Bidspirit auction | “אחת נשבעתי לרשב״י ולא אשקר

“אחת נשבעתי לרשב״י ולא אשקר באמונתי!” — Nishmat Chayim by Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel, with the Author’s Portrait - Precious and exalted discourses on the nature of the pure soul, the transmigration of souls, and the immortality of the soul, By Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel At the end of the book, the author wrote: “ידעתי שיש בזה הספר דברים שלא ינעמו לפילוסופים אבל כבר אמרתי שאחת נשבעתי לרשב״י ולא אשקר באמונתי...” Leipzig, printed by H. L. Schnoiz, 1862 With an engraved portrait of the author on the leaf preceding the title page. R. Menasseh ben Israel (born 1604 – died 20.11.1657) was born on Madeira Island, Portugal, under the name Manuel Dias Soeiro, to Yosef ben Israel, of a family of anusim. About a year after his birth, the family fled Portugal for France because of the persecutions of the Inquisition. They first went to La Rochelle, and eventually settled in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands Although the family possessed very little money, the parents of Menasseh spared nothing in the education of their child, and he was sent to study under the sage Yitzchak Uziel of Fez, who was the rabbi of the Neve Shalom congregation in Amsterdam. Before long, the young Menasseh was recognized as a prodigy, and already at the age of fifteen he began delivering official public derashot within the Jewish community. At seventeen he composed his first work, Safah Berurah, and at eighteen, after the passing of his teacher, he was appointed his successor as the leader of the Neve Shalom community. As a philosopher renowned throughout the world, he accomplished great and wondrous deeds throughout his life. He founded the first printing press in Amsterdam and used it to print books in Spanish, which he sent secretly to the anusim of Spain and Portugal. Menasseh ben Israel is remembered as the one who obtained permission for the return of the Jews to England in 1656, after their expulsion in 1290. His book Nishmat Israel is a fundamental work in Jewish thought. The neighbor of Menasseh in Amsterdam was the celebrated artist Rembrandt, who indeed painted his likeness — and the printed portrait reflects the very image Rembrandt created. Owners: After the title page appears an ownership stamp of the Beit HaKnesset “Chevrah Shas, ” district of Paeski, in Petersburg.