Alshecb Altar
THE
Alsliccli
wrote
following
llic
.IKWISII
foiiiniciiturifs,
most
of which have appeureil iu several editions: " Tiirat Moslich " iCoinincMitary on tin- Pcniatrui'li). (Iret ed. t'ouipleU', with Bflvi-di'rv iH'iir ('inslamluo|ile, ubuul lju:j. Indeics, Vi-nlcr. ItKil. i. An ulislnirt i>( this rxninicntary was pn'pan-d tiy Jos. 1>. Arvi'ti l^ot'li. anil luLsuiipi'an-d In vatlousfoiiusHilzzur Alshwh 'al !ia-Tnndo. Anist»T(laiii. 1T4H. 1.
"Miinit
- i.
lui-Zi iIk-uI
" (ColUiled Vlslons>, on the prophets and
their prophivies. Venli-e, 4.
5.
miil.
Extniets from this coninientary are Ineludec) in " MInt.iah Ketaniiah," a eoininentarv on the earlier pn»phets: ptitillslied 111 the Hllilla Ual)l>inli-8 (liohelel Moshehi, Ariisterduni. lTi4. ' Itorueriiol El" (I'rals^'s of (iod), on llie lxH)k of I'salms, Venii-e,
'
0.
Itali
Itafc*.
I'enlnlin" (Multitude Of Pearls),
on Pniverhs, Venlee,
IIHII.
"llelkat
7.
'
Mehokek"
ITheljiwjflver's Portion), on Job, Venice,
mit. 8. "Slioslmnat hii-'AinnkIm" (liily of the Viilleys), on the Sonj; of Solomon. This e<tTinnentJiry was the Ilrst t«i ajipear In i)rint, and was etllted by Alshei-h liiiiiself In l.V.tl. Ai-«-ordink' to this eoiriuientary. the Sont; Is an allegory, and represents a dlalo^'ue between (iod and exiletl Isniel on the latter's mission, " *Ene .Mosheh " (Eyes of Moses), on Kuth. AIshe<*hsaysof fl. the h<Hik of Kuth. "Surely from it we irilpht take a le,sson how to serve dud": and illuslr.ites this statement throughout his cnmnu-tiiary, Veinee, HM)1. lU. " Debarlni Nlliumim" IComfortiii)^ Words), on the "Lamentations (<f Jeremiah." The title is not merely a eupheudsm for Ijimentatifins; the author repeateilly attempts to shi>w that there is no eause for ilespulr. (iod beluKWith Israel, and tli(»uirti the 'rnni'le isdestri'Vfd thesheklnuh has not departed
from Die W.->liTll Wall. Velltc.-, llilll. Wnrdsj. on Errlpsiastes. Alsheeh U. " Debiirim Tol.ini " M, calls Eecleslastes. on aeeount of Its deep thomrhts, " Waters without end" (oceans). He endeavors In the commentary to i
Ich'a of the bfKik, the dictum, " All Is ihc Lord, which Is the essential condition of iiiioi's ri'iil exisieticc." Venice, lOOL Moses' (ilft), on the iHiok of E.sther, pre72. " Massal Mosheli " sented by the author to his brethren as a Purim jfift, Venice,
wntml
llliistnite, as the vain, e.cc]i[ ilic fear of
(
of .Mshech on these last-named live books ("meifl'lot"itr rolls) a)ipe;ncd in an iiliridu'ed form, edited by Kleazer b. Ilanalliah Tai-niu'rad. . isIi'nlaMi. 11H)7. 14. " Habazelet ha-sharon " ('riic Rose of Shaixm), on the book of lianle'l, Safed, irn^), and Venice, l.">:i:.'. 1.5. . commentjjry on the 'Haftiimt" called " Likkute Man" ((iatherlnps ot Mainiai, Wiis compiled chlelly from " Muriit
The commentaries
Markbrelt, .msterdam. 1T()4. IG. "Varlni Mosheh" Is the title of a coituiicnlary on Abot, gathered froiri the works of Alshech by Joseph B. M. Schlen-
ha-Zobeot." by E.
ker, Fiirth,
JI.
17(i4.
of Alshech on the Ha^g^adah (Home Service idtjhts of Passover) appears in the edition of the Hauffadah callefl "Bet Horim" (House ttt Free Men). The conmientary Is full of Interesting remarks and earnest exhortations (Metz, 17(17). Even in the intmductlon the laws for Passover and the order for the evenimr are ireated allepor-
17.
.
commentary
for the
Ically,
two
and made the vehicle for
reilLions nieditation.
'
(ir '1^ 'JNThe spirit of niclancholy which jiervades his ptiiitiiitial ]i(a-m in the Tripoli jirayerliook (]). (13//), "To you. () men, I call." as well as the dirge-like i"ccit.al of abuse and misery which it contains, shows the poem to have been produced in an age of persecution and tyranny iinictised against the .Tews. To such circumstances jioint also others of his literary pi-odiicts. which are marked by distress and gloom. No doubt the allusions in them all ari^ to the devastation of the province of 8arago.s.sa carried on by the Christians under Alfonso VL, wlio.si; triumphant iidvance Yusuf ibn Tashtin was calleil from Africa to check.
