Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113577
- eISBN:
- 9781800340435
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113577.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter highlights the various aspects of the daily lives of the poor. In Amsterdam, the poor among the Portuguese Jewish community ranged from the highly educated to the illiterate. On the one ...
More
This chapter highlights the various aspects of the daily lives of the poor. In Amsterdam, the poor among the Portuguese Jewish community ranged from the highly educated to the illiterate. On the one hand there were those whose sense of honour debarred them from asking for poor relief, and on the other there were those described as inveterate beggars. There were men and women; large, complete families and fragmented units; and there were people left completely on their own. Some were healthy or young or both, others old or sick or both, with all sorts of variations between them. Many applied for poor relief no more than occasionally; others relied permanently on outside help. The poor relief provided by the Portuguese community constituted no more than a supplement to income from work, private funds, and legacies, and help from friends, relatives, private charity, and other sources. Sephardi Jews who had no access to these sources, or who missed out in other ways, found themselves forced to seek their fortune elsewhere sooner or later.Less
This chapter highlights the various aspects of the daily lives of the poor. In Amsterdam, the poor among the Portuguese Jewish community ranged from the highly educated to the illiterate. On the one hand there were those whose sense of honour debarred them from asking for poor relief, and on the other there were those described as inveterate beggars. There were men and women; large, complete families and fragmented units; and there were people left completely on their own. Some were healthy or young or both, others old or sick or both, with all sorts of variations between them. Many applied for poor relief no more than occasionally; others relied permanently on outside help. The poor relief provided by the Portuguese community constituted no more than a supplement to income from work, private funds, and legacies, and help from friends, relatives, private charity, and other sources. Sephardi Jews who had no access to these sources, or who missed out in other ways, found themselves forced to seek their fortune elsewhere sooner or later.
Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113577
- eISBN:
- 9781800340435
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113577.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents a demographic outline of poverty in the Portuguese Jewish community in early modern Amsterdam. It has become clear from examining records of the numbers of people on poor relief ...
More
This chapter presents a demographic outline of poverty in the Portuguese Jewish community in early modern Amsterdam. It has become clear from examining records of the numbers of people on poor relief that at times the community was larger than used to be assumed. Behind the beautiful façade of prosperity and grandeza that the community liked to show to the outside world, the kahal had to wrestle with the ever more pressing dilemma of having to look after paupers, who had flocked to Amsterdam expecting to find there a safe and sheltered life, free of persecution, war, and economic depression. By the end of the seventeenth century, a third of all Portuguese Jews were drawing permanent poor relief and almost half were drawing either permanent or temporary poor relief. Portuguese on welfare were often found in small families, mostly headed by women; larger families tended to be headed by men. In the eighteenth century, the character of Portuguese poverty changed. From then on—with the exception of single women—the poor were dominated by men trying to support their families through the economic slump with financial help from the Portuguese community.Less
This chapter presents a demographic outline of poverty in the Portuguese Jewish community in early modern Amsterdam. It has become clear from examining records of the numbers of people on poor relief that at times the community was larger than used to be assumed. Behind the beautiful façade of prosperity and grandeza that the community liked to show to the outside world, the kahal had to wrestle with the ever more pressing dilemma of having to look after paupers, who had flocked to Amsterdam expecting to find there a safe and sheltered life, free of persecution, war, and economic depression. By the end of the seventeenth century, a third of all Portuguese Jews were drawing permanent poor relief and almost half were drawing either permanent or temporary poor relief. Portuguese on welfare were often found in small families, mostly headed by women; larger families tended to be headed by men. In the eighteenth century, the character of Portuguese poverty changed. From then on—with the exception of single women—the poor were dominated by men trying to support their families through the economic slump with financial help from the Portuguese community.
Tirtsah Levie-Bernfeld
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113577
- eISBN:
- 9781800340435
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113577.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Early modern Amsterdam was a prosperous city renowned for its relative tolerance, and many people hoping for a better future, away from persecution, wars, and economic malaise, chose to make a new ...
