Joseph Davis is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, Gratz College, Pennsylvania. He studied at Brown and Harvard universities.

• List of abbreviationsIntroductionA Rabbinic Life * The Six Pillars * Philosophy and Mysticism in Ashkenazi Culture * Social Rabbis * The Politics of Seventeenth-Century Jews * Persecutions and Plagues * Satan in GorayPart I The Ladder of Ascension, 1578-16171 The OrphanThe Orphan * Wallerstein, 1578 * Marriage in a Prominent Family * The Maharal of Prague * The New Curriculum * The Examination of the World2 The Exile of a PhilosopherThe Flowering of Philosophical Study among Ashkenazi Jews * Joseph ben Isaac and Givat haMoreh * 'A dwarf on the Shoulders of a Giant' * The Plague of 1611 * The Exile of a Philosopher3 Two Kabbalists Isaiah Horowitz and the 'Repudiation of Philosophy' * Heller as Kabbalist * On Magic, Magidim, and the Individual Self * On Esotericism, Non-Kabbalistic Judaism, and the Purposes of Prayer * In Defence of Philosophy4 Tosafot Yom TovThe Maharal and the Revival of the Mishnah * On Rashi, Tosafot, and the Seventy Faces of Torah * The Exegetical Experience * Letter to Worms, 16165 Jews and GentilesThe Nikolsburg Wine Controversy of 1616 * On Non-Jewish Bread and Non-Jewish Books * On Humanizing the Non-Jews * Against Trinitarianism, 1619 * On UnityPart II The Trial, 1618-16306 Prague in WartimeThe Defenestration of Prague, 1618 * Letter to Vienna, 1619 * Fears * Prague, 1620: Habsburg Loyalist * On Providence and Miracles *Jacob Bassevi * The Plague of 16257 The Chief Rabbi'Who are the Kings? The Rabbis * Rabbinic Activism and Educational Reform * 'Delights of the King' * Against the Shulhan arukh * On Humility * Interpretations and Decisions * The Constitutions of the Jews * The Title Page * Letter to Frankfurt, 16288 The TrialThe Arrest * In the Prison of Vienna * Deliverance * Explanations * On Politics * Again on Non-Jews * A Day of RemembrancePart III Change and Defeat, 1631-16549 The SermonFrom Prague to Poland * 'The Lessening of the Moon' * Midrashic Natural History * On the New Astronomy * On Change * The Maharal and the Illusion of Self * The Acceptance of Suffering10 Attacks and RetreatsTo the Edge of Europe * Again on the Shulhan arukh * On Honour * The Ban on the Purchase of Rabbinic Office * Permission to Publish Kabbalah11 A Rabbi's AutobiographyThe Coronation, 1644 * Deliverance Narrative and Autobiography * On Silence * Family * On Himself12 The Massacres of 1648The Twentieth Day of Sivan * Fasting and Silence * Two Kinds of Messianism * Demonizing the Cossacks * The Absence of the King * 'You Have Become a Plague' * Letter to Checiny, 1651 Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller's Extant Works and WritingsBibliographyIndex

'All in all a very nuanced biography of a prominent pre-modern rabbi, enjoyable for any Jewish history buff.'- Roger S. Kohn, AJL Newsletter'Joseph Davis ... has done remarkably well in producing the first English biography of one of the giants in European Jewish life.'- Uri ben Alexander, European Judaism'A welcome addition to the history of early modern Jews, those of eastern Europe in particular'- Magda Teter, Jewish History'Does this person merit a biography? The answer is a resounding yes ... The narrative style is very vivid, paying close attention to particulars of time, place, personality traits, and interpersonal relationships that bring the story to life. While the primary audience of this book is other Jewish historians, the work will also be useful to the Europeanist who is not familiar with the details of Jewish life. Davis situates Heller in the larger European context and highlights many interesting points of comparison between Jews and their Christian contemporaries ... an exemplary study of Ashkenazi Jewry through the lens of one of its leading personalities.'- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Renaissance Studies'Highly successful biography ... Davis successfully brings Heller to life by detailing his intellectual achievements, his communal leadership, and personal travails ... a lucid and highly informative work that helps open the world of early modern Ashlenazic luminaries.'- Shlomo Brody, Tradition Online

Joseph Davis is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, Gratz College, Pennsylvania. He studied at Brown and Harvard universities.

