The Rabbi and the English scholar

The ‘Master of the Rabbis’

Title page, from: Johannes Buxtorf, Synagogua Judaica, Basel: Ludwig König, 1641

Buxtorf (1564-1629) was passionately interested in Jewish legal and customs, and his Hebrew lexicon was in print for centuries after his death. He was well known for having a wide circle of Jewish friends, and people called him the ‘Master of the Rabbis.’ Many European scholars had good relationships with the Jewish community, although others soured the situation with anti-Jewish polemic. Buxtorf’s Synagogua Judaica documents German Jewish social customs.