Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/54

22 "

Apothecaries



THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Apple

Hebrew transcription for the Latin " Faustinus, " and that the name, furthermore, is to be connected with Julius Severus, whose surname was Faustinus, and who perpetrated the crime described in the Mishnah when he was sent by Hadrian to put down the Bar Kokba rebellion, in which case the setting up of an idol in the sanctuary would have to be taken to refer to the dedication of a temple of Zeus upon the consecrated ground of the Temple. [The name of the soldier that burned the Torah mentioned in Joseplms, was Stephanos, which, Hebrew D1JBL3DK, may have been corrupted into D10DD1BN- K.'J scroll,

written in

Bibliography

Brail's Jahrb. viii. 9 Derenbourg, Essai, Ewald, Histom of Israel, v. 393, note 1, and 299, note 2 Halberstamm, in Rev. Et. Juives, ii. 137 et seq. Hochstadter, in Rahmer's Literatur-Blatt, vii. No. 20 Eapoport, Ereh MiUin, p. 181 id. in Kobak's Jeschwun, i. 45 CHebrew secp. 58













tion); Schwarz, ,T.

Das

Heilige

Land, p. 279



Jastrow, Diet.

s.v.

L. G.

SR.

APOTHECARIES, JEWISH.

Medi-

See

cine, Physicians.

APOTHEKER, ABRAHAM ASHKENAZI



An

apothecary ("aptheker," according to the customary Polish-Jewish syncopated pronunciation) and writer, whose name betokens both his nationality and his profession. He lived at Vladimir in Volhynia in the second half of the sixteenth century. He was the author of D"n DD ("The Elixir of Life"), a work, written in Hebrew and in Judteo -German, on the duties of Jews of both sexes and of all conditions, " or as the author expresses it Elixir of Life is this book's name, to preserve every one against sin and shame." Through the efforts of his compatriot Moses ben Shabbethai, a native of Lokaczy (not far from Vladimir), it was printed in Prague (1590), under the direction of the son of Mordecai ben Gerson Cohen. Like most books printed in Prague for the edification of women, it has become rare. Jehiel Heilprin possessed a copy of it, as it is included in the list of works which he used in compiling his " Erke ha-Kinnuyim, " and also in his " Seder haDorot," written about 1725. Another copy was owned by Rabbi David Oppenheim, a contemporary of Heilprin. This copy is at present in Oxford. A third copy, now in the British Museum, came from the Michael Library a fourth is at Wilna, in Strashun's Library. It is not known whether a rare little work in Judseo-Gerinan, containing penitential pray'

'



'



and printed at Prague at the same press as the "Elixir," is to be attributed to this author ("Cat. Bodl."col. 508). ers ("tehinnot"),

Bibliography

Zunz, Z. (?., p. 277 Steinschneider, Serapeum, idem, Cat. Bodl. col. 666. Cat. Strashun, Likkute Shoshanim. 1849, p. 26





,

D. G.

a.

APOTHEKER, DAVID

Judaeo-German writer and printer at Philadelphia, Pa. born in Ponie vy ezh, gov. Kovno, Russia, Aug. 28, 1855. In 1868 he went to Vilkomir, where he studied under the guidance of Moses Loeb Lilienblum in 1877 he became





involved in the nihilistic movement and was arrested at Kiev. Having escaped to Czernowitz, Austria, he wrote for Hebrew and Judajo-German papers, and published his first book, " Ha-Nebel (The Harp), containing Hebrew and JudaBO-German poems (1882). In 1888 he emigrated to the United States,

joined the anarchistic

movement

in

New

22

York, and became a prolific contributor to the JudaeoGerman press. In 1895 he edited "Die Gegenwart," a short-lived Judaso-German weekly. In his writings the influence of K. J. "Weber's " Demokritos " is

often discernible.

Bibliography

Wiener, Yiddish Literature,



APPEAL

p. 81.

M. B.

g.

The carrying of a cause from a lower to a higher tribunal for a rehearing on the

"

merits " is practically unknown to Jewish law. In the statute constituting courts of justice and setting forth the duty of the judges (Deut. xvi. 18-xvii. 13) is found a paragraph that has given rise to the belief that processes of Appeal were known in Biblical times (see Deut. xvii. 8-13). But this paragraph is simply an instruction to the judges, directing them, in case they have doubts as to the law in the case, to refer the matter to the High Court at Jerusalem, submitting to it a statement of the case, and taking its opinion. This course is also taken in cases where a judge dissents (Sanh. xi. 2, 88S). The opinion thus rendered by the High Court is binding upon the court that submitted the case, and judgment must be rendered in accordance with it. This is not strictly an Appeal, by either of the parties to the litigation, from the judgment of the court before which the case was heard in the first instance. Indeed, the principle of the Biblical law is opposed to the idea of appealing from a judgment of a lawfully constituted court, because the judgment is of God; hence every final judgment pronounced in court is conclusive.

Courts were not subordinated to each other, as might be supposed from the use of the terms " higher and lower courts " or " great and lesser Sanhedrins." The rank of the court was not determined by its power to review the judgment of another court, but by the nature and character of the subject-matter falling within its jurisdiction.

The most important matters could be tried only by the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, consisting of seventy-one judges; matters of less importance by the lesser Sanhedrin (provincial court) in the various towns of Palestine, consisting of twenty -three judges; and petty matters by local tribunals of three judges, or, in some cases, by a single judge. According to the Talmudic civil law, the court of the domicil of the plaintiff had jurisdiction of the case, but the plaintiff was entitled to commence his action in the High Court at Jerusalem, whereas the defendant had no right to remove the cause against the will of the plaintiff (Sanh. 316). According to the later law, the parties were entitled to an opinion from the judge, giving his findings of fact and decision. An execution could issue

immediately upon the judgment; and the losing party was obliged to satisfy it at once, without, however, losing his right to have the judgment reviewed thereafter, before the same court, on the ground of new evidence (Shulhan 'Aruk, Hoshen Mishpat, 14. 4, gloss). If, however, the judgment was that of the Great Sanhedrin, it was not necessary for the judges to give a written opinion, for. such decision could not be set aside. J- sr. D. W. A.