Joseph Albo
Joseph Albo was a rabbi and theologian Spanish of the fifteenth century , best known for writing the the Book of Principles (the Jewish faith). This is a work of controversy, defending Judaism against both the Christianity that the criticism against philosophy.
It is generally Monreal, in Aragon , for the town where he was born and lived. Astruc, in its relation to the disputation of Tortosa, which was held in 1413-14, says Joseph Albo as one of the participants, stating that he represented the congregation of Monreal (according to other versions, Daroca). However, the report does not mention the Latin community.
His biographical references are also a source of uncertainty: Graetz qu'Albo did not think more than 30 years in this disputation, and therefore considers the year of his birth in 1380 at the latest. The year of his death is situated between 1430 and 1444. One source describes it nevertheless doing a sermon in Soria in 1433.
Albo making extensive use of medical illustrations in his speeches, we can assume he practiced medicine. He was also versed in the writings of the Muslim Aristotelians. His master was Crescas Hasdai , the author of Or Hashem.
Summary |
Sefer haIkkarim
The composition of this structure over several periods. The first part, published as a book independent, contains the essence of the thought of Albo. This is in response to criticism that rained down on him at the publication he felt compelled to add more In the preface to the second part, he takes the criticism: "Those who would criticize a book should, above all, know the method used by its author, and judge all the passages relating to a subject as a whole. " He criticizes what he perceives as being impudent and imprudent procedure judgments that were held on an author without having in mind these basic principles of criticism.
Among all the accusations, it should be noted that plagiarism of ideas Hasdai Crescas Joseph Albo allegedly appropriated without quoting. Nevertheless, a review of relevant text invalidates this assertion: Hasdai Crescas having been his master, a certain community of thought is inevitable, provided they do not exceed certain limits, including Joseph Albo does it is not even approached.
Philosophy of work
Maimonides had set forth 13 articles of the Jewish faith who determined who was Israel who was an apostate. These principles were, a century after the death of Maimonides, verse and included in the liturgy. They are sung to this day.
Why Does Albo thought it useful to criticize them and reduce them to three?
- Belief in the existence of God;
- Belief in revelation;
- Belief in divine justice.
Is that the wording of other articles (as these) had caused controversy, which influenced both their selection as specific items to accentuate the way they are presented: in the spirit of Joseph Albo, this selection had to be made in order to correct those items of Maimonides that seemed to support them despite the claims of the Christian dogmatists and polemicists.
The statement of the 13 articles of Maimonides does not departed itself a polemic against the will of certain allegations Christian or Muslim: his emphasis on God's absolute incorporeality is better understood if we reads like the opposite of the Christian doctrine of the incarnation. It's the same for his messianic conception and its emphasis on consistency to have faith in its future realization.
Nevertheless, this very subject, the "doctrine of messianism," fanned the anxiety of Jews forced to publicly measure the champions of the Church, and their convictions, especially when those champions were Jewish apostates or renegades, such as Archbishop Paul of Santa Maria, former Solomon Levi, or Geronimo de Santa Fe, ex-Joshua Lorki. This was, again, the champion of the Jews in many disputes! This means he made use of this dogma Maimonides messianism! However, if the issue of corporeality of the Messiah was never one of the major points of contention before Maimonides, a half-century after his death, his messianic doctrine has been accepted as one of the main articles of faith Judaism, it was this point which was the most frequently discussed during the disputations.
Albo had participated in the Tortosa. He knew that this discomfort could polemic defenders of Judaism. That's why he did not hesitate to eliminate the messianic doctrine of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism. Not that there believed not himself, but this doctrine was much easier to defend as a corollary of divine justice.
Senior Ikkar means Hebrew. The book's title immediately reveals his mind and his method. Its guiding principle is that "human happiness is conditioned by the knowledge and conduct." However, "the human intellect can not attain perfection in knowledge and ethical conduct, because his power is finite and quickly depleted in the contemplation of things in which he finds the truth and therefore it must necessarily , to be something beyond the human intellect, something by which knowledge and conduct can reach a level of excellence that allows no doubt. "
In other words, the inadequacy of the human intellect posits the need for divine guidance, so it is everyone's duty to know the law given by God. However, knowledge is only possible if one has established the true principles without which there can be a divine law.
Noting that on this point, however capital are such large discrepancies, inconsistencies and confusion, Albo decided to erect a structure for the true religion
Basic principles (Ikkarim)
Any revealed religion, "said Albo, recognizes three fundamental principles.
