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SIMEON SINGER (1846-1906)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 149 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIMEON See also:SINGER (1846-1906)  , Jewish preacher, lecturer and public worker . He was See also:born in See also:London, and after a See also:short stay at a Hungarian school, entered as one of its pupils the See also:Jews' See also:College, of which he was subsequently for a See also:time the See also:head-See also:master . In 1867 he became See also:minister of the See also:Borough See also:Synagogue, London . In the following See also:year he married . He moved to the new See also:West End Synagogue in 1878, and remained the minister of that See also:congregation until his See also:death . He was the first to introduce See also:regular sermons to See also:children; as a preacher to the See also:young See also:Singer showed rare gifts . His See also:pulpit addresses in See also:general won wide appreciation, and his services were often called for at public functions . In 1897 he strongly opposed the Diggle policy at the London School See also:Board, but he refused nomination as a member . In 1890 the Rabbinical Diploma was conferred on him by See also:Lector See also:Weiss of See also:Vienna, but again he evidenced his self-denial by declining to stand for the See also:post of See also:associate See also:Chief See also:Rabbi in the same year . Singer was a See also:power in the community in the direction of moderate progress; he was a See also:lover of tradition, yet at the same time he recognized the See also:necessity of well-considered changes . In 1892 at his instigation the first See also:English See also:Conference of Jewish Preachers was held, and some reforms were then and at other times introduced, such as the introduction of See also:Bible Readings in English, the See also:admission of See also:women as choristers and the inclusion of the See also:express consent of the See also:bride as well as the bridegroom It the See also:marriage ceremony . Singer did much to reunite Conservatives and Liberals in the community, and he himself preached at the Reform Synagogue in See also:Manchester .

He had no love for the See also:

minute See also:critical See also:analysis of the Bible, but he was attracted to the theory of progressive See also:revelation, and thus was favourably disposed to the See also:modern treatment of the Old Testament . His cheery optimism was at the basis of thisattitude, and strongly coloured his belief in the Messianic ideals . He held aloof, for this very See also:reason, from all Zionist schemes . His See also:interest in the fortunes of See also:foreign Jews led him to make several See also:continental journeys on their behalf; he was one of the leading See also:spirits of the Russo-Jewish See also:Committee, of the Inter-See also:national Jewish Society for the See also:Protection of Women and of other philanthropic organizations . Despite his devotion to public See also:work, Singer published some important See also:works . In 1896 the See also:Cambridge University See also:Press published Talmudical Fragments in the Bodleian Library of which Singer was See also:joint author . But his most famous work was his new edition and English See also:translation of the Authorized Daily See also:Prayer See also:Book (first published in 1870), a work which has gone through many large See also:editions and which has probably been the most popular (both with Jews and Christians) of all books published by an English See also:Jew . See The See also:Literary Remains of the Rev . See also:Simeon Singer (3 vols., 1908), with Memoir . (I . A.) SINGHBHUM, a See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Chota See also:Nagpur See also:division of See also:Bengal . The administrative headquarters are at Chaibasa .

See also:

Area 3891 sq. m . Its central portion consists of a See also:long undulating See also:tract of See also:country, See also:running E. and W., and enclosed by See also:great See also:hill ranges . The depressions lying between the ridges comprise the most fertile See also:part, which varies in See also:elevation above See also:sea-level from 400 ft. near the Subanrekha on the E. to 750 ft. around the station of Chaibasa . S. of this an elevated See also:plateau of 700 sq. m. rises to upwards of moo ft . In the W. is an extensive mountainous tract, sparsely inhabited by the wildest of the Hos; while in the extreme S.W. is a still grander See also:mass of mountains, known as " Saranda of the seven See also:hundred hills, " rising to a height of 3500 ft . From the Layada range on the N.W. of Singhbhum many rocky spurs strike out into the district, some attaining an elevation of 2900 ft . Among other ranges and peaks are the Chaitanpur range, reaching an elevation of 2529 ft., and the Kapargadi range, rising abruptly from the See also:plain and running in a S.E. direction until it culminates in Tuiligar Hill (2492 ft.) . The See also:principal See also:rivers are the Subanrekha, which with its affluents flows through the E. of the district; the See also:South Koel, which rises W. of See also:Ranchi, and drains the Saranda region; and the Baitarani, which touches the S. border for 8 m . About two-thirds of Singhbhum district is covered with primeval See also:forest, containing some valuable See also:timber trees; in the forests tigers, leopards, bears and several kinds of See also:deer abound, and small herds of elephants occasionally wander from the Meghasani Hills in Mayurbhanj . In 1901 the See also:population was 613,579, showing an increase of 12 in the See also:decade . More than one-See also:half belong to aboriginal tribes, mostly Hos . The chief See also:crop is See also:rice, followed by pulses, oil-seeds and See also:maize .

