Discourse On The State Of The Jews

In 1638, a small book of no more than 92 pages in octavo was published “appresso Gioanne Calleoni” under the title “Discourse on the State of the Jews and in particular those dwelling in the illustrious city of Venice.” It was dedicated to the Doge of Venice and his counsellors, who are labelled “lovers of Truth.” The author of the book was a certain Simone (Simḥa) Luzzatto, a native of Venice, where he lived and died, serving as rabbi for over fifty years during the course of the seventeenth century. Luzzatto’s political thesis is simple and, at the same time, temerarious, if not revolutionary: Venice can put an end to its political decline, he argues, by offering the Jews a monopoly on overseas commercial activity. This plan is highly recommendable because the Jews are “wellsuited for trade,” much more so than others (such as “foreigners,” for example). The rabbi opens his argument by recalling that trade and usury are the only occupations permitted to Jews. Within the confines of their historical situation, the Venetian Jews became particularly skilled at trade with partners from the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Luzzatto’s argument is that this talent could be put at the service of the Venetian government in order to maintain – or, more accurately, recover – its political importance as an intermediary between East and West. He was the first to define the role of the Jews on the basis of their economic and social functions, disregarding the classic categorisation of Judaism’s alleged privileged religious status in world history. Nonetheless, going beyond the socio-economic arguments of the book, it is essential to point out Luzzatto’s resort to sceptical strategies in order to plead in defence of the Venetian Jews. It is precisely his philosophical and political scepticism that makes Luzzatto’s texts so unique. This edition aims to grant access to his works and thought to English-speaking readers and scholars. By approaching his texts from this point of view, the editors hope to open a new path in research into Jewish culture and philosophy that will enable other scholars to develop new directions and new perspectives, stressing the interpenetration between Jews and the surrounding Christian and secular cultures.

This book deals comprehensively with different aspects of collective victimhood in contemporary Israel, but also with the wider implications of this important concept for many other societies, including the Palestinian one. The eight highly-diverse, scholarly chapters included in this volume offer analysis of the politics of victimhood (viewing it as increasingly dominant within contemporary Israel), assess victimhood as a focal point of the Jewish historical legacy, trace the evolution and changes of Zionist thought as it relates to a sense of national victimhood, study the possibility of the political transformation of victimhood through changing perceptions and policies by top Israeli leaders, focus on important events that have contributed to the evolvement of the victimhood discourse in Israel and beyond (e.g. the 1967 Six-Day and 1973 Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East), examine the politics and ideology of victimhood within the Palestinian national movement, and offer new ways of progressing beyond national victimhood and toward a better future for people in the Middle East and beyond. The insights of the eight authors and their conceptualization of Israeli victimhood are of immediate relevance for numerous other national groups, as well as for a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. This volume has been inspired by the universality of victimhood among humans, reflected in King Lear’s words (“I am a man more sinned against than sinning”), as well as by the words of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, telling the Knesset in Jerusalem: “No longer is it true that the whole world is against us”. While the book sums up the state of the field in regard to collective victimhood, it invites the readers to engage in contemplating the far-reaching implications of this important concept for our lives.

Analyzes the structure and logic of aggadic discourse in the Talmud.

Describes the role of traditional Jewish texts in the development of modern Yiddish literature, as well as the closely related development of modern Hebrew literature"--Provided by publisher

Excerpt from Mordecai M. Noah's Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews: Republished in Extract With an Introductory Note Russia, with a steady glance and firm step, approaches Turkey in Europe, and when her railroads are completed to the Black Sea, will pour in her Cossacks from the Don and the Vistula, and Constantinople will be occupied by the descendants of the Tartar dynasty, and all Turkey in Europe, united to Greece, will con stitute either an independent empire, or be occupied by Russia who, with one arm on the Mediterranean, and the other on the North Sea, will nearly embrace all Europe. The counterbalance of this gigantic power will be a firm and liberal union of Austria with all Italy and the Roman States, down to the borders of Gaul: but the revolution will not end here. England must pos sess Egypt, as affording the only secure route to her possessions in India through the Red Sea; then Palestine, thus placed be tween the Russian possessions and Egypt, reverts to its legitimate proprietors, and for the safety of the surrounding nations, a powerful, wealthy, independent and enterprising people are placed there by and with the consent of the Christian powers, and with their aid and agency the land of Israel passes once more into the possession of the descendants of Abraham. The ports of the Mediterranean will be again opened to the busy hum of commerce; the fields will again bear the fruitful harvest, and the Christian and Jew will together, on Mount Zion, raise their voices in praise of Him whose covenant with Abraham was to en dure forever, and in whose seed all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. This is our destiny. Every attempt to colonize the Jews in other countries has failed; their eye has steadily rested on their own beloved Jerusalem, and they have said, The time will come, the promise will be fulfilled. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several prominent Zionists warned that the Jewish People were disappearing due to assimilation and antisemitism. They believed that the best means to preserve the "Jewish race" was to found a new Jewish State. This source book republishes the following foundational texts of these racial Zionists: Mordecai Manuel Noah, Discourse, "Delivered at the Consecration of the Synagogue of [K.k. She'erit Yisra'el] in the City of New-york, on Friday, the 10th of Nisan, 5578, Corresponding with the 17th of April, 1818", C. S. Van Winkle, New York, (1818); "Discourse on the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel", James Van Norden, New York, (1837); "Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews: Delivered at the Tabernacle, Oct. 28 and Dec. 2, 1844", Harper & Brothers, New York, (1845). Moses Hess, "Rome and Jerusalem: A Study in Jewish Nationalism", Bloch Publishing Company, New York, (1918). Leo Pinsker, "Auto-Emancipation", The Maccabaean Publishing Company, New York, (1906). Theodor Herzl, "A Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question", The Maccabæan Publishing Co., New York, (1904). Israel Zangwill, "The Problem of the Jewish Race", The Judaen Publishing Company, New York, (1914). Ignatz Zollschan, "Jewish Questions: Three Lectures", Bloch Publishing Company, New York, (1914). Louis Dembitz Brandeis, "The Jewish Problem: How to Solve It", Zionist Essays Pub. Committee, New York, (1915). Rabbi Max Reichler, "Jewish Eugenics: A Paper Read Before the New York Board of Jewish Ministers", Bloch Publishing Company, New York, (1916). Arthur Balfour as quoted in: "Mr. Balfour on Zionism. The Case for a National Home." London Times, (12 February 1919), page 9.