Aaron ben Elijah (‎ 1328/1329 – 1369) is often considered to be the most prominent Karaite Jewish theologian. He is referred to as "the Younger" to distinguish him from Aaron ben Joseph of Constantinople. Even though Aaron lived for much of his life in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, it was the centre of Karaism and he is sometimes distinguished from another theologian known as Aaron ben Elijah of Constantinople by the title "of Nicomedia" another place he lived.

Background

He was born in Nicomedia. While little is known about his personal life, he is considered by Karaites to be the equivalent of his contemporary,

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, the most distinguished

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

scholar of the time and an outspoken critic of the Karaites. In fact, it seems likely that Aaron made it his ambition to rival Maimonides by defending the Karaites from his attacks. To achieve this, he studied the extensive religious literature of both rabbinical

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, as well as that of the Karaites. The result of his studies was the 1346 ''Etz HaChayyim'' "Tree of Life", a philosophical work modeled after

' '' Guide to the Perplexed'') One of the chief criticisms of the work is that it attempts to imitate Maimonides' ''Guide'' far too slavishly in terms of structure and style. In 1354, while living in Constantinople, he composed his second major work, ''Gan Eden'' "Garden of Eden", about the commandments of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' defend the Karaite legal code and in 1362 he wrote ''Keter Torah'' "Crown of the Torah", a comprehensive commentary on the Hebrew Bible using a literal interpretation of the writings. He died in

in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Aaron was neither as profound nor independent-minded as Maimonides, for whom he maintained great esteem even when opposing him. Nevertheless, he was a versatile compiler and eclectic, if not always original, philosopher who restored some prestige to the Karaite community, which had declined since it was forced to fend off the attacks of

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

. Furthermore, some of his critiques of the Maimonidean worldview can be considered reasonable and sound.

Aaron's philosophy

Aaron ben Elijah was heavily influenced by the works of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. Unlike Maimonides, however, Aaron accepted the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Motazilite philosophical system of Kalam, combining atomism with Aristotelean views to reconcile revelation with philosophy — in this, he differed not only from Maimonides but also from Aaron Ben Joseph, the Elder, who sided with Maimonides in this debate. According to the younger Aaron, in the first chapters of ''Etz HaChayyim'', the theology of the Kalam is the natural religion arrived at by

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

through meditation and systematized by the Mosaic Law; while

Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysic ...

, adopted by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

because of its hostility to

, is a heterogeneous foreign product, harmful to the development of the Torah in its purity. He then declares that the object of his work is to restore the theology of the Kalam by presenting it in a clear manner.

''Etz HaChayyim''

The book ''Etz HaChayyim'' (Tree of Life) was written in 1346 and consists of 114 chapters: * Chapters 1–15 discuss the doctrine of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

's existence, God's incorporeality, and the creation of the world. Like Maimonides' ''Guide'', he considers the heavenly spheres to be governed by separate intelligences, or angels. By showing that his conclusions are nothing more than

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

al deductions, Aaron argues that they precede his own work, which is nothing more than the confirmation of established truths. * Chapters 16–62 discuss

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

, explaining them as figurative expressions of Divine energy and activity. In these chapters, he often cites Maimonides verbatim, but claims that Maimonides himself was simply following an even earlier work, ''Ha-Eshkol'', by Judah Hadassi. Aaron follows Maimonides' example in stating that Ezekiel's theophany of the Divine Chariot, like the descriptions of the Tabernacle and its symbolism, has a physical meaning. * Chapters 63–77 discuss the unity of God. Here Aaron opposes the approach of both Maimonides and Hadassi, who reject all but God's negative attributes (God is not...). According to Aaron, however, power, knowledge, life, will, and existence are all positive attributes inseparable from the very essence of God and in no way infringing upon His unity. This leads him to an explanation of the usual

names of God There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various Quality (philosophy), qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word ''God (word), god'' (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun to ref ...

denoting God's activity, as distinguished from the

Tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

, which denotes the essence of God as the author of all existence. * Chapters 78–94 discuss the concept of Divine Providence. Special emphasis is placed on the fourfold nature of evil: physical, psychical, moral, and non-moral. This was a favorite topic of older Karaite philosophers such as Joseph al-Bazir (and of Maimonides), that evil is only a defect inherent in matter, and therefore not to be ascribed to God, unless God makes it the means of man's

