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ENCYCLOPAEDIA
JUDAICA
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
JUDAICA
S E C O N D E D I T I O N
VOLUME 9
Her–Int
Fred Skolnik, Editor in Chief
Michael Berenbaum, Executive Editor
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
KETER PUBLISHING HOUSE LtD., JERUSALEM
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition
Fred Skolnik, Editor in Chief
Michael Berenbaum, Executive Editor
Shlomo S. (Yosh) Gafni, Editorial Project Manager
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Encyclopaedia Judaica / Fred Skolnik, editor-in-chief ; Michael Berenbaum, executive editor. -- 2nd ed.
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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1. Jews -- Encyclopedias. I. Skolnik, Fred. II. Berenbaum, Michael, 1945-
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909’.04924 -- dc22
2006020426
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Entries Her–Int
5
•
Abbreviations
General Abbreviations
841
Abbreviations used in Rabbinical Literature
842
Bibliographical Abbreviations
848
•
Transliteration Rules
861
Glossary
864
Initial letter “H” from the beginning
of Exodus in a Latin Bible, France,
12th century. The illumination shows
Jacob and his sons going down to
Egypt. Amiens, Bibliothèque Munici- Her–Hy
pale, Ms. 21, fol. 27.
HERACLES (Latin: Hercules), mythological Greek hero °HERACLIUS, emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610
whom Philo praises as a benefactor of mankind and for to 641. He is known for his repression of the Jews as a punish-
his courage and determination. The historian *Cleodemus- ment for their sympathy, aid, and collaboration (alleged and
Malchus (cited by Josephus (Ant., 1:240–1) from *Alexan- actual) with the Persians during their conquest of Jerusalem
der Polyhistor) relates that the sons of Abraham by *Keturah in 614. Information on such conduct comes mainly from mo-
campaigned with Heracles against Libya and that the daugh- nastic sources. When Jerusalem was recaptured by Heraclius
ter of one of them married Heracles and bore him a son. in 629 he encouraged the indiscriminate slaughter of Jews and
Plutarch, without mentioning that Heracles’ wife was the ultimately their expulsion from the city. After Edessa was re-
granddaughter of Abraham, has a similar account (Life of taken by Heraclius, the Jews continued to resist even after the
Sertorius, 9). Persians had surrendered and therefore they were expelled
[Howard Jacobson] on Heraclius’ orders. Shortly afterward the Arabs conquered
Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. In 632, motivated by exaggerated
°HERACLITUS (c. 500 B.C.E.), Greek philosopher. Philo as- stories of Jewish sympathy for Islam, Heraclius decreed the
serts that Heraclitus stole his theory of opposites from Moses, forced baptism of all Jews in the empire, but the decree was
but condemns him for not believing in a divine agency be- enforced only in Carthage. He also put into effect *Justini-
yond the world. “Heraclitean” views on the constant motion an’s novella 146, which interfered with synagogue services
of all things and on the origin of the world in fire were known and found an echo in contemporary apocalyptic texts. Some
to and sometimes opposed by medieval Jewish philosophers, scholars consider that Heraclius appears as the notorious King
e.g., *Saadiah Gaon. *Armilus destined to be slain by the Messiah according to the
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 9 5
heraldry
Hebrew apocalypse Sefer Zerubbavel, written in the 630s. It is Batsheba Schmieles, was ennobled at the same time, having
reported that Heraclius advised Dagobert, king of the Franks, in 1622 been made a knight of the Holy Roman Empire with
to kill Jews who would not accept Christianity. Despite his the title of *Bassevi of Treuenberg.
anti-Jewish acts, the Jews of Constantinople were in a strong The largest group claiming armorial bearings were those
enough position after his death to participate in a street riot Jews of *Marrano descent whose ancestors had adopted the
during which they invaded Hagia Sophia. The emperor and name of the persons sponsoring them for baptism. This would
his retinue during their stay in Erez Israel were entertained by not have given them the right to bear the same arms, although
̣
the wealthy and prominent *Benjamin of Tiberias, who later Isaac da Costa argues that the Christian and Jewish branches
converted to Christianity. (See Israel, *History.) of these families were indistinguishable. Others inherited
Bibliography: J. Starr, Jews in the Byzantine Empire (1939), arms which had actually been granted to their Marrano an-
index; idem, in: JPOS, 15 (1935), 280–93; idem, in: Byzantinischeneu- cestors. Among these were Isaac Lousada (d. 1857), who was
grieschische Jahrbuecher, 16 (1940), 192–6; Hilkowitz, in: Zion, 4 (1927), confirmed by the Spanish government in 1848 in the title of
256–76; Baron, Social2, 3 (1957), 20–24; A. Sharf, in: Byzantinische duke and grandee of Spain of the first class; Isaac da Silva
Zeitschrift, 48 (1955), 103–15; Hilkowitz, in: Zion, 4 (1939), 307–16; Y. *Solis, whose father was made marquis of Montfort in 1673;
Ibn Shmuel, Midreshei Ge’ullah (19542), 56–92; A.A. Vasiliev, History
Antonio Lopez *Suasso (Isaac Israel Suasso), made baron of
of the Byzantine Empire, 1 (1965), 195–9.
