The Bible of the Conversos

Years after being forced to leave Judaism behind, many of the conversos of Spain and Portugal sought to return to their suppressed roots. The Ferrara Bible, which was printed in the 16th century and revised countless times, helped them rediscover their religion. Dozens of copies of this Bible are still scattered around the world today.

Daniel Lipson | 14.08.24

After many years of being cut off from Judaism, the conversos of Spain and Portugal migrated to other countries around the world, with many of them attempting to return to the Jewish faith. They didn’t have much knowledge of Judaism, and they didn’t even know the Hebrew alphabet. However, childhood memories, family stories, and discreetly maintained traditions encouraged these “New Christians” to try to reconnect with their roots in their newly adopted homes.

Throughout the 16th century, converso communities began to print Jewish books in Spanish. Initially, these printed works included the foundational Jewish texts, followed later by works on Jewish philosophy, anti-Christian texts, and books of poetry. A Portuguese grammar book and a play based on the Book of Esther, both printed by conversos during this period, have been preserved. A little later, in the 17th century, conversos published what is considered the world’s first Jewish newspaper, the Gazeta de Amsterdam. The newspaper was published in Amsterdam and was primarily intended for Jewish merchants.

It all began in the city of Ferrara, in northern Italy. Conversos settled there in the 16th century, and established the earliest printing industry dedicated to works of Spanish and Portuguese conversos. The publishing work later moved to Venice, and then in the 17th century to Amsterdam, where it remained for approximately 200 years. During the expulsion from Spain and Portugal in the last decade of the 15th century, there was already a Jewish community living in Ferrara, and the Jewish printing house had been operating there for several years. From 1477 to 1551, it published the Arba’ah Turim (a work dedicated to Jewish religious law) and commentaries on the books of Job and Daniel.

מעיני הישועה — *Ma’ayanei Ha-Yeshua*, a commentary on the Book of Daniel by Don Isaac Abarbanel, Ferrara, 1551 (with the censors’ stamps on the last page)

Against this backdrop, Ferrara attracted many conversos wishing to return to their Judaism, since the location offered them such a comfortable environment. Among those who settled there was Abraham Usque, a converso who had printed Latin books in Portugal. In 1543, he came under suspicion of practicing Judaism in secret and fled from Portugal to Ferrara.

Shortly after the arrival of the conversos in Ferrara in 1552, a Spanish member of the community named Yom-Tob Atias published a siddur (prayer book) and later a book of the Selichot penitential prayers. Usque and Atias met each other and in 1553, they published a complete Bible in Spanish together. According to an inscription found on the inside cover, this was done with the approval of the Duke of Ferrara. The full title of the Bible they published was: “The Bible in the Spanish language, translated word for word from the true Hebrew by very excellent scholars, seen and examined by the office of the Inquisition.” To this day, it is commonly known as “The Ferrara Bible.”

Since it is a very literal translation, it is a bit of a strange read in Spanish; rather than writing the biblical stories in Spanish, the text is translated word for word, sometimes without syntax, exactly as it is written in the original Hebrew. While the Ferrara Bible was printed in Roman letters, some people consider the translation to be written in the Judeo-Spanish language of Ladino, because it adheres strictly to the original Hebrew text.

תנך — The Ferrara Bible, 1553. An inscription reads *Iblia en lengua española traduzida palabra por palabra de la verdad hebrayca por muy excelentes letrados vista y examinada por el officio de la Inquisicion* (“The Bible in the Spanish language, translated word for word from the true Hebrew by very excellent scholars, seen and examined by the office of the Inquisition.”)

The Ferrara Bible was first and foremost intended for conversos who wanted to study the Bible but did not have sufficient knowledge, if any, of Hebrew. The other target audience included Spanish-speaking Christians.

In the past, certain scholars surmised that in order to serve both types of readers, the Ferrara Bible was printed in two similar versions, with the differences reflecting the two target audiences’ respective expectations. In any case, the National Library of Israel has a copy of each version.

