Trudy Gold
Menasseh Ben Israel and the Return to England

Trudy Gold - Menasseh Ben Israel and the Return to England

- So, all right, so we’re going to be looking at Menasseh ben Israel and the return to England. So looking forward to hearing your presentation. Thank you.

• Okay, thank you very much, Wendy. Good evening, everyone. And tonight I’m going to talk about a man who I think should have a lot of attention. Menasseh ben Israel, his dates are 1604 to 1657. He came from a converso family. He walked the world. He’s going to cross over from the world of Jewish scholarship to the world of the humanist tradition. And it is he who is going to be really responsible for the petition for the Jews to go back to England. It’s fascinating. We dwell a lot on the German experience and Moses Mendelssohn, but actually Menasseh ben Israel, who’s over a hundred years earlier, actually 150 years earlier, in many ways, he is the forerunner and he did believe it was possible to walk both worlds. So what I’m going to do tonight is to begin the story of Menasseh ben Israel. So can we please start with the first slide, which is actually the epitaph. This is his epitaph, and I think it’s rather lovely. “The Tzadik does not need an imposing monument or sarcophagus to honour him for the sake of his positions. His words are his memorial. The words in the books he wrote will preserve his memory. Indeed, the truth is he did have an honoured position.

His position honoured him, and he it. He was a teacher and mentor from his youth in this distinguished place, in the greatest congregation of the region.” They’re talking about Amsterdam. “He honoured his position through his distinguished achievements, which earned him constant praise, glory, and honour.” Yes, he was very much a man of words, a man of ideas. Can we please see his face, if you don’t mind, Judi. That is Menasseh ben Israel, and if you remember, his dates are 1604 to 1657. And like so many Jews of that period, Sephardi Jews, he came from a converso family. And his father had actually been tortured by the Inquisition. In 1597, his father, Gasper Rodriguez Nunez, remember they all have Sephardi names, he was accused of practising Judaism in secret. Please don’t forget that the Inquisition never held sway over Jews. Only held sway over Catholics who were practising Judaism in secret. It’s about heresy. He’d actually been denounced by his wife, Felipa, and he’d been in custody. He was in custody on and off for six years. She also impugned her father-in-law and was backed up by his sister. And this is what was said. This is from the records of the Inquisition. “Gasper’s father, Alvaro, instructed her to believe in one sole God who created heaven and earth, land, sea, and sands, and to command her to him and to believe only in him, and to keep the Sabbath, and to believe only in the law of Moses.”

And of course, this gives you a notion of the horror story and the suspicion that divides. This has happened so many times in Jewish history when the outside oppressor manages to divide the community. And here you have a situation where family actually turns on family. So we know quite a bit about his family background. The grandfather, Alvaro, who I’ve already mentioned, he was a nails seller. He came from a very humble background. And remember he is outwardly a Catholic. And his son, Gaspar, Menasseh’s father, went into the business. Both of them had been born in central Portugal, and they moved to Lisbon some time after his father’s birth in 1558. Felipa, who later denounced him, was Gaspar’s first wife, and she had three children before he was incarcerated. She was also incarcerated. And they must have been a certain reconciliation because another child was born after the incarceration. But tragically, what she’d had to do, was it the denunciation, was it just the horror of the Inquisition? Because the description of the tortures, and Gaspar was terribly tortured. And it was awful because doctors would then examine him to find out if he could be tortured again. So it’s important to remember the total fear of these kind of characters. Anyway, she tragically had a complete breakdown and died. And then he married another woman called Antonia Soeiro, who was Menasseh’s mother. They had a daughter and then Manuel and then another son.

Now remember he’s not, he’s christened, so he’s called Manuel. It’s only later that he’s going to take the name Menasseh. But the family were so terrified of the Inquisition, the fear, the suspicion, that in the ends they decided to go, and they went to Madeira. They hoped that in the islands, the Spanish islands, all these areas were conquered by Spain, that they would be safe. And there’s a disagreement as to whether he was actually born there or in Lisbon. But there was an inquisition there, the Inquisition followed the Spanish and Portuguese, wherever they conquered. So they then went to Rochelle, La Rochelle in western France. La Rochelle was a great centre of dissidents. It was a port city and it wasn’t… But no community. When I talk… But they died without issue. And the throne passes to Henry of Navarre, who first married her daughter Margarite. There’s opera’s about it. It’s a lovely story. Now, Henry of Navarre, he said Paris was worth a mass. He converted to Catholicism, but he was a very, very… Have you lost me, Judi, am I back?

• [Judi] You are back, Trudy, yeah. We lost you for just a second, you’re back.

• Okay. So he’s a very, very tolerant individual. And under him, he turns a blind eye to these kind of things. But he is assassinated. He’s actually assassinated by a deranged monk in 1610. This is a very, very vibrant, and at the same time, quite on the edge period of history, Catholicism, Protestantism. And his son, Louis XIII, who comes to the throne, is a very, very zealous Christian. So, in 1615 he reenacts an act of 1394, the banishment of the Jews. In 1394, the Jews have been banished from France. Many of course have crept back in, and he reenacts that act. So where to go to. And of course, it’s obvious. Calvinist dominated Amsterdam, which has become such an attractive destination. So in 1613, they decamped to the Dutch Republic. And by the way, it was formally known as the United Provinces. And we’ve already established, of course, last time, how they’d broken away from the Spanish. And the very pragmatic Dutch were allowing quite a lot of Jewish life to continue. And last week I talked about the various synagogues. And you will recall that in 1603, Jacob Tirado began holding Jewish services in his home. They called it Beth Jacob. But he in fact left for Jerusalem. And just to get the figure straight, in 1608, when his family, Menasseh’s family, was there, there was about 200 Portuguese heads of family in a city out of 700,000 people.

