of its king, Alfonso V, over the North African country

of Morocco. Large Moroccan cities like Tangiers had

fallen before him with ease, and the booty he had amassed

amply filled his royal coffers. The Moroccan captives in his

possession also added to his glory and, when sold in the slave

market, would bring in a hefty price.

Among the captives were 250 Jews. Knowing that Jews

would go to every extent to redeem their brethren, the captors

demanded astronomical prices for them. In addition, the Jews

were known for their loyalty and industry and were prized by

potential slave masters.

Fearing for the fate of the captives, Morocco’s Jews dispatched

an emissary to Lisbon to try and raise money to ransom

them. That emissary, Emmanuel ben Yitzchak, scion of a

prominent Moroccan Jewish family, had come to see the one

man who could raise so much money, Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel,

a great Torah scholar and the finance minister of King Alfonso.

"The situation of the captives," Emmanuel told Rav

Yitzchak, "is appalling, since the captors treat them even

worse than animals."

Raising enough ransom money from Lisbon’s Jews, though,

was no easy feat, since they themselves had been forced to pay

vast amounts of taxes to the king. Nonetheless, Rav Yitzchak

made indefatigable efforts to collect that sum, dispatching

urgent letters of appeal to Jews all over Portugal.

It took more time than expected to collect the money, and

Emmanuel, who stayed as Rav Yitzchak’s guest throughout

that entire period, nearly despaired.

When Rav Yitzchak finally amassed the money, he handed

two packets to Emmanuel. "One bundle," Rav Yitzchak said,

"contains ransom money to redeem the captives. The other

contains money to provide the captives with food, medicines

and all they need." That second packet was Rav Yitzchak’s

personal donation.

"Once you have redeemed them bring them here to my

house, and I will take care of them until they have recuperated

from their dreadful experience."

Emmanuel was stunned. He had known that Rav Yitzchak

Abarbanel was a great shtadlan (intercessor) who was very

active in redeeming Jewish captives. But he had never expected

him to host 250 infirm and unfortunate people in his home

for a number of months.

Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel was born in Lisbon in 5197/1437

and descended from an illustrious Sephardic family, which

traced its lineage all the way back to Dovid HaMelech. The

title ‘Don’ (Minister) was conferred on him when he served as

a minister of finance in the Spanish government, and he is

often referred to as Don Yitzchak Abarbanel.

Rav Yitzchak’s grandfather, Rav Shmuel, was a great Torah

sage who had originally lived in the Spanish city of Seville.

However, he was forced to leave there when the city’s

Catholics destroyed its Jewish quarter and butchered many of

its Jews. Rav Shmuel Abarbanel, whose home was well-fortified,

managed to escape and to flee to Portugal.

Rav Yitzchak’s father, Rav Yehudah, was a very successful

merchant, and influential in the royal court. Recognizing

Yitzchak’s unique capacities, Rav Yehudah hired the finest

teachers to study with him. One of them was Rav Yosef

Chayune, Lisbon’s rav and author of Milei d’Avos. Later on,

Rav Yitzchak went to Holland to study under Rav Yitzchak

Abuhav, author of Menoras HaMaor.

When Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel was only 20, he wrote his

first book, Ateres Zekeinim, which discuses such subjects as

prophecy and Divine Providence. At that time, he also began

to compile his famous commentary on the Torah.

Aware of Rav Yitzchak’s intelligence and business acumen,

Portugal’s king, Alfonso V, appointed him to the position of

royal finance minister. That involvement caused Rav Yitzchak

much sorrow, because he preferred to devote himself to Torah

study, and to completing his commentary on the Torah.

However, he used the prestigious position as finance minister

in order to help his fellow Jews.

Rav Yitzchak served Alfonso faithfully and was very helpful

to him. Whenever Alfonso needed money, Rav Yitzchak would

raise it for him, and even loan him vast sums.

Alfonso died in 5242/1482 and was replaced by his son,

Johan. Certain elements who opposed Johan’s rule rebelled

against him, and Rav Yitzchak was falsely accused of betraying

the king and fled.

