Jews, Medicine and the University of Padua A Behind the Scenes Tour of a New Exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Padua November 2, 2022- December 31, 2022
Jews, Medicine and the University of Padua: A Behind the Scenes Tour of a New Exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Padua
November 2, 2022- December 31, 2022
By Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD
The city of Padua (or Padova), just twenty-five miles southwest of Venice, has a rich and expansive Jewish history, though it is not typically on the itinerary of the Jewish traveler to Italy. One might perhaps recognize the city name as the penultimate stop on the train from Florence to Venice. The likes of Rabbi Yehuda Minz (Mahari Minz- 15th century), Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (Maharam Padua- 16th century), and Rabbi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto (Ramḥal- 18th century) all lived and taught there, as did many other great personalities in Jewish history.
One of the centerpieces of the city is the University of Padua, one of the oldest universities in the world, which is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. To this day, it remains one of the premier universities in Europe. The Jewish history of this city is very much intertwined with the university. One remarkable connection between the two is geographical. As divine providence would have it, the Ghetto of Padua was established literally meters away from the university campus. A casual stroll from Palazza Bo, the iconic architectural center of the University of Padua, to the Ashkenazi Synagogue in the Ghetto, now home to the Jewish Museum in Padua, takes less than five minutes.
A new exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Padua, in collaboration with the University of Padua, explores the unique relationship between the university and the Jewish community in the pre-modern era, with particular focus on the medical training of Jewish students. The exhibit commemorates a key role the university played in Jewish medical history, beginning in the fifteenth century, as the first university to officially allow Jews to gain formal training in the field of medicine. Since the formation of the earliest universities,[1] Jews were officially barred by papal decree from attending, as the universities were by and large under the auspices of the Catholic Church. In the pages of this blog, we have drawn attention to the role the University of Padua played in Jewish medical education.[2] Most recently we focused on a rare genre of poems written in honor of Jewish medical graduates of this institution from the 16th-18th centuries.[3]
I am now delighted to inform you of a new exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Padua- Jews, Medicine and the University of Padua– which will run through December 31, 2022. The exhibit was inaugurated with an event on November 2, 2022. Introductions by representatives of the museum, the Jewish community of Padua and the University of Padua were followed by a recorded video address by Chief Rabbi Dr. Riccardo Di Segni of Rome, himself a prominent physician, on Judaism and medicine. The program concluded with my presentation about the training of Jewish medical students in Padua.[4]
The archival material occupies a large display case[5] and reflects three centuries of history through rare documents, including community and city archives, which have never been on public display. With the exception of the work of Vesalius, all the items are unica.
In addition, displayed throughout the exhibit hall are portraits of Jewish physicians from Padua from the Benvenesti Collection of the Museo d’Arte of Padua, and a slideshow of diplomas and congratulatory poems appears on the big screen.
Please join me for a behind the scenes virtual tour of some of the highlights of the exhibit.
I. Anatomy, Vesalius, and the Jewish Medical Students of Padua
Andreas Vesalius
De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543)
Library of the University of Padua
On the lower left shelf of the case, we find an early edition of Andreas Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica, open to the frontispiece. It is no exaggeration that the field of modern anatomy was born at the University of Padua under the vision of the famed professor of anatomy, Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564).[6] You may wonder why a copy of this volume, one of the most famous works in the history of medicine and anatomy, is part of an exhibit on Jewish medical history.
This monumental development in the history of medicine interfaced with the Jewish community of Padua in a number of ways. Much like this one anatomy book reveals the structures of the entire body, so too, this one book provides a window into a complex chapter of the experience of the Jewish medical student in Padua with respect to anatomy.
Hebrew Anatomical Terms
The anatomical terms detailed in the works of Vesalius – the Tabulae Anatomicae and De Humani Corporis Fabrica – are presented in multiple languages. One of those languages is Hebrew.[7] The reason for this is not specifically related to the Jewish medical students of Padua per se, but rather to the role the Jews played in the translation of medical works and the transmission of classical medical teaching from antiquity to the Middle Ages and Renaissance.[8]
Exactly who is responsible for the Hebrew translations in the Tabulae Anatomicae is unknown. Vesalius may have attended lectures on the Hebrew language by Joannes van Campen at the Pedagogium Trilingue in Louvain.[9] With the Hebrew terminology for the Fabrica, however, Vesalius duly acknowledges some assistance:
I have decided to give in the index principally a simple list of the names of the bones, first presenting those I use in the text; then the Greek; then, any others in Latin taken from authoritative writers, and all that in such way that it may have value. After these will follow the Hebrew, but also some Arabic, almost all taken from the Hebrew translation of Avicenna[10] through the efforts of Lazarus de Frigeis, a distinguished Jewish physician and close friend with whom I have been accustomed to translate Avicenna.[11]
The reference to Avicenna, the eleventh century Persian physician and polymath, refers to the Canon of Avicenna, one of the more influential medical works of that time. A magnificent, illustrated Hebrew manuscript translation of the Canon, which dates from the mid fifteenth century, is found in the University of Bologna,12] and the work was printed later in the fifteenth century. The Hebrew terminology in Vesalius, and its relationship to the Hebrew medical terminology of the Canon, has been studied by both historian and linguist alike.[13] Some have been less than complimentary.[14]
Vesalius credits Lazarus de Frigeis, “a distinguished Jewish physician and close friend,” with assisting him with the Hebrew translation in the Fabrica.[15] While some evidence has come to light about this friend, his exact identity still eludes scholars.[16] De Frigeis is believed to be depicted in the classic illustration on the frontispiece of the Fabrica, visible in the exhibit showcase, wearing characteristically Jewish garb.[17]
Vesalius and the Jewish Medical Students of Padua
Another relationship between Vesalius and the Jews[18] is inferred from his tenure as a lecturer at the University of Padua.[19] As Padua[20] was one of the only institutions of higher learning in the medieval and Renaissance periods to admit Jews,[21] Jews from across Europe flocked to attend.[22] These students however were not versed in either Italian or Latin, the academic language of discourse. They sometimes required translation for their studies. This is evidenced by the existence of a rare manuscript of the Fabrica in Yiddish dating from the late 1500s.[23]
One could imagine a group of German Jewish medical students sitting in the back of Vesalius’s lecture hall hunched over this very manuscript trying to keep pace with the day’s lesson.
Vesalius’s work also formalized and expanded the teaching of human anatomy at the University of Padua, as well as at medical schools throughout the world. The supply of cadavers was a perennial challenge for the medical school and each community which sent medical students for training at the university was required to provide bodies for the dissection table. This presented a unique problem for the Jewish students, as Jewish law forbids the dissection of the body after death. The Jewish medical students and Jewish community went to great lengths to gain exemption from this requirement. This is reflected in the Jewish community archives of this period.[24] There was also fear of grave robbing from the Jewish cemeteries.[25] Indeed, one scholar has suggested that one of the illustrated letters in the Fabrica depicts a scene of the grave robbing of a body from a Jewish cemetery.[26]
The “o” on the flag held by the putti was the symbol Jews were required to wear on their clothing.
