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The Order of Nature and Moral Luck: Maimonides on Divine Providence
The Order of Nature and Moral Luck: Maimonides on Divine Providence Steven Nadler University of Wisconsin-Madison Rationalist Jewish thinkers, just because of their rationalism, faced a particular challenge when approaching the problem of evil. On the one hand, they were committed to the idea that the problem did have an answer, that the humble skepticism or fideism that closes the Book of Job (“God is so great that we cannot know him” [Job 36:26]) is not the last word on the matter. An explanation can indeed be given for the suffering of the virtuous and the prosperity of the vicious. There are accessible reasons why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people. It is something we can understand. On the other hand, not even the most convinced rationalist of the medieval period was willing to say that God’s reasons are completely transparent to human understanding, that we can know the deepest secrets of divine wisdom and find therein the theodicean answer we seek. Another factor is the rationalist’s need to avoid the anthropomorphization of God. Maimonides, Gersonides, and others were all concerned to explain divine providence without resorting to the portrayal of God as a personal agent, one who regards each particular situation in its particularity and engages in the distribution of reward and punishment in a human-like way – fending off dangers from the righteous and hurling thunderbolts upon the vicious. This overall attitude is well captured by Maimonides’ approach to the problem of evil. He argued, of course, strenuously against the anthropomorphization of God; this is 1 one of the primary themes of the Guide of the Perplexed. -
No Achievement but Through Arabic’: the Ibero-Almohad Education of Samuel Ibn Tibbon
‘NO ACHIEVEMENT BUT THROUGH ARABIC’: THE IBERO-ALMOHAD EDUCATION OF SAMUEL IBN TIBBON A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sarah Jean Pearce August 2011 © 2011 Sarah Jean Pearce ‘NO ACHIEVEMENT BUT THROUGH ARABIC’: THE IBERO-ALMOHAD EDUCATION OF SAMUEL IBN TIBBON Sarah Jean Pearce, Ph. D. Cornell University 2011 The present study is an intellectual biography of Samuel ibn Tibbon (c.1150-1232), the scion of an important family of Andalusi translators exiled to Provençe in the wake of the ascent to power of the Berber Almohad dynasty in Iberia in the late twelfth century. It comprises three areas of investigation: examinations of Samuel’s education as a translator at the hands of his father and of the philosopher and theologian Moses Maimonides; of his own writings that describe his thoughts about his profession; and of the ways in which he was memorialized by later writers after his death. By examining a variety of Hebrew and Arabic sources related to each of these three aspects of the record of Samuel’s intellectual and professional life, it is possible to observe many ways in which Samuel’s work transformed the status of the Hebrew and Arabic languages among Andalusi and Andalusi-exiled readers whose lives were shaped by the changing intellectual and political scene wrought by the Almohads. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Sarah Jean Pearce earned her B.A. at Yale College in 2005 and her M.A. at Cornell University in 2009. -
First Conference of the Officina Philosophica Hebraica (OPH I
Conference: Themes, Terminology and Translation procedures Page 1 of 5 First Conference of the Officina Philosophica Hebraica (OPH I): “Themes, Terminology, and Translation procedure in 12th century Jewish Philosophy” DFG-Project “PESHAT in Context” Hamburg University, 4th-6th April 2016 Philosophical, terminological and translation related issues were the topics of the first of four triennial conferences of the DFG funded long-term project “PESHAT in Context”, which researches the development of the premodern, scientific and philosophic Hebrew terminology. The “most conventional and least original starting point” (Reimund Leicht) for this developments were the efforts of Judah Ibn Tibbon of Granada, a physician, who left his Andalusian home for political reasons and settled in Provence and was not only called “Father of the translators” in a figurative senses, but also was indeed the biological founder of the influential Ibn Tibbon family of translators. As director of the “PESHAT in Context” research project, and host of the conference, GIUSEPPE VELTRI (Hamburg University) opened the conference with a lecture entitled “Toward a History of Hebrew Philosophical Dictionaries” pointing on a stepchild of the modern research. A side effect of the translation movement from Arabic to Hebrew was a development of lexicons of philosophical terms in Hebrew. They began to appear in the 13th century, when Samuel Ibn Tibbon in 1213 published his Perush ha-millot ha-zarot, i.e. “Explanation of obscure words” used in his translation of Moses Maimonides’ Dalālāt al- Ḥā’irīn, Moreh ha-Nevukhim. Another famous example is the dictionary of Aristotelian philosophical terms, with Arabic and Hebrew equivalents, which Shem Tov ben Joseph Ibn Falaquera attached to his Sefer de‘ot ha-filosofim (“Book of the Opinions of the Philosophers”). -
Copyright by Jane Robin Zackin 2008
