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85-507: The title Doom Book (Old English dōm-bōc ) comes from the Old English word dōm meaning judgment or law – as in Alfred's admonishment to "Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to your foe!" This reflects Mosaic Law , which says "You shall do no injustice in judgment! You shall not be partial to the poor; nor defer to

170-631: A proselyte , is considered the greatest early Jewish philosopher after Solomon. During his early years in Tulunid Egypt, the Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt; the leaders of the Tulunids were Ismaili Imams. Their influence upon the Jewish academies of Egypt resonate in the works of Sa'adya. Sa'adya's Emunoth ve-Deoth ("Beliefs and Opinions") was originally called Kitab al-Amanat wal-l'tikadat ("Book of

255-917: A Jewish mutakallim (rational theologian), our main source of information is the Kitāb al-Tanbīh by the Muslim historian al-Masʿūdī (d. 956). In his brief survey of Arabic translations of the Bible, al-Masʿūdī states that the Israelites rely for exegesis and translation of the Hebrew books—i.e., the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms, twenty-four books in all, he says—on a number of Israelites whom they praise highly, almost all of whom he has met in person. He mentions Abū ʾl-Kathīr as one of them, and also Saadia ("Saʿīd ibn Yaʿqūb al-Fayyūmī"). Regardless of what we do not know, Saadia traveled to Tiberias (home of

340-554: A broader cultivation of the classic languages and the non-Jewish branches of learning. To Anatoli, all men are formed in the image of God, although the Jews stand under a particular obligation to further the true cognition of God simply by reason of their election, "the Greeks had chosen wisdom as their pursuit; the Romans, power; and the Jews, religiousness" Firstly, Hillel ben Samuel 's importance in

425-403: A center of philosophical learning as is reflected by the explosion of philosophical inquiry among Jews, Muslims and Christians. According to Sa'adya Gaon, the Jewish community of Balkh (Afghanistan) was divided into two groups: "Jews" and "people that are called Jews"; Hiwi al-Balkhi was a member of the latter. Hiwi is generally considered to be the very first "Jewish" philosopher to subject

510-536: A court of Babylonian rabbis, whose decision would be binding on both factions. Hillel was certain the verdict would favor Maimonides. Hillel wrote a commentary on the 25 propositions appearing at the beginning of the second part of the Guide of the Perplexed, and three philosophical treatises, which were appended to Tagmulei ha-Nefesh: the first on knowledge and free will; the second on the question of why mortality resulted from

595-400: A fool who believes in everything, but only in that which can be verified by proof...and not to be of the second unthinking category which disbelieves from the start of its inquiry," since "certain things must be accepted by tradition, because they cannot be proven." Scholars continue to debate whether ibn Kaspi was a heretic or one of Judaisms most illustrious scholars. Rabbi Levi ben Gershon

680-560: A new phase in Jewish scholarship and investigation ( hakirah ); Hai Gaon augments Talmudic scholarship with non-Jewish studies. Hai Gaon was a savant with an exact knowledge of the theological movements of his time so much so that Moses ibn Ezra called him a mutakallim . Hai was competent to argue with followers of Qadariyyah and Mutazilites, sometimes adopting their polemic methods. Through correspondence with Talmudic Academies at Kairouan, Cordoba and Lucena, Hai Gaon passes along his discoveries to Talmudic scholars therein. The teachings of

765-525: A number of them. His best-known work is his Shelemut ha-Nefesh ("Treatise on the Perfection of the Soul"). Moses began studying philosophy with his father when he was thirteen, later studying with Moses ben David Caslari and Abraham ben David Caslari - both of whom were students of Kalonymus ben Kalonymus . Moses believed that Judaism was a guide to the highest degree of theoretical and moral truth. He believed that

850-625: A second time during the reign of Henry I as part of the Latin compilation known as Quadripartitus , which survives in ten manuscripts . 613 Mitzvot According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments ( Hebrew : תרי״ג מצוות , romanized :  taryág mitsvót ). Although the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud , its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by

935-407: A single law or several separate laws (see here for a visual comparison of several lists). Other "commandments" in the Torah are restricted as one-time acts, and would not be considered as " mitzvot " binding on other persons. In rabbinic literature , Rishonim and later scholars composed to articulate and justify their enumeration of the commandments: The following are the 613 commandments and

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1020-538: Is 613, reflecting the concept that tzitzit reminds its wearer of all Torah commandments. Many Jewish philosophical and mystical works (e.g., by Baal HaTurim , the Maharal of Prague and leaders of Hasidic Judaism ) find allusions and inspirational calculations relating to the number of commandments. Rabbinic support for the number of commandments being 613 is not without dissent. For example, Ben Azzai held that there exist 300 positive mitzvot . Also, even as

1105-458: Is entitled to recover compensation for his or her injury. In the context of the aforementioned law, the felled tree would be a valuable commodity. Manuscripts containing the Old English text are: The text was translated into Latin during the reign of Cnut as the third part of the Instituta Cnuti , and survives in the following manuscripts: The text was independently translated into Latin

1190-767: Is none like him in his generation," and he sharply attacked the "monetary demands" of the academies. Samuel ben Ali was an anti-Maimonidean operating in Babylon to undermine the works of Maimonides and those of Maimonides' patrons (the Al-Constantini family from North Africa). To illustrate the reach of the Maimonidean Controversy, Samuel ben Ali, the chief opponent of Maimonides in the East, was excommunicated by Daud Ibn Hodaya al Daudi (Exilarch of Mosul). Maimonides' attacks on Samuel ben Ali may not have been entirely altruistic given

1275-469: Is one of the early Latin translators of "the wise men of the nations" (non-Jewish scholars). Defending Maimonides, Hillel addressed a letter to his friend Maestro Gaio asking him to use his influence with the Jews of Rome against Maimonides' opponents (Solomon Petit). He also advanced the bold idea of gathering together Maimonides' defenders and opponents in Alexandria, in order to bring the controversy before

1360-468: Is underscored by the fact that the title of his eighth gate, Muḥasabat al-Nafs ("Self-Examination"), is reminiscent of the Sufi Abu Abd Allah Ḥarith Ibn-Asad , who has been surnamed El Muḥasib ("the self-examiner"), because—say his biographers—"he was always immersed in introspection" Judah Halevi of Toledo, Spain defended Rabbinic Judaism against Islam, Christianity and Karaite Judaism. He

1445-545: The mitzvot . The most famous of these was an enumeration of the 613 commandments by Maimonides . While the total number of commandments is 613, no individual can perform all of them. Many can only be observed at the Temple in Jerusalem , which no longer stands. According to one standard reckoning, there are 77 positive and 194 negative commandments that can be observed today, of which there are 26 commandments that apply only within

1530-467: The "Guide for the Perplexed" against attacks of anti-Maimonideans. He knew the works of the Islamic philosophers better than any Jewish scholar of his time, and made many of them available to other Jewish scholars – often without attribution ( Reshit Hokhmah ). Ibn Falaquera did not hesitate to modify Islamic philosophic texts when it suited his purposes. For example, Ibn Falaquera turned Alfarabi's account of

1615-649: The Brethren of Purity were carried to the West by the Cordovan hadith scholar and alchemist Maslama al-Qurṭubī (died 964), where they would be of central importance to the Jewish philosophers of Islamic Spain . One of the themes emphasized by the Brethren of Purity and adopted by most Spanish Jewish philosophers is the microcosm-macrocosm analogy . From the 10th century on, Spain became

1700-558: The Cairo Geniza , have been published (Davidson, 1915; Schirmann, 1965). Ḥīwī's criticisms are also noted in Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch. Sa'adya Gaon denounced Hiwi as an extreme rationalist, a "Mulhidun", or atheist/deviator. Abraham Ibn Daud described HIwi as a sectarian who "denied the Torah, yet used it to formulate a new Torah of his liking". " Saadia Gaon , son of

1785-544: The Geonim of 10th century Babylonian academies brought rationalist philosophy into Biblical - Talmudic Judaism. The philosophy was generally in competition with Kabbalah . Both schools would become part of classic rabbinic literature , though the decline of scholastic rationalism coincided with historical events which drew Jews to the Kabbalistic approach. For Ashkenazi Jews , emancipation and encounter with secular thought from

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1870-574: The Library of Alexandria . Early Jewish converts to Islam brought with them stories from their heritage, known as Isra'iliyyat , which told of the Banu Isra'il , the pious men of ancient Israel. One of the most famous early mystics of Sufism , Hasan of Basra , introduced numerous Isra'iliyyat legends into Islamic scholarship, stories that went on to become representative of Islamic mystical ideas of piety of Sufism. Hai Gaon of Pumbedita Academy begins

