Encyclopaedia Judaica - Vol.06 (Dr-Feu) - WiccanGeek's Reading ...

executive officer, he transferred into naval construction. During
World War I he worked in refitting confiscated German
liners in the New York Navy Yard and subsequently became
an authority on raising sunken vessels. In 1925 he became the
first person to be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal
in peacetime when he raised the submarine USS S-51, which
had sunk after a collision off Block Island, Rhode Island. During
the ten-month salvage operation, Ellsberg became the first
naval officer to qualify as a deep-sea diver, understanding the
importance of going down to the ocean floor with his men. He
earned a reputation as an expert in submarine salvage.
In industry, Ellsberg worked as chief engineer of the
Tidewater Oil Company until 1935. He patented several inventions,
including a method for increasing the yield of highoctane
gasoline and a process for removing water from lubricating
oil.
Ellsberg organized the rehabilitation of the U.S. naval
base in Eritrea (then Massawa, Ethiopia) following the entry
of the United States into World War II. There, with a makeshift
workforce, he restored the demolished Italian naval base and
cleared the harbor of scuttled ships. At the end of 1942 he was
made principal salvage officer for the Mediterranean. On the
North African coast, he cleared the ports of Oran and Algiers
for Operation Torch. He also took part in the Artificial Harbors
project connected with the Allied invasion of France in
1944. He was released from active duty shortly before the end
of World War II. Ellsberg was the recipient of many awards
from the United States and British governments, such as the
Legion of Merit and the Order of the British Empire. He retired
in 1951 with the rank of rear admiral. He consulted for
shipbuilding companies and remained on the sea, traveling
and sailing on his boat.
Ellsberg was the author of books on naval topics, including
On the Bottom (1928), Thirty Fathoms Deep (1930), Pigboats
(1931), S-54 (1932), Hell on Ice (1938), Men under the Sea
(1940), Under the Red Sea Sun (1946), No Banners, No Bugles
(1949), Passport for Jennifer (1952), Midwatch (1954), and The
Far Shore (1960).
Bibliography: J. Ben Hirsh, Jewish General Officers (1967),
96–98. Add. Bibliography: J. Alden, Salvage Man: Edward Ellsberg
and the U.S. Navy (1997).
[Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]
ELLSTAETTER, MORITZ (1827–1905), German politician,
the first Jew to become a minister in a German state. Born in
Karlsruhe, Ellstaetter studied law and worked in a banking
house in Berlin, where he met Karl Mathy (1807–1868), the
future Baden minister of finance. When Mathy assumed office
in 1866, he appointed Ellstaetter department head of his
ministry. In 1868, on Mathy’s death, Ellstaetter was given responsibility
for the ministry. He reformed the Baden finances
and introduced a new taxation policy which was followed by
other German states. Ellstaetter advised the German government
on fiscal and coinage legislation for 25 years. In 1881 he
became director of railways. Although he took no part in Jew-
elmaleh
ish affairs, Ellstaetter was, because of racial prejudice, only officially
confirmed as minister of finance in 1888. He retired
due to ill health in 1893.
Bibliography: NDB, 4 (1959), 460.
[B. Mordechai Ansbacher]
ELLSTEIN, ABRAHAM (Abe; 1907–1963), composer, conductor,
and pianist. Born in New York, Ellstein studied with
Frederick *Jacobi, Rubin *Goldmark, and Albert Stoessel, and
became the accompanist for Mischa Mischakoff, Michel Piastro,
Isa Kramer, and Jossele *Rosenblatt. At the age of 19 he
wrote the first of his 33 scores for the Yiddish musical theater.
He also wrote the scores for several Yiddish films produced
in Warsaw before World War II and composed over 500 Yiddish
songs. In 1957 he turned to composing works for concert,
stage, and the synagogue. Among his compositions are Ode
to the King of Kings, a cantata in celebration of the tenth anniversary
of the State of Israel; The Thief and the Hangman, a
one-act opera; Hora Fantasy, for piano; Haftorah, for violin
and string orchestra; Negev Concerto, for piano and orchestra;
two Sabbath Eve Services; Passover Service; The Redemption, a
Hanukkah oratorio for chorus, organ, and per cussion; and an
opera, The Golem (1962).
ELMALEH, family of rabbis and communal leaders in Turkey,
Morocco, and Italy. The family originated in Spain. (1) ABRA-
HAM BEN JUDAH ELMALIK, kabbalist, settled in Pesaro in
1551. He was the author of Likkutei Shikhḥah u-Fe’ah (Ferrara,
1556), kabbalistic expositions of talmudic aggadot. In the introduction
he relates his adventures on leaving his home, possibly
Salonika, though some scholars took it to refer to the expulsion
from Spain. (2) AARON BEN GERSHON ELMALI was
an important member of the Salonika community in the first
half of the 17th century. His signature occurs on a document
of 1647, and members of his family were represented in the
Évora congregation of Salonika (whose members originally
came from *Évora). The first known member of the Turkish
branch of the family is (3) MOSES BEN DON DAVID ELMALEH
of Adrianople. He apparently served as dayyan and there is a
reference to him dating from 1510. After this date the name
is hardly found in Turkey, the family reappearing in Salé and
Rabat in North Africa at the beginning of the 18th century.
(4) JOSEPH BEN AYYUSH ELMALEH (1750–1823), kabbalist and
halakhist, was considered one of the outstanding Moroccan
scholars of his time. He served as rabbi of Salé and of Rabat in
1780. There he maintained a large yeshivah, which continued
to function after his death. In 1809 he was in Gibraltar with
the intention, according to one source, of journeying on to
Ereẓ Israel, and was invited to serve as rabbi there. In the same
year, however, he returned to Rabat. He introduced a special
tax (imposta) on behalf of the poor, which is still levied. His
responsa (Leghorn, 1823–55), chiefly on Ḥoshen Mishpat and
in part on Even Ha-Ezer, are a valuable source for the history
of the Jews of Morocco. His son (5) AMRAM (d. before 1855),
a wealthy merchant, dwelt in Mogador and in Lisbon. Ac-
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 363