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

improvement. While Maimonides assumes that God's providence extends only to rational human beings, Aaron extends Divine providence to all beings, since God's universal knowledge embraces all. Whereas Maimonides sees Divine action as guides by God's wisdom, according to Aaron, it is guided by God's justice. :Accentuating the superiority of moral over intellectual power, Aaron takes a higher view of the question of why the righteous suffer than either Maimonides or some of his own Karaite predecessors. He rejects the concept of ''temurah'', or compensation for grief, postulating instead that all trials imposed on people are for their spiritual benefit (citing Abraham and Job as examples of this). Humanity is incapable of comprehending the purpose of Creation, being limited to conceiving of its own role in the world as God's servant. * Chapters 95–114 discuss revelation, the Divine Law of the Torah, the perfection of the soul, and its immortality. The two trees in the Garden of Eden are seen as metaphors for the higher and the lower spheres of human existence. After the Fall, the commandments of the Torah become necessary means of restoring humanity to its true, twofold nature. This leads to a discussion of the nature of

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

in general and its highest degree, as attained by Moses. It continues by explaining the objectives of the Torah and its commandments as means of achieving the perfection of both the individual and of humanity as a whole. :According to an ancient tradition of both Karaite and Rabbinic Jews and cited by Aaron, the Torah was intended for and offered to all nations. It can never be changed, improved, or (in contrast to Rabbinic Judaism) augmented by an Oral Law. Essentially different from the attitude of Maimonides, and in fact from that of all Aristotelian thinkers, is Aaron's attitude toward

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

, which he bases chiefly upon moral grounds, citing the idea of retribution. For this reason, however, his

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

is rather obscure, being a semi-rational, semi-mystical blend of many different beliefs. He concludes his work with a call to repentance.

''Gan Eden''

Aaron's work on the Commandments, entitled ''Gan Eden'' (The Garden of Eden), consists of twenty-five sections and 194 chapters, as well as nine smaller juridical articles, which became of paramount importance to the Karaites. It was written in 1354. He follows a rational approach to the commandments, similar to the one espoused by Maimonides. He opens with the principle that instilling the belief in God's unity, and especially in His government of the world, is the ultimate purpose of every commandment, so that it is the duty of humanity to seek the underlying objective of each commandment. For example, the goal of the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

is inculcating a belief in the Divine creation and guidance of the world; other festivals are intended to counteract the influences of paganism and fatalism. Two parts of ''Gan Eden'' have appeared as separate books: * One, consisting of five sections and twenty-two chapters on '' shechita'' (the laws of slaughtering animals for food) * '' Tzafnat Paneach'' ("Discloser of Secrets") consists of eight chapters on incestuous marriages. In its entirety, ''Gan Eden'' is probably the best and most comprehensive exposition of the Karaite system of the Law, presenting the opinions of all Aaron's predecessors with impartial and frank criticism. It is mainly because of this work that Aaron continues to wield such a great influence upon the Karaites.

''Keter Torah''

His third book was titled ''Keter Torah'' (Crown of Law) and was written in 1362. This is a commentary on the

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

, styled after Abraham Ibn Ezra's earlier work. Like all of Aaron's earlier writings, it also contains a review of the philosophical and exegetical interpretations given by his predecessors, with critiques of their views where necessary. Particularly interesting is his "Preface," in which he states the main differences between the approach to biblical

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

of Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism.

Editions of Aaron's works

The '' 'Etz ha-Ḥayyim,'' of which many manuscripts exist in Leiden, Munich, Vienna, and Leipzig, was first published, with a large commentary (''Or ha-Ḥayyim'') by Luzki, in Koslov, 1835. A critical edition, with valuable information and a summary of the one hundred and fourteen chapters in Hebrew by Caleb Afendopulo, and one in German by the editor, Franz Delitzsch, appeared in Leipzig, 1841. Of the ''Keter Torah'' there is extant a Eupatoria edition (1866), besides manuscripts in the Bodleian Library,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, in Vienna, and in Leipzig; while the ''Gan Eden'' exists, in manuscript only, in Leiden and Leipzig. Portions of the latter have been published by Schupart, Trigland, Danz, and Langhausen.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elijah, Aaron Ben Karaite rabbis 1320s births 1369 deaths People from İzmit 14th-century Byzantine rabbis 14th-century Byzantine writers 14th-century Jewish theologians 14th-century Greek philosophers Medieval Jewish philosophers