Who was Shmuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)? Jews of Italy Pt. IX

Brief overview of the life and works of Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto, important Italian Jewish thinker of the 19th century. Part of the Jews of Italy series at www.henryabramson.com.

[@saragreenberg8885]

Nice to see the Shadal receive the wonderful attention you have paid to him. Perhaps one day audiences will also hear more about his cousin, Rachel Luzzatto Morpugo, who was educated by his side as a child and grew to be a talented Hebrew poet in her own right.

[@shoshana-xs4cm]

Sara Greenberg any relation to Michael Morpurgo, English/ Jewish author?

[@poikazal]

Great lecture delivered by an even greater lecturer. I'm not Jewish but still enjoy his intriguing lectures.

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@graceweissmann2823]

Thank you for a wonderful lecture. There was a great biography on LaGuardia (I believe it was Alyn Brodsky) that claimed that his mother or grandmother (I can't remember which), was a descendant of the Luzzattos.

[@adams2385]

True la guardia was Jewish

[@davidsavage6324]

"He was enthusiastic about everything Jewish". I'm the same way, as a Baal teshuva everything Judaic-- Rabbinic, Beta Israeli, Samaritan, Karaitic-- is so awesome to me, nothing is blase. "One big universe of data, nothing was off limits to him." I'm the same way; I love Sufism, the Quran, certain Christian Scripture translations (I was actually a Christian as a child (wasn't raised Jewish) so I'll always be connected to Christianity, albeit from a Unitarian perspective which doesn't see King Jesus as the Davidic Moshiach, and rooted in the revelations of the great genius Ralph Ellis, and seeing New Testament as suffering from later corruptions. I'm very pluralistic, but still a faithful Rabbinite, of course. So thank you for these very inspiring pioneers of balance, such an important value in Biblical/Eastern thinking. And it took so much courage of course to be free thinking and true to one's self in spite of threats of literary bans, public shaming, ostracism, banishment, etc.

[@kwyzi]

superb

[@charlesedwards5333]

Loving it!

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Thank you!

[@Dovid2000]

Professor emeritus of Haifa University, Yosef Tobi, has written the following: "Samuel David Luzzatto's main undertaking with respect to Spanish poetry was in uncovering the works of Spanish poets that had hitherto remained in manuscript form, and having them published. He was also the first person who dared to collect the poems of a certain poet and to publish them accompanied with a commentary, the first of these being in a collection called, Betulat Bat Yehudah ("The Virgin Daughter of Judah: A Collection of Poems belonging to Rabbi Judah Halevi") (Prague 1940), followed by "The Dīwān of Rabbi Judah Halevi." […] The first scroll contains 86 poems, with an introduction and commentaries (Lyck 1864). In any rate, Luzzatto's work has not left us with any real critical analysis, for the simple reason, among other things, that he could not compare the Hebrew poetry in Spain with the contemporary Arabic poetry from which it had been immensely influenced. Luzzatto, who was aware of this influence and of his inability in this regard, turned in 1857 to a Jewish scholar, Jacob Goldenthal, a Rabbi and Professor at the University of Vienna, and one who was expert in oriental languages - including Hebrew, in order to learn first-hand from him about the relation between these two schools of medieval poetry. Goldenthal answered him in a protracted response, which was far from being a flattering assessment of Spanish poetry that had been influenced by Arabic poetry. Still, in this manner, the comparative study between Hebrew poetry in Spain and Arabic poetry had its humble beginnings, conducted by men who were proficient in the Arabic language and in its culture."

[@jewwell3446]

R SR Hirsch actually petitioned the prussian government, not the austrian. Anyways, thank you very much, R Abramson, for all these interesting lectures.

[@mport09]

Can u tell the Harvard story that was omitted? It sounds intrigueing and arouses curiosity.

[@yoki3063]

Can we get the story next time? Great lecture, thanks! :D

[@luisga3709]

how about making one on his ancestor Moshe Luzzatto?

[@shoshana-xs4cm]

Abraham Geiger is the spitting image of Jeff Goldblum! 😅