Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 6.djvu/75

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45
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Gomperz - Gopher-Wood

brought charges against his master and against Samuel ibn Waljar before King Alfonso XI. (1313-60), and both were ruined and soon afterward met their death. When he became minister and grand- master of tlie Order of Alcantara, he conceived the idea of exterminating all the Jews of Castile, direct- ing his attacks first against two prominent Jews, Moses Abudiel and Ibn Ya'ish, who, however, main- tained tliemselves in the king's favor by means of large gifts of money. When in 1339 Abu al- Hasan of Morocco sent an army to conquer Cas- tile, Gonzalo proposed that the Jews be expelled and their fortunes confiscated. On account of its inexpediency this plan was opposed, especially by D. Gil de Albornoz, Archbishop of Toledo. Gon- zalo led the king's troops against the Moroccan commander 'Abd al-Malik, who was put to flight. But shortly after this Gonzalo was overthrown by the help of the king's mistress, Leonora de Guz- man. He fled and entrenched himself in a tower, but was forced to surrender ; in 1840 he was burned at the stake and his fortune was confiscated.

Bibliography: Joseph b. Zaddlk, in M.J. C. p. 97; Shetiet YehncUih, ed. Wiener, pp.' 30 e't fi!(j.;'Zaeuto, YuTuxsin, ed. riiipowski, p. 2a4a ; Gratz, Gesch. vll. 341 et seq. G. M. K.


GOOD AND EVIL. See Ethics.


GOODMAN, TOBIAS: English preacher and author; died after 1824; one of the earliest preach- ers in English of the London Jewish commlmity. Tobias Goodman was a reader and minister at the Denmark Court Synagogue, the first synagogue es- tablished in tlie West End of London. Here as early as 1817 he preached an English sermon on the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales, and if not the first sermon delivered in English in a Lon- don synagogue, it is the earliest sermon printed in English of which an}' record exists. Some time afterward he preached a sermon in the same syna- gogue on the death of King George III. (London, 1820). About 1824 he was preaching regularly on Sabbaths in English at the Rosemary Lane Syna- gogue. But Goodman's work as a preacher was not Confined to London. On May 2, 1819, in the Seel Street Synagogue, Liverpool, he delivered a dis- course on "The Faith of Israel," which was replied to by William Smith of Glasgow in a published letter dated Oct. 8, 1825.

Goodman, who described himself at times as a "public lecturer," and at other times as a "teacher of the Hebrew language," was the author, also, of ' various works. His sermon at Liverpool on " The Faith of Israel " was subsequently elaborated into a text-book, published In 1834.

As early as 1806 he had translated into English Jedaiah Bedersi's "Behinat ha-'Olam." In 1809 he published a pamphlet containing a protest against the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. Bibliography: Matthias Levy, Tlie Western Synagogue,

Some Materials for Its Historu. 1897, pp. 9 et seq.; Jew.

Chron. Nov. 12, 1897; Jew. World, Oct. 31, 1879.

J. i- H.


GOOSE (T11K, pi. n^lK; Nplp, pl- pUp)- Ac- cording to the Talmudists the domestic and the wild goose are two different species which should not be crossed (B. K. 55a; Bek. 8a). They are distinguished by the following criteria: The domes- tic goose has a longer beak than the wild species ; its genital organs are more retired under the skin, and it has several eggs in its ovary at the same time, while the wild goose has only one, another being formed after the first has been laid (ib.). In the Shulhan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 297, 7, only the second criterion is mentioned. In Yer. B. K- v. 10 and Kil. viii. 6 a sea-goose is spoken of, which, be- cause it belongs to a different species, ought not to be crossed with a domestic goose. The goose, being a water-fowl, has a very thin brain-membrane (Hul. 56b). It is permitted to hold a goose by its wings on the Sabbath while it is moving, but it is not permitted to do so with a hen ; because the former when held by the wings moves of its own ac- cord, while the latter has to be dragged ; and on Sabbath the moving of things from one place to another in an open space is not allowed (Shab. 128b, Eashi). The foot of a goose is as wide as long (Bek. 45a). Generally a goose returns to its abiding- place at night (Bezah 24a), but occasionally it settles in a garden (Hul. 38b). Geese were known for their honking; compare the saying "You gabble like geese " (Yer. B. B. viii. 7). The Talmudists, refer- ring to Prov. i. 20, declared that one who sees a goose in his dream may hope for wisdom (Ber. 57a). R. Gidal called women "white geese" (Ber. 20a), a term applied by Raba to old and selfish judges (Git. 13a).

Besides the flesh and feathers, which are widely used also in modern Jewish households, the fat and lungs of the goose were used, the latter two for medic- inal purposes (Hul. 49a ; Yoma 84a). Geese were also used in thrashing (Sanh. 29b). Rabha bar bar Hana in one of his stories similar to the " Lilgenmarchen " of modern folk-lore says that he once saw in the desert geese whose feathers were falling out of their bodies on account of their fat, while rivers of oil issued from them. They will be preserved for the great meal to be given to the righteous in the Messianic times (B. B. 73b). Bibliography : Lewysohn, Die ZoologU des Talmuds, pp.

s. s. M. Sel.


GOPHER-WOOD : The material of which the ark of Noah was made. The word "gofer" occurs but once in the Bible, viz., in the expression IBJ i^JJ (Gen. vi. 14). A comparison of the ancient versions shows that the word was just as obscure when they were made as it is to-day.

The renderings proposed by modern interpreters are as a rule arbitrary and unsatisfactory. The identification of "gofer" with "cypress" (Celsius, "Hierobotanicon," i. 828; Bochart, "Gecgraphia Sacra," ii. 4) rests on the mere assumption that the roots of these two words are akin. According to P. de Lagarde, " gofer " stands for " gofrit," meaning originally "pine," from old Bactrian " vohukereti," and later also "sulfur," on account of the like- ness in appearance which sulfur bears to pine-resin ("Semitioa," i. 64; comp. "Symmiota," ii. 93, and "Uebersicht iiber die im Aramaischen, Arabischen und Hebraischen Uebliche Bildung der Nomina," p. 318).