Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/154

108 :.

im Abraham ^ayyi Abraham bar yya ha-Nasi

Tn the introduction to liis work. "Bel lin Bclnm''." Mcmiliciu Mciri rifci-s to Al)riiliiun l)cn Hayyini in the hiu'lii'st Icrnis. nnd names liini atnon;: llie most famous rat)liis of Narbonne (" Haliliins Knineais," p. Griltz ("Geseh. d. .luden," vi. 40(i) eon founds .143). liim

.l)nihain hen Ilayyim of Heziers, to .^hrahain ihn Ezra, while in that cily in ll")"i,

with

whom

He

dedicated his "Siler ha Shi'ni." idenlilied willi

the

autliorof the four

]ioet Aliraliani

is,

rather, to he

hen Ilayyim.

(h

liturjrieal eoniiiosilions

the

roh„l)

emhodied in llie rilual used in the eily of Carpenlras. France, and which were recited on Sal)balh I'arah in the ancient Comtat-Venaissin. Indeed, one of lliese poems bears the acrostic of Abraham and another lliat of Aliraham l)ar Hayyim, Itetiiin. I.e-' /fdWiiiic Froiii;. 4)<1; Unws. (iiillin Jiidaica. p. 421.

S

K

ABRAHAM HAYYIM BEN GEDALIAH He llnuri>lic-d early in the niueteentli eentvuT. was a disciple of llie brolliers PInnehasand Sanaul Horowitz. and, like his leacliers, is considi-redoneof the most erudite of the l.Iasidim. He did not derive his Hasidic jirinciples from these teachers, but directly from the innr/r/id (preacher) of ilezhirilz. whose utterances he freciuently (juotes GuliiiuM

I'.iliiiuili-il.

Hayyim" (The Way to Life), "Zolkiev. This work appeared posthumously and conan introduction by K. Ephraim Solomon Mar-

in his " Orali la

1817. tains

caliot.

WaUlen, .S/icni lia-GcdoUm Ik'iijiieob. i)z(ir }tit-Scfaritn. p. 49.

Bibliography

he-]1adaKh,

p. 14;

L. G.

ABRAHAM BEN HAYYIM LISKER. See IIayvim. Liski;k. .r.KAiii ABRAHAM BEN ?AYYIM BEN REMOK r.i:N

("|1D"l)



Spanish

.scliolar;

born in Barcelona about

He wrote a the middle of the fourteentli century. commentary on the Psalms which is still e.xtant in Abramanu.script at O.vford (IJodU'ian. Xo. 32fi) ham lien Hayyim. the aiilliorof "Zi? ha Zaliab," a ciinimenlary on the Sonir of Son>;s and Hulh, is lierhaps ideiilical with Abraliam ben Hayyim ben Hemok, Li the inlroduction to the commenlary on the Psalms, the author gives a short autobiograpliy, which throws some liglit on the conditi<ins which prevailed at the time anion.g the Jews in southern Europe. He was obliged to leave his native town on account of the persecutions that began aboul the end of June. 1348 (GriUz. "Gesch. d j'uden." vii. 3G3) and moved to Uarbastro. Aragon. where he remained .

over

tliirty

years

— in

fact, until I3ill (Griilz.

ib.

viii,

which year the persecution of the Jews began. His house was pillaged, his property deHowstroyed, and he himself thrown into prison. ever, he was liberated after having taken part in a (Tortosa. 1413 and 1414) between public disputation Jews and Christians. Jewish scholars were even forbidden to study the Law, and as Abndiam states."in those times they were not allowed to retain the Tonih or tile prayer-book, but had to deliver theni up to the GOetseij.). in

churches."

ABRAHAM BAR HILLEL

One of the few Egypt lived in the second half of the twelfth century, and wrote the " Megillah Zutta" Hebrew poets

in



L

G,

ABRAHAM HAYYIM RODRIGUEZ. See Roiusn.ri.z. .r.iiMiM Hwvim ABRAHAM HEILBUT. See IlKii.ni ABii. IIAM ABRAHAM DE HERRERA. See Herkera, t,





inelegant rimed prose, narnilingan important episode of Jewish liistory in Egypt. As a iirologueand an ejiilogue. he added poems which slinw llu'ir author to have been a skilful versilier. This work was conipleted in 117aiier. in Jfir. Quart. liev. 1896, aiil;

I).

Kanfmnnn.

iliid.

Inn.

vlll.

541-

ix. 10H-ir2.

L. G.

ABRAHAM BAR HIYYA HA-NASI (failed Abraham

Judaeus, and fre(|uently cdiruptinii of the Arabic .v.i/((7) ,i/ .i/iiirtfi/i "gnverMiir nf a city"). As a Mathematician and Astronomer : A ei'lebrated Jewish mathemalieian. astroncimer, and |ihilo.soplier of the twelfth century. Hi' lived in Barcelona in 1 13(5. According to S. I). Luzzatlo. there exists a manuscript, (hited April 10, 1131!, in which the scribe adds to the name Abraham bar l.Iiyya the formula for the by

lion

.lews

Savasorda, which

—

is

u

—

dead, ^VT ("May the memory of the righteous he From this it may be inferred that 1136 blessed"). was the year of his death. I'erha]is. further proof of this is afforded by the circumstance that the translator Plato of Tivoli. having completed the translation of the "(Juadripartitum " of Ptolemy. October 20. 1138, does not mention Abraham bar Hiyya, although before that time Plato had availed himself of his services as interpreter. But some scholars think that the JIagister Abraham who dictated " De Astrolabio" (probalily at Toulouse) to Hudolph de Bruges (a work that the latter tiiiislied in 1143) was As the title identical with Abraham bar Hiyya. "Sephardi" (Spaniard) is always appended to his name, it is certain that he was Spanish. Nevertheless, he must have passed several years iu southern France, as he comi>osed some works for the Proveii(al Jews, in which he comjilains of their ignorance of mathematics Steinsclineider has proved that he was not a disciple of K. Moses liaDarshan or the teacher of Ibn Ezra. Abraham bar Hiyya. together with Abraham ibn Ezra, occupies an important place in the historjof Jewish science. Ho was. indeed, one of the most important ti.irures in the scienOriginal tific movement which made the Jews Works. of Provence. Spain, and Italy the intenuediaries between Mohammedan He aided this science and the Christian world. movement not only by original works, but also by translations, and by acting as interpreter for another great translator, the celebrated Plato of Tivoli, Steinsclineider has also .shown that his original works were written in Hebrew and not, as some have thought, in Arabic. These original works are:

mC

("The FoundanjlOSn ^nJDI n:i3nn and the Tower of Faith "), an encyclopedic work, which is said to treat of arithmetic, geometry, optics, astronomy, and music. Unfortunately only a few short fragments of this work have bien preserved (MSS. De Rossi Library, No. 1170; Berlin Library. No 244: Muinch Librarv. No. 36: and, under a false title, MSS. Bod(1)

BTBi.Ior.R.KPHT: Stelnschnelder. TTchr. BiliL i. 111. jtv. infl; Jeic. Quart. Urr. xl. 612. where referenoes are jflven to the pronunciation of the name !iinii)k Neut)auer, Cat. liodl. Hi Id: MSS. Xos. Kiiaml I1.'>1.

Abh.vii.-m dk.

108

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.

^

tions of L'liderstanding

leian. 1268,

No.

7).

mi3L"nni nn'L"nn -nan ("Treatise on Geometry"), ]in.bably intended to be a part of the preceding work. This is the- celebrated geometry (2)