Overview
Uriel da Costa was born into a Portuguese New Christian family and left Iberia seeking a Jewish life beyond inquisitorial control. After joining the Portuguese community in northern Europe, he challenged rabbinic interpretations that he believed departed from biblical law. His disputes led to bans and a painful process of exclusion and reconciliation. Da Costa’s later autobiographical account must be read critically because it shaped his life into a philosophical drama. His career reveals that entry into open Judaism could involve conflict over authority, ritual knowledge, personal conviction, and the meaning of ancestral return.
