Harvey (Chaim) Hames
Ben Gurion University of the Negev, General History, Faculty Member
- Medieval History, History of Religion, Hermeneutics, Comparative Religion, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Witchcraft, Religion and Magic, and 51 moreMonasticism, Western Esotericism (History), Religious Conversion, Kabbalah, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Christian Philosophy, Medieval theology (Medieval Studies), Muslim-Christian Relation, Heresy and Inquisition, Mendicant Orders, Christian Kabbalah, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Jewish-Christian Polemics, Polemic (Religion), Ramon Llull, Catalan Translations of the Bible, Latin into Hebrew, Joachim of Fiore, History, Intellectual History, History of the Book, National Identity, History of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), Dominican Order, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Mysticism, Medieval Studies, Jewish Studies, Jewish History, General History, Polemics and Apologetics, Medieval Jewish History, History of Christianity, Conversion, Talmud, Print Culture, Hasidism, Jewish Philosophy, Jewish Thought, New Age spirituality, Mu'tazilites, Theory of Religion, Religion, Inter-Religious Polemics, Medieval Iberia, Modern Jewish Thought, Islamic Studies, Medieval Crown of Aragon, Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Intellectual History of Al andalus, and Maimonidean Controversyedit
- I am interested in all aspects of medieval and modern religious polemics, interaction and dialogue, as well as Jewish... moreI am interested in all aspects of medieval and modern religious polemics, interaction and dialogue, as well as Jewish, Christian and Muslim mysticism (whatever that last term may mean), apocalypticism and anything else that takes my fancy.
I have published articles and a book about Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1316) and his interaction with Jews (and Muslims) particularly with Kabbalistic ideas and how he used them to try and convince Jews of the truth of Christianity (see The Art of Conversion). I have also delved into the fascinating, yet crazy, world of the ecstatic Kabbalist, Abraham Abulafia (end of 1239- ca. 1291) and his relations with Franciscans who were interested in the Calabrian abbot, Joachim of Fiore's teachings (see Like Angels on Jacob's Ladder). I have looked at a text dealing with a supposed ritual murder (in Bristol), engaged with figures like Alfonso de Valladolid / Abner of Burgos (one and the same person), and famous disputations such as Paris 1240 and Barcelona 1263 (I am still very interested in the latter which I think has been misunderstood, to a certain degree, by scholarship) and other such fascinating bits and pieces.
I have completed an edition and translation (into English) of a Hebrew translation of Ramon Llull's Ars brevis (his most popular work judging by the manuscripts written in 1308) carried out in Senigallia in 1474, and then copied and re-copied within two years. The colophon of the extant copy is very interesting and suggests that a circle of Jewish scholars viewed this work "short in quantity, but great in quality" as a way of achieving unio mystica.
I am working on the first extant complete translation of the four gospels into Hebrew which, it turns out, was not from Latin as might have been expected, but from Catalan. This fascinating translation is probably from the end of the fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The volume will appear in the Corpus Biblicum Catalanicum, and will contain the Hebrew text, a modern Catalan translation along with detailed notes, a glossary and introduction.
I have written a non-academic book for the educated public in Israel (in Hebrew) entitled, I (do not) Believe: Judaism and Israel - past, present, future, which can be bought as an electronic book as well (http://mendele.co.il/?p=4458).
Currently, I am working on the issue of religious polemics from Paris 1240 to the Disputation of Tortosa re-examining the motives and context of this Christian-Jewish interaction, and am writing a book about God, Monotheism and Religion [a sort of companion book to I (do not) Believe].
