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73-584: In the first printed edition of the work (Constantinople, 1512), it is called Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah . Nahmanides (1194–c. 1270) and others cite it frequently by the same name. It is the latest component of Midrash Rabbah on the Torah , and as such was unknown to Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106), Rashi (1040–1105), and Yalkut Shimoni . Numbers Rabbah consists of two parts, which are of different origin and extent. The first portion, sections 1–14 (on Torah portions Bamidbar and Naso ) — almost three-quarters of

146-529: A Hebrew manuscript ascribed to Nachmanides, is similarly likely by Eleazar of Worms . Moses ha-Darshan Moshe haDarshan (circa early 11th century) ( Hebrew : משה הדרשן , trans. "Moses the preacher") was chief of the yeshiva of Narbonne , and perhaps the founder of Jewish exegetical studies in France . Along with Rashi , his writings are often cited as the first extant writings in Zarphatic ,

219-566: A different interpretation to each one of the twelve passages enumerating the offerings of princes of the tribes — identical in all but the name of the prince in the Biblical text. This portion of the Numbers Rabbah shows all the marks of the late haggadic age. There is much which can be referred to Rabbi Moses ha-Darshan (11th Century), and which reveals a connection with Midrash Tadshe. The work is, according to Zunz, hardly older than

292-405: A different perspective on a variety of issues. It is also heavily influenced by the teachings of Provence . Nachmanides was a leading and prolific scholar; his output, as outlined, spanned Halacha , mysticism, science and philosophy. A collection of responsa are also commonly attributed to Nachmanides; they may in fact have been written by his student Shlomo ibn Aderet . Sodot HaTefilah ,

365-482: A finished condition. As in his preceding works, he vehemently attacks the Greek philosophers , especially Aristotle , and frequently criticizes Maimonides' biblical interpretations . Thus he assails Maimonides' interpretation of Gen. 18:8, asserting that Maimonides' preferred understanding is contrary to the evident meaning of the Biblical words and that it is sinful even to hear it. While Maimonides endeavored to reduce

438-422: A letter to the communities of Aragon , Navarre , and Castile , in which Solomon's adversaries were severely rebuked. However, the great respect he professed for Maimonides (though he did not share the latter's views), reinforced by innate gentleness of character, kept him from allying himself with the anti-Maimonist party and led him to assume the role of a conciliator. Maimonides was 58 years old when Nachmanides

511-503: A part of a passage, also otherwise remarkable, at the end of the section on Korach (18:21), which, taken from Numbers Rabbah, was interpolated in the first printed edition of the Tanchuma as early as 1522, but is absent from all the manuscripts. Another long passage (18:22) which belongs to the beginning of Chukat , as in Tanchuma, is erroneously appended in the editions to the section on Korach. The legal discussion on Numbers 8:1 at

584-688: A synagogue in the Old City that exists until the present day, known as the Ramban Synagogue . Nachmanides then settled at Acre , where he was very active in spreading Jewish learning, which was at that time very much neglected in the Holy Land. He gathered a circle of pupils around him, and people came in crowds, even from the district of the Euphrates, to hear him. Karaites were said to have attended his lectures, among them Aaron ben Joseph

657-460: A very thin substance devoid of corporeality but having a power of potency, fit to assume form and to proceed from potentiality into reality. This was the primary matter created by G-d; it is called by the Greeks hyly (matter). After the hyly He did not create anything, but He formed and made --things with it, and from this hyly He brought everything into existence and clothed the forms and put them into

730-402: Is beyond dispute. Nachmanides proceeded to provide context for the proof-texts cited by Christiani, showing that they were most clearly understood differently than as proposed by Christiani. Furthermore, Nachmanides demonstrated from numerous biblical and talmudic sources that traditional Jewish belief ran contrary to Christiani's postulates. Nachmanides argued that the Biblical prophets regarded

803-595: Is claimed by Zunz that the midrash was actually the work of Moses. A. Epstein , however, is of the opinion that the final compiler of the midrash, certainly not Moses ha-Darshan, took from the Yesod whatever he considered appropriate for his purpose, especially from Moses' midrashic interpretation of the Genesis creation myth . In a similar way the Yesod influenced the Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah and

