BAKI, SIMSON – 1. Born either in Germany or Italy, and very probably related to the Bachi family, members of which flourished successively at Vercelli and Casale. He lived about 1582-84, and wrote at these dates from Safed and Jerusalem three...
BAKING – Biblical Data: The bread of the ancient Hebrews, like that of the Palestinians today, was not in the shape of thick loaves, but of thin cakes (see Bread). Originally these were baked by kindling a fire on the sand or on small...
BAKONYI, SAMUEL – Hungarian deputy and publicist; born in Debreczin July 22, 1862. After graduating in law at the University of Budapest, he settled in his native town, where he soon became prominent in the public affairs of the city and the...
BAKRI, DAVID BEN JOSEPH COEN – Chief of the Algerian Jews; financier; born about 1770; decapitated Feb. 4, 1811. His great financial abilities placed him early at the head of the important firm "Bakri Brothers," founded by his father. In 1797 David married...
BAKRI, JACOB COHEN – French consul at Algiers before its conquest by France; born in Algiers in 1763; died at Paris Nov. 23, 1836. Immensely rich, and highly esteemed for his abilities and character, he was appointed consul under the Restoration. In...
BAKRI, JOSEPH COEN – Chief of the Algerian Jews; financier; born at Algiers in the middleof the eighteenth century; died at Leghorn in 1817. He was the founder of the renowned firm "Bakri Brothers," which played so great a part in the politics of...
BAKST, ISAAC MOSES – Lecturer at the Jewish Rabbinical College of Jitomir; died there June 18, 1882; the father of Nicolai Bakst. He wrote "Sefer ha-Ḥinnuḥ," Jitomir, 1868—a Hebrew method for beginners, adapted for Jewish Russian schools. For many...
BAKST, NICOLAI IGNATYEVICH – Russian physiologist; born in 1843. He studied at St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated Bachelor of Natural Science in 1862. He was then sent abroad by the Ministry of Public Instruction for a period of three years...
BAKST, OSSIP ISAAKOVICH – Son of Isaac and brother of Nicolai Bakst; died Oct. 8, 1895; was employed as interpreter (dragoman) in the Asiatic Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and is known also as a publisher of Russian translations of...
BAKU – Seaport, in the government of the same name, Transcaucasia, Russia, situated on the peninsula of Apsheron, on the west coast of the Caspian sea. The naphtha-wells of Baku have long been known to fire-worshipers. It is supposed...
BALAAM – Balak Solicits His Aid. —Biblical Data: A son of Beor and a prophet of Pethor in Mesopotamia. The narrative relating to Balaam is found in Num. xxii.-xxiv. According to this narrative, Balak, king of Moab, sent messengers to the...
BALADAN – See Berodach-baladan.
BALAK – Biblical Data: According to Num. xxii.-xxiv., Balak was king of Moab when the Israelites emerged from their wanderings in the wilderness to the conquest of the East Jordanic land. Alarmed by the victories and numbers of the...
BALANCE – The word is used for three Hebrew words: (1) "mo'znaim" (Jer. xxxii. 10; Job vi. 2; Ps. lxii. 9; Isa. xl. 12, 15; Lev. xix. 36; Job xxxi. 6; Prov. xi. 11, etc.). (2) "ḳaneh" (Isa. xlvi. 6), and (3) "peles" (Prov. xvi. 11). The...
BALANDZHAR – See Chazar.
BALASSA, JOSEPH – Hungarian philologist; born 1864, in Baja, Hungary; studied in Budapest, where he graduated in philosophy, and where he holds a professorship in the gymnasium. His writings upon philology and general phonetics have been...
BALDACHIN – See Ḥuppah.
BALDNESS – The Hebrews gave much care to the cultivation of their hair, which they kept long (compare Ezek. xliv. 20) except on such occasions as are mentioned, Lev. xiii. 45, x. 6, etc. (R.V.), and always well oiled; and accordingly...
BALEARIC ISLES – Early History. A group of islands in the Mediterranean, belonging to Spain, situated to the east of Valencia, the three principal of which are named Majorca (Spanish, Mallorca), Minorca (Menorca), and Iviça or Iviza (Ibiza). The...
BALI, ABRAHAM BEN JACOB – Karaite physician and ḥazan; lived at Foli ( ?) in the second half of the fifteenth century. He was the pupil of Shabbethai ben Melkiel Cohen, and the author of the following works, for the most part still in manuscript (St....
BALI, MOSES BEN ABRAHAM – Karaite physician and ḥakam at Cairo at the end of the fifteenth century and at the beginning of the sixteenth. He was the author of 224 poems, finished in 1489, on the weekly lessons, entitled "Sefer Zeraḥ." Another selection...
BALLADS, JEWISH – See Folk-Songs.
BALLADS ON JEWISH SUBJECTS – In the folk-poetry of Europe a certain number of ballads deal with Jewish subjects or with Jewish persons. Of these may be mentioned a Neo-Greek ballad on a Jewess given in Fauriel, "Chantes Néohelliniques"; but the ballads...
BALLAGHI, M – See Bloch, M.
BALLARAT – City in Victoria, Australia. Three years after the discovery of gold, in 1851, a congregation was formed with Henry Harris as president and Julius Wittowski as treasurer; and the Mount Zion synagogue was built the next year. In...