Amadeo Amalek
THE JEWISH E^X•YCLOPEDIA
.Mcinoiiiil-HiHik." Sinihiili. son of Eplimini Belmont, lirst of llmt niinu- to settle in Al/.ev: lie had t been lieiul of the Jewish community in Ueikelheim. ••
was ho
near Kieiiznneli. which then l)elonK<'il totiie I'lUiilMis son Joseph Jcssel, culled Halibi Jessel of Al/ey. held the siime position in the Alzey district; These men as well as their descendliedii'd in 1738. anis were conspicuous for th-jir piety and for their uncommon public spirit. The Elias Simon Helmont already mentioned an<I his nephew Sinum founded the so-called "Helmont fund," which provides a marriajre-porti(m for poor girls. Bnu.ioc,i!,irnv I.riwenstcln. ncitrilm zur Geitch. d. Jwlen in iniitc.
In tlieiirchlvps nf J/i ulMhIanil. l.tiV,. 1. 4, 111. iX. .51, 14B, 182. the cunfrrepjtlonthcre isa ' JfcHKir-jBiich." T
r
I
AMADEO OF
RIMINI.
Sic
hex
Ji.iiioi.ti
miosis OK KlXANATI.
AMADIA, AMADIAH, AMADIEH, AMA-
DEEYAH
TurUcy, vilayet of the birthplace of the In 1103, acpseudo-Messiah. David Alrui (Alroy). " 'Eniek ha-Baka," it had cordinfT to the author of a Jewish popidation of about a thousand families. In 189.1 it had a Jewish population of 1,900 persons, who owned about 150 houses. They trade chiefly r.ai;dad.
town
.V
iiorlh
of
in Asiatic
!Mosul,
in {;all-nuts.
1.,
)i
iiihI
St.
il.1
liciiiain.t.
Petersburg, 1891
ii.
141
EiitziUliiiirdirlin'hi Slnmr, vol. (Idzctlccr. l-iindon, Istfi.
Lunyman's
H.
II.
AMASO, JOSHTTA JTTDAH
Talmudist,
of a Spiinish family seltleil at Salonica in the early part He wrote "Oliolc Yehuof the nineteenth century. dah"(The Tents of Judah). published at Salonica It contains (1) homilies on the Pentateuch, in 1820. and (2) halakic dissertations on !Maimonides' " Yad ha-Hazakah," on partof the treatise "Shebu'ot," and an epitome on the dietary laws. BiBLIOGRAPny Benjarob, Ozar ha-Scfarim, p. 20.
I.
AMADOU DE LOS RIOS, JOSE: torian of the
Jews
in Spain
Bk.
Spanish
and Portugal, and
his-
arclie-
ologist bom 1818 died at Seville, 1878. De los Rios was for some time inspector - general of public instruction in
Spain.
He wrote many
works archeological in character, two of which are of interest to Jews. In 1848 he published in ^ladrid "Estudios HisPoliticos, y Literarios sobre los.Iu-
toricos.
Jos^
Amador de
los Rios.
dios de Espafia." This was translated into
French (Paris, 1861), and later on was ex]ianded into the larger work on the .same subject. "Historia Social. Politica. y Religiosa de los Judios de Espafia y Portugal" (3 vols.. Madrid. 187.V (TVom the
froDtUpItrce t« bis
" HisUrln.
Amador de los Rios was interested chiefly in the 76). constitutional position of the Jews; and his work, from this side, is very thoroughly done. lie was. liowever, unacquainted with Hebrew, or Jewish sources: and his treatment of literarj- history in the earlier book is derived merely from the uncritical notes of De Castro. BiBLiooRAPHT
AMALEK, AMALEKITE8.— BibHcal Data Name
nomadic nalion .idulli of Palestine. That the Anialekiies were not And)s. but of a stock related to the Edomites (consequently also to the Hebrews), can be concluded from the genealogy in Gen. xxxvi. 12 and in I Chron. i. 30. Amalek is a son of Esiiu's lirst-born .son Eliphaz and of the concubine Timna, the daughter of Seir, the Horite, and sister of Lotun (Oen. xxxvi. 12; compare Timnah as name of an Edomite chief or clan, verse 40). On the other hand, lit
a
Gen. xiv. 7 speaks of Amalekites. in southern PalThat they were of estine, in the time of Abraham. obscure origin is also indicated in Num. xxiv. 20,
where the Amalekites are called "the lirst of the nations." The Amalekites were the first to cimie in contact with the Israelites (Ex. xvii. 8). vainly opposing their march at Rephidim, not far from Sinai (compare Deut. xxv. 17, "smiting the hindmost, all that were feeble behind." and I Sam. Position XV. 2). Consequently, they must be and Con- considered as possessors of t he Sinail ic nections. peninsula, of the modern desert el-Tili, or at least of the northern part of it.
According to Xuni. xiii. 29. xiv. 25, which speaks of Amalekites defeating the Israelites in the lowland (verses 43, 45). they occupied also soulliern Palestogether with the Canaanites; see also Gen. xiv. 7 (Amalekites in "En-mishpat, which is Kadcsh "). The extreme south seems to be meant, the pasture lands of the Negeb, not the arable
tine, partly
Bini.ionRAPiiY Joseph hn-Kohen, 'Emf A" ha-Iiaha (riemian Iranslaliim liv .M. WIcneri. p. 27, l.eipslc 1H.V*; Ijiyanl. .Vim :
ri
482
List of his sources given In Jacobs' .SmirceJ' nf 2i;5-244, and summary of the
Spanish-Jewish Ilistoru, pp.
contents of tbe book, pp. 214-221.
j
parts.
The relation of the Kexites to the Amalekites is not quite plain. According to I Sam. xv. 6, they live with them (or at their side; compare Judges, i. 10; Num. xxiv. 21). while elsewhere they are associated with Israel (1 Sam. xxvii, 10) or even specially with the tribe of Judah (I Sam. xxx. 29; I Chron, This would indicate that the Kenitcs formed ii. 55). a connecting link between the Israelites, or their southern tribes, and the Amalekites. Gen. xv. 19, which foretells dispossession of the Kenitcs by Israel, would agree with this (see C.rN; Kenites). A similar relationship might be assumed for the KeneZITES.
The Amalekites themselves always appear as hosThus (Judges, iii. 13). together with
tile to Israel.
the Ammonites, they assist E.irlon of to Moab. and (Judges, vi. 3, 33, vii. 12) they aid the Midianites and the chilIsrael. dren of the East against Israel. Ps. Ixxxiii. 7 refers to both occasions. It is on this account that Saul leads an expedition against them (I Sam. XV.). The defeat and capture of the Amalekite king. A.gag (the only Amalekite name preserved), by Saul seem to be referred to also by Balaam (Num.
Enmity
xxiv.
7).
It is
not
known
wliat locality
is
meant by
"the city of Amalek," which evidently was situated that is, the plain (I Sam. xv. 5). "in the valley" One would not expect that the settlements of such a wandering nation would deserve the name of a city. David waged a sacred war of extermination against the Amalekites, who retaliated (I Sam. xxx. 1) hy a David, however, folsuccessful surprise of Ziklag. lowed and caught the Amalekites on the retreat, regaining their captives and spoils. On this occa-
—
sion the Amalekites, like all desert warriors, made After this defeat Amalek their raids upon camels. disappears, so that it seems as though Fate of the nation had actually been extenniAmalek. nated bv the wars with Saul and David. I Chron. iv. 42-43 states that in the time of Hezekiah live hundred Simeonites annihilated the last remnant "of the Amalekites that had escaped " on Mount Seir and settled there in the place
