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Aha of Shabcha

(Encyclopedia)Aha of Shabcha äˈkhī [key], c.680–c.762, Babylonian rabbi. He settled (c.752) in Palestine after being passed over for appointment as head of the rabbinic academy of Pumbedita for political reaso...

Pinsk

(Encyclopedia)Pinsk pĭnsk, Rus. pēnsk [key], city (1989 pop. 118,636), S Belarus, in the Pripyat Marshes and at the confluence of the Pina and Pripyat rivers. A port on the Pina River (part of the Dnieper-Buh wat...

Protocols of the Elders of Zion

(Encyclopedia)Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent document that reported the alleged proceedings of a conference of Jews in the late 19th cent., at which they discussed plans to overthrow Christianity thr...

Hebrew literature

(Encyclopedia)Hebrew literature, literary works, from ancient to modern, written in the Hebrew language. The rise of Zionism, particularly reflected in the writings of Ahad Ha-am (Asher Ginzberg), gave Hebrew ...

circumcision

(Encyclopedia)circumcision sûrˌkəmsĭzhˈən [key], operation to remove the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It dates back to prehistoric times and was widespread throughout the Middle East as a religio...

Rothschild

(Encyclopedia)Rothschild rŏthˈchīld, Ger. rōtˈshĭlt [key], prominent family of European bankers. The first important member was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743–1812), son of a money changer in the Jewish ghe...

Confessing Church

(Encyclopedia)Confessing Church, Ger. Bekennende Kirche, German Protestant movement. It was founded in 1933 by Martin Niemoeller as the Pastors' Emergency League and was systematically opposed to the Nazi-sponsored...

Fouquet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Fouquet or Foucquet, Jean or Jehan all: zhäN fo͞okāˈ [key], c.1420–c.1480, French painter and illuminator. He was summoned to Rome in the 1440s to paint the portrait (now lost) of Pope Eugenius ...

Holberg, Ludvig, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Holberg, Ludvig, Baron lo͞oᵺˈvē bärōnˈ hōlˈbĕr [key], 1684–1754, Danish dramatist, essayist, poet, and historian, apostle of the Enlightenment in Scandinavia. Born in Norway, he studied t...

Mozarabs

(Encyclopedia)Mozarabs mōzârˈəbz [key], Christians of Muslim Spain. Their position was the usual one of Christians and Jews in Islam: they were a separate community, locally autonomous, and they paid a special ...