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HaKuzari HaSheini - Matteh Dan : Rabbi David Nieto

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Matteh Dan, or Kuzari Hasheini, is a defense of the Jewish oral tradition against attacks by Karaites and skeptics.

Rabbi David Nieto, Chacham of the Sephardic congregation in London in the early eighteenth century, responded to criticisms of the rabbinic tradition by writing this wide-ranging defense of the Talmud and the Oral Law.

Matteh Dan is widely considered a classic of Jewish apologetics in the best sense of the term and is still widely studied and quoted, even into our day.

Although the field of heresy has unfortunately undergone much growth and development since Rabbi Nieto's time, his contribution remains important, and his arguments continue to ring true today.

The nineteenth century was a tumultuous time for the Jewish nation. Never before has traditional Jewish society and its worldview been under such a sustained and destructive attack. New patterns of thought impacted Jewish life with an unparalleled force. The winds of change within and unyielding hostility from the outside began to erode the authority of tradition, culminating over time in the wholesale abandonment of religion by the Jewish masses. Today, we still struggle with the effects of modernity’s impact on traditional Judaism.

Rabbi David Nieto (1654-1728) was a valiant fighter who stood in the breach at this time. A classically educated Rabbinic scholar, he was at home in all branches of contemporary science; he used his wide ranging erudition and penetrating intellect to respond to the arguments that were beginning to gain currency among educated Jews of his time. His best known work, Matteh Dan, or Kuzari Hasheini, is widely considered a classic of Jewish apologetics and is still widely studied and quoted, even into our day.