Sarah Stroumsa | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (original) (raw)
Festschrift by Sarah Stroumsa
Articles & Reviews by Sarah Stroumsa
Sarah Stroumsa, “Collective Image and Individual Portrait in the Jewish Leadership Stratum in the... more Sarah Stroumsa, “Collective Image and Individual Portrait in the Jewish Leadership Stratum in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries in the Muslim World: Variations on Joseph ibn Shimon,” in Nahem Ilan, Haggai Ben-Shammai and Miriam Frenkel, eds., Studies of Leadership Phenomenon in Jewish Communities during the Middle Ages: A Jubilee Festschrift on the Occasion of the Seventieth Birthday of Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 2023), 343-362 (Hebrew)
In the context of our contemporary society, informed by the globalization of communication system... more In the context of our contemporary society, informed by the globalization of communication systems, the title of the present volume could be taken to imply a clear value judgement; namely, if philosophy is a good thing, and its dissemination is also a good thing, then so is the popularization of philosophy. Making education more accessible to wider circles is unquestionably a positive development in human history, but the broad dissemination of knowledge carries with it the responsibility for its consequences. When accessibility turns into popularization, one suspects that, in the process, the studied material might also have undergone some changes, intended to make it more easily digestible for a broad, unprepared public. For the philosophers in the medi eval Islamicate world, the realization of this educational responsibility meant that the study of philosophy had to be gradual, mentored, and closely monitored. They considered a faulty understanding of philosophy to be more harmful than ignorance of it, and they repeatedly expressed their anxiety and consternation regarding what they saw as the spread of watered-down or distorted philosophical statements by the rational theo logians (mutakallimūn). Nevertheless, some philosophical termino logy and some acquaintance with the philosophical legacy eventually spread in the Islamicate world, beyond what many of the medi eval falāsifa would have considered either possible or advisable. It can be argued, however, that this quite successful popularization of philosophy in the medi eval Islamicate world gradually undermined the ability of philosophers to maintain, alongside the popular form, also the more rigorous philosophy on a level destined only for a small elite. It demoralized them and pushed them to defensive intellectual positions, and ultimately undercut the living spirit of their philosophy, its self-confidence in its legacy, and its ability to produce sharply critical thought based on this legacy. In the present context, I will focus on two examples. My first example is Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammaṣ, who lived in northern Iraq in the first half of the ninth century and is the first Jewish medi eval thinker known Sarah Stroumsa is Professor Emerita of Arabic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she taught Arabic literature and Jewish thought, and also served as Rector of the University.
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Some twenty years ago, I had the privilege of working with Daniel J. Lasker on an edition of an a... more Some twenty years ago, I had the privilege of working with Daniel J. Lasker on an edition of an anonymous anti-Christian Jewish text, whose Arabic original, the Qiṣṣat muǧādalat al-usquf (Story of the Disputation with the Bishop), we dated to no later than the ninth century.1 Although we were able to suggest a plausible terminus ad quem for the early version of this text on the basis of both the manuscript evidence and the data gleaned from contemporary Muslim polemical texts, the terminus a quo remained more conjectural.2 A comparison with a contemporary Jewish polemical work by the ninth-century Dāwūd al-Muqammaṣ suggested itself, but the textual evidence (and in particular the different terminology used) did not allow us to identify al-Muqammaṣ as the author of the Qiṣṣa.3 In comparing the two authors, we relied mostly on al-Muqammaṣ's theological summa, the ʿIšrūn maqālah (Twenty Chapters), more than two-thirds of which are extant, as well as on his more directly polemical composition, Al-Radd ʿalā al-Naṣārā.4 Of this latter text, however, only two badly damaged fragments remain, which
This paper focuses on the literary relationship between Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy and Avicenna's (the lat... more This paper focuses on the literary relationship between Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy and Avicenna's (the latter being ostensibly the immediate source of inspiration of the former), and on the philosophical implications of this literary relationship. While Ibn Ṭufayl borrowed Avicenna's protagonists and framework, he eliminated the figure of the guiding sage, thus breaking sharply not only from Avicenna but also from the conventions of the literary genre that served as his model, the initiation story. This paper is primarily dedicated to presenting this dramatic, yet hitherto underestimated , change, and to examining possible explanations for Ibn Ṭufayl's revolutionary move.
