🌅 Centuries before the practices of modern history emerged, R. Avraham Ibn Daud, a devout Aristotelian rabbinic Jew, wrote us one of the most important records we possess of medieval Jewish history.
It's not so hard to do that; anyone who declares that they've read and care about Ibn's Daud's book The Exalted Faith will do the same. (But unfortunately there aren't many of us out there.) And I don't even need to completely identify with your approach to Ibn Daud: I come from a slightly more traditionalist approach that looks at his historical book, Sefer Hakabala, less critically.
And great background about Zichron Divrei Romi, and why The Exalted Faith was translated when it was. Never knew that.
I want to add to this conversation the critical contribution of The Exalted Faith to Jewish thought.
The Rambam (Maimonides) wrote prolifically about the fundamentals and philosophy of Jewish thought in two styles: 1. In his Commentary and Code he used plain language meant for the wider public, with deeper nuances that advanced scholars can read "between the lines". 2. In his Guide he assumes that his audience knows all of Torah thought and law, is proficient in Aristotelian philosophy, and got confused between the two, and his solution lies in contemplating some of mankind's deepest and most subtle concepts. Throughout the Guide he warns repeatedly that he is not writing for a general audience.
So there's a gap in his writings: there's awesome middle and high school material, there's awesome post-grad material, but there's no equivalent of the college level. And most of us aren't going to be studying the lengthy tomes of Ibn Sina, Alfarabi, and Aristotles that the Rambam recommends to begin with. We won't learn from the Rambam in a simple, basic way, how philosophical principles integrate with the Jewish faith.
The Exalted Faith is one of the few books that fill in this gap, and is by far the most thorough and in line with the Rambam's school of thought. (Ruach Chen and Kuzari are the only two others I'm aware of that to any degree join this genre.) This book methodically goes through Aristotles' main principles and explains the Torah's perspective on them, and then, based on that synthesis, suggests 6 principles of the Jewish faith, which apparently were the basis for the Rambam's 13.
My teacher has told me that the Rambam's worldview was certainly partially formed by The Exalted Faith.
You made my day right back! Thanks for adding your analysis. Bli neder, I hope to write on Ruach Chen and the medieval Hebrew philosophical encyclopedias in the future.
Looking forward. What medieval philosophical encyclopedias are you referring to? I'm only aware of R' Shmuel ibn Tibbons Perush L'milim Zaros, which is of course a gem.
You made my day!
It's not so hard to do that; anyone who declares that they've read and care about Ibn's Daud's book The Exalted Faith will do the same. (But unfortunately there aren't many of us out there.) And I don't even need to completely identify with your approach to Ibn Daud: I come from a slightly more traditionalist approach that looks at his historical book, Sefer Hakabala, less critically.
And great background about Zichron Divrei Romi, and why The Exalted Faith was translated when it was. Never knew that.
I want to add to this conversation the critical contribution of The Exalted Faith to Jewish thought.
The Rambam (Maimonides) wrote prolifically about the fundamentals and philosophy of Jewish thought in two styles: 1. In his Commentary and Code he used plain language meant for the wider public, with deeper nuances that advanced scholars can read "between the lines". 2. In his Guide he assumes that his audience knows all of Torah thought and law, is proficient in Aristotelian philosophy, and got confused between the two, and his solution lies in contemplating some of mankind's deepest and most subtle concepts. Throughout the Guide he warns repeatedly that he is not writing for a general audience.
So there's a gap in his writings: there's awesome middle and high school material, there's awesome post-grad material, but there's no equivalent of the college level. And most of us aren't going to be studying the lengthy tomes of Ibn Sina, Alfarabi, and Aristotles that the Rambam recommends to begin with. We won't learn from the Rambam in a simple, basic way, how philosophical principles integrate with the Jewish faith.
The Exalted Faith is one of the few books that fill in this gap, and is by far the most thorough and in line with the Rambam's school of thought. (Ruach Chen and Kuzari are the only two others I'm aware of that to any degree join this genre.) This book methodically goes through Aristotles' main principles and explains the Torah's perspective on them, and then, based on that synthesis, suggests 6 principles of the Jewish faith, which apparently were the basis for the Rambam's 13.
My teacher has told me that the Rambam's worldview was certainly partially formed by The Exalted Faith.
Long live The Exalted Faith!
You made my day right back! Thanks for adding your analysis. Bli neder, I hope to write on Ruach Chen and the medieval Hebrew philosophical encyclopedias in the future.
Looking forward. What medieval philosophical encyclopedias are you referring to? I'm only aware of R' Shmuel ibn Tibbons Perush L'milim Zaros, which is of course a gem.