| VINEGAR – In the Biblical period vinegar was prepared either from wine or from cider, the former variety being termed "ḥomeẓ yayin," and the latter "ḥomeẓ shekar." It was used to moisten the flat loaves of the harvesters, and was also... |
| VINEYARDS – See Grape. |
| VINNITSA (VINITZA) – Russian town in the government of Podolia; situated on the banks of the Bug. Vinnitsa was founded in the fourteenth century on the left bank of the Bug, and was protected by two castles. The town suffered much in the sixteenth... |
| VIOL – Musical instrument; next to the "kinnor," it was the one most used by the Israelites. The Old Testament furnishes no description of it, and resort must therefore be had to conjectures regarding it. The viol is commonly... |
| VIPER – See Serpent. |
| VIRGINIA – One of the Middle Atlantic states and one of the thirteen original states of the United States of America; seceded from the Union April 17, 1861; readmitted 1870. As early as 1624 the names of Elias Lagardo, Joseph Moise, and... |
| VIRTUE, ORIGINAL – A term invented by S. Levy as a contrast to the expression "original sin," and designating the specifically Jewish concept of the influence of the virtue of ancestors upon descendants. The doctrine asserts that God visits the... |
| VISIGOTHS – See Spain. |
| VISONTAI, SOMA – Hungarian lawyer and deputy; born at Gyöngyös Nov. 9, 1854; educated at Budapest, where he became an attorney in 1882. While still a student he attracted much attention by his papers on political economy in the scientific... |
| VITA – See Ḥayyim. |
| VITA DELLA VOLTA (SOLOMON ḤAYYIM) – Italian physician and Hebraist; born Sept. 24, 1772; died March 29, 1853; flourished in Mantua. He was the owner of a large Hebrew library, which, together with its 131 manuscripts, came into the possession of Marco Mortara.... |
| VITAL – Italian family, including several scholars, of whom the best known are:Ḥayyim Vital: Cabalist; son of Joseph Vital; born at Safed in 1543; died at Damascus May 6, 1620. He was educated by Moses Alshech. His biography is full of... |
| VITAL, DAVID B. SOLOMON VITAL HA-ROFE – Spanish scholar; emigrated from Spain in the early part of the sixteenth century; died at Arta, or Narda, in Greece, after 1536. He went first to Turkey, and then settled at Patras in the Morea, remaining there until the fall of... |
| VITALE (COEN), BENJAMIN ALESSANDRO – See Coen, Benjamin Vitale. |
| VITEBSK – Russian city; capital of the government of the same name; situated on both banks of the Düna. It was probably founded before the tenth century, and is mentioned in Russian chronicles as early as 1021. Being included in the... |
| VITORIA – See Basque Provinces. |
| VITRINGA, CAMPEGIUS (the Elder) – Dutch Christian Hebraist; born at Leeuwarden May 16, 1669; died at Franeker March 31, 1722. He was educated at the universities of Franeker and Leyden, and became professor of Oriental languages at the former in 1681. His two... |
| VITRY, SIMḤAH B. SAMUEL – See Maḥzor. |
| VIZHAINY (VIZHUNY, VIZAN, VIZANY) – Russian town in the government of Suwalki. On Jan. 29, 1723, Moses Yefraimovich, an elder of the Grodno ḳahal, presented for entry in the municipal records of the city of Grodno the charter of privileges granted to the Jews of... |