FABLE – A moral allegory in which beasts, and occasionally plants, act and speak like human beings. It is distinct from the beast-tale, in which beasts act like men, but in which there is no moral. In the ancient world two nations only,...
FAḌL, DA'UD ABU AL- – Karaite physician; born at Cairo 1161; died there about 1242. Having studied medicine under the Jewish physician Hibat Allah ibn Jami', and under Abu al-Faḍa'il ibnNaḳid, he became the court physician of the sultan Al-Malik...
FADUS CUSPIUS – Procurator of Judea after the death of Agrippa I. Appointed by Emperor Claudius in 44 C.E., he went to Palestine in the same year, and found the inhabitants of Peræa engaged in open hostilities against those of Philadelphia on...
FAENZA – City in the province of Ravenna, and the family seat of the Finzi according to a tradition of the family; Maẓliaḥ (Felice) Finzi lived there as early as 1450. The physician Lazarus Hebræus, prominent in the fifteenth century on...
FAGIUS, PAUL (Paul Büchlein) – Christian Hebraist; born at Rheinzabern, in the Kurpfalz, 1504; died at Cambridge, England, Nov. 13, 1549. He studied at the universities of Heidelberg and Strasburg, and became successively pastor at Isny, professor and...
FAIRS – Ancient Fairs. Periodical assemblies for the purchase and the sale of goods. Talmudic authorities were opposed to the attendance of Jews at fairs on the ground that they are an outgrowth of pagan festivals. The Talmudic word for...
FAIRY-TALES – See Folk-Tales.
FAITH – In Biblical and rabbinical literature, and hence in the Jewish conception, "faith" denotes not belief in a dogmatic sense (see Saul of Tarsus), but either (a) faithfulness (from the passive form "ne'eman" = "trusted" or...
FAITUSI, BARUCH B. SOLOMON – Preacher in Tunis toward the end of the eighteenth century. He was inclined toward mystical and cabalistic studies. His "Meḳor Baruk," containing sermons on the weekly portions, commentaries on various Talmudic treatises, and...
FAITUSI, JACOB B. ABRAHAM – Talmudist; lived in Tunis, and later in Jerusalem; died at Algiers July, 1812. He traveled in the interest of the Jerusalem community. He wrote: "Berit Ya'aḳob," containing sermons, a commentary on Bezalel's "Shiṭṭah Meḳubbeẓet"...
FALAISE – Capital of the arrondissement of the department of Calvados, in Normandy, France, and till 1206 under English rule. It seems to have had a considerable Jewish community in the Middle Ages. Jacob and Morellus of "Falesia" were...
FALAQUERA (PALQUERA), SHEM-ṬOB BEN JOSEPH – Spanish philosopher and poet: born 1225; died after 1290. He was well versed in Arabic and Greek philosophy, and had a fine critical sense. Falaquera unfortunately gives no informationconcerning his own personality. He was the...
FALASHAS – Jews of Abyssinia. A colony of Jews exists in Abyssinia known under the denomination of "Falashas" or "Emigrants." They are also called "Kaila"; in the Walkait and Tchelga regions they are known as "Foggara," and the Ilmormas or...
FALCES – A town near Lerin, Navarre. Its Jewish community suffered greatly during the persecution of 1328. In 1366 it contained only eighteen families. Isaac Bonafos b. Shealtiel, son-in-law of Isaac b. Sheshet, lived there, probably as...
FALCON – See Prey, Birds of.
FALERO, ABRAHAM ABOAB – Portuguese philanthropist; died at Verona 1642. At the beginning of the seventeenth century or perhaps even at the end of the sixteenth he settled at Hamburg. There he built a synagogue, named "Keter Torah," for the Portuguese...
FALK, EDUARD – German publicist; died in Paris July 7, 1863. Originally destined for a mercantile career, he later turned to study, and after having passed his examination at the gymnasium, entered the University of Berlin, whence he was...
FALK, ḤAYYIM SAMUEL JACOB – English cabalist and mystic; born about 1708; died in London April 17, 1782. Some writers give Fürth, others Podolia (Podhayce), as his birthplace. He was known as the "Ba'al Shem" of London. Falk left a diary, now in the...
FALK, JACOB JOSHUA BEN ẒEBI HIRSCH – See Jacob Joshua Ben Ẓebi Hirsch Falk.
FALK (V05p332001.jpg), JOSHUA BEN ALEXANDER HA-าOHEN – Polish Talmudist; born at Lublin; died at Lemberg March 29, 1614. His name occurs as "RaFaK" (= "R. Falk Kohen") and "Ma-HaRWaK" (= "Morenu ha-Rab Walk Kohen"). He was a pupil of his relative Moses Isserles and of Solomon Luria,...
FALK, MAX – Hungarian statesman and journalist; born at Budapest Oct. 7, 1828. The straitened circumstances of his parents threw him at an early age upon his own resources. He gave private lessons, and was the first to translate into German...
FALKENSOHN, ISSACHAR BEHR – See Behr, Issachar Falkensohn.
FALKSON, FERDINAND – German physician and political writer; born at Königsberg Aug. 20, 1820; died there Aug. 31, 1900. He was educated at the universities of Königsberg, Berlin, and Halle, graduating from the first-named as M.D. in 1843. In the...
FALL OF ANGELS – In Apocalyptic Writings. The conception of fallen angels—angels who, for wilful, rebellious conduct against God, or through weakness under temptation.thereby forfeiting their angelic dignity, were degraded and condemned to a...
FALL OF MAN – A change from the beatific condition, due to the alleged original depravity of the human race. The events narrated in Gen. iii. leading up to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden are held to support the doctrine of the fall...