Menasheh ben Israel (1604-1657) was born into a family of Portuguese Jewish converts who left Lisbon fleeing the Inquisition, which had brought them to trial for secretly practicing Judaism. Menasheh’s exact birthplace is unknown; some say it was in La Rochelle, France, in 1604, but by 1610 his family was already settled in Amsterdam. There they joined the Neveh Shalom Sephardic community, and Menasheh began studying with the community’s rabbi, Isaac Uzziel. Upon Uzziel’s death in 1620, Menasheh took his place and married Rachel Soeiro two years later.

Although Menasheh soon distinguished himself as a great orator and educator, this activity did not provide him with enough income to live on, so he decided to open what was the first Jewish printing press in Holland. In 1627, he produced his first prayer book, followed by other works, including an edition of the Mishnah. But even with the printing press, Menasheh’s financial situation did not improve, so he considered settling in Brazil. Fortunately, the Pereira brothers provided sufficient funds to establish a yeshiva and appoint him its director.

While printing and dedicating himself to education, Menasheh devoted himself to writing, with «The Conciliator» being one of his principal works. In it, Menasheh listed and discussed those passages of the Bible that presented conflict with each other. He wrote it in perfect Spanish, giving non-Jewish readers access to the rabbinic method of reconciling biblical inconsistencies, which opened his eyes to the Gentile intellectual world of the time.

Menasheh also studied Kabbalah and was particularly interested in the subject of the coming of the Messiah. He was convinced that for the Messiah to arrive and redeem the land of Israel, the Jews would first have to live scattered throughout the land. He took advantage of his reputation as a scholar to establish contact with Queen Christina of Sweden, under the pretext of helping her improve her knowledge of Hebrew, but ultimately, his goal was to allow Jews to settle in that country. His writings on the subject attracted the attention of Protestant theologians who also believed the Messiah would soon arrive, so he corresponded with some of them on the subject, especially the English Puritans.

Menasheh took advantage of this relationship to seek permission from the English government to allow Jews to settle in England again. He traveled to London in October 1655, and the first thing he did was write his «Humble Petition to the Lord Protector,» as Cromwell was known. The document was widely disseminated at the Whitehall conference convened by the Lord Protector, where it was concluded that there was no law prohibiting Jews from settling in England. Cromwell granted him permission to reside in England and assigned him a pension of 100 pounds per year. However, he was unable to receive it because he died in Amsterdam in 1657.

Menasheh ben Israel was a friend of Rembrandt, who painted his portrait. He was the teacher of Baruch Spinoza. He spoke ten languages ​​and wrote in five: Hebrew, Latin, Portuguese, English, and Spanish. He was a great educator, orator, printer, Kabbalist, and diplomat. He was undoubtedly a very special rabbi.

By Marcos Gojman:

Bibliography: Jewish Encyclopedia and other sources.