Oxford Jewish Thought

As this year marks 500 years since the creation of the Venetian Ghetto in 1516 - the first ghetto in Europe - this essay will present the life and controversial legal rulings of one of the most prominent rabbis of the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Simcha Luzzatto, known also as Simone Luzzatto (1583 - 1663). Simcha Luzzatto served as the chief rabbi of the Jewish Ghetto of Venice between 1648 and his passing in 1663. A short biography on Luzzatto was written in Hebrew by Moses Avigdor Shulvass (1909–1988), as an introduction to Ma'amar al Yehudei Venezia - Tract on the Jews of Venice (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1950)[1]. In this essay, I will aim to present an outline of the life of Simcha Luzzatto, three areas of his contribution … Read More »