Manoel Dias Soeiro was born in Lisbon in 1604 into an outwardly Roman Catholic family that had been forced by the Inquisition to abandon its Jewish faith and practices.
A half century later at the time of his death in Holland, Soeiro was the world’s most famous Jewish personality of his time, widely known to Jews and Christians as Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel.
In his excellent new book, Menasseh ben Israel: Rabbi of Amsterdam(Yale University Press), Professor Steven Nadler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes this remarkable transition.
Desperate to escape Portugal (the Inquisition authorities physically tortured Manoel’s father), the family escaped to Amsterdam in 1610, where refugees could reclaim their Jewish names and identities.
A half century later at the time of his death in Holland, Soeiro was the world’s most famous Jewish personality of his time, widely known to Jews and Christians as Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel.
In his excellent new book, Menasseh ben Israel: Rabbi of Amsterdam(Yale University Press), Professor Steven Nadler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes this remarkable transition.
Desperate to escape Portugal (the Inquisition authorities physically tortured Manoel’s father), the family escaped to Amsterdam in 1610, where refugees could reclaim their Jewish names and identities.
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