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 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 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 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 the Middle Ages,
as well as the other historical dialectic
aspects of Jewish thought, and resulted in
diverse contemporary Jewish attitudes to philosophical
methods.
== Ancient Jewish philosophy ==
=== 
Philosophy in the Bible ===
Rabbinic literature sometimes views Abraham
as a philosopher.
Some have suggested that Abraham introduced
a philosophy learned from Melchizedek; Some
Jews ascribe the Sefer Yetzirah "Book of Creation"
to Abraham.
A midrash describes how Abraham understood
this world to have a creator and director
by comparing this world to "a house with a
light in it", what is now called the argument
from design.
Psalms contains invitations to admire the
wisdom of God through his works; from this,
some scholars suggest, Judaism harbors a Philosophical
under-current.
Ecclesiastes is often considered to be the
only genuine philosophical work in the Hebrew
Bible; its author seeks to understand the
place of human beings in the world and life's
meaning.
=== Philo of Alexandria ===
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 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.
Dr. Bernard Revel, in dissertation on Karaite
halakha, points to writings of a 10th-century
Karaite, Jacob Qirqisani, who quotes Philo,
illustrating how Karaites made use of Philo's
works in development of Karaite Judaism.
Philo's works became important to Medieval
Christian scholars who leveraged the work
of Karaites to lend credence to their claims
that "these are the beliefs of Jews" - a technically
correct, yet deceptive, attribution.
== Jewish scholarship after destruction of
Second Temple ==
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 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 1.)
"How favored is man, for he was created after
an image "for in an image, Elokim made man"
(Gen. ix. 6)", 2.)
"Everything is foreseen; but freedom [of will]
is given to every man", 3.)
"The world is governed by mercy... but the
divine decision is made by the preponderance
of the good or bad in one's actions".
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, 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.
=== Who influences whom? ===
Rabbinic Judaism had limited philosophical
activity until it was challenged by Islam,
Karaite Judaism, and Christianity—with Tanach,
Mishnah, and Talmud, there 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
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:
Qadariyah
Bahshamiyya MuʿtazilaThe story of 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.
==== Karaism ====
Borrowing from the Mutakallamin of Basra,
the Karaites were 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 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.
==== Philosophic synthesis begins ====
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 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 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 the Brethren of Purity were
carried to the West by a Spanish Arab of Madrid,
Muhammad Abu'l-Qasim al-Majnti al-Andalusi,
who died in AD 1004–1005.
Thanks to Averroes, Spain became a center
of philosophical learning as is reflected
by the explosion of philosophical inquiry
among Jews, Muslims and Christians.
== Jewish philosophy before Maimonides ==
=== "Hiwi the Heretic" ===
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 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
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 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 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".
=== Sa'adya Gaon ===
Saadia Gaon, son of a proselyte, is considered
the greatest early Jewish philosopher.
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 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 al-Katib al-Tabari (Tiberias),
a Jewish theologian and Bible translator from
Tiberias whose main claim to fame is the fact
that Saadia Gaon studied with him at some
point.
He is not mentioned in any Jewish source,
and apart from the Andalusian heresiographer
and polemicist Ibn Hazm, who mentions him
as 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 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
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 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 ===
David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas 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.
Sl-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
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 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 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 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 ===
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, 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 ===
Solomon ibn Gabirol 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 the scholars
of medieval Christianity.
Christian scholars, including Albertus Magnus
and Thomas Aquinas, defer to him frequently.
=== Abraham bar-Hiyya Ha-Nasi ===
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 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.
=== Hibat Allah ===
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 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 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
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.
=== Nethan'el al-Fayyumi ===
Natan'el al-Fayyumi of Yemen, 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 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.
Natan'el's son Yaqub turned to Maimonides,
asking urgently for counsel on how to deal
with forced conversions to Islam and religious
persecutions at the hand of Saladin.
Maimonides' response was the Epistle to Yemen.
=== Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda ===
Bahye ben Yosef Ibn Paquda, of Zaragoza, was
author of the first Jewish system of ethics
Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-hulub, ("Guide to
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 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"
=== Yehuda Ha-Levi and the Kuzari ===
Judah Halevi of Toledo, Spain defended Rabbinic
Judaism against Islam, Christianity and Karaite
Judaism.
He 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 the time.
=== Abraham ibn Daud ===
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 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 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".
=== Other notable Jewish philosophers pre-Maimonides
===
Abraham ibn Ezra
Isaac ibn Ghiyyat
Moses ibn Ezra
Yehuda Alharizi
Joseph ibn Tzaddik
Samuel ibn Tibbon
== The Rambam - Maimonides ==
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 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 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 the context of interaction
and intellectual investigation of Jewish,
Christian and Muslim texts.
== Medieval Jewish philosophy after Maimonides
==
Maimonides writings almost immediately came
under attack from Karaites, Dominican Christians,
Tosafists of Provence, Ashkenaz and Al Andalus.
His genius was obvious, protests centered
around his writings.
