Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Afroasiatic languages

(Encyclopedia)Afroasiatic languages hămˈĭtō-səmĭtˈĭk [key], family of languages spoken by more than 250 million people in N Africa; much of the Sahara; parts of E, central, and W Africa; and W Asia (especia...

Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi

(Encyclopedia)Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi säˈdēä, äl-fīyo͞oˈmē [key], 882–942, Jewish scholar, b. Egypt. He was known as Saadia Gaon. He was the head of the great Jewish Academy at Sura, Babylonia, which...

Babel

(Encyclopedia)Babel bāˈbəl [key] [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. For this presu...

Haskalah

(Encyclopedia)Haskalah häˌskəläˈ [key], [Heb.,=enlightenment] Jewish movement in Europe active from the 1770s to the 1880s. Beginning in Germany in the circle of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...

Habima Theater

(Encyclopedia)Habima Theater häbēˈmä [key], [Heb.,=the stage], the national theater of Israel. Founded in 1917 in Moscow by Nahum Zemach and at first affiliated with the Moscow Art Theatre, it was one of the fi...

Moabite stone

(Encyclopedia)Moabite stone mōˈəbītˌ [key], ancient slab of stone erected in 850 b.c. by King Mesha of Moab; it contains a long inscription commemorating a victory in his revolt against Israel. It was discover...

Cocceius, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Cocceius, Johannes kŏksēˈəs [key], 1603–69, German theologian, whose surname was originally Koch or Koken. Born in Bremen, he went to Holland, where he was professor at Francken and Leiden. He p...

Cherokee, Native American language

(Encyclopedia)Cherokee, language belonging to the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family. See Native American languages. ...

Rachel, Russian poet who wrote in Hebrew

(Encyclopedia)Rachel, pseud. of Rachel Bluwstein, 1890–1931, Russian poet who wrote in Hebrew. She moved to Palestine in 1909 where she worked as a laborer. Her verse is simple and relates to the experience of Je...

Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Associations

(Encyclopedia)Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Associations (YMHA, YWHA), organizations that promote health, social activities, recreation, acculturation of new Jewish Americans, and Jewish culture among Jews o...