DENVER – See Colorado.
DEODATUS EPISCOPUS – See Elhanan b. Isaac of Dampierre.
DEPOSIT – See Bailments.
DEPPING, GEORGES BERNARD – German-French historian; born in Münster, Germany, May 11, 1784; died in Paris Sept. 5, 1853. He went to Paris in 1803, where he lived as teacher and writer. Besides other historical works, he wrote: "Les Juifs dans le Moyen...
DERASHA – See Hermeneutics; Homiletics; Midrash.
DERAZHNYA – Village in the government of Podolia, Russia. In 1898 it had a population of 6,118, of which 5,230 were Jews. Handicrafts constitute the most important sources of income, 518 persons being occupied by them. About 25 families are...
DERAZHNYA – See Volhynia.
DERBENT – Seaport in the Russian province of Daghestan (Caucasus), on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The city of Derbent was founded by the Persian king Khobad at the beginning of the sixth century, to protect the Persian...
DERCETO – A goddess of the Syrians.1. Derceto is mentioned indirectly in II Macc. xii. 26, where it is related that Judas in his expeditions came ἐπὶ τὸ Καρνίον, καὶ τὸ Ἀταργατεῖον, or ᾈτεργατίον. This latter word designates the sanctuary...
DERECHIN – Town in the government of Grodno, Russia. According to the census of 1897 it has a population of 2,289, of whom 1,573 are Jews. The main sources of income are in trade and handicrafts. There are 227 artisans. Shoemaking is the...
DEREK EREẒ – See Etiquette.
DEREK EREẒ RABBAH – One of the small treatises ( ) of the Talmud. In the editions of the latter the treatise Derek Ereẓ consists of three divisions: (1) Derek Ereẓ Rabbah (Large Derek Ereẓ); (2) Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa ("Small Derek Ereẓ"); (3) "Pereḳ...
DEREK EREẒ ZUṬA – An uncanonical treatise of the Babylonian Talmud. The name is misleading in more than one respect; the word "zuṭa" (small) would seem to indicate that it is a shorter version of the treatise "Derek Ereẓ Rabbah," which is not the...
DERELICTS – Things that have been abandoned ("res nullius" in the Roman law). The Talmud treats of four kinds of things that have no owner: (1) Seas, rivers, brooks, the desert (which can not be subjected to ownership), and all they...
DERENBURG (DERENBOURG) – A Franco-German family of Orientalists. Their original home was Derenburg, a town near Halberstadt, Saxony, whence they moved successively to Offenbach, Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Mayence. Concerning Jacob Derenburg, the first...
DERNBURG, HEINRICH – German jurist; born at Mayence March 3, 1829; brother of Friedrich Dernburg. The Dernburgs are related to the French family of Derenbourg, which, before its settlement in France, was called "Dernburg" (see Derenburg). Dernburg...
DERUSH – See Homiletics and Midrash.
DERZHAVIN, GAVRIIL ROMANOVICH – Russian poet and senator; born at Kazan July 15, 1743; died at Zvanka, government of Novgorod, July 20, 1816. In 1799 Derzhavin was commissioned by Emperor Paul to investigate a complaint made by the Jews of Shklov against...
DESCENT, LAW OF – See Agnates.
DESECRATION – The act of diverting from a sacred to a common use. It was forbidden, as being an act of desecration, to use the anointing-oil of the sanctuary for common purposes, or even to prepare oil like it, or to prepare for common use...
DESERT – See Wilderness.
DESERTION – Leaving husband or wife with the intention of not returning. It must be premised that, if the husband deserted his wife and went beyond the jurisdiction of the court, he could not be compelled to give her a bill of divorce; and...
DESSAU – Moses Wulff. Chief town of the duchy of Anhalt, North Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde. The settlement of Jews here dates from 1621. The introduction of debased coins had ruined the finances of the duchy, and Duke Johann...
DESSAU, MOSES – See Mendelssohn, Moses.
DESSAU, MOSES B. MICHAEL – Talmudist of the eighteenth century; called "Dessau" after the town in which he lived. He is the author of (1) novellæ published in 1724—haggadic annotations to the Talmudic tractates Berakot, Shabbat, and Ḳiddushin, and halakic...