Scholars suggest that Maimonides instigated
the Maimonidean Controversy when he verbally
attacked Samuel ben Ali Ha-Levi al-Dastur
("Gaon of Baghdad") as "one whom people accustom
from his youth to believe that there is none
like him in his generation," and he sharply
attack the "monetary demands" of the academies.
al-Dasturwas 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, al-Dastur, the chief opponent
of Maimonides in the East, was excommunicated
by Daud Ibn Hodaya al Daudi (Exilarch of Mosul).
Maimonides' attacks on Ibn al-Dastur may not
have been entirely altruistic given 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 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 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
1) "Guide for the Perplexed", 2) "13 Principles
of Faith", 3) "Mishnah Torah", and 4) his
commentary on Anusim.
=== Yosef ben Yehuda of Ceuta ===
Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta 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 the Necessary
Existence and (3) The Creation of the World").
=== Jacob Anatoli ===
Jacob ben Abba Mari ben Simson 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
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 a broader cultivation
of the classic languages and the non-Jewish
branches of learning.
To Anatoli all men are, in truth, formed in
the image of God, though 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"
=== Hillel ben Samuel ===
Firstly, Hillel ben Samuel's importance in
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 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 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 the sin of Adam; the third on
whether or not the belief in the fallen angels
is a true belief.
=== Shemtob Ben Joseph Ibn Falaquera ===
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 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 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.
Iggeret ha-Wikkuaḥ, a dialogue between a
religious Jew and a Jewish philosopher on
the harmony of philosophy and religion.
Reshit Ḥokmah, treating of moral duties,
of the sciences, and of the necessity of studying
philosophy.
Sefer ha-Ma'alot, on different degrees of
human perfection.
Moreh ha-Moreh, commentary on the philosophical
part of Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed".
=== Joseph ben Abba Mari ibn Kaspi ===
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
latter's Guide of the Perplexed from Maimonides'
grandchildren.
When he heard that 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 system he followed Aristotle and
Averroes.
He defines his aim as "not to be 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.
=== Gersonides ===
Rabbi Levi ben Gershon 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 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 Narboni ===
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 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 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 ===
Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, of Barcelona, studied
under Hasdai Crescas and Rabbi Nissim ben
Reuben Gerondi.
Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi, 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 the opinion of Gersonides
and that of Abraham ben David of Posquières
on free will, and gives his own views on the
subject.
He was an adversary of Kabbalah who never
spoke of the Sefirot; he quotes another philosopher
when reproaching kabbalists with "believing
in the "Ten" (Sefirot) as the Christians believe
in the Trinity".
=== Hasdai ben Judah Crescas ===
Hasdai Crescas, of Barcelona, was a leading
rationalist on issues of natural law and free-will.
His views can be seen as precursors to Baruch
Spinoza.
His work, Or Adonai, became a classic refutation
of medieval Aristotelism, and harbinger of
the scientific revolution in the 16th century.
Hasdai Crescas was a student of Nissim ben
Reuben Gerondi, who in turn was a student
of Reuben ben Nissim Gerondi.
Crescas was not a Rabbi, yet he was active
as a teacher.
Among his fellow students and friends, his
best friend was Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet.
Cresca's students won accolades as participants
in the Disputation of Tortosa.
=== Simeon ben Zemah Duran ===
Influenced by the teaching of Rabbi Nissim
of Gerona, via Ephraim Vidal's Yeshiva in
Majorca, Duran's commentary Magen Avot ("The
Shield of the Fathers"), which influenced
Joseph Albo, is important.
He was also a student of philosophy, astronomy,
mathematics, and especially of medicine, which
he practiced for a number of years at Palma,
in Majorca.
Magen Avot deals with concepts such as the
nature of God, the eternity of the Torah,
the coming of the Messiah, and the Resurrection
of the dead.
Duran believed that Judaism has three dogmas
only: the existence of God, the Torah's Divine
origin, and Reward and Punishment; in this
regard he was followed by Joseph Albo.
=== Joseph Albo ===
Joseph Albo, of Monreal, was a student of
Hasdai Crescas.
He wrote Sefer ha-Ikkarim ("Book of Principles"),
a classic work on the fundamentals of Judaism.
Albo narrows the fundamental Jewish principles
of faith from thirteen to three -
belief in the existence of God,
belief in revelation, and
belief in divine justice, as related to the
idea of immortality.Albo rejects the assumption
that creation ex nihilo is essential in belief
in God.
Albo freely criticizes Maimonides' thirteen
principles of belief and Crescas' six principles.
According to Albo, "belief in the Messiah
is only a 'twig' unnecessary to the soundness
of the trunk"; not essential to Judaism.
Nor is it true, according to Albo, that every
law is binding.
Though every ordinance has the power of conferring
happiness in its observance, it is not true
that every law must be observed, or that through
the neglect of a part of the law, a Jew would
violate the divine covenant or be damned.
Contemporary Orthodox Jews, however, vehemently
disagree with Albo's position believing that
all Jews are divinely obligated to fulfill
every applicable commandment.
