Abraham Ben David Posquieres
Abraham ben David Posquieres, better known in Judaism as Rabad III (R stands for abbenou A braham D avid b), was a rabbi, philosopher and Kabbalist Provencal twelfth century , born in Narbonne in 1120 , died at Posquieres (France ) in 1197.
Summary |
Biography
Talmudic and halakhic, he studied under the tutelage of Rabbanim Moshe ben Yosef Ha-Levi , Yaakov ben Mechoulam of Lunel and Rabad II who became his stepfather and lavished him with a mystical teachings. It will follow their first line of thought, before depart, with maturity, and writing his own comments on Mishnaic and Talmudic treaties, which were so bright that some placed their author on the same footing of prominent commentators like Rashi and the Rif.
It is also famous for its objections (Hassagot) on halakhic positions and articles of faith of Maimonides. His goal was not, however, affect the man or his work or to expose his personal opinions on the subject, but to show a contrary opinion to that of Maimonides remained possible, and that the spirit criticism of the student to continue to exist despite the scale of the Master, called the Eagle of the Synagogue could stop here his thinking.
He also writes halakhic treaties, including:
- Torat Ha-Bayit on dietary laws
- Tamim Deim on all practical aspects and Religious Affairs
- Tshouvot ouPsaqim LaRabad, decisions and responsibility
- Drashah LeRosh HaShana, halakhic writings on the holiday Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
He quickly became a leading rabbinical Lunel , and runs a yeshiva in Posquieres , which soon became the largest of Provence.
Among his disciples are Ytzhaq Rav Ha-Kohen of Narbonne, Rabbi Avraham HaYar'hi, Rabbi Meir of Carcassonne and R 'Asher of Lunel. He also teaches Kabbalah to his son Yitzhak Sagi Naor.
Her wealth was coveted, and in 1172, Elzear Posquieres the Lord gets his arrest and imprisonment, fortunately broken by Roger II, Viscount of Carcassonne , which is banned from Carcassonne Posquieres the Lord.
Towards the end of his life he wrote Baalei Ha-Nefesh, the laws of family purity, and building a Mikvah.
Abraham ben David and Maimonides
Contemporary of Maimonides, Abraham ben David was one of his fiercest opponents, but make no mistake about it: its aim is not to deconstruct the master's work, but simply to show students dazzled both the historical stature of the Eagle of the Synagogue by his work, that the word of our Master Moses is not that of Moses our Teacher , that alternative views can and must exist.
If this opposition occurs naturally in the Code of Maimonides , the Rabad is even more opposed to the construction of a system of law principles (which could too easily become dogma, sacred and frozen), particularly following the method recommended by Maimonides. Indeed, it has a tendency to spend too pronounced concepts Aristotelians for Jewish theology.
For example, Maimonides, according to his philosophical convictions, and in total agreement with what professes Judaism, said that incorporalit of God is a principle of faith of Judaism, or as he puts it, "anyone who understands that God is a corporeal being is an apostate "( Yad ha-hazaqah , Teshuvah, iii. 7).
Rabadi, which some mystical anthropomorphic conception of God is not foreign, can only react to this statement. He then annotates the formula for a critical short but emphatic: "Why does he call such people apostates? Men better and more valid than he professed this opinion, why they think they have found confirmation in the Scriptures and in a confused interpretation of the Haggadah. " This last sentence suggests any mistrust has the Rabad himself for this anthropomorphic vision. He just wants to hear that this view of Maimonides, it is all laudable, is not to erect into a dogma, as for Abraham ben David, Judaism is a religion based on facts, not dogma. This same weighting found in these other critics: Although Maimonides' views on the eternity of the world and the future life as it considers heretics divine corporeality that seemed heretical at Maimonides, he merely states its difference of opinion without attacking the author (op. cit.. viii 2, 8).
However, Abraham ben David is less when measured to denounce the trend of Maimonides to spend his own philosophical ideas in the guise of Talmudic passages.
Ex: witchcraft is, in both the rabbinic literature and in the Tanakh , in certain circumstances, an offense punishable by death. As for determining what acts fall under these conditions, the Talmud views vary widely on this subject, some of its Wise does not always escape to some superstitious practices, while others will break up completely. For the philosopher Maimonides, witchcraft , astrology , omens are all nonsense, pure and simple. He believes that even the actions of Eliezer (Genesis 24:14) and Jonathan (I Sam 14:8-10) reported in the Scriptures are to be regarded as falling within these categories.
Here Rabad not only to correct the statement of Maimonides, he expressly states that from his point of view, Maimonides deserves to be cut off from his people for slander expressed about these biblical characters ( Yad. 'Akum , 11:4).
This example suffices to explain the guiding principle of the attitude of Abraham ben David to the Yad ha'Hazaka, he also felt himself a great work (Kilayim, 4:2).
In addition, Abraham ben David Posquieres, a natural and brought to the pious ascetic, was one of the fathers of the modern form of Kabbalah. He often recounted the visits of "the Holy Spirit (from Elijah ) granting him the secrets of God during his studies "(see his comments to" Yad ha'Hazakah "Lulav, 8:5; Bet ha-Be 'hira, 8:11), great mysteries known only to insiders ("Yesodei haTorah," 1:10).
Abraham ben David Posquieres was however not the enemy of science. We find in his writings a strong imprint of studies of philology Hebrew , and he encouraged the translation and dissemination of Duties of the Heart of Bahya ibn Paquda , structure-oriented frankly Neoplatonic philosophy, which, like Maimonides , roundly condemned the anthropomorphic conception of Deity (which proves once again that it does not suit itself);
Furthermore, his comment to the last note of the fifth chapter of "Hilkhot Teshouvah," is a literal quotation of the "ha-Musri Philosophim," by Isaac ben Honein (pp. 11, or 12-Loewenthal, p. 39, which does gives the translation of Al-Gharizi.
Abraham ben David and Posquieres
Abraham ben David Posquieres has taught and performed his work Posquieres today Vauvert , a village in the department of Gard located between Nimes and the sea has had close and continuing contact with Talmudists Lunel as with those of cities of the "Provence" and the Catalan Jews of his time. It is therefore wrong to appoint as Posquieres Lunel and further as Nimes. Founded in the ninth century by the dynasty Rostain vassals of the counts of Toulouse, Posquieres housed a Jewish community estimated at 40 household heads (200 to 300 individuals) by Benjamin of Tudela during his trip in 1165. References
Bibliography
- Emile Guigou, "A city in the land of Oc. In Posquieres in Vauvert", involved Publishing, 1995, 310p.
- Isadore Twersky, "Rabad of Posquieres. A twelfth-century Talmudic scholar." Cambridge Press. USA. 1962.
- Dominique Raynaud, "The name Posquieres. A case of hybridization sociolinguistic", in Bulletin of the Historical Society Vauvert-Posquieres, No. 4, Winter 1998, p.5-40. ISSN 1273-6805.Disponible online at the following address halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr
- Guigou and Teulade Emile Alain, "The Jewish community in the twelfth century according Posquieres Gallia Judaica," in Bulletin of the Historical Society Vauvert-Posquieres, No. 4, Winter 1998, p.41-50.
- John Cabot, "Posquieres Languedoc and the Jewish world of the Middle Ages. Kabala and controversy," 1994. Publication of the Historical Society Vauvert-Posquieres, BP 65 30600 Vauvert.
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