Albalag, Isaac

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1 Albalag, Isaac 2 Albalag, Isaac As is the case for many medieval philosophers and exegetes, the details of Isaac Albalag’s life (13th century) remain shrouded in obscurity. It has been suggested that he lived and wrote in Provence, but it is more likely that he resided in Spain, perhaps in Catalonia. All that survives from his pen are two works: a partial translation of al-Ghazali’s Maqaø sid al-Falaø sifa (“Intentions of the Philosophers”; called in Albalag’s translation De‘ot ha-filosofim, “Opinions of the Philosophers”), and Hebrew notes on the translation, entitled Sefer Tiqqun ha-De‘ot (“Correc- tion of the Opinions”). The latter consists of occa- sional explanations and criticisms of al-Ghazali, identifications of the philosophical background, mainly in Avicenna, and corrections in light of Averroes. For the most part, Albalag presents straightfor- ward technical philosophical discussions in Tiqqun ha-De‘ot, but from time to time he introduces philosophical explications of relevant biblical verses and rabbinic dicta. For example, in chapter 58, which contrasts the deductive nature of prophetic knowledge with the inductive nature of philosophical- syllogistic knowledge, Albalag singles out /Jacob’s ladder as the perfect image of the latter. Philosophical knowledge, like ascending the ladder, is acquired from below to above, moving from the four elements and composite substances in the sublunar world (the ladder) to the celestial bodies and forces (the/angels of/God ascending and descending) to separate substances (the/Lord above the ladder). According to Albalag, further- more, this shows that Jacob’s dream (/Dreams) was not prophetic, but philosophical; it is an exhor- tation of sorts, pointing the way to a philosophical- scientific understanding of the world. Bibliography. Primary: I Isaac Albalag, Sefer Tiqqun ha-De’ot (ed. G. Vajda; Jerusalem 1973). Secondary: I A. Altmann, “The Ladder of Ascension,” in Studies in Mysticism and Religion Presented to Gershon G. Scholem on his Seventieth Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends (Jeru- salem 1967) 1Ð32. I S. Feldman, “In the Beginning God Created,” in God and Creation (eds. D. Burrell/B. McGinn; Notre Dame, Ind. 1990) 3Ð26. I C. Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages (Cambridge 1993) 238Ð43. I G. Vajda, Isaac Albalag, averroïste juif, traducteur et annoteur d’al- Ghazali (Paris 1960). James T. Robinson.

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