Jews and Judaism

ABRAHAM BEN ELIEZER HA-LEVI BERUKHIM To ABRAHAM BEN N… HA-BAGHDADI (Jews and Judaism)

ABRAHAM BEN ELIEZER HA-LEVI BERUKHIM (c. 1515-1593), pious ascetic and Safed kabbalist. Born in Morocco, he immigrated to Palestine probably before 1565. In Safed he joined Moses *Cordovero’s circle and became a friend of Elijah de *Vidas. When Isaac *Luria went to Safed (late 1569), Abraham joined his school and was a member of its […]

ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL HE-HASID To ABRAMOVITSH, SHOLEM YANKEV (Jews and Judaism)

ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL HE-HASID (of Speyer; 12th century), rabbi and liturgical poet, the brother of R. *Judah b. Samuel he-Hasid. Abraham b. Samuel and *Judah b. Kal-onymus, together with R. Shemariah b. Mordecai, later constituted the bet din of *Speyer, and are referred to as "the wise men of Speyer." *Eliezer b. Nathan of Mainz […]

ABRAHAM, DAVID To ABRAHAM BEN ELIEZER HA-LEVI (Jews and Judaism)

ABRAHAM, DAVID (1909- ), Indian motion picture actor. Born in Bombay of a Bene Israel family, he used David as his professional name. Though trained in law, he took up acting in 1937 and subsequently appeared in over 100 Hindustani films, becoming widely known for his comedy roles. He toured the U.S. in 1952 as […]

ABRAMOVITZ, MAX To ABU (Jews and Judaism)

ABRAMOVITZ, MAX (1908-2004), U.S. architect, born in Chicago. From 1947 to 1952 Abramovitz was deputy director of the Planning Office of the United Nations. He was partner in the firm of Harrison & Abramovitz, which built the United Nations Secretariat, New York (1950). The design incorporated the ideas of an international panel of architects that […]

ABU AL-FADL HASDAY To ABULAFIA, TODROS BEN JOSEPH HA-LEVI (Jews and Judaism)

ABU AL-FADL HASDAY (late tenth century), Spanish scholar. According to the 13th-century Arab biographer Ibn Abi Usaybi’a, Abu al-Fadl, who lived in Saragossa, was a member of a distinguished Andalusian Jewish family of priestly descent. He was competent in medicine, philosophy, arithmetic, and music. He had a good knowledge of both Arabic and Hebrew. Moses […]

ABULAFIA, TODROS BEN JUDAH HA-LEVI To AGAN, MOSES DE TARREGA (Jews and Judaism)

ABULAFIA, TODROS BEN JUDAH HA-LEVI (1247-af-ter 1298), Hebrew poet. He was born in Toledo and spent most of his life there. Todros was a member of a well-known family of the city, although his kinships with other Abulafias, such as Meir *Abulafia, or with "the Rav," Todros ben Joseph *Abulafia, are not completely clear. The […]

ACE, GOODMAN To ACRABA (Jews and Judaism)

ACE, GOODMAN (1899-1982), U.S. humorist. Born in Kansas City, Mo., as Goodman Aiskowitz, he was an actor, comedian, and writer who supplied dozens of performers with funny things to say but also became well known for the mal-apropisms he provided for his wife on a nationally heard radio program that ran from 1930 to 1945. […]

ACRE To ADAM (Jews and Judaism)

ACRE (Heb.Ptolemais; St.Jean d’Acre) coastal city in northern Israel situated on a promontory at the northern end of the Bay of Haifa, 14 mi. (23 km.) north of Haifa, in the Acre Coastal Plain. Ancient Acre Ancient Acre is first mentioned in the Egyptian Execration Texts (c. 1800 b.c.e.) and it appears after the battle […]

ADAM To ADELSON, HOWARD LAURENCE (Jews and Judaism)

ADAM (Heb. city on the eastern bank of the Jordan River mentioned in Joshua 3:16 as the place where the Jordan ceased flowing at the time of the Israelite crossing. It also appears in the inscriptions of Pharaoh Shishak (10th century B.c.E.). King Solomon’s foundries were in the vicinity of Adam (1 Kings 7:46; 11 […]

ADELSTEINROZEANU, ANGELICA To ADLER, EMANUEL PHILIP (Jews and Judaism)

ADELSTEINROZEANU, ANGELICA (1921-2006), Romanian table tennis player; considered the greatest female table tennis player in history, winning 18 world titles, including six straight singles championships from 1950 to 1955. Born in Bucharest, Romania, Adelstein-Rozeanu was the first Romanian woman to win a world title in any sport. She began playing at the age of nine […]

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