So we are looking at a very tiny percentage of the population. And Amsterdam is a very tolerant, flourishing community. Now, then we come to the synagogue business. Jews being Jews, they couldn’t decide on one synagogue. I discussed this with you last week. And they needed various rabbis to actually deal with three different communities. Beth Jacob brought in Jacob Pardo from Salonica. He’d then been in Venice to lead them. Of course, Salonica in the Ottoman Empire was becoming a very important hub for Jews. And the Neve Shalom people met in the home of Samuel Pallache. I talked about him also last week. Fascinating man who was actually the Moroccan Jewish ambassador, and of course was a bit of a pirate, an incredible character. And then there was the third congregation formed in 1619. But the point was they came together for burial, for a burial ground. But I was doing quite a lot of in-depth reading on what it was like for rabbis to deal with a converso community. For example, remember these are people who practised their Judaism in secret. And we’ve already discussed many times, Judaism is a religion of knowledge. So how do you deal with it? They called the matzah, holy bread, Yom Kippur, on Yom Kippur, the prayers were for grace and salvation. They called Purim The Feast of St. Esther. Look, for quite a few generations now, we’re talking 60, 70 years, they have been practising Christianity outwardly. And they hadn’t had the books, they hadn’t got the knowledge. And so consequently these rabbis face quite a difficult task, but they’re now living in a much more liberal society. Under the rules, they weren’t allowed to criticise Christianity, they weren’t allowed to convert anyone. And this is beautiful.

There should be no fleshly conversation with gentiles. In other words, there can be no fornication, no sexual relations between Jews and gentiles. And in 1619, the states decided that each province could decide whether or not to accept Jews. And they were not to have any special marks or clothing. You know, the wearing of the Jew badge, which goes back to the Lateran council of 1215. Holland is not going to have anything to do with that. And I already mentioned that they were restricted in some of their trades and professions, but they had much more freedom than anywhere else in Europe. And they also were told to observe the Jewish law. This is interesting. You’re dealing with a Calvinist society that prefers religiosity, but they were allowed to manage their own affairs except in criminal dealings, which is very much like what was happening in Poland. Even in disputes, if it’s a dispute between a Jew and a Jew, you go to the Beth din. There is no problem with that. And they could engage with the Dutch, and they did. All you have to do is to think of Rembrandt’s paintings.

Remember Rembrandt lived in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, so, and they don’t wear special dress, do they? They dress as upper middle class Dutch. And it’s into this world that Gasper brings his family. Now all their possessions have been taken by the Inquisition. If you are accused of Judiazing, benefits the person on you, they were a gentile, would of course get rid of a business rival but the… Go the . And they regularity. And obviously it’s a few years before they reach Amsterdam. So he’s had a pretty tough life. Later on, this is what he wrote about the Dutch, “The country where I lived all my lifetime under the benign protection of the Lords of the state’s general and magistrates of Amsterdam.” So obviously he’s going to have a certain… Is that better, Judi? I’m sorry.

• [Judi] Come back. You keep, you keep disappearing.

• [Wendy] I think there’s problem with the internet.

• Okay.

• [Judi] Yep.

• So I’ll go on and let’s just hope it doesn’t happen again. Anyway, Gasper, he’s now Joseph Ben Israel, he is circumcised, his sons are circumcised and he has his two sons called Menasseh and Ephraim, you know, of course the two sons of Jacob. So you have a situation. He has become a a Jew and he has a rabbi, Saul Levi Morteira. Can we see the next slide please, Judi? Judi, can you hear me clearly?

• [Judi] Yes, Trudy, I can.

• Okay, now I thought I’d go into some of these characters because you need to get an atmosphere of the time. He was a very interesting individual. He’d been born in 1594. He’d been born in Venice. He went to live in Paris where his employer and his mentor was a man called Elias Montalto, who was a physician and a former converso. He was the physician to Henry IV’s widow, Marie de’ Medici, of course, from the House of Medici. And he was allowed to reside in France as a Jew with special dispensation. And Morteira becomes his secretary. He was a Hebrew teacher and he was a spiritual advisor until the doctor’s death in 1616. Now he wants to bury the doctor. So where does he go? The nearest Jewish congregation to Paris was actually Amsterdam and they have a burial ground. So he brings his mentor’s body to Amsterdam and decided there that he’s going to settle and he’s going to marry into the community. He marries a woman called Esther Soares, a wealthy woman who’d recently arrived from Lisbon. Money depended on whether you could get it out. Remember, a lot of the characters who had come to Amsterdam were wealthy merchants. And that’s another reason why the pragmatic Dutch were quite happy to have them. Now, he was fascinating because, although he was only 24 years old, he becomes the rabbi. But he was already a very good Jewish scholar. And the belief was, remember he comes from Italy, he studied, the belief was that he would be able to guide these new Jews. He’s fluent in the rabbinic texts.

He’s fluent in theology, philosophical literature. And at first, of course, his sermons had to be translated into Portuguese. They were very, it took him a while to learn the language, you know, Beth Ismark Synagogue, the services were in Portuguese right up, and the minutes, I believe, the minutes were in Portuguese right up until, yeah, 1819. So it’s fascinating, they still use Portuguese. But he was very well travelled. He was well versed in the humanist literature of Europe, but he hadn’t been a converso. So he didn’t have any sympathy for crypto-Jews. And this is what he said, “God detests them for concealing their true faith to him.” And he goes further. Now remember, this is very harsh. “Jews who are not circumcised and do not observe the law in the lands where they are not permitted do so risk eternal punishment. If they continue to confess to the Catholic faith, even against their wishes, engage in the worship of images, attend mass and deny that they are Jews, when in their hearts they really are, they are guilty before God.” He says, “In my view, there are certain sins which are unforgivable, and apostacy is one of them.” Now he is the man who’s going to bar mitzvah Menasseh. And before that, his rabbi had been a man called Isaac Uziel who was a Sephardi rabbi from Fez who had come through the conversion process. ‘Cause the Ashkenazin hadn’t had the same kind of issues, they’ve had many issues, but this isn’t one. Another point about Menasseh ben Israel, let’s call him by the name he was given now, the Jewish name. He was a brilliant student. So many of the characters I’ve talked about are, if you like, these gifted little geniuses. He had a freak brain and by 1619, he’s born in 1604. He actually gives his first sermon in Beth Jacob. And he’d said by 15, my discourses were very pleasing, applauded, and well received. We’re going to find that Menasseh ben Israel, he’s going to walk the world.

