(Encyclopedia) Akiba ben JosephAkiba ben Josephəkēˈbə [key], c.a.d. 50–c.a.d. 135, Jewish Palestinian religious leader, one of the founders of rabbinic Judaism. Although the facts of his life are…
(Encyclopedia) Elijah ben Solomon, 1720–97, Jewish scholar, called the Gaon of Vilna, b. Lithuania. A leading Jewish scholar of his time, he opposed the spread of Hasidism in Lithuania and Poland…
(Encyclopedia) Immanuel ben Solomon, c.1265–c.1330, Hebrew-Italian poet and scholar, b. Rome. He wrote biblical criticism and, in both Hebrew and Italian, satiric verse and lively stories. His work…
(Encyclopedia) Anan ben DavidAnan ben Davidänänˈ [key], fl. 8th cent., Babylonian Jewish theologian, founder of the Ananites from whom the Karaites claim spiritual descent. He is said to have been a…
(Encyclopedia) Gershom ben JudahGershom ben Judahgrˈshəm bĕn j&oomacr;ˈdə [key], c.965–c.1040?, rabbi, religious poet, and scholar. He was also called Me'or ha-Golah [light of the exile]. He…
(Encyclopedia) Amram ben ScheschnaAmram ben Scheschnaămˈrăm, [key]Amram ben Scheschnashĕshˈnä [key] or Amram GaonAmram Gaongäˈōn [key], d. c.875, Hebrew scholar, head of the Jewish academy at Sura…
(Encyclopedia) Johanan ben ZakkaiJohanan ben Zakkaijōhănˈən bĕn zăkˈāī [key], leader of the Pharisees of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70, afterward founder of the Jewish…
(Encyclopedia) Manasseh ben Israel, 1604–57, Jewish scholar and communal leader, b. Portugal. Early in his life he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a rabbi and started (1627) the first Hebrew…
