MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL
(1604-1657)
MANUEL MENDES SOEIRO, was born in the island of Madeira, as a son of Gaspar Rodrigues Nunes, an anuss (Jew forced to convert to Christianity).
After appearing in an auto-de-fe in Lisbon, as a penitent, the father escaped with his family to Amsterdam, where he took the name of Joseph Ben-Israel. Joseph was the name of one of the sons of the patriarch Jacob (Israel) also known as Joseph of Egypt, who had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Those were the names that Gaspar Rodrigues Nunes, alias Joseph Ben-Israel, gave to his two sons.
Manasseh became a member of the Hevrah for Talmud Torah at the age of 12, began to frequent the yeshivot when he was 14, made his first public oration in Portuguese when he was 15 and at 17 wrote his first book, Safah Berurah, an umpublished grammatical work.
In 1622 he succeeded R. Isaac Uzziel as preacher to the Neveh Shalom congregation.
He founded the earliest Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam (1626), where he published works in Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese for the remainder of his life.
Penei Rabbah, his index to the Midrashim, appeared in 1628. The first part of his Conciliador (1632, in Spanish, afterward in Latin), reconciling apparently discordant biblical passages, gained him a great reputation in Christian circles. The remaining three parts appeared in Spanish only (1641, 1651).
Many of his works were largely directed to non-Jews: The Creatione, De Termino Vitae, De Resurrectione Mortuorum, De Fragilitated Humana – all in Latin.
For the sake of the Portuguese anussim he wrote and published Thesouro dos Dinim, a code of Jewish Law.
Other works were: Piedra Gloriosa, Nishmat Hayyim, The Hope of Israel (Esperanza de Israel), the last being a description of the reported discovery of the Lost Ten Tribes in South America.
In an effort to solicit the goodwill of the English parliament toward the return of the Jews to England, Manasseh dedicated to them the Latin edition of his Esperanza.
WORKS BY MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL AND PRAYER AND RITUAL BOOKS PRINTED IN HIS PRINTING HOUSE:
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Humas de Parasioth y Aftharoth
Sefer peney rabah Mahzor. Orden de Ros Asanah y Kipur Prayerbook for New Year and Day of Atonement. Amsterdam: Menasseh Ben Israel, 5390 (= 1630). 234 ff. 8°. Orden de los cincos Tahanioth Printed by order of Efraim Bueno and Yonah Abravanel. Amsterdam: 5390 (= 1630). 222 ff. 8°. Hebrew Bible, unvocalized Amstelodami. Sumptibus Henrici Laurentii 1630. 612 pp. 8°. Pentateuch with Targum, Five Scrolls and the Haftaroth Printed and corrected in Amsterdam at Menasseh ben Josef Ben Israel. Amstelreodami. Sumptibus Henrici Laurentii 1631. 256 ff. 4°. Seder arba Ta'aniyyot Prayers for Fasting. Sephardic rites. Printed on request of David Pardo and Shalom ben Joseph Gallego. Amsterdam: Menasseh Ben Israel, 5391 (= 1631). 116 ff. 8°. Mishnayot Unvocalized. 2 parts. Title in Latin: Misnaioth sive Textus Thalmudicus a variis mendis, quibus priores editiones scatebant, repurgatus. Accedunt breve in margine notae. Amsterdam: Menasseh Ben Israel, 5393 (= 1633). Part I: 113 ff. Part II: 155 ff. 8°. Conciliador o de la conveniencia de los Lugares de la S. Escriptura que repugnantes entre si parecen Part II: Amsterdam, Nic. de Ravesteyn, 5041 [*5401] (= 1641). [15] 195 [21] pp. 4°. Part III: Amsterdam, Semuel ben Israel Soeiro, 5410 (= 1650). [11] 208 [6] pp. 4°. Part IV: Amsterdam, Semuel Ben Israel Soeiro, 5411 (= 1651). 201 [7] pp. 4°. Conciliator sive de convenientia locorum S. Scripturae, quae pugnare inter se videntur Bibl.Ros. 19F8: On title-page: Francofurti [Amstelodami], auctoris typis et impensis There is another edition of this book, entitled: The contents are the same as those of the 1633 edition, but there is no preface.
Extracto del doctissimo libro llamado Ressit hohma, traduzido nuevamente del Hebrayco, a nuestro vulgar idioma. By Elia ben Moses Vidas. Translated by David de Ishac Coen de Lara. Amsterdam: Menasseh Ben Israel, 5393 (= 1633). Dedicated to David de Lima, sonnet by Josseph Frances dedicated to the translator and preface by De Lara. 210 pp. 4°. Siddur berakha. Orden de bendición Tehillim. Psalterium Hebraeum De Creatione Problemata XXX: Sefer Tehillim. Psalms Bible (vocalized) De Resurrectione Mortuorum Libri III Orden de la oraciones del mes, Hilhoth sechita 'Esrim we'arba'ah Shevet Yehudah
Tseror hahayim. De termino vitae: libri tres Menasse Ben Israels vvelkomst De la fragilidad humana, y inclinacion del hombre al peccado Dissertatio de fragilitate humana ex lapsu Adami Mishnayot Part I: 207 ff. 24°. Bibl. Ros. 20D5. Part II: 289 ff. 24°. Bibl. Ros. 20D6. Perush Rashi Thesouro dos Dinim, que o povo de Israel he obrigado saber e observar Seder ha-ma'amadot Psalterium Hebraeum Mishnayot Hamishah Humshey Torah Miqveh Yisra'el. The hope of Israel Machzor de las oraciones del año Sefer Nishmath hayyim Humas o cinco libros de la Ley Divina 'Even yeqarah. Piedra Gloriosa o de la Estatua de Nebuchadnesar To his Highnesse The Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
Bibliography about Manasseh Ben Israel: The Hope of Israel: The English Translation by Moses Wall, 1652 (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization) A Life of Menasseh Ben Israel: Rabbi, Printer, and Diplomat  Menasseh ben Israel's mission to Oliver Cromwell: Being a reprint of the pamphlets published by Menasseh ben Israel to promote the re-admission of the Jews to England, 1649-1656;  The Collection Menasseh Ben Israel, CD-ROM  Life of Menasseh Ben Israel (The Modern Jewish experience)  Menasseh Ben Israel and His World (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History)  L'aigle d'amsterdam. menasseh ben Israël (1604-1657)  Esto es Esperanza de Israel.Reimpresion a plana y renglon del libro del Teologo y Filosofo Hebreo... sobre el origen de los americanos publicado en Amsterdam en 5410 (1650)  Justice pour les juifs : Vindiciae Judaeorum  The Hope of Israel  Menasseh ben Israel: Manuel Dias Soeiro, 1604-1657 : a bibliography (Bibliographical series)  The first Hebrew types of Menasseh Ben Israel  Genealogies of M.B. Israel family: Cf--Studia Rosenthaliana  Menasseh Ben Israel as a bookseller in the light of new data / L. and R. Fuks  Menasseh ben Israel and some unpublished pages of American history  Menasseh ben Israel's mission to Queen Christina of Sweden, 1651-1655  Hebrew glosses and notes by Marco Luzzatto occurring in his Italian translation of Menasseh ben Israel's "Conciliator,"  Hebrew glosses and notes by Marco Luzzatto occurring in his Italian translation of Menasseh ben Israel's "Conciliator,"
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