§6.2 - Scholars and Scholarship

Summary

THE SCHOLARS AND THEIR WORKS

IN the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Crown of Aragon was the leading centre of learning in the Jewish world. It was the meeting-point of various religious and cultural currents from both north and south. In Catalonia, in particular, Judeo-Arabic culture met and clashed with Talmudic traditions from France and kabbalistic teachings from Germany and Provence. 1 The territories of the Crown of Aragon were fertile ground for religious and cultural interaction. To the various conceptions of Judaism that came from other centres the scholars of the Crown of Aragon added their own contribution, and their learning went forth to other communities.

Nahmanides (1194-1270), the greatest of the thirteenth-century scholars, illustrates very well the characteristics of the Jewish centre that emerged in the northwest of the Iberian peninsula. Nahmanides combined in his teaching the tossafists' method of Talmudic study, an esoteric kabbalah for a restricted circle, and elements of Judeo-Arabic philosophy. He was a halakhist, an exegete, and a mystic. His halakhic works include commentaries on the Talmud, responsa, and monographs. In his commentaries he opened up new avenues in Talmudic scholarship in Spain by introducing the tossafists’ approach. It is not surprising that his novellae were to be extensively studied and accepted in the Ashkenazi world. His works of criticism on Maimonides and his refutation of the Provern;:al critique of Alfasi earned him worldwide fame as a halakhist. His great respect and reverence for other rabbis and for tradition in general did not blunt his sharp criticism and utter rejection of what he considered mistaken views. Nahmanides represented the Jewish side in the Disputation of Barcelona in 1263 (discussed in Part I of this book). His role in the defence of Judaism against the attempts of the apostate Dominican Paulus Cristiani to prove the veracity of Christianity from Talmudic and Midrashic sources is generally known. He spared no effort and no argument, even when this meant going against his own convictions, to destroy Paulus’ arguments and credibility. Needless to say, Paulus could have had no greater Talmudic expert for a contestant. The king's attitude towards Nahmanides during and after the Disputation indicates the high esteem in which the Catalan scholar was held at court. He was a physician and treated Christians, including members of the royal family.