Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/185

139 ABU-YUSUF BEN ISAAC IBN SHAK lux .SiiAruiT. Sir llMni Ar.r ABU YUSUF HA-ZAKEN. Sic J<>si;i-ii

PRUT.

i

-i

ii.v-

Zakin Fiilhcr of Ptolemy, who niunliTtd Sinioii al .111 icho, where he was statioueii as military " G. B. L. (I Maee. xvi. 11, 1."),) cltii<r.

ABUBTJS



ABUDARHAM (Arabic

or Abulax): A faiiiilN iiaiiK' lioiiic liy Spanish .Jews, for the lirsl lime by David Abudarhiam, who wasa tax-eolU'ctoraiid elder of Ihe coiiirreiiatioii of the .Jews of Tudi'hi ilur ill if the reii^ii of Sancho the Great, kiiij; of Castile aii<l Leon (r-'.")IS-'.t.")). Sanelio was the tirst to reirulate the taxes which the various Jewish comnniiiities had to pay to the royal treasury. For this purpose a commission of the four chief meuof the comuiuni-

darahim,

I'.illin-



Abu-dirham

— or

of the Dirhrins"

to meet at Huete. September, the event of lie commission failiii,!; toai^'ree. it was the kiuif's order tlial the whole mailer be referred to David, and bnlh parlies wen' to abide by his See Ihe liocunieiil in .laeolis, "Sources," decision. p. 141. where Dim Dani Abudarham is ci|uivalent to Don David Abudarharri; Kayserlinj;. " Hev. Et. Jilives," wwiii. •J.">4; (iriilz. "Gescli. d. Judeii." In an elcjry on the catastrophe which vii. IGT. UiK overtook the Jews of Toleilo in 1391 (" Leilerbodc," vi. ;!;!-:!T) mention is made of "the Synairosiiic of Abudirhain " (^i?':"^^'!. probably so called after this ties

Abu Amram Joseph

THE JEWISH ENX'YCLOPEDIA

139

was suiiimoued

1200.

Ill

1

who

David,

have caused

iniist

it

lo

be built (Kay-

Juives," xxxviii. 'Syi). David's Joseph, and his gi-.inilson's David, of Ihe family.

geiiiiiiT. in " liev. ftt.

son's name was the best known

In 1.V.J4 Moses and Isaac Abudarham are nic n tioned as livini;- in Home anil eiitcrtainin.i; .Moses Heubeiii for a short while (Voffelstein and Kieger. "Gesch. d. Judrii in lioiii." ii. 44). certain Abraham Abudarham while at A>rramimt in 14 14 copied the Hebrew translation of Ar-

A

"Nieomaeliean Ethics" (Neubaucr, "Cat.

istolle's

col. .lOS. No. 1420). Bodl. llebr. .MSS About ITKll Uonianelli mentions the family Abudarham in Norlh Africa ("Jew. Quart. Hev." xii. llli). anil a eerlain J. Abudarham is said to have lived in CJibralhir in 1S4:'m" oiee of Jacob." vol. iii., list of subscribers). An .Vbinlarum is mentioneil in Marseilles in ISST; anil in 'ruiiis Ihe family AbouDerham is to be found al jirescnt (Cazes, "E.s.sai sur I'Histoire ilcs Israelites dc Tunisic," 188t(, p. 177). "

BtDi.ioc.ii.kriiv:

on

nirhiuii

iis iin

Aralile proper

nnmp. soe Spy-

Kiiiijii M'rnlcrhiiili. i>. 'M lust line. ( luiiimn' Weliniir, ismi; VaVui's (ii'nir. I'irl., Inilex, p. 4:i'> tlie use nf Dlimr" in ii similar wnse. Si'vUilil. p. Its; ^'iikiit, Ixilil,

//><i

ii(-.l(ii'»

Nlllic plllie. Im'II

SlelllHihlieiiler. ./i ic. yi(.01. Iliv.x. liHI, liellevi-s iif siHiie iilii' imiiiiil Jiisepli. lii'iaiise l.lajjiij

hv-imiiie Viisnf WHS Ilie

It III !»•

II

llrst iiiinter.

G.