He’s an interesting man. But he was not slow in coming forward, he did have a high opinion in himself. Now, in 1622, Uziel died. And Nevi Shalom needed a new Rabbi. And he writes, “After his death, I succeeded in his place.” “I went,” quote, I’m quoting him, “From the cradle to the pulpit.” So by the age of 18, he’s functioning as a rabbi. But in October 19, in 1622, his father died at 64. And considering what his father had been through, the torture, the incarceration by the Inquisition, it’s quite, you know, the fact that he lived that long is quite extraordinary. But his mother died very quickly. So there is now a family, two brothers and a sister. And you don’t earn much as a rabbi. So the family are very poor. But in 1623, he made a good marriage to Rachel Abravanel, who of course we’ve met the Abravanels many times before. Any teaching of Jewish history, they were a family who considered themselves to be descended from the Davidic line. And it’s important. It’s important that he has, he has yichus now, he’s married into a very, very important family. They were to have three children, two sons and a daughter. And we also know that he supplements his income by teaching of the Talmud Torah. Now this is the first important step in his life. With the help of his brother-in-law, one of the Abravanels, in 1624 he opens a printing house. Holland was already becoming a centre of printing. Look, it’s lacks. And remember last time I told you about all the humanist ideas that are being talked about. In a pragmatic city, a cosmopolitan city that is open to trade, all sorts of individuals, ideas coming in from all over the world now.

The Dutch are at the centre, remember, of exploration. And consequently, it’s vibrant, it’s alive, and people need books. And what he wants to do is to actually set up a Jewish printing press. And it becomes the major hub for Jewish books. Now, of course there were other centres such as Venice. But that is now under the auspices of the Holy Roman Empire and it’s much more restricted. And by 1640, Amsterdam is producing all kinds of literature. He becomes a very, very important publisher and also a very important writer. And he’s also the rabbi of Neve Shalom. He produces Hebrew Bibles, targum, he writes a commentary on the Psalms. He uses Ashkenazi Jews, by the way, as type setters, particularly after 1648 when the Khmelnytsky massacres erupt in Eastern Europe and Jews go on the move, you know, that terrible, terrible catastrophe, which is going to affect the way he sees the world. Now we come to a problem here. I’ve already mentioned how the ma'amad was very, very restrictive.

The elders of the Jewish community, insecure in their own Judaism, perhaps, think about the excommunication of Uriel de Costa, and later on of course, Baruch Spinoza, who by the way, is a student of Menasseh ben Israel. And so are the books that he’s publishing, are they going to fit within the view of the characters who run the synagogue, who run really the communities? And he does then publish some books which are rather problematic. The publication of “Sefer Elim” by an another interesting man, a physician and a philosopher called Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Delmedigo. Can we see his face please? I just thought it would be interesting that you look at some of these characters 'cause their lives, they walked the world. Now he was a real peripatetic traveller. He came originally from Crete and he stayed in Amsterdam for a while to serve as one of the rabbis at Beth Israel. Now, he was one of those scholars, a Jew who remained a Jew who was interested in the world of, the non-Jewish world. And remember, I’ve discussed this with you many times when we’ve looked at more modern history. What may a Jew study? It’s still an extraordinary debate. Anyway, so he’s publishing a book by him, which the first part of the book deals with mathematics, scientific questions, which had been sent to Delmedigo by a Karaite Jew. The Karaites were a kind of sect of Judaism. They didn’t have Talmud, they lived in Trakai, which is a centre in Lithuania. I’ve been there actually. It’s an absolutely beautiful part of the world. But anyway, so he sent a series of questions and also he’d met some of these characters when he himself had travelled Lithuania.

And in his response, he deals with algebra, he deals with trigonometry, no problem with mathematics. Never forget that the Vilna Gaon, who is a little later, he writes a textbook on trigonometry. Nothing wrong with mathematics, nothing wrong with sciences. Metaphysics though, Kabbalah, interesting, Kabbalah was becoming more and more important. Why? Because of the vicissitudes of Jewish life. Amsterdam is a haven. But think about the Khmelnytsky massacres, think about the expulsion from Spain and the dream, when the world becomes almost impossible, what will happen? The Messiah will come to save the Jews. He deals with astronomy and also Copernicus and Copernicus’s system of the cosmos. This man had actually been a student of Galileo when he was at the University of Padua. And he called Galileo his teacher. And we all know what happens to Galileo. He was brought before the Inquisition, you know, the great Galileo. So this is a time when science is making inroads. For example, up until the exploration of the New World, many people living in the West thought that the world was flat. When you went to the edge, you when any of you who are on a voyage, you can see the horizon. They thought you’d topple into a pit of demons. Now obviously the Greeks knew the world was round, the Egyptians knew the world was round. But the point is, there were still many who were very worried about all these new theories. What has God got to do with these theories? So it’s really the clash here between religious ideas, religiosity, and the ideas of the 17th century humanist ideas. Can they be reconciled?

And I’ve already mentioned that in the Dutch world, the world of the Dutch gentiles, there’s so many interesting ideas floating around, which can only really happen under relative tolerance in a city, think about it, a vibrant cosmopolitan city. Anyway, the deputatus are so wary of him. And the Beth Dim said you can’t allow his publication. He did, Menasseh ben Israel went ahead and published it. But he had trouble with the community. And he, at this stage, he stands up. And at this stage, they really don’t do much about it. He wrote something called “Conciliator,” I’m talking about Menasseh ben Israel. So he’s publishing very controversial characters. In 1632, he publishes his first most important work called “Conciliator,” which was to take the reader through the five books of Moses to help Conversos read the Hebrew cannon without the intercession of Catholic priests. Just think about it, most of the people who are now outwardly Jews have been brought up as Catholics. It’s the priest who tell you what the Bible means and all of a sudden they need to know. And that’s why you need the Talmud. You need translations of the Talmud. And it made him famous. This Jew is going to become very famous. He’s going to attract some very, very important admirers. And the first one was Gerardus Johannes Vossius. Can we see him please, Judi? Yeah, now Vossius is a very, very important character. There was no university in Amsterdam at the time, but there was something called the Athenaeum Illustre. And he was involved in giving public lectures for adults. He was by far one of the best teachers. At one point he’d been offered a chair at Cambridge, but he decided that he preferred to stay in Amsterdam for family reasons.

