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Eshkol, Levi

(Encyclopedia)Eshkol, Levi lāˈvē ĕshˈkôl [key], 1895–1969, Israeli statesman, third prime minister of Israel, b. Ukraine; originally named Levi Shkolnik. In World War I he served in the Jewish Legion, which...

Essebsi, Beji Caid

(Encyclopedia)Essebsi, Beji Caid bäˈzhē cäˈĭd əsĕbˈsē [key], 1926–2019, Tunisian political leader. A lawyer and ally of President Bourguiba, he held several posts in his and President and Ben Ali's gove...

Mull

(Encyclopedia)Mull, island, 351 sq mi (909 sq km), Argyll and Bute, NW Scotland, largest island of the Inner Hebrides, separated from the mainland by the Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorn. The land is mountainous...

Lindsey, Benjamin Barr

(Encyclopedia)Lindsey, Benjamin Barr (Ben Lindsey), 1869–1943, American judge and reformer, b. Jackson, Tenn. As judge of the juvenile court of Denver from 1900 to 1927, he founded the American juvenile court sys...

Plautus

(Encyclopedia)Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) plôˈtəs [key], c.254–184 b.c., Roman writer of comedies, b. Umbria. His plays, adapted from those of Greek New Comedy, are popular and vigorous representations of ...

comedy

(Encyclopedia)comedy, literary work that aims primarily to provoke laughter. Unlike tragedy, which seeks to engage profound emotions and sympathies, comedy strives to entertain chiefly through criticism and ridicul...

Letteris, Meir ha-Levi

(Encyclopedia)Letteris, Meir ha-Levi mīr hä-lāˈvē lĕtârˈĭs [key], 1800–1871, Austrian-Jewish poet. He wrote about 30 volumes of prose and poetry. The poem called “Yonah Homiyah” [the plaintive dove] ...

Grampians, the

(Encyclopedia)Grampians, the, or Grampian Mountains, highest mountain system of Great Britain, extending northeast to southwest along the southern fringe of the Highlands, central Scotland. Ben Nevis (4,411 ft/1,34...

Hebrew literature

(Encyclopedia)Hebrew literature, literary works, from ancient to modern, written in the Hebrew language. The rise of Zionism, particularly reflected in the writings of Ahad Ha-am (Asher Ginzberg), gave Hebrew ...

Aquila Ponticus

(Encyclopedia)Aquila Ponticus pŏnˈtĭkəs [key], 2d cent., Jewish translator of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. The characteristic feature of Aquila's version was its extremely literal rendering of the ...