ABRABANEL (Abravanel). — One of the most powerful Jewish families of Spain, where it was already present in 1310. In 1492, when the Jews were expelled by Ferdinando II (V), the A. family settled in Italy; they wielded considerable influence, even at court, in the kingdom of Naples (especially Isacco, and still more his brother Giacobbe, d. 1528). In the Duchy of Tuscany, first Samuele, son of Isacco, and then Samuele’s son Giacobbe, obtained much from Cosimo I in favor of Jewish commerce; Cosimo’s wife Eleonora di Toledo had been educated by Benvenida, cousin and wife of Samuele. The family died out in Italy with Abramo (d. 1618). Particular mention should be made, in the field of ideas, of:
1. ISACCO (Isaac ben Jehudâh). — Philosopher and exegete, b. in Lisbon in 1437, d. in Venice in 1508.
A shrewd statesman, he was at first treasurer to Alfonso V of Portugal; suspected of conspiracy, he moved to Toledo in 1483. After 1492, he lived at the court of Ferdinando I and Alfonso II of Naples. Having fled to Sicily because of the French invasion, after a stay in Corfu and Apulia he settled in Venice. A man of immense learning, he composed many works on Sacred Scripture and commented on all the books of the Torâh and the Prophets. He earned the high esteem that led the Jews to give him the titles Hâhâm (sage) and Nasî (prince). His exegesis is literal, rich in grammatical and historical references, and successfully strives to show the connection between ideas. He is prolix because of his frequent and minute theological digressions. Although neither very original nor profound, A. brings the series of the great Jewish exegetes to a worthy close. He is highly useful to students of Jewish exegesis because he cites all the opinions of his predecessors and examines them minutely.
The enthusiasm of his messianic faith not only led him, in the trilogy he called Mâgâh vehiât (“magnificans salutes,” II Sam. 22, 51) — The Sources of Salvation; The Herald of Salvation; The Salvation of His Messiah — to compare and comment upon all the messianic texts of Scripture, the Talmûd, and the Midraîm, but also caused him to uphold fantastic optimistic theories concerning the imminent establishment of the messianic kingdom (in the year 1503). Isacco often manifests his anti-Christian animus. He maintains the transcendence of Revelation and the objectivity of prophetic visions; but at various points he follows the semi-rationalism of Maimonides.
His three sons, Giuda, Giuseppe, and Samuele, were also celebrated.
2. GIUDA (Jehudâh), called LEONE EBREO. — Eldest son of Isacco A., physician, philosopher, and poet, b. in Lisbon around 1465, d., apparently, between 1530 and 1532. After the expulsion of 1492, he emigrated to Naples, then lived in Genoa, and subsequently in Barletta, Naples, Rome, and Venice. In the Elegy on Fate he lamented the separation from his one-year-old son, who had been forcibly baptized. His principal work, Dialoghi d’amore, was composed in Genoa (1502), in Hebrew (now lost) and in Italian; but the first known edition is that of Rome (1535), followed by Venice 1541, etc., edited by Mariano Lenzi.
It is a treatise—in the form of dialogues between Filone and Sofia—that disseminates Platonic doctrines concerning the nature (I), universality (II), and origin (III) of love. The system, called “philographia,” extends from man to the world and to God; love is therein the gnoseological, logical, ontological, cosmogonic, and ethical principle. The work, perhaps suggested by Marsilio Ficino’s Dialogo sopra l’amore and by the Platonizing Jew Johanan Alemanno, is original and profound. Its success and influence were considerable; it was soon translated into Latin, French, and Spanish. Bembo imitated it in the Asolani. Various Spanish mystical writers, such as Luis de León, Malón de Chaide, and Nieremberg, drew inspiration from II. Spinoza derived metaphysical and ethical motifs from II.