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356 Avila

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Awani

his uncle Hayyim, Avila desired to see the Holy Land and intended to settle in Jerusalem; but, owing to an epidemic and a famine in Morocco, which lasted a long time and compelled him to leave Rabat for a while, he lacked the necessary means to do so. Avila was a prolific writer, and among his manuscripts were found notes dating from his sixteenth year. After his death the following of his works appeared (1) " Magen Gibborim " (The Shield of the Mighty), Leghorn, 1781-85, in two volumes; the first containing novelise to the treatises, Baba Mezi'a and

Horayot; the second, novella? to the treatises Ketubot and Kiddushin. (2) "Milhemet Mi? wah " (The War for the Law), ib., 1806, containing the principles of the Talmudic and post-Talmudic Halakah. Some funeral sermons are appended under the title " Hesed we-Emet " (Kindness and Truth). " Beer (8) Mayyim H av yi " (A Well of Living Waters), ib.,

m

1806, consisting of thirty-six responsa, treating of

questions relating to jurisprudence and cases of 'Agtjnah. (4) " Ma'yan Gannim " (A Fountain of Gardens), explanations and elucidations of Jacob ben Tehiel's "Turim," especially of the second and third parts (ib., 1806). As these works show, Avila confined his work in rabbinical literature to the Halakah. In this province at all events he was an undisputed master; and his epithet, " Ner ha-Ma'arabi " (Light of the West) was not undeserved. His greatness as a Talmudist was recognized even by the most eminent Palestinian scholars, who, in the capacity of " Meshullahim, had the opportunity of becoming personally acquainted with him. It was to them that he owed Among the scholars of Morocco, Avila, this title. with his avowed inclination toward the casuistic treatment of the Halakah (Pilpul), was a rare perThis tendency explains his independent sonality. attitude toward his colleagues, on whom his keen and brilliant intellect made a deep impression, as shown in his responsa. These responsa contain many interesting items concerning the condition of the

Jews

in

Avila

Morocco ("BeSr Mayyim Hayyim," left

one

p. 71).

who

married her of wealth and a dis-

child, a daughter,

cousin Solomon de Avila, a man tinguished Talmudist. The sons by this marriage, Moses and Samuel, were, in a way, the successors of their grandfather, both being rabbis and Talmudic teachers in Rabat. Joseph de Avila, son of Moses, was the publisher of the works of his great-grandfather Eliezer. For information concerning Avila and his Bibliography family, see the approbations and prefaces to Be'ir Mayyim

Shem ha-Oedolim, i. 23, 59; ii. 77 Eleazar tia-Kohen, K'mat Soferim, p. 70, Lemberg, 1892 Nepi-Ghirondi, Toledot Gedote Yisrael, p. 46 (where Avila is erroneously designated as the grandson of Hayyim ibn Attar); Zedner. Cat. Helrr. Bnolts Brit. Mus. p. 64 Benjacob, Ozar haSefarim. pp. 296, 333, 349.

Hayyim



Azulai,







L. G.

AVILA, SAMUEL BEN ISAAC DE Rabbi and preacher

MOSES



BEN"

Mequencz, Morocco, born in the at

Morocco, and later at Sale, He published, first-named place in 1687 or 1688. under the title of "Ozen Shemuel," a collection of sermons: Five on "Repentance," preached on the Sabbath preceding the Day of Atonement; ten on " The Sabbaths of the Lord, " preached on the Sabbath preceding Passover and the other festivals; and

356

some of his contempoJoseph b. Bahatit (1705), Ephraim ibn Laba, (1705), Samuel Zarfati (1713), Isaac b. Amara (1713), and others. The book was approved by Judah ibn 'Attar, Abraham ibn Danon, and Jacob ibn Zur, and prefaced and published at Amsterdam, 1715, by Hananiah ibn Sikri. Samuel also published a work entitled "Keter Torah" (The Crown of the Law), pleading for the relief of scholars from taxation, and containing older regulations on the same subject as well as ethical rules. Appended to it are notes on Rashi, and Tosafot on the treatise Nazir, Amsterdam, 1725. sixteen funeral orations on raries,

Bibliography: Furst, Bibliotheca Judaica, i. 73; Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, pp. 34, 253; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. No. 7011



Nacht,

Mekor Hayyim,

3, 4, 5.

M. B.

k.

AVILA, SAMUEL BEN SOLOMON DE



lived at Morocco in the eighteenth century. He was the author of " Oz we-Hadar " (Might and Splendor), Leghorn, 1855, containing novellas

Talmudist



'

on the Talmudic and Horayot. Bibliography



treatises Shebu'ot,

'Abodah Zarah,

Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim,

p. 433.

M. B.

L. G.

AVIMS, AVITES. See Awites. AVITUS OF AUVEBGNE Bishop

of Cler-

mont-Ferrand, France, in the sixth century. While the Roman bishops at that time generally treated the Jews with great liberality, while Pope Gregory I. exhorted the clergy and the princes against the use of force in converting the Jews to Christianity, and while his predecessor Cautinus of Clermont was so favorably disposed toward the Jews that he paid them high prices for rare goods and jewelry, Avitus was one of those insolent bishops who, with the increasing power of the clergy under the feudal system, were overzealous in making proselytes among He rethe Jews by force or by any other means. peatedly exhorted the Jews of Clermont to embrace The people Christianity, but met with no response. of Frankish Gaul at that time were entirely free from intolerance, and associated with the Jews without prejudice, intermarriages being frequent among them. Jews were among the shipowners on the rivers of Gaul and at sea, and distinguished themThis did selves as physicians, judges, and warriors. not please the bigoted bishop, who at last had succeeded in converting one Jew, who was baptized on Easter Day, April 5, 576. When the new convert went in a procession through the streets in his white baptismal robe, he was sprinkled with rancid oil by a Jew. This act so aroused the mob that they attempted to stone the Jew, but were prevented from doing so by the bishop. On Ascension Day, May 14, however, the mob demolished the synagogue. On the following day the bishop gave the Jews a choice between baptism and banishment. After hesitating and delaying for three days, during which time many were attacked in their houses and some killed, over five hundred asked to be baptized (May 18, Those who remained true to their religion 576). emigrated to Marseilles. Venantius Fortunatus, who at the request of the historian Gregory of Auvergne, bishop of Tours (544-595), wrote a poem on this occasion, hints at