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336 Aleksandria 'Alenu

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

ami

crnturics: hut Imviiig si-en lie (li'cidcd to compose another. Aldus' work was the tirsi printid Hebrew gramiuar. and was intended for Clirislian students. It eonlained the IlcOnew alphaliet, the manner of readinir. the charaeter of the vowels and their combination with the consonants, and a sermon in Hebrew translated into Latin. The ilelirew type which he u.sed was prolialily cut by MaCstro Francesco of Holojrna. the same who worked for Gerson Soncino. This will cvplain the similarity iu the This addition was retype used in both oltices. printed at least eij^ht times by the Aldine Press. Aldus nourished kindly feelintrs towaril the Jews, and had many Jewish frii'uds, amoni; whom was his This spirit Colleaf^ue, the printer Gerson Soncino. His of toleration he transmitted to his children. son Aldus Manutius the Younger contrralulated David dr I'omis upon the i)idilication of his "Apologia pro Medico Ilebra'o." fourti'cntli,

the iisclL'ssnrss

BMii.KKiR.M'HV i.



liflct'iith

of timt book,

UenouHrtt, Annair:* dr Vlnutrimfrir AUlinr,

72; stt'ln.sclHififler, liiltlitup'njthm-Jirs flauiilniclu p. 1-:

idem, Hil>r. Itihl. UiWii. il. JIhl. Lit.

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Winter and

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ALEKSANDRIA

Wiin.si'lie,

I.

Bk,

town, and village in the governmenl of Kherson, Hussia, on the Inguletz river. In 1H!)7 the .lewisli population was: district, ::i.wr>7; town, •t,7!»4 village, 1,!I1G. The town has two synagogues and two schools. H. K.

Distiict,



ALEKSANDROVSK District and town in the government of Kkaterinoslav. Russia, on the left bank of the Dnieper, below the raiiids. In 1897 the Jewish population of the town was 884, and of the di.strict .'5,310. The Jewish coinmuuity has two synagogues and three schools. II. U.

ALEKSEI Kussian archpriest convert to Judaism; born ju-obably in Novgorod, 142r>; died in Moscow, 1488, In the last quarter of the fifteenth century, when a schism arose in the Russian Orfhodo.v Church and many new sects sjuang up, Aleksei became a convert to Judaism. Some of the new sects



had shown a Mosaic law.

de<'ided leiidi'ucy to revert to the old This |irobably suggested to the infliential Jew Skhariyah (Zechariah), of Kiev, the idea of spreading Judaism among the Russians of Pskov and Novgorod. Skbariyah belonged to the suite of Prince Michael Olelkovicli, who came to Novgorod in 1471 as the king's vicegerent. The first convert in Novgorod was the priest Dionis, who introduced to Skhariyah his colleague, the archjiriest (protnjHipnh) Aleksei. The latter was the most zealous of the new con verts,an(l did successful missiimary work among all cliLsses, especially among the clergy. The new community ai)preciated his labors ,so highly

of Abraham was conferred upon him, while his wife's name was cliangeil to Sarah. When the grand-duke of Russia, Ivan Vasilyevich, visited Novgorod in 1480, Aleksei found favor in his Th<' grand duke took Aleksei with him to eyes. Moscow and put him at the bea<l of tlii' Church of the Assumption, while his friend Dionis was at the same time appointed priest of the Church of the Archangel Jlichael in the ssime city. Aleksei enjoyed the confidence of the grand-duke in a high degree and had free access to him. He succeeded in converting his secretary, Feodor Kurilzyn, the archimandrite Sosima, the monk Zechariah, the jirincess Helena, daughter-in law of the grand-duke, and many other prominent personages. The grand-duke at first, probably for political reasons, protected the heretics, but later on was constrained to persecute them. that the

name

liniLioGR.vPHV



f'lHton,

Kratkayn Tzcrknvnam Rossishaya

Istoriya, Moscow, 1833; N. Rudner,

Razsuzhdenie o Yere-

336

m

i Uaiikniahh niiVHhlhh v Itumkiii Tzerkl Vrcmeni loiiiniim Vflihovn iht Jimnna (rntznnrii Cfn'tttlse (Hi Itie and Schism In the ltiis.siaii riiun-li, fnmi the time of Vladimir thi*(irfat lo Ivan llie'riTrlhhM. Mi>s<-/ic/ifMiW(i, No. I'lil, i>. 'Ml.

l!oor Jewish parents. At the age of ten he was impressed into military ('ath(ili<'

service



Cliurcli:

by the press gang

[

ji'ihiix/ir/iiA-i)

of

Emperor

Nicholas I., and ,sent away to the distant city of Volsk, government of Sanitov. Nicholas I. believed that he could convert the Jews to the Orthodox Greek Church by taking the .sons from their jiarenls while young and placing them in military .service. For a long time .VIeksyeyev remained faithful to the religion of his forefathers, and the ollicials considered him a most stubborn subject. However, about 184o, he changed his views entirely, and not only became a member of the Orthodox Russian Church, but managed to convert more than five hundred Jewish Cantonists, for which he was promoted in 1S48 to the rank of a non-commissioned ollicer, and was honored by the em])eror's thanks. About IN,").") Aleksyeyev was so uuforlunale as to lose the use of his legs. He then settled in Novgorod, and during his long illness wrote the following works on etlinograjihic and missionary topics; (1) "Torzhestvo Christianskavo Ccheniya nad rcheniemTalmuda, ill Dushepolyezny l{azgovor Christianina s lyudeyem o Prishestvii Messii " (The Triumph of Christian Teaching over the Talmudic Teaching, or a Soul saving Conversation of a Christian and a Jew on the Coming of the Jlessiah), St. Petersburg, 1850, (2) " Bogosluzhenie, Pnizdniki Religioznye Obryady Nynyeshnikh Yevreyev" (Religious Service, Holidavs and Religious Rites of the Jews of To-day), Novgorod, ISti'l; iided., 1865. (H) " Obslichestvennaya Zliizn Yevreyev, ikh Nnivy, Obychai Predrazsudki " (The Public IJfe of the Jews, their Habits. Customs, and Prejudices!. Novgorod, 1S8, (4) "liesyedy i'ravoslavnavo Christianina Snovoobrashchemiym," etc. (Colhxiiiies of an Orthodox Christian with a Newlv Converted Jew), St. Petersburg, 1872; 2d ed., Novgorod, 1875. (5) "Byvshi Yevrei za Monastyri i Jlonasliestvo" (A Former Jew for Monasteries and Monasticism), Novgorod, 187.5. () "Obrashchenie Yudeiskavo Zakonnika v Christ iansto" (The Conversion to Christianity of an Oliserver of the Jewish Law), Novgorod, 1882. • rpotreblyayut li Yevrei Christianskuyu Krov'/ " (7) (Do the Jews I'se Christian Blood'/), Novgorod, i

i

1880



and several

others.

His works are not devoid of interest; he was the first Jew in Russia to give a description of the life and customs of his coreligionists there. He refuted the absurd blood-accusalion. But his attitude toward the Jewish religion and the .lewish rabbis remains a very hostile one. lUBi.iOGRAPnv

Alcksvcvev, .-ititnlnniirnitliu ivi ovn{jnrntlUuczdtimi't (J>ihiriisl:i!j'i I'lit'ilnino^ti, I.si'>s, and in Ids other works; M. .Arkli.-iiik'.'l.-iki. Slr'tiniili, lst;x*. No. 1, pp. 1-4 Vengerov, Knliku-IiiljlUmratichcski Slavar, St, Petersliurg,

likiiin



1889.

H. R.

ALEMETH ogy

1. Son of .lehoadah, in the genealof Biiijamin (I Cliron. viii. 36). In I Cbron. ix. 42

he is called the son of Jarah. 2. For Alemctli in Chron. vi. 45 [A.V. 60] see Almon. G. B. L.

'AXENTJ: The

last

I

prayer of the daily liturgy in

most congregations, so called from its initial word, '"Alenu," which means "It is incumbent upon us,"