Emunoth ve-Deoth
Encyclopedia
Emunoth ve-Deoth or Emunoth w'D'oth ' onMouseout='HidePop("84738")' href="/topics/Hebrew_language">Hebrew
: "Beliefs and Opinions") written by Rabbi
Saadia Gaon
- originally Kitāb ul-ʾamānāt wal-iʿtiqādāt ' onMouseout='HidePop("88508")' href="/topics/Arabic_language">Arabic
: "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma") - was the first systematic
presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogma
s of Judaism
. The work is prefaced by an introduction and has ten chapters; it was completed in 933. It is thought that Saadia closely followed the rules of the Mutazilites - the rationalistic dogmatists of Islam
- in the structure of the work, as well as, in part, basing his thesis
and arguments on their works.
against the views of the Karaites, who rejected the oral law
(Mishna and Talmud
).
In his detailed introduction, Saadia speaks of the reasons that led him to compose it. His heart was grieved when he saw the confusion concerning matters of religion that prevailed among his contemporaries, finding an unintelligent belief and unenlightened views current among those who professed Judaism, while those who denied the faith triumphantly vaunted their errors. Men were sunken in the sea of doubt and overwhelmed by the waves of spiritual error, and there was none to help them; so that Saadia felt himself called and duty bound to save them from their peril by strengthening the faithful in their belief and by removing the fears of those who were in doubt.
After a general presentation of the causes of infidelity and the essence of belief, Saadia describes the three natural sources of knowledge: namely, the perceptions of the senses, the light of reason, and logical necessity, as well as the fourth source of knowledge possessed by those that fear God, the "veritable revelation" contained in the Scriptures. He shows that a belief in the teachings of revelation does not exclude an independent search for knowledge, but that speculation on religious subjects rather endeavors to prove the truth of the teachings received from the Prophets and to refute attacks upon revealed doctrine, which must be raised by philosophic investigation to the plane of actual knowledge.
The most important points contained in the individual sections are as follows:
, which may be traced also elsewhere in this author's writings. After his speculation has led him to the conclusion that the world was created ex nihilo
, he proceeds to state and refute the twelve theories of the origin of the world. This part of the first section gives a most interesting insight into Saadia's knowledge of the Greek philosophers, which he probably derived from reading Aristotle. At the end of the section Saadia refutes certain objections to the Jewish doctrine of Creation, especially those that proceed from the concepts of time
and space
.
is prefaced by a development of the view that human knowledge
arises by degrees from the merest sensuous impressions to the most subtle concepts; so that the idea of the divine, which transcends all other knowledge in subtlety, is itself a proof of its verity. The concept of God
as a creator necessarily implies the attributes of life, power, and knowledge. In like manner the concept of the Creator demonstrates the unity of God. For this view three direct and three indirect proofs are offered by Saadia, the latter consisting in demonstrating that dualism is absurd.
See Negative theology; Divine simplicity
.
The thesis of the absolute unity of God is established by a refutation of the Christian
doctrine of the Trinity
, which arises, in Saadia's opinion, from a misinterpretation of the three attributes of God already named: life, power, and knowledge. Connected with the refutation of the dogma of the Trinity is an outline of the various theories respecting the person of Jesus that reveals an accurate knowledge of Christian controversies.
See Jewish principles of faith: Divine Unity.
To render possible an understanding of the monotheistic concept of God in all its purity, and to free the statements of the Scriptures from their apparent contradictions of the spirituality of the absolute idea of God, Saadia interprets all the difficulties of the Bible that bear upon this problem, using the scheme of the ten Aristotelian categories, none of which, he shows, may be applied to God. At the conclusion of this section the author pictures with deep religious feeling the relation to the Deity sustained by the human soul when permeated by the true knowledge of God.
) revealed in the Torah
have been given to man by the grace of God as a means to attain the highest blessedness. According to a classification borrowed by Saadia from the Motazilites but based upon an essentially Jewish view, the commandments are divided into those of reason and of revelation, although even the latter may be explained rationally, as is shown by numerous examples. An excursus, in which Saadia attacks the view of the Hindu
sect of the "Barahima" (Brahman
s) to the effect that man needs no prophets, introduces his account of prophecy and his apology for the Prophets. This is followed by theses on the essential content of the Bible and the credibility of Biblical tradition, by a detailed refutation of the Christian and Islamic view that the Law revealed in Israel has been abrogated, and by a polemic against a series of Ḥiwi's objections to the authority of the Scriptures.
and its reconciliation with the omnipotence
and omniscience
of God. In its opening portion Saadia postulates the anthropocentric doctrine that regards man as the object of all creation; and at its close he explains under eight headings those passages of the Bible that might cause doubt regarding the freedom of the acts of man.
