Abraham ha-Levi Abraham ben Moses
Tin:
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JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
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However, it is iiroliable ihat he iinikT this name. was iJentical with one of the many German or French tosatisis of the name of Alnaham, as the addition "ha-Levi" may liavi- bei^n dropped for convenience. He is possibly identical with Abraham ben Haruch. brother of Jleir (lia Levi) of Hotlieiibiiiir. who nourished about l-'-.25-'.(;i. and was the author
work which
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ABRAHAM HA-LEVI BEN ELIEZER (the Elder):
Spaiiisli .Nile in Pales-
author and cabalist of the early part of the century. He was brother-in-law of Abraham Zacuto, the"aiithor of the "Yuhasin." On being exiled from Spain, 14il2, he lived for a brief period in Egypt and Constantinople. Subse(iiieiitly he went, to Jerusalem and Sal'e<l. where he studied the Cabala. At Jerusalem he was admitted to the school of Samuel :Misod of Safed and Jacob ben .Maui. In a letter sent by the bet din to a philanthropist, his name stands" at the head, showing that he was the ab Later he wasappointed head of the school bet din. of David ben Su.san. His courageous attitude is manifested in the rcsponsum to Isaac Sholal— at that time wir/ul of Egypt on the (jucstion whether it is allowable to pray Therein he strongly opposes those to the angels. cabalists who, as he says, "while leaving the path of righteousness to go into the paths of darkness, serve idols, but not the Lord God." Of certain old customs, he says: "These are not usages, but Pay no attention to what is found in treatises writtine,
si.vtccntli
—
.
.
.
by unknown men; for many falsilical ions are found in them." On ini[iiiries into dreams, which often occupy the attention of the cabalists. based upon I Sam." .xxviii. (i. 1."). he says: "Deep thought and exaggerated imagination suggest to j-ou sometimes a iJible passage, in which the anxious mind accidentally finds an answer." He wrote a commentarv on the little book called "Nebuot lia-Yeled" (The Prophecy of the Child), ten"
attrilnited to an imaginary |ierson named Nal.iman Katofaaiidsjiid to have been found in the ruins of the city of Tiberias, written on old parchment and hidden in an earthen jar. The meaning of this nianu-
The commentary was was very obscure. Abraham is also the author of ])ublished in l.iUi. " .Ma.shre Kitrin " (The L'n tier of Knots), Coustantinoiile. I.IIO. a commentary on the .seventy weeks of Daniel's prophecy (Dan.ix. '^4-27). a subject treated
scri|)t
" Nebuot" ha-Yeled." According to Abraham's explanation, the year of redemption should have been 1530. He also "wrote "Tikkune Shalibat." mystical reflectionson the Sabbath ritual, which went through several editions in Venice. Amsterdam. Basel. Wandsbeck. Cracow, Frankfort-on-tlie-Oder. Zolkiev. etc.; "Masoret ha-Hokmah." on the Ten Setirot. and " Megillat .Vmraphel" on the merits of an ascetic life. See Aiju.iiam ben Eliezer haliEvi HEiifKiM, with whom he has sometimes been
also in
Mlcliael,
Or ha-ljauyim.
ABRAHAM HA-LEVI
PRAGUE. OK
Pit
Sei
SinM>iuM.
No.
15.3.
SHIMSHXJNI OF
I.
8»»; Gnas, Gallia Ju-
(((lira. p. SHI.
L. G.
ABRAHAM (ABTJLMENI) MAIMTJNI I. n .Mor-Ks. See .Maimon. .iii:aiim ABRAHAM MAIMTJNI II. See Maimi Nl Ann Ml M ABRAHAM MALAK, or HA-MALAK i;i
II.,
Russian rabbi: only sou of Dob Baer of .Mezhirich, who was the first leader of the South Kiissiai) llasidiin; follower of Baal Shem-Tob, and son-in-law of Meshullani Pluvbusof Kremenetz; dieil, while comparatively young, at Fastov. a village in the government of Kiev, aliont 1780. He was educated in the principles of the Hasidim and the Cabala, but on account of his retiring habits and bis un|)ractical nature He did not succeed his father as head of the sect. withdrew after Habbi Baer's death to the village of Hamiipol. where he led the life of a hermit, admitting into his presence only a few zuihlikiiii ("pious
among whom were Zaimau of Lyady, his and sclioolmate, and iS'ahum of Chernobyl. Nalium procured for Abraham the position of
men
"),
friend
Iireacher at Fastov. where, until his death, he conIt tinued his secluded, introspective mode of life. was on account of his ])ious seclusion from the world and of his strict observance of Hasidic ordinances that the epithet Malak ("Angel ") was given to him. His son was Shalom of Pogrebish. Abraliaiu'sconinieiitary on the Pentateuch, which, combined with that of his friend Abraham ha Kohen Kalisliker. was published under the title " Hescd le-Abraham," long after his death, by his grandson, Israel of Hozenoi (Czernowitz, 18.j1 Warsaw, 1883), is partly cabalistic in character, and partly historical, and contains many passjigcs reproving the degenerate Hasidim of his generation. Two passages are characieristic as to the jiersonality and standpoint In the preface he <omplains that of the author. whereas wisdom (Cabala) represents the purest re;
ligious metaphysics, it had become obscured by a grossly materialistic conception, as was also tin- case with the sublime teachings of true Hasidism. " This is the protest of a noble soul against the commencing degradation of Hasidism," says Dubnov. "against the irreverent and intemperate degradation of the worship of God and the crude idolatry which manIn another ifests itself in the cult of the zaddikim." place Abraham describes the ideal zadiiik. and it is an echo from his own soul when he mourns that " this generation can not comprehend the great mis.sion of such a one. Like Saul of old. he is taller than his contemporaries, and so absorbed in the meditation of divine wisdom that he can not descend to the lower
upon which ordinary people
staiul."
pp. 142 fi mn.; Ha-Bukci-( h: Jan., 1S.SI : Sider ha-Dnrot. p. 29; Walden. Shem ha-Gnliilini lie-I,lntla»h. No. M; Seller haDnrnt lie-Harlash ninlkinsun. Tolednt 'Ammvde llahad; Tann; Ud-Eshkol (Hebrew Ency.), Warsaw, 1888.
liini.ior.KAPiiv:
Diihnov. In Vm.. Dec,
IHflO,
Gnttlcilier. in
AiiHAiiA.M iiA Levi,
Mil.
ABBAHAM LICHTSTEIN.
Abraii.m.
A celebrated French
love for his old faith revived in him, and being unable to conceal his true sentiments, he was accused of being a Jew in secret, and in l.")i);i was deprived of his otlice. To avoid a worse fate he lied to Venice, where he openly returned to Judaism.
steps
confounded. Bibliography
„
L. G.
HA-ZAKEN
ABBAHAM OF LTJNEL
philologist of the sixteenth century, who is .said to He embraced have niastcred twenty languages. Christianity, and about l.WT was made i)rofes.sor of Hebrew at Avignon. As he grew older, however,
BinLiOGRAPnv: Gallia Chrintiana,
Lileratur. pp.
KB.
114
ABRAHAM MALAKI A poet who flourished
See Lichtsteix,
at
Carpentras, near Avignon, about the end of the
