JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

BEN KALBA SAVU’A (1st century C.E.), according to tradition
he was a wealthy man of Jerusalem, who was renowned
for his generosity. The Bavli relates that during the Roman
siege of Jerusalem, he and his two wealthy friends, Nakdimon
b. Guryon and Ben Ẓiẓit ha-Kassat, provided food and
other necessities for the inhabitants over a number of years,
until the zealots set fire to their stores, in an attempt to force
the people to make a desperate effort to break the siege (Git.
56a). Josephus mentions the burning of “provisions that would
have sufficed … for a long siege,” although he does not mention
Ben Kalba Savu’a or his associates (Wars, 5:25). The Bavli
also relates that Rachel, Ben Kalba Savu’a’s daughter, married
R. *Akiva, who in his youth had been Ben Kalba Savu’a’s shepherd.
This was against the wishes of her father, who disinherited
them. When Akiva had become famous as a great scholar,
his father-in-law was reconciled to him and bequeathed him
half of his wealth (Ket. 62b–63a; Ned. 50a). Regarding the historicity
of these traditions, see S. Friedman, “A Good Story
Deserves Retelling: The Unfolding of the Akiva Legend.”
Bibliography: Hyman, Toledot, 274; Z. Vilnay, Maẓẓevot
Kodesh be-Ereẓ Yisrael (1963), 281–5: Add. Bibliography: S. Friedman,
in: JSIJ, 3 (2004), 1–39.
[Zvi Kaplan]
BEN-KIKI (Quiqui), Moroccan family. REUBEN (late 17th and
18th century) participated in 1719 in negotiations with Great
Britain; in 1721 he assisted Ibn Attar, the Moroccan royal treasurer,
in concluding a peace treaty with Great Britain. After the
death of the king of Morocco, Ahmad al-Dhahabi, in 1729, he
became one of the ministers of the new king, Abdullah. His
brother ELEAZAR had been appointed ambassador to Holland
by Ahmad al-Dhahabi to take charge of the peace talks, and
was in Gibraltar, on his way to Holland, when the king died.
He was not allowed to continue his journey, nor to return to
his country until 1730. After Reuben was appointed a minister
in Morocco, he succeeded in sending his brother to Holland,
but the latter was unable to negotiate a treaty.
Bibliography: Hirschberg, Afrikah, 260, 269–71, 280; idem,
in: Essays… I. Brodie (1967), 161–2, 164.
[Abraham David]
BENKOW, JO (Josef Elias; 1924– ), Norwegian politician.
Born in Trondheim, he was a photographer by profession like
his father and grandfather. Towards the end of the 1920s the
family settled in Bærum, a municipality near Oslo. In World
War II he and other male members of his family (his father,
brother, and uncle) succeeded in fleeing to Sweden. The female
members of his family were deported to Auschwitz, where
they were killed on arrival. In March 1944 he left Sweden for
service in the Norwegian Air Force in England and Canada.
In the 1950s his political interests brought him posts in
the liberal conservative party Høyre, the second-largest political
party. He was elected a member of the Bærum local council
in 1959 and the first Jewish-born member of the Storting (the
Norwegian parliament) in 1965. He was the vice chairman of
ben la’anah
Høyre from 1973 to 1980 and the chairman from 1980 to 1984.
He was then elected president of the Storting, a post he held
until 1993. His Jewish connection has been expressed through
his interest for Israel (e.g., as a speaker) and his involvement
in the cause of Soviet Jewry. After leaving his post at the Storting
he worked extensively to promote human rights and combat
antisemitism and racism. From 1983 to 1984 he served as
president of the Nordic Council. He was also the president of
the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights from
1993 to 1998. He spent two years (1994–1995) as visiting professor
at Boston University and in 2000–04 he was a judge on the
Oslo Conciliation Board. In honor of his contribution to society
Benkow received titles and medals from the Norwegian
King, the Finnish president, and the Austrian president.
In 1985 Benkow published his autobiography Fra synagogen
til Løvebakken (“From the Synagogue to Lion Hill,” a
popular name for the Storting), which was a great success,
over 240.000 copies being sold. In it, he describes his childhood
and youth, his Jewish family and Jewish connections,
his opinions concerning religious faith and absence of faith
and tells about his political life. He also writes about general
prejudices and touches on Jewish history (the history of his
own family), Jewish customs, discrimination against Jews in
the Soviet Union, and tells about his relations with Israel (“a
turning point in Jewish self-understanding,” as he says). He
also published Folkevalgt (“Popularly Elected,” 1988), an account
of his life in parliament; Vendepunkt – 9. april i vår bevissthet
(“Turning Point – April 9th in Our Consciousness”),
written together with Prof. Ole Christian Grimnes, about the
German occupation of Norway in 1940–45 and its aftermath;
Olav – Menneske og monark (“Olaf – Human Being and Sovereign,”
1991), a biography of the late king Olaf V; Det ellevte
bud (“The Eleventh Commandment,” 1994), a polemic directed
against racisim; and Hundre år med konge og folk (“A
Hundred Years with King and People,” 1998), an historical account
of the 20th century in Norway. Through his objectivity,
command of language, and calm and dignified manner, Benkow
won widespread respect and recognition.
[Oskar Mendelsohn / Lynn Feinberg (2nd ed.)]
BEN LA’ANAH (Heb. הָנֲ עַל ןֶ ּב), name of the author of an unknown
apocryphal work. The Jerusalem Talmud (Sanh. 10:1,
28a), includes the book of Ben La’anah among the works forbidden
to be read (cf. Eccles. R. 12:12 where the reading is Ben
Tiglah). However, except for a reference by David Messer Leon
in the 16th century to an apocryphal work called Ben Ya’anah
(הָנֲ עַי ןֶ ּב), which may be identical with Ben La’anah, nothing
is known about the book or the author. Various scholars have
tried to identify him either with the pagan philosopher Apollonius
of Tyana (M. Joel), or with the author of a collection of
fox fables Mishlei Shu’alim (J. Fuerst), but none of these theories
is regarded as satisfactory.
Bibliography: Perles, in: REJ, 3 (1881), 116–8; Kaufmann,
ibid., 4 (1882), 161; Klein, in: Leshonenu, 1 (1928/29), 340, 344.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 365