The “Christian” version states that it was printed by Jerónimo de Vargas and Duarte Pinel. The first page includes a long dedication to Duke Ercole II d’Este, who ruled Ferrara at the time of publication and granted Jews equal rights. The Jewish version was printed by the same two publishers, but in this version, they appear under their Hebrew names—Yom-Tob Atias (who some claim was Jerónimo de Vargas’ father) and Abraham Usque. In this version, the dedication is to Doña Gracia Nasi, the famous Portuguese converso and Jewish philanthropist. Doña Gracia may have funded the project or supported it in other ways.

הקדשה דונה גרציה — The dedication to Doña Gracia Nasi in the Jewish version of the Ferrara Bible

In the colophon – the final note attached to a book or manuscript summarizing its production process—some copies have the year written as 1553, while others have it written as the corresponding year in the Hebrew calendar, 5313.

קולופון — In the colophon at the end of this version of the book, the year is written in its Hebrew form – 5313.

However, the differences between the two versions of the Ferrara Bible don’t stop there. For example, they were printed in two different sizes and on different types of paper.

In the 1950s, Professor Stanley Rypins, a scholar of English literature, conducted a thorough examination of the existing copies of the Ferrara Bible. He found 49 different copies around the world and demonstrated that there were many differences among them, though most of these differences were small and insignificant.

Contrary to the assumptions of past scholars that the Ferrara Bible had both a Jewish and a Christian version, Rypins argued that there was in fact no version specifically tailored for Christian readers. On the contrary, over the years, some have even claimed that this Bible is anti-Christian and that the translations of certain verses that have been interpreted as a historical basis for Christianity maintain the original literal text, in an effort to undermine official Christian doctrine.

Nevertheless, in some copies, there is one significant change favoring Christian dogma. One of the verses used in Christianity for missionary purposes appears in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 14. In the original, it reads as follows:

“Behold, the young woman is with child, and she shall bear a son, and she shall call his name Immanuel.”

In Christian literature, the verse was translated according to Christian theology, which asserts that Jesus’ mother is the Virgin Mary:

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

In some copies of the Ferrara Bible, the Hebrew word almah is translated into Spanish as moca (young woman). In others, it is translated as virgen (virgin), and in most cases, the printers simply wrote alma in Roman letters, thus avoiding controversy. In about half of the copies found, the word alma appeared, and Rypins demonstrated that this was how the Bible was originally printed. He claimed that the word was later changed to virgen, likely for political-religious reasons, and after several printings, to moca. Each change required the printer to adjust the font to maintain a uniform length of the row of text. To achieve this, abbreviated words were sometimes expanded to their full forms, and sometimes small spaces were added between words.

Throughout the period of publication, errors in page order and typos were corrected in the various printed copies that were released. Nevertheless, typographical errors can still be found here and there in some of the copies. Rypins viewed all these issues as proof that the different editions of the Ferrara Bible were indicative of an ongoing process of corrections; it wasn’t that there were two versions, each intended for a different audience, rather – all copies of the Ferrara Bible were intended for Spanish and Portuguese conversos in the mid-16th century. In the copies Rypins found, it was also evident that due to the prohibition against writing or pronouncing the name of God unnecessarily, most copies used the capital letter “A” as a substitute for the name. Some copies also included a list of the weekly Haftarah portions read in the synagogue.

God’s name written as the capital letter “A”, from the beginning of the *Va’etchanan* portion in the Ferrara Bible

The illustrated title page of the Ferrara Bible includes a drawing of a ship being tossed about by stormy waters at sea. One of its masts is broken, and it is surrounded by waves, gusts of wind, and sea monsters. The illustration alludes to the situation of the Jewish People in general and the conversos of Spain and Portugal in particular. The printers were hinting at the eternal nature of Judaism, which is forced to fight against its spiritual enemies but manages to survive and persevere despite it all.

שער פררה — The title page of the Ferrara Bible. The ship being wrecked at sea symbolizes the Jewish People.

The ship is also depicted with an armillary sphere, an instrument that serves as a model of objects in the sky and which was used in maritime navigation. The armillary sphere was the symbol of Abraham Usque’s printing house and appears in other books he printed as well.

Masotav — An armillary sphere, Abraham Usque’s trademark, which appears on the title page of a travel journal by Benjamin of Tudela

Usque published over 25 books before his printing house was closed in 1558. One of his books, Shiltei Giborim (“The Signs of Heroes”) by Rabbi Yaacov Ben Yoav Elia of Pano, included a lamentation for 24 conversos who were executed in Ancona in 1556. News of this lamentation reached the ears of Bishop Antonio Ghislieri (later, Pope Pius V), who then demanded that the book be burned and Usque be punished.

