Language:
Hebrew
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
מחשבת ישראל
Angaben zur Quelle:
ב (תשפא) 87-111
Keywords:
Maimonides, Moses,
;
Caspi, Joseph,
;
Moses,
;
Abravanel, Isaac,
;
Adam Philosophy
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish
Abstract:
The Torah opens with the Genesis stories of Adam, the Garden of Eden, andthe ancient generations of humanity. These wondrous stories were aninspiration to all those interested in the Torah, and raise fascinatingquestions for discussion: Who was Adam? What is the Garden of Eden? Whatis the nature of the tree of knowledge and the mysterious tree of life? Whatare the cherubim? Did this story really happen? What do the two differentcreation stories mean (Chapter A vs. Chapter B)? Maimonides in the Guide ofthe Perplexed is puzzling and offers, both explicitly and in between the lines,a special way of understanding these stories, hiding more than he reveals. Hewrites in a vague and mysterious way, scatters the discussion of these topicsthroughout a number of places in the Guide, and refers to obscure Chazalmidrashim that supposedly shed a light on the intent of these matters, but in factonly make them more remote and hidden. Maimonides' commentators manageto decipher his secrets by using his clues scattered throughout the Guide.In this article, I will follow three of the commentators on Maimonides,Rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi, Rabbi Moshe Narboni and Don Yitzchak Abarbanel.First, I will begin by exposing the image of the 'first man' throughMaimonides’ subtle hints. I will try to determine the limits of the parable --when it is allegory and when the story happened as written. After that, I willpropose the path of Rabbi Moshe Narboni. Both Caspi’s and Narboni'sdisclosure of the parable helps to understand the Torah’s meaning in generaland the purpose of these stories specifically, reflecting on the question of thenature of the Torah scroll and its hidden contents. Analysis of the differentinterpretations shows that each of them accords the Torah scroll a differentrole. Finally, I will present Abarbanel's fierce opposition to these twoapproaches, the limits of the parable to the stories of Genesis in his opinion,and his explanation of the deep secret to the stories of the Garden of Eden,and thus his perception of the Torah as a divine book.
Note:
With an English summary.
URL:
אתר את הפרסום בקטלוג המאוחד של ספריות ישראל
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