See Free will In Jewish thought.
, prayer
, and other evidences of human piety.
and Pseudo-Plutarch
. He states the relation of the soul to the body, the basis of their union, their cooperation in human activity, their coexistence or the appointed term of life, their separation or death, and the state of the soul after death. The section concludes with a refutation of the doctrine of metempsychosis.
of the dead, and presents the proof for it contained in tradition. He then discusses ten questions bearing on this doctrine, which are of interest as "affording an insight into popular views that then prevailed, and which, despite their singularity, could not be ignored even by such a man as Saadia" (Guttmann).
, the definite year of salvation being fixed by an interpretation of well-known passages in the Book of Daniel
. In the concluding portion the author refutes those who assume that the Messianic prophecies refer to the time of the Second Temple; and he argues also against the Christian doctrine of the Messiah.
, the Bible, and tradition
, and answers various questions bearing upon this subject.
contained in the appendix is based for the most part on a description and criticism of thirteen different objects of life, to which Saadia adds his own counsels for rational and moral living. He adds also that in the case of each of the five senses only the concordant union of sensuous impressions is beneficial, thus showing how great is the need of a harmonious combination of the qualities and the impulses of the soul of man. He concludes with the statement that he intends his book only to purify and ennoble the hearts of his readers.
, it was translated by Rabbi
and physician Judah ibn Tibbon (who also translated the Kuzari
by Yehuda Halevi
). This version was first printed in Constantinople
in 1562 and frequently republished, while the original was edited in Arabic characters by Samuel Landauer
(Leiden, 1880), and another (superior) Judeo-Arabic edition prepared by Yosef Qafih
in 1970.
Another translation, or rather paraphrase, of the "Kitab al-Amanat," of uncertain authorship, is contained in several manuscripts (the most important being MS. Vatican 266); large portions of this rendering were edited by Gollancz ("The Ethical Treatises of Berachyah," London, 1902; comp. "Monatsschrift," xlvi. 536). It was the principal means by which Saadia's philosophy was known to non-Arabic speaking Jews during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Paraphrase was an important and influential document to the evolution of theology of the early medieval Haside Ashkenaz (not to be confused with the Hasidic movement
of the eighteenth century), the Maimonidean controversy and early Kabbalah. Its language is highly poetic. The seventh section, on the resurrection, is contained in two versions, the first of which, the basis of the translation of Ibn Tibbon, has been edited by Bacher in the "Steinschneider Festschrift," pp. 98-112, and the second by Landauer. This Paraphrase, entitled Pitron Sefer ha-Emunot ve-Ḥerṣav ha-Binot, is to be published in its entirety by the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Humanities.
Resources
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
: "Beliefs and Opinions") written by Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Saadia Gaon
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
- originally Kitāb ul-ʾamānāt wal-iʿtiqādāt ' onMouseout='HidePop("88508")' href="/topics/Arabic_language">Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma") - was the first systematic
Systematic
Systematic is an American hard rock band from Oakland, California. They were one of the first signings to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's record label, The Music Company, via Elektra Records. The band released two studio albums before disbanding in 2004....
presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
s of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. The work is prefaced by an introduction and has ten chapters; it was completed in 933. It is thought that Saadia closely followed the rules of the Mutazilites - the rationalistic dogmatists of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
- in the structure of the work, as well as, in part, basing his thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
and arguments on their works.
Premise and introduction
The work was mainly written as a defence of Rabbinic JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
against the views of the Karaites, who rejected the oral law
Oral law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
(Mishna and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
).
In his detailed introduction, Saadia speaks of the reasons that led him to compose it. His heart was grieved when he saw the confusion concerning matters of religion that prevailed among his contemporaries, finding an unintelligent belief and unenlightened views current among those who professed Judaism, while those who denied the faith triumphantly vaunted their errors. Men were sunken in the sea of doubt and overwhelmed by the waves of spiritual error, and there was none to help them; so that Saadia felt himself called and duty bound to save them from their peril by strengthening the faithful in their belief and by removing the fears of those who were in doubt.
After a general presentation of the causes of infidelity and the essence of belief, Saadia describes the three natural sources of knowledge: namely, the perceptions of the senses, the light of reason, and logical necessity, as well as the fourth source of knowledge possessed by those that fear God, the "veritable revelation" contained in the Scriptures. He shows that a belief in the teachings of revelation does not exclude an independent search for knowledge, but that speculation on religious subjects rather endeavors to prove the truth of the teachings received from the Prophets and to refute attacks upon revealed doctrine, which must be raised by philosophic investigation to the plane of actual knowledge.