1955-468: The Sura Academy (from which Jewish Kalam emerged many centuries later) was founded by Abba Arika . For the next five centuries, Talmudic academies focused upon reconstituting Judaism and little, if any, philosophic investigation was pursued. Rabbinic Judaism had limited philosophical activity until it was challenged by Islam , Karaite Judaism, and Christianity —with Tanach, Mishnah, and Talmud, there

2040-483: The 18th century onwards altered how philosophy was viewed. Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities had later more ambivalent interaction with secular culture than in Western Europe. In the varied responses to modernity, Jewish philosophical ideas were developed across the range of emerging religious movements . These developments could be seen as either continuations of or breaks from the canon of rabbinic philosophy of

2125-580: The 613 mitzvot do not constitute a formal code of present-day halakha . Later codes of law such as the Shulkhan Arukh and the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh do not refer to it. However, Maimonides ' Mishneh Torah is prefaced by a count of the 613 mitzvot. There is no single definitive list that explicates the 613 commandments. Lists differ, for example, in how they interpret passages in the Torah that may be read as dealing with several cases under

2210-525: The Academy of Fez and studied under Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Kohen Ibn Soussan — a student of Isaac Alfasi . Maimonides strove to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy and science with the teachings of Torah. In some ways his position was parallel to that of Averroes ; in reaction to the attacks on Avicennian Aristotelism, Maimonides embraced and defended a stricter Aristotelism without Neoplatonic additions. The principles which inspired all of Maimonides' philosophical activity

2295-572: The Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma"); it was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism, completed at Sura Academy in 933 CE." Little known is that Saadia traveled to Tiberias in 915CE to study with Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ, "a Jewish theologian and Bible translator. He is not mentioned in any Jewish source, and apart from the Andalusian heresiographer and polemicist Ibn Hazm , who mentions him as

2380-475: The Baghdad Yeshiva and considered the leading philosopher of Iraq. Historians differ over the motive for his conversion to Islam. Some suggest it was a reaction to a social slight inflicted upon him because he was a Jew, while others suggest he was forcibly converted at the edge of a sword (which prompted Maimonides to comment upon Anusim ). Despite his conversion to Islam, his works continued to be studied at

2465-680: The Bahshamiyya Muʿtazila and Qadariyah is as important, if not more so, as the intellectual symbiosis of Judaism and Islam in Islamic Spain. Around 733 CE, Mar Natronai ben Habibai moves to Kairouan , then to Spain, transcribing the Talmud Bavli for the Academy at Kairouan from memory—later taking a copy with him to Spain. Borrowing from the Mutakallamin of Basra , the Karaites were

2550-682: The Duties of the Heart"). Bahya often followed the method of the Arabian encyclopedists known as "the Brethren of Purity " but adopts some of Sufi tenets rather than Ismaili. According to Bahya, the Torah appeals to reason and knowledge as proofs of God's existence. It is therefore a duty incumbent upon every one to make God an object of speculative reason and knowledge, in order to arrive at true faith. Baḥya borrows from Sufism and Jewish Kalam integrating them into Neoplatonism. Proof that Bahya borrowed from Sufism

2635-452: The Guide of the Perplexed was being studied in the Muslim philosophical schools of Fez, he left for that town (in 1332) in order to observe their method of study. Ibn Kaspi began writing when he was 17 years old on topics which included logic, linguistics, ethics, theology, biblical exegesis, and super-commentaries to Abraham Ibn Ezra and Maimonides. Philosophic systems he followed were Aristotle's and Averroes'. He defines his aim as "not to be

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2720-480: The Hebrew grammarian Abū ʿAlī Judah ben ʿAllān, likewise of Tiberias, who seems to have been a Karaite Jew. However, al-Masūdī unequivocally describes Abu ʾl-Kathīr (as well as his student Saadia) as an ashmaʿthī (Rabbanite). In "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma" Saadia declares the rationality of the Jewish religion with the caveat that reason must capitulate wherever it contradicts tradition. Dogma takes precedence over reason. Saadia closely followed

2805-484: The Jewish Baghdad Academy, a well-known academy, into the thirteenth century. He was a follower of Avicenna's teaching, who proposed an explanation of the acceleration of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of power with successive increments of velocity. His writings include Kitāb al-Muʿtabar ("The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"); a philosophical commentary on

