Luzzatto, Simone

Abstract

Simone Luzzatto was the chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Venice and a renowned scientist whose works were highly praised among scholars and colleagues of his time. His fame increased during his rabbinate, as he became the author of several critical texts and contributor to the debates about Jewish law (Halakha), which constitute his works in Hebrew. His immense erudition ranged from the natural sciences to the humanities: rabbi and intellectual, he had a scholarly talent for classical Latin and Greek culture and also was a passionate reader of medieval and contemporary Italian authors. Luzzatto’s main works are written in Italian. In 1638, he published the Discorso circa il stato degli Hebrei, a small apologetic treatise written with the goal to show the social, politic, and economic importance and usefulness of Jews for Venetian welfare. It is his first and most known work and has been thoroughly examined by various Jewish and Christian scholars, thus leaving a still lasting impact on the following of Jewish thought. His second work, Socrate overo dell’humano sapere, printed in 1651, is a philosophical work in the tradition of sceptic thought, which still remains quite enigmatic. The political and philosophical thinking of the rabbi explores the relations between the Republic of Venice and the ghetto, contributing to a new concept of Jewish identity and its social and cultural role within Christian society.