Lecture 61. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated · Sabato Morais Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Lecture 61. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated

Author

Morais, Sabato

Location(s)

United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

United States -- Pennsylvania

Format

10 pages on 4 sheets

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Language(s)

English

Source

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

Sabato Morais Collection, Box 12, Folder 5

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3d795w1r/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3d795w1r

Provenance

Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.

Is Format Of

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx12FF5_18.xml

content

S. MORAIS,
546 N. FIFTH STREET,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

June 94
Post-Biblical
61

Before the hottest part of the season sets in, when I shall suspend as usual my weekly addresses for a time--as usual--I wish to conclude the sketch of the lifework of Joseph Albo, which I began to draw some several weeks ago. In my preceding lecture upon that illustrious sage of the fifteenth cnetury, I stated that after his having held a contro--versy at Tortosa, in Spain, in defence of our religion a--gainst with the apostate Joshua Larocca, known as Jerome of de Santa Fé, Albo, fearing the ill will formented by his op--ponent and being mentally exhausted, chose to settle in Soria, rather than return to his native home at Monreal. With a Later on, when his mind was more at ease, he betook himself to the task of writ--ing his famous book, which he called "Sepher [?]" or, the book of creeds. Now: whenever it occurs to us to speak of Jewish creeds, we are unavoidably compelled to allude to the great Maimonides, for, it was he who first assumed to define what Jews must believe in, so that we may be saved. He formulated the thirteen creeds, universally accepted by the Synagogue. for ages But in the same manner as the literary productions of that greatest among the great of our medieval Rabbis, occasioned long and severe disputations, so his thirteen creeds found in the middle ages controversialists strong and determined.

I will mention, in passing, that Maimonides appears to have wished desired to conform to the system of other religions, which profess articles of faith, varying in number. He conceived, that it would be an reflect honor to show that on Judaism, also to show that it is based upon certain cardinal doctrines. The num--ber thirteen may have suggested itself to his mind by the cer thirteen attributes of God, which the Rabbis have derived form that sentence in Exodus heard by Moses as a vision passed before him, while he stooding in the cleft of a rock at Sinai. as a vision passed before him But the common notion that the hymn Igdal, embodying those thirteen creeds, emanated from Maimonides himself, is evidently an error. The author of that rhyth--mical composition was an Italian Jew of the fifteenth century, called Daniel Dayan. Joseph Albo arose to forcibly controvert the opinion of Maimonides. He denied the authority of the Sage of Cordova in declaring that who--soever does not subscribe to the dogmas which he laid down, as essential principles in Judaism, is a heretic and forfeits every right to a brotherly recognition among the people of Israel. Albo admits that religion in general must have some fundamental doctrines to stand upon; but he insists that those doctrines are only very few, such as man's reason, will accept at once, as indispensable to the maintenance of any persuasion and denomination.

According to his judgment, which he fortifies by solid arguments, every religion depends upon the belief of in the existence of God a creative Power, called God; upon the belief that God manifested His will through nature and inspiration, and upon the belief that God commensurately rewards or punishes our actions. Those three principles our philosopher considers the foundation stones upon which the fabric of religion is built. Nevertheless, he concedes that from those three cardinal points certain truths are evolved which have a claim to our credence. For instance, once that we agree upon the existence of a Creator, we virtually agree that He is eternal, having neither beginning nor end; that He is incorporeal, for what is bodily, must necessarily decay and perish; that He is a spiritual, and and and as a spirit He is invisible, but fills all space and sees us all; that He is an absolute Unity, for, a division of powers would imply weakness in Him who must be Omnipotent, in order to perform His sovereign will on nations and individuals. Joseph Albo's phi--losophy is free from the intricacies, of characterizing that of several some of his predecessors. He does not attempt what Gersonides notably ventured to do, that is, to forcibly drag the Scriptures after his fanciful notions.

