1942 Shmueli On: Abrabanel, Spinoza, Da Costa, Modena Philosophy Hebrew Bio

masoret umahapecha-

By Ephrayim Shmueli

Printed in New York by 1942

Hebrew text

On heritage and revolution I Jewish culture.

Monograph on:

Abrabanel 54 pages

Modina compared to Acosta 55-161

Spinoza 163-210

Revolution 241-296

Rare cultural analysis of great Jewish figures

Tightly rebound hard cover

Ex library

Clean text

318 pages size:6-8 inches

The Abravanel family (Hebrew, also spelled as Abarbanel, Abrabanel, or Barbernell, literally meaning Ab (father) Rabban (priest) El (of God)) is one of the oldest and most distinguished Jewish families of the Iberian peninsula; they trace their origin from the biblical King David. Members of this family lived in Seville, Córdoba (Spanish province), Castile-Leon, and Calatayud. Seville is where its most prominent representative, Don Judah Abravanel, once dwelt.

Don Judah Abravanel was treasurer and tax-collector under Sancho IV (1284?95) and Ferdinand IV (1295?1312). In 1310 he and other Jews guaranteed the loans made to the crown of Castile to finance the siege of Algeciras. It is probable that he was almoxarife ("collector of revenues") of Castile. Another eminent member of the family was SAMUEL of Seville, of whom Menahem b. Zerah wrote that he was "intelligent, loved wise men, befriended them, was good to them and was eager to study whenever the stress of time permitted." He had great influence at the court of Castile. In 1388 he served as royal treasurer in Andalusia. During the anti-Jewish riots of 1391 he was forcibly converted to Christianity under the name of Juan Sanchez (de Sevilla) and was appointed comptroller in Castile. It is thought that a passage in a poem in the Cancionero de Baena, attributed to Alfonso Alvarez de Villasandino, refers to him. Don Judah Abravanel and his family later fled to Lisbon, Portugal, where they reverted to Judaism and filled important governmental posts.[1]

His son, JUDAH (d. 1471), was in the financial service of the infante Ferdinand of Portugal, who by his will (1437) ordered the repayment to him of the vast sum of 506,000 reis blancs. Later he was apparently in the service of the Duke of Braganza. His export business also brought him into trade relations with Flanders. He was father of Don Isaac *Abrabanel and grandfather of Judah Abrabanel Leone Ebreo and Samuel Abrabanel.

Samuel Abravanel, Don Judah Abravanel's grandson, settled in Valencia, and Samuel's son, Judah (and perhaps Don Judah himself), left for Portugal. Isaac, the son of Judah, returned to Castile, where he lived until the time of the great expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Then, with his three sons, Judah, Joseph, and Samuel, Isaac went to Italy. Their descendants, as well as other members of the family who arrived later from the Iberian peninsula, lived in the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Germany, Turkey, and elsewhere during and since the sixteenth century.

There was a Ladino proverb in Thessaloniki saying "Ya basta mi nombre ke es Abravanel" meaning "It is sufficient that my name is Abravanel". This proverb was used to denote the pride that the members of the Abravanel clan used to take in their aristocratic origin.

Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (Hebrew: Portuguese: Bento de Espinosa, Latin: Benedictus de Spinoza) (November 24, 1632 ? February 21, 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin.[1] Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists[2] of 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment[2] and modern biblical criticism.[2] By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind?body dualism, Spinoza is considered to be one of Western philosophy's most important philosophers. Philosopher and historian Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said of all modern philosophers, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."[3]

Though Spinoza was active in the Dutch Jewish community and extremely well-versed in Jewish texts, his controversial ideas eventually led community leaders to issue a cherem (Hebrew: ???, a kind of excommunication) against him, effectively dismissing him from Jewish society at age 23.[1][2] Some historians[who?] argue that the Roman Catholic Church[citation needed] forced them to do so. Other authors, notably the philosopher and historian of ideas Richard Popkin, question the historical veracity of the documents claiming Spinoza was issued a cherem, which emerged close to 300 years after Spinoza's death.[citation needed] All of Spinoza's works were listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) by the Roman Catholic Church.

Spinoza lived quietly as a lens grinder, turning down rewards and honors throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions, and gave his family inheritance to his sister. Spinoza's moral character and philosophical accomplishments prompted 20th century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him "the 'prince' of philosophers."[4] Spinoza died at the age of 44 of a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis or silicosis exacerbated by fine glass dust inhaled while plying his trade. Spinoza is buried in the churchyard of the Nieuwe Kerk on Spui in The Hague

Uriel da Costa (c. 1585 ? April 1640) or Uriel Acosta (from the Latin form of his Portuguese surname, Costa, or da Costa) was a philosopher and skeptic from Portugal. Some sources give his year of birth as c.1591.[1]

Leon Modena or Yehudah Aryeh Mi-modena (1571?1648) was a Jewish scholar born in Venice of a notable French family that had migrated to Italy after an expulsion of Jews from France.

He was a precocious child and grew up to be a respected rabbi in Venice. However, his reputation within traditional Judaism suffered for a number of reasons, including an unyielding criticism of emerging sects within Judaism, an addiction to gambling, and lack of stable character. As Heinrich Graetz points out, this last factor prevented his gifts from maturing: "He pursued all sorts of occupations to support himself, viz. those of preacher, teacher of Jews and Christians, reader of prayers, interpreter, writer, proof-reader, bookseller, broker, merchant, rabbi, musician, matchmaker and manufacturer of amulets."

Though he failed to rise to real distinction, Leon of Modena earned a place in Jewish history in part by his criticism of the mystical approach to Judaism. One of his most effective works was his attack on the Kabbala (Ari Nohem, first published in 1840). In it, he attempted to demonstrate that the "Bible of the Kabbalists" (the Zohar) was a modern composition. He became best known, however, as the

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