| WEST – One of the "four skirts" ( , Isa. xi. 12; Ezek. vii. 2; Job xxxvii. 3, xxxviii. 13) or "four corners," known also as the "four ends" (Jer. xlix. 36) or "four winds" (Ezek. xxxvii. 9; Dan. viii. 8, xi. 4), into which the Hebrews,... |
| WEST INDIES – Group of islands in the North Atlantic adjoining the Gulf of Mexico; so named because supposed by Columbus, who discovered them, to be India reached by the western route. For convenience the Dutch possessions in South America... |
| WEST VIRGINIA – One of the east-central states of the American Union; formerly part of Virginia; made a separate state on June 19, 1863. While individual Jews went farther West as early as 1825, there seem to have been no communities before... |
| WETTE, WILHELM MARTIN LEBERECHT DE – Christian Biblical critic and theologian; born at Ulla, near Weimar, Jan. 12, 1780; died in Basel June 16, 1849. He took his doctorate in Jena, where he became privat-docent in 1806. The following year he was appointed professor... |
| WETZLAR – Prussian city in the district of Coblenz; formerly a free city. Jews lived there probably as early as the twelfth century, since a young Jew of "Writschlar" is mentioned in connection with the murder of Alexander of Andernach... |
| WE-YE'ETAYU – A piyyuṭ, by Eleazar Ḳalir (Zunz, "Literaturgesch." p. 21), chanted by the ḥazzan during the Musaf service on the days of New-Year and Atonement, according to the northern ritual; but omitted by many German congregations. The... |
| WEYL, MAX – American painter; born at Mühlen, Württemberg, in 1840. At the age of fifteen he went to the United States, but returned to Europe to study art. His home is now (1905) in Washington, D. C., where he is a member of the Society of... |
| WEYL, MEïR B. SIMḤAH – German rabbi; born at Lissa 1744; died at Berlin 1826. He was a pupil of Hirsch Janow. In 1771 he became associate rabbi at Lissa, and in 1784 was called associate rabbi to Berlin, where he was elected chief rabbi in 1800,... |
| WEYL, WALTER EDWARD – American economist; born at Philadelphia, Pa., March 11, 1874. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.B. 1892; Ph.D. 1897), and took postgraduate courses at the... |
| WHALE – A cetaceous mammal. Several species of cetacea are found in the Mediterranean as well as in the Red Sea. In the Authorized Version of the Bible the Hebrew "tannin" is often rendered "whale"; while the Revised Version has... |
| WHEAT – The chief breadstuff of Palestine in both ancient and modern times. It has been observed that the cultivation of wheat indicates a higher stage of civilization than the cultivation of barley alone. Barley bread is, therefore,... |
| WHEEL – In the Bible wheels are mentioned in connection with ordinary wagons, as well as with Chariots. Mention is made also of the thrashing-wheel (Prov. xx. 26; Isa. xxviii. 27), and of the potters' wheel or disk (Jer. xviii. 3; see... |
| WHEELING – See West Virginia. |
| WIDAL, FERNAND GEORGES – French physician; born at Paris March 9, 1862. From 1886 to 1888 he devoted himself to public demonstrations of the researches of the faculty of pathological anatomy, and during the two years following was in charge of a course... |
| WIDDIN – Bulgarian fortified town, situated at the confluence of the rivers Widd and Danube.The beginnings of the Jewish community of Widdin were in the thirteenth century, its earliest members being some Byzantine and Hungarian Jewish... |
| WIDDUI – See Confession of Sin. |
| WIDOW – Prerogatives of a Widow. The law of Israel treats the widow as a privileged person, and seeks to indemnify her in some degree for the loss of her natural protector. Thus the movable property of a widow can not be attached for... |
| WIENER, ADOLF – German rabbi; born in Murowana-Goslin, Posen, 1811; died in Oppeln, Prussian Silesia, Aug. 25, 1895. Having acquired his diploma as Ph.D., he went as rabbi to Posen, where he introduced a modern synagogal service with German... |
| WIENER, ALOYS – See Sonnenfels, Perlin Lipmann. |
| WIENER ISRAELIT, DER – See Periodicals. |
| WIENER, JACQUES – Belgian engraver; born at Hoorstgen, Rhine Province, 1815; died at Brussels Nov. 3, 1899. When thirteen years of age he was sent to Aix-la-Chapelle to be instructed in drawing, modeling, and engraving by his uncle Baruch, who... |
| WIENER JAHRBUCH – See Periodicals. |
| WIENER JÜDISCHE ILLUSTRIRTE PRESSE – See Periodicals. |
| WIENER JÜDISCHE PRESSE – See Periodicals. |
| WIENER JÜDISCHE ZEITUNG – See Periodicals. |