Contents Contents

The Reason for the Mitzvot ...... xii Author’s Preface to First Edition (1942) ...... xiii Translator’s Preface ...... xv

Chapter 1 The Nature of the Question ...... 1 Reasons not to engage in such an inquiry ...... 1 Reasons Such Inquiry is Mandatory ...... 3

Chapter 2 The Biblical View ...... 5 The sources of correct behavior prior to Sinai: God’s will and human conscience ...... 5 Even “irrational” commands do not oppose objective morality ...... 6 Conscience Is Important Even After Sinai ...... 7 Types of Reasons in the Torah: Appeal to Authority...... 8 Understanding the Objective of a Mitzvah ...... 9 Connection to Other Mitzvot or Principles ...... 9 Emotional Reasons ...... 10 Where The Torah is Silent Concerning Reasons ...... 12 The Torah Is Reticent About the Religious Value of the Mitzvot ...... 12 Investigation of the Reasons—Its Basis in the Torah ...... 14

Chapter 3 The Views of the Rabbis ...... 15 1. Irrational from the Individual’s Perspective ...... 15 2. Rational from the Lawmaker’s Perspective ...... 18 The reasons for the hukkim are hidden ...... 19 The Torah Does Not Distinguish Between Rational and Irrational Mitzvot .. .. 21 Why did the Rabbis Distinguish Between Rational and Non-rational Commandments? ...... 21 3. Methodological Questions ...... 23 Is it fi tting to seek out intellectual reasons for the mitzvot? ...... 23 Is it permissible to derive halakhic conclusions from the reasons for the mitzvot? ...... 24 4. The Reasons for the Mitzvot According to the Rabbis ...... 25 Measure for Measure ...... 26

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Symbolic Reasons ...... 26 The Mitzvot Infl uence Our Behavior ...... 27 Expound Them and Receive Reward ...... 28

Chapter 4 The Views of the Hellenistic Jews ...... 34 Each Person a Supreme Authority on the Mitzvot’s Value ...... 34 Irrational Reasons Not Valued ...... 35 The Greek Autonomous Ethic Infl uenced the Hellenists ...... 36 National Conservatism as a Reason ...... 37 “Do Not Separate From the Community!” ...... 38 “Natural Law” vs. the Laws of the Legislators ...... 38 The Method of the Extreme Hellenists ...... 39 Philo’s Method ...... 40 The Torah’s Laws Similar to the Laws of the Universe ...... 40 Ethical Explanations ...... 41 Josephus on Theocracy ...... 42 Philo’s Social Explanation ...... 43 Utilitarian Reasons ...... 44 Motivations of the Hellenists and the Rabbis ...... 44 Pros and Cons of the Hellenistic explanation ...... 45 Did Greek Culture Impoverish their Jewish culture? ...... 46

Chapter 5 Views of the Medieval Philosophers ...... 47 General Introduction ...... 47 Three Medieval “Schools” and Their Interaction ...... 47 Disagreements among the Schools ...... 48

Chapter 6 Saadia Gaon ...... 51 The Different Tasks of Human Reason ...... 51 Intellect can help explain the mitzvot ...... 52 The Rational and “Hortative” (Shim’iyot) Mitzvot ...... 52 Many Hortative Commandments Have Plausible Reasons ...... 53 The Virtues of Saadia’s Method ...... 54 The Drawbacks of Saadia’s Method ...... 55 Saadia favors utilitarian reasons ...... 55

Chapter 7 Bahya ben Joseph Ibn Pakudah ...... 57 The purpose of Duties of the Heart ...... 57 The Heart—Source for Performing the Mitzvot ...... 58 The Levels of Mitzvah Performers ...... 58 The Propadeutic Value of the Written Torah ...... 59 The Value of the Torah for the Educated Also ...... 60 The Commandments of the Limbs Attest to the Commandments of the Heart 60 Religiosity of the Heart and Fulfi llment of the Commandments ...... 62 How does Bahya’s outlook differ from Saadia’s? ...... 62

