Don Isaac Abravanel

Don Isaac Abravanel, born in Lisbon in 1437 to a distinguished and ancient Jewish family, was not just a successful financier for Portuguese and Castilian monarchs but also a profound Jewish scholar. He was, to put it mildly, quite the overachiever, juggling statecraft, business, and an exhaustive literary output with the kind of ease that makes mere mortals feel inadequate. Clearly, he didn't believe in leisurely Sundays.

His Jewish bona fides were impeccable. Abravanel’s commitment to his people was famously demonstrated when he personally offered Ferdinand and Isabella a hefty sum to revoke the Alhambra Decree, which expelled Jews from Spain. Spoiler alert: it didn't work. One might say he was spectacularly unsuccessful at that particular negotiation, but his heart, and his wallet, were definitely in the right place.

Following the expulsion, Abravanel continued to wander across the Mediterranean, serving various powers while relentlessly writing his influential commentaries on the Bible and works of Jewish philosophy. His unwavering dedication to Torah study, even while constantly on the move and under immense pressure, makes modern-day excuses for not finishing that one book suddenly feel very, very flimsy. The man truly lived the whole 'wandering Jew' thing, but with way more gravitas and intellectual output.