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876-459: Is evidenced in his introduction to the commentary. Over time, Nachmanides updated his commentary in at least 250 places, particularly after moving from Spain to the land of Israel. These updates are attested to in different versions of his commentary which survived in manuscript. Nachmanides, first as rabbi of Girona and later as chief rabbi of Catalonia , seems to have led a largely untroubled life. When well advanced in years, however, his life

949-508: Is said to have been instructed in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) by his countryman Azriel of Gerona , who was in turn a disciple of Isaac the Blind . According to the responsa of Shlomo ibn Aderet Nachmanides studied medicine . During his teens he began to get a reputation as a learned Jewish scholar. At age 16, he began his writings on Jewish law . In his Milhamot Hashem (Wars of

1022-452: The aggadot or opens his mouth against the asmakhtot , and those who engage in the study of the Guide in groups. For the great rabbi and author Maimonides has commanded not to publicize nor explicate it. This compromise, which might have ended the struggle, was rejected by both parties in spite of Nachmanides' authority. The book Iggeret ha-Kodesh (אגרת הקודש - The Holy Epistle) on

1095-674: The Midrash Tadshe , which later, in a aggadic-symbolic manner, endeavors to show the parallelism between the world, mankind, and the Tabernacle . Concerning the Midrash Tadshe, Epstein goes so far as to assume that Moses ha-Darshan was its author. Moses ha-Darshan explained some obscure expressions in certain piyyuṭim . He is credited also with a midrash on the Ten Commandments and with a "viddui". Moses' son

1168-669: The Sefer ha-Eshkol ). A. Epstein credits Moses with another pupil, a certain R. Shemaiah, who is quoted sometimes in Bereshit Rabbah Rabbati and in Numbers Rabbah as explaining sayings of Moses ha-Darshan's. He also suggests the identity of this Shemaiah with Shemaiah of Soissons , author of a midrash on Parashat Terumah, whose cosmological conceptions seem to have been influenced by Moses ha-Darshan. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

1241-565: The miracles of the Bible to the level of natural phenomena , Nachmanides emphasizes them, declaring that "no man can share in the Torah of our teacher Moses unless he believes that all our affairs, whether they concern masses or individuals, are miraculously controlled, and that nothing can be attributed to nature or the order of the world." See further on this debate under Divine Providence . David Berger has argued that Nachmanides did subscribe to

1314-436: The 12th Century. The Encyclopaedia Judaica also dates it to the 12th Century. Nahmanides Moses ben Nachman ( Hebrew : מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן Mōše ben-Nāḥmān , "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides ( / n æ k ˈ m æ n ɪ d iː z / ; Greek : Ναχμανίδης Nakhmanídēs ), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban ( / ˌ r ɑː m ˈ b ɑː n / ; רמב״ן ‎) and by

1387-474: The Bible, should be maintained and even strengthened. Due to the existence of three variant editions of Nachmanides' letter, there is some debate as to the contents of his proposed resolution. The Savaral manuscript reads as follows: Let a royal command issue forth from you as you become a single group and a lasting bond to destroy an upraised arm, to excommunicate, ban, and place under a curse every tongue speaking arrogantly which God will destroy, one who mocks

1460-546: The Creator of Heaven and Earth resorted to the womb of a certain Jewish lady, grew there for nine months and was born as an infant, and afterwards grew up and was betrayed into the hands of his enemies who sentenced him to death and executed him, and that afterwards... he came to life and returned to his original place. The mind of a Jew, or any other person, simply cannot tolerate these assertions. You have listened all your life to

1533-521: The Elder, who later became one of the greatest Karaite authorities (although Graetz writes that there is no veracity to that). It was to arouse the interest of the local Jews in the exposition of the Bible that Nachmanides wrote the greatest of his works, the above-mentioned commentary on the Torah. Although surrounded by friends and pupils, Nachmanides keenly felt the pangs of exile. "I left my family, I forsook my house. There, with my sons and daughters,

