Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/175

129 -

.

lie dictl

Feb.

19. 1707.

3. Son of Maiiasseli Abra-

niiinltcr of ilie Tiilniuilical Academy 'Ez lliiN yiiH ill Viiistcnlaiii. 1710. Joseph Abravanel: 1. I'liysieian and scholar;

vanel;

Abravanel Abraxas

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

129

was

11

born at Lisbon in 1471; son of Isaac Aliravaiicl lie lived at Venice and later at died about 'i')'~. 2. A Ferrara, and enjoyed a great reputation. physician, brother of Jianas.seh Abravanel; flourished at Amsterdam in the .seventeenth century; 3. A member of the Academy died about 1020. 'Ez I.luy vim at Ainsfrnlam, in 1700. judah Abravanel: 1. Keceivir of customs at lie rendered substantial Seville, Sjiaiii, in KilO. service to the grandees of Caslile. The infante Don Pedro, in liis will, dated Seville, May 9, i;il7, ordered that Judah be jiaid: (I) 1.5,000 maravedis (§yO,000) for clothes delivered (2) 90.000 maravedis (§72,000) as iiart of a jiersonal debt, at the same time re(|uesliiig Judah to release him from Judah had been in great favor paying the rest. with King Alfonso the AVise, with whom lie once had a conversation regarding Jews and Judaism. 2. Granilsim of the preceding; Portuguese treasIllmanaged the financial afurer about 1400. fairs of the infante l)om Fernando, who assigned to liiin, in 1437, over half a million reis blancos. 4. The grand.son of Judah 8. See Lko Hiciik.ki.s. Abravani'l, or Leo Ilebra'us. bore also the name of He was a much respected miin, who died Judah. He Dec. !•"). l.")S:i, at Ferrara, al the age of tifty. lived with his brollur Jacob Abravanel and another Judah Abravanel, who was renowned for his wealth and for his philanthropy. Samuel Abravanel: Son of Judah Abravanel lie became a liatron of Seville; seltlcd in Caslile, lie supported the scholar. Meiiahem of learning. ben Zerah. and had him ch'clcd rabbi of Toledo. As a mark of his gratitude iMcnahem dedicated to Abravanel his work. "Zeclah la-Derek" (Provision for the Journey). During the i)ersecutionof 1391 he 8id)mitte(l to baptism and was named, according to Zaento. Juan of SevilU'. He soon, however, returned to.luilaism. Seealso AiiU.v.i,l,., S.VMfET.. Youngest son of Isaac Samuel Abravanel: Abravanel. and grandson of Judah; was born in His father sent him to Salonica to 1473, at Lislion. pursue his Talmuilic studies, where he became the pupil of Joseph Fasi. He liveil at Naples, anil was employed as liiianeier by the viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo. He made the best ])ossible use of his great wealth, which amounted to moii^ than 200,000 gold zecchini or scijuins (about §4">0,000). The poet Sanund Usipie said that he ileserved the surname "Tremegisto." that is." thrice great " great in scholarsliip, great in name (ancestry) and great in wealth. "He generously employs his wealth in promoting the welfare of his coreligionists. He enables many orphans to marry, su|)porls the needy, and endeavors strenuously to free <aptives, so that in liim are combined all the great (|Ualities which make one litted for the gift of prophecy." I5y his con tem|)oraries he was surnamed " Nasi " (Prince), and was much respected. His ,second wife. Itenveniila Abmviinela, a woman of prudence, culture, grace, piety, and charity, nobly seconded his elTorts. The viceroy of Naples permitted his daughter Leonora, Inter grand duchess of Tuscany, to be on friendly terms with Henvenida and even to become her pupil. Leonora looked up to her with lilial love and





.