Contents
In the first two sections, Saadia discusses the metaphysical problems of the creation of the world (i.) and the unity of the Creator(ii.); in the following sections he discusses revelation (iii.) and the doctrines of belief based upon divine justice, including obedience and disobedience (iv.), as well as merit and demerit (v.). Closely connected with these sections are those that treat of the soul and of death (vi.), and of the resurrection of the dead (vii.), which, according to the author, forms part of the theory of the Messianic redemption (viii.). The work concludes with a section on the rewards and punishments of the future life (ix.). The tenth section, on the best mode of life for mankind in this world, must be regarded as an appendix, since its admonitions to moral conduct supplement the exhortations to right thought and right belief contained in the main body of the book.The most important points contained in the individual sections are as follows:
i The creation of the world
For the doctrine of the creation of the world Saadia offers four proofs; three of these show the influence of Aristotelian philosophyAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, which may be traced also elsewhere in this author's writings. After his speculation has led him to the conclusion that the world was created ex nihilo
Ex nihilo
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing"—chiefly in philosophical or theological contexts, but also occurs in other fields.In theology, the common phrase creatio ex...
, he proceeds to state and refute the twelve theories of the origin of the world. This part of the first section gives a most interesting insight into Saadia's knowledge of the Greek philosophers, which he probably derived from reading Aristotle. At the end of the section Saadia refutes certain objections to the Jewish doctrine of Creation, especially those that proceed from the concepts of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
and space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
.
ii The unity of the Creator
The theory of GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
is prefaced by a development of the view that human knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
arises by degrees from the merest sensuous impressions to the most subtle concepts; so that the idea of the divine, which transcends all other knowledge in subtlety, is itself a proof of its verity. The concept of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
as a creator necessarily implies the attributes of life, power, and knowledge. In like manner the concept of the Creator demonstrates the unity of God. For this view three direct and three indirect proofs are offered by Saadia, the latter consisting in demonstrating that dualism is absurd.
See Negative theology; Divine simplicity
Divine simplicity
In theology, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is without parts. The general idea of divine simplicity can be stated in this way: the being of God is identical to the "attributes" of God. In other words, such characteristics as omnipresence, goodness, truth, eternity, etc...
.
The thesis of the absolute unity of God is established by a refutation of the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
doctrine of the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, which arises, in Saadia's opinion, from a misinterpretation of the three attributes of God already named: life, power, and knowledge. Connected with the refutation of the dogma of the Trinity is an outline of the various theories respecting the person of Jesus that reveals an accurate knowledge of Christian controversies.
See Jewish principles of faith: Divine Unity.
To render possible an understanding of the monotheistic concept of God in all its purity, and to free the statements of the Scriptures from their apparent contradictions of the spirituality of the absolute idea of God, Saadia interprets all the difficulties of the Bible that bear upon this problem, using the scheme of the ten Aristotelian categories, none of which, he shows, may be applied to God. At the conclusion of this section the author pictures with deep religious feeling the relation to the Deity sustained by the human soul when permeated by the true knowledge of God.
iii Revelation and the Commandments
The divine commandments (MitzvotMitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
) revealed in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
have been given to man by the grace of God as a means to attain the highest blessedness. According to a classification borrowed by Saadia from the Motazilites but based upon an essentially Jewish view, the commandments are divided into those of reason and of revelation, although even the latter may be explained rationally, as is shown by numerous examples. An excursus, in which Saadia attacks the view of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
sect of the "Barahima" (Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
s) to the effect that man needs no prophets, introduces his account of prophecy and his apology for the Prophets. This is followed by theses on the essential content of the Bible and the credibility of Biblical tradition, by a detailed refutation of the Christian and Islamic view that the Law revealed in Israel has been abrogated, and by a polemic against a series of Ḥiwi's objections to the authority of the Scriptures.
iv Free will: obedience and disobedience
The foundation of this section is the theory of the freedom of the willFree will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and its reconciliation with the omnipotence
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
and omniscience
Omniscience
Omniscience omniscient point-of-view in writing) is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In Latin, omnis means "all" and sciens means "knowing"...
of God. In its opening portion Saadia postulates the anthropocentric doctrine that regards man as the object of all creation; and at its close he explains under eight headings those passages of the Bible that might cause doubt regarding the freedom of the acts of man.
