Classics and Religious Studies, Department of

 

Date of this Version

5-1-2000

Comments

This permanent exhibition is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Library and is online at http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/cajs/exhibit/
The PDF document is 94 pages (on 48 letter-size sheets), and was prepared using the online materials in October 2006.

Abstract

Christian Hebraism was an offshoot of Renaissance humanism whose devotees—biblical scholars, theologians, lawyers, physicians, scientists, philosophers, and teachers in Latin schools—borrowed and adapted texts, literary forms, and ideas from Jewish scholarship and tradition to meet Christian cultural and religious needs. Intellectual and cultural exchange did occur between Jew and Christian during the Middle Ages, but paled by comparison with what occurred between 1450 and 1750. Encounters between cultures can be fruitful, but also very painful. Certainly Christian Hebraism had such effects both upon European Jewry, and upon western tradition. One of the most tangible witnesses to the sudden and sustained popularity of Hebraica and Judaica among Christian writers and readers during this period are books. In addition to our discussions throughout the year and the final conference, we fellows would like to share some of the books that we found most intriguing or most useful in our research. Participating fellows have each chosen a book, written a short description of it and picked an illustration to go with it. Each of these books may be found in the library of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies or at Van Pelt Library, the main library of the University of Pennsylvania. The understanding of Judaism held by the authors of these works is not always entirely accurate, and frequently they were involved in controversies that either baffle or infuriate contemporary readers, yet some of their work has stood the test of time. Christian Hebraism in its day mediated Jewish thought to the majority of western thinkers who could not read Hebrew and contributed to the emergence of several modern scholarly disciplines including cultural anthropology, comparative religion, and Jewish studies. This encounter with Judaism paradoxically served both to confirm traditional religious beliefs in some readers, while for others it fostered the skepticism, irreligion, and toleration normally associated with the Enlightenment. While Judaism's claim to be one of the three pillars of Western Civilization, together with Greek and Roman culture, rests primarily on the importance of the Hebrew Bible, Christian Hebraists in early modern Europe made their contribution by enriching western thought with a healthy dose of Jewish education. This permanent online exhibit includes works by: Ramón Llull (ca. 1232–1315); Raymundus Maritini (Ramón Martí, 1220 – 1285); Johanan Allemanno (ca. 1435–ca. 1504); Aldo Manuzio (1449 or 50–1515); the Complutensian Polyglot (1514–1517); Agostino Giustiniani, bishop of Nebbio (1470–1536; Elijah Levita (1468 or 9–1549); Luther, Martin (1483–1546); Arama, Isaac ben Moses (ca. 1420–1494); Santi Pagnini (1470–1541), David Kimhi (ca. 1160–ca. 1235); Azariah ben Moses de Rossi (ca. 1511–ca. 1578); Johann Bux-torf (1564–1629); Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino (1542–1621); Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678); John Lightfoot (1602–1675); Judah, ha-Levi (12th cent.); Lancelot Addison (1632–1703); Freiherr Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636–1689); Leone Modena (1571–1648); Johann von Lent; Yom Tov Lipmann Mülhausen (14th/15th cent.); John Toland (1670–1722); Paul Christian Kirchner; John Selden (1584–1654); Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten (1706–1757); Voltaire (1694–1778) Contributors to the exhibit include Piet van Boxel, Stephen Burnett, Allison Coudert, Ya-akov Deutsch, Harvey Goldberg, Chanita Goodblatt, Chaim (Harvey) Hames, Michael Heyd, Seth Jerchower, Jonathan Karp, Fabrizio Lelli, Ora Limor, Nils Roemer, Jason Rosenblatt, Adam Shear, Jeffrey S. Shoulson, Guy Stroumsa, Adam Sutcliffe, Joanna Weinberg, Israel Yuval, Etty Lassman, and Arthur Kiron.

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