Aaron Worma
Ab, Ninth Day of
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
prenticcd his son Elijuli to an nrtisau. As a member of tlie Great Saiilicdrin coMVi'iicd by Napoleon, he delivered an impressive address on the " Kelations of the Jews to Non-Jews aecordinj; lo I{ubl>inic Law." in which he demonstrated thai llie Tahniidic opinions conceniinfr the heathen should not be tised as guides in the rcfiulatlon of practieal life under the conditions that existed then. A.irain, in inirely Jewish affairs, in questions concerning rites and ceremonies, he showed himself remarkably broadminded. Upon the occasion of his tflkins the oath as chief rabbi, administered by the government officials, his hat was handed him to cover himself. He refused it with a smile, saying: "God does not wish to imjiose upon us the duty of aiipmachiiig Him liarelieaded but if we do so voluntarily, so much the belter! " (compare Lev. K. x.wii. (i). This can not be regarded simply as a hmi iiiot for he did not hesitate publielv to declare himself in accord with the reform tendencies which were then beginning lo force their way into the Synagogue. Aaron was perhaps the only conservative rabbi of that iieriod who expressed the opinion Ihal il was better to pray in the vernacidar than Reform to muller Hebrew jirayers without unTendencies. dcrstandiug their meaning. On this ground he refused to join the agitation His against the reforms of tlie Hamburg Temple. insight into the necessity of a reform in divine service is further shown by his protest a.gainst the custom of interrupting the ritual pra.vers by the insertion of pii/iitiiii, of whose authors he often sjioke derisively. Such a man could not be a friend of superstitious customs, and he made a vigorous stand against them. He looked also with a critical eye upon other customs which he would not regard as obligatory on the mere .ground of iisa.ge, and mon^ than once he remarked, with an undertone of bitterne.ss. that Jloses Isserles (RMA. NO";) desired to force all Jewry under the yoke of Polish customs; but he s)iw no reason why German and French Jews should jield. Aaron was the author of "Meore Or" (Flashes of Lights. Metz, 1789-1830. This work, published anonymously (the author modestly limiting himself to a mere suggestion of his name), is unique of its kind. It coutains critical remarks as well as comments on most of the treatises of the Talmud and on a considerable part of the "Shulhan 'Aruk, Oral.i Hayyim." which exhil)it a thoroughly scientific spirit Christian as well as an extraordinary acumen. admirer of Aaron justly said that half of that work would be suflicient to open the gates of any European academy to its author. In addition to this, Aaron published short notes on the Mahzor and the Passover Haggadah (Metz editions). With the exception of a Bible commentary which has not been pulilished, Aaron's other ninnerous manuscripts were destroyed in compliance with iiis wishes as expressed in his
23
very wealthy, as only the wealthiest of the Jews obtained this position. He did not hold the o(llc(! more than a year, as he was succeeded in 1237 by Ei.YAS OP London (Prynne, "Short Demurrer." ii. 38). In 1236 Aaron agreed to pay to King Henrv HI. of England 100 nuirks a year to be free of all taxes (Tovey, "Anglia Judaica." O.xford. 173s. p 108). Notwithstanding this, in 1273 he was nudcted in 4.000 marks of silver and four of gold (Matthew Paris, "Chronica Majora," iv. 200). This was not an unusual occurrence; for in 1250 he was fined 14.000 marks of silver and ten of gold, for the use of the queen, on the charge of having falsified a
'Pr
?• nv,*^
)
p-.w
Aulognipli of Anroii of York. (Frwm " Yorkshire ArchMilyi^iLal J.»urri«l.'")
A
will.
BIBLIOC.RAPUT Azulai, Shcm ha-Gcdnlim, ii. letter ^Fnn, 14 La Kegenfratiim. ed. S. Bloch. lR3fi, pp. 2av2:!l B. Cohen, Rev. Et.Juivcs, ISSfi, xiii. lU. llS-124; x. Briill, In Oznr linSifnit. edited by Graber, 18S7, pp. 20-31. L. G.
AARON OF YORK (Fil Josce):
Jewish finanEngland; born in York before ll'JO; died after 1253. He was probably the son of Josce of York, the leading figure in the York massacre of 1190. Aaron appears to have obtained some of his father's money and commercial connection, for he was appointed presbyter, or chief rabbi, of the Jews of England in 1237, in succession to Josce of London. This would imply that he was cier
and
eliief lablii of
deed. On this occasion he told Matthew Paris himself that he had paid the king altogether no less a sum than 30,000 marks in silver and 200 in gold There are still in existence a num{ibid v. 130). ber of Hebrew nhetarolh dealing with Aaron's transactions, one of them eutirel}' in his own handwriting. BiBLiotiRAPHT: Matthpw Paris, niroii iVd Milium. v. 2iV, y. 1.31) M. D. Davis, ."^licturflh. Nos. !B, KG, lOH, Kit) (autoKniph), I'Jti-liW; Faficrs nf Aniilii-.IiwMi KrhihUinn. issr, p. 4] Tove.v, -liH/'to Jmluicu, 17:jK, p. lOS; n. Davics. im (lit: Medieval Jewa of Yeirk, In Ynrh.'<hirc Arehei'l'njirnt itnti Tiiiiiitiraphieal Jnumal, 111. UT-lflT; Moses Maivoliuulh, Ilieturii uf the Jews in Great Britain, IMl, 1. 1114.
AARON ZALAHA. S<c Zalaha, Aahon. AARON BEN ZERAH French Jew, who
1328.
martyrdom
Navarre. 2March 5. Banished from his original home in 13110 by
sutTered
at Estella in
King Philip the Fair, of Fiance, who confiscated his property, he sought refu.ire at Estella, where, after a residence of twenty years, he, his wife, and several of his sons were slaughtered by The horrors of thai event are dethe Christians. order of
scribed in
"Zedah la-Derek." a work written by
Aaron's sou Jlenahem,
who
Bibliography: Gratz, Gesch.
d.
escaped death.
Judcn, 2d
ed., vU. 312.
L. G.
AARON BEN-ZION IBN ALAMANI
Da.v.van, or judge, and prominent Jew of Alexandria His family name probably in the twelfth century. means til- Umtini, or " the man of Oman " (Judah haLevi, "Diwan." ed. Harkavy, p. 180; Steinschneider, "Jew. Quart. Rev." xi. 486). His father, whose name
was Joshua, was, it seems, a physician of some rejjute. It was at Aaron's house that Judah ha-Levi lived while in Alexandria; and the poet is extravagant in the praise of his friend, who, to judge from the titles given liim, must have been a man of imTwo of Ha-Levi 's poems are addressed to jKjrtance. Aaron: one of them he sent with a letter in rimed jirose. which letter is included in the " Diwan. HaI.evi also mentions Aaron in a letter which he .sent "
from Damietta
to
Samuel Nagid.
Bibliography:
Gesch. d. .Tudeti. 2d ed.. vi. l.'jO; firatz. Kaempf, NiclitainliiUi.^i.^iiu I'lusii An<Uiht.-<i!<riier IHehter, y.hiichili. ji. Ill: Judah ha1. 284 ; Luzzatto, Biluhil h.il l*vl, Diwan, ed. BroUy, pp. 2i)7-21U, 212; idem, cd. Harkavy, pp. 37, 146. 101.
G.
AARON ZOROGON
Tiirko-Jewish scholar, who nourished about the middle of the seventeenth century. He was the author of " Bet Aharon" (House of Aaron), which contains sixty homilies, arranged in the order of the sections of the Pentateuch, as well
