For Ḥaketía ; for Hebrew
Eminent scholar and original thinker, rabbi of his community for fifty years, teacher of theology at the Rabbinical Academy of Livorno, kabbalist, and a humanist above all, it is no wonder that Rabbi Elijah (Eliyahu) Benamozegh was referred to as «Plato of the Italian Jewry». This remarkable intellectual leader of the Italian Jewry in the nineteenth century has been commemorated with the Piazza Benamozegh as tribute to his name and distinction.
Rabbi Benamozegh (1823-1900) was born in Livorno to his parents native of Fez, Morocco, who like many other Jews of the Mediterranean, left their birthplace, and chose to settle in this city. Livorno’s importance as a vital center to the Sephardic diaspora dates to the sixteenth century. The grand Duke of Medici granted religious freedom and equal rights to all the citizens. Soon enough, Livorno became a magnet, attracting Jews from all over the Mediterranean region, including anusím from Spain and Portugal. Many Moroccan Jews, lucky enough to escape the dreadful conditions in Morocco, flocked to the city. The Sephardic Jewish community became prosperous and successful, known for its scholars, as well as for its internationally recognized acumen for trade and business networking. The Talmudist, Jacobo Haggis, the Montefiore family and Amadeo Modigliani, were but a few notable members of this community; two piazzas in Livorno have been named after distinguished members of the Jewish community: Piazza Benamozegh and Piazza Attías.
Benamozegh’s father, Abraham, died in his infancy, leaving him with his mother, Clara, and his uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Coríat. A prolific writer from early age — at sixteen Benamozegh wrote a preface to rabbi Coriat’s Maor Vashemesh — he left an extensive and daring number of books and articles in Italian, Hebrew, and French. Israel and Humanity, his major work on religious universalism, is a synthesis of his philosophical thought, on Judaism and its relations to other religions. His introduction leaves no doubt to its depth and scope: «Israel and Humanity: Proof of the Cosmopolitanism in Judaism’s Principles, Laws, Worship, Vocation, History, and Ideals». Benamozegh’s universalism and humanistic view is evident in this book; he juxtaposed and analyzed the thoughts and arguments of key thinkers, such as Maimonides and Spinoza; Greek and modern philosophers; German theologians as well as the Gospels.
Aimé Pallière, Benamozegh’s disciple and posthumous editor of Israel and Humanity stated that Benamozegh’s philosophical thought and his view of the Kabbalah stems from both the European humanistic tradition and his Moroccan roots. Alessando Gueta, Benamozegh scholar, wrote that the centrality of the Kabbalah in Benamozegh’s thought was “imported from Morocco”. Kabbalah and Guemarah – as the Sephardim call the Talmud – have been equally valued throughout the Sephardic world. Yet the Kabbalah has been particularly central in the Judeo Moroccan tradition, and Benamozegh regarded it as «the perfect form of Judaism».