Ushka — From the lamentation for the martyrs of Ancona, *Shiltei Giborim*, Ferrara 1556.

In 1996, literary and theater scholar Moshe Lazar published an accurate facsimile edition (that is, a new print completely identical to the original) of the Ferrara Bible, with a print run of 1,000 copies. Earlier, in 1992, to mark the 500th commemoration of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Lazar released a critical edition (one that traces all known editions) of the Ferrara Bible. In the introduction, Lazar wrote that to prepare this edition, he located some 60 copies of the Bible. These copies and others, which might still be circulating and unaccounted for in remote parts of the world, helped the conversos of Spain and Portugal return to Judaism in the 16th century.

Fax — The facsimile (above) and the critical edition (below)

What We Do Isn’t Written, What Is Written Isn’t Done: The Story of the Oral Torah

The Bible may be the Book of Books, but when you look closely, you can see there’s an enormous gap between what is written in it and what the Jews actually practiced. This gap is part of the basic operating system of Judaism. How exactly does it work?

Bar Nativ | 29.07.24

Jewish Culture Judaism

Sabbath Der Sabbathe (Shabbat of Shabbats), 1900, by Ephraim Moses Lilien, the National Library of Israel collections

See this table?

These are all the things Halakha (Jewish religious law) says Jews are not allowed to do on Shabbat.

39+melacho — Credit: Anshie Kagan, anshie.com

Actually, these aren’t all the prohibitions – just the categories, under which innumerable additional prohibitions are gathered.

But the Torah simply says general things like “Observe the Shabbat day to sanctify it.” How did we go from such a simple verse to the enormous and unreasonable pile of laws we know today?

Here’s how:

Lilien Sinai — Mount Sinai, by Ephraim Moses Lilien

Desert. Sand stretching out for miles and blowing in the wind. Under a small, nondescript mountain a loud group of people, children, and livestock gather. These are the Children of Israel, who have been wandering this place for close to two months.

While everyone’s getting ready below, Moses ascends the mountain.

Clouds, lightning, fire, drama!

It’s not entirely clear what’s going on but when Moses comes back down, he’s holding the Torah.

Sorry – the Torahs. Both of them.

The Jewish sages tell us that at Mount Sinai, two Torahs were brought down from on high: the one we’re familiar with from Bible class, and the Oral Torah.

They are described as bride and groom, salt and pepper, wheat and flour…you get the idea.

In other words – they complement each other, or at least one serves as the raw material from which a finished product is made.

But what’s wrong with the written Torah? Why do we need another one?

Well, the Torah on its own is not entirely practical and not entirely clear.

The Oral Torah is there to bridge those gaps.

Lilien Moses — Moses, by Ephraim Moses Lilien

Let’s examine this concept with the help of a well-known verse:

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.”

To understand what the Oral Torah does, we need to do a little thought experiment:

It’s a strange question, sure, but try and think of the advantages of “an eye for an eye”.

From my perspective: The principle of “an eye for an eye” contains an element of justice. Revenge is a powerful human emotion, one that is best regulated by authority, with this sort of practice likely to deter wrongdoers.

Bu that about the drawbacks?

In my view, the justice achieved here is not true justice. A person who has just lost an eye gains nothing from taking another eye out, and revenge does not generally lead to a better society.

So perhaps…this specific commandment should be changed?

Maybe, but if you look at the Torah from a traditional point of view, you’ve got a problem.

After all, according to Jewish tradition, everything written in the Torah is sacred, and the rules of the game mean no changes are allowed.

What can be done? – Interpret the heck out of the verse!

And that’s precisely what the Oral Torah does.

Since this verse was written, Jews have never literally practiced “an eye for an eye”. Never. It doesn’t exist. Not in reality or in written Halakha.

The transition appears to happen in the Mishnah – a sort of screenshot of the Oral Torah at a particular moment in time. The sages of the Mishnah state that if you took someone’s eye out, that person doesn’t get to take yours out, too. Your obligation as the one causing harm is to pay *monetary compensation* to the one you harmed. Or as the sages put it: “An eye for an eye – [means] money.”

