JEWISH PHILOSOPHY in the Middle Ages EMUNOT: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah Dov Schwartz (Bar-Ilan University), Series Editor EDITORIAL BOARD Ada Rapoport-Albert (University College, London) Gad Freudenthal (C.N.R.S, Paris) Gideon Freudenthal (Tel Aviv University) Moshe Idel (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) Raphael Jospe (Bar-Ilan University) Ephraim Kanarfogel (Yeshiva University) Menachem Kellner (Haifa University) Daniel Lasker (Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva) JEWISH PHILOSOPHY in the Middle Ages Raphael Jospe הפשי לאפר Boston 2009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jospe, Raphael. Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages / Raphael Jospe. p. cm. — (EMUNOT: Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-934843-09-3 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-934843-27-7 (pbk.) 1. Philosophy, Jewish—History. 2. Philosophy, Medieval—History. I. Title. B755.J675 2009 181'.06—dc22 2009024458 Copyright © 2009 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved Foreground: Statue of Maimonides by Amadeo Ruiz Olmos (1964) in the Plaza de Tiberiades in “la Judería” (the Jewish Quarter) of Cordoba, Spain, near the medieval synagogue. Photograph kindly provided by Israel Ronen of the Open University of Israel. Background: A bifolio, dismembered from a manuscript (14th-century, Spain), containing the first page of Perush Ha-Millot Ha-Zarot (1213), a glossary by Samuel ibn Tibbon, appended to his Hebrew translation of Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. The bifolio was reused in 1713 as a cover of a register of the series “Giusdicenze.” Hebrew Fragment 520.1 in the State Archive of Modena, Italy, kindly provided by Prof. Mauro Perani of the University of Bologna. Book design by Ivan Grave ISBN 978-1-934843-09-3 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-934843-27-7 (pbk.) Published by Academic Studies Press in 2009 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com [ v ] To my sisters Susanne and Naomi תא יתוחא המכחל רומא (ד:ז ילשמ) Say to wisdom, you are my sister (Proverbs 7:4) and to Elihu Davison רבח ךל הנק (ו:א תובא) Acquire for yourself a friend (Sayings of the Fathers 1:6) [ vi ] BOSTON Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Section I FOUNDATIONS Chapter One. What is Jewish Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 [I.1]. What is Jewish Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 [I.2]. Philo Judaeus of Alexandria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 [I.3]. The Rise of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chapter Two. Sa‘adiah Ga’on and the Kalam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 [II.1]. Sa‘adiah Ga’on and the Kalam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 [II.2]. Sa‘adiah Ga’on: Life and Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 [II.3]. Sa‘adiah Ga’on: The Book of Beliefs and Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Chapter Three. Jewish Neoplatonism: Isaac Israeli and Solomon ibn Gabirol 79 [III.1]. Introduction: The Background of Neoplatonism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 [III.2]. Isaac Israeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 [III.3]. Solomon ibn Gabirol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 [III.4]. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Chapter Four. Bahya ibn Paquda: The Duties of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 [IV.1]. Bahya ibn Paquda’s Ideological Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 [IV.2]. The Duties of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 [IV.3]. The Duties of the Limbs and the Duties of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . 143 [IV.4]. The Existence of God and the Creation of the World . . . . . . . . . . . 149 [IV.5]. The Unity of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 [IV.6]. The Divine Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 [IV.7]. Examining the Created World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 [IV.8]. Service of God and Arousal of the Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 [IV.9]. The Dialogue of the Intellect and the Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 [IV.10]. Trust in God, Predetermination and Free Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 [IV.11]. Repentance and Arousal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 [IV.12]. Asceticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 [IV.13]. The Love of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 [ vii ] [ viii ] Contents Section II TRANSITIONS Chapter Five. Philosophical Exegesis of the Bible: Abraham ibn Ezra . . . . . 177 [V.1]. Bible Exegesis as a Philosophical Literary Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 [V.2]. Abraham ibn Ezra: Life and Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 [V.3]. Ibn Ezra and Bible Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 [V.4]. The Bible and Reason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 [V.5]. Cosmogony and Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 [V.6]. The Names of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 [V.7]. “He is All, and All is from Him” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 [V.8]. “The All Knows Particulars in a General Way and not in a Particular Way” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 [V.9]. The World to Come (‘Olam Ha-Ba) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 [V.10]. The Microcosm and Self-Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 [V.11]. Ibn Ezra and Astrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 [V.12]. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Chapter Six. Judah Ha-Levi and the Critique of Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 [VI.1]. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 [VI.2]. Judah Ha-Levi’s Life, Status and Infl uence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 [VI.3]. Judah Ha-Levi’s Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 [VI.4]. The Intellectual and Cultural Background of Judah Ha-Levi . . . . . 246 [VI.5]. The Kuzari and the Khazars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 [VI.6]. The Kuzari: Structure and Composition of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . 265 [VI.7]. The Prologue to the Kuzari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 [VI.8]. The Haver’s Reply: Historical Knowledge vs. Metaphysical Speculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 [VI.9]. The Uniqueness of Israel and the “Divine Faculty” . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 [VI.10]. The Land of Israel and the Theory of Climes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 [VI.11]. The Superiority of the Hebrew Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 [VI.12]. The Transmission of Semitic Culture and Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 [VI.13]. A Universal Ethic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 [VI.14]. God: Attributes, Names and Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 [VI.15]. The Messianic Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 [VI.16]. Afterword: Judah Ha-Levi’s Theory — Racial or Racist? . . . . . . . . 317 Chapter Seven. The Transition to Aristotelianism: Abraham ibn Da’ud . . . . 320 [VII.1]. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 [VII.2]. The Life and Works of Abraham ibn Da’ud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 [VII.3]. The Exalted Faith and ibn Da’ud’s Place in Jewish Philosophy . . 327 [VII.4]. The Exalted Faith: Selected Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 [VII.5]. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Contents [ ix ] Section III RAMBAM Chapter Eight. Principles of Judaism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 [VIII.1]. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 [VIII.2]. Pereq Heleq: “All Israel have a Portion in the World to Come” . . . 347 [VIII.3]. The Thirteen Principles: Content and Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 [VIII.4]. Rambam’s Purpose: Why did Rambam Compose the Thirteen Principles? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 Chapter Nine. The Guide of the Perplexed: On God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 [IX.1]. The Guide of the Perplexed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 [IX.2]. On God: The “Via Negativa” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 [IX.3]. The Names of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 [IX.4]. On God: The “Via Positiva” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Chapter Ten. The Guide of the Perplexed: On the World and Humans . . . . . 465 [X.1]. Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 [X.2]. Prophecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 [X.3]. The Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 [X.4]. Providence and the Problem of Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498 [X.5]. The Ultimate Human End: Rambam’s Ethical and Political Theory 511 [X.6]. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 Section IV THE CONTROVERSY OVER PHILOSOPHY AND RAMBAM Chapter Eleven. The Controversy over Philosophy and Rambam . . . . . . . . . 551 [XI.1]. The Inherent Confl ict of Faith and Reason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551 [XI.2]. The Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554 [XI.3]. Four Stages or Climaxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 [XI.4]. The First Climax: During Rambam’s Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 [XI.5]. The Second Climax: 1230–1235 in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561 [XI.6]. The Third Climax: A Renewal of the Controversy in the East, 1288–1290 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 [XI.7]. The Fourth and Final Climax: 1300–1306 in Christian Spain and Provence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566 Appendices Appendix I. Cosmology: The Spheres And Emanation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 Appendix II. The Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 [ x ] BOSTON