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1606-688: The Gate". Nachmanides was born in Girona in 1194, where he grew up and studied (hence he is also called Mosheh ben Nahman Gerondi , or "Moses son of Nahman the Gironan"), and died in the Land of Israel about 1270. He was a descendant of Isaac ben Reuben of Barcelona and cousin of Jonah Gerondi (Rabbeinu Yonah). Among his teachers in Talmud were Judah ben Yakar and Nathan ben Meïr of Trinquetaille , and he

1679-825: The Holy Land after having passed the age of seventy or seventy-six. Different traditions suggest that he was buried in Haifa , Acre , Hebron , or in the Cave of the Ramban in Jerusalem . Nachmanides, as above, was a leading Torah scholar of the Middle Ages, authoring major commentaries on Torah and the Talmud . Further, as a posek he wrote stand-alone works on Halachic topics, as well as works on mysticism, science and philosophy. As detailed above , Ramban's commentary on

1752-551: The Judæo-French language. According to Abraham Zacuto , Moses was descended from a Narbonne family distinguished for its erudition; his great-grandfather, Abun, his grandfather, Moses ben Abun, and his father, Jacob ben Moses ben Abun (called "ha-Navi"), all having been presidents of the Narbonne yeshivah . Moses himself held this position, and after his death it was occupied by his brother Levi. Though Moshe ha-Darshan

1825-654: The King, whom Nachmanides had acquainted with the apprehensions of the Jews, desired him to proceed. The controversy was therefore resumed, and concluded in what was considered a complete victory for Nachmanides, who was dismissed by the King with a gift of three hundred gold pieces as a mark of his respect. The King remarked that he had never encountered a man who, while yet being wrong, argued so well for his position. An alternative text reproduced by Julius Eisenstein in his Otzar Vicuchim (quoted by Charles Ber Chavel in his edition of

1898-657: The Lord) he defended Alfasi 's decisions against the criticisms of Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona . These writings reveal a conservative tendency that distinguished his later works — an unbounded respect for the earlier authorities. In the view of Nachmanides, the wisdom of the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud , as well as the Geonim (rabbis of the early medieval era) was unquestionable. Their words were to be neither doubted nor criticized. "We bow," he says, "before them, and even when

1971-472: The Messiah was therefore Jesus . Nachmanides countered that Christiani's interpretations were distortions; the rabbis would not hint that Jesus was Messiah while, at the same time, explicitly opposing him as such. He further said that if the sages of the Talmud believed that Jesus was the messiah then most certainly they would have been Christians and not Jews, and the fact that the sages of the Talmud were Jews

2044-593: The Midrash upon the Torah portion Bamidbar to complete the Sifre , which commences with Numbers 1:1 , another then continued it with the commentary on Naso, and in order to complete the work for the remainder of Numbers, the commentary for the remaining Torah portions was drawn from Tanchuma. It must also be mentioned that a manuscript in the Paris National Library, dating from the year 1291, contains only

2117-471: The Tanchuma homilies, based as they are upon the Torah reading cycle, and commencing in Naso with Numbers 5:11 . Sections 6, 7, 8, and 10, which, like the other lengthy sections in which the material derived from the Tanchuma are overwhelmed in a flood of new homiletic interpretations, show even more clearly the endeavor to supply homilies and continuous expositions for all sections of Naso. Zunz wrote: "Instead of

2190-400: The Tanchuma on Numbers 1:1, 2:1 , 3:14 , 3:40 , and 4:17 , which are expanded by some very discursive additions. As Tanchuma only addresses the first verses of each chapter, no doubt the author's intention was to supply homiletic commentary to the others. But in the section on Naso, which is more than three times the volume of that preceding, there are long passages that have no relation to

2263-605: The Torah portion Bamidbar, while the Munich manuscript dated 1418 covers only this and Naso. Even the first part contains much that is taken from the Tanchuma, but, as Zunz wrote, "a copious stream of new Haggadah swallows the Midrash drawn from this source and entirely obscures the arrangement of the Yelamdenu." In the Torah portion Bamidbar, the outer framework of the original composition is still recognizable. There are five sections, containing five homilies or fragments, taken from

