Focusing on the figure of the rabbi, this book provides a vivid picture of Italian Jewry during the Renaissance. The author discusses Jewish life of the period (c.1450-1600) in its social, institutional, and cultural aspects, placing them against the backdrop of the wider Catholic environment to give an original interpretation of how Jewish cultural and religious life developed in the Renaissance context. Particular attention is given to changes in the status and functions of the rabbis and to the relations between the rabbinate and the lay leadership. Of special interest is the exploration of the cultural world of the rabbis and the broader issue of intellectual developments at the time. Essentially a translation of Part I of the Hebrew edition, which won wide acclaim for its perspective, Rabbis and Jewish Communities in Renaissance Italy has been carefully adapted for an English-speaking readership. Substantial excerpts from the appendices have been incorporated into the text so that the evidence necessary to support the arguments is easily accessible. relations between members of the Rabbinate and the lay leaders of their communities. This discussion is set within the context of the wider Catholic environment which impinged on Jewish life at many points. Of special interest and importance is a chapter dealing with the cultural world of the rabbis and the broader issue of cultural change and movements in intellectual attitudes during the Renaissance. In this edition the translator has inserted substantial excerpts from the appendices at appropriate points within the text in order to make available to the reader all the evidence necessary to support the arguments presented.