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Aboab

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

'Abodah

He conceived, therefore, the plan of grouping together the ricli material stored up in the vast t reasureliousc of the Hairjiiulah from the rcliirious and ethical point of view, and of prcscniinf: it iu a hook which hecallcd " .Mcnorat ha-.Maor " (ThcCandlcslick of Lij;ht (i>m|iare Num. iv. ll| intcndini; by it to ilUuninc the minds and tlic hearts of his coreligionWith reference to the seveu-arraed candlestick ists. iu the Tabernacle (E.. -x.w. 31; Num. viii. 2). he divideil the book into seven sections, each of which bears the title of "Ner." or "'Liimp," subdivided into separate parts and chapters. It can harilly be said that the division of the matter treated is very loirical anil syslcmalic. nor indeed iloes the work lay any claim to originality; but in presenting the beautiful moral anil religious truths of Judaism in homely form, Aboab supplied to the average reader Its skilful arnuigeineiit a great need of the time. of the various Biblical anrl rabbinical topics and its warm tone of deep earnestness and sincerity could not fail to appeal lo the popular heart. And as in the course of lime the sermon, then still in u.se among the Spanish Jews, ceased to lie a part of the divine service because the preacher had to give way to the hazan, or precentor, the " Mcnonit ha .Alaor " became It a substitute for the living voice of the i)reacher. was translated into Spanish and read to attentive asseiublies of the peojjle, ])articularly to those not versed in the Law. It thus became the liouseliold book of the medieval Jews. It was ]uiblished with a Spanish translation (Leghorn. l(i.")7), with u Hebrew commentary and a Juda'o-German trauslalion by Moses Frankfurter (Aiusterdam. 17fU), with a modern German translation by Fi'irstenthal and Belirend (Krotoschin. 18-44-4). It was translated also into Yiddish. Wilua. IS80. The book nuist not be confused with a work of the same name by Israel Alna((ua.

.

BiBLiniui.vrnv

Zimz, liiltix. pp. 201-210; yicnnrat ha-3Iaor. !it'tir»-inl. Kiulnscllin, l.stt; see also Brtill's wlitTf allt'Titinn is rallt'il l>> a pa.s.-^at.'e in .Mtoab hnlinfss of the mai-ital rrlations. Mi imnit hii-Mmir.

intruiliirti'in

Jithrh.

on lis

Ilii'

ii.



liv

llli).

Isl-tstj.

I>n-Kinh_i<h,

taken almost A^'atnst

schueider, Hchr. BiliL

the

literally fl-oln .Nahliianides' Unii'i'tt cliar^re of pla^n'arisni. see Stein-

LsTIi, p. »i).

S.

B.— K.

Isaac Aboab: Spanish Bible commentator; jiresumalily ii deseindaiit of |irc(eding; born at Toledo in 14^8; died in January, 14!)H. lie was the pupil and successor of Isaac Campanton. and was called "the hist gaon of Castile." After Ferdinand and Isabella issued the decree of e-Xjuilsion in 1402. he with thirty others of the most respected Jews of the land went to Lisbon in order to negotiate with King John II. of Portugal for the reception of his banished coreligionists. He and his companions were allowed to si-ttle under favondik- conditions in Porto. He died a few months after the ex]iulsion. His disciple, the clirniiicler and matheniiitician Abraham Zacuto. delivered his funeral address. .Many of Aboab's disciples attained to great distinction. Of his works the following have appeared in print; "Xehar Pishon," a collection of sermons, Constantinople, XiH; "A Superconuuentary to Xahmanides' PentateuchCommentary," Constjintinople, 152.j: Venice. 154s. etc. A supercoiunicntary to the commeiitai'y of Rashi on the Pentateuch and a number of rabbiniciil decisions e.vist in manuscript. Isaac Aboab: Son of Mattathiah; a contemimrary of Isaac da Fonseca Aboab and often confounded with him. He was born iu Amsterdam, and became hakatu of the Portuguese congregiition there he

was

a friend of the learned Surenhuvsius {Blo<h. "Oest. Wochenschriff," 1S99, No. 48, p. 902). He died

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about 1720 at Amsterdam. He wrote a book of e.lioriation tind admonition for his son, which appeared at Amsterilam, in 1087, under the title "E.xortacAo Parai|Ue os Tementes do Senlior na Observaiieiv dos Priceiiosde sua S. Lev." A nundicr of his works exist in miuiu.script, among them a genealogy of thu Aboab family and a "ComeUia de la Vida y Succcssos de Joss<-ph." IliBLioiiu.ii'iiv



Kuyserllng, Bibl. E»p.-Poit. Jud. pp.

3, i.

M. K.

Isaac da Fonseca (him

on



.Vpril

4,

Hakam

(

Isidicl da Fonseca. who was in her the tiiue of his birth. In order to

David Aboab and tifty-tirst

Aboab

at Amstor'astiodairc. Portugal, in 10(1.5; died ll)!i:i. iiged eighty-eight; wa.s the son of

liorn at

year

at

be distinguished from Is.v.vc ue M.VTTA'nil.vii Auo.xii, he added his mother's name to his own. In feiu- of danger from the Iiii|uisition, David lied with his lamily to St. Jetui de Luz. a small town on

Here he appears to the Fnuico Spanish frontier. have died, and his widow. Isabel, not yet feeling hei-self safe, emigniteil ill 1012 with hiT son to Amsterdam, where relatives of her hiisbanil had already .settled. Here Isaai; studied under the direction of the hakam Isstac Uzziel and made such progress Wheu that iu 1019 he already held a public oflice. twenty-one years of age he became hakam of the community. When the three congregations of Amslerdiun were tuiiteil 10:!9. Aboiib was in continued in his post but his position can not hiive been very remunerative, for in 1042 he accepted a call to

Pernambuco. Brazil, at that time in the hands Hire, of the Dutch. however, he could not remain. liermanently In 1049,

war broke out

between the Dutch and the Portuguese regarding the possesIsaac da Fonseca Aboab. sion of Brazil, in which (From the |xirlritit In the Archlvta of the the former were vicAmsterdam Portujpiese Conifregatlon.) torious. All the Jews were obliged to leave the country. Aboab returned to Amsterdam. Such w-as the esteem in which he was held, that ho was reappointed liaktun. His duties were to preach three times monthly and to give instruction at the Talmud Torah. as well as at the Yesbibah. or Talmudic Academy, established by the rich brothers De Pinto, of which latter institution he was hi' head. Aboab was an able preacher, an excellent Hebrew poet as can be seen from his occasional poems tmd was also acquainted with the natural sciences. He was inclined to the Cabala, and translated into Hebrew the Spanish works of Alonso de HeiTcra on the Cabala. In his old age he was a secret adherent of Shiibbethai Zebi. For more than half a century Aboab ]iresided over the community and did much to promote its welfare. He gave the lirst imiiulse to the building of the great synagogue. He hiiilan extensive library, a catalogue of which was ]uinteil in 109:$. Aboab was the first Jewish author in America. Of his works the following have ap])eared " Parafrasis Comentada sobre el Pentateuco, Amslerd;uu, lOHl " ScrmSo en Mcmoria de Abraham I

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Nunez Bernal"; "Sermilo Funebre en Memoria de Dr. Josei)b Bueno," Amsterdam, 1009; "Sermilo no Alegre Estreamente e Publicti Celebridade da Esnoga." Atusterdam, 1075; "Sermflo por Hatan ,

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