I wish to thank the convenors of these two conferences as well as the participants for their comm... more I wish to thank the convenors of these two conferences as well as the participants for their comments and suggestions.
After the Umayyads gained power over al-Andalus, there was a group of local people who engaged in... more After the Umayyads gained power over al-Andalus, there was a group of local people who engaged in learning philosophy, and who acquired knowledge of many of its parts. Before that, in ancient times, al-Andalus was empty of this knowledge, none of its inhabitants having gained fame in this domain. In different places, however, there were ancient talismans, regarding which it was commonly thought that they had been made by the Roman kings, since al-Andalus had belonged to their realm. Al-Andalus thus remained devoid of philosophy until it was conquered by the Muslims, in Ramad. a n 92 (June 711). It remained thus, its inhabitants being interested only in the science of the sharīʿa and linguistics, until the Umayyads established their sovereignty therein, after its people had gone through a period of a civil war. Thereafter, discerning, ambitious people from amongst them were moved to acquire the sciences, and were wakened to give precedence to the truths. 1
In his reconstruction of what he believed to be a typical Mediterranean medieval society, Shlomo ... more In his reconstruction of what he believed to be a typical Mediterranean medieval society, Shlomo Dov Goitein gave prime of place to the documentary material found in the Cairo Geniza, and it is primarily through this prism that he sought to analyze the Geniza and the society it mirrored. Focusing, instead, on the literary material permits a different perspective on the genizot. The Cairo Geniza was shaped not only by the Jewish tradition, but also by contemporary practices, perhaps specifically Fāṭimid ones. The level of integration of scientists and philosophers within the broader Islamicate culture often surpassed what is usually described as "symbiosis." The integration of Jewish intellectuals within this philosophic sub-culture requires that we correct our perception of their place in it, and that we modify our vocabulary accordingly.
In his short bio-bibliographical book on the development of science and philosophy and their diss... more In his short bio-bibliographical book on the development of science and philosophy and their dissemination among various nations, the eleventh-century Spanish Muslim historian Ṣā ʿ id ibn Ṣā ʿ id al-Andalusī (d. 460/1068) observed the absence of these disciplines among the first Muslims (and by implication, among pre-Islamic Arabs):
Sarah Stroumsa, “Collective Image and Individual Portrait in the Jewish Leadership Stratum in the... more Sarah Stroumsa, “Collective Image and Individual Portrait in the Jewish Leadership Stratum in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries in the Muslim World: Variations on Joseph ibn Shimon,” in Nahem Ilan, Haggai Ben-Shammai and Miriam Frenkel, eds., Studies of Leadership Phenomenon in Jewish Communities during the Middle Ages: A Jubilee Festschrift on the Occasion of the Seventieth Birthday of Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 2023), 343-362 (Hebrew)
In the context of our contemporary society, informed by the globalization of communication system... more In the context of our contemporary society, informed by the globalization of communication systems, the title of the present volume could be taken to imply a clear value judgement; namely, if philosophy is a good thing, and its dissemination is also a good thing, then so is the popularization of philosophy. Making education more accessible to wider circles is unquestionably a positive development in human history, but the broad dissemination of knowledge carries with it the responsibility for its consequences. When accessibility turns into popularization, one suspects that, in the process, the studied material might also have undergone some changes, intended to make it more easily digestible for a broad, unprepared public. For the philosophers in the medi eval Islamicate world, the realization of this educational responsibility meant that the study of philosophy had to be gradual, mentored, and closely monitored. They considered a faulty understanding of philosophy to be more harmful than ignorance of it, and they repeatedly expressed their anxiety and consternation regarding what they saw as the spread of watered-down or distorted philosophical statements by the rational theo logians (mutakallimūn). Nevertheless, some philosophical termino logy and some acquaintance with the philosophical legacy eventually spread in the Islamicate world, beyond what many of the medi eval falāsifa would have considered either possible or advisable. It can be argued, however, that this quite successful popularization of philosophy in the medi eval Islamicate world gradually undermined the ability of philosophers to maintain, alongside the popular form, also the more rigorous philosophy on a level destined only for a small elite. It demoralized them and pushed them to defensive intellectual positions, and ultimately undercut the living spirit of their philosophy, its self-confidence in its legacy, and its ability to produce sharply critical thought based on this legacy. In the present context, I will focus on two examples. My first example is Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammaṣ, who lived in northern Iraq in the first half of the ninth century and is the first Jewish medi eval thinker known Sarah Stroumsa is Professor Emerita of Arabic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she taught Arabic literature and Jewish thought, and also served as Rector of the University.
