BENASH, BENJAMIN (or BENUSH):

By: Kaufmann Kohler, Philipp Bloch

Cabalist of the beginning of the eighteenth century; son of Judah Löb Cohen of Krotoschin, Prussia. He wrote the "Shem-Ṭob Ḳaṭan"—extracts from alleged works of Isaac Luria and Moses Naḥmanides, and containing various prayers and formulas illustrating the practical application of the Cabala. Among others there is a prayer by Moses Naḥmanides for making oneself invisible to robbers while on a journey—the writer adds that he tried it himself and found it efficacious—and another prayer for extinguishing a conflagration. Conceived in the same spirit is his other book, "Amtaḥat Binyamin" (Benjamin's Bag).

K. P. B.