See Free will In Jewish thought.
v Merit and demerit
Men fall into ten classes with regard to merit and demerit, and their religious and moral bearings. In his description of the first two, the pious and the impious, Saadia devotes himself in the main to the problem of the sufferings of the pious and the good fortune of the impious, while the description of the last class, that of the contrite, leads him to detailed considerations, based upon the Bible, of repentanceRepentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
, prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
, and other evidences of human piety.
vi The soul and death
His view on the soul is prefaced by a survey of six other theories. The list is a parallel of those provided already by AristotleAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and Pseudo-Plutarch
Pseudo-Plutarch
Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the unknown authors of a number of pseudepigrapha attributed to Plutarch.Some of these works were included in some editions of Plutarch's Moralia...
. He states the relation of the soul to the body, the basis of their union, their cooperation in human activity, their coexistence or the appointed term of life, their separation or death, and the state of the soul after death. The section concludes with a refutation of the doctrine of metempsychosis.
vii The resurrection of the dead
Here Saadia refutes the objections made, on the basis of nature, reason, and the Bible, to the doctrine of the resurrectionResurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
of the dead, and presents the proof for it contained in tradition. He then discusses ten questions bearing on this doctrine, which are of interest as "affording an insight into popular views that then prevailed, and which, despite their singularity, could not be ignored even by such a man as Saadia" (Guttmann).
viii Messianic redemption
The teachings regarding Messianic redemption are based almost entirely on statements of the Bible and the TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, the definite year of salvation being fixed by an interpretation of well-known passages in the Book of Daniel
Daniel
Daniel is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways...
. In the concluding portion the author refutes those who assume that the Messianic prophecies refer to the time of the Second Temple; and he argues also against the Christian doctrine of the Messiah.
ix The world to come
Saadia demonstrates that the recompenses of the world to come are proved by reasonReason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
, the Bible, and tradition
Oral law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
, and answers various questions bearing upon this subject.
x Moral conduct, thought and belief
The system of ethicsEthics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
contained in the appendix is based for the most part on a description and criticism of thirteen different objects of life, to which Saadia adds his own counsels for rational and moral living. He adds also that in the case of each of the five senses only the concordant union of sensuous impressions is beneficial, thus showing how great is the need of a harmonious combination of the qualities and the impulses of the soul of man. He concludes with the statement that he intends his book only to purify and ennoble the hearts of his readers.
Ibn Tibbon
Although the work was originally in ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, it was translated by Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and physician Judah ibn Tibbon (who also translated the Kuzari
Kuzari
The Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
by Yehuda Halevi
Yehuda Halevi
Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
). This version was first printed in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1562 and frequently republished, while the original was edited in Arabic characters by Samuel Landauer
Samuel Landauer
Samuel Landauer was a German Jewish Orientalist and librarian.He received his education at the yeshibah of Eisenstadt , the gymnasium of Mainz, and the universities of Leipzig, Strasbourg, and Munich...
(Leiden, 1880), and another (superior) Judeo-Arabic edition prepared by Yosef Qafih
Yosef Qafih
Yosef Qafih , widely known as Rabbi Kapach , was one of the foremost leaders of the Yemenite Jewish community, first in Yemen and later in Israel. He was the grandson of Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, also a prominent Yemenite leader and grandson of the founder of the Dor Deah movement in Yemen...
in 1970.
Others
"The Book of Beliefs and Opinions" (Emunos VeDeyot) by Saadia Gaon, translated by Samuel Rosenblatt, Yale University Press, 1948Another translation, or rather paraphrase, of the "Kitab al-Amanat," of uncertain authorship, is contained in several manuscripts (the most important being MS. Vatican 266); large portions of this rendering were edited by Gollancz ("The Ethical Treatises of Berachyah," London, 1902; comp. "Monatsschrift," xlvi. 536). It was the principal means by which Saadia's philosophy was known to non-Arabic speaking Jews during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Paraphrase was an important and influential document to the evolution of theology of the early medieval Haside Ashkenaz (not to be confused with the Hasidic movement
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
of the eighteenth century), the Maimonidean controversy and early Kabbalah. Its language is highly poetic. The seventh section, on the resurrection, is contained in two versions, the first of which, the basis of the translation of Ibn Tibbon, has been edited by Bacher in the "Steinschneider Festschrift," pp. 98-112, and the second by Landauer. This Paraphrase, entitled Pitron Sefer ha-Emunot ve-Ḥerṣav ha-Binot, is to be published in its entirety by the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Humanities.
External links and references
References- Saadia B. Joseph public domain, 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
Resources
- Full text (HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
), daat.ac.il - Full text in Hebrew (Rashi Script)
- Saadia Gaon-the Book of Beliefs and Opinions. Transl. Samuel Rosenblatt. Yale Judaica (1958). ISBN 0300044909
- Full Text in Arabic