DAVIDSOHN, ROBERT – German journalist; younger brother of Georg Davidsohn; born at Danzig April 26, 1853. He joined his brother on the editorial staff of the "Berliner Börsen-Courier," writing satirical critiques of actors, actresses, and singers....
DAVIDSON, ANDREW B. – Professor of Hebrew and Oriental languages in New College, Edinburgh; born at Kirkhill, in the parish of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1831; died in EdinburghJan. 26, 1902. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen,...
DAVIDSON, BENJAMIN – English Orientalist of Jewish birth; died 1871. He was a worker for the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Jews, and when that institution founded in London (1847) a college for the training of its...
DAVIDSON, ELLIS A. – English author and technologist; born at Hull 1828; died at London March 9, 1878. Going early to London, he attended the School of Design and the School of Art at South Kensington, and was one of the first art-teachers sent into...
DAVIDSON, THOMAS – Philosopher and lecturer; born of Presbyterian parents at Deer, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Oct. 25, 1840; died at Montreal, Quebec, Sept. 14, 1900. After graduating from Aberdeen University (1860) he successively held the...
DAVILA, DIEGO ARIAS – Minister and confidant of King Henry IV. of Castile; born of Jewish. parents in Segovia; died in 1466. He, together with his family, embraced the Christian faith when Vincent Ferrer was preaching special sermons with a view to...
DAVIN, SOLOMON BEN DAVID, OF RODEZ – Astronomer; lived in the second half of the fourteenth century. He was a disciple of Immanuel of Tarascon (France). He translated from the Latin into Hebrew, under the title "Sefer Mishpeṭe ha-Kokabim," the astronomical and...
DAVIS, ALFRED – Philanthropist; born in London 1811; died Jan. 6, 1870. Starting life as a general dealer, he soon commenced business on his own account; and his firm subsequently became one of the largest concerns in England as importers of...
DAVIS, FREDERICK – Archeologist; born at Cheltenham 1843; died in London July 14, 1900. He was the eldest son of John Davis of Derby, and was educated at the Derby and Belper schools. Entering the engineering profession, he for some years was a...
DAVIS, JAMES (OWEN HALL) – English playwright and journalist; born about 1848. He was educated at University College, London, and took the degree of bachelor of laws in 1869. After devoting some years to the practise of law as a solicitor (1874-86), he...
DAVIS, MAURICE – English physician and philanthropist; born Oct. 8, 1821; died in London Sept. 29, 1898. Davis was one of the earliest English Jews trained for the medical profession. He was educated at King's College, London, where he had a...
DAVIS, MIRIAM ISABEL – English painter; born in London, where, after making a tour of the galleries of Venice, Florence, and Rome, she began a systematic course of artistic study at the Bloomsbury School of Art. Her artistic career commenced in 1882,...
DAVIS, MYER DAVID – English educationist and writer; born in London 1830. He was educated at Jews' Free School, in which he ultimately became Talmud Torah master. Subsequently he was headmaster of the Gates of Hope School of the Spanish and...
DAVIS, NATHAN – Traveler and archeologist; born 1812; died at Florence Jan. 6, 1882. He spent many years of his life in northern Africa, and for some years lived in an old Moorish palace about ten miles from Tunis. Early in life he became...
DAWISON (DAVIDSOHN), BOGUMIL – Actor; born at Warsaw May 15, 1818; died at Dresden Feb. 1, 1872. In his boyhood he earned a precarious living as itinerant correspondent for various firms, alternating this occupation with that of sign-writer; and then he...
DAX – Town in the department of Landes, France, with a population of 11,000. The number of Jews residing there is not sufficient to form a congregation. The Conseil d'Etat, Nov. 20, 1684, decreed the expulsion of the Jews from Dax,...
DAY – In the Bible, the season of light (Gen. i. 5), lasting "from dawn [lit. "the rising of the morning"] to the coming forth of the stars" (Neh. iv. 15, 17). The term "day" is used also to denote a period of twenty-four hours (Ex....
DAY OF JUDGMENT – Name given to the first of Tishri, as being the New-Year's Day. In the Bible the Day of the Blowing of the Trumpet is the first day of the seventh—Sabbatical—month (Lev. xxiii. 24), and no mention is made of the Day of Judgment....
DAY OF THE LORD – An essential factor in the prophetic doctrine of divine judgment at the end of time (see Eschatology), generally, though not always, involving both punishment and blessing. It is identical with "that day" ( : Isa. xvii. 7, xxx....
DAYS, LUCKY AND UNLUCKY – See Superstition.
DAYYAN, ABRAHAM BEN, ISAIAH – Turkish rabbi; lived at Aleppo, Asiatic Turkey, in the first half of the nineteenth century. He wrote "Shir Ḥadash" (A New Song), an Arabic glossary on the Psalms (Leghorn, 1841); "Zikron ha-Nefesh" (Remembrance for the Soul),...
DAYYENA – See Diena.
DEAD BODY – See Carcass.
DEAD, DUTY TO THE – The dead, free from all obligation (Shab. 30a), have many claims upon the living. "Their wish must be respected and fulfilled" (Giṭ. 14b; Maimonides, "Yad," Zekiyah, viii. 2, xiii. 1; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 125, 8). "It...
DEAD SEA – Composition of the Water. Lake in southeast Palestine, and one of the curious natural phenomena of the earth. It occupies the lowest part of the great depression which extends from northern Palestine to the Gulf of Akabah. At...