, in behalf of his father, he accompanied his uncle Manuel Martinez Dormido to...
SOEST – City in the province of Westphalia, Prussia. As early as the middle of the thirteenth century Jews of Soest are mentioned, e.g., Meyer and his wife, Betzel, who resided in Cologne from 1248 to 1255 (Höniger, "Das...
SOF PASUḲ – See Accents in Hebrew.
SOFER – See Scribes.
SOFER, ABRAHAM – See Niederländer, Abraham ben Ephraim.
SOFER, ḤAYYIM BEN MORDECAI EPHRAIM FISCHL – Hungarian rabbi; born at Presburg Sept. 29, 1821; died at Pesth June 28, 1886. He studied at Presburg and at Ungvar, where he attended the celebrated yeshibot of Ḥatam Sofer and Meïr Ash (Meïr Eisenstädter). In 1844 he went to...

SMALL AND LARGE LETTERS – There are about 100 abnormal letters in the Masoretic text of the Bible—many of them in the Pentateuch—which were always copied by the scribes, and appear also in the printed editions. Among these letters are: the "waw ḳeṭi'a"...

SMOL VON DERENBURCH (SAMUEL OF DERENBURG) – Court banker to the archbishops of Magdeburg in the fourteenth century; died after Oct. 5, 1382. In some of his financial transactions he was assisted by two of his brothers, Marquard and Ephraim. On Nov. 28, 1347, Archbishop...

SMOLENSK – Capital of the government of Smolensk, Russia; situated on the Dnieper, 250 miles west-southwest of Moscow. Jews resided there as early as 1489, for a letter of that date from Grand Duke Ivan Vassilivich to King Casimir contains...

SMOLENSKIN, PETER (PEREZ) BEN MOSES) – At Moghilef and Odessa. Russian writer; born at Monastyrshchina, government of Moghilef, Feb. 25, 1842; died at Meran, Austria, Feb. 1, 1885. At the age of ten Smolenskin lost his father, and the support of the small family...

SMYRNA – Seaport of Asia Minor, in the Turkish vilayet of Aidin. The city had a Jewish population as early as the time of the martyrdom of Polycarp in the second century, although there is no further mention of Jews there until 1605,...

SNAIL – Rendering given in the English versions for "shabbelul," which occurs only in Ps. lviii. 9 (A. V. 8). An equivalent rendering is given bythe Targum and the Talmud; the Septuagint and Vulgate give "wax." The idea of melting away,...

SNEEZING – See Asusa.

SNOWMAN, ISAAC – English artist; born in London 1874; educated at the City of London School. In 1890 he entered the Royal Academy School, where he gained a free medal, and afterward a scholarship in the Institution of British Artists. He joined...

SOAVE, MOSES – Italian Hebraist; born in Venice March 28, 1820; died there Nov. 27, 1882. He supported himself as a private tutor in Venetian Jewish families, and collected a library containing many rare and valuable works. Two years before...

SOBERNHEIM, JOSEPH FRIEDRICH – German physician and author of medical works; born at Königsberg in 1803; died at Berlin Jan. 30, 1846. He published at Berlin, where he had settled as a physician, a number of medical treatises, of which the following is a list...

SOBIESKI, JOHN – See John Sobieski.

SOBORTEN – Town in Bohemia, whose community is probably one of the oldest in the province. The community of Soborten includes parts of the Teplitz, Dux, and Karlitz districts. The synagogue has a tower, with a clock, and two lamps...

SOBOTNIKI – A Russian rationalistic organization. See Subbotniki and Judaizing Heresy.

SOCIALISM – Theory of civil polity which advocates public collective ownership, production, and distribution. Jews have been prominently identified with the modern Socialist movement from its very inception. The small circle of the first...

SOCIÉTÉ DES ÉTUDES JUIVES – Society for the study of Jewish history and literature, and especially of the history and literature of the Jews of France; its headquarters are in Paris. It was founded in 1880, chiefly through the efforts of Baron James...

SOCIETIES, LEARNED – Nearly every Jewish community possessed, or still possesses, various societies aiming to propagate Jewish learning. There have been societies for the study of the Tahmud ("ḥebrah shas"), of the Mishnah ("ḥebrah mishnayot"), and...

SOCIETY OF AMERICAN CANTORS – Founded by Alois Kaiser in Baltimore, Md., May 14, 1895. Its object is the elevation of the cantor's profession, the furtherance of cohesion among its members, and the improvement of musical services in the synagogue. While its...

SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF CULTURE AMONG THE JEWS OF RUSSIA – Society founded at St. Petersburg in Dec., 1863, by some of the most prominent Russian Jews, e.g., Joseph Yozel Günzburg, who became president; his son Horace Günzburg, first vice-president; Rabbi A. Neumann, second...

SODOM – First city of Pentapolis, the others being Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar, all situated in the vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 3), either in the present plain of Sabkhah or farther north, in the southern Seccudes between the...

SOEIRA, SAMUEL ABRAVANEL – Son of Manasseh ben Israel (Abravanel Soeira being the maiden name of Manasseh's wife); born in Amsterdam 1625; died in London Sept., 1657. In l654, in behalf of his father, he accompanied his uncle Manuel Martinez Dormido to...

SOEST – City in the province of Westphalia, Prussia. As early as the middle of the thirteenth century Jews of Soest are mentioned, e.g., Meyer and his wife, Betzel, who resided in Cologne from 1248 to 1255 (Höniger, "Das...

SOF PASUḲ – See Accents in Hebrew.

SOFER – See Scribes.

SOFER, ABRAHAM – See Niederländer, Abraham ben Ephraim.

SOFER, ḤAYYIM BEN MORDECAI EPHRAIM FISCHL – Hungarian rabbi; born at Presburg Sept. 29, 1821; died at Pesth June 28, 1886. He studied at Presburg and at Ungvar, where he attended the celebrated yeshibot of Ḥatam Sofer and Meïr Ash (Meïr Eisenstädter). In 1844 he went to...