Jacob Ṣemaḥ, Humanist
Jacob Ṣemaḥ (ca. 1578–1667), an erudite physician-kabbalist, was raised amongst the conversos of Viana de Caminha in northwest Portugal. He fled the country in his mid-thirties to live openly as a Jew, arriving first in Salonica. Ṣemaḥ was responsible for the consolidation of the Lurianic literary c...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2022
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In: |
European journal of jewish studies
Year: 2022, Volume: 16, Issue: 1, Pages: 93-116 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Tsemaḥ, Yaʿaḳov ben Ḥayim ca. -nach 1665
/ Portugal
/ Education
/ Cabala
/ Knowledge communication
/ Humanist
|
RelBib Classification: | AF Geography of religion AG Religious life; material religion BH Judaism KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBH Iberian Peninsula |
Further subjects: | B
Jacob Ṣemaḥ
B Lurianic Kabbalah B converso B Humanism |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Jacob Ṣemaḥ (ca. 1578–1667), an erudite physician-kabbalist, was raised amongst the conversos of Viana de Caminha in northwest Portugal. He fled the country in his mid-thirties to live openly as a Jew, arriving first in Salonica. Ṣemaḥ was responsible for the consolidation of the Lurianic literary corpus in the second third of the seventeenth century. His contribution, I argue, should be situated in the broader context of a scholarly curriculum vitae that began decades before his flight from Portugal, as Ṣemaḥ embraced Jewish life as a humanist. Coupled with his natural gifts and genius, Ṣemaḥ’s humanist education served him remarkably well in his new life. The interesting question is therefore not “how might he have learned Torah in Portugal” but “how did his Portuguese educational background affect—indeed, effect may be the more apt term—his Jewish scholarship?” |
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ISSN: | 1872-471X |
Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal of jewish studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/1872471X-bja10032 |