Copyright by Jane Robin Zackin 2008 The Dissertation Committee for Jane Robin Zackin certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A JEW AND HIS MILIEU: ALLEGORY, POLEMIC, AND JEWISH THOUGHT IN SEM TOB’S PROVERBIOS MORALES AND MA’ASEH HA RAV Committee: ____________________________________ Matthew Bailey, Supervisor ____________________________________ Michael Harney ____________________________________ Madeline Sutherland-Meier ____________________________________ Harold Leibowitz ____________________________________ John Zemke A JEW AND HIS MILIEU: ALLEGORY, POLEMIC, AND JEWISH THOUGHT IN SEM TOB’S PROVERBIOS MORALES AND MA’ASEH HA RAV by Jane Robin Zackin, B.A.; M.ED.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2008 Knowledge is a deadly friend When no one sets the rules. King Crimson, “Epitaph” Acknowledgements I would like to thank the members of my committee for their help and encouragement, Dolores Walker for her ongoing support, and my father for his kind generosity. v A JEW AND HIS MILIEU: ALLEGORY, POLEMIC, AND JEWISH THOUGHT IN SEM TOB’S PROVERBIOS MORALES AND MA’ASEH HA RAV Publication No.____________________ Jane Robin Zackin, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin Supervisor: Matthew Bailey In this dissertation, I describe social, economic and political relations between Jews and Christians in medieval Europe before presenting the intellectual and religious context of Jewish life in Christian Spain. The purpose of this endeavor is to provide the framework for analyzing two works, one in Hebrew and one in Castilian, by the Spanish Jewish author Sem Tob de Carrión (1290- c.1370). -
Medieval Jewish Philosophy in Leeser Rosenthal's Collection
StRos 38/39 Medieval Jewish Philosophy in Leeser Rosenthal’s Collection Resianne Fontaine Leeser Rosenthal’s library contained a sizeable number of books written by medieval Jewish philosophers from the tenth century to around 1500. A quick perusal of Roest’s catalogue of this library reveals that the writ- ings of these thinkers were well represented in Rosenthal’s collection and that he often possessed more than one edition of the same title.1 The fol- lowing survey is an attempt to show what Rosenthal actually possessed in the fi eld of medieval Jewish philosophical literature and to examine the way in which this component of his library was put together. Survey of Rosenthal’s Medieval Philosophical Library Leeser Rosenthal owned at least 174 titles belonging to the corpus of me- dieval Jewish philosophy.2 For the following titles (in more or less chrono- logical order) Roest lists only a single copy: Josef Ibn Tsaddiq, Olam Qatan; Abraham Ibn Daud, ha-Emunah ha-Ramah; Samuel Ibn Tibbon, Ma’amar Yiqqavu ha-Mayyim; Jacob Anatoli, Malmad ha-Talmidim; Shemtov Ibn Falaquera, Sefer ha-Mevaqqesh, Moreh ha-Moreh, Sefer ha-Nefesh, Liqqutim min Sefer Meqor ha-Hayyim3; Gersonides, Milhamot ha-Shem; Moses Nar- boni, Ma’amar ha-Behirah; Meir Aldabi, Shevilei Emunah; Josef Ibn Kaspi, Amudei Kesef; Hasdai Crescas, Or ha-Shem; Simeon ben Tsemah Duran, Magen Avot; Avraham Bibago, Derekh Emunah; Abraham Shalom, Neveh Shalom, as well as for some Karaite philosophical works, namely Aaron ben Eliya, Ets Hayyim and Hadassi, Eshkol ha-Kofer. However, of other titles Rosenthal possessed more than one edition, ranging from two to as many as 25 editions. -
Jonathan V. Dauber Bernard Revel Graduate School Yeshiva University 500 West 185Th Street New York, NY 10033-3201 [email protected] (212) 960-5400 X5577
Jonathan V. Dauber Bernard Revel Graduate School Yeshiva University 500 West 185th Street New York, NY 10033-3201 [email protected] (212) 960-5400 x5577 EDUCATION: New York University, New York, NY Ph.D., August 2004 Jewish Mysticism Brandeis University, Waltham, MA B.A., May 1998, Summa cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa Double Major in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and History of Ideas SPECIALIZATION AND RESEARCH INTERESTS: I have wide training in all periods of Jewish religious and intellectual history, with a primary specialization in Jewish mysticism and Hasidism. Areas of research interest include the interplay of Kabbalah and Jewish philosophy, as well as Jewish messianism and Jewish esotericism. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Fall 2013-present: Associate Professor of Jewish Mysticism Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University (New York, NY) Fall 2006-Spring 2013: Assistant Professor of Jewish Mysticism Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University (New York, NY) Fall 2005 and Spring 2006: Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish Mysticism Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University (New York, NY) Fall 2004-Spring 2006: David and Gloria Furman Chair of Judaic Studies and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Wesleyan College (Virginia Beach, VA) 1 Spring 2002 and Spring 2003: Instructor, New York University (New York, NY) OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Spring 2014-present: Division Chair of the -
Yeshiva University • Tisha B'av To-Go • Av 5770
