THE RE-ADMISSION OF THE JEWS INTO ENGLAND
Manasseh Ben-Israel――Aaron Levi _alias_ Antony Montezinos
――Moses Wall――Leonard Busher――David Abrabanel [Manuel Martinez
Dormido]――Oliver St. John.
MANASSEH BEN-ISRAEL (1606‒1657), the Amsterdam Jewish preacher and
_Hebrew_-Spanish author, was the chief promoter of the readmission
of the Jews to England and the leading figure in the history of that
great event. He had all the virtues and accomplishments of a leader.
He was a man of fine intellect and high moral character, unselfish in
thought, word and deed, straightforward and sincere, extraordinarily
endowed and irresistibly attractive, at the same time a faithful
religious believer and a practical man of action. All the sorrows and
all the hopes of the old Jewish nation were in him, and all the beauty
of the Bible was in his visions.
Manasseh was neither a first-rate _Talmudical_ authority, nor the
principal of a great _Rabbinical_ school, nor a celebrated and
officially recognized leader of _Rabbis_. He achieved nothing striking
in the field of _Halachah_,¹ where alone, according to traditional
views, authority can be won among learned _Rabbis_ and their followers.
In high _Rabbinical_ quarters he may have been considered a dilettante
or an eclectic, perhaps a sort of dreamer; and not without justice.
The “practical” people of the period, again, may have pointed out that
there was plenty of immediate “practical” work for Manasseh to do in
congregations, in societies, in charities and in schools among the
Portuguese Jews of the “_Jodenbreestraat_” in Amsterdam, and that he
would do better if he devoted himself to ordinary local work, instead
of chasing chimeras and planning Utopian schemes in close agreement
with the Puritan Saints and _Marrano_ travellers. And yet, in spite
of all the immediate needs of the hour, this remarkable man, inspired
by a vision of the lost Ten Tribes of _Israel_, wrote one book after
another; not the traditional commonplace _Rabbinical_ books dealing
with questions and details of the conduct of everyday Jewish religious
life, but books about the past and the future, about the Ten Tribes
and about _Israel_ as a nation――and with an inimitable touch of
mysticism and poetry. He thought that Judaism required something
more than local activities, that it needed clear-sighted and fearless
self-defence, emancipated from routine, and not localized within the
boundaries of one country. And he not only wrote books in _Hebrew_,
Spanish, and Latin on this subject, but had several of them translated
into other languages; he also entered into personal relations with
non-Jewish “dreamers” who had proved by their ideas their intellectual
kinship with him, although they challenged him to controversy on some
essential points. He wrote petitions and proposals, and interfered
to a certain extent with what should, according to some other rabbis,
be confidingly left to Providence. It had dawned upon him that the
Jews should resettle in England, to pave the way for their final
resettlement in Palestine.
¹ Jewish Jurisprudence.
Manasseh was nothing if not a Zionist, if we look upon Zionism in
the light of his time. He was undoubtedly a dreamer, but one of those
dreamers to whom the word of the Psalmist applies, “... We were like
unto them that dream.”¹ He combined worldly wisdom with the prophetic
spirit. There was some ancient magic about him; there was a deep sense
of religion in all his writings. This religious character enabled
Manasseh to stir up Christian England at a time when there was a great
rekindling of the religious consciousness. No wealthy Jew could have
influenced England as did this poor _Hebrew_ scholar; no powerful
Jewish community could have produced an impression equal to that
produced by this Jewish dreamer, not only by his boundless activity,
determination and persistence, but chiefly because he was an inspired
man. He brought to his task deep religious feeling, and a mind
ripened by Jewish historical studies. He thus set himself to perform
with energy and moral courage an exceedingly responsible service
to the Jewish people, which he carried out with singular fidelity,
inspiration and enthusiasm, as well as with discretion and tact.
¹ Psalms, _chap._ cxxvi., _v._ 1.
He sent his brother-in-law, David Abrabanel [Manuel Martinez Dormido]¹
to England in 1654, to present to the Council a petition for the
readmission of the Jews, and followed up this visit by his own journey
to England, in order to support this petition.