=== Hoter ben Solomon ===
Hoter ben Shlomo was a scholar and philosopher
in Yemen heavily influenced by Nethanel ben
al-Fayyumi, Maimonides, Saadia Gaon and al-Ghazali.
The connection between the "Epistle of the
Brethren of Purity" and Ismailism suggests
the adoption of this work as one of the main
sources of what would become known as "Jewish
Ismailism" as found in Late Medieval Yemenite
Judaism.
"Jewish Ismailism" consisted of adapting,
to Judaism, a few Ismaili doctrines about
cosmology, prophecy, and hermeneutics.
There are many examples of the Brethren of
Purity influencing Yemenite Jewish philosophers
and authors in the period 1150–1550.
Some traces of Brethren of Purity doctrines,
as well as of their numerology, are found
in two Yemenite philosophical midrashim written
in 1420–1430: Midrash ha-hefez ("The Glad
Learning") by Zerahyah ha-Rofé (a/k/a Yahya
al-Tabib) and the Siraj al-'uqul ("Lamp of
Intellects") by Hoter ben Solomon.
=== Don Isaac Abravanel ===
Isaac Abravanel, statesman, philosopher, Bible
commentator, and financier who commented on
Maimonides' thirteen principles in his Rosh
Amanah.
Isaac Abravanel was steeped in Rationalism
by the Ibn Yahya family, who had a residence
immediately adjacent to the Great Synagogue
of Lisbon (also built by the Ibn Yahya Family).
His most important work, Rosh Amanah ("The
Pinnacle of Faith"), defends Maimonides' thirteen
articles of belief against attacks of Hasdai
Crescas and Yosef Albo.
Rosh Amanah ends with the statement that "Maimonides
compiled these articles merely in accordance
with the fashion of other nations, which set
up axioms or fundamental principles for their
science".
Isaac Abravanel was born and raised in Lisbon;
a student of the Rabbi of Lisbon, Yosef ben
Shlomo Ibn Yahya.
Rabbi Yosef was a poet, religious scholar,
rebuilder of Ibn Yahya Synagogue of Calatayud,
well versed in rabbinic literature and in
the learning of his time, devoting his early
years to the study of Jewish philosophy.
The Ibn Yahya family were renowned physicians,
philosophers and accomplished aides to the
Portuguese Monarchy for centuries.
Isaac's grandfather, Samuel Abravanel, was
forcibly converted to Christianity during
the pogroms of 1391 and took the Spanish name
"Juan Sanchez de Sevilla".
Samuel fled Castile-León, Spain, in 1397
for Lisbon, Portugal, and reverted to Judaism
- shedding his Converso after living among
Christians for six years.
Conversions outside Judaism, coerced or otherwise,
had a strong impact upon young Isaac, later
compelling him to forfeit his immense wealth
in an attempt to redeem Iberian Jewry from
coercion of the Alhambra Decree.
There are parallels between what he writes,
and documents produced by Inquisitors, that
present conversos as ambivalent to Christianity
and sometimes even ironic in their expressions
regarding their new religion - crypto-jews.
=== Leone Ebreo ===
Judah Leon Abravanel was Portuguese physician,
poet and philosopher.
His work Dialoghi d'amore ("Dialogues of Love"),
written in Italian, was one of the most important
philosophical works of his time.
In an attempt to circumvent a plot, hatched
by local Catholic Bishops to kidnap his son,
Judah sent his son from Castile, to Portugal
with a nurse, but by order of the king, the
son was seized and baptized.
This was a devastating insult to Judah and
his family, and was a source of bitterness
throughout Judah's life and the topic of his
writings years later; especially since this
was not the first time the Abravanel Family
was subjected to such embarrassment at the
hands of the Catholic Church.
Judah's Dialoghi is regarded as the finest
of Humanistic Period works.
His neoplatonism is derived from the Hispanic
Jewish community, especially the works of
Ibn Gabirol.
Platonic notions of reaching towards a nearly
impossible ideal of beauty, wisdom, and perfection
encompass the whole of his work.
In Dialoghi d'amore, Judah defines love in
philosophical terms.
He structures his three dialogues as a conversation
between two abstract "characters": Philo,
representing love or appetite, and Sophia,
representing science or wisdom, Philo+Sophia
(philosophia).
=== Criticisms of Kabbalah ===
The word "Kabbalah" was used in medieval Jewish
texts to mean "tradition", see Abraham Ibn
Daud's Sefer Ha-Qabbalah also known as the
"Book of our Tradition".
"Book of our Tradition" does not refer to
mysticism of any kind - it chronicles "our
tradition of scholarship and study" in two
Babylonian Academies, through the Geonim,
into Talmudic Yeshivas of Spain.
In Talmudic times there was a mystic tradition
in Judaism, known as Maaseh Bereshith (the
work of creation) and Maaseh Merkavah (the
work of the chariot); Maimonides interprets
these texts as referring to Aristotelian physics
and metaphysics as interpreted in the light
of Torah.
