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220 Asmodeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ass

whom

he gave a book of magic and medicine (Zohar Lev. pp. 19«, 43«; ib. Num. 19%, ed. Wilua). In a more recent Midi-ash Ashmedai is identified with Shamdon (Midr. Shir ha-Shirim, ed. (Jriinhut, 29/*; a story similar to the one here given of Solomon's ring and the fish is found in " Emek ha Melek, " 14n-

and

15«,

Judoeo-German "Maasebueh"; the reprinted in Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 86). A in the

story is recent source, gives the following legend cited by the Tosafists in Men. 37<i from an anonymous Midrash,

which has probably been "Ashmedai brought

lost:

from the earth a two-headed man, who married and produced both normal and two-headed chil-

When

dren.

the

man

forth

died a quarrel arose

among

the children

concerning their inheritance, the two-headed ones demanding a double portion." (This legend is given at length in Jellinek, "B. H."iv. 151, 152.)

Later cabalists held the theory that Ashmedai was

king of the demons for only a limited time, and that on his death demons are mortal (Hag. 16«) he was succeeded by Bildad, who in turn left his dominion to Hind (see Jos. Sossnitz, "Ha-Maor," p. 84). Benjamin of Tudela (ed. Margolin, 63, 65) mentions a certain local legend about Baalbek, whose temple was erected by Ashmedai, on Solomon's bidding, for the king's favorite, the daughter of Pharaoh. Concerning the many points of resemblance of the Asbmedai-Solomon legend with Persian and classic legends, see Shamir, Solomon in Legend and Folk-Lore, and iEsiiMA.

—

—

Bibliography: Benfey, Motiatsnameiu PEntdecMes Judenthum, i. 350— 3U(1, 823;

4H

301; Eisenmenger, GfrGrer, Jahrhun-

Griinbaum, in Z. D. 31. G. xxi. idem, Neue BeitrUge zur Semitischen Safjenkunde, 1893, pp. 221 ct seq. Hamburger, R. B. T. il. 74-76; Halevy, in Iievue Semitiquc, viii. 43; D.Joel, Der

dert

Heils. i. 202-221, 317-321; ries

ct sec/.

22a

who

lived in six houses close together in the center In the house of one Marco Koen a room, furnished with some scrolls of the Law, was. devoted to religious meetings. Of the 37 Jews in question, 14 had. attained their religious majority

of the town.

Bar-Mizwah); and as there were also several Cohanim (see Cohen), the divine services of this(see

small congregation were as well arranged as they could be. The Asolo Jews possessed a cemetery, of which only two tombstones remain now preserved There were at least four in the public gallery. Jewish pawnbrokers: Ansclmo, Marco, Jacob, and Moise. On Nov. 22, 1547, while Francesco Nani wasmayor of Asolo, and Rcnier of Treviso was governor of the surrounding district, 30 men, armed with cudgels, axes, clubs, and knives, and led by one Antonio Parisotto, attacked the Jews in broad daylight, killed 10 of them, wounded 8 others, and, having taken rich booty, fled in great haste. Five Jewish

were left entirely destitute. Some of the robbers were brought to justice, and were either put to death or exiled. Of the Jews who survived this attack some remained in Asolo, while others families

emigrated to safer places.

The Cantarini family, which gave to Italian Judaism many prominent rabbis and physicians, had origin in Asolo. Bibliography: Marco Osimo, Narrazinne della- ztrage compita net 1JU7 contro gli Elwei cVAsolo e Cenni Biografici della Famiglia Koen-Cantarini originata da un uceiso its

Asolano, Casale-Monferrato,

1875.

F: S.

d.



ASPALATHUS



A

word found only

the

in



Aherglauhe und

die Stellutig des Judeuthums zu Demsclben, 1881, p. 83.; Alex. Kohut, Ueber die JUdische Angelologie und DCtmonoloaie, pp. 72-80 (here the identiflcation of Samael with Ashmedai is derived from Elijah Babur's Tixhhi, s.v., and is quite erroneous); idem, in Geiger's JiXd. Zeit. x. 52; idem, in 'Aruch. Completum. s.v.; Rapoport, 'Ereli Millin, pp. 242-250; Stave, Einfluss de* Parsismus auf dan Judenthum. p. 263; Windischmann. Zoroaztrische Studien. pp. 139-147; Weber, jadisehe Thcolngie, pp. 254, 257; and concerning jEshma, the indexes to volumes v., xviii., xxiii., xxiv. of Sacred Boohs of the .Easf, containing the ZendAvesta and the Pahlavi texts.

j.

ASMONEAN. See Periodicals. ASNAPPER A person who transplanted



mixed multitude

of tribes from Babylon to Samaria

It has after the fall of the latter city (Ezra iv. 10). been conjectured that this word is a misreading for

Assurbanipal, though the reference in Ezra iv. 2 The reading Asbacaphath in is to Esarhaddon. I Esdras v. 69 suggests that a 3 ("bet") has fallen out. If this conjecture is correct the word "Asnapper " contains the only reference to the Assyrian king Assurbanipal in the Bible. In the Revised Version the form " Osnappar " is preferred. J.

jr.

j.

The Talmud idenAsnapper with Sennacherib, who is said to have had eight names, like his opponent Hezekiah

In Rabbinical Literature



tities

(Sanh. 94a). L.

sr.

ASOLO Town in

G.

the province of Treviso, Italy. A Jewish congregation existed there in the middle of the sixteenth century, perhaps even at the end of the fifteenth. In 1547 there were in Asolo 37 Jews,

in the wilderness of

Tekoah,

where Jonathan and Simon Maccabeus pitched tents

when they

Mace.

(I

§ the

G. B. L.

jr.

ASPHAR A pool

L. G.

k.

j.

(Ecclus. [Sirach] xxiv. 15). From the context it appears to be the name of a fragrant wood. It is impossible, however, to identify the plant.

Apocrypha

ix.

The

2).

33;

fled before the

army

compare Joscphus, "Ant."

identification of the place

their

of Bacchides is

xiii. 1,

uncertain,

though the evidence points in favor of associating the pool with the modern Bir-Selhut (Smith, "Historical Geography of Palestine," s.v. see, however, Buhl, "Geographie des Alten Palastina," p. 158). j. jr. G. B. L.

ASRIEL found 31





Eponym

of the family of Asrielites,

genealogy of Manasseh (Num. xxvi. Joshua, xvii. 2). In I Chron. vii. 14 the A. V.

reads

in the

" Ashriel.

JR.

J.

G. B. L.

ASS.— Biblical Data: The

knows both The wild Ass

Bible

the wild and the domestic Ass. (1) (" pere " or " 'arod ") generally roamed about in herds, and is associated with the wilderness (Job xxiv. 5). The character of the wild Ass gave occasion for applying the term figuratively (" wild ass ") to one who in unbridled opposition had his hands ever turned against his fellows (Gen. xvi. 12, R. V.). (2)

The

[fern.],

domesticated Ass ("hamor," "aton" '"ayir" [young Ass]) was put to various

uses; (a) for riding

Judges

(Num. xxii. 21; II Kings iv. 24; which the young Ass and

x. 4, xii. 14), in