Samuel Abbas (also known as Samuel ben Isaac Abbas) translated Baḥya Ibn Pakuda’s famous ethical treatise, Ḥovot ha-levavot (Duties of the Heart), into Portuguese as Hobat alebabot Obrigacam dos coracoens livro moral. He also translated from Dutch to Portuguese the work of a young proselyte, Jan Richen (from the city of Hoorn), called Keset Yonatan (Bow of Jonathan. During his life, Abbas amassed an impressive library that included 1,136 books in different languages. He was buried with his wife in the Jewish cemetery of Hamburg/Altona.
Never have I been content with my narrow, dark, gloomy world, and always am I aware of the contrast between the great, beautiful world and my tiny, ugly world. And always I say, “The place is too…
In the interwar period, Liebermann’s portraits were highly sought after by the wealthy. He also produced many self-portraits. This one, painted when he was in his seventies, portrays him as a self…
This is a short essay on the debate concerning practical halakhic issues that took place between the sages of Safed and those of Jerusalem wherein the sages of Safed saw fit to implement the ruling…