In one case in 1676, a Jewish body was stolen before burial by medical students and brought to the anatomy table for dissection. Riots ensued and a compromise was ultimately reached. Isaac Cantarini wrote about this in his Paḥad Yitzḥak (1684). Roth recounts a case where disgruntled students kidnapped an etrog that was being transferred between communities on Sukkot and held it ransom in exchange for providing Jewish bodies for dissection.[27]
II. History of Degree Granting for Jewish Medical Students before 1615- Counts Palatine
Padua City Archives (1469-1470)
ASPd, Notarile, vol. 1946
Archivio di Stato di Padova
The oldest and rarest item of the exhibit (bottom left section- front) is a volume of the Padua city archives from the late 15th century. The pages on display document the medical degree-granting process for Jewish students during this period.
In the early centuries of the University of Padua Medical School, doctoral degrees were granted by the Sacred College of Philosophers and Physicians in a Catholic religious ceremony. As such, this pathway to a medical degree was not a viable option for a religious Jew. However, non-Catholics, including Jews, could obtain medical degrees through a different pathway outside of the university walls, granted by specific individuals known as Counts Palatine, who received their authority from the Holy Roman Emperor. These ceremonies were held privately before a notary and witnesses.[28]
On display is a remarkable archival record from February 21, 1469, reflecting this degree-granting process. The passage recounts that the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, while visiting Italy, bestowed upon Judah Messer Leon[29] a double doctorate in medicine and liberal arts, in addition to the title of Counts Palatine, granting him the right to confer doctorates upon other Jews of proven worthiness.
Judah Messer Leon was an accomplished physician, professor, and Torah scholar who later taught at the University of Padua Medical School. His work Nofet Tzufim (Abraham Conat: Mantua, 1475), known to this blog audience as the first Hebrew book to be printed in the lifetime of its author,[31]is a treatise on rhetoric, utilizing the classical literary devices of the ancient discipline of rhetoric applied to the Torah. One of the uses for this work was to prepare the Jewish students who matriculated from foreign countries to the medical schools in Italy. Indeed, Messer Leon is purported to have organized a yeshiva where students could receive a comprehensive Jewish education while training in the secular disciplines necessary for higher studies in the humanities, philosophy, and medicine.[31]
In the same archival record, we learn that it would be just one year later that Messer Leon would exercise his privilege as a Counts Palatine. In Padua, on 27 February 1470, Rabbi Dr. Judah Messer Leon bestowed a medical degree upon the Jew Yoḥanan Alemanno in a private ceremony at his home. Alemanno was a prominent Italian rabbi, philosopher and Kabbalist who also apparently taught Hebrew to the likes of Pico Mirandola. The nature of the ceremony was similar to the conventional Padua University procedure and included presenting the new doctor with a signed book, placing a gold ring on his finger, a wreath on his head, tying a red silk thread around his waist, and kissing him on the cheek.[32] However, while the invocation to the ceremony for the typical Christian student was “In Christi Nomini,” Messer Leon’s invocation for Alemanno was “In Dei omnipotentis nomine amen” (in the name of the Omnipotent God, Amen).[33]
This was the precursor to the invocation which would be used for the formal diplomas of Jewish students in the following centuries, “In Dei Aeterni Nomine Amen.” Messer Leon exercised this extraordinary privilege a number of times during his lifetime.
Messer Leon was involved in a Jewish legal dispute regarding the permissibility of wearing academic robes. Issues relating to these robes included the obligation to wear tzitzit, as well as the concern that they might contain sha’atnez.[34]
In 1615, the Collegio Veneto was established to serve the purpose of granting degrees to non-Catholic students and essentially replaced the Counts Palatine. The diplomas on display in this exhibit are from the period of the Collegio Veneto.
III. Diplomas of Jewish Medical Graduates of the University of Padua
Diplomas of Padua Jewish medical graduates are exceedingly scarce. While there have been a few sold at auction over the last few decades,[35] such diplomas are rarely displayed in public. I have thus far identified a total of nineteen extant diplomas of Jewish Padua medical graduates. Only three examples are found in Italy, and all of them are on display at this exhibit. An additional diploma was reproduced for display,[36] and images of others appear on the screen in the exhibit hall. Below I describe the diplomas on display, accompanied by a brief bio of their (original) bearers.
1) Medical Diploma of Moise di Pellegrino (Moshe ben Gershon) Tilche[37]
University of Padua- 1687
Gross Family Collection (Tel Aviv, Israel)
The invocation for the diploma for the typical Padua graduate was “In Christi Nomini.” For Jewish students, such as Tilche, the invocation was typically amended to “In Dei Aeterni Nomini.” Tilche is identified as “Hebreus” in the diploma, which was common for most Jewish students.
This is one of only a few Jewish medical diplomas from Padua that bear the graduate’s portrait, and the only such example displayed in this exhibit. Below the portrait are putti holding a laurel wreath, a book, a ring, and a hat.
This is a remarkable and unique depiction of the features of the Padua graduation ceremony. In addition to placing the wreath and hat on the graduate, a ring was placed on his finger, and books were symbolically opened and closed to represent the transmission of knowledge. This is similar to the ceremony described above performed by Messer Leon. This is the only known such illustration found on any Padua diploma.
The year is listed as “currente anno” instead of the typical term with Christian reference, such as Anno Domini, Anno a Christi Nativitate, or Anno Christiano.
Witnesses: The two witnesses for Tilche’s diploma were the Jewish physician, and graduate of Padua, Isaac Vita Cantarini (AKA Yitsḥak Ḥayyim Cantarini) and the Jew Samuele Pace. A branch of the Pace family was established in Padua by the 17th century. A member of the family, Solomon, received his medical degree from Padua in 1647.[38] Cantarini was a rabbi as well as a physician and was a prominent figure in the Padua Jewish community.[39] Cantarini was both the author and recipient of poems dedicated in honor of Padua medical graduates.
Moshe ben Gershon Tilche signed a letter published in the Jewish legal responsa of Sanson Morpurgo, another medical Padua graduate (1700),[41] about the custom of donning tefillin on ḥol ha-mo‘ed (intermediate days of the holiday).[41]
2) Medical Diploma of Samuele Coen[42]
University of Padua- 1702
University of Padua Archives Raccolta Diplomi, 33 (n. 3841)
There were sixteen medical graduates from the University of Padua from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the last name of Coen, though they were not all related. Samuele was part of the sphere of Rabbi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto (Ramḥal). It was a common custom for students’ mentors, fellow Padua students or alumni, or family members to compose congratulatory poems, mostly in Hebrew, to celebrate the student’s graduation. There are three students I have identified for whom we possess an extant copy of both a diploma and a congratulatory poem. Coen is one. Coen’s brother Moise, also a Padua medical alumnus (1675), composed a broadside poem in honor of Samuele’s graduation.[43]
Moise served as a witness for the graduation diploma of another Jewish student, Emanuel Colli, whose diploma is housed in the Magnes Collection in California.
