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life, and the " Portrait of L. P. " and in Sabbath Eve," representing a Jewess praying over the Sabbath tapers. This latter painting merits description here. The light of the candles, mingled with the twilight, illuminates the table with its snowwhite cloth. The emblematic buds and flowers embossed on the Sabbath lamps are reflected on the

1888, "

shining surface of the stove. The attitude of the woman, clad in her holiday dress; the expression of her face, full of devotion and piety and every deall suggest the tail of the painting Influence glory of the approaching day of rest. of OpIn this work the influence of Oppen;

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The is distinctly noticeable. picture was exhibited at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and is now (1902) in the St. Louis (Mo.) Museum of Art. penheimer. heimer

In 1890 Asknazi produced " The Bridegroom Examined by the Rabbi. " A y oun g Talmudist is being examined by the rabbi in the presence of the future father-in-law and mother-in-law. He is clad in a long coat, after the old Polish fashion and two long curls, hanging down from under his cap, encircle his

He seems to be quite certain .of success examination yet it is evident that his heart is palpitating, and bashfulness is expressed on his face, he being aware that all his utterances and pale face. in this

movements

Askanazy Asmakta

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

215



are closely

watched by

his future rela-

although the joy in their faces is proof of their great satisfaction as the examination nears its end. Asknazi exhibited with this painting " Old Age and "The Female Friends." In 1891 he painted " Amram and Jochebed, Parents of Moses. " In 1892 he exhibited " Asking a Favor," " The Morning Call, tives,

and "In Hesitation," and in the following year "A Jewish Wedding." The wedding occurs in a small Polish-Russian town. The bridegroom, in a high hat, with a long overcoat, and the bride in a white dress, her head covered with a thin veil, are just coming out from under the canopy, accompanied by groomsmen, bridesmaids, and wedding-guests. The rabbi and the servant of the synagogue turn to the right, all the rest walking in the middle of the street. Preceding them are four Jewish musicians: an old cellist, another old man, evidently the leader of the band, playing the cymbal His large kind of zither and two young " Jewish, men, one playing the fiddle, the other, Wedding'." a retired soldier, playing the flute. The "badchan," or merrymaker, in front is directing the music while the little sexton drives away the street-boys from the route of the procession. Especially effective are the merry faces of the three women that are dancing in the throng. Other paintings of this same period are: "Youth and Old Age " and "The Last in Church." In 1897 Asknazi produced "The Cellist," representing a handsome old man with a violoncello between his feet, sitting in the middle of a luxuriously furnished room, and playing from notes lying open on a magnificently carved stand. The strong light thrown on the figure, the richness of the furniture, the graceful face of the attentive old musician, all produce a striking effect. In 1898 Asknazi exhibited: "Boy Preparing His Lesson," "Housewife Grinding Coffee," and "Over the Last Crumbs";

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in 1899, the portraits of the architect A. Hammerschmidt, of Miss P., and of I. Rabbinovicz, the translator of the Talmud into French. Asknazi's latest and best work is " Ecclesiastes " or "Kohelet," which was exhibited at the Paris ExIt represents Kohelet ben David, position of 1900. king of Jerusalem, sitting on his throne, lost in the dismal thought, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Kohelet's face expresses complete resignation: he has evidently no solution for the difficult question, " What profit hath he that worketh in "Kohe- that wherein he laboreth?" Lonely let." sits the king, long deserted by his children, to whom he had said, "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart

and

But two loyal servants from his body-guard and his secretary remain with him, bound to him by genuine affection. They are paying the closest attention to every whisper coming from his mouth. The secretary is writing down on a tablet the utterances of the wise king and the servants, lying on the floor near the throne and leaning on their elbows, are looking at the king, who cheer thee," etc.



them episodes

relates to

of his life. considered to be the most devout

Jew among the Russo-Jewish painters. While at the Academy of St. Petersburg, he was the only student who was excused by the authorities from working Asknazi

is

on the Jewish Sabbath and on holidays. Most of his paintings deal with Jewish life and history and on several occasions the authorities of the academy made him feel their dissatisfaction with his pronounced emphasis of national Judaism.

Bibliography: Bulgakov, JS~ashi Khudozhniki, i.; Sobko, Vycstnik IzyaLeksikon Busskikh Khudozlikikov, s.v. shchnykh Iskusstv, 1886, v. 418-119 Niva, 189a, No. 16 Heport of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts for 1873-96 Catalogue of the St. Petersburg A cademy of Fine Arts for 1881-93; David Maggid, Asknazi in Sefer Bashanah, Warsaw, 1901, pp. 65-72. H. R.







ASMA



Arab

poetess,

contemporary with Mo-

Marwan was married to an Arab of the tribe of the Banu Hatmah. After the murder of the Jewish poet Abu 'Afak, who, in spite

hammed



daughter of



of his great age, had instigated the members of his tribe against Mohammed, Asma composed some verses condemning the deed. Mohammed despatched 'Umair, the only member of her tribe who had embraced Islam, to punish her and he assassinated her

while asleep, surrounded by her children. Some Moslem traditionists, in order to excuse the murder, make Asma a Jewess. It is, however, very doubtful that she was one, although Gratz (" Gesch. der Juden," v. 144) accepts this assertion as a fact. Bibliography Ibn Hisham, Das Leben Muhammeds, ed. Hirschfeld, in Revue Etudes Juives, Wiistenfeld, p. 995



x. 16.

G

H. Hra.

.

ASMAKTA

(NrDODN):

A word meaning "sup-

"reliance" (Ket. 67a); hence it is used to designate a Bible text quoted in support of a rabbinical enactment (Hul. Mb; see Jastrow, "Diet." port,"

s.v.).

In

civil

law Asmakta

(surety) is a contract where-

in one of the parties promises without consideration to suffer a certain loss, or obligates himself to pay an unconscionable penalty, upon the fulfilment or