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Darius the Mede

(Encyclopedia)Darius the Mede, in the Bible, a king of the Medes who succeeded to the throne of Babylonia after Belshazzar. Otherwise unknown outside biblical tradition, it is likely that this Darius has been confu...

Apollonius

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius ăpˌəlōˈnēəs [key], in the books of the Maccabees. 1 Governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia for Seleucus IV. He oppressed the Jews and was killed by Judas Maccabaeus. 2 Governor of Coe...

Heijermans, Herman

(Encyclopedia)Heijermans, Herman hĕrˈmän hīˈərmäns [key], 1864–1924, Dutch dramatist. Much of his work treated life among the Dutch Jews. His dramas include Op Hoop van Zegen (1900, tr. The Good Hope, 1928...

Fackenheim, Emil Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Fackenheim, Emil Ludwig āmēl lo͞otˈvĭkh făkˈənhīm [key], 1916–2003, Canadian-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, b. Halle, Germany, grad. Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, 1939; Ph...

Pur

(Encyclopedia)Pur pûr [key] [Heb.,=lot], in the Bible, lot cast by Haman to determine the time for the murder of the Jews. See Purim. ...

Hebrew language

(Encyclopedia)Hebrew language, member of the Canaanite group of the West Semitic subdivision of the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). Hebrew was the language of t...

Palestine, region, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Palestine pălˈəstīn [key], historic region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, at various times comprising parts of modern Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (recognized internationally by ...

Majdanek

(Encyclopedia)Majdanek or Maidanek mīdäˈnĕk [key], village, Lubelskie prov., SE Poland, a suburb of Lublin. The Germans established and operated a concentration camp there in World War II. An estimated 170,000 ...

Ashdod

(Encyclopedia)Ashdod ăshˈdŏd, ăshdōdˈ [key] [Heb.,=stronghold], city, SW Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is Israel's leading port after Haifa. Construction is Ashdod's main i...

Tabernacles, Feast of

(Encyclopedia)Tabernacles, Feast of, one of the oldest and most joyous of Jewish holidays, called in the Bible the Feast of Ingathering and today often called by its Hebrew name, Sukkoth [Heb.,=booth]. The holiday ...