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of the Sixteenth Century
| |
| Abbreviations | xi |
| List of illustrations | xii |
| Two Contemporary Judgements on Nicholas Copernicus
| I |
| PART ONE THE SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPE | |
| I Spotlight: Prague, 1592
The publication of Zemah David, David Gans's first work, a few weeks after the meeting of Rudolph II of Habsburg and the Maharal in the Hradschin palace. |
5 |
| 2 Searchlight on the end of a century
The centenary of the discovery of the New World; St. Bartholomew's night; the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. Henry of Navarre, an example of tolerance. An example of intolerance: the martyrdom of Giordano Bruno. Padua, 1592 Galileo's first lecture; his praise of Tycho Brahe, who settled in Prague in 1599 and had Johannes Kepler and David Gans among his assistants. David Gans's plan for Nehmad ve-Na'im. |
8 |
| 3 A modest but enthusiastic worker
The ingratitude of contemporaries and historians towards David Gans. A life in three stages. Westphalia, the Rhine, and the Main. The first vital encounter with science: the discovery of Euclid. A humanistic yeshiva: Cracow. A dazzling city: Prague, myth and reality. Prague: David Gans's account of the origins and of the beauty of Prague; Exile and Redemption. The unexpected epilogue: 'I have scanned the heavens in Tycho Brahe's observatory.' |
12 |
| 4 David Gans and the internal problematics of Judaism at the end of the sixteenth century
The conflict of reason and mysticism. The awkward appropriation of reason by mysticism: Maimonides metamorphosed into a kabbalist. David Gans between his two teachers: above the fray. Some miniatures: the entries in David Gans's chronicle on the Rema and the Maharal. The Rema and the Maharal: a contradictory pair. The Rema, apostle of conciliation. The Maharal, apostle of confrontation. The Rema's philosophical outlook. The third man: Azariah de' Rossi. Azariah versus the Rema. The Maharal versus Azariah. A bystander: Eliezer Ashkenazi. A phantom: Mordecai Jaffe. The spiritual affinity of Jaffe and the Maharal. The originality of Jaffe: astronomy receives its title of nobility. |
27 |
| 5 David Gans's works
A general view Zemah David Extracts from Zemah David: confrontations in the University of Prague; the invention of printing; Martin Luther; the martyrdom of Servetus; the visit of the Emperor Maximilian II to the Prague ghetto; the new star which appeared in 1572; the St. Bartholomew's Night massacre; the almanack of Görlitz; the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; the introduction of the Gregorian calendar; the assassination of the Duc de Guise; the coming of Henry IV. Nehmad ve-Na'im. A classic work. A non conformist work. A modern work. Gans against astrology. An existential work. Pointers towards a critical edition. The editor of the book of 1743: Rabbi Joel Sachs. Assessment of the situation. The Hamburg Manuscript: Staats und Universitätsbibliothek, Hamburg, Cod. Hebr. 273. Magen David: Bodleian Library, Oxford. Jiebraica Opp. 4 417. A hostage to fortune. The 'imprimatur' of Rabbi Luntschitz. The enthusiastic approval of Tosafot Yom Tov. David Gans receives the blessing of the Maharal's son-in-law. The rationalization of the symbol of the Star of David. The Brno Manuscript: State Archives, Brno, MS 515. The Geneva Manuscript: National and University Library, Jerusalem, Microfilm 10408. The Jerusalem Manuscript: National and University Library, Jerusalem, MS HEB 8o 2747.