I am the Director of the Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters (I-CORE) which has received funding for five years (2013-2018) and is based at Ben-Gurion University (http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/csoc/Pages/default.aspx)
As of the 1st August 2018, I am no longer the Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, but have been elected Rector (Provost) of the university. Sadly, this means that most of the ongoing projects above are on hold for the time being....edit
A Catalan translation of The Art of Conversion with a new preface and updated bibliography
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Ramon Llull completed the Ars breuis in 1308. This short but very popular work extant in over seventy manuscripts was a concise and much more easily digestible version of the much longer Ars generalis ultima, the final redaction of... more
Ramon Llull completed the Ars breuis in 1308. This short but very popular work extant in over seventy manuscripts was a concise and much more easily digestible version of the much longer Ars generalis ultima, the final redaction of Llull’s Art. In Senigallia in the March of Ancona in July or August 1474, the Ars breuis was translated into Hebrew and then copied twice over the next couple of years. The colophon of the latter copy shows that these Jewish students of the Ars breuis used the work to attain unio mystica. This seems to be a unique example of a Christian work, described as being ”short in quantity but great in quality”, knowingly being used by Jews for mystical purposes.
The translator and copyists seem to have read and understood Llull’s work through the prism of Abulafian Kabbalah. Abraham Abulafia (d. ca. 1291), a contemporary of Llull’s, wrote numerous works dealing with the divine names and the combination of letters. He believed that the whole Torah was the names of God, and by manipulating the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, one could have knowledge of the divine and created world. This Jewish circle seemed to have understood the letters of the Lullian alphabet and the various combinations and compartments of the Ars breuis as leading to true mystical cognition.
This volume presents the Hebrew edition together with the original Latin (based on a slightly revised edition of ROL 12 / CC CM 38) along with an English translation and detailed notes which show how the Jewish translator and copyists understood and used this work.
The translator and copyists seem to have read and understood Llull’s work through the prism of Abulafian Kabbalah. Abraham Abulafia (d. ca. 1291), a contemporary of Llull’s, wrote numerous works dealing with the divine names and the combination of letters. He believed that the whole Torah was the names of God, and by manipulating the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, one could have knowledge of the divine and created world. This Jewish circle seemed to have understood the letters of the Lullian alphabet and the various combinations and compartments of the Ars breuis as leading to true mystical cognition.
This volume presents the Hebrew edition together with the original Latin (based on a slightly revised edition of ROL 12 / CC CM 38) along with an English translation and detailed notes which show how the Jewish translator and copyists understood and used this work.
From the back cover (a rough translation): “The Jewish God has gone through many changes since He was created by the Rabbis, and He still plays a major role in 21st century Israel. However, like Rabbinic Judaism itself, He is an exilic... more
From the back cover (a rough translation):
“The Jewish God has gone through many changes since He was created by the Rabbis, and He still plays a major role in 21st century Israel. However, like Rabbinic Judaism itself, He is an exilic God who is unable to find His place in the independent democratic State of Israel. He does not know how to adapt to the new and changing conditions, and His representatives are not willing to face the challenge of re-thinking the essence and status of God in a pluralist, free and modern society. A situation has emerged, where God remains in exile in the redemptive state which Israel is. Unfortunately, as time passes, God (together with His rabbinic representatives in all their shapes, sizes and forms), is becoming a persona non grata for many”.
Judaism as we know it today was born in a particular historical and national context. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the people of Israel had no political independence or power, nor a religious center, and it was in this historical reality that Rabbinic Judaism flourished in autonomous and widely dispersed communities. The Rabbis offered a way of life which provided answers for the existential problems of the exilic Jew, and the Rabbinic interpretation of the Torah took root and became the foundation stone of Jewish identity from ancient times till today.
However, after the exile has come to an end with the establishment of the State of Israel, is there still a need for Judaism in its present structure? Can Rabbinic Judaism adjust to a reality whereby Jews have political power and are sovereign in their land? Can Judaism give a real answer to the existential needs of Jews who live in Israel today?
In order to be a free people in our land, we need to connect to our biblical and rabbinic past, to draw out the ethical teachings, and adapt them to our needs in the modern world in a sovereign state. We have to write a new Torah which will give significance to both time and place and imbue our presence in this country with meaning.
