JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

aoh. It likewise swallowed up the vessels of the Temple, to
conceal them when that edifice was destroyed. On the other
hand, it engulfed the four generations of the offspring of Cain
as an act of punishment; it also swallowed up the army massed
against Jacob, the unfinished part of the Tower of Babel, and
the city of Nineveh. However, it refused to receive the body
of Jephthah who, as the result of a rash vow, had sacrificed his
own daughter (ibid., S.V.).
Bibliography: A.J. Wensinck, Ideas of the Western Semites
Concerning Navel of the Earth (1916); R. Patai, Adam ve-Adamah
(1943); T.H. Gaster, Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament
(1969), 5, 6, 98(d), 103(c), 144, 188, 294.
[Theodor H. Gaster]
EARTHQUAKE, ground vibrations produced generally by
a sudden subterranean occurrence. Accounts of destructive
earthquakes extend far into antiquity. In biblical times
earthquakes, like thunder and other natural cataclysms, were
regarded as demonstrations of God’s unlimited power. It
was believed that the phenomenon preceded divine manifestations
(I Kings 19:11–12; Isa. 6:4; Ezek. 3:12–13), the revelation
at Sinai (Ex. 19:18), divine wrath (Ps. 18:8; 104:8), and
collective punishment (I Sam. 14:15; Isa. 5:25; Nah. 1:5; 16:32;
Amos 9:1), and it was also envisaged as heralding the end of
the world (Ezek. 38:19–20). The descriptions of earthquakes
in the Bible – especially by prophets – indicate that such
cataclysms occurred from time to time and that people were
therefore familiar with their consequences. The almost scientific
description of the phenomenon of earth dislocation and
cracking related in a prophecy of wrath (Zech. 14:4–5) might
be based on a personal experience of an earthquake. Because
of its powerful impact, the major earthquake which occurred
toward the end of King Uzziah’s reign (about 800 B.C.E.)
was referred to for some time in date references (Amos 1:1;
Zech. 14:5). In 31 B.C.E. a disastrous tremor in Judea claimed
10,000 to 30,000 victims (Jos., Ant., 15:122). In 749 a powerful
earthquake, thought to be 7.3 on the Richter scale, hit
northern Israel, destroying *Bet(h)-Shean, *Tiberias, Kefar
Naḥum (*Capernaum), and *Susita. The earthquake caused a
huge tidal wave that led to the death of thousands. Another
series of earthquakes occurred in 1033, striking Tiberias and
its environs. During the last 2,000 years, earthquakes in Palestine
and its neighborhood have been recorded in greater detail
(see bibl. Amiran, 1951; Shalem, 1951; Arieh, 1967). These records
reveal that, on the average, several damaging earthquakes
have occurred in each century, but usually only one
reached disastrous proportions. Seismological observatories
have been operated by the Geological Survey of Israel
since 1955 and by the Weizmann Institute of Science since
1969. Recent seismographic measurements indicate that most
earthquake epicenters are situated in or near the Jordan Rift
Valley, an area where the two most destructive earthquakes
since the 19th century originated. The earthquake on Jan. 1,
1837, whose epicenter was near Safed, took about 5,000 victims,
ruined much of the old city, and was strongly felt from
east london
Beirut to Jerusalem. This earthquake was preceded by one in
1759 in which the walls of *Safed were ruined and many were
killed. On July 11, 1927, an earthquake occurred north of *Jericho
violently affecting vast areas from Lebanon to the Negev,
and in Transjordan killing about 350 persons and ruining
some 800 structures (mainly in Shechem). This earthquake
stopped the flow of the Jordan River for a few years owing to
rock collapse. The last significant earthquake in Israel was in
1995 in Eilat (*Elath), when the epicenter was in the Red Sea,
therefore causing minor damages. In 2004 a series of tremors
struck Israel, mainly in the Dead Sea area. Experts argue that
such earthquakes are a warning sign of a bigger one yet to
come in the next few years. The extent of damage caused by an
earthquake depends not only on magnitude, focal depth, and
proximity to the epicenter, but also, and sometimes mainly,
on local ground features, topographic conditions, type of
foundation and construction, and density of population. In
areas with long-standing earthquake records, seismic risk can
better be evaluated than in areas without such records. Cities
which have suffered relatively much from earthquakes are
Safed, Tiberias, Shechem (all near the epicenter zone, and
partly built on slopes and unconsolidated ground with poorly
built structures), Lydda, and Ramleh (unstable ground conditions).
Jerusalem, with its rocky fundament, has remained
during its long history relatively undamaged by earthquakes,
as if to justify the psalmist’s verse: “Those who trust in the
Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides
for ever” (Ps. 125:1).
Bibliography: C.F. Richter, Elementary Seismology (1958);
N. Shalem, in: Jerusalem Quarterly, 2 (1949), 22–54 (Heb.); idem, in:
Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel, 2:1 (1952), 5–16; D.H.K. Amiran,
in: IEJ, 1 (1950–51), 223–46; 2 (1952), 48–62; E.J. Arieh, in: Geological
Survey of Israel, 43 (1967), 1–14.
[Eliyahu Arieh]
EAST LONDON, port in Eastern Cape province, South
Africa. East London was founded in 1836 as a landing stage
and proclaimed a town in 1847. W. Barnett acquired a grant of
land in 1849, but the first known permanent Jewish resident
was Gustave Wetzlar, who arrived in Cape Town in 1861 from
Germany and settled as a merchant in East London in 1873.
A town councilor in 1881, he became mayor in 1889. John
Lewis Norton, a descendant of the British settlers of 1820,
became chief constable and messenger of the court. The
growth of the Jewish population resulting from immigration
and an influx during the Boer War of 1899–1902 led to
the establishment of a Hebrew congregation in 1901. Julius
Myers and G.G. Deal, both immigrants from England, took
the initiative and continued to be active in communal life.
Emmanuel Lipkin, later of Oudtshoorn, arrived from England
in 1903 as minister and a small synagogue was opened.
A larger synagogue was built 20 years later. A small Reform
congregation was established in 1958. In the heyday of
the community, which at its height in the mid-1960s numbered
some 1,200 people, there was an active Jewish commu-
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 83