Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/661

611 bah " (house of the teacher Yer. Sanh. x. 28a). The most frequent citations in Talmud and Midrash beginning with the phrase '1 'OT ['Oil] N3D, "a tanna from the academy of Rabbi N. N. " (liul. 42a, and frequently), are taken from the collections of the tannaites Simon b. Yohai, Eliezer b. Jacob, Ishniael, Rabbi, and the semi-tannaim Hiyyah and Hezekiah. At the same time citations are found which are designated as emanating from the K)"TOK

Haggadah

Sanh. 574); "sifra" (book; she'ar sifre " (other books Yoma ~du B. B. 1244) of the academy, without stating which academy is meant. So far as Sifra and Sifre as cited are concerned, however, there can be ("

collection"

Ber. 114, 18b)





"





no doubt that under these names are meant the wellknow nhalakic-haggadic commentaries upon Leviti-

Numbers, and Deuteronomy respectively. doubtful which tannaitic Midrash was meant by the " she'ar sifre. " That it was only another name for " Sifre " can scarcely be correct it is far more likely that the ordinary Mekilta or that of Simon b. Yohai was meant, although the quotation in Yoma 74a agrees verbatim with Sifra, Emor, xi v. 102a, ed. Weiss. The meaning of the words " Be Rab " in these collections is open to question. That Akiba was not meant, as some suggest that it was not he who was briefly styled " the teacher, " and that the works mentioned were not those of this teacher, is evident from the cus,

It is





fact that the principal parts of the Sifre to

—

Numbers

emanated from the school of Ishmael a school diAnother conjecture rectly opposed to that of Akiba. is

Bdellium Beard

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

611

that the "

Rab

"

referred to in "

Be Rab

" is

the

celebrated amora Rab (Abba Arika), who is menNevertheless, tioned as the last editor of the Sifra. despite Maimonides and many modern scholars who

have followed him, the name of this amora can not be associated with Be Rab. This is evident from the phrase, "Tanna debe rab," which is occasionally cited in the Talmud, where, as Hoffmann shows, The it can have no reference whatever to Rab. explanation of " Be Rab " given by this scholar, and based upon Sherira Gaon's statements, is probably "Be Rab," in all the bethe only admissible one. fore-mentioned instances, means only "academy," and " sifra " and " sifre " are simply the books of this academy—that is, such books as were officially recognized while other baraita ("outside") collections (compare Baraita) were excluded therefrom. An authority of a tradition found in Sifra (Shemini, v. 504, ed. Weiss) is quoted in the Talmud as Tana-debe rab (Hul. 66a). See Mekilta, Sifra, Sifre.

—

BEANS ^s (" pol") The well-known vegetable, mentioned twice in the Old Testament. In II Sam. xvii. 28 it is referred to as a foodstuff along with wheat, barley, and lentils. How it was prepared for the table is not known it was probably boiled and roasted. Ezekiel (iv. 9) is commanded to bake bread from wheat, barley, Beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, from which fact it may be deduced that Beans were used as a substitute for corn-meal in times of famine. The name " pol " has remained until to-day



denote the so-called

to

field-beans (Vicia Faba,

have always been found

Linn.), that

in all lands in the vicinity of the Mediterranean sea. It is the nba/ioc of the Greeks. The bean found in Syria today and known as the garden-bean (Phaseolus) is of another kind. Its present designation, "lubiyeh," is evidence that it was not introduced into Palestine in olden times.

jr.

j.

I.

BEAU

dob

Be.

An

animal often mentioned in the Old Testament, and evidently not rare in Next to the lion, the Bear is Palestine and Syria. regarded as the most formidable enemy of mankind (Amos v. 19), although he must he very hungry to attack man without provocation. The protection ("

ail

of his flock

from the

")



lions

and bears constitutes the

shepherd's most difficult task (I Sam. xvii. 34). The prophet can therefore appropriately use the metaphor of " the cow and the bear feeding together, as an emblem of the profound peace of Messianic times (Isa. xi. 7). The tender love of the female Bear for her cubs was well known to the Hebrews. A female Bear that has been robbed of her young is the picture of ungovernable wrath (II Sam. xvii. 8 Prov. xvii. 12 Hosea xiii. 8). In the apocalypse of Daniel (vii. 5) the Bear, on account of its greediness, is represented as a symbol of the Median emAt the present time the Bear pire, greedy for lands. is extinct in Palestine proper, and is only occasionally met with in the Lebanon district. The Syrian Bear ( Ursus Syriacus) is distinguished from the ordinary type of brown Bear by a somewhat lighter color and an appreciably smaller The brown Bear is found almost every stature. where in the north temperate zone.

Bibliography: Tristram, Natural History of 46 Wood, Animals of the Bible, pp. 28-31.

the,

Bible, p.



j.

I-

jr.

Be.

BEARD. —

Biblical Data : The modern Oriental cultivates his Beard as the sign and ornament of manhood he swears by his Beard, touching it. The sentiment seems to have been the same in Biblical

Epstein, Mi-Kadmoniyot ha-Tehudim, pp. 53, Weiss, Dor, ii. 225-338 Friedman!!, in the introduction to his edition of the Mekilta, pp. 16 et seq., 55 et seq.; Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung in die HalachisehcnMidrasliim, pp.15 et seq., 35 et seq., 40, 47, 52 et seq.; idem, in Berliner's Maaazin, xvi. 71 Levy, Ein Wort tiber die, MeMlta von B. Simon (Breslau Seminary JaftreshericM, 1889), pp. 1-3; Levy, Neuhebrtlisches WOrterbuch, i. 215 Kohut, Aruch Com-

Bibliography 55











pletwm, j. sr.

ii.

senting the

53.

L. G.

BEACONSFIELD, EARL

OF. See Disraeli.

A

tribe destroyed by Judas BEAN, BiEAN Maccabeus (I Mace. v. 4; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 8, upon the § 1) on account of its persistent attacks

Jews. j.

jr.

According to the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, all western Semites wore a full, round Beard, evidencing great care. Long beards, as found on later Babylonian and Assyrian sculptures, repretimes.

Gt-

B L -

-

highest aristocracy, do not, however,

seem to have occurred among the Jews. [The elder (" zaken "), probably received his name from his long Beard, as "bene barbatus."] The frequent assertion that the upper lip was shaved is incorrect. According to II Sam. xix. 24 (Hebr. 25), the mustache ("safam"; A. V. "beard") received regular "trimming " (thus A. V., after the Vulgate; the Hebrew "doing "is as general as in