“The Jewish God has gone through many changes since He was created by the Rabbis, and He still plays a major role in 21st century Israel. However, like Rabbinic Judaism itself, He is an exilic God who is unable to find His place in the independent democratic State of Israel. He does not know how to adapt to the new and changing conditions, and His representatives are not willing to face the challenge of re-thinking the essence and status of God in a pluralist, free and modern society. A situation has emerged, where God remains in exile in the redemptive state which Israel is. Unfortunately, as time passes, God (together with His rabbinic representatives in all their shapes, sizes and forms), is becoming a persona non grata for many”.
Judaism as we know it today was born in a particular historical and national context. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the people of Israel had no political independence or power, nor a religious center, and it was in this historical reality that Rabbinic Judaism flourished in autonomous and widely dispersed communities. The Rabbis offered a way of life which provided answers for the existential problems of the exilic Jew, and the Rabbinic interpretation of the Torah took root and became the foundation stone of Jewish identity from ancient times till today.
However, after the exile has come to an end with the establishment of the State of Israel, is there still a need for Judaism in its present structure? Can Rabbinic Judaism adjust to a reality whereby Jews have political power and are sovereign in their land? Can Judaism give a real answer to the existential needs of Jews who live in Israel today?
In order to be a free people in our land, we need to connect to our biblical and rabbinic past, to draw out the ethical teachings, and adapt them to our needs in the modern world in a sovereign state. We have to write a new Torah which will give significance to both time and place and imbue our presence in this country with meaning.
This book explores the career of Abraham Abulafia (ca. 1240–1291), self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the school of ecstatic Kabbalah. Active in southern Italy and Sicily where Franciscans had adopted the apocalyptic teachings of... more
This book explores the career of Abraham Abulafia (ca. 1240–1291), self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the school of ecstatic Kabbalah. Active in southern Italy and Sicily where Franciscans had adopted the apocalyptic teachings of Joachim of Fiore, Abulafia believed the end of days was approaching and saw himself as chosen by God to reveal the Divine truth. He appropriated Joachite ideas, fusing them with his own revelations, to create an apocalyptic and messianic scenario that he was certain would attract his Jewish contemporaries and hoped would also convince Christians. From his focus on the centrality of the Tetragrammaton (the four letter ineffable Divine name) to the date of the expected redemption in 1290 and the coming together of Jews and Gentiles in the inclusiveness of the new age, Abulafia’s engagement with the apocalyptic teachings of some of his Franciscan contemporaries enriched his own worldview. Though his messianic claims were a result of his revelatory experiences and hermeneutical reading of the Torah, they were, to no small extent, dependent on his historical circumstances and acculturation.
This book discusses Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1316), the Christian missionary, philosopher and mystic, his relations with Jewish contemporaries, and how he integrated Jewish mystical teachings (Kabbalah) into his thought system so as to... more
This book discusses Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1316), the Christian missionary, philosopher and mystic, his relations with Jewish contemporaries, and how he integrated Jewish mystical teachings (Kabbalah) into his thought system so as to persuade the Jews to convert.
Issues dealt with include Llull's attitude towards the Jews, his knowledge of Kabbalah, his theories regarding the Trinity and Incarnation (the Art), and the impact of his ideas on the Jewish community. The book challenges conventional scholarly opinion regarding Christian knowledge of contemporary Jewish thought and questions the assumption that Christians did not know or use Kabbalah before the Renaissance. Further, it suggests that Lull was well aware of ongoing intellectual and religious controversies within the Jewish community, as well as being the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate Kabbalah as a tool for conversion.
Issues dealt with include Llull's attitude towards the Jews, his knowledge of Kabbalah, his theories regarding the Trinity and Incarnation (the Art), and the impact of his ideas on the Jewish community. The book challenges conventional scholarly opinion regarding Christian knowledge of contemporary Jewish thought and questions the assumption that Christians did not know or use Kabbalah before the Renaissance. Further, it suggests that Lull was well aware of ongoing intellectual and religious controversies within the Jewish community, as well as being the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate Kabbalah as a tool for conversion.
