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433 the observance of In aer-onlance with the cstablislu'd practise the merely formal a(I<iption of Islam wasdeemed siitheient by the early Almohade rulers; and, as Moslem doctrine emphasized the nnity of God in its most stringent fashion, many Jews tlioughl it only a small transgression to so acknowledge in addition Mohammed as a propliet. In orderto prevent the harm vhi<li it was felt must dtimatcly result from sneli a notion, Maimun 1). Joseph, the father of Maimoiiides, who at that time had settled at Fez with his family, wrote his "Epistle of Consolation" in which he advised Ins brethren not to lose heart and faith. In the same cause liis son Moses wrote his "Letter concerning Conversion," to encourage those who felt the gravity of even this otitward desertion from the faith of their fathers. But such ])rocei'diiigs <lid not remain unnoticed by the later Almoha<le |)rinccs, who were not sjitistied with the mere utterance of a religious formida. Abu Yusuf Ya'kul) Almansur.the fourth Almohade prince, suspecting the sinci'iity of the cimvertcd Jews, forced them to don a distingviishing garb, consisting of a black tunic with long sleeves, and a yellow scarf as head covering. His successor Abu Ahdallah changed the color of the gaberdine also Hcfore the middle of the thirti'enth cento yellow. tury the power of the Altnohadi's was broken in Sjniin; but in northern Africa the lot of the Jews continues a hard one, even down to the present day, as a result of the Almohade reaction.

<'ree(l,

their

Almejrda

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

433 while secretly contiiiiiins

own

religion.

Gratz, Gcucli. iL Juilni, vli. 23, !)8; fur the zur tn (reneral, .sen (i'liilzilnT. Matfi^Utlhu tU'r AlmiihaiU'nlnirrfiintu in yiiril-Africa, tn xll, .10-141); Die Ilrliiiiitt)us.ifi„meli) ilirAlmnlindrn. Ililil. lilK-171, and tin- autliorlUes tht-n> eited. On Malniun's letter, art- liitnidtii'tion Ut SIminonds' tHlitlun tn Jew, Quint. Itiv. II. IK. Itl'i it .«../.

Bini.IOOKAPnv Alinnliades

Kenyitnbw

Z.D.M.a.

ir.

AliMOLI, ALMTJLI,

ALMALI A

or



iiii!.

Span

name

ileiived from tlic Arabic <ilraises up"). In addition to those referred to in the following articles two other

ish-Jewisli family mii'ttlli

i"{w one

who

of the family are known. A Salomon mentioned in a Barcelona list for the year "Sources." No. 'il'i. p. l(i). I'Jty (Jacobs. In a similar list occurs the name of Gento Almuli of Calat-

members

Almuli

is

yud(Kayserling, "Jew. Qmirt. Rev."

viii. 49'2).

G.

Jesse Almoli



Nathaniel

Joseph ibn Almoli

Son

law of Rabbi Meir, of Boton, w hose I'ol lection of responsii lie arranged for publicalioii in the year HM'ill. .M. K. b.

of Saragossa, Spain,

at

in



.

physician

the end of the thirteenth cen-

lie translaleil .Maimimides' commentary on tury, the tifth rd<'r (" Kodasliim" sacred things) of the

=

Mishnah from llie original Arabic into Ilelirew. In November, liiHi. Rabbi Simii.mi was sent by the Jew-

community of Rome to Spain toobtain a Hebrew Version of the comm<'ntary; and he was advised by Solomon Ihii Adret to jirocuri' a capalile tninslator in Saragossa. A copy of tin' full commentary on the

more, through want of care in copying, the translation has come down to modern times in a most deplorable condition. Almoli lacked utterly the faculty of adapting the correct Hebrew words to the Arabic originals, a faculty possessed in an eminent degree by .Vlhariziand the Tibbonides. Frequentl}' Almoli's style is clumsy, and his expressions are often vague; therefore, his plea for indul.sence is not altogether without reason. With all these defects, the translation still has the merit of first rendering this celebrated commentary accessible to tlio.se unacquainted with Arabic. Biui.ioGRAPHV: Stelnsclinelder, Cat. BmU. col. 2051; Idem. Ill l>r. I'llim. II. 92.") Vogelsteln and RleRer, Oesch. d. Ju;

lUn



llm.sea. there ninained for the scliolarsof Sarago.s.s)i oidy the fourth an<l fifth Orders. On Siinhah's arrival at Sara,i.'os.sa .lnioli cxprcssi il his w illingn<ss to undertaki' the translation of one Order; and the fifth was assigned to him. rnfortumitelv for the work, Almoli had not mas t^'rc'd the neollebrew language; he had a defectivi' mann.script to decipher, anil, as he liimself admits,

he was not an experienced Talmudist,

L—28

Further-

num.

in

1,251.420.

