SEFER YEẒIRAH – See Yeẓirah, Sefer.
SEFIROT, THE TEN – Doctrine of Emanation. Potencies or agencies by means of which, according to the Cabala, God manifested His existence in the production of the universe. The term is derived from the Hebrew noun "sefirah," which, meaning...
SEGELMESA – See Morocco.
SEGELMESSI (SIJILMISSI), JUDAH BEN JOSEPH – African liturgist; flourished about 1400; a native of Segelmesa, Morocco. Two seliḥot of his are extant, one beginning "Eleh kokebe marom," and the other, "Mah e'eseh le-ẓedati," both of which bear the signature "Judah b. Joseph...
SEGOL – See Accents in Hebrew.
SEGOVIA – In the Fourteenth Century. City of Spain in Old Castile; situated between Burgos, Toledo, and Avila. When conquered by Alfonso VI. it already had a considerable Jewish community, which in 1294 paid 10,806 maravedis in taxes. In...
SEGRE – Italian family of scholars.Abraham ben Judah Segre (known as Rab ASI): Rabbi in Casale in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He was on terms of intimate friendship with Judah Finzi of Mantua and with Benjamin Kohn of...
SEHERR-THOSS, JOHANN CHRISTOPH, FREIHERR VON – Austrian soldier; born at Lissen Feb. 17, 1670; died Jan. 14, 1743. He is known in Jewish history as having been the first to give official recognition to the slander that the Austrian Jews treasonably aided the Prussian army in...
SEIBERLING, JOSEPH – Russian educator, censor, and communal worker; born in Wilna; died at an advanced age after 1882. His father, Isaac Markusewich, was one of the few Jewish physicians who graduated from the university which existed in Wilna from...
SEIR – 1. Region that took its name from Seir the Horite, whose descendants occupied it, followed by Edom and his descendants. The earliest reference to the name is found in the Harris Egyptian papyrus, in which Rameses III. says (c....
SEIXAS – American family, the founder of which removed from Portugal to the United States in 1730.Abraham Seixas: American merchant and soldier; born in 1750 in New York city. He served in the American army and carried despatches for...
SELA – See Weights and Measures.