Discorso circa il stato de gl’Hebrei et in particolar dimoranti nell’inclita Citta di Venetia (Discourse on the Condition of the Jews, and in Particular Those Living in the Illustrious City of Venice): On the Jewish Population

Consideration XVIII

As for the number of the Jews, one cannot precisely determine it, not even having firm knowledge of the places in which they dwell. Regarding the ten tribes that were captured by Salmanesser before the destruction of the First Temple, we have no certain information about them, despite the fact that today all the world is being explored and new places are being discovered. Beginning with the eastern region, we know that a great number of them found shelter with tolerable liberty under the king of Persia. The state of the Turkish ruler is now the principal dwelling place of the Nation, not only because of their long-standing residence, but also because of the arrival of the Jews banished from Spain, since a great portion of them finally gathered in that dominion.

This happened primarily because of the free exercise of their religion granted by the Turks, in their usual tolerance towards any foreign religion. And since there was a vast number of Greeks and observers of other rites, no specific attention was paid to the Jews. Furthermore, they are permitted to possess real estate and to exercise other professions. Since there is no aristocracy [there], the possession of land is not held in esteem; and land is even owned to a great extent by the Greeks, who, for the most part, devote themselves to handicrafts. The Turks attend to the military and the governing of the people in such a way that no occasion is given for hatred and violence. One might suggest that the shared rite of circumcision would lead to a peaceful relationship, but this is not true, since experience teaches that people who have some rites in common and others that are dissimilar get along less well than those whose practices are absolutely distinct and separate.

In Constantinople and Salonika, there are a greater number of Jews than in other cities; it is estimated that in these two alone there are over eighty thousand and it is estimated that in the Turkish Empire there are more than several million Jews. In the Holy Land, and in particular Jerusalem, not only do a great number of Jews from all the countries of the earth arrive annually, but they are also provided with a very great sum of annual revenue in order to maintain the poor and to sustain academies.

In Imperial Germany, there are a great number of them, but there are many more in Poland, Russia, and Lithuania. There are academies and universities for thousands of young people who are trained in civil law and the canon law of the Jews, since those regions allow the free judgment of all differences and controversies, both civil and criminal, that occur within the Nation.

For the most part, the Jews do not reside in the dominions separated from the Roman church. It is certain that in some matters the Jewish Nation inclines to the Roman opinion more than to their beliefs. The Jews maintain that in many places the Sacred Scripture is not intelligible without the light of tradition, placing great value on it, and relying on it, as I have already demonstrated. They also believe that meritorious deeds please God, and they practice them very often, accompanied, however, with faith. They believe in free will, and they consider it to be a principle article of their beliefs; they likewise affirm that the merits of others can be of help to those who are less deserving, and that the living pray for the souls of the dead. They say that the penance of the penitent is real, and not simply putative, that it bestows absolution, as Calvin believed. And even though their authors do not frequently mention the word “purgatory,” they divide the fate of the separated soul into three parts: beatitude, finite temporal punishment, and the eternal. For they believe that God absolves guilt, but He still exacts punishment. Their prayers are in the Hebrew language, not in the vernacular. [ . . . ]

Nevertheless, they [the Jews] are treated with great compassion and kindness in the Low Countries, as in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Hamburg in Holstein, because these are places that, on account of the prosperity of the mercantile profession, grant refuge to all.

Towards the west, there remains only Italy, and on the coast of Africa, the kingdoms of Fez and Morocco. As far as Italy is concerned, [the Jews] are universally protected and favoured by the princes who receive them, and their general pardons and privileges are honoured as they stand. And because this is visible to everyone, it is not necessary for me to elaborate on it [here]. I believe the Jews in Italy to amount to a number of twenty-five thousand. In Morocco and Fez and other surrounding cities not under Turkish dominion, there are very large numbers of them, those exiled from Castile and Portugal having also come to those parts, because of the proximity of such places. It is said that there is a considerably greater number of Jews in the Mediterranean parts of Africa. However, since these countries are less frequented and virtually unknown, one cannot determine the number with certainty.

The opinions and dogmas of this entire Nation, so divided, torn apart, and split up, are uniform; the ceremonial rites are the same, and only slightly dissimilar with regard to some non-essentials. As Haman, the enemy of the Nation, said to Ahasveros: “There is a certain people dispersed in all the provinces of the kingdom.”¹ Although he told many great lies, he could not conceal this uniformity, for the Jews differ only in custom, a diversity stemming from the reasons mentioned above.