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2336-487: The Torah, "Bi'ur" or Perush 'al ha-Torah , is considered a leading work in the genre ; it was his last, and his best known. As outlined, he often critiques earlier commentaries - especially Rashi , Ibn Ezra and Rambam - and incorporates kabbalistic teachings. This commentary also reflects his love of Eretz Yisrael . Ramban's major work on the Talmud is referred to as Chiddushei haRamban . The commentary reflects his depth of knowledge and his deep respect for

2409-425: The afterlife . He holds that as God is eminently just, there must be reward and punishment. This reward and punishment must take place in another world, for the good and evil of this world are relative and transitory. Besides the animal soul , which is derived from the "Supreme powers" and is common to all creatures, man possesses a special soul. This special soul, which is a direct emanation from God, existed before

2482-604: The appearance of Maimonides ' Guide for the Perplexed . This work gave rise to a tendency to allegorize Biblical narratives, and to downplay the role of miracles. Against this tendency Nachmanides strove, and went to the other extreme, not even allowing the utterances of the immediate disciples of the Geonim to be questioned. Called upon, about 1238, for support by Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier , who had been excommunicated by supporters of Maimonides , Nachmanides addressed

2555-406: The beginning of the second part is cut down to its concluding passage. A Paris manuscript contains the exordium complete with its customary formula, as usual in Tanchuma, using a formula that reappears throughout this portion of Numbers Rabbah. The portions of Numbers to which there are Tanchuma homilies in this portion of Numbers Rabbah were intended for public worship according to the divisions of

2628-478: The brief explanations or allegories of the ancients, instead of their uniform citation of authorities, we have here compilations from halakic and haggadic works, intermingled with artificial and often trivial applications of Scripture, and for many pages continuously we find no citation of any source whatever." The industry and skill of the unknown author of this fragmentary work was nonetheless remarkable. The author, for example in sections 13 and 14 on Numbers 7 , gave

2701-445: The collected writings of Nachmanides) has the king saying that he never saw a man with no legal training argue a case so successfully. The Dominicans, nevertheless, claimed the victory, and Nachmanides felt obligated to publish the text of the debates. From this publication Pablo selected certain passages which he construed as blasphemies against Christianity and denounced to the head of his order, Raymond de Penyafort . A capital charge

2774-414: The contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta ( Catalan: [ˌbɔnəsˈtɾuk sə ˈpɔrtə] ; literally " Mazel Tov near the Gate", see astruc ), was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi , philosopher , physician , kabbalist , and biblical commentator . He was raised, studied, and lived for most of his life in Girona , Catalonia . He is also considered to be an important figure in

2847-419: The correct and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity. The Holy One, blessed be He, created all things from absolute non-existence. Now we have no expression in the sacred language for bringing forth something from nothing other than the word bara (created). Everything that exists under the sun or above was not made from non-existence at the outset. Instead He brought forth from total and absolute nothing

2920-414: The creation of the world. Through the medium of man it enters the material life; and at the dissolution of its medium it either returns to its original source or enters the body of another man. This belief is, according to Nachmanides, the basis of the levirate marriage , the child of which inherits not only the name of the brother of his fleshly father, but also his soul, and thus continues its existence on

2993-567: The cycle of the Torah portions and the Pesikta. The variations existing in the division into Torah portions probably explain why some of the old Torah portions appear in Numbers Rabbah without these homilies in some sections, while such homilies or at least fragments of them are appended to other passages. In this portion of Numbers Rabbah, as in its source, the Tanchuma, the collected homilies have been considerably metamorphosed and disjointed. Many are quite fragmentary, and others discursive. Although

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3066-452: The day of mourning. The last chapter, entitled Shaar ha-Gemul , discusses reward and punishment, resurrection, and kindred subjects. It derides the presumption of the philosophers who pretend to a knowledge of the essence of God and the angels , while even the composition of their own bodies is a mystery to them. For Nachmanides, divine revelation is the best guide in all these questions, and proceeds to give his views on Jewish views of

