Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/202

164 Ascari Asceticism

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pius IX. Ascarelli took an active interest in the organization of the Jewish community in Rome, and was one of the founders of the " Societa di Fratellenza," for the dissemination of education among poor Jews and the development among them of a taste for art and the professions. Amid his many occupations, Ascarelli found time to contribute to Jewish literature, and was a frequent contributor under the pseudonym "Emet leYa'akob" to the Hebrew journal "Ha-Maggid," for which he wrote many poems and articles on the condition of Italian Jews under Pope Pius IX. Ascarelli translated from Hebrew into Italian the work "Nahalah le-Yisrael " (A Heritage unto Israel), a responsum sent by the chief rabbi, I. M. Hazan, in connection with a disputed inheritance in the Gallichi family. Ascarelli translated also, from French into Hebrew, under the title "Sefer Polanim we-Gere Polanim," the work of the Polish poet Mickiewicz, "Le Livre de la Nation Polonaise et des Peierins Polouais." He used to preach in the Catalan Synagogue; and one of his sermons has been printed under the title "Panigerico sull' Elezione d'Israele nel Tempio Israelitico di Roma il Sciavuot 5640 [May 17, 1880] per l'lniziazione alia Maggiorita Religiose del Figlio Angelo Raffaele e altri Giova-

Am

nelli della

Communione.

Vogelstein and Rieger, Gesch. cler Juden in ii. 386, 405, 4(18, 409 ; Zeitlin, Bibliotheca Hehraica, p. 6; Lippe, BitAiographigches Lexicon, p. 566.

Bibliography

Bom,

I.

s.

Br.

ASCARI or AZKARI, ELAZAR BEN MOSES BEN ELAZAR: Rabbi and author of the sixteenth century; styled by Azulai "Ir weKaddish " (Angel and Saint); a pupil of R. Joseph Sagis, the colleague of Joseph Caro. He lived at Safed. Ascari was a founder of the "Sukkat Shalom'' (Tabernacle of Peace) a society devoted to religious meditations and wrote in its interest in 1585 his

—

—

work

"

Haredim

(The Devout Ones), which deals

"

with the three principles of religious devotion: the knowledge of God, the strict observance of His commandments, and penitence. The section on the Commandments deals separately with the mandatory and prohibitory laws, and includes also those that can be observed only in Palestine. In the section on penitence, Ascari expresses his opposition to unnecessary fasting as a means to repentance. The work is permeated by a spirit of broad humanity coupled with humility and holiness. Although Ascari understood the Cabala, and was personally acquainted with Isaac Luria whom he describes as " our holy cabalist, on whom the Holy he can Spirit rests, as lie speaks so wondrously " not be counted among the cabalists. Ascari's commentary on the treatise Berakot of the Talmud Yerushalmi was published in the Jitomir edition of the latter work (1866), and was reprinted in I. D.

—

—

Willawski's new edition of the same. Bibliography Azulai, Shem ha-Ged/iUm,

ha^Hauyim, No. '

Michael, J.

ASCENSION few chosen

s.v.;

Or

489.

k.

The

L. S.

translation to heaven of a remain there in lieu of

ones, either to

dying, or merely to receive revelations and then to return to earth. The ascensions of Enoch (Gen. v.

164

Kings ii. 11) were of the former the Babylonians and the classic peoples of antiquity the belief was wide-spread that extraordinarily pious men who had led blameless lives were permitted by God to leave the world without suffering death. The Babylonian legends tell of Xisutliros that he was caught up into heaven because lie found favor in the sight of God (Berosus, ed. Richter, 1825, p. 57; Eusebius, [Armenian] ed. Mai, p. 14), and of Etana-Gilgamesh riding on an eagle to heaven, " whence the earth appears as a hill and the sea as a basin " (see Harper, in Delitzsch and Haupt's "Beitrage zur Assyriologie," ii. 391-408; and Jastrow, "Religion of Babylon and Assyria," pp. 520-522); the latter reappears in the Alexander legend (see Yer. Ab. Zarah iii. 42c; Meissner, 24)

and Elijah

(II

Among

nature.

"Alexander und Gilgamos," p. 17). The Biblical accounts of the ascensions of Enoch and Elijah do not therefore contradict the different theories on death found in Genesis (compare Death), which In addition to the latter do not exclude exceptions. first two mentioned, other personages are spoken of in post-Biblical accounts as not tasting death The apociyphal literature includes (II Esd. iv. 26).

Baruch among such men ("Apocalypse [Syriac] of Baruch," xiii. 3), and so does the rabbinical literature (compare Baruch, in Rabbinical Literature), as well as Ezra (II Esd., end) and Moses ("Assumptio Mosis," x. 12), and this notwithstanding that the latter's death is definitely mentioned in the Bible. The following list of persons who were taken up into heaven is found inTabbinical literature: Enoch Elijah (Biblical); Eliezer, Abraham's (Biblical); steward; EbedMelek, Zedekiah'sEthiIn Rabbin- opian slave, who rescued Jeremiah ical from death (Jer. xxxviii. 7 et seq.); Literature. Hiram of Tyre, the builder of Solomon's Temple; Jabez (I Chron. iv. 10 Bithiah (I Chron. et seq.); Serah, Asher's daughter iv. 18); Pharaoh's daughter, the foster-mother of Moses and of later times the amora Joshua b. Levi, and a grandson of Judah ha-Nasi, whose name is not given (Yalk., Gen. 42; Ezek. 367; Derek Erez Zutta i. end; compare Epstein, "Mi-Kadmoniyot," pp. " Ill, 112, and Kohler, " The Pre-Taimudic Haggada in "Jew. Quart. Rev." v. 417-419). According to the Rabbis, all these personages are in paradise, which in later times was supposed to be heaven; therefore, the Bible may well say that Elijah ascended into heaven; see also Jonah, in Rabbin;



ical Literature. In addition to these there are others who ascended into heaven temporarily, returning after a time to the earth. The Biblical prototype of these is Moses, who went up unto God in order to receive the Torah and the later legends mention several pious men, who, like Moses, received instruction and revelation in heaven, accounts of which are given in the apocryphal works The Apocalypse of Abraham, Testament op Abraham, Apocalypse [Greek] op Baruch. In post-Biblical times, also, persons received revelations in paradise. Paul is not the only one who believed himself to have been taken up into heaven for a generation later the Jews spoke of the four rabbis who entered paradise. Although various attempts were made to interpret this passage