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Umberto CassutoItalian-Jewish, then Israeli orientalist and biblical scholar.
Country:
 Italy |
Content:
- Umberto Cassuto: Italian-Jewish Biblical Scholar and Orientalist
- Early Life and Education
- Academic Career in Italy
- Critique of Documentary Hypothesis
- Immigration to Palestine and Academic Work in Israel
- Commentaries and Literary Approach
- Contributions
- Tragedy and Legacy
Umberto Cassuto: Italian-Jewish Biblical Scholar and Orientalist
Umberto Cassuto (1884-1951) was an Italian-Jewish and later Israeli orientalist and biblical scholar who made significant contributions to the study of the Hebrew Bible.
Early Life and Education
Born in Florence, Italy, Cassuto studied at the University of Florence and the rabbinical seminary there, where he was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi. He focused on his studies of Jewish history in Italy and published his first scholarly work in 1918.
Academic Career in Italy
From 1922 to 1925, Cassuto served as director of the rabbinical seminary and later concentrated on biblical studies. He became a professor at the University of Rome and engaged in the cataloguing of Jewish books in the Vatican Library.
Critique of Documentary Hypothesis
In 1934, Cassuto published his major work, "La quitione della Genesi," where he provided a rigorous critique of the documentary hypothesis of Julius Wellhausen regarding the origins of the Book of Genesis.
Immigration to Palestine and Academic Work in Israel
In 1939, Cassuto immigrated to Palestine and became a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His influential lectures on the criticism of the documentary hypothesis were published in Hebrew and later translated into English.
Commentaries and Literary Approach
Another notable work by Cassuto was his commentary on the books of Genesis and Exodus, which remains widely cited. He was known for his literary approach to the Bible, analyzing literary techniques and the unity of the text rather than mechanically separating it.
Contributions
Cassuto's contributions included applying Ugaritic parallel texts to biblical studies and developing a literary approach to the Bible. This allowed him to write a popular commentary on the Torah while simultaneously challenging the documentary hypothesis.
Tragedy and Legacy
Cassuto's only son, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Cassuto, was killed by the Nazis in 1945. His daughter-in-law was murdered in an ambush in 1948. Umberto Cassuto passed away in Jerusalem in 1951. The surviving family members maintain a family archive dedicated to his legacy.
