David Messer Leon
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David ben Judah Messer Leon (c. 1470 in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
– c. 1526 in Salonica) was an Italian
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
,
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and writer, who defended the value of secular disciplines and the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
as an important part of traditional
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
studies.


Life

David ben Judah was educated at
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
in the school of his father,
Judah Messer Leon Judah ben Jehiel, ( he, יהודה בן יחיאל, 1420 to 1425 – c. 1498), more usually called Judah Messer Leon ( he, יהודה מסר לאון), was an Italian rabbi, teacher, physician, and philosopher. Through his works, assimilating a ...
, author of ''Libnat ha-Sappir'', and received at the age of eighteen his rabbinical diploma from German and French Talmudic authorities. Soon afterward he went to
Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, where he studied under
Judah Minz Judah ben Eliezer ha-Levi Minz (c. 1405 – 1508), also known as Mahari Minz, was the most prominent Italian rabbi of his time. As his surname suggests, he immigrated around 1462 from Mainz to Italy. He officiated as rabbi of Padua for forty-seven ...
, who granted him a new rabbinical diploma. After further studies in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, he returned to Naples in 1492, where he practised as a physician and taught in his father's academy. However, in 1495 the city fell to the French under Charles VIII, and he fled east to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
to escape the violent pogroms that ensued, spending time in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
before moving sometime between 1498 and 1504 to teach Torah in Salonica, at that time in a state of intellectual vibrancy due to the settlement there of many
Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
exiles forced to leave after the
expulsion of the Jews This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews. Timeline The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees. Assyrian captivity ...
from
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
in 1492,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
in 1493, and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in 1496. It was while he was at Salonica that he completed his most major work, the ''Ein ha-Kore'' (''Eye of the Reader''), a sympathetic commentary defending
Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
'
Guide for the Perplexed ''The Guide for the Perplexed'' ( ar, دلالة الحائرين, Dalālat al-ḥā'irīn, ; he, מורה נבוכים, Moreh Nevukhim) is a work of Jewish theology by Maimonides. It seeks to reconcile Aristotelianism with Rabbinical Jewish the ...
, criticizing the commentary of Isaac Abravanel. The reputation of the book spread, and he was called to the rabbinate of Avlona in 1510 at a salary of 70
florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
a year. The community possessed three congregations of various nationalities, and Leon officiated successively in the three synagogues on every third Saturday. In the very first year of his rabbinate dissensions on account of a ritual question arose which caused the separation of the Portuguese and Catalan Jews from the Castilians. Toward the end of his second year in Avlona a quarrel broke out among the Sephardim and the Portuguese. Leon, who sided with the Portuguese, had for antagonists Abraham Ḥarbon and Abraham de Collier. Excommunications were launched by both parties even on the
Day of Atonement Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
, before the Sephardim finally relented. Some time later R. David returned to Salonica, where he died whilst still writing his last book.


Works

Leon was a prolific writer, and produced works in many branches of secular science, as well as on distinctively Jewish subjects. With the exception of two, all remained unpublished. Most of them are no longer extant, and are known only from quotations. Leon preferred to clothe his philosophy in the garb of the
Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
, in which he was an adept; but he was too much of a philosopher to become involved in the abysses of mysticism. In his kabbalistic work ''Magen David'', still extant in manuscript, he freely quotes the Greek and the
Arabic philosophers Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
. For him
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
was the greatest kabbalist. This philosopher, Leon claimed, lived at the time of the prophet
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
, who was his teacher. Leon wrote also the following works: *''Abir Ya'aḳob'', on medicine and other sciences; *''Sefer ha-Derashot'', sermons arranged in the order of the sections of the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
(according to Neubauer, it is identical with the ''Tif'eret Adam'' quoted in Leon's commentary on Lamentations); *''Menorat ha-Zahab'', also extant in manuscript, probably a haggadic commentary on Lamentations; *'' Ein ha-Kore'', a commentary on the ''
Moreh Nebukim ''The Guide for the Perplexed'' ( ar, دلالة الحائرين, Dalālat al-ḥā'irīn, ; he, מורה נבוכים, Moreh Nevukhim) is a work of Jewish theology by Maimonides. It seeks to reconcile Aristotelianism with Rabbinical Jewish the ...
'', criticizing the commentary of Isaac Abravanel; *''Miktam le-Dawid'', a kabbalistic work mentioned in the ''Ein ha-Kore''; *''Sod ha-Gemul'', in which he shows that the Israelites, unlike other nations, are not under a special sign of the
zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
; *refutations of Albo's criticisms of
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
; *''Shebaḥ ha-Nashim'', still extant in manuscript (according to Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." xix.83, identical with the commentary on ); *''Tehillah le-Dawid'' (published by the author's grandson Aaron le-Bet David, Constantinople, 1577), in three parts: (1) on the excellence of the Law; (2) on the elements of faith, which latter is superior to speculative reasoning; (3) on the principles of God, the divine attributes, providence, free will, etc.; *a halakic decision on the ritual question which caused the division of the various congregations of Avlona, published by S. Bernfeld, under the title ''Kebod Ḥakamim'', Berlin, 1899 (''Meḳiẓe Nirdamim''). Leon was considered as a high
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
ic authority, and was consulted on
halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
questions. Two of his decisions have been preserved. In one of his works Leon mentions a commentary of his own on Moses of Coucy's ''
Sefer Mitzvot Gadol Sefer Mitzvot Gadol ( he, ספר מצוות גדול; in english: "The Great Book of Commandments"; abbreviated: , "SeMaG") work of halakha by Moses ben Jacob of Coucy, containing an enumeration of the 613 commandments. Description The work was ...
'' ("Semag"). Parma MS. de Rossi No. 1395"Cat. Perreau," No. 19 contains a scientific treatise by Leon. In the introduction to this treatise Leon says that he wrote many poems in Hebrew and in the "Christian language," meaning thereby Latin or Italian. Shabbethai Bass, without indicating any source, gives, in his ''Sifte Yeshenim'', the following titles of works attributed to Leon: ''Beit David''; ''Kisse David''; ''Nefesh David''; ''Ḳol Adonai ba-Koaḥ''; and ''Naḥal Adanim''.


References


Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon
Notes of the Norbert Normand Lecture for 5756. *''Between Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon''. By Hava Tirosh-Rothschild. State University of New York Press, 1991. Its bibliography: *Rossi, ''Dizionario'', s.v.; *Nepi-Ghirondi, ''Toledot Gedole Yisrael'', p. 78; *Steinschneider, ''Cat. Bodl.'' col. 867; *idem, ''Hebr. Bibl.'' viii.64; *idem, in ''Letterbode'', xii.57 et seq.; *Neubauer, ib. x.10b et seq.; *Schechter, in ''R. E. J.'' xxiv.118 et seq.; *Michael, ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'', No. 727; *Carmoly, ''Histoire des Médecins Juifs'', § ciii; *S. Bernfeld, introduction to ''Kebod Ḥakamim'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, David Ben Judah Messer 1470 births 1520s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Philosophers of Judaism Rabbis from Thessaloniki 15th-century Republic of Venice rabbis 15th-century Italian rabbis 16th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire