Summary

Rabbi HaCoen Mendes addresses the Menasseh in a letter, having heard the man stopped in Middleburg on the journey back to Amsterdam due to sickness. The rabbi writes that he will never disclose what happened to himself and the Menasseh’s father during the Inquisition. The Menasseh understands the trials they experienced, and willingly works on behalf of the Jewish people. The rabbi tells the Menasseh not to take on “the burden of hastening the Messiah’s arrival,” when the Jewish people “will throng to greet him with tears in [their] eyes” (50).

The rabbi offers his counsel to the Menasseh, being the older man. HaCoen Mendes describes the Menasseh’s teachings as a “spark” and “if it is extinguished, even the blind will feel the darkness deepen” (50). The rabbi begs his friend to rest and to be healed in the mind and body...