[Andrew Sharf] Avernas de Gras in 1676; and the de *Pinto family descended
from Manuel Alvarez Pinto, who was made a knight of St. Jago
HERALDRY. Seventeenth-century writers on heraldry in 1640. Manuel (Isaac Henriques) Pimentel obtained a dec-
claimed that the origins of coats of arms could be found in laration in 1674 signed on behalf of the Spanish king that he
Numbers 2:2: “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying was entitled to use the ancient arms of Pimentel. The original
‘The Israelites shall camp each with his standard under the arms of Pereira and Teixeira contained crosses and were ac-
banners of their ancestral house.’” Although this theory has cordingly modified by Jewish families of that name.
been abandoned, it would seem that the standards borne by The English College of Arms raised no difficulty about
the 12 tribes served the same purpose as heraldic devices. granting or registering arms for Jews who had been born in
The colors (Num. R. 2:7; Ex. 36:17–21) and emblems were England or had been naturalized or endenizened. The earli-
as follows: Reuben – red; emblem: mandrakes (Gen. 30:14). est record in this connection, that of 1568 concerning the New
Simeon – green; emblem: the town of Shechem (Gen. 34:25f.). Christian family of Anes (JHSET 11, 18), is of only slight Jewish
Levi – white, black, and red; emblem: the Urim and Thum- significance, and the first patents of arms for Jews relate to the
mim (Deut. 33:9). Judah – azure; emblem: a lion (Gen. 49:9). ancient canting arms of Da *Costa: “gules six broken bones,
Issachar – black; emblem: a strong-boned ass (Gen. 49:14) or two two and two barwise and the joynts almost meeting each
sun and moon (I Chron. 12:33). Zebulun – white; emblem: a other in pale argent.” These were registered in 1723 and 1725
ship (Gen. 49:13). Dan – sapphire; emblem: a serpent (Gen. with variations for Leonor da Costa, her cousin Catharine da
49:17) or a lion’s whelp (Deut. 33:22). Gad – grey; emblem: a Costa Villareal, and her nephew Anthony *Mendes; the first
tent (Gen. 49:19) or a lion (Deut. 33:20). Naphtali – rose; em- two declared that the arms had been borne by their late hus-
blem: a hind (Gen. 49:21). Asher – aquamarine; emblem: an bands before they settled in England, while Anthony Mendes
olive tree (Gen. 49:20; Deut. 33:24). Ephraim and Manasseh – claimed them through his father Dr. Fernando Mendes. The
black, embroidered with a picture of Egypt; emblem: Ephraim, arms registered for de *Aguilar, *Castello, and *Salvador were
a bullock (Deut. 33:17) and Manasseh, a wild ox. Benjamin – 12 also of Spanish or Portuguese origin. The grant of arms to
colors; emblem: a wolf (Gen. 49:27). Sir Morris *Ximenes, dated May 5, 1807, recites that the arms
Modern heraldry is founded on a system of heraldry which his family had always used were similar to those borne
which developed in feudal Western Europe at the time of the by Cardinal Ximenes from a branch of whose family he was
Crusades and was based on the principle that only the land- traditionally descended, a claim which today would be re-
owning class, which formed the nobility, was entitled to bear ceived with considerable doubt.
