Because of their religious and existential appeal, Judah Ha-Levi and Baya ibn Paquda are studied in circles otherwise opposed to the study of philosophy. Ha-Levi emphasizes correct actions, whereas Baya emphasizes intention and... more
Because of their religious and existential appeal, Judah Ha-Levi and Baya ibn Paquda are studied in circles otherwise opposed to the study of philosophy. Ha-Levi emphasizes correct actions, whereas Baya emphasizes intention and internalization. Diana Lobel shows how both thinkers adopted Islamic, especially Sufi, terms and ideas, but adapted them to their Jewish context, thus exemplifying Wolfson's notion of "repercussions" rather than one-way "influences." Her Quest for God and the Good contains broad scholarship but goes beyond it to the multi-cultural philosophical search over the ages for the truth and the good life.
In this chapter, I continue with Maimonides’ radical deconstruction of God’s presence in the world. As a direct corollary of the sort of austere presenceless shekhinah explored in chapter 6, Maimonides had to deal with a host of biblical... more
In this chapter, I continue with Maimonides’ radical deconstruction of God’s presence in the world. As a direct corollary of the sort of austere presenceless shekhinah explored in chapter 6, Maimonides had to deal with a host of biblical terms commonly used with reference to God. On their face, they undermine his project to “banish” God from the human domain because they pose seductive lures for drawing Him back in. At the very heart of Aristotelian physics is the principle of motion, the operative feature of the cosmos. Associated with properties such as potentiality and actuality endemic to the workings of the natural world, the literal application of motion to God constitutes an offence of capital proportions. Leading up to the chapter on shakhon, Maimonides rationalized the biblical use of numerous terms connoting motion, such as “approach,” “coming,” “going,” and “going out” with respect to God. While doing so, he also constructed an intricate preface to his avowedly anti-mythological conception of the shekhinah. What follows is an attempt to reconstruct that preface in pursuit of the acutely outsider God advocated by Maimonides.