More
Early modern Amsterdam was a prosperous city renowned for its relative tolerance, and many people hoping for a better future, away from persecution, wars, and economic malaise, chose to make a new life there. Conversos and Jews from many countries were among them, attracted by the reputed wealth and benevolence of the Portuguese Jews who had settled there. Behind the facade of prosperity, however, poverty was a serious problem. It preoccupied the leadership of the Portuguese Jewish community and influenced its policy on admitting newcomers. This book looks at poverty and welfare from the perspective of both benefactors and recipients. The book analyses benefactors' motives for philanthropy and charts its dimensions; it also examines the decision-making processes of communal bodies and private philanthropists, identifying the cultural influences that shaped their commitment to welfare. At the same time the book succeeds in bringing the poor to life: it examines what brought them to Amsterdam, aspects of their daily life in the petitions they sent to the different welfare institutions, and the survival strategies offered by work, education, and charity. The book also considers the related questions of social mobility and the motivation of the poor for joining the Amsterdam Portuguese community, and finally, to the small but active groups of Sephardi bandits who formed their own clandestine networks. Special attention is paid to poor women, who were often singled out for relief. In this way the book makes a much-needed contribution to the study of gender, in Jewish society and more generally.Less
Early modern Amsterdam was a prosperous city renowned for its relative tolerance, and many people hoping for a better future, away from persecution, wars, and economic malaise, chose to make a new life there. Conversos and Jews from many countries were among them, attracted by the reputed wealth and benevolence of the Portuguese Jews who had settled there. Behind the facade of prosperity, however, poverty was a serious problem. It preoccupied the leadership of the Portuguese Jewish community and influenced its policy on admitting newcomers. This book looks at poverty and welfare from the perspective of both benefactors and recipients. The book analyses benefactors' motives for philanthropy and charts its dimensions; it also examines the decision-making processes of communal bodies and private philanthropists, identifying the cultural influences that shaped their commitment to welfare. At the same time the book succeeds in bringing the poor to life: it examines what brought them to Amsterdam, aspects of their daily life in the petitions they sent to the different welfare institutions, and the survival strategies offered by work, education, and charity. The book also considers the related questions of social mobility and the motivation of the poor for joining the Amsterdam Portuguese community, and finally, to the small but active groups of Sephardi bandits who formed their own clandestine networks. Special attention is paid to poor women, who were often singled out for relief. In this way the book makes a much-needed contribution to the study of gender, in Jewish society and more generally.
Yosef Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197100608
- eISBN:
- 9781800340350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780197100608.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter addresses Isaac Orobio de Castro's critique of the Arbor Scientiæ (1663) of the Franciscan theologian Raymond Lull. Having read the translation of Spanish officer don Alonso de Zepeda, ...
More
This chapter addresses Isaac Orobio de Castro's critique of the Arbor Scientiæ (1663) of the Franciscan theologian Raymond Lull. Having read the translation of Spanish officer don Alonso de Zepeda, Orobio composed a short tract. In this treatise, Orobio did not set out to deal with Lull's theology in full. Rather, he chose to rain shattering blows on the way in which Lull had attempted, in accordance with his overall system, to prove the existence of the holy trinity, also questioning the methodological structure on which Lull's religious philosophy was in general based. Meanwhile, the speed with which Orobio integrated himself into the Portuguese-Jewish community is eloquent not only of the extent to which the congregation had attuned itself to the social and spiritual absorption of crypto-Jews reverting to Judaism, but also of Orobio's own readiness to play an active part in the communal life of its membership. The chapter then considers Orobio's medical practice in Amsterdam.Less
This chapter addresses Isaac Orobio de Castro's critique of the Arbor Scientiæ (1663) of the Franciscan theologian Raymond Lull. Having read the translation of Spanish officer don Alonso de Zepeda, Orobio composed a short tract. In this treatise, Orobio did not set out to deal with Lull's theology in full. Rather, he chose to rain shattering blows on the way in which Lull had attempted, in accordance with his overall system, to prove the existence of the holy trinity, also questioning the methodological structure on which Lull's religious philosophy was in general based. Meanwhile, the speed with which Orobio integrated himself into the Portuguese-Jewish community is eloquent not only of the extent to which the congregation had attuned itself to the social and spiritual absorption of crypto-Jews reverting to Judaism, but also of Orobio's own readiness to play an active part in the communal life of its membership. The chapter then considers Orobio's medical practice in Amsterdam.
