two of liis brothers when Judas Aristobulus aseeudcd the Ilasiiioiican throne (10") However, after a year's siillerinjr, the king's ii.(-.). His brotlier, Alexander Jandeath released him. na'us, then assumed tlie royal dii;nily, and eavised the execution of another brotlier, who had aimed at the crown, while Ab.sjdom, who preferred the life of a sid)ject, lie covered with honors. Nolhinj; more is known concerning Absalom's career, except that he outliveil all his brothers, and was taken prisoner by Fonipey when he captured Jerusalem in 63 li.c. Through his daughter, who married his nephew Aristoliulus II., Absjilom became the greatgrandfather of Marianine, the wife of Herod the Great, his mollicr aiul
BiBMOORAPnY IS.
J.
i.
Josephii.s .1 »'. xlll. 11, 8
n.M:
us,
(iraiz,
1
12, S
CVtwh. d.Jmlcn,
til.
1
idrm,
14, S 1;
117. livt.
M.
Bit.
ABSALOM THE ELDER: A Tanna, the dates A
homiof ulic'sr birlh and dralli are unknown. letic interpretation of Ex. xiv. 1.") is recorded in his name in tlie Mekilla, Ueshallah, 3. There is no certainty about his name, for in a parallel passage (Ex. R. xxi. H) he is (|unted as " Abtolis," " Abtelos" (an abbreviation of Ablolmus Kutolemus). Elijah Wilna corrected his name in accordance willi Ibis in llie passage of Jlekilla, an emendaliou fully justilied considering hi' fact that copyists were generally not familiar with (Ireik names. L. G. I
ABSALOM BEN MOSES MIZRAHI. .MnM.~ ABSBAN, SOLOMON (|X3D2S): Habbi
Ml/.ltAMl. .];^lo|
See
Ill.N
of
Aleppo abuiii l.")SIP; was a grandson of Jacob Berab. lie was highly esteemed for his learning, prudence, sagacity, and piety by contemporary scholar.s, such as iloses Alslieik. Samuel Laniado, and others, with
whom
Absalom
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
135
he corresponded.
Oinforte, [yirr lin-Dnriit, :t9/>, 41l», 43a nilil.inciRAPiiY n)nUl unU NVnl, Ttrlcdot (iednh- Y'isracU p. 3:^.
Ghl-
M. K.
Abstinence
closely in his views to the Arabic-Jewish conception of The Absolute, in which the thinking subject and the thought-object become one. L. S.
ABSTINENCE:
Refraining from enjoyments themselves. Abslinencecan be considered a virtue only when it serves the purpose of consecrating a life to a higher purpose. The saints, or adherents of religious and philosophical systems that teach the inortitication of the flesh, practise asceticism only with the view of perfecting the soul for the higher state of bliss for which they believe it to be destined (see Asckticis.m). The
which ale lawful
in
Jewish
religion, having for its fundamental ethical princi]de the law of holiness: "W' shall be holy: for I the Lord your (lod am holy " (Lev. xix. 2). accentuates the perfectibility of the whole man, wdiile demanding the sjinctitication of all that pertains to human existence. "The Lord did not create the world for desolation he formed it for human habitation (Isii. xlv. 18) is the principle emphasized by the rabbis (Pes. SNA). In the ideal state of things nothing should be profane. "In that day there shall be [inscribed] upon the bells of the horses: Holiness unto the Lord! And the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar " (Zecli.
This view is expressed in no uncertain terms by Hab in Yer. Kid. iv., at the end: "JIan in the life to come will have to account for every enjoyment olTered him that was refused without sullicieiit cau.se." Accordingly we find asceticism, or abstinence as a principle, condemned in the Talmud. " Why must the Xazarile bring a sin offering Because at the end of his term'/ (Num. vi. 13. 14). he sinned against his own person by his vow of abstaining from wine," .sjiys Eliezer ha-Kappar (Sifra. ml liir., and Ned. 10</), drawing his conclusion from this Bililical ])as.sage. " Whosoever undergoes fasting and other iieiiances for no special rea.son commits a wrong. "Is the number of things forbidden by the Law not enough lh:it thou veiiture.st to add of thine own accord by thy inconsiderate vow':'" says H. Is!mc(Yer. Ned. ix. 4H). See Maimonides," Yiid hal.Iazakah, De'ot," iii. 1, where the mona.stic principle of abstinence, whether in regard to marriage or to eating of meat and drinking of wine, or to any otii'.'r personal comfort, is most emphatically con xiv, 20, 21).
