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.
Born to converso parents and baptized as Manoel Dias Soeiro, Menasseh Ben
Israel moved as a boy with his family to Amsterdam, where
they reverted openly to Judaism. In 1626, he established the first…
Don Francisco Lopes Suasso (Abraham Israel Suasso, 1657–1710) was born in Amsterdam, the oldest child of wealthy Portuguese Jewish banker Antonio Lopes Suasso. Francisco followed in his father’s…
“‘Do you want me to release to you your King of the Jews?’ asked Pilate of the multitude.
“‘What is that? What does he say?’
“‘The Procurator asks whom shall he release to you for the festival: Bar…