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Arguments Against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam by Saul Levi Morteira, Spinoza’S Rabbi

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Arguments Against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam by Saul Levi Morteira, Spinoza’S Rabbi TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY GREGORY B. KAPLAN Arguments Against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam by Saul Levi Morteira, Spinoza’s Rabbi amsterdam studies in the dutch golden age Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam Amsterdam Studies in the Dutch Golden Age Founded in 2000 as part of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Amsterdam Centre for the Study of the Golden Age (Amsterdams Centrum voor de Studie van de Gouden Eeuw) aims to promote the history and culture of the Dutch Republic during the ‘long’ seventeenth century (c. 1560-1720). The Centre’s publications provide insight into the lively diversity and continuing relevance of the Dutch Golden Age. They offer original studies on a wide variety of topics, ranging from Rembrandt to Vondel, from Beeldenstorm (iconoclastic fury) to Ware Vrijheid (True Freedom) and from Batavia to New Amsterdam. Politics, religion, culture, economics, expansion and warfare all come together in the Centre’s interdisciplinary setting. Editorial control is in the hands of international scholars specialised in seventeenth-century history, art and literature. For more information see http://en.aup.nl/series/amsterdam-studies-in-the-dutch-golden-age or http://acsga.uva.nl/ Editorial Board Frans Blom, University of Amsterdam Michiel van Groesen, Leiden University Geert H. Janssen, University of Amsterdam Elmer E.P. Kolfin, University of Amsterdam Nelleke Moser, VU University Amsterdam Henk van Nierop, University of Amsterdam Claartje Rasterhoff, University of Amsterdam Emile Schrijver, University of Amsterdam Thijs Weststeijn, Utrecht University Advisory Board H. Perry Chapman, University of Delaware Harold J. Cook, Brown University Benjamin J. Kaplan, University College London Orsolya Réthelyi, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Claudia Swan, Northwestern University Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam by Saul Levi Morteira, Spinoza’s Rabbi Ed., intro., trans., and notes by Gregory B. Kaplan Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: Rembrandt van Rijn, Old Man in an Armchair, 1665. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Cover design: Kok Korpershoek bno, Amsterdam Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6298 010 5 e-isbn 978 90 4852 926 1 doi 10.5117/9789462980105 nur 695 © G.B. Kaplan / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam, 2017 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of this book. For Nuria and Andrew, my two favorite people Content Acknowledgements 9 List of abbreviations 11 Introduction 13 Ets Haim Library ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]: A ‘Monuments Men’ manuscript 13 Morteira’s youth in the Venetian Ghetto 17 The converso heritage of Morteira’s congregants in Amsterdam 22 Crypto-Judaism 25 Rejudaization 29 Morteira’s role in rejudaization 31 The Portuguese Nation 33 Plot summary of Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam (ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]) 35 The Portuguese Nation in Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam 36 Crypto-Judaism and rejudaization in Arguments 40 Converso protagonists in Arguments: Historical precedents 41 The influence of Lazarillo de Tormes on Arguments 43 The influence of Spanish Golden Age theater on Arguments 45 Arguments: Biblical sources 51 Arguments: Eschatology, rejudaization and Baruch Spinoza 63 Biographical notes on Miguel López and notes on his messianic images 74 Translator’s notes on ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] 76 Notes to introduction 79 Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam 87 Notes to Arguments 159 Works Cited 193 Index of direct and indirect biblical quotations in Arguments 199 Index to Introduction 205 Acknowledgements The sabbatical time that was essential to the completion of this project, graciously granted to me by my institution, the University of Tennessee, was funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and a University of Tennessee Humanities Center Fellowship. I wish to thank Dr. Alan Rutenberg, of the Office of Research at the University of Tennessee, for his time and dedication in working with me as I crafted two successful fellowship proposals. I am grateful for the generous assistance of several individuals in Amsterdam, including Dr. Emile Schrijver, professor of Jewish Book History at the University of Amsterdam and curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Ruth Peeters and Heidi Warncke, curators of the Ets Haim Library, and Inge van der Bijl at Amsterdam University Press. The images from ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] that appear in this volume (Plates 1 and 2) are included with the permission of the Ets Haim Library of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. I would also like to thank Anna Bottinelli Edsel and Casey Shelton, researchers at the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art (Dallas, TX, USA). I express my sincere gratitude to Karin Bleeker for her hospitality during the years when I conducted research for this project and for providing the beautiful space on Prinsengracht where much of this book was composed. List of abbreviations b. born Josh. Joshua BR Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana JTSA Jewish Theological Seminary of c. circa America cf. compare Lam. Lamentations Cod. Codex Lev. Leviticus d. died LM Livraria Montezinos Dan. Daniel Mal. Malachi Deut. Deuteronomy Matt. Matthew Ed. Edited by Mic. Micah ed./eds. edition/editor/editors MS./ms. manuscript Eccles. Ecclesiastes Neh. Nehemiah EH Ets Haim Num. Numbers Exod. Exodus Obad. Obadiah Ezek. Ezekiel 1 Sam. 1 Samuel fl. flourished Prov. Proverbs Fol./fol. folio Ps. Psalms Fols./fols. folios r. reigned Gen. Genesis Rev. Revelation Hab. Habakkuk 2 Chron. 2 Chronicles Hag. Haggai 2 Sam. 2 Samuel Heb. Hebrews trans. translated H.H. Hakham (Wise Man) UBA Universiteitsbibliotheek Hos. Hosea Amsterdam intro. introduction Vol./Vols. volume/volumes Isa. Isaiah Zech. Zechariah Jer. Jeremiah Zeph. Zephaniah Introduction Ets Haim Library ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]: A ‘Monuments Men’ manuscript The only textual witness to Obstaculos y opoçiçiones contra la religion xptiana en Amsterdam is a copy made in 1712 that comprises the first 85 numbered folios of ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206], which I have translated in the present volume from Spanish into English as Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam. MS. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] is stored at the Ets Haim Library of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. For those who wish to consult the Spanish text of Arguments, a digital version of ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] is available on the Ets Haim Bibliotheek (Ets Haim Library) website. The remaining 95 numbered folios in the manuscript include a copy of another work by the same author, Preguntas que hizo un clerigo de Ruan de Francia alas quales respondio el exelente, y eminentissimo señor H.H. Saul Levy Mortera, doctor çelebre y prophesor, de la divina theologia, y predicador de la naçion judaica en la ynsigne, y opulenta çiudad de Amsterdam (Questions posed by a French cleric that are answered by the excellent and very eminent Mr. Hacham [Wise Man] Saul Levy Mortera, celebrated doctor and teacher of divine theology and a preacher of the Jewish nation in the magnificent and opulent city of Amsterdam). The two works included in ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] were written by Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira (b. c. 1590-d. 1660), a native Venetian whose surname is sometimes spelled ‘Mortera’ as on the title page of ms. EH/ LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] (see Plate 1). Morteira wrote Arguments around 1650, toward the end of a four-decade-long career as chief rabbi in Amsterdam, during which time he presided over a congregation that included Baruch Spinoza (b. 1632-d. 1677), whose excommunication in 1656 was imposed by a rabbinic tribunal led by Morteira. MS. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] measures 19.4 x 15.6 centimeters and is copied in a clear and skilled italic style, with seventeen lines per folio side (or page). It contains 181 folios (made of paper), with the first and last three folios being blank. The illustration on the title page of ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] will be discussed in conjunction with further comments below concerning the copyist, Michael López. MS. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206] is bound in an ornate leather cover whose marbled book board indicates that the process of binding occurred well after the copy by López was made. In light of Richard Wolfe’s assertion that ‘extant Dutch bookbindings indicate 14 ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN AMSTERDAM that the real beginnings of marbling in the Netherlands occurred […] just after the turn of the nineteenth century’ (55), it is logical to consider the year 1800 as a terminus a quo for the binding of ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]. If the binding is indeed from the nineteenth century, then this task may have been accomplished around the time it passed into the sizeable collection of David Montezinos (b. 1828-d. 1916), who served as librarian of the Ets Haim Library (which is also known as Livraria Montezinos) before donating his collection, including ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206], to the library in 1889. Montezinos was succeeded as librarian by Jacob da Silva Rosa (b. 1886- d. 1943). Silva Rosa’s death at the Nazi extermination camp of Sobibor, on 4 June 1943, marked a tragic moment in the history of ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]. This history has been recounted on two occasions, the first of which was by Lajb Fuks (b. 1908-d. 1990), who worked as a librarian in Amsterdam after the Second World War: In May 1940 […] the Germans invaded the Netherlands. In the summer of that year the library was closed and sealed up, together with all the other Jewish public libraries in the Netherlands.
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