Literary Activity
Josel worked for the welfare of his people to the last, dying suddenly in March 1554. In his active life he always found time to study religious literature, and besides his apologetic pamphlets he wrote several religious and ethical works, which in part are still extant. His most important books are:
- Derek ha-Qodesh, written 1531 in Brabant, containing rules for a pious life, especially in cases where a Jew has to bear martyrdom. Two fragments of this work, otherwise lost, are retained in the book Yosif Ometz, by Joseph Hahn, Frankfurt am Main, 1723.
- Sefer ha-Miqnah, finished 1546, the first part of which contains words of admonition against traitors in the midst of Israel, the second part being cabalistic. A manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No. 2240), contains the greater part of this work.
Josel's memoirs (printed in the Hebrew original with a French translation in Revue des Études Juives, xvi. 84) contain reports (incomplete) of some important events in his life until 1547, especially some relating to his public activity. They seem to have been written down soon after that year.
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