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Chapter 8 Rabbi Judah Halevi ...... 65 Purpose of the Kuzari ...... 65 The Mitzvot Seek to Train Us for Coming Closer to God ...... 65 Mitzvot Necessary to Arrive at the Top Rank ...... 66 To reach God, perform the divine commands! ...... 66 Halevi’s Approach is Not Magical ...... 67 Our Reason Cannot Understand All the Mitzvot ...... 68 History Testifi es to their Value ...... 69 Life of Body and Life of Soul Parallel ...... 69 Psychological Explanations ...... 70 God of Religion vs. the Metaphysical God ...... 72 The Emotional Experience ...... 73 The “Practical-Religious” Value in Halevi ...... 73 Halevi’s Personality ...... 74

Chapter 9 Abraham Ibn Ezra ...... 76 The Value of Knowing the Reasons ...... 76 Utilitarian and Ethical Reasons...... 77 Symbolic Reasons ...... 77 Secret Relations Between Mitzvot and the Forces of Nature ...... 78 Mystical Arithmetic ...... 79 Astrological Explanations and Their Limitation ...... 79 The Arrangement of the Temple and Its Affairs ...... 81 Toward an Understanding of the Esoteric Explanations ...... 82 Mitzvot that seek to preserve racial purity ...... 82 Ibn Ezra’s Common Cause with the Jewish Hellenists ...... 83 Ibn Ezra—Mystic of Science ...... 83

Chapter 10 Abraham Ibn Daud ...... 85 Both the “rational” and “hortative” mitzvot are eternal ...... 85 The mitzvot as acknowledgment of our gratitude ...... 86 Interpreting the Ten Commandments ...... 86 Ranking the “hortative” mitzvot ...... 87 In praise of Abraham for not second-guessing God ...... 88 “Weakness” of the hortative mitzvot: Ibn Daud’s relation to Saadia and the modern rationalists ...... 88 Why Ibn Daud Preferred the Rational to the Hortative Mitzvot ...... 90 Why, if all mitzvot are valid, do they differ in rank? ...... 91 Similarities and differences in Bahya’s and Ibn Daud’s rankings ...... 92 Ibn Daud, Halevi and Ibn Ezra ...... 93

Chapter 11 Maimonides ...... 95 The Different Points of View in His Various Books ...... 95 1. Is it possible and permitted to explain the mitzvot? ...... 95 Permitted to explain the mitzvot, but not to reject them ...... 96

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Those who forbid us to consider the reasons for the mitzvot have erred .. .. 97 Caution is required in investigating the reasons for the mitzvot ...... 98 Impossible to Explain All the Details ...... 99 2. The Foundations of Maimonides’ Explanation ...... 100 The Torah’s Intention: Perfection of Soul and Perfection of Body ...... 100 Three Assumptions for Explaining the Narratives and Precepts of the Torah (With Consideration for Non-Intellectuals Also) ...... 101 Examples for the Above Principle ...... 103 Joy in the mitzvot that Maimonides showed in his life and works, vs. what he says in certain places ...... 104 Tensions with regard to actions ...... 104 Tensions with Regard to Feeling ...... 105 The relation between theoretical and practical man ...... 107 3. The explanation of the Commandments ...... 107 Explanations that Maimonides rejects ...... 108 Casual supports (asmakhta) ...... 108 Utilitarian Reasons ...... 109 Some of the Moral Explanations are Social ...... 109 (1) Commemorating historical facts...... 110 (2) Cosmological explanations ...... 111 (3) Inculcating the Fear of Heaven ...... 111 (4) Distancing Us from Idol Worship ...... 111 The Sacrifi ces: Weaning Us from Idolatry ...... 113 His Proofs ...... 113 Maimonides, Ibn Daud and Modern Rationalists ...... 114 Summary ...... 116 More Than Just Intellectualism ...... 116 A Comprehensive, Many-Sided Approach ...... 116 Three Kinds of “Believers,” Two in Error ...... 117 Advantage of all the mitzvot ...... 118 Why is only the Torah called a divine law? ...... 118

