Jacob Abendana

The son of New Christian parents, Jacob Abendana was either born in Hamburg or arrived there as a young child. He was ordained as a ḥakham (rabbi) in Amsterdam by the time he was twenty-five. Abendana was in contact with Christian scholars, and translated the Mishnah into Spanish, although the translation was never found. He published Solomon ibn Melekh’s Mikhlol yofi (Perfection of Beauty; 1660/61), a linguistic commentary on the Pentateuch, Joshua, and parts of Judges. Abendana published in Amsterdam in 1663 his translation of Judah Halevi’s philosophical work, the Kuzari, into Spanish. Abendana later joined his brother, Isaac, in England, selling Hebrew books to various clients, among them the Bodleian Library in Oxford. He was appointed ḥakham of the Spanish Portuguese synagogue in London in 1681.