READING GUIDE By Author Steven Nadler
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CONTENTS
Timeline
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Discussion Guide
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Primary Sources
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Further Reading
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About Jewish Lives
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TIMELINE 1590s-1610
First Jewish settlement in Holland, especially Amsterdam. These refugees are descendants of Spanish and Portuguese “conversos,” most coming either from the Iberian peninsula or from Antwerp.
1604
Menasseh is born in Lisbon as Manoel Dias Soeiro to Gaspar Rodrigues Nunes and Antónia Soeiro. Gaspar had been brutally tortured by the Inquisition in the late 1590s for “Judaizing.”
After 1604
The family flees Portugal, with stays in Madeira and La Rochelle.
1609
Truce in struggle by the United Provinces of the Netherlands (Dutch Republic) for independence from Spain.
1613-14
Gaspar and family settle in Amsterdam. They join the Beth Jacob Congregation and take the name ‘ben Israel’; Manoel becomes Menasseh.
Late 1610s
Menasseh is educated in the Portuguese-Jewish community’s schools, especially under the tutelage of Rabbi Isaac Uziel.
1618
Synod of Dordrecht; orthodox Calvinists gain the upper hand over the more liberal Remonstrants in Dutch Reformed Church.
1621
Twelve Years Truce ends; Dutch war for independence resumes.
1622
Rabbi Uziel dies; Menasseh is chosen to replace him as rabbi of the Neve Shalom congregation. Begins teaching in the elementary school.
1623
Menasseh marries Rachel Abrabanel; they live on Nieuwe Houtmarkt. Three children: Hannah (b. 1625), Joseph and Samuel.
1626
Menasseh purchases Hebrew type from Nicolas Briot, establishing the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam. Over the next thirty years he would publish numerous Bibles, Talmudic and rabbinic texts, prayer books, commentaries, treatises and works of literature in Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, and Yiddish.
1632
Menasseh publishes his Conciliador, Part I. A treatise which reconciles all the apparent textual inconsistencies in the Hebrew Bible.
1634
Visits Frankfurt Book Fair, marking the beginning of his career as a bookseller.
1635
De Creatione Problemata XXX (Thirty Problems Regarding Creation). 3
TIMELINE 1636
Menasseh’s request to teach Hebrew in the Amsterdam Atheneaum Illustre is denied by the city’s burgemeesters.
1636
De la Resurreccion de los muertos libros III (On the Resurrection of the Dead in Three Books) appears in Spanish and Latin versions.
1636
Jewish congregation is established in Recife, part of Brazil recently conquered by the Dutch from Portugal. Menasseh hopes to become its rabbi.
1639
Amsterdam congregations Beth Jacob, Neve Shalom, and Beth Israel unite to form Talmud Torah Congregation; Menasseh is appointed as one of four rabbis (and third in rank, with lowest salary).
1639
De Termino Vitae (On the Term of Life), a treatise on free will and divine providence.
1639
Enters into business partnership in trade with his brother Ephraim and brother in-law Jonah Abrabanel; Ephraim goes to Brazil.
1640
Menasseh is put under herem (excommunication) for insubordination toward Talmud Torah’s ma’amad (governing board).
1640
Ephraim ben Israel dies on a return visit to Amsterdam from Brazil.
1641
Isaac Aboab da Fonseca is appointed rabbi for Recife in Netherlands Brazil; Menasseh takes over some of his duties in Amsterdam.
1641
Conciliador, Part II.
1642
Menasseh is chosen to deliver the welcoming address for Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I of England, and Frederik Hendrik, Stadholder of Holland, on their visit to the Talmud Torah synagogue.
1642
De la fragilidad humana (On Human Weakness). A treatise on free will and sin.
1644
The brothers Abraham and Isaac Pereyra establish a yeshiva in Amsterdam; Menasseh is appointed director.
1644
Antonio Montezinos arrives in Amsterdam with reports of Jews in the New World (New Spain).
1645
Thesouro dos Dinim (Treasury of Laws).
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TIMELINE 1648
Treaty of Münster: End of Thirty Years War; Dutch Republic gains formal independence from Spain.