A collection of articles by a wonderful group of scholars dealing with some of the more positive aspects of inter-religious polemics in the Late Middle Ages.
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This volume, in honour of Professor Elena Lourie, focuses on various areas of interaction between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the late medieval Crown of Aragon and its environs. The articles deal with topics such as war, military... more
This volume, in honour of Professor Elena Lourie, focuses on various areas of interaction between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the late medieval Crown of Aragon and its environs. The articles deal with topics such as war, military campaigns, government, politics, and economics, relations between scholars of the different faiths and their sources, sexual relations and the politics of conversion, mythology and music. Other articles touch on issues such as vassalage, mercenaries, fiscal politics, communal politics and the inquisition. This book presents a mosaic of studies written by three generations of scholars who, using a broad variety of sources and methodologies, examine areas of great interest to Elena Lourie.
This two-volume work, Latin-into-Hebrew: Texts and Studies sheds new light on an under-investigated phenomenon of European medieval intellectual history: the transmission of knowledge and texts from Latin into Hebrew between the twelfth... more
This two-volume work, Latin-into-Hebrew: Texts and Studies sheds new light on an under-investigated phenomenon of European medieval intellectual history: the transmission of knowledge and texts from Latin into Hebrew between the twelfth and the fifteenth century. Because medieval Jewish philosophy and science in Christian Europe drew mostly on Hebrew translations from Arabic, the significance of the input from the Christian majority culture has been neglected. Latin-into-Hebrew: Texts and Studies redresses the balance. It highlights the various phases of Latin-into-Hebrew translations and considers their disparity in time, place, and motivations. Special emphasis is put on the singular role of the translations of Latin medical and philosophical literature. Volume One: Studies, offers 18 studies and Volume Two: Texts in Contexts, includes editions and analyses of hitherto unpublished texts of medieval Latin-into-Hebrew translations. Both volumes are available separately or together as a set. This groundbreaking work is indispensable for any scholar interested in the history of medieval philosophic and scientific thought in Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic in relationship to the vicissitudes of Jewish-Christian relations.
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For various contexts it may be of great interest to measure the way in which the meaning of certain target concept changes over time. In this paper, we propose a simple information-based procedure for addressing this challenge. Our... more
For various contexts it may be of great interest to measure the way in which the meaning of certain target concept changes over time. In this paper, we propose a simple information-based procedure for addressing this challenge. Our procedure involves the construction of a context-vector representing the target's meaning and the use of the Kullback-Leibler divergence measure for quantifying its semantic change. This procedure is illustrated through historical case study in which we study the semantic change of the concept ''Sin " in the Corpus of Historical American English. The procedure, its benefits and limitations are discussed.
This is an abstract of a paper that has been accepted for publication in the journal Measurement
This research was supported by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation (grant 1754/12).
This is an abstract of a paper that has been accepted for publication in the journal Measurement
This research was supported by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation (grant 1754/12).
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Where the discrepancies between the Latin and Hebrew versions of events in Paris 1240 are explained (I hope....).
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A Hebrew translation of the four Gospels is extant in a fifteenth-century manuscript now in the Vatican library. The manuscript is a copy of the original translation and there is no indication as to who the translator or copyist were. A... more
A Hebrew translation of the four Gospels is extant in a fifteenth-century manuscript now in the Vatican library. The manuscript is a copy of the original translation and there is no indication as to who the translator or copyist were. A close reading shows that the Hebrew was translated from Catalan, and is based on a manuscript which was then used for the Peiresc version (which contains the fourteenth-century Catalan translation of the Bible). The historical context of the translation along with some interesting anomalies in the translation itself raise questions about the identity of the translator and whether
he was a Jew, a convert, or a Christian.
he was a Jew, a convert, or a Christian.
