Jacob Abendana (1630 – 12 September 1685) was ''
hakham'' of
London from 1680 until his death.
Biography
Jacob was the eldest son of
Joseph Abendana and brother to
Isaac Abendana
Isaac Abendana (c.1640–1699) was the younger brother of Jacob Abendana, and became ''hakam'' of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in London after his brother died.
Abendana moved to England before his brother, in 1662, and taught Hebrew at Camb ...
. Though his family originally lived in
Hamburg, Jacob and his brother were both born in
Spain. At some point in time, his family moved to
Amsterdam where he studied at the ''De los Pintos''
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
nical academy in
Rotterdam. In 1655 he was appointed ''hakham'' of that city. On 3 May 1655 Abendana delivered a famous memorial sermon on the
Cordovan martyrs
Marranos Nunez and
Almeyda Bernal who had been burned at the stake.
Several years later, with his brother, Isaac, Jacob published the Bible commentary ''Miklal Yofi'' by
Solomon ben Melekh which included his own commentary, ''Lekket Shikchah'' (Gleanings), on the
Pentateuch, the
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...
, and part of the
Book of Judges. This was published by subscription in Amsterdam in 1660 with a second edition in 1685.
Having gone to
Leiden seeking subscribers, Jacob met
Antonius Hulsius whom he helped in his studies. Hulsius tried to convert Jacob to
Christianity which began a lifelong correspondence between the two. The Abendana brothers similarly impressed other Christian scholars, such as
Johannes Buxtorf (
Basel),
Johann Coccejus
Johannes Cocceius (also Coccejus; ; 9 August 1603 – 5 November 1669) was a Dutch theologian born in Bremen.
Life
After studying at Hamburg and the University of Franeker, where Sixtinus Amama was one of his teachers, he became in 1630 profess ...
(
Leyden), and
Jacob Golius
Jacob Golius born Jacob van Gool (1596 – September 28, 1667) was an Orientalist and mathematician based at the University of Leiden in Netherlands. He is primarily remembered as an Orientalist. He published Arabic texts in Arabic at Leiden, ...
(
Leyden).
With Hulsius, Jacob entered into a polemical discussion of Biblical verse Haggai 2:9, which Hulsius attempted to prove was a reference to the
Church. The debate lasted via correspondence from 24 September 1659 to 16 June 1660. Abendana responded with a
Spanish translation of Rabbi
Judah Halevi's ''
Kuzari''
in 1663. Hulsius eventually published the correspondence between the two in 1669.
In 1675, Jacob addressed the community at the dedication of the new synagogue in Amsterdam. Five years later, in 1680, he was brought to London to succeed
Joshua da Silva
Joshua Da Silva (born 19 June 1998) is a Trinidadian cricketer. He made his domestic debut in 2018 for Trinidad and Tobago, and his international debut for the West Indies cricket team in December 2020.
Personal life
Da Silva is of Portuguese ...
as ''Hakham'' of London where he served for 15 years as the hakham of the
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London. Over the following years, he completed a Spanish-language translation of the ''
Mishnah'', along with the commentaries of
Maimonides and
Obadiah of Bertinoro. The work was frequently cited by Christian theologians, though it was never published. Jacob Abendana died childless in London in 1685 and was buried in the Portuguese cemetery at Mile End.
Notes
Sources
* ''Abendana, Jacob'' in
The Jewish encyclopedia: a descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times to the present day'', New York ; London : Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1901–06, volume 1, p 53.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abendana, Jacob
1630 births
1685 deaths
17th-century English rabbis
Dutch Golden Age writers
Dutch Orthodox rabbis
Dutch Sephardi Jews
Bible commentators
British Orthodox rabbis
Sephardi rabbis
Spanish Jews
Spanish emigrants to the United Kingdom
English people of Spanish descent
English people of Dutch descent