And he began to get to know Menasseh ben Israel. Menasseh ben Israel, not only is he a writer, he’s an important publisher. And many of these humanist scholars are very interested in what Jewish scholarship has to say about the Bible. So the audience is no longer just the Jewish world, it’s very much the non-Jewish world. When he first met Menasseh, he did say he believed Jews to be, quote unquote, “An obstinate people who refused to see the truth.” And he thought that all Jews should convert, but he did admit that the Talmud actually contained many things that should be known. And he believed that the Christian world needed a very good understanding of the Jewish world in order to convert them. Now, it’s important to remember that practising Christians, be they Calvinist, be they any other kind of denomination, believed that the Jews were damned and that the Jews must be converted. And there was also this belief, this millenarial thought, which I’ve already mentioned to you, that in order for the world to be saved, for the Christian Messiah to come back again, that the Jews should all be converted. So there’s all sorts of these ideas floating around. I was discussing millenarial thought with William actually, because, of course, William is such an expert on this particular period. And it’s fascinating because it’s important as far as Jewish scholarship is concerned and Jewish history. And William thinks it’s quite marginal as far as the history of the Christian world is concerned. So I’m just throwing that in and we will see how we progress over it when the two of us meet together.

And he did say though about Menasseh ben Israel, “He can be of much use to Christians. He’s a learned and an upright man.” And they enter into a proper friendship. And over the next couple of decades, his literary works, his projects were really Jewish apologetics to the gentiles. He wants the gentiles to understand who the Jews are. He wants to hope for some sort of reconciliation. He devotes his time really to explaining and justifying Judaism to explain that Jews were not blasphemous and they were not heretical. And he also argued, and this is Menasseh, remember, God’s salvation was universal. And both groups, Christians and Jews, they would actually enjoy the world to come ushered in, for Menasseh by the coming of the messiah, for the Christians by the second coming of Jesus. And he actually dedicated some of his works, by the way, to the directors of the Dutch West India Company. You know, these pragmatic merchants who were becoming wealthier and wealthier and a disproportionate number of them were Jewish. And he wants more than anything else, he’s worried about the destiny of the Jewish people. He wants to win approval for them. And it’s interesting because Rabbi Morteira, he’s very worried.

He’s worried about this universal idea. And not only that, can we see the next slide, please, Judi? The next slide is, that’s it. Now that is a very important figure, Hugo Grotius. His dates are, I hope you can see it, 1583 to 1645. And in fact, Dennis is giving a lecture next week on the foundations of international law. And that is going to be his claim to fame. Grotius, he was an extraordinary individual. These are the kind of characters, they’re a tiny minority, but they’re coming out of Europe, they’re coming out of Holland. You find a few of them in Germany, you even find some of them in France and of course in England. And he’s a humanist, he’s a lawyer, he’s a theologian, he’s a playwright. And as I said to you before, and this is absolutely critical, I contacted Dennis knowing that he was giving this lecture and I wrote back and said, “How important is he in international law?” And I got a word back, “Very.” So he becomes a close friend of Menasseh ben Israel. And he wrote to Menasseh ben Israel later on. He’s an international man and he’s later on, believe it or not, going to become Sweden’s ambassador to France. So he writes to him from Paris. “The things that you have responded to me about certain passages of sacred scripture in history satisfied me very much, nor do I think that there’s anyone who could have responded to me any better.” And he informed Menasseh that he had many admirers in Paris. So at this stage, what can we say? He’s not exactly falling foul of the strict Jewish community. He’s still a rabbi.

He’s running this printing press, but he’s very much accepted into a certain group within the gentile world. But he has a reversal, he has a financial trouble. And he actually plays with the idea of settling in Recife in Brazil. And in fact, his brother does go over there. A congregation was established in Recife in 1636. Any of you who are listening from America, of course Recife is absolutely critical to the foundation of North American Jewry because in 1654, the Dutch colony in Recife is conquered by the Spanish. So what happens? They have to flee. And where do they flee to? A Dutch trading post up north called New Amsterdam. And they petition Peter Stuyvesant to let them in. Now 18 years earlier, Menasseh ben Israel is actually thinking about going there because he’s got no money and he hears that there’s lots of opportunities. They needed a rabbi, but he doesn’t go because his salvation comes in the guise of two extraordinary entrepreneurs, Abraham and Isaac Pereyra. Now the Pereyra brothers, another story, because look, there’s not that many Jews in Amsterdam and some of them are so interesting. Abraham had been persecuted by the Inquisition and managed to get out through Venice. He arrived in Amsterdam around 1644 and reunites with his younger brother Isaac. What was extraordinary about them is that they’ve managed to get most of their wealth out, out of Iberia. They had ships, they were huge traders, and they actually petitioned the government of Amsterdam to allow them to establish a sugar refinery.

And they had a very important place on the stock exchange, which is the oldest in the world. And they are going to become very important in the life of the Jews of Amsterdam. And also they’re going to help Menasseh’s fortunes. Now I’m just going to go a little digression because I found it fascinating. The Amsterdam boss, remember Amsterdam had taken over from Antwerp, and it’s really the founding of the Dutch East India Company, which marks the foundation of the modern stock exchange. Now, I don’t know how many of you listening are business people, but I felt I just had to include this because whilst Menasseh’s in Amsterdam, the first book on the history of the security exchange was called the “Confusion of Confusions” and was written by a man called Joseph de la Vega. Can we see him please, Judi? That is de la Vega. He’s a Jew, he’s a converso. His dates are 1650 to 1692. He was also a diamond dealer, he was a moral philosopher and he was a poet. How many people today can walk the world like this? These are the nascent people. They are absolutely fascinating. Now, his father, his background, his father Penso Felix from Cordoba, he made a vow that after his arrest by the Inquisition, that if he ever regained his liberty, he would profess Judaism. He escaped to Antwerp and married somebody called Esther de la Vega. And his son takes the mother’s name and his cousin, his first cousin actually founded a yeshiva in Livorno. So the family are born there. He had three younger brothers. And this also gives you a picture of Jewish life.