• List of abbreviationsIntroductionA Rabbinic Life * The Six Pillars * Philosophy and Mysticism in Ashkenazi Culture * Social Rabbis * The Politics of Seventeenth-Century Jews * Persecutions and Plagues * Satan in GorayPart I The Ladder of Ascension, 1578-16171 The OrphanThe Orphan * Wallerstein, 1578 * Marriage in a Prominent Family * The Maharal of Prague * The New Curriculum * The Examination of the World2 The Exile of a PhilosopherThe Flowering of Philosophical Study among Ashkenazi Jews * Joseph ben Isaac and Givat haMoreh * 'A dwarf on the Shoulders of a Giant' * The Plague of 1611 * The Exile of a Philosopher3 Two Kabbalists Isaiah Horowitz and the 'Repudiation of Philosophy' * Heller as Kabbalist * On Magic, Magidim, and the Individual Self * On Esotericism, Non-Kabbalistic Judaism, and the Purposes of Prayer * In Defence of Philosophy4 Tosafot Yom TovThe Maharal and the Revival of the Mishnah * On Rashi, Tosafot, and the Seventy Faces of Torah * The Exegetical Experience * Letter to Worms, 16165 Jews and GentilesThe Nikolsburg Wine Controversy of 1616 * On Non-Jewish Bread and Non-Jewish Books * On Humanizing the Non-Jews * Against Trinitarianism, 1619 * On UnityPart II The Trial, 1618-16306 Prague in WartimeThe Defenestration of Prague, 1618 * Letter to Vienna, 1619 * Fears * Prague, 1620: Habsburg Loyalist * On Providence and Miracles *Jacob Bassevi * The Plague of 16257 The Chief Rabbi'Who are the Kings? The Rabbis * Rabbinic Activism and Educational Reform * 'Delights of the King' * Against the Shulhan arukh * On Humility * Interpretations and Decisions * The Constitutions of the Jews * The Title Page * Letter to Frankfurt, 16288 The TrialThe Arrest * In the Prison of Vienna * Deliverance * Explanations * On Politics * Again on Non-Jews * A Day of RemembrancePart III Change and Defeat, 1631-16549 The SermonFrom Prague to Poland * 'The Lessening of the Moon' * Midrashic Natural History * On the New Astronomy * On Change * The Maharal and the Illusion of Self * The Acceptance of Suffering10 Attacks and RetreatsTo the Edge of Europe * Again on the Shulhan arukh * On Honour * The Ban on the Purchase of Rabbinic Office * Permission to Publish Kabbalah11 A Rabbi's AutobiographyThe Coronation, 1644 * Deliverance Narrative and Autobiography * On Silence * Family * On Himself12 The Massacres of 1648The Twentieth Day of Sivan * Fasting and Silence * Two Kinds of Messianism * Demonizing the Cossacks * The Absence of the King * 'You Have Become a Plague' * Letter to Checiny, 1651 Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller's Extant Works and WritingsBibliographyIndex

'All in all a very nuanced biography of a prominent pre-modern rabbi, enjoyable for any Jewish history buff.'- Roger S. Kohn, AJL Newsletter'Joseph Davis ... has done remarkably well in producing the first English biography of one of the giants in European Jewish life.'- Uri ben Alexander, European Judaism'A welcome addition to the history of early modern Jews, those of eastern Europe in particular'- Magda Teter, Jewish History'Does this person merit a biography? The answer is a resounding yes ... The narrative style is very vivid, paying close attention to particulars of time, place, personality traits, and interpersonal relationships that bring the story to life. While the primary audience of this book is other Jewish historians, the work will also be useful to the Europeanist who is not familiar with the details of Jewish life. Davis situates Heller in the larger European context and highlights many interesting points of comparison between Jews and their Christian contemporaries ... an exemplary study of Ashkenazi Jewry through the lens of one of its leading personalities.'- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Renaissance Studies'Highly successful biography ... Davis successfully brings Heller to life by detailing his intellectual achievements, his communal leadership, and personal travails ... a lucid and highly informative work that helps open the world of early modern Ashlenazic luminaries.'- Shlomo Brody, Tradition Online

Joseph Davis is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, Gratz College, Pennsylvania. He studied at Brown and Harvard universities.

