Der Sadduzäer von Amsterdam

Sadduzäer von Amsterdam, Der, a Novelle by K. Gutzkow, published in 1834. It is based on the autobiography of Uriel (or Gabriel) Acosta (Exemplar humanae vitae, 1687), who committed suicide in 1640. Uriel, son of a Jewish convert to Christianity, has returned to the Jewish faith, but is beset by renewed doubts. He also loves Judith, the daughter of the rich Jew Vanderstraten. For his unorthodoxy he is denounced and cursed by the rabbis and forsaken by Judith. He disappears; Judith seeks him out, they are reconciled, and she persuades him to make his peace with the synagogue. He is imprisoned for months and at last does humiliating penance. Finding Judith married to another, he shoots her and himself.