3139-569: The desolation of the Holy City, where there were at that time only two Jewish inhabitants—brothers, dyers by trade. In a later letter from Acre he counsels his son to cultivate humility, which he considers to be the first of virtues. In another, addressed to his second son, who occupied an official position at the Castilian court, Nachmanides recommends the recitation of the daily prayers and warns above all against immorality. Nachmanides died in

3212-533: The earth. The resurrection spoken of by the prophets, which will take place after the coming of the Messiah, is referred by Nachmanides to the body. The physical body may, through the influence of the soul, transform itself into so pure an essence that it will become eternal. Nachmanides' commentary on the Torah (five books of Moses) was his last work, and his most well known. He frequently cites and critiques Rashi 's commentary, and provides alternative interpretations where he disagrees with Rashi's interpretation. He

3285-543: The existence of a natural order. Next to belief in miracles Nachmanides places three other beliefs, which are, according to him, the Jewish principles of faith , namely, the belief in creation out of nothing , in the omniscience of God, and in divine providence . Nachmanides, in this commentary, often fiercely criticized Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra , particularly regarding ibn Ezra's negative attitude towards Kabbalah . Nevertheless, he had tremendous respect for ibn Ezra, as

3358-659: The fact that Tanchuma and Numbers Rabbah are almost identical from the section Behaalotecha onward. Solomon Buber gave a list of the variations between the two. Passages drawn from the Pesikta Rabbati are found exclusively in the first or later part of this Midrash. This is true also, with the exception of the interpretation of the numerical value of the Hebrew word for fringes, of the other passages pointed out by Leopold Zunz as originating with later, and notably French, rabbis. This numerical interpretation of “fringes” forms

3431-477: The future messiah as a human, a person of flesh and blood, and not as divine, in the way that Christians view Jesus. He stated that their promises of a reign of universal peace and justice had not yet been fulfilled, that since the appearance of Jesus, the world had been filled with violence and injustice, and that among all denominations the Christians were the most warlike. [... it seems most strange that... ]

3504-404: The king order Nachmanides to respond to charges against Judaism. Pablo Christiani had been trying to make the Jews convert to Christianity. Relying upon the reserve his adversary would be forced to exercise due to fear of offending the feelings of the Christians, Pablo assured the King that he would prove the truth of Christianity from the Talmud and other rabbinical writings. Nachmanides answered

3577-585: The legal authorities that came before him. It is not structured as running commentary on the Talmud; instead it focuses on specific parts of the Talmudic discussion . In approach, it fully utilizes the Tosafist dialectical style, and systematically integrates this with the classic Sephardic teachings . It thus bears a distinct similarity to the writings of the Tosafists ; here, though, it will often provide

3650-454: The marking of the Torah portions at their beginnings and in marginal superscriptions is a departure in the Venice edition, the sections of the second part are indicated according to the usual notation of the Torah portions. With the exception of sections 16 and 17, which belong to Shlach each section contains a Torah portion of the one-year cycle, which was already recognized when Numbers Rabbah

3723-643: The non-preservation of the work was due to an excess of the foreign element in its composition, causing it to be regarded with disfavor. Moreover, as has recently been ascertained by A. Epstein , it was not a systematically arranged work, but merely a collection of notes made by Moses. For this reason, apparently, it did not have a fixed title, and therefore it is quoted under various names by different authors. The Midrash Bereshit Rabbah Major or Bereshit Rabbati , known through quotations by Raymund Martin in his Pugio Fidei, has many aggadot and aggadic ideas which recall very strongly Moses ha-Darshan's teachings; it

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3796-539: The order of the King, but asked that complete freedom of speech should be granted. For four days (July 20–24) he debated with Pablo Christiani in the presence of the King, the court, and many churchmen. The subjects discussed were: Christiani argued, based upon several aggadic passages, that the Pharisee sages believed that the Messiah had lived during the Talmudic period, and that they ostensibly believed that

