| WEISS, MAX – Hungarian chess-player; born July 21, 1857, at Szered on the Waag. Removing to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and afterward taught those subjects. Having, however, learned to play chess in his... |
| WEISS, WILHELM – Austrian mathematician; born at Ridka, Bohemia, Feb. 3, 1859; died at Prague June 18, 1904. He received his early education from his father, who was a teacher at Ridka; and from 1881 to 1887 he studied successively at the... |
| WEISSBERG, ISAAC JACOB – Russo-Hebrew writer and pedagogue; born at Polonki, government of Minsk, 1841; died at Kiev 1904. He received his preliminary training in various ḥadarim, and then attended the yeshibah of Slonim, where he came to be regarded as... |
| WEISSENBERG, SAMUEL ABRAMOWITCH – Russian physician and anthropologist; born in Yelizavetgrad, South Russia, Dec. 16, 1867. He attended the public school and the real-school of his native town; entered the Polytechnicum in Carlsruhe, Baden, in 1884; and received... |
| WEISSMANN, ASHER (ARTHUR) SIMḤAH – Austrian scholar and publicist; born at Zelynia, Galicia, April 21, 1840; died at Vienna May 14, 1892. He received a rabbinical training in his native town and in the yeshibah of Rzeszow, whereupon he (1871) took up the study of... |
| WEISSMANN-CHAJES, MARCUS – Austrian scholar; born at Tarnow, Galicia, 1830. He was destined for a rabbinical career, and began early to receive instruction in the Talmud and in rabbinics, among his tutors being Israel Rapoport, then rabbi of Tarnow. When... |
| WEISZ, BERTHOLD – Hungarian deputy; born at Budapest 1845. He was educated at the gymnasium and commercial academy of his native city, devoting himself especially to the study of political economy. In 1876 he became a member of the arbitration... |
| WELL – The Hebrew language distinguishes between two kinds of wells: (1) "be'er," an artificially constructed hollow in which the water of a spring or underground water collects, and "bor," a cistern in which rain-water is stored. Of... |
| WELL, SONG OF THE – A poem which is quoted in Num. xxi. 17, 18. It is introduced in a list of the encampments made by Israel while crossing the wilderness. One of these camping-places was Beer. After this it is explained that Beer was the name of... |
| WELL-POISONING – See Black Death. |
| WELLHAUSEN, JULIUS – German Biblical critic and Semitist; born at Hameln May 17, 1844; educated in theology and Semitics at Göttingen (Ph.D. 1870), where he became privat-docent in the theological faculty in 1870. Two years later he was called as... |
| WELT, DIE – Zionist periodical, published weekly at Vienna (it is arranged to remove its headquarters to Berlin in 1906). The first number appeared June 4, 1897, since which time the periodical has been issued regularly. At one time a... |
| WELTSCH, SAMUEL – Austrian cantor; born at Prague Sept. 12, 1835; died in that city Aug. 5, 1901. Belonging to a family of ḥazzanim, he early entered the profession, and became cantor of the Meisel synagogue at Prague while quite a young man. He... |
| WERBER, BARUCH – Austrian Hebraist; born at Brody, Galicia, in the beginning of the nineteenth century; died there July 31, 1876. Werber, who was a follower of Isaac Erter and Nachman Krochmal, founded a Hebrew weekly, which was published in... |
| WERBER, JACOB – Austrian Hebraist; born at Brody, Galicia, Feb. 4, 1859; died there Aug. 20, 1890; son of Baruch Werber. When only fifteen years of age Jacob could write and speak Hebrew fluently; and in 1874 he published in "Ha-'Ibri" a... |
| WERNER, ABRAHAM – Polish rabbi; born at Tels, Kovno, 1837. He received his early education in various ḥadarim, and at thirteen was well versed in Talmudic literature, whereupon he continued his studies under his father, who was government rabbi... |
| WERNIKOVSKI, JUDAH – Russian Talmudical educator; born in Slonim, government of Grodno, 1823; died in Jerusalem Feb. 20, 1901. In his childhood he was known as an "'illui," or prodigy in Talmudical learning. He was married at the age of eleven; he... |
| WERTHEIMER, JOHN – English printer; born in London at the close of the eighteenth century; died there Dec. 18, 1883; senior member of the firm of Wertheimer, Lea & Co. From 1820 until his death he was actively engaged as a printer in London; and... |
| WERTHEIMER, JOSEPH, RITTER VON – Joseph Wertheimer.Austrian philanthropist and author; born at Vienna March 15, 1800; died there March 15, 1887. He was the descendant of an old and prominent Jewish family; and his father was an intimate friend of Joseph von... |
| WERTHEIMER, SAMSON – Supplied the Imperial Army. Austrian court Jew, financier, and rabbi; born at Worms Jan. 17, 1658; died at Vienna Aug. 6, 1724. He was the son of Joseph Josel Wertheimer (d. May 2, 1713, at the age of eighty-seven), and received... |
| WERTHEIMER, SOLOMON AARON – Hungarian rabbi and scholar; born at Bösing Nov. 18, 1866. In 1871 he went with his parents to Jerusalem, where he was educated; and in 1890 he resided at Cairo, Egypt, where he collected ancient Jewish manuscripts. He is the... |
| WESEL, BARUCH BENDET BEN REUBEN – German rabbi and scholar; born at Wesel in the latter half of the seventeenth century; died at Breslau in the latter part of 1753 or the beginning of 1754. He was a descendant of a prominent family which had ramifications in... |
| WE-SHAMERU – WE-SHAMERU (Ex. xxxi. 16, 17) Quotation from the Pentateuch, recited before the "'Amidah" in the Sabbath evening service, and repeated in the domestic Ḳiddush on Sabbath morning after service. Nowadays it is usually chanted in a... |
| WESSELY, HARTWIG – See Wessely, Naphtali Hirz. |
| WESSELY, MORITZ AUGUST – German physician; born at Bleicherode, near Erfurt, Oct. 15, 1800; died at Nordhausen March 7, 1850; nephew of Naphtali Hirz Wessely. He was educated at the universities of Halle and Göttingen (M.D. 1823); from 1823 to 1828 he... |