Abraham was a teacher and a diamond dealer. David and Raphael, de la Vega brothers were merchants who married two sisters. And they also were acting as agents in London for Dutch investors, the converso community in London, which I’ve already talked about. David, by the way, later moved to Dublin and he’s actually buried at Ballybough Cemetery, which was founded in 1718. So the first, we’re going to talk about the actual establishment of the British community, probably not, I don’t think tonight, but probably my next session with you. Okay, so he becomes a member of the Talmud Torah community. He completes, what’s interesting about him, he writes a Hebrew drama, which appeared in Amsterdam in 1673 and Livorno in 1770. He had a very, very successful commercial life. He was also, as I mentioned to you, a successful poet. Now this is what I wanted to talk about. In his book, “Confusions of Confusions,” he says, “There are four basic rules for the stock market. Never advise anyone to buy or sell shares, accept both profits and regrets. And remember, profit is a goblin treasure. One moment diamonds, the next pebbles. He who wants to be rich at this game needs money and patience.” This is the first book ever written on the history of the stock market. And in fact, there is de Vega Prize to this day. And since 2000, it’s awarded to the young European researcher who distinguished themselves by outstanding research on the European Securities Market. Another converso Jew who really made a huge mark in the world. You see, these are the inside outers. This is what I always believe about Jewish history.

What is the story of the Jews? Well, I still think that the best modern book on this is Norman Librecht’s “Genius & Anxiety.” And you’ll be pleased to know that I had a conversation with Norman this week at Wendy’s behest, and he’s agreed to do another session for us when he finishes his book on Beethoven, which should be in a couple of week’s time. So Norman’s book, “Genius & Anxiety,” you know, what is it about the Jews? You see, they see the world through their own prism. They want to be part of it. They love the humanistic ideas, but they still keep to their Jewish roots. And this is what’s so interesting about him. Now, let’s go back to Vossius, our friend Vossius, remember his two great admirers, Vossius and Grotius. And this is a letter that Vossius writes to Grotius, because these humanist circles are quite tight. “Menasseh is taking himself to Brazil, perhaps to act as a rabbi, but primarily to engage in trade. He loves his studies very much and thirsts for glory.” You know, this is very much Menasseh ben Israel. “But as I told you, his family affairs and finance persuade him And he is not striving in this respect.” And this is what Grotius writes back. “With all my soul, I hope things go well for Menasseh and I’m sorry that by the urgency of his affairs, he is obliged to go so far from us. I would willingly repay him for his services if I could.” And he then says, “I used to think that the men of Amsterdam synagogue were both wealthy and liberal.

Now I see that I was wrong about this. I am unsure whether they speak the truth or want to be thought poorer than they are in order to avoid taxes.” But anyway, what happens, of course, is the Pereyra brothers come on the scene and it’s not so bad. And his brother Ephraim does relocate to Brazil, where he deals in sugar too, Recife in Brazil, where he deals in sugar and tobacco. He does have problems with the ma'amad over more of the books that he prints. In fact, he is actually placed on a ban for 24 hours. Menasseh ben Israel is not allowed to enter into the synagogue. And a tragedy, a family tragedy in 1640, his brother Ephraim, who he is very close to, he’s come back on a trading mission from Recife to Amsterdam when he dies. He then, the next important work is “De la fragilidad humana,” “Humans, Are They Inclined to Vice?” To do this, this is Menasseh ben Israel writing now. It’s a great work. What is the nature of human beings? Are we inclined to vice? Are we inclined to virtue? And to do this, he looks at scripture, rabbinic literature, mediaeval Jewish thinkers, Cabala, but he also looks at Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and also the Renaissance humanists. People like Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli, even Christian theologians, Augustinian, Jerome, Thomas Aquinas. And he referred to the church fathers as our theologians. And this is what he sums up. “We are not born sinners, but no one reaches the end of his life without ever having sinned.” He completely rejects the Calvinist doctrine of grace. The Calvinists believe that no human being can act well without the will of the Almighty. Menasseh ben Israel takes a far more Jewish view that within us we have the good instinct, we have the evil instinct, and it’s a battle.

But we are far more masters of our own destiny. He found that aspect of Christianity very, very troubling. And he continued publishing clients from all over Europe. And so his works and the works of his publishing house are being received in Britain, as far as Poland, Venice, Rome. And in 1648, he put forward his first catalogue. He doesn’t have a shop front, he doesn’t have enough money for a shop, for a proper shopfront, but he’s publishing a catalogue. And it’s the first ever by a Jewish publisher for the non-Jewish market. He sold books by post and special orders, and his clientele gets bigger and bigger. Humanists all over Europe are interested in the wise rabbi from Amsterdam, including a man called Samuel Sorbiere. Can we see him, please? Sorbiere, he was a French, he was a philosopher, he was a translator. He’s best known for his promotion of the works of Thomas Hobbes. So think about it, “Leviathan,” the legitimacy of the state and how it deals with the individual, the ideas that people are grappling with. I discussed this with you when I, the other the week that we’re circulating in Amsterdam. Look, it’s only the beginning, but people are beginning to think about how should we be governed? And also don’t forget, it’s the end of the 30 Years’ War in Europe, that 1648, that terrible 30 Years’ War that so ravaged a continent. And in theory it was about religion, obviously it was about more things. It was about power, economics, power of the Holy Roman Empire.

