The Jewish Scholar Who Defended the Hebrew Bible in Renaissance Italy

A Clash of Civilizations in the Shadow of the Leaning Tower

It was 1597 in Pisa, a fiercely independent port city where towering ambitions, a vibrant trade empire, and revolutionary ideas collided beneath the shadow of a leaning tower. Known for its independent merchants and vibrant scholarly scene, Pisa was a city without a king, governed by elected judges and enriched by trade whose influence stretched far beyond its borders. The Jewish merchants of Pisa maintained a synagogue that faced Jerusalem, a detail the local Christian conquerors were unable to erase.

While Pisa was home to powerful trading families, it was also a center of learning. Galileo Galilei, then a young local, was conducting the experiments that would upend centuries of Aristotelian physics. Into this vibrant world stepped Rabbi Manuel Aboab, a descendant of the famed Rabbi Yitzchak Aboab, author of Menorat HaMaor. A few years earlier, Rabbi Manuel had fled Portugal following the expulsion of its Jews, finding refuge in Italy, where he could practice Judaism openly and debate Christian scholars face to face.

One such public dispute was held at the University Square in Pisa. Facing off against the English scholar James Josse, Aboab stood his ground. When Josse quoted a biblical verse supposedly supporting Christian theology, Aboab interrupted: “There is no such verse.” The audience was shocked. Josse scoffed, waving his Bible in the air. But Aboab calmly explained that the Latin translations used by Christians were riddled with errors, the product of translators who misunderstood Hebrew. “You just quoted Isaiah as saying the Messiah would be born to an unmarried woman,” he said. “That’s not in the original Hebrew text. You are quoting mistranslations.”

Pressed to prove his claim, Aboab pointed to Genesis 28, where the Latin Bible refers to the city of Bethel as "Oulmeluz." “Nonsense,” said Aboab. “The verse reads, ‘Ve’ulam Luz shem ha’ir le’rishonah’—‘Indeed, Luz was the original name of the city.’ The translators, unfamiliar with Hebrew, mistook 'Ve’ulam Luz' for one word: Oulmeluz.”

Josse tried to recover, but Aboab had prepared a long list of similar errors. The result was a devastating critique of Christian biblical interpretation, delivered with scholarly precision and rhetorical brilliance.

A Scholar and Merchant on a Mission

Rabbi Aboab used his travels as a merchant to spread Torah and Jewish knowledge across Europe, including stops in Corfu and Ferrara. In every city he visited, his reputation grew as a formidable opponent of Christian theology. Eventually settling in Venice, he was appointed as a communal “Chacham” (sage) and devoted himself to Torah study and writing.

His monumental work, Nomología, was written in Spanish and urged conversos (forced converts to Christianity) to flee Spain and reclaim their Jewish identity with pride. The book also laid bare the foundational errors in Christian belief and translation, exposing how Christianity rested on misreadings of the Hebrew Bible. Only in recent years has this important text been translated into Hebrew, allowing modern scholars and yeshiva students to access his arguments directly.

From the Debate Halls of Europe to the Hills of Safed

In 1628, Rabbi Aboab immigrated to the Land of Israel, settling in the mystical city of Safed. There, he joined his daughter Garcia Aboab, who had arrived earlier and generously supported two yeshivot, one in Safed and one in Jerusalem, with her own wealth.

Rabbi Aboab lived out his final years in dignity and honor, leaving behind a legacy of Torah, scholarship, and fearless intellectual engagement. His story stands as a powerful reminder of the enduring strength of Jewish wisdom, even amid exile, debate, and displacement.