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Menasseh ben Israel
Rabbi of Amsterdam
Series: Jewish Lives
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Format: Hardback
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An illuminating biography of the great Amsterdam rabbi and celebrated popularizer of Judaism in the seventeenth century
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an illuminating biography of the great Amsterdam rabbi and celebrated populariser of Judaism in the seventeenth century.
Menasseh ben Israel (1604β1657) was among the most accomplished and cosmopolitan rabbis of his time, and a pivotal intellectual figure in early modern Jewish history. He was one of the three rabbis of the βPortuguese Nationβ in Amsterdam, a community that quickly earned renown worldwide for its mercantile and scholarly vitality.
Born in Lisbon, Menasseh and his family were forcibly converted to Catholicism but suspected of insincerity in their new faith. To avoid the horrors of the Inquisition, they fled first to southwestern France, and then to Amsterdam, where they finally settled. Menasseh played an important role during the formative decades of one of the most vital Jewish communities of early modern Europe, and was influential through his extraordinary work as a printer and his efforts on behalf of the readmission of Jews to England. In this lively biography, Steven Nadler provides a fresh perspective on this seminal figure.
About Jewish Lives:
Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.
More praise for Jewish Lives:
Excellent. β New York Times
Exemplary. β Wall Street Journal
Distinguished. β New Yorker
Superb. β The Guardian
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Menasseh ben Israel by Steven Nadler receives praise for its engaging and vivid portrayal of Menasseh's life and impact. The reviews commend Nadler's ability to paint a lively picture of historical contexts and characters, highlighting Menasseh's significant contributions to Jewish and Christian intellectual interactions in seventeenth-century Amsterdam. The biography is noted for its fluid writing style and insightful integration of historical figures and events.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780300224108
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 21 August 2018
Country: United States
Imprint: Yale University Press
Illustration: 1 b-w illus.
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 27.0mm
Width: 146.0mm
Height: 210.0mm
Weight: 490g
Pages: 312
About the Author
Steven Nadler, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, is the author of several books, including Rembrandtβs Jews and Spinoza: A Life, winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award. He is William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy and Evjue-Bascom Professor in Humanities at the University of WisconsinβMadison.
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