But nevertheless, it’s also about religion. And this is what makes characters like Hobbes and Locke and all these others, they rethink what is the nature of man. And of course, William’s been talking to you about various constitutions and it’s going to also affect the Puritan parliament in England. Now, this chap Sorbiere, he was a French physician, that’s the other link. Many of them are doctors. He was a philosopher and he’s a translator. So he’s a very much at the centre. He’s very much at the centre of humanistic thought in France. And in his memoir, he tells a lovely story about Menasseh, who he socialises with. He says, “His socialising in gentiles,” I’m quoting, “Would not allow him to violate Jewish law. During the time of the Passover, he was offered a cup of wine, but he excused himself because the cup has also been used for beer, might still contain some residue of leaven.” Now this is fascinating. He’s keeping some really, even for a rabbi, he’s keeping very interesting company. And was the wine kosher? We don’t know. But what we do know is he wouldn’t have it from a cup that had had beer. Now, another important thing to point out is that particularly after 1648, Menasseh desperately wants to rescue his people. And through his friend Vossius, remember Vossius is working for Queen Christina of Sweden, very, very interesting woman. And he writes books in her honour. Was it that he hoped that Sweden could provide a refuge for the Jewish people? And then something really strange happens. In the autumn of 1644, a traveller arrives in Amsterdam with a very strange story. His name was Antonio Montezinos.

Did we manage to find a picture of him, Judi? I don’t know that, no, we didn’t. Oh no we didn’t. Sorry, we looked and we looked. Thank you. So his name was Aharon Levi. He was a converso. And in early 1642, he went to South America. And he’s a traveller, he’s a merchant. And he was taken by a group of Indians led by a chief called Francisco. He goes into the mountains of Quito in New Spain. Today it’s called Ecuador. And during the walk, he heard talk of God’s holy people who lived by nearby and who had been badly treated by the Indians. And when he arrived in Cartagena, which was a major port of Colombia, it was the key port for the export of silver to Spain. And tragically also for enslaved Africans coming in to work the plantations. He was actually imprisoned by the Inquisition for Judaizing. As I said to you, the Inquisition followed wherever you went. There wasn’t enough evidence, so he’s released. And in prison he begins to reflect on whether in fact, you know, he is got a lot of time. And he begins to reflect on who are the Indians? Is it possible that they might be Hebrews? And he returns to Quito and he finds Francisco and he wants to retrace that route, can he meet the people? And after a journey of over a week, he found these quote unquote Jews who came out and greeted him. And they said to him, evidently, “Our ancestors are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel,” and they claim to be descendants of the tribe of Reuben. And according to his story, he saw about 300 people. And Francisco, the guide said to him, “Your brethren of the sons of Israel,” and Montezinos, he takes this information, he’s a trader, he’s a traveller.

And he finishes up in Amsterdam where he went straight to the leaders of the community and told his story. And Menasseh ben Israel records, “The author is a virtuous man and separate from all manner of worldly interest. He’s wealthy. He is a Portuguese and a Jew of our order. Why should I not believe him? He is virtuous having all that men called gain.‘ Now in the 16th and 17th centuries, you’ve got to remember the conquistadors, they find the indigenous population. Where do they come from? Do they fit into the scope of European peoples? Grotius, the one who’s going to later really be the father of international law, he thought they were the descendants of the Vikings. Others thought that they were pre-Adamites. You know, can you imagine all this knowledge? It coincides with, think the invention of the printing press, knowledge is spreading. Can the tight order hold? And these reports fueled the debate, the 10 lost tribes of Israel. And there were many gentile visitors to Amsterdam in the 1640s. And they also picked up the rumour of a man who encountered Jews in America. And this is how an Englishman, a man called John Dury, who’s going to be very important in the readmission of the Jews to England, also heard this story. He was a Calvinist minister from Scotland, and he probably personally heard it from Menasseh ben Israel because Menasseh ben Israel’s, you know, he is really the centre for humanist ideas in Amsterdam.

And with Dury, with his friend Thomas Thorowgood, he asked him to proofread his book, "Jews in America, or Probabilities that the Americans are of the Race,” thinking, you see, there was this sect within Christianity, the Millenarians who are wanting the coming of the Messiah. They want Jesus to come back. It also, of course, ties up with Jewish thought. Sabbatai Zvi which of course Lyn Julius has lectured you on. And Thorowgood ties it up with a mystery of biblical proportion. Where are the 10 lost tribes of Israel? And he argued that in fact the Indians must be the lost tribes. And it’s a stunning revelation to Dury. And then this is when he recalls his visit to Holland, he tells his friend ThorowGood, “All the tribes of Israel shall be called to the knowledge of Jesus Christ before the end of the world. Now, if we can convert the Jews, this means the 10 lost tribes of Israel, the Jews have to be scattered to every corner of the world, and then Jesus will come again.” So it’s millenarial thought and Dury contacted Menasseh ben Israel in 1649. There were other theologians, Nathaniel Holmes, Henry Jessey, they also contact him and the Puritans, they want knowledge of the 10 lost tribes, about the coming of the Messiah. There’s an international group of scholars who believed, who really did believe in the Second Coming. And it could, as I said, it couldn’t also happen until all the Jews had converted. Now, the millenarial take their inspiration from the Book of Revelation, and they wanted to engage Jews in the great debate. Their aim was conversion. But with Menasseh ben Israel, who believed really in what today we would call interfaith work, he was prepared to go into dialogue with them. Now, in a 1642 pamphlet of Dury’s he said this, “Christianity must be less offensive and more known unto the Jews than now it is.

And the Jews and religion, as it stands more known unto Christians, we’ve got to understand the Jews they’ve been quoting again, a special part of the endeavours of the Protestant Reformation is to perfect within themselves that part of knowledge and learning, which is necessary to prepare a way for the Jews’ conversion.” And of course that’s why they need a Jewish partner. And Menasseh ben Israel’s, his aim is perfectly, it’s a perfectly decent thing. He thinks he’s spreading knowledge of the Jews to the non-Jewish world for better dialogue. But many of these characters who are now engaging with him, what they want is conversion. Anyway, so in addition though, there was this Puritan belief, and remember William talked about this. They did believe in the Hebrew Bible. Many of them were Hebrew scholars. Think about the number of Hebrew scholars at Cambridge now. And they also liked the Hebrew vision of justice. They were often quoting Isaiah, you know, the condemnation of the exploitation. Amos was one of their favourite books. Amos is very much full of, remember he’s the earliest of the prophets. He wrote 3,000 years ago. He talks about the rich who built two story houses and grind the poor and the fat kine of Bashan who sell the needy for a pair of shoes. So it all kind of fits in with the millenarials. And of course, in order for their dream to work, there must be conversion of the Jews and they must come to every corner of the world. And it leads in the end to Menasseh ben Israel writing his first important, the first important book on this theory, and it’s called “The Hope of Israel.”