In 1741, Coen’s daughter married another graduate of Padua’s medical school, Jacob ben Moses Alpron.[44] Rabbi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto (Ramḥal) wrote a poem in honor of Alpron’s graduation.
It was not uncommon for the typical Padua medical diploma to include an illustration of the family coat of arms for the graduate. Coen’s diploma is one of a few examples of coats of arms found in diplomas of Jewish students, and the only example in our exhibit. The coat of arms includes the symbol of the Kohen tribe, two hands in the formation used for the priestly blessing. Above the hands appears a crown, and below it appears a raven.
Samuel Coen was clearly a member of the kohen tribe, as were a number of Padua medical graduates including Tuviyah haKohen Rofeh and Isaac Cantarini, for example. Given the introduction of systematic anatomical dissection into the medical school curriculum in the 16th century, I have long wondered why there is no reference in the halakhic literature of this time to the issue of dissection for a Kohen, let alone for a Yisrael. The first references to dissection are in the late 1700s with the famous responsa of the Nodah biYehuda and Rav Yaakov Emden, though they contain no discussion about Kohanim. This is perhaps because the format of anatomy teaching involved the professor alone performing the dissection and teaching over the body. This is reflected in the design of anatomical theater of Padua. Students did not perform hands-on dissection; thus, the only potential issue would be tumat ohel, which at least according to some authorities is not generated by a non-Jewish corpse. However, as the original theater had a retractable roof to eliminate the foul odors during dissection, perhaps even tumat ohel may have been a non-issue.
Returning to the diploma, there are two sets of books on a table under the medallion, all of them labeled with the names of secular authors who were part of the standard curriculum at that time, including Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna.
I had hoped the name Maimonides might have appeared on the spine of one of the books.
Coen is identified as “Hebreus” in the diploma, which was the norm for Jewish students.
The year is listed as “currente anno” instead of the typical term with Christian reference, such as Anno Domini, Anno a Christi Nativitate, or Anno Christiano.
3) Medical Diploma of Moise Valle[45]
University of Padua – 1713
Biblioteca Statale del Monumento Nazionale di Praglia, Fondo Ebraico, 156
Moshe David Valle (1697-1777), one of the more well-known graduates of Padua, was an Italian Rabbi, physician, and kabbalist. He lectured for the Padua confraternity Mevakshei HaShem (seekers of God). He was a prolific author and teacher, as well as student, of Rabbi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto (known as Ramḥal). He authored commentaries on the Torah and Prophets as well as works on Kabbalah.[46] He is responsible for disseminating the teachings of Ramḥal. Ephraim Luzzatto, physician, poet and fellow graduate of the University of Padua, authored a poem praising Valle’s lectures.[47]
Ramḥal and the University of Padua
As we are discussing Valle, we would be remiss if we did not at least briefly mention the relationship of Ramḥal to the university and its students. Though not part of this exhibit, the relationship of Ramḥal with the students of the university has been explored.[48] It had long been debated as to whether Ramḥal actually attended the university, as evidence was elusive. Debra Glassberg Gail has recently discovered records of his matriculation,[49] though not graduation. I obtained copies of these records confirming the matriculation of Moise Vita Luzzatto at the universitas artistarum,[50] amongst the students of philosophy and medicine.
Matriculation Records of 1723
Moise Vita Luzzato di Giacob ebreo
Matriculation Records of 1725
Moise Vita Luzato di Giacob ebreo
Matriculation Records of 1726
Moise Vita Luzato di Giac ebreo
The Luzzatto family had a long and productive relationship with the university as described below regarding the diploma of Raffaele, which is on display. Some of Ramḥal’s most cherished students, including Yekutiel Gordon and Moshe David Valle, studied medicine in Padua, and I have identified at least eight medical students for whom Ramḥal wrote congratulatory poems upon their graduation.[51]
Returning to the diploma, Valle, as well as the other students represented in this exhibit, had the invocation amended to “In Dei Aeterni Nomini.” Valle is identified as “Hebreus” as well. The year is listed as “currente anno,” devoid of any Christian reference.
Valle was promoted by Bernardino Ramazzini, who was in contact with some of the Christian Hebraists of that time.[52]Ramazzini is also considered the founder of occupational medicine, and in his classic work on diseases of the tradesman he discusses the increased prevalence of scabies among the Jewish population.[53]
Valle is buried in the Jewish cemetery of Padua.
The Diploma Medallion
The Padua diploma typically contains a medallion on the front page, which was designed and intended for the inclusion of a portrait. However, as this option required an additional fee, it was not exercised by all students. As the basic structure of the diploma was templated, for those who refused the portrait option, the medallion nonetheless remained. In these cases, one thus finds the medallion left bare, or filled with text. The three aforementioned diplomas in our exhibit reflect the three possible options. While Tilche chose the premium package, his fellow graduates did not.
4) Medical Diploma of Raffaele Luzzatto[54]
University of Padua 1797
Centro per la Storia dell’Università di Padova
The latest diploma in our exhibit is likewise noteworthy, though not because of its artistic value. Raffaele was a member of the famous Luzzatto family, many of whom graduated the University of Padua Medical School.[55]Raffaele was from the town of San Daniele in the northeastern region of Italy, Friuli.[56] From the end of the 17th to the early 19th century, numerous members of the San Daniele Luzzatto family graduated from the Padua medical school.[57]In fact, Raffaele was in a direct, unbroken line of what would ultimately be six generations of Luzzatto physicians, many of them named Raffaele.[58]
Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), the great scholar and bibliophile, known as Shadal, reports that on a visit to his uncle Isaac in San Daniele, he was shown the medical diploma of Isaac’s father, Raphael.[59] Shadal then commented, “We learn that the poet Isaac was preceded by a Raphael and an Isaac, and was followed by a Raphael and an Isaac, all of them doctors.” This diploma on display may be the very diploma Shadal saw on his visit.
This is a simple unilluminated diploma comprised solely of calligraphic text. The invocation reads “In Dei Nomine,” similar but not identical to the invocations of the other diplomas in this exhibit.
Close inspection reveals that the word “Dei” is written over erased text of a longer word. There are a few additional erasures, including the words under the granting authority of the degree, which reflect the possibility that this diploma was templated for a Christian student, and originally read, “In Christi Nomine.”
Further proof for this theory is that the invocation for the Jewish student usually read, “In Dei Aeterni Nomine,” with the word “Aeterni” added. This is not the case here, as given the limited space of the templated invocation, it would not have been possible to add the additional word. Of note, Luzzatto’s graduation record in the Padua University Archives actually bears the invocation, “in Christi Nomine.”
There are a number of cases where the archival record for Jewish students bears the standard Christian invocation, while the student diploma does not. The archival scribe may have simply followed the usual formula without much thought, and the student would likely never have known otherwise. The diploma, however, was given to the student to possess in perpetuity and therefore the emendation to “in Dei Aeterni Nomine” would have been preferred for a Jewish student.