Yosef Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197100608
- eISBN:
- 9781800340350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780197100608.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter discusses Isaac Orobio's encounters with philosophers, theologians, and poets. In 1684, Orobio published in Amsterdam his Certamen Philosophicum, Propugnatae Veritatis Divinae ac ...
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This chapter discusses Isaac Orobio's encounters with philosophers, theologians, and poets. In 1684, Orobio published in Amsterdam his Certamen Philosophicum, Propugnatae Veritatis Divinae ac Naturalis adversus Joh. Bredenburg. This work was received with marked respect in philosophical circles in Holland and abroad, and it constituted Orobio one of the leaders of the campaign against Barukh Spinoza's philosophy. The chapter then considers the debate which took place in Amsterdam between Orobio and Christian theologian Philip van Limborch. It also looks at how, in 1685, a number of writers, poets, and lovers of poetry and art in the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam founded a literary society with the name of La Academia de los Florido. Orobio was a founder-member and one of the regular participants in its proceedings.Less
This chapter discusses Isaac Orobio's encounters with philosophers, theologians, and poets. In 1684, Orobio published in Amsterdam his Certamen Philosophicum, Propugnatae Veritatis Divinae ac Naturalis adversus Joh. Bredenburg. This work was received with marked respect in philosophical circles in Holland and abroad, and it constituted Orobio one of the leaders of the campaign against Barukh Spinoza's philosophy. The chapter then considers the debate which took place in Amsterdam between Orobio and Christian theologian Philip van Limborch. It also looks at how, in 1685, a number of writers, poets, and lovers of poetry and art in the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam founded a literary society with the name of La Academia de los Florido. Orobio was a founder-member and one of the regular participants in its proceedings.
Yosef Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197100608
- eISBN:
- 9781800340350
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780197100608.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Isaac Orobio de Castro, a crypto-Jew from Portugal, was one of the most prominent intellectual figures of the Sephardi Diaspora in the seventeenth century. After studying medicine and theology in ...
More
Isaac Orobio de Castro, a crypto-Jew from Portugal, was one of the most prominent intellectual figures of the Sephardi Diaspora in the seventeenth century. After studying medicine and theology in Spain, and having pursued a distinguished medical career, he was arrested by the Spanish Inquisition for practising Judaism, tortured, tried, and imprisoned. He subsequently emigrated to France and became a professor of medicine at the University of Toulouse before openly professing his Judaism and going to Amsterdam where he joined the thriving Portuguese Jewish community. Amsterdam was then a city of great cultural creativity and religious pluralism where Orobio found open to him the world of religious thinkers and learned scholars. In this atmosphere, he flourished and became an outstanding spokesman and apologist for the Jewish community. He engaged in controversy with Juan de Prado and Baruch Spinoza, who were both excommunicated by the Portuguese Jewish community, as well as with Christian theologians of various sects and denominations, including Philip van Limborch. This biography of Orobio sheds light on the complex life of a unique Jewish community of former Christians who had openly returned to Judaism. It focuses on the particular dilemmas of the converts, their attempts to establish boundaries between their Christian past and their new identity, their internal conflicts, and their ability to create new forms of Jewish life and expression.Less
Isaac Orobio de Castro, a crypto-Jew from Portugal, was one of the most prominent intellectual figures of the Sephardi Diaspora in the seventeenth century. After studying medicine and theology in Spain, and having pursued a distinguished medical career, he was arrested by the Spanish Inquisition for practising Judaism, tortured, tried, and imprisoned. He subsequently emigrated to France and became a professor of medicine at the University of Toulouse before openly professing his Judaism and going to Amsterdam where he joined the thriving Portuguese Jewish community. Amsterdam was then a city of great cultural creativity and religious pluralism where Orobio found open to him the world of religious thinkers and learned scholars. In this atmosphere, he flourished and became an outstanding spokesman and apologist for the Jewish community. He engaged in controversy with Juan de Prado and Baruch Spinoza, who were both excommunicated by the Portuguese Jewish community, as well as with Christian theologians of various sects and denominations, including Philip van Limborch. This biography of Orobio sheds light on the complex life of a unique Jewish community of former Christians who had openly returned to Judaism. It focuses on the particular dilemmas of the converts, their attempts to establish boundaries between their Christian past and their new identity, their internal conflicts, and their ability to create new forms of Jewish life and expression.