The 16th-century code of Jewish law known as the Shulhan Arukh states that on the Sabbath one should not read “profane belles lettres or fables” such as the “book of Immanuel.” Indeed, it adds, one should not read such a book even during the weekdays, since it contains frivolity and divrey ḥeshek, apparently a reference to erotic content.

The proscribed book was the Maḥb’rot Immanuel, or “Compositions of Immanuel,” a collection of Hebrew poetry and rhymed prose by a 14th-century Roman Jew. It includes the earliest known sonnets written in a language other than Italian, and a long poem—clearly modeled on Dante’s Divine Comedy—in which the prophet Daniel gives the author a tour of the afterlife. In addition, Immanuel of Rome wrote biblical commentaries that earned praise from such mainstream figures as the great Jerusalemite rabbi Hayyim Jospeh David Azulay (a/k/a the Hida). Dana Fishkin discusses this remarkable and controversial figure, his biography, and his philosophic and literary agendas with Nachi Weinstein. (Audio 90 minutes.)

Addressing a recent meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Committee, Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas more sharply than he has previously (at least in public), calling them “sons of dogs.” The eighty-nine-year-old Palestinian Authority president urged the terrorist group to “stop the war of extermination in Gaza” and “hand over the American hostages.” The editors of the New York Sun comment:

Mr. Abbas has long been at odds with Hamas, which violently ousted his Fatah party from Gaza in 2007. The tone of today’s outburst, though, is new. Comparing rivals to canines, which Arabs consider dirty, is startling. Its motivation, though, was unrelated to the plight of the 59 remaining hostages, including 23 living ones. Instead, it was an attempt to use an opportune moment for reviving Abbas’s receding clout.

[W]hile Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians soared after its orgy of killing on October 7, 2023, it is now sinking. The terrorists are hoarding Gaza aid caches that Israel declines to replenish. As the war drags on, anti-Hamas protests rage across the Strip. Polls show that Hamas’s previously elevated support among West Bank Arabs is also down. Striking the iron while it’s hot, Abbas apparently longs to retake center stage. Can he?

Diminishing support for Hamas is yet to match the contempt Arabs feel toward Abbas himself. Hamas considers him irrelevant for what it calls “the resistance.”

[Meanwhile], Abbas is yet to condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre. His recent announcement of ending alms for terror is a ruse.

Abbas, it’s worth noting, hasn’t saved all his epithets for Hamas. He also twice said of the Americans, “may their fathers be cursed.” Of course, after a long career of anti-Semitic incitement, Abbas can’t be expected to have a moral awakening. Nor is there much incentive for him to fake one. But, like the protests in Gaza, Abbas’s recent diatribe is a sign that Hamas is perceived as weak and that its stock is sinking.