<Cultural
Life.
From the beginning, the cultural life of Spanish Jewry under
the Christian reconquest followed on the style set under
Muslim rule. Eastern influence lost none of its force even
though a frontier henceforward separated the communities of
the north from those of the south. In fact, the contrary was
the case, since the Jews of Christian Spain often appeared
to be indispensable agents in the diffusion of the Eastern
cultural tradition.
[Professions
and integration: translators, Jews at court, historians -
Hebrew language]
Consequently, many of them were translators of Arabic; some,
like the *Kimhis and the Ibn *Tibbons, even carried their
work as translators to the north, to Provence. In Christian
Spain the Jews continued to study sciences, medicine in
particular, and the Christian kings employed numbers of
Jewish physicians. They were also well versed in astronomy
and shortly before the expulsion, Abraham *Zacuto prepared
the astronomical tables that Christopher Columbus used on
his voyage.
[[The Jewish translators in Spain played a distinctive role
in translating the Arab scientific works into the European
languages so Europe could get access to the leading Arab
sciences]].
The Jewish "nobility" had frequently received the same
education as their Christian counterparts, reaching a
cultural integration rarely equaled in Jewish history. Of
course this process only affected the families of Jewish
courtiers, but this type of assimilation goes a long way
toward explaining both the phenomena of Marranism -
entailing the need to lead a double life - and the ability
to abandon the Jewish heritage without regret and join the
Christian fold.
Yet the majority of people still looked to (col. 241)
their traditional Jewish cultural heritage, which remained
central to their lives. The relation of the journey of
*Benjamin of Tudela to the communities of Europe and Asia,
and the work of the historian Abraham *ibn Daud in his
account of the continuity of Jewish tradition are well
worthy of mention. The main stress, however, lay on the
study of the Hebrew language and of the Bible and Talmud,
and on the development of a style of Hebrew poetry which
took the profane as well as the sacred for its subject
matter.
[Jewish
academies]
In all fields there was no real break with the Judeo-Arab
milieu. For many years the Babylonian academies continued to
be a major influence, but rabbinical scholarship in Spanish
Jewry came to maturity in the 11th century with the work of
Isaac b. Jacob ha-Kohen *Alfasi. The latter, assisted by his
pupils, especially Joseph b. Meir ha-Levi *ibn Migash,
created a Spanish Jewish talmudic academy which proceeded to
develop its own methods.
[Grammar
- poets - religious studies]
The theories of the grammarians in Muslim Spain were already
known in the north and were accepted there. Poets flourished
in the retinue of Jews who were wealthy or well placed at
court. Poetry often remained a profession. Along with many
of his contemporaries, *Judah Halevi left Muslim Spain for
the Christian part of the country without finding success
there. His poems were torn between the two worlds and Judah
Halevi finally left for the Holy Land.
Along with Judah Halevi and Moses *ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn
*Gabirol brought Hebrew poetry to a peak of perfection.
Their religious poems, the main body of their work,
permanently enriched the liturgy.
At the same time they gave a new dimension to Hebrew poetry
by extending it beyond its liturgical framework to cover
every variety of subject: occasional verse, poems exalting
love or friendship, or lines in praise of a benevolent
patron. The interest in poetry also gave rise to liturgical
and biblical studies; biblical Hebrew once more predominated
over rabbinical Hebrew. Following in the path of Menahem b.
Saruk and *Dunah b. Labrat were such grammarians as Judah b.
David *Hayyuj, Jonah *ibn Janah, Moses ha-Kohen ibn
*Gikatilla, and above all Abraham *ibn Ezra who produced
their grammatical treatises in Hebrew and so enabled the
Jewish grammarians of France and Germany to become aware of
and adopt the theories of their Spanish counterparts.
The same writers often produced biblical commentaries:
Joseph b. Isaac *ibn Abitur on Psalms, Moses ha-Kohen ibn
Gikatilla on Isaiah, the Latter Prophets, Psalms, and Job,
and Abraham ibn Ezra on the entire Bible (although some
portions of his commentary are no longer extant). In this
period the *maqama
- an Arabic verse form - made its debut in Jewish literature
with the Tahkemoni
[[Jewish Tales of Medieval Spain]] of Judah *Al-Harizi. Yet
the golden age of Hebrew poetry in Spain was already drawing
to a close.
[Talmudic
studies: Isaac b. Jacob Alfasi - Joseph b. Meir ha-Levi
ibn Migash - Maimonides - publications also in Arabic
language]
During the 11th century talmudic studies took root in Spain
with the arrival of Isaac b. Jacob *Alfasi and continued to
be greatly influenced by his work. With the aim of summing
up the discussions of the sages and pointing out the correct
halakhah [[laws of
Jewry]], he prepared a resumé of the Talmud. In this work,
he stressed practical observance, an attitude which was
characteristic of the great Spanish talmudists. His main
pupil, Joseph b. Meir ha-Levi ibn Migash, followed in his
footsteps and, like his teacher, wrote a number of responsa
clarifying points of the law.
the greatest stimulus to talmudic studies was the work of
Maimonides, who spent his formative years in Spain and can
be considered a Spanish scholar. He, too, produced works of
*codification of the law, the Mishneh Torah and Sefer ha-Mitzvot, and
wrote numerous responsa. Like other Spanish rabbis, he did
not scorn to bring out his works in Arabic so that they
could be understood by all. This bilinguality in Hebrew and
Arabic was a mark of the first (col. 242)
era of Spanish Jewry.