K'spect

Samuel Abravanel was a patron of Jewish learning. His liousi' was n favorite resort for Jewish and Christ inn scholars. The I'ortuguese refugee, David ben Vahya, I

whom 9

Sainuil siieieedid

in

phieiiiu'

iis

rabbi at Naples, and the cabalist Baruch of Benevento, were his intimates. Following in the footsteps of his lather, and aided by liis noble wife,

Samuel was always ready

to

defend

his brethren in

AVlien Cliarlcs V. issued an edict to expel the Jews from Najiles, Henvenida, with the assistance of Leonora, intervened in their behalf .so effectively that the decree was revoked. But several years later, when Charles V. ordered the Jews either to leave the land or to wear the badge, the Abravanels settled in Ferrara, where Samuel died in 1551, and lieiivenida three years later. The fnllowing were also prominen. luembers of faith,

the family the wealthy and learned " Prince " I.Iiyya Alnavaiiel. who lived at Salonica with the preacher Senior Abravanel (died 1020) Hirsh Abravanel, who was head of the rabbinate at Lissa, Prussia (died 1.S03). liiiii.iiiiiii.u'iiv: Usque. 0)mnla(flm, p. 206; Grfitz. Ocsch.



(I.

Jiiiltii.in. 47 ct scq., 327 et seq.; Kayserllng, (JcKch. d.

Jmlen in Portugal,

p.

3M



Idem, DieJildUchen Frmten,

pp. 77 et »€Q.

M. K.

ABRAVANEL DORMIDO, DAVID. See Duit.Miiiii. D.wu) Aiii!,v.Ni.i.. ABRAXAS or ABRASAX A,J/)dfaf, oftener (

'A^paaii;)

A



etymolog}'.

term of (Jnostic magic, of uncertain According to Irenajus ("Adversus

Abraxas God (Gnostic Gem, Obverse and Reverse). (From King's "GDOrtlc*.'*)

Ilarcses."

i.

24,

3-7), the Gnostic Basilidcs (died

about 130) gave the name of Abraxas to tlie highest Being, who presides over the 364 kingdoms of spirits (53 X 7 = 304) because the ntuiieiical value of the ,

=

letters of this name is equivalent to 365 (a 1, b =: 100. a =1. X 60. a 2, r 1. s 200)— t. ,-.. the 364 spirits -|- the Highest Being Himself. In a magic pa-

-

=

=

=

pyrus it is expres.sly stated that Abraxas is equivalent to 305, the number of days in the year (Wessely, "Neue Zaiberpapyri," p. .50; Dietcrich.

"Abraxas."

j).

40).

Bellcrmann ("Versuch

liber

Ocnunen mit Abraxasbild." Berlin, 1817-19, derives this word from the Coptic. He claims it is a compound of Aliriik and «<7.r, meaning "the holy Word." "the blessed Name." See. on the other hand, "Studien zur Semitischen Heligionsgelf<9. note 1. Other etymologies and a summary of all investigations in the matter are given by Matlir in his "Histoire Critique du Gnosiicisme," 1H2.S (Girman trans, by Dilrner, ii. 56 et Kauilissin. .schichle."

i.

Glldemann sees in Abraxas lleilbronn, 1^34). some connection with the magic formula of the papneq..

yri, ••arbathiaoth "

(which he identifies with y3")X hvniK', the four- let tired name of God (" Fest.sehrifl ziim .ch/.igslen Geburfstage Moritz Sleinschmidcrs." p. 15). MoYse Schwab suggests that Abraxas is

the e(|invalent of

Kia 3K

("till'

F^ither created")

("Vocabulaire de rAiigelologie," p. 383). Geiger suggested a derivation for Abraxas from the Ile,brew hii-ln-rnknh ("the blessing"); this is approved bv King. "Gnostics," p. 251. but rightly rejected by Kraussin Pauly-Wissowa." Healencyklopildie." p. 7. by Schmidt ("Gnostische .s has been shown Seliriften in Kopt. .'^prache." pp. .502<7»»/ ). .bra.sax .i.'iiiils ill no oiL'aiiie <oiinection with the Basilidiau