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A^uilar

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

275

was publislicd in Pliiliuielpliiii, willi notes by Lceser. A second eilition Avas issued in 1S49 l)y the first American .Icwisli I'liblieation Society and a thinl (Cineiniiati, lNf)4i bas an appciKlix containitif; tbirty-two poems tbearinj,' dale KiH1H47), all but two reprinted from "Tbe Occiin 1842 it



dent." Tbe editor's notes servo mainly to mark dissent from Miss Aj^uilur's depreciation of Jewish due prol>ably to her Marano ancestry and tradition to her country life, cut off from association with Jews. In 1845 "Tin; Women n{ Israel " ai>peari(l a scries of portraits delineated accordini; to the Scriptures and

"Though He lier

ance,

Immortal

anil

Hope."

in thirty line

letleis. the Septemlier,

last ilated 1M4(>.

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Of

this work adilres,sed to a Jewess under the spell of Christian indemon Ihienee, to

strate to her the spirituality of .Itidaism

(inu't* Apiillar.

the hirger part is devoted to immortality in the Old Testuinent, Miss Ai;uilar's other relif;ious writinfjs some of them written as early as 1880 werecolIccted in a volume of " Kssjiys and jMiscellanies" (IHol-W). The first part consists of "Sal)bath Thoujj:bts" on Scriptural pa.ssafres and prophecies; the second, of "('ommuninirs " for the family circle. In her relii;ious wrilinjrs Miss Afj;uilar's attitude was defensive. Despite her almost exclusive inter course with Christians and her utter lack of preju ilice. her purpose, apparently, was to ei[uip Knf;llsh Jewes-ses with arirumentsajrainst conversionists. She inveij;hed airainst fornialism, and laid stress upon knowleilge of Jewish Idstory and the Hebrew language. In view of the nesli'it of the latter by women (to w bom she modestly contineil her expos tulations). she constantly pleadeil for the readinj; of the Scriptures in the Knglish version. Her interest in the reform movement was deep: yet. despite her attitude toward tradition, she observed ritual ordi nances punctiliously. Ibr last work was a sketch of the • History of the Jews in England," written for "Chambers's Miscellany In point of style it is the most linisbed of her pioductions. free from the exuberances and redundancies that distigure the tales published, fur ibe most pari, pnstbumously by her mother. The defects of her style are mainly

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chargeable toyoulh. With bercxlraonlinary iiiilus try she rose early ami employed Ibe day system ntieally and her growing ability of concent rat inn she gave promise of noteworlby productions. Miss Agiiilar's later years were full of family trials. In ls;),"(slie had an attack of illness, fromthe elTeet of which she never recovered. Kinallv her in creasing weakness and sulTiring necessilateil change of air. and in 1M|7 a Continental Irip was arninged. Hefore her ilepiu'l lire .some Jewish ladies of London presented her with a gift anil a touching address recounting her acbieveinenls in behalf of Judaism and Jewish women. She visited her elder brolher at

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Kmnkforl. and at lirsl seemed to benelit by the change; but after a few weeks she bad to resort lo the

baths

of

Alarming symptoms and Ibere she words, spelled uu her lingers, were.

Si'hwalbacb.

necessilateil herielurii to Frankfort, (lied.

Her

last

is

Him," and

slay me, yet will I trust in the verse Prov. xxxi. 31.

W

liiBLiofiRAPiiv : .1/iniiiii- preflxed Home Influence. 1849 ; The Hrlirlif /I'.ruir Innw siTk-s). Februarj', ls.58, pp. i:J4, i:Vi: The All fiiiim. Ni.vemlMT. IMT. p.37S: The Ail Ji.iirimt, -May, IM.^>1. p. IM: Ccjlici-iwl Works, s vols.. l.i)iulim. Istil MoiTils. KiiiiiH'iit Israditifi iif the yinctccnih CVaturj/. s v.;

Uul. yat.

Diiiii., s. v.

H.

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Josepbus. This was soon followed by "The Jewish Kaith; Its Spiritual Consolation. -Moral Guid-

epitaph

'A^unah

AGUILAB, JACOB DE

Pupil of



Fonseca at Hamburg, and hakam communities, about 1040,

lie

lirazilian

in

S.

Abraham one of the M. K.

AGUILAR (AGUYLAR), MOSES RAPHAEL DE (m.t Kaphuelm.r Kapbarl .b.ses) linrn probably

Portugal; died in Amsterdam. Dec. I."), principal of the Talmud Torah at Amsterdam. In l(i42 he went with Isaac .Vboabda Fonseca, as hazan. to IJrazil. where he remained till the reconquest of that country by the Portuguese, when he returned to .Vmsterdam and was reappointed to bis former position. -iVt the Talmud Torah he taught Talmud and Hebrew grammar. His mastery of Hebrew was so complete that be used this language in conversations with his im jiils. He was a friend of the wealthy Ahh.mi.vm Isit.vF.i. Pki{I-;vh-V. for whose chief literary work he wrote an apiuobation (hasktiinah). For .several years they were but b adherents of Shabl)ethai Zebi. Aguilar continued in bis ollice for forty years until his Hi> left a large library, the catalogue of death. which was printed at Amsterdam in KiSO. He pub" KpitoniedaGraminatica Heluayca" (Ley den, lished KitiU), a second edition of wbich appeared at Amsterdam in !, under the title "Com|>endio da Epitome (Irammatica," with a treatise on Hebrew poetry. He also winte " Diniiu de Sebita e Bedica." wbich was published at Amsterdam. ItiSl. It is sjdd that be left about twenly Spaidsh. Portuguese, and Hebrew works in manuscript. "Tmtado da Immortalidade da Alma " (nmuuscripl of twenty pages ipiarto) being among them. .M. K. 1T9.

in

He was hakam and

I

AGTJNAH

woman whose husband has cither being absent, bas not been beard time. Having no proof of her busbanil's death, or being without a bill of divorce from him, berstalusasa wife remains forever unchanged; for Jewish law does not admit Ibe presumption of death from a prolonged absence merely, nor can a wife obtain a divorce from an absent husband. In order to mitigate the hardship arising from such cases the rabbinical law relaxed the strict rules wbieb. to istablisb a fact leregarding evidenet gally, riiiuircd Ibe lesliniony of wo competent witnesses and accepled lesliuioiiy that in other cases would not have been deemed competent. If llieab'

abandoned her from for some



.V

or.

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husband sent a bill of divorce to his wife, the nns.senger was permitted lo testify that it was written and signed in bis presence; and this testimony was deemed ciiuivalcnt to that of two wilnessi's ((ii(. 2A). . olher concession was made in iiermittiiig the witnesses to altest the bill of divorce, allbougb they The bill was reail to couhl neither read nor write them, and a tnicing was made for their signature (Oit.!!^; Maimonides. " Hilkol Ccrushin." i. '.'S). In case the huslianil died whili- abst'Ut from his wife, the testimony of one witiK'Ss was deemed suf ticient to pri>ve<lealli (Yeb PJ'JAK so that Ibe woman sent

might not become an '.Vgunab (Yeb ss<it. it being almost impossible in most cases to obtain two wit nesses to prove death in a fonign land. In Ibis ease even biarsiiy I'videnie. as well as the testimony of per-ons oibirwise utlirly incom|ieteiil, was riieived