arms. The extensive use of emblems by Jews for seals some- Some of these coats of arms contain Jewish features. Both
times led to a design similar to a coat of arms, such as the the Belilios and the *Mocatta arms include a seven-branch
14t-century seal used by Kalonymus b. Todros of Narbonne candlestick. The Franco (*Lopes) arms were confirmed in 1760
which consisted of a shield charged with a lion rampant; and by the College of Arms to Jacob Franco, “his ancestors having
the king of Portugal, Alfonso Henriques (1094–1185), was used for their armorial ensigns on a field a fountain proper
said to have granted a coat of arms to a Jew. Nevertheless, thereout issuant a palm tree vert… represented on a marble
the system which prevented Jews from bearing arms was not monument in the synagogue of the Jewish nation in the City
relaxed until the 16t century. By then, in most countries of of Leghorn.” The arms granted in 1819 to Moses *Montefiore
Western Europe grants of arms had become the prerogative were based on the family badge embroidered on an Ark cur-
of the sovereign, who could confer them as a reward for ser- tain presented to the Levantine synagogue at Ancona in 1635
vices rendered; they did not necessarily carry with them the by Judah Leone Montefiore. In 1831 Moses Montefiore ob-
status of nobility. The first Jew to receive a grant of arms, Jacob tained as an augmentation to the banner on his crest the word
6 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 9
herberg, will
Jerusalem in Hebrew characters of gold to commemorate his hand grasping three arrows in their coat of arms to represent
visit to the Holy Land in 1827. In 1841 after his intervention the three de Worms brothers. In Italy the Jews followed the
with the sultan at Constantinople about the *Damascus Affair, practice common among families of all classes of adopting
he recorded details of the affair as well as a copy of the sultan’s family badges. Some of these, as in the cases of Franco and
firman at the College of Arms. At the same time he received Montefiore, were later incorporated in coats of arms, but in
an additional crest, and Queen Victoria granted him the right their original form they were extensively used on seals, mar-
to bear supporters, “being desirous of giving an especial mark riage contracts, tombstones, and personal effects.
of our royal favor… in commemoration of these his unceas- Bibliography: L. Wolf, in: JHSET, 2 (1894/95), 153–69; I. da
ing exertions on behalf of his injured and persecuted brethren Costa, Noble Families among the Sephardic Jews… (1936); A. Rubens,
although the privilege of bearing supporters be limited to the in: Anglo-Jewish Notabilities (1949), 75–128; C. Roth, Stemmi di Fami-
peers of our realm, the knights of our orders and the proxies glie Ebraiche Italiane (1967).
[Alfred Rubens]
of princes of our blood” (Sir Moses was then only a knight
bachelor). Each of the supporters carried a flagstaff with the
HERAT, city in N.W. Afghanistan. Jewish settlement there
word Jerusalem in Hebrew characters of gold. The *Sassoon
goes back to early Islamic times. The recent discovery in Firu-
arms were usually emblazoned with the motto in Latin and
zkuh, near Herat, of 20 Judeo-Persian tombstone inscriptions
Hebrew, but the Hebrew motto is not mentioned in the grant
covering the years 1115–1215 indicates the existence of a Jew-
of arms made in 1862 to David Sassoon. The priestly blessing
ish settlement with a cemetery. Firuzkuh was destroyed by the
is referred to in the motto, “the Lord bless them,” adopted by
*Mongol invasion (1221), and the Jewish survivors may have
Sir Samuel Sydney Cohen of Sydney, Australia, in 1947. The
fled further east, perhaps to China. From 1839 the commu-
emblem of the tribe of Benjamin forms the basis of the coat
nity in Herat absorbed many refugees from *Meshed across
of arms granted, also in 1947, to the descendants of Sir Ben-
the Persian border, victims of a forced conversion decree. The
jamin Benjamin of Melbourne, Australia: “Azure, a wolf pas-
outbreak of Anglo-Persian hostilities in the second part of the
sant between three stars of six points argent.”
19t century caused many of these Meshed Conversos to be ex-
Naphtali Basevi, maternal grandfather of Benjamin *Dis-
pelled from Herat, forcing them to settle in the vicinity of Baba
raeli, earl of Beaconsfield, used an unregistered coat of arms,
Qudrat. Ephraim *Neumark found in Herat in 1884 about 300
the charges on which were a lion, supposed to be for St. Mark
Jewish families, engaged in commerce, handicrafts, and trade
of Venice, an eagle for Austria, and a crescent for Turkey; ac-
with India and Central Asia. In 1898 E.N. *Adler discovered
cording to family tradition, they were the arms granted to
in the city some Hebrew manuscripts written in 1773. Many
an ancestor, Solomon ben Nathan *Ashkenazi (1520?–1602),
Jews from Herat emigrated to Palestine in the early decades
in reward for his services in negotiating a peace treaty when
of the 20t century, among them R. Garji and his family, and
serving as Turkish ambassador to Venice. A similar device is
the Shauloff family. They brought with them manuscripts of
used as a printer’s mark in the Midrash Tanhuma printed by
̣ Judeo-Persian literature which they printed in Jerusalem. In
Abraham Basevi at Verona in 1595 and on Basevi tombstones
the late 1960s the Jewish community in Herat had dwindled
in that city. Disraeli himself adopted the lion and the eagle and
to only a few families.
added a castle for Castille. According to him the lion repre-
Bibliography: W.J. Fischel, in: JAOS, 85 (1965), 148–53; I. Ben
sented Leon and was the device of his Lara ancestors, but in
Zvi, Meḥkarim u-Mekorot (1966), 325, 331–3. Add. Bibliography:
fact his Spanish lineage was fanciful.