1 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY • TISHA B’AV TO-GO • AV 5770 Av 5770 Dear Friends, תשעה באב may serve to enhance your ספר It is my sincere hope that the Torah found in this virtual .(study) לימוד Tisha B’av) and your) We have designed this project not only for the individual, studying alone, but perhaps even more for a a pair studying together) that wish to work through the study matter together, or a group) חברותא engaged in facilitated study. להגדיל תורה ,With this material, we invite you to join our Beit Midrash, wherever you may be to enjoy the splendor of Torah) and to engage in discussing issues that touch on a most) ולהאדירה contemporary matter, and are rooted in the timeless arguments of our great sages from throughout the generations. Bivracha, Rabbi Kenneth Brander The David Mitzner Dean, Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future Richard M Joel, President, Yeshiva University Rabbi Kenneth Brander, The David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Robert Shur, General Editor Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Editor Ephraim Meth, Editor Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 413, New York, NY 10033 [email protected] • 212.960.5400 x 5313 This publication contains words of Torah. Please treat it with appropriate respect. 2 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY • TISHA B’AV TO-GO • AV 5770 Table of Contents Tisha B’av 2010/5770 The Rav on Kinot: Tziyon Halo Tish’ali Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik z”l . Page 4 Why So Angry, O Lord? Rabbi Norman Lamm . -
Judah Ibn Tibbon: the Cultural and Intellectual Profile of the “Father of the Hebrew Translation Movement”
chapter 5 Judah Ibn Tibbon: the Cultural and Intellectual Profile of the “Father of the Hebrew Translation Movement” Reimund Leicht The most conventional starting points for any research project on the devel- opment of Hebrew terminology in medieval philosophy and science are undoubtedly the translators of the Tibbonide dynasty, and among them Judah He can 1.(אבי המעתיקים) ”Ibn Tibbon – the so-called “father of the translators be called “father” in the double sense of the word: he is the biological father, grandfather, and grandfather-in-law of the following generations of translators within his own family – his son Samuel Ibn Tibbon, his grandson Moses Ibn Tibbon, his grandson-in-law Jacob Anatoli, and his great-grandson Jacob b. Makhir – and the spiritual father of this fascinating, large-scale and enduring enterprise to acculturate philosophical and scientific learning from Arabic, and later also from Latin, culture into Judaism – a phenomenon which is compa- rable to the reception of Greek knowledge by the Arabs and the acculturation of Greco-Arabic knowledge in medieval scholasticism. Judah Ibn Tibbon is the author of what is generally considered to be the first substantial portion of translations of philosophical and scientific works from Judeo-Arabic into Hebrew – translations of classical works of Jewish thought for which he coined, it is generally assumed, a comprehensive set of Hebrew terms in the field of philosophy and science. He was, of course, not the first medieval Jewish author to write about philosophy and science in the Hebrew language. Hebrew authors like Abraham Ibn Ezra, Abraham Bar Ḥiyya, and also Maimonides or (in poetical garb) Salomon Ibn Gabirol preceded him, and a number of Hebrew translations may also have come into being before he started his first translation projects,2 but Judah’s efforts to translate some of the fundamental Judeo-Arabic works in Jewish thought into Hebrew can be seen 1 I owe my gratitude to Gad Freudenthal and Sarah Stroumsa, who carefully read earlier drafts of this paper and gave me many helpful comments. -
Dieter Walldorf for Consideration of the Belkin Judaic Studies Award
Dieter Walldorf For consideration of the Belkin Judaic Studies Award The Position of Nahmanides during the Maimonidean Controversy The Maimonidean Controversy of the 1230s marks a critical point in the development of the Jewish people in Medieval Europe. It was the first battle fought in the clash of cultures spurred by the Almohad expulsion of Jews from Al-Andalus and the subsequent migration of Andalusian Jews to Provence. At the same time, the controversy’s conclusion (and perhaps the very controversy itself) represented the spirit of Inquisition’s first reaching Jewish life – a spirit that would end Jewish life in France, later Spain, and ultimately in the entirety of Western Europe. The controversy also was a major moment in the life of Nahmanides. Known in retrospect as one of the thinkers in Jewish history, Nahmanides is more famous for events later in his long life: the disputation with Pablo Christiani in 1263, his emigration to the Land of Israel, and his commentary to the Pentateuch completed near the end of his life. Though he was not one of the original parties to the dispute, Nahmanides took a very significant role in the intellectual sphere of the controversy, and while only in his thirties staked out a bold path to navigate the collision of Andalusian and Ashkenazi Judaism. The locus clasicus of Nahmanides’ place in the controversy is the letter he wrote to the Rabbis of Northern France after both a ban and counter-ban had been placed on Maimonides’ D. Walldorf 2 philosophical works. In the letter, Nahmanides issues a three-pronged argument against the French herem on Maimonides, and he then proposes a compromise resolution: to revoke the universal ban on the works, while still opposing group study of them. -
