"
Tlic cxiilanation of many obscure Hebrew words by llieir IJoliiniian equivalents in Abnihani's work shows that III- .lews of Bohemia at that time made use of the vernacular; and some of the Bohemian expressions there adduced are among the oldest in I
the language. BiHLMKJR.KPHV fchrift. 1H77. aiill :!7II,
Berliner's Maiiazin,
iip. :i<liKi;:i
41l>l-*.i; IHMi, pp.
I,
3 ; Perles, In Munalnibid, imsi, pp. illi-.iH,
2,
Kaufmann,
VMitxq. L. G.
ABRAHAM BALI BEN JACOB. See Rait. Ai;i: Ml M ABRAHAM DE BALMES (or DE PALMIS)
BEN MEIR
Italian jiliysiciau and translate' of born at Leeee, in the old till- early sixteenth eentiiry short kiiifrdoni of Naples; died at Venice, l.'iilS. time liefore his death he was physician in ordinary See to the cardinal Doniinieo Grimani at Padua. Sleinsehneider, "llelir. Bilil." xxi. 7 and G7; " Hebr. I'ebers." p. lii; Perles. "Beitriige, " pp. 193, 107, etc. Tlirough his Latin translations of many Hebrew
A
works on philosoiihy and astronomy lie attained a great reputation in the Cliristian world. He dedicated to Cardinal Grimani two of these translations: (1) of an aslroMomieal work in Arabic by Ibn alHeitliam (died llKBs), which had been translated into Hebrew by .Jacob ben Machir, in 1372. under the title "Liber de .Mimdo"; (>) of the "Farewell Letter" of the Arabic philosopher Ibn Baga (Avempace), which he translated from the Hebrew under the title "Epistola- Expeditionis " (MS. Vat. No. 8Mi)7. The dedication is imblished in "Kevue des In Padua Abraham deliv£tudes .luives." v. li~)) ered philosophical addresses to Christian audiences. He also comiiiled a Hebrew grammar, in which he attempted to treat iihilosophically the construction of the Hebrew language and to refute the opinions of the eminent granimarian Uavid Kimhi. In this work Abraham was the first to treat the syntax (which lie called in Hebrew hnrkabah) as a special iiiiil of the grammar. The liook was published, with a Latin translation and a supiilenientary treatise on the Hebrew accents, under the title ".Mikneh Abram." by Maestro (Culo) Kalonymosben David, a well known translator. Griltz ("(iescli. der .Iiiden," ix. 'iT)) suggests, without evidence, that the printer Daniel Boniberg (who is supposed to have learned Hebrew from Bulmes) translated this grammar. At his death, honoi-s were paid to his memory by his Chris .
tiiin
pupils.
UiiiLKHiluriiv: .Stt'lnsolinelder, Cat. Bndl. rol. 687; Idem, Hrhr. rihcrv. H aOB, 348, .581; Idem, BihllngraphlMlini llandliiicli. N.I. IW, l^lpsle, 185l>; T. Wllles/."s dLvsenmiun, BuduiH-tl,
islkl.
H. M.
ABRAHAM BEN BARUCH brother of
Meir of Kol
lieiibiirg;
Writer on ritual lived in southern
Germany about the end of the thirteenth century. He wrote " Sefer Sinai " (The Book of Sinai), a colof legal and ritiialislic deeisioiis, compiled from dilTerent rabbinical authorities. The work is still extiint in manuscript at Wittenberg. According to the copyist, the word »J»D was chosen by the iiiilhor us the tith' on acconnl of its having the numerical value of mi]! (" humility ") but it is really one les.s; the copyist evidently counted the word it.seir as an additional unit. Aliraham is mentioned by hisr-onlemporary H. Jlordecai l>. Ilillel Ashkeiia/.i. the author of the "Mordecai" (on tJit. ^ 40-1). UiliuiiOKAI'iiv Mlilmel. Or hii-lliiiiiliiii. No. 08; Ziiiiz, Z. (1. li'i'lion
p. IIC!; Ik'njiuxili,
(Mur liu-S(farim,
i>.
41U.