¹ He was a native of Andalusia, Spain, and was imprisoned for
five years (1627‒1632) by the Inquisition, and tortured,
together with his wife and her sister. On being released he
went to Bordeaux, and in 1640 to Amsterdam.
In the preliminary leaves of _Thesouro dos Dinim_, by
Manasseh Ben-Israel, Amsterdam, 5405 (1645), his name
appears as one of the dedicatees and is described as
the _Parnas da Sedaká e Talmud Tora_. In 1663 he settled
here, and in the following year “David ABrabanel dormido”
appears as one of the signatories to the first _Ascamot_
of the _Sephardi Kahal_ in London in the year 5424. He died
2 _Nisan_ 5427, and was interred in the second _carera_ at
the _Beth Haim_ in the rear of the _Beth Holim_ at Mile End.
There were undoubtedly several auxiliary causes which made the
readmission of the Jews possible, and the general conditions of
the time and the country were assuredly favourable. Still, the fact
remains that Manasseh’s powerful imaginative impulse and his emotional
Messianic conception were the most important driving force in the
wonderful story of the resettlement of the Jews in England.¹ It is
true that he did not succeed in obtaining that formal permission for
the resettlement which he wanted, but by the publicity of his appeal
he brought the subject prominently before the ruling minds of England,
and thus indirectly led to the recognition of the fact that there was
nothing in English law against the readmission of the Jews.²
¹ Not that there had not been Jews in England since the
expulsion. The researches of Sir Sidney Lee and Mr.
Lucien Wolf have shown that hardly for a single year was
English soil without Jewish inhabitants, some of them of
considerable distinction: Dr. Rodrigo Lopez (_ob._ 1594),
Antonio Fernandez Carvajal (1590?‒1659), Manuel Martinez
Dormido [David Abrabanel] (_ob._ 1667); but they were
tolerated only as privileged individuals.
² Mr. Lucien Wolf, to whose researches our knowledge of the
secret services of Carvajal and his friends to Cromwell and
the Commonwealth is due, is inclined to give them all the
credit for the readmission. But it is clear that had not
public opinion been aroused on the side of Jewish rights,
nothing could have been done.
One can say, without exaggeration, that there was a Biblical and
Messianic idea at the very root of this great event. In effect,
Zionism stood at the cradle of the resettlement of the Jews in England.
This is clear to everybody who has studied Manasseh’s writings,
particularly in the original _Hebrew_, the language in which he can
best be understood and appreciated. His favourite idea was that the
return of the Jews to their ancient land must be preceded by their
general dispersion. The Dispersion, according to the words of the
Bible, was to be from one end of the earth to the other, and must
therefore include the British Isles, which lay in the extreme north
of the inhabited world. Manasseh made no secret of his Messianic
hopes, because he could and did reckon upon the fact that the “Saints”
or Puritans wished for the “assembling of God’s people” in their
ancestral home and were inclined to help and promote it.
What was the difference between Manasseh and other _Rabbis_? No
_Rabbi_ could fail to be well acquainted with the familiar prophecies
of the Bible, and to know that the Dispersion was to be from one end
of the earth to the other. Are not these prophecies quoted in the
Jewish daily prayers, prayers that have been lost unheard, as it seems,
in the dark depths of 2000 years of dispersion, and are known to every
Jewish child? Or did not the _Rabbis_ cherish those Messianic hopes
which inspired Manasseh? There was only one difference: the difference
between passivity and activity, between purely spiritual impulses and
impulses which lead to action. If the dispersion has to be complete,
let Providence make it complete――this was the usual point of view.
Those who merely believed declined to do anything, as they did not
wish to face the danger of failure. They lived on that, of which other
nations die――on sorrow. Their melancholy had much of majesty in it,
but it led to nothing and ended in nothing. They dared not attempt
to penetrate into the secrets of the Almighty; for God alone can see
what will happen, and no man can avoid his destiny. They refused to
undertake any effort for the readmission of their brethren not only
into Palestine, but even into England. They were believers, not men of
action. Manasseh took matters into his own hands. He not only believed,
he acted in accordance with his belief. He collected evidence with
judicious care, weighing and measuring difficulties, keeping facts
calmly before his mind, studying the facts of the dispersion with
interest and zeal. He occupied himself with Messianism more than any
Jewish scholar since _Don_ Isaac _de_ Judah Abrabanel (1437‒1508), and
more effectively than the latter, because of the active character of
his plans.