Taking his family with him, he settled in Spain which was

ruled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

In Spain, Rav Yitzchak became one of the court’s tax supervisors,

a position he used in order to assist his fellow Jews. In

that capacity, he greatly increased the royal coffers. During the

brief period of tranquility which Rav Yitzchak enjoyed in

Spain, he focused on writing his commentaries and completing

his works on Nevi’im Rishonim - Yehoshua, Shoftim and

Shmuel.

But that tranquility was not long lasting.

At that time, both Moslem and Christian provinces dotted the

Iberian Peninsula where Spain is situated. Seeking to gain total

sovereignty of the Iberian Peninsula and to unite all Spain

under Catholic control, King Ferdinand waged war against the

Moslems

In these wars, Ferdinand was motivated by his desire for

power and wealth. His wife, Isabella, though, was motivated

by religious fanaticism, spurred by the priest Torquemada, to

whom she always made her confessions. Although

Torquemada was the mastermind of the Inquisition, he knew

quite well that Ferdinand needed the Jews because of their vast

contributions to the country’s economic stability.

In 5247/1487, Ferdinand and Isabella captured the Moslem

province of Malaga. After that, only one province remained in

Moslem control: Granada. Summoning Rav Yitzchak to the

royal court, Ferdinand appointed him as finance minister and

asked him to come forth with the vast sums needed to wage a

war against Granada. With the aid of Rav Yitzchak, Ferdinand

gained control of Granada too, and became the sole ruler of the

Iberian Peninsula, as well as the undisputed monarch of a united

Spain.

Now that Spain was rid of the Moslems, Torquemada influenced

Ferdinand and Isabella to banish the Jews from the

Iberian Peninsula too.

However, Ferdinand was reluctant to take such a step

because he needed the Jews. Isabella, though, was totally dominated

by Torquemada.

When the Jews learned that the threat of expulsion loomed

over their heads, they did not believe that Ferdinand would

actually carry it out, especially since they had contributed vast

sums to the war effort and were still needed in Spain.

However, they were wrong. In March 5254/1492, an edict

was issued expelling the Jews from Spain. It was announced at

a gala reception held in Granada, in honor of Ferdinand’s conquest.

All of the king’s ministers were present at that meeting,

including Rav Yitzchak. Torquemada was there too.

At that meeting, Torquemada declared, "Now that we have

banished the Moslem infidels from the court, it’s time to banish

the Jews too!"

Even Ferdinand was stunned by this declaration, yet he cautiously

said, "This is a very serious subject, and we must listen

to the opinions of all of the other royal ministers before making

a final decision."

Rising to speak, Rav Yitzchak bravely responded, "As

Finance Minister of the court, I warn you that the expulsion of

the Jews from Spain will devastate the country financially. The

royal coffers are empty. Much money was exhausted by the

war effort, and it will take a long time for the economy to

recover. The estates of noblemen who engaged in battle for so

many years are totally neglected, and vast sums are required to

renovate them. The Christian populace though is depleted.

"Only the Jews are capable of boosting the economy at this

point. If they are expelled from the country, it is very doubtful

if Spain will ever be able to stand on its feet again."

Rav Yitzchak’s logical claim had a tremendous impact on the

other ministers and even on the king. However, Torquemada

became livid, and in his fanaticism screeched, "There are more

important things than money. What counts most is to preserve

the purity of our camp and to oust the infidels."

Startled, yet impressed by Torquemada’s cry, Ferdinand rose

and said, "We indeed want Spain to be a purely Catholic country.

From now on, Jews will have no right to remain in Spain -

unless they convert to Christianity." Then he and Isabella left

the hall.

Even then, Rav Yitzchak did not despair, and thought that he

could still convince King Ferdinand to reverse the decree.

Shortly after that event, Spain’s Jewish leaders convened in

Rav Yitzchak’s home in order to devise ways of averting the

expulsion. All looked toward Rav Yitzchak, hoping that he

would indeed be able to change Ferdinand’s mind

At an audience with the king, he promised that the Jews

would provide the vast sum of 300,000 golden drachmas to the

royal court, if the decree was rescinded.

Then he attempted to rally as many noblemen as possible to

his side, and to persuade them to convince the king to change

his mind. Some agreed and tried to cancel the decree.

