Obj. ID: 35639
Jewish printed books  Nitzachon by Yom-Tov Lipmann Muelhausen, Altdorf bei Nürnberg, 1644

This text was prepared by William Gross:

This is the first Hebrew book printed in Altdorf, and the first printed edition of an extremely important polemic work in defense of Judaism against Christianity. Written by R. Yom Tov Lipmann Muelhausen, one of the leading rabbinic figures of his time, and a Dayan in Prague, Nizzachon remained in manuscript until the publication of this edition, as the Church prohibited Jewish possession of a copy. When it was finally published in 1644, it was with the purpose of enabling Christians to refute its arguments. To this end, the text was published with a Latin translation by Theodore Hackspan, a priest and professor of theology in Altdorf. The first Jewish edition of Nizzachon was printed in Amsterdam 1709.
Engraved title page with gateway flanked by Moses and Aaron. The figure of Noah appears above with the inscription "The Seven Noahite Laws." Below two contemporary figures hold an open book together labeled מקרא and an illuminated candle. Latin title page follows.
R. Muelhausen was, in 1389, one of a number of Jews incarcerated after an apostate named Peter accused them of defaming Christianity. A disputation in which Muelhausen represented the Jews followed. He is reported to have been completely effective in his arguments. Soon afterwards, in 1390, Muelhausen wrote Sefer Nizzachon for ordinary Jews who had to respond to challenges from Christianity. The book is divided by the days of the week, further organized by books of the Bible, and subdivided into 354 sections (representative of the lunar year) that refute Christian arguments, explain dubious actions by the righteous in the Bible, explain difficult verses and reasons for precepts, refute arguments of skeptics, argue against heretics and Karaites, and enumerate 16 Jewish principles to be read on Shabbat. Muelhausen also refutes the Christian concept of the Messiah, Immaculate Conception, and Original Sin.
Muelhausen’s great superiority over other polemicists was his fluency in Latin and an intimate knowledge of Christian literature including the Evangelion, the Vulgate, the leading Church Fathers, as well as the works of the late Christian scholars. His method is to expose the Christian lack of understanding of Hebrew sources with their linguistic and contextual associations and to ridicule aspects of the Christian religion. Yom Tov Lipmann’s activities as a polemicist gave him lasting renown. Over the years a complete and ramified body of literature in refutation of him was produced, known by the general name of “Anti-Lipmanniana”.
The book also includes Teshuvot Radak le-Notzrim [Responses of R. David Kimchi to the Christians], pp. 196-200.
Altdorf, in Lower Bavaria, had no Jewish community in the seventeenth century. As in other locations, Christian-Hebraists published Hebrew works in Altdorf for their own purposes. In contrast to the types of Hebrew books typically published by Christian-Hebraists, however (philological and biblical titles, and translations of rabbinic works), those issued in Altdorf were polemical: works that Jews might circulate in manuscript but were unable to print on their own behalf. Wolfgang Endter's edition of Nitzachon is the first example of this unique Christian-Hebraist incentive.