Skip to content
Shoresh Wiki

Isaac Aboab da Fonseca: what Wikipedia removed

Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was a rabbi and kabbalist who led Amsterdam’s Portuguese-Jewish community and later excommunicated Baruch Spinoza. Through 2010 the opening said his family’s conversion to Christianity did not put an end to local antisemitic suspicions. Today the opening says nothing about the conversion or the suspicion it drew, though antisemitism survives once in the body. A reader arriving now learns Aboab da Fonseca was a rabbi in Amsterdam and not the antisemitism his family faced after converting.

The word “occupation” appeared 3 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 2. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
occupation30000
antisemitism10000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The description of his Spanish translation of the Pentateuch was cut from the opening.
  • His birth and death dates sentence was reworded, its substance kept.
  • The sentence placing him among the elders of Amsterdam’s Portuguese-Israelite community was cut, with ‘Portuguese-Israelite’ also dropped.
  • The sentence stating that his family’s conversion did not end local antisemitic suspicion was cut.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 361884978):

Not to be confused with Isaac Aboab I or Isaac Aboab of Castile . Portrait of Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca. This work is a translation of the Pentateuch into Spanish, with a commentary by Rabbi Fonseca. It was prepared for Jews in Dutch Brazil, who because of their Iberian heritage would be able to read Spanish. Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) was a rabbi , scholar, kabbalist and writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Israelite community in the Netherlands who excommunicated Baruch Spinoza for the statements this philosopher made concerning the nature of God . Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was born in the Portuguese town of Castro Daire as Simã…

2025 (revision 1248327701):

Not to be confused with Isaac Aboab I or Isaac Aboab of Castile . Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (or Isaak Aboab Foonseca ) (February 1, 1605 – April 4, 1693) was a rabbi , scholar, kabbalist , and religious writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam and for a time in Dutch Brazil before the Portuguese reconquest. He was one of the religious leaders who excommunicated philosopher Baruch Spinoza in 1656. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bodian-1999 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).

Section titled “Related”

Wikipedia text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is not affiliated with Wikipedia.