A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed

A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed

This is the first book to offer a translation into English-as well as a critical study-of a Spanish treatise written around 1650 by Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira, whose most renowned congregant was Baruch Spinoza. Aimed at encouraging the practice of halachic Judaism among the Amsterdam-based descendants of conversos, Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity, the book stages a dialogue between two conversos that ultimately leads to a vision of a Jewish homeland-an outcome that Morteira thought was only possible through his program for rejudaisation.
  • Cover
  • Content
    • Acknowledgements
    • List of abbreviations
    • Introduction
      • Ets Haim Library ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]: A ‘Monuments Men’ manuscript
      • Morteira’s youth in the Venetian Ghetto
      • The converso heritage of Morteira’s congregants in Amsterdam
      • Crypto-Judaism
      • Rejudaization
      • Morteira’s role in rejudaization
      • The Portuguese Nation
      • Plot summary of Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam (ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206])
      • The Portuguese Nation in Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam
      • Crypto-Judaism and rejudaization in Arguments
      • Converso protagonists in Arguments: Historical precedents
      • The influence of Lazarillo de Tormes on Arguments
      • The influence of Spanish Golden Age theater on Arguments
      • Arguments: Biblical sources
      • Arguments: Eschatology, rejudaization and Baruch Spinoza
      • Biographical notes on Miguel López and notes on his messianic images
      • Translator’s notes on ms. EH/LM 48D38 [Fuks 206]
    • Notes to introduction
    • Arguments against the Christian Religion in Amsterdam
    • Notes to Arguments
    • Works Cited
    • Index of direct and indirect biblical quotations in Arguments
    • Index to Introduction

Subjects

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