Johann Buxtorf was a Hebrew scholar of prodigious energy and learning who believed that Christian scholars must master not only the Hebrew Bible but also the entire range of Jewish writing. He surveyed a vast corpus of Jewish texts and used them to describe the customs and ceremonies of Ashkenazic Jews. Working as an editor and a censor, he strove ? not always successfully ? to produce editions of the Hebrew Bible and prayerbook that contained the best of Jewish learning but were purified of anti-Christian sentiments. This book uses unpublished sources of many kinds, from Buxtorf?s marginal notes in his Jewish books to letters to him in Hebrew from Jewish print professionals, to tell his story. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction A Vocation for Hebrew Chapter One Johann Buxtorf Makes a Notebook Chapter Two Compilation and Observation in Buxtorf ?s Synagogue of the Jews Chapter Three Guides to Reading Jewish Texts: Buxtorf the Bibliographer Chapter Four In the Printing House: Buxtorf the Bookman Chapter Five Buxtorf and Censorship Chapter Six Tiberias: Buxtorf on the Masoretic Vowel Points and Accents Conclusion Appendix 1 Buxtorf ?s Conversations with Informants Appendix 2.1 From Jüden Schul to Synagoga Judaica: The Additions of the Younger Buxtorf Appendix 2.2 The Letter of Shemaiah to Buxtorf the Younger Appendix 3 Abraham Braunschweig?s Apology Bibliography Index