"
Abraham
ibn Alfacbar
THE JEWISU ENCYCLOPEDIA
Abraham, Bernard
ABRAHAM IBN ALFACHAR. 8ie Ai.faAr.iiMivM n:N ABRAHAM ALFAaUIN. See Alfaqcin. Ami Ml M ABRAHAM ALGAZI. See Algazi, AbraABRAHAM AL-TABIB. See Al-Tabib, Ar.ll AIIAM ABRAHAM AMIGO. See Amoo, ABRAnAM. ABRAHAM OF ARAGON A skilful oculist,
CiiAi:,
sulTered martyrdom in 1298) and by the liturgical poet Moses ben Jacob. UiBLiocRAPiiY: Zunz. .S. P. pp. avi, :MU hen llilkl^ pp. 4(Mii and apiMMidl.x I.:
nchrift,
ls;;t.
pp.
r>i:t,
of the tliirtfeulli cenShortly after the Council of IJeziei'S. in Vi-ld, tury. liiici forbidden Jewish physiciiius to prnctise. Abraliani was requested by Alphonse. count of I'oitou and Toulouse, and brother of Louis IX. of France. The count to treat him for an atTcclion of the eye. at tirst implored Abraham's help in vain; for lie. bcinjr a man of indeiiendeni spiiit, held stoutly to the opinion that even the brother of a king was not exempt from the decreeof a council. It wasonlyafler the seigneurof Lunel. with the assistance of his Jewish agent, had persistently pleaded with Abraham that the latter consented to cure the count. lid
llourisliid
ISiBLioGRAPnv:
ill
tin- iii(l(il<-
Griitz, Ga>c}i.
dcr Judcn,
2(1
ed., vll. lit.
L,
ABRAHAM ARYEH LOEB
HA-LEVI
G
JUDAH
B.
A Taliinidii- aulhoi and rabbi, who lived at Sli'vzhow (Galieia, Austria) at the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the
His works, bearing the general title (A Lion's ('omment), contain: (1) "Eben Pinnah" (The Corner-Stone). dealing with tlie Jewish laws concerning family life; (3) "Otot La-Sliauiayim " (The Signs of Heaven), on circum<'ision, i)hylacteries. Sabbath, and festivals; (3) " Hok u-Mislipat " (Law and Justice), on civil law (Lcmnineteenth.
An"
"Derishat
berg, 1804; Jitomir, 1805). Bibliography: W«lden, Shcm ha-GedoUm he-Hadash,pA~i Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 113.
MB
ABRAHAM (ASHER JACOB) BEN ARTEH LOEB ?;ALMANKES. Sec Asiiion, jAcon AliHAH.V.M liKN .KVl:ll I;<1KU KaLMANKKS. ABRAHAM (BEN GEDALIAH) BEN ASHER (=ABA): A
eoiunieutator; native of Safed, Syria held rabbinical olHce at Aleppo in tlie second half of the si.Meentli century. He was a pupil of Joseph Caro (1488-1575), with Avhoni In later years he maintained a learned correspondence. Abraiiam wrote a commentary on the Midrash Rabbot,
entitled i)3C'n niX ("The Light of Reason"), only a that on Genesis RabbaU has been jiart of Avhich published under the subtitle "Ma'adanne Melek (Royal Delicacies), Venice, 1567, by his brother-inlaw, Senior ben Judah Falcon of Venice. The other parts of the conunentary are still e.xtant in manuscript, and include also a midrashie commeutary attributed to Rashi. Bibliography: Ro-st, Catdhiu <li:r Kiwciif/iol'schcii BibUuthek, i. 34 Benjarub. (Mar ha-Scfarim, p. 28. vr B.
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ABRAHAM BEN ASUS DE BOTJRGXJEIL. FMli.v. ABRAHAM AUERBACH. See Atjerbach, AliliAllAAI ABRAHAM OF AUGSBURG: Proselyte to See Bl
itoii,
Judaism died a martyrs death Nov. 21, 1265. He seems to have adopted his new faith -with such
enthusiasm that he publicly assailed Christianity and attacked images of the saints, for which he was sentenced to torture and death. tracted considerable attention, and ject of elegies
by Mordecai ben
The it
incident at-
forms the sub-
Hillel
(who himself
SH
snitfUI.
