Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/545

495 THE

495

JEAVISII

true heir. To this proposition assented except the real son, whose filial piety rebelled against so unnatural an action whereupon Bannaah decided in favor of the latter. In consequence of this judgment, Bannaah was brought into conflict with the authorities upon the charge of decidiug legal cases without witnesses or convincing proofs. He was imprisoned but his astuteness in explaining a puzzle not only spared him further punishment, but led to his being installed as judge over the people. By his advice, certain legal inscriptions, which had been cut into the gateway of the

in taking

all



"

bor " is never found as the antithesis of Essene a proper opposition would be "haber" and " 'Am haArez." A comparison of the passage with its par;

allel in

were changed

(B. B.

his pupils also

I.e.).

Johanan

Bibliography: Bacber, Ag. Tan.

b. ii.





Bannaah counted Nappaha. 539-543;

Z.

Frankel,

69a; Weiss, Dor Dor we-Dorshaw, Midrash fragment on the Redemption, with the title Derashot B. Bannaah, appeared in Hayyim M. Horowitz's edition of the Tanna debe Eliijahu Zutta, pp. 20-26,

A

510.



Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1882. j.

L. G.

sr.

BANNAIM or BANAIM (D"NJ3) A supposed



an Essene order, among Palestinian Jews of the second century. The only passage in which the name occurs is Mik.waot ix. 6 (Tosef. ib. vi. 14 [vii. 1]), where the following Halakah is recorded by a tanna of the middle of the second century, concerning the question of dipping the clothing for Levit" Garments belonging to the Banical purification naim may not have a mud-stain even upon one side, because these people are very particular concerning the cleanliness of their clothing, and any such spot would prevent the purifying water from actually penetrating the garment as it is usually worn but with a 'bor [explained as an unlearned and uncultured man], it matters not if his clothing contain a mud-spot at the time of dipping, for such a one is not so particular about cleanliness. sect of





'



identity of these Bannaim was lost to the Hence the term was of a century later. explained as " scholars who occupy themselves with the study of the world's construction " so that "Bannaim" would mean "building-masters" or

The

amoraim

Derenbourg, as above ; Frankel, Zeitsehrift fttr die Religifisen Interessen, iii. 455 (the word "Bannai" in Kelim xiv. 3, which he includes, can only mean "building-

Bibliography



from "banah" (to build) "building-students," Similarly to this explanation, Fran(Shab. 114«). kel (see below) understood the Bannaim to be an Essene order who were employed with ax and shovel (compare Josephus, "B. J." ii. 8, § 9); while other scholars, such as Sachs and Derenbourg ("Essai sur l'Histoire de la Geographie de la Palestine," p. 166), agree in the main with Frankel, but explain "Bannaim" to mean "those who bathe," from the Judseo-Aramean word "banna'a," equiva-

Thus the name of meaning with

lent to the

Greek fialavuov

(bath).

this order

would then be

identical in

the "Tobele Shaharit" (Hemerobaptists), as the Essenes are sometimes called. Nevertheless it is highly probable that the word " Bannaim " in the above-mentioned Mishnah means simply "bathers," without reference to any particular sect, but in connection with the clothing used at the bath. This is, according to Rashi, the conception of the Mishnah held by the amora Simeon b. Lakish, who ex-

D^n

(clothes used plains £>B> D^3 by )i-6lNn D^3 in the bath or immediately afterward) (Shab. I.e. but Jastrow, "Diet.," and Krauss, "Lehnworter,"

assign a quite different meaning to piPlN)-

shows that "bor" means

I.e.,

1

Mebo ha-Yerushalmi, iii.

the Tosefta,

nothing more than a " well," which explanation casts a quite different light upon the Mishnah and its exposition. The Tosefta reads " When mire from a roadside strip [D'OYin rmiT see Mishnah, I.e. 2] has fallen upon clothing, there are three varying opinions whether such mud prevents Levitical purification. One holds it to be a preventive only when it goes through both sides of the garment; a second, that it prevents purification even though it adhere only to one side while an intermediate opinion claims that if the garment be one belonging to the Bannaim, the second opinion must be upheld, and if not, then the first." So far the Mishnah, to which the Tosefta adds," but if the mire comes from a pit [" bor " the Mishnah, I.e. 2, calls it rvnun CO], the solution depends upon whether the pit is large and containing much mud, or small " (the text is corrupt in the usual editions, but may be found correct in ed. Zuckermandel and in Hai Gaon's commentary on the Mishnah, According to this view, the Mishnah says nothI.e.). ing about the clothing of a bor, but speaks of the mire from a pit (bor), which is declared a preventive of Levitical purification, even though it be upon only one side of the garment. This explanation of the Mishnah, current in the gaonic period, was revived by Elijah Wilna in modern times (see his gloss on the passage) and it takes the foundation from under the interpretation of " Bannaim " as a class of persons opposed to the bor. The Mishnah simply says that bathing-clothes must be scrupulously clean, and that the smallest stain prevents their Levitical purificaCompare Bantjs, Bannaah, Essenes. tion.



among

Banoczi

The misunderstanding of this Mishnah originates "Bannaim" as an antithesis to "bor," and this latter as meaning " an uncultured person. " But

them which was the

city,

Bankruptcy

ENCYCLOPEDIA



master 11 or "builder," as the context shows); Hamburger, B. B. T. ii. 84; Jastrow, Dictionary, s.v., who considers

p

("one of becoming "Bannaim "a contraction of O'NJ conduct, refined "); Levy, Neuhebrilinches und Chaldliisches W6rterbuch, i. 241 Sachs, BeitrUge, ii, 199.

j.

L. G.

sk.

BANOCZI, JOSEPH

Hungaiian scholar born at Szt. Gal, county of Veszprem, Hungary, July 4, 1849. He was educated at the schools of his native town, and afterward at the universities of Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Gottingen, and Leipsic, and then went to Paris and London to finish his studies. Banoczi became in 1878 privat-docent of philoso:



phy at the University of Budapest, in 1879 member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and in 1892 member of the Landesschulrath (royal board of education).

Banoczi has also occupied various positions in the Jewish community. From 1877 to 1893 he was professor at the Budapest Jewish Tl'eological Seminary, and became in 1887 principal of the Budapest normal In 1896 he was school for the education of teachers. secretary of the Hungarian Society for the Promotion of Jewish Literature, and in 1897 member of the Delegation of Hungarian Jews. At the insistence of the Bucharest rabbi, Dr. Beck