Baruch of Benevento
Encyclopedia
Baruch of Benevento was an Italian Jewish Cabalist in Naples
, during the first half of the 16th century.
He was the teacher of Cardinal Ægidius of Viterbo and of Johann Albrecht Widmanstadt in the Zohar
and other cabalistic works, and lectured on these subjects in the house of Samuel Abravanel. In a note at the end of one of his manuscripts, Widmanstadt says: "Eodem tempore (MDXLI.) audivi Baruch Beneventanum optimum cabalistam, qui primus libros Zoharis per Ægidium Viterbiensem Cardinalem in Christianos vulgavit."
Graetz, Perles, and others have taken this to mean that Baruch translated the Zohar, or parts of it, into Latin; but Steinschneider has remarked that it means nothing more than that he made the Zohar known to Christian scholars.
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, during the first half of the 16th century.
He was the teacher of Cardinal Ægidius of Viterbo and of Johann Albrecht Widmanstadt in the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
and other cabalistic works, and lectured on these subjects in the house of Samuel Abravanel. In a note at the end of one of his manuscripts, Widmanstadt says: "Eodem tempore (MDXLI.) audivi Baruch Beneventanum optimum cabalistam, qui primus libros Zoharis per Ægidium Viterbiensem Cardinalem in Christianos vulgavit."
Graetz, Perles, and others have taken this to mean that Baruch translated the Zohar, or parts of it, into Latin; but Steinschneider has remarked that it means nothing more than that he made the Zohar known to Christian scholars.