2890-682: The Kohelet, written in Arabic using Hebrew aleph bet; and the treatise "On the Reason Why the Stars Are Visible at Night and Hidden in Daytime." According to Hibat Allah, Kitāb al-Muʿtabar consists in the main of critical remarks jotted down by him over the years while reading philosophical text, and published at the insistence of his friends, in the form of a philosophical work. Natan'el al-Fayyumi of Yemen,

2975-582: The Land of Israel . In addition, some commandments only apply to certain categories of Jews : some are only observed by kohanim , and others only by men or by women. Rav Hamnuna sourced the count of 613 in the verse Deuteronomy 33:4 ("Moses commanded us the Torah..."). The Talmud notes that the Hebrew numerical value ( gematria ) of the word Torah is 611 ( ת ‎ = 400, ו ‎ = 6, ר ‎ = 200, ה ‎ = 5). Combining 611 commandments which Moses taught

3060-536: The Middle Ages, as well as the other historical dialectic aspects of Jewish thought, and resulted in diverse contemporary Jewish attitudes to philosophical methods. Philo attempted to fuse and harmonize Greek and Jewish philosophy through allegory, which he learned from Jewish exegesis and Stoicism . Philo attempted to make his philosophy the means of defending and justifying Jewish religious truths . These truths he regarded as fixed and determinate, and philosophy

3145-618: The Necessary Existence and (3) The Creation of the World"). Jacob Anatoli is generally regarded as a pioneer in the application of the Maimonidean Rationalism to the study of Jewish texts. He was the son-in-law of Samuel ibn Tibbon , translator of Maimonides. Due to these family ties Anatoli was introduced to the philosophy of Maimonides, the study of which was such a great revelation to him that he, in later days, referred to it as

3230-433: The Pentateuch to critical analysis. Hiwi is viewed by some scholars as an intellectually conflicted man torn between Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Gnostic Christianity, and Manichaean thought. Hiwi espoused the belief that miraculous acts, described in the Pentateuch, are simply examples of people using their skills of reasoning to undertake, and perform, seemingly miraculous acts. As examples of this position, he argued that

3315-424: The Torah had both a simple, direct meaning accessible to the average reader as well as a deeper, metaphysical meaning accessible to thinkers. Moses rejected the belief in miracles, instead believing they could be explained, and defended man's free will by philosophical arguments. Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, of Barcelona, studied under Hasdai Crescas and Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi. Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi

3400-686: The beginning of his intelligent and true comprehension of the Scriptures, while he frequently alluded to Ibn Tibbon as one of the two masters who had instructed and inspired him. Anatoli wrote the Malmad exhibiting his broad knowledge of classic Jewish exegetes, as well as Plato, Aristotle, Averroes, and the Vulgate, as well as with a large number of Christian institutions, some of which he ventures to criticize, such as celibacy and monastic castigation, as well as certain heretics and he repeatedly appeals to his readers for

3485-559: The book's extensive prologue, Alfred summarises the Mosaic and Christian codes. Michael Treschow, UBC Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, reviewed how Alfred laid the foundation for the Spirit of Mercy in his code, stating that the last section of the Prologue not only describes "a tradition of Christian law from which the law code draws but also it grounds secular law upon Scripture, especially upon

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3570-471: The community who, being under twenty-five years, shall study the works of the Greeks on natural science and metaphysics." Contemporary Kabbalists, Tosafists and Rationalists continue to engage in lively, sometimes caustic, debate in support of their positions and influence in the Jewish world. At the center of many of these debates are "Guide for the Perplexed", "13 Principles of Faith", "Mishnah Torah", and his commentary on Anusim . Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta

3655-514: The context of interaction and intellectual investigation of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts. Maimonides writings almost immediately came under attack from Karaites, Dominican Christians, Tosafists of Provence, Ashkenaz and Al Andalus . Scholars suggest that Maimonides instigated the Maimonidean Controversy when he verbally attacked Samuel ben Ali ("Gaon of Baghdad") as "one whom people accustom from his youth to believe that there

3740-490: The different religions. Some Jews accepted this model of religious pluralism, leading them to view Muhammad as a legitimate prophet, though not Jewish, sent to preach to the Arabs , just as the Hebrew prophets had been sent to deliver their messages to Israel; others refused this notion in entirety. Bahye ben Yosef Ibn Paquda , of Zaragoza, was author of the first Jewish system of ethics Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-hulub , ("Guide to