This is one of the starker examples of the gap between the Written and Oral Torah. But there are also many simpler cases of issues which are simply not understood. Which takes us back to the question of observing Shabbat.

In all, we have but a few fairly simple verses speaking about Shabbat. But when you examine them closely, they’re not actually all that clear.

What does it mean to “observe” Shabbat? Seriously – what does that mean?

We as modern people have a general idea, but there was a moment in history where this wasn’t so clear.

To answer this question, the sages would use a technique that can be translated as “a matter learned from its subject” (דבר הלמד מעניינו). They looked at the verses dealing with observing Shabbat and when the verses weren’t clear they did what any bright student does: attempt to understand the context.

Take a look at the verses below:

“Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever performs work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.”

“You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

These verses reside within a Torah portion dealing entirely in the matters of the Mishkan or Tabernacle, the earlier and mobile version of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

So the sages took a look at the surrounding verses and said “Hey! Maybe it’s not clear exactly what observing Shabbat means, but it’s certainly related to the Mishkan.”

How is it related? While English translations of the above verse have often used the word “work”, the text of the Hebrew commandment regarding Shabbat uses the word melacha (מלאכה) , which generally indicates “craft”.

The verses covering the Mishkan use the same term – melacha (craft) – in reference to all the things done in order to keep the Mishkan in operation – sowing, sewing, writing, lighting a fire, etc. The sages concluded that these were the crafts (or “work”) referred to in the commandment, and that what was done in the Mishkan is precisely what may *not* be done on Shabbat.

Das Stiftszelt — The Mishkan, by Ephraim Moses Lilien

Sound credible? Hmmm… I’m not sure about that. But this was acceptable logic for the sages.

Sound exaggerated? They also thought so. In a moment of self-awareness, they said: “The rules of the Sabbath […] are like mountains hanging on a hair, few verses and many rules.” In other words, not much is actually written here and a very large number of Halakhic rulings came out of it.

So what do we have here? Unclear or impractical verses, alongside an Oral Torah clarifying the unclear, adapting what needs to be adapted and maintaining dynamism. And it does all that without breaking the rules.

The books documenting the Oral Torah are the Mishnah, Tosefta, Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, midrashic books like the Mekhilta, the Sifre, Midrash Rabbah, and Midrash Tanhuma. You can also add the responsa literature which continues to be written to this day as part of the Oral Torah.

A Rare Document: When Haredim Proposed That Religious Zionists Join Their Draft Exemption

A fascinating piece of correspondence found in the archive of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria tells the story of the beginnings of the historic debate between Haredim and religious Zionists regarding enlistment in the IDF.

Arik Kitsis | 23.07.24

Archives History of Israel IDF היסטוריה ישראלית סודות כתבי היד העבריים

Photo: Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria, courtesy of the family. Background: Letter from Rabbi Meir Karelitz to Rabbi Neria, the Moshe Tzvi Neria Archive at the National Library of Israel. This record was made available thanks to the generosity of the Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation.

It was the beginning of 1948, just over a month since the fateful UN vote on partitioning the Holy Land into Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish public in the Land of Israel was busy preparing to establish the state, preparations which were taking place while the early battles of the War of Independence were already underway. It was in this historic moment that Agudat Israel and Poalei Agudat Israel – the two most prominent Haredi political movements – called for enlisting Haredi and religious youth in the national army (the IDF) that was just coming into existence. Except, that is, for women and yeshivah students.

997001542890405171 — Agudat Israel calls on Haredim to report to recruitment offices, December 1947. The Pevzner Collection, the National Library of Israel

Both within the Haredi community itself and between the Haredim and the religious Zionist community, the main debate revolved around the following issues: Would women be exempt from mandatory enlistment or from any sort of enlistment whatsoever? Would yeshivah students be exempted or be forced to serve part-time? Would yeshivah students be sent into combat? Or perhaps only receive training with service limited to auxiliary forces? And who would be considered a yeshivah student?

A fascinating document from the archive of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria kept at the National Library of Israel provides a glimpse into the beginnings of the historic debate between Haredim and religious Zionists regarding service in the Israeli army – a debate which continues to this day.