R.N. Frye, “Harāt,” in: EIS2, 3 (1971), 177–78.
In contrast with conditions in England, there were few [Walter Joseph Fischel]
instances of Jews receiving grants of arms on the Continent
prior to the 19t century. When the four *Rothschild brothers, HERBERG, WILL (1909–1977), U.S. theologian and social
Amschel, Solomon, Carl, and James, were ennobled by the em- critic. Herberg was born and reared in New York City. A child
peror Francis II of Austria in 1816, the first somewhat ambi- of assimilated Russian Jewish intellectuals, he joined the Com-
tious design for their coat of arms was rejected by the Austrian munist Party in 1924 and broke with it in 1931. From 1934 to
Heralds’ College with the comment that it was “necessary to 1946 he served as educational director and labor analyst for
proceed with the greatest caution particularly in the case of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Returning
members of the Jewish nation for various reasons and more to academic life in 1946, he held academic positions at major
especially because they are not familiar with the prerogatives universities and from 1955 was on the faculty of Drew Univer-
of nobility.” The coat of arms granted in 1817 had as charges: sity, becoming professor of philosophy and culture. Herberg
a half eagle and an arm bearing four arrows, not five, because was reared as an atheist and became a Marxist at the age of 15.
Nathan, the English brother, was not included (E.C. Corti, On breaking with the Communist Party, he began a serious
The Rise of the House of Rothschild, 1 (1928), 193). He himself study of theology and was deeply influenced by Karl Barth,
was granted a different coat of arms by the English College Emil Brunner, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr’s political and
of Arms in February 1818, consisting of a “lion passant guar- theological thinking had a profound impact on Herberg. The
dant grasping with the dexter forepaw five arrows.” The de Jewish thinkers who influenced Herberg were Buber, Rosen-
*Worms family, who were kinsmen of the Rothschilds, had a zweig and, to a lesser extent, Solomon Schechter.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 9 7
herbs, medicinal
His return to Judaism, if it can be called a “return,” for that people should pray to the Almighty for mercy and not rely
there was no Judaism in his background, took place around solely on remedies. Maimonides, however, rejects the legend.
1944 and was documented in a major article, “From Marxism Except for ירִצֳ (ẓori, “balm”), stated to be efficacious in cur-
to Judaism,” published in Commentary magazine in 1947. This ing wounds (Jer. 8:22, 46:11, 51:8), no medicinal herbs or pro-
was followed in 1951 by Judaism and Modern Man: An Inter- phylactics are mentioned in the Bible. It is suggested that the
pretation of Jewish Religion. Herberg’s contribution to contem- story of the *mandrakes (Gen. 30:14–17) alludes to this plant’s
porary Jewish thought has been the rediscovery of the central properties in promoting pregnancy, but the passage seems spe-
importance of the covenant for Jewish existence and the con- cifically intended rather to point out that pregnancy is a gift of
ception of idolatry for modern man. Denying emancipation the Lord, for Leah, who handed over the mandrakes, became
views of Jewishness as synagogue affiliation (Western views) pregnant and not Rachel, who received them. The Bible sev-
or as shtetl citizenship (East European views), Herberg saw eral times mentions toxic plants from which poisons were ex-
Jewishness as covenantal existence, an existence that makes tracted, such as שׁארֹ or שׁוֹר (rosh, “*hemlock”; AV, JPS, “gall”)
sense of Jewish specificity-particularity and Jewish universal- and הנָעֲלַ (la’anah, “wormwood”), these having apparently also
ity. The rediscovery of idolatry, that the biblical conception of been used in minute quantities as remedies, as testified by
idolatry was not simply the rejection of the worship of sticks Greek and Roman medical writings. Of the toxic plant תוֹעקֻּפַּ
and stones but the denial of the claims of all human absolutes, (pakku’ot; AV, JPS, “gourds”), colocynth (see *cucumber), it is
led him to see that “idolatry” remains a permanently relevant told that during a famine in the days of Elisha one of the dis-
category of Jewish thought. Like thinkers before him, such as ciples, intending to gather תוֹרוֹא (orot; AV, JPS, “herbs”), that
Samuel David Luzzatto, Herberg distinguished between the is, according to R. Meir, roquet, a medicinal herb especially
Greco-Oriental and Hebraic religions, and includes Christi- efficacious in eye diseases, instead collected and boiled a dish
anity, since it is rooted in Hebrew Scripture, as a Hebraic re- of colocynth. After eating of it, the disciples cried out: “There
ligion. Following F. Rosenzweig, he had a view of the double is death in the pot,” but by adding flour to the dish Elisha made
covenant in terms of Judaism and Christianity. it edible (II Kings 4:39–41), the flour having absorbed, some
Stemming from his interest in social, political, and theo- contend, the fruit’s bitter toxic substance.