'
ABSOLUTE, THE
(from the Latin
al)i«,liitun=
loosened,! ino veil ti in other tilings; Greek xiffoirorr philo.sopliic term in<liea self-existing, by itself): tinga biMngor substance free from contingency and It isdetine<lby the philosexternal determination. I
i
A
ophers in various ways. Spinoza delines it as the caiiMi mii. the cause of itself: Kant as the Dinf/ an tirli. the thing in itself; Kiclite as the f/mizlir/i I'nviinti-liroidtm, the completely unlimiled: Schopenlianer as (/«« Aiiiiir/ihlldnfiiiftt'. the unconnectid Spencer as "the Unknowable." The opjiosite idea
is
that of
t/ie
rilnlirr, thf miitlilioiinl, the iliteriiiiiuth
From Aristotle down, the notions of Deity and of The Absolule are idenlilied wilh each other in philosophy for Deity is nniversilly conceiveil as the uncaused cause of all other existences, as tlii' nnixii Jirimii. as the lirst, unpreceded souni> of all existence (Aristotle," .Melapliysics,ii. S.xii.TiVw/. " Physics" viii. T); Maimonidcs" " .Morih Nebukim," i. (i!»).' This first Ciiiise is called in Arabic by two synonymous terms, illiih and miIhiIi, which are reproduced in
the philosophic
mous, rhv
""il
Hebrew by the terms, also .synonyThe Absolute forms the limit
n3D.
of the conceivable, the
highest
of related
point,
thoUL;lit.
The pyramid of reach ill
its sunuiiit
iiijiniliiiii.
that
must pause or crowning point a reiirrimuH a pushing of thought beyond
logical thinking
at the is,
this last reach of mental abilitv, is impossible, Accordini; to Maimonides (/.r., Ixviii.) anil the other Arabic Jewish philosophers, this hiirhest attainable coal of Ihouglit is identical with (lod and The Absolut!'. Tile classical representative of Gernian
philosophic romanticism,
Sclielliiig,
approaches very
denimd
as antagonistic to the spirit of .ludaism. abstinence is freiiuenlly considered meritorious, if not actually necessiiry, as a means of selfSimon the Just said: "I partook of a discipline. Nazarite meal only once, when I met with a handsome youth from the South who had taken the vow. When I asked him the reason, he said: I Siiw the Evil Spirit pursue me as I beheld my face rcHecled in the water, and 1 swore that these long curls shall be cut olT and olTered as a sjicrifice to the Lord.' Whereupon I kissed him upon his forehead and blessed him. saying: .May there be many Nazarites like thee in Israel! " (Nazir, Ah). In this sense abstinence is supposed to have a positive value, as a training in self control. t'ons«'iiuently the law: "Be holy " w;is interpreted: Exercise abstinence in onler to arrive at the state of purity and holiness CAb. Excessive Zarali. 20'i; Sifra, Kedoshini, beginningV indulgence ill wine or in any form of en joymeni being harmiful (Prov. xxiii. '-'111. man must learn self re" Haste! " people say to the Nazst iiiiiit in due time. arite. " Pa.ss (luicklv around the vineyanl, come not loo near the grape (B. M. Vrin) became the prover bial warning. " .Make u fence around the Law " Ab "Abstain from everything evil Ab. K. N. ii.). i. 1 and from wliat.soever is like unto it," a rule found " DiD.vciiK," iii. I, and in the Talmud alike in the Still
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1
i
