RAMI B. EZEKIEL – Babylonian amora of the third generation; younger brother of Judah b. Ezekiel, the founder of the Academy of Pumbedita. He studied under his father, Ezekiel (Sanh. 80b). Disregarding the opinion of his brother Judah that it was...
RAM B. ḤAMA – Babylonian amora of the third generation; a pupil of R. Ḥisda, and a fellow student of Raba, who was somewhat his junior (B. B. 12b; Suk. 29a; comp. Rabbinowitz, "Variæ Lectiones"). He frequently addressed questions to R. Ḥisda...
RAMI B. TAMRE – Babylonian amora of the third generation; a native of Pumbedita, and probably a pupil of R. Judah. He once went to Sura on the eve of the Day of Atonement, and attracted attention by conduct which was not regarded as permissible...
RAMOTH-GILEAD – One of the cities of refuge, in the east-Jordan district, in the tribe of Gad; apportioned to the Levites (Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 38; Deut. iv. 43; I Chron. vi. 80). When Solomon divided the country into districts, Ramoth-gilead was...
RAM'S HORN – See Shofar.
RAMSGATE – Seaside resort on the Kentish coast of England. This small town owes its importance in modern Anglo-Jewish history to its connection with Sir Moses Montefiore, who in 1830 purchased the East Cliff estate there as his...
RAN – See Nissim b. Reuben Gerondi.
RANDAR – Name originally applied to the tenants of a fee-farm, or even of an entire village, in Poland, Lithuania, and Little Russia, as well as in the Slavic portions of Austria. Subsequently the name was applied also to the tenants of...
RANDEGGER, MAIER – Austrian educationist; born at Randegg Feb. 9, 1780; died at Triest March 12, 1853. He was educated at home, at Lengau (Switzerland), at Fürth (Bavaria), and at Presburg, after which he accepted a position as instructor in...
RANGER, MORRIS – English financier; born in Hesse-Cassel about 1830; died at Liverpool April,1887. He joined the Liverpool Exchange, and at one time was one of the largest cotton-speculators in the world, but later failed in business. The...
RANSCHBURG, PAUL – Hungarian psychiatrist; born at Raab Jan. 3, 1870. On taking his degree of M. D. at the University of Budapest in 1894, he was appointed assistant at the psychiatric clinic there. In 1899 he established a psychophysiological...
RANSOHOFF, JOSEPH – American physician; born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 26, 1853. After graduating from the Medical College of Ohio (M.D. 1874), he studied surgery at the universities of Würzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London (F.R.C.S. 1877)....
RANSOM – Captivity being considered a punishment worse than starvation or death (B. B. 8b, based on Jer. xv. 2), to ransom a Jewish captive was regarded by the Rabbis as one of the most important duties of a Jewish community; and such...
RAPA, ELIJAH B. MENAHEM (ELIJAH RAPOPORT) – Italian Talmudist of the sixteenth century. He was the author of "Be'er Mayim Ḥayyim" (Corfu, 1599), on Talmudic and other subjects, and "Ereẓ Ḥefeẓ." (n.d.), on Biblical and Talmudic subjects.Bibliography: Eisenstadt-Wiener,...
RAPA (PORTO), MENAHEM ABRAHAM B. JACOB HA-KOHEN (MENAHEM RAPOPORT) – Italian rabbi and author; lived at Porto, in the district of Verona, and at Cremona; died Dec. 30, 1596. He was a descendant of the Rapa family, but he changed his name to Rapoport (i.e., Rapa of Porto). Early in life Menahem...
RAPA (PORTRAPA), SIMḤAH BEN GERSHOM HA-KOHEN – Talmudic scholar and author of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; born at Porto, Italy; died at Vienna. He was a younger cousin of Menahem Abraham Rapa; when the latter changed his name to Rapoport, Simḥah began to call...
RAPHAEL – One of the archangels. The word occurs as a personal name in I Chron. xxvi. 7 (A. V. and R. V. "Rephael"), but it is not found as the name of an angel in the canonical books, as are the names of Michael and Gabriel. This must be...
RAPHAEL, FREDERICK MELCHIOR – English soldier; born in London 1870; died at Spion Kop, Natal, Jan. 24, 1900; son of George C. Raphael; educated at Wellington College. Joining the Rifle Brigade (Militia Battalion) in 1889, he passed into the regular army in...
RAPHAEL, HENRY LEWIS – English financier and economist; born at London 1832; died at Newmarket May 11, 1899; son of Louis Raphael. He was senior partner in the firm of R. Raphael & Sons, stockbrokers and bankers, and his influence on the Stock...
RAPHAEL BEN JEKUTHIEL SÜSSKIND HA-KOHEN – Talmudist and author; born in Livonia Nov. 4, 1722; died at Altona Nov. 26, 1803. He was educated at Minsk under Aryeh Löb ben Asher, whose successor as head of the yeshibah of that town he became in 1742. In 1744 he was called...
RAPHAEL, MARK – Italian convert to Christianity; flourished at Venice at the beginning of the sixteenth century. He was a halakist of some repute, and it was said that he was a "chief rabbi" before his conversion. He was consulted by Henry...
RAPHALL, MORRIS JACOB – Rabbi and author; born at Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 3, 1798; died at New York June 23, 1868. At the age of nine he was taken by his father, who was banker to the King of Sweden, to Copenhagen, where he was educated at the Hebrew...
RAPOPORT – Family, the various branches of which claim a common Kohenitic origin. The names of Rapa or Rappe ha-Kohen ( ) are met with about 1450. At that time Meshullam Kusi (abbreviated from "Jekuthiel") Rapa ha-KohenẒedeḳ, the earliest...
RAPPAPORT, PHILIP – American lawyer and journalist; born in 1845, at Fürth, Bavaria, where he was educated. Removing to the United States in 1866, he became reporter for the "Freiheitsfreund," in Pittsburg. The following year he held the editorship...
RAPPOLDI, EDOUARD – Austrian violinist: born at Vienna Feb. 21, 1839. He studied at the Vienna Conservatorium under Jansa, Hellmesberger, Böhm (violin), and Sechter (composition). From 1854 to 1861 he was a member of the Vienna court opera...