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Garnier, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Garnier, Robert gärnyāˈ [key], 1534?–1590, French dramatic poet. He wrote mainly closet dramas in the classical manner of Seneca. Les Juives [the Jewish women] (1583), based on the Bible, is per...

Caesarea Palestinae

(Encyclopedia)Caesarea Palestinae pălĭstīˈnē, sĕzə–, sēzə– [key], city, NW ancient Palestine, c.20 mi (32 km) S of Mt. Carmel. It was taken (104 b.c.) by Alexander Jannaeus, leader of the Maccabees, an...

Rachel, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Rachel rāˈchəl [key], in the Bible, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She is one of the four Jewish matriarchs. An alternate form is Rahel. ...

Zunser, Eliakum

(Encyclopedia)Zunser, Eliakum ĕlˈyōko͝om tso͝onˈzər [key], 1846–1913, Lithuanian folk poet and singer who wrote in Yiddish. The most popular Jewish folk singer of his time, he appeared at weddings all over...

Stephen, Saint, Christian martyr

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, d. a.d. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending ...

Roth, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Roth, Philip (Philip Milton Roth), 1933–2018, American author, one of the most important novelists of the 20th cent., b. Newark, N.J., B.A. Bucknell Univ., 1954, M.A. Univ. of Chicago, 1955. His wri...

Gallio

(Encyclopedia)Gallio (Junius Annaeus Gallio) gălˈēō [key], d. a.d. 65?, Roman proconsul in Achaea; brother of the philosopher Seneca. His name was originally Lucius Annaeus Novatus. The “Gallio Inscription,�...

Johanan ben Zakkai

(Encyclopedia)Johanan ben Zakkai jōhănˈən bĕn zăkˈāī [key], leader of the Pharisees of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70, afterward founder of the Jewish academy at Jamnia. He empha...

Plehve, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich

(Encyclopedia)Plehve, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich vyĕˌchĭsläfˈ kənstəntyēˈnəvĭch plyĕˈvyĭ [key], 1846–1904, Russian public official. As director of the police (1881–84), vice minister of the interi...

Börne, Karl Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Börne, Karl Ludwig lo͝otˈvĭkh börˈnə [key], 1786–1837, German journalist, of Jewish origin. His original name was Löb Baruch. He studied medicine and political science and held office in Fra...