In this whole astonishing chronicle whereby two Jews – one a self-deluded adventurer, the other in the grip of his messianic identity – came from nowhere to move from court to court, received by cardinals, a pope and kings, the most unlikely scene of all was for them both to appear in their robes sewn with the magically rearranged letters of God’s name, before the imperial sovereign of Catholic Christendom, embattled with both Turks and Protestants, trying to persuade Charles that the way to repair his fortunes would lie with him becoming a Jew. The chutzpah makes no sense unless David and
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