Rabbi Yosef Albo (1380-1444) and the Disputation of Tortosa

    0
    2289
    Rabbi Albo’s was born in Monreal del Campo, a town in Aragon, Spain.  He was the student of the famous Sephardic rabbi and philosopher Hasdai Crescas. Rabbi Albo was the author of a very important book: Sefer ha’Iqarim, The book of Principles.  Among other things, in this book he reformulates the thirteen principles composed by Maimonides into three main “roots” or foundations.
    These three “roots” are
    1. Belief in the existence of God.
    2. Belief in revelation (that the Torah is the word of God).
    3. Belief in Divine retribution, as related to the idea of the immortality of the soul.
    The difference between Rabbi Albo’s “roots” and Maimonides’ principles is basically technical.  Rabbi Albo also mentions the beliefs in God’s unity, incorporeality, God’s independence of time, and God’s perfection. But he considers these to be branches of the first principle, not roots.
    Sefer ha’iqarim also delves into the  subject of the extent of our knowledge (=epistemology).  In his words:  “human intellect can not attain perfect knowledge and ethical conduct, since its power is limited…  therefore, of necessity, there must be something above human intellect through which knowledge and conduct can attain to a degree of excellence that admits of no doubt.” That “something” is of course, Divine revelation, i.e., the Tora.
    THE DISPUTATION OF TORTOSA

    Rabbi Yosef Albo is also remembered for his participation in the infamous “Disputa de Tortosa”.

    This theological “debate” took place in the city of Tortosa,  Spain. It lasted for 67 sessions, between February 7, 1413 and November 13, 1414.  The debate was organized by the initiative of Pope Benedict XIII, also known as “Papa Luna”.
    Twenty-two rabbis, representing the main communities of Aragon were compelled to attend the dispute, which was held entirely in Latin.  Rabbi Astruc haLevy, Rabbi Moshe ben Abbas and Rabbi Yosef Albo were among these sages. Rabbi Albo represented the Jewish community of Monreal del Campo.   The main speaker among the Jewish sages was rabbi Vidal Benveniste, who was fluent in Latin.
    The man responsible to carrying out the dispute from the Christian side was Jerónimo de Santa Fe שר”י an apostate Jew who converted to Christianity. He aimed to demonstrate that the Talmud supported the idea that the Messianic prophecies were met with the coming of Jesus.  To sustain these absurd claims, Jerónimo would use forged Talmudic texts and interpret the Midrashim arbitrarily.
    Soon, the rabbis found out that the idea of a disputation was a farce.  The rabbis were not allowed to defend themselves. When the rabbis tried to expose the forgeries of Jerónimo, the arbiters would claim that Jerónimo, a former Tora scholar,   was considered by them as the greatest expert in Talmudic literature. At one point, the Pope himself confessed to the rabbis that they were not expected to expose the Jewish faith and cause troubles to the Christians. They were brought there to be indoctrinated in the true Christian faith, so at their return to their cities, they will be expected to instruct their community members to embrace the Catholic faith.
    While all these tortuous sessions were taking place, and taking advantage of the absence of the religious leaders, the Christian missioners would go to the Jewish cities and proclaim that “the rabbis were defeated”. In the Kingdom of Aragon, the most notable missioner was the infamous anti-semitic Vicente Ferrer (canonized as a saint in 1455).   Jews were asked to choose between the sword and the cross. The Jewish neighborhoods were looted, thousands of Jews were killed and many more were forced to convert to Christianity.
    Finally, Jeronimo claimed victory. And his triumph, certainly, was endorsed by the arbiters and the Pope.  Following the Disputation, the Pope signed two edicts (bulls) 1. “Against Judaeos” to encouraged the forced baptism of Jews and 2. “Etsi Doctoris Gentium”, an executive order to burn all Jewish books, especially the Talmud.
    In conclusion, far from being an objective theological debate, the Disputation of Tortosa was a cynical propagandistic attempt of the Church to  loot and convert the Jews of Aragon.