ABUDARHAM (.1 ABUDRAHIM), DAVID inninirnlalor BEN JOSEPH BEN DAVID; .

on lie Syiiai;ii^ur 111 111 iiN ,« llli lived al Seville. Spain, about liVli). and wasa pupil of Jacoli ben Asher. He lieloiij;ed to the class of writers who. in an ajie of decline, felt the need of disseminalin!; in popular form Ihe knowled;;e stored up in various .sources of rabbinical literal ure. and thus obtained a wclldcserved fame. His book has no specilie title IwVond Ihe name " Ilibbiir I'eriish ha lierakot we haTetillol," probably because it was intended to serve 1

nsa runninir commenlary

to the liluri;y. In the preface he slates llial he desired to alToril Ihe people, whom he found laekini; in knowledire. the means of

'Usinj; Ihe lilurjry intilliiienlly, and for this lie collected, from both the liabylonian I'alestiniiin

imrpose and the Talmuils. from the Geoiiim and all the

Abudarham, David

to his own time, the material for the explanation of each portion of the prayerbook. In order to elucidate the meaning and origin

commentators down

of each observance connected with divine worship Ihroughont the year, he made use of all the works concerning the rites he could obtain, some of which were very rare. In addition he gave a systematic exposition of Ihe Jewish calendar; but at the same He certime, he lays no claim to any originality. tainly sueeeedeil. as no one did before him, in writing a commentary which is very valcable. if not altogether indispeii.sable, to the student, and which deserves to be translated and condenseil for the benetil of those who still use the ancient ritual. Though he was a believer, like most of his contemporaries, iu the mystical sense of words and numbers, he combined a fair grammatical knowledge (in spite of occasional crHis Accoun.t of rors, as. for instance, his derivation of the Ritual, uiiiihuli from nuntih ymiKi). good common-sense, and a comprehensive rabbinical erudition, and thus was better (lualitied than many of his predecessors to give a satisfactory exlilanation of almost every phrase of the ]irayer book. The work slarled by Kaslii and .Meirof Kolhenburg, and proseeuleil especially in France. Spain, and Germany during the lourteenlh century (see Zunz. "Hi-

found in Abudarhanis profound and wise iinlgmeiit a lilting conclusion and consummation. Three introductory chapters on tiis."


 * >ii.

O^-'iO),

spirituality

Ihe reading of the Shenia' (Dent. vi. 4). the Daily I'niyer.anil the various Heneiliet ions precede tliecommeiilary. which begins with the Night I'rayer. and then follnw s the order of the prayer-book. cliicHy of Ihe Sephaiilic .Iinliag. from beginning to end: lirst tlic Daily .Mornin,g, Afternoon, and Evening Prayers: Iheii the Sabbath, the >;ew iloon. and the Pas.sover Prayers (including the Passover Haggadah) and the Considerable space is given to Pentecost Prayer. the prayers oftlie fast days in general, besides those of the national last days in commemoration of Jerusalem; thin follow New-year's Day and Atonement Day and theSukkol leslival players. This section is foliowed by a chapter on the llaftarot. and then follow one on thecalenilar and a special discourse on the Tckubit and the superstitiousbelicf concerning it. The last section treats, in nine chajilers. of the various Heiieilictions. as for example before and after meals. The closing paragraph quite eliaraeieristically contains the rules regarding Ihe cutting of nails,

and ends bv

slalinsr:

"This bonk was completed

in

after the Creation of the WorUl, by Abiiilarham." In the manner of an eclectic he freiiuintly slates, or suggests, many ex|>lanations for one fact; but a certain warmth of religious feeling pervades Ihe whole book and makes it a harmonious unit, giving it an edifying, rather than a nicri4y legal, That Ihe work supplied a commonly character. The tirst fell need is shown by ils nine eililions. edition appeared in Usbmi in llsil; the .second in Conslanlinople in l.'ii:!; the third and fourth in Venice in l.-pKl and l.'ilili respectively; Ihe liflh in Amsterdam in 17'J(>(in lliisa portion of Ihe calendar was a lid seventh in Prague in 17S4aiid omit led); the si Ihe eighlli in I.emberg in 18."i7; 1H17 risiieetively and the iiiiilh in Warsaw in 1ST7. A manusiript exSeville in

.'^iioi)

Mb

ists in

the Friedlilndcr Library at St. Petersburg.

Mlelmi'l, Or liii-llniiiiiiii. No. T-lt; Stoln. CiU. Iliiill. iiil. KVi; s. Wli'lier. Cii*. llililiiinirm Dellossl. AiniiUri llrli. 7'i/jmi(rii/i/iii i FriVi/lmiihiimi.p. 1 Sei' also llrflU's Jnhrh. II. lil">. HiienIII .«.i..i(/ii n: p. liT. alteiillnii isialli'il liilliei«ixiaii<Miii the teliiiloiry of tlieorifaiis

llllil.loiiRAIMIv: si-lilleldiT.



of

Ilii'

hiiinan ImnIv. lakiii llienillv fnnii shaliln'tlial Ihinolo, IVfiiii/i, l^l. I'mtfue, p. Illi.

(iiiiiiiii ii'iinfiiii t/ir liiii'U