Luzzatto is also not identified as a hebreus in either the archives or in the diploma. Furthermore, while the diplomas of Tilche, Coen and Valle amended the format for the date to remove any Christian reference, this diploma retains the conventional Christian dating, “Anno a xti Nativ” (shorthand for Anno a Christi Nativitate).” All the aforementioned observations support the suggestion that this diploma was originally templated for a Christian student.
IV. Benvenisti Collection of Portraits of Physicians
Padua’s Museo d’Arte contains the Benvenisti collection of portraits of physicians. Displayed are reproductions of portraits of some Jewish physicians,[60] some of whom graduated from the University of Padua. I highlight two examples below.
1) Sabbato Vita Marini (1662-1748)
Marini’s famous portrait is used for the museum exhibit advertising.
Shabtai Ḥayyim Marini graduated from Padua in 1685[62] and was a close friend and possible teacher of Rabbi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto (Ramḥal).[62] In addition, he translated into Hebrew the first three books of Ovid’s Metamorphoses from the Italian translation of Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara.[63] Joseph Almanzi composed an ode to Marini in his Nezem Zahav:
2) Samuele Medoro (1788-1854)
Samuel Medoro (1788-1854), received his training in the University of Padua, served as surgeon in the La Confraternità Israelitica “Sovvegno” di Padova, which endowed medical assistance to Jews throughout Italy, and published many medical articles. He was an active participant in the debate about the requirement for oral suction as part of the circumcision procedure. His handwritten lectures on cicumcision were sold at auction in 2013 by Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem.[64]
Conclusion
If you happen to be in Italy before the end of the year it may just be worth the detour from Venice to catch a rare glimpse of a little-known chapter at the crossroads of Jewish, Italian, medical and academic history. While there, make sure to book a tour with the museum, which includes the synagogue and cemeteries. In the old cemetery are buried Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen, who was a teacher and mentor to the Jewish medical students of Padua;[65] Abraham Catalano, physician and author of the work Olam Hafukh[66] on the 1631 plague (a reproduction of which is on display at the exhibit); and Moshe David Valle, who was a staunch supporter of Ramḥal and whose diploma is on display. If you have even the remotest interest in the history of medicine or anatomy, the University of Padua is home to the first and longest standing permanent anatomical theater in the world, completed in 1595, just steps away from the exhibit. In fact, the theater benches were not only occupied by many Jewish medical students over the centuries, there is also a record of Jews from the community (non-students) attending dissections when the theater was first built.[67] It is thus evident that you do not need to be a doctor (or health care provider) to appreciate this medically related exhibit.
I conclude with the following serious offer (though my wife Sara might describe it otherwise). If you make it to the exhibit in person, feel free to contact me, and I would be delighted to give you a tour while you are there- time and time zone permitting. (I have already done it once.)
Appendix- Jews, Medicine and the University of Padua: The Uncut Version
Below are a number of sections I had hoped to include in the exhibit, but for a variety of reasons did not make the cut.
Seforim/Books related to the Graduates
The original exhibit proposal included a section of first or early edition books/seforim related to or composed by Padua medical graduates. Included in this selective list are:
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Paḥad Yitzḥak by Isaac Ḥayyim Cantarini (Padua- 1664), which includes an account of a Jewish body kidnapped for the purpose of dissection by the non-Jewish medical students of Padua.
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The ubiquitous Ma’aseh Tuviyah by Tuviyah HaRofeh (Padua-1683), one of the most famous graduates from Padua.[68]
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Mateh Dan by David Nieto (Padua- 1687), patterned after the Kuzari.
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Paḥad Yitzḥak, the first halakhic encyclopedia, by Isaac Lampronti (Padua- 1696).
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Shemesh Tzedakah, responsa by Shimshon Morpurgo (Padua- 1700).
I also happened upon an article by Professor Joanna Weinberg about the collection of Hebrew printed works in the Antoniana Library of Padua.[69] A number of the items in this collection, all of which were printed before 1663, would be perfect for an exhibit on Jews and Medicine in Padua:
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Cannon of Avicenna:[70] One of two Hebrew incunabula in this library, it is the only known Hebrew medical incunabula. Could Lazarus de Frigeis have used this copy when assisting Vesalius with the Hebrew terms of the Fabrica? Speculative to be sure, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Perhaps marginalia are present in the copy to shed light.
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Shiltei ha Gibborim by Abraham Portelone:[71] Though neither medical in content nor written by a Padua graduate, it is nonetheless authored by one of the most famous Jewish medical personilites of that time and would certainly have been known to and possibly owned by the Jewish medical students in Padua. In addition, his son was a medical graduate of Padua and was promoted by none other than Galileo.
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Pesakim from R. Yehuda Mintz and R. Meir Katzenellenbogen:[72] These two Torah giants were leaders of the Padua Jewish community in their day and certainly interacted and taught the Jewish medical students.[73]
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Sefer Elim by Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo:[74] Delmedigo is one of the greatest alumni of Padua and amongst other things was known for his relationship with Galileo.[75]
In addition to the content of these books, their provenance was also relevant to our exhibit. Many of the Hebrew books held in the Antoniana Library originally belonged to Paduan Jews, evidenced by the family names inscribed on the title pages. I do not think it unreasonable to imagine that some of these works were actually used by Jewish medical students in Padua. Furthermore, I discovered that Pontificia Biblioteca Antoniana was a mere 750 meters from the Jewish Museum and Ghetto. It seemed too good to be true… and it was. The library requested exorbitant restoration fees for the items prior to transfer and regretfully financial constraints precluded this option. Alas, it was not meant be. I had also hoped to obtain Messer Leon’s Nofet Tzufim from the Vatican Library, but not unsurprisingly, was met with the same response and result.
Congratulatory Poems for the Jewish Medical Graduates of Padua
After having researched and written extensively about the congratulatory poems for the Jewish medical graduates of Padua, you might expect to find at least one hard copy of such a poem as part of the exhibit. However, for financial, legal and insurance reasons, the exhibit was limited to items found in Italy, primarily in the environs of Padua. Remarkably, of the over one hundred Hebrew congratulatory poems I have identified, not one is found in Italy. They are primarily found in Israel, America, England and Hungary. There is one single poem in the university archives written in Italian in honor of Samuele Coen,[76] whose diploma appears in the exhibit. The author is one of the University of Padua staff diploma illustrators, and I have yet to determine the story behind its composition. It does not in any way represent the genre of this poetry. In lieu of the physical poems, a slideshow of examples of congratulatory poems, along with examples of additional diplomas, is projected on the screen of the exhibition hall.
Padua Medical Graduates as Mohelim, Performing Circumcision on the Children of Their Fellow Graduates and Mentors
Identifying physicians of Jewish lineage is of great interest to some historians, but my interest lies at the intersection of medical practice and religious observance. The practice of circumcision by physicians is one such interface, and the physician-Mohel combination is not that common even today (with the exclusion of urologists). While this topic merits its own broader study, I have identified a number of Padua medical graduates who were also mohelim. Remarkably, in two cases, the pinkas mohel, or circumcision registry, is still extant, revealing another “medical” connection.