1649
Charles I of England is executed; England is a republic governed by Parliament until 1660.
1649
Menasseh’s son Joseph is sent on a book-buying trip to Poland; Joseph dies in Lublin.
1649
Menasseh is in contact with English Millenarians over the “Lost Tribes” and their messianic and eschatological significance.
1650
Holland’s stadholder William II dies; beginning of stadholderless period in the Dutch Republic under the leadership of Johan de Witt.
1650
Menasseh publishes Miqveh Yisrael, Esto es, Esperança de Israel (The Hope of Israel), in Spanish, Latin and English; the book concerns the messianic significance of Jews discovered in the New World.
1650
Conciliador, Part III.
1650
Menasseh’s son Samuel takes over the publishing business.
1651
English diplomats arrive in The Hague to negotiate treaty with Dutch Republic.
1651
Sefer Nishmat Hayim (The Breath of Life), Menasseh’s treatise on the immortality of the soul.
1651
Conciliador, Part IV.
1654
Portuguese reconquer Brazil; Rabbi Aboab returns to Amsterdam along with many of the original Jewish settlers.
1654
Menasseh and Chief Rabbi Saul Levi Mortera are suspended from their duties by the ma’amad for attacking each other in their sermons.
1654
Menasseh visits Antwerp to meet with Christina, recently abdicated Queen of Sweden; part of his effort to gain her financial support and as client for book-buying.
1654
Conceives mission to England to campaign for readmission of Jews; sends Samuel in advance.
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TIMELINE 1655
In September, Menasseh travels to England to pursue readmission. He brings with him a pamphlet, “To His Highnesse the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, The Humble Addresses of Menasseh ben Israel.” Meets with Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell favors readmission, but convenes Whitehall Conference to discuss and decide the matter; the conference ends without any resolution.
1655
Menasseh publishes ‘Even yeqara. Piedra Gloriosa o de la Estatua de Nebuchadnesar (The Glorious Stone), a messianic treatise; some copies of the first edition have etchings by Rembrandt.
1656
In Amsterdam, herem of Baruch Spinoza for his “abominable heresies and monstrous deeds.”
1656
Despite the absence of formal readmission, London Jews rent a house in Cree-Church Lane as a synagogue.
1656
In response to anti-Semitic propaganda and arguments against Jewish settlement in England, Menasseh composes his Vindiciae Judaeorum (A Vindication of the Jews).
1656
Menasseh remains in London, meets with various philosophers and scientists. In May, he engages in a theological debate with Jean d’Espagne.
1657
In September, Samuel dies in London; Menasseh brings his body back to Middelburg, in Holland. Menasseh dies two months later, on November 20. His body is brought to Amsterdam and buried in the Jewish cemetery in the nearby village of Ouderkerk.
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DISCUSSION GUIDE
Chapter 1 1. With this short preface, we are introduced to a number of themes central to Menasseh’s life: his standing in the Amsterdam Jewish community; his fame in the broader Christian world; his theological and philosophical projects and the rhetorical and literary skills with which he pursued these; and his tense relationships with the lay leaders and other rabbis of Jewish Amsterdam. Chapter 2 1. Menasseh’s father and his immediate relatives, descendants of Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity, suffered horribly at the hands of the Inquisition in Portugal because they were suspected of continuing to practice Judaism in secret. What kind of influence might this legacy have had on Menasseh’s attitude toward interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding across religions, and especially his life-long engagement with Christians? 2. After fleeing Portugal, Menasseh’s family wandered for several years before settling in Amsterdam. Moreover, they had left everything behind in Lisbon, and arrived in Holland practically destitute and with no business prospects. Meanwhile, many of the Sephardic Jews who had settled in Amsterdam some years earlier were prosperous merchants and professionals. What effect might this have had on Menasseh’s sense of belonging to the Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish community? Can his somewhat rebellious nature be traced back to these early years of uprootedness? 