Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Randolph, Thomas, English poet and dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Thomas, 1605–35, English poet and dramatist. After graduating from Cambridge in 1632, he went to London where he became a disciple of Ben Jonson. His best-known poems are “A Gratulatory ...

Hasidism

(Encyclopedia)Hasidism or Chassidism both: hăsˈĭdĭzˌəm, khă– [key] [Heb.,=the pious], Jewish religious movement founded in Poland in the 18th cent. by Baal-Shem-Tov. Its name derives from Hasidim. Hasidism...

Boumedienne, Houari

(Encyclopedia)Boumedienne, Houari ho͞oärˈē bo͞omĕdēĕnˈ [key], 1932?–78, president and prime minister of Algeria (1965–78). While studying in Cairo during the early 1950s he joined a group of expatriate...

Golan Heights

(Encyclopedia)Golan Heights, strategic upland region (2003 est. pop. 10,500), c.500 sq mi (1,250 sq km), SW Syria. It borders S Lebanon, NE Israel, and NW Jordan. It takes its name from the ancient city of Golan an...

Avicebron

(Encyclopedia)Avicebron: see Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah. ...

Gabirol

(Encyclopedia)Gabirol: see Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah. ...

Gaon of Vilna

(Encyclopedia)Gaon of Vilna: see Elijah ben Solomon. ...

Maimonides

(Encyclopedia)Maimonides mīˈmən [key], 1135–1204, Jewish scholar, physician, and philosopher, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, b. Córdoba, Spain, d. Cairo. He is sometimes called Rambam...

Aben Ezra

(Encyclopedia)Aben Ezra: see Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir. ...

Falashas

(Encyclopedia)Falashas fäläˈshəs [key] [Amharic,=exiles], Jews of Ethiopia who refer to themselves as Beta Israel (House of Israel). Long isolated from mainstream Judaism, they practice a form of the religion b...