3825-482: The father of Maimonides . Ibn Naghrillah's son, Yosef, provided refuge for two sons of Hezekiah Gaon ; Daud Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi and Yitzhak Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi. Though not a philosopher, he did build the infrastructure to allow philosophers to thrive. In 1070 the gaon Isaac ben Moses ibn Sakri of Denia, Spain traveled to the East and acted as rosh yeshivah of the Baghdad Academy. Solomon ibn Gabirol

3910-416: The feet of Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabari (d. 320/932). The latter is also mentioned by Ibn Ḥazm in his K. al-Fiṣlal wa 'l-niḥal, iii, 171, as being, together with Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammiṣ and Sa'adya himself, one of the mutakallimūn of the Jews. Since al-Muqammiṣ made few references to specifically Jewish issues and very little of his work was translated from Arabic into Hebrew, he

3995-632: The first Jewish group to subject Judaism to Muʿtazila . Rejecting the Talmud and rabbinical tradition, Karaites took liberty to reinterpret the Tanakh . This meant abandoning foundational Jewish belief structures. Some scholars suggest that the major impetus for the formation of Karaism was a reaction to the rapid rise of Shi'i Islam, which recognized Judaism as a fellow monotheistic faith but claimed that it detracted from monotheism by deferring to rabbinic authority. Karaites absorbed certain aspects of Jewish sects such as

4080-611: The followers of Abu Isa (Shi'ism), Maliki (Sunnis) and Yudghanites (Sufis), who were influenced by East-Islamic scholarship yet deferred to the Ash'ari when contemplating the sciences. The spread of Islam throughout the Middle East and North Africa rendered Muslim all that was once Jewish. Greek philosophy, science, medicine and mathematics was absorbed by Jewish scholars living in the Arab world due to Arabic translations of those texts; remnants of

4165-509: The great! But you are to judge your neighbour fairly!" The Christian theologian F. N. Lee extensively documented Alfred the Great's work of collecting the law codes from the three Christian Saxon kingdoms and compiling them into his Doom Book. Lee details how Alfred incorporated the principles of the Mosaic law into his Code, and how this Code of Alfred became the foundation for the Common Law . In

4250-494: The harmony existing between the fundamental doctrines of Judaism and those of philosophy, and, wherever they seem to contradict one another, to seek a mode of reconciling them". Maimonides wrote The Guide for the Perplexed — his most influential philosophic work. He was a student of his father, Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef (a student of Joseph ibn Migash ) in Cordoba, Spain. When his family fled Spain, for Fez, Maimonides enrolled in

4335-534: The history of medieval Jewish philosophy lies in his attempt to deal, systematically, with the question of the immortality of the soul. Secondly, Hillel played a major role in the controversies of 1289–90 concerning the philosophical works of Maimonides. Thirdly, Hillel was the first devotee of Jewish learning and Philosophy in Italy, bringing a close to a period of relative ignorance of Hakira in Verona (Italy). And finally, Hillel

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4420-492: The learned scribes and exegetes) to learn and he chose Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabariya. The extent of Abū ʾl-Kathīr's influence on Saadia's thought cannot be established, however." Abū ʾl-Kathīr's profession is also unclear. al-Masʿūdī calls him a kātib , which has been variously interpreted as secretary, government official, (biblical) scribe, Masorete, and book copyist. For lack of further information, some scholars have tried to identify Abū ʾl-Kathīr with

4505-475: The number gained acceptance, difficulties arose in elucidating the list. Some rabbis declared that this count was not an authentic tradition, or that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. No early work of Jewish law or Biblical commentary depended on the 613 system, and no early systems of Jewish principles of faith made acceptance of this Aggadah (non-legal Talmudic statement) normative. A number of classical authorities denied that it

4590-423: The old question of how God's foreknowledge is compatible with human freedom , suggests that what God knows beforehand is all the choices open to each individual. God does not know, however, which choice the individual, in his freedom, will make." Moses ben Joshua composed commentaries on Islamic philosophical works. As an admirer of Averroes, he devoted a great deal of study to his works and wrote commentaries on

4675-528: The oldest surviving witnesses to early Kalām, it begins with epistemological investigations, turns to proofs of the creation of the world and the subsequent existence of a Creator, discusses the unity of the Creator (including the divine attributes), and concludes with theodicy (humanity and revelation) and a refutation of other religions (mostly lost). In 915 CE, Sa'adya Gaon left for Palestine, where, according to al-Masʿūdī (Tanbīh, 113), he perfected his education at

