Jacob Abendana (1630 – 12 September 1685) was ''

hakham ''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "H ...

'' of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 1680 until his death.

Biography

Jacob was the eldest son of Joseph Abendana and brother to Isaac Abendana. Though his family originally lived in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Jacob and his brother were both born in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. At some point in time, his family moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

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 Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

. 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 Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, 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 The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdo ...

. This was published by subscription in Amsterdam in 1660 with a second edition in 1685. Having gone to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

seeking subscribers, Jacob met Antonius Hulsius whom he helped in his studies. Hulsius tried to convert Jacob to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

which began a lifelong correspondence between the two. The Abendana brothers similarly impressed other Christian scholars, such as Johannes Buxtorf (

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

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 Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

), 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, ...

(

). 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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

. The debate lasted via correspondence from 24 September 1659 to 16 June 1660. Abendana responded with a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

translation of Rabbi

Judah Halevi Judah Halevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; he, יהודה הלוי and Judah ben Shmuel Halevi ; ar, يهوذا اللاوي ''Yahuḏa al-Lāwī''; 1075 – 1141) was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, ...

's ''

Kuzari The ''Kuzari'', full title ''Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion'' ( ar, كتاب الحجة والدليل في نصرة الدين الذليل: ''Kitâb al-ḥujja wa'l-dalîl fi naṣr al-dîn al-dhalîl''), also k ...

'' 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 The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

'', along with the commentaries of

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

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 ''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'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...

: 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