• List of abbreviationsIntroductionA Rabbinic Life * The Six Pillars * Philosophy and Mysticism in Ashkenazi Culture * Social Rabbis * The Politics of Seventeenth-Century Jews * Persecutions and Plagues * Satan in GorayPart I The Ladder of Ascension, 1578-16171 The OrphanThe Orphan * Wallerstein, 1578 * Marriage in a Prominent Family * The Maharal of Prague * The New Curriculum * The Examination of the World2 The Exile of a PhilosopherThe Flowering of Philosophical Study among Ashkenazi Jews * Joseph ben Isaac and Givat haMoreh * 'A dwarf on the Shoulders of a Giant' * The Plague of 1611 * The Exile of a Philosopher3 Two Kabbalists Isaiah Horowitz and the 'Repudiation of Philosophy' * Heller as Kabbalist * On Magic, Magidim, and the Individual Self * On Esotericism, Non-Kabbalistic Judaism, and the Purposes of Prayer * In Defence of Philosophy4 Tosafot Yom TovThe Maharal and the Revival of the Mishnah * On Rashi, Tosafot, and the Seventy Faces of Torah * The Exegetical Experience * Letter to Worms, 16165 Jews and GentilesThe Nikolsburg Wine Controversy of 1616 * On Non-Jewish Bread and Non-Jewish Books * On Humanizing the Non-Jews * Against Trinitarianism, 1619 * On UnityPart II The Trial, 1618-16306 Prague in WartimeThe Defenestration of Prague, 1618 * Letter to Vienna, 1619 * Fears * Prague, 1620: Habsburg Loyalist * On Providence and Miracles *Jacob Bassevi * The Plague of 16257 The Chief Rabbi'Who are the Kings? The Rabbis * Rabbinic Activism and Educational Reform * 'Delights of the King' * Against the Shulhan arukh * On Humility * Interpretations and Decisions * The Constitutions of the Jews * The Title Page * Letter to Frankfurt, 16288 The TrialThe Arrest * In the Prison of Vienna * Deliverance * Explanations * On Politics * Again on Non-Jews * A Day of RemembrancePart III Change and Defeat, 1631-16549 The SermonFrom Prague to Poland * 'The Lessening of the Moon' * Midrashic Natural History * On the New Astronomy * On Change * The Maharal and the Illusion of Self * The Acceptance of Suffering10 Attacks and RetreatsTo the Edge of Europe * Again on the Shulhan arukh * On Honour * The Ban on the Purchase of Rabbinic Office * Permission to Publish Kabbalah11 A Rabbi's AutobiographyThe Coronation, 1644 * Deliverance Narrative and Autobiography * On Silence * Family * On Himself12 The Massacres of 1648The Twentieth Day of Sivan * Fasting and Silence * Two Kinds of Messianism * Demonizing the Cossacks * The Absence of the King * 'You Have Become a Plague' * Letter to Checiny, 1651 Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller's Extant Works and WritingsBibliographyIndex

'All in all a very nuanced biography of a prominent pre-modern rabbi, enjoyable for any Jewish history buff.'- Roger S. Kohn, AJL Newsletter'Joseph Davis ... has done remarkably well in producing the first English biography of one of the giants in European Jewish life.'- Uri ben Alexander, European Judaism'A welcome addition to the history of early modern Jews, those of eastern Europe in particular'- Magda Teter, Jewish History'Does this person merit a biography? The answer is a resounding yes ... The narrative style is very vivid, paying close attention to particulars of time, place, personality traits, and interpersonal relationships that bring the story to life. While the primary audience of this book is other Jewish historians, the work will also be useful to the Europeanist who is not familiar with the details of Jewish life. Davis situates Heller in the larger European context and highlights many interesting points of comparison between Jews and their Christian contemporaries ... an exemplary study of Ashkenazi Jewry through the lens of one of its leading personalities.'- Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Renaissance Studies'Highly successful biography ... Davis successfully brings Heller to life by detailing his intellectual achievements, his communal leadership, and personal travails ... a lucid and highly informative work that helps open the world of early modern Ashlenazic luminaries.'- Shlomo Brody, Tradition Online