1) David Loria
Loria graduated Padua in 1623. Upon his graduation, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Modena composed a poem in his honor which now resides in the Oxford Bodleian Library.[77]
This poem is unique amongst the medical student poems, as it is one of only two medical student poems written in Aramaic.[78]
Loria and Modena maintained connection long after Loria’s graduation from medical school.[79] Indeed, Modena offered to bestow rabbinic ordination upon David Loria, though the latter declined for unknown reasons.[80] Loria was also a mohel and performed the rite for Modena’s grandson, Avtalion, in March 1636.[81] Though a physician in the Ghetto of Padua, Loria Fled Padua during the plague of 1631. However, he made extensive arrangements to provide for the needy.[82]
2) Salomon Lampronti[83]
Salomon was the son of the famous Isaac Lampronti, physician, rabbi, and author of Paḥad Yitzḥak. Isaac (Padua, 1696) and his son Salomon (Padua, 1734) were alumni of Padua’s medical school. Salomon was a mohel and his pinkas survived the ravages of time. Though I was unable to access the entire work, the passage shown in the Kedem auction catalogue[84] happened to include the record of Lampronti’s circumcision of the son of the physician Solomon Zamorani,[85] a Padua graduate of 1753.[86] Zamorani was also a student of the younger Lampronti. I suspect there are children of other Padua medical graduates included in this ledger.
3) Menahem Navarra[87]
Navarra completed his medical studies in 1740, and the poem below was written in honor of his graduation by Isaiah Romanin.[88]
Navarra was a mohel and, like Lampronti, his pinkas mohel has survived. Among those for whom he performed the rite were the children of Jacob Grassin Basilea and Raffael Ferrarese, both Padua medical graduates.[89] Below are examples of some of the entries:
March 27, 1757, son of Yaakov Gershon Basilea (Padua, 1735)[90]
On December 2, 1769 Navarra circumcised the second son of Raffael Ferrarese (Padua, 1762), one of twins. The milah was performed one month after birth. Note he is called an “uman” (i.e., rofeh uman), which may possibly refer specifically to a university-trained physician.
There is a pinkas Milah housed in the University of Pennsylvania Library[91] which belonged to a member of the Fermi (or possibly Fermo/Firmo) family,[92] though the specific family member remains unknown. The entries run from 1705 to 1736. Therein are multiple references to Shimshon Morpurgo, a rabbi/physician graduate of Padua (1700).[93]
While the dates of the pinkas would align perfectly with the Padua medical graduate Moshe Yaakov son of David Fermo (Padua, 1701), I have no evidence to support his identification as the work’s author.[94] Furthermore, the spine of the work is stamped in gold with the words, Pinḳas mohel leha-R. Firmo. While the “R” typically refers to Rav, perhaps in this case the “R” stands for rofeh, though I admit this is unlikely.
[1] Bologna, founded in 1088, is considered the oldest university in the world.
[2] E. Reichman, “The ‘Doctored’ Medical Diploma of Samuel, the Son of Menaseh ben Israel: Forgery of ‘For Jewry’,” Seforim Blog (here), March 23, 2021; idem, “The Illustrated Life of an Illustrious Renaissance Jew: Rabbi Dr. Shimshon Morpurgo (1681-1740),” Seforim Blog (here), June 22, 2021.
[3] E. Reichman, “How Jews of Yesteryear Celebrated Graduation from Medical School: Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates in the 17th and 18th Centuries- An Unrecognized Genre,” Seforim Blog (here), May 29, 2022.
[4] Three additional lectures accompany the exhibit. For a list of the lectures, including zoom info and recordings, see here.
[5] The exhibit was limited to items found in Padua and its environs.
[6] On Vesalius, see O’Malley, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels. The classic bibliography of works about Vesalius by Harvey Cushing is continuously updated by Dr. Maurits Biesbrouck, Vesaliana: An Updated Vesalius Bibliography here.
[7] On the use of Hebrew in medical literature throughout history, see the excellent survey of H. Friedenwald, “The Use of the Hebrew Language in Medical Literature,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 2(1934), pp. 77–111. See also J. J. Barcia Goyanes, “Medieval Hebrew Anatomical Names: A Contribution to Their History,” Koroth 8:11–12 (1985), pp. 192–201; A. Goldstein, “Historical Development of Hebrew Medical Terminology,” Koroth 3:11–12 (May 1966); Goldstein, 4:1–2 (December 1966), p. 122; 4:5–7 (December 1967), p. 452; 4:11–12 (December 1968), p. 773. On the use of Hebrew in universities during this period, see, for example, Z. Y. Flashkas, “The Hebrew Language in the Universities of the Middle Ages,” Koroth 2:9–10 (May 1961), pp. 494–495.
[8] On this topic, see, for example, the works Gerrit Bos, Gad Freudenthal, Resianne Fontaine, Lola Ferre, and Maud Kozody.
[9] O’Malley, Vesalius of Brussels, p. 33. For a list of professors of the Hebrew language at the Collegium Trilingue (University of Leuven) during Vesalius’s stay there, see Valerius Andreas, Fasti Academici Studii Generalis Lovaniensis (List of the Academics of the University of Louvain) (Lovanii, apud Hieronymum Nempaeum, 1650), p. 284. I thank Dr. Maurits Biesbrouck for graciously providing me with a copy of the relevant passage in this reference.
[10] On Avicenna (aka Ibn Sina) in Hebrew, see J. O. Leibowitz, “The Preface of Nathan Ha-Meati to his Hebrew Translation (1279) of Ibn-Sina’s Canon,” Koroth 7:1–2 (April 1976), pp. 1–7; Leibowitz, “Ibn Sina in Hebrew,” Koroth 8:1–2 (June 1981), p. 3; B. Richler, “Manuscripts of Avicenna’s Canon in Hebrew Translation: A Revised and Up-to-Date List,” Koroth 8:3–4 (August 1982), pp. 145–168; S. Kottek, “The Hebrew Manuscript of Avicenna’s Canon” (French), Medicina Nei Secoli 8:1 (1996), pp. 13–29; Gad Freudenthal and Mauro Zonta, “Avicenna Among Medieval Jews: The Reception of Avicenna’s Philosophical, Scientific and Medical Writings in Jewish Cultures, East and West,” Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 22 (2010), 217–287.
[11] De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543), p. 166, translated in O’Malley, Vesalius of Brussels, p. 120.
[12] Mauro Perani and Giacomo Corazzol, Nuovo Catalogo dei Manoscritti Ebraici della Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Minerva Edizioni, 2013), 35-38.
[13] M. Etziony, “The Hebrew-Aramaic Element in Vesalius’s Tabulae Anatomicae Sex,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 18(1945), 413–424; Etziony, “The Hebrew-Aramaic Element in Vesalius: A Critical Analysis,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 20 (1946), pp. 36–57; Jacques Pines, “La nomenclature Hebraique dans le oeuvres anatomiques d’Andre Vesale,” Le Scalpel 118 (1965), 85–92; Juan Jose Barcia Goyanes, “Los terminos osteologicos de la ‘Fabrica’ y la evolucion del lenguaje anatomico Hebreo en la Edad Media,” Sefarad 42 (1982), 299–326.