4760-409: The only Jewish philosopher among the predecessors of Maimonides. Overshadowed by Maimonides, ibn Daud's Emunah Ramah , a work to which Maimonides was indebted, received little notice from later philosophers. "True philosophy", according to Ibn Daud, "does not entice us from religion; it tends rather to strengthen and solidify it. Moreover, it is the duty of every thinking Jew to become acquainted with

4845-459: The origin of philosophic religion into a discussion of the origin of the "virtuous city". Ibn Falaquera's other works include, but are not limited to Iggeret Hanhagat ha-Guf we ha-Nefesh, a treatise in verse on the control of the body and the soul. Ibn Kaspi was a fierce advocate of Maimonides to such an extent that he left for Egypt in 1314 in order to hear explanations on the Guide of the Perplexed from Maimonides' grandchildren. When he heard that

4930-631: The parting of the Red Sea was a natural phenomenon, and that Moses' claim to greatness lay merely in his ability to calculate the right moment for the crossing. He also emphasized that the Egyptian magicians were able to reproduce several of Moses' "miracles," proving that they could not have been so unique. According to scholars, Hiwi's gravest mistake was having the Pentateuch redacted to reflect his own views - then had those redacted texts, which became popular, distributed to children. Since his views contradicted

5015-577: The people, with the first two of the Ten Commandments which were the only ones directly heard from God, a total of 613 is reached. Other sources connect the tzitzit (ritual fringes of a garment) to the 613 commandments by gematria: the word tzitzit (Hebrew: ציצית, in its Mishnaic spelling) has the value 600 ( צ ‎ = 90, י ‎ = 10, ת ‎ = 400). Each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots. The sum of all these numbers

5100-463: The position of Maimonides' in-laws in competing Yeshivas. In Western Europe, the controversy was halted by the burning of Maimonides' works by Christian Dominicans in 1232. Avraham son of Rambam , continued fighting for his father's beliefs in the East; desecration of Maimonides' tomb, at Tiberias by Jews, was a profound shock to Jews throughout the Diaspora and caused all to pause and reflect upon what

5185-420: The principle of mercy". The law code contains some laws that may seem bizarre by modern standards, such as: "If a man unintentionally kills another man by letting a tree fall on him, the tree shall be given to the kinsmen of the slain." On the other hand, this precept may have anticipated the future common law of negligence , which provides that a person who is injured by the unintentional carelessness of another

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5270-515: The rules of the Muʿtazila school of Abu Ali al-Jubba'i in composing his works. It was Saadia who laid foundations for Jewish rationalist theology which built upon the work of the Muʿtazila, thereby shifting Rabbinic Judaism from mythical explanations of the rabbis to reasoned explanations of the intellect. Saadia advanced the criticisms of Muʿtazila by Ibn al-Rawandi . David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas

5355-587: The scholars of medieval Christianity. Christian scholars, including Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas , defer to him frequently. Abraham bar Hiyya , of Barcelona and later Arles - Provence , was a student of his father Hiyya al-Daudi and one of the most important figures in the scientific movement which made the Jews of Provence, Spain and Italy the intermediaries between Averroism , Muʿtazila and Christian Europe. He aided this scientific movement by original works, translations and as interpreter for another translator, Plato Tiburtinus . Bar-Hiyya's best student

5440-720: The shrewd maneuvers of Johanan ben Zakai , who saved the Sanhedrin and moved it to Yavne . Philosophical speculation was not a central part of Rabbinic Judaism , although some have seen the Mishnah as a philosophical work. Rabbi Akiva has also been viewed as a philosophical figure. His statements include: After the Bar Kokhba revolt , rabbinic scholars gathered in Tiberias and Safed to re-assemble and re-assess Judaism, its laws, theology, liturgy, beliefs and leadership structure. In 219 CE,

5525-469: The sin of Adam; the third on whether or not the belief in the fallen angels is a true belief. Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera was a Spanish-born philosopher who pursued reconciliation between Jewish dogma and philosophy. Scholars speculate he was a student of Rabbi David Kimhi whose family fled Spain to Narbonne. Ibn Falaquera lived an ascetic live of solitude. Ibn Falaquera's two leading philosophic authorities were Averroes and Maimonides. Ibn Falaquera defended