Albo was fearlessly orthodox, respecting paying obeisance during paying deference neither to Aristotle nor to Avicenna nor Averroes, where Judaism is concerned. Clearly reasoning upon the second principle which he enunciated, namely, God's manifestation through nature and inspiration, he shows that the Revelation at Sinai was indispen--sable as a sanction to principles what is implanted in the human breast--love of virtue and abhorrence of vice. The weakness of our nature sensations so apt to leading us astray, needed a mighty support, and Albo justly proves that none could be more power--ful than that the support which Moses and the prophets have offered the world to check wrong, uphold right and promote the welfare of the social family. He contends that the son of Amram was endowed with a knowledge of the Supreme above that of all mortal beings, and therefore what he proclaimed in the name of his heavenly Master, must be held as an emanation divine. Still, Albo hazards the opinion against Maimonides, that it may please the Author of the Torah to change His ordinances in the same extraordinary manner as delivered in the wilderness of Sinai. To that idea, the immortal Mendelssohn gave his full assent in the course of his famous treatise, which he entitled Jerusalem,

Arguing on the third principle enunciated which he advanced, Albo tells us his conviction, that God assigns to Jew and Gentile their deserts, with this distinction, that whereas the Jew is amenable for his obedience or disobedience of the affirm--ative and negative precepts of the Torah, as far as compatible with his residence beyond the limits of the Holy Land, the gentile is bound only by the moral code of the Pen--tateuch. Albo makes the belief in a Messiah and in the resurrection, on the part of the Jew, as being connected with the third principle which he deems an essential. He sensibly argues that inas--much as the prophets foretold the permanence of the Jewish people; as a separate people, it obviously follows that their dispersion is only tem--porary and the fulfilment of the predictions concerning a return to a national unification and a commanding posi--tion among the families of nations, must be waited for religiously. Our author scouts the idea that the promise concerning our perpetuity, means simply our continuance as a religious distinct denomination among many different denominations. He quotes extensively to fortify his views, and among other scriptural passages, he cites Jeremiah in who re--says tells -assures us so in the name of the infallible Lord:

"Thus saith the Eternal, that giveth the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea that the waves thereof roar, whose name is 'the Lord of hosts.' is His name If those ordinances shall depart from before Me, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever." With regard to the resurrection, Albo is not quite so decidedly emphatic. He admits the power of God to rekindle life after it has become extinct. He refers to that effect to Holy Writ and Talmud; advances ideas pro and con, and states that in like manner as he could not explain the attractive properties of the loadstone, and many other phenomena, he could not define the process of a bodily resur-rection obviously to our limited understanding. From the little which I have told, it will be perceived that the disagreement between Albo and Maimonides consists mainly in the definition of what is a dogma, the denial of which should deserve public condemnation as a heresy, and expose the sinner to excommunication. Albo, with a sense of justice, that does his heart and mind honor, would not anathematize a Jew, whose ideas of God are not in full accord with the belief that He is a perfect spirit, or that He is an ever ex-isting Power that brought forth out of nothing the world in which we live out of nothing, solely by His infinite will.

He would consider such one short sighted, faulty, misguided by his mind. Albo would not say that a Jew who refuses to believe in our restoration to Zion, or in a bodily corporeal return of the departed upon earth, ought to be hated and chased away from the Congregation. In his judgment, Maimonides committed a grievous error in giving expression to such thoughts, and we, with the profoundest veneration for the Sage of Cordova, we must side with the Sage of Monreal. God, inspiration, and a retribution to our deeds are, in all truth, the cardinal doctrines derived from the teaching of the Chief of all prophets, who stood with his soul in the closest communion with the soul of the Universe. Albo's work is divided into four large treatises. The first, hinging upon the signification of the word Ikhar, or "dogma" contains twenty six chapters. The second, explaining how we should understand the ex self existence of God has thirty one chapters. The third, discussing Revelation consists of thirty seven chapters and the fourth, referring to reward and punishment is the largest of all, having fifty four chapters, all of them the treatises being written in an easy style as plain and intelligible as the character of that philosophical-Hebraic compo--sition would possibly allow.

I cannot part with that deservedly celebrated teacher in Israel, without quoting the closing remarks of his Sepher Ikkarin, or "book of creeds." According to Joseph Albo, the threefold priestly benediction is to be so understood interpreted "The Lord bless thee and preserve thee," is a prayer for temporal happiness--health and prosperity. "The Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee" is a petition for mental acquirements--a knowledge, useful to ourselves and our neighbors. "The Lord lift up His countenance towards thee and grant thee peace" is a supplication for spiritual gifts--contentment and tranquility sweetening this life and procuring the enjoyments of a life to come. May all the three be our allotment.

Identifier

p3d795w1r

identifier

SMBx12FF5_18