On Resurrection of the Dead

Menasseh Ben Israel self-published, at his home and expense, De la Resurrección de los Muertos / De Resurrectione Mortuorum to restore the Pharisean doctrine of the immortality of the soul, reincarnation, and resurrection, refuted by Epicureans and atheists since the times of the Sadducees. In accordance with Scripture, ancient and medieval rationalist philosophers, Menasseh provides insights into the last of the thirteen Maimonidean Principles of Faith and demonstrates its superiority against the atheist and epicurean dogma of Carpe Diem, colloquially expressed in the aphorism You only live once (or “Yolo” in popular culture).The first rendition of the three books demonstrates through exegesis the universal eschatological view in Hebrew, Greek and Roman classical literature. This is the first translation of the Judeo-Spanish and Latin editions that appeared simultaneously in 1636.

Menasseh Ben Israel (1604-1657), born in La Rochelle, France, around 1604 (Cardozo de Béthencourt, 1904; Levy, 1924; H.P. Solomon, 1983; Meinsma, 2006; S. Rauschenbach, 2019) and buried in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Dutch Republic, in 1657, is renowned for founding the first Hebrew printing house in Amsterdam. A philosopher, exegete, diplomat, writer, editor, and printer, he published at his own expense Thirty Problems Concerning Creation (De Creatione Problemata XXX) on the same collection.