In his מקוה ישראל, _Esperança de Israel_ (Appendix iv), Manasseh relates
how the _Marrano_ traveller, Aaron Levi, _alias_ Antony Montezinos,
while travelling in South America, had met a race of natives in the
Cordilleras, who recited the _Shema_, practised Jewish ceremonies, and
were, in short, Israelites of the tribe of _Reuben_. Montezinos had
related his story to Manasseh, and had even embodied it in a sworn
affidavit before the heads of the Amsterdam Synagogue. Montezinos’
story seemed to be a proof of the increasing dispersion of _Israel_.
_Daniel_ (xii. 7) had foretold in his prophecies that the dispersion
of the Jewish people would be the forerunner of their restoration.
“And the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end
of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;...” (Deuteronomy
xxviii. 64).
It was clear from Montezinos’ and other travellers’ reports that the
Jews had already reached one end of the earth. “Let them enter England
and the other end would be reached.” In this sense Manasseh wrote
his book, which, at the instigation of John Dury (1596‒1680) was
translated into English by the Puritan Moses Wall,¹ from the Latin
version (Appendix v), of the original Spanish under the title of _The
Hope of Israel_ (Appendix vi), which produced a profound impression
throughout England. It was followed in the next few years by two other
tracts by Manasseh, _The Humble Addresses_ [1655] (Appendix vii) and
_Vindiciæ Judæorum_ [1656] (Appendix viii).
¹ “... Moses Wall, of Causham or Caversham in Oxfordshire, a
scholar and Republican opinionist, of whom there are traces
in Hartlib’s correspondence and elsewhere.” (_Life of John
Milton_, by David Masson (1822‒1907), vol. v., 1877, _pp._
601‒2).
See also _The Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John
Worthington_ (1618‒1671). Edited by James Crossley
(1800‒1883).... 1847, _pp._ 355 and 365.
These tracts followed the remarkable evolution of English religious
ideas which occurred in the seventeenth century. It is a well-known
fact that the recognition of religious liberty in England was
due chiefly to the struggle between the True Believers and other
Nonconformists. The Reformation had granted only a limited form of
religious liberty: when the True Believers themselves began to be
persecuted the demand for religious liberty became very strong. The
earliest pamphlet on this subject, by Leonard Busher, published in
1614,¹ had already demanded religious liberty for the Jews as well.
¹ Religious | Peace: | Or, | A Plea for Liberty of |
Conscience. | Long since presented to King _James_, | and
the High Court of Parliament then | sitting, by _Leonard
Busher_ Citizen of _London_, and Printed in the Yeare 1614.
| Wherein is contained certain Reasons against | Persecution
for Religion, Also a designe for | peaceable reconciling of
those that differ in opinion. | ... London, | Printed for
John Sweeting at the Angel in Popes-head-alley, | 1646. |
(_4to._ 4 _ll._ + 38 _pp._ [B. M.]
Imprimatur:――This usefull Treatise (Entituled _Religious
Peace_), long since Presented by a Citizen of _London_ to
King James, and the High Court of Parliament then sitting;
I allow to be Reprinted.
_Aprill 1._ JOHN BACHILER.
A copy of the first edition, published in 1614, has not yet
been discovered.
_p._ 28: “... but shall offend also the Jews, ... who
account it tyrrany to have their consciences forced to
religion by persecution.”
_p._ 71: “Then shall the Jews inhabit and dwell under his
majesty’s dominion, to the great profit of his realms....”
The English refugees in Amsterdam came into contact with the Jews
of that town, and above all with Manasseh, whom they admitted to
the innermost circle of friendship. The intercourse was continuous,
and did much to dispel the mutual prejudices which old enmities had
created and ignorance had nourished. Intimacies were formed which
proved salutary to both, particularly to the Saints. Manasseh was also
on terms of intimacy with Oliver St. John (1598?‒1673), the English
Ambassador in Holland (1651), who was afterwards a member of the
Committee selected to consider the readmission of the Jews into
England.