5610-420: The source of their derivation from the Hebrew Bible as enumerated by Maimonides : Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy ( Hebrew : פילוסופיה יהודית ) includes all philosophy carried out by Jews , or in relation to the religion of Judaism . Until modern Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation , Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into

5695-450: The time. Abraham ibn Daud was a student of Rabbi Baruch ben Yitzhak Ibn Albalia, his maternal uncle. Ibn Daud's philosophical work written in Arabic, Al-'akidah al-Rafiyah ("The Sublime Faith"), has been preserved in Hebrew by the title Emunah Ramah . Ibn Daud did not introduce a new philosophy, but he was the first to introduce a more thorough systematic form derived from Aristotle . Accordingly, Hasdai Crescas mentions Ibn Daud as

5780-408: The tradition of Rabbinic Judaism , thus organizing emergent ideas that are not necessarily Jewish into a uniquely Jewish scholastic framework and world-view. With their acceptance into modern society, Jews with secular educations embraced or developed entirely new philosophies to meet the demands of the world in which they now found themselves. Medieval re-discovery of ancient Greek philosophy among

5865-411: The views of both Rabbanite and Karaite scholars, Hiwi was declared a heretic. In this context, however, we can also regard Hiwi, while flawed, as the very first critical biblical commentator; zealous rationalistic views of Hiwi parallel those of Ibn al-Rawandi . Saʿadya Gaon dedicated an entire treatise, written in rhyming Hebrew, to a refutation of Ḥīwī's arguments, two fragments of which, preserved in

5950-452: Was v . His philosophical works are "Meditation of the Soul", an ethical work written from a rationalistic religious viewpoint, and an apologetic epistle addressed to Judah ben Barzillai . Originally known by his Hebrew name Nethanel Baruch ben Melech al-Balad, Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī , known as Hibat Allah , was a Jewish philosopher and physicist and father-in-law of Maimonides who converted to Islam in his twilight years - once head of

6035-566: Was Muslim and who was Jew—some "Islamic scholars" were "Jewish scholars" prior to forced conversion to Islam, some Jewish scholars willingly converted to Islam, such as Abdullah ibn Salam , while others later reverted to Judaism, and still others, born and raised as Jews, were ambiguous in their religious beliefs such as ibn al-Rawandi , although they lived according to the customs of their neighbors. Around 700 CE, ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd Abu ʿUthman al-Basri introduces two streams of thought that influence Jewish, Islamic and Christian scholars: The story of

6120-417: Was a steadfast Rationalist who did not hesitate to refute leading authorities, such as Rashi , Rabbeinu Tam , Moses ben Nahman , and Solomon ben Adret . The pogroms of 1391, against Jews of Spain, forced Isaac to flee to Algiers - where he lived out his life. Isaac's responsa evidence a profound knowledge of the philosophical writings of his time; in one of Responsa No. 118 he explains the difference between

6205-542: Was a student of Moses ibn Ezra whose education came from Isaac ibn Ghiyyat ; trained as a Rationalist, he shed it in favor of Neoplatonism. Like al-Ghazali , Judah Halevi attempted to liberate religion from the bondage of philosophical systems. In particular, in a work written in Arabic Kitab al-Ḥujjah wal-Dalil fi Nuṣr al-Din al-Dhalil , translated by Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon , by the title Kuzari he elaborates upon his views of Judaism relative to other religions of

6290-812: Was a student of his father Gerson ben Solomon of Arles , who in turn was a student of Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera . Gersonides is best known for his work Milhamot HaShem ("Wars of the Lord"). Milhamot HaShem is modelled after the " Guide for the Perplexed ". Gersonides and his father were avid students of the works of Alexander of Aphrodisias , Aristotle, Empedocles , Galen , Hippocrates , Homer , Plato, Ptolemy , Pythagoras , Themistius , Theophrastus , Ali ibn Abbas al-Magusi , Ali ibn Ridwan , Averroes, Avicenna , Qusta ibn Luqa , Al-Farabi , Al-Fergani, Chonain, Isaac Israeli, Ibn Tufail , Ibn Zuhr , Isaac Alfasi, and Maimonides. Gersonides held that God does not have complete foreknowledge of human acts. "Gersonides, bothered by

