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490 Baneth

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Banking-

Arabic original with a new translation in Hebrew, together with many notes (the first chapter only has been published in the "Hildesheimer Jubelschrift," but without the German translation or the notes), and (4) Mischna, Seder Mo'ed," critical edition with ''

German

translation and commentary (Berlin) (5) "Maimunis' Neumondsberechnung," scientific supplement to the sixteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth

annual reports of the Lehranstalt fur die Wissenschaft des Judenthums of Berlin. !S.

BANETH,

EZEKIEL Hungarian rabbi born 1773 at Alt-Ofen died Dec. 28, 1854. He was the son of the learned rabbi Jacob 'BanSt, an eminent member of the rabbinate of Alt-Ofen, and early distinguished himself by his penetrating knowledge of Talmudic literature, to the study of which he devoted all his leisure time, even after he had established himself in the wool business and married. Forced by the loss of his property to seek an office, he officiated as rabbi first at Szecheny, then at Paks, and finally at Keutra, where he died at the





age of 82. Baneth was highly successful in his rabbinical activity, gathering around him large numbers of devoted students, many of whom came from great distances, for his reputation had spread beyond the limits of his own country. In method he was opposed to the " pilpul," which was then flourishing in Hungary, his models being the great authors of the Middle Ages. He paid little attention to the works of later periods applying his acumen to the investigation of abstruse questions, and never indulging

in his lectures in hair-splitting casuistry or in witti-

Questions were addressed to him from far cisms. and wide regarding difficult problems of the religious law, which he willingly answered. His responsa, had he preserved copies of them, would have filled several large volumes; but he left no notes of any description. The authors of important books considered it an honor to obtain from Baneth an approbation of their works but it seems to have been his principle not to write any books himself. A commentary on Tosefta, which, according to the

unconfirmed statement of an intimate friend, he wrote and kept secret, is said by the same authority to have been burned by him shortly before his death. Many anecdotes, shrewd sayings, and witticisms of his have been preserved. His scrupulous conscientiousness, self-effacement, and piety earned for Baneth wide-spread esteem. Jews and Christians alike revered him as a saint. The legend that peasants had seen repeatedly a fiery column over his grave was believed by many, and In conformity with his will, is even credited to-day. Baneth was not buried in the place of honor assigned to rabbis, but in a location set apart for infants. His grave is surrounded by a railing, the gate of which is opened only for his descendants, and for visitors of signal piety.

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love for Talmudic studies, his amiable character. After attending for some time the lectures of R. Moses Sofer of Presburg, he married, Sept. 3, 1840, Golde, daughter of the merchant David Stbssl of Lipto-Szent-Miklos. Settling iu the latter place, he assiduously devoted himself to the study of the Talmud. His reputation for scholarship brought him a number of devoted pupils. In 1868 he accepted, without compensation, the office of rabbi of the Orthodox congregation of Lipto-Szent-Miklos, compelling through his uprightness, peaceable disposition, and piety the esteem of the opposing party. He left a manuscript volume of valuable notes on the whole Talmud. E. Ban. s.

BANISHMENT (cm

or mil, "hiddiah," from In ancient Israel an exclusion, permanent or temporary, from the native Adam's Banishment land, as a divine punishment. from the garden of Eden (Gen. iii. 24) and Cain's from the presence of the Lord (Gen. iv. 16) were of this nature. It occurred in ancient times only as a " Karet " (exdivine, not as a human, punishment. Gen. cision of the soul from among the people xvii. 14; Ex. xii. 19) was a divine punishment only and may perhaps have implied Excommunication, certainly not expulsion from the country. To be driven away from the land, the inheritance of Ynwn, seemed actually tantamount to saying, " Go, serve other gods" (I Sam. xxvi. 19; compare Deut. xxviii. The flight of Absalom was regarded in this 64). light, as "a destruction from the inheritance of the Lord (II Sam. xiv. 16), unless David would permit Similar^, Amos speaks in his return to the land. the name of God to the sin-laden people: "Thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land " (Amos vii. 17). The same view is expressed by Hosea ix. 3: "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria"; and by Ezek. iv. 13: "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them " the reason being that, owing to the cessation of the sacrificial worship in the sanctuary, the relation to the God dwelling there was regarded as broken. Only the assurance that " when they are in the land of their enemies, the Lord will not cast them away nor break His covenant with them" (Lev. xxvi. 44), but " gather them and bring them again to the land of their fathers" (Deut. xxx. 4, 5), lent to Banishment the character of a temporal punishment, of a trial and test of faith and the prayers offered on foreign soil were heard because they were directed toward the sacred dwelling-place, in order to meet with favor from the Lord in heaven (I Kings viii. 46-49; Dan. vi. 11).

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In Rabbinical Literature With reference Hosea vi. 7(Hebr.), "They, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant," the Banishment of Israel from the Holy Land is compared with the Banishment of Adam from paradise after his transgression,

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BANETH, JERAHMEEL DOB (BERNHARD): Hungarian rabbi born 1815 at Szecheny



died Oct. 21, 1871. The youngest son of Ezekiel Baneth, lie was one of the most gifted pupils of his father, from whom he inherited, together with a

both being, as it were, a divorce subsequent to faithlessness in the conjugal union (Gen. R. xix.). Ban-