3. For most of the seventeenth century, the Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish community was very careful about how it was perceived by the Dutch; essentially, they were refugee-guests, and did not want to experience exile once again. The leaders of the community were also rather strict in compelling its members to adhere both to the community’s own regulations and to the laws of Judaism. Do you think there is a connection between these two facts? Chapter 3 1. The 1620s was a period of great highs and lows for Menasseh. He rose rather quickly through the ranks of the Portuguese-Jewish congregation, and was appointed as a rabbi at the tender age of 18. But that same year he also lost both of his parents. In fact, throughout most of Menasseh’s life the joys and successes were often accompanied by sadness: financial ups and downs, the deaths of a daughter and his two sons. What kind of philosophical outlook on life would such a person have? If s/he is a religious person, what kind of attitude might s/he have about God and the workings of divine providence? 2. Menasseh chose to supplement his rabbinical salary with a printing/publishing business. He catered both to a local clientele—the Amsterdam Jewish community was in need of Bibles, mishnayot, prayerbooks, etc.—and, later, to a wide readership across the continent. He was the first printer of Hebrew books in Amsterdam, and was responsible in a large 7
DISCUSSION GUIDE
way for the city becoming the major hub for Jewish books in Europe. Did Menasseh simply take advantage of an obvious business opportunity? Or was Hebrew printing—as well as publishing books in Spanish, Portuguese, Latin and Yiddish—the natural métier for someone of Menasseh’s cosmopolitan character, especially with his broad intellectual and cultural interests? 3. Already in this early period we see Menasseh making rather dubious and possibly imprudent decisions, especially for a rabbi—for example, publishing books that, from a Jewish perspective, were of questionable orthodoxy. He is already running afoul of the community’s lay leadership for his lax conformity to their expectations of their rabbis. Does this lead you to wonder about the depth of Menasseh’s own religious faith? As you read through the book, you may ask about what really matters to Menasseh, what does he care most deeply about. Chapter 4 1. Menasseh is now working on his magnum opus, the Conciliador, in which he tries to reconcile all the apparently conflicting texts in the Hebrew Bible. He would spend the next twenty years on this four-part treatise, which he wrote in Spanish. Why do you think such a project was so important to him? Who is the likely audience for this kind of work? Why might it have been especially important, in his eyes, to show the Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam that the Bible is, despite appearances, essentially consistent throughout all of its books? 2. Menasseh has just lost an infant daughter. And well before his own death he would see the deaths of his two sons. Only his wife and elder daughter would survive him. How might these deeply personal losses have affected his temperament? How might they explain his difficult, often confrontational relationships with his rabbinical colleagues and the community’s lay leaders? 3. In the 1630s, Menasseh began developing what seem to have been close friendships with colleagues outside the Jewish community, especially Dutch humanist scholars like Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus. Menasseh apparently moved easily between the Jewish and Christian worlds. Was he making up for the lack of appreciation he found among the Amsterdam Sephardim? What do you make of the ways in which he was regarded by these gentiles? Does their affection and admiration for him seem sincere? Was there an element of mutual utility involved? Chapter 5 1. When the three Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish congregations merged into one in 1639, the four rabbis were ranked into a hierarchy, with Saul Levi Mortera assigned as chief rabbi. Menasseh, on the other hand, was ranked third, but with the lowest salary of all. And he was given relatively meager responsibilities within the congregation, including teaching only the lowest levels in the school. The community seems to have gone out of its way to disrespect 8
