Title: History of the Jews, Vol. 4 (of 6)
Author: Heinrich Graetz
Release date: October 6, 2013 [eBook #43900]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by David Edwards, Charlie Howard, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
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BY
HEINRICH GRAETZ
VOL. IV
From the Rise of the Kabbala (1270 C. E.) to the
Permanent Settlement of the Marranos
in Holland (1618 C. E.)
PHILADELPHIA
The Jewish Publication Society of America
5717–1956
Copyright, 1894,
By the Jewish Publication Society of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher: except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
| CHAPTER I. | page |
| CULTIVATION OF THE KABBALA, AND PROSCRIPTION OF SCIENCE. | |
| Progress of the Kabbala—Todros Halevi and his Sons—Isaac Allatif and his Kabbalistic Doctrines—Adventurous Career of Abraham Abulafia—He assumes the Character of Messiah—Opposition of Ben Adret—The Prophet of Avila—Joseph Jikatilla and his Kabbalistic Mazes—The Impostor Moses de Leon—Forgeries of the Kabbalists—Origin of the Zohar—Its Doctrines and Influence—Shem-Tob Falaquera—Isaac Albalag—Levi of Villefranche—Samuel Sulami and Meïri—Abba-Mari's Exaggerated Zeal—Jacob ben Machir Profatius and the Controversy regarding the Study of Science—Asheri—The Poet Yedaya Bedaresi | 1 |
| 1270–1328 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| THE FIRST EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM FRANCE, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. | |
| Philip le Bel—The Jews of France plundered and banished—Estori Parchi; Aaron Cohen; Laments of Bedaresi—Eleazar of Chinon, the Martyr—Return of the Jews to France; their Precarious Position—Progress of the Controversy regarding the Study of Philosophy—Abba-Mari and Asheri—Death of Ben Adret—Rabbinical Revival in Spain—Isaac Israeli II—Samuel and the Queen Maria Molina—Don Juan Emanuel and Judah Ibn-Wakar—The Jews of Rome—Robert of Naples and the Jews—Peril of the Jews in Rome—Kalonymos ben Kalonymos, his Satires—Immanuel and Dante—The Poet Judah Siciliano—Leone Romano and King Robert—Shemarya Ikriti—Position of Karaism—Aaron the Elder and the Prayer-Book of the Karaites | 46 |
| 1306–1328 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| THE AGE OF THE ASHERIDES AND OF GERSONIDES. | |
| Condition of Palestine—Pilgrims and Immigrants—Shem Tob Ibn-Gaon—Favorable Position of the Jews in Castile under Alfonso XI—Persecution in Navarre—Joseph de Ecija and Samuel Ibn-Wakar—Increase of Anti-Jewish Feelings—Abner-Alfonso of Burgos, Convert to Christianity, and Persecutor of the Jews—Gonzalo Martinez—Fall of Martinez and Deliverance of the Jews—Decline of the Study of Science—The Study of the Talmud prosecuted with Renewed Vigor—Jacob and Judah Asheri—Isaac Pulgar, David Ibn-Albilla—The Provençal Philosophers Ibn-Kaspi, Leon de Bagnols, and Vidal Narboni—Decline of the Study of the Talmud in Germany—Emperor Louis of Bavaria and the Jews—Persecution by the "Leather-Arms" | 73 |
| 1328–1350 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| THE BLACK DEATH. | |
| Rise of the False Accusation against Jews of Poisoning the Wells—Massacres in Southern France and Catalonia—The Friendly Bull of Pope Clement VI—Terrible Massacres in all Parts of Germany—Confessions wrung from the Jews on the Rack—The Flagellants as a Scourge for the Jews—King Casimir of Poland—Persecution in Brussels—The Black Death in Spain—Don Pedro the Cruel and the Jews—Santob de Carrion and Samuel Abulafia—Fall of Don Pedro and its Consequences for the Jews—Return of the Jews to France and Germany—The "Golden Bull"—Manessier de Vesoul—Matathiah Meïr Halevi—Synod at Mayence | 100 |
| 1348–1380 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| THE AGE OF CHASDAÏ CRESCAS AND ISAAC BEN SHESHET. | |
| The Jews of Spain after the Civil War—Joseph Pichon and Samuel Abrabanel—The Apostates: John of Valladolid—Menachem ben Zerach, Chasdaï Crescas, and Isaac ben Sheshet—Chayim Gallipapa and his Innovations—Prevôt Aubriot and the Jews of Paris—The French Rabbinate—Revival of Jewish Influence in Spain—The Jews of Portugal—The Jewish Statesmen, David and Judah Negro—Rabbis and Clergy—Persecutions in Germany and Spain—The First Germs of the Inquisition—Second Expulsion of the Jews from France—The Convert Pessach-Peter—Lipmann of Mühlhausen | 136 |
| 1369–1380 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| JEWISH APOSTATES AND THE DISPUTATION AT TORTOSA. | |
| The Marranos—The Satirists—Pero Ferrus of Alcala, Diego de Valencia, and Villasandino—Astruc Raimuch and Solomon Bonfed—Paul de Santa Maria and his Zealous Campaign against the Jews—Joshua Ibn-Vives—Profiat Duran (Efodi)—Meïr Alguades—The Philosophy of Crescas—Death of Henry III of Castile and Unfavorable Change in the Position of the Jews—Messianic Dreams of the Kabbalists—Jews seek an Asylum in Northern Africa—Simon Duran—Geronimo de Santa Fé, Vincent Ferrer and Benedict XIII—Anti-Jewish Edict of Juan II—Special Jewish Costume—Conversion of Jews owing to Ferrer's Violent Efforts—Disputation at Tortosa—The Jewish Spokesmen at the Conference—Incidents of the Meeting—Geronimo instigates the Publication of a Bull for the Burning of the Talmud—Pope Martin V befriends the Jews | 179 |
| 1391–1420 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| THE HUSSITES. PROGRESS OF JEWISH LITERATURE. | |
| The Hussite Heresy—Consequences for the Jews involved in the Struggle—Jacob Mölin—Abraham Benveniste and Joseph Ibn-Shem Tob in the Service of the Castilian Court—Isaac Campanton, the Poet Solomon Dafiera—Moses da Rieti—Anti-Christian Polemical Literature—Chayim Ibn-Musa—Simon Duran and his Son Solomon—Joseph Albo as a Religious Philosopher—Jewish Philosophical Systems—Edict of the Council of Basle against the Jews—Fanatical Outbreaks in Majorca—Astruc Sibili and his Conversion to Christianity | 221 |
| 1420–1442 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| CAPISTRANO AND HIS PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS. | |
| Pope Eugenius IV, under the Influence of Alfonso de Cartagena, changes his Attitude towards the Jews—His Bull against the Spanish and Italian Jews in 1442—Don Juan II defends the Jews—Pope Nicholas V's Hostility—Louis of Bavaria—The Philosopher Nicholas of Cusa and his Relation to Judaism—John of Capistrano—His Influence with the People is turned against the Jews—Capistrano in Bavaria and Würzburg—Expulsion of the Breslau Community—Expulsion of the Jews from Brünn and Olmütz—The Jews of Poland under Casimir IV—Capture of Constantinople by Mahomet II—The Jews find an Asylum in Turkey—The Karaites—Moses Kapsali—Isaac Zarfati—Position of the Jews of Spain—Persecutions directed by Alfonso de Spina—The Condition of the Marranos | 248 |
| 1442–1474 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| THE JEWS IN ITALY AND GERMANY BEFORE THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN. | |
