Leopold Immanuel Jacob van Dort, a learned Jewish-Christian man from Dordrecht

Book excerpt: A new, revised edition will be published in 2024. === Biography of Leopold Immanuel Jacob van Dort, 1712 - 1761. Leopold Immanuel Jacob van Dort was a learned Jewish-Christian man born in Holland in 1712. He converted in 1745 in Aachen from Judaism to Christianity, and went to Sri Lanka in 1754 to work as a preceptor of Oriental Languages at the Seminary in Colombo for the Dutch East India Company. He wrote three books in German about conversion. However he is most famous as the translator of the excerpts of the Chronicles of the Jews from Cochin, India, and the Hebrew translation of the Quran, which resides in the Library of Congress in Washington. He also allegedly possessed a manuscript called the Iggeret Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai, now in possession of The Royal Danish Library. Until now information about his life was scarcely available. This book aims to give more insights into his life, and to provide context to the aforementioned books and the manuscript. It reveals among many other things that van Dort also translated the Hebrew New Testament, residing in the Cambridge Library. Ir. Mascha van Dort (1968) studied Applied Physics at the Technical University of Delft in The Netherlands. In her work she is inspired to learn more about what makes people tick, in different cultures and different times. She uses a fact based approach and did research in over 14 different archives across the globe to find out everything there is to know about Leopold, while analyzing it afterwards in a framework which connects historical context and environment, personal needs and attitudes to actions and behavior. The book offers unique insights into Leopold Immanuel Jacob van Dort’s character and uncovers new facts about the background of his works. With contributions of professor Hanne Trautner-Kromann and colorful images of 18th century drawings and paintings of Dordrecht, Aachen, Colombo and Cochin. Hebrew translations and explanations by professor Meir Bar-Ilan.