2004
Volume 51 Number 1/2
  • ISSN: 1781-7838
  • E-ISSN: 1783-1792

Abstract

Abstract

Upon his return to Amsterdam from Recife in 1654, Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was forced to once more display leadership under crisis, but of a different kind than the one that he had displayed in Dutch Brazil. The leadership he had to demonstrate was far more challenging and demanding than it was in Brazil. He had to deal with the controversial affair of Spinoza and with the disruptive influence of the Sabbatian movement. Aboab’s involvement in those two crucial events marking the history of Amsterdamʼs community provide some inkling about the character of his leadership in times of disruption. This article discusses how Aboab faced these two incidents which threatened to undermine the internal solidarity of the community and how, despite the ideological and emotional tension that these challenges caused, both of his fateful decisions manifest a coherent view of the rabbinical leadership required to lead his congregants in periods of crisis.

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2025-12-01
2026-03-29
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