Yehiel Nissim da Pisa explained

Yehiel Nissim da Pisa (Vitale) (1507–1574) was an Italian-Jewish banker, writer, and philosopher, who wrote a treatise on the use of credit, Ma'amar ḥayei olam at inyan haribit, as well as several texts on philosophy, usury and loans. His works were not published at the time, but circulated as manuscripts, only to be published much later. He describes the use of bills of exchange in Haye Olam which translates as Eternal Life.^[1]

Biography

His family operated a pawnshop and loan-banking business in Florence.^[2] His grandfather was Jehiel of Pisa. He became a friend and associate of Lorenzo de Medici.^[3]

After the licenses for Jews to operate the family's businesses were revoked by the Florentine government, he became a scholar and a kabbalistic authority.^[4]

In his philosophic works, he was critical of Aristotelianism, Gersonides and Maimonides, preferring anti-rationalism, arguing that the kabbalah, Torah and Jewish tradition were self-sufficient sources of knowledge, and emphasized the uniqueness and spirituality of the Jewish people. He cited the Zohar, Judah Halevi and Nahmanides, Averroes, particularly his commentary on Aristotle's Physics, and Agostino Nifo.

Further reading

• Pisa, Jehiel Nissim da, 1507–1574, and David Kaufmann. Minḥat Ḳenaʼot. Berlin: Ba-defus shel Ts.H. Itsḳovsḳi, 6581898.
• Pisa, Jehiel Nissim da, 1507–1574, and David Kaufmann. Minhat Kenaot, Neged Igeret Hitnaziuto Shel R. Yedayah Ha-Penini: Hozetiv Leor Mitokh Ketav-yad Mantova. Berlin: Itzkowski, 1898.

Notes and References

1. 1916 . A Description of Bills of Exchange, 1559 . The American Economic Review . 6 . 3 . 609–614 . 0002-8282 . 1808527.
2. Roover . Raymond de . January 1963 . Banking and Finance Among Jews in Renaissance Italy: A Critical Edition of "The Eternal Life" (Haye Olam). By Yehiel Nissim da Pisa. Translated and edited by Gilbert S. Rosenthal. New York, Bloch Publishing Co., 1962. Pp. viii + 182 + 98. $7.50. . Business History Review . en . 37 . 4 . 458–459 . 10.2307/3112721 . 3112721 . 2044-768X.
3. Book: Medieval Jewish Seals from Europe . 2018 . Wayne State University Press . 10.1353/book.61491 . 978-0-8143-4485-9.
4. Book: Idel, Moshe . Ben: sonship and Jewish mysticism . 2007 . Continuum; Shalom Hartman Institute . 978-0-8264-9665-2 . The Kogod library of Judaic studies . London; New York : [Jerusalem] . 166317455.