[14] Etziony, “Hebrew-Aramaic Element in Vesalius,” 36.
[15] For unclear reasons, the phrase “distinguished Jewish physician” was omitted from the second edition of the Fabrica. See O’Malley, Vesalius of Brussels, p. 120.
[16] S. Franco, “Ricerche su Lazzaro ebreo de Frigeis, medico insigne ed amico di Andre Vesal,” La Rassegna Mensile di Israel 15 (1949), 495–515; J. Pines, “Lazarus Hebraeus of Frigeis, Collaborator and Close Friend of Andreas Vesalius” (French), Le Scalpel 117(January, 1964), 5–12; Balazs Bugyi, “Rilievi critici sul medico traduttore di Vesalio, Lazarus de Frigeis,” Acta Medicae Historiae Patavinae 11 (1964–1965), 203–205; B. Bugyi, “Critical Notes about Lazarus de Frigeis: Vesalius’s Advisor in Hebrew Terminology,” Koroth 3:11–12 (May 1966), 613–615; Francesco Piovan, “Nuovo documenti sul medico ebreo Lazzaro ‘De Frigeis’ collaboratore di Andrea Vesalio,” Quaderni per la Storia Dell’Universita di Padova 21 (1988), pp. 67–74; D. Carpi, “Alcune nuove considerazione su Lazzaro di Raphael ‘de Frigiis’,” Quaderni per la Storia Dell’Universita di Padova 30 (1997), pp. 218–226. For more of the identity and history of De Frigies, see M. Nevins, “A Face in the Crowd: Vesalius’ Jewish Friend,” Korot 23(2015-2016), 237-256.
[17] See O’Malley, Vesalius of Brussels, 142.
[18] Vesalius also addresses a midrashic tradition that an indestructible luz bone will be the nidus, or origin, of the resurrection of the body in Messianic times. He attributes this notion to an Arabic or magical tradition. He rejects this belief as neither verifiable nor consistent with anatomical observation. See E. Reichman and F. Rosner, “The Bone Called Luz,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 51:1 (January, 1996), 52–65.
[19] See O’Malley, Vesalius of Brussels, 73–110.
[20] On the University of Padua in general, see, for example, H. Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 3 vols. (Oxford University Press, reissued 1987); L. Rosetti, The University of Padua: An Outline of Its History, trans. Alice W. Maladorno Hargraves (Edizioni Lint, 1987).
[21] On the Jews and the University of Padua, see A. Ciscato, Gli Ebrei in Padova (1300–1800) (Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1901); Cecil Roth, “The Medieval University and the Jew,” Menora 9:2 (1930), 128–141; S. Dubnov, “Jewish Students at the University of Padua,” Sefer Hashanah: American Hebrew Yearbook (1931), 216–219; Jacob Shatzky, “On Jewish Medical Students of Padua,” Journal of the History of Medicine 5 (1950), 444–447; Cecil Roth, “The Qualification of Jewish Physicians in the Middle Ages,” Speculum 28 (1953), 834–843; David B. Ruderman, “The Impact of Science on Jewish Culture and Society in Venice (with Special Reference to Jewish Graduates of Padua’s Medical School),” in Gli Ebrei e Venezia, Secoli xiv– xviii (Atti del Convegno Internationale Organizzato D’all’ln stituto di Storia della Sociata e della Stato Veneziano dell a Fondatione Giorgio Cini, Venezia, 1983), 417–448, reprinted in Ruderman, Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe (New Haven, 1995); S. Massry et al., “Jewish Medicine and the University of Padua: Contribution of the Padua Graduate Toviah Cohen to Nephrology,” American Journal of Nephrology 19:2 (1999), 213–221; S. M. Shasha and S. G. Massry, “The Medical School of Padua and Its Jewish Graduates” (Hebrew), Harefuah 141:4 (April 2002), 388–394; E. Reichman, “The Valmadonna Trust Broadsides: A Virtual Reunion of the Jewish Medical Students of the University of Padua,” Verapo Yerapei: The Journal of Torah and Medicine of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Synagogue 7 (2017), 55- 76.
[22] For a list of Jewish graduates from the University of Padua medical school in past centuries, see Abdelkader Modena and Edgardo Morpugo, Medici E Chirurghi Ebrei Dottorati E Licenziati Nell’Universita Di Padova dal 1617 al 1816 (Bologna, 1967); E. V. Ceseracciu, “Ebrei laureate a Padova nel cinquecento,” Quaderni per la storia dell’Universita di Padova 13 (1980), 151–168.
[23] This extremely rare manuscript of a unique and unpublished Yiddish translation of Vesalius’s work on anatomy is one of only fifty surviving Yiddish manuscripts predating 1600, of which only five address medical subjects. The manuscript was gifted to the University of Pennsylvania (Rare Book & Manuscript Library LJS 485) in 2015 and is available in digital format online.
[24] See Daniel Carpi, Minutes Book of the Council of the Jewish Community of Padua Volume Two: 1603-1630 (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1979), parti 545 and parti 616.
[25] Carpi, op. cit., parti 616, discusses a request to delay burial during the season of anatomy at the medical school to preclude grave robbing.
[26] Jeffrey Levine, “Jewish History in Vesalius’s Fabrica,” September 17, 2014 (here).
[27] For more on the history of anatomy and graverobbing in rabbinic literature, see Edward Reichman, The Anatomy of Jewish Law (Maggid/OU/YU Press, 2022).
[28] Benjamin Ravid, “In Defense of the Jewish Doctors of Venice, ca. 1670,” in M. Perani, ed., Una Manna Buona per Mantova: Man Tov le-Man Tovah: Studi in onore Vittodire Colorni per il suo 92 compleanno. (Leo S. Olschki: Florence, 2004), 479-506, esp. 480. On the Counts Palatine, see also, Debra Glasberg Gail, Scientific Authority and Jewish Law in Early Modern Italy, Ph.D Dissertation, Columbia University (2016), Chapter 3; Andreas Rehberg, “Le Lauree Conferite dai ContiP di Nomina Papale: Prime Indagini,” in Anna Esposito and Umberto Longo, eds., Lauree Università e Gradi Accademici in Italia nel Mmedioevo e Nella Prima età Moderna (Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editrice: Bologna, 2013), 47-76.
[29] On Messer Leon and his work, see Isaac Rabinowitz, The Book of the Honeycomb’s Flow by Judah Messer Leon: A Critical Edition and Translation (Cornell University Press, 1983); Daniel Carpi, “Rabbi Yehuda Messer Leon and his Work as a Physician” (Hebrew), Michael 1 (1972), 276-301; idem, “Notes on the Life of Rabbi Judah Messer Leon,” in E. Toaff, ed., Studi sull’Ebraismo Italiano: In Memoria di Cecil Roth (Rome: Barulli, 1974), 39-62.