In the 13th century, however, a mystical-esoteric
system emerged which became known as "the
Kabbalah."
Many of the beliefs associated with Kabbalah
had long been rejected by philosophers.
Saadia Gaon had taught in his book Emunot
v'Deot that Jews who believe in gilgul have
adopted a non-Jewish belief.
Maimonides rejected many texts of Heichalot,
particularly Shi'ur Qomah whose anthropomorphic
vision of God he considered heretical.
In the 13th century, *Meir ben Simon of Narbonne
wrote an epistle (included in Milhhemet Mitzvah)
against early Kabbalists, singled out Sefer
Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship
to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and
describing some of its content as follow -
"... And we have heard that a book had already
been written for them, which they call Bahir,
that is 'bright' but no light shines through
it.
This book has come into our hands and we have
found that they falsely attribute it to Rabbi
Nehunya ben Haqqanah.
haShem forbid!
There is no truth in this...
The language of the book and its whole content
show that it is the work of someone who lacked
command of either literary language or good
style, and in many passages it contains words
which are out and out heresy."
=== Other notable Jewish philosophers post-Maimonides
===
Jedaiah ben Abraham Bedersi
Nissim of Gerona
Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon
Isaac Nathan ben Kalonymus
Judah Messer Leon
David ben Judah Messer Leon
Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno
Judah Moscato
Azariah dei Rossi
Isaac Aboab I
Isaac Campanton a/k/a "the gaon of Castile."
Isaac ben Moses Arama
Profiat Duran a Converso, Duran wrote Be Not
Like Your Fathers
== Renaissance Jewish philosophy and philosophers
==
Some of the Monarchies of Asia Minor and European
welcomed expelled Jewish Merchants, scholars
and theologians.
Divergent Jewish philosophies evolved against
the backdrop of new cultures, new languages
and renewed theological exchange.
Philosophic exploration continued through
the Renaissance period as the center-of-mass
of Jewish Scholarship shifted to France, Germany,
Italy, and Turkey.
=== Elias ben Moise del Medigo ===
Elia del Medigo was a descendant of Judah
ben Eliezer ha-Levi Minz and Moses ben Isaac
ha-Levi Minz.
Eli'ezer del Medigo, of Rome, received the
surname "Del Medigo" after studying Medicine.
The name was later changed from Del Medigo
to Ha-rofeh.
He was the father and teacher of a long line
of rationalist philosophers and scholars.
Non-Jewish students of Delmedigo classified
him as an "Averroist", however, he saw himself
as a follower of Maimonides.
Scholastic association of Maimonides and Ibn
Rushd would have been a natural one; Maimonides,
towards the end of his life, was impressed
with the Ibn Rushd commentaries and recommended
them to his students.
The followers of Maimonides (Maimonideans)
had therefore been, for several generations
before Delmedigo, the leading users, translators
and disseminators of the works of Ibn Rushd
in Jewish circles, and advocates for Ibn Rushd
even after Islamic rejection of his radical
views.
Maimonideans regarded Maimonides and Ibn Rushd
as following the same general line.
In his book, Delmedigo portrays himself as
defender of Maimonidean Judaism, and — like
many Maimonideans — he emphasized the rationality
of Jewish tradition.
=== Moses Almosnino ===
Moses Almosnino was born Thessaloniki 1515
- died Constantinople abt 1580.
He was a student of Levi Ibn Habib, who was
in turn a student of Jacob ibn Habib, who
was, in turn, a student of Nissim ben Reuben.
In 1570 he wrote a commentary on the Pentateuch
titled "Yede Mosheh" (The Hands of Moses);
also an exposition of the Talmudical treatise
"Abot" (Ethics of the Fathers), published
in Salonica in 1563; and a collection of sermons
delivered upon various occasions, particularly
funeral orations, entitled "Meammeẓ Koaḥ"
(Re-enforcing Strength).
al-Ghazâlî's Intentions of the Philosophers
(De'ôt ha-Fîlôsôfîm or Kavvanôt ha-Fîlôsôfîm)
was one of the most widespread philosophical
texts studied among Jews in Europe having
been translated in 1292 by Isaac Albalag.
Later Hebrew commentators include Moses Narboni,
and Moses Almosnino.
=== Moses ben Jehiel Ha-Kohen Porto-Rafa (Rapaport)
===
Moses ben Jehiel Ha-Kohen Porto-Rafa (Rapaport),
was a member of the German family "Rafa" (from
whom the Delmedigo family originates) that
settled in the town of Porto in the vicinity
of Verona, Italy, and became the progenitors
of the renowned Rapaport Rabbinic family.
In 1602 Moses served as rabbi of Badia Polesine
in Piedmont.
Moses was a friend of Leon Modena.
=== Abraham ben Judah ha-Levi Minz ===
Abraham ben Judah ha-Levi Minz was an Italian
rabbi who flourished at Padua in the first
half of the 16th century, father-in-law of
Meïr Katzenellenbogen.
Minz studied chiefly under his father, Judah
Minz, whom he succeeded as rabbi and head
of the yeshiva of Padua.