3869-598: The presence of the King, who had granted him freedom of speech. The justness of his defense was recognized by the King and the commission, but to satisfy the Dominicans, Nachmanides was sentenced to exile for two years and his pamphlet was condemned to be burned. He may also have been fined, but this was lifted as a favor to Benveniste ça Porta, who according to some authorities was Nachmanides' brother. The Dominicans, however, found this punishment too mild and, through Pope Clement IV , they seem to have succeeded in turning

3942-433: The priests who have filled your brain and the marrow of your bones with this doctrine, and it has settled into you because of that accustomed habit. [I would argue that if you were hearing these ideas for the first time, now, as a grown adult], you would never accept them. He noted that questions of the Messiah were of less dogmatic importance to Jews than most Christians imagine. The reason given by him for this bold statement

4015-485: The question arises whether it and part 1 (sections 1–14) should be ascribed to one author. It is improbable that the author of the comparatively late commentary on the Torah portions Bamidbar and parashah Naso — supposing that the Midrash on these two is the work of a single author — should have deliberately rounded out this incomplete work with the Midrash Tanchuma. According to Epstein, some unknown author wrote

4088-541: The re-establishment of the Jewish community in Jerusalem following its destruction by the Crusaders in 1099. "Nachmanides" ( Ναχμανίδης ) is a Greek -influenced formation meaning "son of Nahman". He is also commonly known by the Hebrew acronym רמב ״ ן ‎ (Ra-M-Ba-N, for R abbeinu M ōšeh b ēn- N āḥmān , "Our Rabbi Moses son of Nahman"). His Catalan name was Bonastruc ça Porta (also written Saporta or de Porta ), literally " Mazel Tov near

4161-444: The reason for their words is not quite evident to us, we submit to them" ( Aseifat Zekkenim , commentary on Ketubot ). Nachmanides' adherence to the words of the earlier authorities may be due to piety, or the influence of the northern French Jewish school of thought. However, it is thought that it also may be a reaction to the rapid acceptance of Greco-Arabic philosophy among the Jews of Spain and Provence ; this occurred soon after

4234-407: The step? Is it right in such important matters to act capriciously, to applaud the one to-day and the other tomorrow?" To reconcile the two parties, Nachmanides proposed that the ban against the philosophical portion of Maimonides's Code of Jewish law should be revoked, but that the ban against public study of the Guide for the Perplexed , and against those who rejected allegorical interpretation of

4307-486: The students by simple explanations and pleasant words when they read the appointed sections of the Pentateuch on Sabbaths and festivals. His exposition, intermingled with aggadic and mystical interpretations, is based upon careful philology and original study of the Bible. His commentary on the creation of the world describes the heavens and the earth being created out of a noncorporeal substance: Now listen to

4380-540: The sweet, dear children I brought up at my knees, I left also my soul. My heart and my eyes will dwell with them forever." During his three-year stay in the Holy Land , Nachmanides maintained a correspondence with his native land, by means of which he endeavored to bring about a closer connection between Judea and Spain. Shortly after his arrival in Jerusalem, he addressed a letter to his son Nahman, in which he described

4453-434: The topics of marriage, holiness, and sexual relations was commonly attributed to Nachmanides, who supposedly wrote it for his son as a wedding gift. However, modern scholarship attributes it to a different author, perhaps Rabbi Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla . In this book, the author criticizes Maimonides for stigmatizing man's sexual nature as a disgrace to man. In the view of the author, the body with all its functions being

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4526-682: The two years' exile into perpetual banishment. Other scholars believe that the identification of Bonastruc ça Porta with Nachmanides is incorrect. If so, then there were actually two people who were found to be blasphemous in the same time period and location. Nachmanides left Aragon and sojourned for three years somewhere in Castille or in the southern part of the Kingdom of France . In 1267, seeking refuge from Christian persecution in Muslim lands, he made aliyah to Jerusalem . There he established