| Position of the Jews of Italy—The Jewish Bankers—Yechiel of Pisa—His Relations with Don Isaac Abrabanel—Jewish Physicians, Guglielmo di Portaleone—Revival of Learning among Italian Jews—Messer Leon and Elias del Medigo—Pico di Mirandola, the Disciple of Medigo—Predilection of Christians for the Kabbala—Jochanan Aleman—Religious Views of Del Medigo—German Rabbis immigrate into Italy—Joseph Kolon, his Character and his Feud with Messer Leon—Judah Menz, an Antagonist of Del Medigo—Bernardinus of Feltre—Jews banished from Trent on a False Charge of Child-Murder—The Doge of Venice and Pope Sixtus IV befriend the Jews—Sufferings of the Jews of Ratisbon—Israel Bruna—Synod at Nuremberg—Emperor Frederick III | 285 |
| 1474–1492 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN. | |
| Jewish Blood in the Veins of the Spanish Nobility—The Marranos cling to Judaism and manifest Unconquerable Antipathy to Christianity—Ferdinand and Isabella—The Dominicans, Alfonso de Ojeda, Diego de Merlo, and Pedro de Solis—The Catechism of the Marranos—A Polemical Work against the Catholic Church and Despotism gives a Powerful Impulse to the Inquisition—The Tribunal is established in 1480—Miguel Morillo and Juan de San Martin are the first Inquisitors—The Inquisition in Seville—The "Edict of Grace"—The Procession and the Auto-da-fé—The Numbers of the Accused and Condemned—Pope Sixtus IV and his Vacillating Policy with Regard to the Inquisition—The Inquisition under the first Inquisitor General, Thomas de Torquemada; its Constitutions—The Marranos of Aragon—They are charged with the Death of the Inquisitor Arbues—Persecutions and Victims—Proceedings against two Bishops Favorable to the Jews, De Avila and De Aranda | 308 |
| 1474–1483 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN. | |
| Friendship of Marranos and Jews—Torquemada demands of the Rabbis of Toledo the Denunciation of Marranos—Judah Ibn-Verga—Jewish Courtiers under Ferdinand and Isabella—Isaac Abrabanel: his History and Writings—The Jews of Portugal under Alfonso V—The Ibn-Yachya Brothers—Abrabanel's Flight from Portugal to Spain—The Jews of Granada: Isaac Hamon—Edict of Banishment promulgated by Ferdinand and Isabella—Its Consequences—Departure from Spain—Number of the Exiles—Decline in the Prosperity of Spain after the Banishment of the Jews—Transformation of Synagogues and Schools into Churches and Monasteries—The Inquisition and the Marranos—Deza, the Successor of Torquemada | 334 |
| 1483–1492 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM NAVARRE AND PORTUGAL. | |
| The Exiles from Navarre—Migration to Naples—King Ferdinand I of Naples and Abrabanel—Leon Abrabanel—Misfortunes of the Jews in Fez, Genoa, Rome, and the Islands of Greece—The Sultan Bajazet—Moses Kapsali—Spanish Jews in Portugal—The Jewish Astronomers, Abraham Zacuto and José Vecinho—The Jewish Travelers, Abraham de Beya and Joseph Zapateiro—Outbreak of the Plague among the Spanish Jews in Portugal—Sufferings of the Portuguese Exiles—Judah Chayyat and his Fellow-Sufferers—Cruelty of João II—Kindly Treatment by Manoel changed into Cruelty on his Marriage—Forcible Baptism of Jewish Children—Levi ben Chabib and Isaac Caro—Pope Alexander VI—Manoel's Efforts on Behalf of the Portuguese Marranos—Death of Simon Maimi and Abraham Saba | 357 |
| 1492–1498 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| RESULTS OF THE EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. GENERAL VIEW. | |
| Widespread Consequences of the Expulsion—The Exiles—Fate of the Abrabanel Family—Leon Medigo—Isaac Akrish—The Pre-eminence of Jews of Spanish Origin—The North-African States: Samuel Alvalensi, Jacob Berab, Simon Duran II—The Jews of Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis—Abraham Zacuto and Moses Alashkar—Egypt: Isaac Shalal, David Ibn-Abi Zimra—The Jews of Cairo—Selim I—Cessation of the Office of Nagid—Jerusalem—Obadyah di Bertinoro—Safet and Joseph Saragossi—The Jews of Turkey—Constantinople—Elias Mizrachi: the Karaites—The Communities of Salonica and Adrianople—The Jews of Greece—Elias Kapsali—The Jews of Italy and the Popes: Bonet de Lates—The Ghetto in Venice—Samuel Abrabanel and Benvenida Abrabanela—Abraham Farissol—The Jews of Germany and their Sorrows—Expulsion of the Jews from Various Towns—The Jews of Bohemia—Jacob Polak and his School—The Jews of Poland | 382 |
| 1496–1525 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| REUCHLIN AND THE TALMUD. | |
| Antecedents of the Convert John Pfefferkorn—Pfefferkorn and the Dominicans of Cologne—Hoogstraten, Ortuinus Gratius and Arnold of Tongern—Victor von Karben—Attacks on the Talmud and Confiscation of Copies in Frankfort—Reuchlin's Hebrew and Kabbalistic Studies—The Controversy concerning the Talmud—Activity on both Sides—Public Excitement—Complete Victory of Reuchlin's Efforts in Defense of Jewish Literature—Ulrich von Hutten—Luther—Revival of Hebrew Studies | 422 |
| 1500–1520 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| THE KABBALA AND MESSIANIC FANATICISM. THE MARRANOS AND THE INQUISITION. | |
| Internal Condition of Judaism—Division in the Communities—The Lack of Interest in Poetry—Historical Studies—-Leon Medigo's "Dialogues of Love"—Supremacy of the Kabbala—Messianic Hopes—The Marranos and the Inquisition—Henrique Nunes—The Traveler David Reubeni in Rome—Solomon Molcho—His Relations with David Reubeni—Joseph Karo and his "Maggid"—Clement VII—Molcho in Ancona and Rome—His Favor with the Cardinals—Death of Molcho—The Enthusiastic Regard in which he was held—Duarte de Paz—Paul III—Charles V and the Jews—Emanuel da Costa | 477 |
| 1500–1538 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| STRIVINGS OF EASTERN JEWS FOR UNITY. SUFFERING IN THE WEST. | |
| Efforts towards Unity—Jacob Berab proposes the Re-introduction of Rabbinical Ordination into Palestine—Successful Opposition of Levi ben Chabib—Joseph Karo—His Connection with Solomon Molcho and his Messianic Visions—Karo's Religious Code—Converts to Judaism at the Era of the Reformation—Expulsion of the Jews from Naples and Prague—Their Return to the latter Town—Dr. Eck—Martin Luther and the Jews—Moses Hamon—Jewish Histories by Joseph Cohen, the Ibn-Vergas, and Samuel Usque—Elegy of Samuel Usque—Reaction in the Catholic Church; Loyola establishes the Order of Jesuits—The Censorship of Books—Eliano Romano and Vittorio Eliano—Fresh Attacks on the Talmud—Paul IV and his anti-Jewish Bulls—Persecution of the Marranos by the Inquisition in Ancona—Joseph Nassi—The Levantine Jews—Expulsion of the Jews from Austria and Bohemia—Relations of Pope Pius IV and V to the Jews | 529 |
| 1538–1566 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| THE JEWS IN TURKEY. DON JOSEPH NASSI. | |