=== Meir ben Isaac Katzellenbogen ===
Meir ben Isaac Katzellenbogen was born in
Prague where together with Shalom Shachna
he studied under Jacob Pollak.
Many rabbis, including Moses Isserles, addressed
him in their responsa as the "av bet din of
the republic of Venice."
The great scholars of the Renaissance with
whom he corresponded include Shmuel ben Moshe
di Modena, Joseph Katz, Solomon Luria, Moses
Isserles, Obadiah Sforno, and Moses Alashkar.
=== Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm ===
Rabbi Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm was a student
of Rabbi Solomon Luria who was, in turn a
student of Rabbi Shalom Shachna - father-in-law
and teacher of Moses Isserles.
Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm was also a cousin
of Moses Isserles.
=== Eliezer ben Elijah Ashkenazi ===
Rabbi Eliezer ben Elijah Ashkenazi Ha-rofeh
Ashkenazi of Nicosia ("the physician") the
author of Yosif Lekah on the Book of Esther.
=== Other notable Renaissance Jewish philosophers
===
Francisco Sanches
Miguel de Barrios
Uriel da Costa
== Seventeenth-century Jewish philosophy ==
With expulsion from Spain came the dissemination
of Jewish philosophical investigation throughout
the Mediterranean Basin, Northern Europe and
the Western Hemisphere.
The center-of-mass of Rationalism shifted
to France, Italy, Germany, Crete, Sicily and
Netherlands.
Expulsion from Spain and the coordinated pogroms
of Europe resulted in the cross-pollination
of variations on Rationalism incubated within
diverse communities.
This period is also marked by the intellectual
exchange among leaders of the Christian Reformation
and Jewish scholars.
Of particular note is the line of Rationalists
who migrated out of Germany, and present-day
Italy into Crete, and other areas of the Ottoman
Empire seeking safety and protection from
the endless pogroms fomented by the House
of Habsburg and the Roman Catholic Church
against Jews.
Rationalism was incubating in places far from
Spain.
From stories told by Rabbi Elijah Ba'al Shem
of Chelm, German-speaking Jews, descendants
of Jews who migrated back to Jerusalem after
Charlemagne's invitation was revoked in Germany
many centuries earlier, who lived in Jerusalem
during the 11th century, were influenced by
prevailing Mutazilite scholars of Jerusalem.
A German-speaking Palestinian Jew saved the
life of a young German man surnamed "Dolberger".
When the knights of the First Crusade came
to besiege Jerusalem, one of Dolberger's family
members rescued German-speaking Jews in Palestine
and brought them back to the safety of Worms,
Germany, to repay the favor.
Further evidence of German communities in
the holy city comes in the form of halakic
questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during
the second half of the eleventh century.All
of the foregoing resulted in an explosion
of new ideas and philosophic paths.
=== Yosef Shlomo ben Eliyahu Dal Medigo ===
Joseph Solomon Delmedigo was a physician and
teacher – Baruch Spinoza was a student of
his works.
=== Baruch Spinoza ===
Baruch Spinoza founded Spinozism, broke with
Rabbinic Jewish tradition, and was placed
in herem by the Beit Din of Amsterdam.
The influence in his work from Maimonides
and Leone Ebreo is evident.
Elia del Medigo claims to be a student of
the works of Spinoza.
Some contemporary critics (e.g., Wachter,
Der Spinozismus im Judenthum) claimed to detect
the influence of the Kabbalah, while others
(e.g., Leibniz) regarded Spinozism as a revival
of Averroism – a talmudist manner of referencing
to Maimonidean Rationalism.
In the centuries that have lapsed since the
herem declaration, scholars have re-examined
the works of Spinoza and find them to reflect
a body of work and thinking that is not unlike
some contemporary streams of Judaism.
For instance, while Spinoza was accused of
pantheism, scholars have come to view his
work as advocating panentheism, a valid contemporary
view easily accommodated by contemporary Judaism.
=== Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi ===
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi was
a student of his father, but most notably
also a student of his grandfather Rabbi Elijah
Ba'al Shem of Chelm.
=== Jacob Emden ===
Rabbi Jacob Emden was a student of his father
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi a Rabbi
in Amsterdam.
Emden, a steadfast Talmudist, was a prominent
opponent of the Sabbateans (Messianic Kabbalists
who followed Sabbatai Tzvi).
Though anti-Maimonidean, Emden should be noted
for his critical examination of the Zohar
concluding that large parts of it were forged.
=== Other seventeenth-century Jewish philosophers
===
Jacob Abendana Sephardic Rabbi and Philosopher
Isaac Cardoso
David Nieto Sephardic Rabbi and Philosopher
Isaac Orobio de Castro Sephardic Rabbi and
Philosopher
=== Philosophical criticisms of Kabbalah ===
Rabbi Leone di Modena wrote that if we were
to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian
trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism,
as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic
doctrine of the Sefirot.
