Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/232

194 Ashkenazi Azriel Ashkeuazi, David

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

,

Bibliography: De

Rossi,

Annates IIcbrwo-TypoaraphieU

Mortara, Induse p. 177; schneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 2843. etc.,

Alfabetico,

s.v.

g.



I.

ASHKENAZI, AZRIEL

B.

Stein-

Br.

MOSES LEVI



Preacher at Tarnogrod, government of Lublin, Poland, in the seventeenth century. He was the author of " Nahalat 'Azriel " (The Inheritance of Azriel), Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1691, a work comprising homilies and comments

Bibliography

upon parts

of the Bible.

Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 754.



H. K.

I.

ASHKENAZI, BAERMANN

or

Bit.

BAER

Issachar ben Naphtali haKohen) Polish commentator on Bible and Midrash lived iu the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

(Hebrew

name,



Though the foremost of all Midrash commentators, the only fact known about him is that he lived in Szczebrzescin. It is also certain that he died in this place (after 1608), and not, as is maintained by all scholars from Conforte to Zunz, in Hebron. Ashkenazi is the author of the following works: (1) "Mar'eh Kohen" (Appearance of the Priest), Cracow, 1589 Amsterdam, 1673. This work is divided into two parts: the first on seventeen topics of Jewish theology, chiefly of a moral and exegetic character and the second is an index to all Scripture passages outside the Pentateuch that are mentioned in the Zohar. (2) "Mattanot Kehunnah" (Priests' Gifts), Cracow, 1586; revised edition, Cracow, 1608; and in most editions of the Midrash Rabbah. This is a commentary on the Midrash Rabbah. Ashkenazi's epitaph refers to a lengthy commentary of his on the Bible, not elsewhere mentioned, and



very probably lost. Ashkenazi's great merit lies in the fact that he was the first and almost the sole commentator of the Midrash Rabbah (on the Pentateuch and the five Megillot) who combined extensive knowledge of the subject with sound critical judgment. He considered it of primary importance to render the Midrash The material upon text as correct as possible. which he applied his critical acumen consisted not alone of the texts that had been printed up to that Thus, time, but also of a number of manuscripts. he had three different manuscripts of the Jerusalem Talmud, one of which was provided with vowelsAshkenazi also cites Midrashim on Isaiah, Job, and the minor prophets, of which nothing further is known, but which probably came from the Yalku^ Makiri. Moreover, he availed himself of a text of the 'Aruk essentially differing from the usual one. Next to the correctness of the text, Ashkenazi devoted his attention to the " peshat," or simple explanations of the subject and the meaning of the words, without indulging in the prolix discussions then customary. As regards subject-matter, Ashkenazi's explanations were usually correct; but they were He often went less happy in linguistic questions. astray, especially when he tried to elucidate obscure In passages in the Midrash by means of Arabic. this

he was frequently misled by some one who was

believed to

know

Arabic.

Ashkenazi seems also to have occupied himself with medicine and physics; and possibly he possessed the book "Asaf," so that many of his state-

194

ments from the niKID") '"IBD (Medical Books) may have come from this source. Ashkenazi was a brother of Isaac Cohen of Ostrog, author of " Kizzur Mizrahi " and great-grandfather of Abraham b. Eliezer ha-Kohen. Bibliography 87-90

Briill,



Retfmann,



in

Ozar ha-Sifrut,

i.

18-20 ; Buber, ib.

ib. 2-18.'

L. G.

k.

ASHKENAZI, BAERUSH (DOB)

Rabbi



at

Slonim, Lithuania, later at Lublin, Poland; born about 1801 died in Lublin March 6, 1852. He was the author of: (1) "Noda' ba-She'arim" (Known in the Gates), containing responsa on the "Eben he'Ezer"; novelise on the Talmudical treatise Gittin; rules concerning the laws of Majority and Possession; and, at the end, homilies arranged in the order of the Sabbatical sections. This work was published by the brother of the author, Abraham Aryeh, "Warsaw, 1849. (2) " Sha'are Yerushalaim " (The Gates of Jerusalem), containing a commentary on the Seder Zer'aim of the Jerusalem Talmud notes and novellas on various treatises of the Jerusalem Talmud notes and novellas on different treatises of the Babylonian Talmud and on the work of Isaac Alfasi. This also was published by Abraham Aryeh, Warsaw,





1866.

Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 178; Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 393; Nissenbaum, Le-Korot ha-

Tehudim be-Lublin,

pp. 126, 127.

l. g.

I.

ASHKENAZI, (better known

or

Br.

D'ALMEYDA, BEHOR

under his popular name of Behor Ef-

Government

employ of the received his early education at the Institution Camondo, and, after filling several subordinate positions, was appointed by Sultan Aziz, in 1869, a member of the council of state (Ohoura'i-Devlet), which contained two Jews in a membership of forty. On the accession of the present sultan, Abdul Hamid II., Ashkenazi became a member of the Ottoman parliament, as a delegate of the Jews. He then became " vice-prefect " of Constantinople, a position which he held for several years, making, however, many enemies by reason of his steadfast integrity. In 1896, in recognition of his services, the sultan again made him state councilor and only lately (1899) he has been placed upon the retired list after thirty years of loyal and efficient fendi)



Ottoman empire



official

born 1840.

in the

He

service.

Ashkenazi has repeatedly been president of the

Jews of Constantinople; of his public position as vice-prefect, he has frequently been able to render considerable assistance in the collection of the communal revenues derived from the sales of meat, wine, brandy, etc. central consistory of the

also,

by reason

Bibliography



M. Franco, Histoire des Israelites.

s.

ASHKENAZI, BENJAMIN:

M. Fr.

Russian communal worker and philanthropist; born in 1824; died at Grodno in 1894. He was the son of Joshua Heschel Ashkenazi, rabbi of Lublin, who was a descendant of Hakam Zebi. Ashkenazi settled at Grodno, where he became the leading spirit in communal affairs. On his initiative a hospital was built and, later, a home for the aged. The government, in recognition of his services, bestowed upon him