dLdQXCi: LiV xcixl: w aiuu 01-91* um uuui.a d^xm QQUCia!* QkUUa dUQ: icdkdu SZ£-6££' QQUCUU' CGA*... more dLdQXCi: LiV xcixl: w aiuu 01-91* um uuui.a d^xm QQUCia!* QkUUa dUQ: icdkdu SZ£-6££' QQUCUU' CGA* I (l^duxu CLOQU uc^ac^u X(^QdC!<l UXL dfcXlU' X^Qdai! QQU ucuxu id C(.uun dt; oau QGUfcUa UCLSUQ IGfcUUaUJD' GiM <;,QGU CLXdltU dlduxi ucixuQ' aizdia qguo qxiu* cqi d uuq' auiL CG^LQLGfcU* UIX CUC dlC^ QGUQ £^liGi,Z^ liZSXMi ^GUQ UUGt^RQ zcial <aua uctu' ULiLii.i! (:,i!duLcw ucxuiu L<:,QaLUtU iusquI diu^u G^iQiU aua^Q ita ^od cugwu* xtiiqdaA xs<:,l cxcx qcsfcca* xwi txcx u<.u qclci, «xiu xs^ ucisun* oc^iU cuu^L* UfcU a^Li,fc' LXi uai.u xu mi ^wuiu a,^ xuq c^aa uxit xd quxl Xf^Ld^* x<au ziu cc^cu xi^qdq<l' u^u g^iqiU* iQCU^t uusa^u (euxc x^xHxu ix^qlxdc)' ui cuddiu lu uix QGUi uuQciiUuUi^cu^ dii^ dudoxc^* QOU uqxiuu di4 Xi^qdq^ mi*. ucdiu udua 'luqGiua c^tuu ^^uci fc^sdtE aala x^dLdQXc..* ciQb dic..ul quxiui X(;,udfc axiCtQ q^uuL.di.:, uqucu uduxt d uaxu u^a^uu' xei UGUQbQ uq^a^Q U(.uA<Q did Adi Uui did, Ixm xeI quixl xdjqdqi I' i^(;ada<lAmd;uu u«i at:i« 9£-8€J XCl ZtV UXI. tQ XL^L tCLULU' CdUQHCfc: Ot'i UUU' UKCIX (dLt^QXCfc: KZi XCl ^iUX' aUXS,UU: L UXL UCtClX i^a•,LU^^ CLXdiU ^ dLdQXC«.* XSi^ LkU&SiiiL' dUUQ CXlli' (^QCfc LXUU CUJCtL: 081' 9 dXiU' X«^adcz«l: ZZV LXl ZQ CLdL wu^a' a^U: UV 6£1' mm.