| Joseph Nassi's Favor with Sultan Solyman—His Friendship for Prince Selim—Hostility of Venice and France to Nassi—Joseph Nassi restores Tiberias, and is created Duke of Naxos—The Vizir Mahomet Sokolli—The Turks, at the Instigation of Nassi, conquer Cyprus—Rebellion against Philip II in the Netherlands—Solomon Ashkenazi—Election of Henry of Anjou as King of Poland—Ashkenazi negotiates a Peace between Venice and Turkey—Gedalya Ibn-Yachya and Jewish Literature in Turkey—Joseph Karo compiles the "Shulchan Aruch"—Azarya deï Rossi—Isaac Lurya—The Jewish "Dark Age"—Spread of the Kabbala—Lurya's Disciple, Chayim Vital Calabrese—Death of Joseph Nassi—Esther Kiera and the Influence of Jewish Women in Turkey | 593 |
| 1566–1600 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| THE JEWS IN POLAND. | |
| Condition of Poland—Favorable Situation of the Jews in that Country—Anti-Jewish Party in Poland—The Jewish Communities—Judaizing Poles—Studies of the Jews—The Talmud in Poland—Solomon Lurya—Moses Isserles—The Historian, David Gans—"Zemach David"—Supremacy of the Polish Authorities in Rabbinical Matters—The Jewish Seminaries in Poland—The Disputations at the Fairs—Chiddushim and Chillukim—Stephen Bathori—His Kindness towards his Jewish Subjects—Sigismund III—Restriction on the Erection of Synagogues—Jewish Synods—Vaad Arba Arazoth—Mordecai Jafa—Christian Sects in Poland—The Socinians or Unitarians—Simon Budny—The Reformers and the Jews—Isaac Troki—"The Strengthening of Faith" | 631 |
| 1566–1600 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| SETTLEMENT OF JEWS IN HOLLAND. FEEBLE ATTEMPTS AT ENFRANCHISEMENT. | |
| Revival of Catholicism—Decay in European Culture—Ill-treatment of Jews in Berlin—Emperor Rudolph II of Austria—Diminution in the Numbers of Italian Jews—Pope Gregory XIII—Confiscation of Copies of the Talmud—Vigorous Attempts at the Conversion of Jews—Pope Sixtus V—The Jewish Physician David de Pomis—Renewal of Persecution by Clement VIII—Expulsion from Various Italian States—The Censors and the Talmud—The Jews at Ferrara—Settlement of Jews in Holland—Samuel Pallache—Jacob Tirado and the Marranos in Amsterdam—Tolerant Treatment—The Poet, David Jesurun—Moses Uri—Hebrew Printing in Amsterdam | 650 |
| 1593–1618 C.E. | |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| THE DUTCH JERUSALEM AND THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. | |
| The Amsterdam Jewish Community—Its Wealth, Culture, and Honored Position—Zacuto Lusitano—Internal Dissensions—The Talmud Torah School—Saul Morteira, Isaac Aboab, and Manasseh ben Israel—The Portuguese Congregation in Hamburg—The First Synagogue—Lutheran Intolerance—John Miller—Jewish Colony in Brazil—The Chief Communities in Germany—Persecution in Frankfort—Dr. Chemnitz—The Vienna Congregation—Lipmann Heller—Ferdinand II's Zeal for the Conversion of Jews—Influence of the Thirty Years' War on the Fortunes of the Jews | 676 |
| 1618–1648 C.E. |
Progress of the Kabbala—Todros Halevi and his Sons—Isaac Allatif and his Kabbalistic Doctrines—Adventurous Career of Abraham Abulafia—He assumes the Character of Messiah—Opposition of Ben Adret—The Prophet of Avila—Joseph Jikatilla and his Kabbalistic Mazes—The Impostor Moses de Leon—Forgeries of the Kabbalists—Origin of the Zohar—Its Doctrines and Influence—Shem-Tob Falaquera—Isaac Albalag—Levi of Villefranche—Samuel Sulami and Meïri—Abba-Mari's Exaggerated Zeal—Jacob ben Machir Profatius and the Controversy regarding the Study of Science—Asheri—The Poet Yedaya Bedaresi.
1270–1328 C.E.
The secret science of the Kabbala, which hitherto had assumed a modest deportment and been of a harmless character, began to foment discord in Ben Adret's time, ensnare the intelligence and lead astray the weak. What it lacked in intrinsic truth and power of conviction, it endeavored to supply by presumptuousness. It had already spread from Gerona, its original seat, and from northern Spain by way of Segovia to southern Spain, as far as the Castilian capital, Toledo, the Jewish community of which had before strenuously opposed obscurantism. In the city of Toledo the Kabbala won the adherence, among others, of one man who, by his noble birth, his princely state, his high position, his wealth and learning, gave it great weight. This man, whose influence is even now not fully recognized, was Todros ben Joseph Halevi, of the noble Toledan family of Abulafia (born 1234, died after 1304). He was a nephew of that Meïr Abulafia who had been so obstinate an adversary of Maimuni and rationalistic thought. Todros Abulafia took as a model his uncle, who in his old age had laid his hands on his head, and blessed him. When he grew up, he applied himself to the Talmud and to secret lore; but he must have been a man of affairs, too, for he obtained an honorable position at the court of Sancho IV, and was in special favor with the wise queen, Maria de Molina, as a physician and financier. By the Jews he was esteemed and venerated as their prince (Nasi). When the king and queen of Spain held a meeting in Bayonne with the king of France, Philip le Bel, to settle their mutual hostilities (1290), Todros Abulafia was in the train of the former, and received the most flattering homage from the Jews of southern France. Todros, like his uncle, was a determined opponent of philosophy and its devotees. He had no words bitter enough against the would-be wise people who hold everything which appears incompatible with logic as incredible and impossible. Even Maimuni, whom he highly respected, he censured for undervaluing the importance of the sacrifices so greatly as to explain them merely as a concession to the heathen propensities of the people, and for calling the offering of incense an expedient for purifying the air. He waged vehement warfare against the philosophy which denies the existence of evil spirits, which to him was identical with doubting the existence of angels. Having been initiated into the secret science by one of the earliest Kabbalists, perhaps by Jacob of Segovia, who formed a school of his own, Todros valued it as divine wisdom, to uncover whose veil to laymen was fraught with danger. The recognition of the secret doctrine by a person of so high a position could not but produce some effect. His sons, Levi and Joseph, likewise plunged headlong into its study. Two of the four Kabbalists of his time, who developed the Kabbala, and extended its influence, ranged themselves under the banner of Todros Abulafia, and dedicated their compositions to him. These four Kabbalists of the first rank, who established new theories with more or less success, were Isaac Ibn-Latif, Abraham Abulafia, Joseph Jikatilla, and Moses de Leon, all Spaniards. They obscured the mental light, with which men of intellect, from Saadiah to Maimuni, had illumined Judaism, and substituted for a refined religious belief, fantastic and even blasphemous chimeras. The intellectual degradation of the Jews in the following centuries is to a large extent their work. They led astray both their own times and posterity through designed or unintentional imposition, and the injuries which they inflicted on Judaism are felt even at the present day.