logical matters Herberg published Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Whereas the Bible speaks very little about medicinal
Essay in American Religious Sociology (1955; revised 1960); and plants, talmudic literature mentions many herbs, some re-
three monographs, “The Jewish Labor Movement in America” garded as cures, others used as a prophylactic against vari-
(1950), “The Political Theory of American Marxism” (1951), ous ailments. From time immemorial popular medicine has
“Religion and Education in America” (1961). Herberg later used numerous herbs, particularly wild plants, as remedies.
wrote Judaism and Modern Man (1970) and Faith Enacted The classical medical literature of Theophrastus, Pliny, Dio-
as History: Essays in Biblical Theology (1976). He edited The scorides, Galen, and others shows that different remedial
Writings of Martin Buber (1956), Four Existentialist Theolo- qualities were ascribed to the vast majority of herbs, some of
gians (1958), and Community, State and Church: Three Essays which were used by many peoples. In talmudic literature close
by Karl Barth (1960). From Marxism to Judaism: The Collected upon 70 plants are mentioned as having medicinal properties,
Essays of Will Herberg was published in 1988. including plants mainly used as food, such as olives, dates,
Bibliography: Arthur A. Cohen, The Natural and the Super- pomegranates, quinces among fruit – and garlic, *beet, *hys-
natural Jew (1962), ch. 3, sect. 6. Add. Bibliography: M. Marty sop, *cumin, and *fennel-flower among vegetables and spices.
and H. Ausmus, Will Herberg: From Right to Right (1987); H. Ausmus, In addition wild plants are mentioned which were used prin-
Will Herberg: A Bio-Bibliography (1985). cipally for remedial purposes. The following are some of the
[Monford Harris] medicinal plants enumerated in the Talmud: for a liver ail-
ment, רזֶﬠֶוֹי (yo’ezer “maidenhair fern”; Adiantum capillus ve-
HERBS, MEDICINAL. In ancient times herbs were the neris; Shab. 14:3; Shab. 109b); as an antidote for snake poison,
main source of remedies. According to the Book of *Jubilees הﬠֶוֹר בוּבּאַ (abbuv ro’eh, “knoodweed,” Polygonum aviculare;
(10:12), the angels revealed the various remedies to Noah, who ibid.); for eye ailments, scurvy, and intestinal worms, ריגִּרְגַּ
wrote them down in a book. *Asaph the physician adds that (gargir, “roquet”; Eruca sativa; Shab. 109a; Git. 69b); recom-
Noah, having been taught by the angel Raphael the remedies mended for intestinal worms are the leaves of ארָﬠָ (ara, “bay”;
obtainable from trees, plants, and roots, recorded them in a Laurus nobilis; Git. 69b) and בוֹזאֵ (ezov, “hyssop”; Majorana
book which he gave to his son Shem and which was used by syriaca; Shab. 109b); for intestinal ailments, םייִלַחְשִׁ (shiḥlayim,
the ancient physicians (Asaph, ed. Venetianer, 6). Apparently “garden cress”; Lepidium sativum; Av.Zar. 29a; Git. 57a);
in olden times books of remedies were common among the for skin disease, דרֶתֶּ (tered, “spinach beet”; Beta vulgaris
people. One of them, mentioned by Maimonides as having var. cicla; Shab. 133b f.), considered efficacious in many ail-
supposedly been written by Solomon (Maim., commentary ments, it having been said that “a broth of spinach beet is
on Pes. 4:9; cf. Jos., Ant. 8:45ff.), was suppressed by order of beneficial for the heart, good for eyes, and still more so
Hezekiah, king of Judah, for which action he was praised by for the bowels” (Ber. 39a); for אשָ ׁירֵדְּ אמָדְּ (dema de-reisha),
the sages (Pes. 4:9); his purpose, so commentators explain, was apparently blood pressure in the head, סדַהֲ (Hadas, “myr-
8 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 9