[30] Marc Shapiro, “Talmud Batra, R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual Abuse,” The Seforim Blog (March 24, 2022).
[31] Rabinowitz, op. cit., xxiii. For more on this yeshiva and other programs throughout history that combined the study of Torah and medicine, see E. Reichman, “The Yeshiva Medical School: The Evolution of Educational Programs Combining Jewish Studies and Medical Training,” Tradition 51:3 (Summer 2019), 41-56.
[32] Carpi, op. cit., “Notes,” 51-52. See also, E. Reichman, “The Yeshiva Medical School,” op. cit.
[33] Daniel Carpi, “Notes on the Life of Rabbi Judah Messer Leon,” in E. Toaff, ed., Studi sull’Ebraismo Italiano: In Memoria di Cecil Roth (Rome: Barulli, 1974), 39-62, esp. 51 and 56-58.
[34] Responsa Maharik, n. 88. See J. David Bleich, “Clerical Robes: Distinction of Dishonor,” Tradition 50:1 (2017), 9-34. For another halakhic chapter involving Messer Leon, see Elliott Horowitz, “Don’t Mess with Messer Leon: Halakhah and Humanism in Fifteenth Century Italy,” in Richard Cohen, et. al., eds., Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe, Essays in honor of David B. Ruderman (Hebrew Union College Press: Cincinnati, 2014).
[35] The diploma of Israel Olmo (Padua, 1755) was sold at Sotheby’s Important Judaica Auction (November 24, 2009), lot n. 160, and is now part of the Braginsky Collection in Zurich. The diploma of Emanuel Delmedigo De Dattolis (Padua, 1686) was sold by Kestenbaum Auction House Fine Judaica (July 21, 2020), and is now in a private collection .
[36] The diploma of Moises Tilche (Padua, 1687) was reproduced for the exhibit.
[37] Tilche is listed in the work of Abdelkader Modena and Edgardo Morpurgo, Medici E Chirurghi Ebrei Dottorati E Licenziati Nell Universita Di Padova dal 1617 al 1816 (Bologna, 1967), n. 25, p. 46.
[38] See M and M, n. 50.
[39] For extensive bibliography on Cantarini, see, Asher Salah, La Republique des Lettres: Rabbins, Ecrivains et Medecins, Juifs en Italie au XVIIIe Siecle (Brill: Leiden, 2007), 120-124. See additional bibliography in the poem section.
[40] This letter is appended in Shemesh Tzedaka (Venice, 1743) to n. 14, 28a. The pagination is confusing as the headings of the lengthy responsum n. 14 are sometimes labeled as n. 4 (omitting the yod) and sometimes mislabeled as n. 15. See also Salah, Le Republique des Lettres, 630.
[41] For further discussion of this particular controversy, which involved a number of prominent rabbinic authorities of the time, as well as for broader treatment of the clash of Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs in history, see B. S. Hamburger, Gedole ha-Dorot ‘al Mishmar Minhag Ashkenaz, 2nd ed. (Bnei Brak: Makhon Moreshet Ashkenaz, 5754), esp. 43–44.
[42] Coen is listed in the work of Abdelkader Modena and Edgardo Morpurgo, Medici E Chirurghi Ebrei Dottorati E Licenziati Nell Universita Di Padova dal 1617 al 1816 (Bologna, 1967). This diploma is also included in a spectacular volume of reproductions of Padua diplomas from 1504 to 1806 issued by the University of Padua in 1998. See G. Baldissin Molli, L. Sitran Rea, and E. Veronese Ceseracciu, Diplomi di Laurea all’Università di Padova (1504–1806) (Padova: Università degli studi di Padova, 1998).
[43] Jewish Theological Seminary Library Ms. 9027 V5:7. JTS lists the year as 1700, though Modena and Morpurgo, list his graduation year as 1702. The original diploma confirms the date of 1702.
[44] See Modena and Morpurgo, n. 154, p. 65 and n. 211, p. 81.
[45] Valle is listed in Modena and Morpurgo, n. 184, p. 73.
[46] For a list of his works, see here.
[47] Meir Letteris, ed., Ephraim Luzzatto, Eleh Bene ha-Ne’urim (Druck und Verlag des Franz Edlen von Schmid: Wien, 1839), 69-70, n. 50.
[48] On the relationship between Luzzatto and the medical students of Padua, see, for example, Morris Hoffman, trans., Isaiah Tishby, Messianic Mysticism: Moses Hayim Luzzatto and the Padua School (Oxford: The Littman Library, 2008).
[49] Debra Glasberg Gail, Scientific Authority and Jewish Law in Early Modern Italy, Ph.D Dissertation, Columbia University (2016), 127, n. 56.
[50] ASUPd, ms. 233, f. 168; ASUPd, ms. 233, f. 180; ASUPd, ms. 233, f. 187.
[51] Elia Consigli (1723), Emanuele Calvo (1724), Elia Cesana (1727), Jacob Alpron (1727), Marco Coen (1728), Yekutiel Gordon (1732), Israel Gedalya Cases (1733), and Salomon Lampronti, (1734). Most of these poems are not extant. Some are listed in Y. Zemora, Rabi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto, Sefer HaShirim (Mosad HaRav Kook: Jerusalem, 5710).
[52] See David Malkiel, “Christian Hebraism in a Contemporary Key: The Search for Hebrew Epitaph Poetry in Seventeenth Century Italy,” Jewish Quarterly Review 96:1 (Winter 2006), 123-146.
[53] Bernardino Ramazzini, A Treatise of the Diseases of the Tradesman (Andrew Bell: London, 1705), 196-197, cited in Robert Jutte, The Jewish Body (University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 2021), 177.
[54] Luzzatto is listed in Modena and Morpurgo, n. 305, p. 107.
[55] See Modena and Morpurgo, and Reichman, “The Valmadonna Trust Broadsides.”
[56] See the website of the Museo del Territorio on San Daniele del Friuli here. The site lists four of this graduate’s ancestors but does not mention him. He would be the fifth.
[57] See Modena and Morpurgo, 76. There is a misprint showing Luzzatto graduating in 1794. In a note on his relative, Isacco del Raffael, the authors correctly state the year of graduation as 1797.
[58] Cited in D. Mirsky, The Life and Work of Ephraim Luzzatto (New York: Ktav Publishers, 1987), 8.
[59] See Mirsky, Ephraim Luzzatto, op. cit, 8.
[60] Sabbato Vita Marini (1662-1748), Benedetto Frizzi (1756-1844), Medoro Samuele (1788-1854), Amedeo Conegliano (1767–1851), Donato Benvenisti (1787–1835).
[61] For reference to Marini’s graduation from Padua, see Modena and Morpurgo, 41, n. 100. Modena and Morpurgo confuse the two Marinis and reference Friedenwald’s mention of Marini as witness for Pictor’s diploma in association with Shabtai Aharon instead of Shabtai Ḥayyim.
