Menasseh Ben Israel
Manoel Dias Soeiro (Dutch: [maːˈnul ˈdijɑ(s) ˈsʋeːroː]; 1604 – 20 November 1657), better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh or Menashe ben Israel (מנשה בן ישראל), was a Jewish scholar, rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer, publisher, and founder of the first Hebrew printing press (named Emeth Meerets Titsmah) in Amsterdam in 1626. == Life == Menasseh was born in La Rochelle in 1604, with the name Manoel Dias Soeiro, a year after his parents had left mainland Portugal because of the Inquisition.