Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Venetian Rabbi
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A01=Leone Modena
Abtalion
Asher
Author_Leone Modena
Autobiography
Azariah dei Rossi
Bibliography
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Book of Deuteronomy
Book of Lamentations
Book of Leviticus
Books of Samuel
Burial
Category=QRJ
Christian Hebraist
Counter-Reformation
Divination
Dowry
Ducat
Eastern Europe
Elul
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
Excursus
Friar
Haftarah
Halevi
His Family
Italian Jews
Jewish history
Jewish prayer
Jews
Johanan (High Priest)
John Selden
Judaism
Kabbalah
Kislev
Literature
Luzzatto
Manuscript
Mark R. Cohen
Marrano
Menasseh Ben Israel
Mishnah
Moshe Idel
Narrative
Nisan
Passover
Poetry
Printing
Psalms
Publication
Purim
Rabbi
Rabbinic Judaism
Residence
Responsa
Rite
Rosh Hashanah
S. (Dorst novel)
Sefer (Hebrew)
Sermon
Shabbat
Shavuot
Shemaiah (prophet)
Shevat
Simhah
Solomon
Sukkot
Tammuz (deity)
Tammuz (Hebrew month)
Torah study
Venetian Ghetto
Writing
Zebulun
Product details
- ISBN 9780691008240
- Weight: 539g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 21 Sep 1988
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Leon (Judah Aryeh) Modena was a major intellectual figure of the early modern Italian Jewish community--a complex and intriguing personality who was famous among contemporary European Christians as well as Jews. Modena (1571-1648) produced an autobiography that documents in poignant detail the turbulent life of his family in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. The text of this work is well known to Jewish scholars but has never before been translated from the original Hebrew, except in brief excerpts. This complete translation, based on Modena's autograph manuscript, makes available in English a wealth of historical material about Jewish family life of the period, religion in daily life, the plague of 1630-1631, crime and punishment, the influence of kabbalistic mysticism, and a host of other subjects. The translator, Mark R. Cohen, and four other distinguished scholars add commentary that places the work in historical and literary context. Modena describes his fascination with the astrology and alchemy that were important parts of the Jewish and general culture of the seventeenth century.
He also portrays his struggle against poverty and against compulsive gambling, which, cleverly punning on a biblical verse, he called the "sin of Judah." In addition, the book contains accounts of Modena's sorrow over his three sons: the death of the eldest from the poisonous fumes of his own alchemical laboratory, the brutal murder of the youngest, and the exile of the remaining son. The introductory essay by Mark R. Cohen and Theodore K. Rabb highlights the significance of the work for early modern Jewish and general European history. Howard E. Adelman presents an up-to-date biographical sketch of the author and points the way toward a new assessment of his place in Jewish history. Natalie Z. Davis places Modena's work in the context of European autobiography, both Christian and Jewish, and especially explores the implications of the Jewish status as outsider for the privileged exploration of the self. A set of historical notes, compiled by Howard Adelman and Benjamin C. I. Ravid, elucidates the text.
