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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

inclined at all times toward sensualism, in the same measure there arose Nazarites, prophets, and saints in the midst of them to point to the higher needs

of the soul. But there are different modes of seclusion from the world. Some, in order to lead a life devoted to the higher world, flee this world altogether, and live as hermits far away from all civilization, quite contrary to the design of the Creator; others retire from the world's turmoil and strife and live a secluded life in their own homes a Ascetic third class, which comes nearest to the Life. precepts of the Law, participates in the world's struggles and pursuits, but leads a life of abstinence and moderation, regarding this world as a preparation for a higher one. The object of all religious practise is the exercise of selfcontrol, the curbing of passion, and the placing at the service of the Most High of all personal possesAccordingly, the sions and of all the organs of life. generation of the Patriarchs, being less passionate, required fewer legal restrictions than the people of Israel in Canaan surrounded by idolatrous nations, where the Nazarites and Prophets, who led a life Some of abstinence, became a necessity for them. such discipline of abstinence Bahya recommends, as an offset against worldliness, for an age like his own, when the people display unbridled pas-

An



and low desires; and he quotes from some Arabian moralist a lengthy admonition in this sions

spirit.

The aim and goal of all ethical self-discipline he declares to be the love of God, which forms the contents of the tenth and last section of the work, " Sha'ar Ahabat Elohim " (The Gate of the Love of God). This is explained as the longing of the soul, amid all the attractions and enjoyments that bind it to the earth, for the fountain of its life, in which it alone finds joy and peace, even though the greatest pains and suffering be imposed on it. Those that are

every sacrifice for their God and no selfish

this love find easy

imbued with

they are asked to make motive mars the purity of their love. Thus was the love of Abraham and Job, of Daniel and all the saintly martyrs, filled with the joy of self-sacrifice. For those that truly love their God the 613 commandments of the Torah are Love rather few in number, their whole life of God. being consecrated to the God with

they are one. As characteristic of this perfect unity of the loving soul with its God, Bahya tells of a saint found sleeping in the desert, who, when asked whether he had no fear of the lions in the vicinity, answered, "I should feel ashamed of my God, did I entertain fear of any being besides Him." And yet Bahya is not so one-sided as to recommend the practise of the recluse, who has at heart only the welfare of his own soul. A man may be as holy as an angel, yet he will not equal in merit the one that leads his fellow-men to righteousness and to love of God. The " Hobot ha-Lebabot " contains many gems of thought and beautiful sayings collected from the Arabic literature and on account of its deep religfor ious sentiment it became a treasury of devotion A number of the Jews during the Middle Ages.

whom



compendiums

Bahya ben Joseph

of the

work were composed and pub-

lished for this purpose.

According to Steinschneider, one was written as early as the thirteenth century by a grandson of Meshullam b. Jacob of Lunel, and recdited (not composed, as was formerly assumed) by Jacob Pan in 1614. Another compendium for the Penitential Days was composed by Menahem ibn Zerah and embodied in his "Zedab la-Derek" (1374). Two Arabic manuscripts of the "Hobot ha-Leba-

bot " exist, one in Paris and another in the Bodleian Library, Oxford but they show essential variations, and seem therefore to present two different redactions. They are, according to Steinschneider, in " Jew. Quart. Rev. " xiii. 452, " being prepared for the press. Judah ibn Tibbon translated the first section of the book for Meshullam ben Jacob of Lunel in 1161, and the rest between 1170 and 1198. Meantime Joseph Kimhi of Narbonne made another translation, of which only the section on Repentance, " Sha'ar haTeshubah," has been preserved. It was published by Jellinek, together with Ibn Tibbon's translation, at Leipsic in 1846. Jacob Roman of Constantinople intended to publish the Arabic text with a Latin translation in 1643. A comparison of the translations with the Arabic

original (Cairo

MS. ) was begun by

Judah

Jehiel

b.

Joseph Moses Lewensohn in a pamphlet entitled "Hayye Lcbabot," Vienna, 1872, and New York, According to Steinschneider, the Paris manu1885. script differs considerably from the text that Ibn Tibbon translated. The first edition of Ibn Tibbon's translation appeared in Naples in 1489 a less correct one in Venice in 1548 and a more critical one, with register and



index, in

Mantua

in 1559.

The

best critical edition,

based on eight manuscripts, is the one published by Isaac Benjacob, together with a brief commentary and a valuable preface and fragment of Kimbi's

by Jellinek, Leipsic, 1846. Hebrew commentaries, together with the text, appeared as foltranslation

(1) " Manoali ha-Lebabot," by Manoah Handel Shemariah of Poland, Sulzbach, 1691, together with a German translation by Isaac b. Moses, Amster dam, 1716; another with a German translation by Samuel Posen, Flirth, 1765; (2) "Marpe la-Nefesh," by Raphael b. Zachariah Mendel of Frankfort-on-theOder, Oleknitz, 1774; (3) "Toledot Aharon," by Hayyim and Isaacs, sons of Israel Somesz (4) " Needar ba-Kodesh," by Moses b. Reuben of Yurbuig, Grodno, 1790; (5) "Pat Lehem," by Hayyim b. Abraham ben Aryeh Loeb Cohen, darshan of Mohilev, published with text under the title of "Simhat Lebab," Sokolow, 1803; (6) "Or la-Yesharim," by Raphael J. Fttrstenthal, together with a German translation and the text, Breslau, 1836. The following translations have been published In Portuguese by Samuel b. Isaac Abbas, Amsterdam, 1670 in Italian in 1847 modern German translations were attempted in 1765; Spanish by Joseph Pardo, Amsterdam, 1610; Ladino by Zaddik b. Joseph Firmon, Venice, 1703, and Isaac Bellagrade, Vienna, 1822; German, besides those mentioned, by Mendel E. Stern, Vienna, 1856, and by Mendel

lows: b.







Baumgarten, with preface by Abraham Vienna, 1854.

Geiger,