Jews and Judaism

AHARONI, ISRAEL To AH ERIM (Jews and Judaism)

AHARONI, ISRAEL (1882-1946), Erez; Israel naturalist and zoologist. Aharoni was born in Vidzy, near Vilna, and studied at the University of Prague. In 1904 he settled in Jerusalem, where he taught French and German in a Sephardi talmud torah, and later, Hebrew in the newly founded *Bezalel School of Art. Aharoni’s interest in zoology led […]

AHIJAH To AISH HATORAH (Jews and Judaism)

AHIJAH (Heb "my [or the] brother is yhwh"), son of *Ahitub, priest of the house of Eli (i Sam. 14:3). Ahijah was apparently the chief priest in Shiloh during the reign of Saul (cf. Jos., Ant., 4:107), although his name does not appear in the list of chief priests in i Chronicles 6:50-55 and in […]

AI T’lEN To AKHENATON or AKHENATEN (Jews and Judaism)

AI T’lEN (b. c. 1545), Chinese Jew through whom detailed knowledge of Chinese Jewry first reached the Western world at the beginning of the 17th century. Ai T’ien was born in *Kai-feng, Honan province, and obtained his licentiate in Chinese classics as a minor school official (chu-jen) in 1573. In 1605 he went to Peking […]

AKIROV, ALFRED To AKRON (Jews and Judaism)

AKIROV, ALFRED (1941- ), Israeli entrpreneur. Akirov built a business empire ranging from real estate and hotels to high-tech, securing his position as one of the country’s leading businessman, known for his determination and sound business instincts. He was born in Iraq in 1941 and immigrated in his childhood to Israel with his parents. He […]

AKZIN, BENJAMIN To ALBAHARI, DAVID (Jews and Judaism)

AKZIN, BENJAMIN (1904-1985), constitutional lawyer and political scientist. Akzin was born in Riga, Latvia, received doctorates from the universities of Vienna and Paris, lectured in various American universities, and was a Library of Congress expert on matters of law and international relations. He went to Israel in 1949 and joined the faculty of the Hebrew […]

ALBA IULIA To ALBERTUS MAGNUS (Jews and Judaism)

ALBA IULIA (in the Roman period Apulum; Hung. Gyulafe-hervar; medieval Latin Alba Carolina; Ger. Karlsburg, also Weyssenburg; referred to in Yiddish and Hebrew sources by the German name Karlsburg; in Ladino sources Carlosburg), city in Transylvania. Alba Iulia was the seat of residence of the princes of Transylvania in the 16th and 17th centuries; for […]

ALBI To ALCONIERE, THEODORE (Jews and Judaism)

ALBI Town in France. The church council held at Albi in 1254 issued a number of canons (63-70) embodying anti-Jewish restrictive measures. One or two Jewish families resided in Albi toward the end of the 13th century. A few settled there after 1315 without authorization from the local authorities. In 1320 several were massacred by […]

ALCONSTANTINI To ALEPPO (Jews and Judaism)

ALCONSTANTINI Family of Jewish courtiers in 13th-century Aragon probably originating from Constantine, North Africa. Nahmanides refers to them disapprovingly as "the Ishmael-ites of the court." Many members of the family were hated by the ordinary Jews for their arrogance and lack of sensitivity to the social problems of their community. The first members to attain […]

ALES To ALEXANDER LYSIMACHUS (Jews and Judaism)

ALES (or Alez; until 1926, Alais; f’Vx in Hebrew sources), town in Provence, S.E. France. There was a Jewish community there in the Middle Ages. Solomon b. Abraham *Adret refers in a responsum to a custom followed in the communities "between Narbonne and Alais." The text of the oath used by Ales Jewry is mentioned […]

"ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS To ALFANDARI, HAYYIM BEN ISAAC RAPHAEL (Jews and Judaism)

"ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS (end of second century-beginning of third century c.E.), Greek philosopher, commentator on the writings of *Aristotle, and author of independent works. Alexander was important for his system-atization of Aristotle’s thought and for the formulation of a number of distinct doctrines, especially in psychology. A number of his commentaries and independent works were […]

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