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enveniste, joshua raphael ben israel
*Ganso, rabbi of Brusa, was his pupil. He wrote many works
which were lost. Benveniste mentions two of them: Be-Ẓel
ha-Kesef, an ethical work modeled on the Kad ha-Kemaḥ of
*Baḥya b. Asher, and Yakhol Yosef (also erroneously called
Yevul Yosef ) containing various novellae. A number of his
biblical comments, including interpretations he learned from
Isaac *Luria, are quoted in the Dovev Siftei Yeshenim (Smyrna,
1671) of his grandson Nissim Solomon *Algazi.
Bibliography: Scholem, in: Beḥinot, 9 (1956), 82; Tamar,
in: Tarbiz, 27 (1957/58), 105–8; M. Benayahu, Sefer Toledot ha-Ari
(1967), 362–4.
[Abraham David]
BENVENISTE, JOSHUA RAPHAEL BEN ISRAEL (1590?–
1665?), Turkish rabbi, physician, grammarian, and poet;
brother of Ḥayyim *Benveniste. Joshua was born in Constantinople
and was a disciple of Joseph b. Moses *Trani and
Abraham *Alegre. He studied grammar under Isaac *Uzziel,
and medicine under Isaac Caro, the physician. While serving
as rabbi in Constantinople, he accepted the rabbinate of
Sophia, after the community had agreed to all of his conditions,
but the Constantinople community objected and prevailed
upon him to remain. For some years Joshua was rabbi
of Bursa. Many communities, even Karaites, addressed their
problems to him, and responsa written by him, as early as
1610, are extant. Benveniste was a versatile author and many
of his works are still regarded as basic in their fields. He devoted
himself particularly to the Jerusalem Talmud, which
was largely neglected in his day. His commentary on it, Sedeh
Yehoshu’a, was published with the text. Joshua’s method was
first to explain all difficult words according to the Babylonian
Talmud, the Arukh, etc., and then to explain the passage, comparing
it with the parallel passage in the Babylonian Talmud
or explaining it according to the context where no such parallel
exists. Where the halakhah differs in the two Talmuds
he decided according to the Babylonian, “since it is the essential
one.” He also collected explanations which he found
in works of rishonim and halakhists and added his own. He
deals only with the halakhic portions, ignoring the aggadah.
His language is very prolix. This may explain why the commentary
did not become widespread among the scholars of
Eastern and Western Europe.
His commentary to the following tractates was published:
Berakhot, Pe’ah, Orlah, Ḥallah, and Bikkurim of the order
Zera’im (Constantinople, 1662); a number of tractates of
Mo’ed, Nashim, and Nezikin (Constantinople, 1749). The commentary
has frequently been reprinted together with the text.
His Seder ha-Get and Seder Ḥaliẓah were published in Get Pashut
(Constantinople, 1719) of Moses ibn Ḥabib. According to
Ḥayyim Joseph David *Azulai, his four volumes of responsa,
Sha’ar Yehoshu’a, were destroyed by fire after 1677. Some of
his 97 responsa on Ḥoshen Mishpat, which have remained in
manuscript (Jewish Institute, Warsaw, no. 13), were published
in Husiatin in 1904 and many of his responsa were published
in the books of his contemporaries. His other published works
are Oznei Yehoshu’a (Constantinople, 1677), sermons, and Avodah
Tammah (Constantinople, 1691–95), an exposition of the
*Avodah in the Day of Atonement liturgy, and a clarification
of the variant readings. The following remain in manuscript:
Mishmeret ha-Mitzvot (JTS, Ms. 0347), a poetic arrangement
of the commandments in accordance with the enumeration
of Maimonides; Levush Malkhut, describing the greatness of
the Creator as evinced in the human anatomy, written in the
style of the Keter Malkhut of Solomon ibn Gabirol; Perek be-
Shir (Montefiore Ms. 377), on prosody and meter; and a treatise
on medicine.
Bibliography: L. Ginzberg, Perushim ve-Ḥiddushim ba-Yerushalmi,
1 (1961), introduction (Eng.) liii–liv; N. Allony, Mi-Torat
ha-Lashon ve-ha-Shirah bi-Ymei ha-Beinayim (1944), 85–92; idem,
Mi-Sifrut Yemei ha-Beinayim (1945), 39–42; Benayahu, in: Aresheth,
3 (1961), 151.
BENVENISTE, MOSES (second half of the 16th century),
Turkish physician. As medical attendant to the grand vizier,
Siavouch Pasha, Benveniste attained considerable influence in
Turkish politics; in 1582 he was largely responsible for reinstating
Peter the Lame as gospodar (ruler) of Moldavia. In 1583,
in conjunction with Nissim, the Jewish director of the mint,
he recommended the currency reform which led to a revolt
of the Janissaries. Later, he was associated with the Jew David
*Passi and the Italian Paolo Maria in unsuccessful intrigues
with the English ambassador Barton against Solomon *Abenaes,
Duke of Mytilene. In 1598 Benveniste, who had always
favored the pro-Spanish party in Turkish politics, was one of
the three Turkish plenipotentiaries in the peace negotiations
with Spain. Having exceeded their instructions, they were
banished. It is possible that Benveniste unsuccessfully tried
to escape this sentence by embracing Islam, but died a political
prisoner, probably in Rhodes. The poet Yehudah Zarko, a
native of Rhodes, wrote a long poem about the exile of Benveniste
to Rhodes. His son, Rabbi Israel Benveniste, visited
him there. It seems that he became one of the leaders of the
Jewish community in Rhodes. Rabbi Israel died after 1695 and
we have the poem which was written on his tombstone. His
well-known grandchildren were Rabbi Ḥayyim *Benveniste
and Rabbi Moses Benveniste.
Bibliography: Rosanes, Togarmah 3 (19382), 8, 13, 356–8,
363; C. Roth, House of Nasi, Duke of Naxos (1948), 200, 204, 211, 215;
A. Galanté, Turcs et Juifs (1932), 101; idem, Juifs de Rhodes (1935), 109f.;
E. Charrière (ed.), Négociations de la France dans le Levant, 4 (1966),
246f. Add. Bibliography: Graetz-Shefer, 7, 309, 428. Benayahu,
in: Sefunot 12 (1971–78), 123–45; C.M. Kortepeter, Ottoman Imperialism
during the Reformation: Europe and the Caucasus (1972), 214–26;
F. Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the
Age of Philip II (1973), 1143–85.
[Cecil Roth / Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky (2nd ed.)]
BEN-VENISTE, RICHARD (1943– ), U.S. lawyer. A native
New Yorker, Ben-Veniste is from a Sephardi family on his fa-
384 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3