[62] See here. The author of the On the Main Line blog may have confused Shabtai Aḥaron Ḥayim Marini (1685–1762) with Shabtai Ḥayim Marini (1662–1748). The blog cites a passage from the Ḥida’s Ma‘agal Tov (p. 82) that mentions in passing that Chida attended a lecture/sermon of Marini, after which they shared a meal together. A manuscript draft of one of Marini’s sermons was auctioned in November 26, 2013. See here). In the notes for the auction, it states that “many letters written to him (Marini) are featured in the book ‘Iggrot Ramḥal’. The Ramḥal mentions him tens of times in his letters. He was the one who convinced the Ramḥal to leave Europe and immigrate to Eretz Yisrael.”
[63] This translation was published many times between 1500 and 1700, with the last edition in 1832. Marini also adapted Pirke Avot into verses and composed occasional poems for weddings. See Laura Roumani’s critical edition of Marini’s work, “Le Metamorfosi di Ovidio nella traduzione ebraica di Shabbetay Ḥayyim Marini di Padova” [Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated into Hebrew by Shabtai Ḥayyim Marini from Padua] (PhD diss., University of Turin, 1992). See also L. Roumani, “The Legend of Daphne and Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Translated into Hebrew by Shabbetay Ḥayyim Marini” [in Italian], Henoch (Turin University) 13 (1991): 319–335. See the small volume by Jacob Goldenthal, Rieti und Marini: Dante und Ovid in Hebräischer Umkleidung (Vienna: Gerold, 1851).
[64] https://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/content/handwritten-lectures-dr-samuel-medoro-circumcision-copy-letters-italian-scholars-and
[65] See Reichman, “Yeshiva Medical School,” op. cit.
[66] A rare Italian version of this work is found in Padua and a page is reproduced for the exhibit. It was added in light of our recent experience with Covid-19. There are a number of extant Hebrew manuscript versions of this work, and it was only published in the 20th century by Cecil Roth. See Cecil Roth, ed., Abraham Catalano, “Olam Hafukh,” Kovetz al Yad 4:14 (1946), 67–101.
[67] Cynthia Klestinec, “A History of Anatomy Theaters in Sixteenth Century Padua,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 59:3 (2004), n. 74.
[68] Much has been written on Tuviyah. For the most recent contribution, see Kenneth Collins and Samuel Kottek, eds., Ma’ase Tuviya (Venice, 1708): Tuviya Cohen on Medicine and Science (Jerusalem: Muriel and Philip Berman Medical Library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2021).
[69] Joanna Weinberg, “The Collection of Hebrew Printed Books in the Antoniana Library of Padua,” Il Santo 14:3 (September-December 1974): 271-303.
[70] Weinberg, #134.
[71] #121 Weinberg. I discussed this work briefly in two other Seforim Blog entries, E. Reichman, “The Discovery of a Hidden Treasure in the Vatican and the Correction of a Centuries-Old Error,” Seforim Blog (here), January 11, 2022; idem, “Samuel Vita Della Volta (1772-1853): An Underappreciated Bibliophile and his Medical ‘Diploma’tic Journey,” Seforim Blog (here), November 5, 2021.
[72] #10 Weinberg
[73] In #15 R. Minz addresses the issue of wearing masks (masquerade?) on Purim for both men and women (masquerade?). Maharam Padua (#86) discusses whether a student has to pay a tutor if the tutor flees during a plague.
[74] #12 Weinberg
[75] See the creative essay by Stefano Gulizia, “The Paduan Rebbi: A Note on Galileo’s Household and Mediterranean Science in the Seventeenth Century,” Philosophical Readings VII:3 (2015), 43-52.
[76] Padua University Archives, Raccolta Diplomi, 33. This poem was found folded in the same file as Coen’s diploma and has gone previously unnoticed. For further discussion, see Edward Reichman, Congratulatory Poems for the Jewish Medical Graduates of the University of Padua (University of Padua Press, forthcoming).
[77] MS. Michael 528, 60 recto, number 341. See Simon Bernstein, Divan of Rabbi Yehuda Arye MiModena (Hebrew) (Philadelphia, 1932), n. 79.
[78] I thank Dr. Susan Einbinder and Dr. Richard Steiner for assistance in interpreting this poem. Bernstein omits a letter in the second word of the third line and it should read “b’ulpana d’asuta” i. e., medical school. The other poem in Aramaic was written for Yehudah Matzliaḥ Padova. See Meir Benayahu, “Poems for the Graduation of the Physician Yehuda Matzliaḥ Padua,” (Hebrew) Koroth 7:1-2 (Nisan, 5736), 39-49.
[79] Modena wrote a poem for the birth of Loria’s son Shimon in August 1633. See Bernstein, Divan, op. cit., n. 80. A copy of this poem is in the British Library, The Oriental and India Office Collections, Shelfmark 1978.f.5.
[80] See S. Simonsohn, Zikne Yehudah (Mosad HaRav Kook: Jerusalem, 5716), 46.
[81] See Mark R. Cohen, trans. and ed., The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena’s Life of Judah (Princeton University Press, 1989), 142.
[82] See E. Reichman, “From Graduation to Contagion: Jewish Physicians Facing Plague in Padua, 1631” The Lehrhaus (here), September 8, 2020.
[83] On Lampronti, see Asher Salah, La République des Lettres: Rabbins, écrivains et medecins, juifs en Italie au XVIIIe siècle (Brill: Leiden, 2007), n. 516.
[84] Kedem Auction #22 Catalogue (May 8, 2012), Lot 217.
[85] Entry n. 169, 1774.
[86] Modena and Morpurgo, 95. Zamorani, from Ferrara, was also a student of Solomon Lampronti. See Nepi Ghirondi, Toldot Gedolei Yisrael, p. 133.
[87] On Navarra, see Cecil Roth, “Rabbi Menahem Navarra: His Life and Time 1717-1777. A Chapter in the History of the Jews of Verona,” Jewish Quarterly Review 15:4 (April, 1925), 427-466.
[88] Kaufmann Collection in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Library in Budapest, Hungary (580, 20). There is also a copy in the British Library (Oriental and India Office Collections, Shelfmark 1978.f.3).
[89] See Navarra’s circumcision ledger (1745-1783) at NLI system n. 990001857430205171. The original ledger is housed in the University of Leeds in the Cecil Roth Collection (MS Roth/208). The children of Basilea are listed at numbers 41 and 91, and the children of Ferrarese at numbers 116, 130 and 148.
[90] M and M p. 87.
[91] CAJS Rar Ms 503. I thank Chaim Meiselman for bringing this to my attention.
[92] Fermi and Fermo were different family names.
[93] The catalogue notes references to Morpurgo on pages 16r and 24r. There is an additional mention of Morpurgo on page 32v (item 167), which is pictured here. The name Morpurgo spans across two lines. On Morpurgo, see E. Reichman, “The Illustrated Life of an Illustrious Renaissance Jew: Rabbi Dr. Shimshon Morpurgo (1681-1740),” Seforim Blog (here), June 22, 2021.
[94] The catalogue identifies references by the author to his family members, but I was unable to find any corroborated genealogical information elsewhere.