The Protagonists

Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria was born in Lodz, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1913. He studied in his youth in yeshivahs in the cities of Shklov and Minsk, in an era when yeshivah studies were considered subversive in the formally atheist Soviet Union. He made Aliyah to the Land of Israel before his 18^th birthday with the aid of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook, and began studying at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav. At the same time, he was also one of the leaders of the religious Zionist Bnei Akiva youth movement.

In late 1939, Rabbi Neria established the yeshivah in Kfar Haroeh, the first such yeshivah in the Bnei Akiva educational network. In the early years, the sole focus at Kfar Haroeh was on religious studies, just like Haredi yeshivot. Rabbi Neria’s views on education at the yeshivah were famously summed up in his quip: “Hairs will grow on the palm of my hand before secular studies are taught at the yeshivah.” However, by the end of the decade, pressure from parents of students who joined forces with Rabbi Avraham Zuckerman, another member of the yeshivah’s leadership, led to secular studies such as math and English being taught as well.

The yeshivah at Kfar Haroeh was run like a typical and traditional yeshivah, but it was also part of the Bnei Akiva movement and followed its principles and ideals: In addition to religious study, yeshivah students also worked in agriculture. The yeshivah even sent one of its rabbis, Rabbi Mordechai Breuer, to the British detention camps in Cyprus, where Jews caught while attempting to immigrate covertly were detained, to establish an extension of the yeshivah there. The yeshivah’s internal atmosphere was much the same: Students enjoyed broad autonomy, which included the right to receive new students. They frequently conducted meetings and assemblies, and the student council was partner to administrative decisions.

Capturekharoe — Yeshivah students working in gardening at the Bnei Akiva yeshivah at Kfar Haroeh. This item is part of Archive Network Israel, and is made available that to the collaborative efforts of Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, and the National Library of Israel

Rabbi Meir Karelitz was born in 1875 in Kosava in Belarus. He studied in Lithuanian yeshivahs, married the daughter of the elder Rabbi of Vilna and served as a Rabbi in the town of Lechovitch.

He was the brother of the Chazon Ish, had close ties with the leading Haredi rabbis of Europe in the period leading up to WWII, and was among the founders of the Vaad Yeshivot (yeshivah committee) of Poland.

Just before the war broke out, he made Aliyah to the Land of Israel with his entire family, where he continued to be very active in leading the Haredi public and establishing its main institutions – the independent education stream, the Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah (council of leading Torah scholars), and the most important institution for our story – the local Vaad Yeshivot in what would soon be the State of Israel.

“We have come to an agreement with the institutions”

On January 1, 1948, Rabbi Meir Karelitz sent a letter to the head of the yeshivah at Kfar Haroeh, Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria. In his letter, Rabbi Karelitz spoke of a temporary arrangement formed with the Zionist national institutions regarding the draft of yeshivah students, an arrangement which was valid for 1948. At the end of the letter, Rabbi Karelitz suggested Rabbi Neria send him – if he was interested – a list of his yeshivah students, so that they could be included among those exempted from the draft.

Capturemeirkarelitz — Rabbi Meir Karelitz

Rabbi Meir Karelitz

7 Shevat 5708

My friend the Rabbi R. M.Tz. Neria, may he live a good long life, amen

[…] I wish to inform [you] that we have come to an agreement with the institutions, regarding the draft of the yeshivah students according to the following formula: The yeshivah students appearing in the lists approved by the three leaders of the yeshivot, are exempt from service in the army (in full or partial drafts).

b. The management of the yeshivot must provide capable students with training in self-defense, according to the orders and instructions of the high command.

c. This arrangement will be considered a temporary arrangement for the [Hebrew] year of 5708 and will come for renewed discussion at the beginning of the year of 5709. It may not be cancelled but by a new agreement.

At the assembly of the yeshivot leaders last Thursday it was decided: A yeshivah student is anyone that is a regular student at the yeshivah and whose Torah is his craft, as it has always been in the yeshivot, and who studies and observes all the orders of the yeshivah.

