Jacob Raphael Saraval
Encyclopedia
Jacob Raphael ben Simhah Judah Saraval (?1707 - 1782) was an Italian Rabbi
, man of letters, and musician. Saraval was born in Venice
.
Saraval was one of the rabbis of Venice who supported Jacob Emden
in his dispute with Jonathan Eybeschutz
. He communicated with the English scholar, Kennicott, on subjects of biblical philology
. in 1752 he was appointed rabbi of Mantua and many documents in the communal archives bear his signature. During the 1760s and 1770s he traveled to Holland and England on behalf of his community. When the anti-Jewish lawyer, Giovanni Battista Benedetti of Ferrara, published his Dissertazione della Religione e del Giuramento degli Ebrei at the beginning of the 1770s, Saraval rejoined with Lettera apologetica (Mantua, 1775). He was also known as a preacher, poet, and composer of piyyutim (liturgical poems), and engaged in various branches of secular culture - arts, literature, and music, in which fields he wrote many works. In addition he translated from various languages. One of his translations, the libretto of Handel
's oratorio Esther (apparently done at the request of the Jews of England and Holland), is one of the first free verse translations from English to Hebrew without recourse to the traditional meters.
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The above information is an extract from the Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem 1971)
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, man of letters, and musician. Saraval was born in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.
Saraval was one of the rabbis of Venice who supported Jacob Emden
Jacob Emden
Jacob Emden also known as Ya'avetz, , was a leading German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement...
in his dispute with Jonathan Eybeschutz
Jonathan Eybeschutz
Jonathan Eybeschutz , was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. With Jacob Emden, he is well known as a protagonist in the Emden-Eybeschütz Controversy.-Biography:Eybeschütz's father was...
. He communicated with the English scholar, Kennicott, on subjects of biblical philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
. in 1752 he was appointed rabbi of Mantua and many documents in the communal archives bear his signature. During the 1760s and 1770s he traveled to Holland and England on behalf of his community. When the anti-Jewish lawyer, Giovanni Battista Benedetti of Ferrara, published his Dissertazione della Religione e del Giuramento degli Ebrei at the beginning of the 1770s, Saraval rejoined with Lettera apologetica (Mantua, 1775). He was also known as a preacher, poet, and composer of piyyutim (liturgical poems), and engaged in various branches of secular culture - arts, literature, and music, in which fields he wrote many works. In addition he translated from various languages. One of his translations, the libretto of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's oratorio Esther (apparently done at the request of the Jews of England and Holland), is one of the first free verse translations from English to Hebrew without recourse to the traditional meters.
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The above information is an extract from the Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem 1971)