4599-463: The whole work — contains a late homiletic commentary upon Numbers 1–7 . The second part, sections 15–33, reproduces the Midrash Tanchuma from Numbers 8 almost word for word. Midrash Tanchuma generally covered in each case only a few verses of the text and had regular formulas of conclusion. The second portion of Numbers Rabbah follows closely those readings of the Tanchuma that appear in the oldest edition. M. Beneviste drew attention as early as 1565 to

4672-455: The work of God, is holy, and so none of its normal sexual impulses and actions can be regarded as objectionable. In Nachmanides's Torat ha-Adam , which deals with mourning rites, burial customs, etc., Nachmanides sharply criticizes writers who strove to render man indifferent to both pleasure and pain. This, he declares, is against the Law, which commands man to rejoice on the day of joy and weep on

4745-608: Was Judah ha-Darshan ben Moses. Probably the Joseph he-Ḥasid mentioned in Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jama 's additions to the Arukh of Nathan ben Jehiel was a son of Judah ha-Darshan. Nathan ben Jehiel was certainly a student of Moses, whose explanations of Talmudical words and passages he cites. Abraham Zacuto ascribes to Moses three more pupils: Moses Anaw , Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi , and Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (author of

4818-526: Was born. In a letter addressed to the French rabbis, he draws attention to the virtues of Maimonides and holds that Maimonides' Mishneh Torah – his Code of Jewish Law – not only shows no leniency in interpreting prohibitions within Jewish law, but may even be seen as more stringent, which in Nachmanides' eyes was a positive factor. As to Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed , Nachmanides stated that it

4891-490: Was compiled. There are even Tanchuma Midrashim extant with divisions according to the Torah portions, while the Tanchuma, in its earliest editions, is alone in using the original arrangement based on the Torah portion cycle. In Numbers Rabbah, the divisions according to separate homilies are no longer recognizable. Since the second part of Numbers Rabbah, additions excepted, is derived from the Tanchuma Midrashim,

4964-711: Was considered a rabbinical authority, he owes his reputation principally to the fact that together with Tobiah ben Eliezer he was the most prominent representative of midrashic-symbolic Bible exegesis ( derash ) in the 11th century. His work on the Bible , probably sometimes called Yesod, and known only by quotations found mostly in Rashi 's commentaries (Rashi (1040-1105) quotes him 19 times in his Bible commentary , and twice in his Talmud commentary - Ketubot 75b and Niddah 19a), contained extracts from earlier aggadic works as well as midrashic explanations of his own. Probably

5037-473: Was intended not for those of unshaken belief, but for those who had been led astray by the non-Jewish philosophical works of Aristotle and Galen . (Note that Nachmanides's analysis of the Guide is not the consensus view of modern scholars.) "If," he says, "you were of the opinion that it was your duty to denounce the Guide as heretical, why does a portion of your flock recede from the decision as if it regretted

5110-486: Was interrupted by an event which made him leave his family and his country and wander in foreign lands. This was the religious disputation in which he was called upon to defend his faith in 1263. The debate was initiated by a Pablo Christiani , a Jewish convert to Christianity, who had been sent by the Dominican Master General , Raymond de Penyafort , to King James I of Aragon , with the request that

5183-406: Was prompted to record his commentary by three motives: (1) to satisfy the minds of students of the Law and stimulate their interest by a critical examination of the text; (2) to justify the ways of God and discover the hidden meanings of the words of Scripture, "for in the Torah are hidden every wonder and every mystery, and in her treasures is sealed every beauty of wisdom"; (3) to soothe the minds of

5256-405: Was that it was more meritorious for the Jews to observe the precepts under a Christian ruler, while in exile and suffering humiliation and abuse, than under the rule of the Messiah, when every one would perforce act in accordance with the Law. As the disputation seemed to turn in favor of Nachmanides, the Jews of Barcelona, fearing the resentment of the Dominicans, entreated him to discontinue; but

5329-483: Was then instituted, and a formal complaint against the work and its author was lodged with the King. James was obliged to entertain the charge, but, mistrusting the Dominican court, called an extraordinary commission, and ordered that the proceedings be conducted in his presence. Nachmanides admitted that he had stated many things against Christianity, but he had written nothing which he had not used in his disputation in

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