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Menasseh. Is he being treated unfairly, and are his complaints about being underappreciated justified? What might explain the congregation’s treatment of him? Keep these questions in mind as you read subsequent chapters, and look for other indications of his standing in the community, especially signs that it has either improved or deteriorated. 2. With his strong defense of freedom of will in his books De Termino Vitae (On the Term of Life)—written in Latin!—and De la fragilidad humana (On Human Weakness), Menasseh must have known that he was treading on theologically dangerous terrain in a Calvinist land which was itself experiencing divisive debates over divine predestination. Should Menasseh have been more careful? Or should we admire his willingness to engage in such fraught discussions with philosophical candor? 3. Things really come to a head in Menasseh’s relations with the community’s lay governors when, in 1640, his insubordination leads the members of the ma’amad to issue a herem (ban or ostracism) against him. Does he overreact to the perceived slight against his brother in-law, Jonah Abrabanel? Was the treatment of Jonah merely the last straw, pushing Menasseh over the edge? This episode is certainly revealing of something about Menasseh’s character—but what? At the same time, it is no wonder that Menasseh is now thinking of leaving Amsterdam, especially with his relations with Rabbi Mortera at such a low point. Chapter 6 1. Menasseh’s importance in the Christian world grows, as scholars seek out his opinions on messianic themes and consult him on Judaic matters. He becomes the de facto spokesperson for the “rabbinic view” on a variety of topics central to both Judaism and Christianity (albeit in different ways), and he responds—in his writings and in correspondence—with care and erudition. Millenarians, anxiously awaiting the second coming of Christ and his Thousand Year Reign, are especially eager to confer with this genial rabbi. Why does someone devote his/her time to speculation on messianic questions? Might Menasseh’s own life experiences have strengthened his concerns with eschatological hopes? 2. Menasseh had to walk a fine line between fostering interfaith understanding and helping Christians understand Judaism, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, encouraging Christian hopes for Jewish conversion. He also had a relatively universalist vision of divine providence, with God’s salvation available to virtuous people of all faiths. Why did Menasseh, more than other contemporaries, Jewish or Christian, maintain such a tolerant ecumenical outlook? Should he have been more suspicious of the motives of the Christian Millenarians with whom he collaborated? 3. Throughout his life, Menasseh was burdened with financial worries. He was always on the lookout for new opportunities to improve his family’s situation. One can only admire his industriousness and inventiveness in seeking new sources of support. He seems, however, rarely to have met with much success. It is particularly hard to make sense of his relationship with Queen Christina and her circle—he went out of his way to ingratiate himself with her, 9
DISCUSSION GUIDE
accommodate her needs and gain her patronage, but in the end it all came to nothing. In many of these endeavors, circumstances conspired against him, and sometimes his timing or manner of approach just was not right. Our sympathy for Menasseh only grows as we watch him give it his best and yet fail to make headway. Chapter 7 1. Menasseh’s attention now turns to the readmission of the Jews to England, from which they had been banned since 1290. This project, if successful, would be the crowning achievement of his life. How would you make the case for readmission? What kind of skills are required for someone to engage in such a historically momentous task? Is Menasseh the right person for the job? Do you agree with the approach he took? Chapter 8 1. Menasseh did not succeed in securing the formal readmission of the Jews to England; it would, in fact, be a slow and gradual process lasting nearly a century. However, his contribution to readmission is undeniable, and his effort was, in many ways, heroic. Moreover, England offered new opportunities for Menasseh, far from the troubled relationship he had with his congregation in Amsterdam. If his son Samuel had not died, do you think Menasseh would have remained in London for the remainder of his life? 2. Overall, how would you characterize Menasseh’s life? The ancient Greeks believed that one could not count a person “happy” until the day they died: one cannot judge a person’s life, how well they lived and how successful they were, until you see how it all turns out in the end. Would you say that Menasseh, despite his setbacks, lived a “happy” life? Did he live well and flourish? What would Menasseh’s judgment on his life be were he to reflect back on it? Would he think his life a failure?