The least harmful of these four was Isaac ben Abraham Ibn-Latif or Allatif (born about 1220, died about 1290). He no doubt owed his origin to the south of Spain, for he was acquainted with Arabic. Nothing is known of his history beyond the fact that he was on friendly terms with Todros Abulafia, to whom he dedicated one of his works. His writings, as has been said by one who came after him, seem to "stand with one foot on philosophy and with the other on the Kabbala." But Allatif only toyed with philosophical formulæ, their meaning does not seem to have become known to him. He was not of a thoughtful nature, and did not enrich the Kabbala, although he attempted to give himself the appearance of following original methods, and avoided the usual Kabbalistic expressions. Allatif started with the thought that a philosophical view of Judaism was not the "right road to the sanctuary," and that it was, therefore, needful to seek a higher conception, but, instead of making the way clear, he concealed it by empty allusions and unmeaning phrases. Allatif laid more weight than his predecessors on the close connection between the spiritual and the material world—between God and His creation. For the Godhead is in all, and all is in it. In soul-inspiring prayers the human spirit is raised to the world-spirit (Sechel ha-Poel), to which it is united "in a kiss," and, so influencing the Divinity, it draws down blessings on the sublunar world. But not every mortal is capable of such spiritual and efficacious prayer; therefore, the prophets, the most perfect men, were obliged to pray for the people, for they alone knew the power of prayer. The unfolding and revelation of the Deity in the world of spirits, spheres and bodies, were explained by Isaac Allatif in mathematical formulæ. Isaac Allatif must, however, be considered a clear thinker, when compared with his enthusiastic contemporary, Abraham Abulafia, who endeavored to establish a new order of things by Kabbalistic sophisms.
Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (born 1240, in Saragossa, died 1291) was an eccentric personage, full of whims, and fond of adventures. Endowed with a lively mind and with more than a moderate amount of knowledge, he renounced the ways of common sense to throw himself into the arms of enthusiasm. His whole life from his entry into manhood was a succession of adventures. His father, who had instructed him in the Bible and the Talmud, died when his son was a youth of eighteen, and two years later Abraham undertook a journey of adventure, as he relates, in order to discover the mythical river Sabbation or Sambation, and to become acquainted with the supposed Israelite tribes dwelling on its banks, no doubt with a Messianic purpose. His mind was in a constant tumult. He wrestled for clearness, but fell ever deeper into mazes and illusions. One thing, however, became evident to him, that the philosophy with which he had much occupied himself offered no certainty, and, therefore, no satisfaction to the religious mind thirsting after truth. Even the trite Kabbala as commonly accepted, with its doctrine about the Sefiroth, did not satisfy his soul, since both only nursed the pride of knowledge. He, a Kabbalist, criticised the unsoundness of this mystic theory so severely and correctly that it is surprising that he should have conceived still more insane notions. Abraham Abulafia sought after something higher, for prophetic inspiration, which alone opens the fountain of truth, without traversing the laborious path of systematic application.
At length Abulafia believed that he had found what his soul was yearning for, and that through divine inspiration he had come upon a higher Kabbala, in relation to which the lower mystical doctrine and philosophy were only handmaids. This Kabbala alone, he maintained, offers the means of coming into spiritual communion with the Godhead, and of obtaining prophetic insight. This means was far from new, but the firm conviction of its effectiveness and his application of it are peculiar to Abulafia. To decompose the words of Holy Writ, especially the all-hallowed name of God, to use the letters as independent notions (Notaricon), or to transpose the component parts of a word in all possible permutations, so as to form words from them (Tsiruf), or finally to employ the letters as numbers (Gematria), these are the means of securing communion with the spirit-world. But this alone is not sufficient. He who desires to render himself worthy of a prophetic revelation, must adopt an ascetic mode of living, must remove himself from the turmoil of the world, shut himself up in a quiet chamber, deliver his soul from earthly cares, clothe himself in white garments, wrap himself up with Talith and Phylacteries, and devoutly prepare his soul, as if for an interview with the Deity. Besides, he must pronounce the letters of God's name at intervals, with modulations of the voice, or write them down in a certain order, at the same time making energetic movements, writhing and bending forward till the mind becomes dazed, and the heart filled with a glow. Then the body will be surprised by sleep, and a sensation will arise, as if the soul were released from the body. In this condition, if it become lasting through practice, the divine grace is poured into the human soul, uniting with it in a kiss, and the prophetic revelation follows quite naturally. This means of working himself up into a state of ecstasy Abulafia certainly practiced, exciting his heated fancy to delirium. He considered his Kabbala to be prophetic inspiration, by means of which he alone could penetrate into the secrets of the Torah. For the plain sense of the words and the simple practice of the religious precepts were merely for the uninitiated, like milk for children. Experts, on the other hand, find the higher wisdom in the numerical value of the letters and in the manifold changes of the words.
In this way he laid down his Kabbala, in antithesis to the superficial or baser Kabbala, which occupies itself with the Sefiroth, and, as he gibingly said, erects a sort of Decem-unity instead of the Christian Trinity. He lectured on his Kabbala in Barcelona, Burgos, and Medina-Celi. So low was the general intelligence, that this half-insane enthusiast found old and young to listen to him. Two of his disciples, Joseph Jikatilla, and Samuel, alleged to be a prophet, both of Medina-Celi, proclaimed themselves to be prophets and workers of miracles. Abulafia appears, nevertheless, to have aroused opposition in Spain, or at least not to have found any real sympathy; he left his native country a second time, betaking himself once more to Italy, where he reckoned upon stronger support. In Urbino for the first time he produced prophetic writings, and alleged that God had spoken with him. At last he conceived the mad idea of converting the pope to Judaism (Sabbath-eve, 1281). The attempt cost him dear. He was arrested two days later in Rome, languished twenty-eight days in prison, and escaped the stake only through the circumstance that God, as he expressed it, had caused a double mouth (or tongue?) to grow in him. Possibly he told the pope that he, too, taught the doctrine of the Trinity. After this he was allowed to walk about Rome in freedom. Thence Abulafia proceeded to the island of Sicily, and in Messina he met with a favorable reception, gaining six adherents. Here he finally proclaimed that he was not only a prophet but the Messiah, and set forth his claims in writing (November, 1284). God, he said, had revealed to him His secrets, and had announced to him the end of the exile and the beginning of the Messianic redemption. The gracious event was to take place in the year 1290. Mysticism has always been the ground on which Messianic fancies have thriven.
Through strictly moral deportment, ascetic life and revelations veiled in obscure formulæ, perhaps also through his winning personality and boldness, Abraham Abulafia found many in Sicily who believed in him, and began to make preparations for returning to the Holy Land. But the intelligent part of the Sicilian congregation hesitated to join him without investigation. They addressed themselves to Solomon ben Adret, to obtain information from him respecting Abraham Abulafia. The rabbi of Barcelona, who was acquainted with Abulafia's earlier career, sent an earnest letter to the community of Palermo, in which he severely condemned the self-constituted Messiah as illiterate and dangerous. Naturally, Abulafia did not allow this attack to remain unanswered, but proceeded to defend himself from the denunciation. In a letter he justified his prophetic Kabbala, and hurled back Ben Adret's invectives in language so undignified that many thought the letter not genuine.
But his abusive retort was of no avail, for other congregations and rabbis, who may have feared that a persecution might be the consequence of his fantastic doctrines, also expressed themselves against Abulafia. He was harassed so much in Sicily that he had to leave the island, and settle in the tiny isle of Comino, near Malta (about 1288). Here he continued to publish mystical writings, and to assert that he would bring deliverance to Israel. Persecution had embittered him. He leveled charges against his brethren in faith, who in their stubbornness would not listen to him: "Whilst the Christians believe in my words, the Jews eschew them, and absolutely refuse to know anything of the calculation of God's name, but prefer the calculation of their money." Of those who exclusively occupied themselves with the Talmud, Abulafia said that they were seized by an incurable disease, and that they were far inferior to those skilled in the higher Kabbala. Abraham Abulafia, besides twenty-six on other subjects, composed at least twenty-two so-called prophetic works, which, although the product of a diseased brain, were used by the later Kabbalists. What at last became of the prophetic and Messianic enthusiast and adventurer is not known.