Vr.

J.

Solomon sician

Jacob Almoli (Almuli) Phyand Hebrew author of the si.teenth century; in Turkey, probably in Constantinople. As b.



lived a ph3'sician he seems to have enjoj-ed quite a reputation, but he is better known as a Hebrew grammarian. In l."il7 lie wrote an introductory ode to Elisha b. .Vbraham b. Mattathia's "Mageu David," which was a defense of IJind.ii's grammatical system against Proliat Duran's criticism. Shortly after, he

"Halikot Shewa," a gnmunatical essay (Constantinople, 151!)). He also wrote " Meassef I.ekol ha-Mahanol " (The Collector from All Camps) (no date or place), which was, in a way, a prospectus for a .Jewish encyclopedia. (The book ise.Mremely rare; the Bodleian possissesonly a manuscript copy of a part. Neubauer. "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. " Xo! 1030, 4. ) Best known and oftenest printed of all his works is his " Pitron Halomot " or " Mefasher Helmin " (Solution of Dreams), a dream-book, in which he explains all passages in the Talmud referring to dreams or their interpretation. It consist.sof l)ul)lished

upon the

.v/«'iv(

three chapters upon the interpretation of dreamsand upon the avertingof evil dreams, and was first publislied in Salonica, about l")l(i. It was republished was in l.~)IS in Constantinople, then later in Cracow printed in .Vmsterdam by JIanasseh ben Israel, and in, U)94 aiipeared in a JiuUeo-German translation. He also wrote a philosophical treatise upon the nature of the .soul and its immortality, entitled "Sha'ar haShcm he iladash." Constantinople. 1.5;):!. He appears to have lieeipine a man of wealth in later years, for he published at his own ex])cn.se numerous grammatiial works. Thus in l.V.i9 he publislied Ibn Ezra's "Yesod Mora," and in l.'iSO the work "Sefat Yeter" by the sjune author. To an edition of Ibn Yaljyah's " Leshon Linunudim" in l.")42 he sujiplied an introductory poem beginning with the words "Reii Sefer," Outside of the frequently rejirinted "Pilron Halomot," his other works are ex;

tremely

rare.

Biiii.iiHiR.riiv: SipinselmeldcT, Cut. linill. rol. 22S1 ; Carmoly, llint. ili:.i Mi'ili-i'in.i .luifs. p. l.')lt: Dukes. Zur itiititiinim-iifn

isli

first live Orders was to ln' found oidy in that town and as the tirst Oriler had alreaily been translated by Alhari/.i, and lh<' second and lldrd by .scholars in

Almond

Simulikiinili-. p. TO; Liliritturlilatl iUk Orimlx. xl. 285; UiMiliiii. (Imrh. il.JDilinrhin Ainlf. p. X't; Cimtorto, lyore hii-Iiiirot. Ma: Wvlt. liilil. Ililir. I. UMl. No, lllill). J. Vn.

ALMOLIK (ALMALIK), ABRAHAM BEN JUDAH ELIMELECH. e Ai;u.ii..m Ji IIAII ALMON city in the territory of Benjamin .s.



givin

to

'.lmil. 1

Chron.

iii..n

.

priests (Josh. xxi. IS); now called also in the corresponding list of [A. V. 00]. but there atUod Alemetii,

the

Found vi,

4."«

O, B. L.

ALMOND

.

lermapplicd toa Iree^Jer.

i,

to a fruit ((Jen. xliii. 11, Num. xvii. [A. V. 8]), and to a bml or flower (Ex. xxv. a:j.

11, r.ecl

2^

(Tpt,");

ii.

."i).