S.
ABRAHAM
Kolin, Miirdcnii
IVrlt-s, In Mixiatii'
Marliinihmium des lYUni-
q OF AVILA: A pseudo-Messiah
bcrocr McwoiliuvhcK.pp.'Ji.liV.lSIO.
ji i
V
98
t
and wonderwdrker, who llvcil at the end of the Ihirteenlh century. There seems to be some doubt concerning the name of this man, though the facts are well attested by Solomon ben Adret and the apostate Abner of Burgos. The mystic propaganda carried on in Sjiain l)v Abraham Abulatia inlluenced at least two men to turn to their own advantage the credulous excitability of the people. Nothing is
known of the private life of this pseudo-JIe.ssiah other than that he was an ignorant man, unable either to read or to write, and that he made the acquaintance of Abulalia in Messina. He claimed that by the intervention of an angel he had written a voluminous work, nD3nn niN?D (" Wonders of 'Wisdom "), and a eonimeiitaiy upon it. Abraham came to the community of Avila, Spain, with a forged letter from David Ashkenazi, calling first upon Solomon ben Adret. In perplexity the community turned to Adret, the greatest rabbinical authority of that day. for advice as to the attitude to be maintained toward the new pio])het. Adret, without directly condemning him, exjircssed strong doubts as to his prophetic gifts. Prophec.v, he .Sfiid, did not rest upon an ignorant man, nor was it a time for prophetic inspiration; furthermore, the prophetic gift was given l)y God in Palestine exFor these reasons Adret urged care and clusively. further investigation into the reputed miracles.
The community took him
at his word, and awaited with curiosity the last day of the fourth month of the day on which the Messianic time the year 1295 was to begin. The peojile assembled in the .synagogue in the white burial garments used on the Day of Atonement; and the story goes that on these garments small cros.ses appeared. Such an im])ression
—
was made
uiion
Abner
of
Burgos by
this " miracle,"
helped toward his conversion about twentylive years later. that
it
Bibi.iooraphy: Solomon bon .4dret, Rf.'jioH.ia, No. IMS, whloh has been wronplv talien bv Landauer and Jelllnek to refer to Abulalia (Slcinscfinelder, Ji u: Lit. p. 'M 8 47). From the responsuiii in iiiirsiinn it is inijH'ssililf tot^-ii wiietherthennine of tile fahe [)r('i'htt w;i.s M.ssiiii bt-n .lirahaMi. ils I'erles (Salomi) hen .1 ilm th, p. r»t siiiiposcs. or whetlier Nissliii wa.s the bearer of a letter to Adret cii the .subject, a-s Kaufiiiann, In liev. For Alfonso (Abnerj of Burt^t. Juives, .x.x.wi. ~-'vS, thluks. pos. see liev. £t. Jnii^es, xvill. 57, 5s ; coiupare also Griitz, Geach. der Judcn. 2d ed., vil. 318-;i21 ; Mi/uatitiiehrift. 1887. p.
.5.57.
G.
ABRAHAM BEN AZRIEL OF BOHEMIA A Bohemian Talmudist and grammarian, avIio nourished in the first half of the thirteenth century and probably lived at Prague. Among his works, yet unpublished, is a commentary on the JIahzor, entitled "Arugat lia-Bosem " (Bed of Spices), probably the most ancient Jewish literary effort in any Slavonic country. In this Abraham shows himself to have been a faithful follower of the scholars of northern France, who. uniiilluenced by Arabo-S|i:iiiisli jihilosophy. devoted their attention solely to the Bible and the Talmud. As a Talmudist Abraham exhibited a strong tendency to casuistry, while as a Bible cxegete he was simple and sotind. Avorking chiefly after the method of RaSHBaM, whose commentary he often quotes. It is not certain that he enjoyed iictual jHisonal intercourse Avith his French brethren; he may have been influenced only by their literary productions.