The leaders of the yeshivot from Petah Tikvah, Ponevezh and Slonim were chosen to the committee of the three yeshivot leaders. The yeshivot must provide notification if any student leaves the yeshivot – to the aforementioned committee of yeshivot leaders. If the management of Yeshivat Kfar Haroeh has in mind to join the aforementioned, may forgive me … and immediately send a list of students of draft age to that committee to the address: Tel Aviv, Montefiore 39, Poalei Agudat Israel, for … the committee.

His friend, respectfully,

Meir Karelitz

Whatsapp Image 2024 07 09 At 09.13.09 1 — Letter from Rabbi Meir Karelitz to Rabbi Neria regarding the draft of yeshivah students, the Moshe Tzvi Neria Archive, the National Library of Israel. This record was made available thanks to the generosity of the Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation.

“We are interested in including them in the campaigns of the armies of Israel”

In many cases, archives only contain the letters received by the owner of the archive and not their own response, but in this case Rabbi Neria wrote the draft of his response on the back of the original letter, preserving it for posterity.

In his response, Rabbi Neria rejected Rabbi Karelitz’s proposal politely but firmly. Rabbi Neria did agree that yeshivah students needed to be exempt from a full draft, but when it came to part-time drafts, his view was the opposite:

For

The Gaon Muvhak [the outstanding genius]

My teacher and mentor Meir Karelitz, may he live a good long life, amen

Blessings and greetings to you,

[…] forgive me for the lateness of my response to his letter. Illness and distractions delayed me until now.

As to the actual matter, while we indeed agree that yeshivah students should be exempted from a complete draft, regarding a partial draft it seems that we ourselves should to be interested in including them. Both for internal spiritual reasons and also for the sake of raising the honor of Torah and sanctifying the name of Heaven in public.

Procuring a list of our students at draft age is therefore unnecessary since as noted we are interested in including them in the campaigns of the armies of Israel, and in their war [against] the hand of an enemy poised against them.

Many thanks [for your] appeal and interest.

With great respect and honor

Letterback660 — Draft of Rabbi Neria’s response to Rabbi Karelitz regarding the draft of yeshivah students, the Moshe Tzvi Neria Archive, the National Library of Israel. This record was made available thanks to the generosity of the Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation

Rabbi Neria’s archive contains no sign of any continued correspondence between the two, and we don’t know if they continued to discuss the draft issue. We do, however, know that with the escalation of the War of Independence, many members of the religious Zionist community enlisted in the army – some in separate religious units and others in regular IDF units.

Rabbi Neria’s yeshivah at Kfar Haroeh sent most of its graduates to serve in the army. Rabbi Neria accompanied them and supported them, even writing the anthem of the 7^th Brigade in which the students served.

76 years have passed since that correspondence, but the worldviews reflected therein have hardly changed.

Feldenkrais: The Man Who Stood Ben-Gurion on His Head

He was an engineer and physicist who struggled with chronic physical pain, when he developed a unique theory of movement which attracted masses of practitioners and trainers around the world. One of these was Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, who succeeded in doing a headstand for the first time in his life, at the age of 70. This is the story of Moshe Feldenkrais.

Yael Ingel | 15.07.24

David Ben-Gurion History of Israel Israeli Culture

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (photo courtesy of the Association of Licensed Feldenkrais Method Trainers in Israel) and David Ben-Gurion standing on his head at Herzliya Beach, 1957 (Photo: Paul Goldman courtesy of the Photohouse).

There was one man who was able to tell David Ben-Gurion what to do. He even told him to stand on his head, and Ben-Gurion obeyed. His name was Moshe Feldenkrais, a gifted teacher of movement who accumulated many students and patients, one of which was Israel’s first Prime Minister. When asked how often Ben-Gurion practiced with him, he responded: “Every day.” When asked “what hours,” he responded: “It depends. When I have free time.”

הארץ 1 בנובמבר 1957 — Article about Moshe Feldenkrais in *Haaretz, November 1, 1957*. From the Historical Jewish Press Collection, the National Library of Israel

The first connection formed between Moshe Feldenkrais and David Ben-Gurion was a little odd:

In the early 1950s, Ben-Gurion suffered from lumbago, meaning he had severe lower back pain problems. After reports were published in the press about the Prime Minister’s physical discomfort, Ben-Gurion received a letter from a citizen who claimed he could cure him. The Prime Minister’s doctors, who saw the letter from a man named Moshe Feldenkrais lacking any professional medical training, dismissed him as a con artist. It was only on the eve of the Sinai Campaign in 1956, when Ben-Gurion once again suffered from back spasms, that he was visited by Professor Aharon Katzir, one of Israel’s top scientists, who advised he meet with his colleague – a physicist and judo expert. The man was not a doctor but he did have some original ideas in the field of orthopedics. This time, Ben-Gurion did not refuse the strange proposal.

