Binah La’itim (Understanding of the times) is universally recognized as one of the pillars of classical Jewish homiletical literature. It was written by Rabbi Azariah Figo (1579–1647), the Chief Rabbi of Pisa and Venice. This work revolutionized the art of the rabbinic sermon.
The title of the book originates from the Biblical verse regarding the tribe of Issachar, who were described as “understanding the times” (yodei binah la’itim).
My copy is the first edition, printed in the Hebrew year ת”ח (1648) at the press of Franmesco Vizziri, in Venice. 1648 was the infamous year of the Chmielnicki massacres in Eastern Europe. This volume represents the twilight of Venice’s golden age as the global printing capital of the Jewish world. It has been reprinted many times.
The book contains 75 brilliant, philosophically grounded, and emotionally stirring discourses structured around the weekly Torah portions, holidays, and fast days. Rabbi Figo masterfully blends profound Talmudic insights, medical and scientific allegories, and intense ethical exhortations (Mussar). His sermons vividly capture the high-stakes spiritual and social tensions experienced by Italian Jews living inside the Venetian Ghetto during the early 17th century.
There is a foreword by Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, the Remez.
Rabbi Azariah Figo was born in Venice in 1579. In his youth he devoted himself largely to secular studies, but later, regretting the time he had spent “loving the handmaiden” and “neglecting the mistress,” he applied himself wholly to rabbinic studies. At the age of 28, he was appointed rabbi of Pisa. He returned to Venice in 1627, and became preacher to the Sephardi community.
Rabbi Figo leaned towards a strict interpretation of Jewish law. He opposed the establishment of a theater in the ghetto of Venice and criticized the members of his community for usury, flaunting their wealth, internecine wrangling, laxity in ritual observances, and sexual irregularities, Rabbi Figo was active in redeeming Jewish captives, and defended the Marranos, declaring them to be Jews.
Jewish Miscellanies 