Can we see it, please, Judi? “The Hope of Israel” by Menasseh ben Israel. And it’s dedicated by the author. This is the English edition which was published by Moses Wall. It was translated by Dury and it was dedicated by the author to the high court, the parliament of England, and to the councillor of state. And it’s really the story… In this treatise it showed the place where in the 10 tribes at this present are proved partly by the strange relation of our Antonio Montezinos a Jew of what befell him as he travelled across the mountains with diverse are the particulars about the restoration of the Jews and the time when it will happen. Okay, so I think I will stop there because this is of course going to be the first step in the re-admission of the Jews to England. I think it’s an extraordinary tale. And of course Cromwell is a pragmatist. He doesn’t let the Jews in because of some mad millenarial dream. He’s going to be much more pragmatic and he wants those Jewish merchants in Amsterdam. He wants a lot of them to transfer their business to London. But we’ll talk about that on Thursday.

Shall we have a look at questions?

Q&A and Comments:

Q: Were his family, Brian?

A: No.

Q: Were his family tortured in order to denounce him?

A: Yes.

Danny, you say that the Inquisition only targeted Conversos, but presumably anyone in Spain, Portugal at the time who openly said they were a Jew would at least be deported or exiled or most likely executed. There were no Jews allowed to live in Spain or Portugal, Danny, that’s the point. They’d all been expelled. So no, you would totally, you know, well you, the minute you Judiaze you risk death.

This is from Rosalyn. One of the reasons Upper Bryanston Street was founded is because Bevis Mark’s sermons were in Ladino. The current liturgy is pronounced following Sephardi pronunciation. Thank you very much for that, Rosalyn.

Yeah. There was an article, this is from Marcia. There was an article in the Hadassah-WIZO magazine years ago by a woman who was a teacher in New Mexico. When of one of her students said she was celebrating her name day, she realised that the youngest must be a descendant of the converso and started exploring the history of the local community. Yes, it’s such a story.

Q: So Ephraim and Menasseh was surely the sons of Joseph.

A: Yes, of course they were, that was a slip of the tongue.

I’m sorry, Edward. That was the slip of my tongue.

Joe Velamin, Menasseh ben Israel was a neighbour of Rembrandt in Amsterdam and helped him with the Hebrew letter on his painting of Belshazzar’s feast. The lettering is not completely accurate. It only makes sense if you read it downwards like Chinese. Yes. That’s a lovely little insight. Thank you very, very much for that.

Yes, they were, they knew each other well and Menasseh and Rembrandt actually illustrated some of Menasseh’s books. Lydia, in 1652 when Jan Van Riebeeck came to the Cape, he had two Jews on board, but I couldn’t find much more info. The community I did find indicated that the Jew had a genetic Jewish disease.

Q: Similarly, there were some Jews in the Huguenot group who fled France. Do you know any more about these guys?

A: I know a little bit about Jan Riebeeck, about the Huguenots who fled France, I don’t know much about that, but it will be, it’s very plausible because when the Huguenots fled to America, yeah, that would make sense.

All right, this is Saul. There were four Jews with Van, Saul Israel. Thank you, Saul. There were four Jews with Van Riebeeck who were converted to the Dutch Reform Church December, 1659. Extremely well documented in standard history text. Thank you very much, Saul. Saul is a big expert on this.

I do love everyone on this course. I don’t know the answer, someone will.

See Hoffman, Suran and Haltz and Shain and Mendelsohn. Little relevance to this talk. We will be dealing with South Africa at some time, Saul, I promise. But thank you for that.

Q: Who is the man who became a rabbi at 24?

A: That was Morteira. But don’t forget Menasseh ben Israel did as well.

Joe Velamin. They still use Portuguese at Bevis Marks and Lee for the newly elected members of the Board of Elders, synagogue wardens, and for the outgoing ones, yeah.

I have always wondered, this is Edward Cross. If Menasseh ben Israel insisted that Rembrandt could use the Hebrew letters in that wonderful painting provided they could not be read as Hebrew and thus form connotation. Oh, that is interesting, Edward. I don’t know. Does anyone know? Let’s see if we get any answers.

Q: What language and script was used in Amsterdam? Hebrew, Yiddish, Dutch or Portuguese?

A: It wouldn’t be Yiddish until the Ashkenazi begin to come in. And there are very few of them before 1648. Hebrew. Yes. Portuguese. Yes. Look, the rabbi from Fez would’ve used Arabic.

Oh, this is from Carol. There’s a small community of Karaite Jews near Bramley. I’ve been to a wedding there in the 1960s. Yes, many of them have gone to live in Israel.

Q: How does Cromwell fit into this story?

A: Wait for it. That’s going to be the readmission, which I’m talking about on Thursday. Cromwell is, they’re going to come to England. This is the point. Menasseh ben Israel is going to come to England and there isn’t and they are somehow going to slip in. And it’s really Menasseh ben Israel, he’s going to write an incredible pamphlet about readmission.

This is from Joe Velamin. Menasseh approached Cromwell on behalf of the Jews in 1656 to ask permission for the Jews to return. In fact, they were already, yes, living there, but he persuaded Cromwell. Yes, Joe, I’ll be talking about that in much more detail on Thursday.

Q: Who drew the portrait of Joseph de la Vega?

A: I can’t answer that, but I will be able to for Thursday ‘cause I’ll look it up. Oh my goodness.

Q: Can I recommend the biography of Baruch Spinoza?

A: The best book on Menasseh ben Israel is actually, I’ve got to think about Spinoza first. I need to consult with someone. The best book on Menasseh ben Israel is a book of 2018 by Steve Nadler, Steven Nadler.

It’s Yale. Grotius looks exactly like my late father. My god. Was it Spain or Portugal who invaded? It was Portugal, wasn’t it? Recife. Yeah, Joe has answered that. “The Coffee Trader” by David Liss set mostly in Amsterdam during this time is a good read.

Thank you, Corrine. Yes. And I’ll tell you who’s written a lot on this. Simon Schama.