3pV'P'1^
Bibi.I()(;r.vpiiv
SiKtiikn.
p.
other rabbis, and his decisions were collected in a volume of responsa (Venice. Vm'>: Berlin, 17i5fi). His contemporaries frequently quote his opiiuons. Dunne his lifetime Azariah de Rossi produced his "Meor 'Enaylm" (Lipht for the Eyes), in which the author rejeiied some Ijeliefs generallv received as traditional; Alshech, at the request of his teaiiu-r. It. Joseph ("aro, wnite a deeiaratlon affalnst the " Meor 'Enaylm " as beInp: contrary and dan^'erous to the Jewish religion (Herein l.lemed, v. 141). .lshech wrote also a poem, " Dirge on the Exile of Israel," a very simple style in ten rimed verses. It has been introducefl into various earlier morning rituals, such as "Ayelet ha-Shahar" (The Moniing Dawni. It is also contained In the collection of prayers and hymns called "Sha'are Zion" (The Gates of Zion).
1!).
in
Azulal,
.Sftf
m
der, r«f. Bof/f. col. 1773-1777
?ia-Gf rtojim,
De
s.v.
Stelnschnei-
Rossi, r>t'2(0tJrtnV> ^fonco, iu Jeic. Quart.
9.V.;
on the name Alshech see Steioscbneider,
Rev.
Sachs, Die RcUgiline Pnexlc dcr Juden <n 290; Blumenfeld. (_>z<tr JS'rhmnil, 11. SI cf scr/.;
Edehnann and Dukes. Trc u^ttrcs' of
(ir'fnnl. p. 'M, Ixjndoii.
1S5(): Steinschnelder, Cat. IIikU. col. 1(11(1; idem, in Jew. Quart. Iici. xl. (HI, translates the name Al-ralilian a.s "straw-merchant"; Zunz, LifcrnfKrt/csc/i. pp.217 cf .sc</. (irjltz, Gesch. d. Judcn, 2d ed., vi. 12(); Baclier, Ahrahaiii itm Ksra ah (Irammatiker. p. 1H7 Kokowzoff, A'ifo/Mtl
ish
p. S, St.
TAterature
(lS.'i7);
f)r hn-Haiiiiim, Sol. Fraiico.
No.
Petersburg, IsiW; Steinschnelder. .7cicBerliner's Mnfiaziu, iv. lUt; MIciiiU'l,
K;
Fiirst,
Uilil.
Jud.
11.
2S1),
iioU- to
H. G. E.
ALTABIB,
ABRAHAM:
Spanish physician
who
lived in C'aslile in the lirst half of the fourteenth century. He was the contemporary of Abraham ibn Zarzal. the physician of Don Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile. He wrote a supercomraentary to Abraham ibn Ezra's Pentateuch-commentary, in which he often ojjposes ."solomon Franco and his supercommeutaty. Altabib's work is still only in manuscrijit.
It Is,
however, not likely that .lshech wrote tlle^e imies for the Ha(?eadah. They were prob:i)ily i:;iihered froiri his works lon^r after his death, as oth.-rwise the HaL'iradah would have been published with his coiniiielitary much earlier. 18. "Responsa": as casuist he was' frequently consulted by
BiBi.iOGRAPiiy
464
Al-IIarizi's opinion of his jioetic talent was not so high, for. in his enumeration of coiiteiiiponiiy poets, he refers to " Levi and .laeob [which, as it has been suggested, may be a corruption of J.,evi hen Jacob] ibn Tabban " as verse-nmUers who "thresh poetry Ho like straw" (compare "Tahkctncuii. chap. lii. ). is alsoalludcd to by Alirahaiu ibn Kzra in the preface to".Moziiayim." lie was the author of a gi'ammatical work in Anibic, called "Miflah" (The Key), of which only the title has been jireserved. Of his liturgic jioenis a nuiiiln r arc extant in the festivtU liturgies of Tripoli. .Vvignon. anil Algeria, and can usually be easily identitied by hisciisloniiiry acrostic,
Muwdzaiia,
llilll.
13.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
xl. 616.
M. F.
AL-TABBAN, LEVI B. JACOB IBN, with the Arabic Sdiiiame Abu rFihm Graiiiniariau and
poet, flotirished at Saragossa in the beginning of the twelfth century. He was the friend and elder
contemporary of .ludah ha-Levi, who jiroliably was governed more by affection than by critical judgment, when he styled Al-Tabban "King of Song?'
Bini.iooRAPiiv: M. Friediander, Essai/s on the JTritinqx af Altraham ibn Ezra, 1S77, pp. 223, Si;), 24.5.
JL K.
ALTARinatD.
«"'z4m7(,Aramiiic naiD. Ezra, vii. Biblical Data: In the 17, "jdaee of slaughter "). book of Genesis it is often sjiid that altars were erected
—
(viii. '20. .ii. 7, .iii. 8, xxvi.'2.5....iii. '20, etc.).
These
altars wtic usually licajis of .stones .such as Laban and .Jacob built to sacrifice upon (Gtii. xxxi. H'i et «eq.), for they are said to be "built" (nj3) in several
instances (c..!/., viii. 20. xii. 7, etc.). Once(xxxiii. 20). the Altar is said to have been "erecteti " (3V3) and hence must have been a " pillar" (n3VD)- Dillmann (f '////. to Gen. xxxiii. 20). Ijclieves that here inhlienh has been substituted for lunzzihiih. In the law of Ex. XX. '24 etsrq.. the Altar which is preferred is an Altar of earth. Probably it is this kind of Altar which is referred to in Gen. xxx v. 1. .3. which was said to be made (nL"y). The same law permits stonealtars(?^x. XX. 25), but provides that they shall be mtide of unhewn stone and prohibits (v. 26) that they be ascended by steps. According to this law also altars tiiiiy be built (or earthen altars made, ncy) wherever there is a theophany. Those referred to in Genesis mention as a rule no special theophany, though the pillar at Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 18-32), which was closelj' allied to an Altar, was erected in consequence
