We continue with the presentation of the class “Four Giants of Sepharad” by Hakham Yosef Faur z”l, about four rabbis that deeply impacted the character and content of the Sephardic tradition.
HIS LIFE
Ribbi Abraham Eben Ezra was born in the city of Tudela, in Navarro, in northern Spain, in 1089. Ibn Ezra was very close to Ribbi Yehuda Halevi, who was about 14 years older than him, and his son Isaac married the daughter of Yehuda haLevi (or according to others, Ribbi Abraham married his daughter). He refused to accept money from others and materially, he was always very poor. He tried to engage in commerce but was never successful in his business. He wrote in. one of his poems that he was so unfortunate in business that if he would “starts selling shrouds, people will stop dying.” Rabbi Eben Ezra traveled the world for more than three decades. First he visited North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunes. Then he visited Europe: Italy, France and England. Then the Middle East: Egypt, Persia, Iraq. During his many trips he always visited and stayed in the local Jewish communities, that upon recognizing his great knowledge of Tora treated him with great respect. His journeys were not an impediment for his writing. Quite the opposite, it seems that Ribbi Abraham wrote particularly during his travels, and more than once dedicated his works to local communities or their patrons. It is said that in France he met Rabbenu tam (1100 – 1171) and in Egypt he met Maimonides (1135 -1204). He died in 1164 and according to Rabbi Abraham Zakuto in his Sefer haYohasin, he was buried in the land of Israel.
COMMENTARY TO THE TORA
Rabbi Eben Ezra wrote more than 60 books on many different subjects. His best known work is his commentary on the Tora (the Pentateuch). This work was innovative for its methodology. Analyzing the “peshat”, that is, the literal meaning of the text based on a rigorous linguistic analysis of the words. Rabbi Eben Ezra avoided the permanent reference to the Midrashim in his explanations, as Rashi does when he explains the Tora, since he considered that it was not necessary to repeat in a commentary what the reader can find in the Midrash. He also criticized some allegorical comments that, in his opinion, “go around the point in circles instead of focusing on the point itself”, that is, in the literal and grammatical sense of each word. The literal meaning should be carefully considered and should be examined not only by analyzing the root of the word but also the context, the location of the term in the verse, and the other instances in which that word appears in the Bible. This literal interpretation was an innovation. The Rabbi clarified that his (new) methodology did not apply to the words of the Tora that refer to any precept or commandment, since the interpretation in these cases is exclusively that which we received in the oral Tora and is recorded in the Talmud.
ASTRONOMYWhat is less known is that Rabbi Eben Ezra also wrote dozens of books on scientific subjects. For example, “The book of the foundations of the astronomical tables” a work that Rabbi Abraham originally wrote in Latin. This indicates that he had a very deep knowledge of this language, in which scientific wisdom was transmitted at that time. Rabbi Eben Ezra also belonged to the scientific community of his time.
NAVIGATIONHe also wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, an instrument that allows to muse the position of the stars for orientation, and which was essential for navigation. The astrolabe was in the Middle Ages what a GPS is today. The photo we posted above is an illustration showing Rabbi Eben Ezra (in the middle) with an astrolabe in his hands. The book was called in Hebrew: Keli HaNechoshet, “the copper instrument,” which was the metal used to build the astrolabe.
MATHEMATICS.He also wrote several books on mathematics, such as “The Book of Numbers,” which deals with arithmetic. In this work he presents the decimal system and the way it is used, anticipating by several decades the famous Italian mathematician Fibonacci (1170 -1240). It should be noted that thanks to his numerous trips around the world, Rabbi Eben Ezra became one of the main contributors to the popularization of the decimal system in the Jewish communities and in the Western world. He was also one of the first to present and explain the number “zero”, which he drew with a circle and called in Hebrew “galgal” (circle or wheel).
In his lecture on the giants of Sepharad the Hakham Faur z”l explained that for Eben Ezra the Tora and scientific knowledge are not contradictory: on the contrary, they complement each other and necessitate each other in order to appreciate the Wisdom of Creator. The fact that the universe can be understood and explained mathematically with predictable and unchangeable formulas and laws that are accesible to our God-designed mind reveals the existence of the Intelligent Creator of the Cosmos. Maimonides explored this idea in depth in Yesode HaTora, chapter 2, where he shows how this observation brings us closer to love and fear God. For more on the fascinating topic of mathematics /physics and the intelligent fine tuning of the Universe, I recommend the book “Just six numbers” by Martin Rees .
POETRYFinally, Rabbi Eben Ezra is also known as one of the great Jewish poets of all times. Some of the poems he composed 800 years ago are still well known to us and we continue to sing them to this day. For example, AGADELKHA ELOQE KOL NESHAMA. KI ESHMERA SHABBAT and LEKHA ELI TESHUKATI, a very profound poem with which we inaugurated the Yom Kippur liturgical service and which was also used to be recited as a Viduy in the last moments of life.
