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Isaac ben-Abraham Akrish

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Isaac ben-Abraham

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a Jewish writer of considerable note, was born about 1489, in Spain; the name of the place is not known to us. He was lame on both feet, but this maimed condition by no means prevented him from acquiring great learning; nay, he even traveled extensively, and enjoyed the reputation of a great scholar. When yet a boy, the persecutions of the Jews by the Spaniards obliged him to leave his native land (1492), and he removed to Naples. But also here he and his coreligionists were sorely tried by persecution, and again he fled; this time from country to country "whose languages he did not understand, and whose inhabitants spared neither the aged nor the young," until he finally found a home in the house of a banished coreligionist in far-off Egypt. After a stay of some ten years he removed to Palestine, and finally settled in Turkey, where he was honored with the instruction of one of the princes of the realm. He died after 1577. His works are קוֹל מְבִשֵּׂר, or on Jewish Reign during the Exile; containing (1) the correspondence of Chasdai ben-Isaac with Jusuf, the king of the Chassars; (2) מִעֲשֵׂה בֵית דָּוַד בַּימֵ פָּרִס, or History of the House of David during the reign of the Persians; also the history of Bastanai, etc. (Constant. 15, 8vo; Basle, 1589, 8vo; and with a work of Farisaolo, Offenb. 1720, 12mo). See Gratz Gesch. d. Juclei, 9, 10 sq., 420 sq. (J. H.W.)