Jews have lived in Venice for more than a millennium. In 1516 the Jewish community of Venice was restricted to one area of the city, and this came to be known as the Ghetto, the first of its kind in Europe. Jewish life flourished, and it became a pioneering center of the printing of Hebrew books, most famously in the printing press of the Christian Daniel Bomberg.
Though there were many famous Jewish personalities of Venice, including Don Yitzchak Abarbanel who lived out his last years in the city, the most famous Venetian Jew never even existed at all. Shylock is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. While Shakespeare used - and to a certain extent created - anti-Semitic tropes which unfortunately were perpetuated by subsequent anti-Semites over the ensuing centuries, in many ways the character reflects the restricted reality of Venice’s Jews at the time.
For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history contact Yehuda at: yehuda@yehudageberer.com
Subscribe To Our Podcast on:
PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/
Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites
You can email Yehuda at yehuda@yehudageberer.com
The Great Defender of Israel: Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
Radical Mussarites: The School of Novardok
Jews of the Maghreb: The Uniqueness of Moroccan Jewry
Great American Jewish Cities #21: Monsey Part II
Great American Jewish Cities #21: Monsey Part I
Torah for Eternity: Stories of Rav Shmuel Rozovsky
The Kabbalists of Komarno: Part II
The Kabbalists of Komarno: The Komarno Dynasty Part I
Stories Of Ner Israel Part III
Nathan Gutwirth & the Dutch Rescue Scheme
An Angel Amid the Ashes: The Klausenberger Rebbe Part I
Great American Jewish Cities #20: Toronto Part III
Great American Jewish Cities #20: Toronto Part II
Great American Jewish Cities #20: Toronto Part I
Building the 'Kehilla': The Leadership of Rav Dr. Joseph Breuer
Great American Jewish Cities #19: Worcester & Boston
Rav Hakollel: The Tragic Story of Rabbi Jacob Joseph Part I
From Oberland to Boro Park: The Arugas Habosem & His Descendants
Back to his Roots: The Novominsker Rebbe & His Predecessors
The History of the Kiruv Movement Part I
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Rav Gershon Ribner
For Heaven’s Sake
The Nightingale of Iran
Unpacking Israeli History
Unorthodox