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golem

(Encyclopedia)golem gōˈləm [key] [Heb.,=an undeveloped lump], in medieval Jewish legend, an automatonlike servant made of clay and given life by means of a charm, or shem [Heb.,=name, or the name of God]. Golems...

Hirsch, Maurice, baron de

(Encyclopedia)Hirsch, Maurice, baron de mōrēsˈ bärôNˈ də hĭrsh [key], 1831–96, German Jewish financier and philanthropist. The benefactor of numerous organizations and causes, his most ambitious project w...

B'nai B'rith

(Encyclopedia)B'nai B'rith bənāˈ brĭth [key] [Heb.,= Sons of the Covenant], oldest and largest Jewish service organization in the world, founded (1843) in New York by American Jews “to provide service to thei...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Jesus (Jesus Christ)

(Encyclopedia)Jesus or Jesus Christ jēˈzəs krīst, jēˈzəz [key], 1st-century Jewish teacher and prophet in whom Christians have traditionally seen the Messiah [Heb.,=annointed one, whence Christ from the Gree...

Roth, Cecil

(Encyclopedia)Roth, Cecil, 1899–1970, Jewish historian and educator, b. London. He was educated at Oxford (Ph.D., 1924) and was reader in Jewish Studies there from 1939 to 1964. Thereafter he was visiting profess...

Frankel, Zecharias

(Encyclopedia)Frankel, Zecharias zĕkərīˈəs frängˈkəl [key], 1801–75, Jewish theologian, b. Prague. Frankel believed that only through an appreciation of the historical development of the Jewish tradition ...

Frug, Simeon Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Frug, Simeon Samuel sĭmyônˈ səmo͞oēlˈ fro͞ok [key], 1860–1916, Russian-Jewish lyricist and writer. His poems, dealing mainly with Zionist themes, appeared in Russian and Jewish periodicals u...

Kook, Abraham Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Kook, Abraham Isaac ko͞ok [key], 1864–1935, Jewish scholar and philosopher, b. Latvia. He settled (1904) in Palestine, where he became the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in 1921. He attempt...

Peretz, Isaac Loeb

(Encyclopedia)Peretz or Perez, Isaac Loeb both: pĕrˈĕts; lōbˈ [key], 1852–1915, Jewish poet, novelist, playwright, and lawyer, b. Zamosc, Poland. A voice of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, Peretz was ...