RAPPOLTSWEILER – Town of Upper Alsace. The earliest known official document concerning its Jews dates from 1321. In that year Louis IV., Emperor of Germany, transferred the Jews of Rappoltsweiler to the Sieur de Ribeaupierre as surety for a loan...
RASCHKOW, LAZAR (ELEAZAR) – German physician and writer; born at Raschkow, province of Posen, 1798; died Aug. 2, 1870. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, who was the local rabbi, and at an early age took a position as tutor at...
RASCHKOW, SÜSSKIND – German poet; died at Breslau April 12, 1836. He was the author of the following works: "Yosef we-Asenat," a drama (1817); "Ḥayye Shimshon," an epic poem (1824); and "Ṭal Yaldut," poems and proverbs (1835).Bibliography: Zunz,...
RASCHPITZ (RASCHWITZ), Ḥayyim – Scholar of the seventeenth century; martyred, probably at Prague. He wrote the prayer "'Iyyun Tefillah," on the persecutions and the martyrdoms of Prague (2d ed., Amsterdam, 1671; 4th ed., Dessau, 1671; 5th ed., with German...
RASHBA – See Adret, Solomon ben Abraham.
RASHBAM – See Samuel ben Meïr.
RASHI (SOLOMON BAR ISAAC) – His Teachers. French commentator on Bible and Talmud; born at Troyes in 1040; died there July 13, 1105. His fame has made him the subject of many legends. The name of Yarḥi, applied to him as early as the sixteenth century,...
RASHI CHAPEL – See Rashi; Worms.
RATHAUS, ABRAHAM B. MENAHEM MANISH – Colophon of the First Edition of Rashi on the Pentateuch, the First Dated Hebrew Book.(Finished 10th of Adar, 5235 = Feb. 5, 1475.)(In the public library at Parma, Italy.)Russian pioneer of the "haskalah" movement; died in...
RATHENAU, WALTHER – German naturalist, banker, and writer; born in Berlin Sept. 29, 1867; educated at the universities of Berlin (M. D. 1889) and Strasburg. In 1891 he entered as scientific assistant the service of a joint-stock company in the...
RATIBOR – See Silesia.
RATISBON – Bavarian city; capital of the Upper Palatinate; formerly a free city of the German empire. The great age of the Jewish community in this city is indicated by the tradition that a Jewish colony existed there before the common...
RATISBONNE, ALPHONSE-MARIE – French convert to Catholicism; brother of Marie-Théodore Ratisbonne; born at Strasburg May 1, 1812; died at Jerusalem May 6, 1884. After taking his degree in law he visited Rome, where he abjured the Jewish faith (Jan. 20,...
RATISBONNE, MARIE-THÉODORE – French convert to Catholicism; born at Strasburg Dec. 18, 1802; died at Paris Jan. 10, 1884; son of the president of the Jewish consistory of Strasburg. He practised law until his conversion to Catholicism in 1826, when he took...
RATNER, DOB BAER BEN ABRAHAM BEZALEEL – Russian Talmudist; born at Wilna about 1845. He is the author of: "Mebo la-Seder 'Olam Rabbah," on Josef ben Ḥalafta's historical work (Wilna, 1894); "Seder 'Olam Rabbah," a critical edition of the text of the "Seder 'Olam...
RATNER, ISAAC – Russian mathematician; born at Shklov in 1857. He has written mathematical and astronomical articles for various journals, and is the author of "Mishpaṭ Emet" (St. Petersburg, 1884), a criticism on Lichtenfeld's pamphlets...
RAUDNITZ – Town of Bohemia. According to tradition it is one of the oldest three communities of Bohemia, the other two being Bunzlau and Kolin (the mnemonic word is ). The ancient cemetery was situated near the present Kapuzinergarten,...
RAUNHEIM, SALY (SAMUEL HIRSCH BEN MENAHEM) – American mining-engineer; born in Frankfort-on-the-Main June 7, 1838; died in New York city Sept. 9, 1904. He was educated in his native city and at the universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg, and in 1861 became engaged in the...
RAUSUK, SAMSON – Hebrew poet; born at Wilkowiski, Lithuania, in 1793; died in London Sept. 11, 1877. He pursued at his native place the career of a merchant. On the occasion of the visit of Sir Moses Montefiore to Russia in 1846, Rausuk was one...