Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Selden (review)

Abstract

Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Selden, by Jason P. Rosenblact. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 314 pp. $99.00. The impact of Greek and Latin upon English Renaissance culture continues to be examined intensely, but apart from studies of King James Bible and Milton, little concerted attention has been devoted to contribution of Hebrew studies to that culture. Hence exceptional importance of Jason Rosenblatts new study: Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Seiden, a work deploring and correcting that neglect. Rosenblatt s volume swirls around Seiden, but is more broadly dedicated to the cultural influence of and especially talmudic on some early modern British poets and intellectuals as mediated principally by (p. 3). The sweep of volume is large. Rosenblatt opens with divorce proceedings of Henry VIII. Lacking adequate authorities in England, Henry sent inquiries to Jewish scholars abroad concerning incest laws and critical biblical texts concerning levirate marriage. This discussion illuminates impoverished state of Hebrew studies at outset of English Renaissance and curious responses of rabbis themselves, and likewise shows how an understanding of that theological controversy leads to a richer understanding of Hamlet. From that point, Rosenblatt focuses upon Seiden's intense exploration of and Talmudic material and impact of his studies upon a wide spectrum of English figures, ranging from Ben Jonson to Sir John Vaughan Among English intellectuals of his rime, only placed rabbinic thought at centre of his scholarship (p. 105). The focus of Rosenblatt's study is thus two-fold: (1) character and direction of Selden's explorations of wisdom; and (2) his transmission of that learning to his friends and to his culture at large. Rosenblatt documents that Selden's fascination with materials was already well advanced by time of writing of De Diis Syris (1617) (p. 2), and continued to explore these materials until end of his life, producing six substantial works resting upon that scholarship. By time of his death in 1654, Rosenblatt affirms, Seiden would have been most learned scholar in country, an accomplishment leading one Christian Hebraist in 1641 to address him as Rabbi (p. 4). Selden's reputation, moreover, as most learned man in England led students of every stripe to pore over his volumes, to such an extent that he in essence became a primary text himself, study of generally substituting for study of actual works. Once Selden's influence weakened, tellingly, so did quality of Hebrew learning itself in England. As important as study of Hebrew texts themselves, however, was Selden's orientation. Rosenblatt shows that Selden's works constitute a notable exception to those products of English Renaissance that emphasize otherness and difference (p. 161). In midst of an age of prejudice, he insists, Seiden transmitted an uncommonly generous view of Judaism (p. 9). So influential were Selden's views, in fact, that Rosenblatt argues that his promulgation of ideas drawn from ancient writers as well as post-Talmudic rabbis created conditions leading to reintroduction of Jews into England in 1650s (pp. 277-8). Such is larger portrait of Seiden. The chapters themselves have a divided emphasis. The first half of volume brings learning (largely mediated by Seiden) to bear on literary matters. Selden's learned correspondence with Ben Jonson over issue of cross-dressing is particularly interesting, as are Rosenblatt's two chapters detailing Selden's influence upon Milton's creations. …