Hasdai ben Abraham Crescas (c. 1340 - 1410/1411) was a Jewish philosopher and a renowned halakhist (teacher of Jewish law). Events Europe has about 74 million inhabitants. ... Events July 15 – Battle of Grunwald (a. ... Events February 11 : Peace of ToruÅ„ 1411 signed in ToruÅ„, Poland Births September 21 - Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (died 1460) Juan de Mena, Spanish poet (died 1456) Deaths June 3 - Duke Leopold IV of Austria (born 1371) November 4 - Khalil Sultan, ruler of... Jewish philosophy is the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish Torah thought. ... Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. ...

Biography

Hadai Crescas came from a family of scholars; he was a disciple of the Talmudist and philosopher Nissim ben Reuben, known as The RaN. Following in the footsteps of his teacher he became a Talmudic authority and a philosopher of great originality. He is considered important in the history of modern thought for his deep influence on Baruch Spinoza. The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven (1320 - 1380) of Girona was an influential talmudist and authority in Jewish law. ... Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677), was named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Espinosa or Bento dEspiñoza in his native Amsterdam. ...

While Crescas did not occupy an official position as rabbi, he seems to have been active as a teacher. Among his fellow students and friends, Isaac ben Sheshet (known as the RIBaSH), famous for his responsa, takes precedence. Joseph Albo is the best known of his pupils, but at least two others have won recognition, Rabbi Mattathias of Saragossa, and Rabbi Zechariah ha-Levi. Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ... Joseph Albo was a Spanish rabbi, and theologian of the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of the work on the Jewish principles of faith, Ikkarim. ...

Crescas was a man of means. As such he was appointed sole executor of the will of his uncle Vitalis Azday by the King of Aragon in 1393. Still, though enjoying the high esteem even of prominent non-Jews, he did not escape the common fate of his coreligionists. Imprisoned upon a false accusation in 1378, he suffered personal indignities because he was a Jew. His only son died in 1391, a martyr for his faith, during the anti-Semitic persecutions of that period. Nevertheless he kept his faith. John I (1350-1395), king of Aragon, was the son of Peter IV. and his third wife Eleanor of Sicily. ... Events Ottoman Turks occupy Veliko Turnovo in north-central Bulgaria. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Notwithstanding this bereavement, his mental powers were unbroken; for the works that have made him immortal were written after that terrible year. Another episode of his life worthy of note is connected with the appearance of the pseudo-Messiah of Cisneros, one of whose adherents he became. In 1401-02 he visited Joseph Orabuena at Pamplona at the request of the King of Navarre, who paid the expenses of his journey to various Navarrese towns (Jacobs, l.c. Nos. 1570, 1574). He was at that time described as "Rav of Saragossa." Charles III of Navarre (1361, Mantes – September 8, 1425, Olite), surnamed the Noble, was King of Navarre 1387–1425, Count of Évreux 1387–1404, and Duke of Nemours 1404–1425. ...

His works

His works on Jewish law, if indeed ever committed to writing - have not reached us. But his concise philosophical work Or Adonai, The Light of the Lord became a classical Jewish refutation of medieval Aristotelianism, and a harbinger of the scientific revolution in the 16th century.

Three of his writings have been preserved:

1. His letter to the congregations of Avignon, published as an appendix to Wiener's edition of "Shevet Yehudah" (see above), in which he relates the incidents of the persecution of 1391.
2. An exposition and refutation of the main doctrines of Christianity. This "tratado" was written in Spanish in 1398. The Spanish original is no longer extant; but a Hebrew translation by Joseph ibn Shem-Tov, with the title ("Refutation of the Cardinal Principles of the Christians"), has been preserved. The work was composed at the solicitation of Spanish noblemen. Crescas' object in writing what is virtually an apologetic treatise on Judaism was to present the reasons which held the Jews fast to their ancestral faith.
3. His primary work, Or Adonai (book), The Light of the Lord. A separate article exists on this topic.

A commentary on the Talmudic tractate Gittin, historically attributed to the 13th century Rabbi Yom Tov Asevilli (Ritva), has been more recently attributed by many scholars to Hasdai Crescas^{[citation needed]}. Or Hashem, (Or Adonai), The Light of the Lord, is the primary work of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (c. ... The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ... Nashim (Women) is the third order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud), containing the laws related to women and family life. ... Yom Tov Asevilli or Yom Tov ben Avraham Asevilli (or Yom Tov the son of Abraham Asevilli), (1250-1330), who is commonly known to scholars of Judaism as the Ritva (an acronym of his Hebrew name), was a Medieval rabbi and Halakhist famous for his commentary on the Talmud. ...

Works

• The Light of the Lord (Hebrew: Or Hashem or Or Adonai)
• The Refutation of the Christian Principles (polemics and some philosophy)
• Passover Sermon (religious philosophy and some halakha)

Important studies

• Harry Austryn Wolfson, Crescas' Critique of Aristotle. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1929.