Chapter 12 Gersonides...... 120 Comprehensive Explanation for All Narratives and Mitzvot ...... 120 Hygienic Reasons ...... 121 Many mitzvot act on our moral qualities ...... 121 The reasons for the mitzvah of the Sabbath ...... 122 Gersonides’ critique of Maimonides on the sacrifi ces ...... 123 The Reasons for the Implements of the Sanctuary ...... 125 Reasons for the Priesthood ...... 126

Chapter 13 Hasdai Crescas ...... 127 Defense of the Torah against Christian attacks ...... 127 The generation of the wilderness was not spiritually inferior ...... 127 Original Sin; salvation through circumcision and the Akedah ...... 128 How are we redeemed through these two commandments? ...... 129 The salvifi c power of all the mitzvot ...... 129

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The love of God is the pivot of faith ...... 130 Why so many mitzvot? ...... 131 Primary purposes ...... 131 Intermediate purposes ...... 131 Our Eternal Lives Are Not Dependent on the Acquisition of Correct Opinions 132 Rather: The Ultimate Purpose of the Mitzvot of the Torah is Love and Fear of God ...... 133 How Does the Torah Educate Toward Love of God? ...... 134 The Reasons for Various Mitzvot ...... 134

Chapter 14 Joseph Albo...... 141 The Reasons for the Sacrifi ces and Sabbath ...... 141 The Three Kinds of Laws and Their Value ...... 141 Everything Goes According to the Heart’s Intention ...... 142 Judaism Surpasses Christianity in Its Appreciation of the Heart’s Intention .. 143 Practical value realized from keeping the mitzvot ...... 143 Levels of Feeling Connected to Fulfi llment of the Commandments ...... 144 The Relationship Between Religious Emotion and Fulfi llment of the Mitzvot 145 Not by Intellectual Understanding but Rather by Reverence for God Do We Earn the World to Come ...... 146 What is the difference between Crescas and Albo? ...... 147 The Value of Albo’s Method ...... 148

Chapter 15 Don Isaac Abravanel ...... 149 Categories of the Torah’s Commandments ...... 149 There is an Intrinsic Value to the Mitzvot of the Torah ...... 149 There is No Uniform Purpose for All of the Mitzvot of the Torah ...... 150 Abravanel Objects to Utilitarian Reasons for the Mitzvot ...... 151 Abravanel is Sparing with Social Reasons for the Torah’s Mitzvot ...... 151 Abravanel’s Method of Interpreting the Mitzvot ...... 152 The Reasons for the Sacrifi ces ...... 152 The Reasons for the Shofar ...... 154 The Pedagogic Value of the Mitzvot ...... 155 Ethical-Religious Explanations of the Torah’s Commandments ...... 156 The Religious Infl uence of the Mitzvot ...... 157 All the Mitzvot Speak to Us in Allusions and Symbols ...... 157

Chapter 16 Summary of the Medieval Thinkers ...... 159 The Difference Between the Hellenistic and Medieval Thinkers’ Explanation of the Mitzvot ...... 159 Balance of Autonomous and Heteronomous Reasons ...... 159 The Creator’s Wisdom is Recognized in His Mitzvot ...... 161 We Must Observe the Mitzvot Even If Their Reasons are Hidden From Us .. 162 The Love of God, Not Pursuit of Happiness, Enables Us to Fulfi ll the Creator’s Mitzvot ...... 163 The Individualistic Direction in Explanation of the Mitzvot ...... 163

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Chapter 17 Principal Conclusions ...... 165 (A) A Systematic Arrangement of the Answers to the Problem ...... 166 The Differences Between the Two Types of Reasons ...... 166 The Apologetic Factor ...... 167 The Theoretical Factor ...... 168 The Practical Factor ...... 169 Different Views Concerning the Reasons for the Commandments ...... 169 Consequences of the Mitzvot ...... 171 (B) What Can We Learn from the Classic Jewish Thinkers’ Explanation of the Reasons for the Mitzvot? ...... 176 The Subjective Factor ...... 176 The Value of the Explanations ...... 178 The Apologetic Method ...... 179 The Sociological Method ...... 180

Abbreviations ...... 184 Notes ...... 185 Glossary ...... 197

Index ...... 200