Judah Hadassi

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Judah Hadassi or Jehuda Ben Elijahu Hadassi ( Hebrew יהודה בן אליהו הדסי) was a Karaean religious philosopher and encyclopedist of the 12th century.

Life

Almost nothing is known about Hadassi's life; he himself mentions that he studied with his older brother Nathan. Presumably he came from Edessa , which, according to Adolf Neubauer, the part of the name Hadassi indicates. His self-chosen nickname Ha-Abel means the mourner and is associated with the Abele Zion by Isaak Markus Jost , a Karaite group who chose this name because of their exile far from Jerusalem . In contrast, Pinkus Friedrich Frankl assumes that Hadassi chose this epithet to express his grief over Israel's exile , as he does in his writings.

Hadassi wrote his main work, the Eschkol Hakofer , in Constantinople in 1148/49 ; in it he mentions three times a previously written masoretic- lexical script. No other works are known.

Eschkol Hakofer

Hadassi's main work is the Eschkol Hakofer ( Hebrew אשכל הכפר; German: flower cluster from the henna bush ), also as Sefer ha-Peles ( Hebrew ספר הפלס; German: book of scales) known. The title refers to a verse in the Song of Solomon ( Hld 1,14  ELB ) and stands for encyclopedic knowledge. Written by Hadassi in 1148 and 1149, it summarizes the teachings of Karaite Judaism from Anan ben David in the 8th century to Hadassi's time. It was first published in print in 1836 in Evpatoria with a Nachal Eschkol titled Précis by Caleb Afendopolo (1430-1499).

The Eschkol Hakofer consists of 379 alphabetical acrostic stitches that run from Aleph to Taw and back again. Each stanza ends with the letter kaph .

In his work, which is supposed to summarize the entire Karaic knowledge of the 12th century, Hadassi developed ten principles of the Jewish religion . They deal with:

  1. the existence of the Creator
  2. the infinity and unity of the Creator
  3. the creation of the world
  4. the priesthood of Moses and the other prophets
  5. the truth of the Torah
  6. the obligation to learn Hebrew
  7. the temple as the place of God's glory and presence
  8. the resurrection of the dead
  9. the obligation to be accountable
  10. Reward and punishment

The system according to which Hadassi organizes the religious rules of the Karaite community and the knowledge associated with them is based on the idea that all content can be arranged according to the Ten Commandments . This repeatedly leads to forced interpretations of the statements. However, this method is typical of Karaites, as they rejected the interpretative methodology of rabbinic Judaism. In the first section, which deals with the existence and nature of the Creator God, Hadassi covers topics such as prayer, repentance and resurrection, but also astronomy, physics, natural history and geography.

With these ten principles he was the first Jewish author ever to compile a systematic and detailed list of religious dogmas , some 30 years before the 13 beliefs of Maimonides compiled in the Mishneh Torah . In terms of content, Hadassi's principles offer nothing new or surprising; the author himself states that he has adopted them from previous authors. Both in the legal statements and in the religious statements he follows the authoritative Karaean authors, including Anan ben David, Benjamin Nahawandi , Daniel al-Kumisi , Yefet ben Ali and Jeshua ben Judah . His philosophical statements are based on the Islamic Kalām . Hadassi's essential contribution to Jewish thought is the arrangement and formulation of the principles.

Works

literature

  • Daniel J. Lasker: From Judah Hadassi to Elijah Bashyatshi. Studies in late medieval Karaite philosophy . Brill, Leiden 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-16793-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adolf Neubauer: From the Petersburg library . Leiner, Leipzig 1866, p. 56 .
  2. ^ Isaak Markus Jost: Historical sketches . In: Israelitische Annalen . Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1839, p. 153 .
  3. ^ A b Pinkus Friedrich Frankl: Karean Studies . In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism . Jewish Cultural Association in Germany, Berlin 1882, p. 74 .
  4. ↑ a b Fred Astren: Karaite Judaism and historical understanding . University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC 2004, ISBN 1-57003-518-0 , pp. 130-141 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Daniel J. Lasker: From Judah Hadassi to Elijah Bashyatshi. Studies in late medieval Karaite philosophy . Brill, Leiden 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-16793-3 , pp. 41-59 .
personal data
SURNAME Hadassi, Judah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hadassi, Jehuda Ben Elijahu; Ha-Abel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Karaean religious philosopher and encyclopaedist
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century or 12th century
DATE OF DEATH 12th century or 13th century