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What follows is as much historiography as it is history, because the modern study of Kabbalah has a plot with its own personalities, internal developments and ideologies which have influenced how Kabbalah has been perceived historically.... more
What follows is as much historiography as it is history, because the modern study of Kabbalah has a plot with its own personalities, internal developments and ideologies which have influenced how Kabbalah has been perceived historically. The study of Kabbalah in the last couple of centuries cannot be separated from significant social, political and cultural phenomena such as the enlightenment, romanticism and nationalism which, for ideological reasons have often been the cause of considerable distortions and bias in the way Kabbalah has been presented. Because of its mystical leanings, its particular world of images and language, and affiliation with eschatology, messianism and magic, Kabbalah has been the subject of much criticism which has led to misconceptions about its nature, purpose, essence, and place in the texture of Jewish life over the ages. Thus, the issue of how Kabbalah moved from the private to the public sphere, or whether it was esoteric or exoteric in the thirteenth century is involved and complex, and necessitates questioning the motives and methodologies of both the Kabbalists themselves as well as Kabbalah’s modern-day scholars
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In a manuscript in the Harley Collection at the British Library (957), there is an account of what appears to be a case of ritual murder in Bristol, written c. 1280 but referring back to the reign of Henry II (1154-98). This account... more
In a manuscript in the Harley Collection at the British Library (957), there is an account of what appears to be a case of ritual murder in Bristol, written c. 1280 but referring back to the reign of Henry II (1154-98). This account entitled in the 1808 catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts Fabula ineptissima de filio Willelmi Wallensis civis Bristolliae is far more than just another example of ritual murder, of Jewish hatred towards Christians. Although we are provided with a Christian martyr, the young Adam, we are also given insight into the corruption of the priesthood and the beauty and salvific effect of Marian devotion. In fact, the story about the ritual murder and cruelty shown by the Jew Samuel, his wife and son to Adam is part of the backdrop for what is truly important, the liturgy surrounding Mary, the mother of Jesus. The ritual murder while described in all its gory detail provides a didactic framework for the all important moral of the legend. Yet, the presence of the Jew and the ritual murder accusation are a necessary part of the story. All the elements in the account coalesce as the audience is provided with further evidence of the known wickedness and perfidy of the Jews, as portrayed in folk tales, anecdotes, on the stage and in sermons. The antidote to the demonic presence and deeds of the Jew is the Virgin Mary, who not only protects and embraces the martyr Adam, but also is instrumental in returning a stray and wayward priest to the fold. However, unlike other Marian miracle stories, in this case, the Jewish protagonists are neither punished not converted to Christianity. Mary is seemingly unable or unwilling to bring about their conversion and bring them into the Christian fold. Hence, written in the build up to the expulsion of the Jews from England and the first account of the ritual desecration of the host in Paris in 1290, this tale is a cautionary one in that it questions the efficacy of Jewish conversion and establishes a clear impermeable boundary between the satanic Jew and the Christian commenwealth.
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The Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis was written by the Catalan philosopher, mystic, and missionary Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1316) probably between 1274 and 1276. It describes an interreligious disputation between a Jew, a Christian, and... more
The Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis was written by the Catalan philosopher, mystic, and missionary Ramon Llull (ca. 1232-1316) probably between 1274 and 1276. It describes an interreligious disputation between a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim for the edification of a truth-seeking Gentile. While the work has been cited for its tolerance toward the other faiths and for demonstrating Llull's knowledge of them, little attention has been given to the general framework in which the disputation takes place. The narrative is not just a literary device for the disputation between three wise men, but is an allegorical and symbolic representation of the via mystica. Llull was aware of current mystical trends within the Jewish communities of Provence and Catalonia, and he hoped that his Jewish (and Muslim) interlocutors, recognizing the symbolic representations of the narrative, would engage with the work, leading to ecstatic experience and recognition of the truth of Christianity. The Llibre del gentil can be read on two levels: a literal, where a religious disputation occurs between members of the three faiths, and an allegorical, where the work maps out the progress of the soul toward achieving cognitio Dei.