6375-480: Was a student of physician, and renowned Christian philosopher, Hana. His close interaction with Hana, and his familial affiliation with Islam gave al-Mukkamas a unique view of religious belief and theology. In 1898 Abraham Harkavy discovered, in Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled Ishrun Maḳalat (Twenty Chapters) of which 15 survive. One of

6460-511: Was author of the earliest known Jewish philosophical work of the Middle Ages , a commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah ; he is regarded as the father of Jewish medieval philosophy. Al-Mukkamas was first to introduce the methods of Kalam into Judaism and the first Jew to mention Aristotle in his writings. He was a proselyte of Rabbinic Judaism (not Karaite Judaism , as some argue); al-Mukkamas

6545-402: Was being done to the fabric of Jewish culture. This compelled many anti-Maimonideans to recant their assertions and realize what cooperation with Christians meant to them, their texts and their communities. Maimonidean controversy flared up again at the beginning of the fourteenth century when Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet , under influence from Asher ben Jehiel , issued a cherem on "any member of

6630-604: Was born in Málaga then moved to Valencia . Ibn Gabirol was one of the first teachers of Neoplatonism in Europe. His role has been compared to that of Philo. Ibn Gabirol occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe. The philosophical teachings of Philo and ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and ibn Gabirol both exercised considerable influence in secular circles; Philo upon early Christianity and Ibn Gabirol upon

6715-587: Was identical those of Abraham Ibn Daud : there can be no contradiction between the truths which God has revealed and the findings of the human intellect in science and philosophy. Maimonides departed from the teachings of Aristotle by suggesting that the world is not eternal, as Aristotle taught, but was created ex nihilo . In "Guide for the Perplexed" (1:17 & 2:11)" Maimonides explains that Israel lost its Mesorah in exile, and with it "we lost our science and philosophy — only to be rejuvenated in Al Andalus within

6800-672: Was largely forgotten by Jewish tradition. Nonetheless, he had a significant impact on subsequent Jewish philosophical followers of the Kalām, such as Saʿadya Gaon. Samuel ibn Naghrillah , born in Mérida, Spain , lived in Córdoba and was a child prodigy and student of Hanoch ben Moshe. Samuel ibn Naghrillah, Hasdai ibn Shaprut , and Moshe ben Hanoch founded the Lucena Yeshiva that produced such brilliant scholars as Isaac ibn Ghiyyat and Maimon ben Yosef,

6885-571: Was no need for a philosophic framework. From an economic viewpoint, Radhanite trade dominance was being usurped by coordinated Christian and Islamic forced-conversions, and torture, compelling Jewish scholars to understand nascent economic threats. These investigations triggered new ideas and intellectual exchange among Jewish and Islamic scholars in the areas of jurisprudence, mathematics, astronomy, logic and philosophy. Jewish scholars influenced Islamic scholars and Islamic scholars influenced Jewish scholars. Contemporary scholars continue to debate who

6970-452: Was normative: Even when rabbis attempted to compile a list of the 613 commandments, they were faced with a number of difficulties: Ultimately, though, the concept of 613 commandments has become accepted as normative amongst practicing Jews and today it is still common practice to refer to the total system of commandments within the Torah as the "613 commandments", even among those who do not literally accept this count as accurate. However,

7055-598: Was the son of Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Kohen Ibn Soussan and a student of Maimonides for whom the Guide for the Perplexed is written. Yosef traveled from Alexandria to Fustat to study logic, mathematics, and astronomy under Maimonides. Philosophically, Yosef's dissertation, in Arabic, on the problem of "Creation" is suspected to have been written before contact with Maimonides. It is entitled Ma'amar bimehuyav ha-metsiut ve'eykhut sidur ha-devarim mimenu vehidush ha'olam ("A Treatise as to (1) Necessary Existence (2) The Procedure of Things from

7140-460: Was the twelfth-century author of Bustan al-Uqul ("Garden of Intellects"), a Jewish version of Ismaili Shi'i doctrines. Like the Ismailis, Natan'el al-Fayyumi argued that God sent different prophets to various nations of the world, containing legislations suited to the particular temperament of each individual nation. Ismaili doctrine holds that a single universal religious truth lies at the root of

7225-521: Was used as an aid to truth , and a means of arriving at it. To this end Philo chose from philosophical tenets of Greeks, refusing those that did not harmonize with Judaism such as Aristotle's doctrine of the eternity and indestructibility of the world . With the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Second Temple Judaism was in disarray, but Jewish traditions were preserved especially thanks to

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