== Eighteenth and nineteenth-century Jewish
philosophy ==
A new era began in the 18th century with the
thought of Moses Mendelssohn.
Mendelssohn has been described as the "'third
Moses,' with whom begins a new era in Judaism,"
just as new eras began with Moses the prophet
and with Moses Maimonides.
Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher
to whose ideas the renaissance of European
Jews, Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment)
is indebted.
He has been referred to as the father of Reform
Judaism, though Reform spokesmen have been
"resistant to claim him as their spiritual
father".
Mendelssohn came to be regarded as a leading
cultural figure of his time by both Germans
and Jews.
His most significant book was Jerusalem oder
über religiöse Macht und Judentum (Jerusalem),
first published in 1783.
Alongside Mendelssohn, other important Jewish
philosophers of the eighteenth century included:
Menachem Mendel Lefin, anti-Hasidic Haskalah
philosopher
Salomon Maimon, Enlightenment philosopher
Isaac Satanow, a Haskalah philosopher
Naphtali Ullman, Haskalah philosopherImportant
Jewish philosophers of the nineteenth century
included:
Elijah Benamozegh, a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher
Hermann Cohen, a neo-Kantian Jewish philosopher
Moses Hess, a secular Jewish philosopher and
one of the founders of socialism
Samson Raphael Hirsch, leader of the Torah
im Derech Eretz school of 19th century neo-Orthodoxy
Samuel Hirsch, a leader of Reform Judaism
Nachman Krochmal, Haskalah philosopher in
Galicia
Samuel David Luzzatto a Sephardic rabbi and
philosopher
Karl Marx, German economist and Jewish philosopher.
=== Traditionalist attitudes towards philosophy
===
Haredi traditionalists who emerged in reaction
to the Haskalah considered the fusion of religion
and philosophy as difficult because classical
philosophers start with no preconditions for
which conclusions they must reach in their
investigation, while classical religious believers
have a set of religious principles of faith
that they hold one must believe.
Most Haredim contended that one cannot simultaneously
be a philosopher and a true adherent of a
revealed religion.
In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately
fail.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, for example, viewed
all philosophy as untrue and heretical.
In this he represents one strand of Hasidic
thought, with creative emphasis on the emotions.
Other exponents of Hasidism had a more positive
attitude towards philosophy.
In the Chabad writings of Schneur Zalman of
Liadi, Hasidut is seen as able to unite all
parts of Torah thought, from the schools of
philosophy to mysticism, by uncovering the
illuminating Divine essence that permeates
and transcends all approaches.
Interpreting the verse from Job, "from my
flesh I see HaShem", Shneur Zalman explained
the inner meaning, or "soul", of the Jewish
mystical tradition in intellectual form, by
means of analogies drawn from the human realm.
As explained and continued by the later leaders
of Chabad, this enabled the human mind to
grasp concepts of Godliness, and so enable
the heart to feel the love and awe of God,
emphasised by all the founders of hasidism,
in an internal way.
This development, the culminating level of
the Jewish mystical tradition, in this way
bridges philosophy and mysticism, by expressing
the transcendent in human terms.
== 20th and 21st-century Jewish philosophy
==
=== 
Jewish existentialism ===
One of the major trends in modern Jewish philosophy
was the attempt to develop a theory of Judaism
through existentialism.
Among the early Jewish existentialist philosophers
was Lev Shestov (Jehuda Leib Schwarzmann),
a Russian-Jewish philosopher.
One of the most influential Jewish existentialists
in the first half of the 20th century was
Franz Rosenzweig.
While researching his doctoral dissertation
on the 19th-century German philosopher Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Rosenzweig reacted
against Hegel's idealism and developed an
existential approach.
Rosenzweig, for a time, considered conversion
to Christianity, but in 1913, he turned to
Jewish philosophy.
He became a philosopher and student of Hermann
Cohen.
Rozensweig's major work, Star of Redemption,
is his new philosophy in which he portrays
the relationships between haShem, humanity
and world as they are connected by creation,
revelation and redemption.
Orthodox rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and Conservative
rabbis Neil Gillman and Elliot N. Dorff have
also been described as existentialists.
The French philosopher and Talmudic commentator
Emmanuel Levinas, whose approach grew out
of the phenomenological tradition in philosophy,
has also been described as a Jewish existentialist.
=== Jewish rationalism ===
Rationalism has re-emerged as a popular perspective
among Jews.
Contemporary Jewish rationalism often draws
on ideas associated with medieval philosophers
such as Maimonides and modern Jewish rationalists
such as Hermann Cohen.
Cohen was a German Jewish neo-Kantian philosopher
who turned to Jewish subjects at the end of
his career in the early 20th century, picking
up on ideas of Maimonides.
In America, Steven Schwarzschild continued
Cohen's legacy.
Another prominent contemporary Jewish rationalist
is Lenn Goodman, who works out of the traditions
of medieval Jewish rationalist philosophy.
Conservative rabbis Alan Mittleman of the
Jewish Theological Seminary and Elliot N.
