Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Recommendation Whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burn All Jewish Books: A Classic Treatise Against Anti-Semitism

Rate this book
This modest little text, written in 1510 at the request of the Holy Roman Emperor who was under pressure to burn all Jewish religious books, is a landmark in the history of Jewish-Christian dialogue. In it, Johannes Reuchlin, legal scholar and enlightened thinker, was asked by the emperor to render an opinion and defended the rights of the Jews to live alongside Christians and to retain their sacred books. Reuchlin's response to the situation could be summed up Do not burn what you do not understand! Reuchlin brought revilement and persecution upon himself, but his courageous defense of Jewish books put an end to the attempt to destroy them. In her historical introduction, Elisheva Carlsbach paints a superb picture of the period and the state of antisemitism in Europe in the 16th century. Until now, Reuchlin's remarkable affirmation of the rights of Jews and defense of Jewish books has been inaccessible to English-speaking readers. This translation will gain it the wider audience it deserves.

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2000

3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read

About the author

Johann Reuchlin

32 books5 followers
Johann (or sometimes Johannes) Reuchlin was a German-born humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew. He was interested in a christian version of Kabbalah, too.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
3 (37%)
4 stars
4 (50%)
3 stars
1 (12%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
No one has reviewed this book yet.

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.