Free The Sistine Secrets by Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner Page B

entrusting him with translating both Hermes Trismegistus and Plato into Latin. Ficino not only did this under Cosimo’s patronage, he also became a philosopher in his own right, founding in Florence his own version of the ancient Platonic Academy, otherwise known as the School of Athens—all of this under the patronage of the de’ Medicis.
    Cosimo accomplished one other important feat, almost entirely unknown today, but extremely controversial in his own time. It would have great significance for Florence, for the vigor of its intellectual climate and content, and eventually for the education of Michelangelo. Cosimo brought the Jews into Florence.
    A CONFLUENCE OF CULTURES
     
    Up until Cosimo de’ Medici, the Republic of Florence had barred Jews from working or living there. The only exceptions were a handful of physicians and translators. The rich, Catholic money-lending families, such as the Strozzi and the Pazzi, kept the Jewish money changers and lenders out of town, not only because of religious prejudices but also for fear of competition. Since the Church frowned on usury among Roman Catholics, the Tuscan Christian banking families specialized in lending only to foreign royalty and international business concerns. This left the field wide open for Jews to lend to the common people and the poor. The Florentine upper crust had no interest in working with the “little people,” but they did not want anyone else to do business with them, either.
    In 1437 Cosimo took over the city—not by force, but by finance and strength of personality. He went along with the pretext that Florence was still a republic run by wealthy noble families and the great guilds (such as the wool merchants), but in reality he ruled the town as a sort of benign philosopher-king, much as Plato envisioned in his utopian book, entitled ironically enough The Republic.
    By bringing in the Jews, Cosimo won the hearts of the common Florentines. They could now get loans like the “big shots,” giving them the long dreamed of opportunity to pay off crushing debts, buy homes, start up or expand their businesses, or invest in the businesses of others. As for the Jews, from this point on, their fate in Florence would be forever linked to that of the de’ Medici family. When, in two different eras, the de’ Medicis were chased out of town by their enemies (supported by the Vatican), the Jews would leave with them. When the de’ Medicis took back control of the city, the Jews moved right back in with them.
    Besides easy financing for the common people, the Jews brought with them a much more enduring gift—their culture and esoteric wisdom. As much as Cosimo and Ficino and their intellectual circle were excited to be able to study Plato, they were absolutely ecstatic about obtaining access to a body of deep wisdom that long predated him. Not only that, but Jewish spiritual and esoteric knowledge could be learned from living representatives of that culture. This was far more stimulating and inspiring than translating texts from a long-dead society.
    In no time at all, Jews could be found studying Plato and harmonizing his ideas with Judaism, just as Maimonides had done with Aristotle’s concepts three centuries earlier. Catholic Florentines set about studying Hebrew, Torah, Talmud, Midrash, and—their favorite—the mystical Kabbalah. As Professor Roberto G. Salvadori recounts in his history of the Jews in Florence: “Recent studies have revealed what was hidden or unknown until a short time ago: the vivacity and variety of Jewish cultural manifestations in many Italian cities in the 15th and 16th centuries, which reached their apex in Florence…. The Florentine humanists—and particularly those gathered around the famous Platonic Academy—were strongly attracted to Judaism [and] to the Hebrew language as a vehicle of values that they considered extremely important.” 1 Jews were sought after for private tutoring and for public debates, salons,