Dorff of American Jewish University also see
themselves in the rationalist tradition, as
does David Novak of the University of Toronto.
Novak works in the natural law tradition,
which is one version of rationalism.
Philosophers in modern-day Israel in the rationalist
tradition include David Hartman and Moshe
Halbertal.
Some Orthodox rationalists in Israel take
a "restorationist" approach, reaching back
in time for tools to simplify Rabbinic Judaism
and bring all Jews, regardless of status or
stream of Judaism, closer to observance of
Halacha, Mitzvot, Kashrut and embrace of Maimonides'
"13 Principles of Faith".
Dor Daim, and Rambamists are two groups who
reject mysticism as a "superstitious innovation"
to an otherwise clear and succinct set of
Laws and rules.
According to these rationalists, there is
shame and disgrace attached to failure to
investigate matters of religious principle
using the fullest powers of human reason and
intellect.
One cannot be considered wise, or perceptive,
if one does not attempt to understand the
origins, and establish the correctness, of
one's beliefs.
=== Holocaust theology ===
Judaism has traditionally taught that God
is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.
Yet, these claims are in jarring contrast
with the fact that there is much evil in the
world.
Perhaps the most difficult question that monotheists
have confronted is "how can one reconcile
the existence of this view of God with the
existence of evil?" or "how can there be good
without bad?"
"how can there be a God without a devil?"
This is the problem of evil.
Within all monotheistic faiths many answers
(theodicies) have been proposed.
However, in light of the magnitude of evil
seen in the Holocaust, many people have re-examined
classical views on this subject.
How can people still have any kind of faith
after the Holocaust?
This set of Jewish philosophies is discussed
in the article on Holocaust theology.
=== Reconstructionist theology ===
Perhaps the most controversial form of Jewish
philosophy that developed in the early 20th
century was the religious naturalism of Rabbi
Mordecai Kaplan.
His theology was a variant of John Dewey's
pragmatist philosophy.
Dewey's naturalism combined atheist beliefs
with religious terminology in order to construct
a philosophy for those who had lost faith
in traditional Judaism.
In agreement with the classical medieval Jewish
thinkers, Kaplan affirmed that haShem is not
personal, and that all anthropomorphic descriptions
of haShem are, at best, imperfect metaphors.
Kaplan's theology went beyond this to claim
that haShem is the sum of all natural processes
that allow man to become self-fulfilled.
Kaplan wrote that "to believe in haShem means
to take for granted that it is man's destiny
to rise above the brute and to eliminate all
forms of violence and exploitation from human
society."
=== 
Process theology ===
A recent trend has been to reframe Jewish
theology through the lens of process philosophy,
more specifically process theology.
Process philosophy suggests that fundamental
elements of the universe are occasions of
experience.
According to this notion, what people commonly
think of as concrete objects are actually
successions of these occasions of experience.
Occasions of experience can be collected into
groupings; something complex such as a human
being is thus a grouping of many smaller occasions
of experience.
In this view, everything in the universe is
characterized by experience (not to be confused
with consciousness); there is no mind-body
duality under this system, because "mind"
is simply seen as a very developed kind of
experiencing entity.
Intrinsic to this worldview is the notion
that all experiences are influenced by prior
experiences, and will influence all future
experiences.
This process of influencing is never deterministic;
an occasion of experience consists of a process
of comprehending other experiences, and then
reacting to it.
This is the "process" in "process philosophy".
Process philosophy gives God a special place
in the universe of occasions of experience.
God encompasses all the other occasions of
experience but also transcends them; thus
process philosophy is a form of panentheism.
The original ideas of process theology were
developed by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000),
and influenced a number of Jewish theologians,
including British philosopher Samuel Alexander
(1859–1938), and Rabbis Max Kadushin, Milton
Steinberg and Levi A. Olan, Harry Slominsky,
and Bradley Shavit Artson.
Abraham Joshua Heschel has also been linked
to this tradition.
=== Kabbalah and philosophy ===
Kabbalah continued to be central to Haredi
Orthodox Judaism, which generally rejected
philosophy, although the Chabad strain of
Chasidism showed a more positive attitude
towards philosophy.
Meanwhile, non-Orthodox Jewish thought in
the latter 20th century saw resurgent interest
in Kabbalah.
In academic studies, Gershom Scholem began
the critical investigation of Jewish mysticism,
while in non-Orthodox Jewish denominations,
Jewish Renewal and Neo-Hasidism, spiritualised
worship.
Many philosophers do not consider this a form
of philosophy, as Kabbalah is a collection
of esoteric methods of textual interpretation.
Mysticism is generally understood as an alternative
to philosophy, not a variant of philosophy.
Among modern the modern critics of Kabbalah
was Yihhyah Qafahh, who wrote a book entitled
Milhamoth ha-Shem, (Wars of the Name) against
what he perceived as the false teachings of
the Zohar and the false Kabbalah of Isaac
Luria.
He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz publicly shared the views
expressed in Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth
ha-Shem and elaborated upon these views in
his many writings.
