Menasseh Ben Israel (properly Manasseh rex Joseph ben Israel), a Jewish rabbi, born in Portugal about 1(104, died in Middelburg, Zealan 1. Nov. 20, 1657. His father tied from the inquisition to Holland, and settled at Amsterdam, where the son was placed under the tuition of Rabbi Isaac Uziel. At the age of 18 he succeeded his master in the office of preacher and expounder of the Talmud. He established a press in his own house, at which he printed three editions of the Bible, and several rabbinical books in the Hebrew and Spanish languages. When he was 35 years of age the family property was confiscated by the inquisition, and he resorted to commerce to retrieve his fortune. During the protectorate he was favorably received by Cromwell, before whom he pleaded for the readmission of his coreligionists into England, writing for that purpose his "Defence of the Jews" (London, 1656). He was the author of El conciliador del Pen-tateucho (Amsterdam, 1632); Spes Israelis, in Latin and Spanish (London, 1650); and other works in Hebrew, Portuguese, and Spanish. His " Defence of the Jews " was translated into German by Mendelssohn. His life has been written by the Rev. Thomas Pococke (1709).