be the most popular date. Presburg observes this fast-day on the 22d of the 'Omer days {17th of lyyar) ; Prague, on the eve of the new moon of Shebat; Kiev, on the 15th of Kislew. The members of the hebra had certain privileges at the synagogue : they distributed the honors on Hosha'na Rabbah, and on the eve of Simhat Torah the president was escorted to the synagogue under a canopy by torch-bearers (Mapu, "Ha-'Ayit Zabua'," iii. 54). Not infre- quently friction occurred between the hebra and the congregation ; this has been especially the case in modern times, when the congregations have been inclined to Liberalism, and the hebra has been the center of Orthodoxy. On one occasion in Furth the civil authorities were compelled to interfere ("AUg. Zeit. des Jud." 1841, pp. 337 et seq.). In the congregations of to-day, however, especially in large cities, the voluntary performance of the duties to the dead is no longer common, and the functions of the hebra have become attached to certain of the communal offices or fire performed by paid workers. See Watohek.
Bibliography : Jelteles, Zihkaron le-Tom Aharofi, Prague, 1828-30; Immatiuel Low und Solomon KlelQ, A Szegedi Chevra 1787 tOl 1887, Szegedin, 1887; AUg. Zeit. des Jud. 1888, pp. 167, 237 ; Ottolenghl, Oriyine della Helira Chednscia. in II Vessilln Israelitico, 1894, p. 395 ; G. Well, Die JUdUschen Friedhnfe und die Chewra Kadisclm in TFteTi, Vienna, 1879; Kupernik, Le-lyorot Bene Tisrael he- Kiew., Berdychev, 1891 ; S. Weisz, Abne Bet hOr-Yozer, Paks, 1900 ; Omstein, Laws and Bue-Laws of the BuriaJ Society of the United Stjnagogue, London, 1902 ; I. Gratzer, Geseh. der Israelitischen Krankenverpflequngaanstalt und Beer- dioungsgesellschaft zu Breslau, Breslau, 1841 ; B. Beer, Bede hei der HundertjUh^^en Gederkfeier der Chewra Ka- discha in jyresden, Dresden, 1850; Emll Lehmann, Zur Geseh. der Juden in Dresden, lb. 1875 ; Ben Chananja, 1865. A. D.
HEBBAH SE'UDAH. See Hebka Kaddisha.
HEBRAISTS, CHRISTIAN: The work of
Christian scliolars in the field of Hebrew literature
demands special treatment, not only as part of the
history of Jewish literature itself, but also as an in-
dication of the relation which existed between .lews
and Christians at various epochs. The neglect by
Christians of this study has given rise to many of
the false ideas in regard to the Jews and their history
which have been current down to the present day.
The early fathers of the Christian Church recognized
the necessity of understanding the ideas of the
mother Synagogue, and got their knowledge of He-
brew traditions {i.e., the Haggadah) from their Jew-
ish teachers. This is seen especially in the exegesis
of Justin Martyr, Aphraates, Ephraem Syrus, and
Origen. Jerome's teachers are even mentioned by
name — e.g., Bar Hanina (Hananiah). This knowl-
edge, however, gradually grew less and less as the
separation between Church and Synagogue became
wider.
What was known of Jewish literature came to the scholastics entirely through translations, as can be seen in the works of Albertus Magnus. That The Venerable Bede (673-735) knew anything of Hebrew may be doubted, despite the testimony of Hody in his " De Bihliorum Textibus " (1705). The same may be said of Alcuin (b. 785); but the " Magis- ter Andreas, natione Anglus" mentioned by Roger Bacon, and identified by S. R. Hirsch with an Au- gustinian monk who lived about 1150, must at least have been able to read the Bible in the Hebrew orig-
inal. Bacon himself (b. c. 1210) was "a tolerable Hebrew scholar." It was not, however, until the end of the fifteenth century that the Renaissance and the Reformation, while awakening a new inter- est in the classics, brought about a return to the original text of Scripture and an attempt to under- stand the later literature of the Jews. Hleronymus Buclidius, the friend of Erasmus, gave more than 20,000 francs to establish a Hebrew chairat Louvain ; Francis called to the chair of Hebrew at the Univer- sity of Paris Elijah Levita, the friend of Cardinal jEgidius of Viterbo. Cardinal Grimani and other dignitaries, both of the state and of the Church, studied Hebrew and the Cabala with Jewish teachers; even the warrior Guido Rangoni attempted the He- brew language with the aid of Jacob Mantino ( 1526). Pico de la Miraudola (d. 1494) was the In first to collect Hebrew manuscripts,
the Renaissance.
and Reuchlin was the first to write a modern grammar of the Hebrew language. But interest still centered wholly around the Bible and the expository literature immediately connected therewith. During the whole of the sixteenth century It was Hebrew grammar and Jewish exegesis that claimed attention. Christian scholars were not ashamed to sit at the feet of Jewish teachers. Sebastian Milnsterfd. 1552) was known as a grammarian ; Pellicanus (d. 1556) and Pagninus (d. 1541), as lexicographers ; Bomberg (d. 1549), as a printer of Hebrew books. Arius Mon- tanus (d. 1598) edited the Masorah and the " Travels of Benjamin of Tudela." Widmanstadt (1523), liv- ing in a colony of Spanish Jewish refugees in Naples, studied Hebrew with David ibn Yahya and Baruch of Benevento, and collected the Hebrew manu- scripts which formed the basis of the Hebrew divi- sion of the Royal Library at Munich. Vatable (d. 1547) made use of Rashi's commentary. Conrad Gesner (d. 1565) was the first Christian to compile a catalogue of Hebrew books ; Christmann (d. 1613) busied himself with the Jewish calendar, and Dru- sius (d. 1616) with the ethical writings of the Jews. Johannes Buxtorf (d. 1629) marks a turning-point in the study of Jewish literature by Christians. He not only studied the Targum and the Talmud, but endeavored to understand Jewish history, and he was the first real bibliographer. Even women showed an interest in the subject — Anna Maria Schurman, the "star of the century," in Holland; Dorothea Moore in England ; Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689); Maria Dorothea, consort of the Duke of Saxe- Weimar ; Elizabeth, daughter of Fred- erick of the Palatinate; Maria Eleanora, wife of Charles Ludwig of the Palatinate; Antonia, daugh- ter of Duke Eberhard of Wiirttemberg. Through the influence of Buxtorf a serious attempt was made to understand the post-Biblical literature, and many of the most important works were translated into Latin. In this connection the following names may be mentioned: Coccejus (d. 1667); Seven- L'Empereur (d. 1648); Llghtfoot (d. teentli 1675); Leusden (d. 1699); and espe- Century. cially Surenhuis (1698), who gave a complete translation of the Mishnali ; Jewish theology was studied by Carpzov (d. 1699), Wagenseil (1705 ; whose letters show the care he took
