RABINOVITZ, JOSHUA BEN ELIJAH – Russian rabbi; born at Shat, near Kaidan, in 1818; died at Nesvizh, government of Minsk, March 18, 1887. Rabinovitz was instructed in Talmud and rabbinics by his father, who was known as Elijah Ragoler. At the age of eighteen he...
RABINOVITZ, SAMUEL JACOB – Russian rabbi and author; born in Chelm, government of Kovno, 1857. He became rabbi at Jevije in 1887, and was called in the same year to Alexoty. He contributed a number of articles to "Ha-Meliẓ," which later were published...
RABINOVITZ, SHALOM – Russian journalist and novelist; born in Pereyaslav, government of Poltava, 1859. At the age of twenty-one he became government rabbi of a small town in the neighborhood. Later he settled in Kiev, where he still (1905) resides....
RABINOWITSCH-KEMPNER, LYDIA – Physician; born at Kovno, Russia, Aug. 22, 1871; educated at the girls' gymnasium of her native city, and privately in Latin and Greek, subsequently studying natural sciences at the universities of Zurich and Bern (M.D.). After...
RABINOWITZ, ELIJAH DAVID BEN BENJAMIN – Russian rabbi; born at Pikeln, government of Kovno, June 11, 1845. He studied Talmud and rabbinics under his father (who was rabbi successively at Shilel, Rogova, and Vilkomir), and at the age of fifteen had acquired a...
RABINOWITZ, HIRSCH (ẒEBI HAKOHEN) – Russian scientist and publicist: born at Linkovo, near Poneviezh, government of Kovno, Feb. 23, 1832; died in St. Petersburg Jan. 16, 1889. His chief instructor in Talmud and kindred subjects was his father, who was the local...
RABINOWITZ, ISAAC (ISH KOVNO) – Russian poet; born in Kovno Oct. 13, 1846; died in New York (U. S. A.) March 9, 1900. He began to compose Hebrew songs at an early age. When fourteen he took instruction in Hebrew grammar from Abraham Mapu. At eighteen he...
RABINOWITZ, JOSEPH – Russian missionary to the Jews; born in Orgeyev, Bessarabia, Sept. 23, 1837; died in Kishinef May 12, 1899. He wasbrought up as a Ḥasid, but later acquired some secular knowledge and mastered the Russian language. For a time he...
RACA (REḲA) – Noun formed from the adjective "reḳ" (="empty"), and applied to a person without education and devoid of morals (comp. Judges xi. 3). The noun occurs several times in the Talmud; e.g., Ta'an. 20b; Ber. 22a. 33b; Giṭ. 58a; B. B....
RACE, THE JEWISH – See Anthropology.
RACES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT – The ancient Hebrews from time to time came in contact with peoples who were obviously of different speech, customs, or physique from their own. To these they learned to give names. A whole list of such names is contained in...
RACHEL – Biblical Data: Laban's younger daughter, who became one of Jacob's wives (Gen. xxix. 26-28). Her first meeting with Jacob occurred at a well near Haran, whither she had taken the flocks for water. As she was beautiful and well...
RACHEL – See Akiba b. Joseph.
RACHEL, ELIZABETH – See Felix, Elisa-Rachel.
RADIN, ADOLPH M. – American rabbi; born at Neustadt-Schirwindt, Poland, Aug. 5, 1848. He received his Talmudical education at Volozhin and Eiseshok, and studied at the universities of Berlin, Königsberg (where he was editor of the "Jüdische...
RADNER, DAVID – Hebrew writer; born Feb. 22, 1848, at Wilna, Russia; died there Nov. 11, 1901. He translated into Hebrew Schiller's "William Tell" (1878) and "Don Carlos" (1879), Mosenthal's "Deborah" (1880), and Cassel's "Geschichte und...
RADÓ, ANTON – Hungarian poet and author; born at Moor June 29, 1862; son of the grammarian Adolf Roder. He studied classical and modern philology at Steinamanger (Szombathely) and Budapest, and engaged in journalism in 1880. After obtaining...
RAFFALOVICH, ARTHUR – Russian economist; born at Odessa in 1853; a member of the well-known banking family of that name. He studied economics and diplomacy at Paris and Bonn, and became private secretary to Count Schuvalov in London (1876-79); at the...
RAFRAMI. (BEN PAPA) – Babylonian amora of the fourth century. In his youth he was a pupil of R. Ḥisda (Shab. 82a), in whose name he transmits various halakic and haggadic sayings (Ber. 26b; Shab. 81a; 'Er. 83a; Ta'an. 13a; Ḳid. 81b; Ber. 8a, 59a). He...
RAFRAM II. – Babylonian amora of the seventh generation; he was a pupil of R. Ashi, to whom he frequently addressed questions (Ket. 95b; Giṭ. 42a), and a colleague of Rabina II. (Yoma 78a). He succeeded R. Gebiha as head of the Academy of...
RAGOLER, ABRAHAM BEN SOLOMON – Lithuanian Talmudist of the eighteenth century; born at Wilna; brother of Elijah b. Solomon (Elijah Wilna). Ragoler was preacher at Shklov and the author of "Ma'alot ha-Torah" (2d ed., Königsberg, 1851), a collection of Talmudic...
RAGOLER, ELIJAH BEN JACOB – Early Proficiency. Russian rabbi and cabalist; born at Neustadt Sugind, government of Kovno, in 1794; died at Kalisz Nov. 5, 1849; a descendant of Mordecai Jaffe through Ẓebi Hirsch Ashkenazi (Ḥakam Ẓebi). After Ragoler's...
RAGSTATT, FRIEDRICH VON WEILA – Convert to Christianity; born in Germany 1648. His Jewish name was probably Weil, whence his surname von Weila. He embraced Christianity at Cleves in 1671, and became pastor in a Dutch village. Ragstatt was author of the...
RAGUSANO, AARON BEN DAVID HAKOHEN – See Aaron ben David Cohen of Ragusa.
RAHAB – Originally a mythical name designating the abyss or the sea; subsequently applied to Egypt. Job ix. 13 and xxvi. 12 indicate that it is an alternative for "Tiamat," the Babylonian name of the dragon of darkness and chaos; Ps....