Netzach Yisrael נצח ישראל
The Maharal explains exile: the galut is neither an open-ended punishment nor an accident, but a condition from which redemption follows by the nature of things. Printed in Prague in 1599, the book has not left use since.
One of the Maharal's Prague books, each taking its own subject: the Gevurot Hashem on the Exodus, Tiferet Yisrael on the Torah, Netzach Yisrael on exile and redemption.
What it says. For the Maharal the galut is not merely a misfortune but a state contrary to the nature of the people: what is torn from its place strains to return. Hence the conclusion the book was written for: redemption is not a mercy deferred to an unknown date but a consequence of the order of things itself.
How it is read. The book is studied in yeshivot and outside them; it is cited on the meaning of exile, and in modern times those who argued about Zionism cited it on both sides.
Printed in Prague in 1599; some reference works give 1600.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Netzach Yisrael, Prague 1599 — the subject of the book and its conclusions
Scholarship
- Reference works on Prague printing — the year of printing; the other reading is 1600
Basis: documents and evidence.