- However, the identity of these three principles, that is to say that they are identical in the revealed religions, could he not bring the followers of each religion to affirm the truth of his religion alone?
No, he replied: these three principles may be similar in their indispensability to establish religions claiming revealed, but this is only true religion, which properly includes these three principles. How can I ensure this understanding? by showing from the three foundations that other truths and inferences derived logically. Unless you accept these inferences, a religion claiming to be proved can be considered as such.
On Judaism , "said Albo, based not only on the three fundamental principles but also accepts it and corollaries derived. Therefore, Judaism is the true revealed religion. In reaching this conclusion, Albo has also achieved the purpose for which it has conducted this investigation.
Terminology
Albo introduced original terminology, probably its composition. Faith is a tree, three Ikkarim (Principles) are the roots. Therefore, the eight necessary truths derived (without the recognition and enforcement of which a religion can not prove his character revealed) are shorashim, secondary roots. Both Ikkarim shorashim that are indispensable for the subsistence of the trunk of the tree. Twigs however, does not belong to this category.
Jewish religious customs, of which there are many, as in all religions, are part of the tree, they attest to its vibrancy and its diversity, but they could be detached from the tree or off without the trunk is affected.
The three Ikkarim being the same in all religions, the author sometimes called Ikkarim kolelim (principles, or roots, universal (the) s).
The eight are sometimes called shorashim Ikkarim perayim, but this terminology is inconsistent throughout the book.
Flexibility religious
Although he finds fault with his predecessors, including his master, the author himself finds it hard to escape accusations of heresy. It attaches in fact responsible for establishing the boundaries where skepticism can no longer occur within Judaism without the risk of abandoning orthodoxy. His criterion for distinguishing the apostate (kofer) of believing in error (to') is that the former, unlike the second, voluntarily surrenders doubt the truth of the Torah.
This allows a remarkable freedom of interpretation, to the point that relying on theories of Joseph Albo, it would be difficult to call into question the orthodoxy of the more liberal Reform Jews. For example, Joseph Albo rejects the assertion that belief in creatio ex nihilo is fundamental, as stated Nahmanides. He also attacked and Hasdai Crescas Maimonides, saying that neither adheres to its fundamental criterion, the absolute indispensability of a principle without which the body could not survive. And under that, he dismisses the bulk of their creed.
Basic principles and truths derived
Ikkar first, the belief in the existence of God, Rav draws four shorashim:
- Unity of God
- His incorporalit
- Its independence of time
- Perfection: It is no weakness or defect.
Ikkar the second, the belief in revelation, that is to say the communication of divine instructions from God to man, from 3 shorashim:
- the prophets Hebrews are the mediums of divine revelation
- Moses was unique in size among the prophets
- the strength of the Mosaic law, which can not be changed until another shall be publicly disclosed and proclaimed in front of six hundred thousand men (who may attest to his divine nature). No prophet later can repeal this Act accordingly.
Finally, the third Ikkar, belief in divine justice, derives a Shoresh: the belief in bodily resurrection.
According to Joseph Albo, the belief in the Messiah is not an essential belief, and therefore not part of Judaism. Similarly, although each prescription has the power to confer happiness by its observance, it is not true that every law must be observed, nor a Jew is liable to a breach of the Alliance or damnation neglecting, in whole or in part, one of them.
Publication of Ikkarim
The first edition appeared in Ikkarim Soncino in 1485, another edition was held in Freiburg in 1584, and was accompanied by a commentary entitled "Ohel Ya'akov", written by Jacob ben Samuel Koppelman ben Bounam of Brzesc. Another edition, with commentary Gedaliah ben Solomon Lipschitz, was born in Venice in 1618.
Subsequent editions saw their criticism of the Christian creed (Book III, Chapter 25 and 26) censored, and Gilbert Gnbrard wrote a refutation of the book with interesting comments. This refutation was published with his own comment by the Jew named Claudius May in Paris in 1566.
The Ikkarim have also been translated into German by Dr. W. Schlesinger, rabbi of Sulzbach, with an introduction by his brother, L. Schlesinger. The book was published in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1844.
References
External Links
- Joseph Albo - (c. 1380-1445) , in the article "Adventures in Philosophy" (in English )
- Full text of Ikkarim (in Hebrew ), daat.ac.il
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