Vidas, Elias De,

Vidas, Elias de, ben-Moses

a Jewish writer of the 16th century, a pupil of Moses of Cordova, or Cordovero (q.v.), is the author of the work on ethics entitled ראשית חכמה, the beginning of wisdom, in five parts, of which the first, called שער היראה, treats of the fear of God, in fifteen chapters; the second, האהכה שער, of the love of God, in twelve chapters; the third, התשזבה, with seven chapters, treats of repentance; the fourth, שער הקדושה, with seventeen chapters, of holiness; while the fifth, שער הענוה, treats of humility. Besides some excerpts from and compends of Vidas's work, the part which treats of repentance has been translated into Latin by J. Morin, in his Commentarius de Sacramento Paceitentice (Paris, s. a.), and by David de Lara into Spanish (Leyden, 1666), who also translated the first part, treating of the fear of God (Amst. 1633). See Fürst, Bibl. Jud. 3, 477 sq.; De' Rossi, Dizionario Storico (Germ. transl.), p. 328. (B. P.)