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PRIMARY SOURCES Menasseh’s writings are a varied collection of theological, philosophical, and apologetic treatises, along with a Hebrew grammar and a textual concordance. Most are accessible online through the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana of Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam at the following website: http://uba.uva.nl/en/collections/rosenthaliana/menasseh/books.html Unfortunately, most of Menasseh’s works have not been translated into English. Safah Berurah. The manuscript of Menasseh’s Hebrew Grammar, Montezinos Library, Ets Hayim, #EH 47 D7). It is accessible online at http://etshaimmanuscripts.nl/eh_47_d_07 Sefer Peneh Rabbah (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1628). A concordance between the Bible and the Midrash Rabbah. Conciliador, Part I (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1632); Part II (Amsterdam: Nicolas Ravesteyn, 1641); Part III (Amsterdam: Samuel ben Israel Soeiro, 1650); Part IV (Amsterdam: Samuel ben Israel Soeiro, 1651). De Creatione Problemata XXX (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1635). De Resurrectione mortuorum Libri III (Amsterdam: Joannes Janssonium, 1636). Published also in Spanish, De la Resurreccion de los Muertos, libros III (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1636). De Termino Vitae (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1639). An English translation was published in the early eighteenth century: The Term of Life, translated by Thomas Pocock (London: Thomas Baker, 1709). De la fragilidad humana, y inclinacion del hombre al peccado (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1642). There is a modern edition in French translation: De la fragilité humaine et de l’inclination de l’homme au péché (Paris: Cerf, 1996). Menasse Ben Israels VVelkomst, uyt sijns Volcks naem, aen de Hoogh-gebooren, Prince van Oranjen Frederic Henric, als hy met de Doorluchtigste Koningin Henriette Maria, Gemalin des Hoogh-gebiedende Karolvs, Koninghs van Engelandt, Vrankrijck ende Yrlandt, onse Synagoge besocht (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1642). This is Menasseh’s welcome address on the occasion of the visit to the synagogue by the Holland stadholder and Henrietta Maria of England. It was also published in a Portuguese version, Gratulaçao de Menasseh ben Israel, Em nome de sua Naçao, Ao Celsissiimo Principe de Orange Frederique Henrique Na sua vinda a nossa Synagoga de T. T. Em companhia da Serenissima Raynha Henrica Maria (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1642). Thesouro dos Dinim (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1645-47). Menasseh’s compendium of Jewish law and ritual for everyday use. Miqveh Yisrael, Esto es, Esperança de Israel (Amsterdam: Samuel ben Israel Soeiro, 1650). There is a modern edition incorporating the seventeenth-century English translation: The Hope of Israel, trans. Moses Wall, eds. Henri Méchoulan and Gérard Nahon (Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Littman Library, 1987). 11
PRIMARY SOURCES Sefer Nishmat Hayyim (Amsterdam: Samuel Abarbanel Soeiro, 1651). ‘Even yeqara. Piedra Gloriosa o de la Estatua de Nebuchadnesar (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1655). There is a modern edition in French translation: La Pierre Glorieuse de Nabuchodonosor, ou La Fin de l’Histoire au XVIIe siècle, trans. Mireille Hadas-Lebel and Henri Méchoulan (Paris: J. Vrin, 2007). “To his Highnesse The Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, The Humble Addresses of Menasseh ben Israel” (Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1651?) Vindiciae Judaeorum (London, 1656).
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FURTHER READING An excellent bibliography of works by, about and around Menasseh is J. H. Coppenhagen, Menasseh ben Israel: A Bibliography (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim, Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage, 1990). Valuable secondary works include Cecil Roth’s biography A Life of Menasseh ben Israel: Rabbi, Printer, and Diplomat, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1945), and Judah Jacob Slotki, Menasseh ben Israel, His Life and Times (London: Jewish Religious Educational Publications, 1964). More recent general studies are Lionel Ifrah, L’Aigle d’Amsterdam: Menasseh ben Israel, 1604-1657 (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2001) and the collection of essays edited by Yosef Kaplan, Henri Méchoulan and Richard H. Popkin, Menasseh ben Israel and His World (Leiden: Brill, 1989). For readers interested in the early history of the Jews in the Netherlands, there is Miriam Bodian’s Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997); Daniel Swetschinski’s Reluctant Cosmopolitans: The Portuguese Jews of Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam (London: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2000); and Steven Nadler’s Rembrandt’s Jews (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). For a longer-term history of Jews in the Netherlands up to the present day, there is the collection of essays edited by J. C. H. Blom, R. G. Fuks-Mansfeld and I. Schöffer, The History of the Jews in the Netherlands (Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2002). On the readmission of the Jews to England, there is no better study than David Katz’s Philo-Semitism and the Readmission of the Jews to England, 1603-1655 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982).
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