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684 Benamozegh Benash

one like him either at the time of the first or of the second Temple, Ariel, "lion of God," being a sym" He went down and slew bolic name for Temple. a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow," may, be interpreted either that he broke the ice in order to perform prescribed ablutions, or, figuratively, that he studied on a winter's day the great and abstruse book, Sifra (Ber. 185; Targ. II Sam. I.e.). Benaiah also occupied an eminent position under Solomon, being his chancellor and best friend. When the queen of Sheba was coming to visit Solomon, the latter sent Benaiah, whose beauty resembled the morning star, to meet her he shone among his companions like Venus among the other stars (Targ. Sheni on Esther i. 2; ed. Munk, p. 9). When the queen saw him, she thought him Solomon, and was about to fall on her knees before him; when he told her who he was, she said to her companions " Although ye have not seen the lion, ye have seen his den j udging by Benaiah, ye may form for yourselves



an idea of Solomon "

(I.e.

When Solomon re-

p. 10).

turned to Jerusalem after his long wanderings (compare Solomon in Rabbinical Literature), he at once went to Benaiah and reminded him of the times past, giving such details that the latter could not doubt that he was talking with Solomon (Midrash "Shirha-Shirim,"ed. Griinhut, p. 30a; compare Git. In the 686; see also Jellinek, "B. H." vi. 124-126). cabalistic literature Benaiah is counted among the thirty pious ones who exist in every generation in order that the world may continue (Zohar i. 105S

compare j.

i.

62>).

L. G.

sr.

BENAMOZEGH, ELIJAH: bom

Italian

rabbi;

died there Feb. 6, 1900. at Leghorn in 1822 His father (Abraham) and mother .(Clara), natives of Fez, Morocco, died

when

Elijah was only four years old. The orphan earlj' entered school, where, besides instruction in the ele-

mentary sciences, he received tuition in Hebrew, English, and French, excelling in the last-named language. Benamozegh devoted himself later to the study of philosophy and theology, which he endeavored to reconcile with each other. Elijah

684

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Benamozegh.

At the age of twentyhe entered upon

five

a commercial career, spending all his leisure in study; but his natural tendency toward science and an active religious life soon caused him to abandon the pursuit of wealth. He then began to publish scientific and apologetic works, in which he revealed a great attachment to the Jewish religion, exhibiting at the same time a broad and liberal mind. His solicitude for Jewish traditions caused him to defend even the much-decried Cabala. Later, Benamozegh was ap-

pointed rabbi and professor of theology at the rabtown and, notwithstanding his multifarious occupations from that time, he continued to defend Jewish traditions by his pen binical school of his native



until his death.

Benamozegh was the author

of the following

(The Fear of the Opponent), a refutation of Leon de Modena's attacks upon the Cabala, in 2 vols., Leghorn, 1858; (2) "Ger Zedek " (A Eighteous Proselyte), critical notes on works;

targum (Lamp

"

(1)

Emat Mafgia'

Onkelos,

of David),

ib., 1858; (3) "Ner le-David commentary on the Psalms, pub-

with the

lished together

"

Mikra" (Matrix of

Pentateuch containing

"Em la-

text, ib., 1858; (4)

commentary on the

Scripture), critical,

philological, arche-

and scientific notes on the dogmas, history, laws, and customs of the ancient peoples, published together with the text under the title "Torat Adonai," Leghorn and Paris, 1862-65; (5) "Ta'am la-Shad " (Arguments for Samuel David [1"^] ), refutation of Samuel David Luzzatto's dialogue on the ological,

Cabala, Leghorn, 1863; (6) "Mebo Kelali," general introduction to the traditions of Judaism, published in "Ha-Lebanon," 1864, pp. 73 etseg.; (7) "Storia degli Esseni," Florence, 1865; (8) "Morale Juive et Morale Chretienne. Examen Comparatif Suivi de Quelques Reflexions sur les Principes de lTsla-

misme," Paris, 1867; (9) "Teologia Dogmatica ed Apologetica," Leghorn, 1877; (10) "Le Crime de la Guerre Denonce a l'Hunianite," Paris, 1881 (this work won for its author a medal and honorable mention from the Ligue de la Paix, on the proposition of Jules Simon, Edouard Laboulaye, and Frederic Passy); (11) "Ya'aneh be-Esh" (He Will Answer Through Fire), discussion of cremation according to the Bible and the Talmud, Leghorn, 1886.

Besides writing these works, Benamozegh contributed to many periodicals, his more important articles

being



"

Spinoza et

la

Kabbala, " in

"

Univers

"La

Tradition," ib. xxv. 20 etseg.; "Intorno alia Cabbala," in "II Vessilo "II Libro di Giobbe," in Israelitica," xli. 3 et seg. "Educatore," ix. 325 et seg. "Dell' Escatologia, ib. xxv. 203 et seg. Israelite," xix. 36 et seg.







Lattes, Vita ed Opere dt Elia Benamozegh, Leghorn, 1901; Fuenn, Keneset YUrael, p. 100; De Gubernatis, Dizionario Biografico, p. 125 Zeitlin, Bibl. Hehraica,

Bibliography





p. 19. s.

I.

BEN ART, FRANZ FERDINAND

Br.

German



born at Cassel March 22, 1805 died at Berlin Feb. 7, 1880. The exact date of Benary's conversion to Christianity has not been ascertained, but it is known that, after studying theology and philology at the University of Bonn, he continued his theological studies at Halle (1824-27), where his attention was first turned by Gesenius to the Oriental languages. In 1827 he went to Berlin, and in Orientalist





addition to the theological courses there, of Hegel, Schleiermacher, Neander, and Marheineke, he at-

tended Bopp's lectures on Sanskrit, by which he was deeply impressed.

While acting as privat-docent of Oriental languages at the Berlin University (1829-31), he published the

old

Hindu poem "Nalodaya"

(1830).