JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

Flood, the Flood itself, and the dynasties down to Nabonassar
(747 B.C.E.), and the third brought the account down to
Alexander. Recent discoveries of cuneiform texts on the Flood
show that Berosus was faithful to his sources, and that in
fact his account is in large part taken from the Gilgamesh
epic.
Berosus was particularly important to Samaritan, Jewish,
and Christian writers for apologetic purposes, since his
chronology contradicted that of the Greek historians and
since he appeared to confirm the antiquity of, and thus lent
credibility to, certain portions of the Bible. But inasmuch as
Berosus, under the influence of astrological theory, spoke of
600 periods of 3,600 years each, whereas the Bible mentions
a much shorter period since creation, writers such as the Samaritan
Eupolemus tried to reconcile these discrepant chronologies.
Unfortunately, however, only part of Berosus’ chronology
has been transmitted, and his lists of dynasties have
often been mutilated by those who cite him or by later copyists
of the manuscripts.
Berosus was similarly found useful in confirming the
biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel, since he too mentions
a tower near Babylon built by men who gloried in their
own strength and size and despised the gods, whereupon, as
in the Bible, the gods brought about a confusion of their languages,
though they had hitherto all spoken one tongue. Alexander
Polyhistor later apparently attempted to synchronize
this account with those of the Bible and the Greek poet Hesiod’s
story of Prometheus. Berosus is of great importance as
a source for Josephus, although questions are still raised as to
whether he used him directly or through some compilation
such as that of Alexander Polyhistor or perhaps that of King
Juba of Mauretania. Josephus cited Berosus in support of his
statements that a portion of the ark of Noah (Xisouthros in
Berosus) still survives in Armenia (Ant. 1:93; cf. Apion 1:130),
that the patriarchs lived unusually long lives (Ant. 1:107), and
that Abraham lived ten generations after the Flood and was
well versed in astronomy (Ant. 1:158). In his polemic against
Greek historians he cites with approval (Apion 1:142) Berosus’
criticism of their reports of Semiramis’ achievements. The fact
that on two occasions (Ant. 10:219–28; Apion 1:134–44) he cites
the same passage on Nebuchadnezzar from Berosus, together
with precisely the same confirmatory references from *Philostratus
and *Megasthenes, would indicate that at least here
he was using a handbook. The accuracy of this passage from
Berosus, particularly the description of the battle of Carchemish,
has now been confirmed by Wiseman’s publication of a
chronicle of Chaldean kings on cuneiform tablets; but it must
be noted that Josephus’ account (Ant. 10:96–102) of the events
leading to the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Jehoiachin
differs in several details from the Chronicle.
The attribution (Suidas, 10th century) of the Babylonian
(or Egyptian) Sibylline books to him has been disputed. The
founder of the astrological school on the Greek island of Cos
to whom the Athenians erected a statue (Pliny, Natural History,
7:123) is pseudo-Berosus.
berr, michel
Bibliography: F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen
Historiker, 3C (1958), no. 680, 364–95 [fragments in Greek]; I.P. Cory,
The Ancient Fragments … of … Berossus … (1828), 19–38 [English
translation of some important fragments]; E. Schwartz, in: Pauly-
Wissowa, 3.1 (1897), 309–16; P. Schnabel, Berossos und die Babylonisch-hellenistische
Literatur (1923), esp. 67–93 [on Berosus and Hellenistic-Jewish
literature]; D.J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings
(626–556 B.C.) in the British Museum (1956), 24ff.; W. Spoerri, in: Der
Kleine Pauly, 1 (1964),
[Louis Harry Feldman]
BERR, JACOB (c. 1760–1855), French physician and publicist,
nephew of *Berr Isaac Berr de Turique. Besides gaining
a reputation as a surgeon, Berr was a fervent advocate of
equal rights for French Jews. In 1789 he published a refutation
of an anonymous pamphlet which contested the right of
Alsatian Jews to enlist in the National Guard. Later, in a letter
addressed to the bishop of Nancy (1790), he criticized his
uncle’s project to preserve a special status for French Jews.
According to E. Carmoly, Historie des médecins juifs (1844),
Berr was the first French Jew to marry a Christian without
forsaking Judaism.
BERR (de Turique), MICHEL (1781–1843), French lawyer.
Born in Nancy, he was the son of *Berr Isaac Berr and became
the son-in-law of Isaiah *Beer-Bing. Like his father, Berr
was an advocate of Mendelssohnian Enlightenment. He sided
with its radical exponents, however, and tended to disregard
the national and religious aspects of Judaism while concentrating
on the struggle for civic equality for the Jews in their
different countries. In this spirit he defended persecuted Jews
in a pamphlet entitled Appel à la justice des nations et des rois
(1801). Berr was the first Jewish lawyer to practice in France.
In 1806 he and his father were deputies at the *Assembly of
Jewish Notables, and in 1807 Berr was appointed secretary of
the Napoleonic *Sanhedrin. He then held an official appointment
in the Kingdom of Westphalia and subsequently in the
Préfecture of La Meurthe, but his later career was disappointing
and he dissipated his talents.
Many important non-Jewish personalities regarded Berr
as the ideal type of modern Jew. Berr translated a number of
works from Hebrew including panegyrics to Napoleon. His
most voluminous work was Abrégé de la Bible et choix de morceaux
de piété et de morale à l’usage des Israélites de France
(1819). At first Berr’s attitude toward Judaism tended to be radical
and rationalist. He held that once Judaism had detached
itself from “talmudic quibbling” it would appear as the universal
truth, while Christianity, also freed from its superstitions,
would simply merge with Judaism. Later Berr insisted
on the retention of what, in his opinion, were essential Jewish
practices, which he explained in his Nouveau précis élémentaire
d’instruction réligieuse et morale à l’usage de la jeunesse
française israélite (1839), thus adhering in his eclectic way to
Jewish religious reform.
Bibliography: Terquem (Tsarphaty), in: AI, 4 (1843), 721–7;
AI, 5 (1844), 109–16, 168–80; Barcinski, in: Euphorion, 15 (1908); Dic-
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 487