In this essay, we will present a work of one of the great rabbis in Venice in the 16th century. Until now much has been known about his life and illustrious family,[1] and his important[2] career as a doctor, but very little about his scholarship, beyond a few mentions of his views relating to Jewish communal life in Venice, Jewish mysticism and the teaching of Hebrew to non-Jews. He is also known for his interaction with Richard Croke, representative of Henry VIII, in November 1529, regarding Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In the Oppenheimer collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, however, there is a manuscript of close to 400 folios of a commentary on the Torah, attributed to R. Elijah[3] Menachem Chalfan (חלפן)[4] … Read More »