Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera
Encyclopedia
Shem-Tov ben Joseph ibn Falaquera, also spelled Palquera (1225 – c. 1290) (Hebrew: שם טוב בן יוסף אבן פלקירה) was a Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet and commentator. A vast body of work is attributed to Falaquera, including encyclopedias of Arabic
and Greek
philosophies, maqamas, some 20,000 poetic verses, and commentaries on Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed. The common theme in Falaquera’s writing was to encourage observant Jews to study philosophy and to appreciate the harmony that existed between Torah and rational truth learned in philosophy. While Falaquera did not advocate teaching the secrets of science and divine sciences to every man, he did advocate the teaching of these truths to a broader range of educated Jewish males than previous proponents of rationalist thinking.
Although not much is known about his personal life, it is believed that Falaquera’s Sefer ha-Mevakkesh, The Book of the Seeker, was a semi-autobiographical work representing a time in Falaquera’s life when he underwent a mid-life crisis and moved away from his youthful poetry towards more intellectual works. From this book and other writings it is assumed that Falaquera was never married due to the views on women he expressed. Furthermore, there is no information regarding how he supported himself, although references to poverty in the Sefer ha-Mevakkesh and other writings may signify his own personal destitution. Another note regarding the tensions that existed between the Jews and non-Jewish nations during Falaquera’s time is seen in the Megillat ha-Zikkaron and a comment in the Sefer ha-Mevakkesh about the “difficult times under the powerful hand of the non-Jewish nations who prevailed over us.”
One of the biggest criticisms by historians concerning Falaquera is that he was not original. Falaquera would not have taken issue with these complaints since he saw his purpose as clarifying, interpreting, and teaching older established philosophical systems to a broader audience of educated Jews. In order to accomplish this task, Falaquera produced many translations and compilations of Greek and Arabic philosophical texts into Hebrew. However, Falaquera did not merely transcribe other texts. He would paraphrase, edit, and weave in commentaries from other authors in order to make the texts more comprehensible and more palatable to an observant educated Jewish audience. In addition, inspired by the debate between David Kimhi, a Maimonidean, and Judah Alfakhar, an anti-Maimonidean, Falaquera wrote the Iggeret ha-Vikku’ah, The Epistle of the Debate, in order to counter the objections of anti-rationalist thinkers and to persuade them of the value of studying philosophy and science. However, this goal was ultimately not successful as evidenced by continued further controversies surrounding Maimonides and rationalist studies. In the Iggeret ha-Vikku’ah, a debate between a traditionally observant Jew, the pietist, and a Jew educated in philosophy, the scholar, is described. Over the course of the dialogue, the scholar showed the pietist that many elements of philosophy do not conflict with the Torah and in fact provide a better understanding of it. Furthermore, the scholar shows the pietist that philosophy should be studied by those educated Jews who will know what teachings of philosophy to disregard and what teachings to incorporate into their understanding.
Falaquera also wrote one of the first commentaries on Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed in order to clarify sections that he felt people were misreading or misinterpreting, despite Maimonides urgings in the Guide that readers not comment or expound upon his work. Falaquera used his robust knowledge of sources to both strengthen and part from Maimonides’ teachings according to his own beliefs. Indeed, Falaquera’s commentary contains some viewpoints in his own name which is rarely seen in Falaquera’s other works.
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
and Greek
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
philosophies, maqamas, some 20,000 poetic verses, and commentaries on Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed. The common theme in Falaquera’s writing was to encourage observant Jews to study philosophy and to appreciate the harmony that existed between Torah and rational truth learned in philosophy. While Falaquera did not advocate teaching the secrets of science and divine sciences to every man, he did advocate the teaching of these truths to a broader range of educated Jewish males than previous proponents of rationalist thinking.
Although not much is known about his personal life, it is believed that Falaquera’s Sefer ha-Mevakkesh, The Book of the Seeker, was a semi-autobiographical work representing a time in Falaquera’s life when he underwent a mid-life crisis and moved away from his youthful poetry towards more intellectual works. From this book and other writings it is assumed that Falaquera was never married due to the views on women he expressed. Furthermore, there is no information regarding how he supported himself, although references to poverty in the Sefer ha-Mevakkesh and other writings may signify his own personal destitution. Another note regarding the tensions that existed between the Jews and non-Jewish nations during Falaquera’s time is seen in the Megillat ha-Zikkaron and a comment in the Sefer ha-Mevakkesh about the “difficult times under the powerful hand of the non-Jewish nations who prevailed over us.”
One of the biggest criticisms by historians concerning Falaquera is that he was not original. Falaquera would not have taken issue with these complaints since he saw his purpose as clarifying, interpreting, and teaching older established philosophical systems to a broader audience of educated Jews. In order to accomplish this task, Falaquera produced many translations and compilations of Greek and Arabic philosophical texts into Hebrew. However, Falaquera did not merely transcribe other texts. He would paraphrase, edit, and weave in commentaries from other authors in order to make the texts more comprehensible and more palatable to an observant educated Jewish audience. In addition, inspired by the debate between David Kimhi, a Maimonidean, and Judah Alfakhar, an anti-Maimonidean, Falaquera wrote the Iggeret ha-Vikku’ah, The Epistle of the Debate, in order to counter the objections of anti-rationalist thinkers and to persuade them of the value of studying philosophy and science. However, this goal was ultimately not successful as evidenced by continued further controversies surrounding Maimonides and rationalist studies. In the Iggeret ha-Vikku’ah, a debate between a traditionally observant Jew, the pietist, and a Jew educated in philosophy, the scholar, is described. Over the course of the dialogue, the scholar showed the pietist that many elements of philosophy do not conflict with the Torah and in fact provide a better understanding of it. Furthermore, the scholar shows the pietist that philosophy should be studied by those educated Jews who will know what teachings of philosophy to disregard and what teachings to incorporate into their understanding.
