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SINGER, SIMEON (1846-1906)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 149 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SINGER, See also:SIMEON (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 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. 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.

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: SINGER, SIMEON (1846-1906)

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