(Encyclopedia) Babylonian captivity, in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 b.c.). After the…
(Encyclopedia) ManassehManassehmənăsˈē [key] [Heb.,=making to forget], in the Bible. 1 First son of Joseph by his Egyptian wife, Asenath, and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.…
(Encyclopedia) Baeck, LeoBaeck, Leolāˈō bĕk [key], 1873–1956, German rabbi and scholar. He studied at the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and then at the liberal Hochschule für…
(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Helen Amelia, 1920–2013, American journalist, b. Winchester, Ky., grad Wayne State Univ. (B.A., 1942). The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, she was a pioneering woman…
(Encyclopedia) PurimPurimp&oomacr;ˈrĭm [key] [Heb.,=lots], Jewish festival celebrated on the 14th of Adar, the twelfth month in the Jewish calendar (Feb.–March). During leap years it is…
(Encyclopedia) Edison, Thomas Alva, 1847–1931, American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio. A genius in the practical application of scientific principles, Edison was one of the greatest and most productive…
(Encyclopedia) Nasser, Gamal AbdalNasser, Gamal Abdalgəmälˈ ăbˈdəl näˈsər [key], 1918–70, Egyptian army officer and political leader, first president of the republic of Egypt (1956–70). A…
Below is the Protestant canon of the Bible (New Revised Standard Version). The Roman Catholic canon also includes the Deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament (these are considered…
There are images that will stay with us forever. From FDR notifying the world that the U.S. had entered WWII, to Obama's trademark fist bump at the Democratic National Convention, these scenes…
(Encyclopedia) Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. It now refers to those persons whose primary language is Arabic. They constitute most of the population…