Some twenty years ago, I had the privilege of working with Daniel J. Lasker on an edition of an a... more Some twenty years ago, I had the privilege of working with Daniel J. Lasker on an edition of an anonymous anti-Christian Jewish text, whose Arabic original, the Qiṣṣat muǧādalat al-usquf (Story of the Disputation with the Bishop), we dated to no later than the ninth century.1 Although we were able to suggest a plausible terminus ad quem for the early version of this text on the basis of both the manuscript evidence and the data gleaned from contemporary Muslim polemical texts, the terminus a quo remained more conjectural.2 A comparison with a contemporary Jewish polemical work by the ninth-century Dāwūd al-Muqammaṣ suggested itself, but the textual evidence (and in particular the different terminology used) did not allow us to identify al-Muqammaṣ as the author of the Qiṣṣa.3 In comparing the two authors, we relied mostly on al-Muqammaṣ's theological summa, the ʿIšrūn maqālah (Twenty Chapters), more than two-thirds of which are extant, as well as on his more directly polemical composition, Al-Radd ʿalā al-Naṣārā.4 Of this latter text, however, only two badly damaged fragments remain, which
This paper focuses on the literary relationship between Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy and Avicenna's (the lat... more This paper focuses on the literary relationship between Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy and Avicenna's (the latter being ostensibly the immediate source of inspiration of the former), and on the philosophical implications of this literary relationship. While Ibn Ṭufayl borrowed Avicenna's protagonists and framework, he eliminated the figure of the guiding sage, thus breaking sharply not only from Avicenna but also from the conventions of the literary genre that served as his model, the initiation story. This paper is primarily dedicated to presenting this dramatic, yet hitherto underestimated , change, and to examining possible explanations for Ibn Ṭufayl's revolutionary move.
I wish to thank the convenors of these two conferences as well as the participants for their comm... more I wish to thank the convenors of these two conferences as well as the participants for their comments and suggestions.
After the Umayyads gained power over al-Andalus, there was a group of local people who engaged in... more After the Umayyads gained power over al-Andalus, there was a group of local people who engaged in learning philosophy, and who acquired knowledge of many of its parts. Before that, in ancient times, al-Andalus was empty of this knowledge, none of its inhabitants having gained fame in this domain. In different places, however, there were ancient talismans, regarding which it was commonly thought that they had been made by the Roman kings, since al-Andalus had belonged to their realm. Al-Andalus thus remained devoid of philosophy until it was conquered by the Muslims, in Ramad. a n 92 (June 711). It remained thus, its inhabitants being interested only in the science of the sharīʿa and linguistics, until the Umayyads established their sovereignty therein, after its people had gone through a period of a civil war. Thereafter, discerning, ambitious people from amongst them were moved to acquire the sciences, and were wakened to give precedence to the truths. 1
In his reconstruction of what he believed to be a typical Mediterranean medieval society, Shlomo ... more In his reconstruction of what he believed to be a typical Mediterranean medieval society, Shlomo Dov Goitein gave prime of place to the documentary material found in the Cairo Geniza, and it is primarily through this prism that he sought to analyze the Geniza and the society it mirrored. Focusing, instead, on the literary material permits a different perspective on the genizot. The Cairo Geniza was shaped not only by the Jewish tradition, but also by contemporary practices, perhaps specifically Fāṭimid ones. The level of integration of scientists and philosophers within the broader Islamicate culture often surpassed what is usually described as "symbiosis." The integration of Jewish intellectuals within this philosophic sub-culture requires that we correct our perception of their place in it, and that we modify our vocabulary accordingly.
In his short bio-bibliographical book on the development of science and philosophy and their diss... more In his short bio-bibliographical book on the development of science and philosophy and their dissemination among various nations, the eleventh-century Spanish Muslim historian Ṣā ʿ id ibn Ṣā ʿ id al-Andalusī (d. 460/1068) observed the absence of these disciplines among the first Muslims (and by implication, among pre-Islamic Arabs):
À l’origine de cette publication, quatre conférences prononcées à l’Académie du Royaume du Maroc... more À l’origine de cette publication, quatre conférences prononcées à l’Académie du Royaume du Maroc à Rabat, dédiées à quelques aspects de l’histoire almohade relevant de la pensée spéculative, en particulier de la théologie, de la doctrine et de la philosophie. Le livre examine l’attitude des Almohades envers les Almoravides ainsi qu’envers les minorités religieuses, leur système d’éducation et leur approche théologique et légale. La nouvelle lecture de certains textes fondamentaux permet de préciser nos connaissances sur les Almohades, et de corriger quelques allégations courantes sur le caractère de cette dynastie.
