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Judah ha-Levi

(Encyclopedia)Judah ha-Levi or Judah Halevy häˌlēˈvī [key], c.1075–1141, Jewish rabbi, poet, and philosopher, b. Tudela, Spain. His poems—secular, religious, and nationalist—are filled with a serene and ...

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] ...

Duran

(Encyclopedia)Duran, Durand düräNtˈ [key], Jewish family of scholars. Profiat Isaac ben Moshe ha-Levi Duran, 1350–1414, called Efodi, was born probably in Perpignan, France, but he moved to Catalonia. In 1391...

Judah ha-Nasi

(Encyclopedia)Judah ha-Nasi hä-näˈsē [key], c.135–c.220, Palestinian Jewish communal leader (tanna). He occupied the office of patriarch (nasi) which was reestablished by the Romans after 135. Under his leade...

Baale of Judah

(Encyclopedia)Baale of Judah bāˈəlē, jo͞oˈdə [key] [Heb. Baale, fem. of Baal], the same as Kirjath-jearim. ...

Judah, Theodore Dehone

(Encyclopedia)Judah, Theodore Dehone, 1826–63, American railroad builder, b. Bridgeport, Conn. He built the Niagara Gorge RR and did canal work before going (1854) to lay out a railroad near Sacramento, Calif. Th...

Gershom ben Judah

(Encyclopedia)Gershom ben Judah grˈshəm bĕn jo͞oˈdə [key], c.965–c.1040?, rabbi, religious poet, and scholar. He was also called Me'or ha-Golah [light of the exile]. He lived his entire adult life in Mainz,...

Abravanel, Judah

(Encyclopedia)Abravanel or Abarbanel, Judah, c.1460–c.1523, Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet, son of Isaac Abravanel, b. Lisbon; he is also known as Leone Ebreo. He fled (1483) from Portugal to Spain with ...

Gordon, Judah Leon

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Judah Leon, 1830–92, Russian-Hebrew novelist and poet, b. Vilna. As teacher and writer he was one of the leaders in the renaissance of a progressive culture among the Jews (see Haskalah) and...

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