The study of Jewish culture and society in early modern Europe has advanced notably in recent years, but until now no one has attempted to provide a general synthesis of the period or a coherent scholarly interpretation of its historical meaning. As Jonathan Israel rightly contends, earlier historians have usually treated the era as merely an extension of the Jewish middle ages. In contrast, many have attempted to define the specific meaning of the modern period in Jewish history,1 and recently initial assessments of the Renaissance2 and baroque3 in the context of the Jewish experience have also been proposed.