And this is from, I can’t read, Aungdi? The Jews who left Recife were engaged there in the production of sugar that was exported to Europe. After the Spanish took over the city they were expelled. Expelled from Recife, they went to Curacao and the West Indies where in the latter area they established the growth of sugarcane. That’s very interesting. The cemetery in Dublin is pronounced Ballybough, thank you.

Q: What language did Menasseh write in?

A: He would eventually have written in Dutch. His Hebrew books he would’ve written in, he was a master of languages.

They controlled the sugar industry.

Oh, this is from Louise. The cemetery in Ballybough is no longer in use and is maintained by the local authorities in conjunction with the Irish Jewish community.

Oh, that’s two people saying this. I do love this. People are saying nice things.

I read somewhere that Haiti is actually Hebrew for I was there past tense of the verb to be, or I was. I don’t think so, unless anyone knows more, far more than I do. We mustn’t go too far with these lovely stories. I listened to a professor from McGill who claimed with many slides that Africa had a very large Jewish population community that speak and pray in Hebrew. Don’t forget the story of Ethiopian Jews. Look, Jews were traders, they were travellers. There are so many stories.

This is from Jonathan. I visited the Museum of the Inquisition in Cartagena. The Inquisition operated there until 1830. The instruments of torture like the rack and iron maiden are terrifying to see. You know, it’s fascinating. One of the things that Menasseh ben Israel believed that he had to find a haven for the Jews. That’s why he courted Christina of Sweden. You know, the Eastern Europe, Poland is under threat in 1648. You have the appalling Inquisition. Where could the Jews find somewhere tolerant? And that was always the problem. And he said, this is interesting for you to think about, that whenever a country closes up, another country opens up for the Jews. And when I think of what happened in Nazi Germany, it didn’t, did it? And so we’ve got to, if you like, rethink our destiny. Lana has answered Susan, please repeat the name of the Jewish sect who lived in Trakai, Lithuania. They’re called Karaites.

Thank you, Lana. I heard and saw slides given that, who claims the large part of the Jews in Africa are part of the 10 lost tribes, the tribe of King Solomon. Esther, it’s problematic. You know, the 10 lost tribes appear everywhere. And if you want me to, because “I’m a Jew and I believe in ironic humour,” quoting Jeremy Corbyn, I don’t know how many, if you want a belly laugh and something that is absolutely contentious, watch “Blazing Saddles.” It’s Mel Brooks pay-on to the American Western where he plays the part of a red Indian chief who speaks Yiddish. Those of you who want a real belly laugh, and I think we all need it at this terrible time. Watch that scene. It’s absolutely hysterical. And he sees, he’s attacking a waggon train. And at the back of the waggon train, there are a group of, they’re a group of blacks and they’re not allowed to ride with the whites even though they’re being attacked and they’re making their own circle. And he sees them and he looks at them and he says, “They’re darker than us.” If you’d like that kind of humour, which is not in the least bit politically correct. But on the other hand, I think Mel Brooks’ intentions are beyond that. Have a good laugh.

Q: Erica Lewis. I understand the wish for the conversion of the Jews to achieve the Second Coming but please explain the spreading of Jews to all corners of the world. Where does this idea come?

A: It actually comes from Christians. They need to convert us. They need us to spread everywhere, to convert us so that Jesus can come again. And of course this ties up with Jewish Millenarian thought because of the horrors. There is a belief in the, it’s mainly in the apocryphal books. It’s mainly in Daniel, if I remember rightly, that the Messiah will come when the Jews are at their lowest and they will bring the world into an era of peace. That’s one of the reasons that there wasn’t really much attempt to reclaim their own land. But that’s a very long argument, which I will talk about on Thursday.

You may be interested to know that a painting of Isaac Pereyra, which was stolen from S&P in London, had just been found and returned, will be on display in the new Heritage Centre. Very smart. Thank you so much, Chris. Now I can have it. I can have it for my lecture.

Rachel Marx is saying, the Hebrew and Rembrandt painting is correct, but written downwards. Okay. I think it’s Aramaic, Daniel written in Aramaic. Okay.

Q: Can I have an expert on that, please?

A: I can’t answer that question.

And this is from Nicholas. The Springers came from Holland. My father said the family considered, they were Sephardi. My DNA shows 94% Ashkenazi. Nicholas, after 1648, the majority who came to Amsterdam were Ashkenazi, and they pretty well took over the community. A lot of the Jews, you’ve got to remember a lot of the Sephardi merchants, and the same thing happened in England, they converted, they decided to become English gentlemen.

Q: Any idea where the surname Spania comes from?

A: I’m not sure. I can’t answer that.

And Judith is telling us in Cartagena there’s an Inquisition Museum. Michael Block, rethink our destiny.

Q: Would there be a thought? Wouldn’t there be a thought of settling in Israel?

A: Michael, what did you think I meant?

Oh yes. This is from Herbert Hess. Hilarious scene in “Blazing Saddles.” But even funnier is “The Frisco Kid” with Gene Wilder about a rabbi sent to San Francisco. Yes, may I recommend if lockdown is, if we are going back into lockdown, get your films out. They’re all on Netflix. I think you can get them on Netflix. We issued a list of our hundred favourite films. I know it drove Judi crazy, which we sent out about six months ago. But there’s so many and we over the next few months where you will be concentrating more on Jewish humour.

There was an article published today that Jewish Spinoza expert named persona non grata in Amsterdam synagogue because he was investigating Spinoza. Okay, maybe you could give more details on that, Greta.

This is from Diane. I visited the synagogue in Manaus. The heritage of this synagogue is combined of those fleeing the Inquisition, robber barons and indigenous people. Manaus must be very interesting. Isn’t that where a opera house was established in the jungle, if I… Anyway, I think that’s all the questions.

Yeah, that’s it. Judi? Wendy?

• Hi. I’m here. Thank you, Trudy. Sorry. I think Wendy may have lost a connection. Thank you, Trudy.

• Okay.

• And thank you everybody who joined us today, and we will see everybody again tomorrow.

• Okay, God bless all of you. Bye.

• [Judi] Take care everyone. Bye-bye.