COLON, JOSEPH B. SOLOMON – The foremost Talmudist of Italy in the second half of the fifteenth century; born probably at Chambéry, Savoy, about 1420; died at Padua 1480. Colon (whose name is probably identical with the French "colombe," dove) belonged to...
COLONIAL JEWISH MONTHLY – See Periodicals.
COLONNE, JULES EDOUARD – French musician; born at Bordeaux July 23, 1838. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he was awarded the first prize for harmony and for the violin. He gave up a position as first violinist at the Grand Opera in order to...
COLOPHON – An inscription or device placed at the end of books, generally with the intention of showing the title, the writer's or the printer's name, the date, and the place of printing. Originally the certificate of the illuminator, it...
COLOR – It is noteworthy that Biblical Hebrew contains no term to express that property of light known as color. When a Hebrew writer wishes to compare an object with another in respect to color, he employs the word ("eye") or...
COLORADO – One of the United States of North America; bounded on the north by Wyoming and Nebraska; east by Nebraska and Kansas; south by Oklahoma and New Mexico; and west by Utah. It was admitted into the Union in 1876. The excitement...
COLORNI (COLORNO), ABRAHAM – Italian engineer; born at Mantua about 1530. His great skill in his profession caused him to be much sought after, and in 1578 he held the position of engineer at the court of Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, who, in 1588 sent...
COLORNI, MALACHI – Italian author; lived at Modena in the eighteenth century. He wrote a guide to letter-writing, "Megillat Sefer," still extant in manuscript, containing thirty-one letters (Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." No. 1379). He also copied a...
COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER, AND THE JEWS – According to his own statement, Columbus had constant intercourse with Jews and Moors, with priests and laymen. He had personal relations with the mathematician Joseph Vecinho, physician-in-ordinary to King João II. of Portugal,...
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA – See Georgia.
COLUMBUS, OHIO – See Ohio.
COMETS – See Astronomy; Superstition.
COMMANDMENT – The rendering in the English Bible versions of the Hebrew , which, in its technical sense, is used in the Bible of a commandment given either by God or by man (I Kings ii. 43). According to the critical schools, it is a word of...
COMMANDMENTS, THE 613 – That the law of Moses contains 613 commandments is stated by R. Simlai, a Palestinian haggadist, who says (Mak. 23b): "Six hundred and thirteen commandments were revealed to Moses; 365 being prohibitions equal in number to the...
COMMANDMENTS, THE TEN – See Decalogue.
COMMENTARIES ON THE BIBLE – See Bible Exegesis.
COMMENTARIES ON THE TALMUD – See Talmud, Commentaries to the.
COMMERCE – Sale or exchange of goods, generally on a large scale. During the Biblical period the Hebrews in Palestine had what is known as a natural self-sufficing economy (Benzinger, "Arch." p. 213)—that is, each household grew or made...
COMMERCIAL LAW – According to Jewish law persons legally capable of entering into any form of contract are legally capable of making commercial contracts also; but it must not be forgotten that girls reach majority at twelve and boys at...
COMMISSION – See Brokers.
COMMUNITY, ORGANIZATION OF – Ancient and Medieval: At the beginning of the common era there were Jewish communities at Alexandria, Rome, Salamis, Corinth, Athens, Delos, etc.; at Antioch (in Pisidia), Iconium, Smyrna, Ephesus, and other well-known cities on...
COMMUTATION OF SENTENCE – See Judgment.
COMO – City on the Italian lake of the same name. Como never possessed a Jewish community, although a single Jewish family, with employees and servants, lived there for a time and conducted a banking business which was handed down from...
COMPASSION – Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve, a feeling ascribed alike to man and God; in Biblical Hebrew, ("riḥam," from "reḥem," the mother, womb), "to pity" or "to show mercy" in view of the sufferer's...
COMPENSATION – See Fees, Legal.