In the Shadow of History

José Faur is Research Professor at the Sephardic Heritage Foundation in New York City. He is the author of La Espiritualidad Judia; 'Iyyunim wu-Mehgarim be-Mishne Tora le-Harambam, Vol. 1; Rabbi Moshe Yisrael Hazzan: The Man and His Times; and Golden Doves with Silver Dots: Semiotics and Textuality in Rabbinic Tradition.

"José Faur's In the Shadow of History is a stunning portrayal of how the converso thinkers of sixteenth century Spain may have stimulated the emergence of scientific skepticism in modern Europe. Faur combines extensive text-historiographic research with penetrating philosophic analysis and then presents us with his conclusions in the context of a bold speculative vision of the telos of modern Jewish and modern western thinking. His book fills a historiographic lacunae in recent scholarship while also promoting a provocative thesis about the contributions of Spanish Jewry to the mind-set of modern Europe." — Peter Ochs, Drew University"Faur's book constitutes a kind of spiritual autobiography, in which the author's search for his family's intellectual roots takes the reader through a process of history 'recovered' par excellence. Within the realm of Jewish history, this book provides some fresh insights on the often studied phenomena of converso/marranos, going beyond the cataloging of acts of heroism and treachery, and instead focusing on those points common to all who faced the tragedy of Spanish Jewry. Faur manages to uncover a 'secret' history of ideas developed among the converso intellectuals, whose experience of rejection and racism generated literary reactions that would eventually undermine the society that mistreated them." — Dr. Gershon Bacon, Bar-Ilan University

• Introduction 1. Jewish Spain on the Eve of the Expulsion 2. On Being a "Faithful Christian" 3. Typology of the Converso 4. A Visceral View of Spain: Góngora and Lazarillo de Tormes 5. Alone in the "Valley of Tears": The Case of Fernando de Rojas 6. Francisco Sánchez and the Quest for a New Rationality 7. Uriel da Costa: The Man behind the Mirror 8. Spinoza and the Secularization of Western Society 9. The End of Philosophy and the Rise of Historical Rationality: A Postmodern Interpretation Notes Bibliography Subject Index Name Index