Feldenkrais arrived at Ben-Gurion’s home where the Prime Minister was overseeing the Sinai Campaign from his bed, and gave him a thorough physical examination. Once it was completed, he announced: “You will need seventy lessons.” He added that “If you have not already committed yourself to attending the last class, you’d better not start with the first.” Ben-Gurion agreed to the strict conditions laid down by Feldenkrais, and the daily treatment of the Prime Minister began.

Where did Moshe Feldenkrais get the gall and the confidence to personally attend to the health of one of the most important people in the country?

Moshe Feldenkrais was born in 1904. Already at the age of 13, as a bar mitzvah gift, he made a special request of his parents – to allow him make Aliyah from Ukraine to the Land of Israel. With a simple satchel on his back, he set out on his way. Once there, he first worked in construction, and at this stage in his life there was little to hint of what was to come. With great effort, Feldenkrais completed his high school matriculation exams, after which he travelled to the Sorbonne in Paris to study engineering and physics. There, he completed a doctorate in physics cum laude, and afterwards worked as an engineer and physicist in military industry.

מארכיון הוגו ברגמן — Signed copy of the French version of Feldenkrais’ 1935 book on jiu-jitsu, dedicated to philosopher Samuel Hugo Bergman, who served as Director of the National Library of Israel. From the Samuel Hugo Bergman Archive, the National Library of Israel

In his youth, he took an interest in self-defense and read a book by Kanō Jigorō about the teaching of jiu-jitsu (Feldenkrais would later write the first book on the subject in Hebrew in 1930). As a youth growing up in Tel Aviv, he loved playing ball games with his friends, but in the last year of his studies in high school, he suffered a knee injury, causing him severe pains which kept him bedridden and limited his movement. Doctors at the time had no solution for him, and the only thing they could offer was a risky operation whose odds of recovery were only partial. Feldenkrais refused, and was determined to find another solution.

During his studies in France, he met Kanō, the author of the book he had read, who was impressed with this diligent and curious individual. Though he was an expert in jiu-jitsu as well, Kanō is famous today for having founded the martial art of judo, and Feldenkrais took advantage of his time in Paris to learn from him when he could. Feldenkrais would also later write the first Hebrew-language book on judo. In a letter from 1935 kept at the National Library of Israel, Feldenkrais tells of how Kanō was very impressed with his first book: “This is the best book written on this subject in a language which is not Japanese.” Kanō agreed to write an introduction to Feldenkrais’ book and even saw to it that the book be translated into Japanese.

Whatsapp Image 2024 07 01 At 13.20.47 — Cover of *Judo – The Art of Defense and Attack* [Hebrew], by Moshe Feldenkrais, the National Library of Israel collections

קטע מהמכתב מארכיון הוגו ברמן — Letter from Feldenkrais to Hugo Bergman about the jiu-jitsu book he wrote: “Here we see the first Hebrew book on physical culture which merited to be the first and only to be translated into the Japanese language in which the method was created”. From the Samuel Hugo Bergman Archive, the National Library of Israel

But that was just the beginning. Feldenkrais would later use all the knowledge he accumulated from his Japanese mentor, as well as his studies in engineering and physics, to invent a new theory of movement.

“I decided to see what action I took which led to my knee being strained,” he said an interview in 1957. When he began observing his body as a whole unit, he understood that he was not using it properly and that bad habits which he had accrued were causing him harm. Alongside his work as a physicist in military industry, Feldenkrais continued to develop his own unique theory in the field of movement, aimed at preventing pain and increasing acquaintance with the body. He devoted his scientific skills to try and understand his own physical condition: Why are there days where the knee hurts more than others? Does psychological stress affect it? He studied and investigated the matter but did not arrive at any new insights.

