Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/688

638 Beet

p.

325; Buhl,

"Geographie des Alten Palastina,"

p. 173). .t.

G. B. L.

jr.

BEET This well-known biennial root-plant is not mentioned in the Bible according to De Candolle, it was not cultivated before the sixth or fourth century b. c, although Wonig claims to recognize it in an Egyptian picture from the Beni



Hassan (XII. dynasty).

Its

appears to be a foreign one



name

its

in the

Mishnah

Syrian-Arabic appel-

extensively known in Europe, is accepted as the equivalent of " Sicilian. Both the white and red Beet, Beta vulgaris or rapacea grow wild in Palestine (Post, " Coast, Jordan ValBoth the white ley, and Dead Sea Valley," p. 679). Beet and Beta vulgaris, or cicla, are to-day called "silk" in Arabic (Ascherson and Schweinfurth, "Flore d'Egypte," p. 125; Boissier, "Flora Orient," iv. 898). In Syriac it is " selka " in the Babylonian

lation sikelos,



the Mishnah, a different Jerome gives it as i. 3. in Syriac, evidently having in mind the Mish-

Talmud, Np^D; but word,

pin

" toret "

in

(plural), Kil.

naic term [Tin. and not, as Mandelkern states, s.v., the Mishnaic HXTI- Brockelmann ("Lexicon Syriacum") wrongly registers a Syriac word, "tarida." There is no such word in Syriac, while Sachs's derivation ("Beitrage," i. 107) of a Babylonian word, NT"in. from " bliteus " (a tasteless, silly person), is not tenable, because there is no support for it in Aramaic, and because the reading fcOXin has better is used as authority. The Mishnaic word late as 309 by R. Hisda of Sura, in a Hebrew

—

pin

saying.

When active stored up. life is resumed in the second year, an upright stalk is sent up, with leaves and blossoms, which are fed out of this, reserve source in the root (Kerner, These stems are the "Pflanzenleben," i. 717). which the plant-food

pin "^n were eaten

is

ms^n)

(niS^n,

of the Mishnah,

which

after preparation like those of asparagus,

the white variety being preferred (Schuchardt, " Gemilse und Salate der Alten, "p. 51 perhaps mvAu-dv in "Athen." ix. 317«). See passages in 'Uk. i. 4; Yer. Ter. xi. 47a'; 'Orlah iii. 7; and parallel passages, Bezah 36; Yeb. 816. If this stem be pinched off (20p), the roots start to grow again (Shab. 736). The cultivation of beets is spoken of in Git. 696; B. M. 109a; they are crushed in a mortar (Shab. 745) remain fresh only one day (Yer. Pes. iv. 31c, can not be eaten raw (Yer. Ma'as. Sn. ii. 536, 44; 2) compare 'Er. 286) when boiled, according to R. Hisda, are very beneficial to the heart and eye, and They are therefore as well to the intestinal tract. boiled with other vegetables (according to Pliny xix. 133, with lentils and beans), or steeped (Ter. x. 11; Ber. 386); and the broth (pin ns, Yer. Ter. xi.







wrongly identified by Rabba b. Samuel with oivSyapov, though it should be mentioned that beets boiled and eaten with oil, yapov, fish-milt, and is

carbonate of soda, according to " Geoponica," serve to soften and purify the body (K'D ND^DI, Ber. 355; Krauss, " Lehnworter, " ii. 73).

a

little

xii.

15,

Basing his statements upon an utterance by R. Huna, a Babylonian teacher once laid stress on the use of beets and rice on the evening of Passover (Pes. 1146; compare Yer. Pes. x. 37<f, 10, !l3t0D 21 Beets are used to this day in Slavic counpirQ)" sour " soup for Passtries in the preparation of a

They are also reckoned over called "borscht." among the foods of propitious omen, to be eaten on New-Year's Day (Ker. 6a; Hor. 12a), based, according to Hai Gaon's apt explanation, upon the play of words (Viroiy lp^nDV " May our sins depart " Np^D = beet) (Responsa of the Geonim, " tlemdah Genuzah," No. 166, in "Shibbaleha-Leket," p. 266, ip^iD* Not so apt is its derivation from the lOTVOlV)phrase lO'a'nK 1p$>nD "May our enemies depart!" pertaining to days of persecution (Tur and Shulhan 'Aruk, Orah Hayyim, 583, 1). In Italy, beets are to-day still roasted in ovens or upon hot ashes, con!

"barba di biesola" (Lenz. 446), concerning which Raphael Meldola gave his opinion in Pisa ("Mayyim Rabbim," ii. 15, 17), as to whether they might be eaten when roasted by non-Jews. Beets are recommended as a remedy (Git. 69a, b; R. Hanina b. Hama 'Ab. Zarah 286; Ber. 576). taught that the Babylonians were free from leprosy because they ate beets and drank a liquor made from lupins, or, according to R. Johanan, because they ate beets and drank this liquor and bathed in the Euphrates (Ket. 776; Bacher, " Ag. Pal. Amor." Both Greek and Latin authors ascribe i. 3, note). medicinal virtue to the Beet (Schuchardt, I. c. stituting the

p. 53).

Bibliography

Like all biennials, the Beet develops in the first year a very short stem, crowned with a rosette of leaves, and provided with a thick and fleshy root in

47o 43)

638

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Begging

j.



Low, Ar. Pflanzennamen,

jk.

p. 273. I.

BEETH, LOLA

Lo.

Austrian operatic singer; born The daughter Cracow, Galicia. of a well-to-do merchant, she spent her youth in tranquil prosperity; but her father's subsequent

Nov.



23, 1862, at

failure in business impelled her to

earn her

own

She had received a good musical education at home, but at first her work was conlivelihood.

fined to the piano.

Her

patroness, Princess Sapi-

eha, discovered her talent for singing and acting; and her training in these branches was continued at

the school for singing conducted by Marie Luise Dustmann at Vienna. One year's instruction under Mine. Viardot Garcia at Paris brought her art to such a state of perfection that she was able to appear as Elsa in " Lohengrin" at the Berlin Royal Opera on March 25, 1882. Her great success secured her position at the German capital, where she remained for six years, appearing in not less than thirty-six roles. On May 1, 1888, she connected herself with the Imperial Opera at Vienna, then directed by Jahn, and has since lived in that city. Beeth's favorite parts are the difficult r61es of the Wagnerian heroines Elisabeth and Venus in " Tannhauser, " Elsa in " Lohengrin " Sieglinde in the " Walkttre." Though she herself testified to the keen appreciation of her Vienna audiences, she has not confined her performances to that city, but has ap,

peared at Berlin, Leipsic, Paris, and New York; and ever} where her great gifts have made a brilliant r

impression.

O. F.