His extravagant conduct did not fail to produce evil consequences, even in his own time, and was as infectious as an epidemic. About the same time there arose in Spain two enthusiasts, of whom one was probably Abraham Abulafia's disciple. One of them made his appearance in the small town Ayllon (in the district of Segovia), the other in the large congregation of Avila. Both proclaimed themselves to be prophets, and announced in mystic language the advent of the Messianic kingdom. Both found followers. The adherents of the prophet of Avila related, that in his youth he had been ignorant, and could neither read nor write; that an angel, who appeared to him in his sleeping, and sometimes also in his waking moments, suddenly endowed him through higher inspiration, with the power of writing a comprehensive work, full of mystical ideas, and a diffuse commentary (without which at that time no fairly respectable book could be conceived). When the people of Avila and remote congregations heard of this they wondered greatly. The story excited extraordinary interest, and the representatives of the congregation of Avila consulted Solomon ben Adret, the last commanding authority of that time, as to whether they should accept this new prophecy.
Himself a partial follower of the secret science, subscribing only to the Biblical and the Talmudical miracles, the rabbi of Barcelona replied that he would have considered the affair of the prophet of Avila as arrant fraud, if trustworthy people had not attested its truth. Still he could not possibly recognize him as a prophet, for he lacked the principal conditions which the Talmud lays down as essential to prophecy: outside of Palestine, prophecy is altogether impossible; the age is not suitable for prophetic revelation, and the prophetic spirit can not rest upon a perfectly ignorant person. It was incredible that a man should go to bed an idiot and get up a prophet. The story required the most painstaking and impartial investigation.
In spite of the warning of the most honored rabbi of the time, the prophet of Avila pursued his course, and fixed the last day of the fourth month (1295) as the beginning of the Messianic redemption. The easily influenced and ignorant multitude made preparations for its coming, fasted, and spent money lavishly in alms, that they might be found acceptable in the Messianic kingdom, and be permitted to partake of its bliss. On the appointed day, the deluded people, dressed as on the Day of Atonement, hastened to the synagogues, and waited there to hear the trumpet-blasts announcing the Messianic advent. But the expected Messiah did not show himself, nor was there any sign of him. Instead, they are said to have noticed on their garments small crosses, for which they were totally unprepared, and which partly sobered and partly terrified them. It is possible that some of the incredulous in the congregation had fastened the crosses secretly on their garments, either to practice a joke upon their credulous brethren, or to point out to what end Messianic charlatanry was destined to lead them, and thus cure them of their delusion. Some of the impostor's followers are said to have gone over to Christianity in consequence of this incident; others, to have been plunged into melancholy, because they could not explain the presence of the crosses. What became of the prophets, or beguiled deceivers, of Ayllon and Avila is not related. Like Abraham Abulafia they were lost sight of, and have importance only as the excrescences of a diseased state. It is possible that another disciple of Abulafia, Joseph Jikatilla, who also was looked upon as a performer of miracles, and had his dwelling not far from Ayllon, played a part in the mad or deceitful pranks of the prophets of Ayllon and Avila. Joseph ben Abraham Jikatilla (born in Medina-Celi, died in Penjafiel, after 1305), heard, at the age of twenty years, an exposition of the bewildering secret doctrine of Abulafia, and whilst the latter still was in Spain, he composed a Kabbalistic book of his own, in which he exhibits the same eccentricities as his master. He, too, occupied himself with the mysticism of letters and numbers, and with the transposition of letters. Joseph Jikatilla's writings are in reality only an echo of Abraham Abulafia's fancies; the same delusion is apparent in both. But far more influential and more pernicious than these three Kabbalists, Allatif, Abulafia, and Jikatilla, was Moses de Leon, whose ascendancy was felt both by his contemporaries and posterity. Although a contemporary and fellow-specialist unmasked his performances, Moses de Leon succeeded in introducing into Jewish literature and thought a book which gave the Kabbala a firm foundation and wide extension, in brief, raised it to the zenith of its power. The question about Moses ben Shem Tob de Leon (born in Leon about 1250, died in Arevalo, 1305) is only whether he was a selfish or a pious impostor. His intention was certainly to deceive and lead astray, and in this respect he appears much baser than Abulafia, who at all events was sincere and naïve in his delusion. A sciolist, who had mastered neither the Talmud nor any other subject thoroughly, Moses possessed the skill to use deftly the little that he knew, to write easily and fluently, to discover a connection between the most remote things and verses of Scripture piled up in the chamber of his memory, and to couple them with playful wit. Even the Kabbala was not present to him as a system; he knew merely its forms and technical terms, and employed them in a skillful manner.
Of careless prodigality, Moses de Leon expended everything that he had without reflecting what would remain for the morrow; he made use of the Kabbala which had come into fashion to procure for himself a rich source of revenue. He led a wandering life, lived a long time in Guadalaxara, then in Viverro, in Valladolid, and finally in Avila. At first he published his intellectual productions under his own name (about 1285). His writings, however, were not sufficiently noticed, and brought him but little fame and money. Moses de Leon then hit upon a much more effective means for opening hearts and purses. He commenced the composition of books under feigned but honored names. If he put the doctrines of the Kabbala, worn threadbare, to be sure, into the mouth of an older, highly venerated authority, some imposing name from the dazzling past,—taking care, of course, to make the coloring and the method of presentation archaic—would not such a composition be eagerly swallowed? Would he not be richly rewarded if he hinted that he was in possession of so costly a treasure? Moses de Leon knew well the credulity of those who devoted themselves with more or less earnestness to the study of the Kabbala; how they eagerly sought for every word which they were led to think originated from ancient times. For, since the secret science had been promulgated, and had striven for recognition, doctrines which sounded Kabbalistic had been fathered upon old and illustrious names, and thus had found acceptance. But Moses de Leon did his work much more cleverly than most forgers. He found the most likely author for the secret doctrine, against whom there could be little or no objection, in the person of the Tanaite Simon bar Yochaï, who is said to have spent thirteen years in a cave, solitary and buried in profound reflection, and whom ancient mysticism represented as receiving revelations. Simon bar Yochaï was assuredly the right authority for the Kabbala. But he must not be permitted to write or speak Hebrew, for in this language the Kabbalists would recognize the echo of their own voices. He must express himself in Chaldee, in a half obscure language, peculiarly fit for secrets, and sounding as if from another world. And thus there came into the world a book, the book Zohar (brilliancy), which for many centuries was held by Jews as a heavenly revelation, and was and partly is even now regarded by Christians as an old tradition. But seldom has so notorious a forgery so thoroughly succeeded. Moses de Leon well knew how to produce the proper effect on credulous readers. He made Simon bar Yochaï appear in splendor, surrounded by a halo, in the book Zohar, and impart his revelation to a circle of select pupils (sometimes twelve, sometimes six), "scholars who shine with heaven's light." "When they assembled to compose the Zohar, permission was granted to the prophet Elijah, to all the members of the celestial conclave, all the angels, spirits, and higher souls to act in sympathy with them, and the ten spiritual substances (Sefiroth) were charged with the duty of revealing to them deeply hidden secrets, reserved for the time of the Messiah." Or in another version: Simon bar Yochaï summoned his followers to a great council, and heard the flapping of the wings of the celestial host, who also had assembled to listen to the disclosure of mysteries till then unknown even to the angels. The Zohar glorifies its author excessively. It calls him the holy light, who stands higher than the greatest prophet, Moses, "the faithful shepherd." "I swear by the holy heavens and the holy earth," the Zohar makes Simon bar Yochaï exclaim, "that I behold now what no other mortal since Moses ascended Sinai for the second time has beheld, aye, even more than he. Moses knew not that his countenance shone; I, however, know that my countenance shines." On account of God's love for the writer of the Zohar, his generation merited the revelation of truths till then hidden. As long as he who illumines everything lives, the sources of the world are opened and all secrets are disclosed. "Woe to the generation forsaken by Simon bar Yochaï." He is almost deified in the Zohar. His disciples once broke out into ecstatic praise that he had mounted the degrees to heavenly wisdom, which none of his predecessors had done; and of him it is written in Scripture, "All men are to appear before the lord," i.e., before Simon bar Yochaï. This extravagant glorification and self-deification, sufficient to mark a forgery, are not without design. They were to meet the objection, how the Kabbala, so long unknown, and kept secret by the prudent Kabbalists—for they had hesitated to impart any of it in writing—how this mysterious wisdom could all at once come to light, and be revealed to every one's knowledge. The Zohar frequently uses the following excuse: As the time in which Simon bar Yochaï lived was especially meritorious and rich in grace, and as the Messianic period was near, the veil which had concealed the book so long could now be drawn aside.
