The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena's Life of Judah

by Leone Modena

Book Overview

Leon (Judah Aryeh) Modena was a major intellectual figure of the early modern Italian Jewish community--a complex and intriguing personality who was famous among contemporary European Christians as well as Jews. Modena (1571-1648) produced an autobiography that documents in poignant detail the turbulent life of his family in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. The text of this work is well known to Jewish scholars but has never before been translated...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691008248
• ISBN13: 9780691008240
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

An inside look into the life of a great Italian Jewish Rabbi

The Autobiography Of A Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi is a unique and interesting book. It is unique in that it is one of the only autobiographies ever written by a rabbi of such stature. The book is very interesting due to the inside view it gives the reader into Jewish life in the Italian ghetto at that period in history. Not often do we find such a marvelous first hand account of history.Aside from the holistic historic perspective it gives, the personal life of Leon De Modena is an amazing story of survival. His tragic life is reminiscent of the life of Job. The book also gives us a clue of Leon Modena's genius and talents as an author, scholar, playwright and poet. The book contains two parts; one, the autobiography itself (highly recommended). The other part consists of various essays on the autobiography, the author and the historic outlook. In the essays Leon de Modena was portrayed as a typical product of the renaissance period. Leon de Modena was by no means "typical". The essays also describe his autobiography as a characterless, objective perspective. In fact the book is full of personal feelings and emotions. The lame attempt in the essays to define and describe Leon Modena's character is an understatement of the largest scale, bordering the term 'insult'. Leon Modena's life was so colorful that no artist can paint the colors, no writer can read his limits, and no book can define his character.

<br>A spectacular insight to Italian Jewry and gehtto life

The Autobiography Of A Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi is a unique and interesting book. It is unique in that it is one of the only autobiographies ever written by a rabbi of such stature. The book is very interesting due to the inside view it gives the reader into Jewish life in the Italian ghetto at that period in history. Not often do we find such a marvelous first hand account of history. Aside from the holistic historic perspective it gives, the personal life of Leon De Modena is an amazing story of survival. His tragic life is reminiscent of the life of Job. The book also gives us a clue of Leon Modena's genius and talents as an author, scholar, playwright and poet. The book contains two parts; one, the autobiography itself (which I highly recommend). The other part consists on various essays on the autobiography, the author and the historic outlook. In the essays Leon de Modena was portrayed as a typical product of the renaissance period. Leon de Modena was by no means "typical". Another flaw is the manner in which the essays portrayed his autobiography as a characterless perspective, when in fact the book is full of personal feelings and emotions. The lame attempt to define and describe Leon Modena's character which is found in the essays is an understatement of the largest scale, bordering the term 'insult'. Leon Modena's life was so colorful that no artist can paint the colors, no writer can read his limits, and no book can define his character. For comments, contact: Eli Bernstein 6B Kobelke st. Dianella 6059 WA Australia