AWANI, ISḤAḲ IBN AL- – Head of the Academy of Bagdad until displaced by a rival; lived in the thirteenth century. He was a contemporary of Al-Ḥarizi, who seems to have made much fun of him. Referring to his displacement from his academical position,...
AWIA, RAB – Babylonian amora of the fourth generation (fourth century), contemporary of Abaye and Raba (Ber. 28b; Shab. 46a), and brother-in-law of Rammi b. Pappa (B. B. 100b; Ket. 56b; compare "Aruch Completum," vii. 277, s.v. ). He was a...
AWIA SABA (THE ELDER), RAB – Babylonian halakist of the third amoraic generation (third and fourth centuries), a contemporary of Rab Pappa (the Elder) and of Rabbah b. Ḥanan (M. Ḳ. 24b; Ḳid. 39a). He was a Pumbeditan by birth, but often sat at the feet of...
'AWIRA, RAB – Babylonian amora of the third and fourth generations (fourth century); contemporary of Abaye and Safra—the latter speaking of him as of "a scholar coming from the West" (Palestine). 'Awira had emigrated to Palestine, where he...
AXENFELD, AUGUSTE – French physician; born at Odessa Oct. 25, 1825; died at Paris Aug. 25, 1876. He was a son of Israel Aksenfeld. After completing his school education at his native town, he went to Paris to study medicine, and in due course...
AYAS, LÉON – Interpreter of the French army in the Algerian campaign against Abd-el-Kader; died 1846. He received several wounds in the expeditions in the Oran, during which he captured one of Abd-el-Kader's lieutenants.At the battle against...
'AYIN – The sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its numerical value is seventy. In its earlier form it was a circle, a rude picture of the eye, hence its name ("'Ayin" = "eye"). This form is still to be seen on the Moabite Stone,...
AYLLON, SOLOMON BEN JACOB – Haham of the Sephardic congregations in London and Amsterdam and follower of Shabbethai Ẓebi; born in the Orient 1664 (1660 ?); died in Amsterdam April 10, 1728. His name is derived from a town in the Spanish province Segovia of...
AYYAS, JACOB MOSES – Son of Judah Ayyas; lived at Jerusalem, whence he was sent abroad to collect money for the Palestine poor. In 1783 he visited Algiers, where he was received with great honor. Following a call to Ferrara, he settled there as...
AYYAS, JUDAH – A commentator and casuist; born in North Africa about 1690; died at Jerusalem Sept. 11, 1760. He pursued his Talmudic studies at Algiers under the supervision of Solomon Ẓeror, rabbi of that city. From 1728 to 1756 Ayyas...
AZ SHESH MEOT – A poem of three stanzas by R. Elias Priscus, introduced in the northern liturgy at the conclusion of the piyyuṭim in the Additional Service on the Feast of Weeks. A paraphrase is given below of the two melodies associated with...
AZAL – A place near Jerusalem, but the exact position can not be determined (Zech. xiv. 5). It is supposed by some to be the same as Beth-ezel (Micah i. 11). Clermont-Ganneau identifies it with the Wadi Yasul.J. Jr. G. B. L....
AZANḲOṬ (V02p361003.jpg), SAADIA B. LEVI – Orientalist of Morocco; lived in Holland in the first half of the seventeenth century. He was teacher of Jewish literature to Hottinger. There exists a versified paraphrase of Esther by him, which was printed under the title...
AZAREEL – 1. One of those who came to David at Ziklag (I Chron. xii. 7).2. Son of Jeroham, chief of the tribe of Dan when David made the enumeration of the people (I Chron. xxvii. 22). 3. A Levite, son of Heman, to whom fell the eleventh...
AZARIA BEN JOSEPH IBN ABBA MARI – One of the last Jewish writers coming from Perpignan, France. He flourished in the first half of the fifteenth century. A rising against the Jews was the cause of his leaving his native city. Neubauer ("Ecrivains Juifs," p. 759;...
AZARIA B. MOSES DE ROSSI – See Rossi.
AZARIAH – Biblical Data: The name given to twenty-six different persons in the Old Testament. The most important are:1. A noble in the court of Solomon. According to I Kings iv. 2, he was the son of Zadok the priest. I Chron. v. 35 [A. V....
AZARIAH – A Palestinian scholar of the fourth amoraic generation (fourth century), often quoted in conjunction with R. Aḥa (Lev. R. vi. 5; Cant. R. to v. 16), R. Judan (Gen. R. xlvii.; Cant. R. to i. 4), and R. Judah b. Simon (Gen. R....
AZARIAH, MENAHEM HA-KOHEN – Author and translator; born at Fürth, Germany; flourished at Amsterdam in 1727. He edited Eliezer ha-Ḳaṭan's (his father-in-law's) "Shulḥan 'Aruk," an extract from the first volume of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, Fürth, 1696-97. Appended...
AZARIAS – General in the army of Judas Maccabeus, who, together with Joseph, son of Zacharias, was left in command of the Judean army (165 B.C.) when Judas and Jonathan were absent in Gilead and Simon in Galilee. Orders had been given to...
AZAZ – A Reubenite, father of Bela and son of Shema (I Chron. v. 8). G. B. L.
AZAZEL – The name of a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi.). After Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation, Azazel enjoys the distinction of being the most mysterious...
AZAZIAH – 1. A Levite who took part in the choral services on the return of the Ark to Jerusalem (I Chron. xv. 21). 2. Father of Hoshea, who was the leader of Ephraim at the time that David enumerated the people (I Chron. xxvii. 20). 3. A...
AZBAN, MORDECAI BEN ISAAC – Cabalist and rabbi in Leghorn; born in the interior of Africa; died at Jerusalem 1740. At Leghorn he had a controversy with Abraham Ḥayyim Rodriguez, which is printed in the latter's collection of decisions, entitled "Oraḥ...
AZBUK – Father of Nehemiah; assisted in repairing the wall at Jerusalem (Neh. iii. 16).J. Jr. G. B. L.