[Philosophical
debates: Ibn Gabirol - Judah Halevi - Bahya ibn Paquda -
Maimonides]
Another equally important characteristic was its enthusiasm
for philosophical debates. Spanish Jewry's integration into
the contemporary Arab culture obliged it to face the same
problems, though generally with an avowedly polemic intent.
Writers were largely concerned with demonstrating that
revelation and philosophy were not necessarily contradictory
and that in any case Judaism represented the superior truth.
Although Ibn Gabirol's philosophical work Fons Vitae [["Springs
of Life"]] has no specifically Jewish character. Judah
Halevi devoted himself to a vigorous apology for Judaism.
*Bahya ibn Paquda, a moralist, attempted to show the
superiority of ethical conduct over the ceremonial law,
which becomes falsified if the "duties of the heart" are
neglected.
However, the greatest representative of the philosophic
trend was Maimonides, who followed it to formulate his
classic definition of the dogmas of Judaism. Nevertheless,
from the beginning of the 13th century the supremacy of
philosophy was challenged in the controversy over
Maimonides' works (see *Maimonides Controversy), especially
in the north of Spain, which had then reverted to Christian
rule. The change in attitude was influenced by
disillusionment arising from the changed conditions of
Jewish life, by the renewed interest in talmudic studies due
to the work of the Franco-German tosafists, and by the new
trends in Jewish mysticism which first appeared in Provence
before reaching Spain.
At the beginning of the 14th century the Franco-German
talmudic tradition came face to face with the Spanish
through the arrival of *Asher b. Jehiel, resulting in the
preservation of unity in the field of Jewish law. Warmly
received by the greatest Spanish scholar of the day, Solomon
b. Abraham *Adret, Asher b. Jehiel cooperated with him in
restoring peace: the study of philosophy was permitted, but
under clearly defined conditions. Time, too, had done its
work and the controversy was soon stilled.
[Kabbalah
movement]
In the meantime the Kabbalah became increasingly important,
especially in the group at Gerona. The celebrated talmudist
Nahmanides became one of its leading advocates. The
appearance of the *Zohar, the largest part of which was
produced by *Moses b. Shem Tov de León between 1280 and
1286, gave a powerful impulse to the development of the
kabbalistic trend which became predominant in Spain.
[Talmudic
studies - codifications of the law]
Talmudic studies too gained a new impetus through the
commentaries, novellae, and responsa of Nahmanides, Solomon
b. Abraham Adret, Asher b. Jehiel, and Nissim b. Reuben
*Gerondi.
*Jacob b. Asher, son of Asher b. Jehiel, produced his
codification of the law, the Arba'ah Turim, which remains to this day
the archetype of the rabbinic code and was one of the bases
of the Shulhan Arukh. Another code, Sefer Abudarham, was
compiled by David b. Joseph *Abudarham of Seville. Following
in the same path *Menahem b. Aaron ibn Zerah of Navarre
composed his Zeidah
la-Derekh.
*Yom Tov b. Abraham Ishbili was especially noted for his
many novellae; Isaac b. Sheshet Perfet, who had to leave
Spain in 1391, wrote many responsa. Biblical commentaries
(frequently showing kabbalistic influences) also came to the
fore once more with the works of Nahmanides, Bahya b. Asher,
and Jacob b. Asher, although the latter resolutely avoided
kabbalistic speculation.
[1391-1492:
Persecutions and the consequences]
Nevertheless the persecutions had grave consequences for
scholarship too. The Judeo-Arab heritage began to disappear.
Those conditions which had drawn Spanish Jews toward the
study of science, medicine, and astrology in particular
ceased to exist. This decay became more marked in the 15th
century. Apart from the philosophic works of Hasdai Crescas
and Joseph Albo, whose Sefer
ha-Ikkarim was a new attempt to define the dogmas
of Judaism, the creative period had passed. The messianic
upheaval, exacerbated by persecution, only prolonged it
slightly; the spirit of this period is best (col. 243)
expressed in the works of Isaac b. Judah Abrabanel, who in
1492 preferred exile to apostasy. Probably stimulated by
fear for the future, interest in kabbalistic speculation
continued unabated.
The expulsion itself did not mark a final end of the
development of this specific type of culture. Abraham Zacuto
finished his rabbinical history on the way to exile. The
intellectual activity of Spanish Jewry was transferred to
Eastern and European centers. Even the use of the Spanish
language continued unchanged (see *Ladino; *Sephardim). Such
was the vitality of this outlook that it remained seminal in
Jewish life for many centuries.
[S.SCH.]> (col. 244)
