Nathan ben Jehiel

Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi according to Sephardic pronunciation) (c. 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He was born in Rome not later than 1035 to one of the most notable Roman families of Jewish scholars. Owing to an error propagated by Azulai, he has been regarded as a scion of the house of De Pomis. Now, however, it is regarded as almost a certainty that he belonged to the Anaw (Degli Mansi) family. Nathan's father, R. Jehiel ben Abraham, aside from being an acknowledged authority on the ritual law, was, like the majority of the contemporary Italian rabbis, a liturgic poet.

His travels

The details of Nathan's sad life must be excerpted and pieced together from several autobiographic verses appended to the first edition of his lexicon. It appears that he had begun life not as a student, but as a peddler of linen wares, which was then considered a distasteful occupation.

The death of his employer caused him to abandon trade for the Torah. He returned home, where his father began to bestow upon him the treasures of learning, the accumulation of which was continued under foreign masters.

West Kalimantan

West Kalimantan (Indonesian: Kalimantan Barat) or (Chinese: 西加里曼丹省) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak.

The province has an area of 147,307 km² with a recorded 2010 census population of 4,395,983 . Ethnic groups include the Dayak, Malay, Chinese, Javanese, Bugis, and Madurese. The latest official estimate (as at January 2014) is 4,546,439.

The borders of West Kalimantan roughly trace the mountain ranges surrounding the watershed of the Kapuas River, which drains most of the province. The Province also bordered with Sarawak, Malaysia.

History

The history of West Kalimantan can be traced back to 17th century. Dayaks were the main inhabitants of the province before 17th century. The Malays migrated to West Kalimantan and established their own sultanates. The high Chinese population in this province was due to a republic founded by Chinese miners called Lanfang Republic (蘭芳共和國: Republik Lanfang) after they defeated the local Malay sultans. The government of Lanfang Republic was ended in West Kalimantan after the Dutch occupation in 1884.