There are certainly very few compositions which have exercised so much influence as the Zohar, or which can be compared with it in regard to the remarkable nature of its contents and form. It is a book without beginning or end, of which it is unknown whether it once formed part of a whole, whether the extant portions originally belonged to it, or were added later, or whether at an earlier period more of it was in existence. It consists of three principal parts, with appendices and explanatory comments. The absence of form in this farrago made it possible for certain portions to be imitated. It is so easy and tempting to imitate its wild though sonorous style. Thus the forgery was counter-forged. It is not positively certain whether the Zohar is to be regarded as a running commentary to the Pentateuch, as a theosophic manual, or as a collection of Kabbalistic sermons. And its contents are just as curious, confused and chaotic as its form and external dress. The Zohar with its appendages in no wise develops a Kabbalistic system like Azriel's, neither does it unfold an idea like Abraham Abulafia, but plays with the Kabbalistic forms as with counters—with the En-Sof, with the number of the Sefiroth, with points and strokes, with vowels, accents, with the names of God and the transposition of their letters, as well as with the Biblical verses and Agadic sayings—casts them about in eternal repetition, and in this manner produces sheer absurdities. Occasionally it gives a faint suggestion of an idea, but in a trice it evaporates in feverish fancies, or dissolves in childish silliness.
The underlying principle of the Zohar (if we may speak of principles in reference to this book) is that the historical narratives and religious statutes of the Bible were never intended to be understood in a plain, simple sense, but that they contain something higher, mysterious, supernatural. "Is it conceivable," the Zohar makes one of Simon bar Yochaï's circle exclaim, "that God had no holier matters to communicate than these common things about Esau and Hagar, Laban and Jacob, Balaam's ass, Balak's jealousy of Israel, and Zimri's lewdness? Does a collection of such tales, taken in their ordinary sense, deserve the name of Torah? And can it be said of such a revelation that it utters the pure truth?" "If that is all the Torah contains," remarks Simon bar Yochaï (or Moses de Leon), "we can produce in our time a book as good as this, aye, perhaps better. No, no! the higher, mystical sense of the Torah is its true sense. The Biblical narratives resemble a beautiful dress, which enraptures fools so that they do not look beneath it. This robe, however, covers a body, i.e., the precepts of the Law, and this again a soul, the higher soul. Woe to the guilty, who assert that the Torah contains only simple stories, and therefore look only upon the dress. Blessed are the righteous, who seek the real sense of the Law. The jar is not the wine, so stories do not make up the Torah." Thus the secret lore of Moses de Leon naturally has free play to pervert everything and anything, and give it the seal of sublimity, and in this manner to promulgate a false doctrine, not only absurd, sometimes even blasphemous and immoral. All laws of the Torah are to be considered as parts and constituents of a higher world; they resolve themselves into the mysteries of the masculine and feminine principle (positive and negative). Only when both parts meet, does the higher unity arise. Consequently, whenever any one transgresses one of the laws, he obscures the brilliant image of the higher world.
It is almost impossible to give an idea of the abuse which the Zohar, or Moses de Leon, practices in the interpretation of Holy Writ, and how he twists the sense of the words. In the verse, "Raise your eyes to heaven, and see who has created this," a profound mystery is supposed to reside, which the prophet Elijah learned in the celestial school, and revealed to Simon bar Yochaï; namely, that God had been unknown and obscure before the creation of the world, in a manner existing, and still not existing. He was the "Who" (the unknown subject). The creation is part of His self-revelation. It was by the creation that He first proclaimed Himself as God.
The Zohar is particularly concerned with that side of man which is an eternal riddle to man,—the soul, its origin and end. Like the older Kabbalists, the Zohar assumed the pre-existence of the souls in the brilliant world of the Sefiroth. They are there wrapped in a spiritual robe, and entranced in the contemplation of God's light. When the souls are about to enter this world they assume an earthly garment, the body; but as soon as they are to leave the earth, the angel of death divests them of this earthly garment. If a soul lives piously and morally here below, it receives its former heavenly robe, and can once more enjoy the blissful ecstasy of God's presence; if not, particularly if it departs from the world impenitent, it wanders about naked and ashamed till purified in hell. The nakedness of the soul, paradise and hell—depicted in fantastic, baroque, and terrible images—are themes for which the Zohar often and gladly makes digressions. What happens to the soul during sleep, and the shadows of life—sin, impurity in small and great things—are likewise favorite subjects for discussion in the Zohar, to which it frequently reverts, presenting them in the greatest variety of guises and repetitions. One of the older Kabbalists arrived at the notion that to the higher world, the world of light, of holiness, and of angels, there was a sharp antithesis—a world of darkness, of unholiness, of Satan, in short the principle of evil, which was likewise developed into ten degrees (Sefiroth) at the creation of the world. In spite of their opposite characters, the two worlds are of one origin, forming opposite poles, and are in the same relation to each other as the right side is to the left. Accordingly, evil is called in the language of the Kabbalists the left or other side. The Kabbalists gave another representation of the Satanic empire. On the border of the world of light, the world of darkness is situated, and encompasses it as the shell surrounds the kernel of the fruit. Hence the Zohar metaphorically designates evil, or sin, with its ten degrees, as shell (Kelifa). This side is the favorite topic of the Zohar; for here it can apply its peculiar exposition of the Scriptures. The ten Sefiroth of the left side, the Satanic kingdom, are enumerated and denominated by names which savor of barbarism. The names sound like those of the princes of the demons in the book of Enoch, and are perhaps borrowed thence: Samael or Samiel, Azael, Angiel, Sariel, Kartiel. The Zohar identifies all blasphemers and wicked people with the evil principle of the "shells" (Kelifoth)—the first serpent, Cain, Esau, Pharaoh, and Esau's empire, Rome, and the civil and spiritual power of Christendom in the Middle Ages, which rested on violence and injustice. Israel and righteous people, on the other hand, belong to the world of light, the right Sefiroth. "He who goes after the left side (sin), and defiles his actions, draws upon himself the impure spirits; they attach themselves to him, nor do they ever leave him." The laws of the Torah have no other object than to effect and cherish the union of the souls with the world of light. Every transgression of them brings the souls to the world of darkness, evil spirits, and impurity. The Zohar coarsely represents the connection of the souls with light or with darkness by the image of wedded union, as, in general, it asserts the masculine and feminine principle in the higher world, even in reference to the Deity. As long as Israel lives in exile, the divine unity is deficient and disrupted; God will become one only in those days when the Mistress (Matronita) will espouse the King.