=== Contemporary Jewish philosophy ===
==== 
Philosophers associated with Orthodox Judaism
====
Eliezer Berkovits
Monsieur Chouchani
Eliyahu Dessler
Israel Eldad
Elimelech of Lizhensk
David Hartman
Samson Raphael Hirsch
Abraham Isaac Kook
Yeshayahu Leibowitz
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Nachman of Breslov
Franz Rosenzweig
Tamar Ross
Daniel Rynhold
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Joseph Soloveitchik
Michael Wyschogrod
Chaim Volozhin
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
==== Philosophers associated with Conservative
Judaism ====
Bradley Shavit Artson
Elliot N. Dorff
Neil Gillman
Abraham Joshua Heschel
William E. Kaufman
Max Kadushin
Alan Mittleman
David Novak
Ira F. Stone
==== Philosophers associated with Reform and
Progressive Judaism ====
Rachel Adler (American rabbi, author and Feminist
philosopher)
Leo Baeck (leader in German Liberal Judaism)
Eugene Borowitz (leader in American Reform
Judaism)
Emil Fackenheim (German-Canadian-Israeli philosopher)
Avigdor Chaim Gold (German-Israeli philosopher)
==== Jewish philosophers whose philosophy
is not necessarily focused on Jewish themes
====
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
there have also been many philosophers who
are Jewish or of Jewish descent, and whose
Jewish background might influence their approach
to some degree, but whose writing is not necessarily
focused on issues specific to Judaism.
These include:
Theodor W. Adorno
Joseph Agassi, an Israeli philosopher of science
who developed Karl Popper's ideas
Hannah Arendt
Raymond Aron
Zygmunt Bauman
Walter Benjamin
Henri Bergson
Ernst Bloch
Harold Bloom
Susan Bordo
Judith Butler
Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, philosopher,
cognitive scientist, and political activist
Hélène Cixous
Arthur Danto
Jacques Derrida
Hubert Dreyfus
Ronald Dworkin, an American philosopher of
law
Yehuda Elkana, an Israeli philosopher of science
Bracha L. Ettinger
Viktor Frankl
Sigmund Freud
Erich Fromm
Tamar Gendler
Emma Goldman
Lewis Gordon
Jack Halberstam
Ágnes Heller
Max Horkheimer
Edmund Husserl
Alberto Jori, an Italian-Jewish philosopher
Melanie Klein
Sarah Kofman
Siegfried Kracauer
Saul Kripke, a metaphysician and modal logician
Franz Leopold Neumann
Emmanuel Levinas
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Benny Lévy
Leo Löwenthal
Rosa Luxemburg
György Lukács
Herbert Marcuse
Karl Marx
Thomas Nagel, a Serbia-born Jewish philosopher
Martha Nussbaum, an American moral and political
philosopher
Adi Ophir, an Israeli philosopher of science
and moral philosopher
Friedrich Pollock
Karl Popper
Moishe Postone
Hilary Putnam, an American analytic philosopher
Ayn Rand, a Russian-American Jewish philosopher
who focused upon Aristotle's reason
Avital Ronell
Murray Rothbard
Michael J. Sandel
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, an American Queer theorist
Peter Singer, a utilitarian philosopher
Kaja Silverman
Alan Soble, writes in philosophy of sex, American-born,
Romanian-Russian ethnicity
Susan Sontag
Sandy Stone theorist, artist and a founder
of transgender studies
Leo Strauss
Alfred Tarski - Polish logician
Michael Walzer
Immanuel Wallerstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Irvin D. Yalom
== See also ==
Jewish denominations
Jewish ethics
Jewish existentialism
Jewish thought
Jewish mythology
Jewish folklore
Jewish literature
Jewish feminism
Jewish history
Jewish principles of faith
Judaism and politics
== 
References ==
== Further reading ==
Online
(in Hebrew) Material by topic, daat.ac.il
(in Hebrew) and (in English) Primary Sources,
Ben Gurion University
(in English) Online materials, Halacha Brura
Institute
(in Hebrew) From the Israeli high-school syllabus,
education.gov.il
(in English) Articles on Jewish Philosophy-Haim
Lifshitz and Isaac Lifshitz
(in English) Free will in Jewish PhilosophyPrint
Sources
Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman (eds.),
History of Jewish Philosophy.
London: Routledge, 1997.
ISBN 0-415-08064-9
Colette Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy
in the Middle Ages.
Cambridge University Press, 1990.
ISBN 0-521-39727-8
== External links ==
Adventures in Philosophy - Jewish Philosophy
Index (radicalacademy.com)
Jewish Philosophy, The Dictionary of Philosophy
(Dagobert D. Runes)
Rabbi Haim Lifshitz-articles review Jewish
Philosophy
Rabbi Marc Angel's Project reflecting a fusion
of Modern Orthodoxy and Sephardic Judaism
Jewish thought and spirituality - articles
and Shiurim in the Yeshiva site
Joseph Isaac Lifshitz, "Towards a Modern Idea
of Charity", Conversations On Philanthropy