Phoenix-squares

There are three See also:

missions in the district—S.P.G., Lutheran and See also:Roman See also:Catholic—which have been very successful among the aboriginal tribes, especially in the spread of See also:education . The See also:isolation of Singhbhum has been broken by the opening of the Bengal-Nagpur railway, which has protected it from the danger of See also:famine, and at the same time given a value to its See also:jungle products . See also:Colonel See also:Dalton, in his See also:Ethnology of Bengal, says that the Singhbhum See also:Rajput chiefs have been known to the British See also:government since 1803, when the See also:marquess See also:Wellesley was See also:governor-general of India; but there does not appear to have been any intercourse between British officials and the See also:people of the Kolhan previous to 1819 . The Hos or Larka See also:Kols, the aboriginal See also:race of Singhbhum, would allow no stranger to See also:settle in, or even pass through, the Kolhan; they were, however, subjugated in 1836, when the head-men entered into engagements to See also:bear See also:allegiance to the British government . The country remained tranquil and prosperous until 1857, when a See also:rebellion took See also:place among the Hos under Parahat See also:Raja . After a tedious See also:campaign they surrendered in 1859, and the See also:capture of the raja put a stop to their disturbances . SINGLE-STICK, a slender, See also:round stick of ash about 34 in. long and thicker at one end than the other, used as a weapon of attack and See also:defence, the thicker end being thrust through a See also:cup-shaped hilt of See also:basket-work to protect the See also:hand . The See also:original See also:form of the single-stick was the " waster, " which appeared in the 16th See also:century and was merely a wooden See also:sword used in practice for the back-sword (see SABRE-See also:FENCING), and of the same general shape . By the first See also:quarter of the 17th century wasters had become See also:simple cudgels provided with sword-See also:guards, and when, about twenty-five years later, the basket-hilt came into general use, it was employed with the cudgel also, the heavy See also:metal hilt of the back-sword being discarded in favour of one of wicker-work . The guards, cuts and parries in single-stick See also:play were at first identical with those of back-sword play, no thrusts being allowed (see FENCING) . The old See also:idea, prevalent in See also:England in the 16th century, that hits below the See also:girdle were unfair, disappeared in the 18th century, and all parts of the See also:person were attacked . Under the first and second Georges back-sword play with sticks was immensely popular under the names " cudgel-play " and" single-sticking," not only in the cities but in the country districts as well, See also:wrestling being its only See also:rival .

Towards the end of the 18th century the play became very restricted . The players were placed near together, the feet remaining immovable and all strokes being delivered with a See also:

whip-like See also:action of the See also:wrist from a high See also:hanging guard, the hand being held above the head . Blows on any part of the See also:body above the See also:waist were allowed, but all except those aimed at the head were employed only to gain openings, as each bout was decided only by a " broken head," i.e. a cut on the head that See also:drew See also:blood . At first the See also:left hand and See also:arm were used to See also:ward off blows not parried with the stick, but near the See also:close of the 18th century the left hand grasped a See also:scarf tied loosely round the left thigh, the See also:elbow being raised to protect the See also:face . See also:Thomas See also:Hughes's See also:story, Tom See also:Brown's School Days, contains a spirited description of cudgel-play during the first half of the loth century . This See also:kind of single-sticking practically died out during the third quarter of that century, but was revived as a school for the sabre, the play being essentially the same as for that weapon (see SABRE-FENCING) . The point was introduced and See also:leg hits were allowed . By the beginning of the loth century single-stick play had become much neglected,the introduction of the See also:light See also:Italian fencing sabre having rendered it less necessary . Stick-play with wooden swords as a school for the cutlas is See also:common in some navies . The See also:French See also:cane-fencing (q.v.) has a general similarity to single-stick play, but is designed more for defence with a walking-stick than as a school for the sabre . See Broadsword and Single-stick, by R . G .

Allanson Winn and C . See also:

Phillips-Wolley (London, 1898) ; See also:Manual of Instruction for Single-stick See also:Drill (London, 1887, British See also:War See also:Office) ; See also:Schools and Masters of Fence, by See also:Egerton See also:Castle (London, 1892); The Sword and the Centuries, by A . See also:Hutton (London, 1901) .

End of Article: SIMEON SINGER (1846-1906)
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