An anonymous Vita written in the years immediately following Joachim of Fiore's death presents him as an alter-Jeremiah or Ezekiel, a prophet of the exile. His life is described as a transmigration from the Holy Land, where he received... more
An anonymous Vita written in the years immediately following Joachim of Fiore's death presents him as an alter-Jeremiah or Ezekiel, a prophet of the exile. His life is described as a transmigration from the Holy Land, where he received his first revelation, to the monastery he founded in Fiore, or as a journey from exile to redemption. Calabria becomes the new Holy Land, blessed by the Holy Spirit. In contrast, the thirteenth-century Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia depicts Sicily as the place where prophecy will be renewed and the Messiah revealed. He refers to himself as Zachariah, the prophet of redemption, particularly in work in which his connection with Christians is emphasized. This article suggests that Abulafia adapted the Joachite teachings which he would have encountered in Sicily and southern Italy to a polemical dialogue with his Christian counterparts in an attempt to prove to them that he was the one who would bring the redemption and unification of Jews and Christians in a spiritual understanding of the divine Name.
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Ramon Llull used what he called "necessary reason" to prove the truth of Christianity in general and the doctrine of the Trinity in particular. He appropriated contemporary Kabbalistic ideas about the Godhead in order to demonstrate that... more
Ramon Llull used what he called "necessary reason" to prove the truth of Christianity in general and the doctrine of the Trinity in particular. He appropriated contemporary Kabbalistic ideas about the Godhead in order to demonstrate that their reasoning implied the existence of a Trinity and that Christianity was the true faith. Solomon ibn Adret was forced to use Kabbalistic teachings to contradict Llull's arguments and show that sefirotic imagery did not imply a Trinitarian structure in the Godhead. Alfonso of Valladolid, a Jewish convert to Christianity, utilizes Llull's arguments and translates them into a Jewish context and language in a way that supersedes and dismisses Solomon ibn Adret's response. Unlike Llull who was not familiar with the intricacies of the Hebrew language, Alfonso was able to translate Llull's arguments about the Trinity into a language that would be immediately recognizable and more difficult to refute for his Jewish contemporaries.
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This article suggests that Sefer ha-Ot, an apocalyptic work written by Abraham Abulafia (1240-ca. 1290/1), is not one book, but three, and that each section reflects different periods in his life. By dating Abulafia’s messianic career... more
This article suggests that Sefer ha-Ot, an apocalyptic work written by Abraham Abulafia (1240-ca. 1290/1), is not one book, but three, and that each section reflects different periods in his life. By dating Abulafia’s messianic career from a vision in 1276, the backdrop for the writing of the first two sections is set out, and a vision in late 1285 helps explain the very different style of the third section, the one that gives its name to the whole book. The first two sections reflect a very intense period of messianic activity and where it is clear that the expected Messiah is Abulafia himself, while the third section deals with the wars at the end of days, and only hints at the possibility that Abulafia is indeed the expected Messiah.
The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages (tenth to fifteenth centuries). Proceedings of the international symposium held at Speyer, 20–25 October 2002. Edited by Christoph Cluse. (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 4.) Pp. xvii+512 incl. 53 ills and 24 maps. Turnhout: Brepols...more
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שיחה עם דב אלבוים על פרשת ראה
A conversation (in Hebrew) with Dov Elbaum on the weekly portion of Re'eh
A conversation (in Hebrew) with Dov Elbaum on the weekly portion of Re'eh
Research Interests: Doctrine of God and Bible
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Poster with the program for the May 22nd-May 25th 2017
Research Interests: Jewish Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Jewish History, Religious Conversion, and 8 moreHistory of Missions, Jewish - Christian Relations, Islamic Studies, History of the Family, Medieval Jewish History, Medieval Islamic History, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, and Society of Jesus
Poster for Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters (CSOC) 5th International Conference "The Agents of Conversion " May 22nd-May 25th 2017 . Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.