THEBES – Ancient and famous city of Greece; capital of Bœotia. Although there is no documentary evidence of the presence of Jews at Thebes in antiquity, it may be assumed that they resided there, since their coreligionists had lived from...
THEFT (V12p123001.jpg) AND STOLEN GOODS – The Moral Aspect: To steal is to break one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not steal"; and it is immaterial whether one steals from an Israelite or from an idolatrous Gentile, from an adult or from a child. The value of a...
THEOCRACY – Derived from Josephus. System of state organization and government in which God is recognized as the ruler in whose name authority is exercised by His chosen agents, the Priests or the Prophets. The word in its technical meaning...
THEODOR, JULIUS (JUDAH) – German rabbi; born Dec. 28, 1849, at Schmalleningken, East Prussia. He studied philosophy and Orientalia at the University of Breslau and rabbinica at the Jewish theological seminary in the same city. After receiving from...
THEODORA – Queen of Bulgaria from 1335 to 1355; born at Tirnova la Grande, capital of the ancient kingdom of Bulgaria, of a family of Byzantine Jews, from whom she received the Greek name of Theodora, although she was called also Sarah and...
THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA – Christian bishop and Church father; born and educated at Antioch; died at Mopsuestia about 429; teacher of Nestorius and Theodoret, and the foremost exegete of the school of Antioch, which was represented also by Lucian,...
THEODOSIA – See Kaffa.
THEODOTION – Used in Daniel for Septuagint. One of the Greek translators of the Old Testament (see Jew. Encyc. iii. 187, s.v. Bible Translations). He is the supposed author of one of the two extant Greek versions of the Book of Daniel and...
THEOLOGY – The science that treats of God and of His relation to the world in general and to man in particular; in a less restricted sense, the didactic representation of the contents and essence of a religion. Jewish theology, therefore,...
THEOPHANY – Manifestation of a god to man; the sensible sign by which the presence of a divinity is revealed. If the word is taken in this sense, and the passages which merely mention the fact of a revelation without describing it are...
THEOPHILUS – High priest; son of Anan, and brother of Jonathan, who was deposed by Vitellius in 37 C.E. in favor of Theophilus (Josephus, "Ant." xviii. 5, § 3). He officiated for about three years, when he was succeeded by Simon Cantheras....
THEOSOPHY – See Cabala.
THERAPEUTÆ – Depicted by Philo. A community of Jewish ascetics settled on Lake Mareotis in the vicinity of Alexandria at the time of Philo, who alone, in his work "De Vita Contemplativa," has preserved a record of their existence. The fact...
THESSALONICA – See Salonica.
THESSALY – Province of northern Greece, on the Ægean Sea. It numbered Jews among its inhabitants at a very early date, although those that now (1905) live there speak Spanish and claim to be descendants of refugees who emigrated from...
THEUDAS – 1. Pseudo-Messiah, who appeared during the consulate of Cuspius Fadus and succeeded in winning a large number of adherents. In proof of his Messianic mission he is said to have promised to lead his followers across the Jordan...
THIEF – See Theft and Stolen Goods.
THIENGEN – See Typography.
THISTLES – See Thorns and Thistles.
THOMAS, EMILE (EMIL TOBIAS) – German actor; born at Berlin Nov. 24, 1836. Thomas has had a most varied career. He made his début in 1852 with the company of Pitterlin, which traversed the Erzgebirge, Saxony. The plays were ultrasensational—"Der Wahnsinnige,"...
THOMAS, FATHER – See Damascus Affair.
THOMASHEFSKI, BORIS – Judæo-German actor; born at Kiev May 30, 1866. He went to New York to seek work in 1881 and soon organized a Jewish troop which played in Turn Hall, Fourth street. Three years later he removed to Chicago, where he became a...
THORN – Town of West Prussia, founded in 1233 by the Knights of the Teutonic Order. Jews were not permitted to dwell in Thorn while the knights held sway; and after the Polish government took possession of the town, in 1453, they were...
THORNS AND THISTLES – The desert flora of Palestine is unusually rich in thorns and thistles, containing a whole series of acanthaceous shrubs and various thistles, including Acanthus, Carduus (thistle), Centaurea Calcitrapa (star-thistle), Cirsium...
THRASHING-FLOOR – See Agriculture.