פלדנקרייז בצעירותו מתוך הספר ג'ו ג'יטסו והגנה עצמית 1931 — A young Moshe Feldenkrais. Picture from his first book *Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense* (Hebrew), which came out in 1930, when he was just 26

One day, while hopping on his good leg, he slipped and injured it. Despairing and in pain, he lay in bed and fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he discovered that his “bad leg” had suddenly improved tremendously, and he was able to easily stand on it. He tried to understand what had happened, leading him to a revolutionary conclusion: in response to his second injury, his brain created new neural circuits, reorganizing his body’s response as a whole.

In the wake of these insights, Feldenkrais developed the ability to carefully observe physical phenomena and became highly sensitive to even the subtlest changes in his body. He created a series of sensory-kinetic experiments which usually took place when lying down on a mattress and which illuminated how the brain, body, and psyche all work together as a single unit. Following Feldenkrais’ discoveries, he adhered to self-healing, slowly improving his functioning to the point that he no longer needed surgery. He even taught himself to walk in a new and graceful manner, which served as the basis for the exercise method he developed, which is named after him – the Feldenkrais Method. His principles were found to be effective not only in solving common physical problems but also in helping those who suffered from developmental and neurological problems.

Whatsapp Image 2024 07 01 At 13.20.48.1 — *Personal Power – A Guide to Spontaneity* [Hebrew] by Moshe Feldenkrais

Whatsapp Image 2024 07 01 At 13.20.46 — *The Feldenkrais Method: Movement as a Means for Developing Awareness* [Hebrew] by Moshe Feldenkrais

The use of non-invasive methods to improve the nervous system and individual awareness on how to properly use the body were among the principles of the new method, which quickly became popular in Israel.

Back to Feldenkrais’ most important patient. At Ben-Gurion’s request, his therapy sessions with Feldenkrais were kept secret, but at one of their meetings, the Prime Minister let slip that he had never been able to stand on his head, even as a child. Feldenkrais, who saw an indelible link between body and soul, understood that despite their daily sessions, Ben-Gurion still had the “body image of a nebech” (Yiddish for “weak/helpless/unfortunate person”).

Feldenkrais had his own definition of what health meant: “My first definition of a healthy person is someone who can realize their undeclared dreams.” If these dreams are abandoned or repressed, he explained, they will continue to immiserate their dreamers.

He could not ignore Ben-Gurion’s passing comment and went about formulating a plan, at the end of which the unthinkable would happen (as far as Ben-Gurion was concerned), and “the Old Man”, as he was affectionately known, would indeed stand on his head. For the next month, the two worked on strengthening the body of the 70-year-old Ben-Gurion, and learning the movements to prepare for the headstand became the focus of their work. The results became apparent during Ben-Gurion’s trip to Herzliya Beach, made immortal by Paul Goodman’s camera in 1957. That famous frame of the Prime Minister in a bathing suit, nonchalantly and proudly standing on his head, would become iconic.

בן גוריון בחוף הרצליה 1957, הצלמניה — Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel, in his 70s, with his bodyguard David Bashari. Herzliya Beach, 1957. Photo: Paul Goldman, courtesy of the Photohouse

It wasn’t just Ben-Gurion who came to Feldenkrais for help. So did the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Nachum Goldman (president of the Zionist Congress), Meyer Weisgal (president of the Weizmann Institute), Levi Eshkol (Israel’s Finance Minister and later Prime Minister), Pinchas Sapir (Minister of Commerce and Industry), Moshe Dayan (Chief of Staff and later Defense Minister), and many more.

He also wrote eight books which were translated into different languages. His students teach his method around the world to this day.

Feldenkrais passed away 40 years ago. This fascinating man who devoted his whole life to improving the quality of life of others, left behind a glorious legacy of students who continue to make the world a better place.

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In the preparation of this article, we made use of a Hebrew report from Maariv from September 20, 1957 (“B.G.’s Teacher”) and a Hebrew report from Haaretz from November 1, 1957 (“Moshe Feldenkrais and the Culture of the Body”), both of which can be found in the National Library’s Historical Jewish Press Collection. We also made use of Moshe Cohen-Gil’s book The Israelis Who Sought to Cure the World – Feldenkrais/Paula/Nezah/Hooppe [Hebrew].