Letter to Menaḥem Azariah da Fano

Behold, the Cremoni brothers have brought before the princes and the rulers a letter collating the decrees of the outstanding authorities and heads of the sacred nation, the holy community of Venice, relating to the exposition contained in that work which does not yield goodly words [see Genesis 49:21], which its author euphemistically called Me’or ‘enayim [Light of the Eyes]—for it is dark and there is no brightness in it [see Amos 5:20]. And [the letter’s] contents are imprinted with all the force exerted against this exposition by the most illustrious authority and the prince, his father-in-law, who was at the forefront of the action taken in a sacred cause in regard to these matters. And after I stood in the crossway to uproot my residence from that place (the fact that I will not sin against my own viewpoint is already well known to his glorious excellency!), I declared, “For the sake of making the public righteous, I will not bring to an end the time of destruction, lest they are captured and ensnared in the net hidden by that author, heaven forbid, seeing that it is everyone’s way to become enticed by novelties. You have now also forced my hand and constrained me when I perceived that ‘the dough was terrible,’¹ as the author responded by saying, ‘This pleases me.’” In but a little while, he will be no more, transmogrified into another individual, one who builds worlds and then destroys them. So I said, “Is this not a matter of significance? Am I to stay silent, holding myself back regarding the essence and nature of the exposition which will—heaven forbid—weaken the foundation of In the beginning, God created?” And his glorious excellency knows as well as I do that its fruit is from the root of the snake—the theory of the eternity of the universe derives its fruit—a fiery, flying serpent exterminating the last germ and the foundation of the chief cornerstone upon which all the fundamentals of our holy Torah depend. Accordingly, on Shabbat Aḥare mot, I delivered a sermon before the holy community of Cremona on the subject: One lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel (Leviticus 16:8), which I connected to the topical theme in the mishnah [Sanhedrin 10:1]: “All Israel have a portion,” etc. “and these are they who have no portion,” etc. “R. Akiva says: ‘Likewise one who reads the external books.’”

And so as not to be burdensome to his glorious excellency, I will not now inform him of the details of my speech, but [he should be aware that] I presented myself to the holy community of Cremona as one exhorting and disclosing to them the defects of that impaired viewpoint which, even if his words were correct (heaven forbid), we would derive no benefit therefrom, but on the contrary they would constitute an obstacle and stumbling block [see Isaiah 8:14] to the belief in the creation of the universe ex nihilo, as the author of the Kuzari [Judah Halevi] explicitly stated in the first part of his work: “Is that not tantamount to placing a sharp sword in the hand of those professing the theory of the eternity of the universe?”—for which the master, the teacher of righteousness [Maimonides], has already stated that they have no proof. If someone were to ask anybody from our nation, “How many years, according to your calculations, have elapsed since the Creation?” he would reply, “Five thousand three hundred and thirty-four.” And if he were then to respond to the Hebrew man, “I will adjust that figure either by addition or reduction,” he would then boast against us in assurance of the correctness of his belief, since one person would be maintaining one thing and another something else [thus sowing general doubt and confusion]. Even if just one in a thousand were to be harmed as a result of that alien belief, could I keep silent and hold myself back, when the number of those of blemished pedigree would multiply within Israel, heaven forbid? For all the bills of divorce issued since the time when the geonic authorities commenced reckoning from this date would be “antedated bills of divorce” [gitin mukdamim] and his glorious excellency knows as well as I do that an antedated bill of divorce is disqualified, and if a woman were to remarry [on the strength of such a divorce], she would need to be divorced from her new husband.

All these things, and many others too, I said to the members of that holy community by way of exhortation, so that they should not read that work unless and until the spiritual leaders from Mantua, upon whom this burden has been placed, had perused it to see whether it is good or not, whether it possesses a tree with roots of gall and wormwood (Deuteronomy 29:17)—in which case one lot will be for the Lord and one for Azazel. And as for anyone transgressing this exhortation, I informed him that he would be judged like one perusing the forbidden “apocryphal books.” For if even the book of Ben Sira, according to R. Joseph [see b. Sanhedrin 100b], which contains no heretical ideas but merely vain matters and material of no significance, was included by him among “the apocryphal books,” how much more so with regard to the work under consideration!

True, I have not delved into all the details of this work, concerning which I have heard rumors that it mocks the words of our sages, as I have not yet had sight of it. However, I have regarded the discourse about the number of years elapsing since the Creation as having the legal status of an admission by a litigant in a civil dispute. For when I was in Mantua, this evil thing was constantly being whispered into my ears, and as a rumor was heard there—though I have no idea from whom it emanated—that the most illustrious [rabbi] Ashkenazi had spoken in praise of the work, I accordingly informed them that his excellency Ashkenazi had not yet had the opportunity to peruse the third part, entitled: Yemot ‘olam [Days of Yore], where the lot of wickedness rests—and perhaps, nay undoubtedly, when he reaches it, his excellency too will declare, “This is not pleasing to me!” And as I realized regarding the members of my community that I was addressing a listening ear, and that they would obey my instructions, “I did not go forth with them to meet with enchantments” [see Numbers 24:1] and to enact decrees against reading the work, in particular since the most illustrious R. Ashkenazi was not then in town—for, in places where great men are present, it is not my habit to lord over the holy nation. However, I am certain that as a result of this simple suggestion of mine, all the inhabitants of the region will withdraw their hands from that work. With all that said, when the instruction of his glorious excellency reaches me, there will be no lack of shields with us here; they will bare their arms to the joints to sanctify the name of Heaven in public—showing no favor toward any man—to be counted together with me in enacting a verbal decree against the aforementioned work. Wherefore I keenly await his return home, nor will I deviate from his orders either to the right [or to the left and I hereby] prostrate myself upon my face to the ground before the majesty of his glorious excellency, and proclaim, “May my lord the king live forever!” [see 1 Kings 1:31].

Cremona, 5334 according to the Jewish calendar, the authentic reckoning.

Other works by Porto: Tsofnat pane’aḥ (1555); Min-ḥah belulah (1582).