Overview

Isaac's Fear is a wide-ranging study of a Hebrew encyclopedia of Judaism by Isaac Lampronti, a rabbi and physician from eighteenth-century Ferrara, in Italy; this is the first encyclopedia of Judaism, with entries on thought and praxis. The book's eight chapters are previously published studies. Isaac's Fear represents the attempt to synthesize modern science and religious tradition, a fundamental issue then and in our own day. Encyclopedia entries illuminate the society and culture of early modern Italy, its Jewish community and the intellectual life of the author and his contemporaries.

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9781644697351

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Reviews

Isaac's Fear (Pachad Yitzhak) was the first multi-volume encyclopedia of Jewish law, edited by Isaac Lampronti (1679-1756), a rabbi and physician from Ferrara. David Malkiel... explores the religious, cultural, and intellectual life of eighteenth-century Italian Jews through a detailed scholarly study of the encyclopedia. ... This title is highly recommended for an academic library. - Harvey Sukenic, Hebrew College Library, AJL News and Reviews In this work of meticulous scholarship, David Malkiel has produced a detailed portrait of the paradoxical relationship between science and religion in early modern Italy. The main focus of this learned study is Isaac's Fear, an encyclopedia of Jewish law written by IsaacLampronti, a rabbi and university-trained physician who aimed to lead readers though the bewildering maze of ritual traditions in an enlightened age. Malkiel demonstrates painstakingly how Lampronti's searching mind, thirst for knowledge, and empiricist leanings were in tension with his profound reverence for received tradition, which he upheld as a repository of truths that eluded scientific investigation. The strength of this fine book is its sensitive portrayal of Lampronti's struggle to meet the demands of competing intellectual traditions-a struggle he shared with his Christian counterparts. -Jay R. Berkovitz, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Professor, Rothberg International School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Author Information

David Malkiel is Full Professor in the Department of Jewish History of Bar-Ilan University, in Israel. He has published widely on Jewish life in medieval and early modern Europe. On the Jews of Italy, a primary field of interest, he has published four books, most recently Stones Speak (2014), an interdisciplinary study of the Hebrew tombstones of Padua.

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