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Hartman, David

(Encyclopedia)Hartman, David, 1931–2013, Israeli rabbi and philosopher, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. The son of Hasidim who immigrated to the United States from Israel, he trained as a rabbi at Yeshiva Univ., New York City,...

Hallelujah

(Encyclopedia)Hallelujah ăl– [key] [Heb.,=praise the Lord], joyful expression used in Hebrew worship; cf. Pss. 104–6, 111–13, 115–17, 135, 146–50. Christian liturgies make wide use of it, particularly at...

Hadassah, organization

(Encyclopedia)Hadassah, women's Zionist organization of the United States founded (1912) by Henrietta Szold. It has done important work in Israel in medical service, child welfare, and aid to refugees. Hadassah pro...

Moore, George Foot

(Encyclopedia)Moore, George Foot, 1851–1931, American biblical scholar, b. West Chester, Pa. In 1878 he was ordained in the Presbyterian ministry. He was professor of Hebrew (1883–1902) at Andover Theological S...

Nahmanides

(Encyclopedia)Nahmanides nähmänˈĭdēz [key], 1194–c.1270, Jewish scholar, exegete, and kabbalist, b. Spain. He wrote commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. A mystic, he rejected part of Maimonides' ...

Asherah

(Encyclopedia)Asherah -rŏth [key], Canaanite fertility goddess and the wooden cult symbol that represented her. She is the consort of El in the Ugaritic texts. Several passages in the Bible may refer to the planti...

Ashtaroth

(Encyclopedia)Ashtaroth ăshˈtərŏth [key], Hebrew plural form of Ashtoreth, the name of the Canaanite fertility goddess and consort of Baal. Her name is vocalized in Greek as Astarte. She was worshiped at variou...

Baal-zebub

(Encyclopedia)Baal-zebub bāˈəl-zēˈbəb [key] [Heb.,=lord of flies], a deliberate Hebrew distortion of the name of the god of Ekron in 2 Kings. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Beelzebul, the Greek form of the ...

Scopus, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Scopus, Mount skōˈpəs [key], peak, 2,736 ft (834 m) high, NNE of Jerusalem. Dominating Jerusalem, it has long held strategic importance in the defense of the city. Roman legions camped there in a.d...

Hawaiian

(Encyclopedia)Hawaiian, member of the Polynesian group of the Austronesian family of languages. Of the fewer than 10,000 people who speak Hawaiian, only a few hundred are native speakers, but the language is taught...