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 19 TIBBON, IBN (Tibbonids), a Family of Translators, Philoso- Phers, and Exegetes
tibbon, ibn des Vereins fuer Thueringische Geschichte. Beiheft, vol. 29) (1996); cosmology (why is the earth not completely covered by water), M. Kahl, Denkmale juedischer Kultur in Thueringen (Kulturgeschich- then proceeds to answer this question in light of verses from tliche Reihe, vol. 2) (1997); S. Wolf, Juden in Thueringen 1933–1945. Genesis, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Job, and the Book of Psalms. In addi- Biographische Daten. Vol. 1 + 2 (2000 + 2004); Litt, Stefan: Juden in tion to these two works, Samuel also wrote a brief “Treatise on Thueringen in der Fruehen Neuzeit (1520–1650) (Veroeffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission fuer Thueringen. Kleine Reihe, vol. 11) the Table and Shewbread,” a “Letter on Providence,” and “An- (2003); U. Goedde, Spurensuche nach juedischem Leben in Thuerin- notations” to his translation of the Guide. He planned two ad- gen (Materialien/Thueringer Institut fuer Lehrerfortbildung, Lehr- ditional projects that were never completed: A commentary on planentwicklung und Medien, vol. 65) (2004). the internal meanings of Proverbs, and an esoteric commen- [Henry Wasserman / Larissa Daemmig (2nd ed.)] tary on Genesis, entitled Ner ha-Ḥ ofesh (see Prov. 20:27). MOSES B. SAMUEL B. JUDAH IBN TIBBON (fl. 1244–1283) TIBBON, IBN (Tibbonids), a family of translators, philoso- resided in Montpellier, but spent some years in Naples with phers, and exegetes, based in southern France (“Provence,” the his brother-in-law Jacob Anatoli. He was the most prolific Midi, Occitania). JUDAH B. SAUL IBN TIBBON (c. 1120–1190), translator in the family; he produced translations of philo- called the “father of translators,” was born in Granada, but fled sophical as well as technical scientific treatises. -
The Cultures of Maimonideanism Supplements to the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy
The Cultures of Maimonideanism Supplements to The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy edited by Leora Batnitzky (Princeton University) Christian Wiese (University of Sussex) Elliot Wolfson (New York University) VOLUME 9 The Cultures of Maimonideanism New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought edited by James T. Robinson LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The cultures of Maimonideanism / [edited] by James T. Robinson. p. cm. — (Supplements to the Journal of Jewish thought and philosophy ; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17450-4 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135- 1204—Teachings. 2. Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204—Influence. 3. Philosophy, Jew- ish. I. Robinson, James T., 1965- II. Title. III. Series. B759.M34C85 2009 296.1’81–dc22 2009007856 ISSN 1873-9008 ISBN 978 90 04 17450 4 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS Preface ........................................................................................... vii James T. Robinson (The University of Chicago) Chapter One The Project of Enlightenment in Islamic-Arabic Culture .................................................................................... -
From Maimonides to Samuel Ibn Tibbon: Interpreting Judaism As a Philosophical Religion1
FROM MAIMONIDES TO SAMUEL IBN TIBBON: INTERPRETING JUDAISM AS A PHILOSOPHICAL RELIGION1 Carlos Fraenkel In several respects, The Guide of the Perplexed stood at the center of Samuel ibn Tibbon’s philosophical work. Although he is best known as the Guide’s translator, the translation was only one aspect of his compre- hensive effort to disseminate Maimonides’ thought. Ibn Tibbon’s role in this process is best described as that of a mediator between cultures who paved the way for the reception of Maimonides’ writings in the Jewish communities of Christian Europe, that is, in a cultural setting very different from the Judeo-Arabic context in which they had been composed.2 We can perhaps better appreciate the scope of Ibn Tib- bon’s contribution if we imagine a contemporary Israeli thinker who sets out to introduce the work of Emanuel Levinas to yeshiva students in Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox neighborhood, Meah Shearim. Were he merely to translate Levinas into Hebrew or Yiddish, he would most certainly fail to achieve his objective. In addition to the translation, he would have to clarify Levinas’ philosophical terminology, explain what phenomenology means in the work of Husserl and Heidegger which 1 For a more comprehensive treatment of the issues discussed in this article, see my Hebrew book, From Maimonides to Samuel Ibn Tibbon: The Transformation of the Dalālat al-āirīn into the Moreh ha-Nevukhim, Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2007. On Ibn Tibbon, see also also J. Robinson’s recent comprehensive study, Philosophy and Exegesis in Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes, doctoral disserta- tion, Harvard University, 2002.