Falaquera also wrote one of the first commentaries on Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed in order to clarify sections that he felt people were misreading or misinterpreting, despite Maimonides urgings in the Guide that readers not comment or expound upon his work. Falaquera used his robust knowledge of sources to both strengthen and part from Maimonides’ teachings according to his own beliefs. Indeed, Falaquera’s commentary contains some viewpoints in his own name which is rarely seen in Falaquera’s other works.
Works
- Iggeret Hanhagat ha-Guf we ha-Nefesh, a treatise in verse on the control of the body and the soul.
- Ẓeri ha-Yagon, on resignation and fortitude under misfortune. CremonaCremonaCremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, 1550. - Iggeret ha-Wikkuaḥ, a dialogue between an orthodox Jew and a philosopher on the harmony of philosophy and religion, being an attempt to prove that not only the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, but even the TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, is in perfect accord with philosophy. PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, 1810. - Reshit Ḥokhmah, treating of moral duties (and giving the so-called "ethical epistles" of AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
), of the sciences, and of the necessity of studying philosophy. In this Shem-Ṭob treats of the philosophy of Aristotle and PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
. This and the preceding work have been translated into LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
(Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS. Latin, No. 6691A). - Sefer ha-Ma'alot, on the different degrees of human perfection; ed. L. Venetianer, 1891.
- Ha-Mebaḳḳesh, a survey of human knowledge in the form of a dialogue in rimed prose interspersed with verse. This work is a remodeling of the Reshit Ḥokmah. AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 1779. - Sefer ha-Nefesh, a psychological treatise according to the Arabian Peripatetics, especially AvicennaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
, inspired by Tagmulé ha-Nefesh by Hillel of VeronaHillel of VeronaHillel ben Samuel was an Italian physician, philosopher, and Talmudist. He was the grandson of the Talmudic scholar Eliezer ben Samuel of Verona.-Life:...
. BrodyBrodyBrody is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Brody Raion , and is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv...
, 1835. - Moreh ha-Moreh, commentary on the philosophical part of the Moreh Nebukim (Guide to the Perplexed) of MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, with an appendix containing corrections of the Hebrew translation of Samuel ibn Tibbon. Presburg, 1837. - Letter in defense of the Moreh Nebukim, which had been attacked by several French rabbis; published in the Minḥat Ḳena'ot. Presburg, 1838.
- Extracts from Ibn Gabirol's Meḳor Ḥayyim, published by Solomon Munk in his Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe. ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1859. - De'ot ha-Filusufim, containing Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics according to Ibn Roshd's interpretations (Steinschneider, Cat. Hebr. MSS. Leyden, No. 20).
- Iggeret ha-Musar, a compilation of ethical sentences (comp. Orient, Lit. 1879, p. 79).
- Megillat ha-Zikkaron, a historical work, no longer in existence, quoted in the Mebaḳḳesh.
- Iggeret ha-Ḥalom, a treatise on dreamDreamDreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s, mentioned in Moreh ha-Moreh, iii, ch. 19, p. 131.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Salomon MunkSalomon MunkSalomon Munk was a German-born Jewish-French Orientalist.Munk was born in Gross Glogau in the Kingdom of Prussia. He received his first instruction in Hebrew from his father, an official of the Jewish community; and on the latter's death he joined the Talmud class of R. Jacob Joseph Oettinger...
, Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe, pp. 494–496; - Ernest RenanErnest RenanErnest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
, Averroès et l'Averroïsme, pp. 183, 187; - David KaufmannDavid KaufmannDavid Kaufmann was a Jewish-Austrian scholar born at Kojetín, Moravia...
, Studien über Salomon ibn Gabirol 1899, pp. 1–3; - Moritz SteinschneiderMoritz SteinschneiderMoritz Steinschneider was a Bohemian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider , who was not only an expert Talmudist, but was also well versed in secular science...
, Catalogus Librorum Hebræorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana cols. 2537-2548; - idem, Hebräische Übersetzungen, pp. 8, 18, 37, 356, 380, 422;
- Moritz GüdemannMoritz Güdemann- Life :He was educated at Breslau , and took his rabbinical diploma at the Jewish Theological Seminary of that city. In the latter year he was called to the rabbinate of Magdeburg; in 1866 he went to Vienna as preacher, where he became rabbi in 1868, and chief rabbi in 1890.- Works :Güdemann...
, Das Jüdische Unterrichtswesen, i. 155-157; - Heinrich Grätz, Geschichte der Juden, vii. 219 et seq.;
- Mattityahu StrashunMattityahu StrashunMattityahu Strashun was a rabbi and scholar of Vilna, the son of Samuel Strashun.The Strashun Library of rabbinical and other works, often spoken of as the largest library of Jewish learning in the world and which he gave to the community, became an important landmark in Vilna.-References:*Herman...
, Pirḥe Ẓafon, i. 46; - L. Venetianer, Semtob ibn Fala-Kéra, in Magyar Zsido Szemle, 1890, viii. 74-82, 144-155