Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov (c. 1390 – c. 1440) (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: שם טוב אבן שם טוב) was a Spanish kabbalist and fierce opponent of rationalistic philosophy. Tov was president of a

yeshivah A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stud ...

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 ...

. He lived about 1390-1440 ( Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya, ''Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah,'' ed. Venice, p. 62b). He was the father of

Joseph ibn Shem-Tov :''To be distinguished from Joseph Albo (1380-1435)'' Joseph ben Shem-Tov ibn Shem-Tov (died 1480) was a prolific Judæo-Spanish writer born in Castile. He lived in various cities of Spain: Medina del Campo de Leon (1441); Alcalá de Henares (1 ...

and Isaac ibn Shem-Tov.

Works

He wrote: ''Sefer ha-Emunot,'' on religious dogmas (Ferrara, 1556); ''Sefer Yesodot'' (perhaps only another title for the preceding); a commentary on the '' Pesach Haggadah'' (Steinschneider, ''Cat. Munich,'' 264, 3; idem, ''Cat. Bodl.'' col. 99). The ''Sefer ha-Emunot'' is an attack on the Aristotelian philosophy and on the rationalistic conception of Judaism. It is also a eulogy of the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

, "the true teaching, which has lived on through tradition and which alone can help Israel." Shem Tov endeavors to prove that, from the standpoint of positive Judaism, there is not the agreement between religion and philosophy that is claimed by many

Jewish philosophers 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 ...

. In the introduction he makes the philosophical investigators and the "enlightenment" brought about by them responsible for the defection from Judaism and for the political persecutions of the times. He renders especially severe judgments upon

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 Tora ...

(whom he understood to be withholding belief in resurrection), upon Abraham ibn Ezra, upon Levi ben Gershon, and upon other men of liberal views. In his survey of the historical development of the Kabbala, Shem Tov cites a number of older kabbalistic writers, whose existence, however, is not thereby proved. This reference to them is appended to a short passage from the Zohar. Moses Alashkar vehemently opposed Shem Tov's dogmatic system in his ''Hassagot Al Mah She-Katab R. Shem-Tov Neged ha-RaMbaM'' (Ferrara, 1556). The ''Sefer ha-Emunot'' has been much cited by both old and modern authors, and is valuable for the history of the Kabbala. To judge from a remark on page 31b it would seem that Ibn Shem-Tov wrote other works, but nothing is known concerning them.

References

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

*Grätz, ''Gesch. Hebr.'' ed. of Rabbinowitz, vi.99-100; *Kaufmann, ''Die Attributenlehre,'' Index; *

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, ''Cat. Bodl.'' cols. 2558 et seq.; *idem, ''Jewish Literature,'' pp. 94, 304; *idem, ''Die Polemische und Apologetische Litteratur,'' pp. 321, 367; *idem, ''Hebr. Uebers.'' p. 120; *M. Straschon, in ''Pirḥe Ẓafon,'' ii.77 et seq.; *Winter and Wünsche, ''Die Jüdische Litteratur,'' iii.281, 365 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shem Tov Ibn Shem Tov 1390 births 1440 deaths 15th-century Castilian rabbis Kabbalists