דאוד אבן מרואן אלמקמץ, עשרים פרקים, 2022
עשרים פרקים, המתפרסם כאן לראשונה בעברית, הוא החיבור הפילוסופי היהודי הראשון שנכתב בימי הביניים. ... more עשרים פרקים, המתפרסם כאן לראשונה בעברית, הוא החיבור הפילוסופי היהודי הראשון שנכתב בימי הביניים. מחברו היה יהודי שהתנצר ואחר כך חזר ליהדות. תרומתו של אלמקמץ למסורת ההגותית היהודית המפוארת של ימי הביניים חלוצית בתחומים שונים: נוסף לחיבור התיאולוגי המקיף היהודי הראשון בערבית הוא כתב גם את פירושי המקרא השיטתיים הראשונים בערבית-יהודית, אחדים מהחיבורים הפולמוסיים הערביים-יהודיים הקדומים ביותר נגד הנצרות ופולמוסים נגד דתות אחרות. את עשרים פרקים כתב במחצית הראשונה של המאה התשיעית. לחיבור תיאולוגי-פילוסופי זה הייתה במשך מאות שנים השפעה ניכרת על עיצובה של המחשבה התיאולוגית והפילוסופית היהודית, אך לימים האפילו עליו חיבורים אחרים, בעיקר אמונות ודעות של סעדיה גאון, והוא הלך ונשכח. העניין המתחדש בתרבות הערבית-יהודית של ימי הביניים, וחשיפתם של אוצרות כתבי היד בגניזות, העלו גם את אלמקמץ מתהום הנשייה. המבוא וההערות לתרגום מאירים את מסגרת ההתייחסות של אלמקמץ וחושפים את המרחב התרבותי היהודי, המוסלמי והנוצרי שבו פעל.
הרמב״ם בעולמו: דיוקנו של הוגה ים-תיכוני, 2021
ספר זה מוקדש לביוגרפיה תרבותית של הרמב״ם: הוא קורא את הרמב״ם בתוך ההקשר ההיסטורי, הדתי והאינטלקטו... more ספר זה מוקדש לביוגרפיה תרבותית של הרמב״ם: הוא קורא את הרמב״ם בתוך ההקשר ההיסטורי, הדתי והאינטלקטואלי רב-הפנים שבו חי, ומראה כיצד הקשר זה עיצב את האיש ואת הגותו.
לתרבות הערבית של עולם האסלאם היתה השפעה העמוקה על הרמב״ם, והיא ניכרת בכל חיבוריו: לא רק הפילוסופיים, אלא גם ההלכתיים והרפואיים, באיגרות שכתב כרועה רוחני של הקהילה היהודית ובאיגרותיו האישיות. הצגתו של הרמב״ם כהוגה ים-תיכוני מאירה את הדרך העקבית שבה פירש את המסורת היהודית במונחים של זמנו כפי שעוצבו בעולם תרבותי זה.
לאחר ביוגרפיה קצרה של הרמב״ם כתוצר התרבות הים-תיכונית של זמנו הספר בוחן היבטים שונים בהגותו. הוא מנתח את העולם התיאולוגי המורכב שבו חי הרמב״ם: תיאולוגיה יהודית ונוצרית, התיאולוגיה של האסלאם הסוני ושל האסלאם השיעי-אסמאעילי, וכן זרמים שונים של הגות בעלת אופי מרדני-מהפכני, ובעיקר זו של המוּוַחִדוּן, שלחיים תחת שלטונם הייתה השפעה עצומה על כל היבטי הגותו. בהקשר התרבותי-הדתי הזה בוחן הספר גם את תפיסתו של הרמב״ם כפילוסוף, כתיאורטיקן ופנומנולוג של הדת, את גישתו למדעים, את תפיסתו החברתית ואת השלמות האנושית שאליה שאף.
The Judeo-Arabic text, transliterated into Arabic characters, with a parallel English translation... more The Judeo-Arabic text, transliterated into Arabic characters, with a parallel English translation, notes, and introduction and Introduction (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2016).
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Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1999