Studies in Judaism, First SeriesSchechter, S. (Solomon)
Religion
Studies in Judaism, First Series
Schechter, S. (Solomon)
Jews
Indeed, it seems as if the energetic protests of Delmedigo scared away the
Anti‐Maimonists for more than a century. Even in the following seventeenth
century we have to notice only two Anti‐Maimonists. The one is R. Tobijah,
the Priest (1652), who was of Polish descent, studied in Italy, and lived
as a medical man in France. He seems to refuse to accept the belief in the
Immutability of the Torah, and in the coming of the Messiah, as
fundamental teachings of Judaism.(138) The other, at the end of the
seventeenth century (1695), is R. Abraham Chayim Viterbo, of Italy. He
accepts only six articles: 1. Existence of God; 2. Unity; 3.
Incorporeality; 4. That God was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and that
the prophecy of Moses is true; 5. Revelation (including the historical
parts of the Torah); 6. Reward and Punishment. As to the other articles of
Maimonides, Viterbo, in opposition to other half‐hearted Anti‐Maimonists,
declares that the man who denies them is _not_ to be considered as a
heretic; though he ought to believe them.(139)
I have now arrived at the limit I set to myself at the beginning of this
essay. For, between the times of Viterbo and those of Mendelssohn, there
is hardly to be found any serious opposition to Maimonides worth noticing
here. Still I must mention the name of R. Saul Berlin (died 1794); there
is much in his opinions on dogmas which will help us the better to
understand the Thirteen Articles of Maimonides. As the reader has seen, I
have refrained so far from reproducing here the apologies which were made
by many Maimonists in behalf of the Thirteen Articles. For, after all
their elaborate pleas, none of them was able to clear Maimonides of the
charge of having confounded dogmas or fundamental teachings with
doctrines. It is also true that the Fifth Article—that prayer and worship
must only be offered to God—cannot be considered even as a doctrine, but
as a simple precept. And there are other difficulties which all the
distinctions of the Maimonists will never be able to solve. The only
possible justification is, I think, that suggested by a remark of R. Saul.
This author, who was himself—like his friend and older contemporary
Mendelssohn—a strong Anti‐Maimonist, among other remarks, maintains that
dogmas must never be laid down but with regard to the necessities of the
time.(140)
Now R. Saul certainly did not doubt that Judaism is based on eternal
truths which can in no way be shaken by new modes of thinking or changed
circumstances. What he meant was that there are in every age certain
beliefs which ought to be asserted more emphatically than others, without
regard to their theological or rather logical importance. It is by this
maxim that we shall be able to explain the articles of Maimonides. He
asserted them, because they were necessary for his time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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