Shlomo Pereira, "Monuments de Papel E Pergaminho: Hebrew Printing in Portugal at the End of the 15th Century" (Chabad Portugal Press, 2025)

Dec 25, 2025

Shlomo Pereira, a Rabbi and professor at William & Mary, discusses his work on Hebrew printing in late-15th-century Portugal, emphasizing the significance of manuscripts as the nation's surviving Jewish monuments. He spotlights the contributions of Rabbi Abraham Zakuto, an influential astronomer whose navigational tools aided explorers like Columbus. Pereira also explores the unique autobiographical style of Iberian Jewish commentators and examines how their history can bridge gaps with wider society, enriching the narrative of Iberian cultural heritage.

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INSIGHT

Paper As Portugal’s Jewish Monuments

Portugal lacks physical Jewish monuments, so manuscripts and printed books become its primary historical monuments.
Rabbi Shlomo Pereira frames these paper and parchment items as the tangible legacy of late 15th-century Iberian Jewry.

INSIGHT

Highlighting Jewish Contributions To Iberia

Pereira aims to highlight Jewish contributions to Iberian scholarship, science, and poetry alongside acknowledging persecution.
He hopes sharing these achievements will build bridges between Jewish and non-Jewish communities in Iberia.

INSIGHT

Why 'Iberian Jews' Not 'Portuguese'

Pereira uses the term "Iberian Jews" because many Jews in late 1400s Portugal were Spanish exiles.
The period's communities combined migrants and locals, concentrating Iberian Jewish talent in Portugal.

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Rabbi Professor Shomo Pereira discussed his book "Monuments of Paper and Parchment: Hebrew Printing in Portugal in the Late 15th Century." He explained that while Portugal lacks physical Jewish monuments due to natural disasters, earthquakes, and persecution, the book highlights the country's rich Jewish history through its manuscript and printing heritage of the late 15th century. He explained how Hebrew printing in Portugal was a vibrant force, contributing to the spread of knowledge and influencing printing practices in the Ottoman Empire.

Pereira also detailed the contributions of Rabbi Abraham Zakuto, a Jewish scientist and astronomer who developed crucial navigational tools and was recognized for his work by having a crater on the moon named after him.

Pereira discussed his book on Iberian Jewish history, emphasizing contributions to scholarship, mathematics, astronomy, and poetry during the late 1400s, when many Spanish Jews fled to Portugal. He explained his goal is to highlight these accomplishments to build bridges with non-Jewish communities and enrich Iberian history, while acknowledging the context of persecution. Pereira clarified that during this period, most Jews in Portugal were Spanish, and he uses "Iberian Jews" to reflect this diversity.

Pereira emphasized the unique characteristic of Iberian commentators, who often included personal experiences in their writings, contrasting this with the more detached approach of commentators like Rashi.

Pereira explained the complexity of uncovering colophons in historical Jewish texts, noting that simple colophons provide basic information about the work's completion, printer, sponsor, and date, while more sophisticated ones use cryptic biblical references that modern AI cannot translate. He discussed the challenges in interpreting colophons from historical Jewish texts, particularly those printed in 1494 and 1498 in Spain and Portugal. He explained that the dates and years in these colophons are often confused due to the use of astrological and astronomical coincidences.

Rabbi Shlomo Pereira emphasized that history is about how we perceive and learn from the past, rather than just focusing on the past itself.

This bilingual book on Hebrew printing in Portugal, highlighting its significance in Jewish and Iberian history is published by Chabad Portugal Press in 2025, and is available on Amazon and other platforms.

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