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Antiochus IV

(Encyclopedia)Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) ēpĭfˈənēz [key], d. 163 b.c., king of Syria (175 b.c.–163 b.c.), son of Antiochus III and successor of his brother Seleucus IV. His nephew (later Demetrius I)...

Scholem, Gershom Gerhard

(Encyclopedia)Scholem, Gershom Gerhard gĕrˈshôm gĕrˈhärt shōˈləm [key], 1897–1982, Jewish scholar, b. Berlin. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Jena, Bern, and Munich. Scholem received (1922) his...

Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi

(Encyclopedia)Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi säˈdēä, äl-fīyo͞oˈmē [key], 882–942, Jewish scholar, b. Egypt. He was known as Saadia Gaon. He was the head of the great Jewish Academy at Sura, Babylonia, which...

Sabbath

(Encyclopedia)Sabbath [Heb.,=repose], in Judaism, last day of the week (Saturday), observed as a rest day for the twenty-five hours commencing with sundown on Friday. In the biblical account of creation (Gen. 1) th...

Stern, Fritz Richard

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Fritz Richard, 1926–2016, American historian and educator, b. Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), grad. Columbia (B.A., 1946; M.A., 1948; Ph.D., 1953). Although his family had converted ...

asceticism

(Encyclopedia)asceticism əsĕtˈĭsĭzəm [key], rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification, with the objective of strengthening spiritual life. Asceticism has been common i...

Khazars

(Encyclopedia)Khazars khäˈzärz [key], ancient Turkic people who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2d cent. a.d. and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. They emerged as a force in the 7th cent. and ros...

immortality

(Encyclopedia)immortality, attribute of deathlessness ascribed to the soul in many religions and philosophies. Forthright belief in immortality of the body is rare. Immortality of the soul is a cardinal tenet of Is...

Passover

(Encyclopedia)Passover, in Judaism, one of the most important and elaborate of religious festivals. Its celebration begins on the evening of the 14th of Nisan (first month of the religious calendar, corresponding t...

Buber, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Buber, Martin bo͞oˈbĕr [key], 1878–1965, Jewish philosopher, b. Vienna. Educated at German ...