Portrait of Nathan of Gaza

Artist Unknown

1669

Image

Print engraving of man in head covering pointing to open book with one hand and gesturing with the other, with Dutch and French text underneath. — Nathan of Gaza (also known as Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha Ḥayim ha-Levi Ashkenazi) was born in Jerusalem and moved to Gaza in around 1663. The son of a respected religious scholar, he became a scholar of Talmud and also studied kabbalah. In 1665, he had a vision that Shabbetai Tzvi was the Messiah and publicly urged him to proclaim himself. He served as Shabbetai Tzvi’s “prophet,” writing letters that spread news of the messianic movement to Jewish communities around the world. This engraving appears in Thomas Coenen's book about Shabbetai Tzvi, *Ydele verwachtinger Joden* (*Vain Hopes of the Jews*), which also contained a portrait of Shabbetai Tzvi himself.

Credits

Courtesy Allard Pierson — the Collections of the University of Amsterdam, ROK A-914.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Wedding Riddle

This wedding riddle from Italy is written in Hebrew and Judeo-Italian. Wedding songs, sometimes performed by professional jesters, were traditional at Jewish weddings. Some had lyrics in the form of…

View Source

Print portrait of bearded man in circular frame with Latin text encircling him and in frame below.

Portrait of Doctor Abraham Zacutus

This is an image of the physician Abraham Zacutus, of Amsterdam. A physician and writer of medical works, Abraham Zacutus was born in Lisbon and later studied medicine in Coimbra and Salamanca, in…

View Source

These silver Torah finials with bells adorned a Torah scroll at the consecration ceremony of the Mill Street Synagogue of Congregation Shearith Israel, which opened in New York in 1730 and was located…

View Source

Engage with this Source

Details

Public Access

Image