| ABSALOM One of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, who was thrown into prison withhis mother and two of his brothers when Judas Aristobulus ascended the Hasmonean throne (105 B.C.). However, after a year's suffering, the king's death |
| ABSALOM THE ELDER A Tanna, the dates of whose birth and death are unknown. A homiletic interpretation of Ex. xiv. 15 is recorded in his name in the Mekilta, Beshallaḥ, 3. There is no certainty about his name, for in a parallel passage (Ex. R. |
| ABSALOM BEN MOSES MIZRAḤI See Mizraḥi, Absalom ben Moses. |
| ABSBAN, SOLOMON Rabbi of Aleppo about 1580; was a grandson of Jacob Berab. He was highly esteemed for his learning, prudence, sagacity, and piety by contemporary scholars, such as Moses Alsheik, Samuel Laniado, and others, with whom he |
| ABSOLUTE, THE A philosophic term indicating a being or substance free from contingency and external determination. It is defined by the philosophers in various ways. Spinoza defines it as the causa sui, the cause of itself; Kant as the Ding |
| ABSTINENCE Refraining from enjoyments which are lawful in themselves. Abstinence can be considered a virtue only when it serves the purpose of consecrating a life to a higher purpose. The saints, or adherents of religious and philosophical |