However, all this was to no avail since Torquemada’s influence

over the queen was so overpowering.

Having been the queen’s personal financial advisor, Rav

Yitzchak also approached her, but she refused to listen to him,

and did not cancel the decree. As he was speaking with her,

Torquemada burst into the room and screamed, "Judas sold his

master for thirty pieces of silver. You are no better!"

Although the decree remained in force, Ferdinand and

Isabella offered Rav Yitzchak the opportunity to remain in

Spain and to continue to officiate as its finance minister, without

having to betray his faith. But he refused, and chose to join

his people in their exile and wandering.

On Tisha B’Av of 5252/1492, 300,000

Spanish Jews left behind all of their wealth and prestige, and

set out into the unknown. They were led by Rav Yitzchak who

was a source of solace to them on their treks.

The scene of their leaving and expulsion is described in

Rabbi Berel Wein’s book Herald of Destiny. "Within the terms

fixed by the edict of expulsion, the Jews sold and disposed of

their property for a mere nothing; they went about asking

Christians to buy and found no buyers; fine houses and estates

were sold for trifles; a house was exchanged for a mule; and a

vineyard given for a little cloth or linen…. The rich Jews paid

the expenses of the departure of the poor, practicing toward

each other the greatest charity so that, except for a very few of

the poorest they would not become converts…. Rav Yitzchak

Abarbanel made the women and young people play on pipes

and tambourines to cheer the people and thus they left and thus

they left Castille and arrived at the ports of the sea…"

Out of the 300,000 refugees, only one-tenth managed to

reach safe shores. On the way, many died of starvation and

lack of medical aid. Some were sold as slaves; others were

tossed into the sea by greedy ship captains.

A large number of the fugitives turned to Portugal. However

only five years after their arrival there, they were banished

from that country too.

Others reached Turkey, where the Sultan Byazaid granted

them shelter and religious freedom. However, on the way to

Turkey, pirates took many captive.

Rav Yitzchak and his family found asylum in Naples, where

he completed his commentary on Melachim. He remained in

Naples for seven years. But his wanderings still hadn’t ended,

and when the French invaded Naples, he fled to Corfu. In

1503, he moved to Venice, which was then a republic ruled by

a senate, elected by the country’s citizens. The Senate recognized

his greatness and talents, and sent him on important missions

on behalf of the ruling authorities.

He remained in Venice for the rest of his life and finally completed

his commentary on the Torah.

His commentary on Torah and Prophets are his major works.

In addition to these, he also composed a commentary on the

book of Daniel, Mayenei HaYeshuah, and two books about the

coming of the Moshiach, Mashmia Yeshua and Yeshuas

Meshicho. Other works are: a commentary on Rambam’s

Moreh Nevuchim; Nachlas Avos on the Haggadah; a commentary

on Pirkei Avos; and Rosh Amana, a dissertation in defense

of the Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of faith.

Having personally witnessed the suffering of the exiled Jews,

and fearing that their troubles might weaken their faith, he

devoted parts of his writings to encouraging them to remain

steadfast in their faith and to await the Geulah.

In one place, he writes: "Fortunate is he who waits. Fortunate

is he who bore the suffering of the exile with pride and accepted

the suffering and trials with love, remaining staunch in his

faith and in his anticipation of the imminent Geulah."

His commentaries on Tanach are unique. Before each chapter,

he presents challenging and pointed questions for the student.

Then, he answers them systematically in light of the parsha

or chapter to which they pertain.

In a letter written to Shaul HaCohen in 5267/1507, Rav

Yitzchak laments the fact that he had to spend so much time in

royal courts and palaces, instead of on his writings. However,

he also says that his sole purpose in occupying such positions

was to help klal Yisroel.

Rav Yitzchak was niftar in Venice in 5268/1508, and buried

in the old Jewish cemetery in Padua, beside Rav Yehudah

Mintz, av beis din and head of Padua’s yeshivah, who had

passed away five years beforehand.

News of the petirah of the great Torah sage and shtadlan

spread rapidly throughout the Diaspora, and all mourned the

great loss.

May his memory be a blessing.