Page - 15 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

rael are constantly attacked by Christians and do not know how to defend them- selves.9 The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was marked by unique religious diversity, and each community, including the Jewish one, could take advantage of privileges and concessions. In the period when Isaac ben Abraham was writ- ing, the city of Troki was part of this Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had been established in 1569 by the unification of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the political act of the Union of Lublin.10 The Commonwealth was known as an unicum in Europe,11 with reli- gious minorities such as Armenians, Muslims, Orthodox, Hussites and Jews as well as several Protestant groups existing together in one territory.12 The last of these had taken refuge there to escape persecution in their countries of origin, for the Commonwealth was an island of tolerance in the vast ocean of religious intolerance that was the rest of Europe. These confessional minorities enjoyed both religious and civil rights thanks to the Warsaw Confederation Act of 1573, which guaranteed religious freedom in the Commonwealth.13 Isaac ben Abraham’s writings drew on his conversations with a range of indi- viduals that included Catholic bishops, high officials of the state, military officers and distinguished scholars.14 Furthermore, in Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah we find re- ports of dialogues with Christians, Lutherans and members of the Greek Ortho- dox Church.15 This text by Isaac ben Abraham has been accurately described thus: “All the controversy, the subject of endless duels since the beginning of Christianity, is here – so to speak – put in a nutshell.”16 While broadly speaking it has similarities in style, methodology and argument with earlier Jewish polemical literature, it also has features that made it particularly interesting and valuable, as we will see. Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah was intended for limited, or at least controlled, circula- tion and contained a targeted and well-articulated attack on Christianity. The author provided his treatise with a long preface, composed of about 80 biblical quotations and rendered in rhymed prose.17 The work is divided into two main sections, with 50 and 100 chapters respectively. Isaac ben Abraham’s main ar- gument tackles the Christian interpretation of the Hebrew Bible that seeks to demonstrate that Jesus was the awaited Messiah. The first section addresses 9 Deutsch 1873, 6–8. 10 For more details: Davies 1982, 115–155. 11 Tazbir 1986, 187–188; Tazbir 1973; Davies 1982, 160; Lukowski/Zawadzki 2009, 99–100. 12 Baron 1976; Mann 1935, 553–697; Goldberg 1985; Waysblum 1952, 62–77. 13 Madonia 2013, 17–18; Grzybowski 1979, 75–96. 14 Deutsch 1873, 9–10. 15 Deutsch 1873, 168; 41; 40. 16 Waysblum 1952, 73. 17 Deutsch 1873, 6–13. The Hidden Jesus | 15www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1