Moses de Leon would have left a gap, if he had not spoken of the Messianic period—the keynote of the Kabbala—and determined its date. In fact, the sudden revelation of the doctrine so long held secret rests on the assumption that the time of the Messiah is near. But here the forger betrays himself. Instead of indicating a period or a year for the appearance of the Messiah approximating the age of Simon bar Yochaï (in the second century), the Zohar, with its casuistical playing with letters and numbers, demonstrated that it would happen in the beginning of the fourteenth century, therefore in the lifetime of the author. "When the sixtieth or the sixty-sixth year will pass the threshold of the sixth thousand, the Messiah will show himself;" but some time will pass before all nations will be conquered, and Israel be gathered together. The Messiah will first be summoned to appear on earth from his secret abode in Paradise, "the bird's nest," where he has been dwelling in bliss since the beginning of the world. A bloody conflict will then break out in the world. Edom and Ishmael (Christian and Mahometan nations) will vehemently contend with one another, and eventually both will be annihilated by a mightier conquering people. Signs and miracles will presage the time, and the resurrection of the dead and a general diffusion of the Kabbalistic knowledge of God will constitute the end of the world. Moses de Leon intended to arouse in the minds of his contemporaries the hope that they would behold the time of the Messiah with their own eyes. He was perhaps as much a victim to Messianic enthusiasm as Abraham Abulafia. Despite the Zohar's endeavor to exalt rabbinical Judaism and its law, and by a mystical explanation to give every custom, however trivial, a special signification and higher import, it carps at and criticises the Talmud and its method, though in an obscure, equivocal manner, and with the most innocent air in the world. It represents the study of the Kabbala as of much higher importance than the study of the Talmud, and even of the Bible. The Kabbala has the power of soaring, and is able to follow the flight of the Deity in His inscrutable guidance of things; the Talmud, on the other hand, and its adherents, have clipped wings, and cannot elevate themselves to higher knowledge. The Zohar compares the Mishna (Talmud) with a lowly slave; the Kabbala, on the other hand, with a powerful mistress. The former has to do with inferior matters, with "clean and unclean," with "permitted and prohibited," with "what is and is not fit to be used." As long as this woman rules with her "now pure, at another time impure blood," the union of the Father with the Matrona (God with Israel) cannot take place. In the Messianic period, on the other hand, when the higher knowledge will awake, and gain the ascendency, the Kabbala will once more assert its dominion over the slave (Talmud), as in the time of the lawgiver Moses. The Zohar lastly compares the study of the Talmud with a rugged, unproductive rock which, when struck, gives out scanty drops of water, causing only disputes and discussions. The Kabbala, on the other hand, is like a spring flowing abundantly, to which only a word needs to be spoken to cause it to pour out its refreshing and vivifying contents.
When the Zohar or Midrash of Simon bar Yochaï was published, it aroused the greatest wonder among the Kabbalists. They seized upon it with avidity. Moses de Leon received vast multitudes of orders to send copies. The question, whence all at once had come so comprehensive a work of an old teacher of the Mishna, not a trace of which had been known till then, was thus answered: Nachmani had exhumed it in Palestine, had sent it to his son in Catalonia, by a whirlwind it had been carried to Aragon or Alicante (Valencia), where it had fallen into the hands of Moses de Leon, who alone possessed the original document. The repute of the newly discovered Kabbalistic treasure soon spread through the whole of Spain. The school of Abulafia at once gave the Zohar the tribute of its acknowledgment, and considered it indisputably genuine. Moses de Leon's wildest hopes were more than realized. There were, of course, Kabbalists who doubted that the Zohar had originated with Simon bar Yochaï and his school, but none the less did they pay homage to the book as to a pure source for Kabbalistic theories. When the Kabbalist Isaac of Accho, who had escaped the massacre that had ensued upon the capture of that city, arrived in Spain, and saw the Zohar, he was staggered, and became desirous of coming to the root of the question, whether this alleged ancient Palestinian work was really genuine, as he had been born and educated in the Holy Land, had associated with Nachmani's pupils, and yet had never heard a syllable about it. When he met Moses de Leon in Valladolid, the latter took a solemn oath that he had in his house at Avila an old copy of the book from the hand of Simon bar Yochaï, and pledged himself to submit it to Isaac of Accho for examination. But Moses de Leon became ill on his journey home, and died in Arevalo (1305). The veil around the origin of the Zohar was wrapped still closer. Two influential men of Avila, David Rafan and Joseph de Avila, had indeed discovered the simple truth from Moses de Leon's wife and daughter. Moses de Leon had never possessed the original copy, but had evolved it out of his own inner consciousness, and had written it with his own hand. His wife frankly related that she had often asked her husband why he published the productions of his own intellect under a strange name, and that he had answered that the Zohar would not, under his own name, have brought him any money, but assigned to Simon bar Yochaï it had been a lucrative source of income.
Thus wife and daughter, without being aware of the full gravity of their assuredly unassailable testimony, unmasked Moses de Leon as a forger. Nevertheless, the Zohar met with the unqualified applause of the Kabbalists, because it supplied a want which would have had to be provided for in one way or another. The Kabbalistic doctrine, which had already gained so much weight, had hitherto been without firm basis; it had no other authority than the very doubtful one of Isaac the Blind. Now the dignified figure of a teacher of the Mishna in communion with departed spirits and celestial hosts and angels confirmed the truths which were not only doubted by many at the time, but absolutely ridiculed. Should they, then, not cling to it and defend it? What Moses de Leon put into the mouth of Simon bar Yochaï, "Many will range themselves round the book Zohar, when it becomes known, and nourish their minds with it at the end of days," actually happened soon after his death. If the Zohar did not bring the Kabbalists anything essentially new, it exhibited to them what they did know in so peculiar a form and language, that they were wonderstruck. Everything in it is contrived for effect, for illusion, and for fascination. The long discussions which Simon bar Yochaï holds with his circle or with the "faithful shepherd," have dramatic power, especially the scene in which, in premonition of his speedy dissolution, he imparts once more what he so often had proclaimed. Full of effect, and, upon minds easily accessible to faith, of transporting and overwhelming influence, are the oft-recurring exclamations in the Zohar: Woe, woe to those who believe, or do not believe, or fail to respect, this and that. Sometimes short prayers are interspersed, which, being elevated and imaginative, are peculiarly fitted to fill the soul with mysterious awe. Even the characteristic terms introduced instead of the usual Kabbalistic forms are calculated to arouse interest by their double sense. The author designated God and the higher spiritual substances (Sefiroth) collectively or in their single parts and effects, as father, mother, the prototype of man, bride, matron, the white head, the large and the small face, the mirror, the higher heaven, the higher earth, lily, apple-orchard, and so on. The pious were gained over to the side of the Zohar, as it attributes to every religious custom and every practice a higher import, a higher sanctity, and a mysterious effect.
