Obj. ID: 40678
Jewish printed books  Der ganz Judisch Glaub by Antonius Margaritha, Frankfurt am Main, 1544

This text was prepared by William Gross:

Second edition of the book "Der Ganz Juedisch Galub" (The Whole Jewish Belief). Woodcut vignette on title with three further woodcut illusration and sporadic use of Hebrew. An apolstate and anti-Jewish writer (his name is a corruption of the family surname Margolis), Margaritha was born c.1490 and converted to Catholicism in 1522, This libellous tract in which the author ridicules Jewish religious practice and beliefs had a great influence upon Martin Luther, who quoted it often in his own writings. Margaritha accuses Jews of lacking charity and piety, of harboring sentiments hostile to Christians, and finally, of treason. What gave Margarith special "credibility" was the fact that he was no ordinary Jew but the son of Samuel Margolis, the Chief Rabbi of the City of Regensburg, the Empire's most distinguished Jewish community. Elisheva Carlebach has dealt extenisvely with this work which she describes as a :sixteenth-century bestseller.". See Carlebach, Divided Souls (2001), pp. 55-56, 63-64 and 179-182; see also EJ, Vol. XI, cols. 958-9.
He is best known for the 1530 book Der gantze Jüdisch Glaub (The Whole Jewish Belief). The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia commented:
The author ridicules Jewish ceremonies, accuses the Jews of usury and of sentiments hostile to Christians and Christianity, and argues against their Messianic hopes. He denounces the 'Alenu prayer as anti-Christian in tendency. Declaiming against the usury and idleness of the Jews, he appeals to the magistrates to remedy the evil and to force the Jews to perform manual labor. He charges the Jewish physicians with ignorance and greediness, and asserts that, despite their minuteness in ritual, the Jews are neither pious nor charitable, and that, notwithstanding their apparent aversion to proselytism, they are eager to gain adherents to their faith. This libelous book had a great influence upon Martin Luther, who made use of it in writing his On the Jews and Their Lies ("Von den Juden und Ihren Lügen"). It was praised by Hoornbeck, B. Lutberus, and Joseph Müller; but Wagenseil speaks of it less favorably.See also: Antisemitic canard
He had a public debate in the same year with Josel of Rosheim before Charles V and his court at Augsburg.[3] The disputation terminated in a decisive victory for Josel, who obtained Margaritha's expulsion from the realm.