Igerot Shadal (Letters of Samuel David Luzzatto)

The poet, rabbi, and scholar Samuel David Luzzatto, also known as Shadal, was born in Trieste. He began writing poetry from a young age, and later penned academic works on Jewish history and the Bible. He translated the Ashkenazi prayer book into Italian in 1821–1822, and the Italian rite in 1829. Luzzatto joined the faculty of the Padua rabbinical college in 1829, where he taught until his death. A strong critic of Jewish mysticism, he upheld the value of Jewish traditions, believing that Judaism expressed universal humanist morals. Posthumously, Luzzatto’s correspondence with other Jewish intellectuals, his early manuscripts, and varied writings were compiled and published by his son.