ALEXANDRA – The only Jewish queen regnant with the exception of the usurper Athaliah; born 139 B.C.; died 67 B.C.; she was the wife of Aristobulus I., and afterward of Alexander Jannæus.That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I., was...
ALEXANDRE, ALBERT – Chess-player; born at Hohenfeld-on-the-Main, Germany, about 1766; died in London, Nov. 16, 1850. Most of his life was spent in Paris, where he was one of the most frequent habitués of the Café de la Régence; but he returned for...
ALEXANDRE, ÉDOUARD – French organ manufacturer and inventor; born in Paris December 4, 1824; died, 1888. He learned his trade in the factory established by his father, Jacob Alexandre, at Ivry near Paris, and in 1844 received an interest in the...
ALEXANDRI – There were probably two amoraim of this name, unaccompanied either by patronymic or cognomen; and as both were Palestinians, and both cultivated the field of the Haggadah, it is impossible to distinguish their respective...
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt—Ancient – Historic city situated on the Mediterranean sea; fourteen miles west of the Canopic mouth of the Nile.The history of the Jews of Alexandria dates from the foundation of the city by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C., at which they...
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT – Organization. —Modern: The Jewish community of Alexandria, numbering (in 1900) 10,000 persons, is governed by an elective body of prominent men called the "Communità." This body numbers sixteen members, four being elected...
ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana – City on the south bank of the Red river, 360 miles northwest of New Orleans. The foundation of a Jewish community in Alexandria took place in 1848 when several Jews settled there. The total Jewish population in 1900 was 600, or...
ALEXANDRIAN PHILOSOPHY – While there were many earlier settlements of Jewish immigrants in Egypt, it was reserved for King Ptolemy I. to establish a large Jewish colony in Alexandria, either by compulsory deportation or by the encouragement of voluntary...
ALEXANDRIAN SHIPS – The ships of the Alexandrians are mentioned several times in the Mishnah as used by Jews (Kelim, xv. 1; Ohalot, viii. 1, 3). They are described as containing large receptacles for drinking-water for long voyages. These vessels...
ALEXANDRIANS IN JERUSALEM – In consequence of the active relations of the Alexandrian Jews with Palestine, many of them made their permanent home in Jerusalem. But since they had been accustomed to hearing the synagogue services in Greek, and had brought...
ALEXANDRIUM – A fortified castle in Palestine, situated on one of the mountains between Scythopolis and Jerusalem, and, judging from its name, probably founded by King Alexander Jannæus (104-77 B.C.). Alexandra kept her treasures at...
ALEXIS MIKHAILOVICH – Second czar of the Romanof dynasty; born at Moscow, March 29, 1629; died February 9, 1676. He succeeded his father, Michael Fiodorovich, July 26, 1645. During his reign a considerable number of Jews lived in Moscow and the...
ALEXIUS – See Aleksei.
ALFAHAN, DON ZULEMA (SOLOMON) – Spanish chief rabbi over the communities under the jurisdiction of the archiepiscopal see of Toledo. Don Pedro Tonorio, the archbishop, removed him from office for neglect of duty in the year 1388, and appointed in his place...
ALFAKAR – The name of one of the oldest Spanish-Jewish families, distinguished for its social position and scholarship; originally of Granada, and subsequently of Toledo. An Alfakar, who wrote a treatise "On Salvation," was a contemporary...
ALFALAS, MOSES – See Alpalas, Moses.
ALFANDARI – A family of eastern rabbis prominent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, found in Smyrna, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. The name may be derived from a Spanish locality, perhaps from Alfambra. The following is a list of...
ALFAQUIN – A surname given in Spain generally to the physician, and also to the secretary and interpreter, of the king. In Spain, Portugal, and Provence it corresponds to the name "ḥakim," which is the Arabic for "physician" or "sage"...
ALFAQUIN, AARON – A physician at Pamplona, who received from Charles III. of Navarre in 1413 a monthly stipend of 9 florins, as a reward for certain successful cures and as an encouragement for the future.Bibliography: Jacobs, Sources, p. 114,...
ALFAQUIN, JOSEPH – A physician to Don Sancho of Navarre in the twelfth century, and colleague of Don Moses ben Samuel. In gratitude for his services, the king presented him with a portion of the revenues derived from the Jews of
ALFAQUIN, MOSSE (MOSES) – A physician of Perpignan; mentioned in 1377.Bibliography: Rev. Ét. Juives, xv. 37, xvi. 180.M. K.
ALFAQUIN, SAMUEL, OF PAMPLONA – A physician who, in 1379, treated an English knight, Sir Thomas Trivet, with such skill and success, that at the instance of the knight the King of Navarre presented him with a house in the Jewry of Pamplona (Jacobs, "Sources,"...
ALFAQUIN, SOLOMON – A physician to King Sancho the Wise of Navarre, who valued the former's art so highly that he presented him with seven acres of land and twelve diets of vineyards at Mosquera and Fontellas (two villages near Tudela), and granted...
ALFARABI, ABU NAṢR MOHAMMED – His Works. Arabian philosopher; born in Farab, Turkestan, about 870; died in Damascus about 950. He studied at Bagdad, then the seat of Greek philosophical learning, and traveled in Syria and in Egypt. The influence exerted by...
ALFASI, ISAAC BEN JACOB – His Career. Eminent Talmudist; born in 1013 at Kala't ibn Ḥamad, a village near Fez, in North Africa (whence his surname, which is sometimes attached also to Judah Ḥayyug, the grammarian); died at Lucena, 1103. Five scholars...