MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL
His roots:
In the late 1500s, Holland freed itself from the grip of Spanish rule and proclaimed itself a land of religious freedom. To Amsterdam, especially, flocked thousands of persecuted Jews from the Iberian peninsula, victims of the Inquisition. Among those arriving in the period around 1610 was a destitute and perhaps crippled man, his wife and three young children in tow. His name was probably Gaspar Rodrigues Nunes and the story he had to tell was all too familiar to the swelling numbers of Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain.
A native of Lisbon, he had once been a prosperous, if back-sliding, New Christian. For some reason he had fallen under the suspicion of the Inquisition. Historians now believe he may have been traveling in Spain; and in those days being a Portuguese traveler in Spain was reason enough to be considered a Judaizer. In any case, an arrest had followed. There had been questions, threats, and tortures on three separate occasions. Unable to endure it anymore, he had repented and they had let him go, a broken man, his property confiscated and his health permanently undermined.
Now free, the penitent had made his way to Madeira where the reach of the Inquisition was weaker and the opportunities for leaving Portugal better. Eventually, he and his family had managed to slip away, first to La Rochelle, France, and finally to Amsterdam. Joseph Ben Israel, as Gaspar Rodrigues took to calling himself, arrived in the Dutch city with his wife, Rachel Soeiro, born of an aristocratic Portuguese family, a daughter named Esther, and two sons whom he called Ephraim and Menasseh. It is to Menasseh that our attention now turns.
His accomplishments:
Menasseh Ben Israel, or Manoel Dias Soeiro, as he was originally called, was born in 1604 during his parents' sojourn on Madeira Island. He arrived in Amsterdam at a young age and, although the family was poor, education was free. He proved himself a gifted child in school, showing such progress in his education that he was writing books when he was 17. His linguistic ability was phenomenal, becoming competent in more languages than most people ever know superficially. This allowed him to read a great variety of works from many countries and he coupled that with an amazing ability to recall much of what he read, eventually earning a reputation as one of Europe's leading Hebrew scholars. It was with the idea of getting his writings into print and with supplementing his meager income that he started a small printing press at the age of 22.
Menasseh early on showed himself to be a great orator. Already at the age of 15 he was giving speeches that were admired and applauded. So it was that, three years later as an eighteen year old, he became chief rabbi of a small and poor congregation, one of three operating in Amsterdam. Though suffering humiliating reverses in his position after this congregation merged with the two others, he would continue to preach for most of the rest of his life. In this, he enjoyed an especially great reputation, being called a "swelling river of eloquence". His fame spread throughout Europe, with non-Jewish visitors often found in attendance at his sermons. He carried on correspondence with noted personalities all over Europe and counted among his friends such notables as Hugo Grotius and Rembrandt, the artist.
He did not always remain in the good graces of the synagogue leaders, however. They once excommunicated him from the synagogue for one day and banned him from preaching for one year when he angrily stepped in to defend his brother-in-law, who was being censured during a service. His close relations with Gentiles must also have brought him under suspicion because he once wrote that there were persons at the synagogue who were intercepting and reading the mail he received from his non-Jewish friends.
In 1655, he went to England to plead with Oliver Cromwell to allow Jews back into England, a country from which they had been banned since 1290. Although the mission was initially unsuccessful, Cromwell was impressed enough with Menasseh's efforts on behalf of Jews to grant him a 100-pound yearly pension. Treasury officials wavered. When it was not forthcoming, Menasseh negotiated a one-time payment of 300 pounds. When this, too, wasn't paid, he agreed to 200 pounds, which also wasn't paid. He died in 1657, disillusioned and in poverty. Both of his sons predeceased him and of his one daughter we know nothing. His wife was left in penury and could not afford to pay for his burial. A mutual friend tried unsuccessfully to get the English government to pay the destitute woman what was owed her husband. She, too, went to her grave in need, dependent on the generosity of others who cherished the memory of her famous husband.
His legacy:
The Hebrew publishing house that Menasseh began in Amsterdam was a small beginning to a great industry. At the close of the 17th century and throughout the 18th century, that city was the center of Hebrew printing for the entire world.
Menasseh's writing, begun at the age of 17, continued uninterrupted almost to the end of his life. Most of his works found great acceptance by non-Jews, and it was with them in mind that he often wrote, seeking to introduce Jewish ideas to the non-Jewish world. Some of his books enjoyed tremendous success. The "Conciliador" was republished in Italy as late as 1911, almost 300 years after its initial release. His writing put him far ahead of his time. It wasn't until the 19th century that Jewish scholars emulated his courageous effort at creating a body of writing with the non-Jewish world in mind.
Some historians consider his greatest lasting achievement to have been his pioneering attempts at the resettlement of Jews in England, a success which he did not live to see. For that effort, he has been hailed as the founder of modern Anglo-Jewry.
Final thoughts:
Menasseh Ben Israel (aka Manoel Dias Soeiro) was born into poverty and he died in poverty. But, in between, oh what great works he managed to accomplish! He was a true son of Portugal.
D. E. B.
Campbell, California
Bibliography:
1. Cecil Roth, A LIFE OF MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL (1975 reprint).
2. J. Van Den Berg, ed., JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS IN THE
SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY (1988).
3. ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA (11: 855-57; see "Manasseh Ben Israel").
4. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA (1997 ed., see "Manasseh ben Israel").
E-mail: Rufina Bernardetti Silva Mausenbaum