M. B.
ABRAHAM BEN BARUCH MIZRA^I. See
Abraham
THE JEWISH EXCYCLOPEDIA
99
,Ii/.u.lll,
.llll.MIM
Ivl.N
liMllill
ABRAHAM
ibn Alfachar
Abraham, Beruard
OF BEJA: A
learned
Jew who
lived in Alenitejo. Portugal, during the latter half of the tifiecnlh century. Being an extensive traveler, he knew many languages, and tor that reason King John H. ordered him to accompany Jo.seph Zapateiro of Lanugo upon the latter's expedition to discover Covilhani, who had himself been sent in search of the mythical Christian king, Pre.ster John. They discovered Covilham in Lower Egypt, and brought back news of his welfare, together with information that led to the epoch-making voyage of
Vasco da (Jama. liiiiLiocinPiiY
(iriilz,
Grsrh. d. Juden, viil. .")80 (in the Engerroneously given as Abraimm de
lish iniiisliiliciii llils niinii. is
Hryiii;
CnhniilniK, pp. 19, a); Jacobs, SUirii of (i'jinii<n'i"ii I'i'i'ii'irii.ii.m. -^y j£ KiiyscrliiiL.'.
ABRAHAM BENDIG. SeeBEXDiG.AnR. ..v. ABRAHAM BEN BENJAMIN AARON: . Polisli Taliiiuilisl of the first liuli' of the seventeenth century, died at Brest. Lithuania, in 1G42. He was rabbi at Taruopol in 163C, and otliciated in other Polisli towns. In the latter year he was called to the lalibinate of Brest, then the largest community in Poland, and remained there till iiis death. The leading rabbis of that time JoelSirkes, Meir KolienZedek. and Habbi Hcschel, of Cracow treat him in their writings with the greatest respect and veneration. Besides his responsa, contained in the works of the above-mentioned rabbis, he also left scholia to the "'Pur Oral.i Hayyini," which are ap-
—
—
pended to his lather's work. His father, Bkn.i.vmix Aaison (died 1620), was the author of "ilasat Binyauiin," a collection of responsa, Bini.indRAPiiv: Felnsteln, 'Ir TeMllah, pp. 28. 118. 136. 154, 170, sua. Warsaw, 18»« ; Mlcbael. Or ha-Hauuim, No. Hi.
L. G.
ABRAHAM BEN
BRISKER:
BENJAMIN ZE'EB
Polish aiillioror the seveiilieiith een-
went to 'ienna. and. on the expulsion of the Jews from that city in 1670, went to Brest, Lithuania, wli<re he married a daughter of Elijah LipschUtz. He was the author of " 'Asarah Maamarot (Ten Words), a w ork treating of the ten divine words which, according to Pirke Abot (v, 1), were used in the creation of the world;alsoof the Decalogue, publiiiy.
Iti.'^ll at Flambiirg or Frankfort on-the-()der. In KiS,') he published "Zera' Abraham" (.Vbraliam's Seed), on the connection of the weekly lessons in their Pentateiiihal order. In 1698 he wrote the cabalistic treatisi-, " Perush 'al Eser 'Atarot "(Commentary on the Ten Crowns), on the Decalogue, in which .Vbrahani mentions his intention to emigrate to Palestine. The additions to the " Yefeh March " (Fair of Countenance) of Samuel Jaffe (.mslerdam, 17'27), attriliuted to Abraham by Steinschneider ("Cat, Bo(ll."col. '21'27), are not his, but were written by Aliniliam Hellen, rablii in Glo.gau, and author of a commentary on .Midrasli Kabbah. BiBUOUR.vrnv: Kaulmaun, i)ii Litzle Vertreihuna drr Juden aw) Wieii, p. iSa-, FvlusU-iu, '/r Tehmah, pp. x:. 158,
lished in
'
p B
191.
ABRAHAM BENVENISTE. Msi
i:.
.iu; ii
See
Ben-i-e-
M
ABRAHAM, BERNARD:
general of ailillriy. ntiiid; I'.;.
1H','|.
His father,
who
Jewi.sh Consistory of Nancy,
French brigadierborn at Nancy. Jan. wils a member of the
was known
as
JloTsi".
though his name was MoVse .biidmm. The sons were all calleil MoVse. and ftdouaril. a brother of the genend. an artist al Paris, has retained the paternal appellalion in llie spelling Moyse (MovsK, After passing through the Lycce at feiioiAiil)),