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51 |
| PART TWO DAVID GANS, COSMOGRAPHER | |
| I The reality and the myth of the New, World in the
Sixteenth century: the Exodus towards Infinity A fluid and complex mutation. Reason is right in being wrong. The nostalgia for the Lost Paradise. The yearning for Atlantis. The Exodus towards Infinity. |
95 |
| 2 The reality of the New World in the Jewish consciousness: scholars and Marranos
David Gans's sources. The conception of the earth as round: the Zohar. Inventions: the Alphonsine Tables, the quadrant, Jacob's Staff. Christopher Columbus and the Marranos. The ambivalence of the summer of 1492: the departure of Columbus and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The ambivalence of Isaac Abravanel: history and eschatology. |
102 |
| 3 The myth of the New World in the Jewish consciousness: the Ten Tribes lost and rediscovered
The myth of the Lost Ten Tribes before the sixteenth century. The image of the New World before David Gans: Abraham Farissol, Joseph HaKohen, Gedaliah Ibn Yahya. The appearance of the Lost Ten Tribes in America at the beginning of the sixteenth century. 1648: the myth becomes historical reality. The interlude of myth in Abraham Farissol: its part in the historical episode of David Reuweni and Solomon Molcho (1524-33). |
119 |
| 4 The myth of the Lost Ten Tribes towards the end of the sixteenth century: Azariah de' Rossi, the Maharal, David Gans
Azariah de' Rossi: an interesting but academic problem. The Maharal: a fundamental eschatological problem. The ambivalence of the New World. David Gans: a problem without a solution. |
136 |
| 5 David Gans's map of the world
David Gans's resemblance to Sebastian Munster. David Gans's tentative efforts in Zemah David. David Gans's mastery in Nehmad ve-Na'im, the first correct and complete Jewish description of the New World. The influence of Mercator and Ortelius. An important related problem: is Jerusalem the centre of the world? Is Erez Israel the foremost among all countries? The parallel between David Gans and Heinrich Buenting: the rationalism of Gans.
|
148 |
| PART THREE DAVID GANS, ASTRONOMER | |
| I The Genesis of the Infinite: the sixteenth-century astronomical revolution
The new attitude of Homo Astronomicus. The sense at the vertiginous. A fearful revolutionary: Copernicus. A 'grand seigneur': Tycho Brahe. A Tychonides who exceeded himself: Kepler. Their reactions to the revolution. Laughter: Martin Luther. The authority of the Holy Scriptures: Melanchthon and the Holy Office. The authority of reason: the Cartesian rearguard action. From the terror of Pascal to the wonder of David Gans. |
169 |
| 2 Praeparatio astronomica: David Gans on the threshold
of the revolution 188
The epilogue of Nehmad ve-Na'im. David Gans, historian of astronomy. The history of Jewish astronomy. The history of non-Jewish astronomy. The first mention of Copernicus in a Hebrew work. The Jewish influence on non-Jewish astronomy. David Gans freedom of thought. Gans defence of astronomy. The methodological parenthesis in Nehmad ve-Na'im: the problem is not that of the authority of the Bible but that of the authority of the Talmud. David Gans between the rationalism of Maimonides and the meta-astronomy of the Maharal. David Gans and the Rema's conciliatory option. |
188 |
| 3 The turning-point: David Gans meets Tycho Brahe and Kepler
Tycho Brahe tells Gans: the Jews were right. Contrary to Jewish tradition. The attempt to save the honour of the Jewish tradition: the appeal to Abravanel's authority. The general context of Tycho's and Kepler's statements to Gans. Ptolemy was right... and yet... |
216 |
| 4 The dialogues and the Colloquy of Prague: David Gans at the heart of the astronomical revolution 229
The problem of the ninth sphere. The phenomenon of precession: Johannes Muller's story. The Colloquy of Prague. The problem of the prime meridian. The fatal error. Jules Verne on the horizon. The Jewish aspect of the problem: the absolute Sabbath. |
229 |
| 5 Meeting at the summit: Tycho Brahe and the Maharal of Prague
The conclusion of Nehmad ve-Na'im: the system of Tycho Brahe. The astronomical system of the Maharal. The irrational obsessions of the Maharal and Kepler. David Gans's system: impression of the spiritual encounter of the Maharal and Tycho Brahe. |
243 |
| Appendix: Copernicus in Hebrew literature from the end of the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth centuries | 251 |
| Bibliography | 261 |
| Index | 277 |
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