A Medieval Hebrew Polemical Mélange

The collection of materials in Ms. Or. #53 of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Rome has for some time interested students of medieval Jewish polemical literature. This study focuses on five folios of the compilation, folios 21 through 25. Analysis of these five folios shows them to include three...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Main Author: Chazan, Robert Leon 1936-2024 (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: College 1980
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Judaism / Middle Ages
RelBib Classification:BH Judaism
TE Middle Ages
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:The collection of materials in Ms. Or. #53 of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Rome has for some time interested students of medieval Jewish polemical literature. This study focuses on five folios of the compilation, folios 21 through 25. Analysis of these five folios shows them to include three distinct works: (1) a brief northern-French résumé of Nachmanides' extensive report of his confrontation with the Dominican Friar Paul Christian; (2) a short series of polemical thrusts against Christianity, based on important Gospel verses; (3) an interesting literary dialogue between a ma'amin (believer) and a min (unbeliever), a dialogue which shows extensive parallels with the well-known Sefer Haberit generally attributed to R. Joseph Kimḥi. While the second of these segments is stereotyped and relatively uninteresting, the first and third are valuable. The literary dialogue, despite its parallels to Sefer Haberit, introduces some significant expansions and embellishments of arguments found in the Kimḥi text. The northern-French résumé of Nachmanides' lengthy narrative illuminates some of the complexities of medieval communication. Some arguments advanced in the Nachmanides account are clearly understood; some are poorly understood or misunderstood; some are rejected.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion