Isaac Abravanel was born in Lisbon in 1437. He was the son of Yehuda Abravanel, treasurer at the court of King Alfonso V of Portugal. He was a student of Yosef Hayim, chief rabbi of Portugal. He studied Talmud and secular subjects in his youth and by the age of twenty was already writing about Jewish philosophy. He entered the king’s service at that age and gained his trust. He used his position to help Jews in trouble, such as in Arzilla, Morocco, when the Moors kidnapped a group of Jews and sold them into slavery. Abravanel, with his own money and with the support of others, helped rescue many captives.

Upon the death of Alfonso V, he had to resign from his post under pressure from the new king John II and eventually had to flee to Castile, Spain, to save himself from a false charge of conspiracy that the new king had brought against him. In Toledo, his new home, he devoted himself to commenting on the Bible and within a few months he wrote commentaries on the books of the Torah and the prophets. He soon entered the service of the royal house of Castile, in the personal service of Queen Isabel. He helped the royal army financially in its fight against the Moors. Despite his help in winning the war, he was sadly surprised by the royal edict expelling the Jews from Spain. He did everything possible to have it revoked, even offering the king 30,000 ducats, but it was all in vain. Abravanel was pressured by the Catholic kings to convert to Catholicism so that he could keep his position at court. But he refused to do so.

He left Spain for Naples, where he also soon entered the service of the king. His tranquility was short-lived, as the French took the city and in 1495 he fled with the young King Ferdinand and settled in Venice in 1503. His great diplomatic and financial ability helped to negotiate a trade treaty between Portugal and the Venetian Republic. He died in Venice in 1508.

The importance of Isaac Abravanel, apart from his actions in the field of diplomacy and finance, lies in his commentaries on the Bible, which although not completely original, were written in a very didactic way, so they were very popular, not only among Jewish scholars but also among some Christian scholars. In his introductions to each book of the Bible he explained its character, compared the time in which it was written with his own and explained the intention of its author. He also wrote on the philosophy of religion and was especially a defender of the doctrine of the coming of the Messiah. He deeply felt the hopelessness and despair of his Jewish brothers because of their expulsion from Spain and thought that believing that his arrival was near mitigated their pain.

Isaac Abravanel was a combination of scholar, diplomat, financier, but above all, guardian of the welfare of his people. That is why he is in the hall of fame of Judaism.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Judaica and other sources.