So a new text-book of religion was by stealth introduced into Judaism. It placed the Kabbala, which a century before had been unknown, on the same level as the Bible and the Talmud, and to a certain extent on a still higher level. The Zohar undoubtedly produced good, in so far as it opposed enthusiasm to the legal dry-as-dust manner of the study of the Talmud, stimulated the imagination and the feelings, and cultivated a disposition that restrained the reasoning faculty. But the ills which it has brought on Judaism outweigh the good by far. The Zohar confirmed and propagated a gloomy superstition, and strengthened in people's minds the belief in the kingdom of Satan, in evil spirits and ghosts.
Through its constant use of coarse expressions, often verging on the sensual, in contradistinction to the chaste, pure spirit pervading Jewish literature, the Zohar sowed the seeds of unclean desires, and later on produced a sect that laid aside all regard for decency. Finally, the Zohar blunted the sense for the simple and the true, and created a visionary world, in which the souls of those who zealously occupied themselves with it were lulled into a sort of half-sleep, and lost the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong. Its quibbling interpretations of Holy Writ, adopted by the Kabbalists and others infected with this mannerism, perverted the verses and words of the Holy Book, and made the Bible the wrestling-ground of the most curious, insane notions. The Zohar even contains utterances which seem favorable to the Christian dogma of the Trinity of the Godhead. The mystics dismembered the fair form of Holy Writ, indulged in mad sport, and stupefied all sense for truth, but they were scarcely more guilty in this respect than the so-called philosophers of the time. Maimuni's attempt to bring Judaism and its religious literature into consonance with reason, to give certain too realistic verses of the Bible a philosophical, or at least a tolerable sense, and place religious precepts on the basis of an intelligible, acceptable purpose, encouraged half-learned men to explain everything and anything in the same way. Hence the allegorizing of the Scriptures, the Agada, and the rites, was carried to an incredible extreme. These pseudo-philosophers divested the stories of the creation and of the patriarchs of their historical character, and interpreted them as philosophical commonplaces, in which they sported with Aristotelian and Maimunist terms, as the Zohar with Kabbalistic terms. Abraham and Sarah, for example, denote to the allegorists matter and form, Pharaoh denotes vicious desires, Egypt the body, the land of Goshen the heart, Moses the divine spirit, and the Urim and Thummim, which the High Priest wore on his breast in the Temple, were the astrolabe of the astronomers, with which they calculated time, longitude and latitude. If there had been at that time any Jewish thinkers of the first rank, they would have made serious efforts to put a stop to this childish proceeding, whether Kabbalistic or pseudo-philosophical. But the age of Ben Adret happened to be poor in great intellects. Even the two chief representatives of the philosophy of that time, Shem-Tob Falaquera and Isaac Albalag, were not above mediocrity, and were themselves tainted with the current errors.
There were, however, certain men of bolder spirit, who from philosophical premises drew conclusions endangering the stability of Judaism. Like their predecessors, the Alexandrine allegorists, many intelligent and consistent thinkers were induced at this time to disregard the ceremonies of Judaism by assigning erroneous purposes to religious precepts. As the ceremonies are intended simply to awaken certain religious, philosophical, or moral feelings, they argued, it is sufficient to call up these thoughts, to be penetrated by them, to occupy one's mind constantly with them, while the observance of religious customs is superfluous. Several members of this school denied Moses' prophetic character, accepting him only as an ordinary lawgiver, such as other nations had, and thus rejected the divinity of the Torah. The pseudo-philosophers cast a doubt upon the very fundamentals of Judaism, and thereby provoked a reaction injurious to free inquiry.
The chief authority of this allegorical school was a man of vast erudition, but full of crotchets, who, without desiring it, occasioned violent conflicts. This was Levi ben Abraham ben Chayim, of Villefranche, not far from Perpignan (born about 1240, died after 1315). Coming from a respectable family of scholars, he was deeply read in the Talmud; but he was more attracted by Maimuni's philosophy and Ibn-Ezra's astrology, being a warm adherent of the belief of the latter in the influence of the stars over human destiny. Of a volatile rather than a solid mind, Levi ben Chayim had no perfect conception of Maimuni's aims. To him Judaism resolved itself into philosophical platitudes, which, preposterous and childish as they sound to us, were, strange to say, regarded by the people of early times as profound wisdom. Ben Chayim was the disseminator of that superficial method satisfied with formulæ instead of thoughts. He composed two chief works, one in verse, the other in prose, a kind of encyclopædia, in which he applied the theory derived from Maimuni to all branches of knowledge. In these books he translated the historical narratives in the Bible into philosophical generalities, explained the standing still of the sun on the occasion of Joshua's victory as a natural occurrence, and in general, adopted any method of expounding which depends on word-twisting. Levi ben Chayim repudiated the allegorical interpretations of laws; in fact, he denounced the allegorists as heretics, and desired to preserve the historical character of the biblical narratives as much as possible. Like his prototype, Ibn-Ezra, he tried to keep secret his deepest convictions, so that not even his friends could fathom his ideas. This Judaism, disfigured by absurd philosophical interpretations, was not only privately taught, but preached in the synagogues.
The home of this pseudo-philosophy was the not insignificant congregation of Perpignan, the capital of the province of Roussillon, which belonged to the kingdom of Aragon. Although the Jews had no enviable lot, and were compelled to live in the most miserable part of the town, that assigned to lepers, they nevertheless preserved a taste for science and free inquiry, and eagerly awaited the new theories taught by the exponents and followers of Maimuni's philosophy. Here poor Levi of Villefranche had found a place of refuge at the house of a rich and influential man, Don Samuel Sulami or Sen Escalita, whose piety, learning and liberality were praised beyond measure by his contemporaries. "From Perpignan to Marseilles there is not another who can be compared with Samuel Sulami in knowledge of the Law, benevolence, piety and humility. He gives charity in secret, his house is open to every traveler; and he is indefatigable in getting books for his collection." He corresponded on learned topics with Ben Adret, and took interest in the philosophical interpretation of the Bible and the Agada. Even the rabbi of Perpignan was a friend of free thought and a determined enemy of mummified orthodoxy and the unreflecting faith of the literalist. This was Don Vidal Menachem ben Solomon Meïri (born Elul, 1249, died about 1306), little celebrated in his own time, but none the less of great importance. Though not of commanding influence, he possessed an attractive personality. He had what nearly all his contemporaries sorely lacked, moderation and tact. These qualities are revealed particularly in Meïri's style. Nearly all the Jewish authors of Spain and Provence wrote their prose and verse in a redundant, bombastic style, as if the whole literary thesaurus of the Bible were needed to express a meager idea. The much-admired model of this time, the moral poet Yedaya Bedaresi, is so prolix in saying the most ordinary platitude, that one has to peruse whole pages of his apology, reflections, and miscellaneous writings before coming across a tolerable idea. The style in vogue, a mosaic of Biblical phrases, favored verbosity. But Don Vidal Meïri forms a glorious exception to this practice, his style being terse and clear. In his commentaries to the tractates of the Talmud which relate to ceremonial duties, he proceeds throughout in a methodical manner, advances from the general to the particular, arranges his material in lucid order, and seeks to give the reader information, not to confuse him. Of a similar character is Meïri's exposition of Holy Writ. The philosophers and mystics always endeavored to find some higher meaning in it, the simple explanation being too prosaic for them, and accordingly they put upon the Bible their own extravagant nonsense. Not so Meïri. He certainly assumed that there are many commands and narratives in the Bible which point to something higher than the literal meaning, but the majority of them must, he maintained, be taken quite literally. Meïri was naturally dissatisfied with the extravagant mannerisms of the allegorists, but it did not enter his mind to reject the good together with the bad, to interdict learning because of its abuse.